The 23 Best Horror Games To Play On Halloween 2020 – GameSpot

There are all kinds of horror-tinged media to choose from nowadays, but games may be the most chilling medium of all due to the level of immersion and interactivity they impart. If you've ever sat in a dark room with headphones and played something like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, you know that unique feeling of terror we're talking about. And god forbid you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Horror games aren't exactly for the weak of heart.

But as Halloween approaches, there's no more fitting genre for the season, and luckily, there are a wealth of horror games out there well worth your time. The genre had humble beginnings in the late '80s, with a wave of fantastic games coming out in the three subsequent decades. And thanks to the rise of indie games, there are more scary games out now than ever before.

In 2020 we've seen some excellent horror games released, such as Capcom's follow-up to its Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 3. But even more are yet to come; we're still looking forward to horror games like The Dark Pictures: Little Hope and Amnesia: Rebirth to keep genre fans busy this fall.

Whether you plan to work your way through your horror backlog on your own or invite friends over to experience the jump scares with you, we've got you covered this Halloween season and beyond. We've gathered a list of the most terrifying and memorable games every horror enthusiast should experience this Halloween season. Genre classics like Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil Remake, and Dead Space are represented here, but you'll also find more surprising and modern choices interspersed throughout. Regardless of their notoriety, the horror games we highlight below (listed in no particular order) are all ones that left us with lasting memories.

Which horror games will you be playing this fall? Shout out your favorites in the comments below.

After creating a phenomenon with Amnesia: The Dark Descent and following it up with the existential horror of Soma, Frictional Games is going back to the series that put them on the map with Amnesia: Rebirth. Taking place in 1937, Rebirth's aesthetic finds itself somewhere between the Victorian-era castles of The Dark Descent and the hyper-futuristic underwater facility of Soma. Of course, with this being a Frictional game, nothing's as it seems, and even in the release date trailer, there are signs we're in for an even wilder and scarier ride than we might think. Amnesia: Rebirth is set to release October 20, which is a great time to get some good, new scares in on Halloween. -- Suriel Vazquez

It's an Early Access title at the moment and thus feels a bit incomplete, but don't sleep on World of Horror, a lightly animated text adventure that's all spooky vibes, all the time. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and horror manga artist Junji Ito, the roguelite game sends you out into a strange town beset by twisted people and supernatural horrors. World of Horror feels like you're playing through one of Ito's strange short stories, where you might search through a school for a murderous, scissors-wielding substitute teacher with a carved-up face, or investigate the apartment of a researcher who was extremely interested in eels--but, like, in an evil way.

Each of your investigations takes you through various locales, where you'll meet allies, find weapons, and engage in text-based combat with creatures, all in an effort to discover what eldritch horror is trying to be born into the world so you can put a stop to it. World of Horror is constantly creepy, often funny, consistently challenging, and always compellingly weird, and especially if you like Ito's works and fresh spins of Lovecraft tropes, you shouldn't miss it. -- Phil Hornshaw

Since 1984's The Thing, there have been plenty of games directly inspired by John Carpenter's classic film, putting you in the role of a scientist or soldier who must fight against an alien threat. However, it's rare to see a game that puts you in the monster's shoes--and that's exactly what Carrion does. You control an amorphous monster whose only goal is to devour everyone in its path, grow larger, and spread its biomass throughout the world. You crawl through each area with your fleshy tendrils, pulling every human into your toothy maw. The movement feels fast and satisfying as you slip into pipes and small crawl spaces to reach new locations. Of course, the humans won't go down without a fight, so you'll need to figure out ways to outmaneuver and outsmart them as their arsenals expand from pistols to flamethrowers. If you've ever wanted to play the monster, then Carrion is a way to do just that. -- Mat Paget

This year's Resident Evil 3 remake shows a different side of the infamous outbreak we first saw in Resident Evil 2. After surviving the Spencer Mansion incident, Jill Valentine must now escape zombie-ridden Raccoon City while being pursued by the bloodthirsty Nemesis. RE3 requires resource-management, puzzle-solving, and a cool hand to take out the zombies and other monsters that threaten your life. It's definitely a more brief experience than the Resident Evil 2 remake, but Resident Evil 3 is still worth playing for fans of Resident Evil, horror, and zombies. And once you're finished your first playthrough, you can partake in victory laps with unlocks like more powerful guns, infinite ammo, and more. -- Mat Paget

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Steam

Until Dawn developers Supermassive haven't quite found a hit on that game's scale since 2015, but they've slowly been getting their groove back. The first part of The Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan, had a lot of what made Until Dawn shine, so we're hopeful Little Hope improves on the formula and has some great scares of its own. It's also primed to be a good Halloween game, releasing on October 30 and likely being short enough to get through in a single sitting with a group of friends -- Suriel Vazquez

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Steam

Polish developer Bloober Team is releasing its next psychological horror outing, The Medium, in December--and while you won't have it for Halloween, you've got a great stand-in with Layers of Fear, the team's first horror game. The first-person title has you exploring a haunted house as a painter as he tries to complete his masterpiece, wandering shifting halls in search of macabre ingredients to make the perfect colors. What's great about Layers of Fear is the way that it manipulates space and perspective to freak you out, with the house shifting around you when you turn a corner, spin around to check behind you, or open a door.

As horror games go, Layers of Fear requires little from you outside the occasional bit of light puzzle-solving or searching for notes and clues. You won't have to run from or fight any monsters, so you won't have to contend with any difficulty spikes or skill issues. That said, the scares are still highly effective thanks to Layers of Fear's expertly crafted atmosphere. This is a great game to turn off the lights and get lost in. -- Phil Hornshaw

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | eShop | Steam

The remake of a horror classic, Resident Evil 2 released last year and was one of our top picks for Game of the Year. The remake doesn't change the story of the original, for the most part: You still get the choice to play as either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield as they make their way through zombie-infested Raccoon City. The storylines and settings for each character are similar, but there are unique side characters and other differences that make playing each character's path worth it. Plus, it's not that long--only about 3-5 hours for each campaign.

Resident Evil 2 is a brilliant remake that improves and expands upon the original. The creepy atmosphere left me constantly on edge, holding my breath as I turned every corner, but it balances that fear with a huge sense of satisfaction at solving challenging puzzles and taking down enemies without exhausting all my ammo. While I didn't find Resident Evil 2 quite as frightening as Resident Evil 7, it's still one of the best horror games out there, and I was enthralled by its story until the very end. -- Jenae Sitzes

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Steam

Until Dawn has become a classic among story-driven games. The survival-horror adventure follows a group of friends on a winter getaway to a snowy mountain lodge, where, one year prior, two of their friends disappeared and were never found. It's the stereotypical setup for a slasher film, complete with flirty teens and a masked stalker on the loose, but the story takes some unexpected and unforgettable turns along the way. Most notably, Until Dawn is driven by player choice, and the consequences of your choices are deeply felt throughout the entire game. On your first playthrough, there are no redos if your action gets someone killed--only in subsequent playthroughs can you go back to specific chapters to make a different decision.

Because the story branches off in so many directions and has multiple endings, there's a ton of replayability to Until Dawn. While technically a single-player game, Until Dawn is equally fun to play with a group of people. While a bit long for a single session--it'll take you eight or nine hours to complete--you could easily break Until Dawn into two or three sessions and play through it with friends, with each person choosing a character to control and passing the controller back and forth. Having played it both alone and with friends, I can attest that it's fun to experience over and over, and there are still characters I haven't figured out how to keep alive (I refuse to look it up). It's not on the same level as something like Outcast or P.T. in terms of scariness, but there are some truly terrifying moments in Until Dawn I'll never forget. -- Jenae Sitzes

See on the PlayStation Store

Red Dead Redemption quickly became one of my favorite games of all time when it was released back in 2010. This was thanks in most part to the wonderful setting, quirky yet lovable characters, and increasingly engaging story. I was ready to take any excuse to spend more time in that world, and you can bet your butt I was excited for a zombie-themed expansion. Undead Nightmare is supposed to be a bit more silly and nonsensical than scary, but I don't think a single game has unnerved me as much as it. Seeing the familiar Wild West turned into a desolate, fog-filled wasteland of zombies was shocking.

It was as close as I've felt to actually experiencing a zombie apocalypse breakout in my hometown. Even my family had been turned, and though John Marston was reacting in a humorous way, I couldn't help but be totally stressed out by the entire situation. And these zombies aren't the slow and lumbering type you find in the halls of Resident Evil 2's police station: they sprint right at you, make the absolute worst noises, and need to be shot in the head. All of this, and that very sad Sasquatch mission, made me feel incredibly uneasy in a world I had fallen so much in love with.

Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare are both playable on Xbox One, thanks to Microsoft's backward-compatible program. There's even a 4K patch for the game on Xbox One X, which looks fantastic. -- Mat Paget

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store

Amnesia: The Dark Descent, its expansion, Justine, and the sequel, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, comprise what is still one of the best horror franchises of all time. You can grab all three of them in the Amnesia Collection, available on the PlayStation and Xbox stores. Amnesia is undoubtedly the series that ignited my love of the horror game genre, and like many, I first experienced the game through Let's Plays by a then-little-known YouTuber called PewDiePie. It's terrifying enough to watch someone else to play, but getting behind the screen yourself is another experience altogether.

