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Out on Wall Street, who has been leading the charge forward? Tech. After the spaces key players dragged the market lower in September due to overheated valuations, tech is once again at the helm.The rise in tech makes sense. The pandemic helped accelerate a move toward remote work and telecommuting, and this in turn has put a premium on tech products. From the 5G rollout, to improvements in semiconductor chips, to the expansion of IoT and smart device capabilities tech is everywhere, and its growing fast.Bearing this in mind, we turned to Needham, which lands among the top ten on TipRanks list of Top Performing Research Firms, for some inspiration. The firms analysts highlight three tech stocks that appear especially compelling, noting at least 30% upside potential could be in store for each.Weve used the TipRanks database to pull the details on these three tech picks, to find out what makes them such compelling opportunities.Silicon Motion (SIMO)Bringing extensive experience to the table, Silicon Motion provides high-performance storage solutions widely used in smartphones, PCs, data centers and commercial and industrial applications. Following a bang-up quarter, Needham believes this tech name has a bright future ahead.Writing for the firm, analyst Rajvindra Gill tells clients that based on SIMOs preannouncement, Q3 sales are set to land 8% above his original forecast, with EPS also beating his estimate by $0.09.What was behind this solid showing? A recovery in client SSDs. In Q2, SIMO's client SSD business, specifically the module maker component, declined as NAND flash makers allocated NAND capacity away from client SSDs to hyperscalers, to support the spike in data consumption on the network. However, the opposite happened in Q3. Along with a pause in hyperscale spending, module customers were allocated additional NAND capacity as NAND pricing declined quarter-over-quarter.To this end, Gill thinks NAND pricing could decline another 5-10% quarter-over-quarter in Q4. He added, We expect the decline in NAND pricing to further stimulate client SSD adoption in Q4 as this market is quiet price elastic, especially the channel markets.To a lesser extent, a rebound in China handsets along with a continued ramp of 5G handsets contributed to SIMOs strong performance, in Gills opinion.Whats more, the analyst argues that next-generation gaming consoles and desktop gaming could further boost SSD demand. Gill points out that based on reports from MSI, the board maker for Nvidia GPUs, demand for less expensive SSDs for higher-end gaming desktop computers is on the rise.Expounding on this, Gill stated, This could be potentially COVID-19 related demand as more people (of all ages) stay home and find more time to play video games. Moreover, we expect SIMO to participate in the next-generation gaming consoles (PS5, Xbox) coming out in the Fall. SIMO is shipping its PCIe SSD controllers into five out seven of the NAND makers sold into the game consoles; we believe two out of five could be SIMO's suppliers.If that wasnt enough, even though the penetration rates for laptops remain relatively high at 80-90%, Gill believes attach rates for SSDs in the desktop market could accelerate, driving upside in CY21.Given all of the above, Gill stayed with the bulls. Along with a Buy rating, he keeps a $55 price target on the stock. Investors could be pocketing a gain of 30%, should this target be met in the twelve months ahead. (To watch Gills track record, click here)Turning to the rest of the Street, the bulls have it on this one. With 4 Buys and a lone Hold, the word on the Street is that SIMO is a Strong Buy. At $49.60, the average price target implies ~18% upside potential. (See SIMO stock analysis on TipRanks)Domo (DOMO)As a business cloud software specialist, Domo helps its customers integrate data from any source, turn data into live visualizations and extend BI into apps. Based on positive momentum as well as new deals, Needham thinks that now is the time to snap up shares.After the company reported impressive fiscal Q2 2021 results, 5-star analyst Jack Andrews stands squarely with the bulls. Revenue of $51.1 million blew both his and the consensus estimate out of the water. Additionally, subscription revenue, billings and non-GAAP EPS exceeded his expectations.In our view, Domo appears to be benefiting from tailwinds related to the ongoing pandemic and improved sales execution (i.e. playbooks and an improving partner ecosystem) as it closed a notable amount of large deals within the quarter, Andrews explained.According to management, demand for digitizing business processes and real-time analytics is accelerating as a result of the pandemic. Its also seeing more customers allocate IT budgets to modernizing BI and gathering insights from dark data. To this end, DOMO finalized multiple over $100,000 deals in hard-hit industries like fitness and manufacturing. On top of this, it closed a multi-million dollar deal with one of the world's largest retailers that began with the initial use case of creating insights across its analytics stack, but now extends to new use cases such as an application for store restocking.Andrews also points out that momentum from the state-level COVID tracking continues to work in the companys favor, as the state of Iowa expanded significantly and extended its contract by two years. With the help of a partner, it inked a seven-figure contract to power a public-facing website to track pandemic funding grants in early fiscal Q3 2021.Whats more, Andrews highlights the encouraging commentary from management on its path to cash flow breakeven, which should alleviate any remaining financial concerns.To sum it all up, Andrews stated, We believe Domo has created a unique platform levered to the future requirements of enterprise analytics (self-service and scalability) without the exorbitant costs of implementation. As management executes changes in its sales strategy, we believe Domo, which trades at an EV/revenue multiple discount, can close the relative valuation gap to its Big Data software peer group.In line with his optimistic approach, Andrews reiterated a Buy rating and $61 price target. This target puts the upside potential at 46%. (To watch Andrews track record, click here)When it comes to other Wall Street analysts, opinions are split evenly. With 3 Buys and 3 Holds assigned in the last three months, DOMO earns a Moderate Buy consensus rating. Clocking in at $47.17, the average price target implies 13% upside potential. (See Domo stock analysis on TipRanks)Everspin Technologies (MRAM)Last but not least, we have Everspin Technologies, which develops and manufactures discrete magnetoresistive RAM or magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) products, including Toggle MRAM and Spin-Transfer Torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) product families. While the company has faced headwinds recently, Needham believes that MRAM could be a long-term winner.Firm analyst Rajvindra Gill, who also covers SIMO, is a serious fan. Consistent with the broader industry, data center demand has been moderating, which coupled with COVID-19-related headwinds, resulted in Q3 sales guidance that missed the mark.It should be noted that STT-MRAM is almost completely data center, while Toggle has some data center exposure since Toggle is used in RAID controllers. Additionally, thanks to COVID-19, there has been a surge in data center demand in the first half of 2020, boding well for MRAM. However, by the end of Q2, there was an increase in customer inventory.While this increase is partially due to supply chain concerns, we believe the main reason is a potential peak and expected slowdown in data center demand... However, we view the data center inventory digestion as a temporary setback, with a recovery expected in Q4, the analyst commented.Adding to the good news, MRAM thought that COVID-19 would negatively impact its ability to secure new design wins. That said, design wins grew by 16% quarter-over-quarter in Q2, which is over three times higher than the prior-year quarter. Gill mentioned, We expect growth to re-accelerate as the market recovers.The company kicked off mass production shipments of 32Mb Toggle MRAM product to a growing set of customers, with it planning to add different package and temperature grades to expand to new customer applications. If that wasnt enough, the second pivotal design win for MRAMs 1Gb STT-MRAM product is expected to start production shipments in Q3 into a persistent memory application for an OEM that sells into data center.Although gross margins were temporarily soft for Toggle and STT-MRAM due to the work-from-home environment, Gill argues that in the next few quarters, margins for both are likely to recover, driven by manufacturing efficiencies and lower material procurement costs.Everything that MRAM has going for it convinced Gill to maintain his Buy rating. In addition to the call, he left the price target at $10, suggesting 44% upside potential. Looking at the consensus breakdown, it has been quiet when it comes to other analyst activity. As Gill is the only analyst that has published a review recently, MRAM has a Moderate Buy consensus rating. (See MRAM stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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New Comprehensive CBD Alternative from Life Extension, Introducing Endocannabinoid Support, without THC or Hemp - Yahoo Finance

The spotlight remains on the potential of antibody therapies as a possible way out of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, with the US government investing millions in a hopeful from AstraZeneca and president Donald Trump recovering from coronavirus after receiving a rival therapy from Regeneron.

