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Larimar Therapeutics Announces Positive Opinion on Orphan Drug Designation Received from the European Medicines Agency for CTI-1601 for the Treatment…

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

BALA CYNWYD, Pa., July 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Larimar Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:LRMR), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for complex rare diseases,today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) issued a positive opinion on the companys application for orphan drug designation for CTI-1601, a potential treatment for Friedreichs ataxia (FA), a rare, progressive, multi-symptom genetic disease that affects the functioning of multiple organs and systems. CTI-1601 is a recombinant fusion protein intended to deliver human frataxin into the mitochondria of patients with FA who are unable to produce enough of this essential protein. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously granted Orphan Drug, Fast Track and Rare Pediatric Disease designations to CTI-1601 for the treatment of FA. Larimar expects that the European Commission, based on this positive opinion of the COMP, will formally grant the orphan drug designation for the European Union (EU) this year.

The positive opinion for orphan drug designation from the EMA COMP is an important milestone to bring a much-needed potential therapy to patients with FA, a devastating disease that currently has no approved medical treatments, said Carole Ben-Maimon, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Larimar Therapeutics.We look forward to working closely with EMA and continuing our U.S. Phase 1 trial of CTI-1601, which has the potential to become the first frataxin replacement therapy for patients with FA. We remain on track to report topline data in the first half of 2021.

Orphan drug designation in the EU is granted by the European Commission based on a positive opinion issued by the EMA COMP. To qualify, an investigational medicine must be intended to treat a seriously debilitating or life-threatening condition that affects fewer than five in 10,000 people in the EU, and there must be sufficient non-clinical or clinical data to suggest the investigational medicine may produce clinically relevant outcomes. EMA orphan drug designation provides companies with certain benefits and incentives, including clinical protocol assistance, differentiated evaluation procedures for Health Technology Assessments in certain countries, access to a centralized marketing authorization procedure valid in all EU member states, reduced regulatory fees and 10 years of market exclusivity.

About CTI-1601 CTI-1601 is a recombinant fusion protein intended to deliver human frataxin into the mitochondria of patients with Friedreichs ataxia (FA) who are unable to produce enough of this essential protein. Currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S., CTI-1601 has been granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation, Fast Track designation and Orphan Drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Topline results from the Phase 1 clinical program are planned for the first half of 2021.

About Friedreichs ataxiaFriedreichs ataxia (FA) is a rare, progressive, multi-symptom genetic disease that typically presents in mid-childhood and affects the functioning of multiple organs and systems. The most common inherited ataxia, FA is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease resulting in multiple symptoms including progressive neurologic and cardiac dysfunction poor coordination of legs and arms, progressive loss of the ability to walk, generalized weakness, loss of sensation, scoliosis, diabetes and cardiomyopathy as well as impaired vision, hearing and speech. FA affects an estimated 4,000-5,000 individuals living in the United States and approximately 25,000 in the European Economic Area and United Kingdom. FA results from a deficiency of the mitochondrial protein, frataxin (FXN), which is found in cells throughout the body. To date, there are no medical treatment options approved for patients with FA.

About Larimar TherapeuticsLarimar Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:LRMR), is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for complex rare diseases. The companys lead compound, CTI-1601, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical program in the U.S. as a potential treatment for Friedreichs ataxia, a rare and progressive genetic disease. Larimar also plans to use its intracellular delivery platform to design other fusion proteins to target additional rare diseases characterized by deficiencies in intracellular bioactive compounds. For more information, please visit: https://larimartx.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on Larimars managements beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. All statements contained in this release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the receipt of Orphan Drug Designation for the EU for CTI-1601 in FA from the European Commission, the expected timing for receiving Orphan Drug Designation from the European Commission, the expected incentives associated with receiving Orphan Drug Designation for CTI-1601, Larimars ability to develop and commercialize CTI-1601 and other planned product candidates, Larimars planned research and development efforts, and other matters regarding Larimars business strategies, use of capital, results of operations and financial position, and plans and objectives for future operations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words may, will, could, would, should, expect, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, project, potential, continue, ongoing or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the that European Commission may not grant Orphan Drug Designation for the EU for CTI-1601 in FA or may do so in a longer than anticipated timeframe, the success, cost and timing of Larimars product development activities, studies and clinical trials; the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Larimars clinical trial timelines, ability to raise additional capital and general economic conditions; Larimars ability to optimize and scale CTI-1601s manufacturing process; Larimars ability to obtain regulatory approval for CTI-1601 and future product candidates; Larimars ability to develop sales and marketing capabilities, whether alone or with potential future collaborators, and successfully commercialize any approved product candidates; Larimars ability to raise the necessary capital to conduct its product development activities; and other risks described in the filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including but not limited to Larimars periodic reports, including the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission and available atwww.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by Larimar and its projections of the future, about which it cannot be certain. As a result, the forward-looking statements may not prove to be accurate. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent views as of the date hereof. Larimar undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.

Investor Contact:John WoolfordWestwickejohn.woolford@westwicke.com443-213-0506

Media Contact:Gina Cestari6 Degrees(917) 797-7904gcestari@6degreespr.com

Larimar Therapeutics Announces Positive Opinion on Orphan Drug Designation Received from the European Medicines Agency for CTI-1601 for the Treatment...

Edited Transcript of TRP.TO earnings conference call or presentation 30-Jul-20 3:00pm GMT – Yahoo Finance

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

CALGARY Jul 31, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of TC Energy Corp earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 3:00:00pm GMT

* Donald R. Marchand

* Russell K. Girling

TC Energy Corporation - Executive VP & President of U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines

* Tracy A. Robinson

TC Energy Corporation - Executive VP & President of Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines

CIBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Executive Director of Institutional Equity Research

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the TC Energy 2020 Second Quarter Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) The conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

I would now like to turn the conference over to David Moneta, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thanks very much, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to TC Energy's 2020 second quarter conference call. With -- joining me today are Russ Girling, President and Chief Executive Officer; Don Marchand, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer; Franois Poirier, Chief Operating Officer and President, Power and Storage and Mexico; Tracy Robinson, President, Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines; Stan Chapman, President, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines; Paul Miller, President, Liquids Pipelines; Bevin Wirzba, Senior Vice President, Liquids Pipelines; and Glenn Menuz, Vice President and Controller.

Russ and Don will begin today with some opening comments on our financial results and certain other company developments. A copy of the slide presentation that will accompany their remarks is available on our website. It can be found in the Investors section under the heading Events And Presentations. Following their prepared remarks, we will take questions from the investment community. If you are a member of the media, please contact Jaimie Harding following this call and she'd be happy to address your questions.

(Operator Instructions) Also, we ask that you focus your questions on our industry, our corporate strategy, recent developments and key elements of our financial performance. If you have detailed questions relating to some of our smaller operations or your detailed financial models, Hunter and I would be pleased to discuss them with you following the call.

Before Russ begins, I'd like to remind you that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements that are subject to important risks and uncertainties. For more information on these risks and uncertainties, please see the reports filed by TC Energy with Canadian Securities Regulators and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

And finally, during this presentation, we'll refer to measures such as comparable earnings, comparable earnings per share, comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or comparable EBITDA and comparable funds generated from operations. These and certain other comparable measures are considered to be non-GAAP measures. As a result, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. They are used to provide you with additional information on TC Energy's operating performance, liquidity and its ability to generate funds to finance its operations.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Russ.

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Russell K. Girling, TC Energy Corporation - President, CEO & Director [3]

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Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. Clearly, we live in unprecedented times with COVID-19 having had a significant impact on people around the world. When the World Health Organization declared it global pandemic in early March, our business continuity plans were put in place across our whole organization, allowing us to continue to effectively operate our assets and execute on all of our capital programs.

All of the services we provide were deemed essential or critical in Canada, the United States and Mexico, given the important role our infrastructure plays in delivering energy to people across this continent. This essential designation included both our daily operations and our construction projects. We take that responsibility extremely seriously, and I'm proud to say that we have continued to deliver the energy that millions of people rely on every day and continue to advance all of our construction projects that are vital to powering industries and institutions for many decades yet to come.

As we've always done over the past few months, we've continued to conduct our business in a safe and reliable manner, while maintaining our workforce, employing thousands of construction workers, fulfilling our obligations to suppliers and supporting the communities in which we are working. This would not have been possible without the dedication of all of our employees, and I want to acknowledge and thank them and their families for their ongoing efforts to ensure the energy that is vital to the daily lives of so many continues to be delivered seamlessly across North America. I can tell you that your efforts continue to make a big difference.

Turning now to our second quarter financial results and other recent developments across our 3 core businesses. Despite the challenges brought by COVID-19, our operations have largely been unimpacted, with a few exceptions, flows and utilization levels remain in line with historic and seasonal norms, underscoring the critical nature of our energy infrastructure assets. With approximately 95% of the comparable EBITDA in our company coming from regulated or long-term contracted assets, we continue to be largely insulated from the short-term volatility associated with volume throughput and commodity prices.

As a result, as highlighted in our second quarter report, our $100 billion portfolio of high-quality, long life energy infrastructure assets continue to produce solid results. We continue to realize the growth expected from our industry-leading capital expansion program. And today, we are advancing $37 billion of secured capital projects. In addition, we continue to advance $11 billion of projects under development, including the refurbishment of another 5 reactors at Bruce Power as part of their long-term life extension program.

Over the last 6 months, we took significant steps to fund our 2020 capital expenditure program and maintain our strong financial position despite the challenging capital market conditions that we're experiencing. More specifically, we enhanced our liquidity by more than $11 billion through the issuance of long-term debt in both Canada and the United States at very attractive rates, the establishment of an incremental committed credit facility and various portfolio management activities, including the sale of 3 Ontario natural gas-fired power plants and the 65% interest in the Coastal GasLink project. When combined with our predictable and growing cash flow from operations, we believe that we're well positioned to fund our capital program and meet all of our other obligations.

Looking forward, we expect our solid operating and financial performance to continue. And as a result, our outlook for the full year 2020 is essentially unchanged, with comparable earnings per share still anticipated to be similar to the record results we produced in 2019. While we're extremely proud of our financial performance and the significant returns that we've generated for our shareholders, we know that our ongoing success depends on our ability to balance profitability with safety and environment and social responsibility. We have a 65-year track record of safe and reliable operations, but we recognize that we can always do better. As a result, we remain focused on continuous improvement as well as long-term fundamentals to ensure our business remains sustainable and resilient in an ever-evolving energy landscape.

With that as an overview, I'll expand on some of the recent developments, beginning with a brief review of our second quarter financial results. Don will provide more detail on our results and liquidity in just a few moments.

So excluding certain specific items, comparable earnings were $863 million or $0.92 per common share for the 3 months ended June 30 compared to $924 million or about $1 per share in 2019. Comparable EBITDA of $2.2 billion -- well, comparable funds generated from operations were about $1.5 billion. For the 6 months ended June 30, our comparable earnings were $2 billion or $2.10 per common share compared to $1.9 billion or 2 -- or $2.07 per share in the same period in 2019.

Comparable EBITDA of $4.7 billion and comparable funds generated from operations of $3.6 billion were similar to the amounts that we reported last year. Each of those amounts reflects the solid performance of our legacy assets as well as contributions from $3 billion of new long-term contracted and rate-regulated assets placed into service in the first half of 2020. This was partially offset by lower contributions from our liquids marketing business due to lower margins as well as lower equity income from Bruce Power due to the Unit 6 MCR program that we commenced at the beginning of the year and the sale of certain assets that will help fund our secured capital program for many years to come.

Next, I'll make a few comments on our 3 core businesses. First, in our Natural Gas Pipelines business, customer demand for our services remains extremely strong despite the COVID-19 impacts on the broader North American economy. Evidence of this can be seen in the volumes transported across our systems with the NGTL field system receipts averaging about 12.3 billion cubic feet a day, the Canadian Mainline Western receipts averaging 3.1 billion cubic feet a day, our broader U.S. pipeline network moving about 25 billion cubic feet a day, and our Mexican pipelines moving approximately 1.6 billion cubic feet a day for the first 6 months of this year.

Each of those amounts are similar to or greater to the volumes we moved over the same period last year. At the same time, we continue to advance approximately $22 billion of capital projects associated with our natural gas business. That program includes significant expansions of our NGTL system, capacity additions on our U.S. network, the Villa de Reyes and Tula projects in Mexico and our Coastal GasLink pipeline project in British Columbia, which will play a very important role in delivering clean Canadian natural gas to Asian markets that will displace coal.

