#Data Buccaneer

[futureelectronic1106]

Meet the Bulgin Circular Data Connectors

https://www.futureelectronics.com/resources/featured-products/bulgin-circular-connectors. The dust and waterproof Data Buccaneer range includes a wide variety of sealed circular connectors designed specifically for Ethernet, USB (including mini-usb and micro-usb) and SMB applications. https://youtu.be/-LoS9Hct07Y

[waitineedaname]

Finally, after months of work, I have completed it: the collection of all* character appearances in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood!

edit: if you want a more detailed spreadsheet on the homunculi in particular, @vuullets has a collection of all homunculi appearances in the manga! you can find it here

Some notes on this spreadsheet:

there are spoilers. obviously. proceed with caution

timestamps indicate when a character first appears in a scene, not every time they appear. if the scene changes to one without that character, and then we return to that character in another scene, that's another timestamp for a new appearance

all timestamps are approximate, give or take a few seconds based on how quickly I could pause the show

only unique flashbacks count as an appearance. if the flashback is to something we've seen in a previous episode, that is not counted as a unique appearance, but if it provides something new that we haven't seen before, it counts!

I didn't include background easter egg appearances, like when you can see Mei in the background at a train station before she's introduced

I didn't actually do all characters. there are a lot of characters, and I am just one person. sorry if you're a big fan of minor members of the military, i just couldn't do it

since Greed is kind of a special case, he deserves a specific explanation: OG Greed and Greedling are not counted as separate characters, they're both just Greed. when Greed is in control of Ling's body, that counts as an appearance for Greed, and it's not an appearance for Ling unless he's in control. if they're both in a scene together (talking in the mindscape, for example, or switching control back and forth) they each get a timestamp for when they first appear/speak in a scene

feel free to use this as a reference! I made this as a useful tool for myself, and because I'm a nerd about data. if you are also a nerd about data, I tallied up some stats, which I'll put under the cut:

only six characters broke 30 episodes. the characters with the most appearances are Edward (60), Alphonse (58), Mustang (45), Hawkeye (42), Scar (40), and Winry (31).

next highest on the list are Alex Armstrong and Mei (tied for 29), King Bradley (28), Hohenheim (26), and Ling (25).

the homunculus in the most episodes is Wrath (28), and the one in the least is Lust (11)

as previously mentioned, Alex Armstrong and Mei are in the same number of episodes (29), as are Olivier Armstrong and Marcoh (24), and Buccaneer and Ross (18)

Hughes is in only 10 episodes, the same number as Grumman and Fu

Yoki is in a whopping 23 episodes. what the fuck

the chimera in the most episodes is Zampano (21), closely followed by Darius and Jerso (20), with Heinkel falling behind at 16. The Devil's Nest chimeras are only in 2 episodes, with the exception of Bido, who is in 3

[mattkenzie]

Credits go to ???, RJamesV (Twitter), ???, ???, poke.nova (Instagram) and ???

The Quaxly evolution that I never had. I want a Duccaneer (Duck + Buccaneer) Where is my pirate duck, you cowards!! 🏴‍☠️

I pretty much fell in love with Quaxly (especially seeing the full art from the Pokémon Trading Card Game: Paldea Evolved) I loved that this starter loves to maintain their hair, keeping it prim and proper. I was a bit put off by Quaquaval at first but it grew on me eventually.

This would be something you can obtain by having save data on Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (when you become the champion of Paldea and Quaxly was your starter), you’ll encounter a trainer who would give you an egg which hatches into a Quaxly (But this Quaxly is different as it has unkempt hair).

[7twdi29ot5y8og6ndze7m7wexn29cm24]

Where is my mind?

An abandoned oil rig stands in for the garden of Eden. A garden is a walled space with vegetation. It contains encrypted knowledge of good and evil. 777 terabytes of data contained in a single gram of DNA. Wiping a tear off your cheek. Salty.

The ocean is grey. Makes you feel like there's something wrong with it. What's the word? 'Contaminated' Mandate Tonic, Dance Titan Om, An albatross has swallowed an Evian bottle. When 2 become 1.

Like all people, they contained multitudes. Like all situations, this was several situations at once. sometimes I looked away and ate peanuts and drank Club Mate. Sometimes I thought about what time it was. Then I was on the verge of tears. Then I laughed a lot.

420 Park Avenue Drexciya François Rabelais Quake 7 Arena Caiman Nearness Arcane Sans Mine Amnesia Scanner

In a taxicraft. Magnetic hover. Tunnels. Plebs light fires and roast stray cats. Taste memory of gnawing on stringy cat meat. Cats are mostly bones and fur. Memories of paper money, also on fire. Memories of diamonds. Rare minerals, tea bowls repaired with gold. Kintsugi. Gnu I Kits. King Suit. Nothing less than a 1000 years old.