Thanks to a drug cocktail including Regenerons antibody therapy, Trump says he is back on his feet after becoming infected with the virus around the end of last month.

Trump has hailed the Regeneron therapy as a cure for the virus, but the companys CEO Leonard Schleifer was quick to point out that the scientific evidence is not there to support the claim.

Regenerons therapy is based on two antibodies the company has developed to neutralise the virus.

The thinking is that by having a double therapy, the chances of the virus developing resistance to both parts of the drug are reduced.

Like rivals Eli Lilly, Regeneron is in talks with the FDA to get an Emergency Use Authorisation based on the data it has gathered so far.

But CEO Leonard Schleifer said in a TV interview that there is a long way to go before the drug is fully approved.

Schleifer told CBS News Face the Nation: So the presidents case is a case of one, and thats what we call a case report, and it is evidence of whats happening, but its kind of the weakest evidence that you can get.

The real evidence has to come about how good a drug is and what it will do on average has to come from these large clinical trials.

Its just low down on the evidence scale that we really need.

Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer

Antibody therapies could also be used prophylactically, to protect people at high risk of getting the disease such as healthcare workers, or vulnerable people in areas where there are large numbers of cases.

AstraZeneca is to begin phase 3 trials of a long-acting antibody therapy combination in the US and other countries, to prevent infection happening and as therapy for those already infected.

AZs long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination, AZD7442, will advance into two phase 3 clinical trials in more than 6,000 participants at sites in and outside the US in the next few weeks.

The LAABs have been engineered with AstraZenecas proprietary half-life extension technology to increase the durability of the therapy for six to 12 months following a single administration.

The combination of two LAABs is also designed to reduce the risk of resistance developed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The LAABs have been engineered with AstraZenecas half-life extension technology to increase the durability of the therapy for six to 12 months following a single shot.

Like Regenerons therapy the combination of two LAABs is also designed to reduce the risk of resistance developed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The US government agency, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has invested $486 million in the project.

One trial will test whether AZD7442 can safely and effectively prevent infection in up to 5,000 people, and the second trial will test post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-emptive treatment in around 1,100 people.

AZ is planning additional trials to evaluate AZD7442 in approximately 4,000 patients for the treatment of COVID-19.

The company plans to supply up to 100,000 doses starting towards the end of 2020 and the US Government can acquire up to an additional one million doses in 2021 under a separate agreement.

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Spotlight on COVID-19 antibody therapies after Trump's recovery - - pharmaphorum

Earlier this month, FoodBytes! Pitch announced that 45 companies will participate in the start-up discovery platform, which provides corporate leaders and investors exposure to a group of innovative start-ups, with opportunities for deeper interaction and networking throughout the year.

The FoodBytes! Pitch competition, which has been running for five years, will be staged virtually in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.

Participants were chosen from nearly 340 submissions from across the globe and six European applicants made the cut.

A predominant focus among start-ups based in Europe is digitising the supply chain, from farm to fork, Rabobank noted.

Greven said that this is reflective of the challenges faced by food corporates, who have had to evaluate their distribution strategies in recent years.

According to a report from Rabobanks supply chain experts, many US and European food companies have been ramping up discussions on distribution strategies in the past few years. The main reason for this is a rise in logistics costs due to an increasing variety of distribution channels and stricter fulfilment requirements set by customers. In Europe specifically, as corporates look to drive cost efficiency, the outsourcing of food logistics is once again growing, the investment expert told us.

Start-ups are bringing innovative solutions to the table, as reflected in the latest FoodBytes! cohort.

Switzerlands Koa, for instance, focuses on providing digital tools to smallholder farmers in order to create a transparent cocoa product. Meanwhile, Norwegian Farmforce is working to create a mobile platform to secure sustainable sourcing for farmers. At the consumer end of the chain, UK start-up Good Club aims to provide consumers with a go-to online market for sustainable food products.

As well as addressing efficiency and cost, supply chain technologies are helping to strengthen the food system and build a more resilient and sustainable supply chain, Greven continued. All of these technologies address various and important areas across the supply chain from loss mitigation (shelf-life extension and food safety), food e-commerce (accessibility and transparency), and connected marketplaces that help close the gap between farmers and consumers.

The ability of agile start-up innovators to develop new and pioneering approaches to the table has driven investment in the space. Indeed, Greven noted:Half of capital invested into European food and ag start-ups in 2020 has been to midstream technologies focused on supply chain efficiency and digitisation."

This figure is higher than the level seen in the US, where that number is closer to 40%, she added.

Biotechnology and cellular solutions also offer the opportunity to re-think how we produce food and source materials.

New understandings of the role biosciences can play in the food industry can help address major challenges from agricultural production to food quality and health and nutrition.

Were seeing excitement from our community of experts and corporates surrounding the development of next gen food technologies, Greven observed.

Greven said that the rapid development of this sector means that applications from biotech companies to FoodBytes! are also increasing.

Our biotech applications globally are on the rise in 2019 and 2020, biotech companies comprised of 10% of applications received, double that of the two years preceding.

This years FoodBytes! saw a total of three start-ups two of whom are European focused on cell-based meat and fermented protein.

CellulaREvolution has developed cell-culturing meat technology utilising a cell coating to facilitate the continuous production of proteins, rather than in batches, working with clients across the fields of cultured meat, cell therapy and biologics. NovoNutrients upcycles industrial carbon dioxide waste into food system ingredients. While Future Meat Technologies has developed a cell-culturing meat technology utilising the rapid growth of connective tissue cells to reach high densities before turning the cells into cultured muscle and healthy fats.

Elsewhere, innovators are looking at how fermentation technologies and bioreactors can be used to create ingredients without depleting natural resources. One of our selected start-ups for 2020, Michroma, is a perfect example this Argentinian based company produces next-generation natural ingredients in a sustainable, cost-effective and scalable way to brew food colorants, mycoprotein and more alternatives, Greven noted.

The 45 selected startups hail from 15 countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Israel, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.

Consumer food and beverage (CPG):

Food and beverage products made with upcycled ingredients are a top trend among FoodBytes! 2020 CPG startups, who are also pioneering innovations including edible spoons to reduce plastic waste, a distilled spirit made from upcycled whey byproduct, and plant-based cheese and egg products.

Food tech:

The shortlisted food tech startups have developed technologies for cell-based meat production, natural coatings that extend produce shelf life, and sustainable, antimicrobial packaging made from crustacean shells to replace plastic. Food safety technologies, advanced nutrition products and online marketplaces also address relevant needs in the wake of COVID-19.

Ag tech:

The shortlisted ag tech startups have developed solutions that address soil and water sustainability, farm efficiency and labour needs. Their innovations include technology that transforms air pollution into fertilizer, animal feed that reduces methane emissions, a method of growing rice out of water and on-farm robotics to combat labour shortages and worker safety concerns.