Released in 2010, Amnesia: The Dark Descent follows a man named Daniel, who wakes up in a dark castle with no memory of who he is, aside from his name. In exploring the castle, Daniel must fight to maintain his sanity while putting together pieces of his past and avoiding the dreadful monsters that lurk in the shadows. The first-person survival horror game was followed by a 2013 sequel, A Machine for Pigs, that begins with a wealthy industrialist waking up in his London mansion with (once again) no memory of the past few months, only the feeling that something is terribly wrong. If Amnesia has somehow flown under the radar for you over the past decade, then wait for a dark night, grab some headphones, and dive in. -- Jenae Sitzes

See on Nintendo eShop

Metro Exodus isn't strictly a horror game. There aren't many jump scares, there are no re-animated corpses, and you spend a lot of time on a train chatting with your comrades. What Metro Exodus does have is dark, cramped corridors oozing with a foreboding atmosphere. Sure, Exodus also has a lot of open areas, but some of the most terrifying moments are when you're trapped in the metro, scrounging for supplies, while avoiding irradiated beasts. -- Jake Dekker

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Steam

With Little Nightmares 2 confirmed to release on February 11, 2021, there's no better time to play the original. Little Nightmares is a Tim Burton-esque puzzle-platformer first released in 2017 that follows a small, hungry child in a yellow raincoat known only as Six. The child is trapped in a horrifying, mostly underwater island location called the Maw, which is home to numerous strange and deplorable creatures. From a long-armed blind janitor to a chilling, shadowy Lady, Six must avoid capture while navigating her way out of the Maw.

Little Nightmares is far scarier than you might expect--I was on edge during my entire playthrough. Like Playdead's Limbo or Inside, Little Nightmares has no dialogue, letting the creepy environments and tense atmosphere drive all of the suspense. It culminates in an ending that, while a bit open-ended, is definitely satisfying. The game has also received three DLC chapters, and you can get the whole experience in Little Nightmares: Complete Edition. -- Jenae Sitzes

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Nintendo eShop | Steam

A lot has been said about Silent Hill 2, so I'll spare you any overt critical analysis I have on this beloved survival-horror sequel and instead share with you why this game still rocks. The premise alone should be enough to captivate you. As the widowed James Sutherland, you travel to the foggy town of Silent Hill in search of your dead wife, who has somehow managed to send you a letter. As a middle-schooler (yes, I played this game in 8th grade), Silent Hill 2's story was like nothing else I had encountered. There were no action heroes, explosions, or convoluted government conspiracies. Just a crippling sense of dread, an eerie atmosphere, and intriguing characters that kept my hands glued to my PS2 controller.

Silent Hill 2 expertly handles its myriad horrors, pulling you in with disturbing creatures, clever puzzles, and haunting sound design. I can't help but be in awe of how well it stands up whenever I revisit the game every few years. Its Historical Society area remains one of its crowning achievements and one of horror gaming's most expertly designed environments, brilliantly handling tense foreboding with unexpected pathways and puzzles. There are some slow moments interspersed between its most terrifying ones, but they're never enough to detract from the chilling horror and thought-provoking storytelling on display.

If you haven't played Silent Hill 2, you're in for quite a spooky adventure. It's one of the genre greats for a reason, and it only continues to stand the test of time. You can buy it as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection for PS3 and Xbox 360; fortunately, it can also be played on Xbox One due to backward-compatibility. -- Matt Espineli

See on digital stores: Xbox Store

Red Barrels' Outlast has always stood out to me for how the game presents its world. Mount Massive Asylum is blanketed in absolute darkness, so the only way to see where you're going most of the time is by using the night vision function on protagonist Miles Upshur's video camera.

Because I'm terrified of the dark, I use the camera all the time, and this transforms everything I see into a murky green where faraway environmental details aren't clear and enemies' eyes shine with a ghoulish glow. Also, this mechanic forces me to explore--batteries need to be found to keep the night vision function on the camera working--and Outlast's chilling soundtrack makes those unscripted moments of searching very tense.

Looking for batteries isn't even the scariest part of Outlast, though. It's the inhuman Variants that create most of the game's scares. Desperately running through an insane asylum while cannibalistic twins, a scissor-wielding mad scientist, and a seemingly unkillable monster chase after Upshur is terrifying. The worst of these Variants, Eddie Gluskin, appears in Outlast's Whistleblower expansion. Gluskin, aka The Groom, is a deranged serial killer who mutilates his male victims' genitalia in order to create the "perfect wife." Watching what he does--in first-person I might add--to the DLC's protagonist, Waylon Park, haunted me for days, and is still nauseating to even think about. -

If you buy Outlast, you might as well pick up the Outlast Trinity bundle, which includes Outlast, its Whistleblower DLC, and Outlast 2 (which is also very good). - Jordan Ramee

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Nintendo eShop | Steam

Three years after Resident Evil 4 squeezed new scares from one of gaming's best horror series, Visceral Games might have perfected the third-person survival horror formula with Dead Space. Players control engineer Isaac Clarke as he and a rescue team land on a city-sized spaceship to find out why it's not responding to communications. They quickly discover the reason is that the ship has been overrun by monsters that used to be its crew, which are nearly impossible to kill unless players use various sci-fi mining tools to hack off the creatures' limbs.

Dead Space is a perfect confluence of modern sensibility and old-school survival horror, pairing fantastic graphics and gameplay, specifically its limb-cutting mechanics, with slightly uncooperative controls and the desperate hunt for items to keep Isaac healthy. The game uses everything at its disposal to scare you. Its industrial setting pairs with sound design that makes you constantly feel like you're not alone, and every surface is covered in air vents perfect for delivering popcorn-tossing moments as lethal mutated creatures come squirming out, straight at your face. Visceral tops it off with a spooky story that combines Alien, Children of the Corn, and Evil Dead.

Developed for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, you can also play Dead Space on Xbox One via backward-compatibility. -- Phil Hornshaw

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Steam

Devil Daggers may not be a traditional horror game by any means, but that makes it no less scary every time I play it. It throws you into a dark arena and tasks you with eliminating waves of flying skulls, disgusting, multi-legged beasts, and other demonic monstrosities.

There is no winning in Devil Daggers; death is inevitable, whether that comes after 10 seconds or 100 (if you're good). It's minimal in terms of visuals and sound; there's no music to accompany the onslaught of enemies. Instead, enemies produce terrifying but distinct noises. This serves to assist you by letting you know where enemies are, but it also creates an inescapable sense of dread as these horrifying monsters box you in. I find it hard not to jump out of my seat when I turn and see that I'm face to face with a flying horned monster.

It's unusual that a game designed around high score runs evokes fear, and the threat of failure is undoubtedly part of what makes Devil Daggers so tense. But it's the combination of this tension with the haunting imagery and sounds that create a legitimately terrifying experience. -- Chris Pereira

I'll admit to being the perfect mark for Slender: The Eight Pages when it was released for free in 2012. The tiny, minimalist Unity experiment by developer Mark Hadley capitalized on peak Slender Man interest, expounding on the Internet-born folklore creature that was already doing a phenomenal job of absolutely creeping me out. Hadley's little game was a tightly made little nightmare: you're exploring a small, darkened park from a first-person perspective, and you're being hunted by a supernatural creature that you can't even look at without dying. Players try to gather eight pages from around a park, which detail some other poor victim's descent into madness, while the thing keeps appearing in front of you, ever closer. It was a perfect storm of jump scares, ambient dread, and a spooky creation of the zeitgeist at the height of its power.

Slender: The Arrival expanded the game with multiple levels, a full story and prettier graphics to fully realize Hadley's original concept. It didn't change the core principle of being hunted, with nothing to help you except fleeing in desperate terror, and hoping that looking away from what stalks you might be enough to save you a few moments more. -- Phil Hornshaw

See on Nintendo eShop

To play Resident Evil 7 is to willingly put yourself in an inhospitable environment. The decrepit mansion where the game begins is filthy, with peeling, yellowed wallpaper, broken drywall, and garbage littering the scarred wooden floor. Wind blows through the cracks in drafts, emitting a low, constant howl. The kitchen, scattered with moldy food and unidentifiable skeletal remains, is unspeakable. You can almost smell the rot.

This is not a place you want to be--and that's before you meet the family that lives there. There's the dad, who stalks after you even after you've killed him numerous times. Mom doesn't bat an eye when he severs junior's hand at the dinner table. Somehow even worse is grandma, a catatonic woman in a wheelchair who can appear and vanish any time and anywhere when you're not looking.

The horror game improves on the best aspects of the series, while throwing out everything that had grown stale in recent installments. Playing Resident Evil 7 is a thrilling, crazy, scary-as-hell experience. And if you think it's terrifying on a TV screen, you gotta try it in VR. -- Chris Reed

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | Steam

The Xbox 360 had a generally strong launch lineup, despite lacking a killer app like Halo. There was a Majora's Mask-lite in Kameo: Elements of Power; sports games like Amped 3 and Madden, and for those who passed on the heavily flawed, but creative Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2 was there to satisfy action fans when WWII shooters were in their prime. With other titles with mass appeal like Tony Hawk's American Wasteland or Gun, who had time for a psychological horror game?

That juxtaposition between Condemned: Criminal Origins and the rest of the launch lineup was perfectly clear in the music of the title screen. Half Se7en, half Shutter Island, you play as detective Ethan Thomas, who has to track down a serial killer to prove his innocence after his partner is murdered. Along the way, you're attacked by rattled-up drug addicts and hallucinations of demons who strategically flee, hide behind corners, and fight back in the game's surprisingly effective first-person melee combat.

