The Top Cloud Computing Books You Need to Read in 2020 – Solutions Review

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Are you looking for the best books on cloud computing to read in 2020? The cloud is one of the quickest-growing technologies of recent years; more and more businesses are looking for cloud knowledge and expertise in their current and prospective employees. Books, whether hardcover or digital, are an excellent source for people looking to learn about a specific field of technology, and the cloud is no exception.

Weve listed the top 12 cloud computing books that you should add to your reading list below! These books are intended for beginners and experts alike and are written by authors with proficiency and/or recognition in the field of cloud computing.

If youre looking for a managed service provider to help you manage your cloud deployments, you should check out our free MSP Buyers Guide! The guide contains profiles on the top cloud managed service providers for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask vendors and yourself before buying. We also offer an MSP Vendor Map that outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.

by Stephen Orban

Cloud computing is the most significant technology development of our lifetimes. It has made countless new businesses possible and presents a massive opportunity for large enterprises to innovate like startups and retire decades of technical debt. But making the most of the cloud requires much more from enterprises than just a technology change. Stephen Orban led Dow Joness journey toward digital agility as their CIO and now leads AWSs Enterprise Strategy function, where he helps leaders from the largest companies in the world transform their businesses.

by Michael J. Kavis

Cloud computing is all the rage, allowing for the delivery of computing and storage capacity to a diverse community of end-recipients. However, before you can decide on a cloud model, you need to determine what the ideal cloud service model is for your business. Architecting the Cloud is vendor neutral and guides you in making one of the most critical technology decisions that you will face: selecting the right cloud service model(s) based on a combination of both business and technology requirements.

by Moe Abdula, Ingo Averdunk, Roland Barcia, Kyle Brown, and Ndu Emuchay

As cloud technologies continue to challenge the fundamental understanding of how businesses work, smart companies are moving quickly to adapt to a changing set of rules. Adopting the cloud requires a clear roadmap backed by use cases, grounded in practical real-world experience, to show the routes to successful adoption. The Cloud Adoption Playbook helps business and technology leaders in enterprise organizations sort through the options and make the best choices for accelerating cloud adoption and digital transformation.

by Thomas Erl

Thomas Erl, one of the worlds top-selling IT authors, teams up with cloud computing experts and researchers to break down proven and mature cloud computing technologies and practices into a series of well-defined concepts, models, technology mechanisms, and technology architectures, all from an industry-centric and vendor-neutral point of view. In doing so, the book establishes concrete, academic coverage with a focus on structure, clarity, and well-defined building blocks for mainstream cloud computing platforms and solutions.

by Thomas Erl

Best-selling service technology author Thomas Erl has brought together the de facto catalog of design patterns for modern cloud-based architecture and solution design. More than two years in development, this books 100+ patterns illustrate proven solutions to common cloud challenges and requirements. Its patterns are supported by rich, visual documentation, including 300+ diagrams.

by Ray Rafaels

Your Complete Guide to Cloud Computing and Migrating to the Cloud. This book covers not only the technical details of how public and private cloud technology works but also the strategy, technical design, and in-depth implementation details required to migrate existing applications to the cloud. After reading this book, you will have a much better understanding of cloud technology and the steps required to quickly reap its benefits while at the same time lowering your IT implementation risk.

by Joe Weinman

Cloudonomics radically upends the conventional wisdom, clearly explains the underlying principles and illustrates through understandable examples how Cloud computing can create compelling valuewhether you are a customer, a provider, a strategist, or an investor. Cloudonomics covers everything you need to consider for the delivery of business solutions, opportunities, and customer satisfaction through the Cloud, so you can understand it. Cloudonomics also delivers insight into when to avoid the cloud, and why.

by Raj Samani, Brian Honan, and Jim Reavis

CSA Guide to Cloud Computing brings you the most current and comprehensive understanding of cloud security issues and deployment techniques from industry thought leaders at the Cloud Security Alliance. For years the CSA has been at the forefront of research and analysis into the most pressing security and privacy related issues associated with cloud computing. CSA Guide to Cloud Computing provides you with a one-stop source for industry-leading content, as well as a roadmap into the future considerations that the cloud presents.

by James Bond

If youre planning your long-term cloud strategy, this practical book provides insider knowledge and actionable real-world lessons regarding planning, design, operations, security, and application transformation. This book teaches business and technology managers how to transition their organizations traditional IT to cloud computing. Rather than yet another book trying to sell or convince readers on the benefits of clouds, this book provides guidance, lessons learned, and best practices on how to design, deploy, operate, and secure an enterprise cloud based on real-world experience.

by Zeal Vora

Automating security tasks, such as Server Hardening with Ansible, and other automation services, such as Monit, will monitor other security daemons and take the necessary action in case these security daemons are stopped maliciously. In short, this book has everything you need to secure your Cloud environment with. It is your ticket to obtain industry-adopted best practices for developing a secure, highly available, and fault-tolerant architecture for organizations.

by Kief Morris

Ideal for system administrators, infrastructure engineers, team leads, and architects, this book demonstrates various tools, techniques, and patterns you can use to implement infrastructure as code. In three parts, youll learn about the platforms and tooling involved in creating and configuring infrastructure elements, patterns for using these tools, and practices for making infrastructure as code work in your environment.

by Edward Mahon

An inconsistency exists between actual cloud adoption rates and the viewpoints and direct actions of those responsible for corporate information technology operations. On the one hand, information technology (IT) leaders generally believe the cloud more easily enables the implementation and management of technology services, from web and mobile application development to on-demand computing and storage. These leaders also appreciate the clouds consumption-based pricing model over their current capital-intensive cost structures.

Looking for more info on managed service providers for your cloud solutions? OurMSP Buyers Guidecontains profiles on the top cloud managed service providers for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask vendors and yourself before buying. We also offer anMSP Vendor Mapthat outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.

Check us out onTwitterfor the latest in Enterprise Cloud news and developments!

Dan is a tech writer who writes about Enterprise Cloud Strategy and Network Monitoring for Solutions Review. He graduated from Fitchburg State University with a Bachelor's in Professional Writing. You can reach him at dhein@solutionsreview.com

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Cloud Computing: Where the Jobs Are – BlackEngineer.com

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With cloud security spending in the United States expected to reach $1.93 billion by 2021, colleges and universities are paying attention to the fastest-growing job market. During a recent public session of the Morgan State University (MSU) Board of Regents fall meeting, Board members voted to allow the university to pursue the addition of a new Bachelor of Science degree in Cloud Computing.

According to a university statement, pending approval from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, a Cloud Computing degree at Morgan would advance opportunities for students in a growing field.

The proposed Bachelor of Science in Cloud Computing program would be offered online as well as in a traditional classroom setting, providing educational experiences to adult learners and other nontraditional students.

I applaud the Boards foresight as it relates to preparing Morgan for the future. For our students to solve the problems of tomorrow, we need to offer them the programs that address those problems today, and cloud computing is at the top of the list, said David Wilson, president of Morgan State University.

According to a PreciseSecurity dot com study, the increasing need for cloud security services is a result of rapid cloud computing market growth, followed by a significant number of threats and attacks.Data breaches have become one of the most critical cloud security threats, causing damage to companies. Other significant threats to cloud security are the lack of cloud security strategy, deficient access management, and account hijacking.Phishing attempts are on the top of that list.

In its statement, Morgan State University says increasingly the demand for data infrastructures that can be stored, secured and accessed from anywhere and at any time requires a cloud-based solution.

Cloud computing will give students the knowledge and skills in cloud services and applications to work in the industry, academia, and government as cloud administrators, computer architects, modelers, engineers, application developers, security specialists, analytics specialists, analysts and researchers, the statement said.

Microsoft Azure describes cloud computing as the delivery of computing servicesincluding servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligenceover the Internet (the cloud) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

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AWS Launches JEDI Cloud Counteroffensive – CRN: The Biggest Tech News For Partners And The IT Channel

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Amazon Web Services has launched its counteroffensive against the Pentagon's decision to award the JEDI cloud computing contract to Microsoft, arguing President Donald Trump torpedoed its bid for the lucrative defense engagement.

"We obviously believe that it wasnt adjudicated fairly," AWS CEO Andy Jassy told SiliconANGLE on Monday in regard to the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure initiative to transform military IT infrastructure through a commercial cloud provider.

After combating Oracle's attempt to scuttle the contract in a federal court, AWS filed its own lawsuit last week arguing the United States president interfered with the source-selection process because of antipathy toward Jeff Bezos stemming from the Amazon CEO's ownership of the Washington Post newspaper.

CRN has reached out to AWS for comment.

[Related: The JEDI Cloud History: From A Cloud Goal To A Microsoft Win]

While that lawsuit is still under seal, a filing in the case references four videos as evidence, including two of Donald Trump, as a candidate and then president.

"I think there was a significant amount of political interference," Jassy said in the SiliconANGLE interview.

The first video submitted as an exhibit by AWS takes place at a Trump campaign rally in 2016, during which then-candidate Trump claimed Bezos' bought the Washington Post to have political influence in benefit of Amazon.

"If I become president, oh do they have problems, they're going to have such problems," Trump said in Texas.

The second video is of the press conference at the White House, where Trump noted the complaints of AWS competitors.

"Great companies are complaining about it like Microsoft and Oracle and IBM," Trump said in July.

By that point, Oracle and IBM had been eliminated from consideration for failure to meet some requirements established by military officials. Those "gate criteria" remain a focus of a legal challenge mounted against the federal government that Oracle lost but has since appealed. AWS voluntarily joined that case a co-defendant.

AWS competitors were saying the contract "having to do with the cloud," Trump said, which at the time was still a contest between AWS and Microsoft, wasn't competitively bid.

A third video was of testimony Defense CIO Dana Deasy gave to the Senate Armed Services Committee in October.

Senator Angus King asked Deasy about President Trump's "antipathy" to Amazon, including reports that Trump told former Defense Secretary James Mattis to "screw Amazon."

Deasy, however, defended the process, saying his team was organized so no would was swayed by political influence, and the source selection was not influenced by pressure from the White House.

Another video is of a segment aired in July on Fox News that argued the contract was rigged in favor of AWS. Fox host Steve Hilton dubbed the still pending selection process as "The Bezos Bailout."

Jassy told SiliconANGLE his company lost the deal to Microsoft because of the campaign evidenced by those exhibits.

"When you have a sitting president of the country who is very open about his disdain for a company and the leader of that company, it makes it really hard for government agencies like the DOD to be able to make objective decisions without fear of reprisal," Jassy said.

"I think thats really risky for our country and for our democracy," Jassy added.

Had there been no interference, Jassy said AWS would have won JEDI.

"In any objective apples-to-apples comparison of our platform versus others, you dont end up, with the conclusion that they made," he said of the final decision.

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AWS Launches JEDI Cloud Counteroffensive - CRN: The Biggest Tech News For Partners And The IT Channel

Is Crowd Computing the Next Big Thing? – EE Journal

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The upshot: Neocortix can muster smartphones to act as cloud computing resources.

From where we all sit, we see lots of cloud computing either being developed or fully rolled out. The general public is also heavily involved with the cloud, although they may not be as aware of it. To much of the public, the cloud might feel like an amorphous notion of giant banks of computers perhaps dominated by the Big Tech Overlords that are out of their control. In other words, theyre not personally involved with the cloud; its elsewhere and invisible.