Street view, upper level: Gregorian monks in technical fabrics. Robes with mesh and intelligence. UV face tattoos glow in the dark. Yellow contacts, sharp fangs. Monks are chanting: Google Krishna, Shrinkage Go Lo, Angels Rig Hook, Regal Kings Ooh,

Ice cream melting on his chest. Yourdicklooksgreatinthoseheels.com Handguns, rare butterflies. elaborate prison tattoo of a tiger in mid leap. Augmented reality contact lenses. Red bull energy drink. Fleshlight. Shell fight. Septum streched, thicker rings are more beautiful. chain on neck. Bull ring on nose. Fake lashes. AFK lashes. Nails so long that these hands can no longer grab things. Voice control override. This could be us but you playin'

thunderdome thunderdome anagrams

We're gonna take everything before we secess. We need more weapons. Hi-speed Wi-Fi provided by drones is a given. Arab money in ciphered currencies. Treasure island. Buccaneers and buried gold.

A stream of more or less violent crimes. What was violence again?

Floor 312. We're there. I hand the driver a flake of skin and a fingernail.

The oil rig. A bird flies over. We extend our arm and stand completely still. Bird lands. Bird makes sound. Gently touch bird. It lets that happen. Bird says: ______________ . Identify bird: sparrow. Place filter on sparrow. Mosaic, turbulent displace, hue/saturation. Bird is simplified, jagged edges, orange for now.

scan

[jonathantaylorthomas]

Chiefs-Jets NFL Game Hits 27 Million Viewers as Taylor Swift Makes Second Week Cheering on Travis Kelce

NBC‘s Sunday Night Football game featuring the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the New York Jets averaged approximately 27 million viewers, making it the most-watched Sunday show since Super Bowl LVII on Fox in February.

According to preliminary data across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms, that’s a 22% lift from last year’s Week 4 game (22.2 million as the Chiefs faced Tom Brady and the Buccaneers).

With another appearance from Taylor Swift, who was joined by friend Blake Lively, amid romance rumors with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, NBC’s “Taylor Made for Sunday Night” Sunday Night Football game promo was viewed approximately 8 million times.

In relation to her appearance last week at the Chiefs blowout against Chicago, which aired on Fox as the featured “America’s Game of the Week” faceoff, Fox’s telecast aired to an audience of 24.32 million total viewers and scored the highest among female demographics across the ages of 12-17, 18-49 this week.

In terms of audience, the trend continued with this week’s game as viewership among teen girls aged 12-17 spiked 53% from the season-to-date average of the first three weeks of Sunday Night Football, while the audience among Women aged 18-24 was up 24%, and Women 35 and older increased 34%.

[mimble-sparklepudding]

Reckless Ijinixxi.

That aimless young buccaneer Reckless,

Led a life that was torpid and feckless,

But a black mage in pink,

Caused him to rethink

With the gift of true love and a necklace.

For the next installment of my silly poetry series, we have the dashing pirate Miqo'te Reckless of @pinxli (and also @miqomischief).

Reckless is one of the many fantastic characters to be found across the various blogs produced by this creator (although how she keeps track I shall never know). A character with an arc that nobody could have predicted - least of all himself.

If you enjoy romance and fluff, punctuated by occasional angst and slaughtering hordes of voidsent, then Reckless and Inxli are a power couple worth getting to know (obviously it goes without saying that Inxli and Reckless are both adults and written as such).

To say nothing of the supporting cast of Tonberry refugees, some adopted children (one of whom is a Namazu), a flock of slightly confused apkallu and a bouncily cheerful father-in-law.

I can definitely recommend @pinxli for excellent writing and fun gposes, but also for the many RP events that the writer puts on for the FFXIV community, such as Glitter Hall and Story Hall. Keep an eye out for boosts on this blog and if you're on NA Data Centres I highly recommend you check them out!

[habitica]

JUNE SUBSCRIBER ITEM REVEALED!

The June Subscriber Item has been revealed: the Phantom Buccaneer Item Set! Subscribe to Habitica by 11:59 PM US EST on June 30 to receive this exciting set! Go to Menu > Subscription on mobile or User > Subscription on web to sign up. If you're already an active subscriber, reload the site and then head to Inventory > Items to claim your gear!

Subscribers also receive the ability to buy gems for gold—the longer you subscribe, the more gems you can buy per month! There are other perks as well, such as longer access to uncompressed data and a cute Jackalope pet. Best of all, subscriptions let us keep Habitica running. Thank you very much for your support—it means a lot to us.

[libertineangel]

Emry Sloan followed Gride Orian's directions and found they led to a very old derelict defence station in a remote corner of Paranid space once known as the headquarters of the fearsome Duke's Buccaneers. Scanning a series of beacons, and relaying the data therein to Boso Ta, she ended up making contact with an old, much-scarred Paranid by the name of Kromancketslat. He was a veteran of many battles in the time of the Gate shutdown, and had seen many hopeful Pontifices fight amongst themselves for supremacy as they reconnected, each seeing the others as pretenders, and he believed that now was the time for him to return and sow the seeds of lasting peace.

