Bert ter Hart stands with his boat, the Seaburban. ter Hart is in the midst of a solo sailing adventure that has kept him isolated from the coronavirus pandemic.

Alone and isolated from his family and friends, Bert ter Hart makes homemade bread. He bemoans a shortage of his favorite snacks. He counts his remaining toilet paper squares, wondering if he will run out.

Coronavirus isn't what ter Hart's worried about, though.

It's the weather.

He's been on a solo sailing quest since late October when he left Victoria, British Columbia - devoid of any in-person human contact on his 40-foot sailboat Seaburban, challenged both by storms and by calm seas that have set him back at least two months from his original planned date to return to civilization.

Some say ter Hart's spot alone in the middle of the ocean makes him the safest human in the world.

He disagrees.

"Although I am certainly safe from the coronavirus, I am most certainly not safe from a host of other problems or issues that I must face every single day. Of course weather is the obvious one. But I could get a toothache, an infection and die, before anyone could get to me. A simple cut could become infected and that could turn into something extremely serious in no time flat. Some solo sailors go far as to remove their appendix so they do not run the risk of appendicitis and death," ter Hart, 62, told weather.com in an email sent via satellite link.

"So I think in only one very narrow context am I the safest person on the planet."

(WATCH: Coyote Roams Near the Golden Gate Bridge Amid Coronavirus Lockdown)

Just a few days ago, ter Hart battled waves up to 30 feet high and howling winds in the Southern Indian Ocean. An unusually strong storm for this time of year whipped the winds up to 81 mph in some parts of the region. ter Hart described the experience of steering by hand for seven hours straight to try and keep the boat under control.

"Facing backwards to watch the waves catch us up, I stepped into the well and with water up to my knees, brought Seaburban's stern to face the wind and whatever swell or wave came our way," ter Hart wrote in a Facebook post.

He also has a blog where he posts updates with the help of his wife and family back home, and fans can follow his journey in real time here, along with weather data from his current location.

It's not just storms that have challenged the accomplished sailor. He's also encountered an unusually high number of calm days, something he didn't count on.

"The weather I have encountered in the South Atlantic and the Indian oceans has been very unusual," ter Hart said in his email. "It seems to be more extreme. For example, I have been becalmed almost 40 days in the six and a half months I have been gone. That is very, very rare. That translates to almost 5,000 nautical miles, and had I not been without wind so often I would be home by now."

A detour due to what he said was a rare subtropical high caused him to lose another 1,300 miles.

"The net result of the above is that I am about 6 to 8 weeks behind schedule," ter Hart said. "And that means that my food and water stores are going to be taxed right to the limit by the time I get home."

ter Hart relies on pilot charts for navigational purposes, which he said are a compilation of data collected over "many, many years."

"The data consists of wind direction and velocity, the number of calms and storms, as well as fog, magnetic deviation limit of icebergs, etc. and other tidbits of interest to mariners. They represent climatological means if you will," ter Hart said. "The weather that I have experienced is vastly different than what is on the pilot chart. You could say then that my experience with the weather has been vastly different than the climatological mean."

Bert ter Hart is seen here in a photo during his current solo sailing adventure, which he started long before the coronavirus pandemic.

When he's not chasing adventure, ter Hart said he develops and sells software and IT services. He added that he's a veteran of the Canadian Airborne Special Service Forces, and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics and physical oceanography.

Part of the reason he took up the challenge of his solo sailing quest was to draw school children, many of whom follow him online as part of their classes, into careers in the ocean and atmospheric sciences. There are three science experiments on board the Seaburban, focusing on surface currents, plastic pollution and blue bottle jellyfish.

ter Hart first heard about the novel coronavirus on the radio when he was near land in the Falkland Islands, shortly before the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. Then, his son sent word of skyrocketing numbers of infections and deaths in countries like Italy.

At that point, ter Hart knew it was serious.

"I did not think that my own isolation was any particular advantage," he said. "At some point I will have to return to land and then I will be like everyone else, except late to the party."

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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At Sea Since October, Solo Sailor Takes Isolation to the Extreme While Battling Weather and High Seas - The Weather Channel

Michelle Brooke has taken a circuitous path to her current shelter place as a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who just released her first EP, "Let the Light In."

The Southfield-raised performer gravitated to music nearly from birth. Her father, retired Ob-Gynphysician Andrew Markowitz of Franklin, is a musician and still plays in the local group the Foster Brooks Band, and her parents played plenty of music around the house.

"There was nothing else I was ever interested in," says Brooke (nee Markowitz), who sang in the choir at Congregation Shaarey Zedeck synagogue and appeared in numerous musicals as a youth and a teenager at Walled Lake Central High School.

"My father is a guitarist. My mother sings around the house," she adds. "My grandparents were wildly obsessed with music. My mother's father was a violin player. My father's parents were huge music lovers. I was around my entire life, and that's all I wanted to do. I didnt want to focus in school I didn't think I would need any of it."

Walled Lake Central High School alumnus Michelle Brooke's new EP, "Let the Light In," came out April 10. (Cover provided by Michelle Brooke)

Brooke, who began writing songs as a teenager, did go to school, getting abachelor of fine arts degree at Central Michigan University before moving to New York. That, in turn, led to six years with Carnival Cruise Lines, "singing and dancing in Vegas-style revue shows" on the high seas.

"But I missed writing," Brooke recalls, which in 2016 led her to "make the leap to where the most talented people in the world come" and move to Nashville.

"I always say I'm scared and nervous about things, but I tend to run towards the fire cause I love to be challenged," Brooke says about heading to Music City. "It was intimidating, but I don't grow until I'm ... terrified. I had to figure out how to make my mark, to try to stand out and fit in at the same time."

Brooke found her place as part of the Music City Coppers house band at Acme Feed and Seed, which helped her build a community of supporters both other musicians as well as fans.