And, for the most part, thats true. But theres one company, Neocortix, that has been working for a couple of years to change that. They aim to leverage the vast array of smartphones in the wild, harnessing them to handle cloud-computing-type work in the background when were not using the phone for something else. Add up the number of smartphones around the world, and theres some serious computing potential out there. Call it crowd computing?

And phone owners could be paid for the service to rent out their phones computing capacity. Neocortix claims on their website that top users can earn up to $80 a year for a phone thats engaged in computing for 8 hours a day; if available for 24 hours, it can earn up to $240 a year.

While this sounds straightforward enough (Neocortix will aver that it was anything but), several questions or perhaps concerns immediately come to mind. There are at least six of them:

Lets take these in order.

The security and privacy things both popped immediately to my mind. Lets start with the phone user. This isnt something that a phone can simply be roped into. You have to install an app, and with any app come permissions. If this app were to ask to use the phone or send texts, that would probably be a no-go. Neocortix say that theyve got a 2-1/2-year record of being responsible with the permissions, and they intend to keep it that way. If they were to change that policy on an update, then the phone owner would be prompted for new permissions. In other words, this isnt something that could be snuck into a future revision under the radar.

So, if we trust permissions enough to allow notorious privacy-abusers like Facebook to install apps on our phones, then, hopefully someone with a decent track record should be easier to OK. For the time being, Neocortix has been vetting their cloud users, but that doesnt scale and will be stopping in the not-too-distant future. So the permissions will be what we count on to protect our phones.

What about for the folks doing the computing? Should they be afraid that phone users would be able to see whats going on? Will data breadcrumbs be left on the phone? According to Neocortix, the computation happens in a secure container. In fact, to them, this looks like Linux. The container is unable to see outside files and processes on the phone. Thats good for both the person doing computing and for the phone owner. Theres also no long-term storage at this point. Any data is erased when the session ends. They have a storage version on their roadmap, so that policy may change someday.

When it comes to illicit use, their approach is to use policy and enforce it. Theres only so much that can be done to force behavior using technology; at some point you have to limit things by policy. Even for something as simple as photo storage, each such cloud service has policies as to what kind of content is acceptable (or legal). Although Facebook is working hard at this, right now, automated bots have limited success at flagging certain legal content that violates their internal standards and, in true cat-and-mouse fashion, folks try to alter images in ways that can foil the bots. So, ultimately, Facebook has to rely on complaints and their ability to put users into Facebook jail or ban them outright.

The same holds for pretty much any cloud service, and it will hold for Neocortix as well. I asked about a hypothetical situation once a storage product were to be available: lets say that some cloud-service user is abusing the system to park illicit photos on the various phones. If caught and terminated, what happens to the files on the phones? And, in particular, would the phone owner end up being legally responsible for those images?

The specific answer is TBD. If, in the future, we were to offer a distributed shared-economy storage product, we would have to have permissions, disclaimers, policies, protections, encryption, and remedies at all levels of the product to protect the phone owners and our company from a malicious [cloud-service] customer. Getting that right can be done, but it would be a significant amount of work which we would take very seriously, and that is one of the main reasons that we have not begun any work on such a storage product we have our hands full with our Scalable Compute product, and we will for the foreseeable future.

The next question about the battery has a surprisingly simple answer: this will work only while the charger is plugged in. Likewise for the data-plan question: this works only when the phone is connected via WiFi, meaning that it doesnt chew up data-plan data ever. So they guarantee, with clear text, that participating will not drain your battery and will not overrun your data plan.

Those usage conditions suggest that most phones will be on the nightstand charging at night when they can participate. That provides about eight hours a day of use (and potential income). Spare phones, however, can also be utilized up to 5 phones total for one account. If those phones are left on, with the charger connected and the WiFi active, then they can provide 24 hours of computing availability. This is where the earning potential of 8 vs. 24 hours comes from. If you have two regular-use phones and three spares on the same account, then you have 2 x $80 plus 3 x $240 for a total of $880 per year. And yes, if you earn more than $600 in a year, you will be 1099ed.

Finally, how do the cloud-computing customers interact with this whole service? Neocortix has worked very hard to make the interaction look exactly as it would look if using Amazons cloud service. Given the potential challenges of getting folks to sign up for something new like this, the usage model is a barrier that Neocortix doesnt want to introduce into the process. Existing scripts and approaches should work with little or no modification, easing that friction.

So, will we all eventually be hosts to unlimited amounts of computing on our phones? Its hard to say; it depends on how good a job they do convincing people that its safe. It sounds like theyve done all the right things. But phones have become these playgrounds for companies trying to harvest data from everywhere. Theres some dodgy history to be overcome, and I count myself as one of the skeptical ones when it comes to downloading apps. Then again, I usually come around if theres real value to be had. So, if this gets traction, Id probably join the crowd. Would you?

More info:

Neocortix

Sourcing credit:

Lloyd Watts, Founder and CEO, Neocortix

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Is Crowd Computing the Next Big Thing? - EE Journal

New Virtual TruScan RM App Enables Method Validation in the Cloud – Technology Networks

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A new virtual companion to the Thermo Scientific TruScan RM Handheld Raman Analyzer is available for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers that continue to move toward more efficient modern digitization and cloud computing. This first-of-its-kind digital tool enables reprocessing of spectra using TruScan RMs algorithm in the cloud and allows for method validation without a physical sample.

The Virtual TruScan RM (VTR) App is designed to save pharmaceutical manufacturers time and money by accelerating the release of new materials into production and reducing costs related to existing global method validation processes. This digital twin also aims to strengthen manufacturers ability to assess falsified and substandard medicines.

In addition to growing regulatory pressures, and 100% raw material identity verification requirements, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing sites are seeing an increase in new materials for which they must build new, thoroughly validated methods. The Virtual TruScan RM App enables globalized method validation using cloud computing to overcome many critical problems facing pharmaceutical manufacturers, said Erica Hirsch, vice president and general manager, field and safety instruments, Thermo Fisher Scientific. Method development and validation teams, senior scientists and compliance and quality managers bear the burden of shipping samples around the world for method validation, a challenging, time-consuming and expensive process that the VTR App is designed to reduce significantly.

The VTR App expands the capabilities of the TruScan RM Handheld Raman Analyzer and can be linked to Connect, Thermo Fishers platform for secure, cloud-based data storage, scientific analysis apps and peer collaboration tools. Thermo Fisher Scientifics commitment to continuous innovation within its product lines with more comprehensive digital solutions aligns with its customers goals for rapid modernization of their processes such as bringing method validation to the cloud.

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Alibaba Is Taking the Cloud Battle to Amazon – Investopedia

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Alibaba Group Holdings Inc. (BABA), the e-commerce giant known as the "Amazon of China," is poised for explosive growth and set to become a dominant player in cloud-computing services, a league currently dominated by Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). And a new study by Forrester predicts the companys cloud unit will surpass Google Cloud next year as the third biggest competitor in the global cloud market, according to a recent story in Business Insider.

Alibaba, with amarket capof $484 billion, currently dominates the online retail market in China, the worlds second largest economy and most populous country with around 1.4 billion people. The expected rapid pace of growth of the e-commerce company will not only put it ahead of Google in the market for cloud services, but will put it into direct competition for global customers with Amazon and Microsoft.

When we say that Alibaba is threatening Google for the third post, we believe in 2020 Alibaba will make more money than Google will, Forresters vice president and principal analyst Dave Bartoletti told Business Insider.

The Forrester report predicts that Alibabas cloud infrastructure unit, first formed in 2009, will bring in $4.5 billion in revenue next year. While Googles reported annual revenuerun ratefor its cloud business is $8 billion, that figure is a combination of revenue from both its cloud infrastructure unit and its G Suite productivity software. Solely based on infrastructure, Alibaba is expected to replace Google as the third most dominant player in global cloud services.

Alibaba has not always been the most innovative of big tech companies and has propelled itself forward by largely being adept at imitating the innovations of its competitors. However, things may be starting to change. Nowadays, innovation is happening everywhere in the China market, and Alibaba Cloud has become one of the most important platforms to support business-driven innovation, especially based on the Internet, vice president of Canon Ehara Taisei toldBarrons in September.

But regardless, one of the major sources of Alibabas strength is its dominance in the biggest marketplace in the worldChina. The company raked in total revenues of more than $56 billion in its most recent fiscal year andcomprises about two-thirdsof the online-retail market share in China. When it comes to cloud computing, demand in China is only growing, and Alibaba is the household name for such services.

They are the leading public cloud provider in China, which is a very big market, said Bartoletti. They have a lot of people using their services there. They are doing well financially. They have money to invest in build out. They are doing a good job of being a fast follower.

While financially strong, another thing that will help Alibaba to invest in further growth is Alibabas latest round of share issuance for its secondary listing in Hong Kong next week. The secondary offering wasoversubscribedwith proceeds of the sale amounting toroughly $13 billion, a pile of cash that could help Alibaba grow its cloud business to Amazon-like proportions.

But while Alibaba may be starting to shift its focus on the two frontrunners in the cloud space, Google wont give up its third place spot without a fight. Google Cloud is likely to maintain its dominance with domestic customers as Alibaba has a much smaller presence in North America. Google could also gain ground if it shifts some of its attention to expanding abroad in European markets.

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Alibaba Is Taking the Cloud Battle to Amazon - Investopedia

Join In For The IBM i On The Public Cloud Webinar – IT Jungle

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November 25, 2019Timothy Prickett Morgan

After so many years of waiting, it looks like IBM i shops are going to have a wide variety of options when it comes to acquiring true cloud computing to either replace or augment their on premises systems.

IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Skytap all are offing slices of Power9 machines, which complement the cloudy and hosted infrastructure that has been available for a number of years from Connectria, iInTheCloud, UCG Technologies, LightEdge Solutions, Data Storage Corp, Source Data Products, Secure Information and Services, and First Option IT have offerings that fall on the spectrum from traditional hosting to cloud as well. There is clearly a lot going on here, after a decade and a half of waiting for what I used to call utility computing before Amazon Web Services uncloaked from stealth back in March 2006 and everyone started using its cloud metaphor.

On December 5 at 1 p.m. Eastern, we will be participating in a webinar being hosted by John Blair, founder and president of Blair Technology Solutions, to talk about all things cloud as they relate to the IBM i platform. We did a profile of Blair Technology back in early November, and the company is offering services layers on top of the public cloud offerings from IBM, Google, and Microsoft, which is partnering with Skytap because of the IBM i expertise that it has developed over several years.

The webinar will go over the current state of the cloud for IBM i as well as go over the various scenarios where cloud capacity makes sense initially for customers disaster recovery and high availability are the obvious starting points for IBM i shops and how this expands out to either running test/development in the cloud or moving applications wholesale to a public cloud and getting rid of on premises iron entirely. This is not a cheap option from an operational perspective, but it does add flexibility and that is worth something. We will also talk about the various assessment, migration services, and managed services that are layered on top of these public cloud offerings. There is still plenty of stuff that the big public clouds dont do for IBM i shops that a service provider like Blair Technology can fill in the gaps for. And rapid templating, something that Skytap has been doing, is also a key feature. Everything we said about IBM i also applies to AIX, of course.

