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If you’re looking to get your own PEN (V) Boss Gear from Jetina’s guaranteed upgrade questline, then this Dark Rift event is just for you!
By defeating Dark Rift bosses during the event, you can obtain:
- [Event] Boss Summon Scroll Box & TRIPLE the normal amount of Boss Auras and Concentrated Crystals!
Not sure how to use the Boss Auras and Concentrated Crystals? Check out the: [GM Notes] The Old Moon Guild’s Best Deal – PEN (V) Boss Gear!
Scouring the Dark Rifts
- May 11, 2022 (Wed) after maintenance - May 25, 2022 (Wed) before maintenance.
① During the event, defeat the bosses that appear from the Dark Rifts for a chance to obtain an [Event] Boss Summon Scroll Box.
Open the [Event] Boss Summon Scroll Box to Randomly Obtain 1 of the Following Scrolls!
Awakened King of Navarn Steppe Summon Scroll
Awakened Goblin Chief Summon Scroll
Awakened Dim Tree Spirit Summon Scroll
Awakened Imp Captain Summon Scroll
Awakened Altar Imp Captain Summon Scroll
Awakened Monastery Boss Summon Scroll
Awakened Gyfin Rhasia Raid Captain Summon Scroll
Blood Wolf Boss Summon Scroll
* The [Event] Boss Summon Scroll Box is an additionally dropped item and does not affect the drop rates of existing items.
② If you defeat the Dark Rift bosses below, you’ll also obtain TRIPLE the amount of Boss Auras and Concentrated Crystals.
TRIPLED Boss Auras and Concentrated Crystals During the Event!
Concentrated Red Nose Crystal
Concentrated Muskan Crystal
Muskan's Latent Aura
|Dim Tree Spirit||
Concentrated Dim Tree Spirit Crystal
Dim Tree Spirit's Latent Aura
Concentrated Bheg Crystal
Bheg's Latent Aura
Concentrated Griffon Crystal
Griffon's Latent Aura
More About the Dark Rift
The Dark Rift is a unique type of content that opens up at certain periods of time. When Dark Rifts appear, monsters will appear in designated locations. If you defeat these monsters, you can obtain Boxes of the Dead and a variety of enhancement materials.
① By default, there are 12 monsters (Red Nose, Ruins Guard Tower, Dastard Bheg, etc.) that can spawn from the Dark Rift. And if you were to defeat Red Nose for instance, Red Nose will reappear after some time has passed.
You can see the monsters that have appeared from the Dark Rift via the following:
▲ Go to ESC Menu -> Adventure -> Dark Rift
▲ Press the Dark Rift icon located at the bottom right of the screen.
② Dark Rift monsters will automatically spawn when you go near the spawn location.
▲ Press the arrow icon next to the monster’s name
▲ Or press the Dark Rift icon marked on the World Map (M) to find the location!
* Please note that if you’ve already defeated Red Nose, Red Nose’s icon will not appear.
③ When you arrive at the location where Red Nose spawns, a vivid message will appear at the top of your screen.
▲ A Boss Appearing from the Dark Rift.
④ The rewards you can obtain will differ depending on the Dark Rift monsters and their levels of difficulty.
▲ You can obtain the Box of the Desperate Dead from Red Nose and the Box of the Distorted Dead from Ferrid
View the items you can obtain from the Boxes of the Dead:
* You cannot fight the Dark Rift monsters with party members or other Adventurers.
* Don’t worry about dying to the Dark Rift monsters. There is no penalty!
- Pearl Abyss reserves the right to change or cancel the event depending on mitigating circumstances. If changes are made, they can be found on this event page.
- Event items may have restrictions (sale/trade) and/or different binding settings/expiration dates. Due to this reason, these items cannot be transferred or restored.
- For details such as whether the item is bound, please refer to the in-game item description.
- Items and/or rewards that were used normally cannot be recovered.
- Participating in the event using inappropriate methods may result in a cancellation/retrieval of your reward(s) and/or restriction from the game.
- For any questions or concerns regarding the event, please contact us via [Support].
- Any content not mentioned on this page is subject to the [Black Desert Event Rules].
[Winner Announcements] Moments Frozen in Eternal Winter Who are the winners of the event? (Last Updated: 05/13/2022 08:51 UTC) May 11, 2022 (UTC)
[Events] A Week of Playtime Challenges Receive a fresh set of rewards for your playtime! May 11, 2022 (UTC)
[Events] A Step Closer to a PEN (V) Accessory Jetina has got you covered! May 11, 2022 (UTC)
[Winner Announcements] "Promote Your Guild!" Event Winners We’re proud to present the guilds that are looking for new members to adventure together in the world of Black Desert. May 4, 2022 (UTC)
- [Notices] Accounts Restricted for Violating the Operational Policy/Terms of Service (December 1, 2023) Dec 1, 2023 (UTC)
- [GM Notes] Late Night Talk in a Nutshell Dec 1, 2023 (UTC)
- [GM Notes] Events at a glance Nov 30, 2023 (UTC)
- [Notices] Known Issues (Last Updated: 11/30/2023 11:25 UTC) Nov 30, 2023 (UTC)

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Bloomberg FX Forecast Accuracy Ranking
– Majors Q3’2019
By Wei Lu
Q3’2019 FX forecasters are ranked based on three criteria: margin of error, timing (for identical forecasts, earlier ones received more credit) and directional accuracy (movements with the currency’s overall direction). The ranking below, which was based on Bloomberg’s foreign exchange forecasts (FXFC), was for forecasters who provided forecasts for Q3’2019 in at least three of the four preceding quarters but no later than one month prior to September 30, 2019.
Scores were calculated each quarter for the three criteria, which were weighted 60 percent, 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The final score for each currency pair was the time-weighted average of the four quarterly scores.
The best overall forecasters were identified by averaging the individual scores for each firm on all 13 currency pairs and all four quarters. Forecasters had to be ranked in at least eight of the 13 pairs to qualify for the overall ranking (50 firms qualified). All ranking tables display the top 20 percent of the forecasters who were eligible, to a maximum of 10 names.
For full charts, you can view them here:

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I was on the hollertronix bulletin board discussing various views I had on hardcore, et cetera, and a guy called Steve PMX got in touch with me (this is he) about the excellent loveliness of my blog and we started shooting the shit and then . . . boom. He's hosting a guest post on my blog!! Mostly I decided to let him post a cassette because he had this gif on his myspace.
He's a back in the day throwin parties from DC (as in crack mayor DC) kind of guy and has a radio here. So here's his selection and writeup.
Street Jams - Electric Funk - Part 4 (Rhino Records 1994)
This silly looking Rhino tape comp fully represents the underestimated magic of the 99c tape bin. Most people walk right by these tape bins, but there are gems to be found once you take a second to dig through the membrane of Meat Loaf and Joan Jett tapes on the surface. It's called Street Jams, and it's basically a VERY quirky compilation of dope 80s Freestyle/Electro/Pop(?) tracks created for the neon-lit 80s nightclubs and cardboard on the streets/sidewalks alike.
I was too young to experience the neon nightclubs, but I *definitely* remember the ghetto blasters and street dancers on cardboard mats in the early-mid 80s. One day in particular that stands out is going to see Breakin' 2 in some movie theater in Washington DC when I was 8 years old. Went with my mum and older brother, and after the movie let out I remember seeing this mad scene on the streets with tons of kids breakin on cardboard mats - battling and shit. It was so surreal and like "futuristic" - in retrospect I'm convinced that particular day dictated the direction my life/musical obsession would eventually follow. So without going too deep, this tape brings that feeling back when I hear it. Standout tracks for me are both the Freestyle joints, 'Rock The Planet' by Megatrons, 'Computer Power' by Jamie Jupitor [aka Egyptian Lover] and 'Dance' also by Egyptian Lover. 'Dance' kinda reminds me of Skinny Puppy a little, as far as the percussion and moody synths in the production. I've always seen a big link between Electro/Freestyle and Industrial music, and you can really hear the similarities here.
'White Horse' by Laid Back (pictures above) is another great tune on this compilation, which apparently got alot of support from Prince (weird); and 'Technicolor' by Channel One [aka Juan Atkins/Cybotron] gets points for paving the way for 'Baby Got Back' 6 years later (peep first 16 bars)....
1 Freestyle Don't Stop The Rock (5:29)
2 Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force I Wonder If I Take You Home (Extended Version) (6:40)
3 Laid Back White Horse (5:43)
4 Connie Rock Me (5:23)
5 The Megatrons Rock The Planet (6:21)
6 Jamie Jupitor Computer Power (6:57)
1 Channel One Technicolor (Long Mix) (6:48)
2 ABC How To Be A Zillionaire (Wall Street Mix) (7:32)
3 Egyptian Lover Dance (5:31)
4 Freestyle It's Automatic (5:51)
5 World Class Wreckin' Cru Juice (6:39)
6 L.A. Dream Team Rockberry Jam (5:14)

