Queer-Inclusive The Wilds Trailer Has Teen Girls on a Deserted Island – Advocate.com

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In a world free from parents, boys, technology, and the expectations placed on young women, a group of disparate teen girls battle for their lives when a private plane they're in crashes into the ocean near a deserted island in The Wilds from Amazon Studios. Ingenuity meets past insecurities in the YA series from Sarah Streicher that features a diverse cast including Indigenous and queer characters and touches on gender, the effects of toxic masculinity, and environmental concerns.

The cast of mostly newcomers includes the bookish Nora (Helena Howard of Madeline's Madeline) and her athletic sister Rachel (Reign Edwards); wild child socialite Fatin (Sophia Ali); best friends who are Indigenous and one of whom is queer, Toni (Erana James) and Martha (Jenna Clause); the brokenhearted Leah (Sarah Pidgeon),; the reliable Dot (Shannon Berry); and the Christian beauty queen Shelby (Mia Healey).

Unlikely alliances form as the girls cope with their fate after washing up on the island with to few supplies and no foreseeable rescue mission on the way. Perennial favorite Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under, Hilary and Jackie, Muriels Wedding) also stars.

The 10-episode series drops on Amazon Prime on December 11. Watch the trailer below.

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Queer-Inclusive The Wilds Trailer Has Teen Girls on a Deserted Island - Advocate.com

Staten Island obituaries for Nov. 18, 2020 – SILive.com

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The following is a roundup of obituaries published onSILive.com. Viewing times and guestbooks can be foundhere.

William Hodgens, 68, a United States Air Force veteran who later joined the FDNY and was a 9/11 first responder, who is lovingly remembered as a family man, died Nov. 17, 2020.

Innocenzo Emanuel (Vincent) Spadola, 89, who was born in Ragusa, Italy, and lived in New Dorp for more than 50 years, and who was a father of five, died Nov. 10, 2020.

Vincent Jimmy Tumminello, 94, of New Dorp, who was co-owner of Tumminellos Deli in Great Kills for more than 50 years, and who had a passion for gardening, died Nov. 14, 2020.

Victoria Vicki Venditti, 76, a Staten Island native who was a retired special-education high school teacher and accomplished high school volleyball coach, died Nov. 15, 2020.

MONDAYS OBITUARIES:

Thomas P. Lapolla, 85, a United States Army veteran who later had a career with the FDNY, and who was a parishioner of St. Clares in Great Kills for 55 years, died Nov. 13, 2020.

Gail OBrien, 77, a lifelong Staten Islander and a graduate of St. Peters Girls High School, who worked for Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Alba House, died Nov. 14, 2020.

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Staten Island obituaries for Nov. 18, 2020 - SILive.com

Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Nov. 12-Nov. 19 – Shelter Island Reporter

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From the Highway Benevolent Association

To the Editor:

This is a statement of facts about Town Councilman Jim Colligans abuse of power by trying to suppress town employees constitutional First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech;

On Monday October 19, Mr. Colligan did not approve of the presidential political flags flying on town employees private vehicles at the Shelter Island Recycling Center. These are direct quotes of what he said to town employees:

Whats the deal with these flags?

You dont see me riding around with my Biden flags and at work.

Tell everyone to take down those flags and thats coming straight from Jim Colligan himself.

This is [expletive], you guys are making a political statement.

Dont expect me to do any [expletive] favors for you

Mr. Colligan knows you can have political signage on private vehicles on town property because he sees Supervisor Gerry Sillers bumper sticker on his car outside of the Town Halls door entrance every day. Another instance was when, last year, Democratic Committee chairperson Heather Reylek along with Councilman Mike Bebon, and County Legislator Bridget Fleming were actively campaigning and soliciting votes in the Recycling Center, which is the same place these presidential political flags were flying on personal vehicles.

There can be no tolerance for an employer to use their power to suppress an employees Constitutional 1st Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech. Jim Colligans inability to recognize and control his actions is why we have asked him to resign his position on the Shelter Island Town Board.

RAY W. CONGDON III, President, Shelter Island Highway Benevolent Association

Editors note: The town, through an outside counsel, is investigating the event. Mr. Colligan said: I will wait for the investigative report on the incident and will remind everyone that there are two sides to every story. I also will abide by the outcome of the investigations recommendations.

Thank you, PBA and veterans

To the Editor:

We would like to thank the Shelter Island PBA for orchestrating and financing the Veterans Day placards admired by all in the center of town.

After the late and unfortunate cancellation of the traditional Veterans Day service, the PBA came to us with this exceptional gesture. Due to the short window between the cancellation and Veterans Day, the placards were created off the Legions 2020 roster of active members. We regret any omissions caused by the short turnaround required to get the signs created in time.

Looking to the future, we would be most welcoming of any new members who would like to join.

We request that those interested send a letter with your contact information to Mitchell Post 281, P.O. Box 2021 Shelter Island, NY 11964 or leave a message at (631) 749-1180.

Thank you all for the outpouring of support. We hope to see you soon.

MEMBERS, MITCHELL POST 281, Shelter Island

Caring about the truth

To the Editor:

In response to the letter Handling the truth (Nov. 12), I was taken aback by some serious falsehoods presented as truth. As a philosophy professor, Im compelled to correct some of those errors, in the spirit of truth-seeking.

Creating fear is not a socialist agenda; it is a fascist one. Check the history of Germany, Spain, Italy in the 1930s. Look at socialist nations today, like Denmark and Sweden a climate of fear? I think not. Off-Island I saw a Trump 2020: Make the liberals cry again banner ouch. Blocking traffic up and down the Island is intimidation tactics 101.

Regarding the Democratic agenda: The country was founded on a separation of church and state precisely to safeguard religious choices. The Democratic positions may not drag God into our politics for this reason. I know plenty of Democrats who are deeply religious and see the message of Jesus as embracing all, even outsiders, with compassion. Sanctuary cities and more open borders may actually be something Jesus would approve of. And references to biased news? There are objective standards that measure news bias that one can consult for guidance.

My real concern is the trope of demonizing socialism. If youre really anti-socialism, do not accept Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, and certainly not the funds given many Americans to help them survive this pandemic. Wait, those are good programs? Well, thats socialism at work. Socialism is not the same as communism. Democrats are not advocating for communism.

Labeling President Trump as brutally honest is half right; hes brutal to anyone who disagrees with him. Honest? How honest was he about the pandemic in March? How honest is he now as the virus surges?

Finally, to the point of the letter. I liked the Codger column last week on the Trump banners at the dump. Yes, maybe Supervisor Siller could have handled that better, but I know as an employee Im not allowed to display political banners in my office.

The letter ends with a conciliatory note. We can all get behind that, but we need to call one another out when we offer unfounded opinions. The letter writer and I care about the truth. I know I dont fully have it, but misinformation needs addressing. We may be entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts.

WENDY C. TURGEON, Shelter Island

Giving thanks

To the Editor:

Here we are heading into Turkey Day with all kinds of new rules, Its going to be interesting. But we here on Shelter Island have much to be thankful for. If I recall the Indians had something to do with the first one. (I will not go there).

This yard sale business: I watched the last Town Board meeting and all that banter. How about garage sales? Will they fall into the same category or is that a different issue?

I am a North Midway Road resident, and it seems that the South Midway Road resident who has been targeted always has some interesting stuff. As I do, and I will be having a garage sale soon. So, anyway lets see how this all plays out, but its a big waste of time with more important issues to debate.

One of them: Plum Island. Who is the Shelter Island liaison with all of this, with the New York State Parks Commission, Town of Southold etc.? My thoughts are that now that Nancy Goroff has conceded, that she take over and turn the place into a Marine biology, ornithology, and any other kind of ology lab. She professes to be so concerned about the East End and her connection with Stony Brook University are screaming for her intervention. Lets get this place preserved for all mankind and creatures great and small.

By the way, congratulations to Lee Zeldin. Im sure he would jump on board with preserving the Island of Plum for all of us to enjoy. Confession time: Many years ago while out boating, I trespassed with my children. It was a gem of a place, magical actually, and I still have shells and some rocks as souvenirs.

