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Mark Sparrow | 2019-01-01 16:15:08+00:00 | 2019-01-01 16:00:00 | With their sweatproof design and lightweight feel, the Phiaton Curve BT120NC are noise canceling Bluetooth earbuds that are ideal for use in the gym or any form of exercise. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmarksparrow%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fthese-new-wireless-earphones-will-make-exercising-less-painful%2F.json | en | January is a time for New Year resolutions and firm promises, such as drinking less or joining a gym and getting into shape. If you’ve already bought some new sportswear for the gym, it’s probably time to think about getting a new pair of wireless earphones to make the grueling exercise pass a little more quickly.
When it comes to the technical performance of a pair of earphones, specifications only tell part of the story. Over the years I’ve reviewed so many pairs of headphones that, on paper, sound as if they ought to be amazing; and yet, when I’ve listened to them, I’ve been really disappointed. And the opposite can often be true. Quite a few times I’ve reviewed a pair of headphones that, on paper, should have sounded awful, yet, when critically listened to, have turned out to be surprisingly good.
A case in point is these Curve BT120C Bluetooth wireless earphones from Korean company Phiaton. On paper, they’re standard Bluetooth earphones with no special codecs other than the plain vanilla SBC. There’s no aptX or AAC. So what we have here is a very average pair of earphones that also included basic noise-canceling circuitry, a microphone for taking phone calls or issuing voice commands, plus a very acceptable 8.5 hours of listening time between charges. And if you do find the earphones have a flat battery, a quick five-minute charge will produce a handy hour of listening time until you can get to fully recharge the battery.
The Phiaton Curve BT120C has a Memory-Flex neckband design with an inline remote control on the left-hand side and a corresponding battery holder on the right-hand side, which means it’s both well balanced and lightweight. The inline remote control includes three buttons for pausing music, skipping tracks, adjusting volume, taking or ending phone calls, and invoking voice command functions. There’s a fourth button on the side of the remote that activates the noise-canceling function, more on which later. The neckband vibrates if there’s an incoming call and will even vibrate if being out of range breaks the connection to your smartphone. So if you end up wandering off to the swimming pool, and you’ve left your smartphone in the gym, the neckband will vibrate to remind you.
These earphones are also ideal for gym use or jogging in the drizzle because they’re water resistant to IPX4 standard. Sweaty or wet hands won’t be a problem when using the remote, and the fit is surprisingly comfortable, thanks to a selection of three different ear tip sizes and two sizes of silicone ear wings that slip over the earbuds, like a small sock, and help to keep the earbuds securely in the listener’s ears when exercising, without feeling uncomfortable.
The earbud shells contain 12mm dynamic drivers that deliver an incredibly rich and well-balanced sound that works across most musical genres. The bass is solid and rhythmically pleasing while there’s enough detail in the treble to make the music sound as if it’s being transmitted with plenty of detail. Despite using the humble SBC Bluetooth audio codec, the sonic quality of these earphones is exceptionally good without any hint of hiss or that really annoying electronic chirrup that some Bluetooth earphone seems to suffer from between tracks or when paused. As I said, on paper these shouldn’t really deliver, but when it comes to playing the music they really serve up a totally enjoyable sound.
The microphone built into the lightweight neckband works well with making phone calls and the quality is good enough that I didn’t sound as if I was calling from a kitchen cupboard. So many earphones with built-in microphones really fail to deliver when making phone calls, so if chatting on the go is something you do, these Phiaton Curve earphones will make you happy. Holding down the center function button on the remote will activate Siri on an iOS device or Google Assist on an Android phone. With an increasing number of voice commands for music apps, this is a useful feature that means you can choose the music you want to listen to without having to handle your smartphone while exercising.
The Bluetooth version on these earphones supports multipoint connectivity which means it’s possible to listen to music being transmitted from one device while being paired to a second device for phone calls, such as a business phone. This is very handy for people who have to use a business phone but who aren’t allowed to keep music stored on it. No problem, just take your personal smartphone or music player with you for serving up the tunes.
As mentioned earlier, these Phiaton Curve earphones include a noise-canceling function that monitors ambient sound and filters out (according to Phiaton) up to 95% of annoying external noises. Personally, I don’t think the noise-canceling function is as good as noise-canceling headphones, such as the excellent Sony WH-1000XM3, but then they are considerably cheaper.
In real-world use, the Curve BT120NC provide lots of playing time and I found that it was easily possible to get five hours of listening from a two-hour charge with the earphones set at about a third of the volume. It's quoted as offering up to eight hours from a full charge. Another excellent point about these earphones is that they really can go quite loud, which is not always the case with some Bluetooth earphones. That extra volume is handy when used in conjunction with the nose-cancelling feature as it helps to cut out the noise of exercise machines and other gym noises.
Verdict: These affordable Phiaton Curve BT120NC earphones offer great battery life, surprisingly good sound and plenty of volume. The water-resistance and noise-canceling function make them ideal for use in the gym where you’re more likely to want comfort and volume rather than audiophile sound quality. On paper, they don’t look to be cutting edge, but in practice, these earphones serve up great sound in a convenient and comfortable package.
Pricing: $79
More info: https://phiaton.com/product/bt-120-nc/
Specifications: | www.forbes.com | These New Wireless Earphones Will Make Exercising Less Painful | https://www.forbes.com/sites/marksparrow/2019/01/01/these-new-wireless-earphones-will-make-exercising-less-painful/ | 2019-01-01 |
Robert Laura | 2019-01-01 17:45:26+00:00 | 2019-01-01 17:03:00 | Simple questions to make sure your advisor is working for you | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Frobertlaura%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fthree-things-to-ask-your-financial-advisor-right-now%2F.json | en | There are a lot of people who refer to themselves as financial professionals and it’s important for investors to understand which type of professional they are working with, how they are being compensated, and what they are doing for the money.
1) What’s the plan for 2019?
When it comes to managing your money, there should always be a strategy in place. If you don’t have a strategy with some goals, how can you know if it’s working or not. Unfortunately, many advisors sell packaged products with asset allocations that may rebalance but don’t adjust to market conditions. For example, over the last year, we have been in a rising interest rate environment, saw signs of inflation earlier in the year, and the market dropped in the last quarter by almost 20%.
A strategy that adapts to the markets over time might include a shift to lower duration bonds to combat rising rates. Inflation protected securities that capitalize on higher prices and economic growth, and some activity in your account when markets are down. When markets drop like this, there is no better time to upgrade your holdings and reposition for income, especially for people near or already in retirement.
That doesn’t mean you have to change all of your holdings, but if your advisor’s strategy for your money is the same as it was in 2018, 2017, and so on, then you are not paying for advice, you’re paying for a product. (Please note: I don’t think you should have to ask what the strategy is since they should be telling you in the first place).
2) How Much Am I Paying You?
This is an important question to ask your advisor, and don’t let them skirt around it. Some professionals will say something like, “You don’t pay me anything, the companies I work with pay me.” Okay, great, how much money are they paying you for my business. How much do you get up front and ongoing?
The reality is, we are professionals and make a living doing this, so there are costs. But that being said, we should be able to clearly articulate any and all costs. Therefore, take extra precaution to any professional who appears uncomfortable or is unable to answer the cost question as they are likely peddling high cost products that may impact your long-term returns.
The cost question should end at how much they are making, but also include discussions for the products and services they are offering. Be on the lookout for index annuities with high administration fees in the subaccounts, mutual funds with the letters A, B, or C at the end, and always ask how much trades cost. Believe it or not, despite the fact that people can get trades for $7-$10 on many platforms, some advisors are still charging $50-$100 for a trade.
3) What Do I Get For The Money?
Whether you paid your advisor a flat-fee up front, they receive commissions, or there is an Assets Under Management (AUM) charge, you should know what you get for the money and feel good about it. Many investors don’t ask this question or consider how important it is when markets are hitting new highs and your account value is moving up.
However, when markets reverse course and turn in a negative return for the year, their thinking changes. People begin to wonder why their advisor is still making money, but they aren’t. Obviously, if they are offering other services, there is more perceived value.
By having a plan going forward, knowing how much it’s going to cost you, and what you get for the money, investors can better weigh their relationship with their advisor and the benefit it provides to their long-term financial health. | www.forbes.com | Three Things To Ask Your Financial Advisor Right Now | https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaura/2019/01/01/three-things-to-ask-your-financial-advisor-right-now/ | 2019-01-01 |
Paul Tassi | 2019-01-01 14:45:57+00:00 | 2019-01-01 14:20:00 | Season 2 of The Punisher on Netflix is bringing a villain that is sure to be controversial. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Finsertcoin%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fbuckle-up-the-punishers-season-2-villain-is-an-alt-right-christian-fundamentalist%2F.json | en | The Punisher is doomed.
It’s a weird situation, seeing a show march forward to release a new season when it’s almost certain that no matter how good it is or how well it does, it will end up cancelled regardless. But that’s the situation all of Netflix’s Marvel shows are in, as through no real fault of their own, the streaming wars between Disney and Netflix have resulted in Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil being cancelled already, with The Punisher and Jessica Jones sure to follow after they air their new seasons.
That’s a shame, given that Punisher season 1 was fantastic and my favorite show of last year. If season 2 is anywhere close to that good, it will be a shame for Netflix to lose it, but if they don’t fully own the rights, it’s gone, a concept we’re seeing expand beyond Marvel and into other great shows like American Vandal as well.
New details are emerging about The Punisher season 2, and it seems the show is determined to go out with a bang, the pun being unavoidable. According to information gleaned from a Collider set visit, a season 2 villain will not just be the put-back-together Billy as Jigsaw, but it will also feature Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim, who has no direct comic equivalent, though some have compared him to The Mennonite. But there isn’t really that much to go off of with The Mennonite, and it’s clear what the show is trying to do with Pilgrim instead.
“On the exterior, he’s a man who is a Christian Fundamentalist who had a rage, a violent side of him,” Stewart said, according to Collider. “It’s buried deep. I think where this is all headed, that sort of side of him is going to resurface a bit.” Pilgrim is also described as “Alt-Right.”
So yep, season 2’s villain is an alt-right Christian fundamentalist in a time when actual alt-right Christian fundamentalists are in a position of power in the US, though they usually hate both the terms “alt-right” and “fundamentalist” at this point. They’re also likely to be very, very vocal about the decision to be made the bad guys in a season of The Punisher, but this is clearly being done for a very specific reason.
The Punisher’s trademark skull has been adopted as a sort of symbol for many people in the alt-right movement, and he has been sort of a conservative, gun-toting icon for a long while now, even before these labels existed. And The Punisher himself, Jon Berenthal, hates that, and makes no bones about it.
When asked about the alt-right members wearing Punisher logos in the Charlottesville protests earlier this year, Berenthal said simply “f--- them,” and this season seems likely to draw a clear line between The Punisher and this crowd by way of John Pilgrim.
It’s also significant that the villain is being specifically described as Christian as well, which other pieces of pop culture have gone out of their way to avoid, like Far Cry 5’s non-denominational cult this past year, even though it had clear Christian influences.
It may be tough to explain why Frank should not be the poster child of “good guy with a gun” proponents, given his bullet-laden problem solving skills, but I think a key point about this iteration of The Punisher is that Frank does not want to be who he is, and only reacts when provoked. He doesn’t view himself as a hero or someone to be emulated, he’s doing what he does because he has to, no more, no less.
I am certainly eager to see how season 2 players out when it’s released this January. And I expect controversy, and unfortunately, cancellation, to follow. | www.forbes.com | Buckle Up, The Punisher's Season 2 Villain Is An Alt-Right Christian Fundamentalist | https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2019/01/01/buckle-up-the-punishers-season-2-villain-is-an-alt-right-christian-fundamentalist/ | 2019-01-01 |
Huileng Tan | 2019-01-02 02:41:13+00:00 | 2019-01-01 20:31:34 | Results of a private survey on China's manufacturing for the month of December showed factory activity contracted amid a trade dispute with the U.S. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2019%2F01%2F02%2Fchina-reports-december-caixin-manufacturing-purchasing-managers-index.html.json | en | Results of a private survey on China's manufacturing for the month of December showed factory activity contracted for the first time in 19 months amid a trade dispute with the U.S.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index (PMI), a private survey, fell to 49.7 in December from 50.2 in November. Analysts' in a Reuters poll predicted the PMI to come in at 50.1 in December.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that level signals contraction.
In December, two separate measures for new orders and new export orders showed contraction, the Caixin survey showed.
"That showed external demand remained subdued due to the trade frictions between China and the U.S., while domestic demand weakened more notably," wrote Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group, a subsidiary of Caixin.
"It is looking increasingly likely that the Chinese economy may come under greater downward pressure," Zhong added in the press release.
Economic data from the world's second-largest economy is being closely watched for signs of damage inflicted by the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Official manufacturing PMI released on Monday showed a slowdown in activity for the month of December as the sector contracted for the first time in more than two years, dropping below the critical 50 level.
The private survey focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises, while the official PMI gauge focuses on large companies and state-owned enterprises.
At the beginning of December, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day ceasefire that delayed the planned U.S. increase of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods that were initially due to take effect on Jan. 1, while the two sides negotiated a trade deal.
On Saturday, Trump said on Twitter that he had a "long and very good call" with Xi and that a possible trade deal between the two countries was progressing well.
Yet beyond the tariffs battle, China's economy has been facing its own domestic headwinds. Even before the escalation in trade tensions with the U.S. this year, Beijing was already trying to manage a slowdown in its economy after three decades of breakneck growth.
The situation on the ground in China may look worse than any numbers suggest, one analyst told CNBC.
"I do believe, of course, the economy in China is decelerating. I do believe the numbers are worse than reported, of course, in that type of political environment where there's strong censorship, where media is essentially prevented from reporting," said Alex Capri, a visiting senior fellow at NUS Business School.
— Reuters contributed to this report. | www.cnbc.com | China reports December Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/02/china-reports-december-caixin-manufacturing-purchasing-managers-index.html | 2019-01-01 |
Meredith Ochs | 2019-01-01 23:00:41+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | When The Byrds released "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" in 1968, it was a commercial failure. A century after its debut, the album has become a classic. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442532%2Fhow-the-byrds-sweetheart-of-the-rodeo-became-a-classic-50-years-after-its-debut%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | How The Byrds' 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' Became A Classic 50 Years After Its Debut When The Byrds released "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" in 1968, it was a commercial failure. A century after its debut, the album has become a classic. | www.npr.org | How The Byrds' 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' Became A Classic 50 Years After Its Debut | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442532/how-the-byrds-sweetheart-of-the-rodeo-became-a-classic-50-years-after-its-debut?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Brennan Barnard | 2019-01-01 13:15:03+00:00 | 2019-01-01 12:55:00 | The new year provides an opportunity to review what is working and what is not. The college admission experience could certainly use less finger pointing and more constructive collaboration. Here is how everyone involved can resolve to do better. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fbrennanbarnard%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fa-new-year-in-college-admission%2F.json | en | My family had a New Year’s tradition that was different than most, one that often led to tears and retribution between me and my brothers. At breakfast on January 1st every year, we gathered around pancakes, and instead of crafting our own New Year’s resolutions, the group would decide what each family member should commit to change or improve in the coming year. Having a spotlight on our shortcomings was no picnic, as you can imagine, but in retrospect, it was a valuable exercise.
College admission is an imperfect system. With each new year, it grows more complicated, and produces more anxiety and finger-pointing, for everyone involved. It’s easy enough to assign blame, but rarely are we willing to address our role. So, in the spirit of the Barnard family tradition, I want to suggest two simple New Year’s resolutions to all the constituents involved in college admission: communication and kindness. Imagine the ways that our culture could start to heal if we all stopped blaming each other, and instead of defaulting to extremes, embraced the ways we can contribute to a healthier global community. Whether you are a student, a parent, or a high school or college educator, this coming year I beg you to continually ask yourself, “what am I doing to be a better communicator and to be more kind?”
Students
As an applicant, it is too easy to approach college admission passively. The whole process may feel like something that happens to you, but in reality, it is full of opportunity to own the experience and exert choice. Your generation is poised to be the most accepting and inclusive generation ever, and if you can look at admission to college not as a “Hunger Games” competition or prize to be won, then it will be a much more collaborative, enjoyable, and meaningful. So in 2019, resolve for more:
Communication. Look, I get it, I was a teenager once and now I have two of my own. I know that a free flow of communication with adults is not at the top of your priority list. When it comes to college admission, however, make it one. Whether you are a junior just beginning your college search, or a senior finishing applications and waiting for decisions, be sure that your parents and school counselor know what is going on with you. Tell them what you are excited about, what you are afraid of, and the areas where you need support or perhaps a little breathing room. A free flow of information will keep everyone more grounded and unified. And speaking of communication, when you learn decisions from colleges, by all means, share this with the teachers and others who advocated for you. Let them understand your disappointment or include them in the celebrations.
Kindness. Maybe you are a straight-A student in high school with strong standardized testing. You have toiled over your essay and done everything else that our culture tells you is a must to be a competitive applicant. Now ask yourself this, “how have I demonstrated kindness?” Not in a manufactured way as another “checkbox” for admission but genuine, authentic compassion for yourself and others. Be kind primarily because it is moral and will help make the world a better place. As a byproduct, you will likely find that doors to your future open wide. Whitney Soule, dean of admissions and student aid at Bowdoin College explains that,
Operating from a place of care and concern for others, understanding that you are in relation to others – all the time – is incredibly important for how students open themselves to learning. If students are generally aware of others, interested in their well-being, thoughts, feelings, and needs – in addition to their own – then they are better equipped to take in new information, test it, consider it, and problem solve it with more perspectives and options than what they would have started with on their own. Plus, it’s a kind and positive approach to being stretched, challenged, and acknowledged.
With the goal of building a college community that supports these values, she adds,
When we are selecting students for Bowdoin, we are looking for evidence of student’s willingness to be in a considerate space, a relational environment that will require resolve and generosity to confront stressful information, situations, choices and to grow. We find these qualities in how students spend their time, what they choose to write about, and how others describe them. And those examples are not always showing up in connected dots that make straight lines. Sometimes the signals are subtle. But we know what we are looking for because we have evidence of it in our community with each new class.
The take-home message is that if you are sincerely kind, it will be naturally evident as admission offices review your application, and it matters.
Parents
Admission to college for our children can feel like the final exam and litmus test of the first two decades of parenting: did we do it right? It’s the wrong question. As teens approach this experience, it is important to separate ourselves from their journey and refuse to see it as a referendum on us, a chance for a do-over, or a test of anything. With that in mind, if you have a student who is in the midst of searching for, or applying to, college, resolve for more:
Communication. Every parent would love better communication from their teen, but we also must consider our role. It is easy to assume that our children know our perspective, but it is important to be more direct in articulating our intentions. Talk to your children about your hopes and fears for their future, and why this can make you act a little crazy sometimes. Be honest about your biases as they look at colleges and then work hard to address your preconceptions on your own, rather than saddle your children with the weight of your expectations. Be upfront about family finances and other factors that will influence the college search. By resolving to be more transparent you are more likely to enjoy 2019 with your child.
Kindness. The kindest thing we can do for our children is to empower them to make their own decisions and mistakes. We must listen to what they are saying and allow them to stand on their own two feet before they have launched off to college. By modeling kindness and dedication to others, we can show our children that it is who they are and what they do that matters, rather than acceptance to any given college.
High Schools
Mediators, guides, teachers, protectors, a source of inspiration—the roles of high schools are many. While not every student who graduates from secondary schools is destined for college, our nation’s high schools still have a responsibility to provide the foundation and opportunities for those who wish to follow this path. When it comes to college admission, the messages and framework that schools establish for approaching this experience are crucial, and in 2019 high schools can resolve to focus on:
Communication. What are the messages that high schools send about college admission? Are they consistent to students of all backgrounds? Too often schools feel at the mercy of admission to college and before long, every aspect of high school becomes about how to position students as applicants, rather than developing young people. Secondary educators can resolve to talk openly with students and parents about the difference between college preparation and college obsession. They can also be aware of the subtle cues that students take from how teachers and counselors talk about specific colleges and what is “acceptable.”
Kindness. The best way for high schools to promote kindness is to create spaces for students to experiment with it that are not framed around admission to college. Schools can also build daily schedules that are humane and allow for exploration, innovation, and play. Kindness means setting clear limitations that protect students from their own propensity, and that of their parents, towards trying to do and be everything in the name of a college acceptance.
Colleges
“With great power comes great responsibility”—so said Uncle Ben to Peter Parker in Spiderman, though it is surely older than that. Nowhere is this more applicable than in college admission—like it or not, the truth is that the power that admission offices have in evaluating applicants trickles down, dictating many of the decisions and actions of high schools, parents and students. With this reality in mind, colleges can resolve in 2019 to improve:
Communication. Often what families read or hear from colleges becomes gospel, guiding their every move. Admission offices explain that competitive applicants take the most challenging classes offered by their high school, and soon students have loaded up on every advanced course in the curriculum guide and are spending four hours each night on homework. Colleges encourage students to find their passion and suddenly students feel like they must be sure of their future and career choice. Colleges publish rankings in their marketing materials and families begin to believe that they should be making decisions based on a school’s position rather than opportunities offered. The list goes on, which is why colleges should resolve to do an internal review of the unintended consequences of their messaging.
Kindness. What would a kinder admission experience look like? Less standardized testing? A limit on the number of activities a student can report? A more developmentally appropriate timeline for submitting applications or a lower cap on the percentage of their incoming class that is filled through early admission? More candor about the chances of admission? Perhaps colleges could resolve to ask students and their parents how the experience could be more meaningful and less stressful. In the meantime, schools can take Bowdoin College’s lead and agree to keep reinforcing the importance of students expressing concern and commitment to others.
New Year’s resolutions are meant to be lofty and are often most successful when they are collaborative, even if they can be hard to hear or achieve. Rarely did my family members end the year having accomplished everything that we hoped to. However, we resisted pointing fingers and bet on the best intentions of each other. That alone allowed us to move the needle on our resolutions and has had a lasting impact on each of us. | www.forbes.com | A New Year In College Admission | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brennanbarnard/2019/01/01/a-new-year-in-college-admission/ | 2019-01-01 |
Dave Thier | 2019-01-01 14:45:10+00:00 | 2019-01-01 14:25:00 | The Day 14 Challenge in the 14 Days of Fortnite asks you to open 14 Chests. Here's how to do it and what you'll get as a reward. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fdavidthier%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F14-days-of-fortnite-final-challenge-how-to-search-14-chests-and-earn-the-reward%2F.json | en | It's been a good run, these 14 Days of Fortnite. We've had what I might consider one of the greatest cosmetics that Epic Games has made yet, we've had some creative challenges, we've had an epic New Year's celebration, and we even had a snowy Christmas Day with a light snowfall over the entire map. Now, it's time to close things out. It's the last day of the 14 Days of Fortnite, with a pretty straightforward challenge that shouldn't be too hard to complete.
The day 14 challenge asks you to search 14 chests, which is just about the most straightforward challenge you can do in the game. Chests are found more or less everywhere, and you'll get a couple in any given game even if you aren't particularly trying.
If you just downloaded this thing on your new gaming platform, however, you're looking for a glowing golden chest that randomly spawns in structures or by trees and rocks. The easiest way to find it is with a grand, shimmery sort of noise: you'll know it when you hear it, it sounds like treasure. Just follow that for your chest. If you're playing on mobile, you'll see a little golden indicator with a treasure chest icon in the direction of the chest. You may need to build up into an attic or onto a ledge to get it.
Your reward for completing this challenge isn't bad: it's the "equalizer" glider, with flashing LEDs to match either DJ Yonder or DJ Bop: DJ Yonder was in the Season 6 battle pass, and DJ Bop is in the Item Shop right now. Both fit the New Year's Eve theme pretty handily.
Epic has stepped up its game for limited time event in recent months. The 14 days of Fortnite was a treasure trove of free items for players new and old, and that came hot on the heels of the expansive Fortnitemares event, which flooded the map with AI-controlled zombies. It bodes well for the year to come: Fortnite was arguably the biggest gaming story of 2018, but there's no sign that it's slowing down any time soon. | www.forbes.com | '14 Days Of Fortnite' Final Challenge: How To Search 14 Chests And Earn The Reward | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2019/01/01/14-days-of-fortnite-final-challenge-how-to-search-14-chests-and-earn-the-reward/ | 2019-01-01 |
Shanon Lee | 2019-01-01 05:45:28+00:00 | 2019-01-01 04:37:00 | Along with allegations of sexual misconduct from various women, the Lifetime documentary addresses Kelly's relationship with late R&B star Aaliyah. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fshanonlee%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Fdisturbing-details-of-r-kellys-relationship-with-aaliyah-resurface-in-new-documentary%2F.json | en | Ahead of the January 3rd premiere of Lifetime’s new documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, reports of the defamed R&B star's marriage to late singer Aaliyah have resurfaced.
R&B singer and producer R. Kelly secretly married a then 15-year-old Aaliyah in 1994, the same year her solo album debuted. Kelly met Aaliyah at the age of 12 and produced music for her, three years later they tied the knot. Though Kelly denies reports, the press uncovered a marriage certificate. The marriage was reportedly annulled, but Kelly continues to deny their nuptials - claiming they were close friends.
Aliyah was tragically killed in a plane crash at the age of 22.
Along with allegations of sexual misconduct by various women, the documentary includes the testimony of a former backup singer that claims Kelly had sex with Aaliyah on a tour bus occupied by his entourage when she was only 15 and he was 27.
For decades, Kelly has been accused of sexually abusing girls and women - often under the guise of offering to them help with their music career. In 2009, Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges after a jury trial. Most recently, he was accused of imprisoning women in a sex cult.
Kelly continues to release music and perform in concerts across the country, though mounting sexual assault allegations have diminished his popularity. In September, a concert at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater was canceled. Though reps claimed it was due to inclement weather, low ticket sales may have also played a factor. | www.forbes.com | Disturbing Details Of R. Kelly's Relationship With Aaliyah Resurface In New Documentary | https://www.forbes.com/sites/shanonlee/2018/12/31/disturbing-details-of-r-kellys-relationship-with-aaliyah-resurface-in-new-documentary/ | 2019-01-01 |
Jane Claire Hervey | 2019-01-01 05:45:33+00:00 | 2019-01-01 04:13:00 | To be a leader is to be a creator. Whether you're a builder of timelines, a maker of company of culture or a designer of operations, leadership requires vision. You have to inspire others to do the work. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjaneclairehervey%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2F5-lessons-in-creative-leadership-to-take-into-2019%2F.json | en | To be a leader is to be a creator. Whether you're a builder of timelines, a maker of company of culture or a designer of operations, leadership requires vision. You have to inspire others to do the work.
This year, I had the pleasure of interviewing so many incredible creative women from all over the globe, from actress and creative entrepreneur Karyn Parsons to music video director Hannah Lux Davis. And with every interview, I heard stories of resilience—lessons in brave creative leadership, resourceful decision-making and bold ambition.
So, as we head into 2019, I'd like to share the five key lessons I gleaned from the 51 pieces I wrote on creative entrepreneurship in 2018. I hope you learn just as much from these five entrepreneurs as I did.
1.) Show up and set the tone.
When you're leading a team or self-employed, it's on you to show up for your staff and for yourself. You have to push through moments of disappointment and doubt. You must show up and do the work. "On a daily basis, as an artist—or generally people who are creative-inclined—we’re just self-critical. There are times when everyday feels like a failure. There are times when I go to the studio and I am just sitting there and everything feels wrong. Or I feel like my career is falling apart and I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. At some level, there’s a part of you that has to treat it like a job. You have to go in and you have to sit there and you’re going to stare at your work even if you don’t make it. You have to work through it. You can’t stop. You can’t give up. My grand theory is that if you don’t give up, you can’t fail," artist and painter Hiba Schahbaz said.
2.) Invest in your operations. Invest in your team.
In order to establish a solid company culture, you must understand your business' values and you must have the capacity to articulate these values to others. So, don't skimp on the foundation of your business. Take time on your mission, your goals and your team. "My personal leadership style is to invest in really great, well-matched team members, give them the tools to do their job and then the freedom to be creative with their own approach while offering support when needed," Meg Erskine, CEO and co-founder of Open Arms Studio said.
3.) Stay focused and lean.
When you're running your own business, it can be easy to compare your entrepreneurial journey to others. And when we compare, we oftentimes go after milestones or symbols that have nothing to do with our company's actual success. So, stay focused. "Keep your overhead low and diversify your income streams. There may be pressures to live beyond your means–wait on all that. Until you are making passive income, have steady funds for three years or more, or you win the lottery, keep that overhead low. Any extra income should be saved or invested," DJ and creative entrepreneur Jasmine Solano said.
4.) Create the business you'd like to see in the world.
When you feel like giving up, remember why you started. As an entrepreneur, you have the ability to create something new for yourself and your team everyday. Take advantage of that privilege. "Our gut feelings are actually a really big part of how we operate. We’re discerning in the kinds of projects we take on board and which collaborators we decide to work with, but we tend to know when a thing feels right and when it works for us and we try not to overthink it. We move forward and we take action. In terms of starting this company, as well, we all had a desire to rethink the corporate structure we operate within in the film industry. Sure, you can sit in an office from nine to five or nine to ten, but you can also work from home one day. There are many different ways to work, and for us it is really about that, the work. It’s about getting the job done, and making sure that everyone who works with us and everyone who works at the company is happy and has a healthy work-life balance," film producer and co-founder of Nowhere Studio, Maria Kongsved, said.
5.) Remember—your future, or your company's future, is not limited by the scope of others' opinions.
You will face rejection. You may not get the client you want, you might fail at a big project, or you may realize you need to change course. That's part of the process. "I’m a badass woman and I am a good artist. I’m not going to let someone who doesn’t make art define my art. What artists share with the public is a reflection of our true selves. And everybody doesn’t like everybody in real life, and it needs to be looked at that way. Just because you don't get the gig you want, it just might mean that gig is not for you. And every time I forget that, the universe just hits me with someone better than the thing I wanted so badly," singer-songwriter and lead singer of The Suffers said. | www.forbes.com | 5 Lessons In Creative Leadership To Take Into 2019 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/janeclairehervey/2018/12/31/5-lessons-in-creative-leadership-to-take-into-2019/ | 2019-01-01 |
Jim Blasingame | 2019-01-01 17:45:06+00:00 | 2019-01-01 16:46:00 | The Information Age can level the playing field for small businesses and empower them as never before. But it can take them down if they become victims of its worst aspects, like getting caught up in Availability Cascade. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjimblasingame%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fthe-real-price-of-free-information%2F.json | en | Standing here on the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century, we've watched the Digital Age transmogrify into the Information Age. Now awash with a digital record of everything that's ever been said, written or happened, from area news to Aristotle's ethical teachings, the barrier to whatever else we need or want to know is literally no higher than the tap of a finger. And if being up-to-the-minute isn't fast enough, we now have the world, and parts of the cosmos, available in real-time.
And all of this information is a good thing—until it isn't. In his song "Against the Wind," Bob Seger lamented that deadlines and commitments made him have to decide, "What to leave in, what to leave out." As digitally driven information morphs from handy to firehose overload, we have to learn how to consume it with increasing discernment—what to leave in, what to leave out.
As the children of the Information Age, we're constantly and increasingly at risk of becoming victims and/or purveyors of a potentially dangerous phenomenon: Availability Cascade. It occurs when we're exposed to something so much—a maxim, a meme, misinformation or disinformation—that we begin to accept it as truth and reality, and worse, act on it without confirming accuracy or relevance. Here's an old story from the Analog Age that demonstrates the power of Availability Cascade.
A busy baker saw this headline on a newspaper: "Economy headed for recession." Reacting to this "information," he cut his flour order in half. In a matter of days, the local miller was compelled to reduce his wheat order from nearby farmers, who cancelled equipment orders with the manufacturer, who laid-off employees who now couldn't afford to eat at the restaurants that purchased the baker's bread, causing bread orders to crumble. In the economy, Availability Cascade is a circular process, like a tornado.
By the way, the day the baker cancelled his flour order, he had plenty of business. But now, out of business and locking up his shop for the last time, he happened to notice the paper where he'd previously seen the gloomy headline. Looking closer, this time at the date, he was shocked to see that the newspaper was decades old. Turns out, it had been part of a display his antique store neighbor was creating. By not checking the information against the reality in front of his very eyes, he became both the creator and victim of Availability Cascade.
Out here on Main Street, the baker in our world is Wall Street. Headlines like "Recession in 2019?" or "Will the Fed continue to raise rates?" or "Is Brexit Deal in Jeopardy?" or "Will there be a trade war?" are actual potential hazards. But when stock indexes move hundreds of points up and down in a single day on these headlines—for several days—they become the baker. Their thousand-point, single-day gyration hysteria produces a byproduct called, you guessed it: Availability Cascade. And like the baker, overreaction by the markets" has the potential to create a recession that wasn't going to happen. It's another example of the disconnect between Wall Street and the Main Street economy—where you and I operate and from which real GDP performance is measured.
Today, it seems most information is free. But the information you can depend on, and use safely, isn't. Remember, Availability Cascade is just two-dimensional information until someone gives it life and legs by acting on it without jaundiced eye verification and skeptical ear due diligence. Today, free and easy "Breaking News" comes with a price: the responsibility to become discerning consumers of Information Age information. Especially today, in particular right now, regarding economic news and reporting.
Small business owners, the Information Age can level the playing field and empower us as never before. But it can take us down if we become victims of its worst aspects, like getting caught up in Availability Cascade. We can do our part to avoid talking ourselves into a recession with three steps:
1. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions about the fundamental economic conditions in front of you.
2. Spend more time listening to what customers need and want.
3. Spend less time listening to talking heads and the wildebeest herds known as Wall Street.
Write this on a rock ... If things are good with your business, say that—out loud—to whoever will listen. There's no law against a good news Availability Cascade? It could happen. | www.forbes.com | The Real Price Of Free Information | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimblasingame/2019/01/01/the-real-price-of-free-information/ | 2019-01-01 |
Stefan Becket | 2019-01-01 21:44:35+00:00 | 2019-01-01 20:58:57 | Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida, said the child was taking part in a "hands-on, educational experience" with the zoo's southern white rhinos | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fchild-falls-into-rhinoceros-exhibit-at-brevard-zoo-in-melbourne-florida%2F.json | en | The rhinoceros enclosure at Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida. Brevard Zoo
A child was taken to the hospital after stumbling into a rhinoceros exhibit at a Florida zoo and coming into contact with one of the animals, officials said Tuesday.
Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida, said the child was taking part in a "hands-on, educational experience" with the zoo's southern white rhinos when he or she apparently fell between steel poles separating guests from the rhino yard. The zoo is about 50 miles southeast of Orlando.
In a statement, the zoo said "the snout of at least one of rhinoceroses made contact with the child." Spokesman Elliot Zirulnik told CBS affiliate WKMG-TV the snout is defined as the area below the animal's horn.
The child was rescued and taken to the Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital in Orlando, WKMG reported. The child's condition and the nature of the injuries is unclear. The child's mother was also transported to a local hospital for unspecified treatment.
"Our number one concern is the safety and welfare of our guests and our hearts go out to the family," the zoo's executive director Keith Winsten said. "Safety has always been of paramount importance to us and we are suspending these encounters until we have thoroughly reviewed our processes and procedures to ensure this cannot happen again."
The zoo said the "Rhino Encounters" had been held daily without incident for about a decade.
Brevard Zoo is home to four southern white rhinos, including two males and two females, according to its website. Frankie, a 16-year-old, 5,200 pound male, arrived at the zoo in October. | www.cbsnews.com | Child falls into rhinoceros exhibit at Florida zoo | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-falls-into-rhinoceros-exhibit-at-brevard-zoo-in-melbourne-florida/ | 2019-01-01 |
Sally Adams | 2019-01-01 11:55:02+00:00 | 2019-01-01 11:00:10 | From black coffee to a hair of the dog – here's the science behind popular hangover remedies | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Ffive-popular-hangover-cures-reviewed-by-experts%2F.json | en | Sally Adams is a lecturer in Health Psychology at University of Bath in the U.K. Craig Gunn is a PhD Candidate at University of Bath.
It's a common misconception that hangovers are mainly the result of dehydration. An evening of heavy drinking can lead to inflammation of the stomach and intestines, poor-quality sleep and the production of toxic substances that lead to vomiting, sweating and an increased heart rate. Research also suggests that hangovers can hamper the ability to concentrate and remember information.
What research has not given us, though, is credible evidence for a "hangover cure." The revels of New Year's Eve will leave many bleary-eyed and reaching for a remedy, so here's the evidence behind what works – and what doesn't.
1: Water
Dehydration is one of the most frequently reported symptoms of hangover. Alcohol is a diuretic – in other words, it makes us urinate more often. Having around four drinks can eliminate between 600 and 1,000mL of water from your body.
How much water do you really need to stay healthy?
Heavy alcohol consumption can also cause sweating, vomiting and diarrhea, which also cause the body to lose fluids. As a result, dehydration leads to symptoms including thirst, weakness, dry mouth and light-headedness.
Drinking water may relive some of these symptoms, but dehydration is also typically accompanied with electrolyte imbalance. A combination of water and an electrolyte supplement can therefore tackle some of the symptoms of your hangover – but by no means all of them.
2: The old-fashioned fry-up
Perhaps one of the most traditional remedies for a hangover is a plate of greasy bacon and eggs. But is the fry-up the holy grail of cures it promises to be? Foods such as bacon, eggs and even broccoli contain an amino acid called cysteine, which scientists claim can decrease the amount of the toxic chemical acetaldehyde, which is produced as your body metabolizes alcohol.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Acetaldehyde contributes to hangover symptoms such as increased heart rate, nausea and vomiting, but there is very limited research supporting the benefits of certain foods as hangover cures. That said, eating a meal with protein, fat and carbohydrate before alcohol consumption has been shown to slow the absorption of alcohol, so as the old saying goes it may good to "line your stomach."
3: Caffeine
One of the reasons we feel so awful after drinking is down to the effects that alcohol has on our sleep. Alcohol-induced sleep can be shorter and poorer quality, but the tiredness you feel can be reversed by the nation's favorite stimulant – caffeine.
Evidence suggests that people who regularly drink caffeine develop a physical dependency to the drug, which explains why some people need their morning fix. But for these people, a cup of tea or coffee during a hangover may not be enough to address the deficits in thought processes and reaction times.
There's also evidence to suggest that people who don't usually have caffeine do not have the same effects of improved performance and alertness seen in regular users.
4: Hair of the dog
During a hangover, many people will say "I'm never drinking again" – but others swear by the "hair of the dog" to relieve their symptoms. The fact is, drinking during a hangover can be downright dangerous. Vital organs such as the liver need time to repair the damage caused by a session of heavy drinking. In the U.K., government guidelines recommend avoiding alcohol for 48 hours after a heavy drinking session.
What's more, using alcohol to "cure" a hangover could be indicative of an alcohol use disorder. Evidence suggests that getting more frequent hangovers is associated with an increased likelihood of developing problems with alcohol. It's not clear whether the hangover itself is what causes the problem drinking, or repeated heavy alcohol use. Regardless, as far as hangover cures go, this one is not recommended.
5: Medicine
Recently it seems more and more pharmaceutical products are being marketed to drinkers which claim to relieve hangover symptoms. These products often claim to work by increasing the speed at which one's body gets rid of the toxic chemical acetaldehyde. They also claim to reduce inflammation and address the chemical changes in our brain causes by alcohol that can impact our thought processes.
It should hardly come as a surprise that there is currently no evidence that any conventional or complimentary medicine can cure a hangover. It is unclear whether this is because these cures do not work or because their effectiveness has not been fully tested.
So, although these popular remedies may offer some relief from the symptoms of hangover, there's no evidence-based treatment or "cure." A hangover is a complex combination of physical and psychological symptoms, which are caused by several different processes in the body and brain.
What's more, few hangover treatments address impairments in concentration, memory and reaction times, or the low mood and increased anxiety frequently reported by sufferers. The only surefire way to avoid "the morning after the night before" is to drink alcohol in moderation – or not drink it at all.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. | www.cbsnews.com | Five popular hangover cures, reviewed by experts | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/five-popular-hangover-cures-reviewed-by-experts/ | 2019-01-01 |
Ian Stewart | 2019-01-01 20:54:43+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Bolsonaro's path to the presidency was nearly cut short in September when he was stabbed while on the campaign trail, but he continued to rally supporters from his hospital bed. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681429911%2Fright-wing-populist-jair-bolsonaro-sworn-in-as-president-of-brazil%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnews.json | en | Right-Wing Populist Jair Bolsonaro Sworn In As President Of Brazil
Enlarge this image toggle caption Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images
A far-right populist who has been called the Donald Trump of Brazil has been sworn in as President of Latin America's most populous country.
Jair Bolsonaro, a retired Army captain who has no executive experience, has promised to crack down on criminals, roll back environmental regulations, restrict abortions and relax gun laws in Brazil.
Under tight security and with much ceremony, Bolsonaro took office Tuesday in the country's capital city, Brasilia; in the streets, firefighters misted enthusiastic crowds with water as they cheered on their new president.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined the conservative leaders of Israel and Hungary at the swearing-in. President Trump congratulated Bolsonaro on Twitter.
Bolsonaro's path to the presidency was nearly cut short in September when he was stabbed in a knife attack while on the campaign trail. But he continued to rally supporters from his hospital bed.
As NPR's Philip Reeves reports, Bolsonaro's landslide October election marked a hard turn right for a region that has had leftist leaders for decades.
His huge victory delivered a humiliating riposte to political pundits who, for much of his campaign, portrayed Bolsonaro as a showboating maverick who was about as likely to become president as he was to play in Brazil's star-studded soccer team. Bolsonaro, 63, takes charge amid a wave of optimism about his presidency among Brazilians who yearn for a solution to the country's chronic epidemic of crime and corruption. They warm to his promise of restoring traditional Christian family values and are profoundly disillusioned by the leftist politicians who have governed Brazil in recent years.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
But his right-wing politics have made others in Brazil nervous.
Some gay Brazilians rushed to marry before Bolsonaro took office; while he now says he doesn't have a problem with homosexuals, he previously called himself a proud homophobe and said he's rather have a dead son than a gay son.
Bolsonaro also directed his incoming foreign minister to cancel a global environmental conference the country was set to host, as NPR's Merrit Kennedy has reported. Speaking with the Associated Press, Bolsonaro said "environmental politics can't muddle with Brazil's development."
On Saturday, Bolsonaro tweeted that he would work to ensure every citizen without a criminal background can own a gun; he had previously said "good guys" with guns would help reduce violent crime in the country.
Bolsonaro has spoken admiringly of Brasil's military dictatorship in the 20th century, and promised a "cleansing" of his political opponents that would "wipe them off the map." But after his inauguration he spoke of peace for the people of Brazil and promised to respect democracy, according to Reuters.
"We have a great nation to rebuild," Bolsonaro said. | www.npr.org | Right-Wing Populist Jair Bolsonaro Sworn In As President Of Brazil | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681429911/right-wing-populist-jair-bolsonaro-sworn-in-as-president-of-brazil?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-01-01 |
Reid Frazier | 2019-01-02 01:20:40+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The air is getting dirtier around the country's largest coke fuel plant near Pittsburgh. But the push to clean up pollution is complicated when residents depend on the industry that's causing it. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681197037%2Fpittsburgh-struggles-for-clean-air-as-nearby-towns-pollution-worsens%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Denvironment.json | en | Pittsburgh Struggles For Clean Air As Nearby Town's Pollution Worsens
The air is getting dirtier around the country's largest coke fuel plant near Pittsburgh. But the push to clean up pollution is complicated when residents depend on the industry that's causing it.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Since the passage of the Clean Air Act, air quality throughout the country has steadily gotten better but not everywhere. In one community near Pittsburgh, air pollution has actually been getting worse. Read Frazier of The Allegheny Front explains why.
REID FRAZIER, BYLINE: From her front porch, Collette Williams points out the lights from U.S. Steel's big plant a half-mile away.
COLLETTE WILLIAMS: So if you stand, like, on that over here or, like, if you look right in between that building right there, you can see the mill right there.
FRAZIER: The mill is U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works. The region's steel industry is a shell of what it once was. But the Clairton Works, about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, remains North America's largest producer of coke, a key component of steelmaking. It's basically pure carbon made from baking coal at high temperatures. The process can create a lot of pollution.
WILLIAMS: That's, like, a white smoke. And then over there is, like, a dark smoke.
FRAZIER: According to the EPA, the air here is some of the worst in the country. It's a big concern for Williams, whose 13-year-old son SaVaughn has severe asthma. A long list of daily medications keeps his lungs open.
WILLIAMS: So that's his albuterol solution. That's what goes in a machine.
FRAZIER: About three years ago, his asthma started flaring up, leading to ER visits, more doctors and more medication. Around this time, regulators say, the plant's air pollution got worse. It's impossible to say whether SaVaughn's problems were linked to the Coke Works. But one research team found asthma rates for kids in Clairton are double the countywide rate.