He invited Commander Sloan to escort him in negotiations with the Holy Order, and the first stop was a brief one. He docked at a defence platform, leaving Sloan to wait nearby, and soon after a squadron of Holy Order fighters came to intercept - Kromancketslat's scout ship was more than quick enough to evade them, and Sloan's Hand proved itself capable of dispatching them all with only a few shots each, though not without sustaining some damage in the process. The next destination was the monument Sloan previously scouted, and along the way she stopped off at a nearby Paranid wharf for repairs; while there she also commissioned a scout ship of her own for a reasonable price, and before long Captain Jesmeen Tsosie was flying the Swift Explorer across Holy Order space, filling the map as rapidly as the name would suggest.

Meeting Kromancketslat at the monument, he asked Sloan to speak with his nearby lieutenant: this turned out to be none other than Gride Orian herself, who revealed him to be the infamous Duke who once led the great Buccaneers. She believed his faith in peace to be misguided and foolish, and told Sloan she had a plan to reinvigorate his old ambitions, which began with Sloan picking up a bag of explosives.

[hotnew-pt]

onde assistir ao jogo da NFL #ÚltimasNotícias #tecnologia

Hot News O Kansas City Chiefs vai receber o Tampa Bay Buccaneers no Monday Night Football da semana 9 da NFL, principal liga de futebol americano do mundo. O duelo acontece nesta segunda-feira, 4 de novembro, às 22h15, no GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, em Kansas City, nos Estados Unidos. Kansas City Chiefs x Tampa Bay Buccaneers Liga: NFL Semana: 9 Data: 04/11 (segunda-feira) Horário: 22h15…

[gazetadoleste]

Kansas City Chiefs x Tampa Bay Buccaneers: onde assistir, horário e informações do jogo da NFL

O Kansas City Chiefs vai receber o Tampa Bay Buccaneers no Monday Night Football da semana 9 da NFL, principal liga de futebol americano do mundo. O duelo acontece nesta segunda-feira, 4 de novembro, às 22h15, no GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, em Kansas City, nos Estados Unidos. Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Liga: NFL Semana: 9 Data: 04/11 (segunda-feira) Horário: 22h15 (horário…

[recentlyheardcom]

Buccaneers vs. Saints Data Crunch

Second-year running back Sean Tucker led the dominant rushing attack with 136 yards on 14 carries, averaging 9.7 yards per tote. That marked the third-highest per-carry average in franchise history with a minimum of 10 carries in a game. Most Yards Per Carry, Buccaneers Player, Team History (min. 10 attempts) 10.1…Ricky Bell, vs. New Orleans, Oct. 14, 1979 (10-101) 10.0…Doug Martin, at Oakland,…

[thepublicnews]

How Profit and Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died at the VA

Federal agencies have hired contractors with no experience to find respirators and masks, fueling a black market filled with price gouging and multiple layers of profiteering brokers. One contractor called them “buccaneers and pirates.”

N95 respirator masks manufactured by 3M.

Before embarking on a 36-hour tour through an underground of contractors and middlemen trying to make a buck on the nation’s desperate need for masks, entrepreneur Robert Stewart Jr. offered an unusual caveat.

“I’m talking with you against the advice of my attorney,” the man in the shiny gray suit, an American Flag button with the word “VETERAN” pinned to his blazer, said as we boarded a private jet Saturday from the executive wing at Dulles International Airport.

It remains a mystery why the CEO of Federal Government Experts LLC let me observe his frantic effort to find 6 million N95 respirators and the ultimate unraveling of his $34.5 million deal to supply them to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, where 20 VA staff have died of COVID-19 while the agency waits for masks.

It’s also unclear why the VA gave Stewart’s fledgling business — which had no experience selling medical equipment, no supply chain expertise and very little credit — an important contract. Or why the VA agreed to pay nearly $5.75 per mask, a 350% markup from the manufacturer’s list price. In the end, after ProPublica asked questions about the deal this week, the VA quickly terminated it and referred the case to its inspector general for investigation.

Stewart maintained he was trying to do a public service and plans to tell investigators how he was taken for a ride by “buccaneers and pirates,” the multiple layers of intermediaries, fixers and lawyers standing between respirator mask producers and front-line workers who are dying without them.

I had first contacted Stewart last Friday after a ProPublica analysis of federal contracting data showed this sizable deal was his company’s first — and had been awarded without the usual bidding meant to weed out companies that can’t deliver.

Stewart wasn’t alone. The coronavirus pandemic had unleashed a bonanza for untested contractors riding a wave of unprecedented demand and scarcity of everything from hand sanitizer to ICU beds. So far, the administration of President Donald Trump has handed out at least $5.1 billion in no-bid contracts to address the pandemic, federal purchasing data shows. The VA, far more than any other agency, appeared to be awarding large contracts to little-known vendors in search of the personal protective equipment that’s pitted local, state and federal agencies against one another.