What made Condemned such a memorable horror experience was the feeling of being alone in the grittiest, most desolate parts of town, with intimate combat against people who hated you. You could hear them seething around corners, flanking you in the darkness, and that was all before the game throws demonic hallucinations at you. Sprinkle in a memorable final boss, a couple of solid jump-scares, one of the best uses of Xbox achievements in requiring you to forgo using guns, and a level set in a mall with walking mannequins that culminated in one of my favorite video game moments, and you've got a horror classic. Not bad for a launch-title. -- Nick Sherman

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | Steam

2014's Alien: Isolation was a bit of tough sell as a horror game. After spending many years as disposable cannon fodder in other Alien games, most notably in Aliens VS Predator and Aliens: Colonial Marines, the Xenomorph was elevated to boss status in Creative Assembly's survival horror FPS. Serving as a sequel to the original film, it moved away from the shooting galleries and action-horror from previous games, and honed its focus on dread, anxiety, and fearing the lone alien creature that stalks the halls of Sevastopol Station.

As a deep admirer of the original Alien, more so than the sequel Aliens, I longed for the day where we could get a game more influenced by the first film--with its quiet moments of dread and low-fi sci-fi aesthetic in full swing. What I appreciated most about Alien: Isolation was that it not only respected the original film, but it also fully understood what it made it so scary. As you're desperately scavenging for supplies throughout the corridors, those brief moments of calm would almost inevitably lead to situations where you'll come face to face with the Alien, who is all-powerful and cunning in its approach to slay any human that comes across its path.

For more of my thoughts on Alien Isolation, check out my retrospective feature discussing why the game is still an unmatched horror experience. -- Alessandro Fillari

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | eShop | Steam

Don't judge a visual novel by its cover. Doki Doki Literature Club looks like a simple anime-inspired visual novel packed with tropes; you have a love triangle (or quadrilateral?), the tsundere, the shy one, and the childhood friend as a potential love interest all thrown into a high school club. While the free-to-play game is front-loaded with your typical story progression, it's expected that you make it past a certain point where things really pick up.

Take note of the content warning presented upfront, as Doki Doki Literature Club uses sensitive subjects and graphic visuals throughout its narrative. It'll subvert expectations in clever and terrifying ways that can be either subtle and in-your-face. Since this is a PC game, it has the unique ability to be meta; breaking the fourth wall is used to great effect and a few secrets get tucked away within the game's text files. There are a few moments that allow the player to impact progression, such as dialogue options or choosing which of the club members to interact with at certain moments. But that's all in service of building you up for when the game reveals its true nature. Even the wonderfully catchy soundtrack gets twisted to create an unsettling atmosphere.

It's hard to communicate exactly why Doki Doki Literature Club is one of the most horrifying games because it relies heavily on specific story beats and meta-narrative events, and we wouldn't want to spoil the things that make it so special. You'll just have to experience it for yourself. -- Michael Higham

When Resident Evil first hit the Playstation back in 1996, it revolutionized video game horror and created a new sub-genre in the process--survival horror. Its GameCube remake in 2002--and subsequent remaster for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC--utilized improved graphics and lighting to greatly enhance the haunting atmosphere of the first game.

You have the option to play as one of two STARS members (elite police officers), who have come to a mansion investigating a number of strange murders. Unbeknownst to them, this mansion is home to a number of illegal experiments operated by the Umbrella Corporation, leading to zombified humans and creatures attacking the STARS.

The entire game takes place from fixed camera angles, and you never know what's on the other side of the door, or around each corner, meaning you're just moments away from walking into a scare. You're given limited ammo and even a limited number of opportunities to save your progress, and this formula works perfectly in tandem with the foreboding atmosphere.

In one particular moment, I hadn't saved in hours and was running through a room I'd revisited multiple times in the past with 0 health left--when suddenly zombie dogs decided to jump through the windows scaring the crap out of me. A room I thought was safe had betrayed me at the worst time. This moment alone is easily one of the most impactful scares I've ever had playing a game and cements Resident Evil as a mastercraft in horror video games. It's available as part of the Resident Evil Origins Collection, which also gets you Resident Evil 0. -- Dave Klein

See on digital stores: Xbox Store | PlayStation Store | eShop | Steam

Eternal Darkness took the concept of survival horror--already well-established by games like Resident Evil, Clock Tower, and Silent Hill--and added a brand new element designed exclusively to screw with the player: the sanity meter.

Alexandra Roivas returns to her family's estate after discovering her grandfather has been murdered. The police have found nothing, so she decides to look for herself, and finds a secret room with a book the Tome of Eternal Darkness. The game then takes place in multiple timelines and locations, with players choosing who they want to follow as characters battle with, or are corrupted by, ancient artifacts and the Eternal Darkness.

This allows the game to utilize a vast array of settings for its horrors, as well as having every character affected by a sanity meter, which slowly drains if players are spotted by enemies. Sanity effects range from statue heads following you, to weird noises and strange camera angles. In one particular instance, I went to save my game, only to find the game telling me it was deleting my save. I jumped off of my couch, ran over to my GameCube to turn off the game, only to realize the game was screwing with me, and my save wasn't being deleted. You win that round, Eternal Darkness you win that round. -- Dave Klein

In the years since the release of the first game, the Five Nights At Freddy's series has gone from popular YouTube Let's Play game to massive phenomenon. As gaming's Friday The 13th, the horror series manages to get another sequel, even when people are just experiencing the previous game. While the franchise has spiraled out in a big way, the original game still manages to turn a mundane job into nerve-wracking nightmare scenario. As the late-night security guard for Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, your job is to make sure no one breaks into the place, and to ensure that the walking animatronic puppets don't murder anyone--namely you. That second part is important.

With no means of self-defense, your only hope is to survive until early morning by blocking doors and obstructing the paths of the roaming animatronics puppets, who desperately seek any humans after hours. My expectations for the game were low, mostly due to how played-out it seemed in the months after its release. However, once I got to play it for myself, I was surprised at how quickly it ramped up in intensity, despite its ridiculous premise.

Even though it manages to revel in jump-scares, almost comically so, the tension and moments leading up to those genuinely chilling encounters make for some rather memorable frights. Just when you think you're safe and only minutes away from sunrise, Freddy Fazbear waltzes into your safe room and gets the jump on you. I'll never forget the moment that this game, which I grossly underestimated, got the best of me.-- Alessandro Fillari

See on Nintendo eShop

Editor's note: This article is the updated version of a story first published on October 30, 2018.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Read the original here:

The 23 Best Horror Games To Play On Halloween 2020 - GameSpot

Hurricane Delta shuts most U.S. offshore oil output in 15 years – Reuters

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A large and powerful Hurricane Delta dealt the greatest blow to U.S. offshore Gulf of Mexico energy production in 15 years, halting most of the regions oil and nearly two-thirds of natural gas output.

Delta packed 115 mile-per-hour (185 km) winds as it churned through the Gulfs prime oil-producing area toward landfall on coastal Louisiana. It was 130 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana and moving north at 13 mph, according to a 10 a.m. CDT update from the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Delta has shut 1.67 million barrels per day, or 92% of the Gulfs oil output, the most since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 100 offshore platforms and hobbled output for months.

Ports from Beaumont, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, were closed on Friday while those further east, including Morgan City and New Orleans were open with restrictions, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Oil prices eased in on Friday, but were on track for gains of about 10% for the week, boosted by outages in the Gulf of Mexico and a labor dispute in the North Sea. The two combined have removed 2 million barrels per day from the market.

U.S. natural gas prices on Friday were on track to close at the highest since November 2019 on the shut-ins. Front-month gas futures at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT) rose 11 cents, or 6%, to $2.79 per million British thermal units.

Workers had evacuated 279 offshore Gulf of Mexico facilities and producers moved 15 drilling rigs away from Deltas large and strong windfield. Tropical force winds stretched up to 160 miles from its center, the NHC said, a sign of its large size.

Deltas force will decrease as it approaches the coast but is expected to remain at or near a Category 3 storm on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It will bring a 4- to 11-foot (1.2-3.3 meters) storm surge to the coast near landfall, the NHC said.

In addition to oil, producers have halted nearly 62% of the regions natural gas output, or 1.675 billion cubic feet per day. Offshore Gulf of Mexico fields produce about 15% of U.S. crude oil and 5% of its natural gas production.

Total SA on Thursday began shutting an oil processing unit at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery because of the threat from Hurricane Delta, people familiar with plant operations said.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it would continue operating its refineries in Convent, Geismar and Norco, Louisiana, through the storm.

Reporting by Gary McWilliams and Erwin Seba; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio

Visit link:

Hurricane Delta shuts most U.S. offshore oil output in 15 years - Reuters

RO Govt. to amend Offshore Law in line with investors’ expectations, after elections – Romania-Insider.com

Romanian government officials have promised the investors involved in offshore gas projects in the Black Sea that the offshore legislation would improve after the parliamentary elections.

"We have held discussions with producers and investors in the Black Sea, to whom we promised that we would improve the offshore legislation immediately after we have another structure in Parliament. Thus, the investors will be able to recover their investments by working in a stable, predictable, and, most importantly, non-retroactive legislation," said Niculae Havrilet, a state secretary in the Ministry of Economy and Energy, Hotnews.ro reported.

He argued Romania must speed up using its gas resources before the European Union bans the use of gas, as it has done with the coal.

There is already a draft agreed with investors interested in Black Sea gas, Havrilet assured, speaking of a win-win relationship with the investors.

OMV Petrom and ExxonMobil have repeatedly delayed their final investment decision for the Neptun Deep perimeter, while BSOG, controlled by the US fund Carlyle, prepares for starting production around the end of 2021. Both investors expect a change in the offshore legislation before taking further steps.

Meanwhile, Romania has recently gained a rival in the Black Sea. Turkey announced the discovery of the largest natural gas field "in its history", estimated at 320 billion cubic meters. For comparison, the gas reserves in the Romanian Black Sea area are estimated at about 200 billion cubic meters.