The IBM Power on Public Cloud webinar will last for 45 minutes, including plenty of time for question and answer from the audience. You can sign up for the live webinar at this link, and we hope that you will do so. We look forward to sharing our thoughts about IBM i on the cloud and hearing yours.

The Cloud Breathes New Life Into Managed Service Providers

Tags: Tags: AIX, Amazon Web Services, IBM i, IBM Power on Public Cloud, Skytap

How Infors Coleman Strategy Is Evolving, and How IBM i Fits InNo developerWorks Content Will Be Left Behind, IBM Promises

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Cloud Computing in Education market is projected to attain a market value of ~US$ XX Mn/Bn in 2020 2018 2028 – Space Market Research

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The recently published market study published by TMRR highlights the current trends that are expected to influence the dynamics of the Cloud Computing in Education market in the upcoming years. The report introspects the supply chain, cost structure, and recent developments pertaining to the Cloud Computing in Education market in the report. Further, the micro and macro-economic factors that are likely to impact the growth of the Cloud Computing in Education market are thoroughly studied in the presented market study.

According to the report, the Cloud Computing in Education market is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~XX% during the forecast period, 20XX-20XX and attain a value of ~US$ XX by the end of 20XX. The report is a valuable source of information for investors, stakeholders, established and current market players who are vying to improve their footprint in the current Cloud Computing in Education market landscape.

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Regional Assessment

The regional assessment chapter in the report offers an out and out understanding of the potential growth of the Cloud Computing in Education market across various geographies.

Application Assessment

The presented study ponders over the numerous applications of the Cloud Computing in Education and offers a fair assessment of the supply-demand ratio of each application.

segmentation pattern which introduces classification criteria such as deployment model, service model, and end user.

The global cloud computing in education market report is a crucial guide for businesses wanting to ensure a visible progress in the industry. With customizations procured as per the needs of the interested parties, the publication holds the potential to rightly direct the existing as well as budding players to penetrate the global market.

Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Trends and Opportunities

Across the world, the cloud computing in education market is anticipated to gain a strong impetus due to the elevating adoption of the technology in higher education and K-12. For the forecast period, higher education is predicted to mark a larger share in the global market amongst other end users. The domination of this possible end user segment could continue until the end of the forecast period.

Since most end users prefer the services offered by platform as a service (PaaS) providers, this service model market is expected to gain traction over markets in the category. The important change in the cloud ecosystem is principally attributed to the implementation of PaaS. However, software as a service (SaaS) is foreseen to hold a significant percentage of share in the global cloud computing in education market.

Owing to the amplified number of security features offered at a reasonable price, the community cloud as a probable deployment type segment is foretold to grasp a marked share in the world cloud computing in education market.

Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Regional Outlook

Specifically in the developed countries of Canada and the U.S., the demand for cloud computing in education is prognosticated to move levels higher as they look to ride on the elevating focus on production innovations. Most innovations in this field are judged to receive a strong push from the rigorous research and development activities performed in the cloud computing sector. As a result, North America is expected to leave no doubts in the minds of the research analysts for coming forth as a larger revenue holder in the global cloud computing in education market.

The Asia Pacific market is forecasted to be propelled by the shift toward cloud solutions for sophisticated services such as tracking, sharing, and collaborating sundry variants of a document. Much of this demand is expected to birth from end users such as universities and schools.

There could be a few challenges that the top regions of the cloud computing in education market could face, i.e. rigidly designed cloud-based systems and account management and data protection risks. Nevertheless, such constraints are estimated to lose their effect eventually with the advent of momentous opportunities such as developing potential markets, employment of adaptive cloud services, and application of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Companies Mentioned

Among others, the sovereign brands operating in the worldwide cloud computing in education market could be Ellucian, Amazon Web Services, NetApp Inc., NEC Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, VMware Inc., IBM Corporation, Cisco System Inc., and Adobe System Inc. With the intention of popularizing their offerings at a global platform, the major vendors in the market are envisaged to take advantage of acquisitions and mergers and inauguration of novel products.

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The report resolves the following doubts related to the Cloud Computing in Education market:

About TMR Research:

TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to busi-ness entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experi-enced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.

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Cloud Computing in Education market is projected to attain a market value of ~US$ XX Mn/Bn in 2020 2018 2028 - Space Market Research

2020 IoTF opens new opportunities for China IoT industry – booth reservations are booming – Associated Press

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XIAMEN, China, Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the guidance of Fujian Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Xiamen Municipal Government and Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Xiamen Zhongchuan Business Co., Ltd. is cooperating with the China Joint Association (30 provinces and cities of the Internet of Things Industry Association) to strengthen resource integration of Internet of Things Application Market Segment. Internet of Things Fair (IoTF) China will be held at Xiamen International Exhibition Center from July 2-4, 2020. As an important part of the exhibition, Xiamen International Artificial Intelligence Expo in China is is positioned at 6G, 5G, cloud computing, big data, and AI chips to build a one-stop procurement platform for its development, construction and operation.

According to estimates by relevant institutions, Chinas digital economy has grown at an average annual rate of 20% in the past three years. The rise of digital economy and industrial transformation and upgrading bring new opportunities for the development of Chinas Internet of things industry. In terms of total volume, Chinas digital economy reached 27.2 trillion yuan in 2017, up more than 20.3% YoY, accounting for 32.9% of GDP, up 2.6 percentage points YoY. Digital economy and industrial upgrading have become the core driver for economic growth in recent years. The Internet of things is the core and carrier of the digital economy. With the promotion of the Chinese government and the demand of the market for industrial upgrading, the demand for new construction and renovation in smart city, industry, retail, transportation, public sector, education, medical care, automobile, finance, agriculture, vision and other segments continues to expand which provides a huge market for IoT companies, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, chips, IoT devices and electronic components suppliers.

Gathering global resources, opens up Chinese unlimited opportunities

2019 IoTF China Xiamen International IoT export covers artificial intelligence, smart city and community security, vehicle networking, parking management, cloud computing, big data, information security, MEMS and sensors, test measurements, system integration, RFID, 5G communications and gateways, mobile devices and materials from other 10 sectors of the Internet of Things and data economy construction and operation. Gathering 203 enterprises from the IoT industry worldwide, totaling 18,000 square meters. Attendees will include Huawei, Ali, Tencent, Xiaomi, Gosuncn, Unis, Amazon, Microsoft, Telecom, Mobile, Unicom, TChina Tower, Hanwei, Xindeco, Tongfu Micro, Guangxuan Electronics, Xiamen Information Group, Yaxon, Network Chain Technology Group, NETVOX, Leelen, Dnake, Tuya, Quectel, Cheerzing, Xminnov, Mantunsci, Mt. Sainsburys and other enterprises. An expected 49,012 buyers from 91 countries and regions in investment and development, system integration and project design will attend the expo.

More than 100 guests and experts from home and abroad participated in the colorful event themed Insight 5G - Application Innovation to create a cross-border ecosystem with IoT+ as its core. Forums and sessions include Internet of Things Series Forums, China IoT CXO Summit, IoT Industry Award, The China IoT Project Investment Road show, The Black Technology Product Launch Activities. A total of 8 keynote speeches, 14 product launches, 15 professional matchmaking meetings, more than 1,000 IoT application scenarios, more than 300 talents from the real estate, government, system integration and the technology industry have been invited to give speeches. It provides a unique trading platform for solution, information exchange and sharing.

Creating an innovative IoT convergence belt, providing an important business opportunity

Xiamen has the unique location advantage of developing the Internet of Things, nearly 5,000 software enterprises are the backbone of Xiamens 100 billion industrial chain, which provides a solid foundation for the success of IoTF, but also provides important business and trade opportunities for foreign enterprises.

2020 the 6th IoTF China International Internet of Things Expo will continue to usher in colorful events in Xiamen. There will be 570 media outlets attending, an important channel to enter the Chinese mainland market, display new products, new technologies and new applications; strengthen industry information exchange and cross-border integration; promote project floor-to-ceiling applications. IoTF is a professional exchange platform for domestic and foreign IoT upstream and downstream enterprises, which creates business opportunities, to improve the level of development of the IoT industry chain, to build a new ecology of the IoT industry, to promote trade cooperation between at home and abroad, and effectively enhance the trading volume.

Smart, Innovative, Integrate - Fully Upgraded 2020 IoTF

Intelligent

Huawei, Amazon, Qualcomm, ARM, Ali, Xiaomi, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Microsoft, NXP, iFLYTEK, SenseTime, Kingsoft, Inspur and other leading enterprises will display the latest technology, released industry information; which will attract more enterprises from home and abroad to build a purchasing and supply chain for digital economy, IoT, artificial intelligence, big data, etc.

Innovation

The IoTF 2020 will add a high-level IoT summit themed thousands enterprises, through the form of a thousand person conference, in the form of artificial intelligence, system integration and construction of design and operation; Intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading, science and technology empowerment and other forefront topics. Focusing on integration, launching the industrys strength to jointly promote the development of the industry.

Integration

Based on the original authoritative media release, professional media promotion, large-scale release of IoT media, IoT associations and organizations, IoTF expo joint IoT Vane and Global Exhibition Navigation will provide an important channel for the global market promotion and comprehensive upgrading.

Global Exhibition Navigation has established good relations of cooperation with more than 150 overseas exhibition organizers, more than 200 trade associations and more than 300 overseas partners, covering a wide range of fields, Including infrastructure, construction and real estate, electronics, etc. This will provide opportunities for global customers and partners to participate, experience and close deals, and inject momentum and unlock opportunities for a wide variety of trading industries.

Booth sales start-up; Renewal booming

By 2020, IoTFs total exhibition area will exceed 20,000 square meters. It officially launched sales in early September, as of the end of October, current booth sales have occupied almost 50% of the total space available, industry-leading enterprises have confirmed their attendance and previous exhibitors are enthusiastic to expand their booths. Previous exhibitors include: Huawei, Amazon, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Tower, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Gosunn,Unis, Microsoft, Hanwei, Cinda, Qualcomm, ARM, Tongfu Micro, Optical Electronics, Lenovo, Dell, Xiamen Information Group, NETVOX, Inspur,Leelen, Dnake, Tuya, Quectel, Kingsoft, Cheerzing, Xminnov, Mantunsci, Sensetime, Sanstar, NXP, Iflytek, Kuaishang.

Booth reservation is still available. Sharing the Internet of things purchasing alliance, expanding data economy emerging market provide exhibitors and visitors many reasons to attend in July 2020.

For more information, visit the official website at http://www.iotfair.net or follow the official WeChat: iotfair.

Contact: China Xiamen Zhongchuan Business Co., Ltd. Contact: Niexiuying +86-180-3013-8851 Tel: +86-592-5806777 E-mail: info@iotfair.netWebsite: http://www.iotfair.net

View original content: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2020-iotf-opens-new-opportunities-for-china-iot-industry---booth-reservations-are-booming-300964286.html

SOURCE Xiamen Zhongchuan Business Co., Ltd.