I wanted to know how a company the 34-year-old Stewart had formed two years earlier had gotten one of the largest no-bid contracts. And, more importantly, could it fulfill it?

There was reason to wonder. A quick Google search showed large portions of the text on FGE’s company website had been lifted verbatim from a 1982 Harvard Business Review article. The company primarily advertised IT consulting and advertised a “block chain” A.I. solution to government procurement, whatever that means. But I found nothing suggesting the company could buy and ship life-saving medical equipment — and fast.

In a phone call, Stewart was defensive about an article on federal contracts in The Wall Street Journal that he believed unfairly painted him as a crook. His mother was so upset she wrote a letter to the editor. “My mom and dad raised me to be a man of integrity,” he said.

That’s when the first inconsistency arose. The Journal quoted Stewart as saying he was at the Port of Los Angeles “looking at a few million masks” and “getting ready to step on a Boeing 737 to bring the masks to the VA.”

He told me, however, that he had been in self-quarantine and hadn’t traveled anywhere since Christmas.

But he said he did have 6 million N95 respirators masks lined up in Los Angeles and would be getting a “proof of life video,” in the form of cellphone footage of scores of boxes with 3M labels, sent from an unidentified sender. The next day, he planned to take a private plane to the VA distribution center outside of Chicago to witness the delivery. I asked to tag along.

So here we were, aboard a whirring Legacy 450 Flexjet replete with leather captains’ chairs, dozens of liquor shooters, snacks and two pilots curious as to why we were stopping in Columbus, Georgia, en route to Chicago. It was a pit stop to pick up Stewart’s parents to bring them along for what was supposed to be a proud moment.

“This is about helping folks, about being able to say to my mom and dad, ‘Thank you,’” he said. “All the work you did, now we are about to help 6 million people — well, 6 million masks.”

“Kind of a Faith Thing”

For a man who said he had spent weeks of sleepless nights in search of masks and learning shipping logistics, Stewart exuded the confidence of a magician about to perform his career-defining trick. But his next act was already falling apart.

We were midair when Stewart revealed that the 6 million masks that were supposedly in LA had slipped from his grasp and been sold to another buyer when he didn’t produce the money fast enough. So, he had no masks.

This was the second time Stewart said he had lost a mask supply before he could get his hands on it. He had tried earlier in April to procure masks from China, but that failed when the Chinese government took control of its mask-producing companies and limited exports.

Robert Stewart Jr. checks his phone during a flight to Columbus, Georgia.

I asked why on earth we were flying to Chicago to try to meet the VA’s midnight delivery deadline if he didn’t already have the N95s.

“It was kind of a faith thing,” he said.

For 24 hours, Stewart had frantically reached out to contacts he had made as a former contract officer for the Pentagon. And early Friday, just one day before his shipment was due to the VA, Stewart said he got connected to a fixer in the U.S.

The fixer was Troy King, a former attorney general of Alabama who had just lost a run for Congress in that state’s 2nd District. Stewart said King connected him to an unidentified distributor, who could then connect him with 3M, the manufacturer of N95s, which block 95% of small particles such as those carrying COVID-19. Stewart said King also promised to arrange financing so FGE could get the deal done fast.

“When you’re a poor kid from Alabama,” Stewart said, “you do what you need to do to get the job done.”

Much of what Stewart told me either proved false or impossible to confirm, which he says is because he was being lied to by brokers and middlemen. For instance, he claimed to have a contact within the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, who was working to help him smooth the deal over with VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. But when I asked spokespeople with the task force and the VA about the name he cited, no one had ever heard of her or had employment records for someone by that name.

Stewart said King was the one who claimed to have Pence task force connections and was brokering the deal through an Alabama LLC, Bear Mountain Development Company. King would charge a broker’s fee for connecting FGE to the distributor, Stewart said, and the payout would depend on shipment volume. But the price per mask kept changing. King told Stewart it would cost him $4.90 per mask — without shipping or overhead — to get the supplies from the distributor, according to text messages Stewart shared.

King did not respond to my calls or emails, but through a spokeswoman said he talked to Stewart because he was having trouble getting masks.

“I worked all weekend to locate 3M masks that were available. The only 3M masks we could source for him were priced at $4.90 per mask, which is the price that we were being charged by our supplier.”

King said no cash changed hands and that he thought he might forgo the broker fee.

“Due to the fact that these products were for use in veterans’ facilities, we agreed that our efforts might end up being an uncompensated public service,” the statement said.

The deal’s tenuous nature — a broker Stewart didn’t know, buying from a seller he didn’t know, financed by someone he didn’t know — seemed a profound and expensive leap of faith. But Stewart was convinced that he was “getting the VA a good thing at a good price.”

He had been called to action, he said, after seeing a CNN segment where a nurse described making her own face shield out of plastic film. As a former Air Force officer, he said he felt compelled to help.

