#score 1.5 million or more to trigger these

[slickricklj]

Resident Evil 4 Remake: The Mercenaries - Special Victory Poses

[personalcoachingcenter]

Emotional Intelligence and Career Success for Women

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/emotional-intelligence-and-career-success-for-women/

Emotional Intelligence and Career Success for Women

A Research Paper By Lauren Moy, Career Coach, UNITED STATES

Women Emotional Intelligence Progress During Pandemic

While women have made some progress, they still have a long way to go before they are equal to men. Only 7.4 % of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women, yet this is a record number. The pandemic has widened this gap. “Out of the 1.1 million people who left the workforce in September 2020, roughly 865,000 were women. Latinas and Black women are leaving at higher rates than white women.  The financial price paid for the average woman who opts out and tries to re-enter the workforce is an 18% decrease in their earning power on average—and a 37% decrease when they’re out for three years or more. This will have a lasting impact on families and the U.S. economy.  Senior-level women are 1.5 times more likely than senior-level men to think about downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce because of Covid-19, according to Lean In’s Women in the Workplace 2020 report.  Almost three in four cite burnout as the main reason, with increased caregiving duties playing a big role. Reentering the workplace once you’ve left may mean taking a lower position, and a slower path to promotions.” 1 This research paper will cover:

What Emotional Intelligence is and its Benefits

Emotional Intelligence Assessment Tools

How Increasing EQ can Help Women Counter the 12 Habits that May Hold Them Back from Advancing in their Careers

Coaching with Emotional Intelligence

Research shows that women can become more effective leaders than men because women can manage conflict well, women encourage employees to grow and women have greater chances of influence.2  Women are more inclined than men to coach and mentor employees and give inspirational advice. This can help them excel in professional relationships. Women tend to focus on managing conflict well and mentoring others and less time focusing on how they can have more influence at work, while their male counterparts are more focused on growing their influence.

What Is Emotional Intelligence and Its Benefits?

According to Dr. Travis Bradberry, Award-winning co-author of the #1 best selling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, as well as The Seagull Manager and the cofounder of TalentSmart®, “Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships. Dr. Bradberry states that “Decades of research point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.  Depending on the position, some roles require higher levels of EQ to be successful. Research showed that 90% of top performance is also high in Emotional Intelligence. On the flip side, just 20% of bottom performers are high in emotional intelligence. Naturally, people with a high degree of emotional intelligence make more money- an average of $29,000 more per year than people with a low degree of emotional intelligence.” 3

Emotional Intelligence Assessment Tools

There are several emotional intelligence tools on the market.  These assessments can be a useful starting point to coach a client in improving their EI. Dr. Steven Stein is a clinical psychologist, and the founder and CEO of Multi-Health Systems (MHS), a leading publisher of scientifically validated assessments for more than 30 years.  https://mhs.com/about-mhs/  MHS administers “the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-i 2.0) measures an individual’s emotional intelligence with five composite scores measuring distinct aspects of emotional and social functioning including 1) self-perception 2) self-expression 3) interpersonal 4) decision making and 5) stress management.4

“MHS also administers the Emotional Quotient 360 (EQ 360) is an emotional intelligence assessment that allows leaders to receive feedback from peers, managers, direct reports, and others on how they leverage their emotional intelligence.

How Increasing Eq Helps Women Counter 12 Habits That Hold Them Back

Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith’s book How Women Rise, Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back From Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job, presents the twelve habits that hold women back in their careers.

Knowing how these 12 habits may be linked to Emotional Quotient (EQ) may be helpful to a client in identifying the area(s) that she may want to focus on in coaching to help her get unstuck and advance in her career. Many women leaders can benefit from coaching especially when they were previously in a technical or single contributor role and are newly promoted to lead and manage a team of people. This requires a different set of skills and a higher level of EQ. Identifying some of these habits and creating a plan with goals and accountability can help women to grow in their EQ and advance in their careers.

Habit Holding Women Back EQ-I 2.0 Scale(s) that Can Affect the Habit How Increasing EQ can counter the Habit 1.    Reluctance to claim your achievements Self-regard and assertiveness Self-regard is needed to say “Thank you” when receiving a compliment rather than dismissing the compliment which some women tend to do. Assertiveness is needed to speak up about your achievements. Many women are passed over for promotions because their achievements are not recognized. 2.    Expecting others to spontaneously notice and reward your contributions Self-regard, assertiveness and Reality Testing Self-regard and assertiveness are needed to acknowledge and communicate one’s value and contributions. This is important when women are requesting a promotion or interviewing for jobs, Reality testing is needed to recognize when people may not notice unless you speak up and let them know about your contributions. 3.    Overvaluing expertise Reality testing and interpersonal relationships Reality testing is needed to realize that not only is building skills important but also building connections to move you forward in your career. Interpersonal relationships are needed to build those connections. 4.    Building rather than leveraging relationships Self-actualization and interpersonal relationships Self-actualization is needed to pursue promotions. Both self-actualization and interpersonal relationships are needed to believe in oneself to reach for higher levels. Women also need to think strategically and learn to leverage interpersonal relationships. 5.    Failing to enlist allies from day one Reality testing, assertiveness Reality testing is needed to realize the importance of enlisting allies, mentors, and sponsors to help women advance to higher levels. Assertiveness is needed to take the initiative and reach out to others first. 6.    Putting your job before your career Independence and assertiveness Independence is needed to not become dependent on others on the team and stay longer in one job because of your loyalty and relationships even though it is not best for your overall career. 7.    The perfection trap Self-regard and stress tolerance Many perfectionist tendencies are linked to low self-regard, compensating for not feeling good enough. Low-stress tolerance and fear can keep women from taking risks, and stay in the same job for a long time, and can keep women from getting promoted. 8.    The disease to please Self-regard and assertiveness Assertiveness is needed to set and communicate boundaries and say no. Self-regard is needed to prioritize one’s own needs and not only consider the needs of others. 9.    Minimizing Self-regard, Emotional expression Self-regard is needed not to minimize one’s feelings, thoughts, and presence. Emotional expression is needed to communicate emotions and thoughts with confidence. For women to have executive presence, they need to maximize their space, both verbally and non-verbally. 10. Too much Self-awareness and empathy Women are often told by men that they overcommunicate and need to be more concise. Self-awareness helps one to identify and understand emotions. Empathy is needed to understand how the other may feel or respond if too many emotions or words are used so that adjustments can be made. 11. Ruminating (clinging to the past) Self-awareness, flexibility, and optimism Self-awareness is needed to realize the negative impact that ruminating is having on one’s thoughts and feelings. Flexibility is needed to change one’s thinking and feeling. Optimism can help to let go of the past and have satisfaction with your life in general. 12. Letting your radar distract you Self-regard, independence, and reality testing Self-regard is needed to trust and respect one’s thoughts and feelings, independence and reality testing is needed to be able to filter out unhelpful distractions and not let what others say impact you too much.

Coaching With Emotional Intelligence

A Coach According to Daniel Goleman, “a coach can frame gaps between self and other ratings as “news to use,” guiding the client to identify her desired areas for growth. Ideally, a coach can help clients cultivate competencies that align with their goals.  A coach can help a client cultivate self-awareness to recognize their emotions, habits, and triggers. When a coach notices a negative pattern in a client’s perceptions and actions, a coach can bring it to their client’s attention to help them understand where they’re getting stuck. A coach can ask powerful questions to help the client to reframe their perspective, create new learning, and help the client to develop a plan for change and accountability.

By starting with emotional self-awareness, which is the foundation of emotional intelligence, clients can learn to recognize their emotional triggers and limitations. The coach’s ability to help clients discover or rediscover their purpose and values is important to staying motivated for growth. A coach’s ability to listen attentively, offer objective, yet highly tailored feedback and support can make a difference in creating lasting change for the client.”8

Results

Given all the changes and demands on women in a post-pandemic world, there is a greater need for women to have higher levels of emotional intelligence to navigate so the many changes in their personal and work lives. A woman who works with an effective coach may hold the key to helping her reach her personal and professional goals, and lead a more fulfilled life.

References

What the Pandemic Means for Women in Leadership, Corbett, Holley, Forbes

How Emotional Intelligence is the Secret Tool for Women to Succeed as Leaders/, Cribb, Rachel, Thrive Global article

The Massive Benefits of Boosting Your Emotional Intelligence, Bradberry, Travis, TalentSmart, World Economic Forum

MHS website: https://storefront.mhs.com/collections/eq-i-2-0

Stein, Steven, Ph.D. and Book, Howard E., MD, “The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success”, Josey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, Ontario Canada

MHS website: https://storefront.mhs.com/collections/eq-360

Helgesen, Sally and Goldsmith, Marshall, “How Women Rise, Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job”, Hachette Books, New York, and Boston

How a Coach Works with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, International Coaching Federation (ICF) Blog

Original source: https://coachcampus.com/coach-portfolios/research-papers/coaching-with-emotional-intelligence/

[coolknowledgeispower]

Social dictators Cristiano Ronaldo- El Rey

It’s very important to comprehend the magnitude of social influence and how SOME people take charge whilst others remain in a herd. This is not to say that the herd do not have the power to wake up, they certainly do. It is not a person’s fault to idolize another person, it is the extent to which that person will go to make this idolized person different from him/her. That is important.

Social dictators, especially in the 21st century, dictate and work in cohesion with brands to sell their products. They are the medium- social media is an instrument to relay the message. We have multiple biases and one goes by the name of, association, which is within our psyche. Stereotypes are one of these associations, and with the work of social dictators, the public makes a connection/association with their products and thus consume more of their goods. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo’s partnership with Nike. Cristiano is widely popular and his success in the football world has given him access to lucrative deals with other brands. Ronaldo according to Business Insider generated 500 million dollars in value for Nike from his social media properties in 2016. He also received a billion-life pact contract in 2016. We will also be evaluating his present-day scores; previous statistics were recorded in 2017. . His accumulation of prosperity and attention, success in having his own shoe line and sales that come from it, this is a stem that is the root of this contract.

Ronaldo reached 262 million followers on all his socials: 120 million followers on Facebook-fact; 122 million as of 2019, falling below Facebook at number 1 with 214 million likes, and 2nd Samsung at 160 million likes. Checked it myself as of 9/28/19 at 10:30 A.M. This is amusing. There is no other human with such followers or likes until 7th place. And of course, Shakira with 100 million likes. Big entities such as Real-Madrid at 4th, not surprised there.

Real Madrid is a historical city and team; however, they had not won the prize that every team in every European league is eyeing. The Champions League, since the 2001-2002 final. Ronaldo has 4 UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)Champions League titles under his belt. 3 won in a row. He also won 15 trophies in his time in Real Madrid from 2009-2018. In the football realm, its either Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, who is also considered one of the best in the world. I would say many people know Ronaldo because of his large following and possibly because he knows English, he is able to connect to more people. But that is just a bias I could be showcasing.

Transitioning back to his socials: Twitter followers equal to 80.1 million followers and Instagram 185 million followers. Now, the projections of 2017 statistics said 262 million followers in the social sphere. 2019 accumulative as of today, 387.1 million followers. Mind-boggling, Nike understands the height of Ronaldo’s success, furthermore. According to Forbes, Niall McCarthy reiterates on the fact that Juventus benefitted before Ronaldo had arrived to the club. The bare news that circulated after the transfer was accomplished, saw Juventus share increase by 40 percent. Consequently, Juventus socials were flooded by 1.5 new million followers in one day. Business Insider, reported 520,000 Ronaldo Jerseys sold in 24 hours. That is worth 62.4 million in revenue and the football clubs receive 10-15 percent of the revenue, so Juventus got about 6-9 million dollars.

Ronaldo has an influence wherever he goes. You can say that money does fall from his tree. 2 years ago, Ronaldo posted 347 pictures that included the Nike logo or mention, and this generated 477 million interactions.

This is a transaction of social influence into monetary power.

Ronaldo has amassed quite a following, let us try to understand why that is from a psychological perspective/philosophical perspective.

 Medium is the Message

Marshall McLuhan in his interview, recorded in 1977. “…When you trigger these vast media that we use, you are manipulating an entire population…” We have different avenues to lose ourselves into provided by the big corporations. In George Orwell’s famous book 1984. His belief was that the practice of hedonism was on the rise through a consumable western society. We have different brands and they each have customers. This in turn would decrease the freedom of western societies. The impediment of freedom to venture towards self-reflection, our leisure time spent in finding ways to better society, Theodor Adorno from the Frankfurt School explains this well. The School of Life on YouTube goes in-depth with this notion. Becoming the herd, rendering individuality by a consumable collective. This is what I call the matrix. Orwell believes this nature in society(hedonism) makes people less resistant to change, Aldous Huxley-in his book Brave New World had his own interpretation: this could be used as a tool to oppress, Academy of Ideas on Youtube explains, “… because people will willingly forgo freedom for sensory pleasure and endless consumption, ‘ (side note- one quotation mark is input from the understanding put forth, carry on) bringing us back to Ronaldo’s influence by the number of followers he has’… if a society can be structured so that people can devout much of their time to pursuing pleasures, gratifying materials wants and even drugging themselves to escape reality...” There was a lot of worry about how the future of technological/ media improvements would have on the masses, used as a tool to spread ideological thoughts whilst unknowingly becoming part of a system. If you’re to respond to this paragraph sir, what would you say, ‘Well, this is true. I believe we should understand the pessimistic side of situations and find a solution to these circumstances. Although association and grouping of people are in our DNA as we are social beings, we cannot escape if one is not willing to. Furthermore, one needs to be strict with oneself, abide by some rules, discipline. A few philosophies I like to follow are stoicism and epicureanism. These thoughts on the way of life have stopped me from getting lost in the sauce/illusion. In addition, it’s also important to understand, these media have created different approaches in making money, and some capitalize on it, and it’s a bonus when one is being successful.’