Each of the three winners (CPG, food tech, and ag tech) will receive a $10,000 prize, while FoodBytes! Pitch corporate members will also offer additional consulting to support winning startups, including:

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Digitalisation, distribution and biotech: Rabobank talks next gen food tech innovation - FoodNavigator.com

On-orbit service and logistics startup Astroscale has raised a $51 million Series E funding round, bringing its total raised to date to $191 million thus far. The Japan-based company has been focused on delivering new solutions for orbital end-of-life meaning ways to make orbital operations more sustainable by offering easy ways to safely de-orbit spacecraft after the end of their useful service life, clearing up some of the growing orbital debris problem thats emerging as more companies create satellites and constellations.

Astroscale has since expanded its mission to also include extending the life of geostationary satellites another key ingredient in making the orbital operating environment more sustainable as we look toward a projected exponential explosion in orbital activity. The startup announced earlier this year that it was acquiring the staff and IP of a company called Effective Space Solutions, which was in the process of developing a space drone that could launch to provide on-orbit servicing to large, existing geostationary satellite infrastructure, handling tasks like refueling and repairs.

ESS has formed the basis for Astroscale Israel, a new international office for the globe-spanning Astroscale that will be focused on geostationary life extension. Todays funding was led by aSTART, and will be used to help the company continue to establish its global offices and increase the team to more than 140 people.

Astroscales end-of-life orbital debris-removal technology is set to get its first demonstration mission sometime in the second half of this year, with a launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. The system uses two spacecraft that find and latch on to target debris to be de-orbited.

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Astroscale raises $51 million in Series E funding to fuel its orbital sustainability ambitions - TechCrunch

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Even a casual observer of the contemporary global strategic environment will concur that nuclear weapons are very much back in the picture as several countries including the United States and China seek to modernize their arsenals and develop new capabilities. With many nuclear powers pushing their envelope and, in some cases, luck, and the future of arms control under stress, the current nuclear environment is defined by several challenges around proliferation and escalation risks.

To understand them better, The Diplomat spoke to Vipin Narang, associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and member of MITs Security Studies Program. Narang, also a nonresident scholar in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is author of Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era (Princeton University Press, 2014).

In your opinion, what are the top three nuclear challenges the world faces today?

First, vertical proliferation, and specifically renewed great power nuclear competition and arms racing, threatens to upset decades of trends that enhanced strategic and crisis stability. Russian and Chinese modernization programs largely driven by Americas large conventional and nuclear counterforce capability and the unfulfilled fantasy of American national missile defenses aim to survive an American strike and penetrate defenses. That has led to a variety of programs, including hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear-powered cruise missiles, and the oldie but goodie building up mobile capabilities. The U.S. threatens to respond in kind with the withdrawal from the INF Treaty and the prospect that New START is not renewed with Russia. All of these developments threaten to disturb strategic stability.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.

Second, horizontal proliferation. However, we face not just the looming risk of adversarial proliferation states such as Iran but also of allied proliferation, in states such as South Korea, Germany and even Japan, due to concerns surfaced during the Trump administration that the United States may not indefinitely provide credible extended deterrence. In addition, a third class of states, frenemies like Saudi Arabia, who have promised to acquire nuclear weapons if their primary adversary (Iran in this case) does are also flirting with the idea and capabilities for at least a nuclear hedge. We may be on the cusp, in the next decade or two, of a cascade of new nuclear weapons powers.

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Third, 75 years after the last wartime use of nuclear weapons, todays nuclear weapon states seem less chastened by the prospect of nuclear use and escalation and are increasingly pushing the line against other nuclear weapons powers, attempting to break free of the constraining effects of being deterred. The last year has seen some disturbing firsts: India bombing the undisputed territory of another nuclear weapons power at Balakot for the first time in history, and Turkey an American ally which hosts U.S. nuclear weapons at Incirlik firing at American troops. The problem with the threat that leaves something to chance, is that it leaves something to chance. And as nuclear states push the line against other nuclear states, even if they do not want a war war may find them. That is, nuclear powers are increasingly running the risk that they may stumble into a war, and that would put us in uncharted territory.

You have warned against Trumps North Korea strategy (if one can call it that) and have been consistently pessimistic about the prospect of denuclearization there. As a new administration takes over in January, what advice would you give the new president about Kim Jong Un and his nukes?

I have long argued that Kim Jong Un will not voluntarily surrender his nuclear weapons program and taking it away by force as some like John Bolton [the former U.S. national security advisor] continued to advocate even after North Korea tested an ICBM and purported thermonuclear weapon is exceptionally dicey. But that does not mean that we cannot try to slow down the growth of the program, seek caps on certain capabilities, and keep the rhetorical fiction of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as an end goal that we accept is unlikely to ever be achieved.

In fact, it appears that this deal Yongbyon in exchange for some sanctions relief was on the table at Hanoi. If verified and completed, that would have shut off North Koreas only known source of plutonium and tritium production, and a nontrivial proportion of its uranium enrichment. This could have slowed the growth of the nuclear program and shaped the future composition of the force by starving it of further plutonium and potentially tritium (for thermonuclear weapons). But Trump walked away, claiming it was too small a deal. Instead, we got no deal and Kim Jong Un continues to expand and improve his nuclear and missile force.

I suspect we will look back at Hanoi with regret, though it is possible a similar deal may resurface. If it does, I believe we should take it. Slow, cap, rollback, and eliminate (even if we never get there) for corresponding measures, in tandem, is a sensible formula to manage a nuclear North Korea.

We recently saw North Korea flash a new missile capability during its annual parade. Any thoughts on what the missile may portend in terms of where Kim sees his nuclear capabilities going in the future?

For a year, Kim Jong Un had been promising a new strategic system, and on October 10 we discovered that it was a new heavy transportable liquid fuel ICBM, based on its Hwasong-15 ICBM. This new missile is one of the worlds largest mobile liquid fuel missiles and the key feature is the large payload it can seemingly deliver, such as potentially penetration aids or multiple warheads, to defeat American national missile defenses which may not work well today, but which adversaries such as Russia, China and North Korea fear may work tomorrow.

This new missile was not a surprise, and largely represents a continuing evolution of North Koreas growing missile and nuclear capabilities. It is designed to solve one of two North Korean strategic problems: penetrating American missile defenses. There were questions about whether North Korea could develop warheads compact enough for MIRVs (multiple warheads on a single missile), but the size of this missile obviates some of that problem your cars can be bigger if you build a gigantic garage. However, the missile is so big and slow, and takes so long to potentially fuel, that it may exacerbate the other problem survivability but I think we should fully expect that North Korea is also working on capabilities to address that concern, such as a mobile solid fuel ICBM that is easier to hide and prompter to launch. In fact, we may have seen tantalizing hints of that capability as well in the parade, and that would represent a bigger leap for the program. In any event, these developments and improvements which are still away from being operational are precisely what normal nuclear powers do, and further suggests that Kim Jong Un has no intention of surrendering his nuclear weapons program.

We have heard a lot from the Trump administration of late about Chinas nuclear ambitions. How do you assess the trajectory of Chinas nuclear weapons and delivery platforms, as well as its doctrine?

Lets start with the facts: China has maybe 200 nuclear weapons that can range the continental United States, very few of which are deployed during peacetime. The United States, by contrast, has well over a 1,000, depending on your accounting, that are ready within minutes to range mainland China. This does not even account for the warheads in the stockpile that can be quickly uploaded to American ICBMs and SLBMs which are not fully MIRVd under New START. So even a doubling of Chinas strategic nuclear force still leaves it multiples lower than the United States and Russia.

