text:
Shortstop Willie Bloomquist made a couple of nice plays in the field on Monday, including going deep into the hole and firing a strong throw to first to get Reed Johnson. When asked if he’s been feeling good in that part of this game, the way he answered was somewhat revealing.
“Yeah, defensively,” he said.
At the plate? Not so much.
Bloomquist went 0 for 3 on Tuesday, closing out his Cactus League season with a .177 average, .188 on-base and .194 slugging.
And while he says he felt better at the plate than he had in recent days – he feels he’s gotten over a bit of a mental hurdle – his lack of production kind of raises concerns about what the Diamondbacks are going to get out of the shortstop position.
Stephen Drew is out and doesn’t appear to be all that close to returning. Should the Diamondbacks be worried about turning to two mid-to-late 30s shortstops (Bloomquist, 34, and John McDonald, 37) for the first couple of months of the season?
It wasn’t a problem last year. No, their numbers weren’t great – Bloomquist had a .657 OPS, McDonald .577; the average major league shortstop was .697 – but from watching the games in the final two-plus months of the season, it didn’t seem like they lost a thing after Drew went down. In fact, experientially, it seemed like Bloomquist might actually have been more valuable offensively than Drew.
But that was last year. Crazy stuff seemed to happen with that team every night. For now, they’ll have to hope Bloomquist’s regular season goes much better than his Cactus League season. He believes it will.
And, besides, it’s spring training. We know better than to get fooled completely by spring training results.
“It’s a good thing that these stats don’t count, let’s put it that way,” Bloomquist said. “There have been springs that I’ve had before when I’ve hit .400 and then go out and can’t buy a hit in the first month of the season. Hopefully this will be one of those opposites.
“But I felt really good early on. In the last week or so, I haven’t felt all that great. Maybe pressing a little bit. (On Tuesday) I felt much better, much more compact at the plate. I had better at-bats, too. Hopefully that’s starting to come together at the right time.”
Bloomquist thinks he might have been grinding a little too hard on himself, thinking too much about what he needs to do at the plate. On Tuesday, he tried not to think.
“Sometimes when you think you’re lost and then you go look at film, you’re kind of, ‘Man, that looks the same as when I’m going good, so maybe it’s all just between the ears,’” he said. “Maybe that’s the case and I just need to forget about it, go up and trust myself.
“When you’re going good, you’re usually not thinking about anything. That’s usually the best way to get out of a little funk.”
Spring training stats, as we already mentioned, can be entirely misleading. Plenty of guys have great springs and then, once the regular season starts, look like shells of their Cactus League selves.
But then there are guys like Ryan Roberts, who last year hit .509 (27 for 53) with 13 walks in spring training to win a spot on the roster. Then he wound up carrying that momentum into the season and turning in a solid year.
Every now and then, a spring can portend a regular season.
Which brings us to Josh Collmenter.
I’m not sure which way to go on this one. Like most, I was skeptical of him for the longest time last year, wondering over and over how long it was going to last. Well, he kept getting guys out, over and over, including in some of the biggest games of the year.
So what do we make of his horrendous spring training? He has an 11.81 ERA with 21 runs allowed in 16 innings. He has given up 27 hits and – this is hard to believe – he has as many strikeouts as home runs allowed (five).
Whether this is a case of the league figuring Collmenter out* or him being unable to make his pitches, how confident can you feel giving him the ball for a game that counts? Every year, we see pennant races come down to one or two games. Do you really want to look back in September and second-guess giving Collmenter the ball when you had a full month of evaluation time to conclude that he’s not ready to get guys out?
(*I’m really skeptical of this theory, because that suggests that scouting reports have gotten around and guys have made adjustments. And those sorts of things don’t happen in spring training. Guys don’t get scouting reports handed to them of that day’s starting pitcher. They’re not holed up in the video room before games. They sometimes don’t even know who’s pitching for the other team before the game starts.)
And then there’s the other side of the argument. These results don’t really matter. At all. Collmenter was so good for so much of last season, doesn’t he deserve some rope? And isn’t he the kind of guy who would benefit from the season starting?
By that I mean, some believe that hitters are much more relaxed in spring training. They have no worries. By and large, their jobs aren’t on the line. Their stats don’t count. So it’s easy for them to sit back and wait on a soft-tossing right-hander. But when the year starts, when they’re a little more jacked up, a little more anxious, that’s when a pitcher like Collmenter – or Joe Saunders, for that matter – can wind up being effective.
This is all a long way of saying: I don’t know what the Diamondbacks should do.
Pat Corbin has had a great spring. If the club decides to go with him in the rotation, I wouldn’t question the move. But if the Diamondbacks stick with Collmenter, I won’t question that, either.
An unnamed scout did not like what he saw from Trevor Cahill in spring training, telling USA Today’s Bob Nightengale the following:
“Cahill looks like he's throwing (batting practice) out there; his ball isn't sinking at all. He was supposed to be a No. 2 starter but looks no better than a No. 4, and that's being nice.”
If Cahill is closer to the guy he was last year than his 2010 self, I don’t think you can say that it was a good trade for the Diamondbacks, regardless of what Jarrod Parker becomes. Parker had excellent value at the time of the trade, and if the Diamondbacks could only leverage that into acquiring an innings-eating starter, well, that’s not a good deal.
The scout probably saw Cahill in his first few starts. Cahill was much, much better his fourth time out, and he made his fifth appearance in a minor league game.
We’ll see if Cahill can be more like the guy who received Cy Young votes in 2010.
Theo Epstein’s quotes about scouting – four paragraphs’ worth, midway through the story – are awesome.
Another HBO show with potential: The Newsroom.
Matt Zoller Seitz reviews Sunday night’s Mad Men episode.
Where can you order these business cards?

domain: sports


text:
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Maryland is expected to see significant snowfall Wednesday as a system moves through the state.
A winter storm warning is in effect for Baltimore and DC metro areas from 4 a.m. Wednesday until 7 p.m. Wednesday. A winter storm advisory is in effect for most of the state from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Wednesday.
WJZ’s Weather Team is tracking the storm as there are contradicting models and snowfall totals could change.
The National Weather Service said total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch are expected. Allegany County has already seen 6 inches as of 9:48 a.m.
Here’s a timeline of when snow is expected:
WEDNESDAY, 9 a.m. to noon: Heavy, wet snow falling across Maryland. State officials ask that motorists stay off the roads.
WEDNESDAY, noon-4 p.m.: Snow expected to change over to a wintry mix in the afternoon around 1 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, 4-7 p.m.: Treacherous road conditions expected for the afternoon rush hour. Be cautious of icy roads. Wintry mix expected to change into rain this evening.
It’ll then be 54 degrees Thursday with rain in the early morning.
The weather team will continue to track the snow headed our way. Stay with WJZ for the latest.
Share your photos and videos with us on social media using #BeOnWJZ with any public posts or email email@example.com.

domain: news


text: The lone Breton mans slightly-pointed ears perked up in curiosity, as he heard the commotion coming from the unfamiliar tavern. He contemplates ignoring it and moving on, but the growling in his stomach reminds him what he had been seeking out anyway. He let out a sigh, the chilled autumn air cutting quickly through his cloak and hood. He reluctantly stepped into the light of the tavern, ears immediately driven wild with the sounds of boisterous patrons, drinking songs and the silent cursing of a disgruntled bartender. "Certainly an eclectic crowd, tonight." he thought to himself as he pushed past the noise, towards the counter. He approached the bartender, about to order before hearing the bellowing, gravelly voice of an old Nord adventurer, a few chairs to his left. He listens to the man, and raises an eyebrow, remembering the lightness of his coin pouch and emptiness of his stomach. Besides, Edwyn always was one for a little adventure. He sits on a stool, leaning against the bar as the man finishes his "speech". His curiosity piqued, he lazily raises his hand. "I'll join you." he says nothing more, turning his attention back to the bartender, simply happy that the mans voice had silenced the commotion of the rest of the tavern.