WILLIAMS: I'm really hurt and upset about my son because he can't be a normal kid. He can't run around and go play and stay over other kids' houses because I don't know how his asthma is going to react.
FRAZIER: There are around 20 coke plants in the U.S. And many have violated clean air laws. In Clairton, it's been a problem for decades. Regulators reached major settlements with U.S. Steel over the plant's pollution violations in 1979, 1993, 2007, 2008, 2014 and 2016. But after every agreement, the plant would again fail to meet requirements.
JIM KELLY: Well, apparently, what we were doing in the past wasn't working.
FRAZIER: Jim Kelly is deputy director at the Allegheny County Health Department. In June, it tried something new. It issued an order threatening to idle parts of the plant if U.S. Steel didn't cut pollution.
KELLY: We're just not seeing that dedication to maintain the facility and maintain just good, basic operational practices.
FRAZIER: Chip Babst is an attorney for U.S. Steel, which is appealing the county's penalty.
CHIP BABST: To be honest, I would have to characterize it as aggressive and adversarial.
FRAZIER: Parts of the plant date to the '50s. Babst says the company has invested a lot to retrofit some older equipment. Environmental groups want the Coke Works to replace older units if it's going to stay open. But Babst doesn't think the plant needs new equipment to meet its requirements.
BABST: I mean, I guess you could always say new is better, but new is very, very expensive.
FRAZIER: The company says idling part of its operation would force dozens of layoffs and could damage expensive equipment. One man is especially worried about all of this.
RICH LATTANZI: My name is Mayor Rich Lattanzi, city of Clairton.
FRAZIER: Mayor Lattanzi works at another U.S. Steel plant nearby that processes steel made with coke from Clairton. The Coke Works makes up a third of the tax base of his city, which has been shrinking for decades.
LATTANZI: Do you realize what happened to the city of Clairton and the city school district if we closed that mill down? We would not be here today. We'd be like a ghost town.
Not a problem. I'm a safety guy.
(LAUGHTER)
FRAZIER: Lattanzi takes me on a drive by the plant and points up a hillside. He's 54 and remembers when pollution from the operation was so bad, this hill was bare. Now it's covered in trees.
LATTANZI: Years ago, nothing was able to grow - nothing. Even this right here's crazy to have trees here. It was all, like, stones and nothing.
FRAZIER: He says he wants clean air, too, but wants the plant to stay open. A decision on whether parts of the plant will have to be idled is expected in a few months. For NPR News, I'm Reid Frazier in Clairton, Pa.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDITIVE ESCAPE'S "LIGHT RADIO")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | Pittsburgh Struggles For Clean Air As Nearby Town's Pollution Worsens | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681197037/pittsburgh-struggles-for-clean-air-as-nearby-towns-pollution-worsens?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=environment | 2019-01-01 |
Paulana Lamonier | 2019-01-01 13:15:23+00:00 | 2019-01-01 12:00:00 | The Haitian-American media mogul, author, and wife isn’t letting any obstacle or success stand in her way of reaching her purpose. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fplamonier%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fmona-scott-young-love-and-hip-hop%2F.json | en | For as long as I can remember I wanted to be in the media industry. If you check my Uniondale High School senior yearbook you’ll see I saw myself as a radio personality in 10 years – this June I’ll have hit my benchmark. I may not be like Angie Martinez, but I’m proud of the career I’ve created for myself as a journalist.
As the first-born child of Haitian immigrants initially I struggled with my dream, our parents aren’t known to be accepting or supportive of artistic endeavors. When it comes to your livelihood pursuing a respectable career like education and medicine is expected – journalism is a dream or serious hobby at most.
When I’d receive pushback or doubt from my parents I’d look to those in media I could relate to and follow their lead. At the top of this list was Mona Scott-Young a fellow Haitian-American, I felt she could understand the unique position I found myself - she knew the hurdles that come along with challenging cultural and societal expectations, yet still made it out on top.
After being in Los Angeles for the past few months shooting the fifth season of “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood”, Scott-Young is back to her old stomping grounds of where it all started for the “Love & Hip Hop” brand — New York.
As her brand and interests evolve, personally and professionally, she is able to call the shots, creating the media and life she wants. “There’s a little bit more gravitas to this season, but I think it’s what people love and expect from New York, which is kind of our centerpiece and cornerstone city in the franchise,” Scott-Young tells me with excitement and vigor.
Nine years of providing entertainment, launching and reigniting careers of many in the music industry such as: Cardi B., K. Michelle, Joe Budden, Amara La Negra, Ray J., and expanding to cities across America; Atlanta, Miami, and Hollywood. Despite critiques on its portrayal of Black women in a bad light , Scott-Young sees the Love & Hip Hop brand as an opportunity maker.
“To have a franchise that represents our culture, our people and to have that kind of staying power and the ability to invent and reinvent as we expand into different cities to me that’s probably what I’m proudest of,” she said confidently. “[It’s] the ability to provide the jobs both in front of and behind the scenes... to women and people of color as well.”
For those unaware of Scott-Young and her industry resume “Love & Hip Hop” isn’t the first time she’s proved her business acumen. The entrepreneur and producer is the CEO of her multi-media entertainment company, Monami Entertainment and co-owner of Music Management Company – previously called Violator Management - where she’s managed iconic artists like Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes, helping artists secure deals with notable brands who were already benefiting from urban culture, but had yet to invest their money in urban artists.
Even with all this under her, she’s not slowing down - in true Mona fashion. With the true hustler spirit that she says was inherited from her mother, a functionally illiterate and ambitious woman who gave Scott-Young the ability to push through adversity that came her way.
Without a college degree, music, or Hollywood pedigree Scott-Young has created a media empire and is now an author of her first dramatic novel, “Blurred Lines” co-authored with Courtney Parker. She continues to reshape the narrative of what a Black woman can do, signing an overall production deal with Lionsgate where she has in development working on unscripted series and biopics.
In our phone interview, Scott-Young and I talk about the #MeToo Movement in hip-hop, reinventing yourself after 30, R. Kelly and how she considers this chapter of her life her second act. And on her days off she’s spending time with her family.
Paulana Lamonier: You’ve been behind the scenes in music and a music manager for some time. Do you think the #MeToo Movement will have the same impact on hip-hop as it’s having in Hollywood?
Mona Scott-Young: Well, that's kind of a loaded subject, right? Hip-hop is always known for the misogynistic lyrics, the treatment of women lyrically, and the struggle that they've had, finding a place for themselves as artists. So that certainly is an issue that exists, has always existed, and continues to exist in the culture.
But I think what we've also seen in terms of female artists is a taking back of that power, right? Dating back to Lil Kim, all the way through to Cardi and Nicki, everything that they've done for women in the game, asserting themselves, their power, and their positioning in the game. It's been a movement that has been some time in the making with women positioning themselves to take back their power.
When it comes to what happens at an executive level — it's not as widely talked about. I think that there are some instances where you hear about women in hip-hop, on the business front being exposed to and experiencing some of the same things that we're seeing in Hollywood. We've talked a lot about the struggles for women in hip-hop, especially in light of what we're seeing with a resurgence in women in hip-hop. But we also kind of talking about “what happened” in the studio for female artists and hip-hop. So, it does exist. No, it hasn't been tackled or addressed in the same way. I think that we're going to see some more of those stories bubbling up. And, we're even going to highlight one of those stories this season.
Lamonier: Some women are very tight-lipped and seeing the R. Kelly situation, although people know what is happening, people still try to separate the man from the artist.
Scott-Young: But you know, I think what has been evident in what we're seeing in Hollywood is that the two are one and the same when you're talking about artistry. Music at its purest form is supposed to be a reflection of the person creating that music and if you believe that person is who they are in their music, then that means that music you're supporting is a reflection of the person who created it. So I don't think you can separate the two in that way. We just have to start holding people accountable for their actions, their thoughts, and the things that they believe in , in a way that hopefully exposes some of the stuff that like you said, there have been excuses made for repeatedly.
Lamonier: You've accomplished so much, pivoting from music, television, consumer brands, and now books. When it comes to pivoting, what is it the first thing that you do when you want to try something new?
Scott-Young: It depends on the direction that I'm going in, but it always has to have some connection to where I am. As much as I love to explore and to be fearless moving into different areas, I never want to do it in a vacuum where it doesn't make sense. I recognize and respect the fact that you have to put in the work from square one every step of the way. Starting out in television, there was the opportunity for me to attach myself in a way that doesn’t happen in this industry. There was a cache to having celebrity clients and the ability to get what they call a vanity credit, but it was really about me understanding the business, learning about the business from the ground up, being a real contributor to the business.
And that's what I think I've managed to do the same thing when I transitioned into consumer products with Myx - this wasn't a celebrity attachment or ancillary business for me. It was a real company that we were starting from the ground up, I made it my business to learn as much as I could. I was up at 6:00 AM talking to sales teams before they went out into the field -I am never complacent and I never take any of my past success for granted as I move into a new business endeavor. I give the venture the attention, care, research, the knowledge base, and the hard work necessary to give it the best chance for success.
Lamonier: Do you have any interests outside of entertainment and media?
Scott-Young: I'm working on an entertainment based cruise, but it really ties together. Just the audience that I tapped into and the world that I've navigated both in music and in television. I’m taking that and creating an experience for those fans. I'm looking [to launch] in 2019, top of 2020 - It’s called the “I Love Hip Hop Cruise”.
Lamonier: You know, you're always working. I read that after you delivered your child you were trying to respond to emails. What does an off day look like?
Scott-Young: So it's really something that I've been I'm affording myself because I do recognize that life is precious and fleeting. Every single day that goes by the day you can't get back, I work at maximizing those days and giving it my all. But I recognize the need to fuel myself in the form of just a mental unplugged day or surrounding myself with friends and family, which is really important to me. They'll leave laughing when you say that, the minute that I have some down time, I want to bring everyone together and have a party. I'm cooking and hosting, but for me, that's really what makes me happy.
There’s so much that I want to accomplish and put in motion, I understand that's going to require my focus and my time as well. I don't want anything that I am involved in to not get that focused attention from me, so it’s a juggle and struggle that I recognize. I don't put unrealistic expectations on myself, I don't beat myself up when I'm not able to give the same kind of time to everything that I get dragged to every single day. I try to find that balance and sometimes I'm successful at it and other times, again, it's a struggle.
Lamonier: What would you call this chapter in your life right now?
Scott-Young: You know I'd refer to it as my second life, right? I've had the great fortune of being successful and impactful in music and here I am moving into a completely different genre of entertainment, hopefully having that same, not only measure of success but impact. It's an exciting chapter for me I have been blessed to have the opportunities that are presenting themselves. I think that there are so many things that I have been developing and focusing on that are finally coming to fruition. It's been an amazing ride so far, but I'm really excited and looking forward to this second phase of my life.
Lamonier: Tell me, what’s it’s been like writing your book “Blurred Lines” with Courtney Parker? How has the reception been and is there a part two coming out?
Scott-Young: We're still getting out of the gate by selling the book. We made the choice to sell the book directly, so it is available on Monami Direct , which is our own platform because eventually, the goal is to continue to build on the services and the products that we offer to MonamiDirect, so that we can not only have that engagement with the fans and the audience and the consumer base, we can open up the dialogue between them and between us and them.
We have had great reception to the book. We're going into the holidays, I'm hoping people purchased the book as a gift. It was a new business venture for me both on the selling side, and on the creative side. Courtney and I had a lot of fun conceptualizing and putting those ideas to paper. It was a fun process. I do think that the best case scenario would be to adapt this into a television or a film project. So that's kind of the long-term goal.
Lamonier: You’ve done so many interviews, what is one question you wished someone asked you?
Scott-Young: I talk a lot about, [maybe] where I am now versus where I thought I'd be. One of the things I like to do is leave folks who are curious about me with this idea that, you know, the sooner we recognize who we are, what our capabilities are and our mission, our purpose is, you know, the better off we are.
We spend a lot of time thinking about what [other] people think about us, but I'm talking about what we believe about ourselves, what we think about ourselves? I never had the benefit of a college education. And so for me, that was always this doubt that's nestled in the back of my head and I never really understood how that has manifested itself and held me back.
And it wasn't until, you know, as an adult, I really came to understand that this thing that I didn't have did not define what I was capable of. And once I understood and embraced that, I felt like it freed me up to really fully realize my potential. And even now, every single day I marvel and really enjoy surprising myself about the kinds of things that I tackle and accomplish every single day, let alone, you know, the bigger picture. So I always wanted to say to people, and this isn't about the cliché, love yourself. This is really about getting to know yourself, understanding yourself, identifying what those unique gifts are, and then believing in them, you know. Fuel them, utilize them, turn them on with the switch - whatever that thing is that allowed you to be the best you, get to that as soon as you can, however you can.
Once you're in that space, once you stepped into this space, once you recognize, own and embrace that space, that's when you're really kind of living... And that's really the phase of my life that I'm enjoying right now.
Lamonier: I know you were raised by a Haitian mother, in what ways has your Haitian-American background helped your career?
Scott-Young: My mother was functionally illiterate. And I've talked about that openly because I recognize how difficult and frustrating it must have been for her. She was the most dynamic, driven, ambitious person that I knew growing up. I have a lot of those same traits myself, but I have the education to navigate the world in a way that allows me to accomplish those things.
Realizing that with all of those hurdles that she had to overcome, she still was able to provide a nice home, clothing, and an education for us with stability, and security. I realized that nothing is unattainable. I come from the DNA of someone who navigated every obstacle that had been thrown at her and still managed to not only be successful in her own life, but raise children that were successful as well. It’s not just a philosophy that I adopt, I recognize that it's in my DNA.
Lamonier: Lastly, Forbes came out with their 30 under 30 list. As someone who achieved so much after 30 and continues to achieve more, what’s your advice to those pressed to be successful under 30?
Scott-Young: The comparison to other people and their accomplishments is never the path to success because it puts you in a position where you're putting too much pressure on yourself and judging too harshly. So for those who have achieved under the age of 30, God bless you and more power to you.
For those who are still in the process of finding that place where they're fully able to realize their potential and seize success that they're destined for, I say keep going. It's certainly never too late. Until you’re six feet under you have the ability to course correct, to take control and to change your life in whatever way you see fit. Maximize your gifts and your potential. Do yourself proud so that you can go to sleep at night knowing that you have done the best that you could do it in every waking moment of your life. | www.forbes.com | Unscripted and Unafraid: "Love & Hip Hop" Exec Mona Scott-Young is Creating Life on Her Terms | https://www.forbes.com/sites/plamonier/2019/01/01/mona-scott-young-love-and-hip-hop/ | 2019-01-01 |
Mfonobong Nsehe | 2019-01-01 13:14:56+00:00 | 2019-01-01 12:49:00 | Pan African Tobacco Group (PTG), Africa’s largest indigenous producer of cigarettes and other Tobacco products, reached a milestone recently by celebrating its 40th anniversary. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmfonobongnsehe%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fafricas-largest-tobacco-company-celebrates-40-years-in-business%2F.json | en | Pan African Tobacco Group (PTG), Africa’s largest indigenous producer of cigarettes and other Tobacco products, reached a milestone recently by celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Rwandan multi-millionaire businessman Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa founded the company in 1978 when he began manufacturing cigarettes in Burundi in 1978 after a successful stint as a commodity trader across Africa. Ayabatwa subsequently established a manufacturing plant in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1984, and later expanded into the South African market in 1991. Between 1996 and 2011, PTG commenced manufacturing in Angola, Uganda, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and South Sudan. The company's latest addition is the processing plant in Arua, Northern Uganda, established in 2013.
At a glamorous ceremony in Ras Al Khaimah on the 16th of December, PTG recognized the hard work and dedication of its employees and managers, especially those individuals who have been with the company since its founding.
"It gives me great pride in recognizing the commitment of PTG employees, our clients, and business partners in celebrating our company's 40th anniversary. We have come a long way since the business was started forty years ago. And are very excited about our future as PTG continues to thrive," Ayabatwa said in a private conversation with this reporter.
Ayabatwa also expressed his gratitude to the communities as well as government functionaries in the countries where PTG does business.
“Forty years ago, we took the first step of building a uniquely indigenous African company not driven only by the profit motive but in seeking to work with families and communities so that they can improve their own livelihoods. Public authorities also greatly facilitated our work for which we are most thankful," he said.
Ayabatwa, who is one of Africa’s most notable philanthropists, said his most memorable accomplishment has been working with families and communities in the various regions in which PTG does business. "Poverty has long been an endemic problem in Africa. It has been my lifelong goal to provide opportunities especially for African youth," Ayabatwa said. "Having been denied a formal education after the eighth grade, I had to work that much harder to prove myself. I do not want any child to experience that. This is why PTG works with communities to make it easier for young people to get the education they need to succeed. Education is the ticket from poverty."
Operating across Africa and in the United Arab Emirates, PTG is a homegrown company with deep roots in each sub-region of the continent. In PTG’s forty-year history, the company evolved to become one of Africa’s indigenous manufacturers of consumer goods. PTG has manufacturing facilities and assets in Angola, Burundi, DR Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ugandan and the United Arab Emirates. The company employs more than 4,000 people on a full-time basis across all its operations.
Contact me through email at mfon.nsehe @ gmail.com or via Twitter @MfonobongNsehe | www.forbes.com | Africa's Largest Tobacco Company Celebrates 40 Years In Business | https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2019/01/01/africas-largest-tobacco-company-celebrates-40-years-in-business/ | 2019-01-01 |
Grace Segers | 2019-01-01 20:05:31+00:00 | 2019-01-01 19:55:48 | Democratic congressional aides expressed skepticism about the briefing, saying the agenda for the session is unclear | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-invites-congressional-leaders-to-white-house-for-briefing-on-border-security%2F.json | en | President Trump has invited congressional leaders of both parties to the White House on Wednesday for a "briefing" on border security, according to a congressional source. Wednesday marks the 12th day of the partial government shutdown as the president and Democrats remain at odds over Mr. Trump's insistence on $5 billion for improving security on the border.
Democrats are set to take over the House on Thursday, with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi set to be elected speaker. Mr. Trump invited Pelosi and incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to Wednesday's meeting, as well as Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his number two, Sen. John Thune, have also been invited, as have Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and whip Dick Durbin.
Democratic congressional aides expressed skepticism about the briefing, saying the agenda for the session is unclear. One aide, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the invitation "appears to be more of a White House stunt" than a "serious attempt to have a discussion."
The last meeting between Democratic leaders and Mr. Trump occurred three weeks ago.
Pelosi and Schumer unveiled the outline of their bill to end the partial government shutdown when Democrats take control of the House. But the bill includes only $1.3 billion for border security, far short of Mr. Trump's request of $5 billion. The White House said Monday he will reject it.
Mr. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he was willing to make a deal with Pelosi.
"Border Security and the Wall 'thing' and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let's make a deal?" Mr. Trump wrote.
Steven Portnoy contributed reporting. | www.cbsnews.com | Trump invites congressional leaders to White House for "briefing" on border security | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-invites-congressional-leaders-to-white-house-for-briefing-on-border-security/ | 2019-01-01 |
Declan Eytan | 2019-01-01 05:45:01+00:00 | 2019-01-01 04:56:00 | Following the September 2018 announcement of luxury group Michal Kors Holdings acquiring the Versace fashion house for a sum exceeding $2.1 billion, the American conglomerate announces on Monday it has completed the takeover. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fdeclaneytan%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Fmichael-kors-holdings-finalizes-versace-acquisition-changes-name-to-capri-holdings%2F.json | en | Following the September 2018 announcement of luxury group Michal Kors Holdings acquiring the Versace fashion house for a sum exceeding $2.1 billion, the American conglomerate announces on Monday it has completed the takeover. The addition of Versace to its portfolio, coincides with the luxury group’s decision to change its name to Capri Holdings, starting January 2.
Donatella Versace salutes during the Versace fashion show in New York, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki) photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESSThe company that is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker Kors – soon CPRI - is betting on Versace to help grow group revenues to $8 billion in the long term. In addition, Capri Holdings aims to increase Versace’s global retail footprint from 200 to 300 stores, accelerate e-commerce and omni-channel development, plus expand accessories and footwear from 35% to 60% of revenues.
“With the acquisition of Versace, we have now created one of the leading global fashion luxury groups in the world,” John Idol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Michael Kors Holdings, said in a statement. A statement, in which Idol also explained that the name Capri was inspired by the Italian island’s glamorous reputation. The Chairman of the group which brand portfolio includes Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, adds “The acquisition of Versace is an important milestone for our group. Versace was founded in 1978. For over 40 years, Versace has represented the epitome of Italian fashion luxury, a testament to the brand’s timeless heritage. We are excited to have Versace as part of our family of luxury brands, and we are committed to investing in its growth. With the full resources of our group, we believe that Versace will grow to over $2.0 billion in revenues. We believe that the strength of the Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo brands, and the acquisition of Versace, position us to deliver multiple years of revenue and earnings growth.”
As part of the deal between Michael Kors Holdings and the famed Italian luxury brand, the Versace family shall receive €150 million of the purchase price in shares of Capri Holdings Limited. Donatella Versace, sister of late Versace founder Gianni Versace, shall stay on as the brand’s Chief Creative Officer. In this new chapter, Versace’s management team will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Akeroyd, who Capri Holdings’ Chairman credits for driving growth and success for the Italian luxury brand worldwide.
Versace Chief Creative Officer, Donatella Versace, concludes “It has been more than 20 years since I took over the company along with my brother Santo and daughter Allegra. I am proud that Versace remains very strong in both fashion and modern culture. Versace is not only synonymous with its iconic and unmistakable style, but with being inclusive and embracing diversity, as well as empowering people to express themselves. Santo, Allegra and I recognize that this next step will allow Versace to reach its full potential.” | www.forbes.com | Michael Kors Holdings Finalizes Versace Acquisition, Changes Name to Capri Holdings | https://www.forbes.com/sites/declaneytan/2018/12/31/michael-kors-holdings-finalizes-versace-acquisition-changes-name-to-capri-holdings/ | 2019-01-01 |
Andrew Husband | 2019-01-01 23:45:00+00:00 | 2019-01-01 22:59:00 | Netflix quietly pulled an episode of 'Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj' that was critical of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from subscribers in that country. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fandrewhusband%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fnetflix-patriot-act-hasan-minhaj-saudi-arabia-episode%2F.json | en | While Netflix subscribers across the globe were busy perusing the new Comedians of the World special on New Year's Day, critics were alarmed to discover that the streaming giant had pulled an episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj for viewers in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, as The Hollywood Reporter notes, the platform had removed the hit show's second episode, which is all about Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his influence, at the request of the country's government.
"Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia," Minhaj, a former correspondent for The Daily Show, says in the episode, which is still available for viewing in North America. "And I mean that as a Muslim, and as an American."
The episode, which dives into Mohammed bin Salman's (or MBS's) growing power in and outside of Saudi Arabia, starts with the alleged killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Many intelligence sources, including those here in the United States, have laid the blame directly on the Saudi Crown Prince.
"Just a few months ago, [MBS] was hailed as the reformer the Arab world needed, but the revelations about Khashoggi's killing have shattered that image," Minhaj continues. "It blows my mind that it took the killing of a Washington Post journalist for everyone to go, 'Oh, I guess he's really not a reformer.' Meanwhile, every Muslim person you know was like, 'No shit, he's the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.'"
Per Financial Times, Netflix confirmed that Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission had officially requested that the episode be taken down for subscribers in its region "because it allegedly violated the kingdom's anti-cyber crime law." The streamer also issued an official statement on the matter:
"We strongly support artistic freedom and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request -- and to comply with local law."
Neither Minhaj nor anyone affiliated with Patriot Act has spoken out about the matter on social media or elsewhere. However, some -- like writer Mark Agee -- have shared or retweeted links to news coverage of the matter from Financial Times and elsewhere.
To be fair to Netflix, the company's decision to err on the side of caution and "comply with local law" is a legally defensible position in the grand scheme of things. Considering the nature of Khashoggi's alleged murder and the many other valid criticisms levied against MBS and his government, however, the streamer's decision to remove the episode from its Saudi Arabian catalog raises more questions than not.
The move also adds to Patriot Act's growing notoriety, both at home and abroad, and will surely influence Minhaj and company when they return with all new episodes later this year. | www.forbes.com | Netflix Pulls 'Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj' Episode Critical Of Saudi Arabia | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewhusband/2019/01/01/netflix-patriot-act-hasan-minhaj-saudi-arabia-episode/ | 2019-01-01 |
Emmie Martin | 2019-01-01 14:18:42+00:00 | 2019-01-01 08:02:09 | Now retired from swimming, Olympian Michael Phelps still has big goals. To stay motivated, he keeps a hand-written list of what he wants to achieve in his closet, so that he sees his goals every day. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2018%2F12%2F20%2Fmichael-phelps-strategy-for-reaching-his-goals.html.json | en | Michael Phelps knows what it feels like to achieve his goals. As the most decorated Olympian of all time, he's earned 23 gold medals, three silver and two bronze.
Now retired from swimming, Phelps is concentrating on his next chapter, which includes work with Colgate's Save Water campaign, which aims to reduce water consumption by 50 billion gallons per year, as well as being a dad to his two sons. But he still has big goals for himself.
To stay motivated, Phelps keeps a reminder of what he wants to achieve in his closet so he sees it as he gets dressed every day, first thing in the morning.
"I write my goals down on a piece of paper and they're there where I can see them because I have to have a reason, I have to see something for why I'm getting up in the morning and what I'm doing that day," he tells CNBC Make It.
No one else sees Phelps's hand-written goals. It's something he does purely for himself because, "not every day do I want to get out of bed, not every day do I feel great. So I want to see exactly what I'm doing and why I'm putting myself through this."
To Phelps, achieving his goals is the definition of success. And each individual accomplishment adds up to something greater, he says.
"For me in the sport of swimming, the star at the end is changing the sport, and then everything else is in the middle," he explains. "All the medals, records, everything else came, but the big goal was just changing the sport." | www.cnbc.com | Michael Phelps' strategy for achieving his goals | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/michael-phelps-strategy-for-reaching-his-goals.html | 2019-01-01 |
Christopher Null | 2019-01-01 14:45:34+00:00 | 2019-01-01 14:00:00 | Razer Blade 15 is one of the best gaming laptops. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fforbes-finds%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Frazer-blade-15%2F.json | en | Razer has made a name for itself by producing highly capable gaming laptops that still manage to be svelte in design and construction. Can a real gaming computer successfully combine portability and bleeding-edge performance? Let’s give Razer’s flagship computer, the Blade 15, a spin.
Design
It’s right there in the name: the Blade is all about keeping things thin and portable, though at 23mm thick, the Razer Blade 15 was surprisingly not quite the thinnest machine in this roundup, nor was it the lightest. The machine’s overall design is an exercise in restraint. Aside from bright, color-tunable backlighting (and the boldly green Razer logo on the back of the lid), the laptop is almost demure. Built entirely from a single block of aluminum that is precision milled and finished in anodized matte black, it’s like the 2001 monolith – if it ran Windows. The keyboard is quite flush but spacious (though the somewhat smallish keys and quirky arrow key layout take some time to get used to), and an enormous touchpad fills at least a third of the palmrest space. Altogether, it’s a very attractive system that nonetheless doesn’t call too much attention to itself.
Features
Razer’s Synapse software gives you ample control over the keyboard backlighting, letting you assign colors on a key by key basis (at least with the advanced model of the laptop, reviewed here). The base model is also color-tunable, but the entire keyboard has to be set to the same color, though you can use Synapse to let those colors shift, “breathe,” or otherwise change over time. Audio includes two (non-name-brand) speakers situated to either side of the keyboard, which give it plenty of oomph but nothing earth-shattering. Oher thoughtful features, like a braided power cable, add to the luxe design and feature set.
Specs
The Blade 15’s specs are solid across the board. The 2.2GHz Core i7-8750H CPU (eighth generation) and 16GB of RAM are standard, as is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. The 512GB SSD included here isn’t massive, and while a secondary hard drive would be beneficial for many users, it’s probably a fair tradeoff given the streamlined design of the unit. Port selection is almost as good as it gets, with three traditional USB ports, one USB-C jack, full-size HDMI output, and a mini DisplayPort jack. The lack of an Ethernet port is reasonable given the thickness of the machine, but an SD card slot is somewhat missed. All ports are located on the sides of the machine, keeping the back completely clear.
Performance
The Razer Blade 15 turned in mixed benchmarking results during performance testing. On general application tasks (including web page rendering, business productivity applications, and digital media creation work), it outperformed all other machines in the roundup by a small, 6 percent margin. However, on graphics and gaming tests, the Blade often took a back seat. Its VRMark score was the lowest in the roundup (15 percent below average), but its other scores hovered much closer to typical. Screen brightness is solid, a nice companion to the vivid keyboard backlighting. A selection of benchmark scores follows.
Battery
With 6 hours, 29 minutes of run time based on a full-screen video playback test, the Razer Blade 15’s battery had much more longevity than I was expecting. Things aren’t as great when the laptop is under load, but even active, unplugged gamers shouldn’t have any trouble keeping their streak alive when an outlet is far away.
Conclusion
While it’s a bit heavier than it looks, the Razer Blade 15 is a solid, powerful laptop with plenty to recommend it. Performance doesn’t quite brush the bleeding edge, but it powered through most of my tests without much trouble. At a price of $2099, it’s definitely one of the pricier laptops in this comparison, but that pricing is not so expensive as to be outrageous. Gamers with an elevated sense of style should put this unit near the top of their consideration list.
Shop Now | www.forbes.com | Razer Blade 15 Review | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-finds/2019/01/01/razer-blade-15/ | 2019-01-01 |
Ian Stewart | 2019-01-02 00:26:13+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The Saudi government asked Netflix to remove an episode of the comedian's show Patriot Act that was critical of the regime over the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Netflix said it was following local law. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681469011%2Fnetflix-drops-hasan-minhaj-episode-in-saudi-arabia-at-governments-request%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Netflix Drops Hasan Minhaj Episode In Saudi Arabia At Government's Request
Enlarge this image toggle caption Matthew Eisman/Getty Images for Ozy Media Matthew Eisman/Getty Images for Ozy Media
Last fall, the world watched as Saudi Arabia's official story about the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi changed, and changed again. A series of contradictory claims and denials came even as evidence emerged that Khashoggi's murder had been ordered by the country's crown prince.
Many people were angry, and that included the American comedian Hasan Minhaj, who blasted the Saudi government on his Netflix news-comedy show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.
"This is the most unbelievable cover story since Blake Shelton won sexiest man alive," Minhaj joked to his audience.
But the Saudi government isn't laughing.
Last week, it had Netflix remove the episode in that country. As the Financial Times first reported, a Saudi regulator cited a law that prohibits the "production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers."
In a statement to NPR, a Netflix spokesperson said, "We strongly support artistic freedom and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request — and to comply with local law."
The episode was also posted to the show's YouTube page, which is reportedly still accessible inside Saudi Arabia. Google, which owns YouTube, didn't immediately respond to questions about whether it had also heard from the Saudi government.
YouTube
In the episode, Minhaj called Saudi Arabia's actions a "cover-up" and went on to question the deep financial and political ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, the country's involvement in Yemen and crackdowns on women's rights advocates.
In an interview with The Atlantic about his show, Minhaj said he and his family discussed the potential repercussions of his criticism of the Saudi government, and that he now has fears about his own safety.
News of Netflix's decision was met with some criticism, including from the Washington Post's global opinions editor, Karen Attiah, who called it "quite outrageous."
This isn't the first time Netflix has removed episodes of a show at the request of a foreign government. According to a Netflix spokesperson, Singapore objected to three Netflix shows — Disjointed, Cooking on High and The Legend of 420 — because they have positive portrayals of drug use which is highly restricted in the country. | www.npr.org | Netflix Drops Hasan Minhaj Episode In Saudi Arabia At Government's Request | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681469011/netflix-drops-hasan-minhaj-episode-in-saudi-arabia-at-governments-request?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Ana Rosado | 2019-01-01 08:41:23+00:00 | 2019-01-01 07:25:01 | An informal history of New York's downtown scene, as seen through the lens of Blondie co-founder and guitarist, Chris Stein. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fstyle%2Farticle%2Fchris-stein-blondie-new-york%2Findex.html%3Futm_source%3Dfeedburner%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DFeed%253A%2Brss%252Fcnn_latest%2B%2528RSS%253A%2BCNN%2B-%2BMost%2BRecent%2529.json | en | Written by Ana Rosado, CNN
As co-founder and guitarist of the seminal new wave band Blondie, Chris Stein had an all-access pass to one of New York's most exciting cultural periods. And now he's offering a personal look at this bygone era in his new book, "Point of View: Me, New York City, and the Punk Scene."
The project serves as an informal history of the city's downtown scene in the 1970s. Among snapshots of derelict buildings and unsuspecting passersby are captivating portraits of William Burroughs, Andy Warhol and Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, alongside other creative fixtures of the time.
Stein may be better known for his musical endeavors, but his relationship with photography stretches back to his childhood in Brooklyn.
"I've always photographed what was around," he said in a phone interview. "I started screwing around with little cameras -- Brownie cameras as they called them when I was a kid."
1 / 6 Iggy Pop pictured during 1977's The Idiot Tour with David Bowie and Blondie. Scroll through to see more of Chris Stein's images. Credit: Chris Stein
Influenced by his friend Dennis McGuire, an apprentice of photographer and Warhol contemporary Diane Arbus, Stein began taking his practice more seriously at the age of 18. But his first break -- as a photographer, at least -- came a few years after co-founding Blondie in the early '70s. Iggy Pop and David Bowie invited the band to open for them on 1977's The Idiot Tour, and Stein was on call to capture the action.
"Bowie was a little cautious about having his picture taken," he recalled. "I don't think he actually thought I was a real photographer. He was more controlling about the stuff he put out of himself, so we have a couple of shots of him. But the stuff with Iggy -- he was down for anything."
An evolving city
As well as providing a record of a scene Stein helped build, his photos tell the story of New York's transformation.
"The city in 1970 was physically similar (to how it is now) in many ways, but the atmosphere was extremely different," he writes in his book. "It was much less crowded. There weren't many tourists. It was darker and there was more magic around."
Since then, he said, the city has changed significantly. Stein expresses particular disdain for Soho's "high-end shopping mall" look and the Meatpacking District's "plastic surgery" gentrification.
The magic of soul and funk in the seventies
The shiny skyscrapers of today's New York stand in stark contrast to the run-down neighborhoods in Stein's images -- and to his self-proclaimed love of "old, falling down, dusty stuff."
"I've always been attracted to the decay falling down," he said. "I don't know where that attraction comes from."
Fittingly, perhaps, the book ends with images of dust clouds, debris and transfixed observers in the aftermath of 9/11.
"There was about a year of very communal feelings, of togetherness, in the city afterward," Stein said of the terror attacks in his book. "And then, as if a switch was pulled, New York City began its ascent (or descent) to becoming the almost final form of a vast corporate world center."
From the book "Point of View" by Chris Stein. Credit: Chris Stein
Yet, despite his evident reservations, the guitarist expresses affection for the city at the heart of the punk and new wave scenes.
"It's different," said Stein, who still lives in West Village. "But there's still some freaky people around," he concluded. | www.cnn.com | An ode to New York: Vintage photos of the city's punk heyday | https://www.cnn.com/style/article/chris-stein-blondie-new-york/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29 | 2019-01-01 |
Dominic Dudley | 2019-01-01 17:44:56+00:00 | 2019-01-01 16:52:00 | After Airbus and Boeing orders were halted due to U.S. sanctions, the delivery of 40 planes from Sukhoi are now also “out of the question” say officials | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fdominicdudley%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Firanian-plan-to-buy-russian-jets-collapse%2F.json | en | A plan for Iranian airlines to buy Russian-built passenger jets appears to have collapsed as a result of U.S. sanctions, marking a further set-back for the country's beleaguered aviation sector.
Iranian airlines have been struggling to find ways to replace their ageing fleets ever since President Donald Trump announced in May 2018 that he was going to pull the U.S. out of the Iranian nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions.
Prior to that, in the brief period when most international sanctions on Iran were lifted, the country's airlines had ordered hundreds of new planes worth tens of billions of dollars from Boeing and Airbus.
However, since U.S. sanctions were reimposed both Boeing and Airbus have had to halt deliveries – during the brief respite from sanctions only three Airbus planes were handed over and none from Boeing. The U.S. trade restrictions affect both aircraft built in the U.S. and those from anywhere else which have a significant proportion of U.S. parts in them.
As a result, Iran has been searching for other options. The idea of buying planes from Moscow-based JSC Sukhoi was first mooted in early 2018. At the time, Iranian officials suggested the Superjet-100 aircraft would not need clearance from the U.S. as it had few American parts.
However, reports from Iran now suggest that view was overly-optimistic. According to a statement by Maqsoud Asadi Samani, secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, a deal for Iran Air Tours to buy 20 Superjets has now been put on ice. “The arrival of the planes is out of question for now,” he told the Iranian Labor News Agency on January 1.
The sticking point is that more than 10% of the parts in the Superjets are sourced from the U.S., which means that Sukhoi requires the approval of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the arm of the U.S. Treasury that monitors sanctions compliance, before it can sell its planes to Iran. That consent has not been forthcoming.
Aseman Airlines had also agreed to buy 20 of the Superjets, which have a list price of around $50.5m each. The two contracts were worth a little over $2bn in total.
The Superjet-100 would, in any case, only have met part of the fleet requirements of Iran’s airlines, given its limited size. It can carry up to 98 passengers, meaning it is not an alternative to the larger jets from Airbus and Boeing.
The latest set-back means Iranian aviation officials will have to go back to the drawing board as they look for ways to refresh their fleets. The country is estimated to require as many as 500 new aircraft, but with most of the world’s major manufacturers essentially out of reach, it has few options. Officials have reportedly been considering buying planes from Ukraine’s Antonov although its range of aircraft are, like the Sukhoi jet, also limited in size. | www.forbes.com | Iranian Plan To Spend $2B On Russian Passenger Jets Collapses Due To U.S. Sanctions | https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2019/01/01/iranian-plan-to-buy-russian-jets-collapse/ | 2019-01-01 |
Reid Frazier | 2019-01-01 14:00:32+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The air is getting dirtier around the country's largest coke fuel plant near Pittsburgh. But the push to clean up pollution is complicated when residents depend on the industry that's causing it. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681197037%2Fpittsburgh-struggles-for-clean-air-as-nearby-towns-pollution-worsens%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dbusiness.json | en | Pittsburgh Struggles For Clean Air As Nearby Town's Pollution Worsens The air is getting dirtier around the country's largest coke fuel plant near Pittsburgh. But the push to clean up pollution is complicated when residents depend on the industry that's causing it. | www.npr.org | Pittsburgh Struggles For Clean Air As Nearby Town's Pollution Worsens | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681197037/pittsburgh-struggles-for-clean-air-as-nearby-towns-pollution-worsens?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=business | 2019-01-01 |
Paul Tassi | 2019-01-01 16:15:31+00:00 | 2019-01-01 14:52:00 | Why is all year 1 armor in Destiny 2 useless? There are plenty of ways to give it perks and rolls and make it useful again. Here's how. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Finsertcoin%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fheres-why-destiny-2-cant-bring-back-year-1-armor-yet-and-how-to-fix-that%2F.json | en | One common refrain among Destiny players is that it makes little sense to keep making old gear irrelevant at this rapid of a pace. When armor received random rolls in year 2, for instance, the solution was not to just give all current sets random rolls and actual perks, but instead to just leave them with…literally nothing, allowing only year 2 armor and beyond to roll with actual perks.
What this means is that everything players worked to earn in year 1 is functionally useless, because having armor with no perks is a recipe to be at a huge disadvantage in every activity. But that means leaving tons and tons of sets behind. Ones from every destination, old Eververse sets, sets from Zavala and Shaxx, from the raid and Trials and Iron Banner. Those damn Solstice sets that we grinded for ages for. None of that is useful, and even if you can require it from collections, there’s no actual point in doing so without perks.
The problem is that you can’t just flip a switch and grant everything rolls all of a sudden because of the way the current economy and acquisition system is set up.
Right now for say, planetary vendors, you can simply buy individual pieces of armor directly from them. Even if you disallowed random rolls on those pieces, you can also turn in materials for engrams, materials that Spider now sells for legendary shards. What that would mean is that it would only cost you a handful of shards to keep rolling and rolling and rolling for god tier loot with the exact perks you wanted, but changing the Spider economy would mess things up for say, infusion.
Raids, Trials, Eververse and Iron Banner stuff are each their own issues, but Bungie isn’t even attempting to try and find a fix for any of it. So I will, because this is just way, way too much stuff to leave behind, and the more stuff there is try and acquire, the more engaged players will be. More so than getting their 98th Tangled Web set, that’s for sure.
Planetary Vendors – No longer sell individual pieces of gear, and no longer accept materials for random engrams. Give each a “heroic” bounty that gives out one piece of planetary gear a day (not powerful, just themed). Give planetary set rewards at the end of adventures that take place there. Have an increased chance to drop planetary sets when on patrol or running strikes in those areas. You could even add planetary gear to the Prime Engram loot pool so give Rahool more of a selection.
Raids – Just let people run the old raids and raid lairs and have gear drop like normal. You don’t get raid gear fast enough to make this a farming problem, so if people really want to hunt for good rolls on old gear this way, let them. Who cares.
Year 1 Crucible, Iron Banner and Vanguard sets – Allow players to pick between turning in tokens for old sets or new ones. If you want to encourage people to give the new set a shot, make getting the old set like, twice as expensive or something in terms of how many tokens gets you a piece. But it would still be a way to acquire stuff. Also periodically drop old gear as rewards in those activities.
Trials – I do not have a great answer for this one. Given that Trials no longer exists, these sets may have to stay dead. You could do something crazy like offer Xur 150 shards for one random piece of Trials gear you’ve already acquired, now with rolls, but this is a tough one given that the activity is just not in the game at all.
Escalation Protocol – Literally nothing needs to change. Just let people keep grinding it for random EP gear, it’s probably the best damn armor in the game. I never completed it enough to get full sets back when it was relevant, but at 650 power I sure have now even with just a couple randoms, and it’s a bummer that gear is just pointless now (outside of the weapons).
Solstice Gear – Another tough one because this was a one-time-only event. At the very least, just give everyone random rolls on the pieces they still have. They might suck, but at least they’d have the potential to use them. I’m not sure how more rolls would work for these unless there was some sort of grand re-roll mechanic for everything, but that’s an issue for another day.
Eververse/Holiday sets – You may have heard my philosophy that putting armor in Eververse at all is BS and all of this stuff should just be in the general loot pool. Put all old sets in there now with random rolls, and stop doing limited time only sets that are literally impossible to effectively farm for rolls.
The other, easier solution to all of the above is just to allow armor transmogrification, meaning you can pay some currency to make any rolled armor you want look like any piece of gear you’ve acquired. This may be the easiest fix if you don’t want to jump through all the above hoops, and I’ve already written about that extensively.
I don’t know if I’ve covered every old armor set in the game here, but that’s a good chunk of them. There is a way to make this work, and it really makes no sense that A) Bungie would take so time designing this stuff and B) players would take so much time earning it only to have be made irrelevant in a year’s time. That isn’t how loot-based games like this are supposed to work, and there are fixes here if Bungie wants to pursue them.
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Read my new sci-fi thriller novel Herokiller, available now in print and online. I also wrote The Earthborn Trilogy. | www.forbes.com | Here's Why 'Destiny 2' Can't Bring Back Year 1 Armor (Yet), And How To Fix That | https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2019/01/01/heres-why-destiny-2-cant-bring-back-year-1-armor-yet-and-how-to-fix-that/ | 2019-01-01 |
Ken Silverstein | 2019-01-01 17:44:59+00:00 | 2019-01-01 17:00:00 | America’s energy and environmental path has been cleared mostly because of free market economics, but also because of Donald Trump’s political problems. The states are taking the lead while utilities are embracing the green energy challenges. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fkensilverstein%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fas-trumps-political-clout-teeters-his-energy-policies-are-becoming-irrelevant%2F.json | en | While political uncertainty fills the New Year, energy security, thankfully, does not. The United States is shedding coal-fired power plants and replacing them with natural gas and renewables. And this is being done despite efforts by the president to curtail this course.
Warnings abound — ones that caution that the globe could overheat unless nation-states limit their heat-trapping emissions. Most recently, of course, the United Nations along with the National Climate Assessment have accentuated those findings. And while Donald Trump says that he trust his “gut instinct” more than those of the trained scientists — ditto for high-ranking military officials too — leaders at the local and state levels have taken the primary role.
Trump’s withdrawal of the Paris climate agreement has not stopped the states, with at least 30 of them having created policies to encourage more renewables and more energy efficiency. And, by extension, they are discouraging the use of carbon-heavy fuels such as coal. Among the leaders in this area are California, New York and Washington State. And there’s also New Mexico, New Jersey and Nevada, as well as Washington, D.C. that just passed a green energy goal of 100% by 2032.