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My main reaction to Chinese nuclear modernization is: What took it so long to start? For decades, it lived with a posture of plausible retaliation with maybe two dozen ICBMs that could range the continental United States. With growing conventional and nuclear counterforce capabilities, and the unrelenting pursuit of national missile defenses which can in combination threaten to neutralize Chinas second strike capability, by eliminating a large portion of the ICBMs and relying on missile defenses to intercept the residuals the question is why China only started investing in mobility and numbers and penetration aids/hypersonics in the last decade or so. To me, all of these developments are Chinas delayed effort to guarantee assured retaliation. Chinas massive buildup in conventional short-range ballistic missile capabilities obviates the need for it to rely on nuclear weapons in a theater scenario, though scholars such as Caitlin Talmadge have pointed out that we cannot sleep on the risks of inadvertent Chinese nuclear escalation. But, I see continuity in overall strategy, and a delayed effort to develop the capabilities and deployment patterns mobility, penetration, SSBNs to implement that strategy with greater assurance.

What do you make of the hype around hypersonics? What about claims around artificial intelligence and nuclear command and control?

The pursuit of hypersonics is again driven by the unfulfilled fantasy of working national missile defenses. Presently, long range missile reentry vehicles, and certainly maneuverable reentry vehicles, which are decades-old technology, are perfectly sufficient to penetrate American missile defenses. And all of these reenter the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The advent of the new generation of hypersonics are actually slower than long range reentry vehicles. But some are air breathing and can maneuver and porpoise at very high altitudes in the event missile defenses ever work. So, at least in the medium term, Im a skeptic that these capabilities fundamentally alter the strategic balance. Russia and China do not face a penetration problem at the moment, so hypersonic glide vehicles only have marginal value at the moment.

Similarly, there is a lot of hype over AI and command and control, but a lot remains to be seen whether it affects a states ability to maintain command and control or disrupt it. AI may help solve some detection and ISR problems, but the general cat-and-mouse game of emerging technologies and counter-responses is a decades-old phenomenon.

What do you think about future arms control measures for emerging technologies?

Like all arms control measures, the empirical record suggests they will emerge and be adhered to when both states view them as being in their interests, which is unsatisfying and tautological but also the reality. States with an asymmetric advantage in a particular technology will oppose limits on it, while those that fear it will seek those limits. The zone of overlap generally emerges when both or all sides perceive a benefit in capping or limiting that capability either amongst themselves or collusively to prevent the diffusion of technology to other states. I am not an arms control skeptic so much as an arms control realist.

How do you assess the prospects of the New START treaty being extended, if Trump is reelected next month?

Ultimately, I do think New START will be extended no matter who wins the election. I think the Trump administration is attempting to play chicken with New START to try to pressure Russia into limiting, for example, its tactical nuclear weapons capability. But ultimately, a New START extension is in Americas interest: arms controllers love it because it is arms control and counter-forcers should love it because it provides a cap and accounting on the systems they have to eliminate. The only constituency that opposes New START are arms racers who believe that an arms race with Russia is good and easy to win. But in the current economic climate, there may be little appetite for a renewed arms race, or even persistent uploading of warheads from the stockpile. And Russia has an interest in New START for similar economic and management reasons. It is possible that a second Trump administration would only extend New START for one year and attempt to negotiate something stronger or multilateral in that year he may in fact try to do this before the election itself. I do not think there is any chance of China joining a multilateral equivalent of New START it would either be an invitation for it to build to parity with the U.S. and Russia, or force it to agree to inequitable limits, which it will never do. But I do think we will see an extension of the bilateral New START at the end of the day. But whether it is for one or five years remains to be seen.

Would a Biden administration, come January, roll back some of Trumps nuke modernization plans?

The Democrats, in general, seek a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent for the United States and Americas allies at an affordable cost. Although there was a loose bipartisan consensus for the modernization program, there are some components that may be revisited. For example, the ICBM replacement, the ground based strategic deterrent, could be forsook for another life extension of Minuteman III, which may save some cost. I do think certain capabilities, such as the low yield SLBM and the nuclear sea launch cruise missile, could be rolled back. But those are not so much part of the modernization program as particular capabilities that the Trump administration believed filled a deterrent gap, which I suspect many in a Biden administration remain unconvinced ever existed.

To your mind, have India and Pakistan learnt the wrong lessons about escalation after Indias February 2019 Balakot air strikes and Pakistans retaliatory action?

I hesitate to judge what lessons either side may have privately taken away from Balakot, but at least publicly both sides seem to underestimate the role that pure luck played in keeping the crisis from further escalating. I think, for example, that if Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman had been killed when his MiG-21 was shot down, or if he had died in Pakistani custody, or if there was a delay in his return and Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out an alleged surface-to-surface missile strike, the crisis could have quickly escalated as domestic political pressure to hit back boiled over. Even in this case, where neither state wanted a broader war, both sides do seem to underestimate the risk that they came very close to stumbling into one. In general, Indias frustration with Pakistans continued use of terror against the Indian homeland is leading it to see how far it can push the line against another nuclear weapons power. That frustration is understandable, but it does not mean that pushing the line is risk-free.

I am disappointed you did not ask me about my hobby horse: the sanctity of Indias No First Use (NFU) declaration! At this point, no one believes the absoluteness of Indias NFU declaration though it sort of remains official doctrine including, most importantly, Indias government itself.

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Vipin Narang on the Global Nuclear Landscape: Hype and Reality - The Diplomat

Finding and interpreting market research and other useful business and industry data can be challenging for small business owners. University of Nevada, Reno Extension will walk small business owners through real-life examples of finding and interpreting data to help them with their business challenges, at its free online town hall this Wednesday.

The town hall is free, and there will be an English-language session and a Spanish-language session. The online interactive sessions are part of a series of online town halls and webinars for small businesses, Coping With COVID-19, that the Extension has been offering weekly since April.

A few months ago, we held a session where we covered the basics of how market research can help small businesses, and where they can access some data, said Extensions Lucas Thomas, who will lead this weeks sessions. But, this week, we will actually walk them through the process and address questions and challenges they might encounter, because it can be pretty overwhelming when you first dive in.

Thomas has been working closely with business counselors to gather data for small businesses and deliver the data in a concise, easy-to-interpret manner.

The town hall, Market Research and Navigating Business Data, is 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14 for English speakers and at 2 p.m. for Spanish speakers. In addition to Thomas, panelists include Small Business Administration Deputy District Director Saul Ramos and outreach/marketing specialist Alfredo Cedeno and, from the Extension, business development instructors Reyna Mendez and Juan Salas and research associate Mike Bindrup.

We are going to continue to offer these weekly town halls for our states small businesses because they face so many challenges right now, and there is so much information to sort through, said Buddy Borden, economic development specialist with Extensions Business Development Program. Besides the information we present, we answer a lot of questions, and the participants share with each other what they are learning and what they are doing to get through this difficult time.

Both the town halls and the webinars usually run about an hour.

To register for the English-language town hall, go to https://bit.ly/2FnXmTz

For the Spanish-language town hall, go to https://bit.ly/2SQkIEy

For more information, go to the Extension Business Development Program website at extension.unr.edu/busdev.

For more information, email Borden at bordenb@unr.edu

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Extension town halls to focus on interpreting business data - pvtimes.com

(USDA Photo Contributed)U.S. Marine Corps veteran Calvin Riggleman holds an oregano seedling and soil on Bigg Riggs farm in Hampshire County, West Virginia.

