#Or they were previously in private sector and/or are considering jumping to it which is fair enough

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

I am, among other things, lurking LinkedIn to try and get a bit of a sense what the new workplace will be like but obviously it’s going to be skewed because the only people on it are the ones who use LinkedIn

[cuproprime]

The writing prompt I was given: All alien civilizations are communist.

"Communism is fine! It's human nature that's the problem!"

Frankly, if your system is incompatible with human nature, then it's a bad system.

Communism is famously known for starvation, totalitarianism, and almost ending human civilization - in general, not great stuff. It just doesn't work on Earth, for many, many reasons. Humans have the most competitive and individual-oriented culture out of any sapients in the galaxy by a large margin, and Earth's large size and high population (by galactic standards) do not allow resources to be distributed anywhere near as efficiently as they would on other species' home planets, among other things.

It doesn't really work for other civilizations, either, with few exceptions, because communism only truly works if everything is set up perfectly for it. Every other civilization is communist, though, because they couldn't pass up the level of control a command economy gave the state. Our discovery of this nearly broke the planet, as on the left, there was a resurgence of the long-thought-dead Marxists, which we barely avoided from turning into a Revolutions of 1848 situation, and on the right, there was almost a repeat of the Red Scare.

Thankfully, as always, democracy solved the problem as the government deadlocked and nothing happened until the issue was forgotten. However, while the internal crisis was avoided, the external crisis was not. Recently(ish), we came into armed conflict with another very new Federation member after they bombed a squad of our patrol ships.

Humans have a marked sense of pride in themselves that we do not allow to be stained, though not in the sense that we're full of ourselves. It's just that the concept of patriotism is somewhat alien to the rest of the galaxy. We also have strong militarist, individualist, and republican traditions, all of which were inherited from the superpower that spearheaded Earth's unification, the United States of America.

And if there was one thing that the United Nations was taught by America, it's that you do not let another nation mess with your ships.

The industry of Earth, Venus, Mars, and Luna kicked into gear as the United Nations mobilized for war. Sure, we may love our economic liberalism, which may cause a bit of trouble for our government, but in war, once we get going, our military industry works just as efficiently as any command economy's, perhaps even more so because everybody is richer due to the private sector still being, well, privatized.

Our enemies expected we would be unable to defend against their unjust attacks as our disunity would prevent an effective response. They thought our corporations would refuse to cooperate with our government to produce military equipment and our troops would scatter after every shot to save their own lives. They were not prepared for the hell we actually brought upon them.

Our ships blasted theirs to pieces with weapons that were the result of the competition and technological innovation that was stifled under authoritarian governments, and our ground troops proved at least an even match to theirs in nearly every battle. We easily wrapped the war up with casualties that were considered less than minimal.

Now, if there was a second thing the United Nations was taught by America, it's that you eradicate communism in any area under your mandate.

An occupation began with the goal of reforming the previously totalitarian regime into a friendly, democratic one. The previous institutions were dismantled and humanitarian aid to the star system, along with financial aid to those who expressed an interest in starting businesses (as we needed to jump-start the economy somehow after such a drastic shift), started.

It was the first time in living memory that a government plan worked without any major hiccups. The amount of aid we were giving to them, made possible by humanity's wealth as a result of capitalism, significantly raised their standard of living, and directly looping in their economy with that of the United Nations practically supercharged it, resulting in a very friendly capitalist republic just next door.

Now, without any scary capitalists to hate, communist nations will hate each other more than any competitors in a capitalist world could hate each other, and that was what we saw here. Civilizations starting trade wars left and right, seizing resources through raids, wars, or gunboat diplomacy, or forging exploitative relationships with civilizations that were not technologically advanced enough to have another choice. However, in fighting this war, we had given them scary capitalists to hate.

Despite us being the defenders in the war, we were unanimously branded as evil imperialists by the Federation and embargoed by every civilization in it, in the first show of unity in the Federation we had ever seen.

Not that the coalition embargo actually did anything, as they had completely refused to trade with us from the get-go.

What it actually did is that it trained the entire galaxy's eyes on us, sparking liberal resistance and letting us collect all the great scientists persecuted under their regimes. Given that it created problems that they didn't have before that won't simply go away if they reverse the resolution, we expect a declaration of war from any of the more powerful nations any day now.

Sucks to be them, as we've run our first successful time travel test, and the future Galactic Federation - a rather democratic, capitalist, and prosperous one - is happy to help us.

[mariacallous]

This month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) celebrated a milestone in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides a monthly discount on broadband service to eligible Americans, as well as a one-time subsidy toward an internet-enabled device. By mid-August 2023, 20 million eligible families had enrolled and benefitted from the program across all 50 states—a stellar accomplishment for the FCC-administered affordability program. Created by the Biden-Harris infrastructure deal, the $14.2 billion allocated to the ACP program is projected to run out by mid-2024. The ACP has been targeted by some Republicans as a potential source of waste, fraud, and abuse, which raises concerns it could be prematurely eliminated or pared down by critics who question its usefulness. On August 17, 2023, however, a bipartisan group of 45 members of Congress wrote a letter calling for the extension of the ACP beyond 2024 and urging their congressional colleagues to extend its funding in the next appropriation bill—which comes at a time when the congressional budget deadline is looming.

Members of Congress and other interested parties have floated several other ideas for ACP funding, including providing additional funds to the existing Universal Service Fund or leveraging other government dollars. In a 2022 report, Paul Garnett, the founder of the Vernonburg Group, suggested that the ACP required between $30 billion and $35 billion to fund monthly broadband services, excluding devices, over the next five years. Only 12 million households had signed up in 2022, compared to a significant jump of 8 million more this year. With the options running thin, there may be another potential source of funding for the ACP for Congress to consider—only this time, it’s intricately connected to the U.S. spectrum auctions that were formerly under FCC jurisdiction. With $230 billion dollars of revenue generated by the process of selling government-owned spectrum assets since it began in 1994, approximately 1/6th of average annual proceeds could keep the ACP afloat, helping new subscribers get online and keeping existing ones connected as the need for affordable broadband grows. But this can only happen if Congress reauthorizes the FCC, the federal agency in charge of spectrum auctions, to restart the process after allowing the agency’s auction authority to lapse earlier this year.

The lapse in FCC spectrum auction authority

In the context of telecommunications, spectrum refers to a specific band of the electromagnetic spectrum, which encompasses the range of all types of electromagnetic radiation from gamma rays to visible light to, in this case, radio waves. Spectrum is used to transmit wireless signals, carrying information between devices such as radios, televisions, and mobile phones. Spectrum is categorized into bands based on wavelength—different wavelengths have different advantages and disadvantages and are used by different communications technologies—and access to these bands is subject to strict government regulation to ensure that telecom transmissions do not disrupt each other.

For decades, the auction of federal spectrum has been critical to the expansion of the nation’s wireless communications, particularly for the private sector. The FCC regulates access to spectrum by conducting auctions for licenses to use specific spectrum bands to organizations and individuals. As previously noted, FCC spectrum auctions have generated more than $233 billion in revenue for the U.S. Treasury since its inception. Since ensuring access to spectrum is crucial for existing telecommunications technologies to work effectively, as well as to enable the advancement of wireless technology, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is collaborating with the FCC to develop a National Spectrum Strategy (NSS), a “government-wide approach to maximizing the potential of our nation’s spectrum resources.” In March 2023, the NTIA released a Request for Comment on the NSS, which is expected to include both long-term spectrum planning and the reactivation of a “spectrum pipeline,” which refers to the process for identifying, allocating, and repurposing spectrum bands.

There are currently no bands in the spectrum pipeline. Not only that, Congress has allowed the FCC’s authority to structure and conduct spectrum auctions to lapse. In an April 2023 letter to Congress, the FCC Commissioners urged lawmakers to reinstate the Commission’s auction authority to allow for economic growth and “safeguard our national security.” The Commissioners also noted that the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in November 2023 increased the urgency to reinstate the FCC’s auction authority. The WRC, which convenes delegates from more than 190 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) member states and hundreds of companies, facilitates discussion to preserve international spectrum standards, reduce interference, and enable interoperability. The upcoming WRC will consider several important issues, such as the frequencies available for 5G and 6G international mobile telecommunications networks and fixed-satellite networks used for piloting unmanned aircraft. Without authority to auction spectrum, the U.S. is sending a signal ahead of the conference which may have detrimental consequences for businesses and the government down the line.

Although the Department of the Treasury has been the recipient of most funds raised by FCC spectrum auctions, in recent years, lawmakers have earmarked auction proceeds to fund various federal programs directly. For example, the proceeds from highly competitive auctions have resulted in new and continuing funding for various projects, including paying down the deficit, the FirstNet public safety communications network, the Next Generation 911 Grant program, and the Department of Defense. Outside of the national debt, these other projects have not been subjected to the appropriations process. Although some have derided this practice as bypassing the traditional appropriations process, it also provides an opportunity to generate much-needed revenue to close the digital divide.

Leaving the ACP aside, on March 10, 2023, Congress failed to extend the Commission’s auction authority, which disallowed the agency from conducting spectrum auctions for the first time in 30 years. This also means that the FCC is unable to issue licenses for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of spectrum sold to commercial providers last year, which, in turn, provides additional revenue to the national treasury. During a June 2023 congressional hearing, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers assured FCC Chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, that she and her colleagues were working to renew the agency’s authority over U.S. spectrum auctions. In May, the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act of 2023 cleared the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. But with Congress in summer recess, the status of this issue remains unresolved, to the detriment of U.S. policy interests.

Make the ACP a beneficiary of auction proceeds

Restoring the FCC’s authority to conduct spectrum auctions could raise millions—if not billions—of dollars that could help close the digital divide and bridge the gap between those with internet access and those without. The ACP is a prime example, and not one that should be brushed off over partisan concerns, as well as statutory restrictions in the spectrum Act. Established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the ACP provides a discount of up to $30 per month for internet service for eligible households and up to 75 per month for households on Tribal lands—households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 toward purchasing a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer.

As noted, more than 20 million households have enrolled. Subsidies like the ACP are essential, not only for expanding access to internet but also for bolstering the economy. According to a 2021 study, subsidized broadband programs increase employment rates and earnings of their grantees. The ACP is expected to exhaust its funds in 2024, leaving its 15 million recipients without critical support. The revenue generated by FCC auctions could be used to rescue the ACP from lapsing, preventing more than 1,800 broadband providers from losing subscribership as they build and deploy new broadband services. In the end, the mantra of ‘build it, and they will come’ could not be more relevant in the discussions to preserve the ACP—at least until small and medium-sized broadband service providers (particularly those serving small rural areas where households benefit from the ACP) can acquire some market stability.

The ACP is not the only effort to close the digital divide that could benefit from funds from FCC spectrum auctions. The IIJA dedicated $42.5 billion to fund broadband expansion to states through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program over an implementation period of five years, and $2.7 billion for digital equity initiatives. Ensuring that broadband expansion can continue past the five-year mark will require additional funding, and that should be independent from whoever wins the 2024 presidential election. Furthermore, the BEAD Program is focused on “last mile” services, while the IIJA allocated only $1 billion to “middle mile” broadband deployment, which some industry leaders already worry is insufficient. In fact, the current draft of the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act would specifically allocate some proceeds from future spectrum auctions to build out middle mile infrastructure under Section 60401 of the IIJA. Since the Act specifies where all future proceeds would be deposited (with the lion’s share reserved for deficit reduction), Congress would need to pass an amendment to the Act to allow the ACP to benefit from auction proceeds.

These proceeds could also be used to fill in some of the broadband deployment gaps, especially in areas that become more difficult to serve, and could also expand digital equity programs, such as infusing more support to community anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries, or hospitals that provide vital community services. These institutions are indispensable sources of internet access and can play a critical role in closing the digital divide as evidenced through their expanded help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, in February 2023, the FCC-appointed Equity and Diversity Council approved a working group to explore expanding the definition of an anchor institution to include non-traditional community institutions, such as LGBTQ-run and populated centers and senior organizations. Reinstating the FCC’s auction authority could generate revenue to support such local projects will ensure that the federal investments have a longer shelf life beyond the initial funding of the IIJA, and buffer any potential losses experienced when the supply outpaces demand, or vice versa.

Making the ACP a permanent program

As the future of the ACP hangs in the balance, perhaps it’s time for Congress to return FCC authority over spectrum auctions to manage the expectations of international partners and be more creative in how the revenues are allocated with some allocation to broadband expansion and affordability efforts like the ACP.

States have been rapidly receiving funds from the BEAD program to support their custom broadband expansion strategies, but how the states’ expansion efforts will be maintained after the five-year implementation period ends remains an open question. Further, how the broadband deployments will be sustained via a strong and sustainable customer base are of critical importance. Meanwhile, with the ACP is set to expire next year, millions of Americans without crucial support for getting online will also struggle to stay connected. While the FCC’s lapsed auction authority and an empty spectrum pipeline disadvantage technological innovation and jeopardize U.S. credibility in global markets, reinstating the FCC’s auction authority could also be a gamechanger for funding current investments in closing the digital divide.

[creativitycache]

ngl asking for people who self-identify as "antis" is already biasing your results because the term originated from fans being defensive over getting called out (eg the types who sincerely think fandom culture is ""puritan""). fair number of people started to use the term ironically and it might be evening out but overall the post calling for responses on the survey still comes off as something written in bad faith?

I wrote a rather long and involved response and then tumblr ate it. Goshdarn.

Fair warning, this is a hyperfixation and I’m coming off of a migraine so this may not be very cogent. Please read this in the over excited tones of someone infodumping about emulsifiers, with no animosity intended.

So, tl;dr and with a lot fewer links, I’m incredibly interested by your perspective that “anti” originated as a derogatory term.

As far as I am aware, the etymological history of the word “anti” being used pejoratively is coming from some very new debates.

I’m also noting that you had no feedback regarding the content of the questions themselves, which I would be interested in hearing as I am genuinely coming from a place without censure.

The term “anti” actually is a self-descriptor that arose in the Livejournal days, where you’d tag something as “Anti ___” for other like minded people to find. (For example, my cursory google search pulled up 10 Anti Amy Lee communities on LJ).

I’m a self-confessed old. I was back in fandom before Livejournal, aaaall the way back in the Angelfire days. Webrings children! We had webrings! And guest books for you to sign!

I’m going to take a swing for the fences here Anon, so if I’m wrong please let me know, but I’m going to guess you became active as a fan in the past 5-8 years based of your use of the term puritan.

There’s actually a HUGELY new debate in fandom spaces! Previously, it was assumed that:

a) All fandom spaces are created and used by adults only.

b) If you were seeing something, it’s because you dug for it.