Asking for a friend; where can I get a copy of a New York State mail-in ballot for her. I did absentee.

Thanksgiving Day 2020 will be remembered for a long time, a real day of giving thanks whether youre having a turkey sandwich or a big bird.

Stay well, stay safe, and mask up.

GEORGIANA KETCHAM, Shelter Island

Respect

To the Editor:

Ive witnessed two things lately that depressed me. Driving south on Midway Road, at the intersection with Lake Drive I saw that somebody had deposited their dog poop bag on the side of the road. Listen, I know from ample experience that picking up after ones dog is a drag, but really?

How much effort would it have taken for the person to carry that bag 100 yards back home? I guess they either thought that, Well, somebody else will pick it up or they werent even thinking that is, they werent thinking about anybody else besides themselves.

And, lately, Ive noticed that the so-called Goody Pile at the Recycling Center has become a veritable dumping ground for, well, garbage. Its strewn all over the place. I feel bad for the guys who work really hard at the dump (regardless of their politics) having to pick up after some thoughtless Islanders.

I dont think I can assign that unfortunate trend to the idea that one mans garbage is worth displaying at the Shelter Island Mall in the hope that it is another mans worthwhile garbage. I think these two instance reflect a worrisome trend: people are more self-centered and give less of a hoot about other people than ever before.

Cmon people: I know its a hackneyed concept, but how about treating other people the way youd like them to treat you?

SCOTT A. ROBBINS, Shelter Island

Reviewing records

To the Editor:

This serves as response to an Oct. 21 certified letter signed by the mayor of Dering Harbor, Patrick Parcells, to me as a former village trustee and mayor, demanding all my emails from July 2016 through June 2018.

The Village initiated its current email system in or about January 2018. From that time through June 2018 my last month in office my official emails were copied to either [emailprotected] or [emailprotected] and in most cases included a courtesy copy to one or more trustees using either their personal email accounts or the villages including Mr. Parcells after I appointed him trustee.

From July 2016 through January 2018, official emails were copied to [emailprotected] as well as direct copies to the trustees.

The village and mayor should review their records to catalog them properly.

As the mayor and trustees continue to meet via Zoom conference governors orders or not with the purpose of protecting themselves and residents during the pandemic, it is unclear why the mayor would needlessly expose the clerk, requiring her to prepare correspondence by certified mail (with special steps and forms at the post office) when other options exist. Do the trustees (Kelsey, Benacerraf, Kelly, Goldfarb) support the mayors behavior during the rise of COVID cases?

In the event the mayor chooses to target er, make demands on former village officials, I suggest Mr. Parcells do so at public meetings where he can discuss his reasons with the trustees, and where counsel can vet approved communication for legal and careless errors.

JOHN T. COLBY Jr., Shelter Island

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Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Nov. 12-Nov. 19 - Shelter Island Reporter

Staten Island schools begin weekly coronavirus testing: What you need to know – silive.com

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Since Staten Island was designated a yellow zone by New York state last week, both public and non-public schools are now mandated to randomly test 20% of the school population weekly -- starting this week.

According to the city Department of Education (DOE), 118 school sites are in the Staten Island yellow zone.

We currently have the consent and participation in Staten Island schools required to perform a comprehensive surveillance testing program, said Nathaniel Styer, DOE spokesman. Still, we highly encourage all parents with students attending in-person to consent to safe, fast random testing. Participation by everyone keeps both our schools and community safer.

When Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the citys plan in September to conduct random coronavirus testing at public schools throughout the current academic year, parents were outraged -- with some stating they would not allow their kids to be tested in school.

How does coronavirus testing work?

Testing partners come to district schools to test a randomly selected group of staff and students from grades 1-12. The number of people to be tested depends on the size of the school, but will consist of 10% to 20% of a schools population each month, students and staff included.

Now that Staten Island is in a yellow zone, testing will be conducted on a weekly basis for 20% of the population.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Once a month, or once a week as Staten Island remains in a yellow zone, a provider will visit your childs school with a randomly selected list of students and staff to be tested that day.

The testing provider will set up in a designated area in the school. Staff from the school or the testing team will visit the appropriate classroom to retrieve students from that class who have been selected to be tested that day. Those students will be escorted to the testing area, tested quickly, and then escorted back to their classroom.

The DOE said it doesnt expect any child to be out of class for more than 15 to 30 minutes total from the time that he or she is picked up at the classroom until he or she is escorted back to class.

How will my child be tested?

According to the DOE, the test is easy, quick and safe.

Instead of the long swab that goes into the back of the nose, this test is a short, small swab like a Q-tip that goes just in the front of the nose. The cotton swab is in the nose for five to 10 seconds, so the entire process of explaining the test to the child and then swabbing him or her generally takes only minutes.

According to the DOE, its possible later this school year that tests will be administered by collecting a small amount of saliva.

You can watch the citys video below of what testing looks like.

Do I need to give consent for testing?

In order to administer a COVID-19 test to students, the DOE needs parental consent for those under 18 years old. The city strongly encourages families to sign and return the consent form.

If you have an NYC Schools Account (NYCSA), you can complete the consent form electronically through the web application. If you revoke consent for testing through NYCSA, please notify your childs school as well.

If your child is selected for testing but is uncomfortable or unable to be tested, the DOE wont test your child and will work with you to address any concerns so he or she can participate in future testing.

If your child is tested, the DOE will let you know; results will typically be provided within 48 to 72 hours.

Where can I find testing results in my childs school?

You can find citywide, boroughwide, and schoolwide coronavirus testing results on the DOEs website.

To find school results, you can go here and search for your school name in the search bar or by typing in the borough in which your school is located.

STATEN ISLAND IN YELLOW ZONE

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Staten Island a micro-cluster yellow zone last Wednesday because the borough has a seven-day average positivity above 2.5%, as well as increases in its new rate of cases per 100,000 people and new daily hospital admissions.

Additionally, there has been a recent uptick in cases in public schools, forcing dozens of borough schools to temporarily shutter since the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Staten Islands public schools recently reported the highest three-day increase of coronavirus cases since September.

Despite high positivity rates on Staten Island and citywide, the positivity rate in New York City public schools has been low, according to data from the citys monthly random testing program in schools.

From Oct. 9 through Nov. 12, just 0.19% of total coronavirus tests, or 228 out of 123,585 tests conducted at public schools citywide through the program were positive. On Staten Island, 16 out of 6,751 tests, or 0.25%, conducted in public schools were positive.

If positivity rates dont decrease, public schools on Staten Island will also need to close and move all students to remote instruction. The borough could move into the orange zone if the seven-day average positivity rate in the borough increases from 2.5% to 3% for 10 days.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.

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Hatteras Island power supply much more stable now – The Coastland Times – The Coastland Times

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Judy Banks remembers.

So does Richard Marlin, who wrote, remember the days? ONE,. TWO,. THREE and were OUT! Marlin was counting blinks.

Writes Hatteras village resident Judy Banks on her Facebook page: 15-20 years ago, if the lights blinked once: prepare. If the lights blinked twice: prepare for an outage. If the lights blinked again, dont expect them to come back on; prepare for two to three hour outage.

We got 5 or 6 blinks from this one, said Banks about the Thursday outage. We had time to get candles lit and flashlights prepared. If this is CHEMC problem, we will be up and running soon.

Banks praise for the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative crews was repeated from other islanders. Thursday night, Nov. 12, was not weather nice. The linemen went anyway.

Power stability came to the island in 1995, some 25 years ago.

On interim manager Jim Sherfeys first day on the job, Jan. 15, 1995, he woke up before daylight and discovered Buxton was without power. Sherfey recalled he was told that was the way it was on Hatteras Island.

Service reliability was a critical concern of the cooperatives Board of Directors in 1995 and for Sherfey during his managerial tenure. During his first year on the job, Sherfey oversaw the completion of the cooperatives new 115 Kv transmission line from Oregon Inlet to Buxton, a $10.5 million job.