“The goal here is not to get rich,” he said. FGE would be lucky to pocket about 10 cents a mask, he said, somewhere around $600,000, when the VA got its goods.

Yet we were bobbing around on a lavish jet, when commercial flights were available at about one one-hundredth of the cost per ticket.

Stewart spent more than $22,000 to travel on this private plane.

When I asked why he spent more than $22,000 on a private plane, he said it was to prove he was no fly-by-nighter but a reputable government contractor.

“It comes down to me and my credibility,” he said. “Why would anybody pay $22,000 to have a ghost box delivery? It doesn’t make any sense.”

This was money out of FGE’s pocket. The government typically doesn’t pay vendors like Stewart until the goods are delivered. (ProPublica reimbursed FGE for the cost of a commercial ticket.)

Stewart pulled a faded Bible from his bag and talked about miracles. His chance to prove himself on this deal, he said, is a small miracle.

“Awarding a $34.5 million contract to a small company without any supply chain experience,” he mused. “Why would you do that?”

Price Gouging?

Why the VA would do that is a lingering question. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency is officially leading the effort to scrounge up PPE, reportedly plucking shipments out from under states and other parts of the executive branch, the VA made its own supply purchases in March and April.

But despite signing 1,100 contracts worth $591 million just for PPE, the VA has experienced a devastating shortage for weeks. Nurses and doctors are reusing masks, avoiding patients and rationing gear. As BuzzFeed News reported April 7, despite the VA’s public assurances that the supply chain was “kicked into full gear,” leaders at one hospital said nurses and doctors were allowed only one surgical mask per shift. The more effective N95 masks, which the VA hired Stewart and his company to hunt down three days later, were in such short supply that they could only be used if there was a high chance of aerosolization, meaning the virus was believed to be temporarily airborne.

Though Stewart repeatedly promised to show me his original VA contract pitch, he ultimately declined to share it. What is clear is that FGE, which is designated as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, had a competitive advantage in securing work at the VA, which sets aside certain contracts for small veteran-owned companies. Stewart declined to talk about how he qualifies as disabled.

Stewart said his deal’s cost was being driven up by high demand and by the brokers trying to collect “success fees.” While he said King never disclosed his fees, he showed me another contract with a different broker. That offer, which FGE declined, would have paid 5 cents a mask — about $300,000 — to the broker setting up the deal.

Ken Curley, a retired Army colonel whose company works with local governments and hospitals to order masks outside of this emerging black market, called the FGE deal “absolutely” a case of price gouging. “So you have a $4.90 mask before you put it on a truck?” he said. “It’s insanity.”

Curley’s company, Raymond Associates LLC, drafted a best practices paper for buyers like local hospitals, pointing out that 3M’s list price for masks like those Stewart was attempting to purchase was $1.27. After shipping costs and overhead, the end price should realistically be around $2 a mask, he said.

“So anybody that’s above that number is gouging,” Curley said. “And they know it.”

Curley said he’s seen numerous offers for respirators, many of which did not really exist, and turned away brokers working through multiple layers of intermediaries. To avoid this, he recommends “a single line” between the distributor and the government agency buying the product, meaning there’s only one facilitator.

Sergio Fernández de Córdova, who chairs a media nonprofit in New York, is working with Curley to help government agencies get reputable masks at better prices. Government agencies are partly to blame, he said, because they’re desperately handing out big contracts to unknown companies and paying exorbitant prices for whatever comes back. In the FGE deal, for instance, the VA essentially set its high price when it agreed to 6 million units at $34.5 million.

“They’re approving it,” he said. “So that’s why people don’t see a problem with it.”

Though several states have clear price gouging laws, those rules don’t apply to federal government purchases.

“It is the Wild West and a loophole — that’s why so many lawyers are involved,” Fernández de Córdova said. “We’ve seen deals with lawyers making a couple hundred grand.”

3M has filed lawsuits in at least five states against people selling its respirators and masks at obscene markups. The Justice Department is also hunting down alleged scammers, such as two California men who were arrested for selling Chinese versions of the N95 respirators, KN95s, which they didn’t actually possess.

Stewart had read about those cases and had been given a copy of Curley’s best practices memo, and it clearly worried him.

“I’m just trying to fulfill my obligation and not go to jail,” he said.

Empty Hotel, Empty Promises

At 11 a.m. Saturday, Flight N407FX skidded onto warm asphalt in Columbus.

Stewart’s mother and father were waiting with luggage, while a few other family members came by to take pictures.

Also joining us was Dawn Lockhart, Stewart’s friend from middle school whom he had hired as FGE’s human resources director. She, like me, had been told by Stewart that everyone on board would have access to an N95 mask for protection on the flight. But there were none.

Despite his company’s moniker, there seemed nothing expert about this operation. Stewart said his company lawyer had missed the flight because he slept in. Lockhart, who joked that she was wearing a skirt and heels for the first time in three years, was flipping through a textbook titled “Strategic Staffing.”