"I got really lucky and was brought into a network of people who are extremely kind and giving and believed in me," says Brooke, who was introduced to the venue by a former roommate, who was also from the Detroit area. Brooke also started singing at legendary venues such as the Bluebird Cafe and the Ryman Auditorium the latter as a backing vocalist for a multiartist benefit show and was featured on NPR's "She's a Rebel" program.

Brooke started co-writing with others around Nashville, and her break came with last year's "Storm," which she wrote with two fellow members of another band, Apollo LTD, and recorded at Sputnik Sound studio with producer Mitch Dane. The soulful single got some rave reviews. American Songwriter gushed that "her voice dazzles in the light of gospel and soul music," and it got some airplay on Nashville's Lightning 100. And it putin motion the "Let the Light In" EP, which came out April 10, funded through Kickstarter.

"I would say it all started with Motown," Brooke says of her sound, "with me falling in love with melodies, falling in love with Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. Being from Hitsville, it's definitely in my blood, but I take from musical theater as well."

Brooke also lists Sara Bareilles as a contemporary influence and adds that, "I'm a very theatrical and emotional person."

"I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm not afraid to talk about things and say how I feel," she says. "But I have this fun, eccentric personality, too, so I want that to come through as well."

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Oakland County-born singer shines some "Light" in Nashville - The Oakland Press

At long, long last,Sea of Thieves is finally going to let players revive each other when the game's next update rolls out to sea. The wait for this seemingly innocuous feature has been perhaps a littletoo long out from the game's 2018 release, but the game's community is no less eager for it and other improvements packed into this month's major update.

XboxGamesStudios' Rare, of unforgettable Nintendo 64fame, has spent the past years molding an increasingly varied pirate experience around the rather bare skeleton that was the initial launch version ofSea of Thieves. The Microsoftexclusive has had its fair share of rocky update rollouts and, like any always-online title with a content drip, has been criticized on more than one occasion for moving too slowly and prioritizing the wrong features at the wrong times. However, when aSea of Thievesupdate goes well, players have a (sometimes literal) blast with the harrowing experiences and bizarre items that are unlike anything else in the AAA online multiplayer space. Most imminent on thegame's roadmap is the Ships of Fortune update, which will introduce furry companions and much more to the high seas.

Related:Sea Of Thieves Is Headed To Steam Soon

The most-requested and long-awaited feature of the Ships of Fortune update is far and away a crew revival mechanic, which will at long last give players the opportunity to bring downed friends back from the brink before they push off to Davy Jones' Locker. In the below developer update video, executive producer Joe Neate admits that the long-absent feature was something that Rare has wanted to include since "really early on in the Unity prototype" ofSea of Thieves, noting his eagerness to finally see the "really cool social dynamics" revives will bring to the heat of battle. The developer brought inSea of ThievesYouTuber and streamer Hitbotc to summarize the mechanic's fine details, who explains:

"When you die, you no longer go directly to the Ferryman. Instead, you now have the opportunity to be revived by one of your cremates. However, the clock is ticking. In Adventure Mode, you will have 15 seconds to get to your crewmate before they're sent to the Ferryman, but if your crewmate does make it to you in time, they are now prompted with the option to revive you, which will take a total of 4 seconds, giving you 25 percent of your health back and getting you back into the action. In Arena Mode, you will have around 10 seconds longer to revive... You are now also going to be able to revive other crews in your alliance."

Unfortunately for solo players, revival may be little else besides a thorn in their solitary sides. However, Hitbotc reports that theirs and all in-game deaths will now be more palatable, as "time on the Ferry has been reduced by a few seconds." He also points out that revival can be a double-edged sword, as an outnumbered player can use crew revival attempts as an "opportunity for an easy kill." Other Ships of Fortune update changes include bans for excessive quitting in the Arena, a toggleable crew status option that helps players better keep up with crewmates, and the ability to find Tall Tale quests on the ship map. As for revival, Hitbotc isn't technically wrong when he says that it'll be "an absolute game-changer," but it's mildly astonishing that the multiplayer title is getting such a ubiquitous feature so far down the line.

Critics have long declared theSea of Thieves ship to have sailed ages ago, but the game's active playerbase and constant stream of updates have continued to shape the swashbuckling multiplayer experience into something greater than its origins as a pretty sailing simulator. Rare's cheeky tenacity coupled with recent record highXbox Live player countsis a good signal thatSea of Thieves won't be walking the plank anytime soon.

Next:Xbox Live Making Changes Due To Record Number Of Users

Source: Sea of Thieves

Sony Improves PlayStation 4 Repair For Fan With Free PS4 Game

Phillip Tinner is a member of the Screen Rant gaming news team, and he has written about all things film, TV, and gaming for the site since 2018. Phillip has a B.A. in History from Texas A&M University and is fascinated by the many areas where the virtual and real worlds meet. A Texas native, he's likely to be found enjoying a Shiner Bock or devouring Tex-Mex - often both at the same time! Mostly, though, he just plays and writes about video games.He hopes readers enjoy his content as much as he does researching and producing it. Publishers, creators, and readers alike can reach him anytime on Twitter @PhilKimTin, or they can do so in a slightly less fun capacity via LinkedIn.

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Sea of Thieves Is Finally Letting Crewmates Revive Each Other - Screen Rant

The greatest nightmare for the sailors, especially for a ship commanding officer or a captain, is dragging the anchor. Because of heavy wind or strong current, the dragging ship is unable to hold its position, even with engine power. At some point, the ship will likely strand. If the stranded ship hits the sand there may be a chance to recover, but if the ship is dragged and stranded on rocks, the hull will be pierced and begin to take on water, thus becoming unrecoverable. At that point, the ship becomes shipwrecked. If there is one thing we have learned from the coronavirus crisis, it is that the same can happen to entire governments.

