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IPL returns but will be played in UAE; Indian cricket ecosystem loses out – The Times of India Blog

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

The 2020 version of IPL is finally going to be held but it will be the UAE that is to play host. Even if it is not the best option, it is still a welcome development. The long hiatus appears to have affected the financial health of the cricket board, BCCI. Media reports suggest payments within the cricket ecosystem have been delayed.

The forthcoming IPL will be the longest ever edition, 53 days. It plans to tweak rules to account for the pandemic- unlimited Covid-19 substitutes will be allowed. The tournament will be held in a bio-secure environment following the example set recently by England and West Indies who played a full fledged test series.

Ideally, the IPL should have been held in India given that it is over six weeks away. However, the inclination of state governments to revert to lockdowns and the slow pace of return to normalcy has made it impossible. It represents lost economic opportunities for many in the Indian cricket ecosystem.

Read also: BCCI shares detailed plan for IPL 2020 in UAE

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IPL returns but will be played in UAE; Indian cricket ecosystem loses out - The Times of India Blog

Worldwide Online Gambling and Sports Betting Market Study for 2020 to 2025 providing information on Key Players, Growth Drivers and Industry…

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

The ' Online Gambling and Sports Betting market' report Added by Market Study Report, LLC, enumerates information about the industry in terms of market share, market size, revenue forecasts, and regional outlook. The report further illustrates competitive insights of key players in the business vertical followed by an overview of their diverse portfolios and growth strategies.

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2. Global Health & Safety Service Market Growth (Status and Outlook) 2020-2025Health & Safety Service Market report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years, the Report also brief deals with the product life cycle, comparing it to the relevant products from across industries that had already been commercialized details the potential for various applications, discussing about recent product innovations and gives an overview on potential regional market.Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-health-safety-service-market-growth-status-and-outlook-2020-2025

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Worldwide Online Gambling and Sports Betting Market Study for 2020 to 2025 providing information on Key Players, Growth Drivers and Industry...

Sharp increase in callers to Kentucky gambling helpline likely linked to pandemic – LEX18 Lexington KY News

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) The 2020 coronavirus pandemic shuttered kids and adults at home, giving way for some individuals who gamble and game to become addicted to those activities.

The Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling reports seeing at 20% jump in calls to the state helpline from June to July for those struggling with gambling and gaming addictions.

Council Executive Director Mike Stone explained, "the isolation of the pandemic plays well with the typical secrecy and isolation of problem and addicted gamblers. And that could be the same with somebody who's excessively video gaming."

He said the World Health Organization started sounding the alarm for gaming disorders in 2019 and the pandemic accelerated it for hundreds of players of all ages.

Stone said the WHO defined a gaming disorder as "people that spent too much time playing video games to their own detriment in their families, in their own health." He added that they "have seen research that indicates that there's a transference of that gaming behavior that possibly could go into gambling."

Many gamers are young people. And this year, kids have had more time for gaming with many extracurricular activities canceled due to the pandemic.

"Parents and others need to just monitor what's going on with gaming, Stone said. If it becomes excessive, then it might be advisable to pay more attention to what the what the young person is doing."

Stone said he hopes players realize KCPA does not want to deter them from playing.

"No, we're not saying don't play video games, we're not saying ban them. We're not saying don't gamble. We're not saying to go in and ban all gambling activities, he said. What we are saying is, please be responsible in your actions. And if it's gotten out of control. If you can't game--if you can't play the video games, as purely entertainment if they become an obsession. If you can't gamble as entertainment. Then it--try to recognize that and then reach out for help.

Stone noted that 1-800-GAMBLERS is open 24 hours a day, and it's completely confidential. Its operators are ready to help anyone who reaches out across Kentucky.

"There are trained telephone counselors who have been trained about gambling addiction and how to talk to people who are who are gambling ethics or families with gambling addicts or somebody that's concerned about a gambling problem, he said. And they're starting to learn the basics of how to talk to people about gaming as well. They do have resources that they can refer people to all across the Commonwealth at the community mental health centers."

All in all, Stone explained there is one particular warning sign gamblers and gamers need to look out for:

"The number one, one thing, I believe, is if it's no fun anymore. If what you're doing is something that you're being driven internally to do. And you're not really enjoying it. That is when he said you need to get help.

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Sharp increase in callers to Kentucky gambling helpline likely linked to pandemic - LEX18 Lexington KY News

theScore’s latest funding will help with sports gambling expansion – CalvinAyre.com

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

As the sports industry starts to see signs of life, now is a great time to get behind licensed sports gambling companies. Score Media and Sports, the parent company of sports wagering platform theScore, is ready to take its operations to a whole new level, completing a secondary funding round that saw it add $25 million to its coffers. That money will come in handy as the company looks to expand across North America and capture a large portion of a mega-billion-dollar industry.

theScore offers an app that allows users to receive personalized results on live scores, news, stats and gambling information. It also offers a mobile sports gambling app, theScore Bet, which has already been introduced to sports gambling fans in New Jersey. After completing a $40-million funding round last September, the addition of another $25 million through the latest offering shows the value investors see in the companys future.

In addition to its New Jersey operations, theScore is now ready to get into Colorado. It just received approval this week from the Colorado Division of Gaming to launch mobile and online sports gambling, which will prove highly lucrative given the states recent success with its sports betting. In just the first full month of legalized sports gambling in May, the state saw a handle of $25.62 million not bad, considering there were no major U.S. sports in action at the time. In a press release, company founder and CEO John Levy asserts, We cant wait to launch theScore Bet in Colorado later this month and showcase our incredible betting product to the passionate sports fans there, said John Levy, Founder and CEO of theScore. This regulatory approval is another significant step toward theScore Bets multi-state expansion as we roll out our uniquely integrated media and betting experience across the country.

The company is also introducing its app to Indiana, where it has worked out a deal to be the skin for Penn National Gaming. This past June, it scored another big partnership when it became an authorized gaming operator for MLB. The continued expansion into different markets and facets of sports is leading to the company quickly becoming one of the major sports gambling entities in the U.S. The fact that it has been able to score important deals in both Colorado and Indiana is noteworthy, because both of these states are expected to be leaders among all states that legalize sports gambling.

The funds collected by Score Media will be put to good use right away. It says in a statement, theScore intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including funding the continued growth and development of its gaming operations in the United States and Canada.

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theScore's latest funding will help with sports gambling expansion - CalvinAyre.com

UK Gambling Commission Rolls Out Public Awareness on Gambling Control, Safeguards, and Rights – Tunf.com News

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

The U.Ks gambling commission (UKGC) has rolled out its most recent public campaign that is meant to promote ways to stay safe while gambling. The campaign is dubbed nine ways to keep yourself safe when gaming.

The campaign aims to raise awareness on safer gambling measures and tools, facilities as well as support systems like GamCare and GambleAware. Additionally, UKGC is seeking to offer better and all-round guidance on effective ways to monitor personal activity on licensed platforms.

The Gambling Commission reminds all users to undertake realities checks to figure out why they are gambling are they looking to escape debt or make quick cash?

The body also reminds users of the rights they hold, including the right to request a timeout from all gambling-related activity for a given period.

The commission reminds all vulnerable users that licensed gambling operators are required to offer them access to self-exclusion programs like GAMSTOP, which enforces a longer time-out from gambling, up-to six months.

The UKGC, through this campaign, is expected to widen its initiative on creating public awareness on consumer rights as well as responsibilities during gambling.

Source: https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2020/08/04/75353/uk-gambling-commission-launches-public-awareness-campaign-on-gambling-controls-rights-and-safeguards/

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UK Gambling Commission Rolls Out Public Awareness on Gambling Control, Safeguards, and Rights - Tunf.com News

NBA Gambling Picks August 4th – Last Word on Pro Basketball

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

Heading into another day with a full NBA bubble slate Last Word on Hoops NBA Gambling picks are looking to give you some winners today. Yesterdays picks went 2-1 and ended up winning .86 Units. We also hit our first Bonus Parlay to win three units. Hopefully, todays NBA gambling picks will bring you more of the same.

Today is the first day of back-to-backs inside the NBA bubble. For a lot of teams, these games could prove to be problematic, but it may be just the opposite for the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are riding high after their first two games in the bubble. In todays game against the Orlando Magic, the Pacers are hoping to ride the momentum of those wins and pick up another one. The Magic are coming into the game undefeated as well but this game will end with one less undefeated team inside the bubble.