“New Jersey’s solar program is a critical component of reaching our goal of 100% clean energy by 2050 and I am extremely proud that New Jersey recently surpassed 100,000 solar installations,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “We are committed to the continued success of our solar program and the growth of this important industry while best serving the ratepayers and our economy.”
U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions dropped 0.9% in 2017 from 2016 levels, says the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s 5.14 billion metric tons less, mostly tied to fewer coal-related emissions, it says. And altogether, CO2 levels are 14% less than they were in 2005. Moreover, the U.S. economy grew by 20%, while U.S. energy consumption fell by 2%, all during the same time period. Natural gas is replacing coal. It is both inexpensive and abundant, and it is half the emissions.
Take Public Service Co. of New Mexico, which has set a goal of replacing much of its coal-generated electricity with renewables and natural gas: by 2032, it says that 70% of its generation will be emissions-free. Similarly, Berkshire Hathaway’s NV Energy has asked its public service commission to add 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity as well as to build 100 megawatts of battery energy capacity in Nevada — the largest green investment that the state has ever made.
“The six new projects position NV Energy to keep its commitment to double renewable energy by 2023 and, importantly, by diversifying our state’s electricity generation portfolio, will reduce the costs to serve customers,” NV Energy’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Caudill said. The utility’s long-term goal is to get to 100% green energy.
Green Wave
To be sure, at least 10 states are against both the Paris climate agreement and the regulatory efforts to curb carbon at home. Ten state attorneys general sent a letter to the president that emphasized the need for portfolio diversity. Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin all signed the letter.
Those states are focused on using coal for electricity or producing it for sale. And they are drawing inspiration from a U.S. president who has vowed to rejuvenate coal, including his latest initiative to ease mercury standards — the most insidious emission of them all.
His rationale is that coal facilities are reliable and keep the lights on during harsh weather conditions, although U.S. regulators have said this step is not necessary. There are ample energy reserves, they ruled, even in coal-dependent areas.
"(T)he continued participation of the United States in the Paris Agreement creates significant practical and legal concerns of great importance to our States and our constituents," the attorney generals wrote, according to the State of West Virginia Office of the Attorney General.
Those states, though, are going against the grain: 16,000 megawatts of coal-fired power retired in 2018 — despite efforts by Trump and state attorneys general to reverse the trend, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That equates to about 20 coal plants. U.S. coal-fired capacity has fallen by a third since 2010, it adds.
Producing Results
But the solar market has also taken a hit because of the tariffs now in place. For the first time since 2015, quarterly additions of utility-scale solar photovoltaics fell below 1,000 megawatts, says the Solar Energy Industries Association. It does expect, however, that the total installed U.S. solar photovoltaics capacity to double over the next five years, or adding roughly 14,000 megawatts.
“The results of (our energy plan) illustrate that energy needs are changing, and replacing coal supply with renewable energy and more flexible generators will save money for customers in the long run,” says the Public Service of New Mexico, in its Integrated Resource Plan that runs to 2036.
It joins other power companies, including Xcel Energy, which has committed to eliminating its carbon emissions by 2050. It adds that it will be 80% of the way there by 2030, from a 2005 baseline. Meantime, Northern Indiana Public Service Co. — a NiSouce unit — has also vowed to retire early its entire coal fleet, replacing it with wind and solar plants. And, PacifiCorp — another Berkshire company — is doing something similar.
California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York State and Washington State are all promising to produce carbon-free power between 2040 and 2050. While some criticize those jurisdictions for overreaching, their green energy incentives and standards have produced results. Those states are even more compelled to act because of inaction at the federal level — or the withdrawal from domestic carbon reduction efforts as well as those by the global community.
Utilities are meeting the challenges and their long-range planning efforts reflect the changing dynamics: for most, natural gas and renewables are their path forward as they leave coal behind. That means the president’s political clout is teetering while his energy policies are becoming irrelevant. | www.forbes.com | As Trump's Political Clout Teeters, His Energy Policies are Becoming Irrelevant | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2019/01/01/as-trumps-political-clout-teeters-his-energy-policies-are-becoming-irrelevant/ | 2019-01-01 |
Sarah Whitten | 2019-01-01 14:18:36+00:00 | 2019-01-01 07:02:08 | Less than a year after taking the helm as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Brian Niccol is still scoring big with investors, fueling the burrito chain's best year since 2013. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Fchipotle-poised-for-best-year-since-2013-thanks-to-ceo-brian-niccol.html.json | en | Less than a year after taking the helm as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Brian Niccol is still scoring big with investors, fueling the burrito chain's best year since 2013.
Shares of Chipotle soared nearly 50 percent in 2018 — the stock's best performance since its 80 percent surge in 2013.
But it's struggled to regain customer trust after a series of foodborne illness outbreaks nearly three years ago. Ahead of those events, the stock peaked at $758.61 a share on Aug. 5, 2015.
While Chiptole's stock is currently almost half of that price at about $431 a share, Niccol's presence has reinvigorated confidence in the restaurant's ability to turn itself around. The former Taco Bell CEO's appointment has resulted in a more than 67 percent bump in the company's stock since it was announced in February.
Since joining Chipotle in March, Niccol has championed upgrades to the company's mobile app, its internal software and in-restaurant technology. His goal has been to remove friction in all aspects of the ordering and making process, so that food gets to customers faster.
Niccol's strategy is as much about driving sales as it is about reminding customers who have left the brand what made them fall in love with Chipotle to begin with.
"It takes time to build a culture of accountability," Niccol said on an earnings conference call in July. "We know that when the food is delicious, the feel of the restaurant is great and we remove the friction from the flow of the order processes, no matter the channel, we delight customers."
While the Chipotle has been testing new menu items in limited markets across the U.S, it plans to be more focused in other areas of the business like improving its digital capabilities.
Chipotle has been updating its kitchens with a second-make line. These are buffets similar to the one at the front of the store, but are just for digital orders. The company is also rolling out digital order pick-up shelves, which are meant to prominently display online orders once they have been filled.
Additionally, Chipotle is testing drive-up windows just for guests to pick up digital orders.
These efforts, along with pricier burrito bowls and new marketing campaign which began in September, have bolstered sales. In the third quarter, same-store sales grew 4.4 percent.
Ahead of Chipotle's food safety issues, same-store sales have skyrocketed as much as 19.8 percent as consumers flocked to the restaurant. | www.cnbc.com | Chipotle poised for best year since 2013 thanks to CEO Brian Niccol | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/31/chipotle-poised-for-best-year-since-2013-thanks-to-ceo-brian-niccol.html | 2019-01-01 |
Nicole Trilivas | 2019-01-01 14:45:27+00:00 | 2019-01-01 13:55:00 | The “Legends of the Lost” host on traveling, executive producing and fighting the patriarchy. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fnicoletrilivas%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fmegan-fox%2F.json | en | The big-name stars of travel have been predominately male. Think: Anthony Bourdain, Bear Grylls, Rick Steves, Levison Wood and countless others. Barring Samantha Brown there are few long-standing female figures in the travel media space despite the fact that women continue to make up the vast majority of travelers.
But is the landscape slowly responding? In 2018, we saw Jennifer Aniston take the role of spokesperson for Emirates; chef and food writer, Samin Nosrat travel the world in the Netflix hit Salt Fat Acid Heat; and most recently, actress Megan Fox become the Travel Channel’s newest star with her show “Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox,” which premiered in December 2018.
Pursuing a passion for ancient cultures, the show—conceived and produced by Fox—follows her journey across the globe to examine ancient myths and mysteries. Here, she talks about how she made it happened.
How did “Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox” come about? Was it your idea from the start?
Yes, it was my idea. I pitched the show for almost two years after having found a production company. We were first greenlit and in pre-production at a streaming service, but unfortunately, that didn’t come to fruition…Then we started all over again. Eventually, it landed in a new format at the Travel Channel.
You’re not only the star of the show but also the executive producer.
I love executive producing! It’s hard to lend your image and voice to something when you have very little or no control over the final product, but in this case, I get to be much more hands on. I feel a tremendous sense of relief from that.
How did you choose what topics and locations to cover?
We chose a format that we felt was best suited for the Travel Channel audience. The idea being, we shed light on new discoveries that are happening around locations the viewer would already be familiar with.
This role isn’t necessarily what the public expected from you, and the first episode, “Viking Women Warriors” almost indirectly addresses this pigeonholing and the pre-conceived notions about you and women in general. Was this intentional?
I pushed to air that episode first because I feel it’s so topical and relevant to the greater conversation we are having as a society right now. I personally relate to having been, as you say, pigeonholed into assuming an identity—not of my own making, but rather the product of the conditioned, collective patriarchal mindset.
You’re so open about the fact that you may not have the formal academic background, but you do have the passion for this project. It’s very approachable how you follow your curiosity. How has it been working for you so far?
I started out on this journey feeling pretty confident in my knowledge on most of these subjects, but very quickly after meeting with archeologists and other experts, I realized that there is an enormous disparity between passionately reading about—and exhaustively Googling!—a subject and having actually spent your entire adult life researching and then actively discovering it.
You’ve talked about a transformational experience you had while filming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Giza. Have you had any formative experiences while shooting this show?
Yes, I met with a Native American couple that educated me on some of their oral traditions and the legends of giants ruling ancient tribes in America. Giving a platform to the Native American people’s voice is something I’ve become very passionate about, and I hope to be able to do more work in this area in the future.
Where would you like to go and what topics would you like to cover next?
Some of my favorite topics right now would be Göbekli Tepe, [note from the writer: an archaeological site in Turkey dating back to the 10th–8th millennium BCE] and other relevant archeology in that landscape…An interesting trifecta exists here: the Shroud of Turin, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Lost City of Giants.
Check out “Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox” on TravelChannel.com for special show extras including behind-the-scenes photos and exclusive videos. Experience “Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox” on Facebook and follow along on Twitter and Instagram for more exclusive content, updates and special videos. Follow host Megan Fox on Instagram: @meganfox. | www.forbes.com | Talking With Megan Fox, Travel Channel's New Star | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoletrilivas/2019/01/01/megan-fox/ | 2019-01-01 |
Jonathan Levinson | 2019-01-01 21:53:41+00:00 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 | A federal database of shell casings was expanded to over 200 local law enforcement agencies this year to let police use it in investigations that match casings with guns. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F678408216%2Fballistic-fingerprint-database-expands-amid-questions-about-its-precision%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | 'Ballistic Fingerprint' Database Expands Amid Questions About Its Precision
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jonathan Levinson /Oregon Public Broadcasting Jonathan Levinson /Oregon Public Broadcasting
At the Portland Police Bureau's North Precinct, Officer Jason Hubert is getting ready to fire a confiscated handgun into a thick metal bullet trap filled a thick sludge called snake oil.
He's about to enter a bullet casing into the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN), a nationwide database of high resolution images of shell casings managed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The NIBIN terminals and data are new investigative tools for hundreds of local police departments, allowing them to match markings on shell casings with casings found at other crime scenes, and sometimes with guns.
Hubert dons his bullet proof vest, eye and ear protection, and checks the weapon to make sure it works properly. After warning the precinct over a PA system of the test fire, a colleague holds out a net to catch the shell casings.
After conducting the test fire, Hubert places the casings under a microscope to choose which one is the best candidate to be imaged. In a dark room, hunched over a microscope, he explains he's looking for the best ejector mark. That's the mark left on the casing as it's expelled from the gun.
"The ejector mark is the fingerprint of the shell casing," says Hubert.
Until this year, the Portland Police would have to send these casings to a crime lab and results would take months to get back. But now investigators are getting results in a matter of hours instead of months. And instead of just being a resource for prosecutors at trial, the NIBIN "match" is being used by investigators to generate leads, despite uncertainty about the precision of the match.
"Ballistic fingerprint" not necessarily unique
NIBIN was started in 1999 and has primarily been used by forensics examiners to testify at trial about the likelihood that a bullet was fired from a particular gun. But that's all changing now. The Department of Justice is allocating money and resources to put NIBIN terminals into the hands of local police departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Suzanne Hayden helped get the NIBIN system into police departments so they could be used in local investigations.
"Each firearm that shoots a bullet leaves an imprint that's unique to that firearm," she says.
But some defense attorneys challenge the notion that the markings are unique, and the FBI says even expert testimony can't make that claim with certainty.
Janis Puracal is an attorney and the founder of the Oregon-based nonprofit Forensics Justice Project.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jonathan Levinson/Oregon Public Broadcasting Jonathan Levinson/Oregon Public Broadcasting
"The problem is no one's gone out and actually determined that it could only be matched to that gun to the exclusion of all other guns in the universe," says Puracal, who helps defense attorneys challenge forensic evidence that isn't supported by science. She points out that flawed firearms forensics have led to exonerations in the past.
In 2013 a Mississippi man's life was spared hours before his scheduled execution after the FBI said experts had overstated the science. In a note sent to the district attorney in that case, the bureau clarified that "the science regarding firearms examinations does not permit examiner testimony that a specific gun fired a specific bullet to the exclusion of all other guns in the world."
Claims of certainty, the letter said, "are not supported by scientific standards."
Puracal says using NIBIN as an investigative tool is less problematic than using it in court, but she still takes issue with its use.
That's because a NIBIN match, she says, can lead to cognitive bias in the investigators — a kind of tunnel vision.
"It's the idea that once we start building that narrative and it starts making sense the more things we see that fit into that same narrative," she explains.
Despite these reservations, almost 200 local law enforcement agencies own NIBIN terminals and are using the data as an investigative tool.
Moving cases forward
On a recent night in Portland, Sgt. Steven Wilbon has his eye on a car parked down the street from Jefferson High School. He pulls up and talks to the three people inside about the homecoming game that's just getting out. After a short conversation Sgt. Wilbon tells them to be good and drives off. As he leaves he runs their plates.
A sound effect comes back from the computer; Wilbon says it means the car is stolen. He turns around to go back, calling for backup. Officers approach the car from both sides, telling the people inside to keep their hands visible.
Wilbon said they found three loaded guns in the car. No one had the required conceal-carry permits, and the people in the car had outstanding warrants.
In the past the investigation may have ended with three people arrested and the guns placed in an evidence locker. But, because the Portland police have this new equipment, the casings were immediately entered into NIBIN. And because the Seattle police also use NIBIN, the ATF database indicated a match to shootings in Seattle.
A police department spokesperson in Seattle says it was a lead that moved their case forward — which is exactly how the Department of Justice intends for it to be used.
This story comes to us from Guns & America, a public media reporting project on the role of guns in American life. | www.npr.org | 'Ballistic Fingerprint' Database Expands Amid Questions About Its Precision | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/678408216/ballistic-fingerprint-database-expands-amid-questions-about-its-precision?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Jamie Waller | 2019-01-01 13:15:26+00:00 | 2019-01-01 11:47:00 | With every end to a year there are predictions and expectations for what the incoming year will bring. Will 2019 be the year investors fall out of love with the big tech giants and turn towards the unsexy businesses? | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjamiewaller1%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fwhy-investors-will-fall-out-of-love-with-sexy-businesses-in-2019%2F.json | en | With every end to a year there are predictions and expectations for what the incoming year will bring. So following the twists and turns of 2018, what can the business world expect in 2019?
There will potentially be a further decrease in global stock market values, leaving a mass of venture capital fuelled tech businesses without a route to liquidation and thus no means to return value to investors. This is important as many so-called ‘unicorn’ businesses tend to rely on the public markets for the $1billion plus liquidation events or exits.
In the past in the US, only approximately 10% of venture backed businesses completed their exit via an IPO. The past few years however have seen an increasing number of companies stay private for longer. This has led to companies taking on further venture debt in rounds that feature the second half of the alphabet as well as exploiting the secondary venture market where early investors are able to liquidate at a discount. So will the 10% remain 10%? An increase will be needed as keeping companies private for longer increases their value and thus reduces the chanced of a trade sale due to cash demands. Think about it, how many private companies have the cash to buy other companies valued at billions of dollars?
As we head into 2019 there is a greater demand on the public markets to liquidate some of these huge private assets and a decreasing public market and as such less investors and less money. This could be a big problem.
Have some of the huge tech businesses just left it too late?
Many of the tech unicorn type businesses on the public markets are way overvalued and most still can’t prove a business model of profitability. These big public tech businesses will decline in value along with the rest of the public markets (and probably at a faster rate) as will their private counterparts, who more worryingly, have nowhere to go to liquidate. This is compounded by the fact we will see a further slowdown and probably a global recession, kicked off by Brexit in Europe. Brexit won’t be the cause, it will just be the catalyst to getting a delayed recession started that politicians have been trying to prevent for so long.
So if things do pan out this way, what does 2019 hold for entrepreneurs?
Bad times for most, unfortunately. New venture funding will come to a virtual standstill and big business valuations will plummet. Valuable businesses will be sold in fire sales to reduce hedge fund positions and provide liquidity, leaving entrepreneurs who are holding what they think is €100m of stock with nothing due to the mix of preferred stock (which most investors hold) as opposed to common (which most management and entrepreneurs have). Meanwhile some private equity organisations will swarm in on anything with profitability and a potential to service 15%+ debt interest and restructure the organisations, sack the management and take the business through the down cycle to its private sale.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. The smart smaller scale entrepreneurs will do well.
Those that kept control, or took smart venture money from smart long term venture partners will continue to see growth. They will spend the next few years with reduced competition, able to focus on growth while their overvalued competitors concentrate on fighting off their investors who want out, the private equity organisations that want in and the administrators who want to close the doors and return some money to creditors.
These businesses will typically be the ones that did not need $500m of venture funding to get this far. Businesses like consultancy, outsourcing and manufacturing will benefit from the sexy tech that has been developed over the years and streamline their service with more competitive rates by reducing overheads through AI and robotics. In short, they will quietly add billions in value across the world increasing in value while the sexy ones fight to stay alive.
All of this will lead to a change in attitude. Investors will start to fall out of love with tech businesses promising to be the next unicorn and instead find more ‘boring businesses’ offering less risk and promising slow, steady growth far more attractive and stable. This doesn’t mean tech won’t be attractive… but rather than trying to find the next Google, smart investors will focus on finding technologies that can transform traditional industries.
With all this in mind, 2019 is going to be fun. Hold on to your pants it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Where some businesses will suffer others will do extremely well – and these businesses will be traditional, boring, unsexy businesses that have found ways to use technology to steam ahead. | www.forbes.com | Why Investors Will Fall Out Of Love With Sexy Businesses In 2019 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiewaller1/2019/01/01/why-investors-will-fall-out-of-love-with-sexy-businesses-in-2019/ | 2019-01-01 |
Lawrence Carrel | 2019-01-01 05:45:51+00:00 | 2019-01-01 04:38:00 | BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers and sponsor of the iShares ETF family, predicts, "a slowdown in global growth and corporate earnings in 2019, with the U.S. economy entering a late-cycle phase, but that the actual risk of a U.S. recession next year is low. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Flcarrel%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Fblackrock-sees-slower-earnings-growth-but-little-risk-of-recession%2F.json | en | BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers and sponsor of the iShares ETF family, released its global economic outlook and identified market themes for the new year.
The New York firm predicts, "a slowdown in global growth and corporate earnings in 2019, with the U.S. economy entering a late-cycle phase," wrote Richard Turnill, BlackRock’s Global Chief Investment Strategist, in the recently released BlackRock 2019 Global Investment Outlook.
BlackRock (BLK) is the largest investment management company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than $86 billion and $6.28 trillion in assets under management, according to Investopedia.
Turnhill said the firm expects "the Federal Reserve’s policy to become more data-dependent as it nears a neutral stance, making the possibility of a pause in rate hikes a key source of uncertainty. Rising risks call for carefully balancing risk and reward: exposures to government debt as a portfolio buffer, twinned with high-conviction allocations to assets that offer attractive risk/return prospects."
While the markets appear to fear that a downturn is near, BlackRock said the actual risk of a U.S. recession next year is low.
"Still-easy monetary policy, few signs of economic overheating and a lack of elevated financial vulnerabilities point to ongoing economic expansion," wrote Turnhill.
However, trade frictions between the U.S. and China looms over the markets. "We see trade risks more fully reflected in asset prices than a year ago, but expect twists and turns to cause bouts of anxiety," wrote Turnhill. "We worry about European political risks in the medium term against a weak growth backdrop. We believe country specific risks may ebb in the emerging world, and see China easing policy to stabilize its economy."
BlackRock forecasts stocks will outperform bonds in 2019, but investors need to buy quality companies that have cash flow, sustainable growth and clean balance sheets. It expects the U.S. to perform best on the global stage, but emerging market equities offer improved compensation for risk.
In the fixed income area, the firm upgraded U.S. government debt as a ballast against any late-cycle risk-off events. It currently prefers short- to medium-term maturities, but is turning more positive on duration. BlackRock said it favors up-in-quality credit.
In terms of total portfolio, it recommends investors stay away from areas with limited upside but hefty downside risk, such as European stocks.
Overall, the firm forecasts equities and bonds will post positive, but small returns in 2019.
"We see growth moderating, but little near-term risk of a U.S. recession," wrote Turnhill. "Corporate earnings growth is slowing but still decent. And bonds are looking more attractive, both as a source of income and as portfolio ballast against any late-cycle growth scares. The end of a decades-long bond bull market means negative stock and bond returns may become more common.... Trade frictions still loom but now appear more baked into asset prices. We are wary of European political risks and assets." | www.forbes.com | BlackRock Sees Slower Earnings Growth, But Little Risk Of Recession | https://www.forbes.com/sites/lcarrel/2018/12/31/blackrock-sees-slower-earnings-growth-but-little-risk-of-recession/ | 2019-01-01 |
Emma Newburger | 2019-01-01 15:17:06+00:00 | 2019-01-01 09:30:52 | A new year means new reads. To help you get your reading list started in 2019, CNBC Make It has collected book recommendations from a range of execs, including some from Square and Twitter. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2018%2F12%2F21%2Ftwitter-square--books-everyone-should-read-in-2019.html.json | en | Author: Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles
What it's about: This book explores ikigai, a Japanese concept of living and doing with joy, providing a framework for living with purpose.
Why you should read it: "It is an inspiring book that motivates us to continuously strive to find our passion and pursue only what makes us fulfilled," says Rachel Drori, founder and CEO of Daily Harvest, a subscription box company. "I started [Daily Harvest] because of my passion to keep myself and my family healthy, and it grew into an initiative to bring more fruits and vegetables into everyone's life. Reading 'Ikigai' inspires me to keep at it." | www.cnbc.com | 7 books to read in 2019, recommended by execs from Twitter, Square and more | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/twitter-square--books-everyone-should-read-in-2019.html | 2019-01-01 |
Janet Shamlian | 2019-01-02 00:13:04+00:00 | 2019-01-01 23:35:04 | Jazmine Barnes was killed after a gunman in a pickup truck pulled up next to the car she was in and started shooting | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fjazmine-barnes-mother-of-slain-7-year-old-recalls-shooting-as-manhunt-continues%2F.json | en | In her Houston hospital bed, LaPorsha Washington lay grieving and in shock over the death of her daughter.
"He left us a corpse. We no longer have a joyful 7-year-old running around," she said.
Jazmine Barnes was shot and killed early Sunday when a stranger pulled alongside their car on a service road and opened fire on Washington and her four daughters. The 30-year-old mom was hit in the shoulder.
Police believe the shooter, a white, bearded man in his 40s, was driving a red pickup truck. Security cameras caught a grainy image of the vehicle before the gunfire erupted.
"I replayed this moment in my head over a million times to see, did I cut this man off? Did I make a wrong turn in front of him?" Washington said. "I didn't — he fired at us for no reason."
Washington was able to drive away. When she pulled over to call police, she realized one daughter was hurt by the shattered window glass and Jazmine wasn't breathing. Her little second grader died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Now her family vows the killer will not go unpunished.
"Every crack, every rock, every corner that could be flipped, turn and turned around. We're going to be there," Washington said.
The sheriff is asking for the community's help to identify anyone who might fit the description of the shooter who also owns a red pickup. But that's a challenge in a city like Houston, where similar trucks are common. However, authorities are promising they will bring this individual to justice. | www.cbsnews.com | "He fired at us for no reason": Mother of slain 7-year-old recalls shooting | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jazmine-barnes-mother-of-slain-7-year-old-recalls-shooting-as-manhunt-continues/ | 2019-01-01 |
Aly J. Yale | 2019-01-01 17:45:09+00:00 | 2019-01-01 17:27:00 | Rising rents and increasing mortgage rates are squeezing housing affordability for everyone. But for residents of HUD-subsidized housing? Housing has never been more expensive. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Falyyale%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fhud-housing-realities-female-led-and-feeling-the-burn%2F.json | en | Rising rents and increasing mortgage rates are squeezing housing affordability for everyone. But for residents of HUD-subsidized housing? Housing has never been more expensive.
According to a new analysis from Porch.com, HUD residents are putting a whopping 29% of their income toward housing — up from 27.9% in 2009.
Monthly, that equates to about $315 in contributions per resident. Compared to the national average rent (which was over $1,400, as of December), it might seem a small number, but HUD residents make just a fraction of the average American’s income. Nationally, the median HUD household makes just $12,906 per year. The average household makes nearly five times that — $61,372.
The majority of HUD households are female-led, putting these residents at an even bigger disadvantage due to the vast wage gap between genders. According to the American Association of University Women, women make about 80 cents for every dollar men make.
“In many states, three-quarters of families receiving federal housing subsidies have a female head of household,” Porch reported. “Female Americans have higher poverty rates than their male counterparts, and half of the children in female-headed households fall below federal poverty thresholds.”
In April, HUD Secretary Ben Carson proposed a plan that would require HUD’s poorest residents to spend 35% of their income on housing, effectively raising monthly costs by $50 to $150 per resident. Carson backed off the rent hike when Congress increased the department’s funding in June.
Currently, about 3 percent of the American population lives in HUD housing. About 10 percent of HUD housing remains unoccupied, with the most vacancies in New York, California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois. In New York, nearly 50,000 HUD units sit vacant.
Much of HUD is currently non-operational or scaled back due to the government shutdown. | www.forbes.com | HUD Housing Realities: Female-led And Feeling The Financial Burn | https://www.forbes.com/sites/alyyale/2019/01/01/hud-housing-realities-female-led-and-feeling-the-burn/ | 2019-01-01 |
Andrew Wagner | 2019-01-01 05:45:21+00:00 | 2019-01-01 04:44:00 | Nearing the midway point of the season, the 25-10 Milwaukee Bucks own the NBA's best record. They've notched some impressive victories along the way but what's more impressive is how they've bounced back from each of their 10 losses. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fandrewwagner%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Fas-a-new-year-begins-the-bucks-have-the-nbas-best-record%2F.json | en | Regardless of what happens during the New Years' Eve slate of games on the National Basketball Association, the Milwaukee Bucks will begin 2019 with the league's best record.
Sure, there's still way too much basketball remaining before anyone can even think of pulling the crown of the Golden State Warriors' collective heads and absolutely, an uneven number of games played and percentage points have helped the Bucks to this accomplishment, but there's no denying that Milwaukee is in the midst of a special season and regardless of the circumstance, the accomplishment is a point of pride for those in the locker room.
"It means a lot," forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said of Milwaukee's success so far. "This is my first time playing on a team that's No. 1. This is a first for me and I'm pretty sure it is for those guys, as well."
"But at the same time ... we're not satisfied."
They've complied some pretty impressive wins along the way, opening the season with seven in a row -- including a 124-109 rout of then-undefeated Toronto -- to open the season. They went into Golden State and crushed the Warriors, 134-111, in early November then pummeled Portland by 43 just a few weeks later.
In all, the Bucks have won 17 games by at least 10 points, six by at least 20, three by at least 30 and one by at least 40. Their 8.9-points per game differential ranks first in the league, one of several categories Milwaukee leads this season.
To be fair, there have been a handful of stinkers in Milwaukee's 10 losses, most notably a 116-114 home loss to lowly Phoenix on Nov. 23 and more recently, a 94-87 stumble at Miami in which the Bucks scored all of eight points in the opening quarter.
But it's in those losses that the Bucks' real progress and evolution is most visible. More specifically, it's after those losses, as each of the 10 was followed by a victory. A year ago, the Bucks dropped consecutive games on nine separate occasions and were 22-14 in games following losses.
Giannis Antetokounmpo chalks Milwaukee's ability to bounce back as another sign of progress under Mike Budenholzer, who was hired over the summer to take over a team whose development had stagnated under the guidance of Jason Kidd.
"I was watching clips of me from previous years ... looking for ways to get better and what I'm doing differently now," Antetokounmpo said. "What stuck in my head was no matter what I was doing in the game, at the end, we were losing.
"That kind of hurt me. I was like 'man, why are we losing?'. It kind of hurt because this year, we're winning. When you lose, it's a bad feeling. I don't like that bad feeling and as a team we don't like that bad feeling. That's why we don't lose twice in a row; whenever we lose, we just try to play better as a team and get back on track. That's really what a winning team does. When you lose, you can let your emotions take over and start playing bad and bad ... but we just try to get back on track, playing as a team and get better."
When asked how the Bucks have been able to do that, Antetokounmpo paused for a moment then, in a fashion those who have followed him and the Bucks closely over the last few years, came up with the perfect Giannis-esque analogy.
"When you start drinking Coca-Cola, you don't like drinking generic cola; you don't want to go back," said Antetokounmpo -- who for the record has yet to land a soft drink endorsement. "I think that's it. When you start winning, you don't like going back to losing."
It that seems overly simplistic, it's not. Eric Bledsoe noted that not only have the Bucks not lost back-to-back games all year, they also haven't lost to the same opponent twice, something he chalks up to an improved level of focus.
"The focus is there and you can tell," Bledsoe said. "We're having fun and we're relaxed so if we stay like that, everything will be fine.
"We're going to lose games That's the nature of the game. But we can't get down on ourselves; there's always another game. We can sulk over losing or why we lost, we just have to keep moving forward and keep bringing the great energy we've been brining. As long as we do that, everything will take care of itself."
Whatever the reason for the improvement, Budenholzer isn't complaining. Having led good teams himself, and as a longtime assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, he's seen plenty of good -- even great teams -- and one of their hallmarks has been an ability to contain their losses.
"Those are the high-character, the really highly-competitive teams ... when they've lost a game, they don't let it happen again," Budenholzer said. "When you see one of those teams on your schedule, you don't want to be the team that plays them after they've lost.
"I don't know that we're there yet but it's certainly a quality we want to have in us." | www.forbes.com | As A New Year Begins, The Bucks Have The NBA's Best Record | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwagner/2018/12/31/as-a-new-year-begins-the-bucks-have-the-nbas-best-record/ | 2019-01-01 |
John Byrne | 2019-01-01 20:45:07+00:00 | 2019-01-01 19:20:00 | From a rankings fraud at Temple University's Fox School of Business to a charge of sexual assault at Columbia Business School, there was plenty of controversy in 2018 | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fpoetsandquants%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fthe-biggest-b-school-scandals-of-2018%2F.json | en | Each year, some of the world’s most elite business schools are embroiled in scandal. 2018 was no different — from deans resigning or being removed for various reasons, to complaints of hazing at a top school’s welcome week, to the mishandling of diversity and gender issues, we saw it all. But two big storylines in particular cast shadows upon some of the world’s top B-schools: rankings fraud and sexual assault.
This year, Columbia Business School earned headlines in the wrong way. Toward the beginning of the year was the #MeToo trial between a junior professor and senior professor. It was a literal case of what can and should be addressed in the business school setting when it comes to workplace #MeToo lessons. Later in the year, CBS Dean Glenn Hubbard announced he would step down from his job at the end of this academic year. And before year end, a current MBA student at the New York City school came forward with very legitimate proof that her and other female classmates had been sexually assaulted by their male counterparts at various school-related social functions.
And then you have rankings. Sometimes schools go too far in falsifying data, and that was the case with Temple University’s Fox School of Business. It turns out their stellar placement in various online MBA rankings was all a facade based on falsified data reported to U.S. News & World Report.
Below, in no particular order are the scandals and controversies that stood out the most in 2018.
It wasn’t an ideal kickoff to the holiday season for long-term USC Marshall Dean Jim Ellis. In December, the Los Angeles Times first reported he was being terminated effective on June 30th of 2019 — three years ahead of the end of his current five-year term. USC Interim President delivered the news, citing allegations that he failed to properly deal with a series of racial and gender bias complaints at the school over the past eight years.
The news came at an odd time for Dean Ellis, who will remain at Marshall as a faculty member. Earlier this fall, USC’s Online MBA program debuted at the top of the Poets&Quants ranking of online MBA programs. Two months ago, Ellis received a $70,000 bonus from the university. Just one month ago, the school received a stellar ranking, placing 13th in Bloomberg Businessweek’s most recent ranking of full-time MBA programs. To top it off, USC Marshall became the first major elite MBA program to reach gender parity in an incoming class, enrolling 52% women this past fall.
The termination of the highly popular dean has set off a firestorm of controversy — especially among his supporters, many of which are wealthy boosters and benefactors of the school. “Of these complaints, only about 10%—an amount you can count on both hands—were deemed sufficiently worthy of being passed on to the dean for further investigation and resolution,” wrote Lloyd Greif, a major benefactor of the Marshall School in a letter to the university’s board of trustees. “Jim dealt with all of those timely and appropriately. None of the complaints alleged any egregious misconduct, and none of them involved inappropriate behavior by Jim.”
Greif has led the charge to fight for Ellis.
“I was brought up not to look away when you see something wrong,” Greif told P&Q earlier this month. “I recognize there was personal risk in standing up for him. But I’ve got to sleep at night. I can’t let an injustice happen to an innocent man. I am not that kind of fair-weather friend. This is unjust.”
As of mid-December, thousands of people had signed a petition in favor of Ellis and hundreds of letters had been sent to the school on his behalf.
If there’s one MBA program that absolutely prides itself on being a leader and innovator in diversity and inclusivity, it’s the Bay Area-based Haas School of Business. It’s located in Berkeley, the town that led the free speech movement and played very large roles in the push for civil rights and disability rights. The campus has been a beacon for progress for decades. And this past fall, it enrolled just six African-American students into its full-time MBA program. It wasn’t just the small number that was the issue. The school enrolled it’s largest class ever at 291 and admitted 28 African-American applicants, meaning only about a fifth of African-American applicants admitted actually enrolled.
The result led the school to do some soul-searching and look inward as an institution. Stakeholders across the school including the student-led Race Inclusion Initiative, the Haas Alumni Diversity Council, the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, and the Black Business Student Association, created a Haas action plan to confront a perceived lack of inclusiveness at the school and details “necessary actions and concrete plans” for reversing a two-year trend that resulted in a 68% drop in black enrollment in the MBA program. Among the top recommendations: hire a director of diversity admissions and create scholarships available to under-represented minorities, or URMs.
“Our leadership team failed to react quickly or urgently enough,” reads the report, authored by Courtney Chandler, senior assistant dean and chief strategy & operating officer, and Jay Stowsky, senior assistant dean of instruction. “The leadership approached the data using an ‘academic’ lens. We looked at the positive previous eight-year trend of increasing African-American enrollment and saw the sudden decline as a two-year statistical anomaly. Even if historically this may have been within our normal range, it doesn’t make our response acceptable — we should never become comfortable with a norm of underrepresentation.
“We need to live up to all of our Defining Leadership Principles and question the status quo. Our actions need to match our intentions. Our slowness to act broke trust with our students and alumni. We are deeply sorry about this.”
The Hult International Business School is no stranger to catching bad online public relations flack. And this year, the school had another doozy when a former employee posted a very telling — and damning — post on Reddit. Under the heading of “Ex-Employee of Hult International Business School,” the anonymous poster essentially gave readers a play-by-play on how the school finds and closes would-be students for its MBA, Executive MBA, and other master’s programs in business.
At first, the process seems common and innocent enough. Not unlike other schools, Hult tracks people that complete the TOEFL and GMAT. Then, the leads are split into markets by regions of the world, including Europe, Asia, the U.S. and South America and then the cold calls begin and are made by a staff of people who spend their entire days on the phone.
“Closing isn’t done in one call,” the poster added. “First we call to make sure the number is correct, the individual could fit studies in their schedule, and most importantly tht they have some way to bring forth the ca$h needed ($20K-$40K depending on the program). Then, after having assessed all these needs (test scores not being a priority of course) a description is made of how amazing the school and its program are, and an excuse to have another call is set up (‘so that you can discuss with your family,’ ‘so that you can do the math/speak with the bank/etc,’ or the best one ‘at a time where we’ll have more time to speak.’).”
But then it went further when the poster, who describes himself as a Hult staffer who helped recruit students to the school’s programs, then claimed that Hult doctors its employment report for graduates. “Alumni that don’t find a job within three months are given the status of ‘entrepreneurs’ and don’t feature in employment statistics,” he alleged. “Or they are offered a job at Ult or one of its affiliates. This is also done to help the statistics” which claim that 91% of our students find a job within three months.”
The allegations set off furious questions and comments from many other Reddit users and led the school to respond.
“It sounds like a disgruntled former employee has shared some doubts about our stats which is of course unfortunate, but we can’t expect all members of staff to be familiar with the rigorous, standardized process surrounding rankings and accreditation,” said Markus Mandl, Hult’s chief marketing officer. “The fact that we are experiencing continued success in both, our ongoing accreditations process as well as in the premier rankings of business school programs is a testament to the positive impact of our unique approach to global higher education.”
Fake news is one thing, but a fake community and conversations is another. That’s what admissions consultant Daniel Morgan claimed Beat The GMAT has been doing in its online forums. Earlier this year, Morgan claimed that while BTG’s forums are designed to appear as a marketplace of ideas for curious would-be MBA seekers, the exchange of information is being manipulated by fake users that post high volumes of repetitive questions and generic comments, and that don’t interact or respond to questions.
BTG responded to the allegations by saying the site is just trying to keep up with the competition by employing common tactics that actually serve users well by, among other things, regenerating old content. Beat The GMAT claims to be “a social network where MBA applicants, students, admissions officers, GMAT teachers, and MBA consultants openly collaborate and share free advice.” But Morgan, who graduated with an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2012, says they are using dishonest tactics and even employing paid content generators under the title of “moderators.”
“I do think this stuff happens a lot (around the web),” Morgan, a former derivatives trader for Susquehanna International Group and equity analyst for Albert Bridge Capital, said. “I really feel that it’s something that needs to be brought to light. In my mind creating fake profiles to populate a forum with a view of profiting from it is an unethical practice.”
Earlier this year, when The Financial Times released its annual ranking of global MBA programs, a familiar name was absent. The IE Business School was nowhere to be found. The exclusion led to the firing of two staffers and forced resignation of another in an effort to regain the trust of the school’s alumni base.
In a letter to alumni and IE’s senior leaders, the school also said for the first time that it could not rule out the possibility of “wrong doing” by IE staffers that resulted in the newspaper’s decision to remove the school from its ranking for the first time ever. And has reassigned the management of the rankings from external relations to Martin Boehm, dean of the business school.
According to the FT, IE was excluded because of “irregularities” in the alumni survey, claiming that alums outside of the Class of 2014 — the intended alumni group to be surveyed — completed the survey. “We take the integrity of our rankings very seriously and this is not the first time a school has been disqualified,” a spokesperson for the FT told P&Q. “In this case, the quality of the data we received was not good enough. We received surveys completed by people who were not who we thought they were. We alerted IE to this issue and we have asked them to urgently tighten their data collection procedures so that they can be included in future rankings.”
The alumni survey makes up 59% of the ranking’s methodology. The FT has removed schools from its ranking, which launched in 1999, but has never removed a school as highly regarded as IE, which placed eighth in the 2017 ranking.
When INSEAD announced this summer that it would no longer be allowing its orientation, Welcome Week, it set off a tremendous outpouring from alums arguing for and against the controversial event. First reported by The Financial Times, two incoming INSEAD students formally filed complaints about hazing to the Comité National Contre le Bizutage, or French National Committee Against Hazing. The INSEAD newcomers charged that the student-run, one-and-a-half day event put incoming students through uncomfortable initiation activities. We reported a similar story and then the comments and emails to P&Qstaff members ignited.
As the school got a first taste of scandal, clear lines were drawn, and camps emerged both for and against the school’s Welcome Week. Among the more prominent voices calling for the event to be restored is Leonid Bershidsky, an INSEAD alum and Bloomberg columnist who wrote an opinion piece in support of the 35-year-old orientation tradition. “Welcome Week definitely got us out of our comfort zone, and I know many of us felt unsettled and, yes, unsafe or at least uncertain about our future at the school and its demands,” Bershidsky wrote in an essay. “Being forced to look at oneself in a harsh mirror held up by one’s peers could be even more traumatic than a 24-hour workout.”
At issue, was the portion of the week when students join student-run clubs that end up being fake. Some of the clubs put students through some embarrassing and excruciating rites of passage before the already enrolled students reveal to the incoming students the clubs are just made up.
One former student recounted her experience to P&Q and claimed she was asked to meet others at the Forest of Fontainebleau, a 110-square-mile national forest that borders INSEAD’s campus and is comprised of a massive maze-like network of trails with few distinguishing features. “I ran for hours. I climbed for hours,” the former student said, describing a scene more akin to a fraternity initiation than a club at a prestigious business school. “The club leaders would scream in our ears, calling us fat Renaissance rejects.”
Either way, the removal of the event certainly got a heated discussion going. For now, at least, future INSEAD students will not be participating in any hazing in Welcome Week.
It wasn’t a good year for Columbia Business School with some shocking sexually-related cases of harassment and abuse. First was the case of a senior professor — Geert Bekaert — who was accused by a junior professor and his mentee of sexual harassment. But what was in extra shocking was how Bekaert handled the allegations. Soon after learning of the accusations of Enrichetta Ravina, he send a blaze of emails to colleagues around the world calling the young professional, Enrichetta Ravina, a fucking evil bitch, crazy, insane, mentally unstable, paranoid, schizophrenic, and berserk. At one point, Bekaert confessed that he wanted to strangle her.
The trial, which eventually led to a $1.25 million payout for Ravina from Columbia’s B-school and Bekaert, was an unraveling of a once promising faculty partnership. Bakaert, who is 11 years older than Ravina, held some power over Ravina and her career at Columbia, where Ravina left before gaining tenure. Ravina accused Bekaert — one of Columbia Business School’s most senior professors — of abusing his power by sexually harassing her for more than a year, and then sabotaging her academic career when she continually fended off his alleged attempts to get her to go to bed with him.
At one point, she claims, Bekaert, who had a major influence over her ability to publish academic research vital to a forthcoming tenure decision, told her: “If you were nicer to me, your papers would move faster.”
“I’m already as nice as I can be,” she said she responded.
The case shown a spotlight on the abuse of power dynamics in the workplace that have become incredibly common and part of a larger national spotlight of the #MeToo movement.
This past July, as the $30 million case between two Columbia Business School professors was taking place, CBS Dean Glen Hubbard testified in court, calling the dispute “disgraceful,” “unprofessional,” and a “soap opera.”
“I’ve been teaching 35 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Hubbard told a New York City courtroom in mid-July. “The most common dispute — and even that I could count fingers on one hand — would be a teaching dispute, you know, who developed what materials for class, but I have never had to referee something like this in 35 years of being an economist.”
Hubbard, who has been Columbia B-School’s dean since 2004, was weary to get in the middle of the dispute before it went to court.
“It was serious,” he later testified, “because that involved their professional lack of communication, and I thought it was a soap opera. Sitting here today, I think it.”
2. Columbia’s Sexual Assault Case And The Administration’s Response
Months after the multi-million dollar sexual harassment case between two professors, another serious case of serious sexual misconduct surfaced at Columbia Business School. In November, a first-year MBA student came to P&Q, alleging she and other classmates had been drugged and raped by other full-time MBA students at Columbia. And what the student, Katie Brehm, did in reaction to the brutal attack was incredibly brave and courageous. The 31-year-old young professional wrote an email to the 70 fellow students in Cluster A, one of several groups assigned to take all of the first-year core classes together.
She wrote the Nov. 7th letter as much for clarity as anything else. Brehm had little recollection of what exactly happened the night she was assaulted at a social event celebrating the end of mid-term exams. She decided to rely on the recollections of her classmates and friends. From what she could piece together, Brehm had become convinced that a tall, white male classmate had slipped a date-rape drug into the Bulleit Bourbon she ordered at the bar and taken advantage of her blackout.
That night ended with a sidewalk spill that led to the diagnosis of a concussion, a rape kit assessment in a New York City hospital that found bruises on her inner thighs and vagina, indicating signs of forced penetration, and endless questioning of friends about what exactly happened at a private party attended by hundreds of Columbia Business School students.
“I have been MIA since the Jane Hotel because I am on short-term medical leave,” she told her classmates. “While it is partially for a concussion, it is predominantly because a fellow CBS student has drugged me three times this semester. I have spent the last two weeks in and out of the hospital, NYPD, and Columbia University gender based misconduct offices. At the Jane Hotel, three female students sustained concussions. If you want to believe that is a coincidence, that is your choice. Not only was I drugged, but I was sexually assaulted. I am not letting whoever did this to me get away with it…”
Even more traumatizing and frustrating for Brehm? Columbia’s lack of response to her plea for justice. There was no follow-up from Dean of Students Zelon Crawford after a 20-minute meeting on Nov. 7, shortly after sending the email to her Cluster A classmates. The dean, she says, never even sent a follow-up email or made a phone call to check up on Brehm to make sure she was okay.