Stewart was building his company, like this deal, in midflight.

Once we were airborne, Stewart said he had found a new mask supplier in Atlanta who could quickly deliver to Chicago.

He said that once we landed he would drop his folks off at the Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort just outside of Chicago and then he and I would take a taxi over to the VA distribution center and wait for a mask delivery “even if we have to wait until 3 a.m.”

But we never left the confines of the vast and vacant Hilton, where two employees sat bored behind makeshift plexiglass barriers.

In the lobby, Stewart worked the phones. He needed the VA to sign off on his new arrangement, but to win approval, he needed invoices and other documentation that he said King wasn’t sending over.

Just before 2 p.m., King had sent the “proof of life” video that Stewart said he’d been asking for, according to text messages Stewart later shared. The grainy cellphone video pans over what appear to be hundreds of boxes labeled 3M, but it was unclear what was in the boxes or where they were.

Text messages between Troy King and Stewart.

By 3 p.m. Stewart had been joined by several friends and associates, including Roosevelt “Trey” Daniels of Frontline Recovery, a Houston disaster recovery firm. Daniels connected FGE to King.

Stewart and Daniels made dozens of calls — to King, to trucking companies, to cargo jet owners. “Hey, Frank,” Daniels said into his cell. “Who is a good freight company?” And that would lead to the next call and the next.

By 5:20, Daniels had suggested they send a portion of the shipment by truck to Illinois, while they figured out how to get the rest on planes. Stewart insisted that he wanted to get the whole shipment there at once.

Then, a new idea emerged. Maybe they could buy some time by getting the VA to agree to an extension. Daniels had worked as a district director for U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, and got her office to draft a letter in support of FGE.

“Can you lend your voice to this veteran-owned, African American business?” Daniels said he asked the congresswoman. “And she said yes. She’s always willing to go to bat for folks who are trying to do the right thing.”

Stewart drafted a formal extension request, citing provisions in federal contracting law. As the evening wore on, what was at first frenetic determination to pull off a miracle subsided into resignation and then into finger-pointing — at King, the VA bureaucracy, the market itself.

Daniels says the deal went south because King and Stewart faced a challenging market, trying to move cash too fast, while the federal government doesn’t provide enough guidance for vendors.

“This situation with Troy King and Rob Stewart is you really have two good guys who had a lot of miscommunications,” he said. “One wasn’t communicating enough. One had his back against the wall.”

“Robert Stewart is a good guy,” Daniels said. “He’s a very honest guy.”

The group ordered tacos for what Stewart said was the company’s “last supper.” “I’ve done everything I can do,” Stewart said. “I called in every favor I had.”

A Federal Investigation

The next morning, as the dejected party boarded for a return flight, the pilot asked: “Anything I can get you before we take off?”

“Six million N95 masks,” Stewart quipped.

We landed in Georgia an hour and a half later, Stewart snapped photos with his family in front of the jet, and the two of us took off for Dulles.

The CEO was in the same gray suit as the previous day, now wrinkled. With his friends and family gone, his joviality had given way to exhaustion and the realization that this article probably wasn’t going to be one he liked. The optics of the private jet, he said, would not be good.

“The only reason I took the plane was because of my parents,” he said. “They’re old and I didn’t want them to get sick, and I wanted them to see this. I wanted to say thank you.”

Stewart said he had severed ties with King the previous night. Stewart said he and his team couldn’t track down any Juanita Ramos, the connection King purported to have to Pence’s task force. And King hadn’t sent over the invoice he needed for the VA.

“I absolutely do believe he made her up,” Stewart said Wednesday. King did not respond to a question about Ramos.

“He’s the one that made up this figment Ramos lady,” Stewart added. “I didn’t make that up.”

“After several conversations over the weekend, Mr. Stewart informed us that he had secured these masks through another source and that he would not need our services to secure the masks,” King said through a spokesperson. “There have been no further conversations between Mr. Stewart and me. No agreement was ever made, no contract was ever executed, and no money was ever exchanged.”

Stewart believes there were never any masks in LA or Atlanta.

“Every time you get ready to do the due diligence or whatever else — you ask to see the proof of life — people go: ‘Oh, well we don’t have that. We have this kind. Or we can’t do that until this week or this date.’ Stuff just never materializes. It’s a bunch of smoke and mirrors and ghosts.”

Stewart, to the end, maintained he would find a way to get masks to the VA. He followed up with the VA, offering a contract to get on a production line directly from 3M, at a cheaper cost, just $3.77 a mask.

But the VA terminated the deal Wednesday, after I inquired with the agency and a spokesperson for Pence’s task force. The agency didn’t tell Stewart directly, though he said he was made aware of the IG investigation.

“The story is that we started out trying to do the best thing for the country,” Stewart said. “I failed in that, ultimately.”

Back in DC, I asked a VA spokesperson why any of this, the FGE contract and intermediaries, was even necessary. Couldn’t the VA just buy masks directly?