Take everything that was said about back to backs in the last pick, and throw it out the window. The Miami Heat are coming into todays game against the Boston Celtics off of a loss to the Toronto Raptors yesterdays. In their Tuesday win against the Portland Trailblazers, the Celtics relied heavily on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown down the stretch and will look for much of the same from that duo today. Tatum and Brown have certainly blossomed into one of the best combo punches in the league right now.

This game will have a ton of points. That is the only thing you can be certain of with these two teams getting together. The best argument for the Portland Trailblazers is the resurgence of Jusuf Nurki. The Houston Rockets will not have an answer for the Portland big man. This game could very well come down to who has the ball last. The Blazers are coming off arguably the worst 10 seconds of basketball that has been played inside the bubble. Todays game will give them the opportunity to bounce back from a tough loss to the Celtics, and with the clash of two high powered offenses, anything is possible.

Yesterdays bonus parlay won three units if you took it. We have another one today to try to maximize your units.

Record to date: 7-5

Units to date: +1.31 Units

Bonus Parlay: 1-3

Parlay Units: EVEN

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NBA Gambling Picks August 4th - Last Word on Pro Basketball

Last Week in the Federal Circuit (July 27-31): Gambling on an APA Challenge – JD Supra

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

It was a moderately eventful week at the Federal Circuit as the judges geared up for their August argument session and perhaps returned from their summer vacations.The Court issued 13 opinions and 2 orders on petitions for a writ of mandamus (1 grant and 1 denial).And the Court finally acted on a petition for rehearing that had been pending since December (and that wepreviouslymentioned).The original panel modified its opinion to order further proceedings on a claim it previously held ineligible under Section101, and an evenly divided en banc Court denied en banc rehearing. That denial drew 2 concurring opinions, 3 dissenting opinions, and 1 dissent without opinion.Below we provide our other usual statistics and our case of the weekour highly subjective selection based on whatever case piqued our interest.

Precedential opinions: 7

Non-precedential opinions:6

Rule 36:0

Longest pending case from argument: Australian Therapeutic Supplies Pty. Ltd. v. Naked TM, LLC, No.19-1567 (199 days)

Shortest pending case from argument (non-Rule 36): Tie betweenTakeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., No.20-1407, andTakeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. v. Alkem Laboratories Limited, No.20-1545 (53 days each)

Case of the week:FanDuel, Inc. v. Interactive Games LLC, No.19-1393 (July 29, 2020)

Panel:Judges Dyk, Moore, and Hughes, with Judge Hughes writing the majority opinion and Judge Dyk concurring in part and dissenting in part.

You should read this case if:You have an IPR appeal involving a procedural challenge under the APA.

As our readers likely know, one important difference between district court litigation and Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings is that PTAB proceedings like IPRs are subject to the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.In our case of the week, a patent owner took a gamble on an APA challenge at the Federal Circuit but went bust.

FanDuel petitioned for an inter partes review of a patent owned by Interactive Games related to remote gambling. It asserted that the challenged claims were unpatentable for obviousness based on a combination of three references.In Interactive Gamess preliminary patent owner response, it defended the validity of a dependent claim (claim6) only by arguing that the reference on which FanDuel relied for claim6s additional limitations did not qualify as prior art.The Board instituted an IPR, finding a reasonable likelihood that FanDuel would prevail on its challenge to claim6 but only expressly discussing the prior-art issue.But the Boards final written decision ultimately upheld claim6.It did not discuss whether the disputed reference qualified as prior art; instead, it found that FanDuel had not demonstrated a motivation to combine that reference with the other asserted references.

On appeal, FanDuel argued that the Board violated the APA by changing theories midstream and adopting a new theory that Interactive Games never raised in its submissions, all without giving FanDuel notice and an opportunity to respond to this supposedly new theory.The Federal Circuit rejected that contention, observing that FanDuels argument that it lacked notice that the Board might address and reject the obviousness arguments made in FanDuels own petition strains credulity.The Court gave two somewhat overlapping reasons for its conclusion.

First, the Court pointed to the different standards of proof required to institute versus to invalidate.At institution, the Board need only find a reasonable likelihood that a petitioner will succeed, whereas in a final decision, the Board must find invalidity by a preponderance of the evidence.Those differing standards permit the Board to adopt different views of the sufficiency of a petitioners asserted obviousness arguments in its initial versus final decisions without first alerting the parties to that possibility.In fact, the Court recognized, [t]his happens with some frequency.

Second, the Court observed that the burden of proving invalidity in an IPR remains on the petitioner throughout the proceeding. Indeed, the Court explained, a patent owner carries no obligation to raise any objection to the petitioners challenges at all.Thus, the petitioners contentions, rather than a patent owners response, define the universe of issues the Board may address in its final written decision.Applying those principles, the Court noted that the central question throughout the IPR was whether FanDuel proved its theory as to how the asserted references combined to make claim6 obvious.FanDuel was on notice that the Board would decide that issue [f]rom the moment FanDuel filed its petition.And that was exactly what the Board ultimately did in its final written decision.The Court concluded that [n]o APA violation results from such a course.

The Court went on to reject FanDuels challenge to the substance of the Boards non-obviousness determination.Judge Dyk dissented from that part of the majoritys opinion but agreed with the majority in rejecting FanDuels procedural challenge.

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Last Week in the Federal Circuit (July 27-31): Gambling on an APA Challenge - JD Supra

Your Pension May Be Gambling On Human Life, Profiting From COVID Deaths – GoLocalProv

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Edward Siedle, Guest MINDSETTER

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Edward Siedle

Many public and private pensions are gambling on highly speculative funds that invest in so-called longevity-contingent assets, such as life insurance policies insuring the lives of individuals who are generally at least 70 years old. The insured individual must have a life expectancy ranging from, say, not less than two years to not more than 15 years. A given fund may have exposure to hundreds of lives in the portfolio with an average insured age of over 80 years old.

The sooner the terminally ill and other elderly insured individuals die, the betteras far as your pension is concerned.

With more than80% of COVID deathsin the United States occurring in people aged 65 and older, this should be the best of times for gambling on these controversial funds which often promise annualized returns ranging from 8-12%. (Actual net returns are likely to be less than half those promised.)

If so, would it comfort you to know your pension was profiting from the misery of others?

Do you know whether your pension invests in life settlements? Have any such investments been clearly disclosed to you? Do the people managing your pension even know?

Believe it or not, they may not.

Today many alternative investment funds provide that they may withhold disclosure of underlying investments from pensions and participants, including stinky stuff like payday loans and life settlements.

Life settlement funds are controversial for a host of obvious and not-so-obvious reasons. Gambling on these highly speculative investments in a pension ensuring the retirement security of workers is doubly problematic.

Many regulators, lawmakers and other governmental authorities, as well as many insurance companies and insurance industry organizations, oppose the selling and buying of longevity-contingent assets. The industry and some of its participants have long been in legal and regulatory hot water. Opponents of the industry argue that these life insurance transactions are contrary to public policy by promoting financial speculation on human life and all-too-often involve elements of fraud and other wrongdoing.

Ask yourself: Why would an elderly, sickly or terminally ill insured person sell his or her life insurance policy? Because he or she needs cash to cover rising medical costs and living expenses? What are the chances the sale of that individuals life insurance policy may have been coerced or induced by fraud? Its no surprise that thoughtful regulators and lawmakers would be highly concerned.

The limited regulatory oversight of these funds is another major red flag. Many funds take the position that whole life settlements do not constitute securities under the federal securities laws and do not register as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Compliance with other federal and state securities laws is also a concern. The SEC has long had difficulty reigning in industry abuses since unless securities are involved the agency generally lacks jurisdiction.

Worst of all, since the portfolio investments of these funds do not currently have a readily available market for valuation purposes, the likelihood that portfolio values, as well as investment returns may be inflated by the managers is high. This is particularly troublesome for open-ended investment funds, where new investors may be buying into a fund at an already inflated Net Asset Value (NAV). The life settlement asset class has had a troubled past with respect to inflated NAVs caused by funds underestimating life expectancies.

In other words, fund managers, are so hopeful that the old and sick insureds will die sooner rather than later, they assume the life expectancies will be shorter.

In Europe,a number of open-end funds (so-called sickened death bond funds) have gated, trapping investors. After waiting several years for the funds to liquidate, investors have recovered only pennies on the dollar.

In my opinion, additional regulatory action regarding overvaluations of the portfolios of these funds is almost certainly coming. If so, your pensionyour retirement securitymay be at risk.

In 2016, the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector Generalissued ascathing reportfinding that the Virgin Islands General Employees Retirement System had entered into an extremely risky and questionable life settlement investment that jeopardized about $42 million of its investment portfolio. This was done without performing the necessary due diligence and obtaining the necessary expert advice, before exposing the pension fund to this high-risk investment. As a result, GERS has already written-off 20% or $8.4 million of the remaining value. In addition, GERS also granted a $10 million line of credit to the same partnership that is handling the viatical. The majority of the proceeds were to pay past due and near term premiums for the policies.

