What are the greatest PlayStation 4 games according to their Metacritic score? – GIVEMESPORT

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The Grand Theft Auto series has continued its upward trajectory with the release of GTA5, and the Last Of Us franchise has become one of the most popular of all-time with gamers.

With the PlayStation 5 set to be released in late 2021, weve taken a look at the best 30 PS4 games of all time, using Metacritic score filters.

Games are rated from between 0 to 100 based on critic reviews by different publications. Those featured include the likes of PlayStation Magazine, IGN and Digital Spy in other words, the very best that gaming media has to offer.

Without any further ado, lets get into the list.

30. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Hearts of Stone (2015) [Metacritic Score 90]

An expansion pack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (to be featured later on in this article), the Hearts of Stone pack features over 10 hours of new adventures. There are new objectives and story missions, as well as new characters added to the game.

29. Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 5 The Vault of the Traveler (2015) [Metacritic Score 90]

Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 5 is the final episode of the season, and provides new drama for the player. With Jack in control of Helios systems, it is up to the player to get hold of the Gortys piece and get out of the space station alive.

28. Monster Hunter: World (2018) [Metacritic Score 90]

Monster Hunter: World is a game based around hunting ferocious beasts. The player takes over the role of hunter and must negotiate through a range of different battles, each vital in ensuring progression in different quests that the game provides.

27. Fez (2014) [Metacritic Score 90]

Fez was created as a 2D puzzle platform game set in a 3D world. The player takes control of Gomez, who lives on a 2D plane before discovering a break-up that leads to the discovery of a mysterious third dimension. The aim of the game is to progress through this dimension whilst collecting cubes and cube fragments to restore the universe.

26. Rayman Legends (2014) [Metacritic Score 90]

Rated as one of the best platform games of the PS4 era, Rayman Legends involves numerous boss fights over different worlds. The graphics and colours of the game were also praised, although the game does lack an online co-op mode.

25. Shovel Knight (2015) [Metacritic Score 90]

A classic action-adventure game, Shovel Knight allows you to play as the eponymous character, who must defeat the Enchantress on his way to saving his beloved. He must defeat The Order of No Quarter knights in order to complete his goal.

24. Overwatch (2016) [Metacritic Score 90]

One of the most popular multiplayer games of the past few years, Overwatch is still played in great numbers today. It is a team-based shooter which stars a cast of soldiers, scientists, adventurers and more in a global conflict.

23. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition (2014) [Metacritic Score 90]

Combining the original game and the Reaper of Souls expansion pack, Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition combines both to reach the heights of number 23 on this list. The player can use one of six character classes, including Witch Doctor, Wizard and the all-new Crusader. Both single player and multiplayer modes are highly rated.

22. Flower (2013) [Metacritic Score 91]

One of the first PS4 games to be released, Flower was the sequel to the popular flOw title. It is divided into six main levels, and involves players controlling the wind which blows a flower petal through the air. It was designed to provoke positive emotions from the player, instead of being difficult to complete.

21. Resident Evil 2 (2019) [Metacritic Score 91]

The sequel to the highly successful Resident Evil, players can control the fates of police officer Leon Kennedy and college student Claire Radfield, after a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City. Both characters are equally important to the game cycle they both have their own playable campaigns.

20. NieR: Automata Game of the YoRHa Edition [Metacritic Score 91]

NieR: Automata begins with mechanical beings having taken over Earth. It is the job of the player to bring humanity back, with android soldiers declaring war trying to destroy the automated invaders.

19. INSIDE (2016) [Metacritic Score 91]

INSIDE centres around a boy who finds himself drawn into a near-monochromatic environment. The boy has to solve puzzles to avoid death. The game received strong praise, although was cited by some for its difficulty.

18. Celeste (2018) [Metacritic Score 91]

Another platformer game in this list, Celeste allows the player to take control of Madeleine, who must reach the top of Celeste Mountain amidst various encounters. A DLC pack titled Farewell was added to the game last September.

17. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Blood and Wine (2016) [Metacritic Score 91]

The second expansion pack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in this list, the Blood and Wine pack adds 20 hours of new adventures in the land of Toussaint.

16. Shadow of the Colossus (2018) [Metacritic Score 91]

In a land where the Colossi roam freely, this re-make of the 2006 PlayStation 2 edition of the same name, the player must defeat each colossus in boss-style scenarios in order to complete the game.

15. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (2019) [Metacritic Score 91]

An expansion pack for Final Fantasy XIV, Shadowbringers gives the user 70 to 80 new cities, as well as new races and trails. The pack centres around the aftermath of the Dragonsong War, where Disciples of the Hand and Land work together to rebuild Ishgard.

14. Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition (2018) [Metacritic Score 92]

The sequel to the first game, Divinity: Original Sin II gives the player the opportunity to be the Sourcerer, a character who can summon creatures from the encroaching Void. The game involves the capture of the player, who is sent to Fort Joy and must negotiate their way out.

13. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) [Metacritic Score 92]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt centres around the Geralt of Rivia, who the player controls. They must defeat the Wild Hunt, a convoy of riders, and prevent the Empire from destroying the Kingdoms of the North.

12. Undertale (2017) [Metacritic Score 92]

Undertale is a game in which the player controls a human who falls underground into the world of monsters. Put simply, they have to get out, attacking enemies in order to do so.

11. Bloodborne (2015) [Metacritic Score 92]

Another RPG game on this list, the player must travel through the ancient city of Yharnam, which has been cursed with an endemic illness which is spreading through the streets. You must uncover its darkest secrets to survive, whilst exploring and conquering your quest.

10. Journey (2015) [Metacritic Score 92]

From the makers of Flower, Journey is rated is one of the most popular PS4 games of all-time. It is centred around an online universe starting in an unknown, the player discovers the history of an ancient civilisation, and can do so travelling either by themselves or with others.

9. Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End (2016) [Metacritic Score 93]

The fourth game in the Uncharted series and its most successful, according to this Metacritic list. Uncharted 4 follows Nathan Drake and his brother Sam, who embark on a journey to locate Libertalia, a pirate utopia deep in the forests of Madagascar, in search of Averys fortune.

8. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) [Metacritic Score 93]

A franchise that started in the 1990s, Metal Gear Solid has remained popular with games ever since. Metal Gear Solid V follows the protagonist of the series, Big Boss, in 1984, as he ventures into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border region, which plays a key role in the previous Ground Zeroes game.

7. Persona 5 (2017) [Metacritic Score 93]

Persona 5 follows a group of teenagers with mysterious alter-egos the player controls a character with a phantom thief guise, with several personas. The path through the game is to establish the reason behind the guise, and what the motivation is.

6. The Last of Us Part II (2020) [Metacritic Score 94]

The long-awaited sequel to the Last of Us, Part II is the newest release to this list. Ellie and Joel have settled in Jackson, Wyoming, despite the infected still providing a strong threat. A violent event changes the course of their lives, and its the players job to guide them through the consequences.

5. God of War (2018) [Metacritic Score 94]

Kratos must fight and survive in the lands of Norse Gods and monsters, with his son needing to do the same. With a new setting and new creatures involved, God of War provides a new experience to the original games.

4. The Last of Us Remastered (2014) [Metacritic Score 95]

The original Last of Us game beats its successor in this list. Joelis hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of a military quarantine zone, but must negotiate several challenges provided by a post-apocalyptic world as the duo travel across the US.

3. Persona 5 Royal (2020) [Metacritic Score 95]

The recently-released sequel to Persona 5, this game involves the player using the character of the Joker, who stages grand heists to change the ways of the corrupt. With improved graphics and locations to explore, this is certainly an upgrade on the previous high-rated edition of the series.