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2020 IoTF opens new opportunities for China IoT industry - booth reservations are booming - Associated Press

Global Edge Computing M&A Analysis 2015-2019: Data Center, AI and Security-related Deals Combined to Account for Half of All M&A Activity -…

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "IoT Insight Series - Edge Computing M&A Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Edge computing is redefining the cloud computing space. The growing de-emphasis on the cloud's role in connected environments is expected to lead to smarter and faster autonomous solutions that have the potential to reshape the IoT landscape.

Companies are transforming their business models to attain edge computing capabilities necessary for offering end to end services. Startups with innovative networking technologies and newer software-defined architectures are aiming to enhance flexibility in hybrid networks.

Emerging technologies like AI and neuromorphic computing are changing data processing and decision-making. Data center architectures are being rewritten with easily available off the shelf, cost-effective, and efficient solutions. Further, the upcoming 5G networks are projected to fuel the expansion of edge infrastructure for high speed communication.

Edge computing will transform the IoT landscape into a hyperconnected environment where the restrictions related to latency and computation capacity will be eliminated. It is important for the incumbents to keep up the pace of innovations to stay ahead of the competition. Also, companies from other industries can be expected to cash in the opportunity at hand.

The recent years have witnessed a number of mergers and acquisitions in the edge computing space for IoT services, with the increase in M&A activities representing the industry's conundrum of cloud, edge, and hybrid architectures, and the race to achieve a considerable market share.

Acquisition Trends

The report includes an analysis of approximately 60 deals, along with a detailed technology overview and the purpose of the acquisitions. The M&A analysis section offers a comprehensive view of the transactions around edge computing, covering different technology aspects including data center, AI, security, software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), analytics, interoperability, multi-access edge computing (MEC), and others.

Some prominent deals observed include:

Patent Capabilities of Target Companies

IP acquisition is a key strategy for technology companies to drive innovation in the edge computing space, with the goal to develop next generation solutions. We have assessed the patent capabilities acquired in the M&A deals to understand and evaluate IP value creation.

Key Insights

Key Questions Addressed

Key Topics Covered

1. Introduction

1.1. Rise of Edge Computing Solutions

1.2. Edge Computing Use Cases

1.3. Key Drivers of Edge Computing

1.4. Need to Invest in Edge Computing

2. Mergers & Acquisitions in Edge Computing

2.1. Trends between 2015 - 2019

2.2. Year wise Analysis

2.3. Geography Analysis

2.4. Acquirer Landscape

2.5. Technology Breakdown

2.5.1. Acquisition Trend #1 Data Center

2.5.2. Acquisition Trend #2 SD-WAN

2.5.3. Acquisition Trend #3 Artificial Intelligence (AI)

2.5.4. Acquisition Trend #4 Security

2.5.5. Acquisition Trend #5 Analytics

2.5.6. Acquisition Trend #6 Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC)

2.5.7. Acquisition Trend #7 Interoperability Solutions

2.5.8. Acquisition Trend #8 Embedded Technologies

2.5.9. Acquisition Trend #9 Other Capabilities

3. Patent Capabilities of the Target Companies

3.1. Methodology

3.2. The Acquired Technology Landscape

3.3. Breakdown of Key Technology Areas

4. Patent Coverage of Acquired Target Companies

4.1. Technology Distribution of Top 5 Assignees

4.2. Patent Coverage of Other Assignees

4.3. Patent Analysis: Concluding Remarks

5. Insights and Recommendations

5.1. Time to Market Strategies

5.2. ROI on the High Value Deals

5.3. Growing Interest in New Technology Areas

5.4. Support for Multi-cloud and Hybrid Architectures

5.5. Opportunities in Edge Computing

5.6. Integration of Blockchain Technologies with the Edge Computing Architecture

5.7. AI-based Solutions not on the Radar of Acquiring Companies

5.8. 5G

6. Appendix

6.1. Detailed Overview of Deals

6.2. References

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mxo6r5

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Global Edge Computing M&A Analysis 2015-2019: Data Center, AI and Security-related Deals Combined to Account for Half of All M&A Activity -...

General Election 2019: Conservatives promise full fibre for every home by 2025 and R&D incentives for cloud computing – www.computing.co.uk

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General Election 2019: Cover of the Conservative Party Manifesto

The Conservative Party has launched its election manifesto, promising funding of 5 billion to underwrite a pledge to bring full-fibre to every household in the country by 2025.

On top of that, the Party is also planning changes to research and development tax credits to encourage the continued development of cloud computing.

"We intend to bring full fibre and gigabit-capable broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025," the manifesto promises.

We intend to bring full fibre and gigabit-capable broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025

It continues: "We know how difficult it will be, so we have announced a raft of legislative changes to accelerate progress and 5 billion of new public funding to connect premises which are not commercially viable."

The pledge is one of a number of promises for an "infrastructure revolution", largely based on rail and road, but also encompassing "gigabit broadband for every home and business".

Themanifestopromise follows-up a pledge to connect every householdto full-fibre broadband by the middle of the next decade, made by Boris Johnson when he became Prime Minister earlier this year. At the time,BT questioned whether the 2025 target for full fibre is achievable.

That compares to more radical policies from the Labour Party, in their manifesto released last week, to nationalise Openreach, BT's infrastructure arm, and to provide fibre broadband to all households for free by 2030.

The Labour Party, though, has been criticised for suggesting that its planned nationalisations will be "cost neutral" and underestimating the likely cost of providing free fibre broadband to every household.

In a manifesto that is markedly shorter than Labour's - with both fewer pages and fewer pledges - one of the most intriguing elements was its promise to support the development of cloud computing technologies in the UK via the system of research and development tax credits.

We will increase the tax credit rate to 13 per cent and review the definition of R&D so that important investments in cloud computing and data... are also incentivised

"Some measures have worked, but need to go further - as with R&D tax credits. We will increase the tax credit rate to 13 per cent and review the definition of R&D so that important investments in cloud computing and data, which boost productivity and innovation, are also incentivised," the manifesto pledged.

On top of that, there was a pledge for funding for more technical education with a promise of 2 billion to "upgrade the entire further education college estate" and to open "twenty Institutes of Technology, which [will] connect high-quality teaching in science, technology, engineering and maths to business and industry".

In addition, the Conservatives promised to "invest in technical skills and work incentives so British workers take up as many jobs as possible". This promise was markedly less explicit than Labour's pledge to establish a National Education Service that would provide life-long "technical, vocational, academic and creative" education.

These people can do more than any others to drive scientific progress and help our NHS and our economy

For freelancers and contractors in the IT industry, there was no reference to IR35, but there were promises for a general review to "better support the self-employed. That includes improving their access to finance and credit (not least mortgages), making the tax system easier to navigate, and examining how better broadband can boost homeworking".

Just as Silicon Valley and US technology giants were partially fuelled by ambitious incomers, the Conservatives pledged to make the UK an attractive place for the world's best brains, promised to actively recruit "leaders in their field" with "fast-track entry to the UK". It continued: "These people can do more than any others to drive scientific progress and help our NHS and our economy."

In healthcare, the Conservatives promised to "hold an annual health technology summit".

On law and order, the Party said that it would "embrace new technologies and crack down on online crimes" and "create a new national cyber crime force".

In addition, the Conservatives said that they would "empower the police to safely use new technologies, like biometrics and artificial intelligence, along with the use of DNA, within a strict legal framework".

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General Election 2019: Conservatives promise full fibre for every home by 2025 and R&D incentives for cloud computing - http://www.computing.co.uk

Tax Burden: How Tax Burden Affects Economic Freedom

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Tax Burden is a measure of the tax burden imposed by government. It includes direct taxes, in terms of the top marginal tax rates on individual and corporate incomes, and overall taxes, including all forms of direct and indirect taxation at all levels of government, as a percentage of GDP. Thus, the fiscal freedom component is composed of three quantitative factors:

Fiscal freedom scores are calculated with a quadratic cost function to reflect the diminishing revenue returns from very high rates of taxation. The data for each factor are converted to a 100-point scale using the following equation:

Fiscal Freedomij= 100 (Factorij)2

where Fiscal Freedomij represents the fiscal freedom in country i for factor j; Factorij represents the value (based on a scale of 0 to 100) in country i for factor j; and is a coefficient set equal to 0.03. The minimum score for each factor is zero, which is not represented in the printed equation but was utilized because it means that no single high tax burden will make the other two factors irrelevant.

As an example, in the 2013 Index, Mauritius has a flat rate of 15 percent for both individual and corporate tax rates, which yields a score of 93.3 for each of the two factors. Mauritiuss overall tax burden as a portion of GDP is 18.5 percent, yielding a tax burden factor score of 89.7. When the three factors are averaged together, Mauritiuss overall fiscal freedom score becomes 92.1.

Sources. Unless otherwise noted, the Index relies on the following sources for information on taxation, in order of priority: Deloitte, International Tax and Business Guide Highlights; International Monetary Fund, Staff Country Report, Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix, and Staff Country Report, Article IV Consultation, 20092012; PricewaterhouseCoopers, Worldwide Tax Summaries, 20092012; countries investment agencies; other government authorities (embassy confirmations and/or the countrys treasury or tax authority); and Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Commerce and Country Finance, 20092012.

For information on tax burden as a percentage of GDP, the primary sources (in order of priority) were Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development data; Eurostat, Government Finance Statistics data; African Development Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, African Economic Outlook 2012; International Monetary Fund, Staff Country Report, Selected Issues, and Staff Country Report, Article IV Consultation, 20092012; Asian Development Bank, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific, 20092012; and individual contacts from government agencies and multinational organizations such as the IMF and World Bank.

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Tax Burden: How Tax Burden Affects Economic Freedom

Democrats Must Heed The Wisdom Of JFK – FITSNews

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This news outlet gave up on the GOP years ago. The so-called party of less government and more individual/ economic freedom has made it abundantly clear to us through the actions of leaders at the local, state and federal level that it stands for more government and less freedom.

Even U.S. president Donald Trump whose 2016 bid we endorsed as a rebuke of the Republican establishment has become a backer of obscenely big government.

While there are obviously exceptions to the rule and nuances to the theory, the simplistic version of our evolved political calculus as we head into 2020 goes something like this: Republicans have become Democrats, and Democrats have become socialists.

And Trump? Fiscally speaking, he has sadly become a Republican one of the many GOP politicians whose fiscal profligacy caused us to abandon party in the first place.

Depressing? Indeed

For those of us who believe in freedom and free markets (and there are more of us than you might think), there is absolutely nowhere for us to turn in todays electoral environment. At a time when our leaders in Washington, D.C. desperately need to be coming together in the name of common sense solutions there is no common sense to be found. Instead, we are subjected to a dumbed-down, hyper-partisan charade in which nothing is accomplished but the escalation of divisiveness and the further erosion of whatever is left of the truth.

And that was before the latest impeachment drama

Typically, this news outlet tends to focus its ire on Republicans who pretend to be what they are not (i.e. swamp drainers, budget balancers, middle class tax cutters, Obamacare repealers, etc.). We assail the GOP thusly because we believe Democrats while clearly dishonest in their tactics (and hypocritical in the underlying justifications for their increasingly left-leaning policy positions) are at least honest about what it is they are trying to accomplish in seeking control of government.

From time-to-time, though, it is important for us to take a break from bashing the hypocritical fiscal liberalism of the GOP and focus on just how far Democrats have strayed from the stated ideals of their party particularly the equality, opportunity and justice they claim to support.