domain: hobby


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Steven Saum posted an articleRecognition for members of the Peace Corps community see more
Honors from the University of California, the Republic of Mali, Dartmouth College, and Bucknell University
By NPCA Staff
Maureen Orth | Colombia 1964–66
Maureen Orth received a 2021 Campanile Excellence in Achievement Award from the Cal Alumni Association, in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley Foundation, for pushing boundaries whenever possible. She is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and founder of the Marina Orth Foundation, which supports education in Colombia.
Melvin Foote | Ethiopia 1973–75
Melvin Foote received special recognition from the president of Mali this year: He is to be honored with the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mali — the Knight of the Order of Mali, for a foreign national. Foote is the founder and CEO of the Constituency for Africa. As Mali’s ambassador to the U.S. wrote to Foote: “Your significant and long-standing contributions of time, energy, and leadership to promote relations between the Republic of Mali and the United States of America have been recognized and appreciated.”
Peter Kilmarx | Democratic Republic of the Congo 1984–86
Peter Kilmarx was recognized with the 2021 Daniel Webster Award for Distinguished Public Service by the Dartmouth Club of Washington, D.C., for his work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Public Health Service, and Peace Corps. Kilmarx serves as deputy director at Fogarty
International Center at the National Institutes of Health.
Ruth Kauffman | Sierra Leone 1985–87
Ruth Kauffman received Bucknell University’s 2020 Service to Humanity Award in recognition of her 30-year career in international women’s health and midwifery. She has served in eight countries through Doctors Without Borders. In 2016, she partnered with colleagues to open a cross-border birth center providing services to women in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. “Ensuring that women in diverse communities have equitable access to safe, natural birth is essential to improving reproductive health worldwide,” she says.
Communications Intern posted an articleLessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic see more
On the nature of a virus. On community. And on systems — how they function and how they break.
By Steven Boyd Saum
Illustration by Maria Carluccio
The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic hit a sobering milestone in the United States last spring when we marked the death of 100,000 Americans. By September, that number had doubled. The year 2020 concluded with some 350,000 dead in the United States alone, and 1.82 million lives lost worldwide.
The pandemic has driven home some crucial lessons — if we pay attention. Not lessons we wanted to learn. But many of them are hard truths we need in order to face a changed world. Lessons about the nature of a virus, yes, but also about community: how we give of ourselves in times of need, how we listen or how we fail to hear. Lessons about systems: how they function and how they break.
In the stories we have put together here are a few lessons for the time of coronavirus from across the Peace Corps community. From an epidemiologist in Los Angeles, whose research has kept her connected with the Democratic Republic of the Congo for years: recognition that the oft-praised but far less supported Third Goal of the Peace Corps — which speaks of bringing understanding of the world back home to the United States — is not touchy-feely stuff by a long shot. It’s a matter of life and death.
Bringing understanding of the world back home to the United States is not touchy-feely stuff by a long shot. It’s a matter of life and death.
From a registered nurse in Washington, D.C., who found her calling in public health while serving as a Volunteer in Guatemala — and in spring 2020 moved away from her family, including a pre-school-aged daughter, to shield loved ones from possible infection while she tried to save the lives of patients infected with the virus: Know what this means.
From a returned Volunteer who can see the hills of Tijuana from her house and manages a free medical clinic: a lesson in taking part in the trials of the Pfizer vaccine.
And across the country, lessons in gratitude and what endures: How the work we do, in solidarity and seeking understanding, echoes across continents and decades. In this case, how service by some 2,000 Volunteers in South Korea in support of education and healthcare years ago translates into the long work of building peace and friendship — and in 2020 brought of hundreds of COVID-19 Survivor Boxes to those Volunteers, to honor and thank them for empowering people in a time of hardship.
To a cohort of returned Volunteers — some of whom were evacuated from service around the world in March because of the pandemic — now working as contact tracers in Seattle and King County, Washington: messages of admiration and encouragement from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Peter Kilmarx of the National Institutes of Health.
Steven Boyd Saum is the editor of WorldView magazine.
Communications Intern posted an articleEpidemiologist Anne Rimoin on listening to community — and bringing global understanding back home see more
Pandemic Lessons: Epidemiologist Anne Rimoin on the importance of listening to community. And how a public health problem anywhere can be a public health problem everywhere.
From a conversation with WorldView editor Steven Boyd Saum
Photo by Peter Israel
In epidemiology, you have to look at things holistically. And in the midst of this pandemic, as an epidemiologist whose whole career trajectory was shaped by my experience with the Peace Corps, I find myself asking: What does Peace Corps have to do with how we respond to COVID — and how we need to do more? Peace Corps is all about working in a community; my work, whether related to COVID or not, is really about having your ear to the ground in the community and understanding the community’s perceptions — and understanding how important local community is in terms of being able to effectively run public health interventions.
A case in point: We’ve learned over and over again with Ebola outbreaks that you have to pay attention to local community leaders and understand their perspective. Having empathy and creating relationships to reach that understanding, and targeting communication to what’s really happening — that’s critical.
The window that Peace Corps Volunteers have into that — that we have to bring our experiences in working in communities globally back home locally — is so important now. It is going to be critical in terms of being able to get to the other side of this pandemic, whether we’re talking about vaccine hesitancy, wearing masks, social distancing, or basic public health measures. In public health, everything that I do, I lead with listening to community.
This is a matter of life and death. Bringing the world back home has never been more important.
This pandemic has shone a light on how we are no different than anywhere else.
We always think that this is the “Third Goal,” the last thing out there in the Peace Corps experience. But our country has never been more vulnerable. This pandemic has shone a light on how we are no different than anywhere else. And that an infection anywhere can be an infection everywhere; a public health problem anywhere is a public health problem everywhere.
The whole idea of “global is local, and local is global” has never been more important. We have not been paying attention to the community here in the same way that we do overseas.
Information and misinformation
Whenever you have lack of information and lack of communication, you open the door for disinformation, misinformation, and misconceptions. We’ve seen this happen over and over again in the United States.
I served with the Peace Corps in Benin in the 1990s, in the village of Bopa. As a Guinea worm eradication volunteer, my job was disease surveillance and health communication. The lessons I learned there are important today: You must be able to have direct and open conversation and communication with community leaders. Those leaders are not just the politicians; they are people who are key to the community. In a place like Benin, they could be traditional healers. Here, they’re religious leaders, sports figures, celebrities — where people get their information.
When I was in Benin, there was a Guinea worm song contest: Every village had a contest to come up with the best song about how to avoid getting Guinea worm — which you do by filtering your water and some basic public health steps. That sounds quaint, but it’s really a perfect example of great public health communication stemming from grassroots communities and finding creative ways to get the message out. Beninois culture really embraces music, so it was a genius idea that every community got involved in.
The human experience
We in the United States have always felt like we were different. We’ve held ourselves as being so much more sophisticated and that these things don’t apply to us here. But they really do. And isn’t that one of the big lessons of Peace Corps? The hubris that we feel as Americans might be tempered a little; we might be a little more open to learning about other cultures — and what we can learn from them to do better here.
The three goals of Peace Corps are essential. Training people in low-resource settings and helping promote better understanding of Americans — both of those are certainly important. But bringing home the understanding of what’s going on in the world is so critical going forward. “What do countries want and need? How can we be of assistance?” Answering those questions takes a lot of listening. As Americans, we’re really great at talking. We haven’t always been so great at listening. This last year of the pandemic just demonstrates how critical listening is.
Public health work in Lomela, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Anne Rimoin, left, is currently stateside, but an entire team of Congolese and UCLA field director Nicole Hoff are there full time. Photo courtesy Anne Rimoin
So is community. In the United States, people are not used to public health crises affecting their daily lives. In Africa, people are — and they understand the need to pull together as a community. That definitely has had an impact. Los Angeles County, where I am, is the most populous county in the United States. It’s extremely diverse; you have a lot of frontline workers and multigenerational households; and a lot of pandemic fatigue. Together, that has probably created the perfect storm, possibly in addition to a more contagious strain circulating. And it has created a situation where we have a public health emergency on our hands.
How the pieces fit together
As a professor at UCLA, I have continued to run my research here in Los Angeles: working on asymptomatic infection, immunity, and occupational exposures for healthcare workers and first responders, as well as studies for veterinarians and veterinary clinics. Our team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been continuing work as well, which is extremely important: with Ebola survivors from outbreaks in 1976 and 1995 to the recent outbreak, working with healthcare workers and trying to understand exposures. An entire team of Congolese and UCLA field director Nicole Hoff are there full time. So we’re continuing to collect samples and do studies in DRC — where COVID hasn’t hit as hard. That needs to be studied as well. And we’re continuing studies to understand population immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases.
At the Center for Global and Immigrant Health, which I direct, we’ve been continuing to support global health, locally and globally. That includes learning from people working overseas and what their experience with COVID has been. At the same time, we’re trying to reimagine what global health is going to look like in the future, how we’re going to get back to working in partnership overseas; many projects have been grounded.
In public health, having the long game in mind — the essence of Peace Corps — is key.
Global public health work is changing profoundly. In the time since I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, a lot of capacity has developed on the ground, as well as the ability to build more capacity. This pandemic has shown how important that is. People in a country should be able to do the work themselves on the ground, so that it really becomes a collaborative partnership — not a situation of people from high-resource settings going to low-resource settings, doing the work, and leaving. Having the long game in mind — the essence of Peace Corps — is key. The pandemic will definitely have an impact in that global health will be reimagined: by growing grassroots capacity, thinking through a new way forward.
When I started as a Volunteer in Benin in the early 1990s, in terms of public health there was very little infrastructure. The internet and cellphones have completely changed the landscape in terms of public health communication. I was in a village where there was one phone that didn’t really work. It’s very difficult to do surveillance in those circumstances. There are now good schools of public health in Africa, and people who have been trained elsewhere and come back and are able to lead public health and scientific work.
In the months ahead, I’m hoping to see vaccines rolling out with equitable distribution globally, since that will be an important way forward. What’s also going to be important is monitoring variants of COVID that are cropping up, and how that may impact vaccine effectiveness and treatment effectiveness. Viral surveillance is going to be critical: being able to collect samples globally and sequence them to see if the virus is continuing to mutate — which it will.
Debt and investment
I feel a debt to Peace Corps; it changed my life and how I think about the world. The experience informs everything that I do. And while I know “the toughest job you’ll ever love” is no longer their tagline, it’s so true! It really was the hardest thing I ever did. Why? Because it’s dealing with culture: listening and understanding and trying to respond to the needs of a local community. That’s really hard.
At Middlebury College I was a history major, focused on Africa — though I didn’t know what I would do with it career-wise. As a musician, I was interested in the music industry; I actually interned at IRS Records and thought I would become a music entertainment lawyer. I was going to take the LSAT while I was in Peace Corps. Because I spoke French, I was offered a position in Benin with this perfect public health program. My dad was a respected medical geneticist and scientist. I didn’t think I would go in that direction; really, I was intimidated. But instead of going to law school, I ended up getting a master’s in public health. My dad used to say I avoided science like the plague — and became a scientist studying plagues. That was all because of my Peace Corps experience.
In a very real sense, the investment in Peace Corps is an investment globally and an investment locally. It does change how Volunteers view and interact with the world. We need a lot more people who have that perspective.