Group Psychology

Edward Bernays developed a theory called group psychology. In his book, Propaganda, released in 1928 *clears throat* ‘the minute people who have a deep sense of knowing how to control the masses through symbols and manipulation of habits... a constitution of people who control a country’. Bernays developed complex manipulation techniques used by companies to sell products. Sigmund Freud thoughts on group psychology, “concerned with the individual man as a member of a race, of a nation, of a caste, of a profession, of an institution, or as a component part of a crowd of people who have been organized into a group of at some particular time for some definite purpose.” Group Psychology tries to understand the psychology of people once they are branded as a group, the habits, thoughts, behaviors, how do they alter once involved in a crowd.

There was a survey done reported by Business Wire, it was working around the understanding of group psychology. Customers are influenced more by influencers than the brand itself. I remember watching a video of an influencer, and he was saying that. His followers do not purchase products in the ads that he puts on his videos, but rather products that he uses genuinely in his life.  In the United States and United Kingdom, influencers have had an impact on how consumers’ purchase:  “44 percent of all respondents said they have considered purchasing a product or service based on a social influencer post; 31 percent said they have already purchased a product or service based on an influencer post, and 24 percent said they have recommended a product or service based on an influencer post.”

 I’m ready to gobble all your feedback, toodles

[doesyourgumgrowback-blog]

Do Your Gums Grow Back?

Does Your Gum Grow Back?

Eid MA (1991) in a research to examine connection between chewing sticks (Miswak) and Gingival Recession wrapped up that miswak individuals possessed substantially even more internet sites with gingival recession than carried out toothbrush individuals. Seriousness of recession was actually dramatically even more noticable in miswak users than in toothbrush individuals. [14] A 2003 medical research study contrasting making use of miswak with common tooth brushes concluded that the results plainly were in favor of the individuals who had been utilizing the miswak, provided they had been provided effective guideline in exactly how to comb using it. [15] Oil pulling

Oil pulling, in CAM (Complementary and also Alternative Medicine), is actually an operation that entails swishing oil in the mouth for oral and also wide spread health advantages. It is mentioned in the Ayurvedic text message Charaka Samhita where it is actually called Kavala or Gandusha, as well as is asserted to cure about 30 wide spread conditions varying from migraine, migraine to Diabetes and Asthma. Oil taking has actually been made use of widely as a traditional Indian individual solution for many years to avoid degeneration, oral malodor, hemorrhaging gums, dry skin of throat, cracked lips as well as for building up teeth, gums as well as the jaw. [16,17] For More Info Visit Can Receding Gums Grow Back? Oil drawing therapy may be carried out using oils like sunflower oil or sesame oil. The sesame vegetation (Sesamum indicum) of the Pedaliaceae family members has been looked at a present of attributes to the human race for its own nutritional premiums and desirable health impacts. Sesame oil is considered to become the queen of oil seed plants because of its own named beneficiary results. [18] Brushing is converse suggested in the cases of mouth ulcer, fever, stomach upset, those who have propensity to throw up, breathing problem, cough, being thirsty. [18] Oil pulling may be made use of to clean the oral cavity in every these instances. Gandusha and also Kavala Graha are actually pair of main oral cleansing techniques; specialized therapy to alleviate along with to prevent oral conditions. Gandusha entails filling the mouth fully along with fluid in order that gargling is actually inconceivable. In Gandush, the mouth is actually packed totally along with liquefied medication, held for concerning 3-5 mins, and afterwards released. In Kavala Graha, a comfortable quantity of fluid is preserved with the mouth shut for about 3 mins, and after that rinsed. It is a straightforward rejuvenating treatment, which, when done repeatedly, boosts the detects, sustains quality, causes an emotion of quality, and also exhilarates the mind. These oral cleaning methods can additionally help bad breath, dry skin, ordinary detects, fatigue, anorexia, loss of taste, reduced sight, painful throat, plus all kapha related imbalances.

Can Your Gums Grow Back?

A research was actually carried out by Asokan S et alia (2009) to review the effect of oil drawing with sesame oil on plaque-induced gingivitis, and to compare its own effectiveness along with chlorhexidine mouthwash. [19] A total amount of 20 age-matched adolescent children along with plaque-induced gingivitis were actually decided on for this study. They were actually sorted aimlessly into the research or even oil pulling group (Group I) as well as the control or chlorhexidine team (Group II) with 10 topics in each group. Plaque index and customized gingival mark credit ratings were actually captured for the twenty subject matters and standard oral plaque buildup samples were actually also accumulated. There was actually a statistically significant reduction of the pre- and also post-values of the cavity enducing plaque and tweaked gingival index scores in both the research and also management groups (p < 0.001 in both). The oil drawing treatment showed a decline in the plaque mark, modified gingival credit ratings, and also total colony count of cardiovascular microorganisms in the oral plaque buildup of teens with plaque-induced gingivitis.

Oil drawing is actually a strong purifying Ayurvedic technique that has actually lately become popular as a CAM treatment for various health ailments. Using this strategy, surgical treatment or drug might be prevented for a number of chronic illnesses. The oil treatment is preventative and also medicinal. The impressive element of the recovery approach is its ease. Ayurveda suggests oil gargling to detoxify the whole device; as it secures that each segment of the tongue is linked to different organ like to the kidneys, bronchis, liver, cardiovascular system, small intestines, stomach, bowel, and also back, similarly to reflexology and TCM. [18] Most likely to: CELLS REGENERATION

In Ayurveda, the prominent Rasayana herb, amla (the fruit product of a plant) is taken into consideration a standard rebuilder of oral health. Amla functions well as a mouth rinse out as a decoction. One to two grams daily may be taken orally in pills for long-term advantage to the teeth as well as gums. Herbs such as amla that sustain the healing and also advancement of combinative cells when taken internally additionally gain the gums. The recuperation result of these stimulants take longer to emerge since they must saturate the entire body system if you want to focus on the gums. The results, nevertheless, are actually much more lasting.

Bilberry reward as well as hawthorn berry maintain bovine collagen, reinforcing the gum cells. [20] Liquorice root promotes anti-cavity action, lowers oral plaque buildup, as well as has an antibacterial result. In Ayurveda, teeth are looked at aspect of Astidhatu - bone cells, to ensure that their outlets feel like junctions. Weeds taken inside to build up Astidhatu, i.e. the skeleton and the junctions, are good for long-term health of the teeth. Excellent instances include yellow dock origin, alfalfa fallen leave, sugar-cinnamon bark, as well as turmeric root. Effectiveness as well as protection

Can Receding Gums Grow Back?

Lots of folks strongly believe that given that medicines are herbal (natural) or typical they are actually secure (or carry no risk for injury). Nonetheless, traditional medicines as well as practices can trigger unsafe, unpleasant reactions if the item or therapy is mediocre, or even it is actually taken inappropriately or even together with other medicines. Enhanced client understanding concerning risk-free utilization is vital, along with even more training, partnership and also communication amongst service providers of conventional and various other medications.

Customarily, Ayurveda makes use of numerous metals in therapies, but that is actually only after due purification procedure strictly adhered to according to authentic standard procedures. Lead, mercury, and also arsenic intoxication have actually been associated with using Ayurvedic plant based medication product (HMPs). Robert et al performed a research study to find out the frequency and also focus of metals in Ayurvedic HMPs made in South Asia and sold in Boston-area establishments. They concluded that one of 5 Ayurvedic HMPs made in South Asia and offered in Boston South Asian food store includes likely hazardous amounts of lead, mercury, and/or arsenic. Customers of Ayurvedic medication may go to risk for metal toxicity, as well as screening of Ayurvedic HMPs for dangerous heavy metals should be actually compulsory. Saper et al from Harvard Medical School have actually disclosed metal content of Ayurvedic plant based preparations as well as have suggested mandatory hazardous heavy metal screening. Neither document enables the fact that there have been actually handful of documents of metal toxicity complying with traditional medication usage. [21] Such research studies are very important as well as needed, having said that they are actually a lot more related to the quality control failures of mass manufacturing tasks. Commonly they are wrongly utilized to limit making use of conventional medicine. In truth, such a quality assurance failure should not be actually thought about as a general damaging thought to create a predisposition versus standard medicine. Even more extensively, in resolving safety in herbal medicines a standard inquiry is 'safe relative to what'? Study has discovered that in United States, 51% of FDA authorized medicines have severe adverse results not sensed before their approval. 1.5 million folks are sufficiently harmed through prescription medications each year that they need hospitalization. When in health center the concern may be intensified. The incidence of significant and also fatal unfavorable drug reactions (ADRs) in United States medical centers is now stood as in between the fourth and 6th leading cause in the United States, adhering to upcoming after cardiovascular disease, cancer, lung disease, and collisions. Hence the safety and security of and also threats associated with health care interventions is a concern all over all categories of medical care.

CLOSURE

Nations with a past of conventional medicine must assist as well as integrate typical medication into national health systems in blend along with national policy. Use of safe, high quality items as well as techniques must be made sure, based upon offered proof, as well as conventional medicine has to be actually acknowledged as part of major medical. It is actually also needed to guarantee individual security through upgrading the capabilities as well as expertise of conventional medicine carriers. Scientific recognitions of the Ayurveda dental health techniques offered over could possibly justify their consolidation right into present day dental care. Promotion of these procedures making use of appropriate media would benefit the basic populace through offering more peace of mind in the old practices, hence stopping dental cavity and reduction.

[wuyahong]

He's 60 Hall of  NBA 2K22 MT Fame Badges

He's 60 Hall of  NBA 2K22 MT Fame Badges, as a celebrity of his caliber heading to the HOF should. See more details on his features and badges via the MTDB listing here and gameplay below.KG's Invincible card also has all high 90s features with 99 Rebounding, 99 Defending, 99 Inside Scoring, 98 External Scoring, 98 Athleticism, and 97 Playmaking.

Last but not least,"The Big Fundamental" Tim Duncan gets his next card MyTeam, which is his best. The Spurs amazing has 61 HOF and 11 Gold Badges as well. Pack prices will operate 11,250 Virtual Currency or 10,500 MT for your Standard packs. It's 15,000 VC or even 17,250 MT to get a five-card Deluxe Pack and 135,000 VC for a 10-pack box. As for auction listings, KG and Duncan are going for as many as 1.5 million MT, and the Kobe Invincible card has topped 3.2 million MT.

NBA 2K22 has generated some fairly big changes to how shooting functions. If you are coming off playing previous iterations of this game, you're likely to notice some pretty spectacular changes. Even veterans of the show might wind up whiffing pictures or launching the ball into the audience here -- that's how different it's in 2021's version of the title. The shooting method in NBA 2K22 revolves more about shooting styles, with a focus on how gamers really play with the ball. Different styles present distinct boosts to a player's shot percentage based on how catchy their shooting procedure is. Read on below for some tips about the best way best to master this almost arcane system.

Ahead of the launch of the game, NBA 2K22 gameplay director himself, Mike Wang, took into Twitter to discuss a few tips about how shooting functions in the sport (almost predicting how gamers would react to the big changes). His tips are:Tap the left trigger in the ideal launch time for a boost; If you are using the Shot Button, flip off Shot Meter for a increase; Green launch is tougher this year, be individual; OR turn off Shot Aiming should you need Shot Timing on Pro Stick like previous year.

NBA 2K22 Guru Stick Shooting Tips

If you are keen on using the Pro Stick aiming options -- that can be turned on by default -- then you'll want to exercise and get used to the way this mechanic manages. Learning how the system plays out and reacts to your inputs is vital. Below are some essential tips:Bring the ideal Stick down: the meter starts near the middle, not into the left or right, therefore correct for that. After pulled right back, nudge the ideal Stick left or right a little to correct your own angle. Attempt to create your hands as steady as possible. You don't have to manually take -- focus on  Buy NBA 2K22 MT Coins your goal and keeping your hands steady and the player works out the rest automatically. You get it right you get a bigger boost if you time your shot correctly with the trigger.

If you want to know more about NBA 2K22 MT, you can visit Our website

[ericvick]

Dow Jones Today Sets Pace, Stocks Open Mixed; Caterpillar's New Buy Point; Progygny, Lattice Semi To Join S&P 400| Investor's Business Daily

Stocks stuck to mixed trade Friday despite strong March housing data and some record-setting GDP data from China helping boost global trade. Stocks including PPG, Lattice Semiconductor and IBD 50 stock Progyny blasted to early breakouts. On the Dow Jones today, Cisco Systems and Caterpillar also closed in on buy points.