BY Courtney Long

ISU Farm, Food and Enterprise Development

AMES Iowas Veterans In Agriculture recently announced that they are one of 17 recipients of USDA-NIFAs Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Program Grant. They will partner with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Farm, Food and Enterprise Development, Iowa States Beginning Farmer Center, Iowa Foundation for MicroEnterprise, and Community Vitality and Ag Ventures Alliance on the three-year program, Connecting Veterans to Agri-Food System Opportunities.

When returning to civilian life, many veterans are interested in developing careers in agricultural enterprises and food system industries. Supporting these transitioning members and veterans is important for sustaining food and agriculture systems across rural America, as 46 percent of active U.S. military personnel are from rural areas. Additionally, about one-third of Iowas farmland is owned by people over age 75, whereas only 2 percent is owned by people under age 35. Sixty-eight percent of Iowa farmers report they have no adult children currently engaged in farming. These facts indicate the importance of connecting and educating a new generation of food producers and helping them access resources, land and food system opportunities.

We are excited to be a part of this grant to provide additional concepts for food system development, in particular with veteran farm and food businesses, said Courtney Long, program manager for farm, food and enterprise development with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

The AgVets grant will equip military veterans with skills, training and experience for careers in agriculture and food production and aims to increase the number of military veterans pursuing careers in agriculture through comprehensive, hands-on and immersive learning.

We are thrilled to have received this grant, said Beth Grabau, VIA executive director. It will provide an opportunity to meet the needs of veterans and those who are transitioning from military service.

The approach is multi-faceted to support different learning options for veterans because each veteran brings a unique set of skills, knowledge and interests.

It will include hands-on learning, apprenticeship options with training curriculum and mentorship, and opportunities to explore local food system enterprises, traditional commercial agriculture opportunities, and agri-food systems and value-added enterprises to supplement off-farm employment through technical assistance and mentoring options.

Additional workshops will be offered for transitioning farms or returning to the family farm, succession planning, whole-farm planning and enterprise management, as well as Community Food Systems certification for those interested in planning skills for food system sectors. Participants will have options to learn about agricultural technologies, startup ventures and rural angel investor networks.

Over the next three years, this dynamic project will increase awareness of local, state and federal programs for veterans in the Iowa and the Midwest and help build our veteran farm and food businesses, said Grabau.

For more information about this grant and other programs provided, contact Veterans In Agriculture at info@veteransinagriculture.org. For information on ISU Extension and Outreachs involvement, contact Courtney Long at court7@iastate.edu.

View post:

Veterans in Agriculture to partner with Extension for Ag Connections Program - Le Mars Daily Sentinel

In one of those coincidences, 83-year-old Stan Swamy was arrested by Indias high-profile National Investigation Agency about the same time that another octogenarian, Francis, was declaring that all men and women in the world are brothers and sisters, with responsibility to each other and to the earth on which they all live, its resources, its environment, its climate.

Stan Swamy and Francis the Pope are both members of the five-century-old Society of Jesus. The Jesuits, as they are called, are, the world over, at the cutting edge of the struggles of the poor and the marginalised resisting the plunder of their natural resources, and the ushing of their human dignity and constitutional rights.

To demand the freedom of the frail, ailing Catholic priest without an equally strong demand that the rights of Adivasis over their lands, forests, water and resources be safeguarded would be belittling the man who has given the last half-century of his life making their struggles his own. Born in Trichy, in Tamil Nadu, Father Stan Swamy SJ has sought to interpret his vocation and training in Ignatius Loyolas philosophy in the service of the most deprived, the most threatened.

I have known of his work for all those decades and have known him personally now for some time. I last met him in 2017, around this time, when a team of Karawan-e-Mohabbat, founded by Harsh Mander, was in Jharkhand, and called on him at his spartan home in Bagaichi, on the outskirts of Ranchi one night to pay him our respects. The lawyers, activists and writers in our young team were thrilled to meet a legend and a hero. He was gracious in receiving our salutations with humility, and a smile, saying he was but human, doing his duty with the people he loved.

These people are Indias Adivasis. Many scientists think of them as the original inhabitants of the subcontinent. But so disturbing is this thought to proponents of religious nationalism that international terms such as indigenous people, or the Hindi equivalent Adivasi, are anathema to them. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and its offspring, including the Bharatiya Janata Party that rules the country and many of its states, describe them as vanvasis, or forest dwellers. Dalits, the former untouchables, are no less distressed, with their caste persecution with all its humiliation and violence.

In very brief summation of their plight, this about 8.6 % of Indias population continue to suffer despite conditional mandated affirmative action, a proportional representation in educational and government jobs and in the political processes. As the Minority Rights Group and many national activists point out every day, much of what is on paper does not exist on the ground.

Affirmative action policies strictly limited to public sector have not improved the prospects of Adivasis in the growing private sector, notes the Minority Rights Group. Adivasis often face hardships and exclusion because of physical remoteness, poverty and prevalent social prejudices. Since few Adivasis finish schooling, most are unable to use the reserved places in higher education or the civil service.

The Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 or PESA was introduced in the late 1990s as a legislative means of promoting self-governance in rural areas through the creation of local village bodies. But it is perpetually sought to be diluted, sidestepped and sabotaged. Adivasis continue to face prejudice and often violence from mainstream Indian society, the Minority Rights Group says. They are at the lowest point of almost every socio-economic indicator the destruction of their economic base and environment poses grave threats to those who are still able to follow their traditional way of life and may result in the cultural extinction of many of the smaller Adivasi peoples.

Stan Swamy, and everyone else who has seen these areas, knows that the economic and social problems of Adivasis are born of their gradual displacement from their customary lands. Adivasis have been denied land ownership rights over the last century and their displacement from their land has made them reach a stage where they are fighting to retain their economic and social identity, a Minority Rights Group report says.

The 2006 Forest Rights Act was enacted to secure the rights of Adivasis to their customary lands and forests. But its implementation is still not more than covering just 2% of potential claims reportedly resolved. A February 2019 ruling by the Supreme Court on implementation of the Forest Rights Group 2006 put more than a million Adivasis at risk of eviction from their land and homes.

These set the stage for protests. The protests triggered government vengeance. This led to ultra-left political activity, which in turn precipitated large-scale state violence, at one time government luring a section Adivasis under the banner of the Salwa Judum to wage war on their brothers. Many were killed, many more arrested on charges of being Maoists or assisting them.

Swamy saw innocent Adivasis languishing in jails on trumped-up charges, much as he himself is now in jail on what we know to be fabricated allegations. He helped conduct a research study on Left-wing undertrials in Jharkhand. The study found that of the 102 imprisoned youth they spoke with, as many as 97% that said allegations against them were wrong. The government had imposed the harshest law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on them without evidence. The large number of acquittals eventually vindicated the study.

As part of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee, Stan Swamy questioned the practice of solitary confinement following the banning of Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti in December 2017. His paper, in the April 7, 2018, edition of the Economic and Political Weekly, written with human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, also in jail in the Bhima-Koregaon case, exposed the deplorable conditions in jail, and the repressive measures by the authorities without court sanction.

Swamy has consistently questioned why governments of all political hues do not implant the Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act as it should be, and have been tardy in following Article 244(1) of the 5th Schedule, which requies a Tribal Advisory Council sending its reports to the President of India.

Stan Swant has, like many if not most activists, has also been supportive of the Pathalgadi movement that has foregrounded a traditional practice of honouring ancestors specially in the Khunti region of Jharkhand by placing stone slabs in burial or cremation places.

In the 1990s, the retired bureaucrat-turned-activist BD Sharma and his colleague Bandi Oraon, used stone slabs inscribed with constitutional provisions under Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act and the Fifth Schedule. This came to be known as Pathalgadi.