During the second quarter, the NGTL system held a capacity optimization open season to assist customers in optimizing their transportation service needs and align system expansions with customer growth requirements. The open season confirmed that all of our proposed system expansion projects will continue to be required to meet aggregate system demand, although the in-service dates for some of those facilities has moved. As a result, a certain amount of the capital spending plan for 2020 and 2021 will be made in 2022 to 2024. The net impact of these deferrals, together with some expected increasing costs on the 2021 expansion program will see us invest a total of about $9.9 billion, up from $9.4 billion on the '21 program. These changes have been reflected in the secured capital projects table in our quarterly report.

Turning to our U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines business, where our expansion plans now include an incremental investment of approximately USD 400 million to replace, upgrade and modernize certain facilities on the highly utilized section of the ANR pipeline system. The program, which is known as the Elwood Power/ANR Horsepower Replacement Project will reduce emissions along the system and is another good example of an in-corridor expansion to meet growing demand utilizing our existing facilities and our existing right of ways.

Also in the U.S. Pipelines business. In the coming days, our Columbia Gas transmission system intends to file a section 4 rate case with FERC, requesting an increase in its maximum transportation rates effective February 1, 2021. It's Colombia's first rate case filing in over 20 years and will seek to recover currently incurred operating costs as well as a fair return on and of our historical and future capital investments in this expansive system that provides our customers with reliable access to low-cost natural gas. At the same time, we will continue to pursue a collaborative process to find a mutually beneficial outcome with the Columbia Gas transmission customers through settlement negotiations.

Finally, in Natural Gas Pipelines, construction activities continue on the 2.1 billion cubic feet a day Coastal GasLink project that will connect abundant Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin natural gas reserves to the LNG Canada plant to export from Kitimat, British Columbia. Field activity continues to increase along the route following the spring thaw. As we ramp up construction, our focus will remain on the health and safety of our employees, our contractors and the communities through strict adherence to our COVID-19 protocols.

Ongoing work includes the construction of roads, bridges, worker accommodations and grading. Pipe delivery also continues with more than 50% of the required pipes supplied to site and the mainline mechanical construction activities planned for the balance of the summer. In May, as you know, we completed the sale of a 65% interest in the Coastal GasLink project and entered into a secured long-term project financing credit facility to fund the majority of the construction cost. This resulted in combined net proceeds of approximately $2.1 billion. Looking forward, we'll continue to work with the 21st nations that have executed agreements with the Coastal GasLink project to provide them with an opportunity to invest in the project with an option to acquire a 10% interest on similar terms and conditions.

Turning now to our Liquids business, which also generated solid results during the first half of 2020 despite the extraordinary volatility in global crude oil markets. While the volatility has had an impact on our market link and liquids marketing businesses, Keystone continued to produce solid results as it serves important markets in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast and is underpinned by long-term take-or-pay contracts with very strong counterparties.

We are very pleased with yesterday's decision by President Trump to sign a new presidential permit for the base Keystone system. The new permit will allow us to respond to market demand and fully utilize the Keystone pipeline system to safely deliver additional crude oil from Canada to refining centers in the U.S. Midwest and the Gulf Coast. This new presidential permit will allow us to utilize -- or to realize the benefits from the 50,000 barrel a day open season conducted in June 2019 and we anticipate starting to increase the flows in 2021. The additional crude oil that will be delivered by the Keystone pipeline will increase the secure and reliable source of Canadian oil to meet growing demand from refineries and markets in the United States.

Also in the Liquids business, we continued to advance construction on Keystone XL during the second quarter while managing the various legal and regulatory matters. In Canada, construction activities at our pump stations and along more than 100 kilometers of the mainline right of way have continued to advance. In the U.S., we are making progress on a revised 2020 construction plan, which is focused in areas where all of our permits and approvals are in place and includes facilities and preconstruction activities. At the same time, we continue to seek authorizations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the necessary permits and approvals to reconvene U.S. pipeline -- Mainline pipeline construction in 2021.

Keystone XL continues to be a very important project for both Canada and the United States. It will create thousands of high-paying union jobs and advanced energy security in both nations in an environmentally sustainable and responsible way. The project will require an additional investment of approximately $8 billion, and it is underpinned by new 20-year take-or-pay contracts that are expected to generate approximately USD 1.3 billion of incremental EBITDA on an annual basis once the pipeline is placed into service in 2023.

To advance the project, we have partnered with the government of Alberta, who will invest approximately USD 1.1 billion of equity into the project and fully guarantee a USD 4.2 billion project-level credit facility. Once the project is completed and placed into service, we expect to acquire the government of Alberta's equity investment and refinance the credit facility. Moving forward, we will continue to carefully manage various legal and regulatory matters as we construct this pipeline, which will have the capacity to move approximately 830,000 barrels a day of responsibly produced energy from Canadian oil sands to the continent's largest refining market, which is in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Turning now to our Power and Storage business, where Bruce Power continued to produce solid results through the first 6 months of this year. Also, after years of preparation, in January, Bruce Power commenced the work on the Unit 6 major component replacement, or MCR project as we call it, when they took it off-line here in January. We expect to invest approximately $2.4 billion in that program as well as ongoing asset management program through 2023 when the Unit 6 refurbishment is targeted for completion and to come back online. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, in late March, Bruce Power declared a force majeure under its contract with the independent electric system operator. This force majeure covered unit 6 MCR as well as certain asset management work.

That said, I'm pleased to report that in early May, work on the Unit 6 MCR resumed with additional prevention measures in place for worker safety related to COVID-19. Progress is being made on critical path activities as Bruce works to isolate Unit 6 from the remaining units in preparation for the removal of the fuel channels in late third quarter. The impact of force majeure continues to be evaluated and will ultimately depend on the extent and duration of this global pandemic. Operations and plant outage activities on all other units continued as expected in the second quarter.

Finally, in Power in late April, we did complete the sale of 3 natural gas-fired power plants in Ontario, the Napanee plant, Halton Hills and our 50% interest in the Portlands Energy Center. Net proceeds from that disposition netted approximately $2.8 billion that we used to fund our industry-leading capital program.

So in summary, today, we are advancing $37 billion of secured growth projects that are largely expected to enter service between now and 2023. We have invested approximately $11 billion into this program to date, with approximately $5 billion of those projects expected to be completed by the end of 2020. Notably, all of these projects are underpinned by cost of service regulation or long-term contracts, giving us visibility to the earnings and cash flow they will generate as they enter service.

Based on the strength of our financial performance and the promising outlook for the future, earlier this year, TC Energy's Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend to $0.81 per common share, which is equivalent to $3.24 per share on an annual basis. This represents an 8% increase over the amount declared in 2019 and is the 20th consecutive year that our Board has raised the dividend.

Over that same time frame, we have maintained consistently strong coverage ratios with our dividend on average representing a payout of approximately 80% of comparable earnings and 40% of comparable funds generated from operations, leaving us with significantly internally generated cash flow to reinvest in our core businesses. Based on the continued strong performance of our base businesses and the organic growth we expect to realize as we advance our $37 billion secured capital program, we expect to continue to grow our dividend at an average annual rate of 8% to 10% through 2021, and 5% to 7% thereafter.

So in summary, I'll leave you with the following key points. Today, we are a leading North American energy infrastructure company with a very strong track record of delivering long-term shareholder value. Our assets provide essential service to the functioning of North American society and the economy and the demand for our services remains strong.

We have 5 significant platforms for growth: Canadian, U.S., Mexican and Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines and our Power and Storage business. As we advance our $37 billion secured capital program, we expect to build on our long track record of growing earnings, cash flow and dividends per share. We also have $11 billion of projects in advanced stages of development and expect numerous other in-corridor organic growth opportunities like the $400 million Elwood Power and ANR Horsepower Replacement Project that we announced today to emanate from our extensive critical asset footprint.

Looking forward, we will remain disciplined, continuing to our focus on safety, sustainability, working according to our values and responding quickly to market signals and signposts to ensure we remain industry-leading and resilient as we grow shareholder value.

I'll now turn the call over to Don who will provide you more details on our second quarter results and our financial position. Don, over to you.

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Donald R. Marchand, TC Energy Corporation - Executive VP of Strategy & Corporate Development and CFO [4]

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Thanks, Russ, and good morning, everyone. As outlined in our results issued earlier today, net income attributable to common shares was $1.3 billion or $1.36 per share in the second quarter of 2020 compared to $1.1 billion or $1.21 per share for the same period in 2019. For the 6 months ended June 30, 2020, net income attributable to common shares was $2.4 billion or $2.59 per share compared to net income of $2.1 billion or $2.30 per share in 2019. Second quarter results included a $408 million after-tax gain on the sale of a 65% interest in Coastal GasLink, along with an incremental $80 million after-tax loss on the disposition of the Ontario natural gas-fired power plants.

Second quarter 2019 also included certain specific items as outlined on the slide and discussed further in our second quarter 2020 report to shareholders. These specific items as well as unrealized gains and losses from changes in risk management activities are excluded from comparable earnings. Comparable earnings for the second quarter were $863 million or $0.92 per common share compared to $924 million or $1 per common share in 2019. For the 6 months ended June 30, 2020, comparable earnings were $2 billion or $2.10 per share compared to $1.9 billion or $2.07 per share in 2019.

Turning to our business segment results on Slide 15. In the second quarter, comparable EBITDA from our 5 operating segments was $2.2 billion, a $125 million decrease compared to 2019. Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines' comparable EBITDA of $621 million was $93 million higher than second quarter 2019, primarily on account of increased rate base earnings as well as flow-through depreciation and financial charges on the NGTL system from additional facilities placed in service. NGTL system net income increased $21 million compared to the same period in 2019 as a result of a higher average investment base from continued system expansions, and reflects an ROE of 10.1% on 40% deemed common equity, while net income for the Canadian Mainline decreased $3 million, largely due to lower incentive earnings.

U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines' comparable EBITDA of USD 595 million, or CAD 824 million in the second quarter, fell by USD 46 million or CAD 33 million compared to 2019, mainly due to the sale of certain Columbia midstream assets in August 2019, as well as increased operating costs on Columbia gas.

Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines' comparable EBITDA of USD 130 million or CAD 181 million rose USD 23 million or CAD 40 million versus second quarter 2019, primarily due to Sur de Texas equity income resulting from the commencement of transportation services in September 2019, and lower interest expense attributable to the weakening of the Mexican peso.

Liquids Pipelines' comparable EBITDA declined by $150 million to $432 million in the second quarter driven by lower uncontracted volumes on Keystone, decreased margins from liquids marketing activities and the sale of an 85% equity interest in Northern Courier in July 2019.

Power and Storage comparable EBITDA in the second quarter fell by $84 million year-over-year, primarily due to the planned removal from service of Bruce Power Unit 6 in January for its MCR program, along with lower Canadian power earnings, largely as a result of the sales of our Ontario natural gas-fired power plants in April 2020 and

Coolidge in May 2019 as well as an outage at our Mackay River cogeneration facility in 2020.

For all our businesses with U.S. dollar-denominated income, including U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines and parts of Liquids Pipelines, EBITDA was translated into Canadian dollars using an average exchange rate of $1.39 in second quarter 2020 compared to $1.34 for the same period in 2019. As a reminder, our U.S. dollar-denominated revenue streams are in part naturally hedged by interest on U.S. dollar-denominated debt. We then actively manage the residual exposure on a rolling 2-year forward basis with realized gains and losses on this program reflected in comparable interest income and other.

Now turning to the other income statement items on Slide 16. Depreciation and amortization of $635 million increased $14 million versus second quarter 2019 largely due to new projects placed in service in Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, which is fully recoverable in tolls on a flow-through basis.

Interest expense of $561 million in the quarter was $27 million lower year-over-year primarily due to higher capitalized interest related to Keystone XL and Coastal GasLink up to its date of partial sale in May, subsequent to which CGL is now accounted for under the equity method versus previous full consolidation. The increase at Keystone XL is a result of additional capital expenditures, along with the inclusion of previously impaired capital costs in the basis for calculating capitalized interest following our decision to proceed with construction of the project. This is partially offset by new long-term debt issuances net of maturities.

AFUDC decreased $18 million compared to the same period in 2019, largely due to NGTL system expansion projects placed in service as well as the suspension of recording AFUDC on Tula effective January 2020.

Comparable interest income and other was $7 million in the second quarter and consistent with 2019.

Income tax expense included in comparable earnings was $125 million in the second quarter 2020 compared to $199 million for the same period last year. The $74 million decrease was mainly due to lower pretax earnings and a lower Alberta income tax rate. Excluding Canadian rate-regulated pipelines where income taxes are a flow-through item and are, therefore, quite variable, along with equity AFUDC income in the U.S. and Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, we expect our 2020 full year effective tax rate on comparable income to be in the mid- to high teens.