She believes the school is protecting and harboring two criminals. ”They have sat on allegations of drug assisted sexual assault for over three weeks,” says Brehm. She recently hired a law firm that is exploring the potential of a civil suit against the school for failing to promptly and adequately deal with her serious charges and to protect her and the other female students at the school. A spokesperson for Columbia Business School declined to comment for the original story.
2018 started off with a bad bang for Temple University’s Fox School of Business. After placing first for four consecutive years in the U.S. News ranking of online MBA programs, Temple was left off the list. The reason? Falsifying data. The school had reported a slew of falsified data that would boost their place in the rankings. After a investigation that lasted until July, the school announced Dean M. Moshe Porat, who had been dean of the school for over two decades new about the falsified data.
In the immediate aftermath of that embarrassment, the university hired Jones Day to conduct an investigation.
“It is my duty to report that the Fox School, under the leadership of Dean Moshe Porat, knowingly provided false information to at least one rankings organization about the Online MBA,” wrote Temple President Richard M. Englert. “In addition to the misreporting of the number of students who took the GMAT from 2015 to 2018, the average undergraduate GPA was overstated, and there were inaccuracies in the number of offers of admission as well as in the degree of student indebtedness.”
The Jones Day investigative team interviewed 17 Fox employees and reviewed more than 32,000 documents. It concluded that, over the past several years, “Fox provided U.S. News with inaccurate information across multiple data metrics that are part of the publication’s OMBA rankings methodology. And while Jones Day focused on information that Fox provided to U.S. News relating to the school’s OMBA program, the investigation revealed that Fox provided U.S. News with erroneous information relating to other programs as well. On certain occasions, Fox’s reporting of inaccurate information to U.S. News was done knowingly and intentionally for the purpose of improving or maintaining Fox’s standing in the relevant U.S. News rankings.
The investigation sent shockwaves throughout the entire B-school community as cheating had officially become a thing in business school rankings. | www.forbes.com | The Biggest B-School Scandals Of 2018 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/poetsandquants/2019/01/01/the-biggest-b-school-scandals-of-2018/ | 2019-01-01 |
Trent Reinsmith | 2019-01-01 22:15:12+00:00 | 2019-01-01 20:55:00 | Henry Cejudo is set to defend his UFC flyweight title against UFC bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw on January 19 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Cejudo's manager doesn't feel Dillashaw will make weight for the fight. He expects Cejudo to face Joseph Benavidez instead. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Ftrentreinsmith%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fhenry-cejudos-manager-thinks-t-j-dillashaw-will-miss-weight-for-ufc-flyweight-title-fight%2F.json | en | The UFC’s debut on ESPN+ is fast approaching. That event, which features a title fight between flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw as its main event, takes place January 19 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
At stake in the headlining bout is Cejudo’s flyweight title. That means Dillashaw will need to weigh-in at 125 pounds or lower. There is no one-pound allowance for UFC title fights.
Dillashaw, who began his second reign as the 135-pound champion with a first-round TKO win over Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227, is confident that he can make the weight.
If Dillashaw does fail to hit the 125-pound limit, the UFC has a backup plan in place. Two-time flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez will step in and face Cejudo for the title if Dillashaw is heavy. Benavidez is scheduled to meet Dustin Ortiz on the main card of the event.
Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, said he feels the fight with Dillashaw is not going to happen.
“I don’t think T.J.’s going to make weight. And if he misses weight by .1 pounds, Joseph Benavidez is going to fight,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “We’re going to give Joseph a shot. One-hundred percent, if he does not make weight, Joseph Benavidez is getting a title shot. Because I personally don’t think he’ll make it. If he makes it, he’s going to be weak, fragile, and he’s going to have a long, long night with the champ. It’ll be a long night for T.J. He’s a good fighter, but he can’t fight at the pace Henry’s going fight him at 125. He doesn’t have the speed to fight Henry.”
There has been talk that the UFC has plans to shutter the flyweight division. In conversations, UFC President Dana White would neither confirm nor deny those rumblings. However, Abdelaziz said a win by Cejudo will keep the division intact.
“Henry’s going to keep the title. If he wins, he will keep the title,” said Abdelaziz. “If Henry wins, nobody’s going to take this title away from him. Nobody. He’s the king. … He is the defender of the flyweights, and he’s going to win the day for his flyweight brothers.”
Cejudo won the flyweight title in August when he defeated long-reigning champion Demetrious Johnson by split decision. Johnson had defended the title a UFC record 11 times before losing to Cejudo at UFC 227. | www.forbes.com | Henry Cejudo's Manager Thinks T.J. Dillashaw Will Miss Weight For UFC Flyweight Title Fight | https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2019/01/01/henry-cejudos-manager-thinks-t-j-dillashaw-will-miss-weight-for-ufc-flyweight-title-fight/ | 2019-01-01 |
Evelyn Cheng | 2019-01-02 05:45:45+00:00 | 2019-01-01 23:28:38 | Chinese President Xi Jinping was speaking in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of a policy statement that paved the way for increased communication between China and Taiwan. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2019%2F01%2F02%2Fforeign-involvement-in-taiwan-independence-intolerable-chinas-xi.html.json | en | On the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of a thaw in Beijing's relationship with Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized his position that the island is part of China and that foreigners should not interfere in the matter of Taiwanese independence.
"The issue of Taiwan is part of China's domestic politics. It is a core interest of China, and the ... feelings of the Chinese people, and foreign interference is intolerable," Xi said, according to an official English-language translation broadcast on state media.
Beijing views Taiwan as a province that has gone astray and has no right to international recognition as a separate political entity. Chinese authorities would like to bring the island under their control and they have indicated they would use force, if needed. In the last year or so, the Communist government has increased its pressure on multinational companies to refer to Taiwan as a part of China. | www.cnbc.com | Foreign involvement in Taiwan independence intolerable: China's Xi | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/02/foreign-involvement-in-taiwan-independence-intolerable-chinas-xi.html | 2019-01-01 |
Gary Suarez | 2019-01-01 19:15:03+00:00 | 2019-01-01 18:04:00 | The Christmas Eve released 'X100PRE' also tops the Latin albums chart. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fgarysuarez%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fbad-bunny-billboard%2F.json | en | Bad Bunny may have started his 2018 underrated, but he kicks off 2019 as one of the biggest and most recognizable contemporary hip-hop stars.
Fueled in no small part by the unconventional Christmas Eve surprise release of his debut album X100PRE, the Puerto Rican hip-hop sensation claims 11 positions on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs, accounting for 22% of the chart's entries this week.
Of these songs, three rank in the top ten, all notably repeating their rankings from the prior week. The Drake collaboration "MIA" takes No. 2 yet again and recent single "Solo De Mí" holds onto No. 6 in its second charting frame. Now 36 weeks into its run on Hot Latin Songs, urbano smash "Te Boté (Remix)" sticks to its familiar No. 4 spot, a place it has largely occupied since "MIA" first began charting there a dozen weeks ago.
As for the remaining eight entries, six X100PRE cuts make their Hot Latin Songs bow this week. Album opener "Ni Bien Ni Mal" impressively debuts at No. 16, while the uncredited Ricky Martin feature "Caro" grabs No. 32 and "Otra Noche En Miami" starts off at No. 36. Then there's "200 MPH" with Diplo (No. 42), "Tenemos Que Hablar" (No. 46) and "La Romana" with Dominican dembow artist El Alfa. Finally, a pair of Bad Bunny's non-album singles as a featured act alongside Latin music vets continue to chart: Marc Antony's "Está Rico" and Jennifer Lopez's "Te Guste."
With the benefit of only four eligible days in the completed qualifying week, several of these songs could've fared even better on the charts had the corresponding X100PRE been released on the preceding Friday as per industry custom instead of on a Monday. Nonetheless, the full-length itself debuts atop Top Latin Albums, knocking Ozuna's popular 2018 outing Aura to second place. It also comes in at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Safe to say, once X100PRE and each of its 15 tracks log a complete seven day frame of consumption, Bad Bunny will assuredly retain that No. 1 on the Latin albums chart next week and improve his ranking on the all-genre one as well. On the singles side, should tracks like "Ni Bien Ni Mal" climb higher, it may be the shake-up that Hot Latin Songs so sorely needs, what with its all-but frozen top five that continues to feature Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" despite two years on the chart.
Thankfully, even as DJ Snake's "Taki Taki" takes No. 1 for a fourth straight week, there are some strong signs that the chart's top ten is already undergoing some much needed change. Los Ángeles Azules' "Nunca Es Suficiente" at last reaches the single digits, claiming No. 9 after 15 weeks. Having been on Hot Latin Songs just as long, Christian Nodal's "No Te Contaron Mal" follows right behind at No. 10. And a number of other contenders aren't much further down, with Banda Los Sebastianes' "A Través del Vaso" reaching a new peak at No. 12 and Daddy Yankee's "Adictiva" team-up with Anuel AA holding on to No. 13 again. | www.forbes.com | Bad Bunny Logs Nearly A Dozen Simultaneous Billboard Latin Singles | https://www.forbes.com/sites/garysuarez/2019/01/01/bad-bunny-billboard/ | 2019-01-01 |
John Dillon | 2019-01-01 12:08:07+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | In 12 states and Washington, D.C., people in the country illegally can still get a driver's license. The process is meant to keep roads safe, but may put undocumented people at risk of deportation. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681241982%2Ffor-undocumented-immigrants-getting-a-drivers-license-could-spell-trouble-with-i%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | For Undocumented Immigrants, Getting A Driver's License Could Spell Trouble With ICE
Enlarge this image toggle caption Liam Elder-Connors/VPR Liam Elder-Connors/VPR
Federal immigration authorities searching for people in the country illegally have found a willing partner in state motor vehicle departments, according to immigration activists.
In a dozen states and Washington, D.C., undocumented people can still get a license to drive. The idea is that roads are safer if everyone using them has passed a driver's test.
But that licensing process may put undocumented people at risk of deportation.
In Vermont, migrant dairy farmworkers were targeted for deportation after they obtained drivers licenses, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Migrant Justice, a local activist group. The suit cites documents obtained under the state access to public records law that show the state Department of Motor Vehicles forwarded names, photos, car registrations, and other information on migrant workers to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
In one email, a state worker passed along "south of the border names" to ICE. In another email, ICE says a DMV worker should be recognized as an honorary agent.
Routine information sharing between the Vermont DMV was supposed to stop under a 2016 settlement with the state Human Rights Commission. But Lia Ernst, a lawyer with the Vermont ACLU, which brought the case that led to the settlement, said the cooperation has continued. Ernst is also among a team of lawyers who filed the federal lawsuit.
"What DMV has been sharing are photos, all the application materials, even going so far as to advise when people are coming in for appointments so that ICE come in and detain them there," she said.
This kind of Information sharing happens around the country, according to an investigation by the National Immigration Law Center. The pro-immigration nonprofit found that ICE accesses a national database of licenses and also gets more detailed information through relationships with state DMV employees.
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Dillon/VPR John Dillon/VPR
Enrique Balcazar, a farmworker and a leader of a local group called Migrant Justice, now faces deportation after his arrest by ICE in March, 2017.
He said the records show he was flagged by a DMV worker in emails to ICE.
"And when sending my information from DMV to ICE, a DMV official had written on it clearly that I was undocumented," he said.
The Migrant Justice lawsuit says ICE targeted leaders of this organization, with the DMV's help. Balcazar said in the past two years, 40 people associated with his organization were arrested by federal immigration authorities.
"Many of them have since been deported, and in nine of these cases, we have clear evidence that these arrests were retaliatory, targeting people because of their involvement in Migrant Justice," he said.
Migrant Justice sued ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the Vermont DMV, alleging that the agencies worked together to unlawfully target, harass and detain farmworkers and Migrant Justice activists. The group claims that ICE also used electronic surveillance and an undercover informant to track and ultimately detain and deport its members. The suit alleges that the tactics were aimed at depriving the farmworkers of their Constitutional rights of free speech and freedom to petition the government, and it seeks a court order barring the alleged surveillance and harassment.
DMV officials would not comment, and the court has given the state until late February to respond to the allegations. An ICE spokesman also declined to comment on the farmworker litigation, though he said the agency did not target people because of their political activism. He said enforcement priorities are based on border security, public safety and terrorism.
Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott said his office is investigating the cooperation between DMV employees and ICE.
"It wasn't my understanding that anything was being forwarded that couldn't be forwarded," he said. "We're going to look into that as well."
Yet the information sharing has added a new level of worry for the 1,500 migrants who work on the state's dairy farms.
Many of the farmworkers are from Mexico. So the Mexican government comes to the state a few times a year to help its residents renew passports or obtain other documents. In December, the mobile consulate set up shop in a church hall in Middlebury, near the heart of the state's dairy country.
Workers drove here from all over the state, some to get their passport photos taken, while others came just to meet old friends and share a meal of takeout pizza or home cooked tamales.
One dairy worker didn't need any government documents, but came instead for the food and camaraderie. Like many of his co-workers, he's in the country illegally, so asked to remain anonymous.
He's lived in the state for 14 years, and got his license soon after the 2014 law passed. "You can't live without [a] car. People live on cars," he said, citing a truism of life in Vermont. "You know, you don't have the grocery store like two-three minutes away, or five minutes away ... You got it like 10 minutes away — but driving."
Now he thinks more people will be afraid to go to the DMV.
"People are just going to think about more trying to get a license if the information goes to another place, you know what I mean," he said.
Another farmworker who also asked to remain anonymous drove down to Middlebury from near the Canadian border. He said people may choose to stay on the farms, or drive without a license.
"Some people they say 'oh, I'm not going to get a license because my information maybe go direct to Border Patrol, or any department," he said. | www.npr.org | For Undocumented Immigrants, Getting A Driver's License Could Spell Trouble With ICE | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681241982/for-undocumented-immigrants-getting-a-drivers-license-could-spell-trouble-with-i?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Frank Langfitt | 2019-01-01 12:08:34+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Ireland is a country that's politics were once dominated by the Catholic Church and now abortion is legal. The change marks a significant milepost in the country's political evolution. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368198%2Firelands-momentous-change-abortion-services-are-no-longer-banned%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Ireland's Momentous Change: Abortion Services Are No Longer Banned Ireland is a country that's politics were once dominated by the Catholic Church and now abortion is legal. The change marks a significant milepost in the country's political evolution. | www.npr.org | Ireland's Momentous Change: Abortion Services Are No Longer Banned | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368198/irelands-momentous-change-abortion-services-are-no-longer-banned?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Amy Held | 2019-01-01 17:10:04+00:00 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 | U.S. Strategic Command faced a backlash after it tweeted about the Time's Square ball drop, adding that "if needed" it would "drop something much, much bigger." | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681385905%2Fmilitary-apologizes-for-bombing-a-new-years-eve-tweet%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnational.json | en | Military Apologizes For Bombing A New Year's Eve Tweet
Enlarge this image toggle caption Getty Images Getty Images
U.S. Strategic Command is charged with controlling the nation's nuclear operations, but conceded it missed the mark with a New Year's Eve tweet comparing the famed ball drop to a B-2 bomber dropping weapons.
"TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball...if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger," read the now-deleted tweet from Stratcom's official account.
A slick video accompanied by pulsing music showed a bomber soaring through the air and releasing two conventional — not nuclear — weapons at a test range, according to media reports. "Stealth," "Ready" and "Lethal" flash across the screen in all capital letters. The video concludes with an explosion flashing into a huge fireball.
The backlash was swift, and by early Monday evening the unified command of four military branches had removed the tweet, issuing a mea culpa.
"Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values," it read. "We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies."
A spokeswoman told The New York Times that the video was actually reposted from earlier this year and "was part of our Year in Review series meant to feature our command priorities: strategic deterrence, decisive response and combat-ready force."
But in the hours the tweet was up, Twitter users reacted with confusion and contempt, some with alarm, calling its message disgusting, grotesque and terrifying.
Former Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub Jr., a sharp critic of the Trump administration who resigned in July of 2017, posted a screengrab of the original tweet, asking "What kind of maniacs are running this country?"
But other Twitter users defended the message, saying it was funny, that it actually gave assurances of safety and there was no need to apologize.
The reconsidered reminder of U.S. military might came as tensions with North Korea bubbled up once again.
In a New Year's Day address, Leader Kim Jong Un alluded to nuclear confrontation, saying he was willing to meet with President Trump but Pyongyang would be forced to take a different path if the U.S., "continues to break its promises and misjudges the patience of our people by unilaterally demanding certain things and push(ing) ahead with sanctions and pressure," according to a translation by The Associated Press. | www.npr.org | Military Apologizes For Bombing A New Year's Eve Tweet | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681385905/military-apologizes-for-bombing-a-new-years-eve-tweet?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=national | 2019-01-01 |
Ashlie Stevens | 2019-01-01 13:33:40+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | A discovered pre-Prohibition bottle of Old Taylor, named after a whiskey world icon, inspired a distillery to use chromatography to examine the bourbon's murky past and try to recover its flavor. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fthesalt%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F662575196%2Fkentucky-distillers-scientifically-emulate-a-century-old-bottle-of-bourbon%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnews.json | en | Kentucky Distillers Scientifically Emulate A Century-Old Bottle Of Bourbon
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ashlie Stevens/WFPL Ashlie Stevens/WFPL
Several years ago, while Marianne Eaves was in the midst of renovating Castle & Key Distillery outside of Versailles, Ky., she came across an antique bottle of Old Taylor bourbon.
The distillery grounds had originally belonged to Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. (known in the whiskey world simply as E.H.). Taylor was a leader in industrializing bourbon production during the early 20th century.
After Taylor died in 1923, the distillery passed through several owners, but eventually fell into neglect for 40 years. The grounds became a tangle of foliage and the exterior of buildings began to crumble.
Then in 2015, Eaves — who is the first female Master Distiller of Kentucky bourbon since Prohibition — along with her business partners, Will Arvin and Wesley Murry, began to bring the distillery into the modern age of bourbon production.
But that antique bottle of Old Taylor, which was originally released in 1917, inspired Eaves — whose background is in chemical engineering — to use new technology to examine the bourbon's past.
"The most dominant flavor in that 1917 bourbon was the butterscotch note," Eaves says. "That's something that bourbon aficionados and the 'dusty hunters' recognize about historic Old Taylor bourbon is this beautiful, rich, creamy, sweet butterscotch note — and the mouthfeel of that particular bottle was really unique for a historic whiskey."
That taste was something Eaves wanted to incorporate into Castle & Key's bourbon, but she was at a dead end of sorts. While modern bourbon brands keep meticulous notes on measurements and processes, pre-Prohibition brands, such as Old Taylor, were built largely on oral histories.
"They were just going all on flavor. They had these processes that had been handed down for hundreds of years, so they were just doing things the way the guy before them had — just knowing it would make alcohol," Eaves says.
And while she didn't know Taylor's exact process, Eaves had both tradition and science her side.
Susan Reigler, a bourbon historian and biologist, explains that in order for a distillate to be considered bourbon, it must meet a few basic requirements: the spirit has to be grain based; the mash bill (mix of grains) has to be 51 percent corn; it must be aged in new, charred-oak barrels; and it must not be introduced to the barrel at higher than 125 proof.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ashlie Stevens/WFPL Ashlie Stevens/WFPL
"Because of this, certainly, the process that goes on in the still is basically the same — the chemistry is the same," says Reigler, who is also the author of The Bourbon Tasting Notebook. "And the compounds in the spirit are something that can be assessed."
Which is exactly what Eaves did.
"We decided to use a good old-fashioned 'GC' — gas chromatography," she says.
Chromatography is a process used by scientists to separate a mixture of chemicals, in liquid or gas form, into components by running it over the surface of another substance, typically a liquid or solid. A visual example often used in classrooms is pouring a water droplet onto an ink mark on a piece of paper. The ink — which is a liquid mixture of several dyes — will separate on the paper into distinct, colored streaks.
In the case of the Old Taylor bourbon, the liquid was separated into different chemical compounds.
"Then we looked at these chemical compounds and from there, we were able to figure out what grains he was using, [and found] a yeast strain that has a similar flavor profile," Eaves says. "So that's how we went about it and constructed our recipe based on it, loosely. We didn't really want to replicate what he was making exactly, but take those flavor cues from the past, and then model our recipe around that."
The bourbon is distilled and is currently aging for a minimum of four years.
According to Reigler, many people still don't recognize all the science and technological innovations that underpin the bourbon industry — from increasingly computerized distilling systems to spirits analytics like what Eaves did with the antique bourbon.
"We have a lot more people in white coats that are involved in the bourbon industry, so I think all of that is very different than what E.H. Taylor would have been familiar with," she says. | www.npr.org | Kentucky Distillers Scientifically Emulate A Century-Old Bottle Of Bourbon | https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/01/662575196/kentucky-distillers-scientifically-emulate-a-century-old-bottle-of-bourbon?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-01-01 |
Ayesha Rascoe | 2019-01-01 22:29:44+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | President Trump welcomed the new year with a promise of a further fight with the Democrats, who have a plan to re-open the government that does not include funding for his border wall. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681382855%2Fas-2019-begins-trump-and-democrats-disagree-over-government-funding%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dmorningedition.json | en | As 2019 Begins, Trump And Democrats Disagree Over Government Funding
President Trump welcomed the new year with a promise of a further fight with the Democrats, who have a plan to re-open the government that does not include funding for his border wall.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
On this first day of 2019, the power in Washington is about to shift. On Thursday, Democrats take the House majority. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.
On the eve of the new year, Democrats announced a new plan for reopening the federal government, but Republicans have already signaled they are unlikely to accept that deal. I'm joined now by NPR White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe. Hey, Ayesha.
AYESHA RASCOE, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So what can you tell us about the Democrats' spending package? What does it look like? Is it - is it an earnest effort at a compromise?
RASCOE: Well, I'm sure they would say it is, but as with many things these days, Republicans would probably disagree. So it is some concrete action where up until now, you've had a lot of talk. Basically, it would provide a year of funding for most departments and agencies that are currently shut down. And then for the Department of Homeland Security, where this whole fight over the wall is happening, it would just provide this stop-gap fund - spending bill, basically pushing the issue back to February.
But there is no wall or barrier funding in this. So it's not clear it's going to go anywhere. Trump has said you cannot have border security without a wall, and Republicans in the Senate say they're not going to bring anything up that Trump won't sign. So even if this passes, it's not clear that - that anything will happen with the legislation that Democrats pass.
MARTIN: But they have to negotiate. I mean, they have to find a way out of this moment. Does either side have any leverage left?
RASCOE: So at this point, it seems like what the White House is focused on is trying to pressure the Democrats with the shutdown, with people being out of work saying, look, you have to come to the table, and you have to kind of show that you care about border security by giving us this money for the wall. But, of course, President Trump is making this case after Republicans lost the House in the midterms. So his leverage is greatly diminished.
And the Democrats, they're coming in kind of with the wind at their backs in the House at least. And they're saying, look, we want border security but not a wall. And they - which they don't think is effective - and they are also going to throw into President Trump's face that he said that he would own a shutdown and he would take responsibility for it and that Mexico is supposed to pay for this, even though Trump is saying that Mexico is going to indirectly pay for this.
But as you said, something has to give. There - there are hundreds of thousands of people not getting paid. And so the question is who is going to give, and what that might look like.
MARTIN: President Trump closed out 2018 with an interview with Fox News. And we've got a clip of what he said. Let's play that.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm in Washington. I'm ready, willing and able. I'm in the White House. I'm ready to go. They can come over right now. They could have come over any time. I spent Christmas in the White House. I spent New Year's Eve now in the White House. And, you know, I'm here. I'm ready to go.
MARTIN: Sounds like he's just sitting there, waiting for the Democrats to come over and knock on the door. Presumably, he's in the mood to negotiate?
RASCOE: Well, he's in the mood to talk. I don't know about negotiating. That's the question. Like, what is he going to give the Democrats that would make them come to the table? Because what the White House has been offering has not been enough. So what can they give to them that would make the Democrats want to make a deal? That's the question.
MARTIN: NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, thanks so much.
RASCOE: Thank you.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | As 2019 Begins, Trump And Democrats Disagree Over Government Funding | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681382855/as-2019-begins-trump-and-democrats-disagree-over-government-funding?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | 2019-01-01 |
Prudy Gourguechon | 2019-01-01 11:44:59+00:00 | 2019-01-01 10:30:00 | New Year's resolutions always fail and therefore are inherently depressing. Instead, make a list of your accomplishments in 2018--you'll be surprised at how long and satisfying it is. And then set some achievable goals, broken down into doable tasks. It's psychologically smarter. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fprudygourguechon%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fwhy-you-should-ditch-depressing-new-years-resolutions-and-do-this-instead%2F.json | en | The psychology behind New Year’s resolutions is faulty. Resolutions can't lead to sustainable behavior change because they are not constructed in a way that harnesses motivation and turns it into action and change. We’re all bound to fail to lose that weight, get to inbox zero, exercise more, stop drinking so much and feel more gratitude. And because resolutions don’t work, they are inherently depressing.
Make New Year’s resolutions and you set yourself up to feel like a failure, a loser, a lazy person. And paradoxically, because you fail so quickly and thoroughly (have you ever resolved to lose weight and then pigged out five hours later at a New Year’s Day football watching party?) you easily give up trying to change.
New Year’s resolutions typically involve one of three wishes. The wish to stop avoiding something (getting rid of all the junk in your inbox). The wish to stop doing something that makes you feel good (eating, drinking, smoking). Or the wish to start doing something that doesn’t come naturally to you (journal, express gratitude, exercise).
Changing repetitive, familiar personal behaviors or adding new, unfamiliar ones are very, very difficult things to accomplish.
Why are New Year’s resolutions guaranteed to fail?
Your behaviors are not just simple habits. They have deep roots and are embedded in intricate psychological, social and neurocircuitry systems. Your behavior is a complex product of your personality and temperament, your various emotional and physical needs (both in the past and in the moment), your learned experience and neurochemical feedback loops well beyond your awareness.
They have deep roots and are embedded in intricate psychological, social and neurocircuitry systems. Your behavior is a complex product of your personality and temperament, your various emotional and physical needs (both in the past and in the moment), your learned experience and neurochemical feedback loops well beyond your awareness. Avoidance is an especially devious trickster. When you avoid something that makes you anxious or uncomfortable (e.g. that email inbox with 2,300 emails) you immediately are rewarded by a decrease in anxiety. If you face the thing that you’ve been avoiding, you immediately experience an increase in distress. In the long run, it's quite the opposite. Persistent avoidance increases overall anxiety significantly. And facing things you’ve been avoiding eventually leads to a sustainable decrease in tension and anxiety. But to face the things you've been avoiding you have to tolerate a short-term increase in anxiety. That is hard to realize and to do.
When you avoid something that makes you anxious or uncomfortable (e.g. that email inbox with 2,300 emails) you immediately are rewarded by a decrease in anxiety. If you face the thing that you’ve been avoiding, you immediately experience an increase in distress. In the long run, it's quite the opposite. Persistent avoidance increases overall anxiety significantly. And facing things you’ve been avoiding eventually leads to a sustainable decrease in tension and anxiety. But to face the things you've been avoiding you have to tolerate a short-term increase in anxiety. That is hard to realize and to do. Giving up behaviors that make you feel better (eating, drinking, smoking) is difficult for obvious reasons. What are you going to give yourself when you feel bad if you can’t do what makes you feel better? How are you going to handle the overloaded feeling at the end of the day that makes you want to relax with a drink or the sense of deprivation that makes eating so satisfying? Additionally, any behavior that provides a reward leads to a compelling surge in the brain's neurotransmitter dopamine, something we are wired to want to repeat.
(eating, drinking, smoking) is difficult for obvious reasons. What are you going to give yourself when you feel bad if you can’t do what makes you feel better? How are you going to handle the overloaded feeling at the end of the day that makes you want to relax with a drink or the sense of deprivation that makes eating so satisfying? Additionally, any behavior that provides a reward leads to a compelling surge in the brain's neurotransmitter dopamine, something we are wired to want to repeat. Taking on new behaviors that haven't come naturally to you means you’re swimming upstream, against your own temperament, your body’s instincts and your unconscious emotional life.
The behaviors you resolve to change are difficult to change because they work for you, at least in the short run.
Do this instead: First review your accomplishments, then set goals
Why you should review and write down the past year’s accomplishments
You will be less anxious, more focused and more optimistic. It’s likely that you’ll be surprised at how much you’ve accomplished. Write a long list. Things you’ve learned, people you’ve met, projects you’ve completed. Be generous and inclusive. New experiences are accomplishments, so is surviving a failure or a loss.
Ambitious, career-minded people, especially those with an entrepreneurial bent, are always focused on the future. The next challenge, the next networking meeting, the next iteration of their business model, the next promotion, the next marketing effort. This upward, forward push is highly motivating. But it also deprives you of a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. You don’t feel filled up and you don’t feel good about yourself. Instead, there’s chronic anxiety, depletion and impatience.
Why goals work better than resolutions
In addition to being psychologically unrealistic, resolutions are too global and vague to be turned into motivated action. A resolution is something whose main function is to punish yourself. It’s essentially not doable.
If you’re a productivity advice junkie, you’ll see a version of this invaluable advice everywhere: set an achievable goal and then break down the tasks needed to get there into bits that you can actually complete in a finite amount of time.
“Start a blog” isn’t doable. “Write five blog posts a month” is also not doable. But tasks formulated this way are doable: “Write down three blog topics to write about this month” or “Schedule 45 minutes three days a week to work on blog posts.”
Try to formulate tasks so that it’s difficult to fail. If you get frozen, it’s possible to fail at “Write for 45 minutes.” It’s a lot harder to fail if you set yourself the task “Write, or at least sit in front of the computer trying to write, for 45 minutes.” If you don't fail repeatedly, you won't feel ashamed, demoralized or become avoidant.
I hope you take a few moments to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing what you’ve accomplished during the past year. Then make one resolution: to always stick to achievable goals and break them down into doable tasks. | www.forbes.com | Why You Should Ditch Depressing New Year's Resolutions And Do This Instead | https://www.forbes.com/sites/prudygourguechon/2019/01/01/why-you-should-ditch-depressing-new-years-resolutions-and-do-this-instead/ | 2019-01-01 |
Sara Brittany Somerset | 2019-01-01 13:14:59+00:00 | 2019-01-01 12:02:00 | Hawking their IPO to drum up investors violates the search engine's rules and the SEC's quiet period. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fsarabrittanysomerset%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fgoogle-removes-high-times-from-search-results%2F.json | en | Infamous OG weed website High Times took a big hit when Google removed the site from its search engine results. The company was advertising their dubious Initial Public Offering (IPO) on banner ads which violate the search engine's terms and the Security Exchange Commission's (SEC) "quiet period" regulations. Google dropped the site after multiple warnings.
Subsequently, High Times' site traffic drastically declined from approximately 58,000 hits to a mere 18,000 in less than a month. As of December 25, the site's global SEO ranking slipped by 42,289 to 56,442nd place, according to an Alexa search.
The significant drop in traffic poses an imminent danger to the overall value of a brand which relies heavily on analytics to placate investors. Additionally, a site formerly renowned as a pioneer in intrepid reporting and professional pot journalism has switched to an almost entirely aggregated, content mill model, with mostly monetized "pay-to-play" product reviews.
The lack of search engine availability negates the visibility of any of the site's digital offerings. Since the domain is banned, its available content is not apparent via a Google search.
Google dropping the company's search listing is the latest blow for the beleaguered brand.
After multiple failed attempts to get listed on the Nasdaq and the OTC, for lack of sufficient revenue, High Times acquired rival pot publications Dope, for $1.2 million and Culture, in the hopes of increasing revenue.
Additionally, the brand relies heavily on its Cannabis Cup events for revenue. However, the cancellation of a few Cups in California and elsewhere last year impacts the brand's bottom line. No Cannabis Cups are occurring for the foreseeable future.
"Senior management hopes to pivot from these failures and bolster their revenue by licensing the High Times brand name and trademarks to dispensaries and delivery services," says a source close to the company. CEO Adam Levin himself has also said as much.
Meanwhile, despite violating the SEC's quiet period regulations, and possibly additional SEC rules by using Google, YouTube and the company's subscriber data to facilitate the sale of shares by credit card (and a rescinded offer to purchase shares using cryptocurrency), the company is still pursuing a NASDAQ or OTC listing to go public. | www.forbes.com | Google Removes High Times From Search Results | https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarabrittanysomerset/2019/01/01/google-removes-high-times-from-search-results/ | 2019-01-01 |
Amy Held | 2019-01-01 20:54:40+00:00 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 | A dozen people were hurt on separate continents after police say motorists deliberately plowed through crowds of revelers just past Midnight. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681422924%2Fcar-attacks-in-japan-and-germany-mar-new-years-celebrations%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnews.json | en | Car Attacks In Japan And Germany Mar New Year's Celebrations
Enlarge this image toggle caption picture alliance/picture alliance via Getty Image picture alliance/picture alliance via Getty Image
A dozen people have been injured in two separate car attacks, after authorities say motorists deliberately plowed through New Year's crowds celebrating in Germany and Japan just after the clock struck midnight.
In Western Germany, Münster Police say a 50-year-old man apparently set out on a rampage to kill foreigners in the first hour of 2019 in the city of Bottrop.
First he drove into a group of people who managed to leap out of the way, police said. He then headed toward the city center where he slammed his silver Mercedes into another group, injuring at least four. Syrian and Afghan nationals were among those seriously injured.
Next, the man drove to the nearby city of Essen where he tried and failed to hit people waiting at a bus stop, according to authorities. He was then placed under arrest, when police said he made "xenophobic remarks." Police said there are also signs the unidentified man is suffering from a mental illness.
And in Tokyo a 21-year-old man is under arrest after authorities say he deliberately slammed into revelers gathered in a bustling downtown district early Tuesday, hitting eight. A ninth person was hurt after the driver jumped out of his vehicle and punched him, reports The Associated Press.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
The man fled on foot, but police found him shortly after in a park, according to The Japan Times. The newspaper reports the man told authorities that he had perpetrated the act "in retaliation for an execution."
It would not be the first time a vehicle was weaponized in Tokyo. In 2008, a man killed several people after driving into a crowd of pedestrians, before jumping out and stabbing people with a knife, Reuters reports.
Germany has also seen recent vehicle attacks.
In April, a van driver killed two and injured twenty after accelerating into a crowd in Münster, police said. And in 2016 in Berlin, 12 were killed and dozens were injured when a driver barreled his truck into a Christmas Market.
The worst such incident on record occurred in Nice, France, on Bastille Day, 2016, when a truck driver mowed down scores of people, killing more than 80. | www.npr.org | Car Attacks In Japan And Germany Mar New Year's Celebrations | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681422924/car-attacks-in-japan-and-germany-mar-new-years-celebrations?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-01-01 |
Christopher Null | 2019-01-01 19:15:13+00:00 | 2019-01-01 19:00:00 | Best gaming laptops reviewed here: | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fforbes-finds%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fbest-gaming-laptops-you-can-buy-right-now%2F.json | en | Gaming computers are some of the most powerful electronic devices you can install in your home, but what if you want to play video games when you’re out of the house? The LAN party phenomenon, which sees gamers gathering in a single location to play as a group, continues to rise in popularity, despite the internet making group gaming sessions a snap. Since lugging a desktop, monitor, and keyboard to a friend’s house is a major hassle, the gaming laptop has emerged as a solution.
Years ago, the very concept of a laptop that could play the latest games was a laughable idea. Saddled with underpowered components, these laptops offered pitiful performance while still costing a small fortune. Some manufacturers even tried to jam desktop parts into a monstrous, portable case. “Laptops” that cost upwards of $7000 were not uncommon.
Fortunately, the situation has changed. Both CPU and GPU manufacturers have embraced the mobile market, and builders can now produce laptops that can keep up with desktops on just about any gaming title. These machines are also smaller (in some cases much smaller), and prices have fallen dramatically. Expect to pay $2000, give or take, for a cutting-edge gaming computer that should be able to handle anything you throw at it for the next two to four years, depending on the configuration.
What to Look For
That said, if you want top-level performance, you still have to pay for it. Two grand isn’t pocket change, so you’ll want to take special care to check specifications, configuration details, and benchmark results before you hand over your credit card.
When looking at specs, consideration number one, far and away, is the unit’s graphics card, or GPU. At present, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 is the typical standard on high-end gaming laptops, though you’ll also see the next-generation GTX 1080 showing up in even more expensive machines. (One of these is reviewed below.) Another, less commonly seen option is the AMD Radeon Vega series. AMD graphics will invariably be paired with an AMD CPU, and by and large, these systems can keep up with Nvidia machines – while shaving a few hundred bucks off the price tag. An AMD-configured laptop is also reviewed below. The bottom line with graphics cards, regardless of the brand, is to look for the most powerful option you can find, as this will future-proof your purchase more than any other component on the machine.
After the GPU, you’ll want to consider the trinity of CPU, RAM, and storage. Aside from the AMD laptop mentioned above, a Core i7 is standard on any high-end gaming rig. If you see a system configured with a Core i5 CPU, you’ll be limiting your performance unnecessarily. Similarly, a minimum of 16GB of RAM is an absolute must. A gaming laptop with less will be hamstrung in more ways than one. Lastly, storage is a tertiary, but still important, consideration, since games are very large in size and have to be installed on any laptop that runs them. 512GB solid-state drives are standard in this category and should be considered a minimum requirement. Anything less and you simply won’t have room for many titles. Some manufacturers will bundle in a slower secondary hard drive for less-frequently used files, but since this adds more weight to a system that’s often already quite heavy, they’re not that common.
While some gaming laptops are quite portable (generally featuring 15.6-inch screens), if size isn’t an issue, you might consider a larger unit with a 17.3-inch screen format. This doesn’t just give you the luxury of bigger LCD real estate, it also provides for a more spacious keyboard (usually of higher quality), better port selection, and other bonus features that often get cut from smaller systems.
A final consideration – aside from checking out the lighting effects that are common with gaming laptops – is upgradability. Many high-end gaming laptops are built to be upgradable by the owner, with removable panels to allow for easy access to key components. A solid upgrade plan will extend the longevity of any machine.
Systems at a Glance
For the gaming laptops in this comparison, I gave no submission restrictions to vendors, and the machines I received were all top of the line products. I found most to be worthwhile, though a few laptops did stand out above the field.
My top pick is the Asus Zephyrus S GX531GS, a strikingly original laptop that rearranges the trackpad to the right of the keyboard – and which, at just $1799, is a veritable bargain considering its power. If you need more juice and money isn’t a concern, consider the HP Omen X 17, a gargantuan (and heavy) 17-inch gaming laptop that pulls out all the stops when it comes to performance.
Finally, remember that pricing in this category varies widely from reseller to reseller, and prices can fluctuate dramatically over the space of a few weeks. Deals are common, so shop around and be patient once you’ve settled on a laptop that meets your needs. With that in mind, read on for detailed reviews of each of the five systems I evaluated.
Razer Blade 15
Razer has made a name for itself by producing highly capable gaming laptops that still manage to be svelte in design and construction. Can a real gaming computer successfully combine portability and bleeding-edge performance? Let’s give Razer’s flagship computer, the Blade 15, a spin.
Design
It’s right there in the name: the Blade is all about keeping things thin and portable, though at 23mm thick, the Razer Blade 15 was surprisingly not quite the thinnest machine in this roundup, nor was it the lightest. The machine’s overall design is an exercise in restraint. Aside from bright, color-tunable backlighting (and the boldly green Razer logo on the back of the lid), the laptop is almost demure. Built entirely from a single block of aluminum that is precision milled and finished in anodized matte black, it’s like the 2001 monolith – if it ran Windows. The keyboard is quite flush but spacious (though the somewhat smallish keys and quirky arrow key layout take some time to get used to), and an enormous touchpad fills at least a third of the palmrest space. Altogether, it’s a very attractive system that nonetheless doesn’t call too much attention to itself.
Features
Razer’s Synapse software gives you ample control over the keyboard backlighting, letting you assign colors on a key by key basis (at least with the advanced model of the laptop, reviewed here). The base model is also color-tunable, but the entire keyboard has to be set to the same color, though you can use Synapse to let those colors shift, “breathe,” or otherwise change over time. Audio includes two (non-name-brand) speakers situated to either side of the keyboard, which give it plenty of oomph but nothing earth-shattering. Oher thoughtful features, like a braided power cable, add to the luxe design and feature set.
Specs
The Blade 15’s specs are solid across the board. The 2.2GHz Core i7-8750H CPU (eighth generation) and 16GB of RAM are standard, as is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. The 512GB SSD included here isn’t massive, and while a secondary hard drive would be beneficial for many users, it’s probably a fair tradeoff given the streamlined design of the unit. Port selection is almost as good as it gets, with three traditional USB ports, one USB-C jack, full-size HDMI output, and a mini DisplayPort jack. The lack of an Ethernet port is reasonable given the thickness of the machine, but an SD card slot is somewhat missed. All ports are located on the sides of the machine, keeping the back completely clear.
Performance
The Razer Blade 15 turned in mixed benchmarking results during performance testing. On general application tasks (including web page rendering, business productivity applications, and digital media creation work), it outperformed all other machines in the roundup by a small, 6 percent margin. However, on graphics and gaming tests, the Blade often took a back seat. Its VRMark score was the lowest in the roundup (15 percent below average), but its other scores hovered much closer to typical. Screen brightness is solid, a nice companion to the vivid keyboard backlighting. A selection of benchmark scores follows.
Battery
With 6 hours, 29 minutes of run time based on a full-screen video playback test, the Razer Blade 15’s battery had much more longevity than I was expecting. Things aren’t as great when the laptop is under load, but even active, unplugged gamers shouldn’t have any trouble keeping their streak alive when an outlet is far away.
Conclusion
While it’s a bit heavier than it looks, the Razer Blade 15 is a solid, powerful laptop with plenty to recommend it. Performance doesn’t quite brush the bleeding edge, but it powered through most of my tests without much trouble. At a price of $2099, it’s definitely one of the pricier laptops in this comparison, but that pricing is not so expensive as to be outrageous. Gamers with an elevated sense of style should put this unit near the top of their consideration list.
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Asus Zephyrus S GX531GS
Part of Asus’s high-end Republic of Gamers lineup, Asus’ Zephyrus S GX531GS is a top-shelf gaming choice that pushes the boundaries of what we’ve come to expect from gaming laptop design. It’s wildly different in more ways than one, and we’ll explore them all posthaste.
Design
The Zephyrus S features a design that’s ostentatious at times, outrageous at others. Let’s start with the chassis. Crafted from a mix of aluminum and magnesium, it’s a slim slab of black metal (just 20mm thick, the thinnest laptop in this comparison) with a striking diagonal pattern on the upper lid that’s solid matte on one side, brushed metal on the other. The screen’s hinge isn’t placed quite at the rear of the machine, but rather about an inch forward, giving it a small ledge to rise above when opened. Oddly, Asus doesn’t use this extra room to place all the ports on the rear, but rather dots ports around three sides of the machine. When the screen is open, a special vent opens along the bottom rear of the laptop, allowing for improved cooling and exposing interior LED lighting inside the machine. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever encountered before in a notebook… and things continue their bizarre twist when you turn to the keyboard. The keyboard is not pushed forward on the chassis as it is on a typical laptop, but rather pulled all the way forward to the front of the machine. The touchpad is moved to the far right, next to the keyboard, a radical design change that takes some real retraining in how you work, but which eventually starts to feel more natural.
Features
Got an external mouse? Press a hotkey and the touchpad turns into a touch-sensitive numeric keypad. Critical operational features can be accessed via another hotkey, letting you see everything from CPU load to the internal temperature and the speed of the two fans on the system. Fan speed can be controlled with yet another key. The keyboard offers full-color backlighting, with the keyboard divided into four large zones. While you can’t tweak the backlight color for each key, thanks to some optical trickery, its shifting, rainbow-like backlighting looks almost as good as keyboards with per-key lighting. Finally, two speakers are embedded into the hinge cover, so they’re always facing forward, ensuring they’re plenty beefy and loud.
Specs
Though it looks like it’s from the future, the Zephyrus S has a fairly standard spec list, and it’s perfectly workable for this category. Key components include a 2.2GHz Core i7-8750H CPU (eighth generation) and 16GB of RAM, plus an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. The included 512GB SSD might be small for some, but it helps to keep the weight of the system (at 4.6 pounds) on the low side. Expansion ports are solid, including two USB-C ports, three traditional USB ports (one USB 3.1, two USB 2.0), and HDMI output. All that’s really missing is a memory card slot.