These assumptions were predicated upon what spaces fandoms grew in. First you had Star Trek TOS fandom, which grew in 1970s housewives kitchens. They were all friends irl, and everyone was an adult, and you actively had to reach out to other adults to talk about things. (By the way- a woman lost custody of her children in the divorce when her ex husband brought up to the judge she kept a Kirk/Spock zine under her bed. The judge ruled this as obvious signs of moral deficiency. That was in the 80s! Everyone is still alive and the parents are younger than my coworkers!)

Time: 1967-1980s. Is Anti a term? No. Who is the term used by? N/A Is fandom space considered Puritanical? No.

Then, when the internet came about, it was almost exclusively used by adults until The Eternal September. 1993 was the year that changed the internet for good, but even years after that the internet was a majority adult space. Most kids and teens didn’t have unlimited access if their parents even had a home computer in the 90s.

This is the rise of Angelfire, which were fansites all connected to each other in “rings”. You had to hunt for content. If you found something you didn’t like, well, you clicked out and went on with your day because you’d never see it again unless you really dug. This was truly the wild west, tagging did not exist and you could go from fluff to vore in the blink of an eye with nothing warning you before hand. All fannish spaces were marked “here be dragons” and attempts were made to at least adopt the “R/NC-17″ ratings on works to some limited success, depending on webmaster.

Time: 1990-1999. Is Anti a term? No. Who is the term used by? N/A Is fandom space considered Puritanical? No.

In 1999 LiveJournal arose like a leviathan, and here is where the term Anti emerges as a self descriptor. Larger communities began to form, and with them, divisions. Now, you could reach so many fans you could reach a critical mass of them for enough of them to dislike a ship. The phrase “Anti” became a self-used tag, as people tagged their works, communities, and blogs with “anti” (NB: this is at far, far smaller rates than today). Anti was first and foremost a tagging tool used and created by the people who were vehemently against something.

You could find content more easily than in the past, but you still had to put some serious elbow grease into it.

In 2007, Livejournal bans users for art "depicting minors in explicit sexual situations”. The Livejournal community explodes in anger- towards Livejournal staff. The account holders/fans view this as corporate puritanical meddling. The outrage continues as it is revealed these bans were part of a pre-sale operation to SUP Services. SUP Services, upon taking over Livejournal in 2008, proceeds to filter the topics “bisexuality, depression, faeries, girls, boys, and fanfiction”.

The Great LiveJournal Migration begins, as fans leave the site in droves.

Time: 1999-2009. Is Anti a term? Yes. Who is the term used by? People self describing, seeking to create communities based off a dislike of something. Is fandom space considered Puritanical? No.

Where do fans go? Well, in the last decade, they migrated to Tumblr and Twitter (sorry Pillowfort- you gave it a good try!)

What’s different about all of these sites? Individuals are able to create and access content streams. These are hugely impactful in how communities are formed! Because now:

a) finding content is easier

b) finding content you dislike by accident is easier

c) content you dislike requires active curation to avoid

d) truly anonymous outreach is possible and easy (for example, you anon! Isn’t it much easier to go on anon to bring up awkward or sensitive topics? I’m happy you did by the way, and that’s why I keep my anons open. It’s an important contextual tool in the online communications world!)

Now the term Anti gets sprightly. Previously, if you didn’t like content, there was nothing you could really do about it. For example, I, at the tender age of way-too-young, opened up a page of my favorite Star Trek Deep Space 9 fansite and pixel by pixel with all the loading speed of a stoned turtle a very anatomically incorrect orgy appeared.

I backed out.

1. Who could I contact? There was no “message me here” button, no way to summon any mods on Angelfire sites.

2. If I did manage to find a contact button, I would have had to admit I went onto a site that wasn’t designed to keep me safe. I knew this was a site for adults, I knew there wasn’t a way to stop it from showing something. There was no such thing as tags. I knew all of this before going in. So the assumption was, it was on me for looking. (Some may have argued it was on my parents for not supervising me- all I can say is thank GOD no one else was in the living room and my mom was around the corner in the kitchen.)

But now? On Tumblr? On Twitter? In a decade in which tagging is so easy and ubiquitous it’s expected?

Now people who describe themselves as antis start to have actual tools and social conventions to utilize.

Which leads to immediate backlash! Content creators are confused and upset- fandom spaces have been the wild west for decades, and there’s still no sherriff in town. So the immediate go-to argument is that these people who are messaging them are “puritans”.

And that’s actually an interesting argument! A huge factor in shaping the internet’s social mores in the latest decades is cleanliness for stockbrokers. Websites can become toxic to investors and to sales if they contain sexual content. Over time, corporations perfected a mechanism for “cleaning” a site for sale.

Please note there is no personal opinion or judgement in this next list, it is simply a description of corporate strategies you can read during the minute meetings of shareholders for Tumblr, Twitter, Paypal, Venmo, Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo Answers, and Livejournal.

1. Remove sex workers. Ban any sex work of any kind, deplatform, keep any money you may have been holding.

2. Remove pedophilia. This is where the jump begins between content depicting real people vs content depicting fictional characters begins.

3. Remove all sexual image content, including artwork of fictional characters.

4. Remove all sexual content, including written works. If needed, loop back to step 2 as a justification, and claim you do not have the moderators to prevent written works depicting children.

I would like to reiterate these are actual gameplans, so much so that they’ve made their way into business textbooks. (Or at least they did for my Modern Marketing & App Design classes back in the early 2010s. Venmo, of course, wasn’t mentioned, but I did read the shareholder’s speeches when they banned sex workers from the platform so I added them in the list above because it seems they’re following the same pattern.)

So you have two groups who are actively seeking to remove NSFW content from the site.

A) Corporate shareholders

B) People are upset they’re seeing NSFW content they didn’t seek out and squicks them

Now, why does this matter for the debates using the term “puritan” as an insult? 

Because the reasons corporate shareholders hate NSFW material is founded in American puritanism. It’s a really interesting conflation of private sector values! And if Wall Street were in another cultural context, it would be a completely different discussion which I find fascinating!

But here’s the rub- that second group? They're not doing this for money. If there are any puritanical drives, it’s personal, not a widespread cohesive ideology driving them. HOWEVER! The section of that group that spent the early 2010s on tumblr did pick up some of the same rhetoric as puritanical talking points (which is an entirely separate discussion involving radfems, 4chan raids, fourth wave feminism, and a huge very nuanced set of influences I would love to talk about at a later time!)

These are largely fans who have “grown up” in the modern sites- no matter how old they actually are, their fandom habits and expectations have been shaped by the algorithms of these modern sites.

Now HERE‘s the fascinating bit that’s new to me! This is the interpretation of the data I’m getting, and so I’m out on a limb but I think this is a valid premise!

The major conflict in fandom at this time is a struggle over personal space online.

Content creators are getting messages telling them to stop, degrading them, following them from platform to platform.

They say “Hey! What gives- we were here first. The cardinal rule of fandom is don’t like, don’t read. Fandom space has always been understood to be adult- it’s been this way for decades! To find our content, you had to come to us! This is our space! This is my space, this is my blog! If you don’t like it, you’re not obligated to look!”

Meanwhile, at the exact same time, antis are saying “Hey! What gives- this content is appearing on my screen! That’s my space!  I didn’t agree to this, I don’t like this! I want it to be as far away from me as possible! I will actively drive it away.”

This is a major cultural shift! This is a huge change and a huge source of friction! And I directly credit it to the concept of “content stream” and algorithms driving similar-content to users despite them not wanting it!

Curating your online space used to be much simpler, because there wasn’t much of it! Now with millions of users spread out over a wide age range, all feeding in to the same 4-5 websites, we are seeing people be cramped in a technically limitless space!

Now people feel that they have to go on the offense to defend themselves against content they don’t like, which is predicated upon not only the algorithms of modern websites but ALSO talking points fed from the top down of what is and what is not acceptable on various platforms.

Time: 2010-2020. Is Anti a term? Yes. Who is the term used by? People self describing,and people using it to describe others. Is fandom space considered Puritanical? Depends!

So I, a fandom ancient, a creaky thing of old HTML codes and broken tags, am watching this transformation and am wildly curious for data.

Also...I uh....I can’t believe this is the short version. My ADHD is how you say “buckwild” tonight.

Anyways...um...if anyone has read to the bottom, give me data?

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #41

We pick up this session right where we left the other one. Z47r and Sergeant Carl discuss the situation on the floor they’re currently on, and Carl notes that the elevator seems to be stuck, as well as there being a breach in one sector, but other than that they should be ready to head down. Z47r agrees, he sends one of his skitarii with servitors to check the place Carl noted and goes himself to check the elevator wtih the rest of his servitors (including Vivek), letting Carl know that there are supplies for the Sable Swords upstairs, and that he should take the new-comers (aka our heroes) under his wing. Gorm calls out after Z47r and requests a servitor to refill his jump-pack, pointing at a non-Vivek servitor. Z47r waves the servitor forward, and he begins to work. Gorm pretty quickly reprimands the servitor on doing a bad job and requests another, this time pointing at Vivek. Z47r sends instead one of his skitarii to do the job.

Gorm asks Carl if they could talk in private and Carl suggests Gorm and friends come along as he goes to pick up the supplies. So they make their way back to the upper levels of the ship. Gorm explains that the AdMech friend he was asking after is one of the servitors, and Carl says he is sorry to hear that. Gorm also mentions that Uffe has promised to kill him, so they need him back, as they don’t want to do that in front of the tech-priest. Carl asks if there has been a mistake in making him a servitor, and Gorm says no, he’s no innocent but not a bad man either. Carl suggests that doing the killing downstairs would make it easy to make it seem like it was because of the rot, so that’s something they can work with, if need be. Carl has worked with Vivek the servitor, so he could probably get him to the position.

Saef interrupts this conversation by opening up a telepathic channel between himself, Gorm, Gimlet and Uffe. Uffe turns to give Saef a glare. Gorm quickly gets Carl rambling on about the latest exploits of Stuart the Sable Sword, so he doesn’t notice the sudden silence. Saef explains to them that Vivek attempted to communicate with him very much in the same way as Eden had in the past. He isn’t quite sure what it means, but things might be different than what they seem. Gorm points out that Uffe’s promise was to Vivek, not to Eden, and that they agreed not to step in the way. Saef concedes to that, but says they should attempt to communicate with Vivek first anyway.

While they’re on this telepathic call, Gimlet says he has an idea how to get Vivek away from the tech-priest. Technically, he could confiscate Vivek as evidence with his Inquisitional powers. This seems like an agreeable idea. Gorm even says maybe this is a time where Gimlet’s badge might do some good, but there is some information Gorm needs from the tech-priest, so he wants to talk with him first, before Gimlet starts burning bridges. 

With that agreed, they return back to where they left the retinue. Z47r is busy with the elevator, Stuart the Sable Sword is keeping the doors open with his muscles. Z47r finishes whatever he is doing by tossing a fire bomb down the elevator shaft and lets everyone know that once the fire has burned out, they can start moving down.

Gorm pulls Z47r away from the others, and lets him know that he is on a Fenris-sanctioned mission, and he believes that Z47r has some information about a Space Wolf that has been spotted with AdMechs on Orchard Mountain. Z47r says he has no reason not to help Fenris and says that he indeed can track the Wolf in question, but not here. He needs to go back to Triplex Phall for that, but he says he can do this after he is done here. Gorm asks Z47r to promise that he will do so, and the tech-priest says he aims to serve.

Thus satisfied, the two return and Gimlet goes to Z47r next, asking him about the Inquisitor murdered on the ship. Z47r says he doesn’t know anything about it, though he has heard it happened. He supposes one of his servitors might have spotted something, but he asks for Gimlet’s credentials vis-a-vis questioning about this, and Gimlet whips out the Inquistional badge. Z47r says he prefers people keeping their badges visible (Gorm agrees in the distance), and then asks if he should be recording this conversation. Gimlet says there’s no need, but Z47r says he’s going to do it anyway.

Z47r calls over the servitor who delivered the evacuation notice to Inquisitor Engarde, and takes out a video from his eye and shows it on a wrist mounted screen of his (v high-tech). The video shows the servitor going to tell Engarde about the evacuation. As he leaves, he runs into a woman who is hiding her face, who Gimlet recognizes as Inpax. The servitor continues relaying the evacuation notices to people around, and Inpax disappears into the room where Engarde is. They begin a conversation but it is cut off by the door closing. Some time afterwards there is a shout from Inpax: “You did this to me!” and a gun shot. So that’s that then.

Gimlet has another request from Z47r, namely that he needs to get a hold of a servitor in the tech-priest’s retinue. Z47r asks for what purposes, and Gimlet fudges the truth somewhat, saying it is related to his case looking into Inquisitor Inpax. Z47r makes Gimlet sign some forms, and informs him that the Mechanicus are expecting a full report on what the servitor contains, so they can see whether it counts towards the AdMechs’ yearly tithes to the Inquisition. But those things done, Z47r hands Vivek out to Gimlet without any more fuss.

Our heroes feel it prudent to take their servitor-friend to a safe place, so they head off once again, promising to join the rest with Nurgle stuff as soon as they can. As soon as they are off ear-shot from the rest, Vivek opens his mouth and very emotionelessly says that “this is an unfortunate turn of events”. It is very apparent that it is not Vivek talking, but Eden, who has taken over while Vivek is away. Eden is apparently aware of Vivek’s and Uffe’s deal but makes it known that Vivek is not gone, and he could be saved, but he needs help from our heroes. The thing is, that Vivek-Eden were going to leave for Triplex Phall, but got caught between Inpax and Navin (aka Vivek’s brother, Eden uses that name, because that’s what he’s getting from Vivek’s brain). And in that moment, Eden overrode Vivek and chose the tech-priest, and thus the servitor-ing. It was a logical choice, because the whole point of putting parts of Eden into Vivek was about Inquisition not getting their hands on certain things, but obviously Eden is aware that is not what Vivek wanted, hence he argues for saving him. Gimlet asks Eden what it would entail, and more on the situation that led to this. Eden mentions that he can’t no longer feel the other part of himself, that he was previously connected with, the part in Inpax’ prison. That might mean that part is dead, or it might not.

Gorm and Uffe lag a bit behind and talk in Fenrisian. Gorm asks Uffe how he is feeling about what he thinks he should do, and what Vivek exactly asked him to do. Uffe is clearly conflicted. At this point they have gone to the elevator, which Uffe stops, so they or rather he, can make the decision. Saef uses telepathy and says he can feel Vivek in there still. Uffe kneels down and tries to look for Vivek in his empty eyes. He says that he can’t let Vivek suffer, but he can’t let him go either, if there’s a chance he could be saved. (and there is a chance Vivek can’t be fixed, which will be the end to both him and the parts of Eden in him)

So they take Vivek to the medbay. For the operation Eden needs someone who’s decent with Tech (Gimlet) and someone who’s decent with Medicae (Gorm). Saef goes to Larssen to get some tech equipment to help with the procedure, he’ll also remain on stand-by just in case things start going south. Gorm suggests Uffe goes outside for the time, but says he’ll call if he is needed, if things go wrong. Uffe agrees to this.