Governments can also become stranded because of wars, internal conflicts, uprisings, economic crises, natural disasters and plagues. Some can survive these extraordinary conditions without turning into wreckage, some can not and are eradicated from history. Very rarely, a new state is built on that wreckage with a new spirit, identity and with fresh power, as was the case for the Atatrks Republic of Turkey.

World Wars, climate change, environmental disasters, natural disasters, economic crises and plagues can also drag the anchor of the world. Although the community, tribe, or nation systems founded by more than 100 billion people who have ever lived on earth since the first Homo Sapiens have faced five different extinction threats over the last few millions of years, they have never faced a threat of total annihilation. For that reason, the world, which has dragged anchor for various reasons, has nonetheless never been turned into a total wreckage.

After 1945, the earth experienced a sixth period of self-destruction, this time due to human innovation. The first step of this process was the detonation of the nuclear weapons in Japan. Nuclear weapons had become the greatest destructive force in human history. For the first time, humanity was initiating a potential process of self-destruction by its own will. At that point, this will was synonymous with American will. That is why Oppenheimer, the mastermind behind the American atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, spoke these words which he read in a Hindu scripture, when the first test of the Manhattan Project was successful:

Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.

Pixabay

According to reports from 2012, 9 countries in the world (the US, Russia, the UK, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea) have a collective 4,400 nuclear weapons ready to use at any time. If those being kept in silos are included, roughly 19,000 nuclear weapons are reported. The destructive power is big enough to completely eradicate life on earth. The surviving creatures would have to live with heavy nuclear fallout.

The other devastation has come from the environment. With the industrial revolution in the end of the 18th century and the start of the Oil Age in the early 20th century, the most advanced species on earth, human beings, have rapidly expanded their power to control nature. The actual reason that started this process was mankinds ambition to produce more, something which eventually went out of control. The liberal-capitalist West wanted to gain more, exploit more and to live a better life. When we reached the 21st century, the earth was roughly 4.5 billion years old, and humanity had existed for 200,000 years. The earliest of civilizations was 10,000 years old; and the first monotheistic religious scripts dated back to roughly 5,000 years ago. Aside from the last 260 years, humanity and the economy have improved on mainly muscle and wind power.

Things changed after British inventor James Watts invention of the steam engine in 1773. With the resources of the earth, coal first and then petroleum one hundred years later, we developed industrial civilization to a greater point than we could have possibly imagined. At the same time, however, we devastated nature.

Petroleum has impacted every area of human life from energy, to plastics, fertilizers and chemical industries. As the 21st century came to an end, the demand for natural gas has begun to increase. As a result, the hydrocarbons; petroleum, natural gas and coal has offered a great development with larger energy demands than were never experienced before, all of which has further devastated nature, mainly with the carbon dioxide, SOX, NOX emissions and by-products such as plastics, fertilizers, etc. Today, all the non-human biological beings will likely be obliterated and human life will cease to exist on earth if this consumption and extraction isnt slowed. Since 1970, the worlds human population has doubled, while the wildlife population has been reduced by half.

Some scientists define this period as the sixth extinction period. The level of CO2 in the atmosphere is more than it was in millions of years. Organisms that supply the oxygen to earth, thousands of meters deep in the ocean, are dying. Seas, rivers and lakes are dying, and ice caps are melting due to global warming. Sea levels are rising. Droughts, floods, hurricanes are occurring more frequently. Due to the solid wastes and plastics, garbage islands with the size of Turkey are being formed in the oceans.

Needpix.com/https://www.needpix.com/photo/1183990/green-planet-futuristic-design-background-abstract-3d-animation-technology

The earth was giving signals of distress, such as melting glaciers, extinct species, destroyed rainforests, and limitations in resources seized by the neo-liberal capitalism. The earth was dragging its anchor. The capitalist system took over the command of the world-ship after the 18th century. Capitalism, shaped by the protestant ethics, has evolved into imperialism, and with the comfort of winning two world wars and the Cold War behind, the US has transformed itself into neo-liberal capitalism, and spread throughout the globe.

This system, which has expanded its imperialist sphere of influence under the name of so-called democracy, has eliminated all the mechanisms of controlling the natural resources of competing nation-states by using its psychological superiority and its financial, cultural power under the umbrella of destructive nuclear military power. Now, the control of nature has fallen into the hands of the neoliberal elites who know no boundaries. The ship was destined to stand, despite all the warnings of the first half of the 21st century.

The system was wrong, the theory was wrong, and the practice was wrong. Humanity was committing suicide. One percent of the worlds population has 80 percent of global wealth. The imbalance of income, population growth and the destruction of nature are all intertwined. This imbalance is not only a result of human-to-human exploitation, it is also due to the exploitation of nature by the neoliberal capitalist economy. The global system which had previously developed nuclear weapons was now destroying nature altogether. Covid-19 has put an end to this process. On the other hand, it has also accelerated the anchor dragging of the global economic system.

This virus, which has left almost 3 billion people in lock down within a month, has proven that the world and nature can survive. The new order will not have to carve a path through millions of dead and wounded, devastated cities and nations in a world war, it can arise in response to the pandemic. The West faces the reality of the two monsters that it has created (nuclear and environmental destruction) both need to be brought under control without causing further unprecedented disasters.

The era of the empowerment of nation states is beginning. In this new era, we can say that the teachings of Kemalism, or the six arrows for short, will guide every state for harmony, prosperity, peace and stability since Kemalism values nature, human life, the state and the people. It is a statist, populist, secular, nationalist, republican and reformist ideology. A new world that takes Kemalism as a guide for entering into the coming Asian Era is the only possibility for taking a stranded humankind to the high seas of peace.

Those in Turkey, who are in search of a new hope after witnessing the collapse of the Atlantic system and those who see nationalism as a disease will hopefully now come to a better understanding. When the Titanic hit the iceberg 108 years ago on April 14th 1912, at 23:35, no one from among the passengers and the crew, even the captain, could foresee that the ship would sink in just two hours and 45 minutes.