X

The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 both opened at new highs, though the Dow quickly cooled to a 0.4% gain and the S&P 500 advanced 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite pared losses, trading down 0.1% on the stock market today, as Splunk (SPLK) fell hard to the bottom of the Nasdaq 100 after an analyst downgrade, and Paypal Holdings (PYPL), Tesla (TSLA) and Netflix (NFLX) all lost ground.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) rallied more than 4%, leading the Nasdaq 100. U.K.-based AstraZeneca (AZN) announced that U.S. regulators had approved its purchase of the Boston-based biotech. The companies announced the $39 billion deal in December.

Fertility specialist Progyny (PGNY) jumped 7.2% in early action, easily leading the IBD 50 list. Standard & Poor’s said late Thursday the company would join the S&P 400 Index, along with Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC), beginning April 20. Progyny shares closed Thursday about 6% below a 53.58 buy point on an eight-week cup base.

Lattice Semiconductor rallied 9% on the S&P 400 news, positioning the Oregon-based chip developer for a potential starting bell breakout past a cup-base buy point at 51.59. Standard & Poor’s also announced software developer PTC (PTC) would move from the S&P 400 to the S&P 500 on April 20. PTC shares dipped 0.5%, pointing to a possible breakout past a 147.77 buy point in a six-week cup base.

Cisco Leads Dow Jones Today, Nears Buy Point

Cisco Systems (CSCO) set up the early pace on the Dow Jones today, rising 2.6% after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to outperform, from peer perform. The note set the stock’s target price at 63, about 22% above where shares closed on Thursday.

Cisco stock is rebounding from support at its 21-day exponential moving average, and just pennies below 53.04 buy point in a three-weeks-tight base pattern.

Home Depot (HD) grabbed a 1.5% gain, tracking toward a sixth straight weekly advance. Bank of America boosted teh stock’s price target to 375, from 360. Home Depot stock is extended, up almost 12% following a breakout in late March.

March Housing Starts Soar; China Reports GDP

Housing starts soared to an annualized rate of 1.739 million in March, the Commerce Department reported. That was a massive 22% jump over February’s rate of 1.421 million, and well above expectations for a pace of 1.620 million starts.

Building permits rose a more modest 3%, to an annualized rate of 1.766 million. Economists had projected an uptick to 1.75 million permits.

The University of Michigan’s preliminary April Consumer Sentiment Index reading showed an uptick to 86.5, vs. February’s original 84.9 tally. Friday’s note revised the February reading upward to 89, making the reading for March technically a decline.

China stocks were moderately positive after official data released Friday showed China’s GDP grew at a record pace of 18.3% in the first quarter. Record growth was broadly expected as the economy recovers vs. historically weak first-quarter 2020 global performance. Bloomberg had reported economist expectations for an 18.5% gain.

Earnings News: Alcoa, PPG, JBHunt

Aluminum miner Alcoa (AA), paint and coatings manufacturer PPG Industries (PPG) and super-regional bank PNC Financial (PNC), three of Pittsburgh’s largest companies, reported quarterly results late Thursday. Alcoa rose more than 7%, setting its sights on a new high. PNC was up 2.4%, in a buy range on a rebound from its 10-week moving average.

PPG Industries rallied more than 10%, topping the S&P 500, after it reported that earnings jumped 21% in its first quarter. Also, sales growth turned positive after a three-quarter slump. Raw materials cost growth accelerated, but management said that for the remainder of the year “we expect overall global coatings demand growth to be broad-based across most of the end-use markets that we supply.”

PPG is perched just even with a 153.91 buy point, following a pullback below that entry to test 10-week support.

Trucking fleet/logistics leader JB Hunt Transportation Services (JBHT) jetted up 4% to a new high after scoring a solid first-quarter sales and earnings beat. Industry peer Marten Transport (MRTN) gained 1.6%, after reporting mixed results late Thursday.

Banks, in addition to PNC, were also on the earnings advancers list, with Western Alliance (WAL) up 2.8% and Ally Financial (ALLY) knocking out a 3.3% after reporting results. Investment banker Morgan StanleyMS slipped 1.1% in early trade as investors sorted through its first-quart earnings results.

Vital Signs: Oil, Bond Yields

Oil price futures were steady after a four-day advance lifted West Texas Intermediate almost 7%, the best week for oil since the start of March. WTI was down steady above $63 a barrel early Friday. A surge on Wednesday punched prices to their highest level since mid-March, but still below an early-March high at $65.05. Oil prices are an important confidence indicator for the recovering economy.

Stock Market ETF Strategy And How To Invest In The Current Uptrend

Bonds dipped after a surge in demand Thursday sent yields to their largest single-day drop since November. CBOE data showed the 10-year yield closing Thursday at 1.53%, and trading around 1.57% early Friday.

Yields skirted pre-pandemic levels early this month, climbing above 1.76% — the highest level since January 2020.

Bitcoin, Coinbase IPO Trade Lower

Bitcoin continued to pull back after touching a new high above $64,800 on Wednesday. The cryptocurrency was down about 3% and holding just above $60,000 early Thursday, according to CoinDesk. It remains up more than 108% since Dec. 31.

Shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) jumped 31% in their initial public offering on Wednesday. The Coinbase IPO rocketed as much as 66% higher intraday, ending the session at 323.28 to give the company a market valuation of $87.3 billion. Coinbase stock gained 1.6% early Friday.

CAN SLIM rules advise against jumping into IPOs too early, amid all the initial offering speculation and excitement. It is better to sit and watch the new stock’s chart. Waiting for it to form and breakout from an IPO base helps limit downside risk.

Dow Jones, S&P 500 Set Pace, Nasdaq Eyes Record High

The Dow Jones today opens with a 0.7% gain through Thursday and tracking toward what could be a fourth-straight weekly advance. It leads the big three benchmarks with an 11.2% gain since Dec. 31. The S&P 500 has a 1% gain for the week and is up 11% this year. The Nasdaq is also up 1% for the week, opening just a fraction below its Feb. 16 record, and with a year-to-date gain of 8.2%.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) has the biggest move among Dow Jones stocks over the past five sessions, up 6.9%. Shares are extended after receiving a big boost from its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday.

Honeywell (HON) climbed 4.5%, making it the week’s next-largest gain among Dow Jones stocks. Salesforce.com (CRM) was next in line with a 3.8% gain. Salesforce has now completed a valid double-bottom base with a buy point at 251.33. Shares finished Thursday about 8% below that entry.

Dow Jones Today: Caterpillar’s Bullish New Buy Point

Despite the Dow’s four-week gain, Boeing (BA), Intel (INTC) and Amgen (AMGN) remain in buy ranges or just below buy points with earnings rolling around. Intel and Honeywell report earnings next week, along with a half-dozen other Dow Jones names.

Apple (AAPL) has also shaped a cup, with an operable buy point at 145.19, also 8% above where the stock ended on Thursday.

Microsoft (MSFT) is extended. A rebounding Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has the Dow’s largest year-to-date gain, up almost 35%. Intel has a 30.5% gain. Goldman Sachs has rallied 28.4%, and remains in a buy range on a rebound from its 10-week moving average.

Caterpillar (CAT) remains a blue chip stock to watch. Up almost 28% since the start of the year, the stock is now riding firm support at its 21-day moving average, just 2% below a 237.88 buy point in what IBD MarketSmith analysis plots as a bullish ascending base.

Find Alan R. Elliott on Twitter @IBD_Aelliott

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[orbemnews]

'The misplaced years': Local weather injury that occurred on Trump's watch will endure lengthy after he's gone Nonetheless, by way of the Mueller investigation, two impeachments, the deadliest pandemic in a century, and even a failed and harmful try to overturn his personal election defeat, Trump and his administration remained steadfast in at the least one quest: to weaken most of the nation’s bedrock local weather and environmental guardrails. Thought-about in the midst of humanity — or the 4.5-billion-year historical past of this planet — a single presidential time period is barely a blink of a watch. However in simply 4 years, Trump has cemented a legacy — significantly on local weather change — that can be felt by generations to return. “It is just about been an unequivocal catastrophe,” stated Christine Todd Whitman, the previous Republican governor of New Jersey who was EPA administrator below President George W. Bush. “To only roll again [regulations] entire material as a result of they got here from a earlier administration has made no sense, and actually what’s occurring is that they are placing the well being of People and the well being of our surroundings in jeopardy. “The mission [of the EPA] is to guard human well being and the surroundings — fairly easy and fairly simple,” Todd Whitman added. “It appears to me they’ve completely ignored the mission.” A lot of the environmental protections that Trump dismantled may be rebuilt by the incoming Biden administration, specialists say. Nonetheless, doing so will take time. And within the case of worldwide warming, the hour has grown late to cease the worst results. Essentially the most lasting a part of Trump’s local weather legacy — and one that can not be undone — often is the time the administration wasted within the face of a worsening local weather disaster, some scientists and specialists say. “I am sort of hopeful that most of the worst and most damaging local weather insurance policies are able to being reversed,” stated Kim Cobb, a professor and local weather scientist at Georgia Tech’s Faculty of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “However the misplaced years by way of progress on emissions reductions we will not ever take again, and that’s one thing that may have a finite influence on coming local weather change impacts.” Within the face of a mounting local weather disaster, Trump doubled down on fossil fuels Trump’s deregulatory campaign started along with his first EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma legal professional basic who had sued the company a dozen instances over environmental protections earlier than being tabbed to steer it. After he resigned within the face of a number of ethics scandals, Trump picked a former coal lobbyist, Andrew Wheeler, to take his place. Pruitt and Wheeler — in parallel with the Inside Division and the Division of Vitality — have labored to full dozens of business rollbacks, gutting laws on every little thing from greenhouse fuel emissions from energy vegetation to showerhead water effectivity. Alongside the way in which, fossil gasoline pursuits have applauded Trump’s strikes, even when he did not revive America’s coal business as he had promised. “They took business’s want lists and translated them into company orders or laws,” stated Michael Gerrard, the director of the Sabin Middle for Local weather Change Regulation at Columbia Regulation Faculty. “They had been solely partially profitable as a result of they had been so sloppy in following the mandatory procedures that they had been typically slapped down by the courts.” In an interview this week with the Washington Publish, Wheeler defended his legacy, saying that on his watch the EPA has “confirmed that you would be able to scale back air pollution and have cost-effective laws.” However critics see a willful and dear ignorance of science, one which has coloured the administration’s response to the world’s largest crises, from the Covid-19 pandemic to local weather change. “I feel their [policies] are harmful. That is the underside line,” Cobb stated. “I feel it is even worse than anti-science.” The Trump administration’s pullbacks on local weather laws got here at a time when the science has by no means been clearer on the pressing want for the planet’s largest polluters to make massive cuts to their greenhouse fuel emissions. Preliminary estimates by the personal knowledge analytics agency the Rhodium Group present US emissions did plummet by 10% final yr, the biggest drop since World Battle II. However specialists attribute a lot of the discount to the pandemic, which saved many People out of their automobiles and off planes, and anticipate emissions to rebound as the results of Covid-19 wane. Earlier than the pandemic, US emissions rose in 2018 after which fell by a slim 2.1% in 2019. In 2019, the UN warned that to carry international warming under the 1.5 diploma Celsius threshold, international emissions would wish to fall by 7.6% every year from 2020 to 2030. Trump’s strikes additionally coincided with a seemingly never-ending rash of utmost climate occasions, which introduced the destruction fueled by international warming to the doorsteps of tens of millions of People. In Trump’s first yr in workplace in 2017, he introduced that he deliberate to drag the US out of the Paris Settlement on local weather. That very same yr, Hurricanes Maria, Harvey and Irma left behind a wake of dying and destruction from Puerto Rico to Texas, a yr that noticed all disasters within the US trigger a file $321 billion in damages. In 2020, a record-breaking 22 separate billion-dollar climate and local weather disasters — together with unprecedented wildfires within the American West — brought on a complete of $95 billion in damages throughout the nation. Lots of these disasters bore the fingerprints of local weather change. Why the Trump presidency may affect international warming for years Throughout Trump’s presidency, international common temperatures have additionally continued to climb. The final six years have been the most popular six years ever recorded, with 2020 tying 2016 as the most popular yr. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations additionally climbed to a brand new excessive in 2020, reaching ranges unseen in tens of millions of years. And due to how lengthy greenhouse gases keep within the ambiance, the Trump presidency may affect international warming for years to return. When people burn fossil fuels, it sends heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air, the place it accumulates within the ambiance like a blanket, and might keep to warmth the Earth for lots of of years. Some research have tried to quantify how a lot of a contribution Trump’s regulatory rollbacks will make over time to accelerating international warming. One estimate printed final yr by the Rhodium Group discovered that the administration’s strikes to weaken greenhouse fuel laws may add the equal of 1.8 gigatons of CO2 to the ambiance by 2035, equaling practically one-third of all US emissions in 2019. Nonetheless, there was a bit of fine information hidden within the huge Covid-19 reduction package deal that handed final December and which Trump signed. Buried within the $900 billion stimulus package deal had been some vital local weather laws which requires phasing out using hydrofluorocarbons — a category of tremendous heat-trapping gases utilized in fridges and air conditioners — and an extension of a carbon seize expertise tax credit score for business. Over time, analysts say these line gadgets may go a good distance towards negating the emissions influence of Trump’s rollbacks. ���We estimate that this is likely one of the single largest local weather actions the U.S. has taken in at the least in a decade,” stated Kate Larsen, the director of the Rhodium Group’s worldwide power and local weather analysis crew. “Once you have a look at the remaining coverage rollbacks that Trump carried out and that may stay standing, these are largely equal to creating up the injury that the Trump administration has executed by way of regulatory rollbacks.” Repairing America’s credibility on local weather will take time … and extra than simply phrases Nonetheless, the long-term influence of Trump’s different main local weather strikes is more durable to quantify. Chief amongst these is the US’ exit from the Paris Settlement on local weather, which was accomplished final November. Leaving Paris marked the second time the US has bailed on a world local weather settlement after it led the negotiations. The primary exit was from the Kyoto Protocol, a earlier local weather pact which the US signed in the course of the Clinton administration, solely to drop out throughout George W. Bush’s presidency. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Settlement on Day One in every of his presidency, however specialists say repairing the injury to the nation’s worldwide standing that was executed by Trump abandoning the accord won’t be simple. “In a single sense, it is simple for President Biden to announce on the primary day he is in workplace that the US will rejoin,” stated Jody Freeman, a Harvard legislation professor who served as counselor for power and local weather change within the White Home below President Barack Obama. “The arduous half is to place collectively an formidable, credible pledge for what the US is ready to do to fulfill their Paris Settlement commitments.” Trump’s inside division additionally cleared the way in which for brand new fossil gasoline extraction on federal lands, together with in Alaska’s Arctic Nationwide Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), one of many nation’s largest remaining pristine wildlife areas. Although there was in the end little curiosity within the rights to drill in ANWR from bidders, specialists say it may very well be troublesome for the Biden administration and environmental teams to problem these leases. “As soon as the lease has been bought, it creates a property proper,” Gerrard stated. “There can be litigation about whether or not the leases had been validly issued, but when any of them are upheld in courtroom, it turns into tougher to revoke them.” Biden faces a bumpy highway to erasing Trump’s local weather legacy All through the marketing campaign and the transition interval, Biden has made it clear that he intends to attempt to make an entire 180-degree activate federal local weather coverage. He appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry to a brand new Cupboard-level place as particular local weather envoy, the place he could have a seat on the Nationwide Safety Council, and has tapped different Obama administration alums to affix his local weather crew. Throughout the presidential marketing campaign, he unveiled a $2 trillion local weather plan that requires the US to succeed in 100% clear electrical energy era by 2035, and make enormous investments in inexperienced infrastructure, from increasing wind and photo voltaic to energy era to constructing a nationwide electrical car-charging community. Consultants say there’s loads of alternative for his administration to push by way of components of his plan to cut back US greenhouse fuel emissions and to encourage motion internationally. “Trump took a wrecking ball to the nation’s environmental laws,” Gerrard stated. “Thankfully, it is not Humpty Dumpty, and most of it may be put again collectively once more.” However the necessity to reverse strikes finalized by his predecessor and the political realities of a razor-thin Democratic Senate majority may hamper Biden’s extra formidable local weather proposals. A few of Trump’s rollbacks may be undone with the stroke of a pen or overturned by a easy majority in each homes of Congress by way of the Congressional Assessment Act, Gerrard stated. Others like reinstating or tightening the Obama-era requirements on automotive and truck emissions may be completed by way of EPA rulemaking, however the course of takes time — anyplace from a couple of months to a yr, Gerrard stated. Youth-led local weather motion organizations just like the Dawn Motion have indicated that they intend to carry the brand new administration accountable for delivering on Biden’s local weather guarantees. And a newly-minted Democratic Senate majority will open the door to some legislative alternatives that would not have been attainable in a chamber managed by Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell. Nonetheless, local weather coverage specialists say that the slender Senate majority will pressure Biden to search out measures that may garner bipartisan help — like spending on inexperienced infrastructure — within the vein of the local weather laws that handed within the end-of-year Covid-19 stimulus package deal. “When the Senate is type of evenly cut up, the kind of progress we’ll make on local weather shouldn’t be going to appear to be complete local weather laws,” Larsen stated. “It’ll be these focused wins on issues that may largely get bipartisan help.” However no matter progress Biden’s administration is ready to make on halting local weather change over the subsequent 4 years, some say the misplaced time of the final 4 years will nonetheless loom massive. “The first impact is that the brand new administration can be occupied for its first couple of years with reversing all of the injury reasonably than persevering with to make progress,” stated Ted Lamm, a senior analysis fellow on the Middle for Regulation, Vitality and the Setting on the College of California-Berkeley. “Significantly within the case of local weather change, the place we face a ticking clock, that misplaced time is doubtlessly disastrous and dangerous.” Supply hyperlink #'Thelostyears':ClimatedamagethatoccurredonTrump'swatchwillendurelongafterheisgone-CNNPolitics #Climate #damage #Endure #Long #Lost #occurred #Politics #Trumps #watch #Years