Last week marked the 56th anniversary of the assassination of U.S president John F. Kennedy a.k.a. the day the deep state cemented its grip on this nation by savagely murdering its own leader in broad daylight on the streets of Dallas, Texas. This is not a conspiracy theory post, though. We are not trying to shoot down black helicopters, identify secret assassins or track the trajectories of magic bullets.

That is not the focus of todays lesson

(Click to view)

(Via: Library of Congress)

For decades, Kennedy has been the gold standard for aspiring Democratic politicians (and for a few aspiring Republican politicians, too). But while one or two Democratic presidents in the intervening years have managed to capture some of Kennedys eloquence and charisma they have charted courses for America that have veered it further and further away from the common sense fiscal markers Kennedy laid down during his brief time in the White House.

And the current 2020 Democratic field? It seeks to take these failed approaches and triple down on them creating a party Kennedy would find unrecognizable.

This news outlet has covered Kennedys fiscal conservatism in the past, noting how he aggressively championed tax relief forallincome earners. Kennedys tax cuts enacted after his death were effective, too, creating 13 million new jobs and achieving economic growth of 48 percent over eight years, according to economist Brian Domitrovic.

They were also rooted in sound economic theory

The most direct and significant kind of federal action aiding economic growth is to make possible an increase in private consumption and investment demandto cut the fetters which hold back private spending, Kennedy said in a December 1962 speech to the Economic Club of New York. The final and best means of strengthening demand among consumers and business is to reduce the burden on private income and the deterrents to private initiative which are imposed by our present tax system; and this administration pledged itself last summer to an across-the-board, top-to-bottom cut in personal and corporate income taxes to be enacted and become effective in 1963.

In fact, in the same speech Kennedy expressly rebuked the notion that government growth was the key to expanding prosperity.

To increase demand and lift the economy, the federal governments most useful role is not to rush into a program of excessive increases in public expenditures, but to expand the incentives and opportunities for private expenditures, he said.

In another speech to the U.S. Congress eleven months before he died, Kennedy explicitly referred to the punitively high tax rates subsidizing unruly government growth as an unrealistically heavy drag on private purchasing power, initiative, and incentive.

In other words, not only did Kennedy successfully advance pro-growth economic policies, but he advanced them for the right reasons intuitively understanding the underlying economic forces and how government could act in such a way as to either spark or snuff out the flame of American industry and ingenuity.

Needless to say, such awareness is totally lost on todays Democratic party which seems hellbent on destroying the forces that create prosperity and opportunity.

But even that is not the focus of todays lesson

(Click to view)

(Via: Library of Congress)

On the day he was killed, Kennedy was traveling to the Dallas Trade Mart to deliver the first of two big speeches scheduled for that afternoon and evening. The first speech is well-known made famous by its hauntingly undelivered closing line about Americas place in the world and the moral authority underpinning it.

We in this country, in this generation, are by destiny rather than choice the watchmen on the walls of world freedom, Kennedy was to have told his audience, according to his prepared remarks. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, good will toward men. That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'

Does the Lord still keep our city?

Hell, are Democrats even allowed to invoke his name?

Again, such talk is anathema to the party of Kennedy and the party of Trump.

In his other undelivered speech on that fateful fall day, Kennedy was scheduled to address the Texas Democratic State Committee a partisan audience if ever there one was. Though less celebrated than his undelivered Trade Mart remarks, that speech was to have closed with some language that we believe Americans of all political persuasions desperately need to hear right now.

From Kennedys prepared remarks

For this country is moving and it must not stop. It cannot stop. For this is a time for courage and a time for challenge. Neither conformity nor complacency will do. Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom.

So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nations future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance.

Once again can you imagine a Democratic (or for that matter a Republican) leader saying anything resembling something like that in todays political climate?

Especially in remarks made before a partisan audience?

Of course not

People in politics simply do not think that way today.

(Click to view)

(Via: Library of Congress)

Parties now exist exclusively for the preservation of political power, which is why we have two ideologically bankrupt factions screaming at each other over manufactured arguments taking place at the margins (and at the expense) of the real debate which is not happening and never will happen so long as there is no one in our nations capital arguing on behalf of the best interests of its increasingly divided people.

There is no representation, only exploitation of resources and allegiances.

All while our divided citizenry becomes increasingly conditioned toward contempt of those with different beliefs.

Washington, D.C. has devolved into nothing but partisan grappling over control of the spigot a one-way ratchet which spews out ever-larger gobs of red ink as our nation plunges deeper in debt, dysfunction and decay. Indeed, if control of that spigot is the only objective of (which it is) then it doesnt matter which party is in control. Because neither party will ever use its power in pursuit of Kennedys ideals instead its leaders will seek only the continued accumulation of more power for all the wrong reasons.

Our nation has fulfilled the prophecy of absolute power corrupting absolutely, all while embarking upon an unsustainable and seemingly irreversible trajectory based upon repeatedly rebuked and definitively debunked ideologies and economic theories.

How do we reverse this trajectory?

It may not be possible but a good start might be to remember the words of leaders of both parties who offered another approach, a nonpartisan, forward-thinking, authentically inclusive and genuinely altruistic approach rooted in common sense and moored to an unassailable, unchanging morality.

Kennedy offered just such an approach even if Democratic partisans (and their rivals) have become blind as to its benefits.

Got something youd like to say in response to one of our stories? Please feel free to submit your own letter to the editor (or guest column) via-email HERE. Got a tip for us? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE. Want to support what were doing? SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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Democrats Must Heed The Wisdom Of JFK - FITSNews

Edited Transcript of PSTG earnings conference call or presentation 21-Nov-19 10:00pm GMT – Yahoo Finance

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Mountain View Nov 26, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Pure Storage Inc earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 10:00:00pm GMT

* Charles H. Giancarlo

Pure Storage, Inc. - Chairman & CEO

* David M. Hatfield

Pure Storage, Inc. - Vice Chair & President Emeritus

Pure Storage, Inc. - VP of Strategy

Pure Storage, Inc. - Head of IR

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - MD of IT Hardware & Networking Equipment and Senior Analyst

* Alvin J. Park

Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division - Senior MD & Fundamental Research Analyst

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division - MD

William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division - Partner & Co-Group Head of Technology, Media and Communications

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Pure Storage Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Head of Investor Relations, Matt Danziger. Thank you. Please go ahead, sir.

Matthew Daniel Danziger, Pure Storage, Inc. - Head of IR [2]

Thank you, and good afternoon. Welcome to the Pure Storage Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Earnings Conference Call.

Joining me today are our CEO, Charlie Giancarlo; our COO, Paul Mountford; our Vice Chair, David Hatfield; and our VP of Strategy, Matt Kixmoeller.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that during this call, management will make forward-looking statements which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These include statements regarding competitive, industry and technology trends; our strategy, positioning and opportunity; our current and future products; business and operations, including our operating model; growth prospects; and revenue and margin guidance for future periods.

Any forward-looking statements that we make are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update them. Our actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. A discussion of various risks and uncertainties relating to our business is contained in our filings with the SEC, and we refer you to these public filings.

During this call, we will discuss non-GAAP measures in talking about the company's performance. And reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are provided in our earnings press release and slides. This call is being broadcast live on the Pure Storage Investor Relations website and is being recorded for playback purposes. An archive of the webcast will be available on the IR website for at least 45 days and is the property of Pure Storage.

With that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Charlie Giancarlo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charles H. Giancarlo, Pure Storage, Inc. - Chairman & CEO [3]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Matt, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on today's earnings call. I will begin by sharing our high-level results and highlights from the quarter, Hat will provide a go-to-market update and I will close with our guidance for the remainder of FY '20.

Revenue for Q3 was $428 million, up 15% year-over-year, significantly faster than our major competitors and the market as a whole. Continued pricing declines, which were higher than we expected, accounted for the gap to our revenue expectations at the beginning of the quarter, although we are also seeing signs of a more challenging global business environment, as commented on by other large infrastructure suppliers.

Despite these in-quarter headwinds, Pure achieved all-time high gross margins this quarter of 71.7%, well above our guided range of 66% to 69%. Operating margin for the quarter was 6.8%, at the high end of our guided range. These results speak to the resiliency of our model in the current environment.

Turning to executive leadership. We recently announced important changes to our leadership team at Pure. After almost 7 years, David Hatfield is starting a new chapter at Pure, transitioning to Vice Chair and serving as a strategic adviser to Pure reporting to me. Hat is moving into a role where he can leverage his passion, focusing on delivering Pure's value and vision to new customers and partners globally.

I'm very excited that Paul Mountford has joined Pure as Chief Operating Officer on November 4. Paul was most recently CEO at Riverbed technology and earlier held the role of Chief Sales Officer. His deep knowledge and experience makes him the right person to drive Pure's next stage of growth and extend our market leadership. Paul assumes responsibility for all go-to-market activities, including sales; channels; alliances; and marketing; as well as customer experience, including support and professional services.

Third, we announced today that Kevan Krysler will be joining Pure as our new CFO in early December. Most recently, Kevin was Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at VMware. He will bring a wealth of experience, both in finance and in building scale, and has highly relevant industry experience. Prior to VMware, Kevin was a partner with KPMG, where he served both multinational and emerging software and technology companies. He will participate in our next earnings call.

These changes and additions to our team will set us up for an incredibly successful second decade.

Turning to highlights from the quarter. We hosted our largest-ever Accelerate user conference in Austin this past quarter. We introduced almost a dozen new products and services, which were all immediately available. We also shared our vision, which will power the next decade of Pure's innovation and growth. We call this vision the Modern Data Experience. In Pure's first decade, we redefined what a modern data storage array looked like, fundamentally resetting the bar for the competitive landscape.

Despite these advances, data storage still remains the least cloud-like layer of technology in the data center. Delivering data storage in an enterprise is still an extraordinarily manual process, with storage arrays highly customized and dedicated to particular workloads. It is data that powers digital transformation, but data storage remains one of its biggest obstacles because of the limitations of today's 30-year-old storage architecture. Pure is transforming storage to a modern, more cloud-like model, helping our customers to run their operations as a true automated storage-as-a-service cloud, delivering consistent data services seamlessly across on-prem and public cloud infrastructure.

Pure delivers this modern data experience through our products, solutions and services built around 4 key tenets. First, we believe fast matters. Whether we're helping customers launch rockets, detect real-time threats or compile code and push releases, fast matters. When looking to deliver data for high-performance applications or enabling multiple applications to access data on one consistent platform, fast matters. We deliver solutions that push the boundaries on low latency with our new FlashArray with DirectMemory, high bandwidth for big data with our new twice-as-large FlashBlade and greater efficiency with our end-to-end QLC-optimized FlashArray//C.

Second, we believe in cloud everywhere. Organizations want to both transform their on-prem operations to the cloud model and seamlessly link to the public cloud for IT agility. Customers also want a single, consistent data storage architecture for all clouds, public and private. Cloud Block Store provides multi-cloud consistent operations, including migration, test/dev, disaster recovery and protection for all applications. Our offering on AWS was made generally available this past quarter, and we recently previewed Pure Cloud Block Store on Microsoft Azure at the Microsoft Ignite Conference.