What a pity! These lands, which gave birth to the Republic of Turkey and to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk might be subject to the same misjudgements as those aboard that ill-fated ship. The problem is not their existence: we have seen their ancestors during the Moudros ceasefire era of 1918-1919.

The Grand Vizier Damat Ferit once told Admiral Arthur Calthorpe, the High Commissioner of Great Britain, the Sultan and I hope that our salvation would only be from Great Britain after Allah.

The problem is the existence of such people, deceiving them by telling them that the setting sun is rising, along with the presence of those who keep believing in this shameless lie. It is our duty in this beautiful country to warn those who still believe in this lie and those who want to believe for only little gains implied, in todays political atmosphere, are the crypto-Gulenists, the outright enemies of Ataturk, as well as the fake Kemalists.

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The global system drags anchor - United World International

Story so far: Prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the American benchmark for crude oil, fell to less than zero in Mondays trade. The price of a barrel of WTI fell to minus, yes, thats right, minus $37.63 a barrel. What this means is that sellers have to pay buyers to get rid of their crude! This is unprecedented in the oil market, even accounting for its notoriety for being volatile.

Why did prices fall like this?

We need to understand a bit of oil market and trading dynamics here. WTI oil is traded as futures contracts in the NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) where traders buy and sell monthly futures such as, for instance, May futures, June futures and so on. The sellers of such futures will have to deliver a barrel of crude oil at the contracted price in the contracted month just as buyers will have to take delivery at the contracted date.

Also read: Fuel sales slump 50% in April; petrol down 64%, diesel 61%, ATF 94%

As with all trading in commodities, theres a huge speculative participation in oil futures trading too. So speculators buy and sell contracts with no intention of taking delivery (in the case of buyers) or offering delivery (in the case of sellers) of the physical oil, on the contracted date. These speculators have to unwind their positions on the contract expiry date. If they fail to do so, they will have to take physical delivery of the crude oil on the contracted date.

What happened on Monday was that speculators who had taken large bets on May futures began to unwind their positions. This was because the futures contracts are set to expire today, Tuesday. Those not intending to take physical delivery have to square off their contracts before the expiry date. So, speculators who did not want to take delivery in May proceeded to unwind their positions, leading to the massive fall in prices.

It could be that these were financial speculators who never take physical delivery and hence closed their contracts. Or, these could also be delivery-based traders backing out as the bottom has fallen off demand for oil. In reality, it would be a combination of both categories of traders. The bottomline, though ,is that prices fell as demand for oil is falling and the world, especially America, is running out of storage space.

May WTI futures prices went negative but June futures prices are still at $20.43 a barrel. Why?

This could be due to two reasons. Traders expect demand to recover by June as lockdowns are lifted across the world and economic activity resumes. Second, traders also expect that storage space may be created as existing inventory is drawn down. America is also talking of adding to their strategic storage by taking advantage of the low prices. This could create demand for oil. Finally, contract expiry for June contracts is still a few weeks away, giving speculators that much more time to speculate.

Market reports talk about contango trades in the oil market. What do they mean?

Simply put, contango kicks in when prices of a commodity in the futures market are considerably higher for deliveries many months later, compared to prices for immediate delivery. For instance, while May oil futures are negative and June is at $20.43 a barrel, November futures for the same grade of oil ended at a hefty $31.66 a barrel on Monday. Contango trades happen when traders anticipate a surge or rise in demand and hence value the commodity higher for the future.

So, why cant traders buy cheap oil now and store them for release in future when demand and prices rise?

Thats exactly what traders are now doing. Such a practice became famous during Iraqs invasion of Kuwait in 1990 when a trader took massive positions at cheap prices ahead of the invasion and sold them when prices rose after the invasion. Oil was stored in tankers floating on the sea and unloaded at considerably higher prices.

Traders are doing the same now. Year-long hiring contracts for VLCC (very large crude carriers) that can store up to 2 million barrels of oil are soaring through the roof. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, VLCC hiring charges for year-long contracts are now at $72,500 a day, compared to $30,500 a day a year ago.

This shows rising demand for such floating storage to take advantage of low prices now. These tankers are moored off the South African coast, which is equidistant to the American and Asian markets. But the problem is that such floating storage is also fast running out of capacity; land storage in America is already overflowing. This would explain why oil prices are falling without support. According to some estimates, over 140 million barrels of oil are now floating in the high seas. The world consumed, at its heyday, about 90 million barrels of oil a day. This should now be considerably lower.

The prices of Brent grade are still at $25.70 a barrel for May futures. Whats the reason for the difference?

Brent oil has traditionally quoted higher than WTI, with the gulf being about $6-7 a barrel between the two. Brent is a superior grade produced in the North Sea off the British coast and is the accepted benchmark for this part of the world. The market that it serves is considerably larger than that of the United States and demand is, therefore, higher. Transporting oil from the U.S. to Asia is not economical, thus limiting the scope for the WTI grade. Refineries in Europe are configured for Brent, rather than WTI. Prices of Brent are, therefore, always higher than those of WTI.

How is India benefiting from this price crash?

In two ways. First, the oil import bill will fall sharply this fiscal year, giving tremendous relief to the government on the external account front. With merchandise exports from India badly hit due to the lockdown in the West, foreign exchange earnings are under pressure. With oil prices falling and foreign exchange outgo reducing, the pressure on the current account balance is off. In fact, we may be looking at a positive balance in the current account if global economic recovery is quick and our exports recover.

Second, India is quietly building up its strategic reserves, taking advantage of the cheap prices. India has a capacity to hold over 39 million barrels of oil at its strategic reserves in Vishakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur, near Udupi. These are underground salt caverns converted and built to store crude oil. The strategic storage capacity is now being increased even as the existing caverns are being filled.

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Explained | Why are oil futures in negative terrain? - Frontline

Last night on Below Deck Sailing Yacht we lost one crew member and gained a new one. I stand by my stance that Parker McCown is appalling. He has no respect for authority, plus his over-confidence and arrogance is so typical white male privilege. Hes like Gordon Gekko of the high seas.