Performance
The Zephyrus turned in a performance that was remarkably close to the average, almost across the board, with most scores – including graphics tests and general application tasks (which comprise web page rendering, business productivity applications, and digital media creation work) – with a couple of percentage points of the mean. The Zephyrus did outpace the field by 10 percent on my Monster Hunter test and was 5 percent faster at running the Heaven 4.0 benchmark. Screen brightness was also the best in this comparison, by a considerable margin.
Battery
On full-screen video playback, the Zephyrus S pulled out 4 hours, 21 minutes of running time, which is an acceptable score – though not nearly as high as some of the other laptops in this roundup. That said, that score should offer plenty of longevity for just about any gamer while they’re away from a power source.
Conclusion
The jury’s out on whether moving the trackpad to the side of the keyboard makes any sense at all. I never fully got used to it, but since most gamers use an external mouse, I’m not sure it matters anyway. The rest of the Zephyrus, which is striking in its design, are quite appealing, and performance is solid. The kicker is the price: For just $1799, one of the cheapest price tags in this comparison, it’s almost impossible not to recommend.
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Acer Predator Helios 500
Acer’s Predator Helios 500 is a unique gaming computer because it jettisons the standard Intel configuration for one revolving around AMD components. That’s particularly good news if you’re looking to save money, but the Helios 500 also proves to be an all-around solid performer even if the budget isn’t a major concern.
Design
Like Acer’s budget laptop, the Predator Helios 300, the Helios 500 is a big hunk of black plastic, chiseled away at the corners to create gamer-friendly angles and trimmed with accents of silver and electric blue. It’s a 17.3-inch design which means portability is ejected in favor of stuffing the machine full of features, not to mention a spacious screen (running at 1920 x 1080 pixels). At 8.3 pounds, it’s not quite the heaviest laptop in this roundup, but its 47mm of thickness is a fat record-setter. The Helios 500 includes two speakers on the front side edges of the laptop, plus a beefy, downward-firing subwoofer underneath. Four zones of backlighting on the keyboard can be set to any color through Acer’s included control app, and it also provides an illuminated ring around the touchpad. As with any 17-inch laptop, the keyboard is spacious, with full-size arrow keys and a numeric keypad.
Features
A row of five hotkeys can be found at the very top of the chassis above the keyboard; each of these can control three different commands if you cycle through the options with a sixth control key, kind of like how the presets on a car radio let you control more than one station. Acer’s PredatorSense software gives you tons of control over these hotkeys, as well as everything from fan speed to backlight settings. Profiles can also be set up on a game-specific basis, with settings automatically switching when that game is launched. Component upgrades are easily accessible by removing the bottom cover of the machine.
Specs
The Acer Predator Helios 500 is unique in this roundup because it’s the only system that is not based on an Intel CPU, nor does it carry Nvidia graphics. Instead, it’s built around AMD’s new Ryzen platform, including an AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (desktop class) processor, paired with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 GPU. This is matched up with a standard 16GB of RAM and, the only downside in this configuration, a 256GB SSD hard drive, which is awfully small for a laptop that’s otherwise so beefed up. Port selection is downright crazy, including three traditional USB 3.0 ports, two USB-C ports, full-size HDMI and DisplayPort jacks, and full-size Ethernet. There’s no SD card slot, but literally, the rest of the connectivity universe is covered here.
Performance
With many different components than the rest of the field, the Helios 500 turned in benchmarks that varied considerably more than average. While some scores, such as PCMark 10 (which tests web page rendering, business productivity applications, and digital media creation work) and the graphics-heavy VRMark test, were a bit above average, other tests, including the Monster Hunter and Heaven 4.0 gaming benchmarks, fell slightly below. It’s also worth noting that the Helios’ screen was the dimmest and least impressive in the lineup, by a considerable margin. As well, the Helios tends to run particularly hot, so plan for those fans to run frequently during gaming sessions.
Battery
17-inch notebooks are rarely designed for extensive use away from an outlet, and with a whopping 76 minutes of running time on a full-frame video playback benchmark, the Predator Helios 500 doesn’t offer any battery life to speak of. You’ll need to tote the (quite large) power brick wherever you take the machine.
Conclusion
Here’s the big twist: At $1715, the Acer Predator Helios 500 is the least expensive machine we tested, despite offering a much larger screen, excellent port selection, and overall solid performance. The downsides of virtually zero battery life and a dim screen may be problematic for some users, but it’s awfully hard not to get sucked in by those savings.
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HP Omen X 17
A near 10-pound beast of a laptop, the HP Omen X 17 is designed for the gamer who truly wants everything, and we really mean it. From blazing performance to a full complement of expansion ports, the Omen X has it all… and it’s priced to match.
Design
Like the Acer Predator Helios 500, the HP Omen X 17 is a monster 17.3-inch laptop that pushes the boundaries of what you can comfortably put in your lap. 41mm thick and a whopping 9.9 pounds in weight, it is a gargantuan machine by any measure. (Its official tagline: “Overbuilt and over engineered.”) Surprisingly, little of this weight comes from the chassis of the laptop: It’s a mix of aluminum and plastic, though it all does have a metallic, industrial look. Boldly backlit all around, the default lighting color is a dazzling red, but this can be fully tuned within HP’s configuration app. Keyboard backlighting can be individually tuned on each key, and numerous lighting animation modes let you have even more fun. Stereo speakers from Bang & Olufsen make a room-filling impact, but perhaps the most striking design feature of the Omen X is its mechanical keyboard. Instead of mushy buttons, the Omen’s keyboard is clicky, tactile, and responsive, a feeling that makes typing approach that of using a high-grade external keyboard and improves the gaming experience considerably.
Features
The Omen X features six programmable hotkeys along the side of the machine. By holding down the Fn key, you can assign a secondary macro to each of these, all configured through the Omen Command Center app. If you’re looking to overclock your laptop, you’ll find a tool to help you with this included in this app as well. Upgrades are accessible through a panel on the bottom (which includes a transparent hatch that provides some internal visibility, with significant headroom provided for overclocked and upgraded components.
Specs
The Omen X is built with the bleeding edge firmly in mind. Components include top-tier components nearly across the board, including a 2.9GHz Core i7-7820HK CPU, 32GB of RAM, plus an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU. Note that you’re getting a very fast processor, though it’s a seventh generation Core CPU (vs. an eighth generation model on most other machines I tested). As well you’ll find the graphics card to be a significant step up from the GTX 1070 model that’s otherwise the standard on high-end gaming laptops. Lastly, this was the only machine in the roundup to include two storage devices: A 1TB traditional hard drive that serves as beefy companion to the 512GB SSD. Ports include literally everything: Three traditional USB 3.1 ports, two USB-C ports, full-size HDMI and a MiniDisplay port jack, full-size Ethernet, and even an SD card slot. For once, there’s nothing else I could possibly ask for here. Also note that with a 3840 x 2160-pixel resolution, you’re getting a lot more detail on the display than you are on the other machines in this roundup.
Performance
While I was slightly concerned that the older model Core CPU would impact benchmark scores, that wasn’t the case in my testing. While the Omen X was just below average on my general application testing (which looks at web page rendering, business productivity applications, and digital media creation work), it outperformed the field by a solid margin on nearly all graphics tests, beating the average scores I saw by 10 to 16 percent. Only the Heaven 4.0 gaming benchmark saw the Omen X step back a bit, but that is likely in part because the laptop does not support the exact resolution in which the other systems were tested, with a slightly higher resolution used for that test.
*tested at 1600 x 1024; as 1600 x 900 resolution was not supported
Battery
While 17-inch notebooks rarely offer much in the way of battery life, I achieved 2 hours, 50 minutes of run time on a full-frame video playback benchmark on the HP Omen X. That’s better than at least one 15-inch laptop achieved in this test, and it should be good enough for the typical gamer. Do take care to note that the power brick (while stylish) adds another 2-plus pounds to your load.
Conclusion
At $2320, the HP Omen X is the most expensive machine in this roundup, which is to be expected since it is the most capable in terms of performance and expandability. The upgraded keyboard alone is worth a good chunk of that extra expense, though at more than $600 in additional price over that of the least expensive laptop in this roundup, bargain seekers will want to look elsewhere.
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MSI GS65 Stealth Thin
MSI aims to give the Razer Blade line a run for its money with this laptop, the appropriately named GS65 Stealth Thin. While it’s designed to offer top-tier performance without weighing you down, it’s not without its share of compromises.
Design
While Razer’s Blade lays claim to being the most portable gaming laptop on the market, the reality is the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin is a full half-pound lighter, weighing a svelte 4.1 pounds. Its 24mm of thickness puts it a hair thicker than both the Blade and the Asus Zephyrus S, but just barely. On the other hand, from a design standpoint, the Stealth Thin isn’t much to look at. Gold accents give certain elements a cheap appearance, and never is this more noticeable than in the grilles on either side of the chassis, which feature two layers of crosshatching, black metal on top of gold. It’s a goofy design that looks less like an intentional design choice and more like a rushed mistake. While it’s built out of aluminum, the whole affair manages to feel a bit flimsy, likely a build decision necessary to keep the weight to a minimum. While the keyboard is fine, I had a lot less love for the touchpad, which didn’t track perfectly and whose buttons were considerably difficult to tap with accuracy.
Features
Extras are limited on this machine, which is typical of devices looking to keep their overall weight and thickness to a minimum. The screen’s hinge allows it to fold back flat, and very thin bezels give it a television-like appearance in this orientation. The webcam is also placed above the screen, rather than at the bottom, a problem common with many competing thin-bezel systems. It’s also worth noting that the GS65 Stealth Thin’s power adapter is surprisingly portable for this category, though the fan squeals loudly and at a high pitch, and it runs often in order to combat the generally hot temperatures the machine tends to reach.
Specs
Specs on this machine are standard across the board. That includes a 2.2GHz Core i7-8750H CPU (eighth generation), 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. As is typical for this group, the included 512GB SSD might be on the small side, but it’s again a necessary concession to keeping the weight down. Ports include three traditional USB 3.1 ports, one USB-C port, full-size HDMI, a mini DisplayPort jack, and full-size Ethernet. That’s a better selection than most laptops in the field, though a memory card slot would be a nice addition.
Performance
The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin didn’t overly impress with its performance, with nearly all of the benchmarks I ran on it coming in below the average of the field. That said, performance isn’t at all bad, with general application performance (comprised of web page rendering, business productivity applications, and digital media creation work) just a hair below the average of the field, and gaming benchmarks largely falling within 10 percent of the average. (Only the Heaven 4.0 test saw the Stealth Thin fall 15 percent behind the field.) It’s also worth noting that the Stealth Thin had some usability problems in my testing. Out of the box, it had no working Wi-Fi driver installed, requiring updates to be run over a wired connection before it could access a WLAN. On another occasion, when I plugged a USB hard drive into the machine, a pop-up asked me what type of speakers had been connected. Users looking for trouble-free performance might think twice before diving in.
Battery
Lightweight laptops usually imply that a small battery has been included in the rig, but the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin bucks that concept by including a powerful cell that managed 7 hours, 27 minutes of running time on my full-screen video playback test. That was nearly an hour longer than the next closest competitor and stands as a benchmark that puts the machine on par with business-class laptops designed for all-day running time.
Conclusion
It is difficult to find this exact configuration of the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin online, but you can expect to pay $1999 for the machine (with slight adjustments based on the particular configuration you manage to uncover). Considering its merely average performance, usability concerns, and some iffy hardware features, its ultralight build will have to really appeal to you to merit a buy decision.
Shop Now | www.forbes.com | Best Gaming Laptops You Can Buy Right Now | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-finds/2019/01/01/best-gaming-laptops-you-can-buy-right-now/ | 2019-01-01 |
Gary Occhiogrosso | 2019-01-01 14:45:54+00:00 | 2019-01-01 13:12:00 | Whatever the reason, selling a restaurant requires a strong strategy, careful planning, and detailed preparation. In this article, we’ll explore some essential tips and steps needed to put you on a path for a quicker sale at the highest possible price along with a smooth transition. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fgaryocchiogrosso%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fhow-to-get-a-higher-price-when-selling-your-restaurant-in-2019%2F.json | en | It's 2019 and after years of hard work you’ve now decided to sell your restaurant, perhaps to open a different business, or retire or relocate. Whatever the reason, selling a restaurant requires a strong strategy, careful planning, and detailed preparation. In this article, we’ll explore some essential tips and steps needed to put you on a path for a quicker sale at the highest possible price along with a smooth transition.
Let's Start With First Impressions.
The appearance of your restaurant not only matters to your customers, but it also matters to potential buyers. Bad “curb appeal” on the initial visit may be all it takes for a potential buyer to take a pass on a more in-depth look into the investment potential of your restaurant. Make sure everything inside and outside the restaurant is clean. If your establishment is a free-standing building, then the quality of care for the property will be an early indication of the level of care taken in building and growing the business over the years. Items like trimming the grass, keeping the parking lot and surrounding area clean and free of trash are crucial to curb appeal. Maintaining clean windows & glass doors, polishing handles, deep cleaning the grout in tile floors and shampooing carpeting are some simple things that will pay dividends to the buyers first impression. If the restaurant is a storefront location, then you'll also need to make sure any cleaning and improvements that may be the responsibility of the landlord are taken care of before showing the business.
Nothing says “I don’t care” or "I’ve given up on this place” more than broken or missing equipment. If your kitchen equipment is not in 100% working order, it may set up doubt in your financial presentation regarding production capabilities. Also, nonfunctional equipment is detrimental to employee morale and productively. Ultimately that lack of productivity shows up on the Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) in the form of increased labor cost. Every part of the restaurant should present itself as credible to handle the current volume as well as to grow the business in the future. Make sure all of your equipment works. I can not emphasize enough to take the time in advance to replace or repair any broken equipment.
Remove personal items you do not intend to include as part of the sale. Doing this helps avoid any misunderstandings later between buyer and seller. For example, your personal laptop computer used for the business sitting on your desk may be mistaken as part of the assets for sale. Later in this article, we'll cover making sure a complete equipment and asset list is written. However, the cleaner and less cluttered the visual aspect of the facility, the less chance for any misunderstanding when it comes time to negotiate.
And lastly regarding the facility, don’t be afraid to spend a little TLC money. Making a small investment, such as freshening up the paint, or replacing ceiling tiles, or reupholstering a ripped seat cover can go a long way to increase the visual appeal of your restaurant. These quick fixes will have a positive impact on your sale price and the time it takes to sell the business.
Put Your Financial House In Order Now
Presenting an honest, straightforward, financial picture of your restaurant is the most critical factor in determining accurate valuation and sale price. Professionally documented results regarding unit economics, profitability, and true owner benefit are what buyers, their accountant, and lawyer will be investigating in the due diligence phase of the process. Whether or not potential buyers purchase your restaurant depends on whether or not they think it will make money and provide a reasonable return on investment (ROI). Therefore, the financial information you provide to the buyer is the most significant factor in determining the success of the sale.
Ideally, you have practiced clear and organized bookkeeping since you started your business. If not, then arrange financial records going back at least one year before the time you list your restaurant for sale. That way potential buyers will have a trailing 12-month picture of the restaurant's performance and trending. It is likely that buyers will ask to see a profit and loss statements and a balance sheet. If you are unable to create them yourself, have your accountant prepare them in advance so you do not feel rushed later in the sale process.
Make A To-Do List For Yourself
Financial statements aren’t the only aspect of getting organized. This step also includes creating a written list of all hard assets such as furniture, fixtures, small wares, and equipment. Also, a copy of your lease should be available for review in the due diligence phase of the transaction. Additionally, be prepared to document that all of the restaurant’s bills are up to date. Be ready to prove in writing that your sales and payroll taxes are current and paid in full. Employee payroll information needs to be in a presentable format and up to date. A to-do list will help you make sure everything gets done so that the sale goes as smoothly as possible.
The Hunt For Buyers
There are two ways to find potential buyers: find them yourself or hire a business broker. The process of valuation, listing, advertising, and vetting potential buyers is time-consuming and in my opinion, requires professional experience and know how. Although many sellers take this step on their own, a professional business broker can support the process by offering recommendations and presentations that save time and attract more potential buyers.
When you interview brokers, be sure to ask them how long they have been in the business of selling businesses, what their specialty is, how many listings they have now, and how many restaurants they have sold in the past year. Also, ask if they have prepared contracts for this type of transaction and how they plan to determine the value of your restaurant. Discuss their answers with your financial and legal advisors to determine if the broker has the right qualifications, experience, and track record.
One prominent New York Business Broker I spoke with said "One of the other most important parts of selling your restaurant is to make sure your books are in order. It will be your job to prove out how much money trickles down to you through the company and what this can look like to potential buyers. Without this component, you will either fall prey to lower offers than you would otherwise be getting, no offers, or end up with buyers wasting your time and never getting to the finish line. Not having good books leads ultimately to the two biggest deal killers - lack of trust and too much time for the transaction to close. With a good broker and good books, most of the heavy lifting is completed in the beginning, before putting the business on the market. Once you sign with a broker, there should be significant time dedicated to proving out the numbers - what they are, and what they could be. Every minute you spend in the beginning will save 5-7 minutes later."
On the other hand, if you decide to go it alone and forgo hiring a business broker, then you'll need to get some additional advice from your attorney and account. They can assist you with the proper valuation and selling price. Setting an unrealistic or emotional price on the business will slow the sales process or cause it to fail altogether. Actions to take also includes advertising and listing the restaurant on websites that post restaurants for sale. Keep in mind professional business brokers also use these websites, so competition exists. However, if you study these websites carefully, you should be able to get a good idea on how to word your ad for better results.
Always Be Ready
Whether you list your restaurant on your own or with a broker be prepared to show your restaurant to potential buyers at all times. Since you may have a buyer visit you unannounced, it means keeping the restaurant clean, fully staffed and well-managed no matter the day and time. You never know when a buyer might drop by to take a look. I also remind my clients that any customer in the restaurant may actually be a buyer doing some research before they contact you.
Once The Buyer Is found
At this point, if you've found a buyer and negotiations have been successful, then the final step is the paperwork necessary to complete the transaction. The paperwork usually starts with an "Asset Purchase Agreement." Your attorney should prepare this document for you. The Asset Purchase Agreement details all the components of the sale. Items such as the sale price, the terms (if you are holding a note), a full and complete equipment list, the amount and value of the inventory you will have at the time of closing, the length of time (if any) that you are willing to train the new owner as well as any contingencies regarding the lease assignment from your landlord and of course a deadline date to close the transaction. Regardless of whether you're working with a business broker or selling on your own, in all cases, I recommend you have your attorney involved to ensure the Asset Purchase Agreement covers all the various aspects of the transaction.
In addition, once you have a buyer engaged but before the final closing date, you should continue to operate your restaurant as if you are not selling it. Acquisitions sometimes fall through at the last minute, and you don’t want to create extra work for yourself in getting everything back up to par again if that happens.
Plan And Proceed
Smart and detailed planning will minimize glitches and deal-killing problems, throughout the transaction. Business Brokers warn: "The biggest disasters all come with one thing in common - wasted time. Without proper planning, not only may you decide to accept an offer lower than what you desire, but you will lose a good portion of your time getting there. As the saying goes - An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Make sure you front-load your business and get all the materials you need in order before you sell it."
I recommend you spend the time upfront, planning the sale, organizing paperwork, investigating brokers and deciding the best time to execute your plan. Selling a restaurant can be a smooth, simple transaction if these tips along with the advice of your accountant and attorney are put into practice. | www.forbes.com | How To Get A Higher Price When Selling Your Restaurant In 2019 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/garyocchiogrosso/2019/01/01/how-to-get-a-higher-price-when-selling-your-restaurant-in-2019/ | 2019-01-01 |
Tracy Samilton | 2019-01-02 03:30:42+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442497%2Fsay-goodbye-to-small-cars-in-2019%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dbusiness.json | en | Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019
Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
It's the big goodbye for some small cars. That's as more and more Americans buy larger vehicles like crossovers and SUVs. As Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports, some of the cars going away at the end of this year will be missed more than others.
TRACY SAMILTON, BYLINE: Some people will be sad not to see a new Cruze at the Chevy dealership. A few may mourn the Cadillac CT6, STS and Buick LaCrosse and wonder why Ford is axing nearly all its cars by year's end. And there's certainly nostalgia as Volkswagen ends the Beatle's exceptionally long run, fueled largely by its flower power image from the '60s. But the Chevy Volt? Oh, not you, too. John Schaeffer owns one. So does his wife. So do 3 of his 4 daughters.
JOHN SCHAEFFER: I plan on driving mine till the wheels fall off. I'm not planning on buying any other cars anytime soon. Honestly, you know, people say, well, what about when the battery dies? You know what? I'll put one in it.
SAMILTON: That passion is pretty typical for a Volt owner, but sales were anemic, as was the case for most of the cars being pulled out of production this year. Meanwhile, auto analyst Alan Baum says crossovers like the Ford Escape and Chevy Equinox these days come close to competing with many cars on fuel economy.
ALAN BAUM: The crossovers are very much like the cars they are replacing. The difference being, No. 1, they have more utilitarian value. And, No. 2, they're able to be priced at a higher level which obviously creates more profit.
SAMILTON: The end result? Fewer choices for consumers. Michelle Krebs with AutoTrader says some automakers, though, might see a bump in sales.
MICHELLE KREBS: Consumers who are on budgets, first-time new car buyers tend to go to the small car segment, for example. So they'll be going to things like Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic instead of Chevy Cruze and Ford Focus.
SAMILTON: But will Ford or GM someday regret ditching small cars? Stephanie Brinley with IHS Markit says, probably not.
STEPHANIE BRINLEY: Will they come to a point somewhere down the road where they need to figure out how to build another compact car again? Maybe. It's not likely to happen soon.
SAMILTON: Especially in the era of cheap oil and low gas prices. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442497/say-goodbye-to-small-cars-in-2019?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=business | 2019-01-01 |
Elisabeth Butler Cordova | 2019-01-01 20:18:39+00:00 | 2019-01-01 13:55:56 | The White House invited top lawmakers to meet about the standoff over border funding. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Ftrump-invites-congressional-leaders-to-meet-about-government-shutdown.html.json | en | President Donald Trump has invited eight top lawmakers to sit down Wednesday afternoon and discuss the partial government shutdown and border funding.
This would mark the first time Trump has met with democratic and republican leaders since the shutdown started Dec. 22.
Politico first reported news of the invitations, and NBC News confirmed with two congressional leadership sources and another person familiar.
Democrats take control of the House on Thursday and have already signaled that they will vote that day on two bills to try and re-open the government without providing the $5 billion for the border wall that Trump has requested.
Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon about the possibility of making a deal with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Congress has so far failed to break an impasse over the barrier's funding, and no votes are scheduled yet. Democrats will take the House majority on Thurs., Jan. 3.
Parts of the government have been shut down for 11 days. Lawmakers will get 24 hours notice before any vote on a deal to end the shutdown.
The White House invited Pelosi and Reps. Steny Hoyer Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, as well as Sens. Chuck Schumer Dick Durbin, Mitch McConnell and John Thune, NBC News confirmed.
-- CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed reporting. | www.cnbc.com | Trump invites Congressional leaders to meet about government shutdown | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/01/trump-invites-congressional-leaders-to-meet-about-government-shutdown.html | 2019-01-01 |
Kathleen Howley | 2019-01-02 12:16:42+00:00 | 2019-01-01 03:33:00 | Billionaire John Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, is asking $25 million for his estate in Boca Raton, Florida. The mansion has seven bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, a recording studio, a cinema with a concession stand, and an underground 1,000-bottle wine cellar. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fkathleenhowley%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Finside-boston-red-sox-owner-john-henrys-boca-raton-mansion%2F%3Fsrc%3Drss.json | en | Billionaire John Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, is asking $25 million for his estate in Boca Raton, Florida. Henry bought the 6.3-acre site in 1991 and finished building his seven-bedroom mansion in 1995. The following pictures show the interior of the home.
The clubroom is lined with shelves that formerly displayed some of the most historic trophies in American sports. That included the 2004 World Series Commissioner's Trophy the Red Sox won after breaking an 86-year championship drought that fans had dubbed a "curse." The team went on to win three more World Series: 2007, 2013 and 2018.
The clubroom also has a sports bar, a professional card table and a seating area for watching games on a big-screen TV.
There's an underground 1,000-bottle wine cellar equipped with a generator that guarantees the temperature of the bottles stays at 53 degrees even if power is lost during a hurricane.
The property also has a recording studio, an outdoor dining area with a woodburning pizza oven, a cinema with a concession stand, and 19 bathrooms. | www.forbes.com | Inside Boston Red Sox Owner John Henry's Boca Raton Mansion | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenhowley/2018/12/31/inside-boston-red-sox-owner-john-henrys-boca-raton-mansion/?src=rss | 2019-01-01 |
Alina Selyukh | 2019-01-01 21:53:37+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Big mainstream consumer brands, which have owned our cupboards and closets, face a turning point: a time to evolve or wither. The Internet and the echoes of the recession have changed us as shoppers. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F677390110%2Ffrom-campbells-to-kellogg-s-classic-brands-are-feeling-the-crunch%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | From Campbell's To Kellogg's, Classic Brands Are Feeling The Crunch
Enlarge this image toggle caption sorbetto/Getty Images sorbetto/Getty Images
Think about the last time you went to the supermarket. You probably spent no more than a few seconds choosing from all the different brands of toothpaste, frozen peas or oatmeal.
Those few seconds used to be the Holy Grail for brands, the moment you would get hooked forever on that Tide detergent or Heinz ketchup — an event referred to as "the first moment of truth." But lately, the moment of truth has moved to the Internet. What's more, ripples from the 2008 recession have changed us as shoppers.
More and more people have started saying: "I'm not a brand person."
Those five fateful words come from Juliet McFadden, 23, an office manger in Boston. For consumer brands used to owning American cupboards and closets — that sentiment spells trouble and signals a turning point: evolve or wither.
It's been a tumultuous period for giant consumer brand companies. Campbell Soup Co. is in the process of selling off parts of its business and welcoming a new chief executive. Procter & Gamble is restructuring. Unilever, which makes Dove soap and Hellmann's mayonnaise, has also hired a new CEO.
As far back as 2015, research firm Catalina reported that 90 of the top 100 brands in consumer packaged goods had lost market share.
To understand that trend, consider a shopper like McFadden. She's just starting to build her finances and lifelong shopping habits. This makes her a prime target for consumer-goods companies like Procter & Gamble, Kraft Heinz or General Mills. But she's not easy to win over.
For example, McFadden doesn't like cereal: "I just don't usually eat breakfast," she says. She doesn't drink soda and dislikes yogurts "with a ton of sugar with them." She doesn't buy paper towels — "Paper towels are expensive," she says, "stuff like that adds up" — and prefers reusable washable rags.
The tastes of McFadden's generation often get treated with the tired trope about millennials killing breakfast cereal, napkins, bar soap, canned tuna. But really, most Americans could make a similar list. Maybe you choose the store brand of toilet paper; or you buy a fancier condiment instead of Hellmann's mayo; or you order eco-friendly diapers on the Internet.
"Rather than just relying on brand familiarity, consumers buy today what performs for them. They are much less brand loyal," says David Luttenberger of market-research firm Mintel. "They are more driven by performance, by convenience, by price."
During the Great Recession, Americans warmed up to cheaper off-brand products, like generic or store brands. And then, they kept buying them even as the economy improved.
Like in the music industry, very few artists can continue being successful in the sophomore and junior album. ... It is a big challenge to reinvent yourself over and over again.
Plus, the Internet — of course — has completely shaken up shopping.
Think about how people used to discover new brands. Only the biggest conglomerates could afford prime TV advertising and prominent placement in stores, right around eye-level.
And so the Baby Boomer generation of shoppers grew up reaching for ubiquitous products like Campbell soup, Heinz ketchup, Oscar Mayer hot dogs or P&G's Crest toothpaste.
Some of these names remain longtime favorites among loyal older shoppers. In a 2018 Morning Consult poll, Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark were the two top brands preferred by boomers, far more than U.S. adults overall.
Meanwhile, tech investors have been funding startups to bring Silicon Valley "disruption" to products such as toothbrushes, vitamins and tampons. Wall Street has become cautious about once-dominant consumer brands. Shares of companies like Kellogg, Kraft Heinz and General Mills recently hit their lowest levels in years.
"They're in a bit of a pickle," says Americus Reed, marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "Like in the music industry, very few artists can continue being successful in the sophomore and junior album, right? ... It is a big challenge to reinvent yourself over and over again."
But that's exactly what companies are trying to do with brands to survive. In 2017, Procter & Gamble cut the price of its razors and replacement blades to compete against online-subscription upstarts Dollar Shave Club and Harry's. Rival Unilever went all in and bought the Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion.
Kimberly-Clark — whose brands include Kleenex, Huggies and Kotex — was struggling so much that it announced plans to lay off 13 percent of its workers and shutter 10 plants. Among various brand revamps, the company has launched a new Scott toilet paper without the center tube to appeal to the environmentally conscious shopper.
General Mills renamed the classic Hamburger Helper as simply "Helper." In a quiet feat, Kraft Heinz managed to take out artificial preservatives and dyes from its classic macaroni and cheese without angering devotees.
The 149-year-old Campbell Soup Co. has been the poster child of the struggle to adjust to an age where people want convenient, fresher products with ingredients they can pronounce.
Canonized by Andy Warhol in the heat-and-serve postwar era, Campbell is acutely feeling Americans' waning appetite for canned and condensed soups. It's trying to hold on to its huge share of the market with cleaner labels showing fresh ingredients, containers meant for sipping and modern flavors like toasted barley.
Another staple feeling the pressure is breakfast cereal, with nostalgic brands like Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops; General Mills' Lucky Charms and Cheerios; PepsiCo's Life and Cap'n Crunch. Sales here have been declining for years. Mintel predicts another 5 percent decline through 2023, as people aren't swayed by reduced-sugar offerings and choose to skip breakfast or opt for more portable, warmer and more nutritious options.
"You've got a lot of CEOs that are at their wit's end trying to figure out growth," The Wall Street Journal cited "a now-retired big-food-company chief" as saying in May. The article said at least 16 CEOs of major packaged-food and beverage companies had stepped down in the previous two years.
"The challenge for these legacy brands is that the people that were born into them are going to die," says Reed, the marketing professor, "and so you better have a plan to talk to these younger types of consumers." | www.npr.org | From Campbell's To Kellogg's, Classic Brands Are Feeling The Crunch | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/677390110/from-campbells-to-kellogg-s-classic-brands-are-feeling-the-crunch?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Cat Schuknecht | 2019-01-02 00:17:12+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Torrential rain caused tons of mud to crash into a village on Indonesia's main island during New Year's Eve celebrations on Monday. Twenty people are still missing. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681396879%2Ffifteen-are-dead-after-landslide-in-indonesia%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dasia.json | en | 15 Are Dead After Landslide In Indonesia
Enlarge this image toggle caption AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
Fifteen people have died in a landslide that buried 30 homes on Indonesia's main island, officials said Tuesday. Twenty people are still believed to be missing.
Torrential rain caused tons of mud to crash into Sirnaresmi village in West Java on Monday evening just before sunset, while New Year's Eve celebrations were underway, The Associated Press reports.
The death toll rose from initial reports as rescuers worked to recover bodies from the mud. Hundreds of residents, police and soldiers searched through debris using hand tools and their bare hands, according to AP.
The muddy conditions made it difficult for tractors and other heavy equipment to reach the disaster site to assist in the search effort. But Made Oka Astawa, head of the operations division at the National Search and Rescue Agency, told AP that two excavator vehicles were able to reach the disaster area, and helped recover several bodies that had been buried under 13 feet of mud.
Astawa also told AP that search and rescue efforts were put on hold late Tuesday local time because of darkness and heavy rains. The operation will be picked up again early Wednesday.
"Lack of equipment, bad weather and a blackout hampered our rescue efforts for those who are still missing and feared dead," National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AP.
Nugroho said 60 people who lost their homes in the landslide have been moved to a temporary shelter.
The landslide is the most recent of several major disasters that hit Indonesia in 2018.
In December, a tsunami triggered by volcanic activity on another of Indonesia's islands, Anak Krakatau, killed over 400 people and wounded nearly 1,500 wounded, NPR reported.
Kathy Mueller, a communications delegate with the Red Cross, told NPR's David Greene after last month's tsunami that Indonesia is still feeling the effects of several other disasters since the summer, including earthquakes on the island of Lombok in July and again in August, and a tsunami in September that killed more than 1,700 people.
"Every disaster has its own unique context," Mueller told NPR. "No response is ever perfect. So there's always the opportunity to learn and to improve."
Search efforts at the landslide site are expected to resume early Wednesday. | www.npr.org | 15 Are Dead After Landslide In Indonesia | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681396879/fifteen-are-dead-after-landslide-in-indonesia?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=asia | 2019-01-01 |
Greg Myre | 2019-01-02 03:53:21+00:00 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 | The U.S. and Russia are beginning the new year much like they ended last year — with a note of friction. Russia is detaining an American and is accusing him of spying. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442511%2Fwhat-we-know-about-the-american-russia-has-detained-on-spying-allegations%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dallthingsconsidered.json | en | What We Know About The American Russia Has Detained On Spying Allegations
The U.S. and Russia are beginning the new year much like they ended last year — with a note of friction. Russia is detaining an American and is accusing him of spying.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
The U.S. and Russia are beginning the new year much as they ended the last one - on a note of friction. Russia has detained an American and accused him of spying. A family member in the U.S. says Paul Whelan was picked up last Friday during a trip to Moscow, where he went to attend a wedding. For more on this case, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Welcome to the studio.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hey, Audie.
CORNISH: What more have you learned from Russia and the U.S. government?
MYRE: So this really started to break yesterday, when Russia's FSB, the Federal Security Service, put out a brief statement saying that this man, Paul Whelan, was arrested on Friday for what they called spying activities. But they didn't give any details, so we don't know what they're accusing him of precisely. The State Department has confirmed that an American is being held, but they are not giving a name, citing privacy reasons. The U.S. embassy is allowed to see a person that's being held, and so we expect that to happen any day now.
CORNISH: As we mentioned, the family of this man, Paul Whelan, says he was in Moscow to attend a wedding. Have they said any more about him?
MYRE: Yeah. We have been hearing from his twin brother, David Whelan. And he says his brother Paul is a former Marine who developed an affinity for Russia over the years and had been there a few times, and he'd gone for this wedding. And the wedding was between a former Marine that Paul Whelan knows who is marrying a Russian woman.
And when they didn't hear from Paul Whelan last Friday, they got nervous and didn't really know what had happened, feared he'd been - perhaps something very serious had happened. And they did learn Monday that he'd been detained. He's from the Detroit area, and his family has contacted congressional representatives. They've put out a statement saying they have no doubt about his innocence. He'd have nothing to do with spying or espionage.
CORNISH: That's the personal. What else do we know about Paul Whelan's professional life?
MYRE: Well, apparently, he's been going to Russia since around 2006. Now, he was in the Marine Corps serving in Iraq at that time for a year. But you do get a little break, so he got a couple of weeks off. He was a single guy, so he decided to go to Russia all on the up-and-up. In fact, on the Marine Corps website, there was an article about him, about how some of the soldiers would take their break to go to unusual places. And they actually featured Paul Whelan.
After he got out, he continued to go both on vacation and through some of his work as a businessman. He's also served as a policeman for a while. Currently, he's the director of global security at a company called BorgWarner in Auburn Hills, Mich., which supplies automotive parts all around the world. But brother stressed that this trip was a private trip to Russia, not a business one.
CORNISH: Is there any sense about why the Russians might have picked him up? Why now?
MYRE: We don't know, but certainly, the mind jumps to the case of Maria Butina, the young Russian woman who pleaded guilty on December 13, just a couple weeks ago, of acting as a foreign agent. Important point to note - she's a civilian, and Whelan is a civilian. Countries can hold and charge civilians. Diplomats, if they suspect them of spying, they just sort of kick them out. But they have a lot more authority over civilians.
CORNISH: Have the Russians said that Whelan was arrested in response to Butina, though?
MYRE: No, they haven't said that. And, in fact, Putin addressed this back in - or addressed Butina's case back on December 20. He gives this long annual end-of-the-year press conference. And he said, we are concerned about her. She's a Russian national. But he felt the charges were made up. And it was asked specifically if he might retaliate, and he said, no, we're not going for eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. That was December 20. Eight days later, Whelan is arrested.
CORNISH: That's NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, thanks for your reporting.
MYRE: Thank you.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | What We Know About The American Russia Has Detained On Spying Allegations | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442511/what-we-know-about-the-american-russia-has-detained-on-spying-allegations?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered | 2019-01-01 |
Meredith Ochs | 2019-01-02 03:53:24+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | When The Byrds released "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" in 1968, it was a commercial failure. A half century after its debut, the album has become a classic. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442532%2Fhow-the-byrds-sweetheart-of-the-rodeo-became-a-classic-50-years-after-its-debut%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dallthingsconsidered.json | en | How The Byrds' 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' Became A Classic 50 Years After Its Debut
When The Byrds released "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" in 1968, it was a commercial failure. A half century after its debut, the album has become a classic.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of The Byrds' album "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NOTHING WAS DELIVERED")
THE BYRDS: (Singing) Nothing was delivered. And I tell this truth to you.
CORNISH: It was a commercial flop when it was released. Now it's considered a classic. To commemorate it, founding members Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman reunited for a brief tour. And to help them resurrect the album, they enlisted Marty Stuart and his band, who are some of Nashville's most renowned musicians. Meredith Ochs has the story.
MEREDITH OCHS, BYLINE: In 1968, "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" was too country for rock fans, and the Byrds were too rock for country fans. With steel guitar and banjo, covers of Merle Haggard, the Louvin Brothers and others, they debuted their new sound at the Grand Ole Opry. And it didn't go over very well. "Sweetheart" also stalled at number 77 on Billboard's album chart, a steep decline for a band who'd already hit the top 10.
These days, that kind of crossover can lead to hit records. Americana artists like Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell have topped both country and pop charts and collected multiple Grammys. But the Byrds were one of the bands that set the template.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE")
THE BYRDS: (Singing) Whoo-ee (ph), ride me high. Tomorrow's the day my bride's going to come. Oh, oh, are we going to fly down in the easy chair.
OCHS: "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is one of more than a dozen Bob Dylan songs that the Byrds recorded during their career, beginning with their 1965 debut. They established themselves as folk rockers but grew increasingly adventurous over the five albums that followed, exploring psychedelia, jazz, raga and more.
They sort of experimented themselves off the charts, but they kept pushing boundaries. Even though "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo," their sixth album, was unabashedly country, they included a twanged-out version of this R&B hit by William Bell, blurring the lines between country and soul music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU DON'T MISS YOUR WATER")
THE BYRDS: (Singing) But when you left me, oh, how I cried. You don't miss your water till your well runs dry.
OCHS: "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" is as much a landmark for its groundbreaking sound as it is for introducing singer-songwriter Gram Parsons to a broader audience. He was only part of The Byrds for several months, but it was Parsons who led the band down this country road, his influence deeply felt throughout the album. He called this mix of genres cosmic American music.
Parsons later went on to form The Flying Burrito Brothers with Byrds bassist Chris Hillman and record with Emmylou Harris before his death in 1973 at age 26. He also contributed two of his most memorable songs to "Sweetheart," including this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW")
THE BYRDS: (Singing) One hundred years from this day, will the people still feel this way?
OCHS: Recreating an exalted 50-year-old album in concert is risky business. But McGuinn and Hillman pulled it off nearly note for note with help from Marty Stuart, a dazzling showman who seamlessly melds past with present. There was magic in conjuring "Sweetheart's" ghosts, telling the stories behind the songs and reminiscing about late, great colleagues and collaborators, especially Gram Parsons. But there's also magic in the album itself, its long reach still rippling through both country and rock and roll.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY BACK PAGES")
THE BYRDS AND THE FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES: (Singing) Crimson flames tied through my ears, rolling high and mighty traps.
CORNISH: That's The Byrds with Marty Stuart and his band, The Fabulous Superlatives, recorded live during their 2018 "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" tour. Our reviewer, Meredith Ochs, is the author of several books. Her latest is "Aretha: The Queen Of Soul."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY BACK PAGES")
THE BYRDS AND THE FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES: (Singing) Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now. In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | How The Byrds' 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' Became A Classic 50 Years After Its Debut | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442532/how-the-byrds-sweetheart-of-the-rodeo-became-a-classic-50-years-after-its-debut?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered | 2019-01-01 |
Chuck Jones | 2019-01-01 19:15:30+00:00 | 2019-01-01 17:40:00 | President Trump will find fulfilling his promise to bring back the coal industry very challenging as U.S. coal consumption continues to decline and more coal-fired plants close. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fchuckjones%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Ftrumps-u-s-coal-consumption-is-less-than-obamas%2F.json | en | Candidate Trump talked a tremendous amount about bringing back the coal industry if he was elected President. Unfortunately for President Trump, and especially coal miners, the industry has been in a secular decline for about a decade, which coincides with the increase in natural gas production.
Even with the rollback in regulations by Trump’s EPA the past two years, the U.S. Energy Information Agency projects that U.S. coal consumption will decline 4% this year to 691 million short tons. This will be down 44% since coal’s peak usage in 2007, and the lowest amount since 1979 when Jimmy Carter was President, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident occurred and ESPN was launched.
U.S. coal consumption for the past seven Presidents
1979: Approximately 700 million short tons: Carter’s second to last year in office
1988: Approximately 870 million short tons: Reagan’s last year in office
1992: Approximately 925 million short tons: George H. W. Bush’s last year in office
2000: 1,084 million short tons: Bill Clinton’s last year in office
2008: 1,124 million short tons: George W. Bush’s last year in office
2016: 731 million short tons: Barack Obama’s last year in office
2018: 691 million short tons: Trump’s second year in office
Exports have kept the industry from hurting even more
Coal exports more than doubled from 49.6 million short tons in 2006 to 125.7 million in 2012. However, the increase in exports wasn’t able to make up for the drop in U.S. consumption as it fell from 1,112 million short tons to 889 million (down 223 million) or 20%.
Exports then started to decline from the 125.7 million short ton peak to 60.3 million in 2016. However, they have rebounded in the past two years and should hit about 116 million tons in 2018, based on the first nine months shipments. The export’s increase of 56 million should offset the U.S. projected decline of almost 40 million in the past two years.
The overall downward trend should continue
While Trump will doubtless say that the coal industry is “winning”, unfortunately, it will probably continue to decline. More coal-fired plants will close, other countries will lessen their dependence on coal (which should impact exports) and potentially the effects from climate change will be great enough that even Republicans will see the negative consequences.
Coal mine jobs have seen a small improvement since Trump took office but is minuscule compared to overall job growth. In October 2016 there were 49,500 coal miners, which has grown to 53,200 per the latest job report, an increase of 3,700 jobs.
This compares to total U.S. employment growing from 151.9 million to 156.8 million, almost 5 million more. The increase in coal jobs is 0.07% of total job growth.
Coal prices
Coal prices were in a downtrend from 2011 to the middle of 2016, falling over 60%. They then doubled over the next six months and hit a short-term peak after Trump was elected. Over the next two years they have gyrated down and up but are trading right around where they were two years ago.
The downward movement was not surprising as additional regulations were put in place, which decreased the demand for coal. The initial upturn makes sense as the market anticipated looser regulations from the Trump administration.
The downturn in the first six months after Trump’s election may have been due to the market getting ahead of itself anticipating additional U.S. demand due to fewer regulations. The price rebound is probably due to the strength of the export market creating a situation of demand outpacing production. | www.forbes.com | Trump's U.S. Coal Consumption Is Less Than Obama's | https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2019/01/01/trumps-u-s-coal-consumption-is-less-than-obamas/ | 2019-01-01 |
Scott Mendelson | 2019-01-01 17:45:02+00:00 | 2019-01-01 17:00:00 | 'Aquaman' should pass $200 million domestic today and $800 million worldwide tomorrow or Thursday. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fscottmendelson%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fbox-office-aquaman-has-become-dc-films-biggest-overseas-grosser%2F.json | en | Aquaman earned another $10.1 million on New Year’s Eve, down 38% from Sunday and down 7% from its $10.95m first-Monday-gross. We can expect a big jump today, but after that life returns to normal, relatively speaking, with adults going back to work and kids either re-starting school or going back into a few more days of holiday camp. And yes, the film has now earned $199.5m domestic in 11 days of release. Inflation notwithstanding, it’ll end tomorrow above the $200m mark and above the likes of Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($202m in 2014), Batman Begins ($205m in 2005), Thor: The Dark World ($206m in 2013) in domestic earnings. At a glance, it should be at around $212m today and thus pass Venom, Justice League, Logan and Doctor Strange by Friday.
However, for what it’s worth, that 38% drop from Sunday and 7% drop from last Monday signifies the point where Aquaman stops playing like National Treasure: Book of Secrets (-14%/+31%) or Jack Reacher (-15%/+28%) and starts playing like a Hobbit prequel. That’s okay, as Aquaman was never going to pull equivalent multipliers to the Nic Cage sequel ($220m from a $44m launch in 2007) or the Tom Cruise actioner ($80m from a $15m debut in 2012). With the caveat that I Am Legend and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened a week earlier than Aquaman in 2007 and 2012, a similar path from this point onward would give the DC Films flick a domestic total of $255m to $265m, which would be a perfectly normal 3.5x multiplier.