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Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) surprised analysts by cutting its dividend by two-thirds at the start of May. This call was made on the back of oil plummeting below $30 (£24) per barrel and demand for its refined products falling through the floor.
Uncertain oil market
Yield now lower than competitors
Vague transition plans
High spending needed
Action taken to get through downturn
Scale to weather low oil prices
Until 2020, the major oil and gas companies had long been considered reliable dividend payers – and Shell and BP (BP.) are responsible for a significant proportion of FTSE 100 payouts because of their size and historical long-term yields of around 6 per cent. Shell’s yield has now dropped to4 per cent after the dividend cut, even with its share price dropping 20 per cent since March and halving over the past year. BP’s yield has climbed to a lofty 10 per cent because it has held onto the payout despite seeing a similar drop in its valuation.
The question for retail shareholders and managers of income-hungry pension funds is whether the income case is coming back.
Shell itself has said the two-thirds cut to 16¢ was a “reset” rather than a brief measure to save cash in a poor year. Measures that are potentially more short-term are also in place: Shell announced a 20 per cent cut in capital expenditure and froze the share buyback scheme in April, while also increasing borrowing.
Shell has now confirmed the balance sheet will take a significant hit this year. At the end of June, the company updated its estimates for the oil price in 2020, 2021 and 2022, which have come down from $60 to $35, $40 and $50 a barrel, respectively. Coupled with a separate refining write-down based on the company’s decarbonisation plans, the hit from these new forecasts will be $15bn-$22bn in the June quarter results.
Shell has kept its long-term price forecast at $60 a barrel, $5 higher than BP’s estimate. It has also kept its long-term gas price at $3 per million British thermal units (mbtu), compared with BP’s $2.90/mbtu. There is a significant long-term impact in the downstream business, with the refining margin 30 per cent lower than previously anticipated. This is the spread between crude and fuel pricing. The downstream division provided 85 per cent of the company’s revenue in 2019.
Despite some recovery hopes on the back of Opec cuts and demand improving, a spring back to business as usual is extremely unlikely. Rystad Energy’s base case for the coming 12 months sees limited scope for oil prices to recover, even without a second wave of Covid-19. “If anything, the whole new range of risk factors that still lie ahead in 2020 and 2021 would actually point to more volatility and downside risk before any ‘flip back into a true backwardation happens’,” the consultancy said.
At the same time as the downturn, Shell says it is changing its business with the aim of avoiding to become little more than the owner of a collection of uneconomic "stranded" assets in a decade.
Chief executive Ben van Beurden’s plan is for Shell to be “asset-light” at the same time, compared with its current business style, based on owning hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of producing assets, refineries and petrochemical facilities. Shell has said it wants its lower-carbon "new energies" division to have an 8-12 per cent return by 2030. Its return on invested capital for the whole business was 5.9 per cent in 2019, so this is a lofty goal.
The company has not split out results for new energies yet, so it's not clear how far along this path it already is.
Shell is faced with a difficult few years, where capital expenditures will need to climb significantly for it to meet its transition goals, at the same time oil prices will stay relatively weak and investors are still receiving consistent dividends from its competitors.
|Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB)|
|ORD PRICE:||1,234p||MARKET VALUE:||£96bn|
|FORWARD DIVIDEND YIELD:||4.1%||FORWARD PE RATIO:||9|
|NET ASSET VALUE:||2,352ȼ||NET DEBT:||41%|
|Year to 31 Dec||Turnover ($bn)||Pre-tax profit ($bn)||Earnings per share (ȼ)||Dividend per share (ȼ)|
|*Berenberg forecasts, pre-impairment announcement|


Less Shakespeare and More Musical in the Park
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The second offering from The Public Theater’s free Shakespeare in the Park this summer is a musical adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost, the Bard's early comedy about four young men who swear off romance to devote themselves to study, only to promptly fall in love. The play has been adapted and directed by Alex Timbers, the director of Peter and the Starcatcher, among many other shows, and the songs are by Michael Friedman, the house composer of the downtown theater troupe the Civilians.
Shakespeare scholars and purists will find little of the original text in this version which is set at a college reunion. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood tells us about other changes to the plot and characters and whether we'll be pleasantly surprised or scandalized by this new production at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.


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Experts in this subject field are ready to write an original essay following your instructions to the dot!Hire a Writer
About 15, 000 executive orders were signed by different presidents from 1789 to Trump's current presidency. With a record 3,721 executive orders, President Franklin Roosevelt leads the party, led by President Woodrow Wilson at 1,803, and President Calvin Coolidge, who signed 1,203 executive orders. For recent presidents, 364, 291, and 276 executive orders were signed by Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama, respectively. Executive Orders are essentially legally binding directives given to the Federal Regulatory Agencies by the President, who is the head of the Executive Branch. Such orders are aimed at ordering the federal bodies and their staffs or officials on how to execute the congressionally provided laws or various policies (Lord, 85). In the past, executive orders have been controversially used to guide agencies in ways that are in direct conflict with the congressional intent.
Reasons why the authors of the United States Constitution gave Presidents the power to issue Executive Orders
The constitutional empowerment of the President to issue executive orders emanates from the Article II, Section 1 of the American Constitution which allows the president the executive Power. According to Section 3 of Article II, the constitution orders the President to ensure that the Laws are faithfully implemented. The constitution orders the president to effect the laws outlined by the constitution and offer direction and guidance to the Executive segment agencies and departments through the use of the Executive Orders. The constitution does demand the president to seek congressional approval while issuing executive Orders; furthermore, the orders have similar legal weight as the enactments passed by the Congress (Mayer, 67). The vagueness on the constitution to outline what nature of executive orders the president can issue has constantly placed the presidency in close controversy with the public, Congress, and many other people.
The writers of the constitution did not intend to create a king who could make any decision without involving others. They only gave the president some avenues to offers guidance especially in cases whereby law was not clear on what direction should be undertaken. Naturally, laws continually change, and mature democracies have considerably sufficient laws to address emerging changes in the society. The president normally has some avenue on how to act on some essential laws without involving the Congress. Regularly, the executive orders are issued due to necessity since the Congress cannot perpetually or instantly create every minute policy decision; therefore, the congress delegates the power to the president. It allows the president some manoeuvrability (Gerhard & John, 1).
How the Congress and the Judicial Branch limit these orders?
The Congress and the judiciary have been instrumental in limiting the influence of presidential executive orders. The Congress has multiple powers to determine the impacts of the various executive orders. When the congress feels displeased with outlines of the executive branch it usually has two major main options. The first approach of the Congress is to rewrite or amend an earlier law, or even outline more vividly and in detail how the Executive Branch should operate. The law allows the president to veto the bill in case he disagrees with it. Normally, a 2/3 majority is normally required to prevail an Executive Order (Lord, 45).
Customarily, Congress has been less concerned in challenging the Executive Orders touching on the foreign programs, national security, the execution and negotiation of treaties since this powers are normally provided to the President by the Constitution. The constitution acknowledges the president as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, and he or she is regarded as the country's principal Diplomat. Quite occasionally, most of the executive order touching on the national security or the defense is not made public (Gerhard & John, 1).
Apart from the congressional route, Executive Orders are challengeable in courts primarily on the basis that the grounds of the order departs from expected congressional intention or if it surpasses the President's constitutional powers. For example, President Harry Truman was found to have overstepped his presidential mandate by the Supreme Court. Following the World War II, Truman captured the control of steel mills all over the nation with the aim of settling labor disputes. The Supreme Court ruled that government's control of the steel mills was unlawful and went beyond the presidential powers since there was no statute or the Constitution which permitted that. Over long period, the courts have been reasonably lenient over a wide range of executive order delivered in the past.
Lord, Clifford L. Presidential Executive Orders: Numbered Series (1862-1938). Wilmington, Del: Michael Glazier, Inc, 1981. Print.
Mayer, Kenneth R. With the Stroke of a Pen: Executive Orders and Presidential Power. Princeton (N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002. Print.
Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, "Executive Orders." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA. 1999-2017. Available from the World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php.
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domain: law


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DIY Nursery Decor: Daddy Mommy and Me hand print. Directions: a frame with a CANVAS MAT Choose different paint colors for each hand-print Put hand prints on canvas Let them dry Add the date and put in a frame.
My granddaughters could use this idea. I don't have any kids. But I think this is a pretty genius idea for those who do have kids and need a safe tall stool for kids to stand on to help with cooking, crafting, you name it.
The Sacco and Vanzetti trial showed how Americans were becoming more afraid of immigrants coming into the United States. They were convicted of murder, and were executed. However, there was hardly any evidence that it was them.