The new transmission lines stabilized the islands system, which was described as a rubber band stretched to its capacity.

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Hatteras Island power supply much more stable now - The Coastland Times - The Coastland Times

Blue whales are returning to a tiny island in the sub-Antarctic 50 years after whaling in the region brought – Business Insider India

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Despite the International Whaling Commissions (IWC) efforts to provide legal protection in the 1960s, illegal hunting continued till 1972.

"The continued absence of blue whales at South Georgia has been seen as an iconic example of a population that was locally exploited beyond the point where it could recover, said Susannah Calderan, the lead author of the study published in Endangered Species Research.

What happened in South Georgia 50 years ago?At least 42,498 blue whales were killed between 1904 to 1971 in the Atlantic Ocean around South Georgia. Most of them met their doom before the 1930s.

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This is the first time that blue whales have been spotted in the region again, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Their study also shows that humpback whales are also making a comeback.

Blue whales return to South GeorgiaAs far as the British Antarctic Survey can tell, blue whales returning to the waters of South Georgia this time around arent the same ones that used to live in the region before.

However, 2020 was a milestone year. This year resulted in more blue whale sightings than ever before at 58, in addition to numerous acoustic detections.

"We don't quite know why it has taken the blue whales so long to come back. It may be that so many of them were killed at South Georgia that there was a loss of cultural memory in the population, that the area was a foraging ground, and that it is only now being rediscovered," said Calderan.

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Blue whales are returning to a tiny island in the sub-Antarctic 50 years after whaling in the region brought - Business Insider India

Billionaire William Gross Accused Of Blasting Gilligans Island Theme Song In Neighbor Dispute – CBS Los Angeles

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LAGUNA BEACH (CBSLA) Testimony is expected to continue this week in a neighbor-versus-neighbor dispute that includes the theme song from the 1960s classic Gilligans Island.

Tech entrepreneur Mark Towfiq says he can hear his neighbor, William Gross, allegedly blare the theme song on a loop, all-night long, for hours at a time.

The lawsuit says Gross and his girlfriend who cohabitates with him play their loud music constantly at decibel levels and at times of day well over the municipal code limits. Gross and Schwartzs typical pattern was to project earsplitting music much of the day and then switch to theme songs such as the one for Gilligans Island intermittently throughout the night.

Gross, a billionaire, lives in a $32 million mansion in the upscale Orange County community of Laguna Beach. The feud stems from the installation of a large glass sculpture worth $1 million which Gross displays with netting to protect it.

Towfiq alleges the net blocks his view of the ocean, while Gross says the net is necessary to protect the sculpture.

To that end, Towfiq informed the city of the actions, and the suit alleges, The City investigated, found the complaint to have merit, and issued a notice of violation to Defendants.

As a result, and allegedly in retaliation, the suit says Gross has allegedly been blaring his music. Officers have been called to the home several times and one officer testified that she found the music unreasonably loud.

The defendants are also accused of blasting other music, such as the theme songs from M*A*S*H and Green Acres on a loop, according to the lawsuit.

Testimony was expected to continue this week.

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Billionaire William Gross Accused Of Blasting Gilligans Island Theme Song In Neighbor Dispute - CBS Los Angeles

Rowena Pagan and team help feed the houseless community – The Garden Island

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All it took was one selfless woman at the beginning of the pandemic, Rowena Pangan, to spearhead and get the ball rolling for a community meal delivery program that runs every Saturday for the houseless communities island-wide with 12 to 15 committed volunteers.

I love it, Pangan, co-founder and co-CEO of Hoomana Thrift Store in Wailua, said. Growing up, we were really poor, and I know what it is like not to have. Before running Hoomana, I worked with the judiciary system, so when inmates come out of jail, I have a one-on-one with them. I retouch base with them, and thats where I found out where most of the campsites are.

Besides working every day at the thrift store until 11 p.m., and helping to feed the houseless communities weekly, Pangan does home health care and takes care of the kupuna, which is why she was nominated as The Garden Islands Hometown Hero.

When COVID-19 first broke out, Pangan and her team started the Malama meals, which were being delivered from Honolulu.

We had two hours to distribute 1,600 meals island-wide, and I started with Kamealoha Smith, former candidate for Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees, Pangan said. With other drivers, from Hanalei to Kekaha, we had 15-20 drivers, depending on the days from Monday through Sunday.

During the pandemic, Pangan teamed up with Smith and Regina Floyd, a Hoomana Thrift Stores marketing consultant, in hopes to find a way to keep the meal program going.

I talk to Kamealoha and Regina, and we all put our thoughts together and wrote a small grant proposal to the county and was awarded $125,000 of CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funding, Pangan said. Now we are serving on Saturdays and we will be serving on Thanksgiving and all Saturdays until the end of the year.

Floyd pointed out what Pangan did at the beginning of their journey together.

When we first started, what she started doing was taking the DOE (Department of Education) meals down to the keiki living in the campgrounds, Floyd said. The kids were being fed breakfast and lunch but there was nothing for the adults. And she got to see what was happening, what food was or was not coming and learning about all of the other campgrounds.

Floyd explained how she got involved with Pangan.

I am supporting her because I got involved with Hoomana, the thrift store to start out with and then I became friends with Ro, while helping with marketing the store, Floyd said. I really saw the mission and the vision of what she was trying to do, and not only just in the thrift store, its more than just the thrift store but I saw what she was doing outside of the community.

Farah Aquino, a co-owner of Passion Bakery Caf, piggybacked off Floyds thoughts and shared how she and her bakery got involved.

Regina had posted that they were looking for somebody to partner up with to donate meals for the Kamalani Kai Bridge homeless camp, Aquino said. It was the beginning of COVID, tourism shut down, and we had all this meat in our freezers. We had given our staff a whole bunch of stuff, yet we still had a lot of product as we shut down for two weeks.

We just did it cause we had the stuff and we had the PPE (personal protective equipment) and the labor hours, so we donated it. We had 1600 plates one time at this bakerythat was crazy but was good. We kind of had the same heart in the mission but in different ways, Aquino said.

Aquino said she was a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, and through the help from people like Pangan, she turned her life around and now finds herself helping others like herself to pay it forward too.

Today, miraculously, I have a work line from the jail and a work line from the drug court, and now its an all female group. Every Saturday they volunteer, together we five volunteers weekly.

Since the grant will end on Dec. 31, they are hoping for someone from the community to help them fund their delivery meals program, Pangan said.

We are praying the Lord will bless us with more funding so we can continue to bless the people because with the tough economic times, Kamalani Kai is growing, every, Pangan said. Every week it keeps growing and growing, there is more need for food.

Aquino said its important to remember that everybody is human.

I think in this time in this day of age, people need to have more compassion and try to put themselves in other peoples shoes, Aquino said. I see the chatter going back and forth on Kauai Rave and Rants on Facebook, about the homeless camps. It is really sad. Thats somebodys aunty, somebodys uncle, somebodys child, there is a human face on these people.

A lot of mental illness, a lot of substance abuse, and this is Hawaii, yeah and its very expensive to live here and there is a housing crisis, and we got a lot of factors at play and people just need to have more compassion and more love in their hearts, Aquino added.

Floyd added to Aquinos message.

And collaborate, be willing to work together, its not our organization against yours, Floyd said. Its working together to do more. I mean here is a bakery and thrift store coming together to feed the houseless on a regular basis.

Pangan agreed with Floyd and said she is looking at 550 people in need and she is going all the way to the Westside.

The Kaleohano family from Niihau hanai me, so I have personal relationships with Niihau people and there is a whole lot there, probably another 300 people more, Pangan said.

With all of that giving, Pangan still finds time to fix the Hoomana Thrift Store.

We got flooded in March with the floods, so we are trying to get reestablished again, so people can start bringing in their donations-not only food is needed-people are looking for towels and blankets as the weather changes, Pangan said.

To make a donation or volunteer, contact Rowena Pangan at 808-346-6561, Regina Floyd at 702-292-2372, or email hoomanakauai@gmail.com.