domain: artistic


text:
Two new judges and a twist in middle-round format are among the changes.
LOS ANGELES — As it searches for a star, The X Factor hopes it has finally found itself.
For the third time in three seasons, Fox's singing competition (Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. ET/PT) is back with a different judging panel that features two newcomers, singers Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio. They join returning singer Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell, who created the show in England and brought it here.
Based on early tapings, "it's probably the closest so far to the show we wanted to make," Cowell says. "It just felt different. It felt more fun. It definitely had more of the feel of the British show. It was everything I wanted — funny, bad, good. I thought the chemistry was good."
In addition, the show will revert to a single host, Mario Lopez, after the departure of his Season 2 partner, Khloe Kardashian. And there will be changes to a middle round to surprise the competing singers, who are divided into four sets: Girls, Boys, Over 25s and Groups.
Cowell says he was intrigued by the new dynamic of a male judge sitting with three women. They aren't afraid to stand up to him, as Rowland, a solo artist and founding member of Destiny's Child, proved during a middle-round taping Sunday at Shrine Auditorium, where the floor was taken up by two sleek, black, crossing runways that created an X .
When an impressed Rowland mentioned that a singer silenced the rollicking crowd with her performance, Cowell responded, "That's because they didn't like it very much."
Rowland immediately shot back. "She silenced the room with her pitch."
Cowell says Rowland, who was a judge on the British X Factor, "has got real charisma, knows what she's talking about and is really interested in the contestants." Rubio, who's from Mexico and has sold more than 20 million albums, is "very over the top, laughing and different from people I've worked with in the past. She's really funny, warm, unpredictable (and) a bit loopy, which I like."
Rubio acknowledges the unpredictability. "I'm just really me. I'm not pretentious. Just my hats and my sunglasses."
Cowell, who's "excited" about becoming a father, says that the three female judges have become friends and that they sometimes gang up on him. "That's what my normal life is like, as well with all my girlfriends," he says. "If they cross the line, then they cross the line. I've taken everything with a good sense of humor this year."
Lovato enjoys the new company. "It's not just me picking on Simon," she says. "We're all very outspoken."
Cowell, the biggest judging name in the reality business after his long-running star turn on American Idol, brought the British hit to the USA in 2011 with high hopes, telling The Hollywood Reporter he would be disappointed if the show didn't draw 20 million viewers.
That never happened. The show averaged a respectable 12.6 million viewers in Season 1 but dropped to 9.8 million last fall, putting it well behind competitors Idol and The Voice. X Factor's young-adult rating dropped by 16%, but it held steady among young women and grew among teenage girls.
"We can always do better," Cowell says of the show's quality and ratings in its first two seasons. "But the first two seasons of the U.K. show, they weren't amazing. They weren't anywhere near where we wanted them. And then, over the years, as the show got better, the contestants got better, then the show grew into something huge."
Rowland and Rubio replace L.A. Reid, who left to resume his career as a record executive, and Britney Spears, a performer and celebrity who Cowell feels wasn't comfortable in the judges' role.
"Being a judge is not as easy as you think," he says. "She had an issue on the first day. She found it very difficult, particularly when people shouted back at her. She's shy," he says. "She's a great girl. She's super-talented, but being a judge was much harder than she thought it was going to be."
The female judges say they will be straightforward and constructive with singers.
"We are not here cutting any wings. We want them to understand if they have the value or not. That doesn't mean we're not going to hurt any feelings, (but) we try not to," Rubio says.
They acknowledge that Cowell, who is famed for an acid tongue, may not share that exact approach.
"He has a different way of being constructive. 'Never sing again.' 'Fire your manager,' " Lovato says. "But he has moments where he says, 'I think it's too gimmicky right now. I think if you were to do this, I'd take you more seriously.' Or, 'This is the wrong song choice for you.' "
Grammy winner Rowland is impressed with the Season 3 talent and appreciates the opportunity to be a mentor, which is part of the judges' role.
"Everything that you feel you've grown to know about the industry or yourself, you can give those things that you've learned away as gifts," she says. "I feel like we have some people that are so different, and there are spaces in the industry that are wide open for them to come through and bust it wide open."
The U.K. version has spawned One Direction and Leona Lewis, and Cowell hopes he can break out groups from the U.S. version, including Season 2's Fifth Harmony and Emblem3, though none have yet materialized.
Making a star remains a goal, and Cowell points out how his presence separates it from competitors with all-performer panels.
"I feel if you haven't found at least one great artist every year, then you've completely wasted your entire year. And it's always what I strive for, because that's my record-company background," he says. "You've got to remember, artists don't really like finding other stars. People who run record companies do. That's the difference."

domain: entertainment


This was the second of Leicester’s Urban Observatory Talks on key issues relevant to the growth of the City.
The Observatory itself is a collaboration between the County’s three universities and the City Council. The intention is to bring together the local wealth of expertise in urban studies, architecture and planning history and open up an informed debate on urban planning with the wider community.
It is a superb initiative already securing a steady following. I think it would benefit if a way could be found to broaden its audience to involve more of the key development decision makers both public and private.
This second talk was given by Professor Loretta Lees of the University of Leicester and based upon her book “Planetary Gentrification” and subsequent work. I will immediately confess that I have not read the book and rely on her presentation.
The basic premise, as I read it, is that gentrification in major cities such as London has negative consequences, particularly in displacing and marginalising the poor from the heart of our urban communities. These people are then pushed out to the fringes and separated from each other, so that their family and friend support networks are broken. And this leads to poorer lives for those for whom help is most needed.
|Urban Regeneration in Leicester City Centre on New Walk|
I do not and could not disagree with her sentiment in any way, but I just cannot see it happening in provincial cities like Leicester anytime soon.
Using Leicester as an example, I can accept that in the comprehensive slum clearances from the 1920’s to early 1970’s this will have happened.
However, there has been no such activity since that time other than the demolition of some major tower blocks built in the ‘60s and ‘70s. These were blighted with such physical fabric and social problems that very few would defend their retention.
Instead I would argue that one of the City’s principal problems since the 1920’s has been the flight of the affluent and wealth creators to the surrounding countryside. This substantial disconnect continues to exist with, for example, one of the continuing challenges for our major regional shopping centre (Highcross) is how to attract into the City the wealthier shopper, who can have a major input into the City’s economy.
Meanwhile Leicester’s urban regeneration continues apace. Much of the City centre has been revitalised. I do not have the figures, but my guess is that the residential population has multiplied five fold this century. No one has been displaced.
Equally, if one looks at the wider Waterside area of the City where much of the urban regeneration of the next 10 years must be concentrated, it is very largely empty spaces or still redundant commercial premises. There are very few, if any, residential properties. If you look at these areas carefully (because most is hidden from the main routes) it is amazing the space available. How to get these areas developed, with socially mixed communities, including gentrification, is the real challenge.
The lessons we should be learning (good and bad, but mostly good), is from such developments as the successful City Challenge Urban regeneration of Bede Island etc. of the 1990’s. Gentrification in Leicester, I would suggest, is a side issue at best.
Urban regeneration is multifaceted. What is happening in Leicester and other similar cities include a whole range of new housing types from major student housing schemes to privately rented schemes (PRS), often in large discrete blocks. What we want to learn more about is how to encourage redevelopment, but at the same time maintain the uniqueness and enhance the quality of development, plus continue the place for all social classes in our City.
Being unashamedly a practitioner, I always feel it is easy for academics to look at one particular issue. The real challenge is how to blend all the competing objectives into a successful vibrant and inclusive City. Now that is where I would like to see academic research concentrated.


text:
Facing grim financial times in state government, local senators and representatives Monday called for greater investment in education, cuts in wasteful government spending, and, after decades of delay, a fix for the chronic structural deficits plaguing the state. And, the group of five Democrats expressed hope for better relations with a governor of their own political party.
About 50 people turned out at the Oak Park Library for a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oak Park and River Forest. Officials in attendance were state senators Don Harmon (39th) and Kimberly Lightford (4th) and representatives Karen Yarbrough (7th), LaShawn Ford (8th) and Deborah Graham (78th). They answered written questions from the audience.
Yarbrough insisted on increasing funding for education, capital improvements and other essential services in the state, a stance on which her colleagues agreed.
“When I think of the last 30 years, what’s been on the table is that we don’t fund education adequately. Why can’t we get it done?” said Yarbrough, who also warned against “throwing money at things.”
“We need to also have accountability as well. When you’re tossing money at something I’m looking for a return. If we’re putting more money in schools, doing a better job with infrastructure and we’ve got highly-qualified teachers, I want those kids to come out of high school with a decent education.”
Concerning education, Lightford said more state money should go toward higher education, and expressed support for charter schools. Ford expressed support for a comprehensive high school in Austin.
Harmon touted Senate Bill 2288, which would raise the state’s income tax while also reducing property taxes. The measure would help fund education, health care and capital projects, Harmon said. He added that a reduction in the state’s sales tax would help reduce the financial burden placed on business. Overall, Harmon called for fiscal responsibility in state government while the country is in recession. Graham mentioned pending legislation that would place a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures in the state that would help homeowners.
One of the first questions asked at Monday’s forum dealt with the state’s $2 billion budget deficit and where to raise revenue and make cuts. Ford, who has a background running a real estate brokerage, stressed reducing waste in state government before raising taxes.
“In these tough economic times, one thing I’ve learned in running a business is the first thing you do is look at wasteful spending and you make sure you cut whatever waste is out there,” he said. “If we do that, we can start on the right track.”
As for the deficit, Harmon called this one of the bleakest fiscal periods for the state that he could remember.
“When Rep. Graham and I took office six years ago, we had as much as a $5 billion budget deficit and we’re seemingly right back there. We still have not wrestled with our structural deficit. For many, many years we just coasted by. And I think the time is now to deal with that structural issue.”
Officials were asked about possible rules changes in the state senate under incoming Senate leader John Cullerton. The Chicago Democrat is currently the majority whip and will replace Senate-President Emil Jones, who’s retiring. Officials were asked if a change in senate rules would empower lawmakers by reducing power in the leadership.
Lightford and Harmon both expect some rule changes but without reducing power within the leadership. Each Democratic lawmaker also expressed hope to have a better working relationship with Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the next legislative session which begins in January 2009.