domain: design


A public hearing was conducted Monday on a proposed local law amending the vehicle and traffic law, but some changes will be made before the Herkimer village board votes on it.
The proposed law would place “no parking here to corner” signs at the intersections of South Washington and Steele and South Main and Steele streets where motorists often park too close to the intersection. That causes problems for snowplows when they have to turn onto a street congested with parked vehicles, according to Peter Macri, village department of public works superintendent. When a vehicle is waiting for the traffic light beside the parked vehicles, there is even more congestion, he said, and it is even more difficult for a plow to make a turn onto the side street. He said a right turn from South Washington onto Steele Street is especially difficult.
Board members asked how many parking spaces would be eliminated.
It is already difficult to find parking around the parish hall on South Main Street as well as near some local businesses, resident Joe Chilelli told the board.
Police Chief Joseph Malone said he thought the distances laid out in the proposed law were too great and suggested a uniform distance such as 20 or 25 feet from the intersection or crosswalk.
If Herkimer Area Resource Center employees used their own parking lot, there would be fewer problems with congestion, Trustee Harold Stoffolano said and suggested the village send a letter HARC to seek cooperation in resolving this matter.
The board agreed to look at changing the distances listed in the local law.
Chilelli also approached the board about plans for the St. Anthony’s/St. Joseph’s Festival on June 13 and 14. He said the event will run for a day and a half and would not require blocking off the street. It will be held on the lawn and in the church hall. The size of the event has been scaled back because of the number of volunteers available, he said. The board approved a request that the group be permitted to serve wine and beer.
In other business, the board approved requests for the following events:
• Little League opening day parade, May 4 (May 5 is the rain date).
• Fishing derby, June 8 (Rain date is June 9), at the Sam Maytan Fishing Access Site.
• Herkimer Community Museum anniversary, May 5 from noon to 3 p.m. The use of the parking lot was requested.
• HARC Heart and Soul Run, Sept. 7. This approval was contingent upon HARC letting the police chief see the route as earlier as possible. “We can’t shut down the whole village,” said Malone.
The board also approved a request for Chief Malone and another member of the department to attend the Law Enforcement Challenge Awards Ceremony. The Herkimer Police Department will receive an award for the fifth year.
Page 2 of 2 - Water and Sewer Superintendent Scott Blais was authorized to attend a fluoridation course.


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Fast-rising menswear brand Onwuchekwa by Chikezie Daniel has released its SS18 collection tagged Distinguished Bloom in Drought. The Onwuchekwa kindred is more fearless this season as their courage is amplified and their headstrong approach to acceptance is underlined with a genuine softness they are unafraid to show. The brand is certainly not a fan of anything regulated or normal as they have DISTINGUISHED themselves.
This season the Onwuchekwa brand embraces colours, intricate details, shapes and motifs. They completely understand that the marvellous thing about setting their own standards is that no one else can judge them but themselves.
According to the brand,
“The various shades of colours depict the different stages of blooming, the beadwork depicts the seeds, showing their fruitful nature; the leaf motifs signify growth and prosperity, while the ropes signify the stem which provides support for the elevation of the leaves that allows them to spread out freely.”
They are firm believers of the quote by Oprah Winfrey – “You cannot live a brave life without disappointing some people”.
Take a look at the collection below…
DISTINGUISHED BLOOM IN DRAUGHT | Lookbook
Designer: Onwuchekwa By Chikezie Daniel | @Onwuchekwa_bcd
Footwear: Maliko | @maliko_ng
Photography: Elizabeth Ajayi for Vantage photography | @vantagephotography
For the latest in fashion, lifestyle and culture, follow us on Instagram @StyleRave_
A fashion and culture enthusiast who's really a food loving adventurer at heart. At Style Rave, we aim to inspire our readers by providing engaging content to not just entertain but to inform and empower you as you ASPIRE to become more stylish, live smarter and be healthier. Follow us on Instagram @StyleRave_ ♥

domain: artistic


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176 years ago, May 16, 1836, Edgar Allan Poe marries his 13 year-old cousin, Virginia Eliza Clemm in the parlor of their Richmond boardinghouse overlooking the Virginia State Capitol. Poe was 27 years old. Virginia was the daughter of his father’s sister. Poe first met Virginia when she was 8 years-old after moving in with her mother Maria (his aunt) in Baltimore, Maryland.
The marriage was conducted by the Reverend Amas Converse, editor of the Southern Religious Telegraph. The couple reportedly honeymooned in Petersburg, Virginia.
Some historians argue one of America’s most celebrated poets, may have married his young cousin much earlier, on September 22, when he took out a marriage license certificate for Virginia and himself. The marriage document was co-signed by his friend, Thomas Cleland who verified Virginia Clemm was 21 years old. There is no hard evidence, however, that a private ceremony was ever conducted in September, 1835, so it remains mere speculation.
Because of her young age, the young couple apparently slept in different bedrooms until she turned 16 and only then began a normal married life.
Imagine, today, if a 13 year-old girl (never mind a blood relative ) married a well known public figure of Poe’s stature; how their scandalous marriage would have been splashed over every tabloid in the country with each salacious detail of the nuptials reported on every 24/7 cable network?
Such was not the case in ante-bellum America. Women in the South, in particular, tended to marry younger than other sections of the country; and first-cousin marriages wasn’t considered uncommon at the time. Cousin marriages, in fact, were perfectly legal in all States prior to the Civil War. Not until the 1880’s did the social stigma attached to cousin marriages become prevalent, which led 13 states and territories to pass cousin marriage prohibitions. And the age of consent to marry was well under 16 until social purity reformers kicked off a campaign in 1885 to petition legislators to raise the legal age of consent to at least 16. The advocacy campaign paid big dividends, with almost all states raising the age of consent to 16–18 by 1920.
Though the marriage may not have been frowned upon in social circles or scorned by his contemporaries, Poe was still self-conscious of his bride’s young age.
Kent P. Ljungquist, a literary critic and a leading authority on the life and writings of Edgar Allan Poe, informs me: ``He [Poe] spoke ambiguously of Virginia's age when the subject came up. He writes to her with an emotional intensity, but evidence suggests that she was "cherubic" and child-like in her appearance at the time of the marriage in Richmond. The early stage of their relationship may have been more like an innocent brother-sister relationship.’’
Since Poe’s own mother died at such a young age, (Edgar was only 2) Virginia's sweetness and innocence, along with her gift for singing was for Poe, many scholars reason, a representation of the young and beautiful mother he was deprived of.
``His [Poe’s] general response to women,’’ Ljunsquist wrote in an email, `` was to idealize them and to refer to them as spiritual presences or beings.’’
Virginia and Edgar were star-crossed lovers.
After breaking a blood vessel while singing, the first sign of tuberculosis, Virginia died in 1847 at age 24 (the same age as Edgar’s mother and from the same illness) after a long painful illness. Poe, emotionally distraught over Virginia’s death, leaped into a series of destructive relationships with other women, developed ``a lesion of one side of the brain’’ and on a trip to Baltimore, was found lying in a gutter, rambling and hallucinating. Rushed to Washington College Hospital (now Church Hospital) in an unconscious state, he died four days later after never regaining consciousness on October 7, 1849 at age 40, just two years after losing Virginia. The cause of Poe’s death was never determined.
Born Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts, January 19, 1809, his parents were traveling actors. After his father David Poe abandoned his family and his mother died of tuberculosis on December 8, 1811 in Richmond Virginia, when Edgar was only two, he was taken in (but never officially adopted) by John Allan, a Virginia planter.
A Footnote: Poe was one of three children but all were raised by separate families. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe also became a poet before dying at a young age (his literary work was never preserved), and his sister Rosalie Poe later in life taught penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school.
Edgar attended the University of Virginia from February 14 to December 15, 1826, but never graduated after lapsing into wild drinking binges and gambling recklessly, running up debts as high as $2,000.
Flat broke, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, registering as "Edgar A. Perry.’’ Restless, he had his stepfather arrange for his discharge who arranged to have him appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he studied from 1830 to 1831. Poe would eventually be dismissed from West Point for ``neglect of duty.’’
Poe’s first volume of poems appeared in 1827 when he was 18-years old; two years later, a second volume appeared with fresh poems, revealing classical influences from Milton and other characters from classical literature, including the Bible. By 1831, he published his first short stories, some dealing with dark gruesome themes, such as “The Bargain Lost," about a devil devouring the souls of Plato, Aristophanes, Catullus, Hippocrates, Quintilian, and Terence. Poe’s development into the American Gothic genre (he later became known as the ``father of the horror genre’’) became all the more evident with the publication of two other stories in 1839: "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher.’’
Poe introduced his detective hero, C. Auguste Dupin in his short story, `` The Murders in the Rue Morgue’’ in Graham’s Magazine in 1841, which many literary scholars single out as the first detective story.
"The Raven,’’ the poem that made Poe a household name was published in 1844, and during the last five years of his life, literary scholars argue, Poe wrote his two best pieces of criticism, "The Philosophy of Composition" and "The Poetic Principle.’’
Before establishing himself as preeminent poet and author, Poe worked as a literary critic for a number of publications, including the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond ( 1835-36); Burton's Gentle man's Magazine, Philadelphia, (1839-40); Graham's Magazine, (1841-42); The New York Evening Mirror, (1844-45); and briefly as editor and proprietor of The Broadway Journal, (1845-46).
The reason for so many stints at different publications is attributed to Poe’s predilection for engaging in verbal clashes with editors and falling in and out of destructive drinking binges.
Poe was buried alongside his young wife Virginia in Baltimore, Maryland at the Old Western Burial Ground (today, the Westminister Burying Ground) in an unmarked grave in the very rear of the gravesite. In November 1875, his remains were dug up and moved to another more widely visited section of the graveyard at the southeast corner of Greene and Fayette Streets. This move was done in order to accommodate the flood of tourists and Poe admirers who wanted to visit his gravesite.
May 16, 2012

domain: library


BladesSwordsNearly New£ 300 ONO
A British officers dress sword with curved blade and mameluke hilt and red velvet covered scabbard.
This pattern was carried by various countries military, including U.S. Marine Corps.
The guard is of gold plated brass, as are the ornamental mounts on the ivory style mameluke hilt and scabbard.
The blade is 31” long and the hilt 6” long, complete with General knot.
The blade is almost completely covered with etchings both sides and on the blade just below the hilt is etched= By Appointment to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 sword cutlers. Wilkinson Swords London, Made in England....Read full description