Eden takes off the top half of Vivek’s jumpsuit, revealing the barely closed surgery scars along his spine, as well as the bullet hole from where Gimlet shot him and a set of extremely poorly healed claw marks on his lower back. Gorm recites a small prayer. Then it is time to start the surgery. It goes mostly well, all things considered, though there is definitely a moment when they’re hovering near Vivek’s spine and brain that Gorm draws in a deep breath that may or may not count as a “woops”. But overall, the operation is a success, and Eden says he’ll reboot Vivek and he should be alright.

Uffe is called back into the room (and Gimlet notices he has been crying a bit), and they wait for Vivek to wake up. He does, after a bit. Vivek sits up on the surgical table and informs everyone he can’t feel his remaining arm anymore (can you say woops?). He asks if Saef has any clothes he could borrow, as grey servitor overalls isn’t really his style, and Saef lends him a kittie-hoodie (and helps him put it on). 

Vivek gets to his feet and goes to Uffe, who pulls him into a tight hug. Vivek murmurs a quiet apology against Uffe’s shoulder and tells him he’s alright. So Vivek is alright, also kind of pissed off at Eden for overriding him, but he doesn’t know what to do about it yet. Gimlet offers him his flask, but Vivek denies the offer. He points out that he heard everything that was said, while servitor, Inquisitor (acolyte, corrects Gimlet). Vivek is clearly in need of a smoke, but unfortunately his current attire hasn’t come with a pack. Uffe pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, that he got from Terra. Vivek comments about Uffe keeping up a bad habit of his, and Uffe retorts he doubts this would be the moment Vivek would be quitting anyway.

Gimlet asks what Inpax was doing on New Dawn, and Vivek says he didn’t stop to ask, but presumes Inpax had learned of him being there. Gimlet says he didn’t tell Inpax, but perhaps Alex had (though that was not his task?). Gorm says that he hopes this lesson of a friend being untrustworthy resonates deep with Gimlet and Gimlet points out if it was Alex he was just doing his job.

Our heroes question Vivek about the whole Harlequin seer, Nurgle’s rot thing, and Vivek says he doesn’t know if this is going as it was supposed to at all. It was Vivek who contacted his brother, partly because he knew that he could deal with the infestation. But also for another reason, because there was something in Sergeant Kuru’s memories, and that something was the fact that the four AdMechs under Eden’s care are not the only ones with the mutated life-eater virus, Vivek’s brother has it, and so might potentially a large segment of Triplex Phall AdMech population. He was planning on having him and his Triplex Phall friends break into his brother’s base while his brother was busy on New Dawn to look for any clues, but got caught. Vivek suspects that his brother’s sponsor X56r might be behind it, but he isn’t sure. Whatever the case, he needs to find out what is going on, but he can’t full-well drive like this (points at paralyzed arm). Gorm says they’re going to Triplex Phall anyway, so they might as well look into it, as he suspects Uffe might have gotten the virus too, which is not great. It means Vivek’s brother will have to come with. (Vivek lets everyone know he wishes his brother not be killed, at least not for his sake)

Well things are settled then. Vivek will go to Cayenne’s ship once it arrives (soon, says a text message). The others will go help Z47r with the Nurgle. Gorm and Saef give Vivek hugs (and none for Gimlet) and off they go!

[berniesrevolution]

IN THESE TIMES

More than once during the ongoing crisis of organized labor in the United States, In These Times has wondered whether this event or that is the nail in labor’s coffin. Today, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 27 Janus v. AFSCME decision, we hear clods of earth hitting the lid. With private-sector union membership at an all-time low of 7 percent, Janusthreatens labor’s last bastion: the 34-percent-unionized public sector.

Many unions are wisely channeling resources into deep member organizing, but a strong bedrock of legal protections for organized labor sure would help. As labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein wrote for In These Times’ 40th anniversary anthology, “Even the most creative forms of rank-and-file militancy could but rarely triumph against a free market-oriented neoliberal legal and financial regime.” The International Trade Union Confederation, in its annual workers’ rights assessment, routinely groups the U.S. with Iraq, Honduras and other countries where “fundamental rights [are] under continuous threat.”

The labor and employment protections that do exist have been eroded for decades, often on the Democrats’ watch. But unions and workers weary of broken promises from corporate-captured legislators may find a glimmer of hope in the current rise of progressive Democrats. To those candidates and legislators looking for strong pro-labor proposals, we invited labor experts to offer four concrete policies to bolster workers’ rights. You can find the first proposal, by Aaron Tang, below, and the rest on InTheseTimes.com over the course of the week.

We offer these with one caveat: Legislative change won’t happen without a groundswell of worker action, rooted in the conviction that we do not shed our rights when we clock in to work.

- JESSICA STITES, In These Times executive editor

A SIMPLE FIX TO JANUS

BY AARON TANG

If there is any agreement between Right and Left regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus, it is that the ruling delivers a potentially crushing blow to public-sector unions across the country. Before Janus, small automatic deductions could be debited from workers’ paychecks to cover union bargaining costs. After Janus, this is no longer an option: The Supreme Court has ruled that requiring union contributions violates the First Amendment.

So, as a matter of law, all public-sector workers are now free to opt out of paying union dues while still retaining the benefits of union representation. Experts estimate that anywhere from 20 percent to 70 percent of those affected will stop paying—with significant negative effects on unions’ ability to advocate for workers’ interests.

This doomsday scenario is entirely avoidable, however. Lawmakers in the 22 states that permitted public-sector unions to collect fair-share fees before Janus can enact a simple legislative workaround that would neutralize essentially all of Janus’ impact. Most of these states are blue and ostensibly pro-labor, so they should jump at the opportunity.

Instead of deducting union dues from paychecks to reimburse union bargaining-related costs, government employers—fire departments, school districts, etc.—could be required to reimburse those expenses directly. Workers who previously objected would no longer have an issue, and unions would still enjoy the same, pre-Janus level of resources needed to carry out their representational activities.

Lawmakers in Hawaii are already considering the creation of a statewide pot of money (think of it as a “Janus fund”) to cover public-sector unions’

It gets better. There is a hidden benefit to this “direct reimbursement” approach: Workers would actually experience a small net pay increase. The pre-Janus approach created an extra tax burden that would be alleviated. Union fees formally counted as wages (even though they never made it into employees’ bank accounts), so workers were paying taxes on the money that funded the union. The direct reimbursement approach would eliminate that oddity, resulting in a roughly $200 tax cut for an unmarried worker who earns $50,000 a year. (A worker earning $60,000 would get a $300 tax cut.)

If direct government reimbursement of union bargaining-related expenses sounds far-fetched to you, it shouldn’t. State lawmakers in Hawaii are already considering a government funding bill that would create a statewide pot of money (think of it as a “Janusfund”) to ensure that public-sector unions have the resources they need to bargain. Some states may prefer a statewide response like Hawaii’s; others, an employer-by-employer approach (which would be more similar to the pre-Janus fair-share system).

One note of caution: Whatever approach states choose, it will be important for legislators to enact procedures to ensure unions remain fully independent from their government employers at the bargaining table—even though those employers are reimbursing bargaining costs. For example, rather than letting employers negotiate over union reimbursement levels alongside wage increases, employers could be required to reimburse unions for all bargaining-related expenses (the same costs that could be charged to all workers before Janus), with disputes resolved by a state Public Employment Relations Board. I explore these design questions and others—including proposing some model legislation—in “Life After Janus,” a full-length article posted on the Social Science Research Network.

(Continue Reading)

[ericvick]

Pelosi Husband’s Tech Stock Spotlights Law on Lawmaker Trades

(Bloomberg) — Paul Pelosi’s multi-million-dollar win on Alphabet Inc. stock in the week before a U.S. House committee publicly considered legislation affecting technology giants has drawn renewed attention to a decade-old law governing lawmakers’ trades that some outside experts say should be changed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband acted legally and within the bounds of the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or Stock, Act when he exercised options to acquire more shares of the parent company of Google for a nearly $5 million gain.

That law requires disclosure by members of Congress and other government employees, including lawmakers’ spouses, of such transactions, and prohibits their use of non-public information for private profit. The speaker complied with House rules and disclosed her husband’s trade in a July 2 filing.

Still, some experts challenge the appropriateness and political optics of Paul Pelosi’s stock activity and are calling on Congress to prohibit lawmakers and, potentially, their families from trading individual stocks. Lawmakers in both chambers have in the last several years pushed for more stringent restrictions on how members play the stock market, but those efforts have not been enacted.

“What leapt out to me was the massive amount of money involved,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist at the government watchdog group, Public Citizen. “This is the spouse of the House leader making millions on stock transactions with businesses that fall under legislation that Nancy Pelosi can control.”

A Pelosi spokesman has said the speaker had no prior knowledge of her husband exercising the options.

The circumstances of Paul Pelosi’s stock options bear no resemblance to the trading controversies that, for instance, surrounded Senator Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia Republican. Loeffler and her husband’s sales and purchases of stocks following closed-door briefings to Congress on the Covid-19 outbreak were among those of senators that came under Justice Department scrutiny last year.

Story continues

The former senator had said through a spokesman neither she nor her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, had themselves directly traded. Third-party advisers managed their investments, the spokesman said.

Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that Nancy Pelosi’s July 2 financial form included that her husband had on June 18 exercised call options to acquire 4,000 shares of Alphabet at a strike price of $1,200. The trade netted him a $4.8 million gain, and it’s risen to $5.3 million since then as the shares have jumped.

The Alphabet call options that Paul Pelosi held were exercised on the very last day he could have exercised them, according to Pelosi’s July 2 filing. They would have expired on June 19, making them no longer valid.

He had also bought 20 call options in May for Amazon.com Inc. with a strike price of $3,000 and 50 call options for Apple Inc. with a strike price of $100. Both of those had a June 2022 expiration date.

‘Leaky Boat’

The disclosure of Paul Pelosi’s exercising of the options — as required — has itself renewed calls from some experts for changing the rules for trading by lawmakers, who are privy to sensitive information and pass laws that can move markets. Some urge updating the Stock Act, including with language to tighten restrictions on whether members of Congress and their immediate family should be holding individual stocks at all.

Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, introduced a bill in January that would require lawmakers and their immediate families to put specified investments into a qualified blind trust. The bill has attracted 15 co-sponsors. The House referred the measure to the House Administration Committee, which has not considered it.

Two other Democrats, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, have previously sponsored legislation that would prohibit lawmakers and other senior government officials from owning or trading individual stocks.

The Stock Act has shown itself to be “a leaky boat” that needs to be patched and updated, argues Marti Subrahmanyam, the Charles E. Merrill Professor of Finance and Economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Subrahmanyam says it is difficult to establish a clear connection between lawmaker trades and information obtained in secret meetings and closed committee hearings. Holman echoes that tying the trading of a lawmaker or their spouse to information they have gained from their public office — not in the public domain — has been too often difficult to prove.

“If the spouse has a joint account with the member, applying the same ban would be appropriate,” Holman said. “If the spouse has his or her own account separate from the member of Congress, then disclosure is all we could legitimately ask.”

But James Cox, a professor of corporate and securities law at Duke University, adds: “I would think Congress should understand the optics of garnering gains within the ‘household’ by potential abuse of using non-public information so that the restriction should apply to households and cover not just purchasing stocks — including interests in sector mutual funds — but also derivatives that are based on either individual or sector stock price changes.”

None of the investigations last year into lawmakers for their trades early in the pandemic resulted in prosecutions or a change to the law.

That included scrutiny of Republican Senator Richard Burr’s dumping of hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks while Burr, a North Carolina Republican, received closed Covid-19 briefings from a seat on the Senate’s health committee. Loeffler and Senator James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California came under Justice Department review for their trades early in the coronavirus pandemic, but the investigations ultimately were dropped.

Paul Pelosi’s Alphabet transaction was completed a week before the House Judiciary Committee advanced six bipartisan antitrust bills, four of which take aim at Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook Inc. Market reaction to the hearings was muted, suggesting that investors didn’t see the House proposals as a real threat to the companies.

Holman says the knowledge of the upcoming House antitrust meeting was clearly information in the public domain. And Pelosi last month even said she supports the Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan effort to challenge the hold that big technology companies have over the internet economy.

Congress, Pelosi told reporters, is “not going to ignore the consolidation that has happened and the concern that exists on both sides of the aisle.” She said Congress’s responsibility is to “the consumer and competition.”

Still, Cox said, new restrictions on how members play in the stock market “would greatly improve the public trust” in elected officials.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

[mariaclaragomez276]

Luxury travel trends for 2021 according to industry experts

As part of our Independent Minds series, we asked our community of hoteliers about what the world of travel will look like in 2021. After a particularly challenging time for the hospitality industry, many of our hotels have taken the opportunity to renovate, adapt, and anticipate what the ‘new normal’ for travellers might be. From more sustainable outlooks and slow travel, to private spaces and exclusive hire, personalised experiences, carefully curated itineraries, enhanced wellness offerings, and an increased desire for once-in-a-lifetime trips, we’re feeling optimistic about the year ahead.

Gertrud Schneider, Kristiania Lech – Austria

For me, the new trend emerging is a ‘considered’ versus ‘consumptive’ approach to travel and within luxury hotels. While COVID-19 is still with us and we are navigating new protocols and assessing the safest way to run a hotel and the safest opportunities for travel in the months ahead, I feel certain that how you travel will matter more than ever.

These very extraordinary times without travelling and re-thinking the Kristiania Lech experience have made me think a lot about past travels, about the way we used to travel. A potent combination of access, ease, familiarity and habit had gradually accelerated the pace of travel, pushing us into a frenetic, consumptive frame of mind. London for a long weekend? Hamburg for a concert? St. Tropez for a party? Why not? The tickets weren’t too expensive, so we jumped on planes, with less fanfare or anticipation than my grandparents devoted to going out to dine in a restaurant. Looking back on that makes me wonder how – in the excessive casualness of the way we approached these incredible opportunities to cross borders and could be plunged into new cultures and communities in mere hours – we so often lost something.

Back when it was harder to get places, you stayed longer, you looked deeper, you expected fewer habitual comforts and you brought less of your routine with you – instead you surrendered to the foreign. My grandparents knew they weren’t likely to be in the places they visited again. They understood that each trip was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime experience, so they savoured each moment and tried to slow down time. The word – considered – comes to mind. And if this slower, more thoughtful approach is considered travel, then what we were all doing, before COVID-19 grounded us, can only be described as consumptive.