An advisor to the pension noted, There is uncertainty on the use of viaticals as an investment by a defined benefit plan. Also, The nature of the investment in viaticals, that is an investment seeking profits off death, raises issues of social responsibility.

To be sure, in my opinion, life settlement funds are the antithesis of socially responsible investing.

Should your retirement savings be in longevity-contingent assets supporting speculation on human life which often involve elements of fraud and other wrongdoing? First, find out whether your pension is invested in these funds, then let your voice be heard. Best case scenarioyour pension is profiting from the misery of others. Far more likelyits losing money playing in this nasty sandbox.

For more on how to protect your pension, see my bookWho Stole My Pension?

This piece was first published in Forbes.

"Pension Detective." Born Edward Ahmed Hamilton Siedle, I grew up in Trinidad, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, England, Uganda, Egypt and the U.S. I am a former SEC attorney, former Legal Counsel and Director of Compliance to Putnam Investments. For over 20 years, I owned securities trading and investment banking firms. My firm, Benchmark Financial Services, Inc. and I have pioneered over $1 trillion in forensic investigations of the money management industry. I am nationally recognized as an authority on pensions and investment management matters, having testified before the Senate Banking Committee regarding the mutual fund scandals and as an expert in various Madoff and other litigations. I am an active member of the Florida Bar. In 2017, I secured the largest SEC whistleblower award in history ($48 million) and in 2018, the largest CFTC award in history ($30 million)

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Your Pension May Be Gambling On Human Life, Profiting From COVID Deaths - GoLocalProv

Is The Property Market Gambling On A V-Shaped Recovery? – Bisnow

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

There is a point in a V-shaped economicrecovery when all hope seems futile: That is when you are at the bottom of the V.

Maybe thats where the UK economy is, or soon will be? Faith in the prospect of a rapid bounce back is beginning to drain away in some parts of the property market.

The Bank of England is feeling the same vibe and is reported to be close to revising its optimistic V-shaped forecast of sharp sudden fall in gross domestic productfollowed by a rapid climb into growth,the Financial Times reported.

The prospect of a U-shaped, W-shaped or, worst of all, L-shaped economic future begins to loom.

The mood in some regional centres, particularly in Manchester, where a local lockdown has been imposed, has become appreciably less upbeat. Even the ebullient local character can't quite overcome the sense of trouble ahead.

We didnt panic in March when the national lockdown began. Others panicked, but we didnt,OBI Property co-founder Will Lewis said of the Manchester market. We kept our cash and planned to get through to 1 September, expecting the final quarter to pick up. But I see now we were totally wrong because the end of the year will be tougher than anything weve seen so far. The worst is yet to come.

London-based observers like CBRE Global Investors Head of UK Strategy and Research Andrew Angeli chose different language, but the sentiment is similar.

Lets not get overly distracted by the alphabet soup used to characterise the shape of economic performance for the record, our view is it is probably a Nike swoosh or square root but the focus should be on the sustainability of the recovery, the return to something that resembles normal, and on that theres a lot of reasons for trepidation, Angeli told Bisnow.

Theres the spectre of a resurgent virus, though we are still seeing the first wave play out economically, and with localised lockdowns, the furlough scheme closing, there is a threat to the property market which will confound decision-making for some time.

The Bank of England

Angeli points to two data sets that worry him. The first is the lag in investment activity in London and the UK, compared to continental peers like the German cities and Paris. The disconnect between Germany and London is stark, he said.

The second is the bid-ask spreads in the German, Paris and London office property markets. Discounts are being demanded in the UK, and whilst in Paris or Munich you are now at or better than pre-COVID pricing, in London thats not true.

Rent collection data, which is bad and not getting better, adds to the sense that all is definitely not well, nor likely to improve soon. With Brexit hovering, unexplained, in the background, Angeli is not surprised investors are concerned and confused.

The property markets may be waking up to this, and about time too Angeli suggested. The property market has been on life support the last few months, it is a slow-mover as an asset class, and the mood now reminds me of March this year, as we watched the virus marching towards us, Angeli said, reflecting that the economic consequences are now getting closer.

Sooner or later rents will have to realign with GDP, and the long-term loss of economic capacity will have to be confronted.

Angeli agrees that there is still plenty of capital ready to spring into action if the right property opportunities present themselves in the office or logistics sector. But this niche activity should not distract from the bigger picture.

Even so, in tough times a deal is a deal and the London and regional markets could see both some clever strategic acquisitions and some more simple-minded bargain hunting. This activity looks to some observers like early evidence of the kind of recovery everyone hoped to see.

We are already seeing evidence that some parts of the property market will see a V-shaped recovery, Cushman & Wakefield Head of UK Research & Insight Greg Mansell said. Since restrictions eased, investors have shown a strong interest in logistics properties, food stores and prime London offices.

In London offices, for example, we know that over 2B of London office assets are currently under offer and another 2B are at bid stage; an encouraging rebound from the last quarter where less than 1B transacted for the first time in over 20 years. There is a backlog of deal activity that needs to work its way through the market in the coming months so we shouldnt underestimate how quickly activity could pick up.

Mansell says the occupational market may play catch-up, moving at a slower pace. For now the process of discerning real levels of demand, and discovering market rents, is unusually difficult.

Regardless of V-shapes, U-shapes and so on, we will have a two-tier occupier market for all property types: businesses with cash and a secure business could recover quickly, while indebted businesses hampered by current restrictions will recover slowly, if at all, Mansell said.

New data published by Oxford Economicssuggested an easy climb out of the coronavirus crunch is unlikely, but also offers some grounds for hope.

Oxford Economics analysis of regional trends suggests the economic fallout will be uneven, and unlike that of the 2008-12 recession.It saidthe West Midlands is the worst-hit in 2020, London the most insulated. But 2021 will see their positions reversed. Oxford Economics said that 2021 will be subdued, with no region achieving a level of GVA higher than it was in 2019, but it forecast that all will do so in 2022.

It predicted that the largest 2020 decline and strongest 2021 rebound will be in the West Midlands, which by the end of this year will have experienced a 13.2% plunge in GVA. In 20201 it will rebound by 11.9%. The regions reliance on manufacturing and the auto sector accounts for the exaggerated response.

The consultancy estimates that London, compared to the other UK regions, is experiencing the smallest reduction to its GVA, with a decline of 9.8% compared with 2019. Everywhere else, it said, the decline is in double figures.

The property market may be heading for a blinding realisation of the kind experienced by OBI'sLewis:The worst is yet to come. Or it may discover a more patchy recovery in progress by the end of the year, a recovery of the kind Oxford Economics suggest. Somewhere between a V and a U.

Contact David Thame at david.thame@bisnow.com.

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Is The Property Market Gambling On A V-Shaped Recovery? - Bisnow

About 40% of destinations are easing travel restrictions – The Yucatan Times

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 40% of all destinations worldwide have now eased the restrictions they placed on international tourism in response to theCOVID-19pandemic.

The latest UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report confirms the trend of a slow but continuous adaptation and responsible restart of international tourism.

Of the 87 destinations that have now eased travel restrictions, just four have completely lifted all restrictions, while 83 have eased them while keeping some measures in place, such as the partial closure of borders.

In addition, 115 destinations, representing 53% of all destinations worldwide, continue to keep their borders completely closed to tourists.

The report says that destinations with a higher dependency on tourism for employment, economic growth and development are more likely to be easing restrictions on travel. Around half (41) of the destinations that have eased restrictions are in Europe. Looking at the 115 destinations that continue to have their borders completely closed to international tourism, the report finds that a majority (88) have been completely closed their borders for international tourism for more than 12 weeks.

The restart of tourism can be undertaken responsibly and in a way that safeguards public health while also supporting businesses and livelihoods, says UNWTO secretary-general, Zurab Pololikashvili. As destinations continue to ease restrictions on travel, international cooperation is of paramount importance.

This way, global tourism can gain peoples trust and confidence, essential foundations as we work together to adapt to the new reality we now face.

To read the full UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report, please seehere.

Source: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/

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About 40% of destinations are easing travel restrictions - The Yucatan Times

10 Wonders Of The World You Can Explore In Video Games – WhatCulture

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

From transatlantic flights to wandering down the road to top up on milk and toilet rolls, travel is difficult at the moment. Sights are limited, and depending on where you live, the world can feel small when looking out the window.