The agency is waiting, along with much of the federal government, on FEMA, said spokeswoman Christina Noel. More than 166 million respirators are being produced by 3M under the Defense Production Act over the next few months, “some of which are being provided to the VA.”

In the meantime, the VA was hiring contractors to scour for additional masks.

“To meet the remainder of its N95 respirator needs, VA conducts additional acquisition activities with other vendors,” Noel said.

In the end, the VA ended up with precisely zero additional N95 masks from its deal with Stewart.

On the up side, the VA paid no money to FGE, Noel said.

As of Wednesday, more than 2,200 VA employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

[jdsrepository]

Shiver Me Timbers! Plundering Data Privacy Will Land Ye in Davy Jones' Locker

Ahoy, me hearties! Today we'll be navigatin' the treacherous waters of data privacy violations. Ye scurvy dogs best heed this warnin', lest ye find yerselves walkin' the plank into Davy Jones' Locker! In this modern age o' digital buccaneers, data be the new treasure trove. From sensitive financial information to personal identities, there be a vast bounty o' data ripe for the plunderin'. But make no mistake, the consequences of pillagin' this modern-day booty be as severe as the ancient penalties for mutiny. Just as how a ship's crew respects the iron rules of the captain, the digital seas have their own set o' laws governing data privacy. These laws, enacted by governments and regulatory bodies, are akin to the maritime code that kept order among even the most hardened pirates. Ye break these laws at yer own peril, me mates. Those who dare to engage in the despicable act of data piracy face a fate worse than being marooned on a desert isle. The punishments range from hefty fines that would sink the coffers of any self-respectin' pirate to imprisonment in the dankest, most miserable brigs known to mankind. But that's not the worst of it, me buckos! The real scourge that haunts those who violate data privacy is the tarnished reputation that follows. Like a cursed black spot, the mark of a data privacy offender be a stain that no amount of scrubbin' can remove. Ye may as well be sporting a crimson letter "P" on yer breast, warnin' all who cross yer path that ye be a pilferer of personal data. And let's not forget the wrath of the victims whose data has been plundered. Imagine the fury of a thousand angry captains, their faces red with rage, their cutlasses drawn and thirsting for vengeance. That's the kind of ire ye'll face from those whose trust ye've betrayed by stealing their digital treasure. So, take heed, ye scurvy sea dogs! Data privacy be no triflin' matter. The consequences of violatin' these sacrosanct laws be as dire as the legends of ghostly ships and cursed gold. Ye'd be better off facin' the wrath of the Kraken itself than the full force of the law when it comes to data privacy violations. Remember, the digital seas be vast and unforgivin'. But if ye keep a weathered eye on the horizon and steer clear of the treacherous reefs of data piracy, ye may just live to plunder another day. Arrrr!

[ocombatente]

Chutando de bico!

Definidos os confrontos das semifinais da Copinha. Carioca já começou, e Paulista inicia neste fim de semana. NFL na reta final. Real Ariquemes é punido e Porto Velho na Copa Verde. Jogos da Copinha serão na segunda-feira. Começam os estaduais de futebol pelo Brasil. NFL se preparando para o Super Bowl Copinha – Corinthians encara o Novorizontino, Flamengo passa nos pênaltis e enfrenta o Cruzeiro, que venceu o Coritiba por 1 a 0. Esses dois jogos irão decidir quem vai a final da Copa São Paulo 2024. Os confrontos serão na próxima segunda-feira (22). As 18h30 Flamengo e Cruzeiro, e as 20h30 Corinthians e Novorizontino. É pra valer- Rolou a bola. Na quarta-feira (17) o Campeonato Carioca começou, e com exceção do Fluminense, que empatou com o Volta Redonda, os outros três grandes venceram. O Botafogo superou o Madureira por 1 a 0. Já o Flamengo goleou o Audax-RJ por 4 a 0, e por fim o Vasco da Gama venceu o Boavista por 2 a 0. Os quatro grandes jogam domingo (20), Botafogo encara o Bangu as 15h, e no mesmo horário o Fluminense vai a campo contra a Portuguesa-RJ. As 17h10 o Flamengo joga contra o Nova Iguaçu e mais tarde as 19h30 o Vasco enfrenta o Sampaio Correia-RJ. Haja coração - Hoje a partir das 16h15 RedBull Bragantino e Agua Santa abrem o Campeonato Paulista. Mais tarde, às 17h, o Santos visita o Botafogo-SP. Nos embalos de sábado à noite, às 19h, o São Paulo recebe o Santo André. No domingo, no horário nobre, às 15h, o atual campeão Palmeiras encara o Novorizontino. E fechando o domingo, o Corinthians recebe o Guarani às 17h. NFL – A caminho do Super Bowl, assim estão as equipes, após o término das partidas do Wild Card na última segunda-feira (15). Os times que folgaram por conta de melhores campanhas, Baltimore Ravens e San Francisco 49ers, conheceram seus rivais e com isso as semifinais de conferência ficaram assim: o Ravens encara o Texas, hoje às 17h30. O 49ers recebe o Packers às 21h15. No domingo às 15h o Lions vai a campo contra o Buccaneers. E às 19h30 o Bills enfrenta o Chiefs. Os vencedores de cada confronto fazem a final das conferencias, AFC e NFC. O campeão de cada conferência chega até o almejado Super Bowl, que será disputado no dia 11 de fevereiro em Las Vegas. Tabelinha Rondoniense Futuro do Real Ariquemes ainda é incerto no âmbito regional. Único representante de Rondônia para disputar a competição Punição – Em um oficio divulgado pela entidade máxima do futebol brasileiro, a CBF, a informação que o Real Ariquemes não tem condições de participar de competições nacionais, e precisa regularizar a situação perante a sua Federação Estadual, a FFER. A punição se deve, segundo a CBF, por uma tentativa de promover interferência externa na gestão da Federação do seu Estado. Para entender melhor o caso, visite o link do site https://ge.globo.com/ro/futebol/times/real-desportivo/noticia/2024/01/19/real-ariquemes-e-punido-pela-cbf-clube-tem-que-se-regularizar-para-retornar-as-competicoes-nacionais.ghtml. Copa Verde - Saiu a tabela básica da Copa Verde 2024, e o Porto Velho, que vai representar Rondônia na competição, já conhece o seu adversário, o Anápolis, de Goiás. A partida será em jogo único, com data indefinida, 21 ou 28 de fevereiro. O local ainda também foi definido. A competição reuni 16 equipes das regiões Norte, Centro-Oeste, e mais o estado do Espírito Santo. *Por João Rafael Costa Read the full article