We regard each other across the decades and generations of an utterly changed world, but I know that I carry the understanding of travel of my grandparents and that it has never been as important as it is now. My grandparents weren’t looking for the comforts of home when they left home; rather, they were thrilled to settle into a place and fall into its rhythms. I believe there is hope in that approach. A future where we all think of ourselves as people joining a community for a time, offering gratitude and appreciation, mingling meaningfully with local residents, contributing something of benefit and taking only memories and a broader view to share when we reach home.

Girish Jhunjhnuwala, Ovolo Hotels – Hong Kong & Australia

Design-wise, I believe there will be a trend shifting towards de-cluttering to minimise touch-points. Urban hotels will become more modern with more indoor-outdoor spaces and open windows, as people are starting to value space and openness more than before.

Technologically speaking, I do believe that many restaurants may look into scanning QR codes for the menu and ordering to reduce physical touch-points, but this is not something Ovolo Woolloomooloo, Ovolo The Valley Brisbane, or Ovolo Central are interested in. As mentioned previously, we value connecting with customers. For me, you go to a restaurant so a waiter can explain the food to you, and for the service. If not, why not just order take-out?

We don’t believe in technology for the sake of technology. Ideas have been floating around regarding a key card that can be integrated into your mobile phone, but checking in at the front desk and being welcomed the way you should be is what makes your stay all that different. Luxury hospitality always needs human to human contact, but technology will find other ways to reinvent our spaces.

Wellness will be given a huge boost as well because of health consciousness. This trend has been on the rise for a while now but has recently become more pervasive with the pandemic, so it will be interesting to see how hotels will incorporate this into their spaces – such as how hotel gyms keep their cleanliness, keeping yoga mats in rooms, walking pads, spas, and such.

I do anticipate that the general trend of travelling will gear towards staycations and domestic travel for the rest of the year, but the travel industry has the ability to bounce back very quickly because of pent up demand. Travelling is a huge part of many people’s lives whether it be for leisure or business, and that is not something that can be replaced. Therefore, although staycations will become more popular amongst those that are wary, international travel will have its momentum back soon enough.

Dinos & Lena Tornivoukas, Eagles Villas – Greece

We see a trend for cleaner interiors, free from any unnecessary decorative elements, with an emphasis on art work to give interiors a special touch. Rooms are becoming larger, with more space to give guests the experience of never feeling crowded and offering the ability to spend more time in the guest room, without having to expose themselves to many people or crowds. At Eagles Villas, we also see a trend for longer stays, and guests extending their stay when they feel safe and happy at the hotels.

Samornpun Somnam, Keemala – Thailand

The COVID-19 epidemic has already redefined how we live, work and travel. It is undeniable that the ‘new normal’ lifestyle will mean many people working from home, or away from the workplace. We will most likely have to consider how hotels can bridge the gap that arises from this change, as many travellers may shift from holiday makers to a work-holiday status. For example, how can we meet both the technological and logistical requirements for this group of travellers, while retaining essential and authentic Keemala experiences for guests to enjoy.

Domenico de Simone, Casa Angelina – Italy

Until normality within the travel realm returns, travellers don’t want to be with swaths of people. We definitely believe that experiences encompassing social distancing — whether that’s privacy or minimised interaction with others — are at the forefront of travellers’ minds. As most of our experiences at Casa Angelina are designed and personalised for the guest, we will continue to think creatively on how we can enhance this, such as allowing the opportunity to fully reserve the spa for the day for complete privacy. In addition, we see wellness also being a big focus for 2021 as guests will want to relax from a stressful 2020. We will work to offer additional wellness-focused creative programming such as meditation and yoga on our lawn, outdoor spa treatments, and a ‘better sleep menu,’ designed to help guests have a better night sleep, just to name a few.

Leopold Botteri, San Canzian Village & Hotel – Croatia

I believe the world will be a better place after this experience. We immersed into ourselves this year and we have a new-found respect for life and beauty. I believe people will appreciate calmer, more restful places such as San Canzian Village & Hotel. I do not see a large change in behaviour in the future. We will always have the need to travel, to visit and experience. We have reached a level of development where travel is essential part of a quality life and I do not see this changing, especially in the luxury segment.

Amanda Syrowatka, Viceroy Bali – Indonesia

I think sustainability and conscious travel will be even bigger trends in 2021, and likely here to stay as the industry upheaval of the 2020 pandemic dissipates. People’s attitudes in general have changed from the pandemic experiences and I believe there is less of a barrier between brand and customer, which we have always been advocates for at Viceroy Bali and which favours independently minded boutique hotels. I see customers wanting more dedicated attention before, during and after their stays in hotels and I do believe travellers will become more accountable to their place in society – in a sense we are becoming more ‘responsible citizens’.

Thierry Tessier, Dar Ahlam – Morocco

Travelling will become more precious again. Our clients won’t travel anywhere near as frequently as they have in the past. We are beginning to have some requests for longer stays (two or three weeks instead of three or four days) at Dar Ahlam. Guests will expect to have deeper connections with local life and communities, with traditions and artisans. They will travel less but travel better.

Jeanette Mix, Ett Hem – Sweden

The demand for recreation and wellbeing will increase, while guests want to learn and to be engaged. Safety and a sense of belonging will be ever more important going forwards. We are also experiencing a new sensitivity and a stronger need for personal care. I believe smaller hotels like Ett Hem will be in favour – requests for full buy-outs are also increasing.

Panos Daktylides, Panoptis Escape – Greece

I am confident that despite the difficulties, the hospitality sector has a bright future ahead. Trends will certainly include a continuation of the sustainability trend, which is set to become even more important as millennials and Gen Z members grow older. In fact, current research shows that many travellers are not satisfied by the level of sustainability and eco-consciousness of the majority of present-day hospitality establishments. It is up to us to listen and respond to this need. Moreover, increased focus on privacy and on spending time with the group you are travelling with is expected.

Also, we expect an increased focus on fully-curated experiences at Panoptis Escape – not as an after-thought but as the main reason for travelling to that destination. So instead of ‘a visit to X historical landmark’, guests are more likely to now appreciate ‘a guided visit to X accompanied by a tasting session of food from that era, and followed by a sunset cruise so you can enjoy X from a new vantage point’, for example.

The post Luxury travel trends for 2021 according to industry experts appeared first on Small Luxury Hotels.

from Small Luxury Hotels https://ift.tt/3qzeJDI Publish First on

[fnewstoday]

Pandemic Weakens? What To Expect Of The Economy

The coronavirus pandemic weakens gradually throughout the world and many countries and industries are little by little returning to life. However, the influence of СOVID-19 affected all sectors, causing changes.

International Energy Agency supported oil quotes

On May 14, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a new forecast for the oil market in 2020. The agency expects a drop in demand of 8.6 million barrels per day, rather than 9.3 million barrels, as previously forecasted. IEA experts believe that pandemic weakens and due to this a gradual relaxation of restrictions on movement will accelerate the restoration of demand in the oil market. According to the agency, by the end of May, 2.8 billion people worldwide will be under various restrictions due to coronavirus. At the peak of restrictive measures, this number reached 4 billion people. The forecast of the agency had a positive effect on oil prices. On the morning of May 15, the cost of the July Brent futures surpassed the $ 32 mark. the-influence-of-СOVID-19-affected-all-sectors

Elon Musk persuaded authorities to resume Tesla working, enlisting the support of Trump

The US authorities nevertheless went to meet Tesla in a conflict that erupted around the resumption of the company's production. The Alamida County Health Department due to the fact that pandemic weakens allowed the automaker to fully start production from May 18. Tesla's Fremont plant was closed due to quarantine. The assembly of cars was suspended on March 23. It was supposed that he would start working in April, but the district extended quarantine measures, after which the head of Tesla, Elon Musk, went to court, announced the opening of the production contrary to the ban, and even threatened to transfer the enterprise to another state. US President Donald Trump intervened in the situation, writing on Twitter that the authorities should allow Mask to resume the company.

Goldman Sachs may merge with Wells Fargo.

On Wall Street, a wave of consolidation is expected in the US banking sector as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic ends. But this deal has few prospects. A possible merger of two US banks from the four largest US financial companies was reported by Fox Business. Goldman Sachs can merge either with Wells Fargo or with one of the other financial companies, including U.S. Bancorp, PNC Bank, BlackRock, and American Express. Why is Goldman Sachs needs another bank? The conglomerate focuses primarily on working with institutional clients, that is, funds, brokers and other financial organizations. The bank provides a range of services to them - from trading in securities to placing shares on the stock exchange. Such a bank is called an investment bank. Goldman Sachs has never worked with retail customers since its founding in 1869. An exception can be considered large private investors, to whom the bank provides services for the management of their assets. But now Goldman Sachs can change its principles and change its image. In terms of profit indicators, the bank in recent years has become much inferior to competitors. A financial company is experiencing a decline in revenue from a dominant business - securities trading. Goldman Sachs capitalization does not reach $ 60 billion now, while the market value of its closest competitor, investment bank JP Morgan, exceeds $ 267 billion. Now, when the coronavirus pandemic actually stopped the conclusion of any transactions, the need to merge an investment bank with a large commercial bank has become even more urgent. In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, it was also apparent that the business was moving beyond the multimillion-dollar New York, whose business activity was completely paralyzed. And that is why there may not be a merger with Wells Fargo. The deal with Wells Fargo makes strategic sense - an investment bank combined with a commercial bank will be a formidable competitor to JP Morgan, analysts say. At the same time, a number of experts consider the merger unrealistic. Pandemic weakens and the deal is becoming less relevant, while JP Morgan analyst Vivek Junidge is confident that it is not feasible. He refers to the restrictions on increasing Wells Fargo's net assets that were set by the Federal Reserve in 2018 after a major scandal involving credit card fraud. In addition, there are restrictions on merging banks, which account for more than 10% of the US deposit market share. According to the expert, Wells Fargo exceeded this limit. According to Junige, numerous legal and regulatory violations of Wells Fargo, as well as recent regulatory accusations, will prevent anyone from entering into transactions with Wells Fargo. On May 14, following the Fox Business announcement of a possible merger, Wells Fargo shares jumped 6.8%, while trading during the post-market rose another 1.6%.

traders-will-be-able-to-return-to-work-subject-to-the-new-rules

NYSE will return traders: the New York Stock Exchange will open a trading room in late May

In turn, the New York Stock Exchange, which closed the trading floor at the end of March after the detection of coronavirus infection in some employees, plans to partially return them to work two months later. Due to the fact that pandemic weakens, on May 26, the New York Stock Exchange will again open its trading platform for stock brokers, NYSE President Stacy Cunningham told The Wall Street Journal. Some traders will be able to return to work subject to the new safety rules. To get on the stock exchange, they will have to abandon the use of public transport in New York, wear masks and follow the rules of social distance. In addition, all visitors will be checked the temperature at the entrance to the building. Those who do not pass the check will not be allowed to exchange until they receive a negative result on COVID-19 or quarantine in accordance with the requirements in the country. Employees will only be allowed into the trading room, and the rest of the building will remain virtually empty. The New York Stock Exchange has completely switched to electronic trading since March 23 after coronavirus infection was detected in some employees. Many of them took equipment with them in order to work remotely. Stacy Cunningham said that stringent security measures on the exchange will weaken as the situation in the city improves, but may become more stringent if the spread of the virus begins to increase again.

The Asian Development Bank predicts a loss of $ 8.8 trillion. from the COVID-19 pandemic

Despite the positive trends in easing the pandemic, Asian Bank experts suggest that the coronavirus epidemic will cause damage in the amount of 10% of global GDP. At the same time, the Asian Development Bank noted that if the quarantine lasts for a period of three months, along with strong political decisions, it will be able to limit the impact of the pandemic to $ 4.1 trillion, or 4.5% of global GDP. The Asia-Pacific region will account for about 30% of the total decline in world production, despite the fact that pandemic weakens. In addition, globally, between 158 and 242 million jobs could be lost 70% of which are workers from Asia, the Asian Development Bank said. A mitigation of the economic impact of the pandemic by 40% is possible if the health system is improved along with the protection of income and employment introduced by states. Salaries will also decline worldwide, especially in the US and Europe due to reduced consumption and investment. Also, restricting tourism to prevent the spread of coronavirus could lead to a reduction in world trade of $ 1.7 trillion. Read the full article

[brajeshupadhyay]

White House tensions with CDC spill into public view as top Trump adviser criticizes agency response

“Early on in this crisis, the CDC — which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space — really let the country down with the testing,” Navarro said. “Because not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy, they had a bad test. And that did set us back.”

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose agency oversees the CDC, pushed back against Navarro’s criticism in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“I don’t believe the CDC let this country down,” Azar said when pressed repeatedly on Navarro’s comments. “I believe the CDC serves an important public health role. And what was always critical was to get the private sector to the table [on testing].”

With the coronavirus pandemic in the United States now in its third month, some in the White House are increasingly taking aim at the CDC and the leadership of its director, Robert Redfield, as The Washington Post has previously reported.

In addition to the issue of testing, White House officials say they are also frustrated by what they consider the agency’s balky flow of data and information and the leak of an early version of its reopening recommendations, according to three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal disagreements.

Appearing remotely at a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Redfield detailed the CDC’s efforts to combat the pandemic, including expert assistance to state health authorities, disease surveillance and testing and contact tracing strategy. But he also sounded an alarm that the nation’s public health resources have been insufficient to meet the challenge that covid-19 has posed.

“We need to rebuild our nation’s public health infrastructure: data and data analytics, public health laboratory resilience and our nation’s public health workforce,” he said.

Navarro on Sunday lashed out not only at the CDC, but also at China, escalating the Trump administration’s attacks on that country for its handling of the virus. In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Navarro said he holds the country’s leaders responsible for the global outbreak.

“The virus was spawned in Wuhan province,” Navarro said. “Patient zero was in November. The Chinese, behind the shield of the World Health Organization, for two months hid the virus from the world, and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that. They could have kept it in Wuhan. Instead, it became a pandemic.”

Beijing has responded to such attacks by accusing the Trump administration of “shifting blame” in an effort to distract from its own failures amid the pandemic.

While they were at odds over the CDC, Navarro and Azar were in agreement Sunday as they defended the Trump administration’s push for states to reopen their economies.

Navarro argued that “some of the people in the medical community want to just run and hide until the virus is extinguished,” an approach that he argued, without evidence, would “kill many more people” than the coronavirus would.

He also said loosening restrictions on businesses is not a “question of lives vs. jobs.”

“What President Trump realized early on is that, if you lock people down, you may save lives directly from the China virus, but you indirectly are going to kill a lot more people” through suicide or substance abuse, Navarro said.

Azar declared that it’s safe to reopen the country because half of the counties reporting “haven’t had a single death,” and more than 60 percent of all covid-19 cases are in just 2 percent of the reporting counties.