It's times like this that we're grateful video games exist. With the jump in technology over the last couple of decades, rendering world famous landmarks has become easier and allowed more detail and size than ever before. It's amazing to think these virtual landmarks even still exist , or once existed at some point in history.

The majority of the Seven Wonders of the World have long since been lost to time, but Wonders of the Modern World still continue to spring up to this day. Here are just ten of them to enjoy when stuck inside your home, desperate for an escape.

These are places that exist or have previously existed, and that you can truly experience up close and personal. World-building simulators like Civilization and Minecraft are excluded as the developers need to have modelled something, rather than the fans.

These are Wonders of the World, gorgeously recreated in pixel form.

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10 Wonders Of The World You Can Explore In Video Games - WhatCulture

Sherpas, unwavering guards of the Himalayas – Happytrips

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

The Sherpas are one of the most hardworking, helpful ethnic group that promote peaceful living.

Their history

The community that helps others climb mountains did not climb themselves in the 20th century. They thought that the peaks were home to the Gods, so they mostly passed by. It was in the 1920s that they actually got involved in climbing mountains and it was mostly because of the British. The Indian subcontinent was ruled by the British around that time and they planned mountain expeditions and hired Sherpas as porters.

Over years, as porters, they became used to climbing the worlds highest peaks and that is how climbing became a part of their culture.

It is almost safe to say that this community has it in their genes and this has developed over decades. Their community gives others a motivation to climb, but we must understand that they are much different than normal humans, they have evolved and developed ways to live with less oxygen over years. If an average climber reaches 8000 ft above sea level, they will feel a shortage of oxygen, their blood pressure might even rise and, in some cases, the brain develops a swelling which is life-threatening.

These are the risks that a climber would face at 8000 ft, but the Sherpas live above an average altitude 14,000 ft.

Studying the Sherpas

Originally posted here:

Sherpas, unwavering guards of the Himalayas - Happytrips

Black conspiracism in the age of Covid-19and how to fight it – The Philadelphia Citizen

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

In a recent viral video on social media, Dr. Stella Immanuel claims to have the cure for the coronavirus: hydroxychloroquine.She also says that we dont need to wear masks.

Flanked by Americas Frontline Doctors all in white coats, Dr. Immanuel urgently argues that we could open schools and that no one has to die from Covid-19. These Frontline Doctors argue that we have all been duped by fake science into a kind of hysteria about Covid-19 that to them is unnecessary and unwarranted.

To date, over 150,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 and there are more than four million cases of diagnosed coronavirus nationwide. Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment or cure for the virus. And wearing masks is one of the most effective means of mitigating the transmission of the virus.

When it comes to rumor and conspiracy, facts are the most potent antidote, but State Senator Anthony Williams believes the path ahead is challenging. The governor, the mayor, the president, the senatorthey are not necessarily listening to us, because they follow Facebook for their news. They dont follow us. They follow Twitter for their information. Thats the space we have to begin to dominate and drive out the message.

The challenges of coronavirus are personal and professional for Senator Williams. He is feeling much stronger these days, but he is recovering from coronavirus and eager to get back to the important work of making sure that the pandemic is mitigated in a racially equitable way.

It is a strange morphological irony that racism is embedded in the word conspiracism. Much like underlying health conditions, access to coronavirus testing, and Covid-19 mortality rates, conspiracism has a disparate impact on the African American community.

The Americas Frontline Doctors video, made viral by Breitbarts politically conservative website (with help from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), collected over 14 million views in six hours. Supportive tweets from the 45th President of the United States made matters worse. The presidents namesake son had his Twitter account suspended for retweeting the same viral video.

Within a day or so social media platforms had removed the video and various news outlets have since reported on the fact that the video is misinformative and counterfactual. But the damage has already been done.

Conspiracism thrives in the era of coronavirus for a variety of related reasons. First, coronavirus is a global pandemic. Pandemics are literally the subject matter of apocalyptic science fiction in film, novels, television and all things popular culture. Second, at the heart of many conspiracy theories is some form of government malfeasance.

This current administrations mishandling of the pandemic will achieve legendary status in the annals of history. And that is an unfortunate disadvantage in the challenges that conspiracy theories present. The government has to work with the community to create a bond of trust so constituents trust that elected officials and governmental departments are providing accurate information, says Councilperson-at-Large Isaiah Thomas. When it doesnt, conspiracy theories flourish.

Jesse Walker, author of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory, agrees. Elected leaders should be as honest and transparent as possible, he says, but when it comes to debunking a false conspiracy theory, Walker does not believe in any kind of cure-all. People just need to learn to ask the same questions they should be asking about any other story. How strong is the evidence for this? What sort of track record does this source have? Basically, hone your media literacy skills and apply them all the time.

It does not feel like (social) media literacy is at a premium during this pandemic. And the fact that there is a viral video about a viral pandemic underscores the speed with which information (and misinformation) can be circulated.

The critical role that contemporary media platforms have and will continue to play in how we process public health information has its highest stakes in the Black community.

It is a strange morphological irony that racism is embedded in the word conspiracism. Much like underlying health conditions, access to coronavirus testing and Covid-19 mortality rates, conspiracism has a disparate impact on the African-American community.

While engagement with conspiracy theories is high across the board, in the United States, African Americans appear in surveys to be more receptive to conspiracy theories in general, says Professor Rob Brotherton, a psychologist and author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories.

Given that most conspiracy theories allege that authorities and institutions like the government or the medical establishment are not to be trusted, its entirely understandable that such theories resonate among communities with long histories of being marginalized and mistreated by those very institutions.

Systemic racism is the root cause of the racial disparities evidenced in the impact of the pandemic in the African-American community. And systemic racism underwrites all of the ways in which conspiracies thrive in the African-American community. But the potential for Black people to believe in conspiracy theories related to public healthespecially those theories that might preclude people from accurate public health knowledge during a global pandemic that disproportionately impacts African Americansmay have deadly disparate outcomes. If racism wasnt already embedded in the word conspiracism, we would have to revise it for factual accuracy.

There are real conspiratorial reasons why African Americans have an abiding skepticism of the American health care industry. The U.S. government conspired with health officials to develop a treatment for syphilis by secretly studying it in Black men. Medical researchers developed HeLa cells from samples taken from Henrietta Lacks in 1951; the modern notion of informed consent did not exist then. These kinds of stories abound in American history and they provide a generative context for Black conspiracism to thrive.

Black conspiracism has evolved over the short span of the pandemics trajectory in the United States. In the early days, before the virus spread, some in the Black community pointed to the continent of Africaand its relatively low numbersas some kind of indicator that Black folks might be more immune to the virus than our white counterparts. This was more rumor than conspiracy, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Eventually, the Blacks-dont-get-it rumor was supplanted by the demographic data on deaths related to Covid-19. Unfortunately, the timing of an influx of data on racial disparities in coronavirus infection rates and Covid-19 mortality rates almost perfectly coincided with the implosion of the current administrations faade of actually caring about the public health crisis evolving under their watch.

State Senator Anthony Williams, recovering from the virus himself, tells me that some of his Black constituents believe that the governments trying to kill us. So they created this virus, and of course its killing black people at a higher rate on purpose.

Black conspiracy theorists seized on the fact that more Black people will die as a result of premature reopenings and general mismanagement of the pandemic in the U.S. Now, Senator Williams tells me that some of his Black constituents believe that the governments trying to kill us. So they created this virus, and of course its killing black people at a higher rate on purpose.

The fact of disparate Black death is a compelling corollary for conspiracy theories that the U.S. government is deliberate in its failure to meet the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

While it is impossible to prove that the U.S. government is deliberately ignoring the public health intelligence on coronavirus because it believes that Black lives dont matter, the consequences are the same for the Black community.

Intentional or not, the federal governments ignorance and public health ineptitude has deadly disparate consequences for the Black community in America. And so, whether or not its a conspiracy is, in fact, immaterial. The consequences of an unchecked spread of coronavirus are real for Black folks.

A third iteration of Black conspiracism in the age of Covid-19 is bubbling up now as concerns about the vaccine, how it is tested, and who will actually take it begin to substantiate a new skepticism.

As early as late May, only about 25 percent of African Americans surveyed said they were willing to even take a coronavirus vaccine once one is available. This reluctance to be vaccinated is understandable, based upon history and the history of systemic racism. But the conspiracists (some in the Black community) will cultivate that skepticism and transform it into a full-blown conspiracy that the developers of the vaccine, in concert with the government and private industry, will deploy the vaccine (somehow/someway) to the detriment of the African American community.

Senator Williams is worried that the vaccine rollout will mirror the testing rollout in Philadelphia, i.e. the vaccine rollout will follow your economic status.