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November 30, 2017 - 8:08 am
Visitation fell 4.2 percent to 3.6 million tourists in October, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Thursday, the second steepest year-over-year drop of 2017.
The decline, resulting from cancellations and postponements of trips in the wake of the 1 October shooting, jeopardizes the LVCVA’s bid to best 2016’s record visitation year of 42.9 million. With 10 months in the books, visitation is off 1.4 percent to 35.7 million people.
It is the first direct statistical data to reflect the direct financial impact of the 1 October shooting on Southern Nevada’s economy. McCarran International Airport earlier reported record passenger numbers in October.
Tourism numbers fell despite the third-best month of 2017 for convention attendance. The LVCVA reported 687,209 convention attendees in October, a 35.9 percent increase over a year ago.
Most of the increase resulted from this year’s Global Gaming Expo shifting from September to October (26,000 people) and this year’s appearance of the National Business Aviation Association’s 25,600 attendees, 6,100 for the Emergency Medical Services Association and 6,000 for MetalCon International.
While citywide occupancy was down 2.7 percentage points to 90 percent, the average daily room rate trended upward 0.4 percent to $139.62 with Strip rates up 1.3 percent to $152.24, the third-highest this year.
The November drop was second only to the 5.5 percent decline in February, which fell primarily as a result of there being one fewer day in the month than in February 2016, a Leap Year.
Gaming win holds its own
Gaming win in Las Vegas held its own in October as increases across Clark County offset a 6 percent downturn in revenue on the Strip, the state Gaming Control Board reported Thursday.
John Decree, a gaming analyst with Las Vegas-based Union Gaming, said expectations about October’s gross gaming revenue varied widely.
“While the airport traffic numbers released last week (a 1.5 percent increase for the month) alleviated some concerns about the worst-case scenario, many had feared gross gaming revenue could be down double digits in October in the face of a difficult comparison (up 14 percent in October 2016) and the Oct. 1 tragedy,” Decree said in a report to investors. “However, a 6.1 percent decline in revenue on the Strip for October is a relatively resilient outcome in our view.”
MGM Resorts International warned its investors in early November about a potential downturn in business for the quarter and in their earnings call, Caesars Entertainment executives said they had detected a drop in high-end play from Asian customers after the shooting.
While Strip win fell 6 percent from October 2016 to $528.7 million, other Clark County locations were strong, leaving a decline of 0.3 percent to $854.3 million. Downtown Las Vegas was up 10 percent to $63.6 million, North Las Vegas climbed 11.6 percent to $27.1 million and the Boulder Strip soared 17.1 percent to $78.7 million.
Statewide, win was flat at 0.3 percent to $988.7 million for the month.
Tough comparison with 2016
Michael Lawton, the Control Board Tax and License Division’s senior analyst, said October Strip gaming numbers already were up against a tough comparison from the previous year because the calendar had one fewer weekend date.
“We aren’t surprised the Strip was down 6.1 percent,” Lawton said. “The decrease on the Strip was driven by decreases in both slot volume, down 3.8 percent, and game and table volume, down 6.5 percent. Still, overall the trend line remains intact as the Strip is up 2.6 percent for the calendar year to date with much softer comparisons ahead for November and December.”
Downtown Las Vegas casino executive Derek Stevens predicted a strong October for downtown after a lukewarm September that he attributed to the timing of the revenue count.
The more revealing three-month win total that evens out the volatility of the timing of reporting showed Strip win up 5.6 percent, downtown up 7.7 percent and Clark County up 5.7 percent. Statewide, win was up 5.8 percent over three months to $2.96 billion won.
October tourism indicators
October 2017 October 2016 Change
Visitor volume 3.604 million 3.762 million -4.2%
Citywide occupancy 90% 92.7% -2.7 points
room rate $139.62 $139.06 +0.4%
Room nights occupied 4.091 million 4.262 million -4%
Convention attendance 687,209 505,603 +35.9%
Air passengers 4.339 million* 4.277 million +1.5%
Average daily highway
auto traffic 112,350 112,118 +0.2%
gaming revenue $854.3 million $856.9 million -0.3%
*Highest level of 2017


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There are countless young people who have not yet reached adult age who face very difficult circumstances in our area. Some are faced with the challenge of significant disabilities or medical problems that makes their care extremely difficult. Others have a parent or parents who for any number of reasons are not able to care for them. The proverbial silver lining for young people in this position is that sometimes there is an adult out there willing to step up and provide this care.
While this is admirable, it should be noted that there is also a legal way to do this to make sure that the person who is taking on this responsibility has the legal authority to make decisions for that child or those children’s care. The best way to get this all handled is to seek the help of a Los Angeles guardianship lawyer so that a valid guardianship arrangement can be put into place.

domain: sociology


Coldplay, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends”They’ve got the commercial clout, but now they want the cred. On their fourth album, the members of Coldplay refract their gazillion-selling pop/rock through a more nuanced lens, drafting producers Brian Eno and Markus Dravs to help them craft more diverse, experimental music. Radiohead they ain’t; “42” sounds like three different songs awkwardly stitched together in ProTools, and often the layers of production seem to come at the expense of memorable melodies. Two of the best songs are instrumentals: opener “Life in Technicolor” is a propulsive heart-melter that deftly straddles the acoustic/electro divide, and the effects-drenched “Chinese Sleep Chant” finds Coldplay discovering its inner My Bloody Valentine. The rest is closer to the Coldplay we know: a competent blend of heavily orchestrated redemption songs, swirly arena rock and life-stinks-without-you ballads likely to resonate despite the new bells and whistles.
Lil Wayne, “The Carter III”He’s the self-proclaimed “best rapper alive,” has made more than 40 guest appearances since 1999 and has been the most hyped hip-hop artist in recent time. But with help from A-list guest stars (T-Pain, Robin Thicke) and producers (Kanye West, Swizz Beatz), Lil Wayne backs up the boasts on the oft-delayed “Tha Carter III.” In case you were on the fence, he reminds how “ill” his skills are on “A Milli,” and he drafts fellow Carter Jay-Z to dismiss the haters atop piano and horns on “Mr. Carter.” And while tracks like the played-out-themed “Got Money” and the elementary-sounding “La La” fall short of the mark, others, like the “E.T.”-inspired “Phone Home” and “Dr. Carter,” on which Wayne attempts to resuscitate hip-hop, further secure his spot in said genre’s pantheon.
Kate Perry, “One of the Boys”She name-checks Gwen Stefani in her press materials, and the title track here covers similar thematic territory as No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.” But Katy Perry’s true foremother is Alanis Morissette. Not since “Jagged Little Pill” has a debut album been so packed with potential hits. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter updates Morissette’s grunge-era angst with an energetic, more timeless teen-poppiness, still leveraging it with lines like “You PMS like a bitch/I would know.” The 12 tracks are split between smart-chick radio pop, sassy novelty tracks for that “She said what?” effect and big, swaying ballads that show Perry’s exciting mastery of melody.
“In the Heights,” Original Broadway cast performanceThe last thing Broadway needs is yet another revival of “Gypsy” or “Grease.” So how refreshing that “In the Heights,” nominated for 13 Tony Awards, has potential to make the Great White Way appealing to someone besides tourists. Unlike “Rent,” “Heights” isn’t begging sympathy for slacker kids; instead, it’s a vibrant cultural snapshot about a close-knit Latino community at the top of Manhattan. The double-CD soundtrack contains 23 songs written by Puerto Rican show lead Lin-Manuel Miranda, who conceived the story as a one-act in 2000 at Wesleyan University. Supporting cast members are first-rate, and while the soundtrack is more memento than stand-alone collection, it’s an exemplary, authentic spectacle of salsa, mambo and rap.
Judas Priest, “Nostradamus”The English heavy-metal act’s second album since its reunion with frontman Rob Halford is also its first concept set: a two-disc retelling of the life of Nostradamus, the 16th-century French prognosticator. If that sounds like a thrilling way to spend an hour and 40 minutes, you’ll probably love the music here, which reflects the album’s narrative ambition with a bigger, more flowery sound than on Halford’s 2005 comeback disc, Priest’s “Angel of Retribution.” If, however, that description causes your eyelids to droop, “Nostradamus” isn’t likely to surprise you — this is softcore for the hardcore.
Various Artists, “Camp Rock”As the “High School Musical” troupe troops to the big screen, Disney brings forth its next potential franchise concept — “Camp Rock,” a summer sojourn to a place where “you can feel the beat running through your feet,” as the cast tells us in the opening number, “We Rock.” This is ostensibly a vehicle for the fast-rising Jonas Brothers, but 15-year-old Miley Cyrus-like newcomer Demi Lovato is in the breakout seat as the aspiring Mitchie Torres, daughter of the camp cook. Neither Joe Jonas nor Lovato dominate the soundtrack, however, though they each have solo showcases as well as a Big Moment duet. The Jonas Brothers get to rock out on “Play My Music,” while the rest of the album is a contemporary pop smorgasbord featuring techy dance tracks, Avril-style chick rock, a touch of hip-hop and “deep” self-affirmations.
Anthony David, “Acey Deucy”This Atlanta-based singer-songwriter makes his major-label debut on India.Arie’s Soulbird Music imprint, comprising tracks from his two critically acclaimed independent releases, “Three Chords & the Truth” and “Red Clay Chronicles.” With blues as his base and guitar as his musical mate, David cultivates an engaging, mellow sound reminiscent of the fertile ’70s — but with a contemporary urban patina. His heartfelt honesty on such songs as “Cheatin’ Man,” “Cold Turkey” and “Red Clay Chronicles” evoke the rhythmic storytelling talent of Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Gil Scott-Heron and Bill Withers. Meanwhile, his husky voice paired with India.Arie (on the brand-new “Words”) and Millie Jackson’s daughter Keisha recall the magical pairings of Donny Hathaway/Roberta Flack and Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell.
Richie McDonald, “I Turn to You”As frontman for Lonestar, Richie McDonald’s distinctive voice drove such country and adult contemporary hits as “Amazed” and “I’m Already There.” He exited the group in 2007 to pursue a solo career and fulfills a longtime goal with the release of his first inspirational project. Most country artists who’ve tapped the Christian market have recorded familiar hymns and gospel standards, but McDonald delivers a collection of new songs that Christian audiences should eagerly embrace.