2. Grand Theft Auto V (2014) [Metacritic Score 97]

Not too much needs to be said about the success of GTA. The second-ranked game on this list, GTA centres around the main characters of Franklin, Michael and Trevor, each with playable over-arching storylines. The player can then go online for an entirely different experience, completing missions, heists and races in exchange for in-game currency.

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) [Metacritic Score 97]

Red Dead Redemption 2, the sequel to the popular Red Dead Redemption game, begins in America 1899, and the Wild West era. Centring around Arthur Morgan and his Van der Linde gang, the player must rob, steal and fight across the USA after being forced to flee from a robbery gone wrong. As the game goes on, Arthur must make some key decisions.

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What are the greatest PlayStation 4 games according to their Metacritic score? - GIVEMESPORT

Peacock’s Too-Realistic ‘Brave New World’ Shows We Ignore The Individual At Our Peril – The Federalist

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When Alduous Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931, he was concerned about creeping totalitarianism and what that meant for the decline of individualism. While in his lifetime this fear primarily manifested in anxiety over the spread of communism, Huxley was clear that democracy would not immunize the West from these concerns.

The book has stayed relevant, and NBCs new version of Brave New World, streaming on Peacock, gives voice to the decline of individualism under the guise of increasing happiness. This is exactly what Huxley was talking about.

Brave New World tells the story of a perfect society in which each person is genetically engineered to be happy with his designation in life. Each persons intentional genetic composition determines his place and function in society, and their post-gestation conditioning makes them happy with it.

There is no deviation. Alphas are in charge, and betas serve the alphas as helpmeets. Beneath them, gammas serve both, and epsilons are basically a class of enslaved persons who partake in none of the joys of life and clean up after their superiors.

Speaking to Mike Wallace in 1958, Huxley discussed the main existential threats of their timecommunism and overpopulation. His remarks indicate, however, that he would not have been surprised to find the major threats to the West, democracy, and the individual were coming from within. Technology, pharmaceutical drugs, and a penchant for incessant organization were the primary culprits, in Huxleys way of thinking.

We mustnt be caught by surprise, Huxley told Wallace, by our own advancing technology. He said that while all technology is itself morally neutral, the dictators of the future will realize that if you want to preserve your power indefinitely you have to get the consent of the ruled. Partly by drugs partly by these new techniques of propaganda by bypassing the rational side of man and appealing to his subconscious and his deeper emotions, and his physiology making him actually love his slavery.

This is the danger, Huxley went on to say, that in some ways people might be happy under the new regime. But they will be happy in a situation where they oughtnt be happy.

Here is where we find the city of New London in Peacocks rendition of Brave New World. New London is set up to be the ideal environment. The only emotion is happiness. Yet there are no mothers or fathers. People are grown in pods, hooked on mind- and heart-numbing drugs, designated to station different levels of society, each with different privileges. Sex is purely recreational, drugs are constantly consumed, work is in service to perpetuating society. The slogans are everyones happy now, and everyone belongs to everyone else.

In this, the series is true to the novel. Everyone is happy, and there are no lasting intimacies, not with mothers, fathers, or lovers. Society runs along smoothly in this shallow fashion.

That is, until the introduction of a disrupting agenta savage from the old world, an outsider, a man named John (Alden Ehrenreich). Once he is introduced, with his unpredictable emotions, his yearning to be more than the sum of his parts, and inability to relinquish his individuality, society crumbles under the impact of just one free man. The utopian culture is unable to withstand the threat of individuality.

Even in its origins, the concept of utopia is a lie. Ever since Thomas More set forth his missive of the same name and utopia entered our lexicon, we have imagined we could make a perfect society. But the original utopia was a dystopia, because in creating perfection for the most people, in imagining what would be best for the group, the life of the individual becomes unbearable.

Huxley undoubtedly read More. For both men, individualism is at the heart of Western culture. It comes with independence, free thought, freedoms of expression, and holds the individual to account for his own life and actions.

In New London, every perfection belies the fact that these people have no idea what perfection looks like, and nobody even knows what the goals are. These are lessons we are still learning, as each consecutive politician pontificates his suppositions for an ideal world. We ignore and dismiss the individual at our own peril.

This new telling of Huxleys novel shows just how clearly perplexed we are about what it means to be human. Beta Lenina Crowne (Jessica Brown Findlay) finds freedom in intimacy, and is vilified for it. There can be freedom in limitations, not those imposed from without but that come from our humanity within. Like Lenina, we seek safety, but we crave danger. We want to avoid difficult feelings and suffering, but without those we do not know true joy.

In the introduction to CBSs dramatization of Brave New World, read by the author and broadcast in 1956, Huxley said the work was a study of the future as it may be unless we are extremely careful. It depicts a society in which man has replaced nature by science, morality by drugs, individuality by total conformity. It is a hideous prospect, yet we seem determined to follow this path of self-destruction. But Brave New World need not be our future. The choice after all is in our own hands.

Huxley took his title from Shakespeares The Tempest, when Miranda, kept isolated by her father Prospero, says, How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world / That has such people int! Poetry, art, love, debate, and free inquiry are just a few of the necessary and human things missing from the society of Brave New World.

In the 1956 version, John the savage says, I like the inconvenience but I dont want comfort, I want God. I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom. I want goodness. I want sin. The director, an Alpha, notes in reply, Youre claiming the right to be unhappy.

The new series delves deep into this concept, and sadness is one of the first emotions that those who have been conditioned to be perfectly happy begin to experience outside of their genetic determinism. In the final episode, the question is asked, Do you want to be happy, or do you want to be free?

Huxley would choose freedom. More would also. I believe the creators of Peacocks Brave New World, Grant Morrison, Brian Taylor, David Wiener, would also choose freedom. What would you choose? Are you sure?

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Peacock's Too-Realistic 'Brave New World' Shows We Ignore The Individual At Our Peril - The Federalist

Protests in St. Augustine show removal of Confederate monuments still divisive topic – St. Augustine Record

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Hundreds gathered in the Plaza de la Constitucion on Sunday afternoon in support of, and against, the St. Augustine City Commissions decision to remove the Confederate War Memorial.

Sunday afternoon a man sat on a trolley, looked to his left at the demonstrations taking place inside the Plaza de la Constitucion and moved his young son to ensure he was closer to the cursing, chanting, protesting and revved engines that filled the square than the child.

At the heart of the plaza, fenced off from the world, stands the purpose for the demonstrations: St. Augustine's Confederate War Memorial.

Nearly a dozen protests have taken place in St. Augustine and St. Johns County this summer demanding racial equity, equality and accountability for law enforcement. One of the the local demands at these protests has been to remove the Confederate War Memorial.

Last month, the St. Augustine City Commission, by a 3-2 vote, moved to remove the obelisk from public property. The first group of demonstrators in the plaza on Sunday vehemently disagree with the decision.

Sunday's demonstrations, for and against the removal of the memorial, were the most vehement of the summer. No arrests were made; but St. Augustine police repeatedly intervened to ensure violence did not erupt.

Emotions are running high in downtown #StAugustine at the Plaza de la Constitucion. @staugrecord pic.twitter.com/i33pQwFgfP

Members of the North Florida Patriots and other organizations first arrived in the Plaza Sunday morning in support of the obelisk that was moved onto public property in 1879.

Jaime Parham, a member of the North Florida Patriots, would like to see the memorial left alone.

"It's not going to go," Parham said. "We're not going to let it go."