Third is a core belief that simple is smart. As we all know, making things ridiculously complex is standard practice in IT. Making things simple is hard work. Pure has built a reputation for delivering products that manage themselves. And for those elements that don't, we leverage increasing intelligence from our Pure1 Meta AI Engine to deliver a self-driving, self-managing storage experience, preventing problems and enabling as-a-service automation. We are leveraging these capabilities to simplify the entire enterprise storage experience.

And finally, a subscription to innovation. Unlike other products on the market, Pure products look and act like a SaaS service in terms of continual upgrades and new functionality. With Pure's Evergreen Storage, every product a customer has bought in the past and every product they buy today will always be new and will constantly evolve towards an ever more Modern Data Experience, all without service downtime or paying for the same storage twice.

Pure is leading the industry in both delivering the Modern Data Experience, as well as allowing customers to consume as a true 100% OpEx service. We have seen strong traction and adoption for Pure as-a-Service, formerly ES2, signaling a trend from customers for this type of consumption model.

Unlike other offerings in the market, Pure makes its entire portfolio available as-a-Service.

We have reimagined the box-based enterprise storage environment as an integrated enterprise-wide storage experience. We're delivering storage-as-a-service to fuel our customers' digital transformation. Pure's Modern Data Experience sets us up well to continue to grow our share of the large data storage market.

With that, I'll turn it over to Hat.

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David M. Hatfield, Pure Storage, Inc. - Vice Chair & President Emeritus [4]

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Thanks, Charlie. We believe that our Modern Data Experience is the way forward, enabling digital businesses to extract more value from their data, while improving performance and reducing complexity and expense of managing infrastructure. Pure's modern approach helps companies deliver on their most strategic initiatives, empowering them to achieve outcomes that were not previously possible. Because of this, Pure is taking market share. And at our Investor Day, we shared that Pure was growing 10x faster than our closest competitor.

Customers are being done a disservice by others in the industry who still require forklift upgrades and who are not innovating, while Pure's customers benefit from our expanding technology portfolio, industry-leading customer satisfaction and differentiated Evergreen ownership model. Pure is being chosen because we enable customers to modernize their existing applications and accelerate their adoption of multi-cloud containers and real-time analytics. Our focus on the cloud, enterprise, commercial and government segments continues to progress nicely.

We finished the quarter with more than 7,000 total customers, adding approximately 6 net new customers per day, equating to nearly 400 new customers in Q3. The Government segment in particular continued to be a bright spot in Q3, with business doubling on a year-to-date basis.

Turning to momentum in our portfolio. Our ability to make the Modern Data Experience a reality for customers today and into the future has never been more evident. Our industry-leading Pure1 SaaS platform makes it extremely easy for customers to manage their hybrid cloud environments across our portfolio, including FlashArray//X, FlashArray//C, FlashBlade and Cloud Data Services. Pure's simple and automated platform allows customers to consolidate their primary and secondary workloads, delivering faster access to more of their data at a much lower total cost of ownership and is an ideal fit for next-generation data analytics and rapid restore use cases.

Following our announcement at Accelerate, we have seen the fastest growth of any product we have ever launched with the introduction of our FlashArray//C targeted for Tier 2. In the quarter, ServiceNow, a leading SaaS company and existing customer of FlashArray//X and FlashBlade has now added the all-NVMe FlashArray//C to their environment, with the goal of eliminating spinning disk for Tier 2 workloads. We share their vision of creating an all-flash data center for better reliability, cost and performance so they can continue to deliver world-class service levels for their customers.

Pure's Cloud Data Services, including Cloud Block Store on AWS, enables data mobility and empowers customers to achieve on-prem economics in the public cloud. And as part of our multi-cloud strategy, we recently launched our technical preview of Cloud Block Store on Microsoft Azure at the recent Microsoft Ignite conference. With a growing set of products and unique Pure-as-a-Service subscription model, customers can take advantage of our innovation on-prem or in their preferred public cloud whenever and however they want, today or in the future. We've always been the most innovative, and now we are also the safest choice for customers.

Lastly, on a personal note, I want to take a moment to thank our customers, partners and the Pure team for the past 7 years. They've been the most fulfilling and rewarding of my career. Together, we changed the industry with Evergreen Storage, built an incredible company culture and grew the business from 0 to more than $1.5 billion as fast as any enterprise IT company in history.

I'll be staying on in my new role to help with transition, planning and strategy. I'm excited that Paul has joined the team as COO, and I look forward to partnering closely with him to help set up 2020 and beyond for incredible success.

While my role is changing, what will never waver is my excitement and enthusiasm in our ability to make an impact on our customers every day. We are as optimistic as ever to execute on our long-term vision to deliver the modern data experience and provide freedom for organizations to build for today and tomorrow. We truly are just getting started.

And with that, I will now turn it back over to Charlie. Charlie?

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Charles H. Giancarlo, Pure Storage, Inc. - Chairman & CEO [5]

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Thank you, Hat. Moving to key financial highlights. We finished the quarter with cash and investments of $1.2 billion, an increase of $59 million from the previous quarter. Free cash flow in Q3 was strong at positive $43 million.

We delivered strong deferred revenue again in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, deferred revenue was $643 million, an increase of 39% over the same period a year ago and included a record amount of Pure-as-a-Service deals, again, formerly ES2.

Now I will turn to guidance. In setting our guidance for the remainder of the year, we've taken into account the pricing declines we've seen in the past 2 quarters, as well as a more challenging global environment. We are highly differentiated, as evidenced by our industry-leading growth and gross margins. And accordingly, we remain focused on continuing to invest in a fiscally prudent manner, as evidenced by our operating profit guide, which is within the range that we offered last quarter.

For Q4 of fiscal 2020, we expect revenues in the range of $484 million to $496 million, $490 million at the midpoint; gross margin in the range of between 67.5% and 70.5%; and operating margin in the range between 10% and 14%, or 12% at the midpoint.

For the full year of fiscal 2020, we now expect revenues in the range of between $1.635 billion and $1.647 billion, or $1.641 billion at the midpoint; gross margin in the range of between 69.2% and 70.1%; and operating margin in the range of between 2.6% and 3.9%, or 3.2% at the midpoint.

With that, we'll open it up for questions. Operator?

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Alex Kurtz from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

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Alexander Kurtz, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [2]

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Can you hear me okay?

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Charles H. Giancarlo, Pure Storage, Inc. - Chairman & CEO [3]

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Yes.

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Alexander Kurtz, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [4]

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Hat, been great working with you. Hopefully, we'll hear you on future calls. But thanks for working with the investment community, as always. A near-term to long-term question here. So real quick on the quarter, Charlie, when you look at units or deals or however you want to look at it, like excluding the ASP dynamic, did you hit that number? I guess, trying to account for -- was there deal slippage that was part of this? Or is it really on the pricing and you actually got to the number of arrays shipped. Then longer-term -- go ahead.

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Charles H. Giancarlo, Pure Storage, Inc. - Chairman & CEO [5]

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Go ahead -- sorry. Well, let me answer that, and then you can -- I'll let you ask -- go on. So yes, we shipped all the units we expected to ship. So it really was a overall pricing issue, and that made up for all of the mess. So it was entirely on target.

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Alexander Kurtz, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [6]

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Okay. And then I think longer term, the question is going to become -- customers get used to the lower pricing in the broader all-flash market, right? And I think there's a fair skepticism among investors that, even with the NAND environment being more favorable for you and your competitors over the next couple of years, perhaps, customers aren't going to respond and allow the market to see a pricing increase. So what gives you the confidence that, that's not going to happen? That the customers aren't going to just acclimate to the new pricing levels that we're seeing right now?

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Charles H. Giancarlo, Pure Storage, Inc. - Chairman & CEO [7]

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Well, interestingly, Alex -- it's good when customers get acclimated to the new pricing, because it allows elasticity to take place and to penetrate -- remember, less than 20 -- flash is less than 20% of the overall storage market by bits, right? It's 30% by dollars, but less than 20% by bits. So as pricing goes down, we get to take up more of the magnetic market. The issue is that when pricing drops so quickly in an individual quarter, the market doesn't catch up on elasticity. We saw a double-digit drop in pricing each of the last 2 quarters. That's just very unusual. Obviously, difficult to predict that sort of thing, because it's not normal. But now that pricing is where it is, that bodes well for volumes as we go forward, and it can't continue to drop at that rate. FlashArray//C takes advantage of this, right? FlashArray//C is going to now start to penetrate what are typically magnetic workloads in the so-called second-tier market. That's a very good thing for us. And pricing will eventually moderate, will reduce its rate of decline, will continue to decline, but reduce its rate. And that's very good for the flash business, very good for us.

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Operator [8]

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Your next question comes from the line of Ittai Kidron from Oppenheimer.

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Ittai Kidron, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division - MD [9]

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Edited Transcript of PSTG earnings conference call or presentation 21-Nov-19 10:00pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

Trump’s latest gambit: Send asylum seekers to ‘Safe Third Countries’ that are less than safe | TheHill – The Hill

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The Trump Administration has published an interim final rule that will dramatically reduce the number of aliens who can apply for asylum in the United States.

The rule authorizes asylum officers in expedited removal proceedings and immigration judges in regular removal proceedings to conduct a threshold screening to determine whether an alien is barred by a Safe Third Country agreement from applying for asylum. Aliens who are barred will have to choose between applying for asylum in a Safe Third Country and going home (unless they have some other basis for lawful status in the United States).

Those would be the only choices: apply elsewhere or go home.

The United States currently has Safe Third Country agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Canada; the agreement with Canada, however, is subject to different rules.

The new rule applies prospectively to aliens who arrive at a United States port of entry or who enter or attempt to enter the United States between ports of entry on or after Nov. 19, 2019.

Immigration advocates may be successful in challenging this rule in the lower federal courts, but I expect the Supreme Court to find that it is a lawful exercise of statutory authority.

Safe Third Country agreements are not new

Safe Third Country agreements were created to make it possible for countries to share the responsibility of aiding asylum seekers. In 1991, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeesinvited such agreementsto foster international cooperation.

The United States desperately needs international assistance with asylum seekers. Its immigration courts have so many cases now that the American Bar Association says they are on the brink of collapse.

The immigration court backlog was542,411 casesin January 2017, when PresidentDonald TrumpDonald John TrumpGiuliani associate prepared to testify Nunes aides scrapped Ukraine trip to avoid alerting Schiff Democrats pledge sharp turn in US ties with Saudi Arabia Schumer praises former Navy chief after ouster MOREtook office, and it had increased to1,023,767 casesby the end of September 2019, with an average wait for a hearing of696 days.

The immigration courts only completed297,109 casesthrough September of fiscal 2019. At that rate, even if there were to be a freeze on immigration enforcement to prevent new cases from being added, it would take three-and-a-half years to clear the backlog.

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are not safe

Immigration advocates are certain to argue that the safe third countries are not safe. They are plagued by the crime and violence that caused people to seek asylum in the United States in the first place. El Salvadorhas the worlds highest intentional homicide rate. Honduras is fifth, and Guatemala is 16th.

But asylum law doesn't provide refuge from violent, crime-ridden countries. When asylum seekers from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras fail to establish eligibility for asylum, they are returned to their countries, regardless of the danger that awaits them there.