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The 2021 Career Development Grant application is available here. Applications are due by October 22, 2021.
Since 2008, Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina has funded $2.6 million in lung cancer research. The goal of Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina's research program is to further the development of local lung cancer care and research programs across the state of North Carolina. By funding research activities of fellows and young investigators we will help to jump start their careers and encourage their continuing involvement in the field of lung cancer.
To view the 2020 LCI Research Program Overview click here.
To view the 2021 LCI Research Program Overview click here.
We are excited to partner with Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, East Carolina University, and Levine Cancer Institute for our Research Fellow Program.
Fellows will include students who wish to pursue a career in lung cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and/or care. Visit our Research Fellows Page.
Through the Vicky Amidon Innovation Grant in Lung Cancer Research, LCI aims to recognize and provide research funding for innovative lung cancer projects that will improve the lives of those diagnosed with lung cancer in North Carolina. Learn more about past recipients here.
Through Lung Cancer Initiative's Career Development Grant, LCI aims to support and provide research funding to emerging research leaders early in their career who plan to continue their career in the field of lung cancer. Learn more the Career Development Research Grant here.
The Lung Cancer Initiative is proud to join over 85 other nonprofit research funders as a member of the Health Research Alliance. The Health Research Alliance is a collaborative member organization of nonprofit research funders, committed to maximizing the impact of biomedical research to improve human health.

domain: medical


text: This is the 2nd tactile art piece we’ve seen at the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) (see April 8 2020 for the previous piece we experienced there). Unlike the previous, this research project is based on an original artwork – Group of Seven member, Franklin Carmichael’s 1928 “In the Nickel Belt” oil painting. This work is interpretively reproduced as a rubber and wood tactile image with an adjacent iPad surfacing descriptions and sound effects. There is a substantial disconnect between navigating the iPad and the tactile image, going back and forth, which would certainly be a barrier to autonomous exploration for blind users, and the iPad was not set to access mode, meaning sight was required for on-screen orientation and navigation. Yet the interesting point for us with this work, is the dividing up of the paintings various landscape elements, the tactile patterning, and material selections and uses. We’d have more than a few notes for consideration within this experiment to render it more inclusively accessible, but we love that the OAG keeps on exploring various ways of making 2D artwork accessible to a wider audience.


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Less than 150 of North Herts’ low income individuals can apply for £500 self-isolation fund
- Credit: AP
Documents published by North Herts District Council have revealed that 134 people on low incomes in the district will be able to receive a discretionary £500 self-isolation fund.
People in the district who claim benefits, are required to self–isolate and cannot work from home are eligible to apply for a £500 payment to help with their finances.
£50 million has been set aside for this scheme nationally, and local authorities such as North Herts have been allocated funds from this central government grant.
But, NHDC documents reveal that the £67,295 they have been provided by the government will amount to 84 ‘standard’ payments of £500 and 50 payments under the discretionary scheme.
In total, 0.1 per cent of North Hertfordshire’s total population will be eligible for the £500 Test and Trace Support payment.
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From September, 28 everyone was required by law to self–isolate if; they test positive for COVID–19, they have come into contact with someone who tested positive, or if they live with someone who tests positive.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 1.52 million people were unemployed in the UK from June to August 2020.
The £500 Test and Trace support payment scheme was first announced in late September, with the government stating that around four million people will be able to benefit from the scheme.
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But, there are concerns from some within the district that with the rapid increase in cases locally, this government funding may soon be exhausted.
Cllr Sam Collins, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Hitchin and Harpenden, said: “I thought this was an error when I first saw it, just 84 people in the main group and 50 others.
“After so much fanfare from the government about protecting people’s jobs and livelihoods, once again this funding seems to fall well short of the mark.
“With the sad increase in cases in our area, this funding will be gone in a flash leaving many people with no support.”
Within the same document, the council says that data modelling suggests they will receive an average of two applications a day for this £500 payment. Individuals can claim for this payment multiple times if they are forced to self–isolate again.
Speaking at the launch of this self–isolation funding package last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The best way we can fight this virus is by everyone following the rules and self-isolating if they’re at risk of passing on coronavirus.
“People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines. We need to do all we can to control the spread of this virus, to prevent the most vulnerable people from becoming infected, and to protect the NHS and save lives.
“While most people are doing their absolute level best to comply with the rules, I don’t want to see a situation where people don’t feel they are financially able to self-isolate. “That’s why we introduced the £500 test and trace support payment for those on low incomes who are required by NHS Test and Trace to remain at home to help stop the spread of the virus.”
Cllr Ian Albert, NHDC executive member for finance and IT, said: “We welcome these one off Test and Trace Support Scheme payments for residents who are on a low income and need to self isolate.
“Currently as administrators of the scheme, we have been provided with £42,000 from central Government for those who are eligible to receive help under the standard version of this scheme – this is for people who are already in receipt of a benefit and therefore already identified as being on a low income.
“If all of this money is claimed then the funding will be topped up by central Government and will not run out for claimants.
“But under the discretionary version of the scheme we have been provided with £25,295. We will use this to distribute to people whose income is just above the minimum amount, and are unable to work at home, facing financial hardship as a result. This funding will not be topped up by central Government if it is all claimed.
“As an administration we believe that this is wrong! Hardship like this should not be the subject of arbitrary cash limited pots. We will press the Government to change their mind on this.
“However, there may be less claims for the discretionary fund as people on a lower income could already be in receipt of other support. We urge those who think they may qualify for this funding scheme, which will currently run until the end of January next year, and that are doing the right thing by self isolating where necessary, to get in touch with us to find out if they are eligible.”


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Filipino Kali Knife Fighting
This is a compilation of the Filipino arts of Lameco Escrima and the Inosanto, Lacosta systems of Kali. Influenced by many Filipino fighting techniques taught and handed down by Dan Inosanto and Edgar Sulite. Training includes the Lameco system, eight strips (disarms) from the knife being held in the fencing grip, and reverse grip disarms from both, the Lameco system and the Inosanto/Lacosta systems. This program also offers, open hand technique and drills from the feeder (partner/opponent).