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Will Ricochet Be NXT Next Signee?
Trevor Mann is one of the most atheltic and talented athletes in the world.
And most people don’t know his real name.
All personas Mann has developed as he has created an incredible run over his almost 15 year career. From Japan to Lucha Underground and every independent promotion in between, Mann has stolen the show and has become the hottest wrestler not signed to a major wrestling company. But with his no-compete contract with Lucha Underground coming to an end, the time is right for the uber-popular Ricochet to sign with the red hot NXT.
In NXT’s recent history, they’ve been able to make mainstream stars out of Aleister Black, Andrade Cein Almas, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish. All stars on the independent circuit that needed that one final push into the mainstream and NXT did that. The next big NXT TakeOver event is even being headlined by Almas and the ultimate underdog and “indy favorite” Johnny Gargano. The ultra-athletic Ricochet will fit right in with this new era of stars blooming into global superstars by highlighting the moves and ability only he can deliver. Even our friends at Sports Betting Dime agree with us, naming Ricochet as their top indy favorite to sign with NXT next.


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text:
|1||bag PERDUE® SIMPLY SMART® ORGANICS Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets, Gluten Free (22 oz.)|
|1/2||tsp. garlic powder|
|1/2||cup grated Parmesan cheese|
|1||cup jarred marinara sauce|
Preheat oven to 425°F. Place frozen chicken nuggets in a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray nuggets with cooking spray. Sprinkle nuggets with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until nuggets are golden brown and heated through. Let stand 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
In a small saucepan, heat the marinara sauce until hot. Transfer to individual dipping bowls.
Serve with warm marinara dipping sauce.

domain: food


text:
If your homemade or store-bought cookies have gotten hard, dry or stale, there are some quick and easy tricks to soften hard cookies.
Table of Contents:
I suppose there are some people who really prefer those hard, crispy cookies. Everyone has their preferences. Personally, I really prefer a soft, moist and chewy cookie.
Even when you bake them perfectly though, sometimes they just don’t stay that way. Once they’re put into containers, they start losing moisture.
Don’t panic though if your cookies start to harden up on you. If you prefer eating soft cookies instead of crispy or crunchy ones, there are ways to make hard cookies soft again and get that fresh taste back.
Store them properly:
The easiest and best way to make sure cookies stay moist and soft is to make sure and store them properly. Many recipes will tell you the best way to store them, but usually, it’s in an airtight container.
You could also add the cookies to a plastic bag with a zip top, like a ziplock bag, push the air out as best you can and zip up the bag. This method works as well, however, I’ve found, depending on the brand of plastic bags I use, some can have a weird smell to them that then permeates the cookies, so be aware of that.
I’ve had the best luck just putting the cookies in a plastic container with a snap lid. It does seem to keep them from drying out a bit better than the freezer bags or zip bags.
Doing this will help tremendously, but for some cookies, you need to go the extra mile and add some of the other steps we’ll cover next.
Soften hard cookies in the microwave:
You can wrap the hardened cookie in a damp paper towel, then microwave it for about 10-15 seconds. The warm moisture from the paper towel and the heat from the microwave will help soften the cookie. Just make sure the paper towel isn’t soaking wet, it just needs to be damp.
Quick tip: This works on store-bought cookies too. It makes them such a yummy treat.
Make hard cookies soft again with bread:
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
You can either do this at the beginning to keep cookies soft, or to help them become soft again after they’ve hardened.
Just add the cookies to an airtight container and lay a slice of bread in the container. This will help to soften the cookies. It works like magic.
If the cookies have already hardened, it may take about half a day for them to soak up the moisture from the bread.
Ways to help prevent cookies from getting hard:
Store them properly:
From the get-go, make sure when the cookies are baked, to store them in an airtight container.
Add bread from the get-go:
Go ahead and set a piece of bread in the container with the cookies. Try to set the bread on the side of the container because if you lay it directly over the cookies, sometimes the cookies you laid it on can get a little mushy.
Choose the right type of recipe:
Go for soft cookie recipes. Some cookie recipes are meant to make crispy, crunchy cookies. Make sure you’re picking a recipe that says it makes soft cookies. Sometimes those recipes will include vegetable shortening instead of butter. Shortening makes soft and fluffy cookies.
Try making cookies from a cake mix:
Yes, you can actually make cookies out of cake mix and they’re really soft that way.
Watch how long you bake them:
Try not to overbake cookies. Overbaking cookies can pull all of the moisture out of them and make them dry and brittle. If it’s safe to do so, you can ever so slightly underbake them, but don’t do this by more than a minute or two because you still want to be food safe.
Get them off the cookie sheet:
Don’t leave the cookies on the baking sheet the entire time they’re cooling.
Although you’ve pulled the cookies out of the oven, they’re still on a hot baking sheet that will continue to bake them, so it’s a good idea to only let them sit on the baking sheet for about two minutes to firm up, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool further without additional baking from the sheet.
Know the nature of cookies:
The longer cookies are kept, the more they’ll dry out. That’s the nature of cookies. It’s really the same with cupcakes. They’re just best when eaten within a few days.
How to soften hard cookies quickly:
The best way to do this is to heat them in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Wrapping them in a moist paper towel before microwaving really helps.
Can I soften hard cookies in the oven?
That’s not recommended. The dry heat will just bake them more and dry them out further.
Try the microwave method, but make sure to use the damp paper towel as you need to add more moisture, not just heat the cookies.


text:
MIAMI — New York Mets star Edwin Díaz injured his right knee while celebrating a win Wednesday night that advanced Puerto Rico and eliminated the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
Díaz was pulled off the field in a wheelchair just after his perfect ninth inning in Miami to end Puerto Rico’s 5-2 win over the Dominicans.
The Mets later tweeted that Díaz had injured his knee and would have further tests Thursday.
The Puerto Rican players jumped together in infield as Díaz fell to the ground and quickly grabbed his right leg. Díaz was in tears and did not put weight on the leg.
Díaz’s brother, Alexis Díaz, pitcher from Cincinnati, also cried as Edwin was taken away. Met’s teammate and Puerto Rico shortstop Francisco Lindor stood nearby with his hands on his head.
Christian Vázquez hit a homer in a third inning with four runs as Puerto Rico advanced to the WBC Quarterfinals to meet the Pool C winner in Miami on Saturday.
It’s only the second time the Dominican Republic has failed to advance through the first round (2009).
After Vázquez’s solo homer from starter Johnny Cueto, Vimael Machin, Martin Maldonado, Francisco Lindor and Kiké Hernandez scored four straight singles to make it 3-0. MJ Melendez then bet on a play that allowed Lindor to score.
Cueto took the loss and was raised before the end of the third after allowing four hits, three runs and two hits.
Juan Soto made it 4-1 when he hit deep midfield — 448 feet — for his second home run of the tournament ahead of Puerto Rico release Jovani Moran.
Soto finished the tournament 6vforv15 with three doubles and three RBIs.
Puerto Rico ended a dominant round of pool in which it defeated Israel in a perfect 10-0 win on Monday night.
CUBA 4, AUSTRALIA 3
TOKYO — Cuba has earned a 7,500-mile flight to Miami for the first time since 2006 to travel to the WBC semifinals.
Alfredo Despaigne hit a tie victim fly and Yoelkis Guibert followed with a two-run single in the fifth inning with three runs.
Cuba will play the winner of a quarter-final between Venezuela and the second-placed team in Group C: Canada, Colombia, Mexico or the USA at Marlins Park on Sunday
Former Philadelphia Phillies youngster Rixon Wingrove, who led Australia with seven RBIs in the tournament, hit a starting shot in the second RBI straight and had a two-run homer in the sixth ahead of the Chicago Cubs’ Roenis Elías. Australia later got two in the sixth round before Milwaukee Brewers’ Elías Alex Hall retired on a flyout.
Elías threw a perfect seventh, Liván Moinelo avoided two walks in a shotless eighth by defeating Ulrich Bojarski and knocking out Tim Kennelly in a flyout late in the inning. Raidel Martinez threw a 1-2-3 ninth for defense and beat Darryl George on the eighth throw of the at-bat for the final.
In front of a crowd of 35,061 at the Tokyo Dome, Luis Robert equalized for Cuba with a run-scoring groundout in third place.
Cuba, who lost the 2006 final to Japan, was eliminated in the second round of the last three WBCs. The Cubans won their third straight game in this tournament after losing their first two.
Australia have progressed beyond the group stage for the first time.
Yoán Moncada of the Chicago White Sox had two hits and two walks and hits .421 with five RBIs. Moncada sparked the third with a one-out double against Mitch Neunborn, who had put Roel Santos ahead.
Winner Miguel Romero, the second of five Cuban pitchers, allowed a hit in 1 2/3 innings scoreless.
Former major league player Yoenis Céspedes left the team before the game for undisclosed personal reasons, the Cuban Baseball Federation said.
MEXICO 10, CANADA 3
PHOENIX — Randy Arozarena had two doubles and five RBIs, Rowdy Tellez added a single and solo homer in two runs, and Mexico pulled out late from Canada to secure a quarterfinal berth.
Mexico started the tournament with a surprise loss to Colombia in Group C at Chase Field but managed to bounce back with three straight wins, beating the USA, Great Britain and Canada.
José Urquidy gave up two runs over four innings and knocked out five to earn the win. Arozarena — the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year for the Tampa Bay Rays — hit a clearing double in game six, opening the game and giving Mexico a 6-2 lead.
Canadian leadoff batsman Edouard Julien had two hits and an RBI and catcher Bo Naylor hit a solo homer. Rob Zastryzny accepted the loss after giving up three runs over two innings.
Canada played without Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who left Tuesday’s game with a hamstring injury.
VENEZUELA 5, ISRAEL 1
MIAMI — Eugenio Suárez hit a homer, netted twice and had three RBIs, and starter Jesús Luzardo hit five in four scoreless innings to lead Venezuela, who had already claimed the Group D title and a quarterfinal berth.
Ronald Acuña Jr. had two singles while Eduardo Escobar also went deep for Venezuela who finished with 10 goals.
Venezuela took a three-run lead in the first game against Robert Stock. Acuña broke out of a 1-for-11 sled early in the tournament with an RBI single, and Suárez hit a two-run single.
Escobar’s solo shot in the fourth made it 4-0 and Suárez scored with a leadoff drive in the sixth.
Jakob Goldfarb’s RBI single in seventh placed Israel to a scoreless 22-inning streak.
Alongside Japan, Venezuela is the only group winner to go unbeaten.
Israel finished the 2017 tournament 1-3 after reaching the second round.
Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC.
Source : www.washingtontimes.com