Comparable net income attributable to noncontrolling interest of $63 million in the quarter increased by $6 million relative to the same period last year primarily due to higher earnings at TC Pipelines LP.

And finally, preferred share dividends of $40 million were in line with second quarter 2019.

Now turning to Slide 17. During the second quarter, comparable funds generated from operations totaled $1.5 billion, and we invested approximately $2.2 billion in our capital program, which, as noted, reflects equity accounting for our remaining 35% investment in Coastal GasLink post the closing of this partial equity sale.

While capital market conditions in 2020 have seen periods of extreme stress and volatility, during the second quarter, we took significant actions that meaningfully enhanced our liquidity and financial position. In April, we issued $2 billion in medium-term notes and USD 1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes in the Canadian and U.S. debt capital markets, respectively, on compelling terms.

In addition, we arranged USD 2 billion of incremental committed credit facilities and closed the sale of our Ontario natural gas-fired power plants for net proceeds of approximately $2.8 billion. In May, we completed the sale of a 65% equity interest in Coastal GasLink as well as the initial draw on a newly-established secured long-term project credit facility, resulting in combined proceeds of approximately $2.1 billion.

Finalizing these arrangements on Coastal GasLink, along with secured government of Alberta support for Keystone XL in the form of a USD 1.1 billion equity contribution and USD 4.2 billion loan guarantee means that a substantial portion of the funding required to advance these 2 large initiatives is now in place.

Now turning to Slide 18. This graphic illustrates our forecasted sources and uses of funds in 2020. The left column details total funding requirements of approximately $17.5 billion, comprised of long-term debt maturities and redemptions of $3.9 billion, dividend and noncontrolling interest distributions of approximately $3.3 billion and capital expenditures of approximately $10.3 billion, reflecting 100% of Coastal GasLink costs up to the date of its partial sale and only equity contributions to the project thereafter.

Funding sources are shown in the second column and include forecast internally generated cash flow of approximately $7 billion. Proceeds from the disposition of our Ontario natural gas-fired power plants, sale of a 65% interest in Coastal GasLink and associated project-level financing at CGL, which together generated approximately $4.9 billion. The government of Alberta's equity investment in Keystone XL of USD 1.1 billion, and $4.1 billion comprised of long-term debt that was issued in April, along with movements in balances of cash held in commercial paper outstanding.

Taken together, we are effectively fully funded for 2020 and along with more than $13 billion of committed credit facilities in place and well, supported commercial paper programs in both Canada and the U.S., positioned to assuredly navigate any prolonged period of disruption should that occur.

Now turning to Slide 19. In closing, our solid financial and operational results in what has been a rather momentous first half of 2020, highlight our long-standing diversified low-risk business strategy, the criticality of our essential energy infrastructure as well as the contribution of new high-quality assets from our ongoing capital program.

Our overall financial position remains robust. Today, we are advancing a $37 billion suite of secured projects through resilient internally generated cash flow and an array of attractive funding options.

Our portfolio of critical energy infrastructure projects is poised to generate high-quality long life earnings and cash flow for our shareholders, underpinned by strong fundamentals, solid counterparties and premium service offerings. We're offering numerous distinct platforms for future attractive and executable in-corridor organic investment. That is expected to support annual dividend growth of 8% to 10% in 2021 and 5% to 7% thereafter.

Finally, we will continue to maintain our historic financial strength and flexibility at all points of the economic cycle.

That's the end of my prepared remarks. I'll now turn the call back over to David for the Q&A.

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David Moneta, TC Energy Corporation - VP of IR & Financial Communications [5]

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Thanks, Don. Just a reminder before I turn it over to the conference coordinator for questions. (Operator Instructions) With that, I'll turn it back to the conference coordinator.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Jeremy Tonet of JPMorgan.

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Jeremy Bryan Tonet, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Senior Analyst [2]

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Just wanted to start off with KXL and wanted to see, I guess, to hit the 2023 in service, as you envision it now, how do you see the kind of legal hurdles or legal challenges going at this point? Just trying to get a feeling for how much contingency is built in there. And what milestones we should be looking for, try to get a better feeling for how that will progress. And I guess, what type of outcomes there would have you guys kind of step away from the project on the legal challenge side?

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Bevin Mark Wirzba, TC Energy Corporation - SVP of Liquids Pipelines [3]

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Thanks, Jeremy. This is Bevin. With respect to the legal challenges, there are 2 lawsuits, the first of which challenging the presidential permits, and the balance challenging our ability to advance construction in certain areas that have wet lands. Our schedule and plans can accommodate -- we're still targeting our 2023 in-service date at this point, and we anticipate resolving these issues through the balance of this year and into next.

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Link:

Edited Transcript of TRP.TO earnings conference call or presentation 30-Jul-20 3:00pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

The Golden Rule: Examples and Definition | Philosophy Terms

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

I. Definition

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the idea (also called the law of reciprocity) that may be the most universally applauded moral principle on Earththe Golden Rule. Something like it appears in every major religion and ethical philosophy. The wording above is from the King James Bible, Matthew 7:12, however Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Confucian, and Zoroastrian versions of it appeared 3,000-500 years earlier.

The Christian version in Matthew says what you should do, rather than what you should not do. Most of the other versions say dont do to others what you wouldnt want done to you. This is now known as the silver rule. The positive version seems a little more demanding, and more problematic, than the silver rule:

Most non-philosophers lump together love they neighbor, turn the other cheek, and other similar ideas together with the golden rule. All of them revolve around the same themes empathy, selflessness, reciprocity, and egalitarianism, principles at the foundations of most ethical systems (although certainly not all). So perhaps that is how the golden rule should be taken, as a general ethical stance, not a rule (which is impossible to follow).

Meanwhile, academic philosophers have pretty much left the golden rule alone, commenting on it mainly to point out that although it sounds good, it cannot be applicable to a lot of situations depending on how you interpret it. We will examine interpretations that eliminate some of these problems cases. The golden rule sounds like a perfect guide to morality but its interpretation is rife with difficulties.

Here we list some relatives of the Golden Rule, which often incorporate it:

Do not do unto others as you would not want done to you.

Treat others the way they want to be treated.

Love others as you do yourself (or better).

Put yourself in others shoes in order to know how to treat them ethically.

Feel and care about the suffering of others.

Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law. In other words, Only follow ethical rules that you think should be universal. Philosophers consider Kants Imperative more philosophically air-tight than the golden rule. Some present it as supporting the golden rule while others would claim the opposite.

The oldest golden rule is the Hindu One should always treat others as they wish to be treated (Hitopadehsa, from before 2000 BCE) which seems potentially more demanding than the golden rule. Most people would like to be treated better than they expect to be, or are willing to accept.

People tend to trace the Golden Rule back to Leviticus (19:18), love thy neighbor as thyself, which was probably first written down during the second millennium BCE. This is the only version of the rule from a major religion (Judaism) that explicitly mentions love. But some philosophers suggest that behind all versions of the golden rule is, or should be, the idea of universal, unconditional love. Along with the silver rule and other similar ideas, the ancient Greek philosophers expressed agape, which also has an underlying principle of love.

However, the Hebrew principle of love thy neighbor seems deceptive for its time. The rule was formulated in a tribal society, where it could only apply to other members of ones tribe, and not necessarily to outsiders. It is quite likely that the neighbor in love thy neighbor was intended literally: love your neighbor as yourself, but not necessarily people from the next town over! In fact, of the three Abrahamic religions, only Islam has made the golden rule a religious obligation; if you are a guest in a very traditional Muslim home, your hosts will give you everything they can and lay down their lives for you, if necessary.

Similarly, around 500 BCE, Confucius wrote What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. In contrast to the statement in Leviticus, which is found in the middle of a long list of rules, the Confucian rule has always been emphasized, as a foundation of Confucian society.

But this raises a different kind of problem for the golden rule:

Confucian society was far from egalitarian, and not supposed to be. In the context of Confucian China, as is still true today, morality consisted of treating people as appropriate to their stations in lifetreating a gentleman as a gentleman, a soldier as a soldier, and a slave as a slave; the hierarchy of superior and inferior relationships was (perhaps still is) is a central principle of Chinese relationships.

Confucius may have meant, Treat people appropriately for their status, as you would wish them to do to you. Or Treat other people of a similar status, as you expect to be treated. For people of different social status to treat each other similarly is traditionally considered both rude and immoral in China; it threatens to upset social harmony, which depends on each person fulfilling their proper role in the Confucian hierarchy.

I have something that I call my Golden Rule. It goes something like this: Do unto others twenty-five percent better than you expect them to do unto you. The twenty-five percent is for error. Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling, an American chemist and the only scientist to win two non-shared Nobel prizes, gives us a rationally improved golden rule. Although its a bit tongue in cheek, alluding to the high standard of proof in science, Paulings modification is an astute rule-of-thumb repair for one of the golden rules most serious flaws that it expects us to decide how well other people wish to be treated.

Jonathan Swift made a soul for the gentlemen of this city by hating his neighbor as himself.

W.B. Yeats, Selected Poems and Four Plays

A humorous and cynical twist on the Torahs love thy neighbor as thyself, Yeats, the great Irish poet, expressed much in this quote. Jonathan Swift, another Irishman and the author of Gullivers Travels, also wrote the satirical A Modest Proposal, in which he parodied the cruelty of upper-class attitudes towards the poor in his city of Dublin. So, he truly did give the gentlemen of his city a soul that is, he tried to awaken their consciences by pointing out the opposite of love.

This was a running joke on SNL for years in which the viewer was periodically presented with various deep thoughts sort of an early predecessor of the fake-profound memes so many people post on Facebook. The following one is based on the Navajo version of the golden rule, Before you insult someone, walk a mile in their moccasins:

Deep Thoughts: Before you insult a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way youll be a mile away when he gets offended, and youll have his shoes.John Handy

This may be stretching the definition of pop culture a bit, but we had to find a place for this quote, in which Prince Hamlet and the councilor Polonius discuss how Polonius will treat the traveling theatrical troupe which has come to their castle (desert in this quote means what someone deserves):

POLONIUS: My lord, I will use them according to their desert.

HAMLET: Gods bodykins, man, much better. Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in. (Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2)

Here, Shakespeare seems to argue for how one should treat people who might not deserve high-class treatment. His answer is, the better you treat them, and the less they deserve it, the more honorable youll look. At the same time that this seems like a highly ethical policy, it is meant somewhat cynically, since Hamlet is appealing to Polonius ego in order to motivate him to treat people well.

Utilitarianism, associated with philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill provides universal ethical guidance through its policy of maximizing utility, where utility usually means human well-being. In other words, always do whatever will bring the greatest amount of well-being to the greatest number of people. This can be seen as another attempt, like Kants, to come up with a more reliable version of the golden rule. Most critics of the golden rule agree that its greatest flaw is the phrase as you would have them do to you because it references our subjective desires and preferences. Utilitarianism remedies this flaw.

Philosophers disagree about whether the golden rule is problematic or inappropriate, and why.

Some point out that it cannot be followed literally in all kinds of relationships, such as between employer and employee, parent and child, or teacher and student. Others say that it can be, because it could be interpreted to mean treat others as you would wish to be treated if you were them, in their social role, relative to you; i.e. if you are a boss, treat your employees as you would wish to be treated if you were in their position.

Thus, perhaps the Hindu version, treat others as they wish to be treated is better worded. But, it doesnt save the day. Some people wish to be treated badly. Others wish to be treated like gods. Few people know what is best for themselves. And the way a child wishes to be treated by a parent or a teacher is probably not the best thing for them!

Other philosophers say that the answer to these conundrums is that the golden rule is not a rule of action, but of psychology; in other words, it says, be empathic or treat people as if you cared for their welfare as much as your own.

But, even if this solves some of the earlier mentioned difficulties, its a recipe for disaster in relationships between people from different cultures. For example, if you go to China, people will usually serve you hot water at meals. Chinese people believe that cold water is bad for ones health. Chinese also may feel offended if you tip them, because it implies that they need your charity. So, following the golden rule is much complicated by cultural relativity.

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The Golden Rule: Examples and Definition | Philosophy Terms

The hallmarks of a true Christian according to scripture – The Navigator

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

The Ellery Christian Church had 29 in its congregation on Sunday, July 26. Christians message for the week was entitled, Known by Their Fruit and was taken from Matthew 7: 15-20. He told his listeners that to truly identify those who claim to be Christians, we must look at the fruit they produce.

While many people claim to be followers of God, if their actions show otherwise, they are like wolves in sheeps clothing and are not true Christians.