In a meeting with Captain Glenn Shephard and Paget Berry about whether or not he should be fired, Parker yells at the Captain, argues that hes being stressed out, then decides to flip this whole firing thing into him resigning because thats how positive people handle problems. Plus he doesnt like to be around people who dont love him. Parker does realize he was gonna be fired anyway, right?

Parkers real problem is that he doesnt want to work. He wants to blow all his tip money proposing to the ex-girlfriend, Kati, who dumped him a couple months ago because she wanted to sleep with other guys, then begged him back when she saw a free trip to Greece and the opportunity to be on TV.

While everyone else is prepping for the oncoming charter we get some lovely underwater footage of Parker proposing to Kati in scuba gear. It was ugh something youd find on the original Full House. Or a cheese Bachelor date. Apparently loving animals is their common denominator. So congrats!

Madison Stalker is the only person whose sad to see Parker go. Madison feels like her only remaining friend is Georgia Grobler and even that may be up for debate. Poor Madison is about to be the New Parker with everyone directing their irritation at her. Well, at least Adam Glick and Jenna MacGillivray. At every opportunity Georgia is sucking up to them, and trying to get in good while privately complaining to Madison. Madison seems unaware that Georiga is playing both sides. Not that its a bad idea

So enter new deckhand Chris Miller! Unlike Parker, Chris has tons of sailing experience and also experience working with people who arent his mom. Meaning Chris values having a j-o-b and isnt here to swim with the turtles then get a tattoo about what a moving experience it was. Chris also genuinely loves sailing. More importantly hes a fellow Brit who gets the gallows humor of boat culture and wont be tantruming over any your mom jokes. Just in caseByron Hissey warns Jenna against any breastfeeding jokes. Maybe Jenna should take her own advice to shut up

Seriously Jenna is officially beyond irritating. That night at the crew dinner she complains about Parker being too entitled and proclaims that if you want to survive on a yacht just shut your mouth. Wow salient leadership! Then Jenna and Adam go back to the boat to fuck in the master cabin. Did they ever get Captain Glenns approval on that? Ciara Duggan whisks Paget away for a little alone time, which involves putting on flannel PJs and climbing into bed with a peck after bickering about brushing their teeth. Did Paget really get his molars well enough? See, this is why Georgias just the tip jokes is getting Paget all in a frizzy. You can literally see him turning pink in her presence.

One person not living by Jennas golden rule to take it and shut up is Madison! The next day, after realizing that the master got all wet from somebody taking a shower, Madison makes a comment to Byron (within Adams earshot) that she wasnt aware they were allowed to use the master whenever they dont have guests I think Madison was trying to show off a bit in front of Chris. Or maybe shes reached her limit of dealing with Adam and Jennas hypocritical BS. Adam flips out and rips into Madison for starting drama as always and trying to come for her boss.

Adam snaps that Madison needs to talk to Jennaand stop trying to create problems when their aint one. Um, the problem is that Adam and Jenna feel they operate above the other staff, and have full discretion to do whatever they want while threatening people around the boat who dont play into their tyranny.

Also Adam is such an unprofessional asshole, and no amount of living in the dessert away from people has quelled his out of control temper. Adam is ALL THE RED FLAGS. The red flags are on fire.

Madison is mortified. Byron and Chris seem completely unsure of what even just happened. I think I might really like Jenna as a chief stew if it werent for the injection of Adam into the equation (see what I did there!). She has beautiful and classy table settings (far better than whatever Kate Chastain or Hannah Ferrier ever put out), the guests seem to really like her and leave consistently happy, service is excellent, and it does seem like she had the intentions to be a good leader. Unfortunately she is so focused on appeasing Adam shes blinded. No excuse, but its disappointing.

Later while making out with Jenna in the galley (cause mature! responsible! totally not hypocritical from the people who complained that Parker is immature), Adam reveals Madisons insubordination. Jenna, believing she sufficiently quelled any of Madisons rebellion by reporting her to Captain Glenn, now decides to enact some revenge by giving the sycophantic Georgia more service experience this charter and sticking Madison in the laundry. Considering how shitty these guests are Madison probably got off easier!

Oh the new charter guests Hailing from Orange County (the primary, Lindy, is a serious contender for Real Housewives Of Orange County) they are social media influencers and fashion vloggers. The sole reason theyre on this yacht trip is to provide content for their channels in the form of beautiful scenery as a backdrop for their vacation fashions. Its kind of hard to see what they even look like becasue their faces are just constantly obscured by a giant phone. Like they are literally squares framed by giant, day-glo blond extensions.

I also fail to see the so-called fashions, but they brought about 32,000 suitcases. Madison is wooed. She dreams of working in fashion and being an influencer. Shes only doing yachting to fund her future ambitions so as she unpacks the primarys clothes she oohs and aah over everything and imagines herself wearing them. Madison is so sweet. She can be very annoying and frazzled, but I think she has a sweet soul and an innocence that I appreciate. Georiga well, not that innocent! Right away Georgia starts flirting with Chris. Paget feels rejected and snaps that Georiga flirts with any many who has a penis. Im intrigued that Pagets putting himself in that category because I assumed he had a rigatoni in his pants?

Georgia is probably trying to make Paget jealous because she seems like the type of woman who would love to have two men pining over her. Its fodder for her music career, you guys! Or perhaps she realizes that Paget really isnt gonna give more than the tip

Right away the charter guests are all lusting after Adam. Sure, Adam is pretty to look at and he cooks mighty fine, but thats about all he has going for him! The female guests are literally trying to break into the galley though.Jenna is jealous and also protective. Oh goody another layer to add to the dysfunctional lasagna that is this preposterous relationship. Now Jenna is stonewalling the guests to save Adam!. Adam promises she has nothing to worry about because superficial isnt his style. No, subservient is.