“That’s why the local leaders need to lead this,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Azar also said he was not overly concerned by images of people congregating at bars and other places without staying six feet apart or wearing masks.

“I think in any individual instance you are going to see people doing things that are irresponsible,” he said, emphasizing, “we’ve got to get this economy open and our people out and about, working and going to school again.”

Trump made only brief remarks Sunday as he returned to the White House from Camp David. In an exchange with reporters, he maintained that “tremendous progress is being made on many fronts, including coming up with a cure for this horrible plague that has beset our country.”

But statistics from some states paint a less-than-rosy picture.

Texas reported its largest single-day jump in coronavirus cases Saturday, with 1,801 newly confirmed cases. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 734 of the new cases were reported in the Amarillo area, where there has been an outbreak tied to the region’s meatpacking facilities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has already allowed some businesses — including hair salons, restaurants and retail stores — to reopen at reduced capacity, and beginning on Monday, gyms, offices and nonessential manufacturing facilities will be allowed to do so as well, according to the Dallas Morning News.

New York, the state hardest hit by the pandemic, has seen a decline in new cases since April, but officials remain wary of a potential increase as parts of the state begin to reopen. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Sunday received a covid-19 swab test on live TV in an effort to convince residents to get tested if they are experiencing symptoms.

“It is so fast and so easy that even a governor can take this test,” Cuomo said shortly before a doctor swabbed his nose during his daily briefing in Albany.

After photos and videos emerged over the weekend of people in New York City crowding the sidewalks outside restaurants and bars, many carrying open containers and not wearing masks, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) scolded those disregarding quarantine measures.

“We’re feeling the pull of the outdoors, we’re feeling the seasons changing, we all want to be out there,” de Blasio said, noting that the sunny weather has only exacerbated pent-up New Yorkers’ “quarantine fatigue” after two months in isolation. “But we all understand we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and we have to do things differently.”

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is moving forward based on the best guidance to control the spread of the virus: social distancing. He also said reopening schools will be predicated on data and science, not just observations on the ground.

“I think some schools will not be [open this fall] and many schools will be,” Newsom (D) told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Seventy-five percent of California’s economy is now open, including manufacturing, warehouses and restaurants, Newsom said. Business owners and individuals are encouraged to wear face coverings and maintain physical distance from others. Opening sports arenas, he said, is not an option at this time.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said that reopening his state’s economy was necessary but also noted that the state was still wrestling with the outbreak and the danger remains. “I’ve said to Ohioans that so much is in every individual’s control. I encourage people to wear masks when they go out in public,” he said on CNN.

DeWine said he was concerned when he saw images of a reopened Ohio bar crowded with people. But he added that the people running the bar got the situation under control.

“Ultimately, it’s going to come to Ohioans doing what Ohioans have done the last two months — keep their distance and wear masks,” he said.

DeWine said that 90 percent of the state’s economy is open but that he wasn’t sure about reopening schools. He said they were closed “not because you [are] specifically worried about the kids,” but to keep students from going home and infecting their parents.

“You have 30 kids go into a classroom, one kid is in there, and he’s got no symptoms, but he’s carrying it — now you got maybe 25 kids . . . going back to their families,” DeWine said. “And it just spreads and multiplies. So, that’s the concern.”

In an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned that “time is of the essence” for Congress and the White House to approve an additional round of coronavirus relief, including funds for additional testing and job protections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sought to expand liability protections for employers that reopen during the pandemic, but Pelosi on Sunday declined to say whether Democrats are open to such a move.

“Time is very important. We have lost time,” Pelosi said, adding: “People are hungry across America. Hunger doesn’t take a pause. People are jobless across America. That doesn’t take a pause.”

Meryl Kornfield, Joseph Marks, Steven Goff, Lenny Bernstein and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3dNa9ui

[kevinfederlinefan]

#boxing

Considering all the things about Kevin Federline that seem to rub people the wrong way -- the cornrows, the wife-beaters, -- it's a miracle that no real rappers have come forth to put him in his place. "He's taken enough flack for the hair and the wife-beaters in the gossip rags, we felt like the East Coast needed to holler back at such slothlike behavior".

L'uomo April 2005: Brilliant hazelnut carat on both lobes, two blue dice tattooed on the right forearm, pledge of love that divides, according to a trend of vogue today in Hollywood, with her better half - she has the same design, but in pink, on the left wrist - short hair with a vaguely Roman emperor cut, suading voice, way of doing very laid back. Ladies and gentlemen, here you are Kevin Federline from Fresno, California, the young man who last September in Los Angeles with a surprise wedding put the ring on the ring finger of the pop diva Britney Spears just the one who, a handful of months earlier, in Las Vegas, had convolated at the right wedding with a friend of infant- aunt, and after 55 hours, disposed of the first moments of euphoria, he had decided to cancel everything, goodbye and thank you. This time, however, the situation seems quite serious. 'I found my prince charming after kissing a lot of toads,' chirped the star who in the past did not disdain - small transgression for advertising purposes - to give Madonna a kiss on the lips too. The groom, a past of heartthrob, but at the bottom of the soul an incurable romantic, confesses to me that he was moved several times during the ceremony. In short, for the joy of them and the fans, a more idyllic picture of this should be invented- lo and, for all those who believe in fairy tales, this one has dav- true the cards in order. Now, who is she, queen of record classes, idol of teen-agers, busty physicist with a few extra pounds every now and then, a hair colour that lately changes as easily as one changes the T-shirt, it is soon said. Who is him is less obvious. Of course, for less than a year his face has become very easily recognisable - first thanks to the paparaz. zate published by gossip magazines, then thanks to the services for glossy magazines - but his biography is reduced to the os- so. Profession dancer, you read practically dappertut- to. After that, the emptiness. We try to fill it with an in- tervista-flash, after the shooting with Steven Klein of which Kevin was thrilled. 'Oh, man,' he tells me with a sigh, 'when I saw the polaroids I was speechless. Steven wanted me with a completely different look from those with which they had previously photographed me: he didn't make me make the usual jumps in front of the mac- china, he bet on a masculine, intense feeling. I was also struck by his artistic sensitivity, which is really very strong.' And he adds right away, just to put the dots- ni on the i: "What I want is to be myself, to be known for who I am, as a person. And not to be labelled, as the case may be, as a dancer, or musician or actor, or even worse like Britney's husband.' To see, the anxiety of normality to which the boy aspires, reflects a life that, until recently, had not in the least contemplated chases of shatterbugs and intrusions into the private sector. Already the trip from Fresno, an anonymous city in California, to Los Angeles, a megacities of dreams and ambitions, seemed like a milestone. 'I've always loved music, it's a part of me,' he says. "Especially hip hop, and rap, but also alternative rock, jazz, hou- se. That's why I started dancing. At 13 years old I also attended a studio, but after a year I gave up. I preferred to perform with some of my friends on the street, even if ours were not real performances: we only did it for ourselves, for fun. Then, I ended up in a non-profit organisation where I taught dance to children, and from there with Jimmy Federico, one of the people closest to me, we decided to travel to L.A. He had been enlisted for a video of Christina Aguilera, I decided to take classes and attend some clubs.' The second move turned out to be a winner and, according to a script not new to the show-biz planet, Kevin was noticed by an agent who put him under contract. He became a backup dancer, one of the pre- stants and tightrope walkers who during the pyroet concerts on stage, and toured with Justin Timberlake, with Pink, Usher and Destiny's Child. They complete his cuRiculum an appearance in Michael Jackson's video "You Rock My World", and a little part, always as a bal- lerino in "You Got Served", a film that no one remembers with particular emotion. After that Britney profiled herself at the o- rizzonte and, ça va sans dire, life was never the same again. "I met her professionally in 2000: I used to work with LFO, the band that opened her tour. Then I couldn't say I knew her: I had seen her a few times through the People of our tour, but we hadn't gone beyond a "hello, how are you?". Then, a long time later, what happened happened.' In the sense that?, I insist, pretending not to understand. 'It was a Monday night,' he explains with unexpected precision, 'and we were at Joseph's, a club of L.A. Do you know when you click with a person, almost by magic? Here, that's what happened to us. I state that I've never been a fan of hers: Britney struck me for what she has inside her. It's just gorgeous, adorable. In none of my relationships have I ever had someone so special.' Well, very well, but not negligible detail, When last year the two swore eternal love to each other. Kevin lived with Shar Jackson, an actress with whom he had a little girl - who is now almost three years old - and from whom he was expecting a boy, born last July, just a month after the announcement of their engagement. He on the ar- gomento glissa in a big size: "With Shar I have a wonderful relationship. And with the children everything is ok: they are a week with her and one with me and Britney.' End of the story. The one with the capital S, on the other hand, was crowned in record time in September, with a ceremony held secret- but until the end. That is: the fateful date had been set for October 16, but the two pigeons beat everyone on time three weeks earlier. Change of plans and location - instead of the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, a private house in Studio City - only about thirty guests, parents- you tight and friends of the heart who thought of going to a Engagement Party. "No one, He had the slightest suspicion, so they were really speechless," confrimed Kevin. 'I also remember that the cats, during the day, kept asking me what I had, because I was agitated.' After a honeymoon on Turtle Island, Fiji – 'ten days of enchantment' – the two have resumed a life he describes as 'normal'. 'When I don't work, we do what the rest of the people do: we go to the movies, we spend a lot of time with my children, we organise barbeques, we go out to dinner.' On the business front, on the other hand, there are several projects on the horizon. "I'm looking at a number of opportunities but out of due dilligence, I don't want to talk about it. However, I have to confess that I would love to record a record: I've written things in the past, it's my dream in the drawer. In the immediate future there is instead something in tandem with Britney," he reveals. 'We are studying a line of clothing for both women and men. I would like a mix of casual, sporty and even more refined garments. The launch is scheduled, if all goes well, by the end of 2005.' In short, the fashion-tain-ment world will soon have new adepts. Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and P. Diddy are all warned.

[day0one]

White House tensions with CDC spill into public view as top Trump adviser criticizes agency response

Tensions between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spilled out into public view on Sunday as a top adviser to President Trump criticized the public health agency’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The comments by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro are the latest signal of how the Trump administration has sought to sideline the CDC. The agency typically plays the lead role in public health crises, but in recent weeks it’s had its draft guidance for reopening held up by the White House, leaving states and localities to largely fend for themselves.

Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post

Speaking on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Navarro sharply criticized the CDC over its production of a flawed coronavirus test kit that contributed to a nationwide delay in testing.

“Early on in this crisis, the CDC — which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space — really let the country down with the testing,” Navarro said. “Because not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy, they had a bad test. And that did set us back.”

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose agency oversees the CDC, pushed back against Navarro’s criticism in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“I don’t believe the CDC let this country down,” Azar said when pressed repeatedly on Navarro’s comments. “I believe the CDC serves an important public health role. And what was always critical was to get the private sector to the table [on testing].”

With the coronavirus pandemic in the United States now in its third month, some in the White House are increasingly taking aim at the CDC and the leadership of its director, Robert Redfield, as The Washington Post has previously reported.

In addition to the issue of testing, White House officials say they are also frustrated by what they consider the agency’s balky flow of data and information and the leak of an early version of its reopening recommendations, according to three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal disagreements.

Appearing remotely at a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Redfield detailed the CDC’s efforts to combat the pandemic, including expert assistance to state health authorities, disease surveillance and testing and contact tracing strategy. But he also sounded an alarm that the nation’s public health resources have been insufficient to meet the challenge that covid-19 has posed.

“We need to rebuild our nation’s public health infrastructure: data and data analytics, public health laboratory resilience and our nation’s public health workforce,” he said.

Navarro on Sunday lashed out not only at the CDC, but also at China, escalating the Trump administration’s attacks on that country for its handling of the virus. In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Navarro said he holds the country’s leaders responsible for the global outbreak.

“The virus was spawned in Wuhan province,” Navarro said. “Patient zero was in November. The Chinese, behind the shield of the World Health Organization, for two months hid the virus from the world, and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that. They could have kept it in Wuhan. Instead, it became a pandemic.”

Beijing has responded to such attacks by accusing the Trump administration of “shifting blame” in an effort to distract from its own failures amid the pandemic.

While they were at odds over the CDC, Navarro and Azar were in agreement Sunday as they defended the Trump administration’s push for states to reopen their economies.

Navarro argued that “some of the people in the medical community want to just run and hide until the virus is extinguished,” an approach that he argued, without evidence, would “kill many more people” than the coronavirus would.

He also said loosening restrictions on businesses is not a “question of lives vs. jobs.”

“What President Trump realized early on is that, if you lock people down, you may save lives directly from the China virus, but you indirectly are going to kill a lot more people” through suicide or substance abuse, Navarro said.

Azar declared that it’s safe to reopen the country because half of the counties reporting “haven’t had a single death,” and more than 60 percent of all covid-19 cases are in just 2 percent of the reporting counties.

“That’s why the local leaders need to lead this,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Azar also said he was not overly concerned by images of people congregating at bars and other places without staying six feet apart or wearing masks.

“I think in any individual instance you are going to see people doing things that are irresponsible,” he said, emphasizing, “we’ve got to get this economy open and our people out and about, working and going to school again.”

Trump made only brief remarks Sunday as he returned to the White House from Camp David. In an exchange with reporters, he maintained that “tremendous progress is being made on many fronts, including coming up with a cure for this horrible plague that has beset our country.”

But statistics from some states paint a less-than-rosy picture.

Texas reported its largest single-day jump in coronavirus cases Saturday, with 1,801 newly confirmed cases. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 734 of the new cases were reported in the Amarillo area, where there has been an outbreak tied to the region’s meatpacking facilities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has already allowed some businesses — including hair salons, restaurants and retail stores — to reopen at reduced capacity, and beginning on Monday, gyms, offices and nonessential manufacturing facilities will be allowed to do so as well, according to the Dallas Morning News.

New York, the state hardest hit by the pandemic, has seen a decline in new cases since April, but officials remain wary of a potential increase as parts of the state begin to reopen. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Sunday received a covid-19 swab test on live TV in an effort to convince residents to get tested if they are experiencing symptoms.

“It is so fast and so easy that even a governor can take this test,” Cuomo said shortly before a doctor swabbed his nose during his daily briefing in Albany.

After photos and videos emerged over the weekend of people in New York City crowding the sidewalks outside restaurants and bars, many carrying open containers and not wearing masks, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) scolded those disregarding quarantine measures.

“We’re feeling the pull of the outdoors, we’re feeling the seasons changing, we all want to be out there,” de Blasio said, noting that the sunny weather has only exacerbated pent-up New Yorkers’ “quarantine fatigue” after two months in isolation. “But we all understand we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and we have to do things differently.”

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is moving forward based on the best guidance to control the spread of the virus: social distancing. He also said reopening schools will be predicated on data and science, not just observations on the ground.