text:
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By Liya Thomas
COP 26 had a heavyweight to carry. All eyes were glued to see how the United Kingdom (UK), the self-proclaimed climate leader, would host the much anticipated ‘stocktaking’ COP26.
Many (especially from the developing economies) would agree that COP26 was riddled with problems. Though the aim was to make it the “most inclusive COP ever”, it resulted in being an exclusive meeting of the rich. From invitees not able to attend due to vaccine inequity to civil society not given access to negotiations, COP26 disappointed many. The most ironic was the fact that a meeting to reduce carbon emissions ASAP emitted 13000 tons of carbon in travel itself (the carbon footprint of an average American is 21 tons a year). So, amongst the chaos and inequality, were governments able to agree on what COP26 set out to achieve?
Six years since the historic Paris Agreement, COP 26 set out with four broad goals:
Goal 1: Push countries to come up with an ambitious plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. A plan which would focus on ‘phasing out’ coal, investing in renewable’s and curtailing deforestation.
By the end of COP26, ‘phasing out’ coal became ‘phasing down’ coal. President of the COP26 and British politician, Alok Sharma, even shed tears to convey his disappointment in India and China for watering down the progress made over the two weeks with their last-minute push to change the wording. Whilst this was disappointing to say the least, amongst the photo ops and interviews Alok Sharma conveniently forgot that his own country is responsible for financing oil and gas exploration in North Atlantic Ocean.Cambo is one of the many projects in the pipeline awaiting final consent from the UK government to extract crude oil. Cambo stores 800 million barrels of oil, which once the government consents, will be extracted till 2050. The first phase of extraction (170 million barrels) itself will emit carbon equivalent to 18 power stations fired by coal. Similarly, the proposed coal mine in Cumbria which would produce 8.4 million tonnes of carbon each year makes one wonder about the UK’s standing as a climate leader. Moreover, the UK has one of the most favourable tax systems in the world attracting oil giants like Shell, who decided to shift its tax residency from the Netherlands to the UK, a day after COP26 ended. This clearly underscores the façade that was COP26, when a country apparently ‘leading’ on the climate crisis is itself sluggish and unwilling to put the planet before profit.
While more than 40 countries pledged to shift away from dirty fossil fuels, the big players like the US and China refused to make any such commitments. Disappointingly, despite being the third-largest producer and consumer of coal, the US has not made any promises to even ‘phase down coal. In fact, merely four days after COP26, the Biden administration leased 80.9 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas extraction. Analysts suggest that Biden was more concerned with upsetting senators from coal-producing states back home than with climate action. His visit to Glasgow might have only been to amp up his approval rating among democrats. To add to this, President Xi Jinping, the head of the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, was nowhere close to being a participant at COP26. With a written statement that provided no clarity on how the country will transition towards a green economy, it is apparent that China’s priorities lie elsewhere.
Another move that has caught public attention is the commitment made by over 130 countries to end deforestation by 2030. Amidst the concerns of deforestation rates in the Amazon, Brazil’s promise to end and reverse deforestation should be taken with a pinch of salt. Climate Observatory, a Brazilian advocacy group has come out and said that delegates from Brazil went to COP26 hiding the real figures of forest decline. The Amazon lost 13,235km2 forest area (the size of Northern Ireland) this year alone, the highest since 2006. The militarised approach to forest management taken by former army captain, President Jair Bolsonaro, has resulted in increased mining activities and commercial farming in protected areas. Since he took over the office in 2019, Brazil has witnessed a severe decline in the forest area. Bolsonaro’s absence from COP26 against this backdrop makes one doubtful if commitments made at COP26 will be taken seriously.
Goal 2: Develop an adaptation plan to avoid further loss of habitats and livelihoods. The idea here was to make adaptation an equally important subject as mitigation in the UNFCC agenda.
The occurrence of more frequent disasters across the globe has signalled that cutting emissions is not going to be enough (if we ever manage to do it). We also need to adapt to live in a new world. At COP26, this need was recognised and a two-year work program called The Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme (The GlaSS) was launched. This work program intends to support the climate-vulnerable countries in measuring their progress towards adaptation. By organising eight workshops between 2022 & 2024, a team of experts plans to assist developing countries to set the methodology, indicators and data to measure their progress towards the adaption goal. However, unlike mitigation with a universally applicable metric of progress (tonnes of GHG emissions), adaption doesn’t have a universal or a quantifiable measure. Only time will tell how this initiative fairs.
A gesture that signalled the seriousness of focussing on adaptation was the commitment made by the developed countries to contribute a total of USD 356 million towards the Adaptation Fund. The voluntary stature of the pledge has, however, worried developing countries. Delegates from the US and African nations went head-to-head till the last days to reach an agreement. African nations wanted a more reliable commitment of fund flow than a voluntary pledge. But when the rich refuse to budge, the weaker nations have no choice but to compromise and accept the wooden nickel.
Goal 3: Mobilise developed countries to keep the promise of supporting developing economies in climate mitigation efforts by donating USD 100 billion every year till 2020.
The switch to a green economy (renewable energy) is not an easy one for many poor economies. At COP15 in Copenhagen, developed countries agreed to channel USD 100 billion every year by 2020 to support the mitigation efforts in developing nations. Though USD 100 billion is nowhere close to the real amount needed (IPCC estimates it to be close to USD 2.4 trillion each year for the energy sector itself), this agreement was to signal the good faith between the two worlds. Not only have developed countries continuously failed to meet this commitment, but the funds channelled have been in the form of loans and not grants. Though this disappointment was expressed clearly by the developing nations at COP26, the talks failed to agree on a formal commitment. COP26 closed talks on the subject by expressing “deep regret” and assuring the flow of finance by 2023. It is fair to say that the worries of developing nations about getting the voluntary adaption fund is justified.
Goal 4: Finalise the Paris rule book which sets out guidelines to achieve the net-zero dream.
Paris rulebook has been under negotiation since COP21. This rulebook lays out clear guidance on how countries should carry out the vision of a zero-carbon future. The issue of carbon credits and the carbon market kept popping up in discussions and countries often failed to reach a consensus. At COP26, this was finally agreed upon with voluntary cooperation, non-market approaches to carbon credits and a new carbon credit system (different from the Kyoto protocol).
Is it all just a show?
Getting countries together on one platform voluntarily is a big achievement and COP continues to do it every time. However, lately, it has turned into a platform to debate, discuss and negotiate terms to save the planet while continuing business as usual. The double standards and the dominance of the rich, exclusion and disregard for the poor and the inaction by the biggest polluters have questioned the true purpose of COP.
Looking at the way the so-called leaders have flipped on their words, with no action taken to deal with the immediate threats posed by climate change, it is hard not to define COP26 as a waste of money, time and carbon.
Graphic courtesy of Nahal Sheikh.