Parham is a St. Johns resident. He would like to see a decision on the memorial placed on the ballot for the entirety of St. Johns County, not solely St. Augustine residents.

"We put contextualization to it, as they have requested," Parham said. "That's all we're willing to do. It's in its place of honor. If they say they are moving it, but they are going to keep it fixed or they are not going to destroy it, it's still taking it from its place of honor. Its an American war veterans memorial, and it's in its rightful place of honor."

Infiltrated within the North Florida Patriots were more than three dozen men who identified with the Proud Boys. Founded in 2016, the Proud Boys have been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center

Not every member of the North Florida Patriots, or who was in downtown to support the monument remaining in place, was in favor of The Proud Boys' support. Their belief was The Proud Boys were unnecessarily antagonizing the Black Lives Matter protesters with rhetoric that included "(expletive) Antifa!" as well as other language that could be perceived as racist and/or sexist.

Black Lives Matter demonstrators were slated to arrive at the plaza at 1 p.m. Before they could march into the plaza as was frequently the case in June the North Florida Patriots met them. The Black Lives Matter protesters were hemmed into a 30-yard portion of the plaza near the Andrew Young Crossing and St. George Street.

After approximately 20 minutes, the Black Lives Matter protesters left the Plaza and marched north along St. George Street. As the Black Lives Matter demonstrators retreated, the North Florida Patriots took up what they considered defensive positions within the Plaza.

Though both organizations deplored the rhetoric of the other, the yelling, cursing and insults were more invective than in previous demonstrations.

Some attempted to find common ground.

Brooksville resident Mario Fulgium was among those in the square on Sunday. Frequently, he approached former St. Augustine resident Tony Brown in an attempt to find commonality.

Fulgium would like to see the monument remain. But he admitted Brown made valid points.

"His whole crew is yelling Black Lives Matter," Fulgium said. "Well, we are passionate. Red-blooded lives matter. You bleed blood, you bleed red. That gentleman understands that part of it. We don't want no one hurt. We want (a) peaceful (protest)."

Fulgium believes removing the monument is erasing history. He argues that history is not always pretty, but by removing the statue, it strips away an opportunity to learn about it.

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States. Over the last 455 years, this city has been governed by the Spanish, British and United States. On its outskirts, sits a fort that was a haven for runaway slaves. One hundred yards away from Sunday's protests is a market where enslaved people were bought and sold.

At the heart of the Plaza stands an obelisk that is taller, and more prominent, than the monument to observe the local veterans who died serving World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.

Brown has previously told The Record he would like to see the monument be moved onto private property.

Sunday showed fixing hearts will not be simple.

Serena Milne is a Flagler College student who has attended multiple protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. She would like to see a racial reckoning in the country. That includes removing the obelisk from downtown St. Augustine.

"We have to change our approach," Milne said. "Yelling is not doing anything. We have to be willing to have conversations."

Before Milne could finish the thought, two young Black women walked around the Loring monument and chanted "All lives don't matter until Black lives matter."

In response, two white men, cursed at them while yelling "All lives matter."

An argument ensued. Neither side listened. Instead, the two men and two women attempted to verbally overpower the other.

"Today, I had people look in my face saying 'Black lives do not matter,'" Milne said. "They were screaming at me. I have never seen this type of anger from people I have never met."

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Protests in St. Augustine show removal of Confederate monuments still divisive topic - St. Augustine Record

Lower Columbia Area speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Jul. 31, 2020 – Longview Daily News

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As an old guy who appreciates history, I've long supported the middle class because of what Democrats have given us.

Without Democrats, we'd have no unions which gave us our 40-hour work week, minimum wages, medical care and educational opportunities while defending our civil rights. Thousands of workers have died in our mines and factories so we would have a middle class. Without Democrats, we'd have only the very rich and masses of very poor.

Our working class used to appreciate what unions and Democrats have done for us. Now, I'm amazed at how brainwashed and unappreciative many have become as they follow a con artist president who doesn't even pay taxes and is leading us into a racial civil war and dictatorship.

I always try to keep in the moderate middle, but extremists such as Arne Mortensen and Jim Walsh must be stopped.

Without a "go getter" like Rosemary Siipola, Kalama still wouldn't have a new police location. We need to elect moderates such as Dean Takko, Clint Bryson, Brian Blake, Carolyn Long, Jay Inslee and Joe Biden to help save our middle class and America.

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Lower Columbia Area speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Jul. 31, 2020 - Longview Daily News

Opinion How police tear gassed West Philly – WHYY

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4:10 p.m. in West Philadelphia, one minute after dispatch noted that pepper spray was going to be used on 52nd Street and Market. (Photo anonymously provided)

4:14 p.m.: Police declared the crowd at 52nd Street and Market an unlawful assembly, threatening to arrest anyone who remained. Civil affairs headed to 53rd Street with bullhorns to disperse the crowd, but the expressed goal remained unchanged: Secure the intersection of 52nd and Market Street and the fleet of vehicles parked along 52nd Street.

In effect, law enforcement consisting of PPD, University of Pennsylvania Police, Drexel Police, University of Science Police and Philadelphia Housing Authority Police, declared war on the neighborhood.

For the next several hours, officers terrorized residents in an alleged attempt to protect against looting. They protected nothing. They violently and indiscriminately assaulted whoever crossed their field of vision.

According to Resident A, police wantonly attacked residents several blocks south of Market Street, deploying tear gas and pepper spray gratuitously. Disoriented residents tried to return to their homes or flee from areas that had been drenched with gas, while police shot rubber bullets at people in the streets, on their door steps and front porches. Resident A helped an elderly woman who had been shot in that manner and stumbled onto her doorstep on Chancellor Street.

West Philadelphia Resident C arrived at 52nd and Arch around 6:30 p.m. The crowd had thinned but approximately 50 cops secured the area and turned this into an evening sport.

Cops allowed people to progress south toward Market Street and then in lined formation drove them north, chanting MOVE back, MOVE back, MOVE back. They repeated the charade over and over, not letting anyone through. A mother who was trying to return home with her four children, two of whom were infants, was refused passage.

Looting never concerned the police. The rallying cry of the protesters Whose streets? Our streets! guided their actions. The cops were taking back the streets that day.

Subsequently, Philadelphia leadership admitted their powerlessness, insisting that more boots on the ground would have preserved order. They failed to realize that their understanding of order was the cause for protest in the first place. On June 25, Mayor Kenney referred to the events in West Philadelphia as extremely violent. Kenney was not mistaken, but he got the perpetrators mixed up and empowered an already violent mob to deploy less than lethal munitions against the people he was elected to serve.

While much as been made his apology for tear-gassing protesters on I-676 the following day, no one seemed to take note of Commissioner Outlaws concession that the city was utterly unprepared for these protests and that the response was not adequate. Outlaw admitted she would have liked far more personnel than we had on that day.

West Philly Police were not prepared to wait for the National Guard to reverse their sense of disempowerment. Instead, retaliated against a predominantly Black community while media cameras were fixed on Center City.

The history of over-policing, Penntrification, and criminalization of West Phillys Black community is ongoing.

Last July, police rallied in the name of Justice for Daniel Faulkner, while the man wrongfully, as many claim convicted for murder, Mumia Abu Jamal, remains locked up. The cops who killed 11 members of the MOVE family returned to their lives.

As Angela Davis notes, race has always played a central role in constructing presumptions of criminality. Lately, cops buddied up with club-swinging vigilantes in South Philly and Fishtown and the Police Union partied with the Proud Boys. Blackness continues to be criminalized. In light of these continuities, the MOVE bombing, police violence, and gentrification have no chance of retreating to memory, let alone of becoming history.