How we live and how we show our lives to others are the hallmarks of what makes a disciple of Christ. We cannot be lazy for God, but should instead give all we have to the service of His kingdom, so that when our days here are over, we can hear Him say, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Pastor Brad also spoke on how a true Christian should look in his sermon given from Revelation 3:14-21 at the Bethel United Methodist Church. He said that we shouldnt be lukewarm Christians, but should instead, be on fire for Christ.

In his sermon, Good, Better, Best, Pastor Brad reminded his listeners that many Christians play just not to lose, instead of actually playing to win. In other words, some do just enough to get by, but not enough to truly serve God the way He intended. The Bible tells us that those Christians will be spewed out of His mouth. Let us all make sure that we serve Him in a way that keeps us close to Him as we reach out to others.

The Ellery Christian Church held a baby shower Sunday afternoon for Larry and Cecelia Michels. The young couple got many new things for their coming little one and the church prays only the best for them all. In a prayer of praise Bob and Janice Anniss and Ray Williams all asked to be taken off of the prayer list, as they have recovered from recent medical procedures and are doing better. Our God is the Great Physician!

It has been said before, but let us make sure to remember this week to treat others the way we wish to be treated. There is an awful lot of hate out there, but this country could be turned around if everyone remembers that God is in control, not the media and that the Golden Rule is the one law that we truly need!

More here:

The hallmarks of a true Christian according to scripture - The Navigator

WNY Conversations About Race: Stephen Tucker and Paul Vukelic – WBFO

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Making businesses across Western New York more racially inclusive is not an overnight process, but for Northland Workforce Training Center President and CEO Stephen Tucker, Its critically important.

"I dont think we will be able to reach the full potential of our nation unless we have a diverse, inclusive and equitable workforce. Thats the only way we can all really live up to the American Dream," Tucker says.

Try-It Distributing President and CEO Paul Vukelic believes change must come from the top down.

As business leaders, I believe we lead by example, he said. We need to support organizations of color and organizations that serve these communities. We also need to prepare our management teams on what it means to be Black in American. I think that is really important.

Tucker and Vukelic shared their thoughts on their upbringing, the challenges they have faced, and what white privilege means to them as part of WBFO's series WNY Conversations About Race.

The 5-part radio series includes Black and white activists, clergymen, educators and business people talking about racism, empathy and diversity in Western New York on-air this week, with extended versions of those edited conversations available online each day or as a bonus afternoon edition of the WBFO Brief podcast.

Stephen Tucker from the Northland Workforce Training Center talks with Try-it Distributing's Paul Vukelic.

I was always taught to treat people fairly, said the Cincinnati-born Tucker. I was in the military, the United States Air Force for four years which also re-emphasized those values which my parents instilled in me. I also grew up in a church household, so do unto others do unto you, the golden rule, has really been something Ive tried to live my life by.

Vukelic was similarly raised in a religious household, but not in a very racially diverse neighborhood.

I grew up primarily in Orchard Park, New York, he said. I can say basically your typical white suburban environment. Respect others, hard work, attention to detail, respecting others beliefs, the whole nine yards.

As one of the few Black C.E.O.s in Western New York, Tucker said white privilege is so ingrained in the structure of business that he has difficulty defining it.

I actually didnt really, I dont want to say understand it, he said. But it wasnt necessarily a situation where I saw white privilege, because thats just the way it was. When thats the norm, you really dont have a name for it.

Vukelic credits his wife with helping him come to terms with the fact he is a beneficiary of white privilege.

I know its hard for me to accept it, he said. Its just hard to accept that youre privileged, especially when you relate it to the color of your skin.

BONUS MATERIAL: Hear an extended Conversation about race with Tucker, Vukelic and WBFO's Thomas O'Neil-White

The WBFO Racial Equity Project is funded by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. If youd like to participate in future conversations, email news@wbfo.org.

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WNY Conversations About Race: Stephen Tucker and Paul Vukelic - WBFO

What If The Old Normal Became The New Normal? – Forbes

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time. ~ Maya Angelou

The other day, I was stopped at the door to my clients office by an assistant who asked, Can I take your temperature before entering? How many of us have experienced something similar in the past few weeks?

This encounter is indicative of The New Normal we have heard so much about. In another example, you may be aware major companies are now firing employees en masse via Zoom calls. If this wasnt an impersonal enough way to let go of someone who has put their heart and soul into your organization, there are organizations resorting to text messaging to deliver the bad news.

The truth is our New Normal threatens to undo much of the great civilization we have spent centuries building. To understand what I mean, we must consider the ideas of Malcolm Gladwell. You may have heard of his concept of the 10K hour rule from his book, Outliers. (True mastery of anything, from music to cooking, requires 10,000 hours of practice.) Gladwell just wrote a new book: Talking to Strangers, in which he presents this hypothesis: Humans have a default tendency to believe other humans. To trust them.

Trust has served our species well. Back when we were nomadic tribes dependent upon the group for our safety and food, we had to trust our clan would have our backotherwise we might not live to see another day. Likewise, until recently our modern lives functioned well under the belief we could trust others. This is why we can confidently cross the street with a stroller believing we wont be mowed down at the intersection.

And of course, we all know businesses function best when mutual trust exists between individuals. But, what happens when trust breaks downwhen we come to fear that the person entering our office may be a biological weapon that without even meaning to could infect us and our loved onesmaking us sick, even killing us?

When this happens, trust evaporates. Corporate cultures shatter. And relationships, the core of all human life, collapse. Most of us have never experienced anything like this in the course of modern life. We have never had to wonder if just being in the presence of another could harm us.

This is unchartered territory. And, it feels frightening. We all agree we have a problem. But as the motivational speaker Tony Robbins once said, Embrace your problems for problems are what make you grow.

So, how might our current problem contribute to our personal growth?

By forcing us to develop better interpersonal skills. Before the pandemic ever hit our shores, too many of us were lacking in emotional intelligenceor at least werent applying it enough.

Instead of actually listening to others in face-to-face meetings, we were busy scrolling on our phones for the next text message, the next Facebook update. Likewise, instead of taking the time to build meaningful relationships with our colleagues and peers, we were on to the next thingrunning around in a perpetual rat race.

We had lost touch with much of our humanity in service of expediency.

In light of this truth, what if we disrupted our New Normal by going back to our Old Normal? I am talking way back to ancient timesbefore the invention of the smartphonebefore keeping up on social media sucked up all of our free time and a 24/7 news cycle hijacked our attention.

What if the Old Normal became the New Normal?

To help you understand what I am suggesting, consider this: For the past few years, the prevailing wisdom has been to multitask, to go-go at the speed of light. Instead of developing deeper connections with our staff and clients, we rushed to keep up with endless demands on our time.

But as former President Barack Obamas Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once said, We should never let a crisis go to waste. I agree with him. Lets not squander this opportunity. Lets also not let this problem overwhelm us. Instead, lets seize this moment to build greater trust in our personal dealings.

To help us accomplish this, allow me to introduce three new rules for the New NormalI mean the Old Normalthat will strengthen our corporate cultures and our civilization.

Rule 1: Come Back To The Golden Rule

Clearly, whats old is now new again, beginning with the Golden Rule. In all of our dealings with others, both online and IRL, lets practice this most basic tenet: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Returning to the request I received from my client about taking my temperature before entering the building, it is not my place to tell you what to do if faced with a similar situation. Instead, I would simply ask you to consider, when asking others to do everything from complying with social distancing to informing on others who may not be complying, please stop to think, Would I want to be asked to do this if I were in the others place? And would I want to be talked to in the way I am talking to them?

Answering these questions will give you needed moral clarity, rebuilding trust in others.

Rule 2: When In Doubt, Give Others The Benefit Of It

Its no secret our political climate is more toxic than ever. Incivility is on the rise, along with violence, borne out of our collective breakdown in trust. But we can begin to fix this problem by mind-shifting. Instead of looking for reasons to be outraged or offended, especially as public life resumes, let us seek ways to find the good in others. Let us not begin by presuming the worstor even doubting others intentions.

Instead, let our baseline assumption be that others mean well. Though small, this simple act promises to reorient every interaction toward greater trust.

Rule 3: Always Seek To Be Of Service To Others

As the old saying goes, Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. No one knows what personal tragedies others are going throughespecially in our hectic world in which business conversations often skim the surface. However, if our primary focus in all of our dealings with others is to be helpful, we begin a powerful, positive chain reaction. We move from having transactions to relationships with others.

And though seeking to serve others might seem to largely benefit the other person, it actually serves us more. Not only does it make us feel better, it also can pay greater dividends in the long run by building trust.

****

To bring this conversation full circle, let us consider the thoughts of one more luminary, Peter Drucker, the renowned business leader who once said, Culture eats strategy for breakfast. What he meant by this is all the planning in the world cannot take the place of getting the people issue right.

For years, the promise of tech, especially artificial intelligence, has lured us into thinking we could solve all of our business challenges with more technology. Though innovations, such as the endless Zoom calls we now conduct on the daily, have certainly helped during the pandemic, they have also revealed just how important our humanity it is.

Culture, both business and societal, depends on trust to function. But more importantly, we depend on trust to live. For without each otherwithout you and mewhat is the point of business? What is the point of our lives?

In the days to come, when someone brings up The New Normal, I encourage you to remember the power of the Old Normal and how following these three simple rules will restore trust, grow us as people, and lead to greater successes than we ever dreamed possible.

Excerpt from:

What If The Old Normal Became The New Normal? - Forbes

Letters to the editor for July 30, 2020 – Opinion – Waynesboro Record Herald – Waynesboro, PA – Waynesboro, PA – Waynesboro Record Herald

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Gordon Lampitt, a true American hero

As we continue to fight a deadly pandemic, racial injustice and an economic crisis, we are consistently reminded of the fragility of life. But there are also moments that remind us of the heroes among us.

Gordon Lampitt, a Browns Mills resident since 1958 who recently passed at age 96, was one of those unsung heroes. He dedicated his entire life to his beloved family and his country. U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Lampitt was one of few Americans to have served three tours in World War II, three tours in the Korean War and two tours in the Vietnam War.

A decorated veteran, Gordon continued to serve his country even after retiring from the Army, working at Fort Dix for 15 years. His unwavering commitment and dedication to his country, exemplified by his service in three wars was the ultimate testament of his patriotism and courage. He is a true American hero.

My thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with Gordons family and loved ones. I thank Gordon for making this country a better place and South Jersey is eternally grateful for his service and countless contributions to our community.

Congressman Donald Norcross, 1st District, New Jersey

First and foremost, we are all Americans

We are all Americans. We all live in this great melting pot called the United States of America. We come from different ethnic, racial and societal backgrounds. But first and foremost we are Americans.

We all have under the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution the rights of life, liberty and freedom and the pursuit of happiness. We seem to have lost sight of these facts.

People in China, Russia, North Korea and Syria live under the thumb of the likes of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and Bashar Hafez al-Assad. So be thankful that you live here.

Wear your camouflage, dreadlocks, hijab, Ivy League button downs I don't care. Just treat each other with respect, dignity and the knowledge that we all have the right to exist and to pursue our dreams and goals.

If you are the best qualified to do the job you need to get it albeit with a crew cut, piles of dreads or hijab. Teach the Golden Rule to your babies. They are our future and we owe it to them to fix all the mistakes we and our forebears made so they can live in peace with their fellow Americans.

Richard Egloff, Mount Laurel

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Letters to the editor for July 30, 2020 - Opinion - Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA - Waynesboro, PA - Waynesboro Record Herald

The golden rules of how to BBQ like a pro – British GQ

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

When it comes to cooking in the great outdoors, nobody does it better than DJ BBQ or Christian Stevenson as his dad calls him. The award-winning presenter, author and social media star has a YouTube channel devoted to grilling, roasting, baking and smoking, and these are his top music-inspired tips to give flaming novices the skills to rule the grills

Before grilling your steak, make sure you take the meat out of the fridge for at least half an hour so it can get to room temperature. Its a muscle and needs to relax to be nice and tender and juicy.

Elbow grease and an acid work best.Get a wire brush, fire up some coals (its easier to clean when hot), rub half an onion or lemon on the grill, then work that brush. Keep your grill clean. A clean grill is an efficient grill.

In other words, dont cover the whole BBQ with coals. The easiest way to set up your grill is the half-and-half technique: charcoal on one side, no charcoal on the other. This way you can get a good colour (char) on your food over the direct heat. If things get out of hand and the heat/flames are too intense, you can move your food to the indirect heat. Plus, this a good way to insure that your meat is cooked all the way through.Putting the lid on your cooker turns your outdoor grill into an outdoor oven.Great for cooking chicken.