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The government has declared that non-essential stores like fashion retailers may reopen from June 15, providing social distancing measures can be put in place. Some stores may fall into higher risk categories, which could mean they are back in business sometime after July 4. But regardless of when stores are able to open their doors, it’s safe to say that the shopping experience we know will dramatically change post-lockdown.
Retailers with brick-and-mortar outposts will have to prove that they can welcome customers in a safe and sanitised way that will reduce any risk of transmission of Covid-19, and one of the most challenging areas to consider is that of the fitting room.
The trying-on of clothes - not to mention shoes, jewellery and accessories - will be fraught with problems in a post-pandemic age. How will staff keep cubicles clean, garments free of germs, and themselves safe?
John Lewis is one retailer considering new protocols ahead of its reopening in the coming weeks, among them a 72-hour quarantine for clothes that have been returned by customers before they go back on the shop floor. The use of garment steamers is another proposed idea for ridding an item of any Covid-19 traces. Until an effective solution is in place though, fitting rooms will be closed when the chain reopens its stores.
Naomi Gillies, director for retail at John Lewis, said: “Certain parts would remain closed until we’re confident that we can operate them safely and securely and that our customers feel they want to be part of it.”
We can learn a little from the US and mainland Europe, where some stores have reopened with new measures in place. American department store Macy’s, for instance, has made only a handful of fitting rooms available and will keep any tried-on merchandise off the shop floor for 24 hours. Meanwhile men’s tailor Suitsupply has created perspex partitions that will allow for distanced fittings and alterations.
But large volumes of shoppers could make it much harder to maintain standards. In Belgium, both Zara and Primark had long queues of customers ahead of their reopening on Monday, while a TJ Maxx (the US name for TK Maxx) store in Arkansas quickly filled with unsettling mask-free crowds on reopening.
Management consulting firm BCG found that, for the majority of UK shoppers, it will take one to three months before they feel comfortable shopping in stores again, though visible health and safety measures will help give them the confidence to return. Its research shows that 50 percent of UK customers say that having hand sanitiser in stores makes them feel safer, while 44 percent say that social distancing in stores makes them feel safer.
“Everybody is testing and learning together,” says Sarah Willersdorf, global luxury topic lead at BCG. “The trickiest thing that many retailers are working on is how to accept returns and what to do with merchandise that has been tried on, and I'm seeing a few different techniques and trials for that specifically. A very common one is an isolation process for merchandise after it's been either returned or tried on, but there are a couple of retailers looking at [more] innovative things like steaming processes and UV lights.”
Certainly, we can expect steaming clothes between customers to become de rigueur, but Fred Maxik, founder and CTO of US company Healthe, hopes that his UV sanitisation system will become widely used too. “It [works at] a particular wavelength that does not damage human tissue or eyes, but is quite deadly to viruses and bacteria,” he explains. “We can put this into spaces like fitting rooms or others, where we can, in real-time continuously decontaminate the space.”
For those that have been thinking about how to navigate the fitting room issue, here’s what we can expect:
Spanish high street chain Mango is ahead of the game when it comes to preparing stores for customers post-lockdown, as it has already reopened in several countries including Germany and France. It says fitting rooms will only be partially opened (every other cubicle will be closed to maintain social distancing), and access will be monitored. After clothes have been tried on by a customer, Mango says they will be cleaned using a high-temperature steaming process.
The same method will be used at independent boutiques too, such as Couverture and the Garbstore in London’s Notting Hill. “All garments and accessories will be steamed or cleaned after they have been tried on,” says Carin Nakanishi, Head of Garbstore. She adds that there will also be one-on-one shopping appointments as a way to control both the number of people in-store and hygiene standards.
At luxury fashion retailer Browns, customers will be able to book appointments at a dedicated private shopping space via its smartphone app, and pre-select clothing to try on before and during the session.
This kind of service has long been an offering at Anna, which has six fashion boutiques across the UK. “It's called The Dressing Room,” says owner Anna Park. “Clients can pick out items on our website, and instead of putting it in their basket, they put it in their dressing room. Then they then pick the shop that they want to be in, and the time they want those clothes to be there.”
Appointment shopping means that Park will be able to stick to a limit of two customers in a store at any given time, and they’ll have to wear face masks when trying on clothes. “We will have masks in the fitting room because I think it's really important for clients to wear masks when putting things over their head,” she says.
Customers will also be encouraged to take clothes home rather than trying them on in-store. Park hopes that by signing up to “buy now, pay later” service Klarna, this will become a more accessible option. “When you take loads of things into the fitting room, you know that you're only going to buy one,” she says. “And Klarna's the thing; you can do that and just buy one. You don't have to fork out £500 and then wait for your refund.”
As well as all these measures, the government has ruled that any item tried-on or returned must be quarantined for 72 hours.
High street footwear favourite Kurt Geiger is taking government guidelines into account, but it has already planned a series of measures that will allow shoppers to try on shoes in-store. “Trying on shoes is integral to the in-store experience so we want to make sure this is as safe and enjoyable as possible by taking extra precautions,” the company said in a statement.
Kurt Geiger customers will be asked to use hand sanitiser and wear disposable socks when trying on shoes, and staff will be required to use hand sanitiser before serving each customer. The chain will also limit the number of shoppers in-store at any one time by introducing a policy of one customer per staff member available. Social distancing of 2m will be observed as well.
Returns, it says, will be handled with disposable gloves and unavailable for resale to other customers for at least the government-mandated 72 hours.
Jewellery and accessories
We’re used to picking up a necklace or sunglasses from a display and trying it on in front of a mirror on the shop floor, but we can expect a different experience when shops reopen. Higher-end jewellery stores are best equipped for this, as much of the merchandise is kept under glass, and sales assistants can easily clean each item after it’s been tried on.
This is very much the case at Pandora, where “Touch and Feel” units, that allow shoppers to handle jewellery, have been temporarily removed. “We don’t want to take away from the store experience and we know shoppers will naturally want to try pieces on ahead of purchasing,” says Kate Walsh, UK Managing Director at Pandora. “We already have a process in which hygiene takes priority - this will include consumers using hand sanitiser ahead of trying a product on, in addition to jewellery being cleaned thoroughly before and after it is worn.”
At Anna, anything handled by a customer will be cleaned with an antiseptic wipe afterwards. “I think people will be a bit nervous about picking up things like that,” says Park, “[but] we'll be wiping everything before and after use. To be honest with you, that's something we've usually done anyway - we do always wipe the jewellery.”


Discussion in 'Pop' started by Ozymandias, Sep 18, 2018.
This is such a massive banger.
Amazing, been playing it on repeat.
Down to #38 in week 2. Hopefully this will climb or is Marina really that big of a turn off to people?
Up to 29 in the midweeks.
But really, who issues a Mediterranean themed banger in fucking November?
It makes me sad that this wonderful number seems like it is going to fail to give Marina that apparently guaranteed top ten.
Is this really flopping? I’m shocked and not shocked all at once.
Seriously what is wrong with people
I blame Luis Fonsi
We're not into any of this foreign shite anymore. Hard Brexit!
This is so good. They need to do a few high profile perfs
It's doing fine on airplay and sales - just struggling on streaming. Bit weird for Clean Bandit, really - they usually do rather well on Spotify. I don't think it's over just yet - it is slowly climbing a bit there.
I don’t see it in the UK Spotify Top 50 or Viral.
Is she really chart poison??
Seems so !
I have also been listening to 'Disconnect' ft Marina on their Spotify playlist a lot. Love that one too - another banger. Is that an old song or a newie
Given that Clean Bandit are rushing out a newie with Charli XCX and that fucking awful American brat, it would appear they're a tad shaken by "Baby" not going supernova.
The Charli track is just an instant grat track, much like the other new one they put out this week. Baby is still being pushed. In fact it just reached #4 on iTunes, it's just a question of whether streaming catches up...
The next single will almost certainly be the Ellie or Rita collabs.
I think Clean Bandit should push themselves a bit with their collaborators tbh. Next album should have Kim Gordon, Jenny Hval, Henry Rollins and Paul Chuckle.
An old (and much better) one
I like “Disconnect” but I don’t find it anywhere near as instant or commercial as “Baby”. Which is why I’m so surprised at this stalling (so far anyway).
Disconnected was my max track of 2017 make no mistake and still goes hard these days.
Such a shame the general public ain't feeling Baby
A 6 place climb to its highest position of #26 this week. Feels like it’s just a good tv booking from taking off. I’m sure Marina would even go by herself if it’s hard for them all to turn up together.
Nice little climb and SOLID. Yes, they need a big TV performance of this. I'd love to see it rise into the top 20/low top 10 and linger a bit, rather than a really high peak like they usually get
I really don’t get it. #1 on airplay, top ten on iTunes where it has been for weeks yet is sitting at like #92 on streaming.
Sorry, but the reason this isn’t doing anything is because it’s CRAP.
Someone’s got to speak the truth.
I'm with Devil in finding it all a bit strange. Particularly for an act like Clean Bandit. I don't see why this should fail so hard streaming when they usually clean up there.
See I don’t rate it too highly myself, but for it to be all over all radio playlists and the sales chart means it’s popular enough to test well on the airwaves and for people to buy it - to barely scrape the top 100 on Spotify, as a band that are quite current/cool, is just very odd to me.
It doesn’t sound like their other music though. It is pretty dull. I think it is only getting played on the radio because they are currently a pretty huge singles act.
As I said, it's a summer song. Totally the wrong time of year for flamenco guitars and Mediterranean vibes.
I wouldn't have thought that was too much of a problem for a group who managed to make a Christmas #1 out of Rockabye.
Half the songs in the chart right now are summer songs!
Are they fuck! There's a difference between a "summer song" and a song that's been in charts since September.
Climbs one place to a new peak #25. I don’t know if they’ll be interested pursuing this track further but should be worth giving another push in January after the Christmas stuff filters away.
To be honest, I am quite liking this chart story
Because of how intensely streaming affects the charts in December these days, anything around just now has a chance of bouncing back if it makes the new-year party playlists.
By then it will be subject to the accelerated streaming ratio if sales are falling, so I wouldn't be surprised if they pushed another track to try to bolster the album.
I know Clean Bandit are doing Royal variety televised this week. If they do this single that will be the first TV perf I think, and quite big exposure
They did It Takes Two the week it was released. I guess that isn't the most high profile, but Olly Murs also did it this week so in between the Michael Boltons, Nadines and Gabrielles some current bigger names are doing it.
I didn't realise. Will watch that now. I guess Royal Variety will be the most high profile if they sing that song though on Tuesday, unless they do BBC Breakfast.
Climbs one more place to #24. I’m declaring it top 20 due to Xmas playlist streaming songs flooding the charts ahead of it.
They did Royal Variety too this week
Sticking this in-between Symphony and Solo on the Clean Bandit album tracklist REALLY just shows it up as being so lacking in comparison.
Solo is SUCH a monster, and Symphony has so much broad appeal this just sounds a bit flat and gimmicky.
Poor Marina, trying to scam her way back on the charts (and Radio 1 playlist) through this collab and it barely breaks the top 30