(Photo: Flyingrussian/ Dreamstime)

[emailprotected]

Read more:

RO Govt. to amend Offshore Law in line with investors' expectations, after elections - Romania-Insider.com

US election set to generate huge wave of offshore betting – SBC Americas

With one month to go, and an epic presidential debate in the books, November 3 is shaping up to be a historic day for bettors according to sports betting analysis and data publisher Covers Media Group.

But given that political betting is still illegal in US jurisdictions, American bettors who want to get involved will have to trek to Europe or look to the offshore market. Regardless of who is the smarter bet when it comes to Trump or Biden, one thing is for certain: it will be a record handle for political betting.

Covers senior writer Patrick Everson spoke with Matthew Shaddick, Political Trader at Ladbrokes;Jay Kornegay, Executive Vice President of Race and Sports at the Superbook at Westgate;and other well-connected members of the sports betting industry about what to expect leading up to election day.

Just talking to others who have booked the election, theyve been saying for years that the presidential election handle would dwarf the Super Bowl, Kornegay said. And when I say dwarfs, Ive heard 10 to 15 times the Super Bowl numbers. More people have political opinions than sports opinions. Youre reaching a bigger demographic.

The odds, like the polls, have actually been very stable over the last few months, Shaddick said. The odds are giving Trump a much better chance than the polls would imply. As far as the betting goes, its all Trump. His supporters seem to be able to ignore or dismiss all the polling evidence.

Across the pond at Ladbrokes, Shaddick said betting was suspended until we get a bit more reassurance about Trumps health status in response to the huge news last week that the president and wife Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

Click to read full article

Here is the original post:

US election set to generate huge wave of offshore betting - SBC Americas

Explaining the difference between ghosts and spirits, and other paranormal jargon – Southside Times

By Rick Hinton

Paranormal jargon will not only put you in the know, but also help you to appear paranormal savvy when discussing the topic with friends and family, if that discussion ever comes about. As we inch toward the end of October, and Halloween, lets go over a few key terms:

Ghost/SpiritMany feel these are one and the same, however, on my journey I now feel differently. I believe aghost is a playback a blast from the past of someone, or something, that once existed. Thinkof it as a film: you can view it, but there is no interaction because, frankly, its a movie. Its an imprint that has somehow been absorbed in a house or environment, and then for reasons unknownplayed back for your viewing pleasure. One example is the continued sightings of Union andConfederate soldiers on the Gettysburg battlefield. Theyre ghost. Spirits, however, are of a moreintelligent nature not a playback and sightings reported in the majority of hauntings. They are inreal time. They keep their once human personality aspect after passing (mischievous, foul, etc.) andgenerally are the ones who take great joy in messing with you. They become a member of the familywhether you like it or not; unless you give them their walking papers.

Residual Haunting/Intelligent HauntingThis directly relates to the aforementioned ghosts and spirits. A residual haunting is a continuousfilm loop of the past containing images of a life once lived. This would involve a ghost. They usually go through the same motions over and over. Sit back and grab the popcorn. On the other hand,an intelligent haunting involves spirits that interact and make their presence known in more waysthan one. They are most often upset about something you have done. Time is of no matter to them,and whether its your family, or two families after yours, theyre usually there for the long haul. Andyes its not unusual to have both ghosts and spirits in one location.

Paranormal/ParapsychologyThe term Paranormal means just above or outside the normal order of things. This could also applyto shopping at Walmart during the late hours on a Saturday night. Parapsychology is a branch ofscience (a loose science anyway) delving into a dissection of psychic phenomena trying to arriveat absolutes. Ok. They had to come up with some term to call it.

Medium/Trance MediumMany investigative groups use a medium. They are people professing the gift of the ability to communicate with spirits on various levels. They feel things and are also called sensitives. They can detect bad mojo in a location and work to get a read on the past. My wife, Laura is one of these. A trancemedium is on the next level, acting as a transmitter for the voices of disembodied spirits. They alsofeel any pain dealt with in their past life. My wife, Laura has no desire to venture into this realm.

OrbsInteresting circles of colored lights that appear in photographs. They are often caused by bugs,moisture or dust, so dont get too excited about them. Now, if you see them with your own eyes,that may be quite something else.

Ouija BoardTalk about some bad mojo! Dont mess with it; its not just a childs game. You wont like the potential outcome.

See the article here:

Explaining the difference between ghosts and spirits, and other paranormal jargon - Southside Times

What Is a Narcoanalysis Test? – The Wire Science

Representative image of the human brain: Alina Grubnyak/Unsplash.

The gang-rape and murder of the 19-year-old woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly by four upper caste men, has sparked outrage around the country. After reports of the incident hit the national headlines, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered narcoanalysis tests of all the people connected with the case.

That the order also applies to the victims family has led to considerable controversy, together with attempts by state police to elide evidence of rape altogether and claims by the government that the incident was manufactured to tarnish its reputation.

Narcoanalysis as an investigative tool has been a controversial topic for decades. The test presumes to place its subject into a hypnotic state by injecting anaesthetic drugs of specific dosages. It is assumed that in this state, the persons imagination is neutralised and that she will then divulge information that she believes to be true to her knowledge. Its seen as a means of obtaining information in circumstances that require an urgent response from the person.

The test is usually conducted by a team comprising an anesthesiologist, a psychiatrist, a clinical/forensic psychologist, an audio/videographer and supporting nursing staff (source). They monitor the patients vitals, including blood pressure and pulse rate, throughout the session and the entire procedure is documented for the record. And before beginning the test, it is mandatory that the person being tested has consented to it and knows and understands the entire procedure.

Those who conduct these tests have been known to prefer thiopental sodium (PDF download) as the narcotic agent since it is also frequently used as a general anaesthetic. It is a fast-acting drug: a person who receives an intravenous dose (of suitable quantity) typically loses consciousness within seconds.

Its important to maintain an appropriate dosage of the drug to ensure the person remains at a particular stage of anaesthesia.

There are four stages of anaesthesia. In the first stage, the person begins going under and to feel the drugs effects. In the second, the person becomes semiconscious and enters a trance-like state. If the drug is being administered continuously, the person will subsequently enter the third stage complete unconsciousness. If the dose is increased beyond this point, the fourth stage begins, of coma and eventually death.

During narcoanalysis tests, the person is to be maintained in the second stage a hypnotic state. Researchers have hypothesised that, in this state, thiopental sodium produces an effect akin to hypnosis as well as, through certain neurological processes, makes it harder for the person to lie. The interview begins when the persons speech begins to slur.

Thiopental sodium belongs to a class of drugs called barbiturates, which depress the central nervous system and slow down brain activity. They have these effects because they imitate one of the chemicals that the human brain produces naturally when it wants to calm the body: gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The barbiturates bind to the GABA cell receptors and induce the person into a trance-like state by dialling down their fear and anxiety. At this point, the idea is that it will be hard for the brain to carry out complex thought processes, including deciding which question to answer and lying.

Although members of the criminal justice system, and other others, have been excited by the prospect of a drug that can prevent people from lying, there is a more considerable body of literature that encourages skepticism about the methods efficacy.

Several critics have expressed concerns that the test isnt 100% accurate. For example, a person addicted to drugs or alcohol is expected to also have a high tolerance of thiopental sodium, may pretend to be in a semiconscious state and could retain the ability to deceive. It is also quite complicated to maintain an exact dose of the drug according to an individuals will-power or attitude. Finally, innocent subjects could become suggestible and even share information they are not required to.

In addition, many medical professionals deem thiopental sodium to be dangerous if not administered in judicious amounts. An inappropriate dose or use of the drug could suddenly lower blood pressure and cease respiration, so narcoanalysis is very risky for people with respiratory ailments like asthma.

Narcoanalysis tests also pose several legal, ethical and medical questions. As a result, they have also received considerable attention for straddling two distinct worlds and distinct goals: efficient investigative practices and the preservation of individual liberties. So in May 2010, the Supreme Court of India held that involuntary administration of such lie-detecting tests intrudes on ones mental privacy.

Niranjana Rajalakshmiis a veterinary microbiologist.

Original post:

What Is a Narcoanalysis Test? - The Wire Science

When you wish upon a moon – The Tech

By Wenbo WuOct. 8, 2020

When I was young, I used to dream of a little boy on the moon. And when hed dream, hed hope and wish that dreams didnt end so soon. Hed walk a little crater and sing a little greater of another on earthen ground. Oh how nice it must be, how calm and at peace, it must be to finally be found!

The boy often wished upon a star, the only one he knew. His turning world phased him none, though oft he caught the blues. In the dark hed ponder away, unknowing of his worth. Hed wish that there would come a day when his star would face him north.

He wandered searching, looking for something, oh what a lonely sight! Hed call out forever into the darkness and far into the night. The darkness followed, and he encircled, he put on quite a chase! He once caught his shadow, but it slipped from his fingers, before it flew away.

He could hardly be real, not seeing himself, in palms or on the floor. He used to pine for a wizard or elf, to lift him from this chore. Hed stand, then fall, then rise again, in his task to chase the light. For the darkness loomed above his head, and filled him quite with fright.

I paced like him as nomads do, from Dallas to New York. I questioned him with longing eyes, For whom do you fall short? I calmed my dreams with poetry, yet lingered on the words. I placate minds in twos or threes, and hummed between the chords.

Like the phases of the moon, my heartstrings waxed and waned. How I yearned to keep it full, to leave pain sick with vain! The shadow glued to my figure ran, as I fled the darkened street. I tossed and turned and wept again, all within my sheets.