Never scrimp on the rubs and marinades. Make your own. The classic rub contains five main ingredients: sea salt, cracked pepper, onion granules, garlic granules and brown sugar. Then get adventurous by adding dry herbs such as oregano, coriander, cumin, cayenne, chilli powder and/or paprika.

Always use two sets of tongs and two chopping boards: one for raw meat, one for cooked. Or just do lots of washing.

Never be scared to go bold with the smokiness. Ive been experimenting with the guys at Ardbeg to get my food as smoky as their whisky.I use seasoned fruit woods when grilling or smoking for a lovely flavour. You can also make fresh charcoal to add more flavour to your food by cooking the wood down and then grilling over the coals. My favourite woods to use are wild cherry, birch, orange, beech and sweet chestnut.

Keep the ash from building up at the bottom of your barbecue otherwise you will suffocate your fuel (unless youre cooking fish and you want to use the ash on the charcoal to get a nice medium heat).

Always add barbecue sauce near the end of the cook. Barbecue sauce contains sugar and when sugar hits heat it can burn easily.

I went wild with my salmon recipe with Ardbeg and used wood from one of their whisky caskets, nailed a beautiful fillet of salmon to it and smoked it in a fire pit. You can watch how to do it over on Ardbegs YouTube channel.

Ingredients

1 side of organic Scottish salmon, skin on and pin-bonedSalt and pepperLarge bunch thymeLarge bunch rosemaryLarge bunch parsleyLarge bunch chives

For the braised fennel2 bulbs fennel, sliced50g butterWaterSalt and pepper2 lemons

For the horseradish mayo5cm stick of horseradish4tbsp mayonnaise4 slices rye breadDrizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Special equipmentGround fire pit or barbecueDried natural wood for fuelCedar grilling plankNon-galvanised iron/steel nails, cleanedHammerLarge rocks/logs

Method

Light your fire pit with the wood and let it burn down to coals. Prepare some rocks or large logs to prop up your fish plank.

Layer up all your herbs onto the plank and lay over the fish, skin-side down. Carefully hammer the nails into the fish to secure it to the plank. Season well and prop up next to the fire. Manage the fire by moving the coals near the salmon and turning the plank as needed to achieve an even roast. Add more wood to the opposite end of the fire to burn down and make fresh coals. The fish will need about 25-30 minutes to cook through. You can check by using a fork to see if the thick end of the meat is going opaque and firm.

While the fish cooks, place a frying pan onto the coals and add in the butter. Once melted, add in the fennel slices and roast until caramelised on both sides. Season and add in enough water to cover. Cook the fennel down until the water has evaporated and the fennel is tender. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and keep warm.

Grate the horseradish into the mayonnaise and mix well.

Drizzle the oil over the bread slices and toast straight on the coals until golden, then set aside. Once the fish is cooked, flake off the flesh and serve with the toast alongside the braised fennel and horseradish mayonnaise.

Ingredients

1 trimmed beef filletSea salt flakesCracked black pepper200ml Ardbeg whiskyBunch thyme, pickedBunch rosemary, picked1 onion, peeled and finely sliced

For the coal-roasted mash4 carrots4 parsnips3 red onion1 large garlic bulb2 medium sweet potatoes50g butterSalt and pepper

Special equipmentPure wood charcoal. This recipe is not possible with briquettes or imported non-pure charcoal.

Method

Prepare your marinade by mixing the whisky, herbs and onion together in a tray.

Take your beef fillet and carefully slice the whole fillet into three strands with all three still being joined at the thick end. Plait the strands by bringing alternate strands into the middle until you get to the end. Tie the end with natural twine to secure the plait. Marinade your beef for 2 hours so the flavours can impart their way into the meat.

Prepare your coal bed by lighting a charcoal fire. Carefully place all the vegetables onto the coals. Roast the veg on the coals for up to 2 hours. Keep an eye out for when they become tender and remove as needed into a metal tray. Dont worry about burning them as this will be removed later. Once all the vegetables are removed, flatten out and push the coals together to make a tight coal bed and let the heat come back.

Remove the beef from the marinade and season liberally. Place the beef on the coals and leave to slowly roast. Manage the fire to make sure the beef cooks evenly. After 5-6 minutes, turn the beef onto another area of the coals, as the meat will have suffocated the coals where it has been sat. Roast the beef until rare and remove to rest.

Roughly remove all the heavy charring on the roasted veg and mash in a tray along with the butter. Season to taste. Slice the rested beef and serve with the coal-roasted mash.

IngredientsA 4-5kg pork shoulder, neck end with the rind removed and blade bone left in10 brioche rollsHalf a bottle of Ardbeg whisky

For the rub1tbsp sea salt flakes1tbsp cracked black pepper1tbsp ground coriander1tbsp ground cumin1tbsp paprika1tsp mustard powder1tsp chilli powder2tbsp light brown sugar

For the slaw small white cabbage, finely sliced1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced1 red chilli, sliced3tbsp mayonnaise2tbsp malt vinegar

Special equipmentFoil traySmokerDried wood for fuel

Method

Set up and heat your smoker with the dried wood to 150C. Youll need to start smoking your pork 18 hours before you want to eat.

Mix all the rub ingredients together and liberally rub over the prepared pork shoulder. Place in the smoker and reduce the smoker to 115C. Fill the foil tin with 100ml whisky and 100ml water and place the tin next to the pork in the smoker. Keep an eye on the liquid level, as it may need topping up with the same quantities midway through. While the pork smokes, flick over more of the half water and half whisky with your fingers to keep the crust moist.

To make the slaw, mix everything together in a bowl and set aside.

After 18 hours, carefully remove the cooked pork from the smoker and place in a roasting tray. Pull the pork into tender pieces, checking the seasoning once youre done. Toast your buns on the firebox and serve the smoked pork with the slaw and the toasted buns.

Ingredients50ml Ardbeg Ten Years Old15ml maple syrup (to taste)3 dashes orange bitters

For the garnishCrispy bacon stirrerTorched rosemaryOrange twist

Method

Measure out the listed quantities of each ingredient and add to your favourite cocktail glass.

Stir the mixture together and serve on block ice.

Lastly, add all of those delicious sweet and smoky garnish ingredients.

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The golden rules of how to BBQ like a pro - British GQ

Letters to the editor, July 31, 2020 | Idaho – bigcountrynewsconnection.com

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Education

Not everyone has the easiest time in school. I know I didnt. My mental health was something I struggled with coming up in the one brick-and-mortar school in my small town. It was difficult to succeed in the school district. Fortunately, I found a solution with online school.

I can now say that Ive grown so much from my transition from a brick-and-mortar school to online learning at Idaho Technical Charter Academy, as I look to complete my senior year of college at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX

I didnt have what one would call a normal life. For starters, my home environment wasnt great and my struggles with mental health made it difficult to take full advantage of everything that online school has to offer. My school provided me with an incredibly strong support system in the form of its teaching staff. I became very close with one of my English teachers who is part of the reason I even got into Trinity. I now study English there and Im really involved in advocacy and inclusion on campus.

With COVID-19, many families are concerned about returning to in-person learning but also hesitate to go fully online. I can assure you that with the right tools and guidance, online school works. It drove me to establish myself as a truly self-driven and self-directed person, and I appreciate that it could act as that buffer for my mental health. Lets make sure that every family has the ability to choose the school that meets their needs.

Brianna Duncan, Meridian

Lands

The consequences of swapping McCall land to Trident Holdings LLC will outlive sweet-talking Alec Williams. Its easy to imagine the owners of the contemplated private acre lots backing up to public land enjoying access to the public land and denying it to the public, as often happens. An easement on private property is only a right to sue for access, not access. Who wins that suit, the deep-pocketed, politically-connected rich guy or the public? If Tridents plans are so benign and financially beneficial, why doesnt the Land Board do them? And endowment lands arent public lands but Tridents would be? Huh?

James Runsvold, Caldwell

Kool-Aid

Sorry Mr. Cannamela, youve been drinking the same $17 Billion Dollars worth of Kool-Aid over the past 20 yrs that the majority of Governors, Congressmen and Native Americans have on how to renew the Salmon/Steelhead runs in the PNW. Imagine $17 Billion and still no solution; typical government scenario in wasteful spending. Well, I have a solution that is backed by Good Science. Contact Mr. Ron Harriman at ronharriman@q.com for the details and I would invite our Governor to do the same. Mr. Harriman has the solutions without losing any of our Hydro Power and it wont cost another $17 Billion of taxpayers money to do it. Will it be easy? No, but the plan will solve the problem.

Chuck Stadick, Caldwell

Grow a heart

An Idaho Press story over the weekend helped me understand why so many Idahoans do not wear masks or take protective measures urgently recommended by the governor and, most recently, the president.

While discussing the death of a St. Lukes nurse, Representative Tommy Nichols told the Idaho Press that information about the virus coming from government and medical scientists was without consensus. This suggests that, for many, science which seems unequivocal can be disregarded if, for example, medical advice changes about the importance of masks. She then implied a distinction should be made between those who died from the disease from those who died with it, as if Covid death numbers are also without consensus. Finally, Nichols said she did not want someone else to be held responsible to keep me safe.

It is obvious and undeniably we are responsible for ourselves. But have we no responsibility to protect others, which is the purpose of wearing a mask? What happened to Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself or the Golden Rule?

The same weekend brought a call from my brother saying his dear wife had just been diagnosed with Covid and taken to a hospital. Apparently, three workers at a facility where she was in medical rehabilitation had brought the infection to her.

Should she die, it would be from three workers failing to wear masks or engaging in risky behavior or because testing, tracing or protective equipment was unavailable. Isnt the point to protect everyone possible, not statistical consensus? And, as with Samantha Hickey, the St. Lukes nurse who died, we will not care if Covid is only the immediate but not the sole reason we lost her. Please, Representative Nichols and likeminded Idahoans, grow a heart.

Jerry Brady, Boise

Baseball

It is good to see that major league baseball is now being played. It would be nice if the Idaho Press printed the box scores in a larger font so that we can read them, otherwise why print them at all. Please do what you can to present a sports page that is readable to all readers. Im sure you can spare a bit of additional space in the daily paper.

Craig Lochner, Boise

Subscriber no more

Please add my name the expanding list of readers dropping off your subscriber list due to your obvious tilt to the left. I was sold on the Idaho Press as it was presented to be an alternative to the liberal Statesman, but the July 28 article titled Black kids die more often after surgery, new research shows pushed off the ledge. How can an article stating that out of 173,000 operations 23 black youngsters died within 30 days of surgery compared with 13 whites be declared striking without any additional info such as the admitted slightly more heart and digestive problems among black children. How many of those surgeries were the result of domestic or gang violence for instance? When looking at the odds of dying after 173,000 surgeries (about 0.01%, it compares to the odds of dying after being struck by lightening. If you want to print something truly striking, why not print the odds of dying as a black child due to a gunshot in Chicago.

Michael Piechowski, Boise

Dictatorial

The Barr Hearing once again gave insight to what a Democratic Party governance would be. Dictatorial, lacking any fairness or truth, unprofessional. Once more we see that Democratic control of the House of Representatives proves to be out of control. If you do not see anything wrong with their actions you could go to Venezuela and enjoy that type of government right now. The governance we see in the House of Representative is the best reason I have seen to vote for Trump for President.

Richard Wasson, Meridian

Why?

Is anyone else concerned with the larger companies eateries. I chose to stay local because the local companies seem to have figured out the way to be safe. The larger companies choose to have their employees use gloves! They will put them on and wear them for long periods of time in between touching menus, money and delivering your food! The gloves only protect those who are wearing them- not us. They are spreading any bacteria, virus, e coli etc from pone patron to the next. WHY??? How often are they washing their hands, one of the #1 ways to prevent spreading anything.

Cheri Beauvais, Nampa

Liability

A recent article in the Newspaper written by Betsy Russell covered legal liability issues regarding school closures, and reopening risks for school districts, teachers and administrators.

The article vividly reminded me of one of the 8 primary reasons for moving OUT of California 20 years ago. While on the board of directors of a California company that was growing rapidly, but still not profitable, we cratered when 4 different investment bankers promising funding did not deliver.

Soon thereafter, the buzzards (lawyers) starting circling, and first sued the company but nothing there, then sued the management team and nothing there, and finally sued the board of directors. The board spent 3 years fighting the lawsuits, spent a fortune, and won all suits. But no compensation for our legal expenses was paid.

The United States is one of 2 countries in the world where the loser in a lawsuit does NOT have to pay all lawyer fees, which puts US companies at a real disadvantage to competing companies around the world which do not have all those ambulance chasing lawyers; there is no opportunity for them.