The stories told about May 31, 2020, illustrate how noise shapes the facts we see.

Historians look for silences in the record and foreground what is not immediately visible. This article, then, is not a news report. It is a history of a day in May in a city that once fire-bombed its own people.

Anne Berg is an assistant professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Opinion How police tear gassed West Philly - WHYY

Jordan’s opens its first store in Maine – Home Furnishings Association

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There wasnt the usual long line of shoppers waiting outside whenever Jordans Furniture opens a new store. But given the current pandemic, the crowd that showed up for the grand opening of the stores new store last month in South Portland, Maine, was nice to see. Store officials did not report opening weekend numbers but believe traffic will only grow in the coming weeks.

Given the past four months, its easy for the industry to forget that Jordans, a New England furniture fixture, announced more than a year ago it was expanding into Maine. Jordans announcement came around the same time fellow Home Furnishings Association member Bernie & Phyls, another Massachusetts-based chain,said it, too, would open a store in the state. Both were hoping to capitalize on a strong real estate market in Maine, with homebuyers splurging on furnishings for their new digs.

Bernie & Phyls moved quickly, taking over a building in South Portland that was occupied by Toys R Us. Eliot Tatelman, president of Jordans, was more deliberate in his search before settling on and gutting a former Bon-Ton department store space in The Maine Mall.

Company officials said the 120,000-square-foot store is limiting occupancy to 500 customers at a time, and customers are being asked to wear masks.

Tatelman said the design of the store, overseen by his two sons, didnt have to be modified greatly because of the pandemic, though there are plexiglass shields at the customer service desk. Theres certainly plenty of room in the store for distancing. Jordans two-story location is the largest furniture store in Maine and includes an 8,000-square-foot Furniture Factory Outlet. The store also includes Jordans signature Sleep Lab, which showcases more than 90 different mattresses and name brands.

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Jordan's opens its first store in Maine - Home Furnishings Association

Rep. Jim Jordan attacks tech CEOs, saying they discriminate against conservatives – cleveland.com

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - It seemed that everyone in Congress had a beef with the CEOs of Amazon, Google and Facebook at Wednesdays House subcommittee hearing on their market power.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee accused the companies of stealing intellectual property from smaller online companies and putting them out of business, buying out competitors to achieve a monopoly, and criticized their handling of disinformation meant to sway elections.

Ohios Jim Jordan, a Republican, accused the companies of waging an anti-conservative vendetta, reciting a laundry list of charges.

Ill just cut to the chase: big techs out to get conservatives, declared Jordan, of Champaign County, who is the House Judiciary Committees top Republican. Thats not a suspicion. Thats not a hunch. Thats a fact.

Jordan criticized Google for removing the home pages of Breitbart and the Daily Caller, and said the company has censored Breitbart so much that traffic to the conservative website has declined 99 percent. He criticized Google and YouTube for an April policy to censor content that conflicts with recommendations from the World Health Organization, the organization that lied to us, the organization that shills for China.

They can say whatever they want, said Jordan. You say something against them, you get censored.

Amazon banned a conservative commentators book critical of the coronavirus lockdown, and allows contributions to Planned Parenthood but not the Family Research Council, Jordan alleged, while Facebook took down a post from President Trumps reelection campaign, silenced an anti-abortion organizations ad, and routinely suppresses conservative views.

We all think the free market is great, we think competition is great, said Jordan. Whats not great is censoring people, censoring conservatives and trying to impact elections and if it doesnt end, there has to be consequences.

The tech CEOs denied a partisan tilt, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying his companys goal is to offer a platform for all ideas. He said the company has community standards that aim to ban categories of harm, such as terrorist propaganda, child exploitation, incitement of violence, some more legalistic things like intellectual property violations.

I think that we have distinguished ourselves as one of the companies that defends free expression the most, Zuckerberg said.

Jordan urged the CEOs to speak out against against an online cancel culture mob that bullies people they disagree with.

Jordan asked Google CEO Sundar Pichai if he could assure Americans that his company wouldnt tailor its features to help Democratic Vice President Joe Bidens presidential candidacy over that of Republican incumbent Donald Trump. Pichai said tilting things in any direction was against our core values. He denied Jordans claims that his company conspired to favor Hillary Clinton during 2016, and said the companys search engines give conservatives more access to information than ever before.

Weve clearly communicated to our employees, any personal political activity, while its their right, needs to happen on their own time and resources, Pichai said. Any work we do around elections is nonpartisan.

After Jordans round of questions, Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said she intended to redirect the subcommittees attention to antitrust law rather than fringe conspiracy theories. Jordan tried to shout her down.

We have the email, he said. There is no fringe ...

You do not have the time, the subcommittee chairman, Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline shouted back, as Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin hollered for Jordan to Put your mask on!

If someone comes after my motives for asking questions, I get a chance to respond, Jordan continued.

The gentlelady is recognized, Cicilline pronounced, cutting off the exchange.

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Rep. Tim Ryan makes up lost fundraising ground while Rep. Jim Jordan takes in nearly $3.5 million

Millions lost health insurance during coronavirus pandemic, report says

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez seeks Confucius Institute crackdown

Republicans slam the Ohio Democratic Party for getting federal Paycheck Protection Program loan

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown to skip Democratic convention over COVID-19 concerns

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Rep. Jim Jordan attacks tech CEOs, saying they discriminate against conservatives - cleveland.com

Here’s Your First Look at the Union x Air Jordan 4 Retro "Off Noir" – HYPEBEAST

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Following an array of leaks and teasers, we now have our first full look at the Union x Air Jordan 4 Retro Off Noir.

Serving as a sequel to the retailers lauded Air Jordan 1 release back in 2018, leading the upcoming collaboration is the Off Noir/Brigade Blue-Dark Smoke Grey-Light Fusion Red accompanied by an unrevealed Guava Ice/Light Bone-Brigade Blue-Light Fusion Red colorway that will be exclusive to Union.

Although not much is known about the upcoming take, many are noting that it could be based on one of Tinker Hatfields original sketches. It is also expected that the collaborative release will feature a matching Union x Jordan Brand apparel collection.

Priced at $250 USD, the Union x Air Jordan 4 Retro Off Noir is set to release August 15 at Union locations and from select retailers.

For more footwear news, an adidas YEEZY 451 sample recently surfaced.

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Here's Your First Look at the Union x Air Jordan 4 Retro "Off Noir" - HYPEBEAST

Jordan and Andre Ayew get thumbs up from former Ghana international – Goal.com

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Erstwhile Black Stars attacker Sola shares his thoughts on the output of his nephews in England

Former Ghana international Sola Ayew has hailed nephews Jordan and Andre for their outstanding performances in the 2019-20 football season.

While Jordan grabbed headlines on the books of Premier League side Crystal Palace, Andre was arguably the toast of Swansea City fans in the Championship.

Interestingly, they both finished the term as their clubs' top scorer.

It [Jordan's performances] is not surprising to us at all, looking at what he's doing in the Premier League. He has the qualities to do more than what he's even doing now, Sola told Nkunim FM.

The family is solidly behind him, we pray against injury and hope he can do more.

As for the performance of Dede Ayew, I think we need not to waste time on it because we all know the qualities of him, what he has done and what he can do."

Jordan netted nine times in 37 appearances to help Palace to a 14th finish in the Premier League.

In the process, he broke the record as Ghana's top scorer in the English top-flight, his 25 strikes going one strike clear of Anthony Yeboah's haul.