Yes, as expected, that would be the second-lowest DC Films flick thus far between Justice League ($226 million) and Man of Steel ($291m). The Zack Snyder-directed Superman origin story really did pull in a pretty penny back in the day (it was the biggest-grossing straight-up reboot in North America until Spider-Man: Homecoming), even though WB was right to be concerned about the word-of-mouth and swift decline (it pulled a mere 2.27x from its $128m debut weekend). Putting aside hopes of a $1 billion+ finish for Batman v Superman, it’s not implausible to presume that a straight-up Man of Steel 2 would have done the usual “down domestic but way up overseas” scenario (think Game of Shadows or Iron Man 2) and ended up with a more acceptable $700m+ global finish.
Speaking of global finishes, it looks like Aquaman may indeed be playing like The Desolation of Smaug ($258 million domestic/$958m worldwide), The Battle of the Five Armies ($255m/$956m), Age of Extinction ($245m/$1.1 billion), On Stranger Tides ($241m/$1b) and Fate of the Furious ($226m/$1.2b). That’s not exactly esteemed company (even though I’m the weirdo who thinks Transformers 4 is, by default, the best Transformers), but it won’t be much of a concern if Aquaman gets to $1 billion (or $950m) without relying as much on domestic box office. That $260m+ in China is the key, but money is money (even if WB only gets 25% of the Chinese money). Oh, and with $563m overseas (plus whatever it made yesterday), Aquaman has passed Batman v Superman ($543m) to become DC Films’ biggest overseas grosser.
Once it passes $636 million overseas, it’ll pass The Dark Knight Rises (in 2012 and in 2-D) be the biggest DC Comics earner behind The Dark Knight Rises (in 2012 and sans 3-D) to become the biggest DC Comics grosser outside of North America. Yes, Aquaman could leg it to $1 billion and/or above the $1.003b cume of The Dark Knight (in 2008 and sans 3-D) and the $1.084b cume of The Dark Knight Rises to become the biggest DC Comics movie ever worldwide. Regardless, once it passes $900m (and it should pass $800m tomorrow or Thursday), it’ll be the third-biggest solo superhero movie ever, just ahead of Spider-Man 3 ($890m in 2007) and well below Iron Man 3 ($1.2b in 2013) and Black Panther ($1.346b). Your move, Captain Marvel… | www.forbes.com | Box Office: 'Aquaman' Has Become DC Films' Biggest Overseas Grosser | https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/01/01/box-office-aquaman-has-become-dc-films-biggest-overseas-grosser/ | 2019-01-01 |
Greg Myre | 2019-01-01 23:00:45+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The U.S. and Russia are beginning the new year much like they ended last year — with a note of friction. Russia is detaining an American and is accusing him of spying. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442511%2Fwhat-we-know-about-the-american-russia-has-detained-on-spying-allegations%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | What We Know About The American Russia Has Detained On Spying Allegations The U.S. and Russia are beginning the new year much like they ended last year — with a note of friction. Russia is detaining an American and is accusing him of spying. | www.npr.org | What We Know About The American Russia Has Detained On Spying Allegations | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442511/what-we-know-about-the-american-russia-has-detained-on-spying-allegations?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Jeremy Hsieh | 2019-01-01 22:30:11+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Using Medicaid payment data from towns in Alaska that have rejected fluoride in recent years, a new study supports dentists' claims that teeth get worse when the water supply is not fluoridated. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368165%2Fresearch-supports-claims-that-teeth-worsen-without-fluoridated-water%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dmorningedition.json | en | Research Supports Claims That Teeth Worsen Without Fluoridated Water
Using Medicaid payment data from towns in Alaska that have rejected fluoride in recent years, a new study supports dentists' claims that teeth get worse when the water supply is not fluoridated.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A little more than a decade ago, the city of Juneau, Alaska, became one of many American cities that stopped adding fluoride to its tap water. At the time, science predicted more cavities. That prediction has now proven true. From member station KTOO, Jeremy Hsieh reports.
JEREMY HSIEH, BYLINE: Jennifer Meyer is a public health researcher with a new study in the journal BMC Oral Health. She talks about tooth decay and cavities the way dentists do. She calls them caries. And after studying what happened in Juneau to children under 6, this is her takeaway.
JENNIFER MEYER: By taking the fluoride out of the water supply, the tradeoff for that is children are going to experience one additional caries procedure per year at a ballpark of $300 more per child.
HSIEH: She can talk about it in terms of money because she studied the complete set of Medicaid dental claims filed for kids in Juneau's main zip code. She's got a year's worth of data before fluoride went away and another year's worth after, for about 1,900 kids total.
When you talk about children under 6, here's what happened. When the water was still fluoridated, kids on average had about 1 1/2 cavity-related procedures per year. After fluoride was gone, that went up to about 2 1/2 procedures a year. And that got expensive.
MEYER: The cost to have a fluoride management program to actually fluoridate the water is pennies by comparison to what it costs to treat a cavity.
HSIEH: It could be more expensive for anyone, not just the public cost of providing dental care through Medicaid. But Meyer says people with less money are especially vulnerable when fluoride goes away. For example, people with more resources might choose to give their kids fluoride tablets. That would mitigate the absence of fluoride in the water supply for those children.
The new research isn't winning over longtime fluoride opponents like David Ham. He was active in the movement to take fluoride out of Juneau's water in 2006. He calls fluoridation a Band-Aid fix.
DAVID HAM: My issue is that we're asking the wrong question here. You know, and let's get to the root cause and put a tax on sugary drinks and all of these other things or do whatever we can to support good health through good diet.
HSIEH: Ham says community water fluoridation takes away his right to pure water. He also says fluoride is harmful. But the CDC, World Health Organization, European Union and other government and medical institutions have long held that low levels of fluoride in drinking water are safe.
For NPR News, I'm Jeremy Hsieh in Juneau.
(SOUNDBITE OF LYMBYC SYSTEM'S "NIGHTFALL")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | Research Supports Claims That Teeth Worsen Without Fluoridated Water | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368165/research-supports-claims-that-teeth-worsen-without-fluoridated-water?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | 2019-01-01 |
Scott Mendelson | 2019-01-01 19:14:57+00:00 | 2019-01-01 19:00:00 | This third trailer spends less time spoiling 'Happy Death Day' and more time setting up 'Happy Death Day 2U'. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fscottmendelson%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fhappy-death-day-2u-finally-gets-a-trailer-that-doesnt-spoil-happy-death-day%2F.json | en | As a somewhat unexpected New Year’s Day treat, Blumhouse and Universal dropped a new trailer for Happy Death Day 2U. It’s not an exact match, but it’s no worse than when Walt Disney dropped a Cinderella teaser right at midnight on New Year’s Eve. What’s striking is that we’ve already had three trailers for a sequel to a movie that initially had a single theatrical trailer. I don’t know if this will play in theaters (the MPAA rating at the end seems to imply that it’s more of an extended TV spot), but it’s our best look yet at the high-concept sequel to the late-2017 high-concept horror hit.
And, unlike the first teaser, which played exclusively in theaters with Halloween and the conventional theatrical trailer that dropped online just under a month ago, this features no scenes of Theresa "Tree" Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) trying to kill herself in absurdist ways (which may not play well on TV during a football game). It also doesn’t recap the first Happy Death Day for newbies, which also means it doesn’t spoil the first film’s big whodunnit reveal. Yes, you can safely watch this 80-second teaser without discovering who was actually trying to murder her last time out. And it’s pretty spoiler-free in terms of the sequel as well.
The “explain the whole first movie” thing was a necessary evil as Happy Death Day 2U will ben sold to countless folks who haven’t seen the first film and may think the sequel looks worth seeing when they sit down for Halloween or Glass. This preview presumes that folks have seen the first film and concentrates on laying out the groundwork for the sequel (Tree has to keep reliving the same day in order to save the folks she befriended in the first movie). There isn’t much in terms of new footage, but it works as a pretty concise “Okay, here’s how it’s going to be different” pitch.
So the question, to the extent that it matters, is whether Happy Death Day 2U can be an old-school breakout sequel. Look, unless the budget for this sequel is a lot higher than the $5 million that Blumhouse and friends spent on the first movie, Happy Death Day 2U could make a lot less than its predecessor’s $55.6 million domestic and $122.6m worldwide cume and still be a modest hit. When your $5m genre-splicing throwback opens with decent reviews and $26m on opening weekend, there’s not a lot of room to go “up.” Besides, it’s not like it took the industry by storm.
That’s all I have for this one, but I was a big fan of the first Happy Death Day. And, as noted here and there, sometimes the best piece of marketing for a movie is a good trailer attached to a super smash with demographically-friendly audiences. Think Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief's teaser playing with Avatar. Think Lights Out and its trailer preceding The Conjuring 2. Think the Straight Outta Compton trailer being attached to Furious 7. One of the big winners from Force Awakens was Zootopia, which had its gut-busting second trailer (essentially the DMV scene) playing with every print of Star Wars 7.
I could go on (Deep Impact teasing before Titanic) and on (the dynamite second trailer to Sing playing before The Secret Life of Pets), but you get the idea. Happy Death Day 2U will benefit from the first film’s relative popularity as well as key trailer placement prior to both Halloween (which earned $159 million domestic) and Glass (which… is probably going to do okay). Will we get a Happy Death Day 3? No clue, but if the second film pulls off its Back to the Future II gimmick as well as the first film pulled off its Groundhog Day/Edge of Tomorrow/Before I Fall schtick, I’d welcome another one.
Happy Death Day 2U opens February 14, 2019. | www.forbes.com | 'Happy Death Day 2U' Finally Gets A Trailer That Doesn't Spoil 'Happy Death Day' | https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/01/01/happy-death-day-2u-finally-gets-a-trailer-that-doesnt-spoil-happy-death-day/ | 2019-01-01 |
Susan Davis | 2019-01-01 12:08:16+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | A new day care facility is opening Jan. 2 for employees in the House of Representatives which will reduce the wait list for childcare from three years down to one. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681239353%2Flawmakers-hope-new-house-day-care-will-keep-staff-on-capitol-hill%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Lawmakers Hope New House Day Care Will Keep Staff On Capitol Hill
Enlarge this image toggle caption Architect of the Capitol's Office Architect of the Capitol's Office
Within sight of the U.S. Capitol dome, a new dome is about to open. It's on the playground of a new day care facility exclusively for U.S. House employees, and the playground is designed in part to look like a kid-sized National Mall.
"This is the only Washington Monument in D.C. that you can climb up," joked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who helped inspire the playground's design.
McCarthy will become minority leader in the next Congress, but as majority leader he used the office to secure space in a government building adjacent to the Capitol — and more than $12 million in taxpayer funds — for a 26,000 square foot, state-of-the-art childcare facility.
Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The first phase, opening this week, will provide care for up to 120 infants and toddlers. The second phase will add 122 preschoolers in about a year. The expansion will reduce the House day care's waiting list from three years down to just one, making it much easier for new parents to plan for childcare.
This use of taxpayer funds could open up Congress to criticism, but McCarthy says the goal here is to keep highly qualified staff on the Hill. The day care is only available to House employees. (The Senate operates its own day care facility that continues to have a lengthy wait list.)
"If somebody is working for you and wants to continue to serve government, but says 'I don't have day care so I can't stay here, the wait list is too long, the quality is not there,' then you are disadvantaging who can actually serve and work in government at the same time," he told NPR.
The wait list for the House day care had become so long that staffers were signing up before they were even pregnant. "I've had friends who the minute they got engaged, they're putting themselves on the list," said Melissa Murphy, chief of staff to Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., who has two children currently in the day care.
Murphy said it's common for congressional staffers to make a reluctant decision to leave the Hill for more lucrative jobs in the private sector, when they decide to start a family. "It's really upsetting to see because they make the decision to leave the Hill and leave public service because the cost of private day care is difficult to maintain on some of the congressional salaries," she said.
The House day care costs between $1100 and $1700 a month — a fraction of the cost of comparable private day care in the Washington, D.C., area, which ranks as one of the most expensive places in the country to raise children.
Lawmakers get no special treatment. "I never made it off the list," said Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., "I had to keep looking like everyone else does. You get on a list, you hope it works, and if it doesn't work you've got to make something happen."
NPR identified only two members of Congress — both male lawmakers — who currently have their children enrolled in the day care.
Herrera Beutler is one of only ten lawmakers who have given birth while serving in Congress. She is also trying to recruit more young women to run for office, and she said childcare concerns are one of the biggest deterrents for women to run. She hopes the new day care can help change that culture, too.
"The message is: You can make this work. For the good of the country and for the good of your family. And so I feel like the day care facility was just another opportunity to give that option so that we get more women — so we are going to be more representative of the American people," she said.
The new day care could also open up Congress to public criticism that lawmakers are willing to provide quality, affordable, subsidized childcare for their own, but have done little legislatively to ease the crushing costs of childcare for American families.
Outgoing Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kansas, played a lead role in securing the taxpayer funds for the day care expansion. Yoder said he sees it as Congress setting a standard for the private sector to compete against.
"Congress is trying to lead and make it clear that as a governing body we think it's important that employers put childcare as a priority," he said.
And as of this week in the House of Representatives, it is. | www.npr.org | Lawmakers Hope New House Day Care Will Keep Staff On Capitol Hill | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681239353/lawmakers-hope-new-house-day-care-will-keep-staff-on-capitol-hill?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Frank Langfitt | 2019-01-01 22:29:51+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Ireland is a country that's politics were once dominated by the Catholic Church and now abortion is legal. The change marks a significant milepost in the country's political evolution. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368198%2Firelands-momentous-change-abortion-services-are-no-longer-banned%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dmorningedition.json | en | Ireland's Momentous Change: Abortion Services Are No Longer Banned
Ireland is a country that's politics were once dominated by the Catholic Church and now abortion is legal. The change marks a significant milepost in the country's political evolution.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Today marks an historic moment in Ireland. For the first time, women will have broad access to legal abortions. The government passed a bill legalizing abortions last month. For more on the change, we turn NPR's London correspondent, Frank Langfitt, who's been following this. Hi, Frank.
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning, Rachel.
MARTIN: Good morning. So describe the scope of this. How is life different today for women in Ireland than it was yesterday?
LANGFITT: Well, for pregnant ones, it's very different. For the first time beginning this morning, women can call in to a government help line for advice on a pregnancy and receive guidance on obtaining an abortion. They'll also, obviously, get other guidance. There are lots of ways to handle a pregnancy, of course.
If they're nine weeks pregnant, they'll be given the name of the nearest general practitioner who provides abortion services. So far, there are about 165 clinics in the country that have signed up to participate. And they'll offer an abortion pill. The names are actually not being published, of these clinics, because there is fear, certainly from the clinics, of being targeted by anti-abortion groups.
If a woman is more than nine weeks pregnant, she can then be referred to the nearest hospital to provide abortion procedures. There are just nine that have agreed so far to do that. But still, even though the numbers are not enormous in terms of the opportunities for women and where to go, it is a huge shift in the country. You got to remember, Rachel, as recently as 2016, at least several thousand women travelled from Ireland to England and Wales to have an abortion.
MARTIN: All right. So is the government putting any limits on abortions?
LANGFITT: It is. It is. You know, it's still - there's still a very strong conservative streak in - in, certainly, parts of the country. And abortion is now generally forbidden after 12 weeks. So, for instance, if an abortion were to fail and a woman's pregnancy exceeds 12 weeks, it would be illegal to attempt a second abortion, except for certain circumstances, particularly involving risk to the life of the mother, health of the mother. Doctors who carry out an abortion after 12 weeks, in certain circumstances, that aren't covered could face a fine or imprisonment of up to 14 years.
MARTIN: So Ireland is obviously tethered to the Catholic Church, very socially conservative, has been anyway. So this is a huge change. Can you just remind us the arc of this?
LANGFITT: Sure.
MARTIN: How did it come to be?
LANGFITT: Yeah, so back in May, politically, there was a landslide vote to repeal a constitutional amendment in Ireland that had banned nearly all abortions. But really, this goes back over the decades, and it's the culmination of years of dramatic social, economic and religious change in the country.
Now, you remember not so long ago, Ireland was poor. But the economy took off in the 1990s and drew back a lot of Irish emigrants, people who'd been in U.S., Australia, England. They came back with more liberal ideas.
The biggest factor though has been the collapse of the authority of the Catholic Church. And, of course, this has happened, to a certain degree, in the United States following the child sex abuse scandals. Also in Ireland, you had these church-run workhouses that took children away from unwed mothers. The church tried to cover up a lot of these things.
And so over four decades, what you've seen is mass attendance has gone from about 80 percent, and now it hovers around 35 percent.
MARTIN: And the pope was there recently, right? I mean, did you see evidence of the church's waning influence through his visit?
LANGFITT: He was. I was there for the visit, and it was - Rachel, it was night and day. It was so striking. Back in '79 when Pope John Paul II went, there was - to Ireland, there was an outpouring of affection. He held mass in Dublin for 1.2 million people.
This time out, Pope Francis, it was just a small fraction of that. And in the crowds, they weren't that thick in Dublin, waiting for the popemobile. And even - you could even hear some boos from victims of clerical sex abuse who'd come out to protest the church - so a huge shift in Ireland in terms of the authority and the affection for the Catholic Church.
MARTIN: NPR's Frank Langfitt for us this morning. Thanks so much, Frank.
LANGFITT: Happy to do it, Rachel.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHEQUERBOARD'S "DUNES")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | Ireland's Momentous Change: Abortion Services Are No Longer Banned | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368198/irelands-momentous-change-abortion-services-are-no-longer-banned?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | 2019-01-01 |
Jennifer Kite-Powell | 2019-01-01 20:45:11+00:00 | 2019-01-01 19:54:00 | What is in store for robotics and smart devices in 2019? Here are six predictions that look at what we can expect to see with our smart devices and home robotics. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjenniferhicks%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fhere-are-six-robot-and-smart-device-predictions-for-2019%2F.json | en | Service robots for personal and domestic use continue to grow. The forecast from 2016 through 2019 is expected to be $22 billion.
Julian Jagtenberg, Co-Founder and Head of Growth, Somnox created a robot that has one job, to help you sleep better. The Dutch startup, with around $282k in funding, wants reduce the effects of sleep deprivation with their robot that simulates natural breathing as you hold the robot to fall asleep.
Jagtenberg looks at the shift from industrial to home robotics and the emergence of a new species in his predictions for robotics in 2019.
Robots will no longer be used solely for industrial application.
Jagtenberg says that the rise of soft robotics will give way to robots that are easier and safer to interact with. "For example, soft robotic companions can be used in healthcare to assist with repetitive tasks such as medication intake, bathing, etc., because nurses and doctors have a limited amount of time to [..] to nurture patients, which is vitally important for patient recovery time."
A new species, the electroids, will emerge.
"I believe that robots are just like animals and that a new species is starting to enter our world: the electroids," said Jagtenberg. "Just like homo sapiens, the electroids will co-exist with other animals and us. They will be stronger (electric muscle), more intelligent (connected to the internet and processing power), and are telepathic (radio-contact)."
Jagtenberg notes that society will need to adapt and ensure the new electroid species has the right place in society.
Robots will change jobs for the better.
"In the media, robots are either taking our jobs or are about to destroy human-kind, and we should really change this stigma [..], jobs have always disappeared throughout the ages due to technological advancements - and it's not any different now," said Jagtenberg. "We need to re-identify our value and skills every single day.
Jagtenberg says robots have superior intelligence when it comes to IQ and the ability to solve defined problems, but humans are at zero development when it comes to emotional intelligence. "That's why we humans will stay unique and relevant in this world. Robots will be our friends, not our enemy," adds Jagtenberg.
At the opposite end of a sleep robot, is the cleaning robot, Roomba from iRobot.
According to a market report in 2018 from IDC, the smart home market is forecasted to reach 1.3 billion devices by 2022. The fastest growing category will be smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo and is growing at 39.1 percent annually with an estimated 230.5 million devices by 2022.
Chris Jones, CTO, iRobot highlights three primary advancements in the practical robotics and smart home sectors.
Greater adoption of spatial awareness technology.
Jones says that as consumers continue to adjust to smart devices in the home, there will be an increased call to action for companies to make devices smarter by giving them a greater sense of spatial awareness in the home such as telling a vacuum to clean specific areas of the home, like 'in front of the couch' or Google Home understanding that the charging base has been temporarily moved to the dining room.
“Giving devices spatial awareness will be the single biggest factor in the advancement of smart home technology," said Jones.
Better integration of smart home devices.
“Smart home Darwinism will weed out devices unable to comply with a broad eco-system of smart devices and home networks," said Jones.
Jones says consumers want smart devices (Alexa-enabled devices or Google Assistant) that play well with others and smart device makers will develop products that work well with a broader eco-system of smart devices, enabling customers to get more enjoyment and value from the individual device.
A dramatic increase in efficiency and customization in daily lives.
Jones adds that day-to-day life will become more efficient as devices automate and coordinate chores and other tasks and that more ‘thoughtful’ smart home devices will have a better sense of consumer preferences and patterns and go beyond the day’s calendar or general weather update.
“The Smart Home 2.0 will begin to take shape in 2019, with more ‘thoughtful’ IoT devices capable of automating and coordinating tasks based on a greater understanding of their environment and users’ preferences," adds Jones. | www.forbes.com | Here Are Six Robot And Smart Device Predictions for 2019 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2019/01/01/here-are-six-robot-and-smart-device-predictions-for-2019/ | 2019-01-01 |
Anthony Kuhn | 2019-01-02 00:17:19+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | In his New Year's Day address, Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization, but warned North Korea will take a "new path" if the U.S. maintains sanctions against his country. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442462%2Fnorth-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-kicks-off-new-year-with-address-and-a-warning-to%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dasia.json | en | North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Kicks Off New Year With Address And A Warning To U.S. In his New Year's Day address, Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization, but warned North Korea will take a "new path" if the U.S. maintains sanctions against his country. | www.npr.org | North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Kicks Off New Year With Address And A Warning To U.S. | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442462/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-kicks-off-new-year-with-address-and-a-warning-to?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=asia | 2019-01-01 |
Steve Hanke | 2019-01-01 22:15:15+00:00 | 2019-01-01 22:00:00 | Venezuela is the only country in the world that is currently experiencing the ravages of hyperinflation. As 2018 came to a close, Venezuela’s hyperinflation, which I am able to measure by applying Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) to high frequency, reached 80,000%/yr, and has lasted 25 months. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fstevehanke%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fvenezuelas-hyperinflation-hits-80000-per-year-in-2018%2F.json | en | Venezuela's economy has collapsed. This is the result of years of socialism, incompetence, and corruption, among other things. An important element that mirrors the economy's collapse is Venezuela's currency, the bolivar. It is not trustworthy. Venezuela's exchange rate regime provides no discipline. It only produces instability, poverty, and the world’s highest inflation rate for 2018. Indeed, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate at the end of 2018 was 80,000%.
I observed much of Venezuela’s economic dysfunction first-hand during the 1995-96 period, when I acted as President Rafael Caldera’s adviser. But it wasn’t until 1999, when Hugo Chavez was installed as president, that the socialist seeds of Venezuela’s current meltdown started to be planted. This is not to say that Venezuela had not suffered from an unstable currency and elevated inflation rates before the arrival of President Chavez, but with his ascendancy, fiscal and monetary discipline further deteriorated and inflation ratcheted up. By the time President Nicolas Maduro arrived in early 2013, annual inflation was in triple digits and rising. Venezuela entered what has become a death spiral.
With the acceleration of inflation, the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) became an unreliable source of inflation data. Indeed, in December 2014, the BCV stopped reporting inflation statistics on a regular basis. To remedy this problem, the Johns Hopkins-Cato Institute Troubled Currencies Project, which I direct, began to measure Venezuela’s inflation back to 2013.
So, how do we accurately measure Venezuela’s inflation? There is only one reliable way. The most important price in an economy is the exchange rate between the local currency - in this case, the bolivar - and the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. dollar. As long as there is an active black market (read: free market) for currency and the data are available, changes in the black-market exchange rate can be reliably transformed into accurate measurements of countrywide inflation rates. The economic principle of purchasing power parity (PPP) allows for this transformation. And the application of PPP to measure elevated inflation rates is rather simple.
Beyond the theory of PPP, the intuition of why PPP represents the ‘gold standard’ for measuring inflation during hyperinflation episodes is clear. All items in an economy that is hyperinflating are either priced in a stable foreign currency (the U.S. dollar) or a local currency (the bolivar). If goods are priced in terms of bolivars, those prices are determined by referring to the dollar prices of goods, and then converting them to local bolivar prices after checking with the spot black-market exchange rate. Indeed, when the price level is increasing rapidly and erratically on a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, or even minute by-minute basis, exchange rate quotations are the only source of information on how fast inflation is actually proceeding. That is why PPP holds, and why we can use high-frequency (daily) data to calculate Venezuela’s inflation rate, even during episodes of hyperinflation.
And what criteria are used to categorize an inflation as an episode of hyperinflation? The following criteria should be met before any episode of elevated inflation be termed “hyperinflation”:
An episode of hyperinflation occurs when the monthly inflation rate exceeds 50%/mo. for 30 consecutive days
The hyperinflation episode ends when the monthly inflation rate falls below 50%/mo. mark, unless the monthly inflation should exceed 50% per month for another 30-day period within a year after the first episode is terminated. In this case, the second episode is not counted as a new hyperinflation episode, and but is instead considered a continuation of the original episode.
In Venezuela, the monthly inflation rate exceeded 50%/mo back on November 13, 2016 and remained above 50%/mo until December 14, 2016 (32 consecutive days). On December 15, 2016, the monthly inflation rate fell below 50%/mo mark. Then, on November 3, 2017, the monthly inflation rate again exceeded 50%/mo threshold, before falling below the threshold on December 17, 2017 (for 44 consecutive days). So, Venezuela has been engulfed in a hyperinflation episode ever since November 13, 2016, with another flare up of the same episode occurring during the November-December 2017 period.
Venezuela is the only country in the world that is currently experiencing the ravages of hyperinflation. As 2018 came to a close, Venezuela’s hyperinflation, which I am able to accurately measure by applying Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) to high frequency, reached 80,000%/yr, and has lasted 25 months. Devastating as it is, 80,000% is a far cry from the International Monetary Fund’s unbelievable end-of-the-year inflation forecast for Venezuela of 2,500,000%/yr. One should never forget that one can measure episodes of hyperinflation with great precision, but no one can reliability forecast their durations or magnitudes—a fact that has failed to penetrate the walls of the IMF’s insular bureaucracy.
How can Venezuela pull itself out of its economic death spiral? Venezuela must officially dump the bolivar and adopt the greenback. Official “dollarization” is a proven elixir. I know because I operated as a State Counselor in Montenegro when it dumped the worthless Yugoslav dinar in 1999 and replaced it with the Deutsche mark. I also took part in the successful dollarization of Ecuador in 2001, when I was operating as an adviser to the Minister of Economy and Finance.
Countries that are officially dollarized produce lower, less variable inflation rates and higher, more stable economic growth rates than comparable countries with central banks that issue domestic currencies. There is a tried and true way to stabilize the economy, which is a necessary condition required before the massive task of life-giving reforms can begin. It is dollarization. Stability might not be everything, but everything is nothing without stability.
Just what does the Venezuelan public think of the dollarization idea? To answer that question, a professional survey of public opinion on the topic was conducted in March 2017 by Datincorp in Caracas. The results are encouraging: Sixty-two (62%) of the public favored dollarization. Since things have considerably deteriorated since that survey, my conjecture is that the proportion of Venezuelans favoring dollarization has substantially increased. It’s time for enlightened, practical politicians in Venezuela to embrace the dollarization idea. The fact of the matter is that the public has already spontaneously dollarized the economy. | www.forbes.com | Venezuela's Hyperinflation Hits 80,000% Per Year in 2018 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevehanke/2019/01/01/venezuelas-hyperinflation-hits-80000-per-year-in-2018/ | 2019-01-01 |
Stefan Becket | 2019-01-02 14:55:20+00:00 | 2019-01-01 20:58:57 | Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida, said the child was taking part in a "hands-on, educational experience" with the zoo's southern white rhinos | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fchild-falls-into-rhino-exhibit-at-brevard-zoo-melbourne-florida-rhinoceros-snout%2F.json | en | A 2-year-old girl is recovering in the hospital after stumbling into a rhinoceros exhibit at a Florida zoo and coming into contact with one of the animals, officials said Tuesday.
Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida, said the girl was taking part in a "hands-on, educational experience" with the zoo's southern white rhinos when he or she apparently fell between steel poles separating guests from the rhino yard. The zoo is about 50 miles southeast of Orlando.
In a statement, the zoo said "the snout of at least one of rhinoceroses made contact with the child." Spokesman Elliot Zirulnik told CBS affiliate WKMG-TV the snout is defined as the area below the animal's horn.
The girl was rescued and taken to the Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital in Orlando, WKMG reported. The child's mother was also transported to a local hospital for unspecified treatment.
In a statement released by the hospital later Tuesday, the girl's father said she is "doing well" and the mother had been treated and released. The family asked for privacy following what the father called a "trying day."
The rhinoceros enclosure at Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida. Brevard Zoo
"Our number one concern is the safety and welfare of our guests and our hearts go out to the family," the zoo's executive director Keith Winsten said. "Safety has always been of paramount importance to us and we are suspending these encounters until we have thoroughly reviewed our processes and procedures to ensure this cannot happen again."
The zoo said the "Rhino Encounters" had been held daily without incident for about a decade.
Brevard Zoo is home to four southern white rhinos, including two males and two females, according to its website. Frankie, a 16-year-old, 5,200 pound male, arrived at the zoo in October.
Officials told WKMG the rhinoceros involved won't be punished in any way. | www.cbsnews.com | Child falls into rhinoceros exhibit at Florida zoo | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-falls-into-rhino-exhibit-at-brevard-zoo-melbourne-florida-rhinoceros-snout/ | 2019-01-01 |
Laura Benshoff | 2019-01-01 12:09:00+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The partial government shutdown, in part prompted by disagreement over federal immigration policy, means most of the country's immigration courts are not hearing cases. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368130%2Fshutdown-delayed-immigration-cases-could-further-strain-backlogged-system%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Shutdown-Delayed Immigration Cases Could Further Strain Backlogged System The partial government shutdown, in part prompted by disagreement over federal immigration policy, means most of the country's immigration courts are not hearing cases. | www.npr.org | Shutdown-Delayed Immigration Cases Could Further Strain Backlogged System | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368130/shutdown-delayed-immigration-cases-could-further-strain-backlogged-system?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Enrique Dans | 2019-01-01 11:44:55+00:00 | 2019-01-01 11:21:00 | If one thing has become clear, it’s that Amazon’s threat to traditional retailers no longer comes simply from luring their customers online: it now intends to take the fight directly to them, at street level, with all that that entails. And it’s not like they weren’t warned. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fenriquedans%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Famazon-on-a-high-street-near-you%2F.json | en | The guidelines of Amazon’s insatiable expansion strategy leave no room for doubt: the goal is not just the conquest of online shopping, but the conquest of retail, period.
The path traveled since the launch of the first cashier-free Amazon Go store in Seattle on December 5, 2016, its opening to the general public on January 22, 2018, the expansion to other US and international cities, airports, and plans to open 3,000 establishments by 2021 makes it abundantly clear that Amazon is readying to conquer offline retail in the convenience store segment.
At the same time, the company has opened Amazon 4-star, Amazon Pop-Up or Amazon Books in the United States, which sell stuff its online customers have rated with four stars or more, along with exclusive items such as its range of devices and book selections, which while representing limited interest demand segments also allow the company to tell the world it isn’t just king of online retailing, but is now a brand with a growing physical presence.
In addition to this segment, which is of relative importance in terms of consumption patterns, the company has begun to extend the application of its technology beyond convenience stores to larger and more complex establishments, trying out new models suitable for other markets, basically along two lines: the expansion of Whole Foods, following its acquisition in June 2017; and the exploration of segments less open to the online world and banking, such as rural areas in countries such as India.
Regarding the first, the company has ambitious expansion plans: at the time of its acquisition, Whole Foods had 440 stores, all located in densely populated areas with relatively high incomes. Basically, the acquisition provided Amazon with a physical store within five kilometers of the 75 million wealthiest Americans. At that time, the fact that Whole Foods was experiencing problems of growth and profitability, or was testing the patience of its shareholders to the limit was unimportant: what Amazon wanted, clearly, was that strategic physical network.
The steady Amazonification of Whole Foods also leaves no room for doubt: since its acquisition, the chain has undergone a process of democratization in terms of prices, has become less upscale or exclusive, has incorporated many of Amazon’s practices (order pickup, special offers for subscribers of its Prime service, exclusive products, etc.), and has done so, say most customers, without losing its reputation for good service.
Now, Amazon is considering going a step further: opening Whole Foods stores in less wealthy neighborhoods, so as to reach a broader demographic. This would not have been possible before the acquisition, but is now considered not only possible, but recommended. After Amazon’s defining leap to logistics in the United States through the democratization of a supermarket chain that provided a positive, but relatively high-priced shopping experience, it now intends to offer that experience at a more competitive price.
At the same time as Amazon is expanding rapidly in the US market, it’s simultaneously reinventing itself with stores in rural areas of India: a market of 800 million people, many of them with very little experience of online shopping and, in many cases, with a very low level of banking use; many still lack access to smartphones. To do this, the company is creating a network of establishments using video to describe its products for users who cannot read, with instructions in local languages, as well as facilitating cash payments. The idea is to compete with Walmart, which after the acquisition of the local competitor, Flipkart, is going after the same target segment.
Anybody who knows Amazon will know that the company will use the knowledge acquired in these markets for similar launches in others. Will 2019 bring acquisitions of retail chains in other key markets, or will we have to wait a few more years? What type of establishments could be candidates for similar acquisitions? Will Amazon create its own network of stores in other countries, as it has just begun to do in the United Kingdom, or will it do so ad hoc to simply gain a foothold?
If one thing has become clear, it’s that Amazon’s threat to traditional retailers no longer comes simply from luring their customers online: it now intends to take the fight directly to them, at street level, with all that that entails. And it’s not like they weren’t warned. | www.forbes.com | Amazon: On A High Street Near You | https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2019/01/01/amazon-on-a-high-street-near-you/ | 2019-01-01 |
Rob Pascale | 2019-01-01 22:15:08+00:00 | 2019-01-01 21:27:00 | The prospect of early retirement can seem like a great idea, but it can have its difficuties, and there may be some unexpected pitfalls along the way. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Frobpascale%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Ftaking-early-retirment%2F.json | en | Seems like a great idea, but it can have its difficulties.
Many people find the prospect of early retirement appealing. Assuming you have the financial wherewithal and you haven't been forced to retire, you have the opportunity to take your life in a different direction. For some, things actually turn out that way.
But that's not the general rule. Early retirees can have a harder time adjusting and can become disenchanted as they progress deeper into their retirement.
As one reason, early retirees still have high levels of energy and drive, and many still have a strong need to be productive. However, if they have nothing planned, or what they planned to do is not as much fun as they expected, they may come to see retirement as boring and slow-paced. The truth is early retirees may face more boredom day to day than their older counter-parts.
Another reason is tied to what their spouse is doing. When a spouse keeps working, retirees can be restricted in their activities -- they may not travel or participate in certain social situations as much as they would like. There can also be changes in the dynamics of the marriage, how partners relate to each other. If the retiree is a man, for instance, the loss of his bread-winning role can be a knock to his self-esteem. That can put stress on the relationship – not immediately at first, but gradually over time.
And finally, the most important factor, staying socially connected. People who stop working while still in their fifties won't have many peers doing the same. The early retiree is often taking the journey alone.
Social contact breaks down in terms of both time and quality. There is distancing from friends because early retirees have different day-to-day goals and priorities. When conversations turn to work, they may lose interest, feel out of touch, or feel they have nothing to contribute. This is healthy – early retirees can’t afford to hold onto their working identities. But the weakening of these social bonds could lead then to feel disconnected and isolated, and that's not healthy.
Early retirees will also lose touch with their former co-workers. Early on in retirement, retirees gradually break away from their co-worker friends – again, a healthy, if not inevitable, consequence of no longer having daily access to them or sharing the same priorities.
The breakaway happens for both younger and older retirees, but it's much more severe for younger ones. Older retirees lose fewer friends because they tend to retire as a group, and the group still shares the same lifestyle.
Compounding this problem, younger retirees have fewer opportunities to meet new people. Older retirees have access to senior centers which serve as social hubs, and on-line retirement clubs. Not so for those retiring early.
Social isolation is harmful to one's psychological well-being. You may come to feel under-valued, less self-confident, and less optimistic about the future. From there it's a downward spiral – these negative feelings can reduce their motivation to improve their lifestyle, which further reduces self-esteem, and so on.
So, retiring young is not without its issues. But there are ways to make it work. First off, before you leave the workforce, make sure you have something meaningful to go to. Just walking out and thinking you're heading into paradise will likely lead to disappointments.
Careful and detailed planning is essential. Planning leads to goal setting, which provides a constructive way of using time and a path to follow. That's for you activities, but also for your social life. Put your efforts into maintaining regular contacts with friends and acquaintances -- and in person, not via electronics.
Keep an open mind about going back to work, and jump in as soon as you recognize you're not comfortable in retirement. The right job, one that is not stress-ridden or overly demanding, can provide various psychological and social benefits, but still let you feel retired.
Finally, retire with your spouse. You'll have a greater array of entertaining diversions, feel less lonely and isolated, and the dynamics of the relationship will remain unchanged. However, if that's not possible, then pay particular attention in planning how you will spend your time with and without your spouse. Along these lines, give yourself permission to do the things you need to do to keep feeling good about yourself. | www.forbes.com | Taking Early Retirment | https://www.forbes.com/sites/robpascale/2019/01/01/taking-early-retirment/ | 2019-01-01 |
Anthony Kuhn | 2019-01-02 08:05:15+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | In his New Year's Day address, Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization, but warned North Korea will take a "new path" if the U.S. maintains sanctions against his country. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442462%2Fnorth-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-kicks-off-new-year-with-address-and-a-warning-to%3Futm_medium%3DRSS.json | en | North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Kicks Off New Year With Address And A Warning To U.S.
In his New Year's Day address, Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization, but warned North Korea will take a "new path" if the U.S. maintains sanctions against his country.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Sitting in a leather chair in a wood-paneled room, North Korea's leader kicked off the new year with an address to his nation and a warning to the U.S. Kim Jong Un said he's willing to meet with President Trump a second time but threatened that if international sanctions against North Korea continue, he'll have no choice but to take a new path.
NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us now from Seoul to talk about what this could mean. And, Anthony, since President Trump met Kim Jong Un in Singapore for that historic summit last year in June, the nuclear issue has been somewhat stalled. So can you tell us what new information you heard in Kim's speech?
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: Actually, most of the speech was not about the nuclear issue. It was for a domestic audience, news about the economy. But he did repeat his pledge to denuclearize and mend fences with the U.S. Now, let's hear one of the more optimistic, upbeat parts of his speech.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SUPREME LEADER KIM JONG UN: (Speaking Korean).
KUHN: "It is our party and republic's unchanging position and my unwavering will," he said, "to establish a new relationship between the DPRK and the U.S. that meets the demands of the new century and to establish a permanent, stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula and move towards complete denuclearization." By DPRK, he meant the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is its formal name.
Analysts point out that there was actually something significant elsewhere in the speech. He said that North Korea would stop building atomic bombs, basically cap his country's nuclear program. But as you mentioned, there was also this warning that if the U.S. tries to sanction North Korea into submission or just runs out their patience, then all bets are off, and there could be a return to confrontation.
CORNISH: You mentioned a warning. Did Kim provide any specifics of what he wants from President Trump?
KUHN: I think it's pretty clear that he mostly just wants the meeting at this point, and we know this because North Korea has refused to engage in working-level talks with the U.S., particularly Mike Pompeo and U.S. special envoy Steve Biegun have basically been shut out. So analysts believe that North Korea is betting everything on a second summit with Trump, where they will try to manipulate him into making more concessions.
And the - North Korea's point has been pretty consistent in past months. They say, look, since the summit, we have dismantled some of our nuclear and missile testing facilities, and now we expect the U.S. to reciprocate by providing security guarantees and easing sanctions. The U.S. wants to start off as a first move by providing an inventory of all its nuclear assets, but North Korea refuses to do that.
CORNISH: What about the relationship with South Korea? The two leaders met, I think, about three times in the past year. Did Kim Jong Un say anything about South Korea in his speech?
KUHN: Yes. He talked about continuing the thaw in relations with South Korea. Now, at times, the U.S. has seemed nervous that this sort of inter-Korean rapprochement is getting out too far ahead of the nuclear issue. But lately, they seem to have had a change of heart. They seem to have decided that it doesn't really cost them anything at this point. There's only so far they can go with those sanctions still in place. And they hope that this will just improve the atmosphere and maybe make talks a little bit easier.
And that is why the U.S. gave its blessing to last week's groundbreaking on a project to connect railways between the two Koreas. And the U.S. says it will try to ensure that the sanctions that are in place do not prevent U.S. aid groups from delivering humanitarian assistance to the North.
CORNISH: It's interesting. I understand Kim talked about an end to U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises. And at the same time, the U.S. and South Korea failed to meet a deadline to renew a funding agreement for U.S. forces in South Korea, right? So there's this little dispute going on between the U.S. and South Korea. How does that affect this conversation?
KUHN: Well, these - the two sides were supposed to come up with a new agreement before the old one expired last night. But the U.S. reportedly wants South Korea to increase its contribution by 50 percent, and Seoul says no. The Trump administration wants all U.S. allies to pay more, and it's focusing on South Korea first. The South Koreans are also somewhat unnerved by the resignation of Defense Secretary Mattis because he was a consistent advocate for the alliance. It's not clear that the U.S. Congress would allow any sort of pullout of U.S. troops, but any sign that the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea is wavering has Seoul very concerned.
CORNISH: That's NPR's Anthony Kuhn in Seoul. Thank you for your reporting.
KUHN: Sure thing, Audie.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Kicks Off New Year With Address And A Warning To U.S. | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442462/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-kicks-off-new-year-with-address-and-a-warning-to?utm_medium=RSS | 2019-01-01 |
Blake Oestriecher | 2019-01-02 06:12:11+00:00 | 2019-01-01 14:19:00 | WWE Raw could be grooming Finn Balor as the heir apparent to Roman Reigns. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fblakeoestriecher%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fwwe-raw-may-have-finally-found-a-replacement-for-roman-reigns%2F%3Fsrc%3Drss.json | en | For the better part of four years, WWE made it clear that Roman Reigns was "the guy" on Monday Night Raw.
During that span, Reigns main evented four straight WrestleManias, won the Intercontinental, Universal and WWE titles, and was the focal point of the red brand essentially since he split from The Shield in 2014. But earlier this year, Reigns shocked the world when he revealed that he was battling leukemia for the second time, delivering a powerful speech on Raw in which he vowed that he wasn't retired but also let it be known that there's no telling when he may be back. Reign's unfortunate cancer diagnosis resulted in WWE throwing all of its WrestleMania plans "out the window" and left a gaping hole of star power due to the absence of the heart and soul of Raw.
Reigns' ongoing hiatus, though an unlucky and saddening turn of events, has, however, created the opportunity for another star to rise up to the occasion and potentially supplant Reigns as the face of WWE until "The Big Dog" comes back. The three names most often mentioned in that conversation are Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins, all for very obvious but very different reasons. Of the three, Rollins would probably be the fans' choice while McIntyre would be the most logical and Strowman may not be ideal because he's limited in terms of what he can do in the ring.
One name that hasn't been mentioned much, however, is a dark horse who may have his best shot yet at becoming the top star on Raw: Finn Balor.
At least thus far, Balor's career has been a roller coaster ride filled with more downs than ups, but the first-ever Universal Champion is reportedly in line for a massive push as we begin 2019. Although whether that will hold true is certainly up for debate, it's been quite apparent in recent weeks that the winds of change are blowing for the once poorly booked Balor, who picked up a surprising victory over Drew McIntyre at TLC last month, followed that up by defeating Ziggler the next night on Raw and then defeated both Ziggler and McIntyre in a triple threat match on last week's episode.
Not long before that, Balor was consistently losing those types of matches, but in spite of that, his popularity never waned. With Strowman's push derailed by a short-lived heel run (and a squash match loss at Crown Jewel) and Rollins' momentum stalled by a surprisingly underwhelming feud with Dean Ambrose, you could definitely argue that Balor has become the hottest act on Raw in the men's division and that he is now generating the best crowd reactions on the red brand. What's more, Balor became WWE's No. 4 merchandise mover, behind only Reigns, John Cena and AJ Styles and ahead of both Strowman and Rollins, who, for the most part, have been pushed much harder than he has.