Former police officer Derek Chauvin has been released from prison after posting $1 million in bail after being charged with murdering deceased serial felon George “Fentanyl” Floyd.
“I can confirm he is no longer in our custody,” said Sarah Fitzgerald, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Chauvin was put through the ringer by the fake news media and accused of being racist without any proof after carefully curated video of Floyd’s heart attack death went viral. In honor of the dead criminal, marauding gangs of black thugs have burnt cities to the ground and turned much of the U.S. into a Somalia-style hellscape.
The Oak Park Heights Correctional Facility released Chauvin shortly after 11 a.m., according to the roster of the Hennepin County Jail. He is out on conditional release as he awaits his murder trial. He was charged despite the fact that the Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined that Floyd died of a heart attack and had a shocking amount of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death.
The prosecutors made it clear in their remarks that they hope to make an example of Chauvin regardless of the facts of the case.
“Mr. Floyd was treated with particular cruelty,” prosecutors wrote. “Despite Mr. Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe and was going to die, as well as the pleas of eyewitnesses to get off Mr. Floyd and help him, (the) defendant and his codefendants continued to restrain Mr. Floyd.”
Big League Politics has reported about how Islamic pro-ANTIFA Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison deliberately withheld police body camera footage that showed Floyd incoherent, belligerent, dangerous and resisting before cops had to hold him down until EMS showed up:
Months after the death of serial felon drug addict George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis law enforcement, the officers’ body camera footage has finally been released to the public.
The Daily Mail has obtained the video that was suspiciously hidden from the public while attitudes were being formed about the highly polarizing incident. Contrary to the media spin, the footage shows Floyd to be belligerent, high on drugs, and resisting arrest shortly before he died.
Throughout the entire encounter, Floyd was incoherent and seemingly unable to comply with simple requests from the officers. Floyd complained incessantly about not being able to breathe, even before he was placed on the ground, which was done per his request.
“Stand up. Stop falling down,” Officer Kueng said. “Stay on your feet and face the car door.”
“Please man. Don’t leave me by myself man, please. I’m just claustrophobic,” Floyd said.
“Well you’re still going in the car,” Officer Lane said.
After resisting for minutes and refusing to be placed in the cop car, Floyd was put on the ground. It took several officers to restrain the belligerent and drug-addled suspect, who continued complaining the entire time.
“I’m through,” Floyd said while he was on the ground. “I’m claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please.”
Chauvin will hopefully be able to sue for damages against his reputation after he is exonerated of these charges. However, in diversity-occupied America where the low IQ mob rules, he is unlikely to get a fair trial. Systemic anti-white racism is on the rise throughout the former land of the free.
Career Criminal Killed Two Siblings in Stolen Car Crash…He was Free Despite 18 Prior Felony Convictions
This is what liberal criminal justice reform creates.
Orlando, Fla. resident Reginald Lamar Harris, 47, is behind bars yet again after speeding on the wrong side of the road after allegedly stealing a car and killing two siblings while being chased by law enforcement.
Harris has quite the extensive rap sheet, which includes 18 felony convictions, 20 misdemeanor convictions, and eight prison sentences, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Still, he was allowed back on the streets despite his history of recidivism, and two innocent people are now dead as a result.
“I mean, the bottom line is (he was a) career criminal. He murdered two people. Those kids were murdered. It’s no different than if he took a gun and put it to their heads, what he did to those kids,” Chitwood said.
Harris was believed to have been driving in excess of 100 miles per hour during the time of the crash. 21-year-old Domynick Milis, and his 18-year-old sister, Danycka Milis, were killed in the crash. Kyley Larsen, 17, and Drake Milis, 13, were in the back seat and injured in the crash but are expected to survive. The survivors have created a GoFundMe which has already raised almost $150,000.
Big League Politics has reported on the explosion of crime across the country as liberal criminal justice reform allows dangerous thugs back onto the streets:
A 21-year old man with two convictions for violent crimes as a juvenile has been arrested in the shooting homicide of a Nashville, Tennessee nurse. 26-year Caitlyn Kaufman was shot and killed as she was driving to work at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville in I-440 on December 3rd, with local law enforcement launching an extensive investigation to apprehend a suspect afterwards.
An anonymous tip led Metropolitan Nashville Police to arrest 21-year old Devaunte Hill at an apartment complex on Friday. He’s being charged with criminal homicide in the death of Kaufman.
NMPD Chief John Drake announced in a press conference that 21-year old Hill had implicated himself in the highway shooting death of Kaufman in an interview with detectives following his arrest. Ballistic testing also allegedly matches rounds fired in the shooting with a 9mm handgun in Hill’s possession. A motive in the shooting is still unclear, with the investigation indicating that six rounds were fired at Kaufman’s vehicle from the corner of the road…
Shockingly, Hill was originally charged with four counts of attempted homicide in his 2016 aggravated assault conviction, having shot his grandmother and his minor sister and nephews. Somehow, he was spared serious prison time after shooting three people, including two children.
Most recently, Hill was arrested as an adult on charges of charges of assault, driving without a license, failure to be booked and drug paraphernalia dating back to as recently as August.
Left-wing policies combined with a religious devotion to diversity and multiculturalism are a death sentence to Western Civilization. There will be more innocent people who suffer due to this agenda.
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Separate names with a comma.
Funny you should ask. I’ve been eyeballing one at the Music Zoo for a couple of weeks now. Solidbody, 2 tone sunburst. They also have dozens of CS...
I think the word that describes his playing best is “musical”. He touches a guitar and music comes out. Great player and a very funny guy.
No rules in Rock and Roll. In fact that’s the point!
One time I ordered an LP from CME. The day I received it I took a ride to Sam Ash to pick up a stand and a strap for it and wound up walking out...
No judgment here, brother!
Talk about beating a dead horse!
Only if the horse was upside down.
I recall her as rather a blubbering matronly presence in that movie. I believe she was quite a few years past her prime by then. :dunno
Now that is humbling.
True, but some of my favorite Stones tunes were sung by Keith.
You say that like its a bad thing!
Love the song but it’s not a song I would play live.
I really like the Eric Johnson set. Not sure if he’s circumcised though...
Negotiations with my significant other are underway as we speak!
Yep. I played one yesterday at The Music Zoo and I can’t stop thinking about it. The funny thing is I’m not even particularly a fan, although I do...
These things make you happy. I wouldn’t stress too much about it.
Is this AVRI or MIJ? Thanks
I wouldn’t sweat it. It’s only rock n roll after all.
Could be a “Picture of Dorian Gray “ type situation.
My Tele into my Matchless Clubman paired with my Bruno Cowtipper is a match made in heaven!
Volume. There is no substitute.
You keep posting ‘em, I’ll keep liking ‘em!
For the most part you get what you pay for. Not always but most of the time. Some of us can tell the difference. Others, not so much. There’s...
FWIW The tone on Little Wing sounds like 6L6s. Bold as Love sounds like EL34s, at least to my ear.
Sounds great. Has some nice bark to it too. I like it.

domain: entertainment


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Young people in Croydon will now find it easier to access important information for them to make safe and informed decisions about their health and well-being.
www.gettingiton.org.uk – The website for young people aged 13 – 19 years has been given a makeover to better support those living in South West London with essential life skills and the knowledge they need relating to mental health, physical well-being, healthy sexual relationships and substance misuse.
The vibrant redesign of the Getting It On website and Facebook page aims to grab the attention of more teenagers living in Croydon, Wandsworth, Kingston, Richmond, Sutton and Merton. The site was designed by The Creative Team, who also involved young people in the development stages.
The website offers free and confidential help and includes details about staying safe online, as well as signposts to appropriate support services and drop-in clinics across south-west London.
Getting It On is a collaboration of the six boroughs working together to support young people to be physically and emotionally healthy as they grow up. The aim of the website is to provide them with the skills they need to be resilient and make confident decisions about their lifestyles and to be aware of any potential risks to their well-being.
Eye-catching posters will also be on local buses to promote the website widely across each borough.
Councillor Louisa Woodley, cabinet member for families, health and social care
“Getting It On is south-west London’s online one-stop shop to help young people navigate some of life’s ups and downs during their teenage years. At this time in their life they can often feel overwhelmed with a range of issues affecting them, such as their body image, fashion trends, exams and being bullied. It’s really important for them to know who to turn to for the most appropriate and up-to-date information for their age group.
“We have joined-up resources across south-west London to ensure that this information is consistent and current for all our youngsters. This approach also means that we can simplify structures and provide a range of accessible services that support children and young people to make healthier and confident choices as they approach adulthood.”
Belinda Houghton, Account Manager at The Creative Team, said: “We have worked closely with the six London boroughs for over eight years now on the Getting It On website. In this latest redesign, we have really tried to create a website that is informative, dynamic and appealing to young people, and the perfect place for local services to showcase what they offer in an easy-to-use way.”


COUNCILLORS are set to discuss changes to housing benefit at a meeting tonight.
Two Rushcliffe councillors say they fear people will suffer because of the "bedroom tax" which has seen some households lose 14 to 25 per cent of their benefit if they have spare bedrooms.
A motion from Liberal Democrats Rod Jones and Sam Boote calls on the council to declare that "residents in social housing and in receipt of housing benefit should not be penalised when, as a result of the under-occupancy benefit capping (the so-called 'bedroom tax'), they want to downsize but are unable to do so because no property of the appropriate size is available.
"Council recommends that a hardship fund be set up to ensure that housing association rent arrears which are not the fault of the resident are paid until the resident is offered a reasonable alternative property and declines it."
The motion will be discussed by Rushcliffe Borough Council tonight.
A campaign group says a new protocol to deal with city people affected by the benefit changes will not work.
Nottingham City Council and others have signed up to an Eviction Prevention Protocol. But Nottingham Defend Council Tax Benefits group says the protocol doesn't offer anything tenants couldn't get anyway.