His outstanding showing did not go unappreciated as he won Crystal Palace's Player of the Year, Crystal Palace Players' Player of the Year and Goal of the Year honours at the club's end of season awards on Tuesday.

Ive worked so hard to get into the team and I think the first season I came into this team wasnt the best but the club had faith in me, the club wanted me to stay and I wanted to stay as well, Ayew said after picking up his prizes.

"I had the desire to have a better season and things have gone so well. Im just grateful."

Andre, on the other hand, scored 15 times in 44 matches to help Swansea reach the Championship play-off semi-final.

With seven assists to his name also, the 30-year-old contributed to 22 goals for the Jack Army, who finished sixth in the regular season.

Im very happy with the season. Im happy with the squad Ive had around me and the players who have given me", Ayew recently said, as reported by his club's official website.

Jordan and Andre are both products of French side Olympique Marseille.

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Jordan and Andre Ayew get thumbs up from former Ghana international - Goal.com

Best Look Yet At The Black And Gold Air Jordan 1 High – Sneaker News

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Consistently at the top of the list among Jordan Brand releases, the Air Jordan 1 is prepared to debut in a number of colorways later this Fall and throughout the Holiday season. While the former is scheduled to deliver a Satin Snakeskin womens exclusive and a few CO.JP classics, the latter is proffering a luxe black and gold arrangement constructed of a premium patent leather. Shiny as a result of its fabrication, the pair effectively enhances its own metallic features, bringing further attention to the swoosh, collar, and the Wings insignia etched onto the side. Elsewhere, the paneling is kept understated as everything from the toe box to the tooling and tongue are coated in a dark black. Grab one of the best looks yet at this upcoming AJ1 here and expect to learn more about its Nike.com launch later this Holiday season.

In other news, the Air Jordan 1 Switch brings modularity to the basketball staple.

Air Jordan 1Release Date: Holiday 2020$170Color: Black/Black-Metallic GoldStyle Code: 555088-032

Source: @yankeekicks

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Best Look Yet At The Black And Gold Air Jordan 1 High - Sneaker News

Ohio’s Jim Jordan is a jewel – The Highland County Press

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By Jim ThompsonHCP columnist

The Hon. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio's 4th District) had a great week with outstanding performances on July 28-29.

First up was a kangaroo court of a hearing held by Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. This was on Tuesday.

The Democrats had this set up as a witch-hunt. It was obvious they did not want to hear what Attorney General William Barr had to say. It reminded me of old films I have seen of Russian trials during the tenure of Stalin or German trials in the 1930s.

Jordan, the ranking minority member, bravely showed a video of the violence in Portland, Seattle and elsewhere.

From Fox News, Jordanthen played apowerfulvideomontagefeaturing a variety of mainstream media members referring to recent protests as peaceful,which included everyone from CNNs Don Lemon to NBC News Chuck Todddismissing violence amid images of burning buildings and attacks on law enforcement.

The video which irkedNadler featured MSNBC hostAli Velshi famously declaringhe was covering mostly a protest despite a buildingburning right behind him. 'Itis not, generally speaking, unruly, Velshi said.

Rachel Maddow, Chris Cuomo and Willie Geist also appeared in theRepublican exhibit. The words peaceful protest were uttered bymore than a dozen pundits before footage of the widow of retired St. Louis police Capt. David Dornspeaking about her husbands tragic death began.

Likely half the country had never before seen what is going on in our cities right now. The rest of the hearing seemed to consist of Democrats stating questions in the form of opinions and then snatching their time back when the brave Barr told it like it is.

Hank (Guam is tipping over) Johnson (D-Georgia) came out swinging at Barr: Your opening statement reads like it was written by Alex Jones or Roger Stone.

The whole thing was an embarrassment for Democrats. It certainly looked like they had gone to school on Russian and German trial techniques of old.

But Jordan wasnt done. On Wednesday at the Tech giants hearing he said this: Speaking during a remote House Judiciary subcommittee meeting on anti-trust law, Jordan rattled off a list of instances where major tech and social media companies either censored or removed posts from conservative lawmakers or thinkers before voicing his concerns about techs role in Novembers upcoming election.

Ill cut right to the chase," Jordan said. "Big tech is out to get conservatives. Thats a fact."

It was a joy to watch big tech backpedaling.

Jim Jordan is great. He makes me almost want to move to Urbana or maybe Wapakoneta, at least in the summertime.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.

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Ohio's Jim Jordan is a jewel - The Highland County Press

Jordan Montgomery is finally getting his chance to shine in the Yankees rotation again – New York Daily News

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Im not too worried about Monty actually. You know, hes been built up, his pitch count is built up pretty high right now... I mean, Ive talked a lot about how well he threw the ball for us in spring training, how I feel like even his stuff has picked up since before the injury....He really earned this opportunity, Boone said. So Im excited for him to go out there and start proving what kind of pitcher we think he is. Not too worried about Monty, because he was able to throw in the exhibition and then he threw another sim game on his fifth day when we were in D.C. on the off day. So hes on a pretty regular schedule and regular routine....looking forward to seeing him go out and hopefully set the tone for us in our hometown.

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Jordan Montgomery is finally getting his chance to shine in the Yankees rotation again - New York Daily News

Bottom Line: Quarterstaff Games Stays Alive for the Next Level of the Pandemic – Seven Days

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You will not find a single video game on the shelves at Quarterstaff Games, a hobby shop tucked away up a flight of stairs next to Earth Prime Comics, on Burlington's Church Street. Instead, you might find a board game called Myrmes, an ant battle royale. ("Fill up your larder, hunt down insects and wisely place your pheromones to conquer the territory.") There's also Pandemic, whose premise now sounds depressingly like real life ("The clock is ticking as outbreaks and epidemics fuel the spreading plagues."), and Meeple Party, whose premise now sounds depressingly insane ("You and your roommates are throwing a house party."). Not surprisingly, said Quarterstaff manager Benjamin Higgins, Pandemic has been selling particularly well over the past few months.

As people cocooned themselves at home this spring, puzzle and board game sales skyrocketed. In the last two weeks of March, puzzle maker Ravensburger saw a 370 percent increase in U.S. sales compared to the same period in 2019; game manufacturer Hasbro reported strong first-quarter earnings.

Major corporations weren't the only beneficiaries of this analog gaming bubble: At the end of March, the creepy dungeon-y board game Frosthaven, created by a one-person design company, became the third-most-funded project in Kickstarter's history, generating $3 million in donations within three hours.

While the country's three biggest game retailers Target, Walmart and Amazon have profited from the pandemic-induced online retail boom, independent hobby stores such as Quarterstaff are struggling to recover from the shutdown. According to Higgins, Quarterstaff is currently operating at 50 to 60 percent of last year's sales.

Before the pandemic, Quarterstaff held tournaments and open games most nights of the week. "Gamers are very social people, and our customers describe us as family," said Higgins, who, like Quarterstaff's four other employees, found his way there through his own gaming proclivity. (Higgins is especially fond of Terraforming Mars, in which players compete to create the most suitable living conditions on our planetary neighbor.) "People were constantly here, bringing their friends and hanging out for multiple hours. We've all suffered a bit from having to sequester ourselves."

After the shop closed in late March, Higgins and the rest of the staff two other full-time employees and two part-timers quickly pivoted to a contactless business model. They set up an e-commerce site; one staffer at a time went into the store to prepare orders for shipping. Three days a week, other employees made home deliveries within Chittenden County. During the shutdown, said Higgins, they received eight to 12 delivery requests a day.

"Honestly, I expected less," he said. "Our community really rallied and supported us when we needed it, and for that we will always be thankful."