[follieadieu]

New efficiency norms for AC’s from January 2018

Energy economist Saurabh Diddi of BEE explained that smart compressor regulators will aid a device to decrease 200kg of carbon dioxide per year. "Taxation of fossil fuels is just 1 instrument that's seen at work and simple to administer, although mechanics such as REC need to be finer from time to time," explained De. The newest star rating system--Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio--may examine the operation of all air-conditioners at temperatures of 24-43 degrees Celsius according to Indian weather information, according to the present system of working with a level 35 level benchmark. The government needs approximately two-fifths of India's power to be produced by non-fossil fuels and make extra forest cover effectively at having an additional 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from 2030. The emissions reduction push through labeling and criteria in addition to using taxation on fossil fuels at the struggle against climate change are all powerful, stated Anish De, associate, and head of their petroleum and gas practice at KPMG in India. "We want to emphasize we're all set to abide by the new guidelines determined by BEE to get 2018. Approximately 4.5 million air-conditioners are offered in India each year. Air-conditioner manufacturer Voltas Ltd stated the firm will comply with the new criteria. India's climate shift battle approach hinges on getting more renewable resources of electricity (175 gigawatts, or GW, by 2022 up from 6.7GW today) and enhancing energy efficiency. The brand new rating was voluntary to its brands but will likely become compulsory in January 2018, clarified Hussain, including that sellers will be stocking outdated stock until the end of 2017. "Officially, the flushing from the stocks will be until March 2018. Thus, the effect is going to be understood in April 2018," he explained. Employing a wise compressor regulator can save approximately 250 kilowatts/hour of energy consumption per season using a 1.5-tonne air-conditioner, that is now ranked as the most effective (five star) (If you don’t know Difference between 3-star and 5-star Air Conditioner you go to WpLov right now), clarified Sanjay Seth, secretary and power economist in BEE. As ineffective products go from this current market, BEE, which accounts into the Union power ministry, revises the score of the effective ones down to promote further innovation. Mohammed Hussain, firm mind, air conditioning group, Panasonic India, stated inverter ACs--people who have intelligent compressor regulators--have significantly raised the bar for its energy efficiency of air conditioners from India and labeling will likewise enhance it. Beneath the REC frame, entities like electricity distribution providers can satisfy their renewable purchase duty by purchasing RECs from fresh energy manufacturers, providing the latter a source of earnings. Beneath PAT, businesses that fail to attain mandated energy efficiency goals must pay penalty. Finance minister Arun Jaitley climbed the fresh energy cess on coal generation into Rs.400 a tonne at the 2016-17 funding and increased excise duty on petrol and gas several occasions as November 2014, benefiting from falling international oil rates. In 2015-16, the authorities increased Rs.1.5 billion by means of excise duty on petrol and gas, and over twice these 2 products led in the preceding calendar year. "The future seems bright and shortly air-conditioners won't be a large strain on power bills." However, market-based frameworks like renewable energy certificate (REC) the Perform, Achieve, and Trade (PAT) strategy to encourage energy efficiency need to become fine, De explained. BEE is focusing on incorporating LED bulbs, including geysers and automobiles to the listing of things requiring compulsory star score. Wanting to decrease carbon emissions, '' the authorities said on Wednesday a new efficiency evaluation method for air-conditioners, dependent on western climatic conditions, will be made mandatory for most versions beginning January 2018. The move follows a string of measures under the federal climate change strategy such as marketing of high tech LED bulbs and stainless-steel farming pumps in addition to increasing taxation on the production of coal and also on automobile fuel. All of the air-conditioners will require energy-saving and smart regulation of compressors set of the traditional thermostat-triggered cut-offs, stated that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the standard setter for the appliances. Nowadays, ACs on this technologies tend to be more expensive by roughly Rs.7,000-8,000 per unit. However, as more components embrace it, the price will return," said Seth. If you want to know Difference between 3-star and 5-star Air Conditioner you can read our Next Post. 

[khalilhumam]

How well has Nigeria responded to COVID-19?

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New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/how-well-has-nigeria-responded-to-covid-19/

How well has Nigeria responded to COVID-19?

By Siddharth Dixit, Yewande Kofoworola Ogundeji, Obinna Onwujekwe On January 23, 2020, the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee advised that “all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread of 2019-nCoV infection, and to share full data with WHO.” On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern.

Is Nigeria prepared to respond effectively to pandemics?

In 2017, during the WHO’s Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of IHR core capacities (an independent, collaborative multi-sectoral effort to assess a country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health risks), Nigeria scored poorly both in prevention and response.

Nigeria’s average score of 1.9 across the 15 JEE indicators in the prevent category suggested that overall there was limited capacity to prevent biological, chemical, or radiation health risk.

The country was better prepared in the detect category, with an average score of 2.6 across the 13 indicators in this category. This score shows that the country has developed some capabilities to detect new health risks through real-time surveillance, and laboratory capabilities to test the diseases. However, the sustainability of these capabilities is still in doubt. (Figure 1)

The country performed badly in the respond category, with an average score of just 1.5 across the 20 indicators in this category, suggesting that Nigeria has limited capacity to respond to a sudden health risk.

Figure 1. Nigeria’s average score on preparedness to tackle public health risks

Source: Authors, using data from World Health Organization (2017). These scores suggest that Nigeria is not prepared to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic. This is most obviously evident from the low testing rates for COVID-19 in the country. Nigeria currently has the capacity to test only 2,500 samples a day, and just half of these are actually administered each day because of the shortage of human resources, testing kits, and laboratories, and case definition for testing that prioritizes symptomatic cases and their contacts. As of June 30, only 138,462 samples had been tested in Nigeria for a population of 200 million; in contrast, South Africa—a country of 58 million people—has already conducted 1,630,008 tests. Nigeria had just 350 ventilators and 350 ICU beds for its entire population before the outbreak. In April 2020, the country acquired 100 more ventilators, but given the growing caseload, this will not be enough. There has been a continuous rise in the number of cases and deaths in Nigeria, and no flattening of the curve has yet been observed. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Total confirmed cases in Nigeria as of June 22, 2020

Source: Worldometer. The three states with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases are Lagos (10,510 cases, 128 deaths), the Federal Capital Territory (1,870 cases, 33 deaths), and Oyo (1,380 cases, 12 deaths). These states account for about 54 percent of total confirmed cases, and 29 percent of deaths. However, many of the northern, southwestern, and southeastern states are now seeing an increase in the number of cases, and as of June 30, 2020 there are more than 100 reported COVID-19 cases in each of the states of Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Edo, Delta, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, and Borno.

What has the government done?

The Nigerian government has taken numerous health, social, and economic measures to cushion the impact of COVID-19 (Figure 3). However, some of the policy responses have weaknesses and, taken together, are not commensurate with the magnitude of the problem.

Figure 3. Timeline of important policy steps taken by the government of Nigeria Green circles indicate public health policies; blue circle indicate social and economic policies

Note: FCT: Federal Capital Territory, FMHADMSD: Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, SMEs: Small and medium enterprises, NSR: National Social Register. The major strategic responses by the federal government, their main shortcomings, and some ways to improve their effectiveness include:

The Economic Stimulus Bill 2020. The House of Representatives passed the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill 2020 on March 24 to provide support to businesses and individual citizens of Nigeria. The proposed law aims to provide 50 percent tax rebates to businesses that are registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act so they can use this saving to continue employing their current workers. However, while the bill focuses on providing relief to formal sector businesses, 65 percent of Nigeria’s total GDP comes from the informal sector, which also employs more than 90 percent of the workforce, and these workers need support to survive. Many businesses in the informal sector are unregistered so it will be difficult for them to get these benefits. These businesses are often supported by microfinance facilities. For the government to help, it will have to use small interest-free loans or small grants to these enterprises through microfinance facilities and other community-based channels. This will be even more important now that the country is considering a second wave of targeted lockdown.