Vince McMahon and the McMahon family recently promised that the WWE Universe would be "the new Authority" and that WWE management would listen to its fans, and if there is any superstar on Raw who represents what the people want, Balor is certainly it.
A well-rounded in-ring performer who never has a bad match and has made serious strides as a talker, Balor also has the prototypical "WWE look," has a passionate and dedicated fan base and is the perfect example of a star who has been overlooked but should be pushed during WWE's supposed "new era." With reports that Balor could be in line for a renewed push and with Raw viewership struggling as other stars have been prioritized more by the creative team, he could finally give the red brand the temporary placement for Reigns, a spot that no other star has firmly grasped just yet.
Strowman continues to fall just short of winning the big one. Rollins and McIntyre could see their pushes derailed as WWE seems to be cooling off on McIntyre, who's suffered a surprising stretch of losses, while Vince McMahon was reportedly "furious" that Rollins' match against Dean Ambrose at TLC totally bombed. That has paved the way for other stars to rise up the ranks, and there are serious doubts that any heel could do that on Raw or that WWE will ever go all the way with Elias.
So, why not Balor? The push is on for the former Universal Champion at the best time of the year to be pushed, WrestleMania season, when Raw also just so happens to be without Reigns.
Who knows, maybe it's finally time for Balor to break through that once impenetrable glass ceiling.
Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to @ForbesSports, where he primarily covers WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher. | www.forbes.com | WWE Raw May Have Finally Found A Replacement For Roman Reigns | https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakeoestriecher/2019/01/01/wwe-raw-may-have-finally-found-a-replacement-for-roman-reigns/?src=rss | 2019-01-01 |
Monique Laborde | 2019-01-02 00:26:09+00:00 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 | The ferry service on Cape Cod has a new very old sound. The Steamship Authority scoured the country for historic steam whistles to replace the more modern and abrasive sounding air horns. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442553%2Freal-steam-whistles-return-to-ferries-on-cape-cod%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Real Steam Whistles Return To Ferries On Cape Cod The ferry service on Cape Cod has a new very old sound. The Steamship Authority scoured the country for historic steam whistles to replace the more modern and abrasive sounding air horns. | www.npr.org | Real Steam Whistles Return To Ferries On Cape Cod | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442553/real-steam-whistles-return-to-ferries-on-cape-cod?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Martin Kaste | 2019-01-02 03:53:27+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Prisons are already understaffed, but employees there are considered essential and must work without pay as the federal government shutdown continues. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442546%2Fhow-the-government-shutdown-is-affecting-the-federal-bureau-of-prisons%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dallthingsconsidered.json | en | How The Government Shutdown Is Affecting The Federal Bureau Of Prisons
Prisons are already understaffed, but employees there are considered essential and must work without pay as the federal government shutdown continues.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Some federal workers are suing over the government shutdown, saying they're being illegally forced to work without pay. The American Federation of Government Employees, one of the biggest unions, has joined the suit. NPR's Martin Kaste called workers with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to see how they're coping.
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: Heidi Burakiewicz is one of the lawyers on this new lawsuit. And she says it's unreasonable what workers in federal prisons are having to put up with.
HEIDI BURAKIEWICZ: This is a situation that the government is putting these people in, and it's through no fault of their own.
KASTE: This is a contingency lawsuit. Her firm gets paid if there's a settlement. But she says the situation is hard for prison workers. Pretty much everybody assigned to a corrections facility, not just the guards, is considered essential and has to keep showing up for work.
BURAKIEWICZ: It's a horrible situation for them to be in because they don't know when they're going to get their next paycheck.
KASTE: To be clear, Bureau of Prisons employees did just get paid a couple of days ago. The real concern is about the next paycheck in two weeks. Angie Acklin is a case manager at the Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, Ala. She's trying to pay off medical bills from last year. And she says a delayed paycheck will not help her.
ANGIE ACKLIN: It may hurt me if I get so far behind that, you know, I'm owing a lot more money than they feel I should be.
KASTE: The they she's talking about there is the Bureau of Prisons. That's because the government checks prison employees' credit reports to make sure that they're not so deep in debt that they might be susceptible to bribes. Acklin hopes that the shutdown won't force her to miss a debt payment right before her next review, which is coming up soon.
ACKLIN: Hopefully it can be explained with, well, the government shut down, so I couldn't make this payment because we weren't getting paid.
KASTE: Right now, the prison workers most affected are those who aren't getting their travel expenses reimbursed. Robert Richards is one of them. A hurricane hit the prison where he works in Florida, so he's been working in Mississippi. He's out of pocket on those travel costs as long as this shutdown continues. But he's also torn by the bigger political situation and President Trump's insistence on money for the border wall.
ROBERT RICHARDS: I fully believe in border security. I do. And I'm willing to make a sacrifice for a time, but I can't do it forever.
KASTE: Richards says the previous short government shutdowns have led to a certain complacency.
RICHARDS: We've had it before, never had a missed check. But this one, we're kind of getting the feeling that this may last a little bit longer.
KASTE: He's starting to think that he may not see his next paycheck until February. And he says the mood among his fellow corrections officers is, quote, "doom and gloom." Martin Kaste, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF BASTIEN KEB'S "PICK UP")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | How The Government Shutdown Is Affecting The Federal Bureau Of Prisons | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442546/how-the-government-shutdown-is-affecting-the-federal-bureau-of-prisons?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered | 2019-01-01 |
Tracy Samilton | 2019-01-01 21:53:17+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442497%2Fsay-goodbye-to-small-cars-in-2019%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices.
Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 Business Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 Audio will be available later today. Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices. NPR thanks our sponsors Become an NPR sponsor | www.npr.org | Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442497/say-goodbye-to-small-cars-in-2019?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Scott Neuman | 2019-01-01 18:39:38+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | In the North Korean leader's New Year's address, he says Pyongyang is willing to work with the United States, but suggests cooperation could be contingent on lifting sanctions. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681398273%2Fkim-jong-un-wants-new-summit-with-trump-but-also-issues-a-veiled-warning%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnews.json | en | Kim Jong Un Wants New Summit With Trump, But Also Issues A Veiled Warning
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ahn Young-joon/AP Ahn Young-joon/AP
In a New Year's address on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is eager to renew face-to-face negotiations with President Trump after a bilateral summit in June, but suggested that he could ramp up nuclear weapons development if the U.S. does not end economic sanctions against Pyongyang.
In the speech broadcast on state television, Kim said he is ready to meet Trump at any time to forge an agreement "welcomed by the international community."
However, if the U.S. did not "keep its promise made in front of the whole world" and instead "insists on sanctions and pressures" on North Korea, "we may be left with no choice but to consider a new way to safeguard our sovereignty and interests."
After months of bitter acrimony and public name-calling between the two leaders, Trump and Kim met in Singapore in June. At the summit, the president hailed a new beginning in U.S.-North Korea relations and an end to Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Since then, the North has halted nuclear and ballistic missile tests. However, the summit produced little in the way of concrete progress toward denuclearization.
Kim urged the U.S. to take "sincere measures and corresponding action" in response to North Korea's peace initiatives.
In October, the president said he wanted to hold a fresh summit with Kim after the midterms, but did not specify a date.
"It is the unwavering position of our party and the republic's government and my firm will that the two countries as declared in the June 12 joint statement ... take steps to establish a permanent and stable peace regime and push toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Kim said.
Although Kim's address — which is an annual tradition in North Korea — is aimed mainly at a domestic audience, international observers parse his words to get a sense of the secretive Pyongyang regime's intentions.
As The Associated Press notes, North Korea "over the past months has accused Washington of failing to take corresponding measures following the North's unilateral dismantlement of a nuclear testing ground and suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests."
North Korea expert Bob Carlin, speaking at a conference call run by 38North.org, noted the possible significance of Kim proclaiming that the North is no longer producing nuclear weapons.
"This thing about halting production is new," said Carlin, a non-resident fellow at the Stimson Center and Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
"It was in my mind quite extraordinary all the attention [Kim] paid to the question of negotiations with the United States," Carlin said.
Following the June summit, reports based on satellite imagery suggested that North Korea was continuing or expanding its ballistic missile production.
Just a month after the Trump-Kim summit, The Wall Street Journal, citing analysis satellite images, said Pyongyang was expanding a facility for building solid-fuel ballistic missiles. Separately, The Washington Post, also citing satellite data, said the North was stepping up ICBM production.
Earlier this month, CNN reported evidence that a North Korean missile base near the Chinese border was also being expanded. | www.npr.org | Kim Jong Un Wants New Summit With Trump, But Also Issues A Veiled Warning | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681398273/kim-jong-un-wants-new-summit-with-trump-but-also-issues-a-veiled-warning?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-01-01 |
Mfonobong Nsehe | 2019-01-01 13:15:09+00:00 | 2019-01-01 12:48:00 | John Kagema Mwangi, a renowned Kenyan banker and hotelier, is dead. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmfonobongnsehe%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fkenyan-tycoon-john-kagema-mwangi-dies%2F.json | en | John Kagema Mwangi, a renowned Kenyan banker and hotelier, is dead.
According to a report by Kenya’s Business Daily, Mwangi, who was 73, passed away on Wednesday in a Nairobi hospital following a prolonged illness.
Mwangi was one of the largest individual shareholders in Equity Bank, Kenya’s largest commercial bank, before his passing. He was among the earliest employees of Equity Building Society, the microfinance institution that eventually became Equity Bank, and had served as the CEO in the past. He was also among the bank’s largest individual shareholders, owning as much as 6.29% of the bank at a point. He gradually cut his stake down over the years through a series of share sales, earning tens of millions of dollars in the process, and invested extensively in property and other ventures in Kenya. He was also the owner of Enashipai Resort & Spa, a 5-Star hotel in Naivasha, Kenya.
Contact me via email at mfon.nsehe @ gmail.com or on Twitter @MfonobongNsehe | www.forbes.com | Kenyan Tycoon John Kagema Mwangi Dies | https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2019/01/01/kenyan-tycoon-john-kagema-mwangi-dies/ | 2019-01-01 |
Ashley Westerman | 2019-01-02 06:39:47+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The law requires Internet companies to store locals' data in Vietnam and hand over user information if the government asks for it, among other contentious provisions. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681373274%2Fto-the-dismay-of-free-speech-advocates-vietnam-rolls-out-controversial-cyber-law.json | en | To The Dismay Of Free Speech Advocates, Vietnam Rolls Out Controversial Cyber Law
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images
A new cybersecurity law has gone into effect in Vietnam that puts stringent controls on tech companies operating inside the country and censors what its citizens read online.
The decree, which was passed by the National Assembly in June, requires companies such as Facebook and Google to open offices in Vietnam, store local user data and to hand over information if the government asks for it. It would also require social media companies to remove any content authorities deemed offensive or "toxic."
Opponents of the law say it could hurt Vietnam's economic prospects and allow the one-party communist government to further crack down on dissent and free speech.
The industry group Asia Internet Coalition told Reuters that the law would hurt Vietnam's ambitions for economic and job growth.
"These provisions will result in severe limitations on Vietnam's digital economy, dampening the foreign investment climate and hurting opportunities for local businesses and [small-to-medium-sized enterprises] to flourish inside and beyond Vietnam," AIC Managing Director Jeff Paine said. Both trade and foreign investment are critical components of Vietnam's economy.
In a statement released shortly after it was passed, Clare Algar, director of global operations at Amnesty International, said the law's sweeping power "has potentially devastating consequences for freedom of expression" in Vietnam.
"This vote means there is now no safe place left [in Vietnam] for people to speak freely," she said.
The Vietnamese government says the law is necessary to fight cybercrime such as cyber-espionage, and prevent cyberterrorism. Maj. Gen. Luong Tam Quang, chief of Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, said in a news conference in early November that the new cyber law brings Vietnam in line with other countries that also want to protect their domestic users' information and that the law was "within the ability of business."
Internet companies have a year to comply, despite pleas from tech firm, reports Reuters. U.S. lawmakers even made an appeal to Facebook and Google to not comply with the law.
"The cyber security law does nothing to protect internet users," 17 members of the Congressional Vietnam Caucus wrote in a letter. "Rather, it is a blatant effort by the Vietnamese government to crackdown on online expression by enlisting the help of leading technology companies."
Google declined to immediately comment to NPR about its plans now that the law has been implemented. Facebook also did not immediately return a request from NPR for comment. However, earlier this month Facebook said it "remains committed to its community in Vietnam and in helping Vietnamese businesses grow at home and abroad," Voice of America reported.
A growing and youthful middle class in Vietnam is a draw for digital companies, Bloomberg reports. Almost half of Vietnam's population uses the Internet, according to the World Bank, and the country has more than 60 million Facebook users. The new cybersecurity law comes into effect a little over a year after Vietnam deployed a 10,000-strong cyber unit to combat "wrong" views. | www.npr.org | To The Dismay Of Free Speech Advocates, Vietnam Rolls Out Controversial Cyber Law | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681373274/to-the-dismay-of-free-speech-advocates-vietnam-rolls-out-controversial-cyber-law | 2019-01-01 |
Trent Reinsmith | 2019-01-01 05:44:48+00:00 | 2019-01-01 05:05:00 | UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier might fight past his 40th birthday, but that has nothing to do with Jon Jones winning the light heavyweight title at UFC 232. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Ftrentreinsmith%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fdaniel-cormier-might-fight-past-his-40th-birthday-but-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-jon-jones%2F.json | en | Daniel Cormier has said that he wanted to stop fighting on or before his 40th birthday. However, it appears the UFC heavyweight champ might extend his career past that birthday, which comes on March 20, 2019.
UFC President Dana White implied that Cormier’s decision was somehow tied to Jon Jones winning the UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 232 on Saturday.
“I was talking to Cormier during the Jones fight,” White said at the post-event press conference, which took place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. “He was obviously very angry this week leading into this fight, and there was talk from his camp about him retiring without another fight, and maybe he was just going to fight one more fight.”
“It sounds to me like Cormier’s ready to fight two or three more fights before he thinks about hanging it up.”
Cormier, speaking on MMAjunkie Radio on Monday, said White was partially correct in his assessment.
“I have some injuries which is why I’m not competing right now. That’s why I was thinking about going a little more – that’s the reason for it, not because I was super mad about the fight or anything like that,” Cormier said. “I’ve had some things I’ve had to get through as I finish this year. The great year took a toll on the old body. I’m 40 years old. You don’t get to go and fight three times and not have to pay for it at the end of the year.”
When discussing his options, Cormier said his plan was and is to defend his heavyweight title against ex-champion Brock Lesnar. If that fight fails to come to fruition – for any reason – Cormier said he would fight the man he defeated to become heavyweight champ, Stipe Miocic. | www.forbes.com | Daniel Cormier Might Fight Past His 40th Birthday, But That Has Nothing To Do With Jon Jones | https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2019/01/01/daniel-cormier-might-fight-past-his-40th-birthday-but-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-jon-jones/ | 2019-01-01 |
Lauren Thomas | 2019-01-01 14:18:45+00:00 | 2019-01-01 08:02:05 | In any competition, there are winners and losers. And among retailers competing for customers, the winners of 2018 beat their rivals by providing faster delivery, better online and mobile shopping options, and the trendiest products. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2018%2F12%2F31%2Fhere-are-some-of-the-winners-in-retail-heading-into-2019-like-walmart.html.json | en | In any competition, there are winners and losers. And among retailers competing for customers, the winners of 2018 beat their rivals by providing faster delivery, better online and mobile shopping options, and the trendiest products.
Those who failed or were slow to adapt — Bon-Ton, Sears, Mattress Firm and David's Bridal were among the slew of retailers that filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Toys R Us also closed all of its stores after filing for bankruptcy near the end of 2017.
U.S. department store chains are struggling more than ever headed into the new year. The products they sell from the likes of Nike or Coach can just as easily be bought directly from those brands' own stores or online. Department stores accounted for 14.5 percent of all retail purchases in 1985 in North America. Last year, that fell to 4.3 percent and is still dropping, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.
J.C. Penney, for instance, heads into 2019 with a bleak outlook; its stock fell below $1 per share for the first time last week. Meanwhile, Hudson's Bay, the parent company of Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, has been shutting some of its flagship stores in the U.S. Separately, Neiman Marcus has significant debt coming due in 2020 and 2021.
"It's a continual challenge for department stores ... to define who they want to be in this new era," Ryan Fisher, a partner in consultancy firm A.T. Kearney, told CNBC. "To me the pressure is on them in 2019 to push their online and in-store experiences." And many department store operators still have too much bricks-and-mortar space that needs to be "rationalized," he added, meaning more store closures by some of these businesses are inevitable.
An early look at sales data by Mastercard during the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve found overall transactions at department stores were down 1.3 percent from a year ago. Foot traffic at some malls — where department stores are anchor tenants — was also noticeably lighter during parts of the holiday season, including Black Friday weekend.
But that doesn't mean consumers weren't whipping out their wallets and filling their shopping carts ahead of the new year. Many headed in throngs to off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx and big-box chains like Walmart. Here's a better look at some of the winners in retail to round out 2018. | www.cnbc.com | Walmart isn't the only retailer already winning in 2019 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/31/here-are-some-of-the-winners-in-retail-heading-into-2019-like-walmart.html | 2019-01-01 |
Anna Scott | 2019-01-01 23:23:21+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | About 50,000 homeless people live in and around L.A., according to the latest count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The vast majority of them live unsheltered on the streets. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681208503%2Fhomelessness-strains-compassion-for-some-los-angeles-residents%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnational.json | en | Homelessness Strains Compassion For Some Los Angeles Residents
Enlarge this image toggle caption Anna Scott/NPR Anna Scott/NPR
Approximately 50,000 people are experiencing homelessness in and around L.A., according to the latest count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The vast majority of them live unsheltered on the streets. According to city officials and nonprofit leaders, there's a growing frustration among L.A. residents who — despite the city's big new investments in housing and services — continue to confront L.A.'s homeless crisis in their daily lives.
For the past few years, a man has been living on and off in the carport at Shannon Peace's building near West Hollywood, Calif. For a while, he had an elaborate encampment right in front of her parking spot.
"He had a laptop. He had a bicycle," she says. "And he used our storage bins."
Still, Peace figured he wasn't hurting anyone, and for a while she thought of the man as an unofficial neighbor. That is, until one day she came downstairs to get into her car, said her usual greeting and was met with a blank stare instead of the usual friendly 'hello.'
It's a fear issue. When it comes to your own feelings of safety, suddenly it influences the way you view the entire issue.
"His eyes were glazed over and he was muttering to himself," Peace says. "That was the point at which I went 'OK, this is really a safety issue. This is somebody who potentially has mental illness — potentially has a substance abuse problem.'"
She called police, but the man still returns to the carport periodically. Peace says the experience has hardened her a little bit towards homeless people in general.
That feeling is uncomfortable for her to admit. As a kid growing up in L.A., Peace would beg her mother to give money to panhandlers. Now, she says, she's less likely to interact with men and women on the streets than she used to be.
"I've interrogated my feelings on this to make sure that this is not judgment, to make sure this is not me being disdainful," she says. "It's a fear issue. When it comes to your own feelings of safety, suddenly it influences the way you view the entire issue."
Growing tension
"There's definitely a growing tension and people [are] frustrated by the challenges that we're facing here in this city," says L.A. City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. "It's a challenge."
Rodriguez recently asked California state lawmakers to extend hate crime protections to people experiencing homelessness after a few violent incidents against homeless people. Those are rare cases, but Rodriguez says she worries generally about anger towards L.A.'s homeless community. Not only for humanitarian reasons, but because homeless housing and services often depend on public dollars and public support.
"We have [solutions]," Rodriguez says, but it requires citizens "to have the compassion and the empathy to work with us to help address this problem."
Two years ago, L.A. voters overwhelmingly passed Measure HHH, a city bond to fund homeless housing. In 2017, they passed a county-wide sales tax increase called Measure H, to fund various homeless services. Despite all this new money flowing to a number of projects, tens of thousands of men and women still sleep on the streets. The situation has led to increasing impatience among some voters.
In some parts of the region, anger over encampments and a potentially dangerous element amongst L.A.'s homeless has resulted in explosive town halls, hateful social media posts and even one citizen patrol to monitor encampments. More often, however, the housed and unhoused live in peaceful but uneasy coexistence.
Homeless feel judged
On a recent afternoon on L.A.'s westside, about a half dozen homeless men spread their belongings across picnic tables and on the lawn of a busy park. Nearby, children swarmed a playground. One of the men, 59-year-old Filipe Calderon, says he knows people judge him.
"They see you pushing the cart, they look at you funny," he says. He also says he's as unhappy with his situation as any onlooker could be. "I haven't showered in about a month," he says. "So I don't feel good."
Calderon used to have a carpentry business but lost it to drinking. His alcoholism cost him his family too, driving away his wife and two adult children. Although he still drinks, he'd like to quit this year. "I'm gonna get back on my feet again," he says. Nonetheless, he points out a beer cooler he keeps in a shopping cart hidden behind some plants.
Calderon's story is long and complicated, but on the surface it's the kind of story that can strain some residents' empathy. It's easy to feel for the financial victim or the person who ended up homeless after a health crisis. It's more difficult to identify with the person who appears somehow complicit in his or her own circumstances, or appears to be doing something wrong.
Yet this mental sorting between who is "deserving" and "undeserving" is one of the biggest hurdles to fostering empathy around homelessness, says Ann English, who works for the nonprofit Corporation for Supportive Housing.
More than homeless
English directs a program training formerly homeless men and women to share their stories in public. One of the program's goals is put individual faces on L.A.'s massive homeless crisis. English says she tells community members to think of a couple of things when faced with a person on the street who appears intoxicated or disruptive.
"First, that's not the entire story for that person," English says. "Second, everyone that you see is a drop in the bucket of all the people that are experiencing homelessness. Just recognizing the assumptions that you're making without knowing the facts affects what we're able to do about the situation."
Not everyone sees an empathy gap among L.A. residents. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city's getting more volunteers around homeless causes than ever before. Residents "still need a lot of help in their neighborhoods," he says, "but they're feeling what they voted for starting to come to fruition."
He also says the city is housing more people than ever. Yet it's not enough to keep up with all the people falling into homelessness, which is why the situation on the streets looks a lot like it did. Garcetti says he's fine with L.A. residents feeling impatient.
"I think we should remain frustrated," he says, "but we should also remain committed." He also emphasizes the city's progress. "Because a very complex problem didn't go away overnight," he says, "doesn't mean that things aren't happening." | www.npr.org | Homelessness Strains Compassion For Some Los Angeles Residents | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681208503/homelessness-strains-compassion-for-some-los-angeles-residents?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=national | 2019-01-01 |
William Craig | 2019-01-01 14:45:24+00:00 | 2019-01-01 13:44:00 | Workplace conflict isn't something that happens around or beneath workplace leaders — they're sometimes in the thick of it, and possibly the target of the conflict in the first place. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fwilliamcraig%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fhow-the-best-leaders-resolve-workplace-conflicts%2F.json | en | Leaders in the workplace have to wear several hats and perform a lot of procedural and cultural functions. Maybe one of the most critical, as well as the most difficult to master, is conflict resolution. You won't like hearing this, but every leader's approach to this will, and must, be different.
There are no two identical matches between team and leader anyplace in the world. That means your mileage might vary when it comes to following these conflict tips for leaders. However, we bet there's something here that might help you think differently, or maybe just a little more empathetically, next time it falls to you to diffuse workplace tension or manage a conflict. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Don't: Create False Harmony by Ignoring Tension
There can be a strong temptation, among people in positions of power, to strive for the appearance of harmony at the expense of all else. Maybe it's a middle-manager who wants the CEO to see all's well. Maybe you just don't like confrontation.
However, part of being a leader is working potential confrontations to your advantage. There's no value in stifling differences of opinion or brushing problems under the table — or even ignoring them altogether. Refusing to meet workplace conflicts head-on, and patiently — or being ambivalent or playing favorites by not taking one of the parties seriously — is a quick way to sour the tone and trustworthiness of your workplace. If people don't feel they can be candid with you about their conflicts and disagreements, and expect a patient ear in return, they'll stop trying.
Do: Know the Right Time to Step In
For quite a few reasons, timing can be everything when it comes to resolving conflicts in the workplace. Maybe you've heard two co-workers arguing about something trivial. Maybe they're even butting heads over the current trajectory of a project they're both working on. Knowing the right time to step in, if any, is critical here.
At the risk of not sounding very helpful, this is something every leader will have to "read the room" for. You know your people. If you let them sit in the trenches a little longer, will they work it out and become stronger for it? Is an earlier intervention better? Don't base the timing of your intervention on the content of the conflict, but rather the tone. Leaders need to be able to detect even the nuances of the emotions involved in workplace conflicts, because what's not being said is often just as important as what is. Moreover, it's vital to remain in control of your own emotions. Timing, tone of voice and a patient disposition are your friends.
There's another wrinkle for leaders when it comes to intervening in potential conflicts, and it's about culture clashes as well as more overt wrongdoing.
As a leader, there might be times when some employees seem to march to a different drum or do things differently than you'd like, to the point where you're thinking about intervening. Maybe they have a nuanced workflow or they require a modified schedule. In this case, stepping in means creating conflict where none might necessarily exist. Have these conflicts of culture resulted in poor productivity or compromised work quality? If not, this is a time for compromise rather than conflict management.
In grimmer cases of leadership intervention, the right time to step in means waiting for unassailable proof of wrongdoing or a seriously poor match, culture-wise. Be responsible with your due diligence, since leveling a false accusation is bad for your reputation as a leader and unpleasant for everybody involved.
Do: Check Your Own Insecurities at the Door
Workplace conflict isn't something that happens around or beneath workplace leaders — they're sometimes in the thick of it, and possibly the target of the conflict in the first place. The first rule is not to panic.
For any type of leader, resolving conflicts can be difficult when they involve you in some way — and there's no easy to way recuse yourself. The best thing you can do — and this is something your employees and team members will likely remember and take away with them — is to check your insecurities at the door. If you're a leader, it means you have blind spots. If somebody brings a concern to you, one hopes they do so in a patient, private manner. Even if they don't, it's your responsibility to listen to them openly and either diffuse their concerns or make some changes.
There's no room in the modern workplace, or anywhere else, for stubborn pride. If everybody was a little more confidently vulnerable, there'd be no stopping us.
Do: Help People Reach Their Full Potential
At the end of the day, being a leader is, maybe more than anything else, about helping people reach their full potential — in this role or in whatever the next challenge is that awaits them. We all like to say that making mistakes is part of what helps us grow, which means conflict resolution is a chance to help people see another side to their thinking. Even the phrase "conflict resolution" itself sounds like a confrontation, but with the right frame of mind, and maybe an open heart, it doesn't have to be one. | www.forbes.com | How The Best Leaders Resolve Workplace Conflicts | https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamcraig/2019/01/01/how-the-best-leaders-resolve-workplace-conflicts/ | 2019-01-01 |
Scott Horsley | 2019-01-01 10:47:03+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Because of the partial government shutdown, a great number of federal workers are furloughed or working without pay. President Trump has ordered a freeze in 2019 federal employee salary rates. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681361905%2Ffederal-workers-burdened-by-shutdown-face-trump-ordered-pay-freeze%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dbusiness.json | en | Federal Workers, Burdened By Shutdown, Face Trump-Ordered Pay Freeze
Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP
President Trump on Friday issued an executive order freezing the salary rates for federal workers. The order wasn't a surprise but for some 800,000 federal employees furloughed during the partial government shutdown or working without pay, it was like rubbing salt into a wound.
The president had been telegraphing his plans for a pay freeze for almost a year — first in his annual budget and again last summer in a letter to Congress. Trump pointed to the government's dire fiscal situation. Thanks to tax cuts and increased spending, the deficit has ballooned to more than a trillion dollars this year.
Trump's order only applies to civilian workers. Military personnel, who are covered under a separate funding measure, will receive a 2.6 percent raise.
Jacqueline Simon of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, tells NPR that "the military deserve their pay increase, and we're strongly in favor of it. And, in fact, for many, many years — decades, even — there was parity between the civilian and the military workforces in terms of their pay adjustments."
For the last two years, though, paychecks for civilian government workers have grown more slowly than those in the military. And the president's pay freeze would widen that gap if it stands.
Federal workers shouldn't give up hope — there is a chance they could get a raise. The Senate has already OK'd a pay raise for federal workers of 1.9 percent. And the new Democratic House is expected to follow suit. The president would have to sign the measure.
The Washington Post reports: "Federal employee pay raises are effective at the start of the first full biweekly pay period in the new year, which in this case will start Jan. 6. There will not be much time for enactment of a raise by then, but raises have been paid retroactively — most recently in 2003 and 2004, when agency funding also hadn't been resolved until after the start of the new year. In both cases, a raise had been paid by default in early January but was overridden by a larger one contained in a full-year appropriations bill." | www.npr.org | Federal Workers, Burdened By Shutdown, Face Trump-Ordered Pay Freeze | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681361905/federal-workers-burdened-by-shutdown-face-trump-ordered-pay-freeze?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=business | 2019-01-01 |
Chuck Bolotin | 2019-01-01 19:15:00+00:00 | 2019-01-01 18:27:00 | Ever think of starting a business abroad? Here's what it's like. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fchuckbolotin%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fwhy-it-can-be-easier-to-start-a-business-in-mexico%2F.json | en | In the US, I’ve had more than my fair share of starting and running businesses in diverse settings, including selling electronic office equipment; taking a device that checked for the presence of weaponized bio agents and re-positioning it for pharmaceutical manufacturing; creating software for physicians, etc. I’ve also been a guest lecturer to MBA students and was on the screening panel for high net worth investors.
But I had never started or run a business outside the US.
Until now.
Like most businesses, the idea for this one came from what the founder (in this example, me) experienced when trying to buy a product or service; in this case moving our family’s household goods from the US to Mexico. When my wife handed me the estimates from the two established moving companies in town, I was shocked—not only by the price (which I felt was outrageous) but even more by all the importation rules these moving companies wrote that we had to follow along with dire warnings that if we didn’t, it would be our fault and we would have to suffer the dire consequences.
Given that this looked like something that needed fixing and that I had experience with business in general, I decided to investigate further and if everything lined up, maybe even start a company here in Mexico.
I was aware that I had no knowledge whatsoever starting or running a company outside the US and that this lack of experience added a dimension of risk that wouldn’t exist in the US, but I was also aware and hopeful in some theoretical sense that starting a business outside the US also added another dimension of potential reward. The only thing I didn’t know was if the reality would contain more risk or more reward, and in what proportion. Now I can share with you what I found.
There Is A Huge Advantage To Having Lower Personal Living Expenses
One of the biggest risks of starting any business is running out of money prior to the business becoming profitable. This is one reason why it is easier to start a business when you are young, before you have financial and other obligations and can live on so little. For example, a college student can sleep in the office and eat beans for months while his or her business is growing, while it is much more difficult for a married adult with children and a mortgage to do the same thing.
In this regard, starting a business in Mexico as opposed to the US is a huge winner. Without any effort whatsoever and while giving up nothing, I had already naturally reduced our family’s living expenses to significantly less than half of what they were in the US, all while enjoying a better lifestyle. These lower personal expenses greatly increases your ability to think more strategically and invest more in your business. You can provide better service at the beginning of your venture, try out different variations and models, and not panic if things take longer than expected. This is a very nice luxury and results in a much greater likelihood of doing the right things for the right reasons for your business and your clients and being successful, all without eating cheap food for months and sleeping on the floor.
Your Operational Costs Are MUCH Lower
In Mexico, everything from legal help to accounting help to other labor is a mere fraction of what you would pay in the US. Consequently, you use it. In the US I was quite reluctant to contact my lawyer or accountant, knowing that the cost would be a minimum of $250+ an hour. In Mexico, it is about 1/10th that cost, so if I have a question here, I call.
Being a moving company, we do business in the US and in Mexico, so I can compare directly what services cost in each country. One good example is loading and packing. In the US, loading and packing could cost my clients $25 to $45 per hour per person or more, without my company getting involved in any way other than to suggest a provider and supervise the work. Here in Mexico, my company charges less than a third of that, with quality every bit as good, or even better. I’m always quite relieved when I know the portion of my clients’ move is in Mexico rather than the US because in Mexico we can provide better service for about a 70% discount and everyone is more relaxed and happy.
The Competition Can Be Less And Your Experience In The US May Give You An Advantage
In the example of starting my moving business, I would be competing against two entrenched competitors, both of which had been in business for 20 years or more and both of which hadn’t changed much of anything since they started their own businesses. One of the reasons they hadn’t changed is that they didn’t need to; the competition just wasn’t that intense like you would find it in most places in the US.
After examining how they did their moves, I was able to apply some new ways of looking at the procedure of moving to Mexico from the US and vice versa and found several inefficiencies that could be reduced or made better by applying advances in technology or just looking at the problem with the fresh eyes one gets from a more demanding business environment north of the border. In the much faster-paced, competitive and intense way of doing business in the US, I probably wouldn’t have been able to find these inefficiencies so easily or come up with better solutions so easily because my competitors would probably already have done the same thing, but earlier. It was not that hard to find a niche to give our clients much better service at a lower price; something that is not that easy to do in the US.
Here’s another example. Of course, I had to come up with a name for my company that was easy to remember, descriptive, would show well on Google searches, and that no one else already owned. Try that in an established industry in the US! Here, I just tried the first and best name that came to my head: Best Mexico Movers. To my shock, the URL was available, so I just took it, and now it comes up first on Google. That was easy.
Getting a Work Permit and Starting a Mexican Company Are Not Difficult
The only way I would run a business in Mexico would be to have it be completely legal, which ours is. I had no difficulty at all getting a Mexican work permit for myself and establishing a Mexican company. As they say here in Mexico, “Adelante” (which means “forward” and which, in this context, I translate to “Great. Now that that’s done, I can get on with the business.”
The US Tax Code Is Very Helpful
Unlike in the vast majority of other industrialized countries, if you are a US citizen, you must pay US income taxes regardless of where you’re located or where your income originates, and you must do so for the rest of your life. This makes it easy to understand, but not wonderful news.
Before I give you the good news, please allow me to issue a caveat. When dealing with the US tax code, you should always consult your qualified US adviser (even if doing so will set you back $250 an hour).
Now for the good news. When you talk to your US tax professional, ask him or her about the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which, in general, allows a US taxpayer filing singly to exclude over $100,000 per year (over $200,000 per year filing jointly) from his or her US income taxes if that taxpayer lives abroad. If you do the math comparing your after-tax income with and without the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, you can see that excluding this very significant amount of income year after year can have a very salutary effect on your net worth, especially when compounded annually.
There are lots of Digital Nomads (people who work outside the US and even support or sell to US businesses with nothing more than a computer and an Internet connection) who happily use this exclusion.
A Balanced Perspective
Please don’t take this article to mean that starting a moving company in Mexico was easy; it definitely was not. Starting any business in any place is hard, as anyone who has done so will tell you. You’re still going to have many of the same issues you would have in the US and perhaps even more, depending on what business you’re in. You still have to do your due diligence, find an underserved niche, have a good business plan, finance your business properly, execute well, etc. It’s just that, if it works into your plans, you may want to consider starting a business broad. For many, it can turn out to be a wonderful experience, one in which both you and your clients win. | www.forbes.com | Why It Can Be Easier To Start A Business In Mexico | https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckbolotin/2019/01/01/why-it-can-be-easier-to-start-a-business-in-mexico/ | 2019-01-01 |
Bernie Carlson | 2019-01-01 19:15:06+00:00 | 2019-01-01 18:37:00 | Australian tycoon Clive Palmer is building a replica of the Titanic. Will this new ship be ill-fated or does the Titanic's forgotten sister, the Olympic, suggest a different outcome? | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fberniecarlson%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fthe-titanics-forgotten-sister%2F.json | en | In October 2018, the New York Times reported that the Australian mining tycoon, Clive Palmer, was pressing ahead with his plans to build a replica of the RMS Titanic for his Blue Star Line. The new ship will be built at the CSC Jinling shipyard in China at a cost of $500 million and is expected to sail in 2022. “Millions have dreamt of sailing on her, seeing her in port and experiencing her unique majesty,” Palmer said, “Titanic ll will be the ship where those dreams come true.”
Yet, as the Times asked, would sailing on the Titanic II be a happy dream or an ugly nightmare? After all, the original Titanic struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in April 1912, and 1523 lives were tragically lost as the ship was carrying 2,224 passengers but its lifeboats could only hold 1,178. Since then, the Titanic has often been portrayed in popular culture as a symbol of technological hubris, the result of engineers and managers assuming they can do anything and that bigger is always better. The Titanic was proof that Murphy’s famous law applies especially to technology: if anything can go wrong, it surely will.
This was certainly the way I thought about the Titanic until I visited the Titanic Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a couple of years ago. As you go through the exhibits in this incredible museum, you come to a point where you look out on the Harland & Wolff Shipyards and see where the Titanic and her slightly older twin sister, the Olympic, were built side-by-side between 1909 and 1912.
Like me, you may find this idea startling--Titanic had a sister ship? What happened to the Olympic and does her story change how we should think about the Titanic II?
Both Titanic and Olympic were part of the White Star fleet and built to compete for the lucrative transatlantic passenger business in the early 20th century. In 1906, White Star’s rival, Cunard, launched the two fastest passenger ships in the world, the Lusitania and Mauretania. In response, White Star’s chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, decided his company would concentrate on economies of scale and luxury. Consequently, White Star commissioned a new class of liners which would be bigger than anything that had gone before and would be the last word in comfort and opulence. The first ship in this new class would be the Olympic, followed by Titanic (1912) and Brittanic (1915).
All three ships were constructed in Belfast by Harland & Wolff who had been building ships for White Star since the 1860s. Give the scale of the Olympic and Titanic, Harland & Wolff had to combine three existing slipways into two larger ones and employ 3000 men to build the ships. White Star paid £3 million for the two ships plus a 5% fee and "extras to contract." Olympic was launched in October 1910, spent the next eight months being fitted out and first sailed from Belfast to Liverpool in May 1911. Her trip to Liverpool was timed to coincide with the launching of her younger sister, Titanic, back in Belfast.
Eight hundred and eight-two feet long, Olympic had a beam of 92 feet and gross registered tonnage (GRT) of 45,324. When she first sailed, Olympic was the largest ship in the world, only to be replaced by the Titanic with 46,328 GRT, the result of adding a steel enclosure to her A deck promenade. Today, we measure ships in gross tonnage (GT) and Titanic would weigh in at 39,640 GT. For comparison, the Viking Star, a small cruise ship by today’s standards, is 47,800 GT.
Olympic’s maiden voyage was from Southampton to New York in June 1911. Passengers aboard the Olympic were amazed by her size and opulence. She could carry over 2500 passengers in three classes of service, and her features included multiple dining rooms, smoking rooms, libraries, a gymnasium and a carved grand staircase. Her interior was a rich mix of styles, and according to one account, “You may sleep in a bed depicting one ruler’s fancy, breakfast under another dynasty altogether, lunch under a different flag and furniture scheme, play cards or smoke, or indulge in music under three other monarchs. . ."
As the largest ship in the world, Olympic’s maiden voyage attracted considerable attention. When she arrived in New York, she was opened to the public and received 8,000 visitors. More than 10,000 watched her depart New York for her first return trip.
In April 1912, as Titanic was steaming west on her fateful maiden voyage, Olympic was sailing eastbound for Southampton. As soon as Olympic received a distress signal by radio that her sister had collided with an iceberg, the captain changed course and raced to her rescue. However, the first ship to arrive at the scene of the disaster was the Cunard liner Carpathia. While the Olympic offered to take on survivors, the captain of Carpathia refused, claiming that the survivors would be traumatized by being asked to board Titanic’s identical twin.
Six months after the Titanic disaster, Olympic returned to Belfast for a refit. Although Titanic had six watertight compartments, the bulkheads between them did not extend to the top of the hull, meaning that as one compartment flooded, water flowed into the next, ultimately causing Titanic to sink. To correct this design flaw, Harland & Wolff extended the watertight bulkheads to the top of the hull and added an inner watertight skin to the boiler and engine rooms to create a double hull. More rooms with private baths were also added to the Olympic since these fancy accommodations had proven popular with passengers on the Titanic. And of course, more lifeboats were added to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew. All of these changes gave Olympic a gross registered tonnage of 46,359.
During World War I, Olympic saw extensive service as a troop transport. In May 1915, she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty, stripped of her peacetime fittings and armed with 12-pound cannon and 4.7-inch guns. Carrying 6000 troops at a time, Olympic made multiple runs between Britain and the Mediterranean in support of the Gallipoli campaign. In 1916-17, Olympic was chartered by Canada to carry soldiers from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain. To protect her from German U-boats, she was painted with "dazzle" camouflage which made it difficult for attacking subs to estimate her speed and heading. After the United States entered the war in 1917, Olympic shifted to transporting American troops. In May 1918, while ferrying troops across the English Channel, her crew spotted U-103 on the surface, and she rammed and sunk the submarine before it could fire its torpedoes. Over the course of the war, Olympic safely transported over 200,000 troops, prompting soldiers to nickname her “Old Reliable.”
Following the War, Olympic returned to Belfast to be refitted for civilian service. This time Harland & Wolff not only modernized her interior but also converted her from coal to oil; doing so reduced refueling time from days to hours and the engine-room crew dropped from 350 to 60. Olympic resumed her transatlantic route in 1920.
The 1920s were the high point of Olympic’s career, and she attracted the rich and famous as passengers. She carried members of the British royal family as well as movie stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. Many passengers chose to sail on the Olympic because she was nearly identical to Titanic, allowing them to experience vicariously the voyage of that ill-fated ship. Strangely, during a Westbound trip in 1929, as she passed near the Titanic’s last known position, Olympic was violently shaken for two minutes; it was later determined that the shaking resulted from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake along an undersea fault which runs through the Grand Banks.
It wasn’t an earthquake, however, that brought an end to Olympic but rather politics and economics. The profitability of the transatlantic passenger business was based on the sale of one-way tickets purchased by immigrants traveling to America. Consequently, as the US passed a series of laws limiting immigration, all the major passenger ship lines suffered financial losses. Hoping to compensate for the decline in immigrant traffic by attracting more vacation travelers, the Olympic’s accommodations were once again updated, but White Star found it difficult to compete with new ships such as Germany's SS Bremen, Italy's SS Rex or France's SS Île de France.
In order to survive the Great Depression, White Star merged with its rival Cunard in 1934. As a result of the merger, the British government agreed to loan the new company £9.5 million for the construction of two new liners, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. As these new ships came on line, Olympic was scrapped in 1935 and dismantled in Jarrow, England in order to create jobs there for unemployed workers. As Olympic sailed to her grave, her chief engineer sighed “I could understand the necessity if the ‘Old Lady’ had lost her efficiency, but the engines are as sound as they ever were.”
By the time of her retirement, Olympic had completed 257 round trips across the Atlantic, carried 430,000 commercial passengers and traveled 1.8 million miles. Despite the misfortune of her younger sister, Olympic reveals that she and the Titanic were not ill-conceived examples of technological hubris but rather appropriate—and profitable—responses to the opportunities of the transatlantic passenger business.
Olympic’s story illustrates an important lesson that technologies generally evolve gradually and not in sudden spurts. As Henry Petroski reminds us, engineers learn from failure and innovate to avoid making mistakes in the future. From the sinking of the Titanic, naval architects learned how to properly design watertight compartments, company managers realized the business value in having fancier staterooms and of course, everyone saw the necessity of having more lifeboats, safety drills and radio communications. Olympic, in large measure, was only able to have a long and successful career because her owners and captains had learned from the loss of her younger sister.
Moreover, the Olympic suggests that Clive Palmer’s plans for Titanic II might just make sense. She will hardly be the largest passenger ship in the world; indeed, at 56,000 GT, Titanic II will be dwarfed by the current largest ship, Symphony of the Seas, which has a gross tonnage of 228,081. Symphony of the Seas can accommodate 5000-6000 passengers, double the 2500 projected for Titanic II. yet with 25.8 million passengers taking cruises in 2017 and spending over $35 billion, it’s likely that, once completed, Titanic II should find a market niche in the cruise industry, fulfilling the dreams and fantasies of passengers. Let’s hope she can do so for as long as Olympic sailed the seas. | www.forbes.com | The Titanic's Forgotten Sister | https://www.forbes.com/sites/berniecarlson/2019/01/01/the-titanics-forgotten-sister/ | 2019-01-01 |
Victor Lipman | 2019-01-01 14:45:04+00:00 | 2019-01-01 14:17:00 | These four attributes can help improve management performance -- and boost a career. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fvictorlipman%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F4-fundamental-qualities-that-can-make-you-a-stronger-manager-in-2019%2F.json | en | A people-management tip a day, every weekday, in 2019.
Management is nothing if not a results-oriented endeavor. Successful managers deliver results. You can be the best-liked manager in your company, but if you don't deliver solid results you'll likely struggle in the role. With results in mind, here are four fundamentals that can make you a stronger manager this year.