text:
European champions Liverpool are to send their Under 23s side to face Marine in a friendly this Sunday.
The game kicks off at 2pm with admission £5 adults and £3 concessions.
It is a key event as part of Marine's 125th anniversary celebrations, which last Saturday saw Dulwich Hamlet visit the Marine Travel Arena.
The Mariners link up with Liverpool FC also sees them staging a 125-year dinner in the Beautiful Game Suite at Anfield on Friday October 4.
Chairman Paul Leary said: “I would like to thank Liverpool FC for agreeing to send their Under 23 team this coming Sunday as part of our 125 Anniversary celebrations. This is a really special occasion for all connected with Marine Football Club and I look forward to meeting the Liverpool staff, players and fans visiting us this coming Sunday.
“I expect there to be a very good attendance for the game and urge fans to arrive early. The game kicks off at 2pm and turnstiles will open at 1pm with the Clubrooms open to all fans from midday.”


Electric vehicles charging back with V2G technology
Image credit: Dominion Energy
From electric school buses to Nissan Leafs, can vehicle-to-grid technology accelerate the clean-energy revolution?
Looking for ways to support the integration of a new 2.6-gigawatt offshore wind farm, Dominion Energy, a utility in Virginia, US, has devised a plan to use batteries within electric school buses as a grid flexibility asset.
As part of the $16m project, Dominion will provide selected local schools with 50 battery-powered buses equipped for bidirectional charging. When the vehicles are idle, the utility will store excess energy in the batteries and draw it back in peak hours.
The technology, known as vehicle-to-grid or ‘V2G’, is not new, but it is extremely nascent. Seen as a progression from electric vehicle (EV) ‘smart charging’, where vehicle batteries are recharged at the optimal time for the network, trials for V2G as an energy-management and storage asset are ongoing, but finding the right business models has proved tricky.
Dominion, however, is one of the first utilities to integrate V2G into its commercial operations, with the first 50 electric buses expected to be operational by the end of 2020.
“The unique profile of electric school buses, where they park, the hours they operate and the miles they run, means much of the electric battery capacity isn’t needed much of the time, creating a great opportunity for shared battery use,” explains Mark Webb, senior vice president and chief innovation officer at Dominion Energy.
The buses cost $325,000 each but are sold to schools for $100,000 – the same price as a diesel equivalent. At the end of the school day they will be returned to their depots and plugged into bidirectional V2G chargers. Once connected, via a digital distributed energy-management system, the utility will charge the batteries, which takes around three-and-a-half hours, at the optimal time. When the energy is needed a signal is sent to transfer power into the grid.
The bidirectional energy-management system, called APEX, is provided by Proterra, an automotive and energy-storage company based in California. It will eventually be expanded to manage all the utility’s distributed assets, including solar and wind generation.
Dan Weekley, vice president of innovation policy and development at Dominion Energy, says the buses will mitigate the need to build additional capacity to the grid and help it better integrate renewable energy, in particular wind power.
“Offshore wind will produce more electricity primarily in the evening, afternoon or night time; with this programme we can charge the batteries when those renewables produce energy and have the flexibility to use it when we need it. This helps stabilise the distribution grid for voltage levels and other factors,” says Weekley.
To integrate the technology, Dominion had to investigate specific depots where the buses may be parked and what benefit the batteries could bring to the nearby energy-distribution network, as well as what upgrades are needed to adapt local systems.
Weekley continues: “There will be, I’m sure, a learning curve as we explore and investigate different uses and ways to maximise its value as the grid evolves, because it is constantly changing due to the type of power it’s managing.”
For the project to provide real benefit to the utility’s grid management, however, it needs to be scaled up significantly, he adds. Dominion was targeting 1,500 buses by 2025, which would give it enough storage and supply capacity to serve around 15,000 homes for approximately four to five hours a day, carrying the company over peak periods, particularly in summer when schools are closed. However, this was contingent on legislation passing that would allow the utility to transfer the costs to its customers – costing each around $1.25 a month. In March the Virginia General Assembly rejected the proposal.
Nevertheless, the company says it is still committed to adding ‘at least’ 1,000 more buses over the next few years, but needs policy support to provide clarity over the financing and ownership of the buses, related electric components and infrastructure, and hopes the Assembly will reconsider as soon as next year.
Overall, however, the project has been very popular with residents, says Weekley, due to the buses’ six-times-better internal air quality compared to non-electric models, a benefit which he says goes “directly to our customers’ kids”.
School buses are a unique but somewhat limited use-case for V2G technology. For true scalability, the technology needs to work commercially for consumers and operators of EV fleets.
However, Claire Miller, director of technology and innovation at Octopus Electric Vehicles, which is part of Octopus Energy, says consumer V2G is a “fiendishly complicated product” and currently not “a massively consumer-friendly process”.
Octopus, along with distribution network operator (DNO) UK Power Networks (UKPN), is currently running an Innovate UK co-funded consumer-focused V2G trial in south-east England, called Powerloop. The trial is one of several that are ongoing in the UK, including others by EDF Energy and Ovo Energy.
For a monthly fee, trial participants lease a brand-new Nissan Leaf, one of only two cars (the other is a Mitsubishi) that currently has bidirectional charging capabilities, and receive a free Wallbox Quasar bidirectional charger.
The charger, which the company says is the first bidirectional one available for the home, has a backend system that transmits a withdrawal schedule every half an hour, so when a customer plugs in their car, it knows when to take power.
To get a £30 reward, participants must plug in the Leaf 12 times a month for 12 hours, between 4pm and 5am, so it can be used to support peak demand at around 6pm. The battery is recharged overnight, but 30 per cent – around 40 miles – is always available ‘just in case’. Using an app, customers can override the system or set a weekly charging schedule.
Due to the complex and ageing nature of grid infrastructure, however, Miller says UKPN has to get out “paper maps and archaic documents” to assess the safety of the nearby grid infrastructure before a customer can be enrolled – which is why it’s not yet hugely consumer-friendly.
“In the past, connecting an energy-generating device to the grid was either a gas-fired power station or a large solar farm and wouldn’t happen very often,” says Miller. “Then there was rooftop solar, which at 3-4kW is low-level, whereas Powerloop is around 7kW – enough to warrant a closer look at the potential disruption to the local grid infrastructure.”
In the future, the idea is for customers to make money by selling flexibility and energy back to the grid. However, currently the value placed on this energy is not high enough, says Miller.
‘People could get free parking at shopping malls and airport car parks in exchange for allowing V2G through their vehicle.’
Drawing parallels with rooftop solar, where feed-in-tariffs were initially propped up by the government, a similar approach may be needed for V2G or for utilities to “inflate the price” to cover the cost of the service being provided, she says. Octopus Electric Vehicles is working with the retail arm of the company and regulators to address this issue, but the segregated structure of the UK energy system can make it challenging.
“What we’re providing through V2G helps the whole grid, because it mitigates the need for having gas power to increase energy supply at peak demand. It is also a very local solution to this challenge. Therefore, the emphasis is on energy retailers and grid operators coming together to make it work financially,” says Miller.
Unpredictability is also an issue; it’s impossible to guarantee when customers will actually plug in their cars. Octopus is monitoring customer behaviour, which at the end of the trial it will extrapolate over larger numbers to calculate how much energy might be available at any given time.
Dr Giulia Privitera, delivery manager for low-carbon technologies at UKPN, says the company has also demonstrated that V2G can work and sees it as an opportunity to support the network and reduce the need for upgrades when more EVs start using the grid. UKPN estimates that between 1.9 and 4.1 million EVs will be on its three networks by 2030. BloombergNEF estimates that by terawatt-hours electric vehicles could account for as much as 16 per cent of the UK’s overall energy demand in 2040.
“As a DNO we can incentivise customers to discharge by adding an export fee as a reward. We would do that at times where it would benefit the network and take pressure off it,” says Privitera.
“Additionally, for commercial fleets that might have vehicles at base and not used at certain times, we could contract with them to use their batteries to relieve pressure on the network,” she adds.
Enel X, which develops products and services for the energy sector, has also run several trials of V2G technology since 2012. But Giovanni Bertolino, head of e-mobility for US and Canada at the company, does not think the market is ready yet because there is no clear regulation and the infrastructure is expensive.
Bidirectional inverters can convert DC to AC and AC to DC, while unidirectional inverters just convert AC to DC. Today, EV-charging infrastructure can use both inverters, but it’s most common to convert the AC energy coming from the grid to DC to fast-charge a vehicle.
“Currently there is less demand for the bidirectional inverter technology than one-directional, which makes it more expensive; I think the economics are now much more in favour of centralised storage, but that could change,” says Bertolino.
Ryan Fischer, associate for electric vehicles at BloombergNEF, says an interesting point of discussion around the cost of technology is whether AC V2G charging, instead of DC, will be possible.
“AC V2G charging has some technical constraints with the grid interconnection and would require car manufacturers to incorporate more of the functionality currently onboard the chargers within the vehicles, which could significantly reduce the cost compared to a DC version. This could make the customer proposition more attractive,” he says.