Governments, and their backers in India Inc. were not amused. The Central government in 2013 passed the Land Acquisition Act, diluting the need for a social impact assessment before any acquisition of land and potentially removing legal safeguards of Adivasi lands.

In the transcript of his interrogation by the National Investigation Agency earlier this year, Swamy said:

I moved to Jharkhand [from Bangalore] and was associated with the JOHAR (Jharkhand Organization for Human Rights) at Chaibasa for a few years. Then I moved to Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, and founded Bagaicha, a Jesuit social research and training centre at Namkum, Ranchi. I have been active at Bagaicha for the last 15 years. I have been working in collaboration with peoples movements that were working against unjust displacement, human rights violations, illegal land acquisitions, and policies that were designed or amended to acquire more land, making the indigenous people landless.

I have been writing and supporting the struggles for the implementation of the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitutions, implementation of the provisions of Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 and the Samata Judgment by the Supreme Court of India and promoted the concept of Owner of the land will be the owners of Minerals therein.

Sway said he was surprised when on August 28, 2018,

...my room in Bagaicha was raided by Pune Police saying that my name had appeared in an FIR in the riot case at Bhima-Koregaon, together with eleven others. During this raid, my laptop, mobile phone, a few CDs, documents and files were confiscated by the Pune Police. After about 10 months, since the first raid of my room, once again my room was raided, on 12 June 2019. in this instance too, the hard disk (internal memory) of my computer, mobile phone, my email and social media accounts were confiscated. The Jharkhand, the government headed by the BJP, filed an FIR against me and 19 other activists based on a Facebook posts relating to Pathalgadi 2 movement in Khunti district, Jharkhand.

The FIR accuses us of inciting violence through Facebook posts during the Pathalgadi movement. Though this FIR was filed in the month of July 2018, it was never pursued. But, suddenly in the month of July 2019, it was activated, after the second raid in my room by the Pune police. Since the case against us was merely based on our Facebook posts, we appealed to the Jharkhand Hight Court to quash the case against us. However, the Khunti police have submitted an annexure, received from the Pune police, to the effect that I was one of the accused in Bhima-Koregaon case. To my surprise, during the hearing in the High Court, the Advocate General referred to me as a dreaded criminal.

The National Investigation Agency finally shed all pretences, and arrested the Jesuit priest from Bagaichi on October 8. He was produced before the special court in Mumbai on Friday. It remanded the octogenarian to judicial custody till October 23. He is currently in the mandatory Covid-19 isolation.

In a video message recorded two days befor he was arrested, Stan Swamy maintained, I have never been to Bhima Koregaon for which I am being made an accused. But ...what is happening to me is not something unique happening to me alone, it is a broader process taking place all over the country. We all are aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders are put in jail because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India.

He said he was part of the process and, in a way, happy to be so because he was not a silent spectator. He asserted, I am ready to pay the price whatever be it.

The state has already paid a price. Its reputation is mud. Activists, chief ministers, pollical parties, members of Parliament and common men and women have expressed their shock, their disgust.

Not that it will move the National Investigation Agency or the men in New Delhi whose order it obeys. The Bhima-Koregaon case is about an allegation that Indias intellectuals are conspiring to kill Indias prime minister.

Elsewhere, and in the past, young men and women have been liquidated on such a suspicion.

John Dayal is a veteran journalist who lives in Delhi.

Original post:

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own - Scroll.in

Money for police station should be used to bolster department instead

Dear Editor:

It is inexcusable that we have a leaking roof in our police station. That doesnt mean that we need to spend an estimated $35 million on a new 73,000 square foot facility, located on the very edgeof city limits. I want to support our wonderful police officers and our world class chief, I personally believe that $35 million dollars would be better spent on more personnel and better equipment.

The concern I have is why they want to move the police station, because of fear of flooding during a hurricane. I looked into this concern using UFs storm surge estimator and found that it would take a direct hit of a category 4 hurricane for the police station to have 3 inches of flooding, in fact according to FEMA, the police station isnt in a flood zone, in the 140-year recorded history of the city the land has not flooded. Two of our current city commissioners have publicly acknowledged that commercial redevelopment is a motivating factor for moving the station.

When I reviewed the 2019meeting notes they spent $30,000to have a study completed to determine a new location for the police station. I also saw their estimates for a new roof, new air condition and found these estimates to be outrageous. I ask myself are they getting bids for these estimates? In the meantime, the roof is still leaking 2 years later, inexcusable.

Ken Smith

Candidate forCity CommissionZone 2

Dear Editor:

Website examination of candidate campaign reports in the four Ormond Beach city commission races through Sept. 18: The mayor and the other three incumbents report over $135,000 in donations, most of it from developers, corporationsand political action committees.

The four challengers, Rob Bridger, Tim Grigsby, Ken Smith, and David Romeo report a combined total of over $28,000 from retirees, individualsand their own bank accounts. No money from developers, corporations, or PACs.

The four incumbents received $2,000 each from downtown redeveloper Bill Jones;$1,000 each from Foundation Risk Partners in Destin;$1,000 each from A.L. Rosenbaum LLC; and $1000 each fromLewis Heaster's BHL Inc. Three incumbent commissioners received $1,000 each from the Living Life with Purpose PAC out of Tallahassee;$500 each from Waste Pro, the citys solid waste contractor and$500 each from the Florida Realtors PAC.

Local developers backed the four incumbents with varying amounts: Paul Holub, total $7,350 from six subsidiary companies; Charles Lichtigman, Granada Plaza Group, total $4,850; and Vanacore corporations, total $5,500. A Mori Hosseini company and P&S Paving gave $1,000 each to one candidate. M. Ghyabi, a paid Ormond Beach consultant, and her attorney husband gave $1,000 each to the mayor.

On the expenditure side, two incumbents paid $2,500 total to an Ormond Beach political strategist who is an appointed member of the city planning board while serving as a paid spokesman-representative for the PBA police union. These same two incumbents made generous payments to family members to distribute campaign signs. The bulk of incumbent expenditures were for multiple glossy campaign mailers.

The mailers feature family photos and portray incumbents as environmental champions preserving greenspace, water supply, and the Loop, while protecting us from COVID-19 and natural disasters. They falsely guarantee high quality of life through smart growth, planned development and low property taxes.

Rob Bridger, Tim Grigsby, Ken Smith, and David Romeo, free of corporate influence, each sent a single mailer, challenging the incumbent claims and offering the fresh ideas reported in Observer candidate comparisons. Rob is retired, Ken owns a small business, and Tim and David are employed by local companies. Honorable and courageous, they face a tough fight going up against the business-as-usual status quorum in an election system controlled by money. A system only voters can change.

Mary Anne Andrew

Ormond Beach

Editor's note: The Ormond Beach City Commissioners were each given a chance to respond to this letter in 50 words or less. Only two responded by the deadline.

I am pleased to recommend the following candidates in this years City of Ormond Beach:

Bill Partington MayorDwight Selby Commissioner Zone 1Troy Kent Commissioner Zone 2Rob Littleton Commissioner Zone 4

All are incumbents and they have done an outstanding job in leading the city in recent years. They have served us well and deserve to be returned to office alongside Commissioner Susan Persis who was unopposed. As a fifty year resident, I think the quality of life here has never been better and the future never looked more promising.