Lindy, the primary, just wont quit. The crew arranges a beautiful dinner out on the bow so they can have the backdrop of the Corfu town with its twinkling lights. All to take pretty pictures, not to actually experience the situation. The table is gorgeous. Elegant and sophisticated.Adam is serving up a classy dinner with the first course being a champagne and cheese pairing. All. So. Perfect. To brag about living your best life on Instagram.

Unfortunately,Lindy is living her worst life. Shes trashed, and so openly rude and dismissive to her boyfriend, Jesse, its humiliating. She keeps making comments about how hot Adam is and how she needs some satisfaction. Its cringe-worthy. At one point, Jesse snaps at her to Lock it down, which prompts Lindy to launch a full on assault about how unfulfilled she is by Jesse. The other guests and Jenna are paralyzed by the awkwardness and intensity. This gorgeous backdrop spoiled by such an unpleasant scene of domestic discord. Jesse tries to placate Lindy, but she hisses that the fastest way to get her to lash out is by giving her orders. Ouch.

Im seriously shocked that Jenna didnt start jumping up and down, screaming, Hes my boyfriend you cant have him! Or straight up making out with Adam at the dinner table in front of the guests.

TELL US ARE ADAM AND JENNA OUT OF CONTROL? DID PARKER MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION TO LEAVE?

[Photo Credits: Bravo]

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Below Deck Sailing Yacht Recap: Out With The Old - Reality Tea

Mondays crude oil price collapse may not have much impact on Indian refiners or on pump prices at least till June but could spoil the prospects of oil giants such as Saudi Aramco pouring billions to buy stakes in local refineries such as Reliance Industries Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation or the planned mega refinery in Maharashtra.

In India, it doesnt have much impact simply because we are not going to buy much of crude, all our tanks are full throughout the country, said the director refinery of a state-run oil refining company.

So, immediately in May/June, we dont see any impact. The price crash will have an impact if we buy the crude and bring it to India, but bringing to India is not possible because tanks are full and oil tankers are not easy to come by because tankers are floating with oil on the high seas. So, nothing much is happening, he added.

The lower run rates of local refineries triggered by the coronavirus-induced demand compression will add to the woes.

Refineries are not going to see 100 per cent utilisation at least either till May if not till June also. So, over the next two months we dont benefit from the impact of rock bottom prices, said another executive at a state-run oil firm.

However, if we look at the larger picture, it will affect the overall pricing because the OPEC Plus cuts announced last week are not sufficient. We are having almost 30 per cent reduction in demand while the cut in production is 10 per cent. So, the 20 per cent reduction is still floating extra, he said.

The executive said that India is unable to take advantage of the price crash because its underground storage tanks in Mangalore, Padur and Vizag are full with no expansion coming on stream in the near future.

The price collapse will not reflect in a reduction in pump prices.

Pump prices are independent of this because a large portion of it is taxes. The government is also not realising the taxes because nobody is buying fuel, he said.

Oil producers would be forced to re-work their business plans due to the price plunge.

One of the casualties could be Saudi Aramcos plan to invest as much as $15 billion for a 20 per cent stake in the oil to chemicals business of Reliance Industries Ltd which was announced in August last year.

It could also spoil the plans of global oil giants to bid for the governments stake in BPCL which is being lined up for privatisation by the government.

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Oil price crash may not benefit India due to falling demand and full tanks - BusinessLine

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (SEAS) is priced at $10.76 after the most recent trading session. At the very opening of the session, the stock price was $10.31 and reached a high price of $11.8, prior to closing the session it reached the value of $10.83. The stock touched a low price of $9.6.

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. had a pretty Dodgy run when it comes to the market performance. The 1-year high price for the companys stock is recorded $36.96 on 02/18/20, with the lowest value was $6.75 for the same time period, recorded on 03/19/20.

Price records that include history of low and high prices in the period of 52 weeks can tell a lot about the stocks existing status and the future performance. Presently, SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. shares are logging -70.89% during the 52-week period from high price, and 59.41% higher than the lowest price point for the same timeframe. The stocks price range for the 52-week period managed to maintain the performance between $6.75 and $36.96.

The companys shares, operating in the sector of services managed to top a trading volume set approximately around 3.05 million for the day, which was evidently higher, when compared to the average daily volumes of the shares.

When it comes to the year-to-date metrics, the SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (SEAS) recorded performance in the market was -66.07%, having the revenues showcasing -69.89% on a quarterly basis in comparison with the same period year before. At the time of this writing, the total market value of the company is set at 953.44M, as it employees total of 4300 workers.

During the last month, 8 analysts gave the SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. a BUY rating, 0 of the polled analysts branded the stock as an OVERWEIGHT, 3 analysts were recommending to HOLD this stock, 1 of them gave the stock UNDERWEIGHT rating, and 0 of the polled analysts provided SELL rating.

According to the data provided on Barchart.com, the moving average of the company in the 100-day period was set at 26.05, with a change in the price was noted -19.78. In a similar fashion, SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. posted a movement of -64.77% for the period of last 100 days, recording 1,760,903 in trading volumes.

Total Debt to Equity Ratio (D/E) can also provide valuable insight into the companys financial health and market status. The debt to equity ratio can be calculated by dividing the present total liabilities of a company by shareholders equity. Debt to Equity thus makes a valuable metrics that describes the debt, company is using in order to support assets, correlating with the value of shareholders equity. The total Debt to Equity ratio for SEAS is recording 7.36 at the time of this writing. In addition, long term Debt to Equity ratio is set at 7.04.

Raw Stochastic average of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. in the period of last 50 days is set at 13.27%. The result represents downgrade in oppose to Raw Stochastic average for the period of the last 20 days, recording 23.49%. In the last 20 days, the companys Stochastic %K was 23.08% and its Stochastic %D was recorded 26.45%.