While many other small businesses laid off employees, Quarterstaff kept everyone on payroll. "In the gaming community, everyone looks out for everyone else. That's something you might not see at a clothing store," said Higgins.

In fact, the whole point of Quarterstaff is community, the shared experience of inhabiting an alternate reality. Owner Chris Farrell, 58, opened Quarterstaff in 1989 as a clubhouse for people who shared her obsession with tiny tabletop universes. "I think I got into it because I didn't have enough playmates as a kid," she said.

Since 2005, Farrell has left the day-to-day management to Quarterstaff's employees. She is so hands-off, in fact, that she told a Seven Days reporter she doesn't even know, off the top of her head, how many people work there. But the finances are still under her purview. This spring, Farrell secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan to cover payroll for both Quarterstaff and Earth Prime Comics, which she also owns.

Now that the federal money has run out, Farrell is a bit cagey about what's next. "I don't want to give this up, and I'm not ready to pull the plug, but the income just isn't there," she said. Her plan is to keep both businesses open for as long as she can. "I've already ordered inventory for the comic book store through September, so we'll be open until then!" she said with a bleak chuckle.

In true gamer fashion, Higgins has conceptualized each phase of reopening as a series of levels; currently, Quarterstaff is on Level 3, which allows up to five masked customers in the store at a time. Higgins, for his part, is in no rush to advance.

"I think we're going to hang out here for a while, until we see either a massive drop-off in infection rates everywhere or a vaccine becomes available," he said. "I'd like to think we're being more cautious than most, which is definitely a choice. We sell luxury products. Nobody needs them, and nobody will want to come in if we're not doing things right."

At Level 3, the sense of community is finally starting to come back. Since June, Quarterstaff has been holding Saturday tournaments of Warhammer 40,000, a two-player game that consists of dozens of miniature combatants, with names like Daemons of Slaanesh and Maggotkin of Nurgle, assembled in attack formations on 6-by-4-foot tables. In this particular realm, the demands of social distancing and the rules of play are fortuitously aligned.

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Bottom Line: Quarterstaff Games Stays Alive for the Next Level of the Pandemic - Seven Days

Soaring Attendance at the 57th Design Automation Conference, as Premier Event for the Electronic Design Ecosystem Gets Even Bigger – Business Wire

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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Total conference attendance at the 2020 Design Automation Conference (DAC), the industrys premier event dedicated to the design and design automation of electronic circuits and systems, leapt by 52% compared to DAC 2019, according to the 57th DAC Executive Committee (EC).

The intense engagement at the 57th DAC, held for the first time virtually due to the recent pandemic, reflected a voracious appetite among engineers for information and insights to propel design innovation. Submissions to DACs research track increased by 20% in the past two years, and the Designer, IP and Embedded Tracks submissions increased by 15% compared to 2019, continuing a steady three-year rise.

The global reach of DAC, July 19 - 24, soared at the 2020 virtual event with attendance from the following regions: 24% Asia Pac, 11% Europe, 52% United States and 13% a combination of Canada, South America and Middle East.

Despite the economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic, design innovation never sleeps, said Zhuo Li, General Chair of the 57th DAC. We had record attendance viewing each of the four Keynotes, plus attendees globally were able to view the recorded technical sessions at their leisure in their respected time-zones. The rise in submissions across all tracks proves the electronic design ecosystem is thriving and expanding in this particularly challenging time for all of us world-wide.

Engagement with technical content exceeded expectations at the virtual event in all tracks and independent sessions. The content expanded across all aspects of the electronic design ecosystem from electronic design automation (EDA), embedded systems, security and privacy, IP, AI/machine learning, and autonomous systems.

Total number of sessions and programs at the DAC 2020 virtual event:

Preliminary attendance figures for the 57th DAC are follows:

Total attendees as of Monday, July 27: 6,129

Registration is currently open with on-demand access for all registered attendees to the pre-recorded 57th DAC program through August 1, 2020. Keynotes, SKYtalks, Tech Talks and exhibitor content will be accessible through September 1, 2020 for all pre-registered attendees. For more information on the Design Automation Conference please visit http://www.dac.com.

About DAC

The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is recognized as the premier event for the design of electronic circuits and systems, and for electronic design automation (EDA) and silicon solutions. A diverse worldwide community representing more than 1,000 organizations attends each year, represented by system designers and architects, logic and circuit designers, validation engineers, CAD managers, senior managers and executives to researchers and academicians from leading universities. Close to 60 technical sessions selected by a committee of electronic design experts offer information on recent developments and trends, management practices and new products, methodologies and technologies. A highlight of DAC is its exhibition and suite area with approximately 200 of the leading and emerging EDA, silicon, intellectual property (IP) and design services providers. The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and is supported by ACM's Special Interest Group on Design Automation (ACM SIGDA).

Design Automation Conference acknowledges trademarks or registered trademarks of other organizations for their respective products and services.

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Soaring Attendance at the 57th Design Automation Conference, as Premier Event for the Electronic Design Ecosystem Gets Even Bigger - Business Wire

By Designing a System Rather Than a Product, Solgaard Kills it on Kickstarter With the HomeBase Ecosystem – Core77.com

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Gear developer Solgaard recently launched an ambitious campaign on Kickstarter. Rather than designing a singular product that would solve a simple user need--in this case, wireless charging--the company looked at other needs that same user might have, then designed a system to meet them.

The end result is their HomeBase Ecosystem. The backbone of the system is the HomeBase, a simple, minimalist floating shelf that can wirelessly charge multiple devices:

The Juicepack is a wireless powerbank that can be charged from the HomeBase, as well as via its built-in solar panels. It can then be used to charge other devices, either wirelessly or via USB/USB-C cables:

The Boombox is a wireless speaker that, like the Juicepack, can be charged from the HomeBase and/or its built-in solar panels. It can also wirelessly charge up other devices placed on top of it. And when placed on the HomeBase, its sound is amplified through built-in channels built into the HomeBase itself:

Here's how the system is meant to work together:

Enter a caption (optional)

Solgaard's system-based approach to design paid off handsomely here. They'd been seeking $25,000 in funding, but at press time over $350,000 had poured in, with two days left to pledge.

It's not difficult to imagine this project starting out with a brief to merely design a better wireless charging pad. But by pushing to see what other user needs they could meet, Solgaard's design team drove themselves into crowdfunding smash territory. Kudos to the team.

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By Designing a System Rather Than a Product, Solgaard Kills it on Kickstarter With the HomeBase Ecosystem - Core77.com

Microsofts Overall Mission To Build a Continuous Ecosystem is Phenomenal, Says The Initiative Dev – GamingBolt

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Microsoft is really heading in the direction that fans would want to see companies head in, says The Initiatives Francisco Aisa Garcia.

Microsofts approach to next-gen has been a big talking point in the industry. Though recently its become clearer that theyre still going to attempt to drive Xbox Series X sales with exclusives, by and large, thats very clearly going to play second fiddle to a focus on Xbox Game Pass, and a platform-agnostic ecosystem that sees them looking to attract players through subscription services like the aforementioned Game Pass and xCloud. The recent announcement of xCloud coming to Game Pass is one of many, many instances that show just that.

Theres a very interesting discussion to be had about that approach, which is very new to an industry that has always stuck to a traditional generational model and which competitors Sony seem set on sticking to with the PS5 as well. That was one of many things we spoke about in a recent chat with Francisco Aisa Garcia former Naughty Dog and Rockstar veteran whos now working on a secret new game at Microsofts youngest first party studio The Initiative and he had only positive things to say about Microsofts approach.