“I think some schools will not be [open this fall] and many schools will be,” Newsom (D) told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Seventy-five percent of California’s economy is now open, including manufacturing, warehouses and restaurants, Newsom said. Business owners and individuals are encouraged to wear face coverings and maintain physical distance from others. Opening sports arenas, he said, is not an option at this time.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said that reopening his state’s economy was necessary but also noted that the state was still wrestling with the outbreak and the danger remains. “I’ve said to Ohioans that so much is in every individual’s control. I encourage people to wear masks when they go out in public,” he said on CNN.

DeWine said he was concerned when he saw images of a reopened Ohio bar crowded with people. But he added that the people running the bar got the situation under control.

“Ultimately, it’s going to come to Ohioans doing what Ohioans have done the last two months — keep their distance and wear masks,” he said.

DeWine said that 90 percent of the state’s economy is open but that he wasn’t sure about reopening schools. He said they were closed “not because you [are] specifically worried about the kids,” but to keep students from going home and infecting their parents.

“You have 30 kids go into a classroom, one kid is in there, and he’s got no symptoms, but he’s carrying it — now you got maybe 25 kids . . . going back to their families,” DeWine said. “And it just spreads and multiplies. So, that’s the concern.”

In an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned that “time is of the essence” for Congress and the White House to approve an additional round of coronavirus relief, including funds for additional testing and job protections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sought to expand liability protections for employers that reopen during the pandemic, but Pelosi on Sunday declined to say whether Democrats are open to such a move.

“Time is very important. We have lost time,” Pelosi said, adding: “People are hungry across America. Hunger doesn’t take a pause. People are jobless across America. That doesn’t take a pause.”

[brajeshupadhyay]

“Early on in this crisis, the CDC — which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space — really let the country down with the testing,” Navarro said. “Because not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy, they had a bad test. And that did set us back.” The CDC did not respond to a request for comment. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose agency oversees the CDC, pushed back against Navarro’s criticism in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I don’t believe the CDC let this country down,” Azar said when pressed repeatedly on Navarro’s comments. “I believe the CDC serves an important public health role. And what was always critical was to get the private sector to the table [on testing].” With the coronavirus pandemic in the United States now in its third month, some in the White House are increasingly taking aim at the CDC and the leadership of its director, Robert Redfield, as The Washington Post has previously reported. In addition to the issue of testing, White House officials say they are also frustrated by what they consider the agency’s balky flow of data and information and the leak of an early version of its reopening recommendations, according to three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal disagreements. Appearing remotely at a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Redfield detailed the CDC’s efforts to combat the pandemic, including expert assistance to state health authorities, disease surveillance and testing and contact tracing strategy. But he also sounded an alarm that the nation’s public health resources have been insufficient to meet the challenge that covid-19 has posed. “We need to rebuild our nation’s public health infrastructure: data and data analytics, public health laboratory resilience and our nation’s public health workforce,” he said. Navarro on Sunday lashed out not only at the CDC, but also at China, escalating the Trump administration’s attacks on that country for its handling of the virus. In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Navarro said he holds the country’s leaders responsible for the global outbreak. “The virus was spawned in Wuhan province,” Navarro said. “Patient zero was in November. The Chinese, behind the shield of the World Health Organization, for two months hid the virus from the world, and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that. They could have kept it in Wuhan. Instead, it became a pandemic.” Beijing has responded to such attacks by accusing the Trump administration of “shifting blame” in an effort to distract from its own failures amid the pandemic. While they were at odds over the CDC, Navarro and Azar were in agreement Sunday as they defended the Trump administration’s push for states to reopen their economies. Navarro argued that “some of the people in the medical community want to just run and hide until the virus is extinguished,” an approach that he argued, without evidence, would “kill many more people” than the coronavirus would. He also said loosening restrictions on businesses is not a “question of lives vs. jobs.” “What President Trump realized early on is that, if you lock people down, you may save lives directly from the China virus, but you indirectly are going to kill a lot more people” through suicide or substance abuse, Navarro said. Azar declared that it’s safe to reopen the country because half of the counties reporting “haven’t had a single death,” and more than 60 percent of all covid-19 cases are in just 2 percent of the reporting counties. “That’s why the local leaders need to lead this,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Azar also said he was not overly concerned by images of people congregating at bars and other places without staying six feet apart or wearing masks. “I think in any individual instance you are going to see people doing things that are irresponsible,” he said, emphasizing, “we’ve got to get this economy open and our people out and about, working and going to school again.” Trump made only brief remarks Sunday as he returned to the White House from Camp David. In an exchange with reporters, he maintained that “tremendous progress is being made on many fronts, including coming up with a cure for this horrible plague that has beset our country.” But statistics from some states paint a less-than-rosy picture. Texas reported its largest single-day jump in coronavirus cases Saturday, with 1,801 newly confirmed cases. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 734 of the new cases were reported in the Amarillo area, where there has been an outbreak tied to the region’s meatpacking facilities. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has already allowed some businesses — including hair salons, restaurants and retail stores — to reopen at reduced capacity, and beginning on Monday, gyms, offices and nonessential manufacturing facilities will be allowed to do so as well, according to the Dallas Morning News. New York, the state hardest hit by the pandemic, has seen a decline in new cases since April, but officials remain wary of a potential increase as parts of the state begin to reopen. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Sunday received a covid-19 swab test on live TV in an effort to convince residents to get tested if they are experiencing symptoms. “It is so fast and so easy that even a governor can take this test,” Cuomo said shortly before a doctor swabbed his nose during his daily briefing in Albany. After photos and videos emerged over the weekend of people in New York City crowding the sidewalks outside restaurants and bars, many carrying open containers and not wearing masks, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) scolded those disregarding quarantine measures. “We’re feeling the pull of the outdoors, we’re feeling the seasons changing, we all want to be out there,” de Blasio said, noting that the sunny weather has only exacerbated pent-up New Yorkers’ “quarantine fatigue” after two months in isolation. “But we all understand we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and we have to do things differently.” In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is moving forward based on the best guidance to control the spread of the virus: social distancing. He also said reopening schools will be predicated on data and science, not just observations on the ground. “I think some schools will not be [open this fall] and many schools will be,” Newsom (D) told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Seventy-five percent of California’s economy is now open, including manufacturing, warehouses and restaurants, Newsom said. Business owners and individuals are encouraged to wear face coverings and maintain physical distance from others. Opening sports arenas, he said, is not an option at this time. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said that reopening his state’s economy was necessary but also noted that the state was still wrestling with the outbreak and the danger remains. “I’ve said to Ohioans that so much is in every individual’s control. I encourage people to wear masks when they go out in public,” he said on CNN. DeWine said he was concerned when he saw images of a reopened Ohio bar crowded with people. But he added that the people running the bar got the situation under control. “Ultimately, it’s going to come to Ohioans doing what Ohioans have done the last two months — keep their distance and wear masks,” he said. DeWine said that 90 percent of the state’s economy is open but that he wasn’t sure about reopening schools. He said they were closed “not because you [are] specifically worried about the kids,” but to keep students from going home and infecting their parents. “You have 30 kids go into a classroom, one kid is in there, and he’s got no symptoms, but he’s carrying it — now you got maybe 25 kids . . . going back to their families,” DeWine said. “And it just spreads and multiplies. So, that’s the concern.” In an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned that “time is of the essence” for Congress and the White House to approve an additional round of coronavirus relief, including funds for additional testing and job protections. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sought to expand liability protections for employers that reopen during the pandemic, but Pelosi on Sunday declined to say whether Democrats are open to such a move. “Time is very important. We have lost time,” Pelosi said, adding: “People are hungry across America. Hunger doesn’t take a pause. People are jobless across America. That doesn’t take a pause.” Meryl Kornfield, Joseph Marks, Steven Goff, Lenny Bernstein and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/05/white-house-tensions-with-cdc-spill.html

[personalcoachingcenter]

Personal Development Tips that Changed my Life

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/personal-development-tips-that-changed-my-life/

Personal Development Tips that Changed my Life

Many individuals question me: what is one book that transformed your existence or what personal progress books do you propose as a have to read? So right here it, is a video concerning the private development books that changed my existence and what I learned from every publication.

Hello, after being in private development for a long time and strolling a individual progress schooling industry, i’ve learn many books and met in individual, some of the authors have admired by cooperating with them.

And i have realized one thing: a e-book are not able to exchange your lifestyles, it is what you do with the know-how you learn and the way you apply the knowledge that alterations your life. Many individuals are official personal development guide readers, but they not often do some thing with the expertise they learn. So their existence continues staying the identical they usually wonder why. And you recognize what? I have achieved this previously myself. I’ve learn a booklet after which failed to do much with the know-how after which decades later I opened the identical guide and i noticed that I had within the entire answers that I was looking for.

Probably the most authors i have cooperated with when I run a seminar with him in Cyprus Bob Proctor, informed me some thing that stayed with me: “while you read a ebook fairly gain knowledge of it, take a paragraph, a web page, a chapter and skim it over and again and again after which practice that understanding except you grasp it. He refers to 1 ebook he has been reading for many years and is continually on his desk: suppose and develop wealthy. This notion of particularly studying a book, over and over and over again, has been a original pattern that i have heard from a few of the recognized authors that i have met, one of the wisest academics on this planet today.

They have got had one guide or distinct books that they studied over and over and over for many years, regularly for life. For me, it’s now not one booklet that modified my existence it is a quantity of books that had a tremendous have an impact on on me at unique levels of my lifestyles. I have lots of the books that influenced me essentially the most here with me in these days, a few of them i could not have here as they are in my guardian’s storage and a few of these books i’m going back and i be trained from time to time. And at any time when i’m going again I in finding whatever new within the book that I need to work on or that I wish to implement. Guide quantity one: ‘The Silva intellect control’ method by Jose Silva. This was once the first personal progress seminar that my mother took me to after I was once sixteen.

This publication that i’ve with me it’s so historic it can be falling apart in portions and that i located it on my mum and dad library. This procedure taught me that i can create something via visualizing, I overcame fears and that i learned the best way to give recommendations to the brain to erase dangerous thoughts. It incorporated a number of approaches that today are called NLP or neuro-linguistic programming and i’m so grateful for my mom for taking me to this training at this sort of younger age. Booklet quantity two: ‘Awaken the significant inside’ via Anthony Robbins. As soon as I graduated from university with my MBA I jumped on a aircraft to head to Mykonos to occasion. On that airplane I met this lady who had attended each seminar and retreat that Tony Robbins had completed. And she or he advised me to get this publication. Reading this book helped me land my first dream jobs which used to be Public members of the family manager in 3 media organizations, whilst I was once too young to do that and i had zero background or expertise.

Due to the fact it taught me to think in myself, to set a goal and go for it with full self assurance. I consider sooner or later earlier than my job interview at the biggest Media staff in Cyprus I was once sitting underneath a tree in my backyard meditating and visualizing me getting that job and i did at 23 I used to be a Public family members manager of a countrywide tv channel. Ebook number three: ‘manifest your fate’ by using Dr. Wayne Dyer. Dr. Wayne Dyer is the creator and speaker I need to be like, I always wanted to be like him.

Once I hear him converse he is so stimulated and inspirational which means that ‘in spirit’. He was the dwelling instance of manifesting your fate and he taught everything by using first residing it himself and via overcoming high-quality challenges in his lifestyles. This e-book is continually teaching me about developing spiritually and how much i will be able to attain by means of the vigor of meditation and connecting with the greater a part of me and the universal intelligence. It makes me feel trustworthy and calm each time things get off track and it has helped me take place a lot of what i’m living at present and that i continuously use the advice in this guide to happen my destiny.

Guide quantity 4: The film ‘the key’. So, the key ebook used to be clearly a movie first and that i was once traditionally one of the most first folks that watched the movie as quickly as it was released in 2006 and this movie has been so impactful in my existence and in what i am doing in these days. Via this movie I went on the net I googled all these mentors and that i located my first mentors: John Assaraf, Dr. John Demartini and Bob Proctor.

I later went on to collaborate with Dr. John Demartini and Bob Proctor via bringing them to Cyprus and beginning my education industry. After I watched this film i spotted what number of things I knew in regards to the power of the mind however I wasn’t utilizing and that i had a regular poor tape playing in my intellect and i instructed myself, “ok I comprehend what is going on on now in my life why i’m having some bad patterns, what do I have got to do to change that? I have got to take actio, I need to study from the great on this planet”.

So I decided at the moment that I was once going to study from the men and women who had been the living examples of what I wanted to create. And when I went in these days to the united states to attend some seminars and i attended on-line mentoring programs, I said “this is what I want to do with my lifestyles”. And nobody was once doing it on the time in my nation and even in Europe, however I made that resolution in 2007 and at present i have already mentored countless numbers and hundreds of folks and i am doing what these mentors were doing at the moment after I made that determination.

So it used to be fairly an awfully impactful guide for my existence. And virtually, this is ‘You were Born wealthy’ by using Bob Proctor whom I met in Cyprus, I wouldn’t have the books of the other authors from the secret that I met with me, considering the fact that they are in my mother and father storage, but Dr. John Demartini, John Assaraf and literally so many humans from the secret have impacted my existence in a massive method. Publication quantity 5: ‘find out how to Win associates and have an effect on folks’ by way of Dale Carnegie.

This e-book helped me understand and right so many errors I was once making in my relationships with different people and taught to me how i will be able to go a lot farther through being inquisitive about different people and showing appreciation instead of trying to be fascinating. Book number six: ‘The four-Hour Workweek by using Tim Ferriss’. Massively transformational book for me. Once I came throughout this ebook in 2007 I was once attending my first online mentoring application with John Assaraf who interviewed Tim Ferriss on one of the most mentoring classes. This publication presented me to the notion that i can work from anywhere with my desktop even from right here however the seashore the place I live the prior eight years and that i will have a business that can be online.

I went on to create the lifestyle described in this book, i can work from at any place today and i have a trade that’s online with purchasers from world wide. Thank you a lot Tim Ferriss! E-book quantity seven: ‘Crush it’ through Gary Vaynerchuk. I used to be in most cases one of the most first men and women who learn Gary Vaynerchuk’s first publication in 2008 or 2009 when it was first released and well that’s why i am sitting right here today developing this video. This ebook is about building your private manufacturer utilizing social media and running a blog, but it is also a lot more than that it is a attitude, it is about living your ardour, using the energy of social media tools the correct way, constructing a business.

I virtually went on to interview Gary Vaynerchuk in 2013 and i have been following all his advice to develop my education industry and come to be an global speaker which i’m in these days. Guide quantity eight: ‘The Wealth Dragon means’ with the aid of John Lee and Vincent Wong. I met John Lee on facebook in 2015 and he grew to become my mentor, my personal mentor. Considering the fact that then we have now created multiple seminars collectively we traveled the sector and we even have dinner in conjunction with my favourite shoe clothier Jimmy Choo in Malaysia. Everything he and his business partner Vincent coach in this e-book they are living and so they observe everyday.