Having more manufacturers of the technology could also bring the price down and provide more technical and maintenance support, says Clara Serrano, a senior engineer and EBRI plant manager, at Aston University. She oversaw a V2G trial with partners Nortech Management, Grid Edge and ByteSnap Design, which concluded in February.
Furthermore, Serrano says protocol and interoperability are important. The trial at Aston, which was funded by the UK’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in partnership with Innovate UK, demonstrated the VIGIL V2G (VehIcle-to-Grid Intelligent controL) platform using four chargers.
According to Serrano, it is the UK’s first comprehensive communication and control platform for managing V2G systems and electrical networks. It can also support multiple chargers, including AC and DC.
During the trial, Serrano and her colleagues monitored the impact of the two-way energy flows on battery degradation, an issue that could affect car warranty.
“We found it’s important to consider ‘calendar’ degradation, which means even if the car is parked and the battery is idle it is still degrading,” she explains. “This occurs more when a battery is at higher state of charge. Therefore, contrary to perception, V2G could actually help extend the life of the battery, but more research is needed.”
Overall, she says, there are challenges that need to be addressed, including establishing control and trust between all the different stakeholders, but there are opportunities, too. “People could get free parking at shopping malls and airport car parks in exchange for allowing V2G through their vehicle,” she says.
David Slutzky, founder and CEO of US-based Fermata Energy, disagrees with the characterisation that V2G for EVs is not already a commercially viable proposition.
The company has developed an ‘off-the-shelf’ bidirectional 15kW EV charger and proprietary software system. In March, it was the first in the world to be certified to a new North American safety standard, UL 9741. The company, which has secured investment from Japanese power company Tepco, has done several trials of its technology ‘in private’ and intends to scale in 2021, selling aggregate car-battery storage and energy supply back to the grid, initially from fleets of cars.
Slutzky, who was a senior policy advisor at the White House and Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton Administration, says he created Fermata to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and to help the transition of renewable energy on the grid.
“V2G sits at the intersection of those two objectives. The biggest obstacle to the technology is penetration of EV ownership, which, in my opinion, is prohibited by them being pricey; but if people can earn money while they’re parked, which is 90 per cent of the time, that will disrupt the total cost of ownership value proposition compared to an internal combustion engine vehicle,” he says. “If a quarter of the cars in the US were Nissan Leafs, which has a 6.6kW battery, there would probably be enough energy storage equivalent to the entire grid.”
Beyond selling services back to the grid, Slutzky says V2G can also provide energy security for residential EV owners who experience regular power outages – a problem, he says, that will become more common because of climate change.
In May 2020 it was reported that Tesla, one of the most popular EV brands on the market, has started integrating bidirectional batteries into its Model 3. This is news that could be a game-changer for the concept and speed up its market penetration.
“I think the scalability of V2G is so huge it will truly disrupt both the auto industry and the electric power industry globally,” Slutzky reaffirms.
“And what’s nice about it is the carbon impact of that transition, from both adoption of EVs and increased integration of renewables, will be huge.”
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Also, for the first time, the SPLC added two male supremacy groups to the hate group list: A Voice for Men, based in Houston, and Return of Kings, based in Washington, D.C. The vilification of women by these groups makes them no different than other groups that demean entire populations, such as the LGBT community, Muslims or Jews, based on their inherent characteristics.
What we have come to know is that during the years of the Obama administration, the cancer of treasonous leftism was spread far and wide in the federal bureaucracy such that no part of the government is now free of corruption. Some agencies have more and some less, but none seem to be immune from the pestilence of Marxist influence and political correctness that destroys everything that it touches. Michael Goodwin writes at The New York Post:
During the financial crisis, the federal government bailed out banks it declared “too big to fail.” Fearing that their bankruptcy might trigger economic Armageddon, the feds propped them up with taxpayer cash.
Something similar is happening now at the FBI, with the Washington wagons circling the agency to protect it from charges of corruption. This time, the appropriate tag line is “too big to believe.”
Yet each day brings credible reports suggesting there is a massive scandal involving the top ranks of America’s premier law enforcement agency. The reports, which feature talk among agents of a “secret society” and suddenly missing text messages, point to the existence both of a cabal dedicated to defeating Donald Trump in 2016 and of a plan to let Hillary Clinton skate free in the classified email probe.
If either one is true — and I believe both probably are — it would mean FBI leaders betrayed the nation by abusing their powers in a bid to pick the president.
More support for this view involves the FBI’s use of the Russian dossier on Trump that was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. It is almost certain that the FBI used the dossier to get FISA court warrants to spy on Trump associates, meaning it used the opposition research of the party in power to convince a court to let it spy on the candidate of the other party — likely without telling the court of the dossier’s political link.
Even worse, there is growing reason to believe that someone in President Barak Obama’s administration turned over classified information about Trump to the Clinton campaign. An FBI informant has apparently informed Congress that a secret society at the FBI was holding secret meetings off-site after the election of Donald Trump. On Special Report with Bret Baier Tuesday evening, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) called it “corruption of the highest levels of the FBI.”
If you don’t already have doubts about the general intelligence of these people, you should seriously reconsider your viewpoint. Despite their power and position, their wealth and their ivy league degrees, the fact remains that most of them are rather pedestrian in their thinking. In fact, one could argue that an ivy league degree is a serious disadvantage given that schools today are far more interested in the task of liberal/leftist indoctrination than in teaching students how to actually think rationally and without bias, and thereby to make accurate assessments about how current events and plans may play out in the future. Wishful thinking is no substitute for real knowledge and hard practical analysis.
Political correctness and the arrogance that goes along with it comes naturally to these people. Combine that with what AC says is a deficient amygdala and you get people who are so certain of their moral righteousness and mental superiority that they simply do not think that they could ever be caught red-handed or pay a price for their actions. As this unfolds, I believe that we will see many of these individuals learn a very different and hard lesson otherwise. And they will deserve every bit of it.
There was a great gnashing of teeth and clutching of pearls among the (((self-appointed elites))) when the subject of who should be allowed into the country and why came up in a White House meeting recently and The God Emperor was said to have been a bit disparaging of the countries of the 3rd world from whence most of our recent diversity have been imported.
The President wanted to know how it benefits us Americans to be bringing in so many of these people which would seem to be a reasonable question. Many regular people across the nation and particularly in fly-over-country have been asking these same questions for a very long time with no real response from our betters that does not involve them calling us “racists, bigots, trans-phobic, etc., etc.
But one of the things that we deplorables like about Trump is that culturally he is one of us and will not be shy about asking the obvious questions that (((the elites))) would rather not acknowledge and certainly do not want to address. And so we get the spectacle of leftists having a great hissy-fit on the question of just what constitutes a shit-hole and why would you want people from those places coming here anyway.
The truth of the matter is that the massive injection of diversity into the country in numbers great enough to seriously alter the character of the U.S. into something most people don’t want has been a major issue with the voters for some time now. It is also true that (((the elites))) have long been working to bring in these people against the wishes of the vast majority of the American people and they have no intention of stopping voluntarily. And that too is why we elected Trump.
This “fundamental transformation” of America can be traced back to the immigration act of 1965 that was signed into law by the Democrats of that era. I will have more to say on that later, but for now, it is very satisfying to see the left melting down because they were “triggered” by our President simply asking the kind of common-sense question that any of us would want to be answered. And as usual, they have no real answer.
There has been the usual and expected sound and fury from The Elite Media Monoculture concerning the new “book” from Washington insider (((Michael Wolff.))) Naturally the release of this “book” has had the effect of stimulating the leftists and elites to their usual frothy and spittle inducing rage to which we have become so accustom. (and which has become so tiresome)
As usual, however, we find that this “book” seems to be largely a fabrication from the mind of its author detailing not what is, but rather what the left and the elites would prefer reality to be. In other words, if it is a narrative you seek rather than the world that is, this “book” is for you.