But came a day when I converged, upon happy happenstance, a field of dreams from a movie scene enraptured in a trance. I sat me down and beside me found the prettiest path of ground, and upon inspection discovered confections of the clover most prettily profound.

Its quadruplicate leaves left me no longer bereaved, for luck saw someone too. I looked into his very eyes, and thus proclaimed it true. The boy on the moon awoke with a start, and in his heart a fire grew. Beside him bloomed a silent companion, maybe hes like me too.

Thus hands were held and natures felt in many exclaims of glee. Realitys reprieve from depths of dreams is that its not temporary. In six months felt, in six months past, the moon had danced thus forth. Even in the umbra of the newest moon, Id know its joy henceforth.

So I ask of dreams, and dreamers alike, to raise a glass tonight. I hope you sleep well, and I hope you stay strong, for the love thatll come to light. And I hope when you look up, youll see what I see, perhaps someone dreaming too. And them not so lonely, with their company, and a marvelous breathtaking view.

Go here to read the rest:

When you wish upon a moon - The Tech

Listen to Jono of Above & Beyond Sing on the Group’s New Single, "Diving Out Of Love" – EDM.com

Fabled trance trioAbove & Beyondhave once again taken to their Anjunabeats banner to unveil a riveting a new single.

"Diving Out Of Live" is taken straight out of the iconic Above & Beyond playbook with classic trance leads and spacey pads, which combine to create a hypnotic verse section that also features vocals from band member Jono Grant. The track eventually heads into a tense build before crescendoing into an electro-inspired drop that belongs on the main stage of a music festival.

The last time Grant sang on one of Above & Beyond's songs was back in 2018, when he contributed his airy vocals to "Is It Love?" from the group's fourth studio album,Common Ground."Diving Out Of Love" is the final single to be released from Above & Beyonds "Group Therapy 350" celebrations as they revel in Anjunabeats' illustrious 20th anniversary.

Above & Beyond also recently joined forces with EDM.com to curate a playlist containing the most legendary Anjunabeats tracks in the imprint's storied history, which you can check outhere.

Listen to "Diving Out Of Love" below and find it on all streaming platforms here.

Facebook: facebook.com/aboveandbeyondInstagram: instagram.com/aboveandbeyondTwitter: twitter.com/aboveandbeyondSpotify: spoti.fi/3fHhX1z

The rest is here:

Listen to Jono of Above & Beyond Sing on the Group's New Single, "Diving Out Of Love" - EDM.com

A letter from the inside of quarantine | Life and Arts | newsrecord.org – The News Record

Students return to campus for the first day of the fall semester on Monday, August 24, 2020 at the University of Cincinnati's main campus.

Living on campus at a public university is a hard decision to make during a pandemic. Being a freshman and craving that sense of freedom became a risk I was willing to take. With that high risk in place, after all the caution I took, I still wound up with COVID-19.

Although the sickness is different for everyone, I have had a pretty stereotypical experience for the average college student. It has been quite the 10-day isolation, and I am here to give you a breakdown of that time.

Two weekends ago, I felt homesick and decided to take a little trip home for the weekend. I was planning on distancing from my family to be safe, but little did I know I was bringing the virus home with me.

That Saturday night, I started getting cold chills and feeling awful. The next morning, I got up and immediately made an hour and fifteen-minute drive to get rapid test results. As I felt in my gut, the results were positive.

I drove home in shock and sadness, knowing I could not go back to school for over another week. I had to come home to my parents' basement and quarantine in my little brother's bedroom since it is the farthest away from the rest of my family.

The beginning of the week was a little scary. On the second day, it honestly felt like I was in a dream. I was in a loopy and exhausted trance, and I could barely get myself to move. All of that happened on top of cold-like symptoms.

After I got over the second day, though, the days to follow slowly got better and better. There was humor in being in the basement because of my parents' constant need to yell down the stairs to check on me. My mom and sister would FaceTime me to cure boredom pretty consistently. I found myself completely engaged in binge-watching old "Big Brother" seasons and comparing competitors who were on the show years ago as if I was watching it live.

I would get sudden bursts of energy and walk around my basement, but they would always be followed by a crash and need for a nap. I spent a lot of my time sleeping, trying to get in any bit of schoolwork I could do and begging my mom for more snacks. I was super lucky not to lose my taste or appetite at any point.

Overall, my experience with COVID-19 seemed to be pretty average for a symptomatic case at 18 years old. I am fortunate to have endured a pretty bad cold, but nothing too severe. Living in my parent's basement again was a blessing in disguise in an odd way. After feeling homesick for a little bit, it is safe to say I got the full dose of my home these past ten days. I am happy to be returning to UC, and my heart goes out to those who have faced much worse consequences due to the virus.

As someone who was not prepared for more than two days back at home, I would love to guide others with quarantine essentials to avoid complete boredom. Also, some things I needed to get me through the sickness in general.

1. Your wallet

I made the mistake of somehow leaving the most essential thing in my dorm, and trust me, online shopping is necessary when you are alone for ten days.

2. Lip balm

I recommend anything by the brand Vaseline. Having lip balm kept me from getting to the point where even my lips were driving me insane.

3. Streaming services

Netflix? Hulu? Disney+? It doesn't matter. Find the show you're going to binge, and I promise you will amaze yourself by how fast you get through it.

4. A journal

I may have a writer's bias, but I think writing about your time in quarantine, or at least jotting moments down, is crucial.

5. A good book

I passed a lot of time reading. It's also a good time to start reading if you haven't in a while because what else is there to do?

6. Cases on cases of water

I'm serious. I went through more water bottles than you could believe.

7. A TV tray

Getting homework done when you feel like you can't get out of bed is a struggle. I recommend investing in a TV tray now to make that a lot less difficult.

8. Vitamins

Keep that body as healthy as you possibly can.

9. Lots of blankets

Having a pile of blankets on demand is exactly what you need for the virus's hots and colds.

More here:

A letter from the inside of quarantine | Life and Arts | newsrecord.org - The News Record

Talkhouse Weekend Playlist: lofi instrumental beats to create to – Talkhouse

Frankie and the Witch Fingers, the psychedelic four-piece, consists of Dylan Sizemore, Josh Menashe, Nikki Pickle, and Shaughnessy Starr. You might ask, Well if these are the Witch Fingers, then whos Frankie? Well, Frankie, as it turns out, is Sizemores cat. Anyway, the band is back with their sixth album, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters, which is out now via a co-release between The Reverberation Appreciation Society and Greenway Records. We recently invited Sizemore to create his own Talkhouse weekend playlist, and he came back with these atmospheric and instrumental tracks to create to. Think a rock version of those lofi hip-hop beats to chill out to YouTube streams.Keenan Kush, Talkhouse Operations Manager

I enjoy creating visual art while listening to music; for me they go hand in hand. I think music is a great tool for zoning out the noisy outside world in order to fully immerse yourself into the art you are creating. I find this especially true with music that is equally atmosphere, and not too demanding of your attention. These are some artists I find to be that perfect sweet spot for creative journeying.

Dylan Sizemore

Bitchin Bajas Angels and Demons at PlayBitchin Bajas is the side project of the group Cave from Chicago. Cooper Crain and his crew make really beautiful pieces that are both dynamic and transportive. Ive played this album on loop multiple times over, its perfect for dissolving your concept of time.

Dang Olsen Dream Tape You Always Find MeDang Wayne Olsen is an amazing visual artist, so it only makes sense that he would create music that is just as mind-altering as his visionary cartoons. I love this album because it is quite experimental in the way that it blends synths and other conventional instruments with what sounds like field recordings and other found sounds. This album is a tape looped trip to say the least.

Krater LabyrintI discovered this band by complete accident, and I still dont know much about them. When I first heard this track, I assumed it was from the 70s until further investigation suggested they were a contemporary group. This song has so many great choices when it comes to melody and the overall mood is like being in some kind of extraterrestrial womb floating through the cosmos.

Hiroshi Yoshimura GREENThis album is the perfect balance of ambient and melodic for me. I love when music sounds like water; its soothing and serene.

Mort Garson PlantasiaOne of the finest electronic composers to date. This album brings me so much joy every time I listen to it. The melodies are so iconic and catchy, and the layered arrangements are so tasteful and fantastical. His other albums can be quite experimental and fun to listen to as well, but Mother Earths Plantasia will always be my favorite to drift off to.

Piero Piccioni Easy LoversTalk about melting into a song this piece is one of the most sexy, warm feeling songs to swim around in. The instrumentation is so dreamy sounding, and the flute solos perfectly hover above the band like a feather blowing in the wind. I love listening to vintage soundtracks from foreign films when Im in need of some cinematic atmosphere.

Dorothy Ashby Afro HarpingAn amazing album with Dorothys stunning and very original jazz style harp playing at the center of some really awesome compositions. The instrumentation and tones are so organically rich and alive on this record. Dorthy Ashby is a new obsession of mine, I find her music to be perfect for diving deep into, or for just having on in the background. Its smooth, funky, and light.

Tom Dissevelt SyncopationDissevelt is an electronic composer with similar-sounding compositions to Mort Garson but a little more primal and avant-garde. I like how experimental and far-out his stuff gets, especially when you think about it existing in the 50s. He has a great album of wild space tones called Fantasy in Orbit: Round The World With Electronic Music.

Ashra 77 Slight DelayedCaught somewhere between Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd, theres the group Ashra. They make these wonderful repetitive guitar melodies that change over time accompanied with some awesome synth voices. It sounds like a race car video game in space to me. I get lost going around the track with this album very easily.