The co-author of this ebook Vincent Wong, the trade accomplice of Jon Lee my mentor, has additionally been a best mentor for me in particular for the duration of a speaker’s retreat in Bali where he helped me be the type of speaker that can real connect with the viewers from stage by way of utilising the vigor of reviews and emotions. So thank you John Lee and Vincent Wong. And book quantity 9: ‘The 7 Habits of highly potent individuals’ by using Stephen Covey.

It is a booklet I learn recently and i wonder why I hadn’t read this booklet up to now in my lifestyles, despite the fact that I had it with me for decades. It can be an excellent guide and it is particularly about getting to know yourself, studying your relationships with others and fitting a quality leader. So many valuable insights on this guide. And booklet quantity ten: What’s subsequent? Well, that is my publication! I’m within the system of writing my own publication with a writer and also you need to wait and spot.

It’s time for me to jot down my possess publication from what i have created by using implementing what i have realized and what existence has taught me by means of the specified strong lifestyles expertise that i’ve had up to now in starting from scratch, building my industry, finding my reason, finding my mentors after which occurring to build my individual manufacturer and turn out to be an international speaker, a teach, a mentor and now an creator.

So now it is your flip: What are the books that changed your life and the way did they change your existence? Please endorse within the feedback below considering that along with your strategies that you would be able to aid others who are looking for solutions. If you have enjoyed this content be certain you subscribe and share along with your acquaintances to spread the expertise and suggestion. See you subsequent time. .

As found on Youtube

[bestmarijuanaboutiques]

Folium Biosciences Colorado: Stock hiking, cutting corners, sidestepping regulatory requirements & strong arm tactics

New Post has been published on https://bestmarijuanaboutiques.com/?post_type=wprss_feed_item&p=23811

Folium Biosciences Colorado: Stock hiking, cutting corners, sidestepping regulatory requirements & strong arm tactics

Folium Biosciences, based in Colorado, is one of the US’s largest privately owned CBD processing companies. As the demand for CBD has risen from many sectors of the US & international economy over the last 36 months, so, it seems, has the desire to process business without the normal checks and balances.

After a CLR story published last month about owner , Kashif Shan, further irregularities and questions about Folium’s products and operational management have come to light.

CannTrust was a wake up for the regulated Canadian market will Folium be the same  for the USA as 2019 draws to a close. Colorado has long been regarded one of the the US’s better state markets for efficient compliance and good regulatory management by state and local authorities.

We ask, after the following revelations detailed below, if in the first 2020 sitting, CO legislators have to go back to the drawing board and effect a stricter regulatory and compliance regime than the state currently has in play.

Teri Buhl reports

  PART I

Formulating Folium Finance: Australis Stock Hiked after Misleading Folium Announcement  

Colorado based Folium Biosciences, run by Kashif Shan, teamed up with Scott Dowty of publicly traded Australis ($AUSAF), to announce the launch of Folium Finance, April 2019.

    Kashif Shan Folium Biosciences

  Australis is a U.S. based spin off of Canadian marijuana grower, Aurora, with a strategy focused on investing in and acquiring cannabis related companies in the U.S.

  Scott Dowty Australis (You Tube)

  A press release issued by Folium April 3, 2019 said Dowty had served as a strategic advisor to create Folium Finance, a collection of financial products and services designed as a new means for cannabis start-ups to get banking services from non-traditional banks.  Except, according to two senior Folium employees involved in the transaction Australis at no time had anything at all to do with the creation of Folium Finance.

  The press release was issued by Folium, not Australis, but contained within it, this quote from Australis.

  “Our growing relationship with Folium Biosciences provides Australis and our brands access to the true global leader in the CBD space,” said Scott Dowty, CEO of Australis. “We firmly believe Folium Finance’s impressive and complete suite of financial service solutions is the industry game-changer.”

  Australis stock price which had been trading around $.70 jumped to $1 $USD over two weeks after the press announcement. The sole purpose of the April press release was to announce the launch of Folium Finance.

  Australis is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange and was up-listed to the OTCQB earlier this year to trade on a U.S. based trading system called OTC Markets . The stock currently trades around 40 cents $USD.

  Folium Finance was the brain child of Florida lawyer, Craig Brand, who had moved to Colorado to become the General Counsel of Folium Bioscience.

  Craig Brand, Lawyer

  Attorney Brand had an equity interest in a Loveland, Colorado hemp farm, called Space Cowboys before he became Folium’s general counsel. Brand also runs his own law practice that covers criminal and civil litigation under the business name, The Brand Law Firm with the Cannabis practice called Ganja Law.  According to people who have worked at Folium it was Brand, with the help of a former business development executive Dale Takio that ushered through the approval of Folium Finance by teaming up with a company called CannaSecure Alliance Partner. When John Schilhab, the head of CannaSecure, was contacted by Cannabis Law Report he said he has never met Scott Dowty and “didn’t know the man.” 

  John Schilhab, CannaSecure

Dowty has refused to respond to multiple emails about the alleged misleading press release or what his exact role was at Folium Finance. When Folium was asked about the press release a local Colorado Springs lawyer  responded on behalf of the company threatening legal action if CLR wrote anything about Australis and Mr. Dowty’s relationship with Folium it could be considered putting the company in false light . The law firm also wouldn’t answer any detailed questions about Dowty or his CFO Michael Carlotti‘s exact role at Folium Finance. The attorney,  Justin Bailey of Sanders Law ,  did respond by email saying the transaction was private and as a result “the details CLR were seeking were protected by company confidentiality rules”.

  Justin Bailey, Sanders Law Firm CO

  According to two former Folium employees internal rumblings at the company this past spring were that Kashif Shan had stock or discounted warrants in Australis and the press release Folium wrote was used in the hopes of moving the stock price up. Cannabis Law Report has not been able to verify if Shan holds any stock or equity in Australis and Shan has refused to respond to any emails or calls for comment with regard to inquiries about Australis.

  CLR has previously reported on Shan being accused in a lawsuit of financial misconduct involving moving money out of Folium into family bank accounts and not paying investors promised dividends or employees their equity.  Since then Folium and Shan have been sued by two more former staffers at Folium  in Colorado state court over alleged lies about equity ownership to induce top employees to work at Folium. The individuals suing Folium and Kashif Shan are: Dale Takio, Juanita Ramos, & Brandon Young. 

  Folium indicates it employs around 200 people and is a vertically integrated cannabis company meaning they own, both, the farms that supply hemp and the processing facility to create what they label as THC-free wholesale CBD. This means the company sells CDB oil and other related products to retailers who then label and brand as their own products.

  OWNERSHIP CONFUSION:

A local press story (* the story is  factually wrong because they report Diamond A owns Folium) has reported that a farm growing crops and hemp called Diamond A Farms out of La Junta and Rocky Ford, Co is the owner of Folium Biosciences. Folium sales people interviewed by CLR believed Diamond A is owned by Folium and were even asked to tell potential wholesale customers the Diamond A farm locations were Folium farms when clients came to visit the facilities. Folium’s website has a section talking about “our farms” but doesn’t list what the name of the farms are or provide links to their locations.

  A records search in the Colorado government database  shows the required industrial hemp grower certificate is registered to Diamond A Farms. Colorado corporate registration records do not list an owner of Diamond A Farms only an agent named , Deborah L Bayles, who is a partner of local law firm out of Greenwood Village, Co called Stinson Leonard Street LLP.

  Deborah L. Bayles, Partner Stinson

  A subsequent search in the U.S. government federal vendors database that list companies approved to bid for government contracts shows Diamond A Farms is actually registered as a minority owned business with a Dianne Chavez as the owner. A minority owned business has to have a minority person (a women in this case) own at least 51% of the company to qualify for this status.  Dianne Chavez is the wife of Phillip Chavez who was listed as the original owner of Diamond A Farms before Folium showed up to grow hemp.

    Bill von Gremp, a California M&A deal broker, who worked on the sale of a specialized hemp with a unique CBD to THC ratio from a Canadian company to Folium for their proposed Canada processing plant in Medicine Hat told CLR,

  “Folium told us they wanted out of the grower business.

We tried to sell them the farm but Folium only wanted to buy the grown product.”

Source: https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2019/09/07/folium-seeks-temporary-local-facility/

  Von Gremp agreed to negotiate with Folium on behalf of the Canadian company, including dealing with Kashif Shan, after he was introduced to the company by NBA hall of famer Rick Barry von Gremp said the deal isn’t expected to go through now and he had concerns about Folium’s promise to share a percentage of profits which was part of the deal negotiations.

  Rick Barry, NBA Hall of Famer

   Part of Folium’s ongoing pitch and advertising to wholesale clients is that the company has a propriety processing method that removes all the THC from the hemp.

    PART II

Cutting Corners, Sidestepping Regulatory Requirements

  According to over half a dozen former Folium employees, interviewed by CLR, mis-truths are simply party of the company’s  corporate culture.

  This includes buying hot hemp, meaning cannabis with THC above the Federal mandated minimum % , from a California grower in August 2018 when Colorado hemp supply was unavailable to Folium because of strained relationships with local growers who had experienced slow or non-payment for goods by Folium, according to two former Folium employees.

  According to two former Folium sales people involved in the California transaction Kashif Shan (aka Kash) asked a Folium sales employee to locate and negotiate purchase of some out of state (CO) hemp. Folium would be unable to meet sales commitments if they could not get access to  hemp stock .

  The Folium salesperson who has asked to not be named for fear of retribution said he / she helped broker the deal via a women named Kristyne Croce who was a hemp broker he / she met at a  hemp/cbd Las Vegas conference called Super Zoo earlier that year.  When reached by phone Kristyne Croce admitted to CLR that she brokered hemp for Folium but said she did not believe she brokered hot product. Croce said the transaction was private and would not explain further details about the deal.

  Super Zoo, Las Vegas 2019

  This salesperson was told by Croce at the conference  the product  to be purchased had already been tested at the Oregon farm and had the legal limit (.3%) of THC to be considered hemp. When the product arrived at the processing plant in CO, and Folium subsequently tested it, the flower came up as “way above” the legal THC limit; meaning the company had just purchased adult use cannabis and transported it across state borders . Folium subsequently cancelled the check that secured the deposit for the payment telling the Oregon farm they would be unable to use the product.   

  But then, according to two former  Folium sales employees familiar with the deal, the cannabis was used anyway to process CBD oil and subsequently sold.

  Folium Biosciences is a Colorado headquartered company specializing in the cultivation, extraction, and manufacturing of hemp-derived bulk CBD ingredients and finished products. We are the largest known fully vertical cannabinoid extractor and producer in North America, shipping wholesale CBD products including: Broad Spectrum hemp oil (with 0.0% THC), water-soluble CBD powder, water-soluble CBD liquid, nano CBD, and finished goods throughout the United States and much of the world. Our emphasis on research, product development and clinical science is reflected in our state-of-the-art extraction processes and advanced formulations, resulting in multiple pending patents. SOURCE https://foliumbiosciences.com/#

  Folium’s General Counsel, Craig Brand, told Cannabis Law Report this story just wasn’t true.  But according to the former sales person who helped broker the deal and another sales person who heard the conversation, a member of the legal team was very aware of the processing and acceptance of the “hot product” and told the sales person he’d take care of the non-payment issue and to stop communication with the farm that grew the hot product.

  After Cannabis Law Report published our first story on the alleged problems at Folium  , a former graphic designer at the company, based out of the Colorado Springs office came forward to inform CLR that they, as a designer employed at the company, had been asked to doctor Certificate of Analysis reports by  Folium management.

  These reports / forms known as COA’s are used by Colorado CBD processors to prove to retail clients that the CBD is the percentage level the company says it is and that the THC level is the required zero %.

  The former employee, said he / she  was unaware of how the doctored reports were used after they were passed onto his / her superiors.

  According to multiple Folium staff who spoke with CLR the person who requested the changed CAO reports was Jenna Lubenicki V.P. of operations. Lubencicki, when reached on her cell phone denied the accusation and demanded to know the name of the whistleblowers.

  A current wholesale client, Holistic Hounds, in Berkley California, was contacted by Cannabis Law Report and said they had  never had any THC level problems with Folium because they did their own third party testing once the wholesale product was received.

  Additionally a former NBA hall of famer who also  acts as a brand ambassador for Folium, Rick Barry, told Cannabis Law report when reached on the phone that he has “never had any problems with Folium’s products”. Barry did not confirm if he had done any third party testing on the product, on his own.

  But, a former Folium sales person, Jean Paule Fekete , said he knew of at least one client that did third party testing and the CBD level on product received from Folium was much lower than the level she had been promised. As a result Folium eventually returned the client’s money after multiple complaints.

  Former Folium employees have also informed CLR that fudged CBD or THC levels were the least of their worries when it came to the company’s day to day operations.

  Instead, their real concern was Folium’s management’s lack of willingness to follow the necessary regulatory requirements to create safe process and disposal of chemicals used to create CBD products.

  CLR has learnt Folium  has already suffered two explosions at their processing plant  which included a 911 being called on the night of July 23, 2017, according to an internal company email chain obtained by CLR that included Kashif Shan. One explosion involved an oven, the other a refrigerator, according to counsel Craig Brand.

  According to an email obtained by Cannabis Law Report from the July 2017 event, Folium staff were informed that the incident would create a delay in the availability of their product because 20 kilos had been contaminated but the email didn’t inform staff of the severity of the explosion. The email did promise Folium would work on safety conditions for staff.

  In July 2017 an email from a member of  the Fire Protection Engineer team of the Colorado Springs Fire department, Steven Smith, sent to Folium showed serious concern was expressed by the CO Fire Dept because they had been informed Folium was housing 3000-5000 gallons of ethanol  without the required permits.

  Two former Folium employees involved in operational matters at the company told CLR they were asked on more than one occasion  to rent trucks and move the ethanol to a friend’s house when the fire inspectors or OHSA came through the Colorado Springs plant.

  This, we have learned, happened regularly throughout  2017 and 2018. Additionally a former driver for the company said he / she was asked to move dangerous chemicals, without relevant paperwork, by  Folium executive, Brad Jones, but had eventually refused to comply with requests because the company was not licensed to transport chemicals.

      The driver also added that Folium’s Rocky Ford location  was used to house the chemicals the company wanted to hide from inspectors.

    20094 Hwy 60 Rocky Ford, Co 81067, Google Maps

    In an exit letter obtained by CLR one employee wrote to Folium executives in 2018 highlighting the company’s modus operandi for transporting regulated chemicals

  “I’ve been instructed on many occasions to move thousands of gallons of ethanol in rented trucks, off site, in preparation for Colorado Springs Hazmat/Fire and OSHA inspections.”