Cash transfers. On April 1, 2020, the government announced that it will make transfers of 20,000 Naira ($52) to poor and vulnerable households registered in the National Social Register (NSR). Currently, the NSR has only 2.6 million households (about 11 million people) registered on its platform. The government hopes to increase this to 3.6 million households during the COVID-19 crisis. However, 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1.90 a day. Therefore, the cash payments by the federal government will reach only a fraction of poor. Besides, Nigeria does not have a robust national information management system, making electronic payments difficult. This has resulted in many people in the NSR not receiving the money promised by the government. An immediate solution the government can explore is to provide prepaid debit cards to the poor. This can be done at the community/ward level to ensure that the cards reach the poorest. Of course, this is a stopgap solution, and more effective measures like direct bank transfers need be strengthened. But people need a Bank Verification Number (BVN) to open a bank account, and obtaining a BVN requires a valid national ID or international passport, which many Nigerians do not have. Currently, only about 40 percent of the Nigerian population have bank accounts.

Central Bank of Nigeria stimulus package. The CBN’s stimulus package offers a credit of 3 million Naira to poor families impacted by COVID-19. However, the loan requires collateral and is not interest-free. The loans could be made available free of collateral to poor households or just require signed guarantees by community leaders. The loans should be available at a low interest rate with long moratorium and repayment period. Moreover, not many poor households and businesses in the informal sector know about the available economic packages and policies implemented by the government.

Food assistance. After President Buhari imposed the lockdown in Lagos, FCT, and Ogun states on April 1, 2020, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development announced that it will provide food rations to vulnerable households in these states. The extended lockdown has led to people facing hunger in many regions of the country. The government has not been able to provide food support to everyone who needs it, as the distribution system is marred by corruption and opaque accountability. The government has to improve transparency and accountability in the food ration distribution system. It should also make sure that middlemen do not have excessive control. The government could use the system of house marking used in the polio campaign (in which houses visited by vaccinators are marked) during food distribution, i.e., putting a mark on those houses where food has been distributed. The Ward Development Committees can also be used for distributing the food rations. The government could also better use technology to plug leakages, track rations, and reduce corruption.

Funding the COVID-19 response

According to the federal government of Nigeria, it will require $330 million to procure medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and medicines for COVID-19 control. The government has committed to investing some of this amount, and financial commitments were also made by private, bilateral, and multilateral institutions to raise the remaining funds. The Nigerian state oil company has pledged $30 million for the government’s COVID-19 efforts. The European Union has contributed 50 million euros to the basket fund to strengthen the Nigerian COVID-19 response. In addition, the private sector in Nigeria, after being called upon by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, established The Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID). It was launched on March 26, 2020 to help the government to control COVID-19 in Nigeria. CACOVID has raised over $72 million, which will be used for the purchase of food relief materials and to provide medical facilities and equipment in different regions of the country. The IMF approved $3.4 billion of emergency support to Nigeria to tackle the economic impact of the pandemic. In addition, in order to alleviate the macroeconomic situation triggered by the sudden fall in oil prices, the Nigerian government has borrowed $4.34 billion from the domestic stock market to finance its budget. The Nigerian government also plans to borrow another $2.5 billion from the World Bank and $1 billion from the African Development Bank. In addition to mobilizing additional funding, the government should also increase the efficiency of its response to the pandemic. Making sure that regular health programs remain well-funded is even more important. For example, immunization financing must be maintained; drops in immunization will have profound long-term impacts. The crisis is also an opportunity for overall integration of health programs.

Nigeria will need more international assistance

At the federal level and in most states, evidence-based policies such as social distancing and “test and trace” approaches have been implemented. However, implementation has happened on a base of weak health systems, sluggish emergency response, weak accountability systems, and fragmented data and information monitoring systems. These weaknesses have led to implementation gaps. The federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria have initiated programs to mitigate economic shocks. But, the financial packages rolled out will mostly provide relief to workers only in the formal sector. Similarly, social welfare schemes—such as food assistance and cash transfers—have been inadequate and inefficient. The combined effects of COVID-19 and low oil prices have put Nigeria in a precarious financial situation. Given the low oil prices, the brakes put on economic activity due to the lockdown, and a weak global macroeconomic situation, the economic condition in the country could worsen and Nigeria will almost certainly require more efficient, equitable, and accountable use of domestic resources. There is also a potential scope for more international support than currently envisioned.

[thewrosper]

Why South Asia has 20% of world’s population but less than 2% of Covid-19 cases

New Delhi, Bengaluru: Despite being home to one-fifth of the world’s population, South Asia accounts for less than 35,000, or approximately 1.5 per cent, of the 24 lakh coronavirus cases worldwide.  The eight countries, which make up the Indian subcontinent and are part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. While the number of cases in Europe and North America was 14 lakh and 8.8 lakh, respectively, as of 22 April, India had 20,178 cases, Pakistan 9,749, Bangladesh 3,382, Afghanistan 1,092, Sri Lanka 321, Maldives 108, Nepal 42 and Bhutan 6.    Even the positivity rate — the ratio of confirmed cases to total tests conducted — is lower in South Asia.  The rates in India (4.36), Bangladesh (11.43), Pakistan (8.26) and Sri Lanka (4.19) are way lower than those for Italy (12.69), US (19.55), France (34.09) and Germany (8.59). Experts have offered different reasons to explain this disparity — the warmer and more humid weather in the South Asian region tempered the spread of the disease, protection offered by the tuberculosis vaccine bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a potentially better immune response among those in the Indian subcontinent, and a weaker strain of the virus here.  Some say the explanation could be a lot simpler — South Asian countries have likely implemented efficient physical distancing thanks to a slower first wave of spread within the countries. The nations are also reportedly seeing far lower testing numbers as compared to the rest of the world. Low testing does not fully explain it The SAARC countries have the lowest testing rates in the world but that may not fully explain the fewer cases.  India, for instance, conducts just 335 tests per million population whereas the numbers for western are far higher — 7,103 in France, 20,629 in Germany, and 12,659 in the US.  But even in countries of South Asia that have higher testing, the positivity rate has remained low. Bhutan has conducted a total of over 8,700 tests, which translates to 11,000 tests per million people, but has only six confirmed cases. The Maldives is currently conducting 6,871 tests per million with 1.08 positivity. “At this point in time, no one has an explanation for the low prevalence of cases in this region,” said Sumanth C. Raman, a healthcare domain consultant and a doctor specialising in child health. “Certainly the rate of testing is lower, and that is a very likely contribution to the explanation. But it doesn’t explain the full picture.” The lockdown may have “shifted the peak from say April to June” but only time will tell if South Asian countries indeed have an advantage, said Shahid Jameel, a virologist who serves as the CEO of The Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance, an independent nonprofit that funds health and biomedical research in Indian institutions. “It (the number of cases), however, has definitely proven the doomsday predictors wrong. They had predicted the number of infected as high as 1-2 crore,” he said.  Stricter lockdowns The low number of cases, some experts say, could also be the impact of early and stringent lockdowns imposed by South Asian countries.  India declared a three-week lockdown starting 25 March that has been extended to 3 May. Similar lockdowns were announced in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.  By contrast, most of the states in the US, one of the worst-affected countries, enforced stay-at-home orders around late March and early April. As of 2 April, 90 per cent of the country was in some kind of lockdown. The US has recorded 8.69 lakh cases and 49,963 deaths — the highest in the world.  Some European countries like Sweden do not even have a complete lockdown, although they enforce mandatory physical distancing while keeping most public places shut. India, on the other hand, had already shut its international flights by 25 March, which the UK and US had not done despite recording more cases. India’s lockdown stringency score was 100 as against 64.5 in the UK and 76.1 in the US, according to an analysis by researchers from the University of Oxford.  The lockdown appears to have slow down the number of cases, with the doubling rate now at 7.5 days instead of 3.4 days before, said the Union health ministry earlier this week. India’s response in containing the epidemic has been remarkable thanks to its strong district and municipal administrative structure, said Shailaja Chandra, former chief secretary of Delhi and a public health expert. “No other country has managed to contain the spread on the scale that India has, when compared to our population density and distances involved,” she said. She added that while the system does not always deliver during normal times, it has responded during a crisis, as always, and was able to screen, isolate cases, trace contacts and seal off hotspots because of the tenacity of the municipal, district and police systems.  Even among other countries within South Asia, there is a trend of the disease making a later appearance than usual, which ensured better preparation. Bhutan and the Maldives had their first confirmed case only in the first week of March, when the world was well aware of the nature of this pandemic and how to slow its spread. Sri Lanka’s first recorded Covid-19 patient was a tourist diagnosed at the end of January, but, since then, strict quarantine measures were imposed across the country. The first confirmed case of a Sri Lankan national came in March.

A deserted street in Paharganj, Delhi, during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown A younger demographic A major reason for the observed pattern of spread could be the fact that older populations respond poorly to Covid-19, said Madhukar Pai, director of Global Health at McGill University, Canada, and a tuberculosis expert. “Countries with younger populations should have a different epidemic curve because of the age effect, especially for deaths due to Covid-19,” he said. Younger people have mild or asymptomatic infection and, over time, they will protect others through herd immunity, Pai said. The average age of an Indian is 26.8 years. The number is under 25 years in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. In contrast, the average age of a citizen is 45 in Italy and above 40 in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. While almost one-fourth of Italy’s population is aged above 60 years, just 7.4 per cent of Indians are senior citizens. “There is a lot of uncertainty. Is it possible that maybe the virus is mutating rapidly enough for receptors in this population to bind differently? We don’t know yet,” Suman said. “Since obesity seems to contribute so much to hospitalisation among the younger population groups, is it related to BMI (body mass index)? Maybe there are more mild and asymptomatic infections here as compared to other places? We just don’t know.” Variations in immune response “Of all the theories about weather, BCG vaccine and whether India has a weaker strain, I only believe the one about immunity,” said Jameel, referring to the as-yet-unproved theory that the residents of the Indian subcontinent might be naturally equipped to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus better than others. “Indians and South Asians are exposed to more germs and infections, and hence their innate immune response is better,” he added. Narinder Mehra, ICMR national chair and former dean of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, is also of the opinion that Indians are exposed to more pathogens and hence have a broader T-cell memory.  T-cells are the white blood cells that fight infections, and they “remember” exposure to viruses in the form of instructions that trigger an immune response when a virus is recognised. There is also greater variation in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, which make up human tissues and are responsible for immune response. It is these genes that present the foreign antigens to the immune system triggering the T-cell response. “As a consequence of microbial load, the Indian population possesses a high genetic diversity of HLA, much more extensive than Caucasian populations,” Mehra wrote in a column earlier this month, referring to increased prevalence of endemic and non-endemic disease in India. This genetic diversity has been shown to offer protection against viruses by some studies, he explained, while clarifying that “much more extensive research is required” before concluding that it offers benefits. However without evidence, this is purely speculation that can only be confirmed (or disproved) after the results of rapid antibody tests come along. These would show whether a higher-than-expected number of individuals has antibodies to the virus, thereby confirming their exposure. If more people are exposed, and did not show symptoms or do not yet, this may prove that our immune response has been better, Jameel explained. Pai disagreed with the immune response theory, saying it is hard to justify it with data, considering India has the highest burden of tuberculosis, Kala azar and the fourth highest malaria incidence in the world.  “There is lots of speculation from all quarters,” said Raman. “People say malaria-endemic countries could be seeing less Covid-19, but Singapore was once a malaria-endemic country too. There is no documented study that establishes that any of these hypotheses, like endemic malaria or BCG vaccination, could be an explanation.” Subcontinent yet to peak Jacob John, one of India’s most renowned virologists and the former head of the Indian Council for Medical Research’s (ICMR’s) Centre for Advanced Research in Virology, believes we cannot compare present-day South Asia with Europe because we are a month and a half away in terms of timeline. While India did record its first case on 30 January, the total number of Covid-19 patients was restricted to three for a month. John said the disease truly spread in India only in March, when cases started climbing in the very first week. After its first case, India issued advisories for screening and quarantining travellers from China in early February, while the next set of advisories, for South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan, came on 3 March.  There, however, weren’t any restrictions on those coming from the West — the Middle-East, Europe and North America — until 18 March, which is where most Indian travellers got their infection from, said John.  Among European countries such as France, Italy, and Germany, all of whom confirmed their first cases in the same week as India, the numbers rose steadily in March and increased exponentially in April — a pattern similar to that in the subcontinent. “We have to wait a month and half before we say anything,” said John, adding that the April of Europe should be compared to June in India. Pai agreed that the epidemic was evolving in different countries at different times and we need to wait for the epidemic to mature. The middle-income countries that didn’t see a spike last month are doing so now, said Pai, citing India, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, South Africa and Indonesia as examples. While India and other South Asian nations may seem to have warded off the immediate danger of an overwhelmed healthcare network, the pandemic and the lockdown have harshly affected the economies and the poorest in the region. Additionally, as the pandemic spreads with the potential to wreak havoc, more and more unproven treatments stemming from these observations will start being tested, which may possibly endanger lives. According to public health experts, there is no evidence to indicate that any such correlational pattern can mean that the South Asian population is at a lower risk of decimation if physical distancing measures are lifted. If anything, any advantage conferred upon the population would only aid in slowing the spread of the disease, not averting it, they said. “The way respiratory viruses like the novel coronavirus are transmitted in various regions does not differ,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, director and professor of epidemiology and medicine, Columbia University, New York. Around the world, observations and studies have unanimously indicated that the virus is primarily spread through respiratory droplets containing the virus, as well as through close contact with carriers. “We cannot depend on herd immunity through continued transmission as this novel coronavirus has a high mortality rate, almost ten times higher than mortality from seasonal influenza,” El-Sadr added. “What everyone is doing now is akin to the old anecdote about knowing that one woman can deliver a baby in nine months and thus getting nine women to deliver a baby in one month,” said Raman. “We just don’t have enough information. Many more studies are needed before we can say anything conclusively. Maybe in six months to a year, we will be able to say more definitively how the disease spreads in the South Asian population. But at the moment, everything is pure conjecture.” Support The Wrosper to get the latest updates! Stay tuned Read the full article