At The Hill Sebastian Gorka brings us this essay in which he pulls apart some of the obvious lies from (((Mr. Wolff))) and shows us just how flimsy the most recent construction of the left really is and why no one of serious mind should give it any credence. Remarkably the “author” himself writes in the prologue to this “book” that nothing in it can be verified or proven and that the contents must be evaluated by the reader who will have to make up their own minds as to whether (((Mr. Wolff))) is telling them the truth or not. If you want to be taken seriously as a scholar and author, this is not the way to achieve that goal.
Unless we had a preexisting relationship, I didn’t trust any journalist. And if you came from an outlet that belonged to what President Trump calls #FakeNews, I really wasn’t interested in becoming your friend. To those few persistent journalists from news organs like the Washington Post who wouldn’t give up, I was upfront: Sorry, I don’t do “deep background” and I’m using my phone to record this conversation.
As a result, you’d never see Jim Acosta coming out of my office or Maggie Haberman buying me an espresso at Peet’s around the corner from the West Wing. So, when I met Michael Wolff in Reince Priebus’ office, where he was waiting to talk to Steve Bannon, and after I had been told to also speak to him for his book, my attitude was polite but firm: “Thanks but no thanks.” Our brief encounter reinforced my gut feeling that this oleaginous scribe had no interest in being fair and unbiased.
Now, the chattering classes are gripped in an hysterical fever over Wolff’s tell-all book, “Fire and Fury,” with Wolff actually saying that its publication will bring down the duly-elected president of the United States.
I refuse to buy the book of a man who so avowedly holds what, in a previous age, we would have called treasonous goals, but I have read the publicly released excerpts and therefore feel that we can all draw some practical conclusions.
First, Wolff is a partisan self-promoter with credibility issues the likes of which we haven’t seen in a very long time. We are used to Washington being divided, but the contents of this politically-motivated publication are so obviously false that the “swamp” has descended to a new unimaginable low with its release.
In this article from CNBC, we learn that a Harvard professor thinks it very likely that half of all colleges and universities will go out of business because of the development of online learning. And indeed, online education is far more cost-effective and convenient for many potential students. For many kinds of educational subjects, you really don’t need a physical building to go to as long as you have a computer and a connection to the internet. The costs of housing and transportation are eliminated and the tuition of such courses could be greatly reduced from the levels that we see now.
Christensen is known for coining the theory of disruptive innovation in his 1997 book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” Since then, he has applied his theory of disruption to a wide range of industries, including education.
In his recent book, “The Innovative University,” Christensen and co-author Henry Eyring analyze the future of traditional universities, and conclude that online education will become a more cost-effective way for students to receive an education, effectively undermining the business models of traditional institutions and running them out of business.
The advertisement that is reproduced in the photograph here can be seen at many of the CTA train stops going into and out of the city. It caught my eye and so I took a quick shot of it and decided to write about it because it struck me as another scam on the part of the leftist educational institutions we suffer from today.
Education has become more and more expensive over the years; much more than it was back in the bad old days when I was a mere student in school. Even back then you had to spend a few dollars to take classes, but nothing like it is today. The government’s own economic involvement in higher education has had the effect of driving costs up by pumping money into the system in the form of student loans and grants to universities. Schools have taken this opportunity of federal funds being thrown their way to substantially raise tuition and other costs and pass those costs on to gullible students. The debt is held by the students of course and they have to pay back the government since during the Obama administration the feds took over the student loan business. Good for the schools and the government, but not as good for the students who are frequently saddled with debt that they can’t pay back.
It’s not that I am against higher education overall, but I think in this day and age you should be very careful how you spend the hard earned money that schools demand for their educational products. I can’t see this as anything other than a way to fleece students by providing them with yet another high priced worthless degree. And it is a fact that many students today lack the judgment and temperament to distinguish between those degrees that are actually worth something and those that are a massive waste of money.
Because really, what are you going to do with a Social Justice Warrior degree? If you want to be valuable in the job market today, you need to have a skill set that is in demand. The obvious ones are in STEM fields, but even if that’s not to your liking, there are other jobs for those who can provide a valuable service in areas such as the trades, where people are also in high demand. Businesses need talented and trained individuals to do a variety of different kinds of jobs. And in the age of the internet, it’s not really that difficult to do a bit of research to find out what skills are in demand. But I think it is safe to say that meddling SJWs are probably not the next big growth industry. Quite the contrary.
For SJWs don’t really produce anything and in fact are destructive of business and commerce wherever they go. Vox has made the point that D.C. and Marvel Comics are being destroyed by Social Justice Warriors as their revenues plummet. No normal person wants to see the kind of politically correct heroes that they are now pushing on the public. The traditional ones have been replaced with new ones that normal people find repulsive. And the decline of old standards like Star Wars has been covered elsewhere. Other industries have been seriously harmed by the left when they have come to dominate in those areas; education, legacy media and Hollywood for example.
Leftists don’t really like business or success or real economic progress and advancement. They are permanently unhappy people and find it seriously painful to observe other people being happy and prosperous. And so they have to find ways to destroy those things while trying to convince others that they are engaged in some sort of higher moral purpose. That’s an excuse of course, but they can’t just come out and admit that they hate you because you are normal and successful. They have to hide behind some sort of byzantine rationalization for why they always have to screw things up for you and me.
And having a high-priced degree saying that you know how to be a professional screw-up seems to me the ultimate in rationalizations.
VDARE provides us a break-down of the loss in the Alabama Senate race and shows once again why you can never rely on the GOP establishment to fight for the right. And in this case, a weak candidate who ran a poor campaign still managed to come within a razor’s edge of winning despite an incompetent race.
Ultimately, however, the Republican Establishment is to blame for Moore’s defeat. Rather than defending their candidate, they ran for cover following the early MSM attacks, thus emboldening the Democrats and encouraging them to pour in money and resources. A united front from day one would have prevented this from even being a contest. They have completely failed to learn the lesson of the 2016 campaign: courage Trumps cowardice.
Thomas Lifson at the American Thinker has been keeping track of all of the various individual allegations of harassment that have been reported in the news and it has grown to be quite long. Yes, there are a few on the list from the right, but it is stunning how the overwhelming number of incidents involve those self-righteous, smug preachy members of the left who are constantly telling us just how superior they are and why we should look to them for moral guidance. I am guessing that some people may be less inclined to follow that advice after this.
The excerpt from the list reproduced below is just a taste. For the full list follow the link.
So, the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, John Conyers, only partially functional owing to advanced age, is stepping down from his safe seat in Detroit, and the junior Senator from Minnesota announced on the floor of the Senate — reading from a script — he will leave his seat in the vague future, while not admitting anything and attacking his opponents. The Democrat Governor of Minnesota will appoint a Democrat to keep the seat safely in party hands if Franken follows through, though astute observers like Rush Limbaugh and Steven Hayward speculate that Franken will renege should Roy Moore be seated in the Senate following next week’s special election in Alabama.
This article from The New Yorker Magazine is extensive and remarkable in the detail it reveals about the depth and complexity of the corruption in Hollywood that is personified in the character of Harvey Weinstein. Not only does it describe his activities with regard to the women around him but we also learn about his use of money and power to buy the silence of his victims and his use of intelligence organizations to intimidate and silence others. It is a lengthy read, but well worth the time.
In the fall of 2016, Harvey Weinstein set out to suppress allegations that he had sexually harassed or assaulted numerous women. He began to hire private security agencies to collect information on the women and the journalists trying to expose the allegations. According to dozens of pages of documents, and seven people directly involved in the effort, the firms that Weinstein hired included Kroll, which is one of the world’s largest corporate-intelligence companies, and Black Cube, an enterprise run largely by former officers of Mossad and other Israeli intelligence agencies. Black Cube, which has branches in Tel Aviv, London, and Paris, offers its clients the skills of operatives “highly experienced and trained in Israel’s elite military and governmental intelligence units,” according to its literature.
Two private investigators from Black Cube, using false identities, met with the actress Rose McGowan, who eventually publicly accused Weinstein of rape, to extract information from her. One of the investigators pretended to be a women’s-rights advocate and secretly recorded at least four meetings with McGowan. The same operative, using a different false identity and implying that she had an allegation against Weinstein, met twice with a journalist to find out which women were talking to the press. In other cases, journalists directed by Weinstein or the private investigators interviewed women and reported back the details.

domain: politics