  A review of the Colorado OSHA website that tracks inspections, complaints and violations within the state’s regulated cannabis sector show that Folium has been fined a number of times over the last three years.

  In 2018 the fines were listed as ‘serious’ and involved problems with chemicals among other safety issues in the processing facility. This summer (2019) the Colorado division of OSHA had to go to federal court and get a warrant to enter the facility after attorney Craig Brand denied their entrance on a surprise inspection, according to the warrant application.  The warrant listed over a dozen serious concerns that related to employee safety. David Nelson, a manager at OSHA, wrote in the warrant,

  “Employees are exposed to chemical and fire hazards due to inadequate storage, handling, use, and clean-up of flammable liquids, such as hexane.”

  Attorney Brand told Cannabis Law Report he didn’t allow the OSHA inspection because he wasn’t on the premises at the time and was surprised they wanted to review an area that held what he called “our propriety equipment”.

  OSHA subsequently obtained warrant approval and entered the facility over a week later. As recently as September 30, 2019 Folium has settled fines that OSHA listed as serious concerning the control of hazardous energy and other safety issues.

  Folium CEO, Kashif Shan would not answer any questions about the OSHA inspection or the fines when approached by CLR.

  Attorney Brand is no longer with the company and said he was not aware of the September 2019 fines.

  PART III

Strong Arm Tactics to Silence Whistleblowers and Competitors

“Intimidation” is the word used by former employees when talking about how Kashif Shan operates the company.

  Over a half a dozen former Folium staff interviewed by Cannabis Law Report  said false internal charges, from being accused of taking a range of  illegal drugs at work, threatening other employees during arguments, and sharing trade craft with competitors, were made up about them when Folium management wished to move them out of the company’s employ  after they made specific complaints about operational matters.

  This approach to HR management was seen as an avenue  for Folium, as a company, to avoid unemployment tax payments.  It is also alleged that Folium attempted to make some staff, leaving the company at their own will, sign NDA’s with a promise of only a few weeks extra payout.  As a result Cannabis Law Report is not currently in a position to name former Folium employees interviewed for this profile.

  Additionally, we have learnt, when the Folium’s former head of sales, Ryan Lewis, left the company to launch his own bulk business sales CBD company called Global Canabanoids in January 2018. There was, we learn, an aggressive pursuit by Folium management to gather “dirt” or information about Lewis to build a lawsuit, according to an email written by attorney Craig Brand and obtained by CLR. Lewis did subsequently  file an arbitration claim against the Folium but it was settled out of court and the settlement was not made public. Internal documents obtained by CLR show Lewis had been given 7 percent equity in Folium when he came on as a new employee. 

Ryan Lewis, Chief Business Developer of Global Cannabinoids, talks about the emerging markets for CBD and hemp-derived products.Global Cannabinoids is a high volume producer and distributor of bulk and wholesale phytocannabinoid-rich (PCR) industrial hemp—naturally high in CBD, CBG, CBC, CBN, CBDA, and terpenes.

  But Kashif Shan’s negative reaction about Lewis leaving and taking Folium clients with him went much further, much much further. The following allegations investigated by Colorado Springs Police read more like a Scorsese movie plot line than the machinations of a CBD processing plant and white labelling outfit.

  According to three individuals who either worked at the company or were employed on a consulting basis, they all confirm that they heard first hand from a Folium executive of an attempt in the summer of 2018 to hire a person and pay a six figure sum to kill Mr Lewis.

  Cannabis Law Report has spoken with a lawyer who had verified that the Colorado Springs Police department investigated the case but no charges were brought.

  It’s unclear if anyone at Folium was ever able to actually hire a person to undertake the murder for hire or if the offer was made in the heat of the moment anger and not intended to be carried out.  Kashif Shan would not respond for comment about the alleged murder for hire offer. Former Folium counsel, Craig Brand, told CLR that  the claim was “ridiculous”. Henry Baskerville  Ryan Lewis’ lawyer   called the  Colorado Springs Police Department when he heard about the murder for hire plot and asked if the CO Springs Police Department were investigating. The officer said yes but would not comment to Baskerville on who they were investigating.

  Henry Baskerville, Fortis Law Partners. Henry Baskerville, recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and National Trial Lawyers, is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses on complex commercial litigation, cannabis law, white-collar criminal defense, government contracts, and construction law.

   Cannabis Law Report also learns that Shan told a cannabis podcast in a rare interview in January 2019  that prior to Folium he was a tech entrepreneur in San Francesco.

  But CLR has not yet discovered after months of relevant research the name of this technology company. Also  we have been unable  to locate where this “tech”company  was based and what work he and they undertook.

  A separate USA court records search shows that Shan was president of a real estate services company prior to the 2008 financial crisis in San Jose, California. The company, Aidan West Financial Group, and Shan filed for personal bankruptcy as a result of the financial crisis. Court records show the trustee for the company had to file a claim of fraudulently transference against the company saying Shan allegedly moved assets out of the company prior to the bankruptcy. The claim was eventually settled.

  Editor’s note: In the reporting and research for this story Teri Buhl was repeatedly threatened over the last two months when trying to reach current Folium employees to get their response for comment about accusation or their misconduct saying they would report her to the local police for asking questions. Buhl ignored their threats.

This week Buhl was served with a lawsuit (prior to story publication) claiming defamation for calling Folium staff for comment and conducting journalistic research. Law360 – a US trade publication for Lawyers wrote about the attempt to silence Buhl before the publication of this story

Please see / download document at https://www.scribd.com/document/433949012/Colo-CBD-Co-Accuses-Reporter-of-Defamation-Law360

  I’m a professional financial investigative journalist who has written for the Greenwich Time, Hearst CT Newspapers, Forbes Magazine, Fortune.com, The Atlantic.com, New York Magazine, New York Post, Trader Monthly, Housingwire, ML-Implode, The Business Insider, Long Island Business News, Dealbreaker, New York Observer, Bitcoin Magazine, DealFlow Media, SIRF.org and more. For the last five years I have been a contributing reporter for Market Nexus Media who publishes a financial trade publication called Growth Capital Investor.

I earned my breaking/investigative news chops reporting during the financial crisis in 2008 for the Sunday edition of the New York Post. I was one of the first to report on the missteps at IndyMac that lead to government investigations and lawsuits against the banks founders. Caught hedge funds like Carrington Capital abusing investors without disclosing conflicts of interest with senior RMBS bond holders; they were sued by Wilbur Ross for Civil RICO. I exposed Bear Stearns misleading their own investors and monoline insurers on the quality of the loans in their mortgage-backed securities, which led to a fraud lawsuit against JP Morgan/Bear Stearns and the $13 billion settlement with the DOJ in 2013. Since 2010 multiple Wall Street firms, that my reporting warned about first, have been [JP Morgan, SpongeTech, Security Savings Bank, SAC Capital, Palm Beach Capital Management, New Stream Capital, NIR Group/Cory Ribotsky, Bear Stearns RMBS Traders, Mike Perry IndyMac CEO, Steven Muehler and the Nanocap MarketPlace, Barry Honig and The Frost Group] investigated or charged for financial violations by the FBI/SEC/State AG or shut down by bank regulators.

The Huffington Post named me the number three most dangerous financial journalist for being willing to challenge the establishment and inform readers best. I’m working on trade-marking “Smashmouth Journalism”

Read More About Teri’s Work At: https://www.teribuhl.com/about/

[michaeljtraylor]

Wall Street blows off Mueller report

Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

Wall Street shrugs off Mueller — As MM predicted, Wall Street blew off the Mueller report (which you can read in searchable form here) despite a compelling pile of evidence of potential acts of obstruction of justice by President Trump that could force Democrats to at least consider impeachment hearings.

Story Continued Below

Why the indifference? Because nothing jumped out as shockingly new that would lead to a scenario in which Trump could actually be removed from office. And economic news came in strong Thursday and IPOs by Zoom in and Pinterest performed well.

Wedbush’s Steve Massocca told me of the Mueller report: “I think Wall Street’s opinion is it’s over and done with. Everyone will find something to like in the report. But it’s not going to move the needle in terms of his reelection prospects and it will be old news in a couple weeks. … And the economy continues to do well.”

Worries about USMCA — MM is picking up serious concern from the business community that the White House, obsessed by Mueller and dealing with China, does not have a clear strategy to get the new-NAFTA through the House with Democrats continuing to express serious doubts. “Where are the meetings? Where are the high-profile Cabinet members making the case?,” one consultant said to MM.

The report on Thursday from the U.S. ITC may not help matters much, per our Sabrina Rodriguez and Megan Cassella, as it showed the agreement “is likely to provide a slight boost to the American economy”

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING — Well, that week lasted a year. Happy Easter/Passover weekend, all. Email me on bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver on aweaver@politico.com and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver.

Q1 LOOKING BETTER — Trump may wind up getting a better Q1 growth number than many were expecting. Via Macroeconomic Advisers: “Incoming economic data continue to point to stronger first-quarter growth … We are now tracking first-quarter GDP growth of 2.8%, revised up seven-tenths on the week and well above tracking estimates in the low 1’s approximately one month ago.”

BUT DON’T GET TOO EXCITED — Deutsche Bank’s Torsten Slok: “China is rebounding, but the market is pricing in too big of a positive effect on Europe and the US …

“US consumer spending and capex are solid, but growth is slowing from 3% to 2% … and it looks like we have reached the peak in capacity utilization … The US is a 2-2-2 economy with growth at 2%, inflation at 2%, and Fed funds near 2% for the coming years”

IMPEACHMENT ODDS —Via the Eurasia Group: “After an initial read, Eurasia Group maintains 20% odds of impeachment proceedings against … Trump in the House of Representatives … Politically, this doesn’t give the Democrats much more fuel to justify pursuing impeachment, although they will investigate these issues through hearings, and seek to inflict political damage”

MNUCHIN NAMED IN SEARS SUIT — Our Victoria Guida: “Sears on Thursday named Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a lawsuit against the company’s former CEO, Edward Lampert, alleging that Mnuchin was part of a group of board members who assisted Lampert and his hedge fund in stripping the bankrupted retailer of more than $2 billion in assets.” Read more.

CAIN ON SEX ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS — Herman Cain on Fox Business on whether he was involved in a sexual assault settlement: “If there were, I didn’t know about it. The first one, that was a severance package, after I left the Restaurant Association. If they used the word ‘settlement,’ I didn’t even know about it. So I can’t answer that question. It may have been, it may have been not.”

NEW ON THE GRAM — Via @louiselinton, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s wife: “Dance rehearsal for #MeYouMadness with the amazingly talented choreographer @rilahhh_ Mariah, you are the BEST and so patient with uncoordinated me…”

STOCKS CAP WEEK WITH MODEST GAINS — AP’s Alex Veiga: “The major U.S. stock indexes capped a holiday shortened week with slight gains Thursday, reversing some of the modest losses from a day earlier.

“The marginal upward move was not enough to keep the benchmark S&P 500 index from snapping a string of three straight weekly gains. Industrial sector stocks paved the way higher as traders welcomed solid earnings from Snap-on, Honeywell International, United Rentals and Union Pacific. Technology companies also notched solid gains, offsetting losses by financial and energy stocks.” Read more.

And Pinterest secured the second-biggest U.S. IPO of 2019 — Bloomberg’s Elizabeth Fournier and Selina Wang: “Pinterest Inc. climbed as much as 33 percent in its trading debut after raising $1.4 billion in the year’s second-biggest U.S. initial public offering, pinning investor hopes on a continuing listing surge. Shares of the digital-scrapbooking company opened at $23.75. They closed up 28 percent” Read more.

ONE PROFIT PUZZLE WEIGHING ON INVESTORS — Bloomberg’s Sarah Ponczek and Vildana Hajric: “In the middle of what may be the worst quarter for company profits since 2016, there’s a common refrain: This is as bad as it will get. The last few months are the trough, and one quarter doesn’t make a year. Anyone trading on that view has been a winner.

“The S&P 500 is en route to its fourth straight monthly advance and sits less than 1 percent from a record. But if you’re a bull, you should be aware of a dissident group of forecasters who see clouds looming on the S&P 500 earnings horizon. Specifically, they’re asking how likely earnings are to bounce back should profit margins narrow.” Read more.

NEW YORK FED CRACKS DOWN ON PUERTO RICO BANKS — Reuters’ Luc Cohen and Corina Pons: “U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have led the New York Federal Reserve to crack down on Puerto Rico’s $50 billion offshore banking industry, according to four sources and a document seen by Reuters.

“The development will prevent the island’s offshore banks, several of which are owned by citizens of crisis-stricken Venezuela, from opening accounts with the Fed that give them direct access to the U.S. financial system.” Read more.

FED’S KAPLAN WON’T BE SWAYED BY GROWTH — WSJ’s Michael S. Derby: “Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said Thursday improving U.S. economic growth is unlikely to change his view that short-term interest rates are where they should be.

“‘For the time being, I don’t see any reason to change our policy setting,’ Mr. Kaplan said Thursday in conference call interview with The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Kaplan spoke after recent government reports showed U.S. consumer spending rebounded in March and the country’s trade deficit narrowed in February, signs that economic growth was stronger in the first quarter than previously estimated.” Read more.

BLACKSTONE DITCHES PARTNERSHIP STRUCTURE — WSJ’s Miriam Gottfried: “Blackstone Group LP said it would abandon its partnership structure and become a corporation, a move some publicly traded peers have taken in an effort to expand the ownership of their stocks. For private-equity firms, a conversion to a so-called C corporation became a realistic option after Congress passed the new tax law in late 2017, which lowered the highest corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.” Read more.

STRONG ECON DATA ROLLS IN — Reuters’ Lucia Mutikani: “U.S. retail sales increased by the most in 1-½ years in March as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and a range of other goods, the latest indication that economic growth picked up in the first quarter after a false start.

“The economy’s enduring strength was reinforced by other data on Thursday showing the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest in nearly 50 years last week. Fears of an abrupt slowdown in growth escalated at the turn of the year after a batch of weak economic reports.” Read more.

AMEX CARD-HOLDERS LIFT SPENDING — WSJ’s Kimberly Chin: “Higher card-member spending and borrowing helped boost revenue at American Express Co., despite higher expenses from its rewards program and loans. Revenue, net of interest expense, rose 6.6 percent to $10.36 billion in the first quarter. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected $10.44 billion in revenue for the quarter. Read more.

WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Paige Willey has moved over to the White House to be a special assistant to the president for political affairs. She previously was associate chief of staff at CEA. Nicole Korkos and Paige Terryberry are now both associate chiefs of staff at CEA. Korkos previously was a research economist at CEA, and Terryberry previously was an associate at Baron Public Affairs.

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