Cave Sweaty FingersHeating things up a bit and bookending the first song with another one of Cooper Crains projects is the ever so krautrock influenced Cave. They blend aspects of some of my favorite three-letter band names, CAN and NEU, and sprinkle their own funky tendencies in as well. I love all of Caves work, theyre super consistent. They have these hooky melodic motifs that repeat over and over and build over time in a very dynamic way. Cave is the perfect recipe for getting sucked into swirling rhythmic trance.

(Photo Credit: David Fearn)

Read more here:

Talkhouse Weekend Playlist: lofi instrumental beats to create to - Talkhouse

Big tech weighs on U.S., world equities, capping gains on Trump’s improving health – Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street took a nosedive late in the session on Tuesday, reversing solid gains to close deep in negative territory after President Donald Trump announced he was calling off talks on coronavirus relief legislation until after the Nov. 3 election.

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. flag is seen outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

All three major U.S. stock indexes closed more than 1% lower.

The markets finally ran out of hope Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi and (Treasury) Secretary (Steven) Mnuchin would pull a rabbit out of a hat, said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Trumps announcement in a tweet came on the heels of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powells warning of dire economic repercussions if Congress failed to pass additional fiscal stimulus.

Powell called for Congress to act quickly and Trump effectively pulled the rug out from under that, said Oliver Pursche, president of Bronson Meadows Capital Management in Fairfield, Connecticut. Its troubling, given the statements Chairman Powell made earlier today.

In remarks delivered online to the National Association for Business Economics, Powell warned the U.S. economy could slip into a downward spiral if the coronavirus is not contained and Congress fails to deliver additional fiscal support to businesses and households.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 375.88 points, or 1.34%, to 27,772.76, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 47.68 points, or 1.40%, to 3,360.95, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 177.88 points, or 1.57%, to 11,154.60.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.07% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.75%.

Crude prices extended gains, boosted by supply disruptions from approaching storms in the Gulf of Mexico and an ongoing oil worker strike in Norway.

U.S. crude futures settled at $40.67 per barrel, a gain of 3.7%, while Brent gained 3.29% on the day to settle $42.65 per barrel.

The dollar, essentially flat for much of the session, jumped against a basket of world currencies after Trumps tweet.

The dollar index .DXY rose 0.21%, with the euro EUR= down 0.27% to $1.1749.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.14% versus the greenback at 105.62 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2902, down 0.58% on the day.

U.S. Treasury yields dropped from four-month peaks after Trumps announcement.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 5/32 in price to yield 0.7469%, from 0.762% late on Monday.

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR last rose 13/32 in price to yield 1.5501%, from 1.567% late on Monday.

Gold prices were lower after the safe-haven precious metal erased earlier gains.

Spot gold XAU= dropped 1.4% to $1,886.71 an ounce.

Reporting by Stephen Culp; additional reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

View original post here:

Big tech weighs on U.S., world equities, capping gains on Trump's improving health - Reuters

Amy Coney Barrett on the First Amendment – Daily Signal

This op-ed is part of a series exploring the writings and jurisprudence of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the presidents nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now that President Donald Trump has nominated 7th Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the Senate must assess her qualifications, including her legal experience and judicial philosophy.

Want better access to more videos from The Daily Signal? Subscribe to our YouTube channel! Just go here: youtube.com/dailysignal

Although experience can be summarized on a resume, a Supreme Court nominees understanding of the power and proper role of judges can be harder to describe.

Justice Clarence Thomas described the modest judicial task as interpreting and applying written law to the facts of particular cases. Barretts judicial philosophy is how she approaches that task in all of her cases.

Here, we look for clues in her cases and scholarship involving the First Amendment.

The Senate should consider a judicial nominees record on its own merits, and in the proper context. Though common, evaluating judicial decisions by which party to a case wins or loses, or by the political interests that might be furthered, is fundamentally misguided.

As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said during her Senate confirmation hearing in 1993, Judges in our system are bound to decide concrete cases, not abstract issues.

Although a few issues seem to attract most media or political attention, judging is about the process one uses to reach results, not the results themselves. Americans, therefore, need to know the process that a judicial nominee will use in all of her cases, whatever the issue and whoever the parties.

Most cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals are first considered by a panel of three judges. Their judgment answers the legal questions posed by a case and, most of the time, a written opinion explains that judgment. Some of these written opinions, called per curiam opinion, are not attributed to a particular judge, but rather to all of the judges as a whole.

More typically, one judge writes the majority opinion; the other two judges on the panel may join that opinion or write their own, explaining why they agree or disagree.

Barrett has written roughly 100 opinions that may provide more insight than the opinions she joined, although information about someones judicial philosophy may be gleaned from those too.

These opinions must be read with the understanding that three-judge appeals court panels are bound by precedents of both the circuit and the Supreme Court.

With that in mind, Barrett herself made a strong statement about her judicial philosophy during the Rose Garden ceremony where Trump announced her nomination.

She said: I clerked for Justice [Antonin] Scalia more than 20 years ago, but the lessons I learned still resonate.His judicial philosophy is mine too: A judge must apply the law as written.Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.

Barrett joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, on Nov. 2, 2017. Before taking the bench, Barrett had written about the role that a courts past decisions play in its current decisions.

In one Notre Dame Law Review article, she explained how Scalia distinguished between two kinds of precedent when interpreting and applying the First Amendment.

Regarding the freedom of speech and religion clauses (especially when the core offense of suppressing particular political speech is not at issue), Scalia relied on the accepted practices of the American people over the Supreme Courts own past decisions.

Although we cant know definitely how Barrett will decide certain issues if confirmed to the Supreme Court, heres a look at several opinions she authored or joined that address First Amendment issues.

The case of Acevedo v. Cook County Officers Electoral Board (2019) involved a challenge to the requirement by Cook County, Illinois, that to appear on the ballot, a candidate for local office must collect signatures equal to 0.5% of the qualified voters of the candidates party who voted in the most recent general election in Cook County.

The plaintiff argued that this threshold violated the First Amendment because it was higher than the signature requirement to run for statewide office. Barrett wrote the opinion for the court, which found no First Amendment violation.

Barrett wrote that the tough legal standard under the First Amendment is triggered when the challenged regulation imposes a severe burden, not by the existence of a less burdensome restriction. Because Cook Countys signature requirement was not severe, it did not run afoul of the First Amendment.

In another case, Lett v. City of Chicago (2020), the plaintiff, an investigator for the office handling complaints of police misconduct in Chicago, claimed retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights in refusing to write one of his reports in a particular way.

The court disagreed that his First Amendment rights had been violated, with Barrett writing that because the investigator spoke pursuant to his official duties and not as a private citizen when he refused to alter the report, the First Amendment does not apply.

Grussgott v. Milwaukee Jewish Day School Inc. (2018) was an employment dispute in which a teacher sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Barrett joined a per curiam (unsigned) opinion holding that the First Amendment allowed the Milwaukee Jewish Day School to make such personnel decisions without interference.

The court applied the Supreme Courts Hosanna-Tabor decision, which recognized a ministerial exception to employment discrimination suits against religious institutions. The 7th Circuit panel read the Supreme Courts decisions as requiring, in essence, a totality-of-the-circumstances test to determine whether the ministerial exception applies.

As Barrett noted in her recently submitted Senate Judiciary Questionnaire: The Supreme Court later vindicated our approach in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020).

In Smadi v. True, federal prison inmate Hosam Smadi sought an injunction and damages, alleging that prison officials violated the First Amendment by interfering in his communications with various parties and refusing him religious meals. The district court had dismissed the first claim, severing it from the second.

Barrett joined the opinion concluding that the record was insufficient to dismiss the claim of interference. Although a recent Supreme Court decision limited the kind of relief sought in this case, the 7th Circuit said that the best approach is for the district court to recruit counsel for Smadi and receive adversarial briefs on the First Amendment claims.

In Adams v. Board of Education, a school board declined to extend the school superintendents employment contract and, during her final year, blocked her email and tried to pretend that she did not exist.

This treatment followed the superintendents demands for an audit of the school districts finances and negative interactions with individual board members, one of which resulted in her contacting the police.

The superintendent took medical leave and sued for damages. A jury awarded her $400,000 after concluding that the school board had violated her First Amendment rights.

The board argued that the First Amendment did not apply because the police report involved a private or personal grievance rather than expression involving a matter of public concern.

Barrett joined Judge Frank Easterbrooks opinion concluding that the incidents reported to the police involved public officials and their official duties.

The suggestion that an audit was necessary, questions about the superintendents tenure, and the school districts treatment of her before her tenure ended are all subjects of public interest, the opinion said. Rejecting the boards other feeble arguments, the court affirmed the award in the superintendents favor.

In Republican Party of Illinois v. Pritzker, the Illinois Republican Party challenged one of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers executive orders issued to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Order 43, issued June 26, exempted religious organizations and houses of worship from a 50-person cap on in-person gatherings, encouraging them to follow the recommended practices and guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The states Republican Party argued that the Democratic governors exemption violated the First Amendment because more than 50 people could gather in a church to worship but the same number could not gather elsewhere to discuss politics.

Barrett joined the opinion by Judge Diane Wood concluding that the speech that accompanies religious exercise has a privileged position under the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court has upheld legislation that gives religions a preferred position and held that the Establishment Clause permits accommodations designed to allow free exercise of religion. In this case, all that the Governor did was to limit to a certain degree the burden on religious exercise imposed by the limitation on gatherings.

These decisions paid close attention to the facts of each case, consistently followed precedent, and avoided unnecessarily addressing constitutional issues. By properly framing the issue in light of the facts in both Acevedo and Pritzker, for example, the 7th Circuit was able to decide the cases without unnecessarily opining about plaintiffs First Amendment interests.