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Rowena Pagan and team help feed the houseless community - The Garden Island

John McAfee prison interview: I plan to never return to the US – The Independent

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Imprisoned software tycoon John McAfee has described his ongoing experience locked inside a Spanish prison as a fascinating adventure and says he plans to never return to the US.

Nearly two years after fleeing the US with his wife and a handful of bodyguards, Spanish police arrested McAfee last month at the request of the US Department of Justice. Prosecutors are currently seeking to extradite him to face tax fraud charges.

It is the latest in a string of controversies for McAfee, who has been arrested numerous times since founding the eponymous antivirus company more than 30 years ago. He has previously been suspected of unlicensed drug manufacturing, carrying illegal weapons, and in 2012 police in Belize named him a person of interest in connection to the murder of his neighbour though he was never charged and strongly denies any involvement.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent from the Brians 1 prison just outside Barcelona, where he has been incarcerated since early October, 75-year-old McAfee describes the latest stint as by far the most entertaining of all his stays behind bars.

I am constantly amused and sometimes moved. The graffiti alone could fill a thousand-page thriller, he says. A few of my fellow prisoners have confided in me small pieces of their lives.

One young man from Senegal confided that he is a guest here for stabbing random people. They were bad people, he explained. Another confessed to accidentally strangling his wife. He did not explain why it was an accident but you must admit accidents do happen.

All in all, its fascinating to watch and an adventure to experience.

Prisoners and guards recognised him when he first went in, with some even asking him for his autograph. He is distinguished not only by his infamy and foreignness, but also by his tendency to wear a suit and tie.

One nice aspect of Spanish prisons is that prison uniforms are not required. You may dress according to your means and desires, he says. I was issued an orange jumpsuit on arrival, as all are, and occasionally wear it when the mood strikes me. At other times I wear everything from a suit and tie to lounge wear.

McAfee pictured at an undisclosed location in Europe earlier this year

(Janice McAfee)

McAfees main point of contact with the outside world is his wife Janice, who remains in Spain but has so far been unable to visit him in person. Instead, she keeps in touch through eight-minute phone calls, providing updates about ongoing legal matters and other news.

She has started the #FreeJohnMcAfee and #FreeMcAfee campaigns on social media in an effort to raise awareness about his situation, while also offering support behind the scenes.

Right now we are playing this situation close to our chests and I dont want to reveal any details on how we are working to secure Johns release, she tells The Independent. This is an obvious political scheme on the part of the US government and we are working on strategies to reveal this obvious scam.

The controversial libertarian has claimed in recent years that he has been pursued by various branches of federal law enforcement agencies, including the CIA and FBI. The latest arrest relates to the Inland Revenue Service.

Prosecutors in Tennessee, where McAfee lived before leaving the US, claim McAfee hid property, a yacht and other assets from the IRS. When McAfee fled the country in January 2019 with his wife and bodyguards, he took the yacht to the Carribean but soon faced further troubles with local police. After hopping from the Bahamas to Cuba, his entourage was detained in the Dominican Republic for carrying high-calibre weapons, ammunition and military-style gear without declaring them.

McAfee says they were arrested before they even had a chance to declare them, and were threatened with deportation to the US. A couple of decent lawyers prevented that, at which point they asked us where we wanted to go. I said England, thats where they sent us, he says.

The Centre Penitenciari Brians 1 in Catalonia where McAfee is incarcerated

(Europris)

A June indictment, unsealed last month, accused McAfee of tax evasion and wilful failure to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018. McAfee freely admits this, saying he has not in fact paid taxes for 10 years and informed the IRS of his refusal to file returns in principle. The agencys decision to pursue his case only came after he announced his intention to run for president under the Libertarian banner, he claims.

McAfee came close to winning the Libertarian Party candidacy in 2016, losing out to Gary Johnson, and planned to run again in 2020. Instead, he was forced to follow this years US elections from prison, drip fed morsels through phone calls with his wife.

His refusal to pay tax aligns with the Libertarian Partys policy on the issue, which states, forcing people to pay taxes is inherently wrong. The Libertarian Party did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent about whether it was assisting McAfee in any way with his legal situation.

If convicted in the US of all charges, McAfee faces up to 30 years in prison. However, he claims there is zero chance that Spain will extradite him. The courts will see the clear resentment of the American government toward my public condemnation," he says, adding that the possibility of him ever returning to the US is extremely unlikely.

Court dates remain pending.

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John McAfee prison interview: I plan to never return to the US - The Independent

Bitcoin Price Continues to Roar Higher, Pushing to $16,750 – NewsBTC

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Bitcoin has continued to soar higher after our last market update. The cryptocurrency recently traded as high as $16,770, a new year-to-date high and a new multi-year high.

Many analysts saw this latest leg higher as notable as BTC moved above $16,600, the level at which John McAfee famously tweeted the following statement:

Bitcoin now at $16,600.00. Those of you in the old school who believe this is a bubble simply have not understood the new mathematics of the Blockchain, or you did not cared enough to try. Bubbles are mathematically impossible in this new paradigm. So are corrections and all else.

Analysts think the cryptocurrency rallies even higher in the days ahead. Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini and a prominent cryptocurrency investor recently said:

I do think we will see an all-time-high price for #Bitcoin before 2020 is over. Even though the price has climbed from 10k to almost 14k in less than a month, it hasnt really gone on a breakout run yet. When we start to see 3-5k surges then the bulls will be on the run.

The fundamentals also lend to continued upside.

Analyst Willy Woo recently noted that the Realized Price Bitcoin metric is moving higher, suggesting the ongoing rally is organic:

Realised Price estimates the average price the market paid for their BTC. Now at its steepest slope for this cycle, meaning capital influx into#Bitcoinis at its highest rate since the last bull market. (Higher than last years $4k-$14k move; the current move is more organic.). For the sake of this comment Ill define organic.

Bitcoin could continue to move higher if the daily candle closes above the previous local highs.

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Bitcoin Price Continues to Roar Higher, Pushing to $16,750 - NewsBTC

In post-election rally, bitcoin surges to its highest price in three years – SiliconANGLE News

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The price of bitcoin surged to its highest level in three years today in a rally that some are suggesting will surpass the run-up in 2017.

Therecentsurge coincided with the U.S. presidential election, but bitcoin started to climb before that, trading at $11.406.06 on Oct. 17.

Although bitcoin has not surpassed its record high of $19,783.06 on Jan. 1, 2017, it has hit its all-time record high in terms of market capitalization, sitting at $329.3 billion. More bitcoin has been mined three years after bitcoins price record, boosting its market cap.Market capitalization is a helpful measure for comparing bitcoin to other financial assets, companies or value systems, Peter Chawaga at Bitcoin Magazinenoted.

Whether the current rise of bitcoin is sustainable is another matter. CNBC reportedthat bitcoins climb this year, during which it has risen 137% year-to-date, is down to a number of factors, including government-related COVID-19 stimulus and interest from big-name investors.

The gap between the crypto world and traditional financialinstitutions has closed dramatically, Charles Hayter, chief executive officer of crypto market data provider CryptoCompare, told CNBC. The result is that incumbent players are now fine to play in the digital asset markets. The narrative that is compelling them to do so is this alignment of COVID,monetary policy and political disarray globally.

Coindesk warnedthat the recent highs could result in a sell-off in response. Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, while warning thats likely, also described any sell-off as a speed bump to bitcoins long-term trajectory.

Others are predicting near-future record highs for bitcoin.Philip Swift, a bitcoin analyst and the creator of Lookintobitcoin.com told Cointelegraph that he believes that bitcoin will peak at $22,000 for a variety of reasons, including reserves dropping, institutional accumulation and a growing futures market.

Althoughthe prospects for bitcoin come year-end are looking positive, theres next to no chance that it will hit $1 million. The prediction for bitcoins price was famously made by John McAfee when he said in 2017 that he would eat his own dick if bitcoin didnt hit the mark.