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Last week the FDA said it would redefine healthy, a decision keeping the health community abuzz.
Remember the This is Your Brain on Drugs commercial series? Here’s a 30 second reminder: This is your brain on drugs. Any Questions?. The FDA has taken one too many of its own approved drugs. Maybe it has eaten too much of its own approved food. Have you read The FDA is Killing Us? The FDA is about to change the menu again. It has scrambled eggs for brains, but it wants to be “healthy.” Has it gone Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and mixed up the labels again, or is it about to sort it all out?

domain: food


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While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to not provide a much-needed special drawing rights (SDRs) allocation, and instead pushes countries, including Pakistan, under its programmes to adopt austerity and procyclical policy stance – raise policy rate to control inflation, and produce primary surplus – it is raising the risk in global South in particular to have recession and for a rather long period of time, and weakening, in turn, their capacity to deal with an otherwise difficult debt servicing situation.
Lack of counter-cyclical and non-austerity policy will further diminish the capacity of developing countries to reduce the impact of the supply-side channel of inflation. Moreover, not only are higher levels of interest rates reducing economic activity and stoking stagflationary headwinds, they are also putting the banking system into a lot of stress. A recent ‘Monetary Policy Institute Blog’ published article ‘The Fed’s dissonant monetary policy and the 2023 March Banking Crisis: Part I – Silicon Valley Bank’ argued, among other things: ‘We are witnessing a Global Banking Crisis. In the past two weeks, three banks — Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature bank — have failed. It’s also astonishing to see that Credit Suisse was taken over by rival UBS. While rating agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s are busy downgrading the credit ratings of other banks, the Federal Reserve once again collaborated with other major central banks such as the ECB, the BoC, the BoE, the BoJ, and the SNB in order to provide U.S. dollar liquidity through its swap lines facility.’
While a dwindling banking system, on the lines of 2007/08 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) could be better dealt with by rich, advanced countries by providing stimulus, in developing countries this could pose some serious dangers to financial stability as likely increase in the levels of non-performing loans at the back of sharp and deep rise in interest rates, and lack of provision of stimulus to banks may not only dent otherwise much-needed pool of loanable funds, it may also generate panic runs on the bank. In countries like Pakistan, with high level of government borrowing from banks, to service already high level of domestic debt repayments could likely push government towards higher money printing to meet debt obligations and, in turn, contribute to inflation.
There strongly appears to be brewing an unnecessary trade-off on the global horizon with all the more dangerous consequences for financial stability and poverty alleviation, and that is either fighting inflation or preventing a banking crisis. It need not be for two reasons. Firstly, raising interest rates to the extent and duration for which they have been is counter-productive, since rather than reducing inflation and remaining a healthy growth sacrifice for attaining long-term stability, high interest rates and for longer time are perpetuating greater inflation – from the supply side, cost push, imported inflationary channels – and retarding growth (increasing unemployment in turn), and also strongly forcing a banking crisis at the back of both increasing non-performing loans, and instilling possible run on banks’ situations.
Both creative fiscal side/governance-related initiatives at the domestic policy level – better targeted development/welfare spending by the public sector and more progressive taxation on, for instance, capital gains, and incomes of high-income groups – and allocation of appropriate levels of SDRs by the IMF could immensely help follow a counter-cyclical, non-austerity policy with likely favourable consequences for growth, employment, debt sustainability, inflation, and banking/financial stability.
A recent Project Syndicate (PS) published article ‘Where is the global South’s rescue brigade?’ pointed out in this regard: ‘Once again, Africa and the rest of the developing world are left to stand by and watch as the Bank of England and the Fed take swift action to contain the domestic effects of their own policies. As always, pressures imposed on emerging-market economies by exogenous decisions are seen not as liquidity events but as insolvency issues born of those countries’ poor macroeconomic fundamentals. And, as always, the prescribed treatment will involve a protracted visit from the doctor – the International Monetary Fund – rather than a quick liquidity injection. We already know from history that this unequal treatment will have huge consequences for development and financial stability across the Global South. … To provide today’s global economy with sufficient liquidity to prevent another escalating crisis, the G7 and other major IMF shareholders should consider a new issuance of special drawing rights (SDRs, the Fund’s reserve asset) to serve this liquidity purpose.’
Moreover, an overly-protective economic policy by US Federal Reserve – by over-relying on tight monetary policy stance to control inflation than needed – for domestic consumers, has also spelling deep and unnecessary economic hardship for debt distressed, foreign exchange-starved developing countries like Pakistan in the global South. High interest rates by advanced countries like the US, European Union overall, among others, have all meant greater capital flight, and pressure on domestic interest rates, along with keeping (and rising) high interest payment burden on external borrowing.
The same PS published article pointed out in this regard: ‘Over the last few months, a G7 economy (the United Kingdom), a midsize US bank (Silicon Valley Bank), a small African economy (Ghana), a lower-middle-income South Asian economy (Pakistan), and the fastest-growing global services sector (technology) have all faced short-term cash constraints. Monetary-policy tightening in the United States – where the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 475 basis points in the space of a year – has produced knock-on effects around the world. …Many currencies have depreciated against the dollar by over 30%, as investors have withdrawn from emerging and frontier markets in a flight to safety. Emerging-market economies’ debt-servicing costs have increased by more than $1 trillion in less than a year. Reserves as a share of imports have dropped, and inflation in Africa has risen to over 14% in the low-income countries in 2022. Worse, the rate hikes are compounding a pre-existing “polycrisis” that also includes Covid-19, climate change, violent conflict, and higher costs of living (owing to the war in Ukraine and other factors).’
This last comment in the article cited above, with regard to the current ‘polycrisis’ situation, clearly points out that the current highly hawkish US Federal Reserve policy stance, and austerity-inclined policy conditionalities of IMF programmes, had more relevance to a far less financially liberal world of the 1970s by people like Paul Volker (former US Federal Reserve Chairman) – who adopted a highly tight monetary policy stance to tackle high inflation back then – than the world currently, where inflation is significantly determined by supply-side bottlenecks, and where the existential threats of fast-unfolding climate change and likely Pandemicene crises require cheap and abundant finance for economic resilience and its green transition; especially by developing countries, who are also overall highly debt distressed with significant proportion owed to private borrowers unlike around a decade ago.
A recent Bloomberg published article ‘Volker slayed inflation. Bernanke saved the banks. Can Powell do both?’ highlighted the difficult task with the current chairman of US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, of both managing inflation, and avoiding a banking crisis, as follows: ‘History remembers Paul Volcker as the slayer of inflation, and Ben Bernanke as the crisis firefighter. Jerome Powell is in danger of having to play both roles at once – or, what may be worse, to choose between them. … Just a couple of weeks ago, threats to financial stability barely registered on the troubleshooting list for central bankers. Now they’ve rocketed toward the top. …the basic problem for monetary chiefs is that, in extremis, policy prescriptions for taming prices and bolstering banks point in opposite directions. To get inflation down, central banks jack up rates and withdraw liquidity from the banking system. To short-circuit crises, they shove money out to stricken lenders and cut the cost of credit. And the danger is that they end up with the worst of both worlds: A full-blown crisis that triggers a recession. That would force central banks to abandon the inflation fight before it’s finished, as they rush to shore up a teetering financial system.’
While the Bloomberg article frames the dilemma quite well with regard to the difficult challenge at hand for the US Federal Reserve, former Finance Minister for Greece, Yanis Varoufakis, in his recent PS published article ‘Let the banks burn’ calls for breaking the mantra quite prevalent since GFC of bailing out the banks and creditors through keeping high interest rate and providing stimulus, since this formula has left the general public hanging in unnecessary economic distress. Instead of bailing out the banks that have been unjustifiably risk taking for quick profits, the more socially-responsible ones should remain.
He argued in the article in this regard: ‘Faced with the stark choice between curbing inflation and saving the banks, venerable commentators appeal to central banks to do both: to continue hiking interest rates while continuing with the post-2008 socialism-for-bankers policy, which, other things being equal, is the only way to stop the banks from falling like dominoes. Only this strategy – tightening the monetary noose around society’s neck while lavishing bailouts on the banking system – can simultaneously serve the interests of creditors and banks. … The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. That’s the bad news. But we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far. The time has come to blow up an irredeemable banking system which delivers for property owners and shareholders at the expense of the majority.’
(The writer holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Barcelona; he previously worked at the International Monetary Fund)Dr Omer Javed, "SDR allocation, monetary tightening, inflation, and banking crisis," Business recorder. 2023-03-31.
Keywords: Economics , Domestic policy , Financial crisis , Global crises , Inflation fight , Bankers policy , International Monetary Fund , Silicon valley bank


Tonga primed for physical encounter
September 7, 2011
Finau Maka will captain Tonga in their opening clash © Getty Images
Tonga have named their side charged with attempting one of the biggest upsets the World Cup has ever seen.
Isitolo Maka's side face hosts and tournament favourites New Zealand on Friday in the World Cup opener and despite having the worst discipline in the tournament's history - with three red cards and seven yellows to their name - captain Finau Maka is adamant his side will throw everything they have at the All Blacks.
Tonga's recent disciplinary record has improved though with the All Blacks naming a physical backline instead of unleashing their flyers, coach Graham Henry is anticipating a battle of attrition. And captain Maka is adamant that no quarter will be given in their opening clash.
"We won't hold back on the physical approach, definitely," Maka said. "I think our three Pacific island teams like to play physical games so we're just going to take it to the All Blacks on Friday and see if they can stop us."
Vungakoto Lilo, Viliame Iongi, Sukanaivalu Hufanga, Andre Ma'ilei, Siale Piutau, Kurt Morath, Taniela Moa; Soane Tonga'uiha, Aleki Lutui, Taufa'ao Filise, Paino Hehea, Joseph Tuineau, Sione Kalamafoni, Finau Maka, Viliami Ma'afu
Replacements: Ephraim Taukafa, Alisona Taumalolo, Kisi Pulu, Sione Timani, Samiu Vahafolau, Samisoni Fisilau, Alipate Fatafehi
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
The tone was set early on in Dublin as a more clinical Ireland made England pay. All is not lost, however, argues Phil Vickery
Monday Maul takes in retirement talk, England reshuffles, France's unfair advantage and Scotland's communication breakdown
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Ireland coach Joe Schmidt won the tactical battle and set his team on course for a shot at the Grand Slam. Tom Hamilton reports from Dublin


Fannie and Freddie confusion: Is the net worth sweep really over?Michelle Jones
The drama involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continues this week with a new round of hearings about the affordability of housing in the U.S. We're also seeing two distinct views which may be confusing onlookers. One side says the net worth sweep, which bypasses junior preferred shareholders' dividends and sweeps the GSEs' profits into the Treasury, has been eliminated, while the other says it has not been, so which is it?
Hearings this week
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