Realizing that the California legislature was primarily lawyers, but the Idaho legislature was comprised of business people, teachers, farmers, etc. helped push us here. Unfortunately, California lawyers can sue anywhere, and this is probably a problem for the school districts today.

Finally, look at the mess California is in now---Dirty and financially broke cities, people camping in tents along the ocean beaches, no funds for clean up, declining quality of schooling, etc. And today Californians are moving quickly to Idaho, but thankfully, those moving are financially sound. Lets keep Idaho sound!

Chas Bonner, Eagle

Shameful

I cried watching destruction of our U.S, cities during the Barr hearings, then laughed when the dems showed their videos & denied knowing about the damage of our cities. Shameful!

I wear a mask, but what good is it when hundreds or thousands of protestors are out in many states. No masks, no social distance, then return to their state. Why should we tax payers pay for special guard just for political people ( left or right) who do not stand up for & insist on law & order with the protestors?

Why cant teachers have private session with the students assigned to her or no pay or give the designated money for each student to hire their own tutor? I worry about pay to play, as the 85 year old mother of six children, that I raised on my own when their father left us, I was not able to spend a penny for sports. One of my sons received a football scholarship. We better all pray if police are abolished or defunded to the point of being worthless or no one is willing to join because of no support. 3 of my sons served in the military, one retired military is now state police. Have we no appreciation for all these young peoples sacrifices?

As for BLM. They should have to take some of the responsibility for much of the destruction of our country. all known members & others who have encouraged all this damage ( federal & private) They should not only serve time, but be sued for all the cost involved. Along with many people I agree Trump is never or seldom politically correct in speeches & tweets. Never was a politician. I guess thats why he was elected.

Thanks for the opportunity to unload!

Pat Cone, Eagle

Whats right

Paulette is right on in her assessment of Risch. He is a puppet of Trump. No backbone to stand up for what is right.

Ed Crateau, Meridian

Thank you

I want to thank Americas Frontline Doctors and President Trump for taking the message to the public that outpatient treatments for COVID-19 exist. People need to know that they can ask for treatment and get help from their own physician.

I have been a pharmacist since 1981 and I am astounded at the attacks on hydroxychloroquine. The Frontline Doctors are brave to stand up against almost entirely negative coverage in the news media.

I also want to say that hydroxychloroquine is not the only useful drug in the early treatment of COVID-19 infections. People who should not take it because of possible adverse effects or are frightened of using it can use other medications that also reduce the chance of serious illness due to COVID-19.

In my opinion this is a battle for lives, and I applaud anyone who dares to stand against the most shameful episode of medical disinformation that I have seen in my career.

Brent Cornell, Boise

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Letters to the editor, July 31, 2020 | Idaho - bigcountrynewsconnection.com

Face masks mandatory in parts of Amsterdam, Rotterdam from Aug. 5 – NL Times

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Visitors to several public areas of Amsterdam and Rotterdam will be required to wear non-medical face masks beginning on August 5, according to the Amsterdam-Amstelland and Rotterdam-Rijnmond Security Regions. The decision had become increasingly likely after the Cabinet agreed to allow the 25 Security Regions in the country to use local face mask obligations in coordination with city mayors as a way of reducing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus.

In Amsterdam, everyone aged 13 and older will be required to wear a mask in De Wallen, the part of the city that includes the Red Light District, as well as the Kalverstraat and Nieuwendijk shopping streets in the center. Those on Plein '40 - '45 and Albert Cuypstraat will also be obligated to wear the masks.

"These are areas where it is tight and busy, and where other measures have had insufficient effect or have lead to undesired economic effects," the Security Region said in a statement. It said it had permission from the Cabinet to implement local rules to limit crowding caused by tourism, day-trippers, and young people. "These are situations where the current rules and measures are under pressure."

The same was said for the central shopping districts in Rotterdam, including Coolsingel, Lijnbaan, Meent and Nieuwe Binnenwegplein. Also included were the covered shopping centers Alexandrium and Zuidplein, and the markets at Afrikaanderplein, De Binnenrotte, and Visserijplein. The officials were undecided about the covered shopping centers De Binnenhof and Keizerswaard.

The rule in both cities will be compulsory for everyone on the streets and in the shops in those areas, but not businesseswhere there are already national guidelines for handling social distancing issues, like gyms, restaurants, bars, and museums. People will still be required to maintain a physical distance of 1.5 meters from one another in addition to wearing the masks. "Entrepreneurs also have a responsibility to comply with these rules," the Amsterdam-Amstelland Security Region said.

Those violating the rule in Rotterdam could be subject to afine, but the amount was unspecified. In that city'sstreets and shopping centers, the rule is valid from 6 a.m. through 10 p.m. every day. It only applies to the specified open-air market locations on days those markets are open.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who also chairs the Amsterdam-Amstelland Security Region, said back in May that she favored the possibility of imposing new restrictions if she deemed it necessary. In the past eight days that conversation increasingly turned to face masks with Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb speaking out emphatically in support of a mask directive. While the national government said there would not be a countrywide mandate to wear the masks, it did agree that local experiments could be utilized to influence behavior after three straight weeks where the amount of coronavirus infections increased.

Aboutaleb is also the chair of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Security Region. In a statement issued Thursday, he said he believed face masks can increase the sense of importance with regard to the public health crisis, while encouraging people to cooperate with enforcement, practice good hygiene, and maintain "the golden rule of 1.5 meters."

Both cities said they would quickly begin informing residents, business owners, and visitors of the upcoming rule changes. Rotterdam will distribute free masks to the public in those areas on the day the policy enters into force. Amsterdam said it would also hand out free masks, but did not specify when.

The Amsterdam-Amstelland Security Region also noted that public health agency RIVM "recently concluded that wearing a mouth mask can lead to people becoming more careful and keeping more distance from each other. The Security Region will closely monitor whether these desired effects actually occur." Their counterparts in Zuid-Holland made a similar assertion in a statement.

"We are ready to start the pilot and hope it will help people to stay safe in the city and keep enough distance from each other," Aboutaleb said.

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Face masks mandatory in parts of Amsterdam, Rotterdam from Aug. 5 - NL Times

Government cant discriminate against religious schools, but they can discriminate when they hire teachers | – pennlive.com

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

In two recent decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the government may not discriminate against private religious schools, but the schools may discriminate against their employees.

Sound troubling? It is. While there is a kernel of logic in each decision, the logic was stretched past the breaking point.

The first case involved a Montana scholarship program that allowed state-subsidized scholarships to be used at private secular schools but not private religious schools. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, held that the exclusion of religious schools violated the First Amendments Free Exercise Clause, which he said forbids discrimination against religion.

Here is the kernel of truth in Roberts opinion. There is no doubt that some forms of government discrimination against religion are unconstitutional. For example, the government may not favor one religion over another, such as by giving benefits to Buddhists but not Protestants or Jews. Likewise, the government may not favor secular institutions over religious if the discrimination reflects hostility toward religion. The court would not allow a municipality to provide police, fire and sewer services only to secular institutions and not religious.

Difficulties arise only because there is another religion clause in the First Amendment, the Establishment Clause, which requires separation between church and state. The framers included this clause to help the country avoid the religious strife that engulfed Europe for centuries when religious and political power were aligned. To maintain this separation of church and state, our American tradition has been that churches rely on voluntary support from their adherents, not on taxpayer money. As the Supreme Court famously said in 1947, No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions.

The Montana case fell where the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses collide. Roberts emphasized the Free Exercise Clause nondiscrimination value, holding that Montana could not exclude religious schools from the scholarship program because the schools were being disqualified solely because of their religious character. Justice Stephen Breyers dissent emphasized the Establishment Clause church/state separation value, arguing that government money should not fund sectarian religious education.

You can decide for yourself whether taxpayer money should be used to teach Catholic students about the existence of the Holy Trinity or Muslim students about the Prophet Muhammads revelations. Even if you think this use of public funds is proper, you might still think Roberts decision is problematic when paired with the Courts second recent religious school decision.

In that case, the question was whether religious school teachers can sue their institutions for discrimination based on race, age, sex or disability. One teacher alleged she was terminated because of her age. Another alleged she was fired because of her disability (she had breast cancer and had requested a leave of absence to obtain treatment). In both instances, the majority of justices said the teachers could not sue the schools for discrimination.

Sound outlandish? Maybe, but here again there is a kernel of logic. Surely everyone would agree that the government may not dictate whom a congregation may hire as its religious leader. For example, even though churches are not exempt from sex discrimination laws, a church is still allowed to discriminate against women when selecting a priest. Indeed, it would be an egregious infringement on church autonomy if government regulated employment decisions about a churchs minister.

In the second religious school case, the court concluded that this same ministerial exception applies to employment decisions about religious schoolteachers. After all, these teachers often act like ministers; they teach religious doctrine and frequently engage in religious rituals. Even a math teacher may be required to convey religious values. Consequently, the court held that these teachers, like ministers, are barred from bringing discrimination claims against their employers. This was true even if the teachers claimed that they were fired because of their age, disability, or race and not because they ineffectively taught calculus, French or the catechism.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor decried the majoritys decision in her written dissent. She said that the majority allowed religious school employers to discriminate because of a persons skin color, age, disability, sex, or any other protected trait so long as the employers claim that the employees duties included carrying out the mission of the church.

Bottom line: Religious schools must not be discriminated against when government benefits are being distributed, but the schools may discriminate against their teachers with impunity.

It is the Golden Rule, just turned on its head: Do unto others what may not be done unto to you.

Alan Garfield is a professor at Widener University Delaware Law School.

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Government cant discriminate against religious schools, but they can discriminate when they hire teachers | - pennlive.com

TSM: The US Dollar Halted the Tech Rally – StockNews.com

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Recently, technology stock shares went down in value. The stocks didnt drop that much, but they had done so well for so long, even despite the pandemic, that it was a bit of a shock to Wall Street.

In particular, a few major tech stocks got hit the hardest. Im speaking of the Big Five: Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. Not only are these stocks very large, but theyve done very well. As a result, the Big Five have had a massive impact on the stock market in general, and the tech market in particular.

In fact, thanks to the tech falloff, the Nasdaq Composite had its first back-to-back losses in 48 trading days. Thats a remarkable run.

So, what caused the tech stocks to fall? There are many reasons for the move, but I want to highlight one of the major reasons the U.S. dollar.

Thats right, we can blame the greenback. At Barrons, Ben Levisohn makes this point well. The truth is that the dollar hasnt been doing that well compared to other currencies. On top of that, it looks like the Federal Reserve is going to keep interest rates on the floor for some time. That means that less capital will be flowing to dollar-dominated assets, which has a major impact on how people invest.

Dollar Index (DXY)

First, let me say I dont believe anything is wrong with the dollar. The recent change is due to the natural flow of the market. Few investors even think of the dollar until it becomes an issue, but investors need to understand how the dynamic works. Just recently, the Dollar Index (DXY) fell to 94.36its lowest level in two years.

Why? Well, part of the reason is that the euro finally rallied , thanks to the big stimulus planned by the European Union. The EU is famously fractious, so it was impressive to see the member nations come together and agree on a program.

Of course, a weak dollar isnt all bad, especially for U.S. consumers. Sure, a lower greenback makes it more expensive to buy foreign-made stuff, but its good news for stuff made here. Domestic manufactures love a weak dollar.

Investors need to understand that a lower dollar does a few important things. For example, it raises inflation expectations. This is important to consumer spending patterns. A lower dollar tends to boost cyclical stocks and it makes foreign goods more expensive. Oftentimes the dollar can make a move that has little to do with the Federal Reserve and prospects for interest rates.

Bear in mind that these are all generalities. The market sometimes has a mind of its own. As Sir Isaac Newton said: I can calculate the movement of stars, but not the madness of menthats certainly true, and its a golden rule on Wall Street.

Speaking of gold: along with the weaker dollar, weve seen the price for gold rally to an all-time high. Earlier this week, the precious metal finally took out its high from nine years ago.

In Barrons, Levisohn writes: A weaker dollar is something that President Donald Trump had wanted Fed Chair Jerome Powell to deliver, but the coronavirus did so instead. Just dont expect Powell to say too much. I think that assessment is correct.

A weak dollar has the potential to lead investors into a major rotation. Emerging markets, for example, have badly lagged the U.S. market. The weak dollar could also boost European stocks.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) & Intel (INTC)

To counter the effects of the weak dollar, investors should consider shares of companies based outside the U.S. In particular, you can consider foreign tech companies. One of our favorites in this regard has been on fire of late. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) jumped more than 22% over two days thanks to the news that Intel (INTC) faces production delays. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor are now up more than 85% since we first added them to our Growth Stock Advisor portfolio. The company is the worlds largest chip foundry.