Scholars who research conspiracism in the Black community generally agree that theories about government conspiracies against Blacks are widespread in African American culture, according to Professor Jennifer Crocker.

There are many fact-based reasons for this. But there are at least two inflection points that might help us to better understand why conspiracy theories are widespread in the Black community and how we might confront the specter of conspiracy in ways that work to keep the African-American community informed and vigilant about the real conspiratorial machinations in our midst.

For Professor Crocker and other scholars, system blamea specific tendency to make external attributions for the problems facing Black Americans as a groupis the most likely underlying factor of Black conspiracism.

A new iteration of Black conspiracism is bubbling up now as concerns about the vaccine, how it is tested, and who will actually take it begin to substantiate a new skepticism. As early as late May, only about 25 percent of African Americans surveyed said they were willing to even take a coronavirus vaccine once one is available.

Black folks blame the system, not to absolve themselves of agency or to obscure bad choices/behavior. But to direct their vigilant skepticism toward the systemic nature of white supremacy and anti-Black racismtwo ideological and material entities that brutally truncate the value of Black life in real time across all of Americas social and corporate institutions.

System blame is how kernels of truth often animate Black conspiracism in ways that make conspiratorial ideas sticky in Black public consciousness. One waymaybe the most effective way to diminish the suasion of Black conspiracismis to eradicate anti-black racism in the systems through which the American government operates.

If ending the real reasons for Black people to place blame on racist systems of oppression seems too fantastical, the second option or inflection point might be a pathway of lesser resistance.

Read about the King Alfred Plan. You can find a copy here, but it is best read in the context of John A. Williams classic political novel, The Man Who Cried I Am.

The King Alfred Plan is named after King Alfred the Great, so monikered because of his Eurocentric efforts to foreground the Anglo-Saxons, uplift the English language (over Latin at that time) and to promote Christianityarguably three pillars of modern white supremacy in America.

In the world of The Man Who Cried I Am, the King Alfred Plan is a plot designed by the CIA, in collaboration with nearly every facet of the American government and American law enforcement, to architect a final solution for the minority problem in America. Its worth quoting here at length for readers to appreciate its ominous and veritable tones.

Each passing month has brought new intelligence that, despite new laws passed to alleviate the condition of the Minority, the Minority still is not satisfied. Demonstrations and rioting have become a part of the familiar scene.

Troops have been called out in city after city across the land, and our image as a world leader severely damaged. . . . The Minority has adopted an almost military posture to gain its objectives, which are not clear to most Americans. It is expected, therefore, that, when those objectives are denied the Minority, racial war must be considered inevitable.

When that Emergency comes, we must expect the total involvement of all 22 million members of the Minority, men, women and children, for once this project is launched, its goal is to terminate, once and for all, the Minority threat to the whole of the American society, and, indeed, the Free World.

In the real world, circa 1967, Williams decided to promote his novel, guerrilla-style, by placing photocopies of the King Alfred Plan in subway trains in New York City. The plan was taken as factual and it spread like a virus. It perfectly encapsulated the politics of the moment and the very real fear of how the system might respond to Black civil rights unrest in the streets of America. The plan became required reading for Black social movements and the sense of truth that it conveyed far outweighed the reality of its fictional creation.

The King Alfred Plan reminds us well why Black conspiracism reigns supreme in the contemporary moment. When the lines of fact and fiction are convincingly blurred, the truth of American anti-Black racism remains laid bare for all to see, hear and feel. This truth is too often endured in the lived experiences of African Americans.

Today, there may be no actual King Alfred Plan for the extinction of Black people in America, but the disparate impact of the coronavirus, the governments mismanagement of the pandemic, along with the ongoing and unchecked brutalization of Black people by American law enforcement, combined with the recent martial response to civic unrest by this very same government, all collude to make us feel as if The Plan is already in full effect.

James Peterson is a writer, educator and consultant. The Color of Coronavirus series is supported by the Pamela and Ajay Raju Foundation.

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Black conspiracism in the age of Covid-19and how to fight it - The Philadelphia Citizen

How To Build Diverse And Inclusive Coworking Spaces – Allwork.Space

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

We need to be the light to show like-minded individuals that they can be a part of this. We have to be intentional and be willing to be the leader -- not just tell, but show. - Tim Williams

How can we build authentic, inclusive workplace communities for the benefit of everyone?

This was the topic of a recent webinar hosted by Lauren Wilson and Jamie Russo from the GWA, which invited three industry experts to share their thoughts and experiences on how our industry can create positive change by promoting diversity and inclusivity.

The panel included:

Right now, a lot of conversations are focusing on diversity. Partly, its because the current Covid-19 situation is forcing people to stay at home and consume more media coverage, right at the time when events surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd, and the heightened impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, is filling TV screens and news outlets.

The pandemic is giving everyone the time for these events to be considered, to sink in, said Tim Williams of Diverse Culture. People are sitting home and thinking these things through. I pray that these results shape a better future.

Conversations around racial injustice, inclusivity and diversity or lack thereof are conversations that need to happen.

Some of us know that these issues have existed as long as Ive been alive, said Tracy Powell. A spark has ignited peoples awareness around the injustices that exist. Its having a huge impact. Im seeing it in our spaces, in business, in communities, in every aspect of life.

Here are Allwork.Spaces highlights of the GWAs panel discussion, which was moderated by Lauren Wilson.

For Powell, it is about approaching the situation proactively and embracing different cultures and communities.

Look for organizations that represent diversity. For example, our Blue Lacuna space in Chicago is based in a largely latino/latina community, so I went and met all the local organizations to talk about our space and welcome them into our community.

Powell worked to connect with other communities in the area and proactively demonstrate that the space is open to all. You have to be friendly and open.

When Wilson asked this question, she added that she is often the only black person in the space when she walks into shops or workplaces. I look for little cues. I check websites, I want to know if your images represent me? I want to see people who look like me.

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Its important to note that inclusivity isnt solely about race or skin tone, but also about factors such as sexual orientation, or a physical or mental disability.

Tim Williams noted that when he launched his workspace, initially he didnt think about targeting a minority audience.

What changed?

We made a pivot to make sure we stood out. From there, we purposefully aimed for underserved communities. Since our service is heavily focused on diversity and inclusion, we worked on connecting with intentional organizations that focus on this, and that want change, and want to be associated with change.

Williams conducted a survey that asked 100 people, what is diversity? and found that the majority answer was black and white.

But its bigger than colour, he added. Until we can truly understand what diversity is, its hard to put together a process to make sure we can position ourselves to be a more diverse and inclusive company.

For Kristin Diodonet from Pacific Workplaces, its all about talking to people and creating connections.

In her prior Community Manager role, she had a spreadsheet with all of her members and their businesses. I wanted to know who they were and what they do, because I wanted to let them know that I care about them.

She urged other community managers to find out more about their members and work to connect them with other people and businesses outside the space.

I sent out blog posts about our members because I wanted people outside our community to find out what were about. You have access to all these people amplify that. Its important to connect with members, talk to them, listen, and share experiences.

Be open and willing to have conversations. Make time for them. By talking with members you get amazing insights, which helps you to support them better.

According to Williams, only 1.4% out of all US coworking spaces are minority owned.

There arent many minority owners. Coworking is hard, its not super lucrative. But coworking and mentorship is totally needed. Its the future.

For coworking to improve on this and bring more minority owners and operators into the industry, for Williams, its all about sharing knowledge, educating, and mentoring others.

Education is still a problem, he said, as a lot of people still dont know what coworking is or how it works. We have to educate not just our audience, but the individuals who make the decisions that enable us to progress.

We need to be the light to show like-minded individuals that they can be a part of this. We have to be intentional and be willing to be the leader not just tell, but show.