McAfee has since deniedmaking the claim and hassaidthat he never believed bitcoin would hit $1 million, but the internet doesnt forget. Theres even a site with a countdown to when McAfee is meant to deliver on his promise.

Show your support for our mission with our one-click subscription to our YouTube channel (below). The more subscribers we have, the more YouTube will suggest relevant enterprise and emerging technology content to you. Thanks!

Support our mission: >>>>>> SUBSCRIBE NOW >>>>>> to our YouTube channel.

Wed also like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we dont have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary onSiliconANGLE along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams attheCUBE take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.

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In post-election rally, bitcoin surges to its highest price in three years - SiliconANGLE News

Bitcoin price – In post-election rally, bitcoin surges to its highest price in three years – Fintech Zoom

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Bitcoin price In post-election rally, bitcoin surges to its highest price in three years

The price of bitcoin surged to its highest stage in three years at present in a rally that some are suggesting will surpass the run-up in 2017.

Thecurrentsurge coincided with the U.S. presidential election, however bitcoin began to climb earlier than that, buying and selling at $11.406.06 on Oct. 17.

Though bitcoin has not surpassed its report excessive of $19,783.06 on Jan. 1, 2017, it has hit its all-time report excessive by way of market capitalization, sitting at $329.three billion. Extra bitcoin has been mined three years after bitcoins price report, boosting its market cap.Market capitalization is a helpful measure for comparing bitcoin to other financial assets, companies or value systems, Peter Chawaga at Bitcoin Journalfamous.

Whether or not the present rise of bitcoin is sustainable is one other matter. CNBC reportedthat bitcoins climb this 12 months, throughout which it has risen 137% year-to-date, is right down to various elements, together with government-related COVID-19 stimulus and curiosity from big-name buyers.

The gap between the crypto world and traditional financialinstitutions has closed dramatically, Charles Hayter, chief govt officer of crypto market knowledge supplier CryptoCompare, instructed CNBC. The result is that incumbent players are now fine to play in the digital asset markets. The narrative that is compelling them to do so is this alignment of COVID,monetary policy and political disarray globally.

Fintech Zoom warnedthat the current highs may lead to a sell-off in response. Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, whereas warning thats probably, additionally described any sell-off as a speed bump to bitcoins long-term trajectory.

Others are predicting near-future report highs for bitcoin.Philip Swift, a bitcoin analyst and the creator of Lookintobitcoin.com instructed Fintech Zoom that he believes that bitcoin will peak at $22,000 for quite a lot of causes, together with reserves dropping, institutional accumulation and a rising futures market.

Thoughthe prospects for bitcoin come year-end are wanting constructive, theres subsequent to no likelihood that itll hit $1 million. The prediction for bitcoins price was famously made by John McAfee when he stated in 2017 that he would eat his own dick if bitcoin didnt hit the mark.

McAfee has since deniedmaking the declare and hasstatedthat he by no means believed bitcoin would hit $1 million, however the web doesnt overlook. Theres even a web site with a countdown to when McAfee is supposed to ship on his promise.

Present your help for our mission with our one-click subscription to our YouTube channel (beneath). The extra subscribers weve got, the extra YouTube will recommend related enterprise and rising know-how content material to you. Thanks!

Help our mission: >>>>>> SUBSCRIBE NOW >>>>>> to our YouTube channel.

Wed additionally prefer to inform you about our mission and how one can assist us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.s enterprise model is predicated on the intrinsic value of the content material, not promoting. Not like many on-line publications, we dont have a paywall or run banner promoting, as a result of we wish to maintain our journalism open, with out affect or the necessity to chase visitors.The journalism, reporting and commentary onSiliconANGLE together with dwell, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video groups attheCUBE take a variety of onerous work, money and time. Preserving the standard excessive requires the help of sponsors whore aligned with our imaginative and prescient of ad-free journalism content material.

When you just like the reporting, video interviews and different ad-free content material right here,please take a second to take a look at a pattern of the video content material supported by our sponsors,tweet your support, and maintain coming again toSiliconANGLE.

Bitcoin price In post-election rally, bitcoin surges to its highest price in three years

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Ep. 39 | Bitcoin soars to new highs as Bitcoin Cash hard forks into two. Tron blows past Ethereum. – Forkast News

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In this issue

From the Editors Desk

Dear Reader,

What happens when there is no consensus, and governance breaks down into two distinct groups that instead of working together, decide to split and go their own separate ways?

Thats exactly what happened in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain this past week. Bitcoin Cash (which separated from Bitcoin back in August 2017) has forked again, with a faction called Bitcoin ABC splitting off Bitcoin Cash. But if you were to have sat with the rhetorical question I started this missive with, really it could have been a commentary on what were experiencing politically around the world. In this way, I think that is the truest challenge of our human nature.

What happens when two distinct points of view cant agree? In blockchain, those lined up behind the two tribes split. In the case of Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin ABC (the group breaking away via hard fork of Bitcoin Cash), the market has decided. The miners (akin to the electorate) decided to stay with Bitcoin Cash, voting with their work. The majority of miners continued to provide hash power to Bitcoin Cash and continued doing the important job of adding transaction records upon which that blockchain protocol is based. Bitcoin ABC failed to win the miners over.

It reminds me of something most of us learned as children from that old Aesop fable about a bundle of sticks: the importance of cooperation. That we are stronger together. Being divided exposes weaknesses and presents more opportunities for attack, with fewer allies to help overcome obstacles. It underscores the adage: United we stand, divided we fall. In blockchain, or otherwise.

Until the next time,

Angie LauFounder and Editor-in-Chief

Forkast.News and Decrypt are inviting you to Around the Campfire, an online salon with cryptos biggest names. This week features an exclusive discussion with the Filecoin team about their launch, the roadmap ahead and the future of decentralized storage.

By the numbers: Bitcoin over 5,000% increase in Google search volume.

Bitcoin crossed the US$18,000 mark for the first time in three years and is currently trading at $17,770 at press time. According to a Citibank note to institutional clients titled, Bitcoin: 21st Century Gold that was shared on social media by community members, managing director Thomas Fitzpatrick is predicting bitcoin prices to reach US$318,000 by the end of 2021.

Forkast.Insights | What does it mean?

Predicting that bitcoin will skyrocket to six-figure valuations is a hobby as old as time. John McAfee perfected the craft, but he was far from the only one. So much of crypto Twitter would love to chime in with their large-figured forecasts to build positive sentiment around the coin and push prices to the moon.

As bitcoin moves further to becoming an institutional-grade asset versus being a speculative commodity and a not-very-useful currency, its going to get more analyst attention from big name financial institutions, which in turn generates headlines such as this. But that doesnt mean the methodology is valid. Citibanks analysis, which points to bitcoin hitting US$318,000, is based on parallels to the gold market from the 1970s to the present. Gold, as the report notes, was constricted around the $30 mark until it was officially de-linked from the U.S. dollar in 1971 and became a popular hedge against inflation in the 1980s free of a tie to any currency.

But can all of this be applied to bitcoin? In some ways, yes. We will likely see a long run in prices as the market hunts for an alternative asset class with the likely weakening of the U.S. dollar due to unprecedented debt loads and deficits as recovery from Covid-19 defines the early 2020s. Should we be expecting a 20-times multiplier on current prices? Not likely. Golds rally was because of a tectonic shift in the ability to convert gold to dollars. Theres nothing like that in store for cryptocurrency.

By the numbers: Bitcoin Cash ABC over 5,000% increase in Google search volume.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) experienced its second hard fork into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin ABC after the BCH community rejected a proposed update from developer Amaury Sechets group, Bitcoin Cash ABC. Sechet, the self-described benevolent dictator of Bitcoin ABC, proposed 8% of mining rewards be redistributed to the development team.

Forkast.Insights | What does it mean?

The fork of Bitcoin Cash to create Bitcoin Cash ABC its second after the creation of Bitcoin Satoshi Vision in 2018 is best described as contentious, with a debate centered around the proposed infrastructure funding plan (IFP), which taxes miners at 8%, with the proceeds earmarked for future development of the protocol. At the same time, Bitcoin Cash ABC proponents argued that there was a pathway forward for Bitcoin Cash with creating larger block sizes, but this development costs money and hence the need for the tax. Opponents of the idea argued that this would increase centralization and was antithetical to the idea of cryptocurrency in the first place.