The asylum provision, section 208(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, only authorizes asylum for an alien who has established that he is a "refugee" as that term is defined bysection 1101(a)(42)(A), which reads as follows:

(42) The term "refugee" means (A) any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality .... and who is unable or unwilling to return to ... that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, ...

And the Safe Third Country provision, section 208(a)(2), just requires participating countries to be able to provide safety from persecution:

Paragraph (1) [the one that gives aliens the right to apply for asylum] shall not apply to an alien if the Attorney General determines that the alien may be removed, pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement, to a country .... in which the alien's life or freedom would not be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, and where the alien would have access to a full and fair procedure for determining a claim to asylum .... (Emphasis supplied.)

No court has jurisdiction to review the validity of Safe Third Country agreements

Congress prohibited court review of determinations made under the Safe Third Country provision and the other two exceptions. Section 208(a)(3) states that:

No court shall have jurisdiction to review any determination of the Attorney General under paragraph (2)

I expect the Supreme Court to respect this limitation.

In the Travel Ban case, the immigration advocates argued that Trump had exceeded the authority Congress delegated to the President in section 212(f) of the INA. The Supreme Court rejected their arguments on the basis of the "plain language" of the section, finding that, "attempts to identify a conflict with other provisions in the INA, and their appeal to the statute's purposes and legislative history, fail to overcome the clear statutory language."

The same surely is true of the language in the judicial review limitation. Congressional intent could not be any clearer.

The only way immigration advocates will succeed with a challenge to the Safe Third Country rule is to persuade the Supreme Court that Congress violated the Constitution by authorizing the Executive Branch to determine when discretionary humanitarian relief from persecution should be granted, and that is extremely unlikely.

Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @NolanR1 or at https://nolanrappaport.blogspot.com

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Trump's latest gambit: Send asylum seekers to 'Safe Third Countries' that are less than safe | TheHill - The Hill

Spartz to seek second term – Current in Carmel

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District 20 State Sen. Victoria Spartz (R-Noblesville) announced Nov. 12 she will seek a second term. District 20 covers much of Hamilton County.

Spartz was elected by a caucus in 2017 to complete the term of former Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville), who retired.

Spartz

Spartz grew up in Ukraine. She is a businesswoman, farmer, CPA, finance executive, university educator and former Big 4 and Fortune 500 auditor. She serves on several Senate committees, including Education and Career Development, Environmental Affairs and Pension and Labor. She serves as the chair of the Audit Subcommittee of the Legislative Council.

We can never forget that the solution to most problems we have in our society is less government and more freedom and competition, whether its education or healthcare, Spartz stated. We must concentrate on core government functions to maintain law and order and an effective criminal justice system, protect private property rights, empower individuals to pursue happiness, and maintain a vibrant business environment.

During her term, Spartz has advanced bills to advance fiscal oversight and accountability, improve education, implement election audits and expand prevention in the juvenile justice system. She recently launched working groups on improving government accountability and transparency, health care cost and value and more.

If re-elected, Spartz plans to enhance fiscal responsibility and accountability to taxpayers, improve the health care system, align education with modern demands, improve regulatory environment for small businesses and entrepreneuers, protect private property rights and individual freedoms, reform the welfare system and streamline the criminal justice system.

Spartz lives in Noblesville with her husband and two daughters.

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Spartz to seek second term - Current in Carmel

Angelica Ross Has Had a Phenomenal YearAnd Shes Using It to Open Doors to Others – Observer

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Angelica Ross. Shoot produced by EJ Jamele, fashion by Brandon M Garr, hair by Gracie Cartier, makeup by Yolonda Frederick, Nails by Gracie J, photo by Josh S Rose.

Angelica Ross says people often ask her why she doesnt seem more ecstatic about her current success. Theyre like, Arent you so excited?! she says. Because sometimes I look like Im not. Its more that Im kind of just pinching myself all the time, knowing that this is going to change. I cant be attached to the euphoria of one situation, nor can I be beaten down by whatever may be perceived as a failure or a misstep. I always focus on whats next, and being grateful for the steps Ive taken to get here.

In case you hadnt noticed, while Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore and Dominique Jackson were positioned as the female leads on FXs game-changing series Pose, Ross stealthily emerged as an indelible scene-stealer in her role as Candy, an unstoppable, unpredictable, and antic-prone figure in the ballroom drama. In this years second season of the show, the episode that featured Candys death and funeral became one of the series most lauded and talked about, as it was emblematic of the murders of so many trans women of color. And by the time that episode aired in July, Ross had already been announced as a cast member of another Ryan Murphy project, American Horror Story: 1984, making her the first trans actor in history to land two series-regular roles.

SEE ALSO: The Darker, Angrier Tone of Pose Season 2 Is Necessary Because of Real Events

I always see these things not as coincidences, Ross says, but as little nods from the universe, and sometimes it all depends on how aware I amhow quickly I pick up little signs and symbols that can put me at ease after a long-term commitment for an unknown and uncertain time. You never know when things are going to happen, or when opportunities are going to open up.

Ross comes across as someone firmly grounded in reality and constantly hoisted by spirituality (she practices Buddhism), and shes combined those attributes to forge her awareness of transiencethat whats next? mentality. For Ross, opportunities opened up this year to unleash a torrent of nexts. There were the back-to-back TV series that unveiled an indisputably gifted actress. There was her appearance on Oprahs OWN special, Black Women OWN the Conversation, where Ross sat beside folks like model Winnie Harlow and shared her coming-out story with her mother in the audience. There was her hosting of the September 20 LGBTQ Presidential Forum in Iowa, for which she partnered with GLAAD and became the first trans person to emcee such an event. And now theres her growing presence on lists that count her among 2019s most notable figures, including Vanity Fairs Future Innovators, Essences Woke 100, The Roots Root 100 and Outs Out100.

Angelica Ross delivering the keynote speech at the Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit 2019. Lesbians Who Tech

Some of this newfound prolific presencewhich crisscrosses art, performance, activism and politicscan be linked to spirituality in an actionable form, as Ross describes it. I understand that you dont just pray and wait, but you pray and take action, she says. And her acute awareness of the intersectional limitations of being a dark-skinned, black, trans woman has empowered her, in both life and work, to be that much more action-oriented in claiming space for herself. She speaks of how dark-skinned girls like her need only exchange a glance, be it at a party or on a film set, to share an understanding of their mutual marginalization. And she says shes steamrolled that marginalization by using opportunities to command attention.

Ive had to learn how to make the spotlight come to me, instead of just chasing the spotlight, Ross says. Case in point: being on a show like Pose. On that show, I was in an ensemble cast, and the way that the stories were written, I wasnt really a main character[Candys] storyline was not one of the main storylines. But with every single scene they gave to me, I took it politely and made it bigger. Ryan Murphy then started saying, Oh, weve got to give her more, and write more for her. The action I took there was to show up on time for work every day, have a good attitude, and deliver the most when they said action, instead of being a bratty actress saying, Why arent you writing more for me? In that state, youre just complaining at the universe, and in Buddhism we say that complaining releases no good fortune.

Angelica Ross as Candy and Hailie Sahar as Lulu in Pose. Macall Polay/FX

Ross determination and specific approach to success is also bolstered by a business acumen that she can trace back to her youth. She grew up in a Christian household in Racine, Wis., and while she was discovering her identity (I knew I was not straight, she says of herself in adolescence), she was also being dissuaded by her father from chasing her dream of studying music and theater. I graduated high school a year early at 17, and the deal was that if I graduated early, I had to go to college right away, Ross says. My dad made me go to Wisconsin Parkside, a college one town over, and study business. He always told me that, as a black person, I would get nowhere if I didnt, because I would not be in situations where I could call my own shots. Im very grateful that my father gave me that sort of advice so I didnt end up a starving artist. Im still nervous, but Im definitely not starving.

And shes definitely a bona fide businesswoman. When it comes to knowing and demanding her value, that began, as it has for countless trans women of color, with the oldest profession in the book. Ive gone through a very in-depth assessment of my value, and it started with me doing sex work on the street, Ross says. I set my price on the street, and Ive grown, increasing that value to where I am today. And what many people dont know is that, in between, Ross became the founder and CEO of TransTech Social Enterprises, a program that, as described on Ross website, helps people lift themselves out of poverty through technical training, digital work, creating a social impact, and bringing economic empowerment to marginalized communities. Particularly designed to boost the welfare of trans folks, the company has been in operation since 2014, with Ross at the helm.

Angelica Ross as Nurse Rita in American Horror Story. Kurt Iswarienko FX

The savvy entrepreneur goes in deep when describing the challenges she faced when starting her business, which she says came out of a true necessity for the community, because programs were popping up to serve trans folks [via] federal funding, but no [trans people were] actually involved in the programs or being hired to work the programs and serve the communities. The community felt their real objectives and needs werent being met. I launched TransTech in an effort to go right to the source. She talks about how she didnt spend time building a board; how she secured a fiscal sponsor, Allied Media Projects out of Detroit; how it took time to get out of the red, especially as a black trans woman with no resources; and how, despite applying for multiple grants with first-rate proposals, TransTech has only been approved for a few. Moreover, while TransTech gets more attention now that Ross is a breakout celebrity, she wants to see that attention translate into measurable support. I get a lot of applause, she says, but I dont get a lot of donations.

Still, Ross can quickly point out the triumphs of her community-focused enterprise. We have helped people with freelance jobs build their own personal businesses, she says. In our first year, we gave away 13 iMac computers, which changed 13 peoples lives. There was a black trans woman we helped who was chronically homeless and dealing with sex work and is now making six figures. A girl who volunteered with us from day one is now working in Washington, D.C., with a national trans organization. And the list goes on.

Angelica Ross as Candy in Pose. Michael Parmelee/FX

All of this experience has instilled in Ross a business-minded approach to many things in her life, even to acting. Its a trait that not all artists have, and the lack of it can lead to a rude awakening. You have to sort of go into this knowing that when you want to be famous, or you want to be a star on a certain leveleven if youre a solo actthat its a collaboration. And thats not just with the studio heads, networks, and producers who help make things possible, but with your audiencethe folks who are going to buy and consume your art. When I perform live or speak in a room, I give thanks to the people who show up and for the energy they bring to the space. Because Im aware and it has an effect on what I say. Youve got to walk in with a mindset that youre going to give and take.

Ross advocacy for her own community is the glue that binds together the pieces of her journey thus far. While on Pose, she was notably vocalboth to her peers on the show and to its fanbasethat the hundreds of trans actors who were employed by series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals would all rack up valuable SAG credits to amplify their careers, without, she says, having to play dead prostitute number two on CSI or some legal procedural. Its the kind of insider fact that most viewers would likely overlook until its gravity is spelled out. And in regard to showing up for her community in an even more literal sense, Rosss most noteworthy and affecting appearance this year was arguably at September 28s National Transgender Visibility March in Washington, D.C., where she spoke to a crowd of thousands alongside fellow firebrands and activists like Ashlee Marie Preston.