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How To Build Diverse And Inclusive Coworking Spaces - Allwork.Space

FBI takes over investigation of missing Kentucky woman five years after her disappearance – WXII The Triad

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

More than 150 state and federal law enforcement were deployed in Bardstown, Kentucky early Thursday morning following an announcement that the FBI is taking over a high-profile disappearance.FBI Louisville said it is now the lead investigative agency on the Crystal Rogers case.Rogers, 35, was reported missing by her mother five years ago; she hasn't been heard from since July 3, 2015. Two days later, her car was found abandoned with a flat tire on the Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone and purse still inside.Since the mother of five disappeared, the only suspect ever named has been her boyfriend at the time, Brooks Houck, with whom she shares a child. He has never been charged.Now, federal agents are stepping in to help get answers and are starting by searching Brooks' home and other properties. I have committed publicly and privately that delivering long-sought justice in Nelson County is the highest priority case of the United States Attorneys Office, said U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman in a news release. Todays efforts by our stalwart FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Kentucky State Police partners is a major step in honoring that promise. Law enforcement officers began executing nine federal search warrants early Thursday and will be conducting more than 50 interviews in Bardstown."By utilizing federal resources and expertise and by bringing a fresh perspective to the case, those responsible for Crystals disappearance will be brought to justice," the FBI said.So far, we know of three places where officers are searching Thursday: Brook Houck's home, his brother Nick Houck's home and the Houck family farm -- all of which have been searched before. The FBI has also launched a new website to help share information about Rogers' case: http://www.crystalrogerstaskforce.comThere is currently a $25,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts, the FBI said. Since Rogers disappeared, her mother, Sherry Ballard, hasn't given up hope. More background on the investigationAuthorities believe Houck, her boyfriend, was the last person to see her alive. Within the first year of Rogers' disappearance, Brooks' brother, Nick Houck, was fired from the Bardstown Police Department for interfering with the investigation.Officials said Thursday they are conducting searches at both of their homes.Early on, friend and employee of Brooks Houck, Danny Singleton, faced 38 counts of perjury for lying to detectives during the investigation, but pleaded guilty to lesser charges of false swearing. At one point, investigators zeroed in on Houck's grandmother, Anna Whitesides. The state believed her car may have been used to dispose of Rogers' body. Whitesides, who had previously talked to investigators, later invoked her Fifth Amendment right, refusing to testify when called to court.Just about a year ago, a new detective took over the case when Det. Jon Snow left the Nelson County Sheriff's Department. Chief Deputy Joedy Gilliland then became the lead until the feds stepped in.Over a week ago, human remains were discovered near the border of Nelson and Washington County, and FBI in Virginia are investigating that. No word on if there is any connection to the Rogers case.

More than 150 state and federal law enforcement were deployed in Bardstown, Kentucky early Thursday morning following an announcement that the FBI is taking over a high-profile disappearance.

FBI Louisville said it is now the lead investigative agency on the Crystal Rogers case.

Rogers, 35, was reported missing by her mother five years ago; she hasn't been heard from since July 3, 2015. Two days later, her car was found abandoned with a flat tire on the Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone and purse still inside.

Since the mother of five disappeared, the only suspect ever named has been her boyfriend at the time, Brooks Houck, with whom she shares a child. He has never been charged.

Now, federal agents are stepping in to help get answers and are starting by searching Brooks' home and other properties.

I have committed publicly and privately that delivering long-sought justice in Nelson County is the highest priority case of the United States Attorneys Office, said U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman in a news release. Todays efforts by our stalwart FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Kentucky State Police partners is a major step in honoring that promise.

Law enforcement officers began executing nine federal search warrants early Thursday and will be conducting more than 50 interviews in Bardstown.

"By utilizing federal resources and expertise and by bringing a fresh perspective to the case, those responsible for Crystals disappearance will be brought to justice," the FBI said.

So far, we know of three places where officers are searching Thursday: Brook Houck's home, his brother Nick Houck's home and the Houck family farm -- all of which have been searched before.

This content is imported from Facebook.You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

The FBI has also launched a new website to help share information about Rogers' case: http://www.crystalrogerstaskforce.com

There is currently a $25,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts, the FBI said.

Since Rogers disappeared, her mother, Sherry Ballard, hasn't given up hope.

This content is imported from Twitter.You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

More background on the investigation

Authorities believe Houck, her boyfriend, was the last person to see her alive. Within the first year of Rogers' disappearance, Brooks' brother, Nick Houck, was fired from the Bardstown Police Department for interfering with the investigation.

Officials said Thursday they are conducting searches at both of their homes.

Early on, friend and employee of Brooks Houck, Danny Singleton, faced 38 counts of perjury for lying to detectives during the investigation, but pleaded guilty to lesser charges of false swearing.

At one point, investigators zeroed in on Houck's grandmother, Anna Whitesides.

The state believed her car may have been used to dispose of Rogers' body. Whitesides, who had previously talked to investigators, later invoked her Fifth Amendment right, refusing to testify when called to court.

Just about a year ago, a new detective took over the case when Det. Jon Snow left the Nelson County Sheriff's Department. Chief Deputy Joedy Gilliland then became the lead until the feds stepped in.

Over a week ago, human remains were discovered near the border of Nelson and Washington County, and FBI in Virginia are investigating that. No word on if there is any connection to the Rogers case.

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FBI takes over investigation of missing Kentucky woman five years after her disappearance - WXII The Triad

If you work or travel to NYC, prepare to be stopped (Opinion) – New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

New York City Mayor Warren Wilhelm Jr. (aka Bill de Blasio) announced Wednesday that the sheriff's department of NYC will be setting up checkpointsat tunnels, bridges and train stations to randomly stop people entering the city to see if they are coming from any of the "hot spot" states in the country. Those are 35 states where cases are higher than New York State at the current time.

Ironically, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, threatened to sue the state of Rhode Island back in the spring when they were stopping cars with New York plates, because at the time New York State was a hotbed of the coronavirus. Irony, yes it's the Democrats' lifeblood.

They will be stopping every sixth or eighth car at random and asking where you're coming from when you try to enter by car at one of the tunnels or bridges. At Penn Station, they will be deploying "trackers" to ask random commuters where they've been and where they're staying. They won't bother to ask the homeless people and the junkies in the iconic transportation hub anything. The city officials already know they're from New York and are just there to shoot up and urinate on the walls and terrify innocent travelers.

What happened to probable cause to be stopped by police? You also have a Fifth Amendment right to say nothing and a Fourteenth Amendment right to travel freely. For the clowns in New York, like our Phil Murphy, the Bill of Rights "is above their pay grade." Bill di Blasio and Andrew Cuomo got elected because they spouted the same inane "progressive" drivel that got our governor elected here in New Jersey. Never mind that their policies destroy societies and economies. As long as they hit the right talking points on transgender rights and social justice, the brain-dead idiots who voted them in will keep them there ... if they can manage to survive living there. Many of them have already fled. Irony, there it is again.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis' own.

Yet another council member could get thrown out in San Antonio suburb roiled by divisive politics – San Antonio Express-News

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

The Leon Valley City Council has initiated another office forfeiture hearing against one of its members in the ongoing feud among leaders in this suburban community.

That makes three elected members now facing the possibility of getting ousted from the council.

Acting on concerns presented by City Manager Kelly Kuenstler, the council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to launch a hearing into the actions of Councilor Will Bradshaw under Section 3.12 of the City Charter.

Its the same proceeding that resulted in the removal last year of Councilor Benny Martinez.

Bradshaw, who opposed the removal of Martinez, is accused of engaging in a pattern of harassing the suburbs police and undermining the authority of the city manager in violation of the charter.

Its just the latest salvo in the pitched battle that has plagued Leon Valley for more than a year. The council already has approved investigations for those types of hearings for two other council members, Donna Charles and Mayor Chris Riley, over the release of internal city documents.

And Charles and Councilor Monica Alcocer, who voted to remove Martinez, are the subject of recall elections in November.

In regard to Bradshaw, Kuenstler presented videos to the council showing Bradshaw questioning the arrest of Olen Yarnell, the citys former zoning chairman, after a late-night council meeting June 4.

After addressing the council that night, Yarnell, 79, was arrested on an assault warrant and handcuffed in the City Hall foyer outside the council chambers and taken to Bexar County Jail.

Yarnells arrest was related to a complaint filed more than a year earlier by Councilor Monica Alcocer, 78, who alleged he had aggressively grabbed her shoulder after a long council meeting in May 2019.

Police Chief Joe Salvaggio said Yarnell was given a chance to provide a statement, but exercised his Fifth Amendment right to decline. The case was filed and an arrest warrant was issued.

On ExpressNews.com: Leon Valley grapples with COVID-19

Salvaggio has said at least two police officers witnessed Bradshaw berating the arresting officer, Assistant Chief David Gonzalez, and comparing the officers to the Minneapolis police charged in the May 25 death of George Floyd.

As part of her presentation, Kuenstler submitted body camera recording from officers on the scene. One of them shows Bradshaw shouting at Gonzalez at the entrance of City Hall at about 1:30 a.m. June 5.

Youre the problem with this country. Youre the problem. Youre the guys that are kneeling on peoples necks. Im sorry but this is disgusting. This is disgusting, Bradshaw, wearing a face mask, is seen telling Gonzalez in the video.