Considering, the past performance of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., multiple moving trends are noted. Year-to-date Price performance of the companys stock appears to be encouraging, given the fact the metric is recording -66.07%. Additionally, trading for the stock in the period of the last six months notably deteriorated by -61.08%, alongside a downfall of -53.98% for the period of the last 12 months. The shares increased approximately by 10.46% in the 7-day charts and went down by -2.00% in the period of the last 30 days. Common stock shares were lifted by -69.89% during last recorded quarter.

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Time to Buy Beat-Down SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (SEAS) Stock? Here is the INSIGHT - The InvestChronicle

The last three cruise ships will be returning to port today, and the sea will be free of massive passenger liners. The MSC Magnifica will be docking in Marseille, the Costa Deliziosa in Barcelona, and the Pacific Princess in Los Angeles.

Each has had their own difficult journeys on the high seas, and none of the passengers nor crew aboard could imagine the international political intrigue that would accompany these final tours.

The MSC Magnifica has been traveling since January when it departed from Genoa, Italy, and passengers and crew have not felt land in six weeks. There were 1,760 passengers on board, primarily from Italy, France, and Germany, captained by Roberto Leotta from Riposto in Sicily. Captain Leotta tracked the global spread of the virus as they sailed.

We were always in contact with all the local authorities, he said, reported by the BBC, [But it was] after South America the situation became more concerning.

From Africa, the ship went to South America, docking in Brazil in mid-January, and then to Chile and Pitcairn, in the South Pacific. This is when Leotta noticed that ports were not allowing cruise ships to dock, and that there were some ships that were full of sick passengers. Quarantine ships made local authorities nervous, as well as Leotta.

The MSC Magnifica was due to dock in the Cook Islands, but the local government there only allowed them to dock in the Capital of Raratonga, a departure from the ships original itinerary. As they neared Australia and New Zealand, the decision was made that though the ship would dock, no passengers would be getting off. By the time they reached Sydney, the cruise was over.

At that point, some passengers did get off in Sydney and Melbourne, and since no one on board had either symptoms or a confirmed case of the coronavirus, they were allowed off. The rest of the passengers remained on board for a five-week journey back to Europe.

The ship was protested in Fremantle due to confusion as to the status of coronavirus on board, and in Sri Lanka, after much difficulty and help from social media, a Sri Lankan chef was able to get off and go home, per his wishes. He was escorted back to shore by that nations navy, and began a two-week quarantine period before he would be released to go see his family.

Today the MSC Magnifica will port in Marseille, after about 100 days at sea.

The cruise ship industry was rocked as ships carrying passengers became floating quarantine zones. A couple described what that was like from their cabin in February.

The Costa Deliziosa will port in Barcelona, before dropping off additional passengers in Italy. A few days ago, the Costa Deliziosa endeavored to dock in Marseille, but the local authorities for the Bouches-du-Rhone refused them, noting that there was a nationwide ban on letting ships dock, due to French containment measures.

The Costa Deliziosa has been at sea for 15 weeks, and this will be the first port-of-call in over 35 days. The ship has had no physical contact with the outside world. They have no cases or symptoms of coronavirus on board the ship, owned by Costa Crociere, an Italian cruise ship company.

Passenger Carlos Paya told the AP It was not surreal. It was incredible. We have family in our home countries. The news that was arriving from home was causing us all a lot of worry and grief. For us, it was a stroke of good luck to be where we were.

The Costa Deliziosa will stop first in Barcelona today, before dropping off its remaining passengers in Genoa. The cruise was supposed to last until April 26, with a final stop in Venice.

On March 13, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to announce that he had coordinated with cruise companies to suspend outbound cruises for 30 days.

At my request, effective midnight tonight, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC have all agreed to suspend outbound cruises for thirty days. It is a great and important industry – it will be kept that way!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

The Pacific Princess will dock today in Los Angeles. It set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in early January for a planned 111-day journey around the world.

In March, the cruise ran into trouble after coronavirus outbreaks were reported on other ships. The journey was cut short, but not until after the ship had sailed to Aruba, through the Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii, French Polynesia, and New Zealand. Other nations that were originally on the ship's itinerary refused to allow the ship to dock.

It will dock in LA today after meeting the US Coast Guard criterion: Passenger vessels or any vessel carrying passengers that have been to impacted regions or embarked passengers who have been in impacted regions within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States. If ALL passengers exceed 14 days since being in the countries ... [on the CDC restricted-countries list] ... and are symptom-free, the vessel will be permitted to enter the United States to conduct normal operations.

Now that all ships are heading safely to port, with healthy passengers going home to families and homes in hot spot areas, the timelines for when cruises will be able to operate safely is not yet known. On April 9, the Centers for Disease Control issued a No Sail Order for an additional 100 days, signaling a return to cruises in late July.

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Last 3 cruise ships to dock today The last three cruise ships will be returning to - The Post Millennial

A huge warship is out on the high seas when a part of it gets damaged by an enemy mine. The water starts filling up and spreading all over inside the ship. Now what should be the next step? The smart thing to do would be to lock down the hatch of the part of the ship affected. It would keep the water contained in one part and prevent the spread of water in other parts and thus keeping the ship afloat and running.

What we learn from this can be applied in our fight against COVID-19. We need to lock down the hatch and prevent the spread of this disease.

This is what the Chirayu model is all about. Chirayu hospital an 800 bed successfully running multi-specialty facility working under the commendable leadership of a practicing doctor and its founder Dr. Ajay Goenka locked itself down and declared it a COVID-19 only center, thus acting as the closed hatch that was preventing the water to spread in other parts of the ship, it could prevent the spread of COVID-19 from patients to rest of the society.

Chirayu has divided its healthcare workers in teams with an individual team including doctors, nurses, lab and x-ray technicians, food handlers and sanitation workers who would remain in the hospital for 14 days and serve the patients, and then quarantine themselves for the next 14 days that is the incubation period of the virus while the other team takes over. This cycling of health care workers would prevent the exposure of the hospital staff all at once.