In each of these cases, Barrett gave a glimpse of the thoughtful, serious way she would address her modest judicial task as an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court.

More here:

Amy Coney Barrett on the First Amendment - Daily Signal

Mask Mandate Doesn’t Violate the First Amendment – Reason

Yesterday's Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Walz, decided by Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.), correctly rejects the argument that the Minnesota mask mandate "violates the First Amendment because it does not permit them to enter indoor public spaces without face coverings as a way to protest the requirement that they wear face coverings when they enter indoor public spaces":

The Supreme Court has recognized that expressive conduct may be entitled to a measure of First Amendment protection. In general, courts evaluate the validity of a law that regulates expressive conduct under the standard articulated in United States v. O'Brien (1968). This does not mean, however, that every law regulating conduct is subject to scrutiny under O'Brien whenever an individual decides to violate the law for the purpose of sending a message.

If combining speech and conduct were enough to create expressive conduct, a regulated party could always transform conduct into "speech" simply by talking about it. For instance, if an individual announces that he intends to express his disapproval of the Internal Revenue Service by refusing to pay his income taxes, we would have to apply O'Brien to determine whether the Tax Code violates the First Amendment. Neither O'Brien nor its progeny supports such a result.

To merit First Amendment protection under O'Brien, then, the conduct regulated by the challenged law must be "inherently expressive." Here, the conduct at issue is not inherently expressive. [A]n observer would have no idea why someone is not wearing a face covering. Absent explanation, the observer would not know whether the person is exempt from EO 20-81, or simply forgot to bring a face covering, or is trying to convey a political message. That fact takes the conduct outside of the First Amendment protection afforded by O'Brien.

Even if wearing or not wearing a face covering was inherently expressive, EO 20-81 is clearly constitutional, whether analyzed under O'Brien or Jacobson. Under O'Brien,

a government regulation is sufficiently justified if it is within the constitutional power of the Government; if it furthers an important or substantial governmental interest; if the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.

There is no question that Minnesota has the constitutional authority to enact measures to protect the health and safety of its citizens. Likewise, there is no question that EO 20-81 furthers the substantial government interest in controlling the spread of a deadly and highly contagious disease. As discussed above, federal health officials recommend face coverings as an effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19, and this recommendation finds support in recent studies.

Finally, EO 20-81 is unrelated to the suppression of free expression and has at most an incidental effect on First Amendment freedoms that is no greater than necessary; plaintiffs are free to express their opinions about EO 20-81 in every conceivable way except by violating its provisions and putting at risk the lives and health of their fellow citizens.

Likewise, EO 20-81 is constitutional under the standard established in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), which requires courts to examine whether a measure adopted to address a public-health crisis has a "real or substantial relation" to the crisis and, assuming that it has such a relation, whether it is "beyond all question, a plain, palpable invasion" of a constitutional right.

See the article here:

Mask Mandate Doesn't Violate the First Amendment - Reason

Los Angeles Ordered To Pay NRA $150000 Over First Amendment Ordinance Violation – California Globe

On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson ordered the City of Los Angeles to pay the National Rifle Association (NRA) close to $150,000 over a 2019 ruling on a city ordinance aimed at negatively affecting some city workers who are members of the NRA.

City Ordinance 186000 specifically requires that any prospective contractor with the city must disclose all contracts or sponsorships with the NRA. The ordinance noted several mass shootings, including the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012, the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting of 2017, and both the Pittsburgh and Thousand Oaks shootings of 2018, and tried to tie them to the NRA by showing how their support for less strict gun laws led to those incidents. The ordinance also noted how many of those cities would later enact greater gun control methods.

It concluded that since Los Angeles enacted ordinances and position in favor of greater gun control, it would make sure city funds wouldnt go those with ties to the organization and would halt city contractor business with NRA members and supporters.

The Citys residents deserve to know if the Citys public funds are spent on contractors that have contractual or sponsorship ties with the NRA, read the ordinance. Public funds to such contractors undermines the Citys efforts to legislate and promote gun safety.

The NRA immediately sued Los Angeles after the ordinance went into effect in April 2019. While the city, as well as ordinance sponsors Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilman Mitch OFarrell, had expected to win, the NRA made a hard case for the ordinance being in violation of First Amendment rights, mainly freedom of speech.

In December, Judge Wilson agreed with the NRA and ruled against Los Angeles, halting the ordinance for good and allowing contractors who are members of the NRA to once again be freely allowed to get contracts with the city.

The text of the ordinance, the ordinances legislative history, and the concurrent public statements made by the ordinances primary legislative sponsor evince a strong intent to suppress the speech of the NRA, Judge Wilson wrote in his ruling. Even though the Ordinance only forces disclosure of activity that may not be expressive, the clear purpose of the disclosure is to undermine the NRAs explicitly political speech.

The City has no interest in the suppression of political advocacy regardless of how distasteful it finds the content. The Ordinance is therefore incompatible with the Constitution, and Plaintiffs are likely to be successful on the merits of their First Amendment speech claims.

Los Angeles stayed quiet after the ruling, neither giving a statement on the ruling nor attempting to pass an altered ruling in 2020.

Free speech advocates, affected contractors, and the NRA had the opposite reaction and celebrated the ruling.

It was essentially a blacklisting for believing in a constitutional amendment, Charles Rogers, an NRA supporter and contractor with several cities in Southern California, told the Globe. I didnt even attempt anything in Los Angeles last year.

But its my belief and Im with a group that shares that belief. I shouldnt be shunned for it. But the city really did do it. Thank God for that lawsuit.

The NRA also responded: This is an important win for the NRA, our members, and all who believe in Americas constitutional freedoms. The ruling sends a powerful message to those government officials who would take any actions that are adverse to the NRA because they dislike its political speech.

However, a question lingered throughout much of 2020 over the matter of the NRAs legal fees, which came in close to $150,000.

Los Angeles, which is currently going through a fiscal emergency due to COVID-19 closings and the economic downturn, had long avoided paying the NRA, going as far as saying that the NRA had to pay it themselves.

But earlier this week Judge Wilson sided with the NRA again, ordering the city to give the NRA all money owed and finally closing the last remnant of the case for good.

I know the city is hurting, but its good to see a First and Second Amendment victory like this in a big city like LA, added Rogers. And that court ordered payment the other day? It will make them think twice about doing something like this in the future.

Evan V. Symon is the Senior Editor for the California Globe. Prior to the Globe, he reported for the Pasadena Independent, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and was head of the Personal Experiences section at Cracked. He can be reached at evan@californiaglobe.com.

Read this article:

Los Angeles Ordered To Pay NRA $150000 Over First Amendment Ordinance Violation - California Globe

Letter: ‘Civility’ is not mentioned in the First Amendment – Whidbey News-Times

Editor,

I find myself writing another letter to our community newspaper. No, Im not mad, angry, nor riding a high horse pushing a candidate for elective public office. Believe it or not, it is because of a small, square white sticker tag attached to front of my Saturday newspaper.

For simplicity, Ill refer to it as the civility tag. Yes, a call for civility in the wild, one could say. That being wilderness of discontent we find ourselves in today, I presume. Asking for or suggesting the signing of a civility pledge of a local group promoting civility.

Yes, I believe the tag, as well as the group, are well intentioned.

Freedom of speech, as granted in our Constitution with few if any restrictions on ways of expression, does not include civility as a stipulation or requirement. Civility is an ambiguous term anyway. Meaningful in different ways to different folks.

Speaking for myself, I found it to be a Trojan horse of censorship.

This time of discontent we find ourselves in a period of history in the making and, I believe, most exercises of our inherited freedoms have been reasonably presented.

I understand others may disagree, but there is the value in freedom of speech, discussion and debate.

Thomas Strang

Coupeville

See the original post here:

Letter: 'Civility' is not mentioned in the First Amendment - Whidbey News-Times

Litigation fellow joins – Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

In September, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press welcomed Emily Brown as a litigation fellow. In her new role, Emily conducts legal research, drafts friend-of-the-court briefs and completes other assignments to support the Reporters Committees litigation efforts.

I went to law school because I was interested in First Amendment issues and free speech issues, Emily said. Its been my prevailing area of interest my whole life, so this is really a manifestation of all of that ambition.

Emily said she decided she wanted to become a lawyer when she was in middle school when she joined the debate team, winning a competition argument that the school newspaper should not be censored by the principal.

For her undergraduate degree, Emily attended Haverford College, a private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, and majored in political science, with a minor in music. After graduating in 2013, Emily worked at a clean energy start-up before joining the Peace Corps in Lesotho, a country in Southern Africa, for three years.

In 2017, after returning from the Peace Corps, Emily attended the University of Virginia School of Law. During law school, Emily completed internships with a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. She also did pro bono work for Mobilization for Justice, a legal services organization in New York City. During her final fall semester, she completed a full-time externship with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Washington, D.C.

Emily graduated from law school in May 2020 and spent the summer studying for the bar exam before joining the Reporters Committee.

Emily Brown is not admitted to practice law.

The Reporters Committee regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs and its attorneys represent journalists and news organizations pro bono in court cases that involve First Amendment freedoms, the newsgathering rights of journalists and access to public information. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our monthly newsletter and following us on Twitter or Instagram.

See original here:

Litigation fellow joins - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Texas grand jury indicts Netflix for promotion of ‘Cuties’ – Martinsville Bulletin

The film, which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival, is about an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant who joins a dance group. The films writer and director, Mamouna Doucour, has said Cuties is a critique of the hypersexualization of young girls.