The incident is the latest clash between Salvaggio and Bradshaw, who has accused Leon Valley police of using gestapo tactics in towing vehicles with expired registration and other operations, as well as overzealous enforcement of social-distancing rules for businesses in response to COVID-19.

In a July 10 letter to Kuenstler, Salvaggio alleged a pattern of harassment, negative stereotyping and creating a hostile work environment by Bradshaw, a political ally of Mayor Chris Riley.

Leon Valley resident William Johnson, who saw Yarnells arrest, spoke in defense of Bradshaw while addressing the council Tuesday.

I was stunned and speechless, Johnson said. Its understandable for someone to get emotional and vocal in that situation.

But another resident, Evan Bohl, said Bradshaw crossed a line that night.

He acted like someone who didnt understand his role in our community, Bohl said.

Kuenstler said the city has maintained order in the police force during her administration, firing two police officers for inappropriate remarks. But she said the Police Department has been treated unfairly by some citizens, including Bradshaw, who has an obligation as a council member to respect professional boundaries. He violated the charter by not going through the manager to level a complaint about the police, she said.

These videos are indicative of a council member violating the charter. And Im asking you to help me stop this, Kuenstler told the council. Im at my wits end. I dont know what to do any more. Were doing our jobs. And were constantly getting pushback and harassed.

Bradshaw countered that hes been targeted by Kuenstler and Salvaggio for trying to expose fraud, abuse, waste of city funds by our chief of police and our city manager.

And then a complaint was filed against me. Is that not retaliatory? Is that not, Im getting too close? Im pointing out whats going on in the city, so weve got to get rid of Councilor Bradshaw, and weve got to do it quickly, because we cant have this? he asked rhetorically.

On ExpressNews.com: Hearing could result in Leon Valley mayors forfeiture

Wednesday, Bradshaw said he plans to file a lawsuit against the city.

I hope people can see the pattern of oppression going on in Leon Valley, he said. The council majority continues targeting citizens and officials who do not share their views. It is dangerous to democracy.

Kuenstler has announced plans to leave Leon Valley to pursue other opportunities on Sept. 30. In February, the council supported a plan for Salvaggio to serve as interim city manager until a permanent replacement for Kuenstler could be found.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA

Originally posted here:

Yet another council member could get thrown out in San Antonio suburb roiled by divisive politics - San Antonio Express-News

TikTok and the Law: A Primer (In Case You Need to Explain Things to Your Teenager) – Lawfare

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

Editor's note: A response from a reader prompted the author to amend this post to note an alternative pathway that might support IEEPA sanctions without need to issue a fresh national emergency declaration. The new paragraph appears below in bold, italicized font.

TikTok is in serious trouble, and teenagers across the land are demanding answers about the legal frameworks at issue. Well, maybe they are not exactly focused on the legal issues. But in case you are, heres an explainer.

1. What is TikTok, and why is it in the news?

Never used TikTok? It is an acquired taste, but it is addictively entertaining once you acclimate to it. In brief, its a video-hosting app for user-generated content. Its a bit like a social-media-inflected Youtube in that sense.

But the videos on TikTok are almost entirely super-short (15 second) amateur clips, with lots of content made by and for teens (at least thats how it is in the US market; Im less sure if the same is true in other major TikTok markets). Like any other social-media app featuring user-generated content, most of the clips are less-than-compelling, but theres plenty of brilliant stuff too (Im particularly attached to the clips where a teen pretends to be a dad spouting clichs at his family during a road trip, every word of which Ive actually spouted at my family during a road trip).

So whats the problem? TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that is subject to Chinas laws and other forms of coercion. This has given rise to two lines of concern.

First, there is a concern about the user data TikTok collects and the prospect that Beijing can access that data. Like plenty of other social-media apps, TikToks terms of service authorize it to collect a remarkable amount of data from its users. Because TikTok is subject to Chinese law, the theory goes, the company can readily be compelled by the government to cooperate in providing access to that data (on a targeted or even a bulk basis).

TikTok argues that this is not the case because data from U.S. users remains exclusively in TikToks servers located in America. Im in no position to weigh in on whether that description is strictly true, still less whether data localization in this case would actually preclude remote access by TikTok personnel outside the United States. But Im merely trying to convey the nature of this concern, not resolve its merits. Separately, there also is a line of concern about whether TikTok employs content-moderation policies and practices that serve the preferences of the Communist Party of China. Again, Im not trying to adjudicate the merits of that critique.

Against this backdrop, there have been rumors afoot for some time that the Trump administration might take some action to knock TikTok out of the U.S. market. Now those rumors have evolved into specific warnings of looming action. This Sunday morning, for example, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin expressly stated that TikTok cannot stay in the current format because it risks sending back information on 100 million Americansthe president can either force a sale or the president can block the app.

If your teenager is showing a sudden interest in the separation of powers or other legal matters, this is probably why.

2. Can the executive branch force ByteDance to sell TikTok?

Yes. The relevant legal framework here involves the executive branchs interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, better known by its acronym CFIUS. Heres a recent Congressional Research Service report if you want to dive deep on the committee. If you just want to explain the situation to your teenager, though, here are the key points:

It is true that the president has no inherent, unilateral authority to create legally-binding rules relating to foreign investment in the United States. The Constitution confers authority over foreign commerce on Congress, not the executive branch. But Congress can and has delegated that authority to the president in various ways. And in 1988, Congress did exactly that in the so-called Exon-Florio Amendment to the Defense Production Act. CFIUS had been around for more than a decade at this point, but this amendment gave it real teeth. The amendment conferred on the President the authority to prohibit mergers, acquisitions, or takeovers that threaten national security (and, by extension, the CFIUS review process would now have leverage to impose conditions on such transactions to ameliorate national security concerns). The statutory framework for CFIUS review has expanded in various ways since then, but thats the key thing to understand: Congress has indeed delegated to the President authority to ban such transactions if the executive branch makes the requisite findings.

None of which would be relevant here, of course, unless at some point there is (or was) a corporate transaction subject to CFIUS review.

Well, there was one a little while ago. TikTok (then called music.ly) was bought by ByteDance in 2018 for nearly $1 billion. Of course, music.ly like ByteDance was a Chinese company. So you might think that CFIUS would have no say over that acquisition. But youd be wrong. For purposes of CFIUS review, a covered U.S. business is any entity that engages in interstate commerce in the United Stateseven if that entity is a foreign corporation. (See 31 CFR 800.252(a) (a US businessmeans any entity, irrespective of the nationality of the persons that control it, engaged in interstate commerce in the United States)). Music.ly may have been a foreign corporation at the time of its acquisition, then, but it had a robust U.S. presence and certainly qualified under this rule.

ByteDance didnt seek approval from CFIUS at the time of the acquisition, no doubt because few if any involved in the deal perceived it as having national security implications. But as TikToks popularity in the United States exploded, and as the two lines of concern described above began spiking over the past year, the picture began to look quite different. And becauseCFIUS authority extends to retroactive review of prior transactions, it was no surprise when CFIUS opened such a review of the ByteDance-music.ly deal in November 2019.

So what happens if CFIUS concludes that ByteDance should not have been allowed to acquire the business now known as TikTok? That situation has arisen many times over the past few years, and the answer normally is that the acquiring entity must divest itself of the acquired entityor else cease operations in the United States. The same may well be on the verge of happening here, plainly.

3. Can ByteDance litigate such a determination?

Only to a limited extent, and they are not likely to win in the end.

In general, CFIUS orders (like other actions under the Defense Production Act) are not subject to judicial review, at least according to the statute. But the D.C. Circuit has construed that statutory prohibition not to apply to constitutional claims that might be made. As Raffaela Wakeman explained for Lawfare in 2014, the D.C. Circuits Ralls decision approved a procedural due process challenge brought by a Chinese company when CFIUS issued a retroactive divestment order involving the companys acquisition of four American companies. (See Ralls Corp. v. Comm. On Foreign Inv. in US, 758 F.3d 296 (D.C. Cir. 2014)). The decision rejected the argument that CFIUS determinations are entirely immune from judicial review when there is a constitutional challenge at stake, and also rejected the argument that CFIUS determinations should be treated as political questions outside the purview of the courts. Further, the court held that the Fifth Amendment requires that the subject of such orders must be given the chance to confront at least the unclassified evidentiary basis for the CFIUS determination and to present their own evidence.

Has ByteDance had such an opportunity over the past 8 months, as the currently-pending CFIUS review has progressed? Im not in a position to know, but I strongly suspect that they have. The review has gone on for quite some time, and that may well reflect an ongoing process of evidentiary disclosures and submissions. In short: ByteDance may well be in the midst of receiving all the process that is due to it. Of course, ByteDance could still sue, objecting that it deserved more process than it got and that the ultimate CFIUS determination was arbitrary despite the process that was given. Im doubtful, however, that they will prevail on either dimension. Sooner or later, in other words, the litigation would run its course and the divestiture order would probably still stand.