Related: Trade of the Week: INTC

This has been a very good time for Taiwan Semiconductor. Earlier this month, the company beat Wall Streets earnings estimates and guided high, earning 78 cents per share on sales of $10.38 billion. Thats up from 41 cent per share on sales of $7.75 billion one year ago.

Check out this recent chart:

Im expecting more good news from the company. For the current quarter, Taiwan Semiconductor expects revenue to range between $11.2 billion and $11.5 billion. This is a big increase over last years Q3 sales of $9.4 billion.

Lora Ho Taiwan Semiconductors CFO, said: We expect our business to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 5 nanometer and 7 nanometer technologies, driven by 5G smartphones, HPC and [Internet of Things] applications.

If youre looking to diversify your portfolio with a tech stock based outside the U.S., Taiwan Semiconductor is an excellent choice.

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TSM shares fell $0.03 (-0.04%) in after-hours trading Wednesday. Year-to-date, TSM has gained 44.20%, versus a 2.05% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

Eddy is the editor of Growth Stock Advisor, an investment advisory that focuses on the top growth opportunities for investors. Each issue dissects the best areas that profit from a rapidly-changing business climate. Growth Stock Advisor takes a particular focus on emergent technologies and industries that are disrupting established incumbents. More...

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TSM: The US Dollar Halted the Tech Rally - StockNews.com

COLUMN: The writing’s on the wall: ‘You will be okay’ – Enid News & Eagle

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Banksy, the world-famous and superbly talented graffiti artist, once said, People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish but thats only if its done properly.

Graffiti, it seems, is everywhere these days. In our little town it is mostly seen on the sides of train cars passing by as we sit fuming at a railroad crossing, watching our precious time ebb away along with our gasoline and our patience.

We are lucky that Enid is blessed with a great deal of street art, from innovative installations like Under Her Wing Was the Universe and Lazy Circles, to colorful murals painted on the sides of local businesses.

But these pieces have been well-planned, meticulously executed. They dont have the deliciously illicit feel and spontaneity of true street art.

There is one piece of graffiti that caught my eye the other day. Its located not far from my house, painted on a concrete barrier on a bridge that became infamous a few years ago for collapsing just after an Enid Fire Department truck passed over it.

There are no drawings accompanying this particular piece of street art, only text.

It says, simply, You will be okay, with the word will, underlined as if for emphasis. Just a side note, the proper spelling of the term is OK, according to the Associated Press Stylebook that for as long as I have been in the business has been the gold standard for newspapers everywhere. But the word painted on the bridge barrier is spelled out okay, so thats what Ill use.

Reading the words as I drove by set me to thinking, who was the artist talking about, or to? Was that sentiment directed at a specific person or group, or was that a blanket statement meant to reassure all who view it?

You will be okay. Its a comforting thought, reassuring, soothing, a lifeline to cling to as the rolling waves of anxiety and uncertainty continue their inexorable pounding on the shore of our sense of well-being.

The world, it seems, is going out of its way to make us feel not okay these days.

The pandemic seemed to be coming under some semblance of control while the world was still locked down tight, but now that states have reopened it is increasing its germ-y grip on our nations health and wellness.

So businesses and churches have reopened, and some, though not all, are requiring those entering their doors to don masks. And that has sparked further division in a nation already bifurcated along so many lines red or blue, right or left, mustard or ketchup, Fox News or MSNBC.

Into this divisive morass has come the issue of mask vs. no mask, not to mention debate over whether or not to take a vaccine that has yet to be developed. Many states and cities have made masks mandatory, but not ours. I for one am tired of getting scornful, often resentful looks from non-maskers while venturing out these days.

You will be okay. Will we? Will our economy rebound from the effects of the lockdown, which slowed but did not stop the acceleration of COVID-19?

Probably what we need is another national lockdown and stay at home mandate to stem the recent rise in coronavirus cases, but what would that do to our way of life? The government is already printing money so fast our greenbacks are in danger of become less valuable than the toilet paper that was the target of hoarders in the early days of the pandemic.

You will be okay. Will we? Will we ever get back to normal, or what passed for normal when we last rang in a new year? Will we ever be able to stop looking over our shoulders at a threat we cant even see without a high-powered microscope? We wash, we wipe, we disinfect, we stay home until we fear we will go mad then we venture out with a mask and gloves and still we wonder, where is it, was I exposed to it today?

You will be okay. Will we? And if we are will that mean we all will be okay, or just the white folks? The death of George Floyd sparked a national upheaval, a movement that has brought our nations deep-seated latent racism into the harsh glare of public attention.

Black Lives Matter has become a phrase that elicits pride in some and scorn in others. All lives matter, some say and indeed they do but if Black lives dont matter, then no lives matter that is the point of the term.

You will be okay. Will we? Well, the Bible says we will. Psalm 118:6-7 says, The Lord is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

We have come through difficult times before, times of war and famine, pestilence and drought, hatred and division, rioting and civil unrest, and yes, even pandemic, and we are still standing.

So yes, I think we will be okay, if we realize that while we may not be in the same boat we are in the same storm, if we will simply strive to be kind, generous, forgiving, loving and understanding, if we will stop worrying so much about gold and more about the Golden Rule.

You will be okay, just keep reminding yourself of that.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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COLUMN: The writing's on the wall: 'You will be okay' - Enid News & Eagle

Germ Warfare

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

AUDIOBOOK

Germs. They are too small to see with the naked eye, but they have killed more human beings than all the wars in history.

Before humans even knew that germs caused disease, they knew disease could be a weapon of war.

Germ Warfare traces the long, brutal story of those microscopic weapons. From the infected arrows of Bronze Age archers, to the plague factories of World War 2, up through the biological arms race of the Cold War into our modern age of genetically manipulated terrorism.

This graphic history is both a lesson from the past and a warning for the future. It reminds us never to take public health for granted, because we never know when, or how, the next pandemic will rise.

Max Brooks is the author of the novels World War Z, Minecraft: The Island and the graphic novel The Harlem Hellfighters. He is a non resident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point and the Atlantic Councils Brent Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense was established in 2014 to comprehensively assess U.S. biodefense efforts and issue recommendations to foster change. The Commissions 2015 report, A National Blueprint for Biodefense: Leadership and Major Reform needed to Optimize Efforts, identified capability gaps and recommended changes to U.S. policy and law to strengthen national biodefense while optimizing resource investments. Former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Governor Tom Ridge co-chair the Commission, and are joined by former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Representative Jim Greenwood, former Homeland Security Advisor Ken Wainstein, and former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor Lisa Monaco. Hudson Institute is the Commissions fiscal sponsor.

The rest is here:

Germ Warfare

Germ Warfare | Night in the Woods Wiki | Fandom

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

"You'll never half catch me, half coppaaaaah!!!- Germ at MaeJeremy WartonNickname(s)

Germ, Germ Warfare

Jeremy Warton, more commonly known as 'Germ Warfare', is a character in the game Night in the Woods.

Germ is a dark blue bird with a yellow beak and very dark navy eyes. He wears black jeans, black canvas sneakers, a black nylon jacket (zipped up), and a black hat.[1]

Germ can be found just past the Clik Clak Diner near the abandoned Food Donkey during and after the foggy day. Talking to him everyday and hanging out when asked will grant the achievement "He's From Somewhere". Germ will mention that at some point in his life he was chosen as a sacrifice for the cult and was stalked by a member of it.

Germ had a brother who has passed away. When Mae talks to him about the ghost she saw during Harfest, Germ tells her he doesn't believe in ghosts. Mae asks him why not and he tells her that he figures if ghosts existed his brother would have visited. Embarrassed, Mae drops the subject.

Germ is seen living in the woods "in a tree". You never actually see his real house in the game until the Weird Autumn edition update was released.The well he saves the main gang from in the last chapter is apparently in his backyard.

Germ seems to care a lot about nature and the environment. He talks about foliage overgrowing the Food Donkey parking lot someday and adamantly insists on riding his bicycle over drivingas it's better for the environment.

Germ's house shown in deleted content sourced out from the game's files.

Germ and Gregg in Gregg's place

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Germ Warfare | Night in the Woods Wiki | Fandom

US military released bacteria to test biological warfare …

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

On September 20, 1950, a US Navy ship just off the coast of San Francisco used a giant hose to spray a cloud of microbes into the air and into the city's famous fog. The military was testing how a biological weapon attack would affect the 800,000 residents of the city.

The people of San Francisco had no idea.

The Navy continued the tests for seven days, potentially causing at least one death. It was one of the first large-scale biological weapon trials that would be conducted under a "germ warfare testing program" that went on for 20 years, from 1949 to 1969. The goal "was to deter [the use of biological weapons] against the United States and its allies and to retaliate if deterrence failed," the government explained later. "Fundamental to the development of a deterrent strategy was the need for a thorough study and analysis of our vulnerability to overt and covert attack."

Of the 239 known tests in that program, San Francisco was notable for two reasons, according to Dr. Leonard Cole, who documented the episode in his book "Clouds of Secrecy: The Army's Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas."

Cole, now the director of the Terror Medicine and Security Program at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, tells BusinessInsider that this incident was "notable: first, because it was really early in the program ... but also because of the extraordinary coincidence that took place at Stanford Hospital, beginning days after the Army's tests had taken place."

Hospital staff were so shocked at the appearance of a patient infected with a bacteria, Serratia marcescens, that had never been found in the hospital and was rare in the area, that they published an article about it in a medical journal. The patient, Edward Nevin, died after the infection spread to his heart.

Bacillus subtilis, then known as Bacillus globigii, was one pathogen that was used in testing. WMrapids/Wikimedia Commons

S. marcescens was one of the two types of bacteria the Navy ship had sprayed over the Bay Area.

It wasn't until the 1970s that Americans, as Cole wrote in the book, "learned that for decades they had been serving as experimental animals for agencies of their government."

San Francisco wasn't the first or the last experiment on citizens who hadn't given informed consent.

Other experiments involved testing mind-altering drugs on unsuspecting citizens. In one shocking, well-known incident, government researchers studied the effects of syphilis on black Americans without informing the men that they had the disease they were told they had "bad blood." Researchers withheld treatment after it became available so they could continue studying the illness, despite the devastating and life-threatening implications of doing so for the men and their families.

But it was the germ warfare tests that Cole focused on.

"All these other tests, while terrible, they affected people counted in the hundreds at most," he says. "But when you talk about exposing millions of people to potential harm, by spreading around certain chemicals or biological agents, the quantitative effect of that is just unbelievable."

"Every one of the [biological and chemical] agents the Army used had been challenged" by medical reports, he says, despite the Army's contention in public hearings that they'd selected "harmless simulants" of biological weapons.

"They're all considered pathogens now," Cole says.

Here are some of the other difficult-to-believe germ warfare experiments that occurred during this dark chapter in US history. These tests were documented in Cole's book and verified by Business Insider using congressional reports and archived news articles.

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US military released bacteria to test biological warfare ...

Nuclear Weapons: Action Needed to Address the W80-4 Warhead Program’s Schedule Constraints – Government Accountability Office

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

What GAO Found

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy (DOE), has identified a range of risks facing the W80-4 nuclear warhead life extension program (LEP)including risks related to developing new technologies and manufacturing processes as well as reestablishing dormant production capabilities. NNSA is managing these risks using a variety of processes and tools, such as a classified risk database. However, NNSA has introduced potential risk to the program by adopting a date (September 2025) for the delivery of the program's first production unit (FPU) that is more than 1 year earlier than the date projected by the program's own schedule risk analysis process (see figure). NNSA and Department of Defense (DOD) officials said that they adopted the September 2025 date partly because the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015 specifies that NNSA must deliver the first warhead unit by the end of fiscal year 2025, as well as to free up resources for future LEPs. However, the statute allows DOE to obtain an extension, and, according to best practices identified in GAO's prior work, program schedules should avoid date constraints that do not reflect program realities. Adopting an FPU date more consistent with the date range identified as realistic in the W80-4 program's schedule risk analysis, or justifying an alternative date based on other factors, would allow NNSA to better inform decision makers and improve alignment between schedules for the W80-4 program and DOD's long-range standoff missile (LRSO) program.