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The Summer of Adventure: Legend of Mana

Original Release Date: July 15, 1999 (JPN)

Original Hardware: Sony PlayStation

Although the various installments of the Final Fantasy series differ from each other in many ways, you can get the general sense that it knows what its fans are looking for. The same can be said for the SaGa series, Square's next most-prolific series. By contrast, the Mana series has always seemed a bit confused. With 25 years behind it and several games in the line, the Mana brand is one of Square's most well-known and longest-running. At the same time, it seems to have been stuck with a really tricky problem that it has never quite been able to resolve. It has a lot of fans who really couldn't be clearer about what they'd like to see from a new Mana game, a creator who seemed to be torn between his own ideas and trying to make the fans happy, and a whole lot of empty space between the two. I'm not sure if Legend of Mana is the best example of that divide, but it was certainly where it started to become apparent.

I've touched lightly on the topic before when I wrote up Secret of Evermore, but let's talk a little bit about the history of the Mana series leading up to this game. The first game in the series was a labeled spin-off of the Final Fantasy series in both Japan and internationally. Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (dubbed Final Fantasy Adventure in the United States and Mystic Quest in Europe) was a fairly straightforward action-RPG for the Nintendo Game Boy. It took a few cues from Falcom and a few cues from The Legend of Zelda, and the result was a surprisingly fun game. Sure, it had some nasty hangnails in its design, but the game was short and sweet enough to forgive any unscripted accidents along the way. If you want to try it out, there's a moderately straight remake of the game available on mobile and PlayStation Vita under the title Adventures of Mana that mostly just updates the presentation.

Though the game released in 1991, it had been on the mind of its creator for a while. As early as 1987, in fact. Koichi Ishii presented his first idea for the game that year, but Square rejected it, choosing to focus on their new Final Fantasy series instead. After spending a few years making vital contributions to the first three games in that series, Ishii was able to get his game approved as a spin-off, and the healthy sales gave him the chance to continue. The next game dropped the Final Fantasy connection and went with the name Seiken Densetsu 2. It was released in Japan on the Super Famicom in August of 1993, given a brisk localization into English, and sent out in the West only a few months later under the title Secret of Mana. The game had a rather difficult development, as it was originally planned for the aborted SNES CD add-on. When that device was canceled, Square asked the team to get the game going on a regular cartridge at any cost. The team ended up cutting out about 40% of the planned content, which included things like branching paths and multiple endings. Secret of Mana also suffers from a number of bugs that are likely related to its sudden format shift.

While the game wasn't as Ishii had envisioned it, Secret of Mana was a huge success. It sold 1.5 million copies in Japan, and a respectable 300,000 copies overseas. Perhaps more importantly, people adored the game. The variety of weapons, interesting locations, easy-to-understand combat system, and riotously enjoyable multiplayer made for a near-instant classic. And here, I think, is where we can spot the first signs of the eventual divide. I suspect that from Ishii's view, the game was successful in spite of the cuts, while I strongly believe that it may have been successful because of them. Koichi Ishii frequently worked together with SaGa series creator Akitoshi Kawazu, and I've always felt they had a similar philosophy with regards to game design. While many designers strive to cut away excess fat from their designs, Kawazu and Ishii seem to revel in adding as much complexity and as many gameplay systems as they can fit. I think they do that for different reasons, but the results can look awfully similar at times.

Seiken Densetsu 3 is best known in the West as the one that got away. I've heard plenty of reasons that reasonably explain why, but in the absence of hard facts, all we can really say is that the follow-up to Secret of Mana never got an official English release in spite of strong demand. I think this is a critical component of the later reaction to Legend of Mana, to be honest. While in screenshots the game appeared to be very similar to Secret of Mana, Ishii was able to get a lot closer to his design goals with Seiken Densetsu 3. There are six playable characters to choose from, each with their own weapon and magic specialties. Each character has access to two different classes, and a calendar function was included that had multiple effects on the game. Naturally, the game also came loaded with a ton of slightly different storylines and endings based on who you choose as your main character and supporting party members. Despite its ambitions, on a purely mechanical level Seiken Densetsu 3 played similarly to the previous game in the series, however.

Missing out on this game put Western fans of the series on the defensive. I can't lie, I was among those who felt extremely upset that Square didn't bring Seiken 3 over. At the time, I didn't really understand the market realities. I just knew there was something I wanted and I believed they were keeping it from me. There was always some hope that Square would change their minds. Even today, people are willing to believe that Square will finally translate the game as part of the Nintendo Switch Seiken Densetsu Collection. For many fans, though, the writing was on the wall after the Super NES's time in the market had passed. Mana die-hards then looked to the next game in the series, hoping Square would decide differently about localizing it. Given their affiliations at the time, it wasn't hard to guess the game would be designed for the Sony PlayStation, and Square did indeed decide to release it overseas. Those who had been pining for another game along the lines of Secret of Mana were in for a shock, however.

Up until Legend of Mana, Koichi Ishi had been mostly working on the series with Hiromichi Tanaka. The two had worked together on a number of Final Fantasy games, and Tanaka served as the producer and, in the case of Seiken 3, director of the Mana games. When it came time to do the next Mana game, however, Tanaka was waist-deep in projects of his own design such as Xenogears and Chrono Cross. This time, Ishi would have someone different as a producer, and you can spot his fingerprints all over Legend of Mana. Akitoshi Kawazu worked as a producer on many of Square game's from this era forward, but it is said that he had a bigger effect on this game than usual. I suspect he encouraged Ishi's natural tendencies more than anything else. Also joining the Mana series for the first time was one of Chrono Trigger's directors, Akihiko Matsui. These three men were just coming off of a project together, the experimental SaGa Frontier, and it's clear that project had some influence on Legend of Mana.

Legend of Mana was one of those games that seemed to pop out of nowhere just before its release. Square announced it in March of 1999. The game would be on the store shelves in Japan just four months later, riding a surprisingly strong marketing effort that saw the game packaged with a demo disc containing short playable snippets from Vagrant Story, Threads of Fate, Front Mission 3, and the highly-anticipated Chrono Cross. While the game didn't sell anywhere near the numbers that Secret of Mana had, it did quite well in Japan, selling over 700,000 copies, and was generally well-received. The overseas release the following year wouldn't benefit from a packed-in demo disc, but Square did make an effort to push the game through the Summer of Adventure promotion. As the first release of the three games included in that promotion, it's arguable that it may indeed have benefited the most from it. Sales got off to a good start, but Legend of Mana had to overcome an obstacle that Secret of Mana didn't have to: mixed reviews.

While reviews were mostly positive, scores were lower than you might have expected. Even the reviews that praised it made a point of how different it was from the previous games in the series, however. An already-wary fanbase ended up being split by the game's direction, and I'm sorry to say that I fell in with those who opted to pass on the game. At the time, my finances were tight, and I was trying to save money for a PlayStation 2. My Summer of Adventure had gotten an early start with Vagrant Story, and with only enough cash for one more game from the selection, I naturally chose to buy Chrono Cross. By the time I had extra money, I had heard enough negative things about that game that I never did get around to playing it. That means that the playthrough I did for this article was my very first experience with Legend of Mana.

I'm actually glad that I waited, though. Knowing my tastes and sensibilities at the time, I probably would have written Legend of Mana off quickly. This game is a real oddball, and it doesn't seem to care much for the conventions of the previous games in the series or of its contemporaries in the genre. If I didn't have prior knowledge, I likely wouldn't be able to correctly guess when it was made, because it seems forward-thinking in a lot of surprising ways. It is very much its own game, and I'm not terribly shocked that it ended up as a "love it or hate it" affair. While it has its share of bad points, I suspect the game's biggest crime in the eyes of Secret of Mana fans is in how different it is from what you would expect from the name. The series would only go in stranger directions from here, mind you, resulting in games that were less "love it or hate it" and more "no thank you" than anything else. Square still keeps the name in play, but Koichi Ishii has long since left. In 2007, he took the role of president and CEO of Grezzo, where he continues to work on games to this day.

I can't speak to where Ishii's thinking was at in the later Mana games, but having finally filled my personal gap in the series by playing Legend, I can say that there's a certain heart to this game that is lacking in games like Children of Mana. Every little piece of Legend of Mana feels like a personal expression, and the overall experience feels like it was made without any regard or care for how marketable it was. Only a few years earlier, Square had given the Western market the kick in the pants it needed to finally go all in on JRPGs via Final Fantasy 7. I have my issues with that game, but it's built to please, especially early on. Clear goals, hand-holding a-plenty, and non-stop action sequences fill out the first several hours of the game to ensure the player is hooked. Legend of Mana is nearly the opposite. Your initial goals are extremely vague. The game only gives you the barest of hints about what you should be doing, and even once you figure that out, action is hardly guaranteed. Sometimes the game wants to stop and slowly tell you a silly or heartfelt story. You won't always get to hit something, in other words, and that was a rare trait for action-RPGs of this period.

Many people in the West simply didn't know what to do with Legend of Mana, and you can see it by reading reviews from around its launch. In the Japanese market, some of the SaGa games flirted with a similar structure, but it feels like Western JRPG fans didn't really have the vocabulary yet to process it. Looking at it with 2017 eyes, however, the game seems ridiculously forward-thinking. For example, instead of having a long, continuously-flowing overarching story, Legend of Mana opts for 67 smaller quests. Each one is introduced with a title card, and when it has been resolved, it closes with an ending card. These quests can run anywhere from five minutes to a couple of hours to resolve, and while not all of them are critical to the main story that eventually forms, each and every one of them helps flesh out the game world and its inhabitants.

Now, it's certainly natural for RPGs to have a variety of quests and sub-quests, but the way Legend of Mana presented them was new and seen as bizarre or disjointed. Several years later, Capcom's Monster Hunter would popularize this structural style. We can now see it in many handheld and mobile RPGs, as slicing up the quests that way allows the player to spend a little time on the game, solve a quest or two, and still feel like they had a satisfying experience with some closure. In other words, it's quite normal now. I have to wonder if the people who felt the game was hurt by this set-up would feel differently today? In my case, I was a little shocked by the first set of title cards, but only because I wasn't expecting that kind of thing in a game of this vintage.

The way its world is set up feels ahead of its time, too. Though I have to admit, the marketing was a little bit deceitful about this part of the game. Basically, as you clear objectives and solve quests, you'll be given special items that can be used on the map to spawn a new location. That new location will contain new quests, which will give you more items to spawn further locations, and so on. You can place these locations wherever you like on the map, but apart from a mild effect on the magic system, there's no reason to place any location in a particular spot. The locations have no effect on each other, and you travel between them on the abstract map screen, so it's not like you're really building a world the way the marketing copy tries to sell it. Perhaps it's best to think of it as a standard progression-based stage system with a bit of non-linearity thrown in. The structure calls to mind a lot of modern social RPGs and handheld games where the budget doesn't allow for a giant interconnected overworld.

Like many of those games, your character works from a hub-like home area that can be cultivated and improved by collecting goodies and using them. The purpose of these improvements is to give you an edge in battles, generally. That's unfortunate, because I'm not sure that you really need an edge in battles. Rather than offering the free flow battles of the previous games, Legend of Mana's combat set-up is similar to that of Chrono Trigger. If enemies block your way, you'll pull out your weapon and go into a separate combat mode. From here, it's like a mix of the previous Mana games and a belt-scrolling brawler like Streets of Rage. Fights are fairly brainless in this game, and you don't even really need to pay a lot of attention to your character build to win. Just stand slightly below the enemy and hack away with your weapon of choice. That should lead to victory, and even when it leads to defeat, the game kindly allows you to continue from the start of the battle.