[bitcoincables]

Decentralized Betting Platform Polymarket Sees Favoritism Towards Chiefs in Super Bowl

Bettors on decentralized prediction platform Polymarket are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to this year’s Super Bowl. 🏈 According to data from Polymarket, bettors are favoring the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As of now, the odds on Polymarket give the Chiefs a 73.4% chance of winning the game, while the Buccaneers have a 26.6% chance. Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market built on the Ethereum blockchain. It allows users to trade on the outcome of various events, including sports, politics, and finance. The platform relies on the wisdom of the crowd to determine the probabilities of different outcomes. The betting activity on Polymarket reflects the general sentiment among bettors and fans leading up to the big game. The Chiefs, led by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are considered by many to be the favorites due to their powerful offense and Super Bowl-winning experience from last year. 😎🏆 However, the Buccaneers, led by the legendary quarterback Tom Brady, have been gaining momentum and support as they have made a historic run to reach the Super Bowl. Brady, who has won six Super Bowls in his career, is known for his ability to perform under pressure and deliver in big games. While Polymarket offers a unique decentralized betting experience, it's important to note that it operates independently from traditional sportsbooks and does not have the same regulatory oversight. Therefore, users should approach their bets with caution and consider all risks involved. Overall, the betting activity on Polymarket reflects the ongoing excitement and speculation surrounding this year's Super Bowl, with bettors actively putting their money on the line to bet on the outcome of the game. 🤑⚡ [Click here to read the original article!](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/) #### Hashtags: #superbowl, #betting, #polymarket, #ethereum

[laresearchette]

Sunday, December 17, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: WILLIE NELSON'S 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION (Global) 8:30pm FRIENDS & FAMILY CHRISTMAS (W Network) 8:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: DIAL S FOR SANTA (Premiering on December 23 on W Network at 8:00pm) ARCHER: INTO THE COLD (Premiering on December 29 on adult swim at 11:30pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CRAVE TV DRESSED IN BLUE (Season 2, Episode 1)

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN) 11:30am: Masters - Women’s Final (SN1) 4:00pm: Masters - Men’s Final

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN4) 1:00pm: Buccaneers vs. Packers (TSN/TSN3/TSN4) 4:00pm: 49ers vs. Cardinals (TSN/TSN3/TSN4) 8:20pm: Ravens vs. Jaguars

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 3:00pm: Canucks vs. Chicago (SN) 8:00pm: Sharks vs. Avalanche (TSN5) 8:00pm: Sens vs. Knights

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (CTV2) 7:00pm: A novitiate (Julie Andrews) leaves her convent and becomes governess to Capt. Von Trapp's (Christopher Plummer) seven children in Austria before World War II.

DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000) (CBC) 8:00pm: A curmudgeon (Jim Carrey) living atop Mount Crumpit sets out to quash the yuletide preparations of the Christmas-loving Whos of Whoville. Anthony Hopkins narrates.

NBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 9:00pm: Warriors vs. Trail Blazers

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND (History Canada) 10:00pm: After the Muon data reported a compelling target in the cavity known as Aladdin's Cave, a void where high traces of gold and silver have been found, the team discovers what appears to be man-made entrances and exits into the curious cavern.