Battle lines were drawn between Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA). Given Bitcoin Cash Nodes associations with Craig Wright who lives in the fiction of being Satoshi some big names have come out swinging against it. Vitalik Buterin called on team BCH to not give in to pressure and stand their ground, even if it meant a fracture in the community, while Bitmains Jihan Wu has called Wright a fake and encouraged both sides to work things out instead of going through with a fork.

But despite all of this, BCHA seems to be on the losing side of history. According to CoinDance, the ABC team simply cant muster the hash power that the other side can. The fact that BCHN has pulled so far ahead in terms of support from miners shows the idea of an 8% tax simply wasnt a winning proposition despite the involvement of Craig Wright on the other side.

By the numbers: Tron over 5,000% increase in Google search volume.

Trons total transaction volume in Q3 increased by 2,725% when compared to Q2 of this year. According to the dapps analysis company DappRadar, This Q3 increase was enough for Tron to edge out Ethereum in total transaction volume for the month of October. Tron generated US$280 million while Ethereum generated $159 million in transaction volume.

Forkast.Insights | What does it mean?

Is the cryptocurrency world now taking a shine to Tron and its controversial founder, Justin Sun?

Trons spike in total transaction volume is largely because of Ethereums congestion and DeFi protocols looking for a new temporary home. During this quarter, a number of DeFi platforms were launched on Tron, including the eponymous Sun token, which has over US$200 million staked, or the JUST family of protocols that lets anyone develop a turnkey solution for DeFi, as well as the Decentralized Exchange JustSwap.

Despite the bad press and many controversies involving Trons founder Sun, Tron is a well established blockchain with plenty of liquidity. Its in a perfect place to catch the spillover from Ethereum for industry players that dont want to bet on an unestablished startup chain. This isnt in any way supposed to canonize Tron as something other than what it is, but rather a matter of Tron being in the right place at the right time.

By the numbers: Ethereum over 5,000% increase in Google search volume.

Ethereum is experiencing turbulence leading up to the launch of phase 0 of Ethereum 2 which is currently scheduled for December 1 if conditions are met. Ethereums major infrastructure provider Infura experienced a service outage, which brought down popular dapps such as MakerDAO and Metamask.

Forkast.Insights | What does it mean?

A platform thats supposed to be the worlds computer became much less useful overnight because a centralized software infrastructure provider failed.

Ouch! Take that, blockchain maximalists.

As much as people like to tout the decentralized nature of Ethereum, the reality is, things like dApps and ERC-20 tokens rely on infrastructure providers like Infura to act as a bridge between the blockchain and their apps. Infuras application programming interface (API) allows blockchain apps to write to the blockchain. Everything from price feeds to token withdrawals were impacted.

Decentralized Ethereum relies on centralized pipes that act as a layer between the blockchain and software. Of course, Infura doesnt have a monopoly on this; there are other providers. But the problem is, there are points of failure. So what sort of decentralization exists if you are reliant on one of three major infrastructure providers? Of course, any large institution such as an exchange would have multiple providers but it seems like many were still adversely impacted regardless.

Theres no obvious solution to this, as there will only be a handful of providers of that scale, but its something to think about when extolling the virtues of blockchains ability to decentralize.

The Digital Currency Research Institute, a unit of Peoples Bank of China, signed a pact with Lakala Payment, a third party payment company in China, to further develop the payment functions of the new DCEP digital yuan.

Forkast.Insights | What does it mean?

Any sort of payments will require a payment processor, the entity to move funds from the customers bank to the merchant, and Lakala Payment group is no stranger to that. In fact, the firm was one of the first credit card payment processors in China with a network of 30,000 terminals across 38 cities by the end of 2009.

But then it got disrupted. Once smartphones became popular in 2012 and 2013 and WeChat and AliPay became payment giants, card-based transactions became, for many, a thing of the past. WeChat and Alipay were disintermediaries for the payments sector as they handled the payment processing business themselves everything was done on the app, both the seller and merchants accounts exist on the platform. Firms like Lakala found themselves pushed to the sidelines, without a market.

Chinas new DCEP digital currency is now changing this dynamic. With DCEP, you still need to have third parties handle the process of transferring the yuan. Unlike the WeChat and AliPay era, there are once again multiple parties involved: the customers bank, the merchants bank, and the path between them.

One of Chinas goals for the DCEP digital yuan may be to wrestle control away from the nations current mobile phone payments duopoly so that no private company will have such singular influence and power over the nations money supply. This is where firms like Lakala can be useful.

Coherent Hong Kong, Series A, US$14 million

Hong Kongs Coherent, an insurance technology startup, closed a $14 million Series A funding round led by Cathay Innovation, an early growth venture capital firm in San Francisco. Cathay Innovation is a subsidiary of the French-headquartered venture capital firm Cathay Capital. Coherent provides insurance digitization tools for businesses as well as customer-focused insurance sales platforms. The company stated that the funds would go into talent expansion in Hong Kong, Singapore and China as well as create new teams in Japan and the United States.

LinkAja Indonesia, Series B, US$100 million

LinkAja, a Indonesian state-owned and state-funded digital wallet app and payment platform, closed a $100 million funding round led by Singaporean ridesharing, courier and food delivery superapp Grab. Other investors included Jakartas BRI Ventures, which invested in its earlier Series A round, which was a result of state takeover. In a news release, the company explained that funding was to go toward expansion opportunities as well as research and development.

Forkast.Insights | What does it mean?

This week we have two different stories of FinTech. First, a bet on the continued rise of insurtech in rich-world Asia. In the U.S., investors have deployed $8.5 billion in capital into the sector. Within Asia, that number is closer to US$6 billion. As the economy matures in the region, this sector is bound to continue to grow. Payments is another growth story and a frequent theme for VCs. Cross-border transactions and trade have often been the pathway to wealth for developing countries, and in fragmented Asia there is a huge market in curing this pain point.

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Ep. 39 | Bitcoin soars to new highs as Bitcoin Cash hard forks into two. Tron blows past Ethereum. - Forkast News

Plan B Thinks 2021 Will Be Bitcoins Biggest Year to Date – Live Bitcoin News

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Plan B appears to be rather confident in his stock to flow (S2F) model. Hes predicting that bitcoin is going to reach a six-figure price of $100,000 by the time 2021 is over, and hes ready to stick by this prediction no matter what.

The price of bitcoin is presently $15,600. The currency has been in a steady bull run for the past month and a half, and it looks like nothing has been setting the currency back. Bitcoin is likely to continue adding to its price granted it can keep this momentum up.

Still, however, its hard to imagine that bitcoin can add another $85,000 to its price over the course of 13 months. While wed all like to imagine it happening, its another thing entirely to expect it. In the past, many people from John McAfee to others have suggested that by this point in time, bitcoin was supposed to be much larger than it is, and none of these predictions have come true, so why would this one enter the realm of reality?

As we all know by now, bitcoin is very unpredictable, and it would be a huge mistake to assume that things are not going to work out for the asset or that everything will go exactly as planned. Plan B appears to be shoving these ideas aside and is supremely confident in what hes saying. He states that the asset will be selling for anywhere between $100K and $288K by December of next year.

In a recent tweet, he writes:

People ask if I still believe in my model. To be clear: I have no doubt whatsoever that bitcoin S2FX is correct and bitcoin will tap $100K $288K before Dec 2021. In fact, I have new data that confirms the supply shortage is real. IMO, 2021 will be spectacular. Not financial advice!

The big clincher behind Plan B and his stock to flow model is that they both seek to predict bitcoins price based on its remaining supply. He says that bitcoin is going to incur several more halvings before it runs out, meaning that rewards will be consistently cut in half every four years or so. This will make the currency rarer and will ultimately drive up the demand for the worlds primary digital asset.