The battle system is one of the weaker points of the game. Combat isn't bad, per se, but it is tedious, unavoidable, and virtually mindless. The lightweight difficulty takes away from the practical value of many of the game's sub-systems. On a purely mechanical level, Legend of Mana doesn't really come together all that well. Vestigial sub-systems and lukewarm combat are only part of the problem from a design standpoint. There are also a lot of easily-missable things in the game, some of which will already be long gone before you even realize you were supposed to do them. Even when you're aware of certain things that you need to do, unexpected circumstances can prevent you from doing them.

The Cactus Reports are a particularly egregious example. You can talk to the Li'l Cactus in your home after each quest is finished and he'll make a little journal entry that you can read. It's one of the only ways the game tracks your quests. Unfortunately, you can only make a report on the most-recently completed quest, so if you finish another quest before you talk to the Li'l Cactus, you've missed your chance to complete the entry for the prior quest. That's strict enough, but there are times when certain events are forced on you, making it impossible to report to the Li'l Cactus before completing another quest. You have to tread very carefully if you want to fill out your quest log on one playthrough.

So yes, plenty of scabs to pick at here. And yet, there's something about Legend of Mana that makes me want to forgive its faults and love it anyway. I think the game would be better if the sub-systems had more practical value, but I also think it's fine for them to exist as things to do all on their own. The opacity of the game is bewildering at first, but the game is extremely forgiving in most ways, so you can actually enjoy the process of discovery rather than stress about it. The combat could use a tune-up, but I would almost be fine with the game not having any combat at all, strangely enough. In the end, the only thing that truly annoys me in Legend of Mana is the way the quest log works. Being able to miss entries isn't great, and I wish there was a way to review which quests you've already started. In its current form, the game requires a very methodical approach that seems to run counter to the spirit of the rest of it.

See, what I think Legend of Mana is really about is building a world. While your character is the driver of that reconstruction, your presence in the story more often than not feels like that of an observer. You're initiating things, to be sure, but from there, you largely watch them play out on their own. As each quest is checked off, you gain a little more understanding about this world, and perhaps more importantly, the characters that inhabit it. The main plotlines (there are three of them) get the greatest focus, but the side quests do a great job of adding layers thick and thin to the various people you meet. Characters who stood at the center of one quest might be bit players or cameos in others, but in doing that, the game makes this world feel more believable. Of course the strange people you met in the desert have day jobs. Why wouldn't they? I think it's through this carefully cultivated world-building that Legend of Mana finds its magic. This is a place where you want to spend your time. It's not the best obstacle course in the mechanical sense because it's a living setting that doesn't necessarily structure itself around the needs of a video game.

Coming into this, I didn't expect to love Legend of Mana. And had I played it at the wrong moment in my life, I don't think I would have. But after finishing it up, all I want to do is dive back into its world. I want there to be more side quests. I want there to be more odd conversations. I wish there were more to wring out of this wonderful little sponge. Legend of Mana is a terrible sequel to Secret of Mana, but it makes up for it by being, in many ways, a more interesting and enjoyable experience. If nothing else, it's a true testament to the amazingly creative era of Square prior to its financial difficulties that led to the Enix merger. Definitely worth a good chew.

Next: Threads of Fate

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Your Monday Morning Roundup

Last night felt like a punch to the gut.

It was a roller coaster weekend for Sixers fans regarding LeBron James. He officially opted out of his deal with the Cavaliers Friday morning and the courting for the king began. And slowly, it started to begin to feel he might actually come to Philly. And it felt like a Big 3 of James, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George would not happen with PG staying in OKC.

Fast forward to Sunday, when in the middle of the World Cup, Woj dropped a huge bomb involving a meeting with the Sixers and LeBron’s reps, sans LeBron. The Sixers reportedly pitched that they were very confident the team could get Kawhi from the Spurs and sign him to a long-term deal. Getting him would’ve taken two players and three first round picks. We all wanted to pull the trigger immediately.

And then at 8:05 PM, out of nowhere, Klutch Sports Group, the agency that represents James, dropped a short press release announcing James would go to LA for four years and $154 million. Get his jersey if you want.

To make things worse:

Sources: As trade talks have unfolded, Kawhi Leonard’s focus is unchanged: He wants to be a Laker. https://t.co/0wZGf5MrNt

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2018

Who knows how it may unfold in LA. The Lakers also signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LANCE STEPHENSON, and JAVALE MCGEE to one-year deals. KCP is a good player, but Stephenson, LeBron’s top enemy who will probably play the role of J.R. Smith, and McGee, the big man who’s made numerous appearances on Shaqtin’ A Fool embarrassing himself, is unbelievable. It might turn into a clown show for all we know. They’re also interested in bringing back Brook Lopez and signing Nerlens Noel.

So what will the Sixers do? Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli left, which means the scoring from our bench took a huge hit. And with Kawhi’s wishes to still be a Laker in any way possible, including sitting out next season, it’d be smart if the Sixers don’t waste Dario and Covington plus three first round picks for a rental.

The big priority right now is to get J.J. Redick back. Losing him would be brutal. Next up would be reloading the bench. James Ennis has reportedly been a target for the team, and Jabari Parker has also been linked to the team. Do you also re-sign Amir Johnson or possibly pursue a guy like Kyle O’Quinn? Guys like Avery Bradley, Tyreke Evans, and Kyle Anderson (RFA) also intrigue me.

They also appear to be talking to Jerryd Bayless about either a complete buyout of his $8.575 million contract or stretching out his contract. The latter of the two options would keep him on the books for three seasons (double the number of years left on his current contract plus one year), but with a lower salary hit of around $2.85 million a year.

So with that, Joel Embiid’s response to all of this was simple:

MOOD #TheProcess pic.twitter.com/uwsCLVCSth

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 2, 2018

Let’s do it organically. Trust The Process.

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The Roundup:

We have a new episode of Crossing Broadcast to discuss everything that happened this weekend, including the LeBron stuff.

Continuing with the current Sixers squad, Summer League action begins later this week. Markelle Fultz will not participate as he continues to work on his shot with Drew Hanlen, and Shake Milton suffered a stress fracture in his back and also will not play in Las Vegas.

Here’s a look at the minicamp participants, which also includes former St. Joe’s Hawk Isaiah Miles:

A look at #Sixers minicamp participants (with obvious note that Milton will not be in this group now) pic.twitter.com/tP9FaKOg3K

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) July 1, 2018

Jonah Bolden will also not participate, and apparently he might not be a part of the team in the future at all:

Source: Philadelphia are entertaining the idea of using stash Jonah Bolden as a trade asset. Lots of interest from other NBA teams, there's a standard NBA buyout to free him of his $400,000 deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 2, 2018

As with the veterans on the team, Justin Anderson had shin surgery and will be re-evaluated in about two weeks.

On Thursday, the Sixers helped opened up a renovated playground in North Philly. They hope it can turn the area around for the better.

The Phillies took three of four games against the Nationals this weekend. After edging the Nats Thursday, the Phils got blown out Friday with a 17-7 loss, thanks to seven home runs by Washington.

Saturday saw Vince Velasquez leave the game early after taking a line drive to his right arm, but the Phils eventually earned a 3-2 win thanks to seven innings of bullpen work. He’s on the 10-day DL.

The series finale was a hot and wild 13 -inning affair, with the Phillies coming out on top with a 4-3 win thanks to an Andrew Knapp walk-off homer. Nick Pivetta came in relief for the final inning and got the win. That capped off a brutal 42-game stretch which saw the team go… 21-21. That’s really damn good.

The team has a well deserved day off before beginning a quick two-game series with the Baltimore Orioles tomorrow night at home. Zach Eflin will take the mound in that one.

During the weekend, we saw Pat Neshek return for a third of an inning, but also saw Hector Neris go back down to Lehigh Valley.

Recently retired Phillie Jayson Werth probably deserves a spot on the team’s Wall of Fame.

While NBA Free Agency was hot, NHL Free Agency also got underway Sunday afternoon. The Flyers made one move, signing James van Riemsdyk to a five-year, $35 million deal ($7 million AAV).

You can thank Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek for persuading JVR to come back:

“I heard from G and I talked to Jake Voracek,” van Riemsdyk said via conference call. “It was good. I did my homework in the situation to talk to guys that were still there, some guys that maybe are not there anymore but that were there recently, just to get a feel of where things are at.

“I talked to both those guys and just picked their brain about some stuff. They were great about being open and available to help me through my process of getting to the point to make a decision. That was really helpful.”

Three former Flyers the team didn’t want signed elsewhere. Brandon Manning went to Chicago (2 years, $2.25 million per year), Petr Mrazek went to Carolina (1 year, $1.5 million), and Valtteri Filppula signed with the New York Islanders (1 year, $2.75 million). Good job by Ron Hextall to not give those guys that much money.

Meanwhile at Development Camp, Isaac Ratcliffe is showing signs of why the team moved up in last year’s draft to get him:

“My goal after last camp was just to get a lot stronger,” he said last week, after finishing drills at the team’s practice facility in Voorhees. “I have the size to actually get heavier, and this year I wanted to come back and really show I developed a lot this year and put on a few pounds. I want to show I can compete with the toughest guys in the league.”

Ratcliffe, 19, said he wants to put on even more weight, continue to add strength, and increase his speed in the next year.

“It’s a fast game, and it’s a game that’s decreasing in size, too,” he said. “And I have to show that I can bring both speed and size to the game, and my skill set as well.”

Some surprising Eagles news: Linebacker Nigel Bradham won’t play in the season opener. He said it stemmed from an incident back in 2016 where he hit a cabana boy.

The Ringer suggests the Eagles trade Brandon Graham to San Francisco:

Let’s say, just for a minute, that the cap-strapped defending champs decide they can’t afford to sign Graham, 30, to a long-term contract extension now or in 2019. In that case, their next two options are to (1) ride out the final year of his contract and maximize their shot at winning a second consecutive title before letting him walk in free agency—thus getting relatively little (a 2020 comp pick, maximum) in return or (2) think big picture, and trade him now for high-value picks and some much-needed cap relief.

I know what I’d do (Super Bowl LIII or bust, baby), but with the 25-year-old Carson Wentz locked in as their franchise quarterback, the Eagles brass should be thinking about the long-term health of their roster and salary cap, too. That’s where the 49ers—cap- and draft-pick rich and not afraid to make a big splash—come in. San Francisco’s got plenty of interior pass-rush talent, but they don’t have a proven elite edge rusher like Graham. If they threw a 2019 second-rounder and more Philly’s way, Howie Roseman may have to consider it.

The Union fell to LAFC 4-1 out west this weekend. They’ll return home on Saturday to take on Atlanta United FC.

In the FIFA World Cup, France, Uruguay, Russia (in penalty kicks), and Croatia (PKs) all moved on to the quarterfinals this weekend with wins.

Today, Brazil takes on Mexico at 10 AM, followed by Belgium and Japan at 2 PM on Fox.

In other sports news, former Islanders captain John Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million deal ($11 million AAV) with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Not everyday you can live a childhood dream pic.twitter.com/YUTKdfMALl

— John Tavares (@91Tavares) July 1, 2018

In other NHL Free Agency news, John Tortorella ripped on defenseman Jack Johnson going to Pittsburgh:

John Tortorella sure can’t help himself when it comes to the Penguins https://t.co/vo3l6RH0sF pic.twitter.com/3W8o5DVcpc

— Mike Darnay (@MikeDarnay) July 2, 2018

Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor is probably calling it a career:

Gods Grace

pic.twitter.com/60J2DugpD1

— Kameron Chancellor (@KamChancellor) July 1, 2018

Celtics first round pick Robert Williams missed his flight to Boston and didn’t show up to the first day of Summer League workouts for the team.

Mo Salah signed a new long-term deal with Liverpool. He’ll be there until 2023.

In the news, $1.7 million of fentanyl was seized at the Port of Philadelphia.

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, said his family and country come first before President Trump

Vermont legalized weed.

The post Your Monday Morning Roundup appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Your Monday Morning Roundup published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[detroitsportspodcastblog]

LIONS HEAD TO FREE AGENCY AND COULD MAKE IT RAIN

BY: ADAM R. STROZYNSKI  3/6/17

As the Detroit Lions get ready to go to work in free agency after checking out the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine last week -- if you have listened to the DocNJock show for some time, you know I love the “Underwear Olympics” -- there are many holes to fill.

Starting March 7 at 4 p.m. EST, NFL teams will be allowed to enter into contract talks with free agents, setting up for teams and free agents to be able to let the ink dry on contracts beginning March 9.

The Lions enter this period with roughly $36 million dollars, and it seems like running back may be a priority, as they head into the 2017-18 season. However, how should the Lions allocate this money to make next year’s team as competitive as possible?

I’ll take a look at this year’s crop of free agents and target players that will make the Lions better in 2017. 

Also, I’ll see if they can add some depth and strengthen both sides of the ball, while discussing where they should grab the talent from.  

WHAT DO THE LIONS NEED

For a team that made the playoffs last year, the Lions do have a lot of deficiencies across the board.

Defensively, the Lions ranked 27th in DVOA with a -17.6 percent total. This stat is highlighted by the lack of interceptions the team made, with only 10. It placed them in the bottom-third of the league plus tied them with the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.