When asked about Microsofts commitment to backward compatibility and what his thoughts are on it as a developer and as a player, Garcia told us that with system architectures now working on a standard baseline, backward compatibilty has become much easier. And in terms of that, as well as the larger continuous ecosystems Microsoft are looking to build around Game pass, Garcia feels theres a lot of value for broader audiences.

The architectures we are working with now are more standard, so its also a lot easier to be backward compatible, he said. And in that regard, Im not just speaking of backward compatibility, I think the overall mission Microsoft has is phenomenal. I love the way they are trying to account for everyone, they are trying to be present through PC, through console, through Game Pass which is absolutely amazing. I have been using it a few months, and I think its a great idea, and I am excited to see whats to come there. And I do think Microsoft is really heading in the direction that fans would want to see companies head in give us support, allow us to play in the medium we want to play, and support them all. Thats my personal opinion.

During this interview, Garcia also spoke to us about how much of an impact he feels the raw power of PS5 and Xbox Series X will have on development, and whether or not he feels 8K gaming is something well see more of going forward.

Our full interview with Garcia will go live soon, so stay tuned for that.

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Microsofts Overall Mission To Build a Continuous Ecosystem is Phenomenal, Says The Initiative Dev - GamingBolt

Yes, Fake News Is a Problem. But Theres a Real News Problem, Too. – The New York Times

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What do you call it when a hedge fund buys a local newspaper and squeezes it for revenue, laying off editors and reporters and selling off the papers downtown headquarters for conversion into luxury condos or a boutique hotel?

The devastation has become common enough that some observers have resorted to shorthand for what collectively amounts to an extinction-level event. One former editor calls it a harvesting strategy; Margaret Sullivan, in her new book, Ghosting the News, calls it strip-mining. Like the climate emergency that Sullivan mentions by way of comparison, the decimation of local news yields two phenomena that happen to feed off each other: The far-reaching effects are cataclysmic, and its hard to convince a significant number of people that they ought to care.

Disinformation and fake news bring to mind scheming operatives, Russian troll farms and noisy propaganda; stories about them are titillating enough to garner plenty of attention. But what Sullivan writes about is a real-news problem the shuttering of more than 2,000 American newspapers since 2004, and the creation of news deserts, or entire counties with no local news outlets at all.

She begins her book with the example of a 2019 story from The Buffalo News about a suburban police chief who received an unexplained $100,000 payout when he abruptly retired. The article didnt win any awards or even appear on the front page, Sullivan writes. It merely was the kind of day-in-and-day-out local reporting that makes secretive town officials unhappy.

Merely and day-in-and-day-out; Sullivan also describes the article as routine-enough fare. Ghosting the News is a brisk and pointed tribute to painstaking, ordinary and valuable work. As the media columnist for The Washington Post and the former public editor for The New York Times, Sullivan has spent most of the past decade writing for a national audience, but for 32 years before that she worked at The Buffalo News, starting as a summer intern and eventually becoming the newspapers editor.

Sullivan recalls the flush days when the paper boasted a newsroom fully staffed by journalists who could combine their calling with a career. Then came the internet, which siphoned off attention and revenue; after that, the deluge of the 2008 financial crisis, which swept away the vestiges of print advertising. Sullivan cut the payroll of the paper by offering buyouts. She got rid of the full-time art critic and eliminated the Sunday magazine a particularly wrenching decision because my then-husband was the magazines editor.

The Buffalo News was owned by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway until the beginning of this year, when Buffett declared it was time for him to leave the newspaper industry and sold his portfolio of 31 dailies and 49 weeklies. Buffett said he believes in the importance of journalism, but he doesnt consider himself a philanthropist. He got into the business because it made money, with fat profit margins in the good years reaching 30 percent. When he bought The Buffalo News in 1977, he decided that the city could sustain only one daily, and he knocked out the competition until his was the last paper standing. A monopoly newspaper was like an unregulated toll bridge: With a loyal and captive market, he could raise rates whenever he wanted.

Advertisers may have been peddling baubles or junk food, but their cash funded serious journalism the kind that could afford to send a reporter to, say, every municipal board meeting. People knew that, the former editor of the once mighty Youngstown Vindicator told Sullivan, and they behaved. This watchdog function had tangible benefits for subscribers and nonsubscribers alike. When local reporting waned, Sullivan writes, municipal borrowing costs went up. Local news outlets provide the due diligence that bondholders often count on. Without the specter of a public shaming, corruption is freer to flourish.

Sullivan surveys the alternative models that have sprung up in response to journalisms ecosystem collapse. Theres the nonprofit reporting outfit ProPublica, and a news brigade of volunteer journalists in Michigan. Sullivans own employer was acquired by Jeff Bezos in 2013 for $250 million. Jeff Bezos has not attempted to influence coverage at The Washington Post, she writes, though billionaire owners arent always so hands-off. The casino magnate Sheldon Adelson bought the well-respected Review-Journal in Las Vegas, which was known for its investigative pieces on the casino industry, and leaned on its staff to produce puff pieces about his properties instead. Adelson turned the watchdog into a lap dog.

The situation is so dire, Sullivan says, that she entertains what was once unthinkable the possibility of government-subsidized journalistic outlets. She calls the argument for government help not unreasonable, even if she hasnt been entirely convinced yet. Her attempts to strike a hopeful note can sound unsatisfying because of how problematic all the solutions are. Nonprofit start-ups have the benefit of being nimbler, Sullivan says, though what does nimbler often mean in practice? A non-unionized newsroom staffed by 24-year-olds who can be paid junior-level salaries and, unlike veteran journalists three decades older, wouldnt necessarily be ruined by a layoff?

Sullivan is left to highlight the essential work that local reporters do, emphasizing how The Palm Beach Post and The Miami Herald continued to pursue the story of Jeffrey Epsteins sex trafficking long after others had decided that the abuse scandal had gone stale. More recently, local journalists recorded the influx of unidentified federal troops into Portland, Ore., where they were seizing and detaining people without telling them why or what was happening to them; the example was too late to be included in Sullivans book, and it only goes to show how critical and relentless the need is for reporters on the ground.

Ghosting the News concludes with a soaring quote from the Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci about pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will, but the local reporter in Sullivan follows it up with a more immediate analogy: Even if no one seems to be coming to the rescue while your house is on fire, you still have to get out your garden hose and bucket, and keep acting as if the fire trucks are on the way.

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Yes, Fake News Is a Problem. But Theres a Real News Problem, Too. - The New York Times

A lot of people said its a fake issue: Trump confirms he didnt raise Russian bounties with Putin – POLITICO

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The president did not identify which officials from former President George W. Bushs administration had spoken dismissively of the alleged Russian bounties, but he told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday that former Secretary of State Colin Powell says its not true.

Powell criticized the medias initial reaction to the bounty story earlier this month, telling MSNBC that our military commanders on the ground did not think that it was as serious a problem as the newspapers were reporting and television was reporting.

News of the bounties came to light last month after The New York Times first reported that U.S. intelligence officials concluded the Kremlins military intelligence unit offered to pay Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops and other coalition forces there.

Top administration officials have been inconsistent in their explanations of the extent to which Trump was briefed on the bounties, but POLITICO reported earlier this month that the White House told congressional lawmakers the relevant intelligence was included in the presidents daily written brief in late February.

Trump claimed Tuesday that the bounty intelligence never reached my desk because intelligence community officials didnt think it was real, adding: If it reached my desk, I would have done something about it.