This, combined with the rising effects of inflation, will likely cause bitcoin to surge in price further than anyone initially thought possible. For the most part, the model appears to hold some ground, granted that each halving in bitcoins short, yet significant history, has resulted in heavy price swings. At the time of bitcoins second halving, the asset was trading for around $640. About a year-and-a-half later, the currency had reached its all-time high of roughly $20,000 per unit.

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Plan B Thinks 2021 Will Be Bitcoins Biggest Year to Date - Live Bitcoin News

Top 30 Twitter Influencers Account for 70% of Crypto Asset Mentions Do They Actually Influence Prices? – The Daily Hodl

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HodlX Guest PostSubmit Your Post

Crypto Twitter is a real force. Everyone who matters in the crypto industry is active on Twitter, and many of us are used to finding out the latest news on the platform. One can even assume that opinion leaders directly influence coin prices. A new study by BDCenter Digital reveals whether this is true.

Do influencers tweets really have an impact on the market? To find out the answer, we analyzed over a million tweets by 100+ influencers.

Why Vitalik Buterin isnt on the list

Crypto Twitter is a densely populated realm, with hundreds of influencers on various scales. It wouldnt be possible to study them all, so we selected the influencers for our study based on several criteria.

The resulting list included 123 accounts with a total of 30 million followers. Between January 2018 and June 2020, these influencers posted a total of 1,300,000 tweets. Out of this sea of messages, we selected those that mentioned coins from the CoinMarketCap top 200 138k mentions in total.

The portrait of a perfect influencer

An interesting fact just 30 influencers account for 70% of all coin mentions.

These 30 opinion leaders have two very important traits in common.

To calculate engagement, we divided the overall number of reactions to tweets (likes, comments and retweets) by the number of tweets mentioning coin tickers.

If you are a startup owner, these numbers are significant. They can help you choose the most suitable influencers for promoting your business. Engagement rate is crucial; a large number of comments and retweets can create a discussion and much-needed hype around a coin. And as weve discovered, mid-sized accounts can have a far more active and engaged audience than whales.

Influencer marketing rates partly depend on the number of followers. Therefore, by contracting opinion leaders with a smaller but more engaged audience, you can both save money and get better results than when working with larger and more expensive Twitter accounts.

KOLs impact on coin prices

Opinion leaders influence their followers sentiments and expectations but what about coin prices?

At first glance, the charts plotting the number of a coins mentions and its price look very similar such as in the case of BNB.

This is only an illusion, however. Our correlational analysis demonstrated that the price of a cryptocurrency doesnt depend on how often influencers tweet about it. Rather, the link is inverse. Opinion leaders tend to mention a coin more often when its price fluctuates.

From the left the zone of correlation is shown between the price and the number of mentions by influencers. From the right is the correlation zone between the prices of different coins. The scale on the right shows the level of correlation.

As you can see, the correlation is strong in the right area. But in the left area, it varies from 0 to 0.2, which means a weak correlation.

For startup owners

Of course, this doesnt mean that collaborating with influencers cant help to increase the price of a token. Its worth reminding that our study focused on the 200 largest coins by market cap; for smaller assets, things can be quite different.

Crypto Twitter remains a key channel of blockchain marketing even if the opinion leaders dont directly impact prices. The key to success is selecting the right influencers for each project. As it turns out, the number of followers is far from the most important factor.

Aliaksandr Dabranau

Aliaksandr Dabranau is a researcher and communication manager at BDCenter Digital a growth marketing and consulting agency for blockchain projects, which has been conducting research on crypto since 2011. You can find more information on the official website.

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In the Caribbean and Beyond, Aunties Are So Much More Than Just Family – The New York Times

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A MILLION AUNTIES By Alecia McKenzie

During a discussion of my own novel, These Ghosts Are Family, at a private book club, a group of Caribbean women told me that the one aspect of the story which teems with the supernatural that theyd found the most unbelievable was when a character dies and has his identity stolen because he has no family except for an aging grandmother to come looking for him. That would never happen in the Caribbean, one participant said. He would have cousins, he would have neighbors, uncles he would have aunties! The Commonwealth Prize-winning, Jamaican-born author Alecia McKenzies tender new novel an emotionally resonant ode to adopted families and community resilience fills this gap.

A Million Aunties is a polyphonic narrative with a cast of characters who have experienced betrayal, disaster and loss at different stages of life. Chris, a young Black painter from New York, has just arrived in the fictional village of Port Segovia in rural Jamaica, searching for beauty and solitude after his wifes death in a terrorist attack. Its his first time visiting the island without his Jamaican mother, who died from cancer years before. At the advice of his agent and friend, Stephen, he has come to board with Miss Della, Stephens auntie, a term that transcends blood relation. Once Stephen had mumbled something about his aunt getting him from a place called Anfields Childrens Home in Kingston, Chris recalls. Shed taken him to the country to help her grow plants and told everyone he was her nephew, and it had gone from being a lie to being true.

The novel moves between faraway settings of Jamaica, New York and France (where McKenzie herself lives), and though supporting characters momentarily take center stage, its Chris, Stephen and Della around whom all the others seem to orbit. Stephen serves as a connector, determined to bring people together so they can experience the same healing and warmth that Miss Della and her community gave him as a child. In his most morbid moments, McKenzie writes, he sometimes thought: Lose a mother, gain a million aunties.

Like Chris and Stephen, the broader community within this novel is also transnational. While most of the characters are Jamaican artists and their loved ones, McKenzie brings in others from different countries throughout the African diaspora, such as Fliciane, a French and West African installation artist caught in a love triangle between Stephen and her new boyfriend on the island. Of course no family exists without conflict. In a moving monologue, Chriss father, an African-American Vietnam veteran in failing health, laments Chriss late mothers dismissive attitude toward American racism as the arrogance and confidence of growing up as a majority.

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In the Caribbean and Beyond, Aunties Are So Much More Than Just Family - The New York Times

‘We will never forget this year’: Hurricane Iota roars through Caribbean coast just devastated by Eta – USA TODAY

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Hurricane Iota has roared onto Nicaraguas Caribbean coast as a dangerous Category 4 storm on Monday, with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. It hit land along almost exactly the same area that Hurricane Eta devastated 13 days earlier. (Nov. 17) AP Domestic

Hurricane Iota was smashing across Central America on Tuesday, a massive Category 4 storm that blasted ashore less than 15 miles from where powerful Hurricane Eta roared intwo weeks ago.

Iota, the strongest hurricane ever recorded this late in a year,had barely eased from Category 5 status when it began its devastating march through Nicaraguan and into Honduras with sustained winds of 155 mph just two 2 mph below Category 5 status.

The storm could bring one of the worst floods the region has had in a thousand years or more,AccuWeather said. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde warned that power outages could last for months in some areas.

Hurricane Iota will place another catastrophic blow to the region," Rinde said. "No amount of words can describe the problems this system will add to the crisis already occurring in the area."

Hurricane Eta, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Nov. 3, was among the five strongest storms to ever hit the nation. Eta also brought devastation to Honduras and Guatemala with rain measured in feet, heavy flooding and mudslides. More than 130 people died across the region.

'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Iota threatens 'catastrophic' damage

Iota, the first Category 5 hurricane of the season, swept onto the coastabout 30 milessouth of the Nicaraguan city of Puerto Cabezas, also known as Bilwi. The stormwas heading west at 12 mph and was forecast to move farther inland across northern Nicaragua andsouthern Honduras Tuesday night and Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

The move over land did ease some of Iota's fury, and maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 75 mph, although some gusts were much higher. Additional rapid weakening is expected today into Wednesday, and Iota was forecast to dissipate over Central America by Wednesday night.

Honduras, northern Nicaragua, southeast and central Guatemala and southern Belize could see up to20 inches, with isolated maximum totals of 30 inches, the weather service said.

"This rainfall will lead to significant, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain," said Eric Blake, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

People hunkered down in Bilwi even before the hurricane arrived, already battered by screeching winds and torrential rains.