Chirayu with its state of art health infrastructure, experienced medical staff in critical care and more than 50 ventilators is fully equipped and ready to serve COVID-19 patients.

Chirayu model of dedicating the full fledged hospital for COVID-19 prevents unnecessary exposure of many individuals. In military terms, it is like taking the battle away from civilian areas to the borders of the fighting nations just that here the enemy is not a neighborhood nation but a virus.

Each COVID-19 patient typically spreads the disease to 2.8 new persons that is its reproductive number. If we keep the patients of a large area like a district, in a single well equipped hospital like Chirayu has shown. It would reduce the possibility of exposure to just the team working at the time and thus we will be able to reduce the reproductive number of the virus by complete isolation.

If there is a tear in the ship would we want it to be localized where we could close down the hatch and prevent the rest of the ship from filling up with water or in multiple places where it would be difficult to contain the spread.

We need a Chirayu like model all over the state where we can isolate patients from each district in one or two centers and prevent the spread of the virus both in society as well as healthcare workers.

Isolating large number of patients under one roof also has some added unforeseen advantages which we have seen in Chirayu hospital.

One of that is the maximal utilization of our precious human resources which could get hurt during this pandemic as we have learned from global experience. Italy had allowed COVID-19 patients in several hospitals at a time while china had developed dedicated COVID 19 hospitals, thus Italy suffered a major setback of the large number of infected health care workers at a time while china was able to better manage its human resources.

Better ancillary care can be provided in a big center with large numbers like the psychiatric care with a psychotherapist inside a hospital covering patients who need it, while it may be difficult to have therapist inside a hospital for a small number of patients.

Large numbers also bring along with it a sense of community like Chirayu has shown. A disease can have a deep impact on the mental health of an individual and especially an infectious disease, like COVID-19, where the doctors and nursing staff who attend you wear full Personal protective equipment which can have a very alienating and isolated feel. Large numbers of patients inside Chirayu playing carom or chess with other patients have shown that a community feeling can definitely help in disease being less distressful for all patients.

I as a healthcare professional would recommend a Chirayu like model for combating COVID-19 in our country and thus keeping the warship of India afloat and running.

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Chirayu Model For Fight Against COVID-19 In Bhopal With The Help Of The MP Government - Elemental

Will there be Outer Banks Season 2? When will the show return for another season? Pic credit: Netflix

The 10-episode first season of Outer Banks, which follows the wild adventures of John B (Chase Stokes) and his teenage friends in a posse called The Pogues, dropped on Netflix on Wednesday, April 15, 2020.

The Pogues John B, Pope (Jonathan Daviss), JJ (Rudy Pankow), and Kiara (Madison Bailey) are hunting for lost treasure from the Royal Merchant, a ship that sank off the coast of North Carolina many years ago.

However, things dont go as planned.

If youve binge-watched the first season of Outer Banks, then you may wonder whether or not there will be Season 2. If that comes to pass, fans will want to find out when the programs next season will premiere on Netflix.

Here is what we know.

After binge-watching all 10 episodes of Outer Banks Season 1, fans want to find out whats next for John B, Sarah, and their friends.

Although Netflix has not yet renewed Outer Banks for Season 2, the reviews for the show have been positive. The program received a critics rating of 69 percent and an audience rating of 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

No doubt fans hope Netflix will renew Outer Banks for Season 2 and that the renewal announcement will come soon. Be assured we will update this post when Netflix confirms the renewal of Outer Banks for Season 2.

Netflixs decision to halt production on all films and scripted TV series due to the COVID-19 outbreak could delay the return of Outer Banks for Season 2.

Meanwhile, fans continue to keep their fingers crossed that the show will return sometime in 2021, depending on when coronavirus pandemic restrictions are lifted.

John Bs father, Big John, and local big wig Warden Cameron teamed up to find the lost ship believed to have been carrying gold worth $400 million. Sadly,Big John went missing in mysterious circumstances.

Believing that his father left clues about where to find the gold, John B leads the Pogues on a desperate mission to find the treasure before anyone else is able to do so.

While searching for the elusive treasure, the Pogues contend with trouble from another teenage gang. Known as the Kooks, they include Topper (Austin North), Wardens son Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey), and Kelce (Deion Smith).

The relationship between the Pogues and the Kooks is complicated by a love triangle involving Rafes sister Sarah (Madelyn Cline), her boyfriend Topper, and John B.

Warden beats the Pogues to the gold. He gets a pilot to fly the loot out and then frames John B for the shooting death of Sheriff Peterkin (Adina Porter), although the crime was committed by his son Rafe. Rafe shot the Sheriff when she tried to arrest Warden for the death of John Bs dad.

The local police and the FBI mount a search for John B, believing him to be the suspect in Sheriff Peterkins death.

The season ends melodramatically with the two lovebirds, John B and Sarah, making a suicidal bid to escape from the authorities by driving their boat into a deadly storm during high seas.

I would rather die than go to jail, John B declares.

Id rather die than be without you, Sarah tells him.

While escaping from the police by driving their boat into stormy waters, John B warned Ward Cameron via radio that he would return to get him.

Thankfully, John B and Sarah survived after being rescued by a boat out at sea. Viewers learn that the couple was headed for Nassau in the Bahamas to find the gold.

Actress Madelyn Cline, who plays Sarah Cameron, indicated in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that Outer Banks Season 2 will follow John B and Sarahs search for the gold in Nassau. She also hinted that things could fall apart for Warden in Season 2.

All of these puppet strings Ward has kind of been playing are now coming loose and he doesnt really have control over his world anymore. I feel like there definitely will be consequences for Ward or Rafe, so that will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Outer Banks Season 1 is streaming on Netflix.

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Outer Banks: Will there be a Season 2 and when will it likely be coming out? - Monsters and Critics