But it doesn’t stop there. The team struggled to force fumbles as well. They made the opponent spill the pill only eight times. Yes, only eight times, while recovering just four of them. Only four teams struggled more in the aforementioned department.  

To say this defense rode the struggle bus is a bit of an understatement. So, let’s look at pressuring the quarterback. 

This was much, much worse. The Lions, as a team, only accounted for 26 sacks. They finished one sack better than the league-worst Oakland Raiders.

As the Lions head into free agency, they need to add players at every level that have a nose for the ball and can create turnovers with some sense of regularity. Playmakers and ballhawks please apply here.

Offensively, you started to see a young line start to take shape. It struggled early in the year, but as the season wore on, you began to understand why a guy like Taylor Decker was drafted in the first round. 

You also saw Travis Swanson take charge of the youth movement, and the line was helped by the versatile play of rookie Graham Glasgow. With as many steps as the offensive line took forward, the Lions will still have to restructure the line again, as the right side looks for a pay day. 

Former first-round tackle Riley Reiff is set to test free agency along with right guard Larry Warford. Also, it appears that 2015 first-round selection, guard Laken Tomlinson, is a bust. Tomlinson struggled to gain playing time, and was buried on the depth chart due to his lack of effectiveness.

Running back was a sore spot in more ways than one last year, as the Lions limped through the season, while averaging 3.7 yards per carry and under 82 yards a game. This placed them 30th in the league, only ahead of the Minnesota Vikings, who lost their QB and RB for most of the season, and the Rams. 

Injuries may have contributed to the poor production from the Lions’ ground game, as Ameer Abdullah only played in two games and Theo Riddick was often injured or playing through injuries. In the end, the Lions got most of their production from a fourth option in Zach Zenner.

Wide receiver wasn’t supposed to be a cantankerous position during the 2016 season, especially not after getting the No. 1 free agent wideout in Marvin Jones. However, it was. Jones showed flashes early in the season, but soon faded into oblivion and became an unreliable target. 

In the end, the Lions scored under 22 points a game, making them the 20th-best offense in the league.

With a team that looks like Swiss cheese, how the hell did they make the playoffs, and how do they get back next year?

WHAT TO TACKLE IN FREE AGENCY

With the $36 million the Lions carry into free agency, I will set aside $10 million for contract items, like a restructured, long-term extension for Stafford and the resigning of free agents. This money can also be allocated for signing bonuses. Basically, it’s just in the reserve.

Defensive Line

Chris Long – The 31-year-old defensive end is coming off a Super Bowl victory and a very effective season in which he had 35 tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble. I’d estimate he could command a contract near $2 to $3 million a season, making him an affordable addition to a weak line.

Margus Hunt – The free agent Cincinnati Bengal was a raw draft pick back in 2013. And since that time, he has come a long way, posting his best numbers in 2016. This would be a risk-reward depth signing, as the hope is that he could be signed for under $1.5 million a season. And then, the Lions could have him compete and win the job or add depth to both ends. Also, this genetic freak is long, lean and pretty powerful. So, worse case scenario, he’s a force on special teams.  

2017 NFL Draft – I’d also head into the draft looking to add and fill out my defensive line. I’ve been on record saying that if Taco Charlton is there at pick No. 21, I’d take him. 

I’d also look to add a defensive tackle through the draft. This year’s draft is loaded with playmakers all over the defensive side of the ball, and especially on the line.

Linebacker

Dont’a Hightower – This is the piece that I’m building my free agency around. He is the one guy I know that can make an immediate impact and change my defensive front-seven. Hightower is a guy I’d overpay to have in my linebacking core. And not just for his leadership, as his production is equally outstanding. Last season, he had 65 tackles, 2.5 sacks and one forced fumble. Hightower will command a steep price, and near $10.5 million annually. However, he’s worth it.

Secondary

2017 NFL Draft – Playmakers here, playmakers there, playmakers everywhere! I’d target some explosive corners and safeties in my second round. There is a lot of talent in this draft to be had, and it’s likely that the Lions can get first-round talent in the second round.  

Washington Redskins safeties Duke Ihenacho and Donte Whitner - They are both unrestricted free agents that won’t cost an arm and a leg. By making the front-seven stronger, you make the back four better, too. It’s why I’d nickel and dime the secondary, going with cheap veterans and draft picks to pair with Darius Slay.

Offensive Line

2017 NFL Draft – I’d keep the young guns growing together and push the youth movement, if a deal can’t be struck with Riley Reiff. I’d hit the draft to anchor my right side, possibly using a second or third-round pick on that tackle position. I’d also move Glasgow to left guard and Joe Dahl to right guard.

Wide Receiver

Ted Ginn Jr. – If you’re looking for someone affordable that can do it all, TGJ is your man. Ginn is a sure-handed receiver that can play on special teams and line up in the slot or go deep. He would command around $4.5 million. If that’s too steep, I’d add a piece through the draft or an undrafted free agent. Remember, most good teams can pick receivers off a scrap-heap and turn them into starters.

Brandon Marshall – Again a versatile wideout that can stretch the field or line up in the slot. I’m probably higher on Marshall than most, but I think he’d be a solid fit in this offense and in the locker room. Marshall will cost you close to $5 million a season. So, is it worth it to add a receiver on the downside of his career that probably wants to play for a contender? I’m not sure, but he would be a fit.

Running Back

Latavius Murray – If there is a running back out there that I’m screaming for, it’s Murray. The 26-year-old is entering his fifth season, so there is a lot of tread on the tires. Also, he is a back that has averaged over four yards a carry throughout his career. He’d be the perfect complement to Abdullah and Riddick. If you could land Murray for $6 to $8 million a year, I think you need to pull the trigger.

2017 NFL Draft – There is a lot of nice talent in this year’s draft, including Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook. Both Fournette and Cook will likely be gone by the time the Lions draft at No. 21. 

Christian McCaffrey did his stock some good at the Combine, and may have moved into the first round. However, if I’m the Lions, I’m not taking a running back in the first round nor the second or third. I’d look at adding someone in the middle rounds. If a prospect with off-the-field baggage, like Joe Mixion, is there in the fourth round, I’d take a chance on him. Grabbing first-round talent later in the draft and on a non-guaranteed contract would be a smart move for the Lions.

SO, WHAT’S THE TOTAL COST AND WHO’D THE LIONS GET?

With my Bob Quinn general manager hat on and the $26 million I’ve allowed myself to spend, this is who I’m picking up and why (in order of priority):

1. LB Dont’a Hightower at $10.5 million – He makes the front-seven immediately better, which will help the back-four play more effectively.

2. RB Latavius Murray at $7 million – He’s an every-down back that has a lot to give at an affordable price. And via his acquisition, the Lions would have a legitimate run game.

3. DE Chris Long at $2 million – He makes the front-four better and adds much needed depth at a cheap price.

4. WR Ted Ginn Jr. at $4.5 million – He’s too versatile to not pick up, as he helps out both the offense and special teams.

5. DE Margus Hunt at $1.5 million – This is a bonus pick-up. I think there is some potential here. And if the price is right, the Lions would be gaining depth on the D-line and a solid special teams performer.

Total Money Spent: $25.5 Million

adam@detroitsportspodcast.com

Twitter.com @detroitpodcast

[borenkelsey]

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0k7hsqw3CkcdTQ-d1_1-g/videos Here’s what you need to know:Facing huge budget gaps, governments have furloughed or laid off more than 1.5 million workers.Pence urged governors to echo a misleading claim about infection spikes.Applying to college? You may not need to worry about those test scores this year. The F.D.A. withdrew emergency approval for malaria drugs promoted by Trump. And the Oscars will be … delayed.After employees test positive, some Florida bars close down again. Porous borders and haphazard health efforts are complicating efforts to stop the spread of the virus in Africa.An MTA employee cleaning the floor of a subway station in New… NCC2020723

Coronaviruses are a group of relevant infections that create conditions in creatures as well as birds. In humans, coronaviruses trigger respiratory system infections that can vary from mild to dangerous. Moderate ailments consist of some cases of the cold (which has various other feasible reasons, primarily rhinoviruses), while extra dangerous varieties can cause SARS, MERS, and also COVID-19. Signs and symptoms in various other types vary: in chickens, they create an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and also pigs they trigger diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.

Coronaviruses constitute the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales, as well as realm Riboviria. They are surrounded infections with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome as well as a nucleocapsid of helical proportion. The genome size of coronaviruses varies from about 26 to 32 kilobases, among the biggest among RNA infections. They have particular club-shaped spikes that project from their surface area, which in electron micrographs create a picture similar to the solar corona where their name acquires. Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Home

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0k7hsqw3CkcdTQ-d1_1-g https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.blogspot.com/ https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.wordpress.com/ https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.tumblr.com/ View at Medium.com #NationalCoronavirusCleanup #CoronavirusNews #Covid19Updates Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/world/coronavirus-usa-world.html Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

from National CoronaVirus Cleaning https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/coronavirus-live-updates-most-colleges-wont-require-sat-or-act-scores/ from Mina Miriam https://minamiriamlive.blogspot.com/2020/08/coronavirus-live-updates-most-colleges.html

[carrillolynnette]

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Wont Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0k7hsqw3CkcdTQ-d1_1-g/videos Here’s what you need to know:Facing huge budget gaps, governments have furloughed or laid off more than 1.5 million workers.Pence urged governors to echo a misleading claim about infection spikes.Applying to college? You may not need to worry about those test scores this year. The F.D.A. withdrew emergency approval for malaria drugs promoted by Trump. And the Oscars will be … delayed.After employees test positive, some Florida bars close down again. Porous borders and haphazard health efforts are complicating efforts to stop the spread of the virus in Africa.An MTA employee cleaning the floor of a subway station in New... NCC2020723 Coronaviruses are a group of relevant infections that create conditions in creatures as well as birds. In humans, coronaviruses trigger respiratory system infections that can vary from mild to dangerous. Moderate ailments consist of some cases of the cold (which has various other feasible reasons, primarily rhinoviruses), while extra dangerous varieties can cause SARS, MERS, and also COVID-19. Signs and symptoms in various other types vary: in chickens, they create an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and also pigs they trigger diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections. Coronaviruses constitute the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales, as well as realm Riboviria. They are surrounded infections with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome as well as a nucleocapsid of helical proportion. The genome size of coronaviruses varies from about 26 to 32 kilobases, among the biggest among RNA infections. They have particular club-shaped spikes that project from their surface area, which in electron micrographs create a picture similar to the solar corona where their name acquires. Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores http://videomarketingservices.net/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0k7hsqw3CkcdTQ-d1_1-g https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.blogspot.com/ https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.wordpress.com/ https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.tumblr.com/ https://medium.com/@nationalcoronaviruscleanup https://www.pinterest.com/nationalcoronaviruscleanup/ #NationalCoronavirusCleanup #CoronavirusNews #Covid19Updates Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/world/coronavirus-usa-world.html https://youtu.be/5vVqRxHiiZE

from Coronavirus Disinfecting - Blog https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.weebly.com/blog/coronavirus-live-updates-most-colleges-wont-require-sat-or-act-scores from Phillips Doris Live https://phillipsdorislive.blogspot.com/2020/08/coronavirus-live-updates-most-colleges.html

[phillipsdorislive]

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0k7hsqw3CkcdTQ-d1_1-g/videos Here’s what you need to know:Facing huge budget gaps, governments have furloughed or laid off more than 1.5 million workers.Pence urged governors to echo a misleading claim about infection spikes.Applying to college? You may not need to worry about those test scores this year. The F.D.A. withdrew emergency approval for malaria drugs promoted by Trump. And the Oscars will be … delayed.After employees test positive, some Florida bars close down again. Porous borders and haphazard health efforts are complicating efforts to stop the spread of the virus in Africa.An MTA employee cleaning the floor of a subway station in New… NCC2020723

Coronaviruses are a group of relevant infections that create conditions in creatures as well as birds. In humans, coronaviruses trigger respiratory system infections that can vary from mild to dangerous. Moderate ailments consist of some cases of the cold (which has various other feasible reasons, primarily rhinoviruses), while extra dangerous varieties can cause SARS, MERS, and also COVID-19. Signs and symptoms in various other types vary: in chickens, they create an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and also pigs they trigger diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.

Coronaviruses constitute the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales, as well as realm Riboviria. They are surrounded infections with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome as well as a nucleocapsid of helical proportion. The genome size of coronaviruses varies from about 26 to 32 kilobases, among the biggest among RNA infections. They have particular club-shaped spikes that project from their surface area, which in electron micrographs create a picture similar to the solar corona where their name acquires. Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

Home

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0k7hsqw3CkcdTQ-d1_1-g https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.blogspot.com/ https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.wordpress.com/ https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.tumblr.com/ View at Medium.com #NationalCoronavirusCleanup #CoronavirusNews #Covid19Updates Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/world/coronavirus-usa-world.html Coronavirus Live Updates: Most Colleges Won’t Require SAT or ACT Scores

from National CoronaVirus Cleaning https://nationalcoronaviruscleanup.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/coronavirus-live-updates-most-colleges-wont-require-sat-or-act-scores/