The president also professed, however, that he reads his daily brief, contradicting the defenses of White House allies who claimed Trump only declined to take more forceful action against Russia because he does not regularly review the written intelligence document.

I read a lot. You know, I read a lot, Trump said. They like to say I dont read. I read a lot. I comprehend extraordinarily well, probably better than anybody that youve interviewed in a long time. I read a lot.

Trump is known to prefer receiving verbal briefings, and his public schedule reveals a sporadic record of in-person sessions with intelligence officials unlike the agendas of past presidents who were briefed daily and usually first thing in the morning.

Usually its once a day, or at least two or three times a week, Trump said of his briefing schedule.

Trumps remarks Tuesday represented the White Houses first public confirmation that he did not discuss the bounties when he spoke with Putin last Thursday.

According to a White House readout of the call, the two leaders talked about efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to reopen global economies, as well as critical bilateral and global issues.

Trump also reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia, and the United States and looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations in Vienna, the White House said.

On Tuesday, Trump said he and Putin had a call talking about nuclear proliferation, which is a very big subject where they would like to do something, and so would I. We discussed numerous things.

But as for the alleged Russian bounties, Trump said: I have never discussed it with him, no. I would. I have no problem with it.

Both White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and the president have refused to comment in recent days on whether the bounties came up in the latest conversation between Trump and Putin.

At a White House briefing last Friday, McEnany told reporters she was not on the call and that the bounty intelligence is unverified still to this day, claiming there are dissenting opinions within the intel community.

We dont talk about what we discuss, but we had plenty of discussion, and I think it was very productive, Trump said Monday of his conversation with Putin, during a visit to a vaccine production plant in North Carolina.

Trump also was asked Tuesday about U.S. intelligence that Russia had been supplying weapons to the Taliban, and he justified the alleged Kremlin arms program by pointing to U.S. support for Afghan fighters during the Soviet Unions war there in the 1980s.

Well, we supplied weapons when they were fighting Russia, too. You know, when they were fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan, Trump said.

Trump suggested he had not been formally briefed on intelligence suggesting that Russia was arming the Taliban intelligence endorsed by Trumps own former commander of U.S. and NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan, retired Army Gen. John W. Nicholson.

Im just saying, we did that, too, Trump said. I dont know. I didnt ask Nicholson about that. He was there for a long time. Didnt have great success because, you know, he was there before me. And then ultimately, I made a change.

Trump said he had heard Russia was arming Taliban fighters, but added: Again, its never reached my desk.

The presidents likening of recent Russian activity in Afghanistan to decades-old U.S. foreign policy is reminiscent of other statements Trump has issued in apparent defense of Putins authoritarian regime.

When he was asked in 2015 about the high-profile murders of several journalists who had been critical of the Russian leader, Trump memorably told MSNBC: Well, I think our country does plenty of killing also.

And after Bill OReilly, then of Fox News, characterized Putin as a killer in an interview with the president in 2017, Trump responded: You got a lot of killers. What, you think our countrys so innocent?

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A lot of people said its a fake issue: Trump confirms he didnt raise Russian bounties with Putin - POLITICO

Our View: Fake news leaves a mess in its wake – The Times

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We live in an era where the phrase "fake news" is thrown around every time someone doesnt like, or trust, the facts in an article. But lets take a minute and talk about what fake news is and isnt.

Facts matter.

Theyre the basis of what journalists do every day. Find out the facts, report them and inform readers. Its a basic tenant of journalism.

We live in an era where the phrase "fake news" is thrown around every time someone doesnt like, or trust, the facts in an article.

Remember, we do read the comments on The Times Facebook page.

But lets take a minute and talk about what fake news is and isnt.

Fake news isnt a story that doesnt agree with your opinion or politics.

It isnt an opinion column that talks about politics that differ from yours.

In fact, if a story aligns perfectly with your political ideology, you might want to fact check it for accuracy.

Fake news happens when a writer we cringe at calling these bloggers and fabricators reporters uses a sensational headline that doesnt reflect any truth. When there are made up facts in a story, or opinions that are stated as fact. When there are allegations made with absolutely no sourcing.

One of the most important basic parts of a news article is the source its incumbent on reporters to tell readers where theyre getting this information from. Its about transparency, and its one of the biggest ways we as journalists can prove you can trust us.

We know that at this point in the editorial, at least a handful of you are rolling your eyes.

We make mistakes, thats true. Our reporters and editors arent perfect. But not a single person on The Times staff sets out to deliberately mislead readers. And thats what fake news does.

In the past few weeks, our reporters have had to spend more time than usual chasing fake news stories to set the record straight. There was the wildly inaccurate TV news story claiming that the commissioners were shutting down all bars and restaurants in the county. What actually happened was state officials talked with leaders in four suburban counties, including Beaver, about putting some form of restrictions on dining and gathering. Instead, they opted to watch COVID case data for another week before putting a more relaxed plan in place statewide.

Then, there were the social media posts from legislators across the region about people receiving positive COVID test results when they never even were tested. One senator chimed in with a story about how some nurses had submitted tests swabbed on fruit and got a positive.

Then, this week, there was the news blog that posted unsubstantiated headlines claiming Beaver County, among others, would be moved back to "red."

We asked state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, who shared some of those stories on his various social media accounts, how he vets what he shares to his constituents. His answer didnt give us a lot of confidence. Bernstine told our reporter that he shares things he thinks could impact his constituents and then updates the Facebook post after he finds out more information.

But theres a problem with that method, one that everyone should keep in mind when using social media.

By sharing rumors, conspiracy theories and other unverified information, youre pushing all the toothpaste out of the tube. And no matter what you do, you cant put it back in.

When you have 30,000 followers, no amount of edits to your post will change those who saw or shared the original information. And thats a problem.

Just remember facts matter. When youre sharing that unbelievable news story from that site youve never heard of before, think twice about it.

After all, you dont want toothpaste all over your timeline.

Original post:

Our View: Fake news leaves a mess in its wake - The Times

People on social media more inclined to believe Coronavirus fake news: Study – India TV News

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COVID-19 fake news has spreading like the virus itself

People who get their news from social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19 pandemic, warn researchers. The study, published in the journal Misinformation Review, revealed that those that consume more traditional news media have fewer misperceptions and are more likely to follow public health recommendations like social distancing.

"Platforms like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly becoming the primary sources of news and misinformation for Canadians and people around the world," said study co-author Aengus Bridgman from the McGill University in Canada.

In the context of a crisis like COVID-19, however, there is good reason to be concerned about the role that the consumption of social media is playing in boosting misperceptions," Bridgman added. For the findings, the research team looked at the behavioural effects of exposure to misinformation by combining social media analysis, news analysis, and survey research.

They combed through millions of tweets, thousands of news articles, and the results of a nationally representative survey of Canadians to answer three questions. Those three questions were: How prevalent is COVID-19 misinformation on social media and in traditional news media? Does it contribute to misperceptions about COVID-19? And does it affect behaviour? Results showed that, compared to traditional news media, false or inaccurate information about COVID-19 is circulated more on social media platforms like Twitter.

The researchers point to a big difference in the behaviours and attitudes of people who get their news from social media versus news media - even after taking into account demographics as well as factors like scientific literacy and socio-economic differences. Canadians who regularly consume social media are less likely to observe social distancing and to perceive Covid-19 as a threat, while the opposite is true for people that get their information from news media.

"There is growing evidence that misinformation circulating on social media poses public health risks. This makes it even more important for policymakers and social media platforms to flatten the curve of misinformation," said study co-author Taylor Owen.

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People on social media more inclined to believe Coronavirus fake news: Study - India TV News