Focus on accountability. Much as you might think that accountability - holding people "accountable" for the results you need to deliver - is simply a given, it's not. Accountability isn't easy; it involves close management and sometimes conflict. Data shows that many managers, even senior managers (46% in one study), are surprisingly weak at accountability. Making a point of focusing on it - knowing exactly what results are needed and managing to them - will enhance your effectiveness in the role.
Increase public confidence. The whole idea of "performing" well in public - for instance, giving a presentation or speech or running a meeting - can be a highly stressful part of management. Yet it's a highly valuable part as well. Handling these public aspects of management confidently can be critical to career success. The more you advance in an organization, the more you have to "sell" your ideas. Everyone respects a great speaker... and great speakers are made, not born (just ask Warren Buffett, among many others). Making this an area of diligent focus can increase your influence - and boost your managerial career.
Emphasize preparation. This point is directly related to the one above. I won't go deep into the weeds here, as there are many excellent systems to help with gaining speaking and presenting confidence. But suffice to say, they all involve preparation and practice. Lots of it. In my own experience, I can't tell you how many presentations I gave in my car while I was driving to or from work... or quietly at night with an ironing board as a podium in my basement while my wife and kids were asleep. Not memorizing so much as getting comfortable with content. Some people may be talented enough to succeed in public without practice, but I for sure wasn't one of them. How well I performed (and it is a performance, make no mistake about it) was directly related to how well I knew my material. With diligent preparation at the core of it.
Keep your team connected. Last but not least, here's a management skill for our current times, to be sure. While good communication has been a valuable management attribute since, say, the Industrial Revolution... at a time when remote work is increasingly common and managers work with a mix of employees, contractors and freelancers, keeping your disparate team in close contact has become more important than ever. It's easy for remote workers to feel lonely and disconnected. Data shows maintaining connections is now a critical skill, and I 100% agree. The best managers will stay ahead of this curve and be robust, creative communicators.
Management is a multi-faceted discipline with a never-ending array of personal skills to develop. I believe these four are a positive starting point. Here's wishing you strong results in 2019. | www.forbes.com | 4 Fundamental Qualities That Can Make You A Stronger Manager In 2019 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2019/01/01/4-fundamental-qualities-that-can-make-you-a-stronger-manager-in-2019/ | 2019-01-01 |
Tracy Samilton | 2019-01-01 23:23:18+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442497%2Fsay-goodbye-to-small-cars-in-2019%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dnational.json | en | Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 Low gas prices combined with fuel economy improvements are driving consumers back to SUVs and trucks. 2019 will see the demise of many small cars, leaving first-time car buyers with fewer choices. | www.npr.org | Say Goodbye To Small Cars In 2019 | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442497/say-goodbye-to-small-cars-in-2019?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=national | 2019-01-01 |
Harini V | 2019-01-02 05:45:52+00:00 | 2019-01-01 22:57:11 | What might seem like a crisis averted in Sri Lankan politics is far from being over and investors may be underestimating the level of uncertainty that currently prevails in the country, an expert told CNBC. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2018%2F12%2F27%2Finvestors-underestimate-the-political-turbulence-in-sri-lanka-expert.html.json | en | What might seem as a crisis averted in Sri Lanka — is actually far from being over and investors could potentially be underestimating the level of uncertainty in the country, an expert told CNBC.
The hostility between the country's top two statesmen reached its peak in October when President Maithripala Sirisena fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, claiming the action was within his constitutional rights and swore in Mahinda Rajapaksa — a former president whose decade-long regime had a track record of suppressing free speech, intimidating minorities and harassing critics.
After that, Sirisena forced the country's parliament into a three-week recess, stopping lawmakers from holding a no-confidence vote against Rajapaksa.
Last month, the country's supreme court ruled that the president's moves to dissolve parliament and prepare for snap elections were illegal and unconstitutional. Sirisena complied with court orders and reinstated Wickremsinghe as prime minister in mid December.
While that development seemed to be a return to the status quo, it is "at best an uneasy and fragile truce" explained Sasha Riser-Kositsky, senior analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
"What I think is under appreciated by a number of investors is how fragile things still are. The relationship between the prime minister and the president is fundamentally broken. The president has now shown that he is willing to take pretty out-there unconstitutional actions, there's nothing preventing him (from doing) something like this again," Riser-Kositsky said.
The country is set for its political divisions to yet again come to a head during presidential elections that are expected to occur in late 2019 and the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for the 2020.
"It's going to be a pretty rocky and tumultuous time through the next elections. Governance rarely works when the two most senior figures in government despise one another. And one is continuously seeking means to undermine the other," he said.
"It does not make for stability or policy making. And that's the scenario investors will confront in Sri Lanka for much, if not all, of 2019," he added.
The country has already suffered some economic repercussions: Reports said the country's financial sector and tourism industry have taken a hit following the political crisis. | www.cnbc.com | Investors underestimate the political turbulence in Sri Lanka: Expert | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/27/investors-underestimate-the-political-turbulence-in-sri-lanka-expert.html | 2019-01-01 |
Elisabeth Butler Cordova | 2019-01-01 19:34:09+00:00 | 2019-01-01 13:55:56 | The White House invited top lawmakers to meet about the standoff over border funding. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Ftrump-reportedly-invites-congressional-leaders-to-meet-about-government-shutdown.html.json | en | President Donald Trump has invited top lawmakers to sit down and discuss the partial government shutdown and border funding, according to a Politico report citing three sources familiar with the matter.
On New Year's Eve, the White House invited Congressional leaders to a Wednesday afternoon meeting to discuss the standoff, Politico reported.
CNBC has not yet verified the invitation, but Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon about the possibility of making a deal with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Congress has so far failed to break an impasse over the president's demand for $5 billion to build the barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, and no votes are scheduled yet. Democrats will take the House majority on Thurs., Jan. 3.
Parts of the government have been shut down for 11 days. Lawmakers will get 24 hours notice before any vote on a deal to end the shutdown.
According to Politico, the White House invited Pelosi and Reps. Steny Hoyer Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, as well as Sens. Chuck Schumer Dick Durbin, Mitch McConnell and John Thune.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. | www.cnbc.com | Trump reportedly invites Congressional leaders to meet about government shutdown | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/01/trump-reportedly-invites-congressional-leaders-to-meet-about-government-shutdown.html | 2019-01-01 |
Eustance Huang | 2019-01-02 02:41:17+00:00 | 2019-01-01 19:00:32 | A private survey, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index, showed manufacturing activity in China for the month of December contracting for the first time in 19 months. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2019%2F01%2F02%2Fasia-markets-us-china-trade-currencies-xi-speech-in-focus.html.json | en | Chinese shares slipped in morning trade. The Shanghai composite fell about 1 percent while the Shenzhen composite shed 0.426 percent and the Shenzhen component lost 0.552 percent.
The moves came after a private survey showed manufacturing activity in China for the month of December contracting for the first time in 19 months.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index (PMI), fell to 49.7 from 50.2 in November — its first contraction since May 2017.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that level signals contraction.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected only a marginal dip from November to 50.1.
Official manufacturing PMI released on Monday showed a slowdown in activity for the month of December as the sector contracted for the first time in more than two years, dropping below the critical 50 level.
The private survey focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises while the official PMI gauge focuses on large companies and state-owned enterprises.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell more than 2.3 percent, with shares of Chinese tech heavyweight Tencent declining by almost 2.3 percent. | www.cnbc.com | US-China trade, currencies, Xi speech in focus | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/02/asia-markets-us-china-trade-currencies-xi-speech-in-focus.html | 2019-01-01 |
Frank Stoltze | 2019-01-01 12:09:04+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | A new state law in California mandates police to make public documents related to officer shootings. At least one city has approved the destruction of that paperwork before the deadline. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368141%2Fcalif-law-requires-documents-involving-police-shootings-to-be-made-public%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | Calif. Law Requires Documents On Police Shootings Be Made Public A new state law in California mandates police to make public documents related to officer shootings. At least one city has approved the destruction of that paperwork before the deadline. | www.npr.org | Calif. Law Requires Documents On Police Shootings Be Made Public | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368141/calif-law-requires-documents-involving-police-shootings-to-be-made-public?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Monique Laborde | 2019-01-02 03:53:15+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The ferry service on Cape Cod has a new very old sound. The Steamship Authority scoured the country for historic steam whistles to replace the more modern and abrasive sounding air horns. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681442553%2Freal-steam-whistles-return-to-ferries-on-cape-cod%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dallthingsconsidered.json | en | Real Steam Whistles Return To Ferries On Cape Cod
The ferry service on Cape Cod has a new very old sound. The Steamship Authority scoured the country for historic steam whistles to replace the more modern and abrasive sounding air horns.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
In Massachusetts, people living on Cape Cod are getting used to a new sound. Actually, it's an old sound - real steam whistles have been added onto the diesel-powered ferries running to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island. Monique Laborde reports.
MONIQUE LABORDE, BYLINE: Take a ferry ride anywhere in the country, and the ship will likely signal its departure with this sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF FERRY HORN)
LABORDE: But here on Cape Cod, ferries running with the Steamship Authority to the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, they sound like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEAM WHISTLE)
LABORDE: It's the same sound passengers heard in 1925 riding the Nobska steamship to Nantucket Island.
CARL WALKER: We're required to have a whistle on each ferry. We're not required to have two whistles. And we're certainly not required to have a steam whistle.
LABORDE: Carl Walker is the director of engineering at the Steamship Authority. He says the historic steam whistle project started in 2006, and it turns out these whistles aren't so easy to find. After a decade of searching, they managed to find six, one for each of their large passenger ferries. And they include the whistle from the Brinckerhoff, a side-wheel steamship that ran the Hudson River from 1899 to 1941.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEAM WHISTLE)
LABORDE: The whistle from the Sankaty steamer, which served Martha's Vineyard from 1911 until it was requisitioned for use in World War II.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEAM WHISTLE)
LABORDE: And this one, believe it or not...
(SOUNDBITE OF STEAM WHISTLE)
LABORDE: ...Walker founded on eBay for $2,700 and never could track down its origin. Eric Coles is riding the ferry home to Martha's Vineyard. Cole says he can hear these whistles from his house 15 times a day.
ERIC COLES: There's something charming about it, like, living on this island and, like, being able to hear the ferry come in and out. I just get a warm feeling when I hear it. It makes me happy that I live here.
LABORDE: Another ferry passenger, J.D. Garcia, is leaving the island after a holiday.
JD GARCIA: Hearing the whistle reminds me that I'm coming back to reality (laughter). So yeah, it reminds me of music too, of Van Morrison's "Mystic."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INTO THE MYSTIC")
VAN MORRISON: (Singing) We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun. The bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic.
LABORDE: For NPR News, I'm Monique Laborde on Cape Cod.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | Real Steam Whistles Return To Ferries On Cape Cod | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681442553/real-steam-whistles-return-to-ferries-on-cape-cod?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered | 2019-01-01 |
Ian Stewart | 2019-01-01 18:17:08+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | The first images of the object, just a few pixels wide, arrived Tuesday morning. Higher-resolution photographs will be sent back to the earth in the coming weeks. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681414470%2F4-billion-miles-from-the-sun-a-spacecraft-sends-early-pictures-of-a-tiny-planet%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dstoriesfromnpr.json | en | 4 Billion Miles From The Sun, A Spacecraft Sends Early Pictures Of A Tiny Planet
Enlarge this image toggle caption NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI; sketch courtesy of James Tuttle Keane NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI; sketch courtesy of James Tuttle Keane
It's known as Ultima Thule — "beyond the known world" — but on Tuesday a tiny planet got a little less mysterious.
NASA's New Horizons probe successfully conducted the farthest-ever fly-by of an object in space when it sped past Ultima Thule in the first minutes of 2019.
"We have a healthy spacecraft," announced the mission's operations manager, Alice Bowman, as signals from the probe reached earth hours later. Stored on board are close-up pictures of the planet that's less than 20 miles wide, and four billion miles from the sun. The first images, just a few pixels across, arrived Tuesday morning and revealed a planet shaped like dog-bone, a peanut or a bowling pin, depending on your interpretation.
"Even though it's a pixelated blob still, it's a better pixelated blob," said project scientist Hal Weaver at a press conference. Sending photos from the edges of the solar system requires patience; while the first high-resolution photographs will be revealed later this week, the highest-resolution images won't be available until February. It will take many more months for all of the scientific data gathered by the probe to reach researchers back on earth.
The New Horizons spacecraft was launched in 2006, charged with exploring the region beyond the planets closest to earth. As NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce reports, the probe has already proven invaluable to scientists.
In 2015, it reached Pluto, and what had long been just a fuzzy circle in photographs was revealed to be a stunning, dark-reddish world made of frozen nitrogen and methane, with ice mountains. ... After speeding past Pluto, this mission always planned to visit another icy world, given that it was flying through a region of the solar system called the Kuiper belt that's littered with thousands of small, icy bodies. But it was tricky to find a minor planet that was reachable with the spacecraft's remaining fuel.
Scientists used the Hubble Space telescope to find their candidate planet — Ultima Thule. NASA describes it as "the farthest, most primitive object that humanity has ever seen up close."
When this mission wraps-up, the New Horizons probe will still have, well, new horizons. It will start by continuing to explore the Kuiper belt, but could be directed to do another fly-by of a distant object, according to NASA. The team says it has enough power and fuel for 15-20 more years of work, and new software could be uploaded to the spacecraft to enable new missions. For now, the project's main limitation is a more terrestrial one: funding.
While the New Horizons mission has set its own record, it's not the furthest a probe has been sent into space. In November, Voyager 2 joined is its sister ship Voyager 1 in interstellar space, more than four decades after being launched off planet Earth. During the course of their 11-billion mile trip, they snapped stunning photos of Uranus, Neptune and Saturn. | www.npr.org | 4 Billion Miles From The Sun, A Spacecraft Sends Early Pictures Of A Tiny Planet | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681414470/4-billion-miles-from-the-sun-a-spacecraft-sends-early-pictures-of-a-tiny-planet?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr | 2019-01-01 |
Steve Inskeep | 2019-01-01 20:01:39+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | It's Day 11 of the partial government shutdown, and there's no end in sight. Russian authorities arrest an American on spying charges. North Korea's leader has given his annual New Year's Day address. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368062%2Fmorning-news-brief%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Deurope.json | en | News Brief: Government Shutdown, Spying Charges, North Korea
It's Day 11 of the partial government shutdown, and there's no end in sight. Russian authorities arrest an American on spying charges. North Korea's leader has given his annual New Year's Day address.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It is up to a new Congress in this new year to resolve a government shutdown. Roughly 800,000 federal employees are unsure when they'll be paid. President Trump demanded $5 billion to help build a wall on the border with Mexico. Democrats offered less for various border security measures. The president told Fox News last night he's ready to talk.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOX NEWS BROADCAST)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So I'm ready to go any time they want. No, we are not giving up. We have to have border security, and the wall is a big part of border security - the biggest part.
MARTIN: The president spoke amid confusion about what he really wants. His outgoing chief of staff, John Kelly, said the administration ditched the idea of an actual wall a long time ago, instead favoring fences, technology and more border guards. NPR's White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe joins us now. Ayesha.
AYESHA RASCOE, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: Happy New Year.
RASCOE: Happy New Year. (Laughter).
MARTIN: I'm assuming you, like me, did not go out and party it up last night 'cause we had to talk about the news this morning. So thanks for making the sacrifice.
RASCOE: (Laughter). Yeah.
MARTIN: Democrats - let's get right to it. Democrats and Republicans have been stuck in this stalemate for a long time now. Thursday, Democrats take control of the House. What's expected to change?
RASCOE: Well, at this point it doesn't look like much will change. But you will finally have some concrete action where, up until now, we've had a lot of talk. So Democrats plan to put forward legislation that would fund the government. Basically, it will provide, like, a year of funding for most of the departments and agencies that are currently shut down. For the Department of Homeland Security, which is at the center of this wall fight, it would provide this stopgap spending bill. And that would basically just push the issue back to February.
But this does not include any wall or barrier funding. So it's not clear it's going to go anywhere. Trump is saying you cannot have border security without a wall. And Republicans in the Senate say they won't bring up anything that Trump doesn't support. So it seems like this impasse will remain, even if Democrats pass their bill in the House on Thursday.
MARTIN: I mean, what leverage is even left for either party?
RASCOE: Well, so right now it seems like the White House wants to use the shutdown to pressure the Democrats to come to the table. Basically, you have all of these people out of work. Something has to be done. President Trump is arguing that the government needs to be reopened and that Democrats need to show that they're concerned about border security. But he's making this case at the Democrats with Democrats set to take over the House after they gained all these seats in an election where Trump made immigration a top issue. So his leverage is not what it would have been before the midterm elections.
Democrats, of course, say they're offering money for border security, just not for a wall, and - which they don't see as effective. And they see it as a symbol of what they oppose about President Trump's immigration policies. And Democrats have their own base that they're trying to play to. And basically, they're arguing President Trump said he would own the shutdown. He said that Mexico would pay for the wall. And that - that's their argument that they're making.
And so they're trying to move ahead without any funding for the barrier - I mean, for a barrier or for a wall. But ultimately, something is going to have to give. The question is who is going to do the giving...
MARTIN: Right.
RASCOE: ...And what it might look like. They need each other at this point, the president and the Democrats. They're going to have to come together on something.
MARTIN: Right. So I guess if we thought it was tough for the last Congress to get anything done, 2019's going to be a doozy, right?
RASCOE: It - it will. There won't be - there's no shortage of areas of disagreement. And there's going to be a lot of things that they're just going to bump heads on. And this is an example of the start of it.
MARTIN: All right, NPR White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe with the latest. Thanks so much, lady, we appreciate it.
RASCOE: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: Now to Russia, where an American citizen has been detained. The FSB - that's the Russian security service - says that Paul Whelan was taken into custody late last week on suspicion of espionage. Here in Washington, the U.S. State Department put out a short statement saying essentially that they're just aware of the arrest.
This comes weeks after a Russian operative was convicted of conspiracy here in the U.S., trying to influence U.S. policy ahead of the 2016 presidential election. For more, we've got NPR's Lucian Kim on the line with us from Moscow. Lucian, Happy New Year.
LUCIAN KIM, BYLINE: Happy New Year. Good morning.
MARTIN: Any new details? Good morning. Any new details come out about this arrest yet?
KIM: Well, not really. All we have is this very terse statement from the FSB that was issued yesterday. And it basically named this American citizen, identified as Paul Whelan, who was arrested, quote, "in the act of spying in Moscow" last Friday. And we know that a criminal investigation for espionage has been opened.
As you mentioned, there's also the State Department's statement from yesterday - also very terse - saying the U.S. is aware of the detention and expects Russia to follow its obligations under international conventions. What that means is providing access to this individual by U.S. Embassy officials. But we don't know anything about this person except the name given by the FSB. And the State Department is not commenting due to what it calls privacy considerations.
MARTIN: So I mean, it's hard to ignore the fact that this arrest is coming really close after this Russian national, Maria Butina, pled guilty to conspiring to act as a Russian agent and basically infiltrate American political groups. I mean, are these connected? It would seem real weird if they're not.
KIM: Well, of course there's a lot of speculation right now that this might be a Russian response to Butina's detention and plea deal and that this American citizen accused of espionage may be used to swap out Butina. President Vladimir Putin has been asked about her. And he's said that she was forced to make a confession to U.S. prosecutors because he maintains she never had any Russian government duties.
He's also said the charges against her are baseless and that he's not indifferent to her case. What's interesting is at the same time, he said that Russia will not arrest innocent people just to use them as bargaining chips.
MARTIN: So we also remember last year - right? - Russia expelled 60 U.S. diplomats after the Trump administration kicked out 60 Russian diplomats. So this has been going on for a while. As we look down the pike at 2019, what's the state of the relationship between the U.S. and Russia?
KIM: Well, just about those diplomats - at the time, the Trump administration indicated that those Russians it expelled were intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover. And of course, the arrest last week is not the best way to end the year.
MARTIN: Right.
KIM: In February we expect the Trump administration to withdraw from a 1987 arms control treaty that the U.S. says Russia is violating. President Trump also doesn't look like he will meet President Putin anytime soon because it looks like the White House has made that - a future meeting contingent on Russia releasing two dozen - two dozen Ukrainian navy sailors that it's captured.
Of course, in the U.S. we have the Mueller investigation grinding on. We have the Democrats taking over the House. And these are - of course are also factors that will affect U.S.-Russia relations. So unfortunately, not a lot of bright spots looking forward into this new year.
MARTIN: All right, buckle up. NPR's Lucian Kim from Moscow. Thanks so much, Lucian.
KIM: Thank you, Rachel.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: All right, we're going to turn now to North Korea, where Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, has given his annual new year's address. And in this televised speech, Un says he remains committed to complete denuclearization but only if the U.S. keeps its promises. Kim Jong Un also said he'd be willing to meet with President Trump again, anytime. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us now from Seoul. Anthony, happy 2019.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: Happy 2019, Rachel.
MARTIN: So just from that snapshot I gave, it doesn't seem like Kim Jong Un is paving the way for a breakthrough on the nuclear issue, does it?
KUHN: No, not at all. The speech was pretty much what analysts expected - especially those analysts who predict that this stalemate on the nuclear issue is going to drag on well into the new year. What Kim said is that, you know, he's serious about improving relations with the U.S. and denuclearizing.
But North Korea's been pointing out for a while that since the Trump-Kim summit in June, they have made gestures such as dismantling nuclear and missile test sites. And so now it's up to the U.S. to reciprocate by easing sanctions or providing some sort of security guarantee. And there is an or-else. Let's hear some tape from Kim's speech here.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LEADER KIM JONG UN: (Speaking Korean).
KUHN: "If the U.S. fails to keep the promises it made before the world," he says, "if it misjudges the patience of our people and continues to use sanctions and pressure against our republic, then we'll have no choice except to seek a new path to secure the sovereignty and interests of our country."
Now, he didn't say what exactly that new path is, Rachel, but it sounds a lot like the old path of hostility and confrontation with the U.S. - except now with a more lethal nuclear arsenal. And also, we might note that the setting for this, the scene for this speech was different. He was sitting in a wood-paneled, bookshelf-lined office, which was apparently intended to look more like a president's office than a dictator's bunker.
MARTIN: Does he have a wood-paneled, bookshelf-lined office? Or is that a stage set? (Laughter).
KUHN: We don't know.
MARTIN: Unclear.
KUHN: I've never been in his office.
MARTIN: (Laughter). So what's he holding out for?
KUHN: Well, you remember the Trump-Kim summit in June. People saw right then that that was the vaguest of deals and that the U.S. and North Korea have completely different understandings of denuclearization. And they have, you know, emphasized this time and again, that when they say denuclearization, that includes getting rid of the U.S. nuclear umbrella that protects South Korea and Japan.
And today, Kim added in his speech, you know, no new strategic weapons on the Korean Peninsula and an end to U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises. So it seems that North Korea is holding out for another summit where they're going to try to squeeze more concessions out of President Trump.
MARTIN: Meanwhile, south, in South Korea, the U.S. and the South were supposed to strike this new deal on the U.S. military presence. And this was supposed to happen by New Year's Eve. And it didn't happen, right?
KUHN: Right.
MARTIN: So what's going on there?
KUHN: Well, the White House wants all allies to pay more. According to South Korean media, they're asking Seoul for a 50 percent increase. And they want to cut their five-year agreements down to just one so that they strike a deal with South Korea, and then they ask all other allies for similar terms. And South Korea has said no.
Seoul was not happy about the U.S. pullout from Syria. And they're also worried about the resignation of Mattis, who tried to reassure allies, including South Korea, that he wouldn't either - the U.S. wouldn't pull out, and they also wouldn't attack North Korea without consulting with them first.
MARTIN: All right, NPR's Anthony Kuhn from Seoul, reporting on Kim Jong Un's annual address. Anthony, we appreciate it.
KUHN: No problem. Take care, Rachel.
MARTIN: Take care.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRAMPIQUE'S "EARTH")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | News Brief: Government Shutdown, Spying Charges, North Korea | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368062/morning-news-brief?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=europe | 2019-01-01 |
Philip Reeves | 2019-01-01 22:30:41+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | Brazil on Tuesday inaugurates its new far-right president. It marks a reversal of the pink-tide of leftist leaders elected in South America in the last two decades. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368099%2Fbrazil-prepares-to-swear-in-president-elect-jair-bolsonaro%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dmorningedition.json | en | Brazil Prepares To Swear-In President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro
Brazil on Tuesday inaugurates its new far-right president. It marks a reversal of the pink-tide of leftist leaders elected in South America in the last two decades.
(SOUNDBITE OF FIREWORKS, CHEERING)
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The sound of crowds out in the street in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, last night, welcoming the new year in traditional fashion. But 2019 is bringing a change for Brazil. Today, a new president is being sworn into office. His name is Jair Bolsonaro, a retired army captain from the far right. We're joined from Brasilia now by NPR's Philip Reeves. Hey, Phil.
PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: Hi, how are you doing?
MARTIN: Doing well, thanks. So this is a huge day for Brazil, also for Latin America more broadly. Can you just give us a sense of how important this moment is?
REEVES: Well, it's extremely important. This is a real moment in history. Latin America's largest nation is installing a populist president, a seven-term congressman with no executive experience, a man who admires Brazil's past dictatorship and has a Cabinet of whom about a third are retired military officers and chosen a foreign minister who's described climate change as a Marxist plot. So this is a moment in history, a turning point.
MARTIN: What's it like in Brasilia on the Inauguration Day?
REEVES: (Laughter) Well, I'm afraid it's damp and overcast...
MARTIN: Oh (laughter).
REEVES: ...Rather disappointingly. Nonetheless, you know, officials here are expecting big crowds for the inauguration of possibly half a million. So there's a huge security operation. But it's also New Year's Day, and Brazilians really celebrated, as you know. And so let's see whether they turn up or how - and how many of them decide to carry on partying somewhere else.
MARTIN: I mean, Bolsonaro had been seen as this very divisive figure, right? During the campaign, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, especially women, were on the streets urging people not to vote for him. So is that changing?
REEVES: Yes. I mean Bolsonaro was elected in October with a very comfortable margin of some 10 million votes. Polls indicate, though, that since then, he's become even more popular. It seems Brazilians have really high expectations of him. And you often meet people here who say that they don't agree with everything Bolsonaro stands for. But anything's better than the leftist government that ruled for most of the last decade and a half, a period that saw the country's worst ever recession, a massive corruption scandal and an epidemic of violent crime.
I was actually out in the streets here when the new year dawned earlier today, talking to people about their new president. And I met Alan (ph) Hubner, a computer programmer, and I asked him to tell me why he supports Bolsonaro.
ALAN HUBNER: Security. Yeah, I want to feel safe here, you know?
REEVES: Hubner told me that he's gay, and Bolsonaro, of course, is notorious for making offensive homophobic comments. A lot of LGBT Brazilians are worried about what his presidency might mean for them. And I asked Hubner about that, and he says, in a country where there are tens of thousands of homicide every year, making Brazil safer matters more to him than anything Bolsonaro said in the past.
HUBNER: People say that he is homophobic. Oh, he's a homophobic. He going to kill gays. I don't believe he going to kill gays. I believe that everybody's getting killed here. It doesn't matter if you're gay, if you're straight, if you're black or white. Everybody's getting killed here.
MARTIN: I mean, that's going to be a huge issue that Bolsonaro's going to have to deal with, clearly, if people feel that way. But what can you tell us about other policy agenda - the other policy agenda items that Bolsonaro is going to focus on?
REEVES: Well, all eyes are going to be on what he does with the environment. He's been talking about withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement. Bolsonaro is also a big fan of President Trump and used some of his tactics during the election campaign, communicating directly, for example, via Internet. So we're going to see a shift here towards the U.S., and that has regional implications, for example, in the handling of Venezuela.
Meanwhile, domestically here in Brazil, Bolsonaro wants to greatly increase the public's access to firearms. That's very controversial. So we'll see what happens there.
REEVES: All right. NPR's Phil Reeves from Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | Brazil Prepares To Swear-In President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368099/brazil-prepares-to-swear-in-president-elect-jair-bolsonaro?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | 2019-01-01 |
Philip Ewing | 2019-01-03 04:11:38+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | A number of unfinished criminal cases could be resolved. Democrats will take the majority in the House of Representatives. But many big questions still remain unanswered. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F678332805%2Fheres-what-could-be-ahead-in-the-russia-investigations-in-2019%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Danalysis.json | en | Here's What Could Be Ahead In The Russia Investigations In 2019
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP
The Russia imbroglio is barreling into another year that could deliver even more revelations and political heat than the last one — and maybe even a big finale.
The criminal cases of several key players are unresolved, new charges could be ripe, and House Democrats are set to sweep into Washington with huge ambitions about how to use their investigative and oversight powers now that they wield the majority.
Here's what you need to know:
Big cases still unresolved
Three of President Trump's former top aides are waiting to be sentenced after reaching plea agreements with prosecutors.
Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, first was convicted in a bank and tax fraud trial in Virginia, then pleaded guilty to avoid a second federal trial in a separate conspiracy case in Washington, D.C.
But the Justice Department said its cooperation agreement with Manafort had broken down over what the government said were lies Manafort had told investigators.
Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced early in 2019. Will he and his lawyers try to salvage their relationship with prosecutors so that the government asks the judge in the case to be lenient?
And, if not, will Manafort's sentencing hearing include new details about the core question that special counsel Robert Mueller's office is investigating: Did Trump's campaign conspire with the Russians who attacked the 2016 presidential election?
Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was scheduled to be sentenced in December, but a federal judge in that case delayed the decision.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Now Flynn has no date scheduled for his sentencing. Instead, he and the government have been ordered to give Judge Emmet Sullivan a status update in March.
This means Flynn may give even more cooperation to the Justice Department beyond the more than 60 hours of meetings and other materials he has provided so far.
In fact, he could appear as a witness for the prosecution in a case the government is making against two of Flynn's former business partners, who have been charged in a scheme to smear an enemy of the Turkish government.
So if all goes well for Flynn, serving as a government witness may be the cherry on the sundae and make the judge more inclined to show leniency in his ultimate sentence.
Trump's former deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, so far has no sentencing date scheduled. He has been cooperating with prosecutors since he pleaded guilty to charges connected with Manafort and served as the star witness against his former mentor in the Virginia trial last summer.
The Justice Department has asked a judge not to schedule a sentencing hearing for Gates because he's cooperating with so much of its work, much of which still appears to be behind the scenes. When, or if, Gates is sentenced in 2019 could be an important milestone in the investigation.
New charges?
There have been many suggestions about new charges by the special counsel's office.
They might target political consultant Roger Stone, who has told NPR he thinks he'll be indicted, or associates of his such as conservative commentator Jerome Corsi, who told MSNBC that he walked away from a plea deal offered by Mueller's team. Stone and Corsi both deny they engaged in any wrongdoing.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Drew Angerer/Getty Images Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In December, the House intelligence committee voted to release to the executive branch a transcript of Stone's testimony before the panel. That move fueled speculation that Mueller might be preparing to charge Stone with lying to Congress, although there has been no official indication.
Stone and his associates are thought to be potential connections between Trump's campaign and WikiLeaks, which released an avalanche of data stolen by Russian intelligence from political targets including the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.
Stone and Corsi have suggested they won't give evidence against Trump, and Stone has invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege not to submit to an interview or provide documents in response to requests from the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
If Stone, Corsi or others in this part of the Russia storyline are charged, that could mean high-profile new trials in New York City or around Washington, D.C.
And if the Justice Department charges WikiLeaks' founder, Julian Assange, after suggestions that may happen, that trial also could be huge — assuming the United States could get Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has taken refuge.
Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The new House Democratic majority
Congress has been a dominant force in the Russia imbroglio all along, but 2019 may bring a big change in tenor.
The House Republicans who have criticized the Department of Justice and Mueller's office will lose their ability to convene hearings and subpoena witnesses. The House Democrats who've sought to defend DOJ and the Mueller investigation will gain those powers as they arrive in a new majority.
One incoming Democratic chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, fired a warning shot well before the new Congress was even seated: He announced that he has sent 51 letters to "the White House, multiple federal agencies and others requesting full compliance" with existing requests for information by Jan. 11.
Cummings and Democrats are likely to make more new requests of their own.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee, says he wants to reawaken the panel's investigation into the Russian attack on the 2016 election, one Republicans closed in spring 2018.
The finding was that there was no wrongdoing by the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and that contacts between people involved and Russians were, at worst, "ill-advised."
Schiff and Democrats have called that a whitewash, and they say they want answers from many of the people involved and to open new lines of inquiry. Specifically, Schiff has said he wants to find out whether Deutsche Bank was involved with any payments to Trump.
The German finance giant has figured in discussions about the Russia investigation for months, but it isn't clear where it may fit into the broader story. It has paid heavy fines to regulators after admitting its role in past money laundering, and some investigations appear to be ongoing.
New boss at DOJ
Enlarge this image toggle caption Drew Angerer/Getty Images Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The new year also is expected to bring a new ultimate boss for Mueller's investigation. Trump has nominated former Attorney General William Barr to return to the Justice Department to take the place of Jeff Sessions.
Barr is expected to have a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee early in the year and it may prove contentious.
Barr has been a public skeptic about the Mueller investigation — at least the part of it that may be focused on possible obstruction of justice by the president. Barr submitted some written criticisms to the administration and, in the past, echoed Trump's criticisms of former FBI Director James Comey.
Democrats likely will press him about whether he can be involved with the Russia investigation or whether he must recuse himself, as Sessions did. Critics also want acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to recuse himself, but as the Justice Department explained, he opted not to take himself out of the matter.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has continued to oversee the investigation anyhow, it emerged. Rosenstein was asked about Barr at a press conference before Christmas.
He said that whoever was involved with the Russia investigation — whether it was him, Mueller, Barr or another Justice Department leader — it would continue to be handled "appropriately."
The final report?
Jan. 1 marked the 595th day since Mueller was appointed. No one outside of his office has any clear idea about how much longer his team's work may go.
Trump's attorneys said they believed it would be wrapped up by Thanksgiving — of 2017. When attorneys on the Mueller team left in October 2018, people took that as a sign the investigation might be cooling down.
Predictions that "Mueller is tightening the net" or "this is the fourth quarter" haven't gone away — and yet the special counsel investigation hasn't, either.
All that's clear about the road map to the end of the special counsel investigation is this: Justice Department regulations compel Mueller to file a confidential report to the attorney general at the conclusion of his team's work. (Another regulation requires the attorney general to provide certain notifications and reports to the leadership of the judiciary committees in both the House and the Senate.)
Many in Washington expect the Mueller report also to go to Congress and become public, perhaps even making the same kind of imprint as earlier reports about President Bill Clinton or the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
How or even whether that happens, however, remain big questions — along with what any report could mean for Trump. | www.npr.org | Here's What Could Be Ahead In The Russia Investigations In 2019 | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/678332805/heres-what-could-be-ahead-in-the-russia-investigations-in-2019?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=analysis | 2019-01-01 |
Emily Guerin | 2019-01-01 22:30:44+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | California suffered devastating wildfires in 2018. But cities and counties are still allowing subdivisions to stretch out into the suburban edges with the highest risks of wildfire. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368083%2Fcalifornia-housing-development-is-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dmorningedition.json | en | California Housing Development Is A 'Disaster Waiting To Happen'
California suffered devastating wildfires in 2018. But cities and counties are still allowing subdivisions to stretch out into the suburban edges with the highest risks of wildfire.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
In 2018, we saw a lot of devastating wildfires in the state of California. During our coverage, we heard from people conflicted about whether or not to rebuild in the same areas that burned to the ground. But just weeks after the deadly Camp Fire, a massive, new housing development was approved in a high-fire-risk area near Los Angeles. Reporter Emily Guerin from member station KPCC took a look at the financial bet of rebuilding.
EMILY GUERIN, BYLINE: Back in September, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a new housing development called Esperanza Hills. It's 340 luxury homes on an undeveloped patch of land. It's got amazing views of hills and canyons. And Kevin Johnson thinks it's a disaster waiting to happen.
KEVIN JOHNSON: This site is probably the most dangerous site in Southern California that you could pick to put 340 new families into.
GUERIN: He's a lawyer for one of the environmental groups that opposes the project. And he says what makes this site so dangerous is that a huge wildfire swept through here just 10 years ago.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Yelling) Stacy (ph), come on. (Unintelligible). Go ahead and drive.
GUERIN: In this recording by Casper News (ph), a man is rushing his wife into their car as a helicopter dumps water on the flames nearby. People who lived through it said the evacuation was chaotic, and they barely got out. Ed Schumann's house and 380 others burned down that day. And he does not like the idea of adding hundreds more houses to the community.
ED SCHUMANN: Evacuating that more many people in the same limited infrastructure - it's a scary thought.
GUERIN: So why would anyone want to build in such a risky place?
DOUGLAS WYMORE: California is woefully deficient in housing units.
GUERIN: And he's right. That's the developer of Esperanza Hills, Douglas Wymore.
WYMORE: When somebody comes into develop, it's going to be the areas that aren't currently developed, right?
GUERIN: In fact, more than 60 percent of new houses on the West Coast are in high-fire-risk areas. But Wymore maintains that it is possible to build here safely. His homes will be fire-resistant, he says. They'll have lots of brush clearing and two water tanks for firefighting.
WYMORE: I think that the bottom line is you can mitigate it, and you can protect it.
GUERIN: So that's the developer. But why would the Orange County Board of Supervisors approve the project? Here's one factor.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GARY LAMB: It will generate $8,250,000 in property tax.
GUERIN: That's Gary Lamb, who works with Wymore. At a public meeting last year, he listed off how much money the project will generate for the community.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LAMB: Four million will go to the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district.
GUERIN: And since 2011, Wymore has donated nearly $50,000 to the political campaigns of various members of the OC Board of Supervisors. Now, none of the supervisors wanted to talk to me for this story. But at a meeting last May, Supervisor Shawn Nelson explained one reason why he was signing off on the project. The Fire Department had already given it the green light.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SHAWN NELSON: If the Fire Department's satisfied, I'm not inclined to argue with them. I'm not a fireman.
GUERIN: But Timothy Kerbrat is a fireman in Orange County. And he says, from what he's seen so far, the project does meet state and local requirements.
TIMOTHY KERBRAT: Do they have access? Do they have water? Do they have a defensible space? Do they have hardened structures that they can protect? Are all those things occurring?
GUERIN: And in the Esperanza Hills project, he says they are. But here's the thing. If there's a fire, Orange County won't actually have to spend much of its own money to protect the neighborhood. The state and federal governments will reimburse them. Kimiko Barrett is a researcher at Headwaters Economics, which studies land use.
KIMIKO BARRETT: The consequences actually aren't borne by the people who are approving these developments.
GUERIN: She calls it a moral hazard. And until this changes, she says we're going to keep building in risky areas. For NPR News, I'm Emily Guerin.
(SOUNDBITE OF MAN MOUNTAIN'S "PERIPHERAL DRIFT")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | California Housing Development Is A 'Disaster Waiting To Happen' | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368083/california-housing-development-is-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | 2019-01-01 |
Amy Dobson | 2019-01-01 14:45:30+00:00 | 2019-01-01 13:28:00 | Florida Home Listed For $159 Million Sells For Much Less Than Expected | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Famydobson%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2Fflorida-home-listed-for-159-million-sells-for-much-less-than-expected%2F.json | en | One of America's most talked about homes has finally closed the latest chapter of its selling history. Playa Vista Isle, previously known as Le Palais Royal , was a two-parcel listing asking as high as $159 million. After no buyers came forward, it eventually went to auction via Concierge Auctions, in conjunction with Ralph Arias of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, on November 12th, 2018. The combined final selling price for both parcels was $42.5 million, as indicated by property records that were updated on December 28th, the second-to-last business day of 2018. The main parcel, with the 11-bedroom, 22-bathroom home with over 30,000 square feet of living area sold for just over $37 million ($37,081,250) and the adjacent 2 acre empty lot of land sold for almost $5.5 million ($5,418,750).
The new owner is an LLC affiliated with former Teavana creators and owners, Andrew and Nancy Mack. They sold Teavana to Starbucks for a reported $620 million in 2012. The seller, Robert Pereira, founder of the Massachusetts-based construction company Middlesex Corp., likely lost money on the deal, telling the Wall Street Journal in 2015 that the construction costs exceeded $100 million.
Reps for the auction house previously stated that the auction had 11 bidders, with over 29 people touring the house and over 1,800 inquires. Even though the sale didn't garner the nine-figure asking price (which would have made it one of the most expensive sales ever for the U.S.), the sale did set two different records. It is the most expensive home ever sold at auction in the U.S. (the previous record was the $38.9 million sale of Walnut Place in Texas) and it was the most expensive sale in Florida's Broward County (previous record was $27.5 million for 5 Harborage in Fort Lauderdale).
If you missed it the first time around, here's a tour of the impressive build. The marble staircase was said to have cost $2 million.
The 4,500-square-foot infinity-edge heated pool is designed to visually blend in with the ocean views.
22-karat gold leaf figures prominently throughout the home, including this living room with ornate ceiling.
The mahogany-hued kitchen with gold trim is adjacent to the living room with fish tank surround the television screen.
The bedroom comes with a private terrace.
As one of just a few homes on Hillsboro Mile, this property has the ocean on one side and the Intracoastal Waterway on the other. The seller spent about seven years conceiving and designing the home but decided to sell because he wanted to travel more, according to several news reports. For Broward County, the next most expensive listing after Playa Vista Isle is a new construction offering asking $32 million within the Las Olas Isles, so it also has views of the Atlantic and Intracoastal Waterway. According to the public listings, there are only nine other homes on the market in Broward County asking over $20 million so this is rarefied territory for the price range.
Follow me on Twitter @amydobsonRE | www.forbes.com | Florida Home Listed For $159 Million Sells For Less Than Expected, Still Breaks Price Records | https://www.forbes.com/sites/amydobson/2019/01/01/florida-home-listed-for-159-million-sells-for-much-less-than-expected/ | 2019-01-01 |
Frank Stoltze | 2019-01-01 22:30:24+00:00 | 2019-01-01 | At least one city has approved the destruction of that paperwork before the deadline. The Inglewood City Council voted to destroy more than 100 police records at the police chief's request. | https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F01%2F01%2F681368141%2Fcalif-law-requires-documents-involving-police-shootings-to-be-made-public%3Futm_medium%3DRSS%26utm_campaign%3Dmorningedition.json | en | New Calif. Law Requires Documents On Police Shootings Be Made Public
At least one city has approved the destruction of that paperwork before the deadline. The Inglewood City Council voted to destroy more than 100 police records at the police chief's request.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now to California, where a new state law is going into effect today, a law that will require police to make documents related to police shootings public. But at least one city has given the OK for that paperwork to be destroyed before the deadline. From member station KPCC in Los Angeles, Frank Stoltze reports.
FRANK STOLTZE, BYLINE: The city of Inglewood sits just west of Los Angeles, has about 100,000 residents and 180 police officers. In early December, its city council voted to destroy more than 100 police records at the request of the police chief. He said in a memo that the files were no longer needed nor legally required to be kept. The council's resolution also said they were taking up valuable space.
These are some of the department's most sensitive files on officer shootings, uses of force and other internal affairs investigations and date back as far as 1991. Many would have become public for the first time today under a new state law designed to make policing in California more transparent.
That law also opens to the public files on officers who've lied or engaged in a sexual assault while on duty. The ACLU's Peter Bibring says Inglewood's decision to destroy the files can only mean one thing.
PETER BIBRING: This last-minute push to shred documents rather than allowing them to become public under California law almost certainly means those documents would show problems that management doesn't want the public to see.
STOLTZE: Calls to the police department and mayor went unreturned. Inglewood acted legally. The new California law doesn't require police to keep records beyond current requirements. That's five years for shootings. Attorney Milton Grimes has represented the families of people shot by police in this LA suburb.
MILTON GRIMES: Old records tell us sometimes what people are thinking and doing and whether there's a pattern. And we cannot better this police department unless we're able to show that there's a bad pattern.
STOLTZE: The U.S. Justice Department identified some of those patterns when it found in 2010 that the department lacked clear use of force policies and oversight, following the shooting of three unarmed people in four months.
Inglewood is retaining its most recent shooting records in keeping with state law. That means Trisha Michael will have access to files regarding the shooting of her twin sister and sister's boyfriend. But she says the dozens of other families of people shot or beaten by Inglewood police will be deprived a chance at the truth.
TRISHA MICHAEL: There's a lot of unsolved, mind-bothering questions people still think about. You know, this is the opportunity for people to go back and try to figure out what happened.
STOLTZE: Not in Inglewood, which appears to be the only city in the state that decided to erase large parts of its shooting past. For NPR News, I'm Frank Stoltze in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF KULPA AND J'SAN'S "OUT OF TOWN")
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | www.npr.org | New Calif. Law Requires Documents On Police Shootings Be Made Public | https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681368141/calif-law-requires-documents-involving-police-shootings-to-be-made-public?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | 2019-01-01 |
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