4. But theres also much talk about a simple ban on TikTok. Is that just wishful thinking by parents, or is that a thing the President can do?

Yes, its a real thing, thanks to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). But its complicated.

IEEPA is another example of Congress delegating to the executive branch an aspect of its constitutional control over foreign commerce. Think of it as a general pre-delegation of authority to impose embargoes as well as more-targeted sanctions against foreign entitiesbacked by criminal law sanctionsfor a broadly-defined array of circumstances in which the president determines that U.S. national interests are at stake. (For a deep-ish dive into IEEPA, check out Episode 133 of the National Security Law Podcast). When the president wants to use this authority, he first must issue a public proclamation of a national emergency on a particular situation or subject, under the National Emergencies Act. This opens the door to using IEEPA itself. Under IEEPA, the president (or the executive branch entity acting on the presidents behalf through a further delegation) can investigate, regulate or simply prohibitthat is, banan array of activities involving a sanctioned entity (including payments, notably) and can freeze the assets of that entity (thereby prohibiting all dealings with the foreign entitys interests in those assets). Sometimes this authority is exercised by the president only to the extent of creating a specific sanctions regime, with the actual sanctioning of particular entities to be done at a later date (if it is done at all). At other times, the creation of the sanctions regime is accompanied by at least an initial set of designations of specific entities.

So, can the president sanction ByteDance, and thereby have the effect of banning TikTok within the United States?

The answer is yes, though it might be necessary for the president to make a new national emergency declaration that fits with this unusual scenario. The closest fit among the current national emergencies (and their corresponding IEEPA sanctions frameworks) is probably the one for malicious cyber-enabled activities, which President Obama proclaimed in 2015s Executive Order 13694 (and which he updated in 2016 in Executive Order 13757). But the fit is not strong. That framework plainly was motivated by a desire to respond to malicious foreign hacking (especially from China, to be sure), and despite some loose language it is difficult to read it in a way that would encompass a situation in which the underlying concern is that a foreign company (1) has customer data that it might provide to a foreign government or (2) might employ content-moderation policies hostile to U.S. interests.

[As noted above, the following paragraph was added in response to reader feedback on the original post.]

An alternative possibility is that the administration might assert that this situation falls within the scope of Executive Order 13873 (Executive Order on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain), from May 2019. EO 13873, which was inspired by concerns about Huawei and ZTE, opens with the requisite emergency declaration, stating that

the unrestricted acquisition or use in the United States of information and communications technology or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries augments the ability of foreign adversaries to create and exploit vulnerabilities in information and communications technology or services, with potentially catastrophic effects, and thereby constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. (emphasis added)

Invoking IEEPA, EO 13873 then proceeds to prohibit transactions involving such technologies where the transaction was initiated, is pending, or will be completed after the date of this order [May 2019, though only if the Secretary of Commerce (in consultation with other officials) makes a finding that the technology or service in question is associated with an entity subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary and that the situation entails an undue risk of (a) sabotage of information and communication services in the US, (b) catastrophic effects on US critical infrastructure or the digital economy, or (c) otherwise poses an unacceptable risk to US national security. That third conditiona broad catchallcould plausibly be pushed, perhaps, to encompass the TikTok scenario. But note that the EO by its own terms applies only to transactions initiated on or after May 2019. This is too late to encompass ByteDances acquisition of music.ly, plainly. That said, one path the Trump administration might now choose would be to supplement EO 13837, building off its existing declaration of a national emergency in order to establish a distinct, additional IEEPA sanctions regime. This would spare the White House from the minor trouble of the first step identified in the next paragraph below.]

Accordingly, if the President wants to ban TikTok directly, he probably will need to announce a fresh national emergency, with a tailored focus on foreign government access to data flows that have U.S. person information, foreign government influence on content moderation policies, or both. This he certainly could do, and it could be that this is in the drafting process as you read this. But there are complications, not least of which is the question whether a sanctions system premised on foreign government access to U.S. person data based on U.S. persons using a foreign companys services would complicate the formulation of a strong U.S. government response to the European Court of Justicesrecent Schrems II decision.

5. Fine, so he can ban it. But its on millions of phones in the US already. What would actually happen?

The next question is how such a sanction would play out in the unusual case of a social-media app that already resides on the phones of millions of Americans.

As an initial matter, its clear that TikTok would no longer be made available by US companies like Apple and Google through their app stores. But that leaves all the millions of existing users; what about them, given that the vast majority are unlikely to delete the app off their phones?

It wont matter, for several reasons. First, if the president sanctions the company in the manner outlined above, TikTok could no longer maintain its servers or any other operations or property inside the United States; it will have to operate entirely from foreign locations beyond the reach of IEEPA leverage, which is to say: from China. Of course, it could continue to feed content to U.S. users from there. But what content would that be? TikTok depends on user-generated content, and the U.S. customer base depends largely (though not entirely) on the popularity of users who might no longer feel free to post to TikTok. That certainly will be true for high-profile US-based TikTok creators and celebrities with massive TikTok followings. And when Charli DAmelio and others drop out in favor of whatever might turn out to be the next big platform, theyll take their audience with them.

Ok, thats all for now. If I can talk my kids into showing me how, maybe Ill post a TikTok summary of all this tomorrow. Unless its illegal by then.

More here:

TikTok and the Law: A Primer (In Case You Need to Explain Things to Your Teenager) - Lawfare

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk rivalry: A history of their 15-year feud – Business Insider – Business Insider

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

Over the last 15 years, two of the world's most high-profile CEOs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, have been engaged in a simmering rivalry.

The two execs have sparred over their respective space ambitions Musk runs SpaceX, while Bezos owns Blue Origin but it hasn't stopped there: Musk has called out Bezos for running what he deemed a monopoly, and has called Bezos a copycat for his self-driving car interests.

Musk and Bezos are two of the most powerful CEOs in the world. Bezos is currently the wealthiest living person and runs Amazon's sprawling empire while also involving himself in Blue Origin's quest to send people to the moon. Musk is a dual CEO, manning the ship at both Tesla and SpaceX. Over the years, their not-so-subtle rivalry has even given way to Twitter spats and name-calling.

Here's how Musk's and Bezos' rivalry began and everything that's happened since.

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Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk rivalry: A history of their 15-year feud - Business Insider - Business Insider

Once an Outlaw to perform at Wildcat Inn Aug. 20 – Conway Daily Sun

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Danzig

JACKSON Once an Outlaw, featuring members of the Marshall Tucker Band, The Outlaws, Foghat, Southern Rock All Stars and Blues Project, will be appearing for two special acoustic shows on Thursday, Aug. 20, at 5 and 7 p.m. at the iconic Wildcat Inn & Tavern in Jackson.

Local guitarist Chuck Farrell of Tuftonboro who also can be seen with Jon Butcher, James Montgomery, Barry Goudreau and the Shadow Riders, rounds out this three guitar line up.

Once an Outlaw started when Chris Anderson of the Outlaws, AJ Vallee of the Southern Rock All Stars and Farrell (along with members of the Peacheaters) hooked up for a run of New England shows last fall. It was so well-received that a 20 date summer/fall Northeast tour was scheduled. Like many other tours in 2020 it got torpedoed.

The group added bassist Jeff Howell, formerly of the group Foghat, to the line up when he filled in on a show in Albany, N.Y. After some discussions and gentle persuasion he became a permanent member.

The final piece to the puzzle came with Chris Hicks of the Marshall Tucker Band. Hicks was scheduled to do a 30 date farewell tour with Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker in 2021. With the recent passing of Daniels, Hicks had an open schedule.

Hicks and Howell already knew each other from their time in the Outlaws and when he heard of the new project things just came together.

The first round of rehearsals are scheduled in mid/late August here in the Lakes Region with another round after the first of the year in Nashville.

What better place for rehearsals than here in New Hampshire in the summer says Farrell.

The shows will be outside with limited seating (50 per show). This will make for a memorable intimate experience.

The inn and the band have worked together to be able to bring this much needed show to the MWV for only $20. We decided to make this affordable for everyone.

Local musician and host of the Cold River Radio Show Jonathan Sarty will be the MC and opens both shows.

In case of rain the rain date will be Monday, Aug. 24.

Tickets are available by calling the Wildcat Inn at (603) 356-8700

Continue reading here:

Once an Outlaw to perform at Wildcat Inn Aug. 20 - Conway Daily Sun

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