All have opponents who, in my opinion, share a pessimistic and unwelcoming no-growth attitude which is antithetical to free-markets and the opportunity, prosperity, liberty, and most of all, respect for property rights which flows therefrom. Their opponents want to re-adopt a bevy of onerous and subjective environmental and land development regulations which the city rightly did away with some years ago. They also want to reinstate a number of useless feel-good advisory boards which do nothing but squander staff time and gum up the decision making process. Their opponents reject out-of-hand any discussion of a Hand Avenue I-95 flyover before the full impact of the Avalon Park Daytona project has been determined and funding options evaluated. The same misguided attitudes and policies their opponents want to re-impose are the reasons much of the land south along Clyde Morris Boulevard and Williamson Boulevard, and the land west of I-95 south of State Road 40 (where Avalon Park will be developed) was annexed into the city of Daytona Beach and not Ormond Beach. And, its the reason we have a police station on one of the most valuable commercial parcels in our blossoming downtown area. Ormond Beach has seen this horror movie before: Nightmare on South Beach Street, and we dont need an encore with different actors.

Investment capital is the lifeblood of a prosperous free-market economy and it flows to where it is both welcomed and well-treated. Our current mayor and commissioners understand this and it is obvious their opponents do not.

Editor's note: The Ormond Beach City Commission candidates challenging the incumbentswere each given a chance to respond to this letter in 50 words or less. Only threeresponded by the deadline.

Dear Editor:

In regards to the Backpack Apology Sought article in the Oct. 8 Ormond Beach Observer:Kudos to the gym teacher for doing what wasright. No apologies are needed unless it is from the mother of the student trying to start controversy. Anyone questioning all lives matter in any form, whether it be verbal or written, truly have to be racist. I cant imagine what would happen if a student came in with a back pack saying white or yellow lives matter!"

The truth is that all lives do matter and most people do not look at the world in black, white or yellow. You are what you are and very good people are on allsides. There is only a few that want to keep the controversy going.

The sad thing is that the education system seems to like the controversy and is promoting it. It has to end in the school systems and at home.

Please... Letseveryone get along and the world will be a much betterplace.

Terry York

Ormond Beach

The city of Ormond Beach just approved a $47,000 design for a new bait house expected to cost another $865,000. Zone 2 Commissioner Kent called it a once in a generation opportunity.

Citizens have asked for a new medical emergency center on the beachside to replace the hospital on A1A that was abandoned, then razed by Advent. Property crime in the city is at an all-time high with unfilled vacancies in the Police Department. Infrastructure leaks have become an epidemic while the city allocates millions in resources to buy Medjool palm trees, a church, a floating boat dock, a relocated police station, and now a bigger and better bait shop next to the floating boat dock.

Mayor Partington stated he would like to get input on conceptual plans for the new facility from the public, Ormond MainStreet, and the past Downtown Steering Committee. As he did in the 2018 election, Granada Pier Bait and Tackle owner-operator Ike Leary has already given his input: 2020 campaign contributions of $500 each to Mayor Partington and Commissioner Kent and $250 each to Commissioners Dwight Selby and Rob Littleton.

Michael Young

Ormond Beach

In last weeks edition of the Observer Lori Bennett was right on!

If you didnt read it please do.If you did, read it again and remember this as you go to the polls in November.

And that goes for the County Council also. Lets start fresh all the way around.

Sylvia Meincke

Ormond Beach

The proposed Hand Avenue Extension would bridge eight lanes of I-95 and require another bridge over the Tomoka River, a Florida Outstanding Waterway with environmentally protected buffers. This idea was first proposed more than two decades ago and still enjoys unanimous support from Ormond Beach city Commissioners, despite its removal from the county road priority list. The estimated price tag, now at $50 million, continues to rise.

The Ormond Beach mayor and City Commissioners have touted the Hand Avenue Extension as necessary to relieve additional traffic gridlock on Granada Boulevard when 10,000planned homes (Avalon Park) are built west of I-95. (Keep in mind, many Ormond residents already use Hand Avenue as an alternative to Granada Blvd.) The commissions theory is highly questionable in that most eastbound traffic using the proposed extension will likely turnleft on Williamson, Clyde Morris, or Nova, still ending up on Granada Boulevard, as there is no bridge to the beach on Hand Avenue. Additionally, east of Nova Road, Hand Avenue turns into a residential road with a 25-mph speed limit. Right now, most Daytona residents living west of I-95 use LPGA as their main east-west artery. The Hand Avenue Extension will make access to Granada easier for those residents, present and future.

A more likely rationale for the Hand Avenue extension is the opportunity to accelerate commercial and residential development of lands west of I-95, and to enhance the marketability of those properties.

The Ormond Beach city commission needs to abandon the charade of Hand Avenue traffic relief and embrace more practical traffic solutions for West Granada, where the commission continues to approve new commercial development.

Mike McLarnan

Ormond Beach

Dear Editor,

Glossy mailers from developer-financed incumbents keep filling mailboxes with misleading information. Claims made on radio talk shows and in public forums have also raised eyebrows.

Mayor Bill Partington: 17 years in office

Claim: Spearheaded creation of Ormond Beach Environmental Discovery Center.

Fact:The Discovery Center was the brainchild of a former commissioner, the late Joyce Ebbets. A half-mile directly north of the Discovery Center, development waivers obliterated 23 acres of environment on a migratory bird flyway, clearcutting a forest for a Wawa and carwash.

Claim:conserving our greenspaces and celebrating our environmental heritage.

Fact:Voted to weaken our wetland and development rules, abolished the citizen environmental advisory board and development review board, denied citizen request for a tree advisory board.

Claim:provisions in place to protect our residents and community from any health threat

Fact:Failed to mandate masks in public against universal recommendations from medical science. Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, DeLand, Palm Coast, other cities mandated masks.

Zone 1 Commissioner Dwight Selby: 4 years in office

Claim:Has led the charge to keep city spending in checkFought to save you every penny

Fact:Voted to buy a church for $780,000, a boat dock for $1.3 million, 105 Medjool palm trees at $5,000 each; advocates $50 million Hand Ave. extension over I-95 and Tomoka River.

Claim:fighting to convert aging, hazardous septic tanks, reducing north peninsula dependence

Fact:North peninsula is in county jurisdiction. The conversion was rejected by both county and city residents. No leadership to convert 800 septic tanks still functioning in Ormond Beach.

Zone 2 Commissioner Troy Kent: 17 years in office

Claim:Hand Avenue extension will relieve traffic on Granada Boulevard.

Fact:$50 million overpass at I-95 will actually funnel more traffic onto Granada.

Claim:Proud of the job Ive done decreasing taxes during a pandemic.

Fact:Going to rollback saved only $14 or less for most homeowners. In election year, tax reduction significant only for wealthy, high-priced homes and large commercial properties. Revenue shortfalls from pandemic estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Zone 4 Commissioner Rob Littleton: 4 years in office

Claim:Police officers and firefighters important to maintaining a safe and healthy community.

Fact:Failed to support a mask mandate to protect first responders and other essential workers.

Claim:Police station should be moved out of flood zone to free up commercial real estate.

Fact:The police station, 20 years old, on land that has never flooded, reduces traffic.

Judith Ronci

Ormond Beach

Editor's note: The Ormond Beach City Commissioners were each given a chance to respond to this letter in 50 words or less. Only two responded by the deadline.

Dear Editor:

On Oct.5, Terri Kolaska submitted a letterand was advised it would appear in the 10/8/20 edition of the Observer. Granted, the general public has no say in the matter of letters being published. But, being told it would be printed, one would just assume...