W80-4 Life Extension Program Phases and Milestone Dates

NNSA substantially incorporated best practices in developing the preliminary lifecycle cost estimate for the W80-4 LEP, as reflected in the LEP's weapon design and cost report. GAO assessed the W80-4 program's cost estimate of $11.2 billion against the four characteristics of a high quality, reliable cost estimate: comprehensive, well-documented, accurate, and credible. To develop a comprehensive cost estimate, NNSA instituted processes to help ensure consistency across the program. The program also provided detailed documentation to substantiate its estimate and assumptions. To help ensure accuracy, the cost estimate drew on historic data from prior LEPs. Finally, to support a credible estimate, NNSA reconciled the program estimate with an independent cost estimate. GAO considers a cost estimate to be reliable if the overall assessment ratings for each of the four characteristics are substantially or fully metas was the case with the W80-4 program's cost estimate in its weapon design and cost report, which substantially met each characteristic.

To maintain and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal, NNSA and DOD conduct LEPs. In 2014, they began an LEP to produce a warhead, the W80-4, to be carried on the LRSO missile. In February 2019, NNSA adopted an FPU delivery date of fiscal year 2025 for the W80-4 LEP, at an estimated cost of about $11.2 billion over the life of the program.

The explanatory statement accompanying the 2018 appropriation included a provision for GAO to review the W80-4 LEP. This report examines, among other objectives, (1) the risks NNSA has identified for the W80-4 LEP, and processes it has established to manage them, and (2) the extent to which NNSA's lifecycle cost estimate for the LEP aligned with best practices. GAO reviewed NNSA's risk management database and other program information; visited four NNSA sites; interviewed NNSA and DOD officials; and assessed the program's cost estimate using best practices established in prior GAO work.

GAO is making two recommendations, including that NNSA adopt a W80-4 program FPU delivery date based on the program's schedule risk analysis, or document its justification for not doing so. NNSA generally disagreed with GAO's recommendations. GAO continues to believe that its recommendations are valid, as discussed in the report.

For more information, contact Allison B. Bawden at (202) 512-3841 or bawdena@gao.gov.

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Nuclear Weapons: Action Needed to Address the W80-4 Warhead Program's Schedule Constraints - Government Accountability Office

Buffalo Teachers Federation calls for extension to submit school reopening plans – WKBW-TV

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

BUFFALO (WKBW) The Buffalo Teachers Federation is calling for more time to submit school reopening plans. The BTF has applied for an extension according to a release sent out by the organization on Wednesday. As of now all school districts must submit a reopening plan to the New York State Education Department by Friday, July 31st.

We are considering educational issues and plans that, if not done correctly, will result in the loss of lives and permanent physical harm to students, parents, school staff and the community, as well as the deadly spread of the COVID-19 virus., said Phil Rumore, President of the BTF in a statement.

Rumore says the BTF is calling for specifics on the reopening plan including:

The BTF is also asking that the curriculum for all grades and subjects be revised for distance learning. "Teaching all students in a classroom is not the same as distance learning." the BTF said in a release. "We must also be prepared for the unfortunate need for a complete pause in any in-school learning."

The BTF also called for:

The BTF also says the organization took issue with the school districts reopening actions claiming that reopening committees "only met 6 times for about an hour or hour and a half"

As I have said previously, if you make a decision that results in the death or serious physical harm to someone, you should have to explain that decision to that persons family. You can make up for lost education; however, you cant bring someone back to life., Rumore concluded.

Thursday, the BTF called for the removal of district administrators in charge of the district's "reopening committee," the ending of secrecy, the real involvement of stakeholders and a state investigation of the districts procedures.

The BTF released the following statement regarding the matter:

Unlike school districts across Erie County, who have made reopening plans available to their stakeholders and community, held virtual community meetings and worked with all stakeholders to develop a reopening plan for their schools, the Buffalo Public School District: Shrouded its plans in secrecy by first labeling them Confidential and then two (2) days before they were to be submitted to the Governor, refused to allow the District Reopening Committee, Stakeholders, and public see them!"

In response to the claims by the BTF, Dr. Darren Brown Hall, Buffalo Board of Education Superintendent's Chief of Staff, released the following statement:

"If Mr. Rumore put as much effort into writing press releases as he would to provide some supportive suggestions for reopening, I believe we can get somewhere with Mr. Rumore. If we've 'had since March' Im sure Mr. Rumore has great suggestions and great input that hes been holding onto since March that he can provide us then. Nothing but critique and criticism. Thats all weve received from Mr. Rumore."

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Buffalo Teachers Federation calls for extension to submit school reopening plans - WKBW-TV

Daylilies offer many different shapes and colors | County Life – YourGV.com

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

(This is the second part of a two-part series)

The true lilies Lilium are in the Liliaceae family as are daylilies.

In Herbaceous Perennial Plants, Allan Armitage lists 16 species and five related species. Many of these species have cultivars and hybrids. Four of these species are native to parts of the eastern United States: Wood Lily, L. philadelphicum, Turks Cap Lily L superbum, Canada Lily L canadense, Pot of Gold Lily L. iridollae and Carolina Lily, L. michauxii. According to Armitage, the Asian lilies seem to be happy in the eastern United States. The group of European species is mostly happy in the Northwest.

The flowers of the true lilies are similar to daylilies, but the foliage is completely different. Where daylilies are a mound of strappy leaves, true lilies have a main stalk off which the leaves emerge. The blooms last for a few weeks and most are very fragrant.

When I finished horticulture school and moved permanently to Virginia, my husband wanted a lobster for his 60th birthday so off to Nova Scotia we went. We were scouting out a lunch spot and happened upon a distillery and lodge so drove in. I admit the food was wonderful, and my husband so enjoyed the scotch that couldnt be called scotch because it was made in New Scotland we ended up staying the night. At breakfast we smelled something so wonderful, and Bill pointed to a flower arrangement and right there in the center was a Stargazer Lily.

Indeed, these fragrant lilies are often used in floral arrangements and youll want to bury your face in them. You will come up with an orange nose. This makes it the bane of funeral directors. Often the arranger will snip off the pollen-bearing anther to save their dark clothes. I found a bag of Stargazer bulbs in Costco one fall. I have planted them in places where my husband and I sit so we can enjoy the aroma. The Stargazer was hybridized by Lelie Woodriff in the late 1970s. It was a cross of L. auratum-speciosum with an unspecified species and gets its name by its upward facing flowers.

True lilies are mainly grown from bulbs. After blooming, you may cut off the spent bloom but do not cut the leaves or main stem. The bulb needs this to feed it for next seasons bloom. In David Culps book The Layered Garden he suggests planting bulbs near the back of the garden so other plants can hide the dying foliage. These lilies go from 4- to 6-feet tall, so the flowers will pop through shorter plants in front. I do not find the Stargazer lilies picky about much, except they hate wet feet. Plant them in full sun and a rule of thumb with bulbs is to plant three times as deep as the size of the bulb.

In his book Garden Bulbs of the South, Scott Ogden warns that some lilies are very exacting in their requirements. They want a certain type of soil, and since some are from woodlands they want shade. He offers some encouragement that most of the trumpet-shaped lilies of the Far East thrive in the South. So, it is important to do your homework before purchasing. In Herbaceous Perennial Plants, Armitage in his list of 16 species labels each with ease of growth. Six are labeled difficult or medium difficult. The species listed as easy are Madonna Lily L. candidum, Henry Lily L. henryii, Regal Lily L. regale, Speciosum Lily L.speciosum, American Turks Cap Lily L. superbum and Tiger Lily L. tigrinum. These species and their cultivars and hybrids would be a good starting place.

As with daylilies there are many colors from which to choose and many different bloom shapes. If you do your research, you should find early bloomers, regular bloomers in June and July for Southside and also late-season bloomers. As my perennial plant instructor Michael said, there is a lily for every garden situation and planting six or seven together makes a statement.

While we are all still practicing social distancing due to COVID-19, and all Halifax County buildings are closed to the public, if you have gardening questions, you can best reach an extension master gardener or extension staff member by sending an email to wmccaleb@vt.edu or ask@ssmga.org. If you cant email, you can call and leave a message at the Extension Master Gardener Help Desk at 434-830-3383, giving us your name, telephone number and nature of the call. The help desk phone is checked timely and someone will get back to you, although it may be from a different telephone number. Keep washing your hands, wear your mask and treat yourself to some amazing true lilies.

Cornell is a Southside Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

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Daylilies offer many different shapes and colors | County Life - YourGV.com

Congressional oversight of homeland missile defense plans increase in FY21 defense policy bills – DefenseNews.com

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

WASHINGTON Congress is establishing increased oversight of the Missile Defense Agencys plans for its homeland missile defense system designed to protect against possible intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran through provisions in the House and Senate passed versions of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

Displeased with the abrupt cancellation of the agencys major upgrade to interceptors in the ground at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, lawmakers are demanding the agency show its work on its plan to build an entirely new interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System (GMD). It also wants more details on the agency plan to develop an underlay of additional regional missile defense systems to bolster GMD.

MDA announced in May 2019 that it would pause its plans to develop and field a Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) essentially the warhead of the GMD systems interceptors due to technical issues. Then the Pentagons under-secretary of defense for research and engineering subsequently scrapped the program in August 2019 in favor of designing a brand new interceptor.

Ending the program was the responsible thing to do, Mike Griffin said at the time. He resigned from his post at the Pentagon earlier this month.

Griffins decision to abruptly cancel the RKV program without congressional notification ahead of time created a serious rift with lawmakers. And the House Armed Services Committee even recommended moving the MDA outside of Griffins control.

The agency also unveiled plans in its FY21 budget request in February to create a more layered homeland defense system that would include regional missile defense capability already resident with the Navy and Army to bolster homeland defense against ICBMs.

The plan would include establishing layers of defensive capability relying on the Aegis Weapon System, particularly the SM-3 Block IIA missiles used in the system, and a possible Aegis Ashore system in Hawaii. The underlay also would include the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The Army is already operating a THAAD battery in South Korea and Guam.

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Lawmakers were less than thrilled with the sudden cancellation of the RKV program and were dissatisfied with Griffins projections that a new interceptor wouldnt be ready until the 2030s. The MDA director has since said its possible to field the next generation interceptor by 2028.

The Senate Armed Services Committees version of the bill includes a provision requiring the agency to develop an interim Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) for the GMD system.

The interim interceptor would meet current proposed capabilities of the RKV and use existing technologies for the kill vehicle and the booster. It also requires 20 of the interim interceptors be delivered by 2026 after rigorous flight testing, according to the legislation.

The SASC language includes waivers to get out of development effort. These include if the technology isnt feasible, if the capability is not in the national security interest of the United States and if the NGI can be fielded faster. To seek a waiver, the defense secretary must issue a report to the relevant congressional committees explaining why the waiver is needed along with an updated schedule.

In the House version of the defense policy bill, lawmakers arent asking for an interim interceptor, but they are requiring that MDA notify congressional defense committees within a week if any changes are made to the requirements for the NGI.

The agency would also be required to brief congress within two weeks of awarding a contract for the interceptor.

House lawmakers also want a report within three months of the passage of the bill that seeks an explanation of how existing contracts for GMD could be used to improve and sustain the current kill vehicle and boosters, a plan for a service life extension program, how much it would cost and a schedule to produce boosters for 20 additional interceptors by 2026 as well as an analysis of policy implications.

The bill also requires the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office to conduct an independent cost assessment of the NGI program and have it validated by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, which has been mulled as a future home for the MDA.

Two successful flight tests of NGI are also mandated as part of the House version of the bill and a briefing of the test results to congressional defense committees, including a rundown of how operationally realistic the tests were, should be delivered before any initial production decision for the interceptor.

The agencys FY21 budget did not lay out a clear plan for what an underlay for ballistic missile defense for the homeland might look like, so the SASC is also limiting half of the appropriated funding for the underlay until a report is submitted on a strategy to build such an architecture. The report should include analysis of requirements and capabilities and an assessment of basing and sites for the assets within the underlay.

On the House side, lawmakers want an analysis of alternatives on using THAAD and Aegis for homeland ballistic missile defense. That analysis should cover sensors that would be used, an assessment of locations to provide similar coverage to the GMD system, acquisition objectives for interceptors and what command-and-control aspects need to be improved.

The report should also include manning, training and sustainment, a schedule for establishing the underlay, lifecycle cost estimates and a comparison of capabilities with additional GMD sites.

The provision includes a requirement for another report by the Defense Intelligence Agency on reactions from adversaries and potential responses to those reactions.

Together, these half dozen legislative provisions mark a bipartisan and bicameral vote of no confidence in one persons ability to assemble and communicate a short, medium, and long-term plan for the future of homeland missile defense, Tom Karako, a missile defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Defense News. But circumstances have recently changed, and the dust is settling.

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Congressional oversight of homeland missile defense plans increase in FY21 defense policy bills - DefenseNews.com

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