Business owner Adn Artola Schultz braced himself in the doorway of his house as strong gusts of wind and rain drover water in torrents down the street. He was amazed that as second storm was following so closely on Eta's destructive heels.

It is like bullets, he said of the sound of metal structures banging and buckling in the wind. This is double destruction. This is coming in with fury."

Neighbors help each other as they evacuate the area before Hurricane Iota makes landfall in San Manuel Cortes, Honduras, Monday, November 16, 2020.(Photo: Delmer Martinez, AP)

Evacuations were conducted from low-lying areas in Nicaragua and Honduras near their shared border through the weekend.

Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said the government had done everything necessary to protect lives, including the evacuation of thousands. She added that Taiwan had donated 800 tons of rice to help those affected by the storms.

This hurricane is definitely worse than Eta, said Jason Bermdez, a university student from Bilwi. We will never forget this year.

Iota is the record 30th named storm of this years extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Such activity has focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms.

The official end of hurricane season is Nov. 30.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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'We will never forget this year': Hurricane Iota roars through Caribbean coast just devastated by Eta - USA TODAY

Walt Disney’s Disney+ Expands to Latin America and the Caribbean – Motley Fool

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Walt Disney(NYSE:DIS) announced a major expansion of its Disney+ service today, making scores of highly popular series and programs available to viewers in the Caribbean and Latin America for the first time. After a limited-time free seven-day trial, most subscribers will pay the equivalent of $5 to $6 in U.S. currency per month, or around $50 to $60 per year. Some countries will see higher fees, such as Uruguay, where subscribers will pay $7.49 monthly or $74.99 annually.

The hit series The Mandalorian, set in the Star Wars universe and featuring an armored bounty hunter and his young green sidekick, heads the list of offerings, and 40 other series and programs from Disney's regular lineup will also air on launch or in the coming weeks and months. Seventy series and programs produced locally in Brazil, Argentina, and elsewhere are also to be added or are in development in partnership with Disney.

Image source: Getty Images.

Disney+ has experienced red-hot growth during the pandemic lockdowns and recently attained 73.7 million subscribers, putting Disney almost four years ahead of its planned growth schedule, according to CBR. The company originally projected reaching between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024.

Disney's focus on Disney+ and other online and streaming content helped the company maintain momentum despite theme park shutdowns amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. While pent-up demand could yield big profits after a viable COVID-19 vaccine is released, the extension of California business closures ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to increasing cases contributed to an ongoing reduction costing the entertainment giant $1.1 billion in lost park revenue during the fourth quarter, USA Today reports.

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‘I just never went back’: Caribbean islands looking to replace tourists with long-term workers – National Post

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Along with proximity to the U.S. East Coast and robust business infrastructure, one of our unique selling proposition is, clearly, how well weve been able to manage the virus, said Premier David Burt.

Since launching its remote-worker visa program in July, Bermuda has received almost 600 applications. It may be a drop in the economic bucket but every drop counts.

Comfort zones

Barbados has also pushed hard and, since launching its Barbados Welcome Stamp in July, is playing host to almost 3,000 remote workers.

We have no plans to sunset the program, said Eusi Skeete, the U.S. director at Barbados Tourism Marketing. It has extended the life cycle of visitors on our island.

Competition is heating up. The Cayman Islands, which remains closed to general tourism, launched its Global Citizen Concierge Program last month for remote workers who make more than $100,000 a year and provide proof of employment and heath insurance.

The crowded market means destinations have to move beyond their usual pitch of beach, beauty, rum and sun.

Look, its the Caribbean, every place has beautiful beaches, and we have them in droves, said Rod Miller, the chief executive officer of Invest Puerto Rico, the U.S. territorys investment promotion agency. But we also have a critical mass in terms of business, opportunity and connectivity to the U.S. mainland in a way that these other markets dont have.

Part of Puerto Ricos pitch is that its a seamless transition for U.S. mainlanders a Caribbean island that doesnt require a passport, has multiple daily flights to the East Coast and where your mobile phone, Netflix account and health insurance work as soon as you deplane.

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Covid-19 outbreak strikes first cruise to resume sailing in the Caribbean – CNN

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(CNN) A total of seven passengers have tested positive for Covid-19 aboard the SeaDream 1 cruise ship docked in Barbados, according to a passenger on the ship.

Forty six passengers who have tested negative for coronavirus began to disembark the SeaDream 1 cruise ship to fly home Saturday, according to passenger Ben Hewitt.

Five passengers who tested positive also disembarked for a private flight back to the United States, according to Hewitt.

The voyage was meant to demonstrate that increased safety protocols, including regular testing aboard the ship, could allow cruise voyages to take place during the pandemic.

Instead one passenger fell ill on Wednesday, forcing the SeaDream 1 to return to Barbados, where all 53 passengers and 66 crew were tested.

SeaDream Yacht Club said in a news release Thursday afternoon that "guests" had received "assumptive positive" results to preliminary rapid Covid tests, but did not specify the number who had done so.

"We are working closely with local health and government authorities to resolve this situation in the best possible way," said SeaDream's Andreas Brynestad, in the SeaDream release.

Passenger Gene Sloan took this photo during the cruise that's been cut short by a Covid-19 outbreak.

Gene Sloan/The Points Guy

Intercom announcement of positive test result

Passengers were instructed to return to their cabins and remain isolated there, he said.

The ship, which was in the Grenadines at the time of the first preliminary positive test, docked in Barbados Wednesday evening.

Passengers were tested in advance of traveling to the ship and also before boarding the ship, Sloan said.

"And SeaDream also was testing passengers four days into the trip," he said. "We were scheduled to be tested again today. That's a more rigorous testing plan than most lines had been discussing for the restarts."

The protocol is due in part to the strict testing required by Barbados, where the ship will be based for the season, Sloan noted.

"I think what this shows is it's going to happen. And until there's a vaccine or herd immunity, when cruising starts up you're going to see things like this happen. The question is how often and how big?"

The current sailing was carrying 53 passengers and 66 crew, Sloan said.

Gene Sloan/The Points Guy

Voyages from Barbados

SeaDream's winter voyages from Barbados started on November 7 with the sailing that has now been cut short.

"After completing a successful summer season in Norway, we implemented even stricter health and safety protocols for our Barbados winter season. All guests were tested twice prior to embarkation and we are in the process of retesting guests," said SeaDream's Andreas Brynestad in the statement released on Thursday.

Hewitt, the YouTube host, expressed his disappointment and frustration with the virus in an interview Thursday from his stateroom.

"It's just so disappointing that this has happened because everybody has their hopes up high, and we can't see anything more that they could've done," said Hewitt.

"It's just such a horrible virus, it just gets everywhere even with the constant testing."

The use of masks on the voyage has been far less stringent.

Sloan told CNN that initially no one was wearing face masks, not even the crew. Crew members told him they weren't necessary since the ship was a Covid-free "bubble."

Then a few days into sailing, SeaDream instituted a mask policy but didn't offer an explanation, he said.

Fewer than 250 guests

SeaDream's ships, which the company refers to as "superyachts," have 56 staterooms, with a capacity for 112 guests and 95 crew.

Carrying fewer than 250 guests outside of US waters allows SeaDream to operate outside of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's orders around cruising.

The CDC recently issued a "Framework for Conditional Sailing Order for Cruise Ships."

Safety measures may not be enough to contain the virus.

Gene Sloan/The Points Guy

On Friday, a letter signed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) called on the CDC to reinstate its no-sail order for cruise ships and reverse efforts to restart the industry's US operations.

The letter cites the outbreak aboard SeaDream 1.

Despite precautions, "the virus was still able to infect multiple people on the ship, with the possibility of more confirmed cases emerging as passengers and crew are retested," the letter reads.

"Unfortunately, this troubling development is not surprising and reaffirms the need to exercise extreme caution before sending passengers and crew back out to sea on cruises."

Photo from SeaDream Yacht Club. CNN's Tamara Hardingham-Gill contributed to this report.

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Covid-19 outbreak strikes first cruise to resume sailing in the Caribbean - CNN