Anyway, it did not get in print as it was "bumped"for an article by the publisher, John Walsh, whose article was postedonline 2 1/2 days after Terri's letter was posted.Her letter was written and submitted to promote her choice of candidates for city and county political positions.Curiously, Mr. Walsh's article contained a similar intent, but with a completely different cast of characters.Let's examine some other oddities about Mr. Walsh's article.

1. He states that "The following endorsements...are my personal views."Not only does he state "we" four times in just the first two paragraphs, the article is entitled "Observer supports candidates... "Who is 'we'?I thought this to be"personal."

2. Bottom of second paragraph:"My views are...culmination of conversations with friends...", etc. Terri (and I) had conversations with numerous local people also, probably not in the same social circles as Mr. Walsh's contacts.But, through Terri, our contacts deserved to have their voices heard too, in a timely manner.

3. Walsh supports the Hand Avenue Extensionas does the current city commission.Thiswill destroy Ormond Beach and the wetlands west of I-95 to Tymber Creek Road.

4. I have been informed that the challengers for the mayoral and city commission seats were never informed that the answers to the interview questions were going to be used as a comparative measure between them and the incumbents for election guide comparison the result of short answers to questions from Mr. Walsh.

5. Walsh endorses Deb Denys for County Chair. Denys did not even respond to questions for the "Election Guide" interview.

6. Walsh's article over 500 words.Terri's 'Letter' less than 200 words.(Note:Maximum 400 words for a letter)

7. Walsh lives in Palm Coast, yet is giving advice to you folks in Ormond Beach as to whom he wants you to vote for.

Walsh is the publisher so, I guess he can do all that.

If you have not voted, please do so. Refer to Terri's letter, here.All votes matter.

Ed Kolaska

Ormond Beach

The Ormond Beach Observer, reporting on our city government with a high level of professionalism, is crucial to the local democratic process. During the 2018 election campaigns, publisher John Walsh earned respect with his sincere written apology for giving discounts and reserved political ad buys to incumbents and their PACS. He was cleared by the Elections Commission of any wrongful intent.

The Observer endorsed the incumbents in the 2018 election, and Mr. Walsh recently gave his personal written endorsement to the four incumbents running in 2020, explaining his decisions were rooted in his inherent support of growth for business, advertising, and jobs. He agreed with the mayor and commissioners on major issues, including the Hand Avenue extension, their partnerships with developers, and the adoption of state wetland regulations that replaced Ormonds strong standards.

Mr. Walsh explained that he compared the Observer candidate questionnaire answers with his own and endorsed the incumbents when those views aligned. A logical methodology, but the endorsement came as a surprise to the challengers who werent called in for interviews and were led to believe the newspaper would not be making 2020 endorsements. When they were sent the questionnaire, challengers were not told the publisher would use their answers in deciding hisendorsements. Not that a more transparent process would have led to different candidate answers or different publisher endorsements.

Each of the six questions limited candidate answers to twenty-five words. This narrow scope allowed little context and ignored other key questions. Has the commission acted responsibly in the pandemic to protect vulnerable citizens and essential workers? Should Biketoberfest vendor permits have been granted? What is the city doing about vacant storefronts and small businesses struggling to survive outside the downtown CRA zone? Are elections fair when incumbents receive tens of thousands of special interest dollars from corporations, developers, and PACS?

Clear conflicts of interest can be found in every incumbent campaign report. The challengers, struggling to get their messages out, have refused all corporate money. Some have had to invest personal funds to pay campaign bills.

Despite the disappointing endorsements, the Observer must be commended for publishing the candidate comparisons that provided a level playing field for challengers, and for printing readers editorials that allow all voices to be heard.

Ormond Beach is fortunate to be served by this gem of a community newspaper.

Lori Bennett

Ormond Beach

Continued here:

10 letters: Follow the campaign contributions, Hand Avenue extension project should be abandoned - Ormond Beach Observer

By Nella Letizia, WSU Libraries

A recent grant from the Center for Research Libraries Project CERES will allow Washington State University Libraries to digitize some 41,000 documents of early Washington State College Extension home economics publications as well as reports of the then-named Tree Fruit Experiment Station, todays WSU Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center.

The digital collection will be of interest to farmers, nutritionists, historians and cultural studies researchers looking for Extension material from the first half of the 20th century.

These materials provide not only a wealth of agricultural scientific knowledge, but they also provide a window into what life was like over the last century in the state of Washington, said David Luftig, WSU agricultural sciences librarian and principal investigator of the digitization project. Furthermore, we are also pleased that this collection will include most, if not all, of the early 20th-century home economics and gardening publications that have yet to be digitized.

Although the early Extension publications often provide a homogeneous voice, the home economics publications were typically written and edited by women and provide a unique voice regarding life in Washington that is seldom heard, he added.

The project is a continuation of two previous Project CERES-WSU collaborations in 2013 and 2014. The result of these digitization efforts is housed in the WSU Extension Publications Archive. WSU Extension materials are currently cataloged and located within locked library storage due to the fragility of the items, Luftig said.

It is expected these items will be more widely utilized once they are more accessible and have the appropriate metadata assigned, he said.

Along with Luftig, the digitization project will be managed by Gayle OHara, manuscripts librarian in Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections (MASC). Other staff from MASC and WSUs Owen Science and Engineering Library have contributed efforts as well.

In 2012, the Center for Research Libraries formed Project CERES with the U.S. Agriculture Information Network and the Agriculture Network Information Collaborative to support the ongoing preservation and digitization of collections in agriculture. Project CERES has two primary goals: to sustain consensus-based, cooperative archiving of primary serial collections in agriculture and to expand electronic access to digital and print resources from all world regions to support agricultural research.

See the article here:

Grant to fund digitization of early 20thcentury Extension publications - WSU News

International healthcare workers should have their visas automatically renewed for free to ensure they can help tackle the UKs second wave of coronavirus, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

Between the end of March and October 1, health and care staff with expiring visas had them automatically renewed for 12 months free-of-charge, allowing them to stay and work in the country.

Now, the BMA, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison have written to Home Secretary Priti Patel asking for the system to be extended as a matter of urgency.

The joint letter said: It is clear we are now entering a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With daily cases reaching record highs we need to do as much as possible to retain the skills and experience of our talented overseas colleagues as we have an incredibly tough few months ahead.

It added: We are calling on you as Home Secretary to intervene to renew the visa extension as a matter of urgency, on a rolling basis for the duration of the pandemic, to reflect the ongoing crisis and to demonstrate that our thankfulness for the sacrifice of these workers has not diminished.

The groups have also asked for the Government to refund any workers who have already paid to have their visas extended since October 1.

Dr Nagpaul, from the BMA which represents doctors in the UK, said international staff had worked tirelessly and selflessly during the pandemic.

He added: This often came at the expense of their own health and wellbeing, and as we know, in too many cases, we have seen staff who came from overseas to look after people in this country tragically lose their own lives to this dreadful virus.

Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN chief executive, said: Overseas nursing staff make a vital contribution to the nursing workforce and they have been under significant pressure caring for patients during the pandemic.

It is unfair that at the same time they should be worrying about arranging an extension to their visa.

If the Government wants to show support and recognition of those who have dedicated themselves to caring for UK patients, they should act now to grant automatic extension to visas throughout the pandemic.

Sara Gorton, Unison head of health, said: As infection rates rise, the NHS and social care services are going to need all the help they can get. The Government must extend the visa scheme for frontline staff.

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Unions demand extension to visa renewal scheme for international health workers - Redhill And Reigate Life