Tyler County District Attorney Lucas Babin, said in a Tuesday press release that the county opted to indict Netflix for promoting the film there. Texas Rangers served a summons to Netflix last week, he added.

Lucas Babin is the son of U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, who has called the film child pornography.

After hearing about the movie Cuties and watching it, I knew there was probable cause to believe it was criminal, Lucas Babin said in the release. If such material is distributed on a grand scale, isnt the need to prosecute more, not less?

Thomas Leatherbury, director of the First Amendment clinic at Southern Methodist University, called the indictment an unusual test case and said its troubling when there is a criminal charge related to First Amendment activity, particularly expressive activity, like a movie.

In Texas, a company convicted of a felony can be fined up to $20,000, according to the penal code. If the court finds that the company benefited financially from a crime, penalties can increase to twice the amount earned.

Read more from the original source:

Texas grand jury indicts Netflix for promotion of 'Cuties' - Martinsville Bulletin

Walking Toward God | Notre Dame Magazine | University of Notre Dame – ND Newswire

Above my home in Boise, Idaho, a steep trail called Rock Garden rises hundreds of feet through boulders left behind when a prehistoric lake collapsed and rushed off to the Pacific two million years ago. Its many-colored rocks, lichen and moss, waterworn shapes and sparse desert vegetation are, for me, an everfascinating sculpture garden. Ive climbed it nearly every day while otherwise sheltering in place.

North of the trail lies one of the largest wildernesses in the Lower 48, stretching 300 miles with but a single intervening road. Together with the Teton Range near where I grew up, this mighty landscape formed my family, formed me and is still thrilling. Now, however, instead of grand adventure at altitude or in rivers, I walk trails slowly, taking it all in, remembering.

I seem to have reverted to childhood on cue. On my bedroom dresser is arrayed the abandoned nest of a tiny bird; a little ball of fur and bones that an owl left behind after eating a mouse; and an old spike from the quarry where prisoners chiseled out rock to build their own prison, which now sits empty below the trail. I collect rocks, like the one next to me as I write this, covered in four colors of lichen, and Im still disappointed when rocks bright in last weeks rain are dull when dried, just as when I brought them home to my mother 75 years ago.

Arriving at Notre Dame in 1954, I fully expected to be a middling student, coming as I had from an empty state and modest schools, but for freshman composition I drew Richard Sullivan 30, an acclaimed novelist and a kind man. For him I wrote of my life outdoors back home: skiing in deep powder; sinking into soft cold soil on early October mornings when schools closed and every child was turned out to pick spuds; of simply looking as summer clouds rolled above our apple trees. I wrote of bringing irrigation water down from a canal built by my great-grandfather; of plugging the gopher holes along the way; of how killdeer faked broken wings to distract us from their nests.

Sullivan liked all that, encouraged me and sent me on my way. I think of him as I walk the trail.

I also remember John Kirsch.

During the Great Depression, Kirsch was one of those teenagers from back east who was rescued by the Civilian Conservation Corps and sent into the woods out west, never to return. After a wartime spent in India, he took up ranching near Cody and Bozeman, then got a masters degree in wildlife management before joining the Montana Department of Fish and Game.

At 50, Kirsch became a Catholic priest. While a professor and chaplain at Montana State University and Carroll College he created a course called Eco-Theo to explore a subject with deep but contentious roots in Christianity: the relationship between creation and the divine, nature and spirituality. He was teaching not only theology but also ecology and direct experience from nature.

To help visitors Find the Spirit in Nature, Kirsch also founded the Living Water Contemplative Center in West Yellowstone, Montana, just north of my hometown. Thats why, 20 years ago, I was in Yellowstone National Park with him looking at a single, large rock for what seemed a very long time. Just looking. What do you experience, he asked after many minutes passed. What is sacred here? Can you experience Spirit?

I could not. Maybe water, but rock?

For Kirsch, rock, water and wood were not only a reminder, an inspiration or even a path to God. They were holy in themselves. Everything is holy. All matter is divine.

I was charmed by Kirsch but the whiff of pantheism was more than my conventional Christianity could accept. I was not going to choose the Church of the Great Outdoors over the real thing. Yet two decades later I cannot get enough of rocks. And I have moved toward his spirituality.

Kirsch died in 2002, an obscure follower of St. Francis of Assisi. Today, however, he would be among those reviving a Christian theology critical to mankinds future: a love for the natural world so clear and fierce as to save mankind from slow suicide.

Kirschs Theo would be consistent with that of the priest-paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, with Thomas Berry, another priest published by the Sierra Club, and with all those reviving Celtic spirituality, like the late, dear John ODonohue or John Philip Newell of the Church of Scotland.

Beginning in the fifth century, Patrick and those who followed him in Ireland, Scotland and Wales built a fully Christian theology on the foundation of druidic paganism, in which women were among the spiritual leaders. Irish Christians looked on creation as a second scripture, akin to and of equal merit with the Gospel. For them, God was immanent and near, not removed and elsewhere just as Native Americans would tell us today. The Celts brought this spirituality to Europe for a few centuries before being diminished by Rome.

Five years ago, in Laudato Si, Pope Francis tried to rouse the world into action over climate change, particularly on behalf of the poor who will suffer even more in the future than they suffer today most severely from the pandemic. Tragically, the popes message was not taken seriously, if what has come from Idaho pulpits is any example, yet he carries on, pleading most recently for protection of the Amazon.

As he soldiers on, I grieve for him. In a way, he walks with me on Rock Garden Trail and I with him.

So, again, how might I consider the rocks on my trail? Have I become a pantheist?

Ive run through a lot of books in the last 20 years as my grip on the faith I grew up with has come and gone and come. My constant handhold on this slippery rock has been Father Richard Rohr, the Franciscan founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who is considered heretical by some. In his latest book, The Universal Christ, Rohr writes that Christ is not Jesuss last name. Instead Christ denotes Gods first gift the first Bible, the first incarnation which is the universe itself, and the Love of which it is made.

The word Rohr chose for this indwelling of God is panentheism. God is the soul of the universe, extended beyond space and time, yet present, pervading and interpenetrating everything Every Thing including my rocks.

Wildly incomplete as it is, thats quite enough Eco-Theo for today. Im going to take a hike.

JerryBradywas publisher of the Idaho Falls Post Register for 25 years and twice was the Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho. In the summer of 1958, he accompanied Father Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, on a two-month trip through Africa.

View post:

Walking Toward God | Notre Dame Magazine | University of Notre Dame - ND Newswire

Inmarsat offshore comms service extended to the Gulf of Mexico – Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Offshore staff

LONDON Inmarsat is extending its three-in-one Fleet LTE coverage for offshore service vessels to the Gulf of Mexico.

This follows successful trials at the start of this year in the North Sea with ship/crew management company V.Ships Offshore, based in Aberdeen, and Inmarsat service provider One Net.

The program delivered hybrid connectivity via 4G cellular and satellite coverage on VSAT Ka-band and L-band.

Inmarsats new Gulf of Mexico coverage is additional to an existing agreement with subsea fiber and offshore LTE network operator, Tampnet, following the launch of the Fleet LTE North Sea service last November.

According to Scott Bryce, vessel manager at V.Ships Offshore, the automatic and seamless switching between networks, proven during the North Sea trials, helped remove the risk of any disconnection in service that would normally affect the companys day-to-day activities.

The service plan flexibility has also given us the ability to move up and down plans when needed, to support our changing bandwidth demands, and there are no hidden admin fees to worry about.

The Fleet LTE service expansion means users in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico can now access high-speed 4G, Fleet Xpress maritime VSAT Ka-band and continuous L-band connectivity within a single, fully managed hybrid package, Inmarsat added.

Inmarsat Fleet LTE is available in various service bands with data speeds of up to 40 Mbps and a round-trip delay of around 35-40ms. When LTE is not available, services switch automatically to Ka-band Fleet Xpress information rates, with continuous back-up from L-band FleetBroadband.

10/07/2020

Excerpt from:

Inmarsat offshore comms service extended to the Gulf of Mexico - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

SSE chief calls on UK to address offshore barriers – reNEWS

Following UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledge to support development of the country's offshore supply chain, SSE Renewables managing director Jim Smith says now is the time to act to address key barriers.

Johnson committed his government to deploying 40GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, backed up by a 160m investment in ports and factories.

Smith said that hurdles such as resolvingconsenting challenges, developing the grid, as well as the reform of the electricity market, would put the UK on a course to delivering these targets.

He said: "A public commitment to much-needed multi-million-pound investments in infrastructure is important because it should have a real impact on creating jobs and supporting companies in regions all across the UK, including Scotland where were building the countrys largest offshore wind farm and Northern England where were building the worlds largest offshore site.

"Its an investment commitment many of us in the industry have long been calling for, and echoes calls made by SSE Renewables to build an investable, globally competitive UK supply chain for the offshore wind sector.

"Thats why this announcement should be widely welcomed.

"But revolutions, even green ones, are not built on announcements alone.

"From today, all of us involved in the delivery of offshore wind, from government to industry, need to come together to maintain the push behind our efforts and take the enabling steps needed to allow this revolution to succeed.

"Yesterdays announcement of strategic investment to support UK supply chain development is one such key action, but there are still others to address, ranging from consenting challenges to developing the grid, as well as reform of the electricity market to ensure the UK remains the best place to invest in the long term.

"As an industry we need to continue to work collaboratively with government to overcome these barriers. But we can overcome them.

"In doing so, we can put the UK on a course to delivering 40GW by 2030 as part of a green recovery."

See the rest here:

SSE chief calls on UK to address offshore barriers - reNEWS