It was really important for me to be there so my community could see me up close, Ross says. I know that all these filters, and the lenses of being on TV, can sometimes create a distance or a certain perception. Im still a person, and not only that, I am what weve been talking about wanting to see: a dark-skinned black trans woman on TV. And I want to let people know that Im not only in this for myself. Every step of the way, Ive always been trying to carry someone on my backpulling, giving a hand up, to someone if not a few people, through my work and my organization. And Im still here, willing to continue to create more opportunities that open doors. What shes hoping for, as she said in her speech at the march, Is a time when we can finally drop our armor and focus on our dreamsthe things we wanted to do before we had to battle for our dignity and freedom. I want to see a future where trans people are thriving, not fighting.

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Angelica Ross Has Had a Phenomenal YearAnd Shes Using It to Open Doors to Others - Observer

The Trump Administration Gutted the Staff Overseeing $1 Billion in Aid to Iraq. A Watchdog Is Raising Red Flags. – ProPublica

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Iraq is one of the top recipients of American assistance, and the U.S. foreign aid agency manages more than $1 billion in projects there, including funding for Iraqi religious minorities pushed by Vice President Mike Pence. But increasingly, the agency doesnt have people on the ground to make sure the money is being well-spent.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has been forced to cut nearly 80% of its non-Iraqi staff in Iraq in the last year, even as the agency funds large, ambitious and complex aid projects there. A critical government watchdog report released this week said USAID officials reported the cuts have had significant adverse effects on the oversight and management of grants.

As ProPublica detailed this month, Pences office has pressured USAID to support local groups representing Iraqi minorities, particularly Christians. The watchdog report released this week said, in the context of the staff reductions and uncertainty, overseeing local groups is particularly challenging given that awards to local organizations require increased involvement.

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One small charity that recently received a USAID grant and primarily serves Christian Iraqis has no full-time paid staff and no experience with government grants.

Overall, the report notes that USAID now has no staff based permanently in Iraq to oversee $430 million in basic humanitarian aid, such as food, safe drinking water and medical services. USAID officials manage the funding remotely via phone calls, reports from implementers and temporary visits, the report said.

As a result, staff are only able to engage in the bare minimum coordination with the rest of the U.S. government, the Iraqi government and the international community, USAID staff told the inspector general.

In May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered a partial evacuation of U.S. personnel in Iraq in response to concerns over threats from Iran. The ordered departure has been controversial, and diplomats have criticized what they view as a gutting of core diplomatic functions in Iraq.

That decision, combined with an earlier State Department move to shrink the USAID mission, reduced the agencys non-Iraqi staff from 26 at the start of the 2019 fiscal year to six by this fall, the report said. Some of those officials relocated to Washington, while others transferred to Germany.

USAID, the State Department and Pences office did not respond to questions. In response to the prior ProPublica story, a USAID spokeswoman said local grants in Iraq follow all federal regulations and have empowered those groups to respond to grassroots needs.

The report, which covers the period between July 1 and Oct. 25, was jointly prepared by the inspectors general of USAID, the State Department and the Pentagon.

The watchdog report said the Pompeo-ordered departure had been extended through Nov. 9, citing reports of violence and threats to diplomatic personnel. In July, Foreign Policy reported that the lower staffing levels are being treated as permanent.

USAID manages $1.16 billion in assistance in Iraq, spanning development, humanitarian aid and stabilization efforts, according to the report.

That large portfolio, coupled with the staff reductions, create uncertainty as to how programs will be overseen remotely, the report said. Uncertainty around staffing levels also raises questions about USAIDs continuing ability to effectively oversee its high-priority, high-risk portfolio.

U.S. assistance in Iraq includes over $400 million for religious and ethnic minorities targeted by the militant group Islamic State. That has been a major priority for Pence, as well as for conservative Christian groups and vocal communities of Iraqi Christians.

A new component of that effort was announced by USAID last month: $4.1 million to six local Iraqi organizations. ProPublica previously found that political appointees played a significant role in the latest awards.

The awardees included two groups that had been rejected by career officials for separate grants in Iraq in 2018. One of the groups, the Shlama Foundation, is a small charity that primarily serves Christian Iraqis; it will receive $1 million over two years. It has no full-time paid staff and no experience with government grants, a Shlama board member, Ranna Abro, previously told ProPublica.

Shlama did not respond to a request for comment this week, but Abro said previously that it is capable of handling the work, and that USAID had fully and completely reviewed our capacity and is releasing the funds in small, manageable amounts based on deliverable outcomes.

USAID has exacting requirements for its funding, requiring groups to provide extensive background and financial information. Small organizations often are less equipped to fulfill those requirements and need particularly close oversight from agency officials, experts on foreign aid said.

The watchdog report addressed the latest awards to local Iraqi groups, and it said their structure relies on in-country expertise from USAID personnel to train local organizations on the requirements of receiving U.S. funding. It added: According to USAID, this is particularly challenging given that awards to local organizations require increased involvement.

The report also raised questions about the effectiveness of some of USAIDs efforts toward Christians and other minority groups in Iraq.

For instance, one major USAID goal in Iraq has been to encourage the return of Christians, Yazidis and other groups to their homes in northern Iraq, which they fled after Islamic State took over swaths of the country. Last year, USAID administrator Mark Green said the agency was committed to creating the conditions so that these communities can return safely to their ancestral lands.

But officials have acknowledged relatively modest returns on the effort thus far. In September, senior USAID official Hallam Ferguson said the returns of persecuted religious minority groups to their homes still lag far behind other displaced groups in Iraq.

We are struggling against tectonic forces in Iraq, including decades of government neglect and discriminatory policy, more than 15 years of sectarian strife and unchecked local armed groups, Ferguson said in testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

According to the watchdog report, USAID officials have said that obstacles in Iraq cannot be resolved without more diplomatic engagement, made far more difficult by Pompeos drawdown. The report cited disputes between local Iraqi political leaders that had allowed a vacuum of governance to develop in Sinjar, an area of Iraq that includes many religious minorities.

The longer these barriers remain in place, the more significant the questions grow about the potential effectiveness of these assistance efforts, the report said.

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The Trump Administration Gutted the Staff Overseeing $1 Billion in Aid to Iraq. A Watchdog Is Raising Red Flags. - ProPublica

All but one Scottish university fails to record suicide rates, The Ferret reveals – The National

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ALL but one of Scotlands 15 universities fail to keep a record of student suicides, prompting criticism and calls for change. An investigation by The Ferret has revealed that Stirling is the only Scottish university which knows how many of its students took their own lives. Other universities record student deaths, but do not distinguish suicides.

Mental health campaigners urged universities to review their policies to help end the stigma of suicide. Researchers say it would be sensible to keep an official record of suicides in order to improve mental health services, though they accept that there can be difficulties verifying causes of death.

Some universities said no records were kept out of sympathy and sensitivity for the students families and loved ones. Others pointed out that they were not always told about causes of death.

The Scottish Association for Mental Health called on universities to review their policies on recording student suicides. Many public authorities are doing good work in suicide prevention, including in reviewing how they respond to deaths by suicide, said the associations head of public affairs, Carolyn Lochhead.

READ MORE:Stirling University finds global anti-suicide work omits children

While we understand that this can be challenging, we would encourage all public bodies, including universities, to think about how they record these deaths, to make sure they can offer appropriate support to the staff and others who are affected, and to help all of us break down the stigma associated with suicide.

Karen Wetherall, a researcher with the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow, also thought there would be benefits to universities recording student suicides. Primarily it would help institutions keep track of trends over time and identify if there are increases in suicide deaths, and hopefully use this information to improve student mental health services, she said.

She understood that universities would want to be sensitive to the need for privacy. Although this should not preclude the retrospective recording of this information, she argued.

Student deaths by suicide are likely to be very small, and therefore looking at individual risk factors could be quite challenging in retrospect, and possibly not particularly useful as they may be variable from person to person.

Every university in Scotland was asked under the freedom of information act whether they recorded the number of students who took their own lives. Fourteen out of 15 responded by saying they do not.

READ MORE:Edinburgh University recalls students from Hong Kong amid violence

The University of Glasgow stressed that it deliberately chose not to document student suicides. Its focus was on offering and delivering pastoral support to the bereaved family, it said.

Not speculating on the cause of death avoids causing additional distress to a family and the student community, the university argued.

Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh stated: On occasion we have been informed of student suicide. This has been on a strictly confidential basis and not expected to be released to third parties.

Other universities highlighted practicalities preventing them from knowing if student suicides have occurred.

In cases where there is a sudden or unexpected death, the police and procurator fiscal will be involved and they do not report the outcome of their investigations to the university, said the University of Edinburgh.

Although in some cases the university may be told the cause of death might have been suicide, we are not able to verify the information and we do not retain records of this.

The University of Edinburgh previously kept a record of student deaths believed to be the result of suicide. It stopped in December 2017 as the data was considered unreliable, incomplete and unable to support valid analysis. Other universities that said that they were not informed of suicides and hence didnt keep records included Strathclyde, West of Scotland, St Andrews, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Abertay.

READ MORE:Charity Action Against Stalking receives Scottish Government funding

Glasgow Caledonian University stated: At a particularly sensitive time for all concerned, the university is not in position to enquire into the reason for death.

A document provided by the university, however, suggested that staff might be made aware of some student suicides so that they could reflect upon them. After funeral services staff may ask all involved members to gather for a debriefing session, according to the universitys procedure on the death of a student.

Where the death has been by suicide, this meeting might serve as an opportunity to consider any lessons emerging from tragic circumstances.

The University of Stirling revealed that it had recorded four student suicides in the last three years. The university has been recording student death by suicide since 2017, it said.

A university spokesperson added: Every student death is a tragedy and our students wellbeing is our top priority. We, along with many other UK universities, record the number of student deaths reported to us and causes if known and verified - in line with good practice.

This assists with the development of support, in partnership with community mental health services, which are key elements of our evolving mental health and wellbeing strategy.

Professor David Gunnell, an epidemiologist and suicide expert at the University of Bristol, said: Keeping a record of suicide deaths, and possibly serious non-fatal suicide attempts, is sensible.

He accepted, though, that there were problems. Universities may not always be notified of the outcome of the inquest, he observed.

Some deaths that clinicians or researchers would judge to be likely suicides are not recorded as such at the inquest. Sometimes suicidal intent is impossible to determine.

If students end their lives outwith university terms, it may be more difficult for universities to find out, Gunnell said. The numbers were low so monitoring trends might not be the best approach, he argued.

He also suggested that universities might be concerned that keeping records could damage their reputations if the data was misconstrued. Maintaining records would enable people to make possibly simplistic and alarmist comparisons across institutes, he cautioned.

The only other publicly available data on student suicides in Scotland is from the National Records of Scotland. It said that there were 34 probable student suicides in 2018, though it does not distinguish between university students and those attending other higher education institutions.

POLICE Scotland and the procurator fiscals office declined to provide information on student suicides, saying that to do so would exceed the 600 cost limit on freedom of information requests.

According to the National Union of Students in Scotland, there has been a steep rise in students trying to access mental health counselling services, with only 60 per cent receiving support in 2016-17. The Scottish Government has provided 20 million to fund 80 counsellors.

But the unions president in Scotland, Liam McCabe, warned that there was still a postcode lottery of treatment services.

We will continue to push the Scottish Government and the wider sector to provide for students, ensuring the protection and improvement of their mental health is a central priority for all education institutions across Scotland, he said.

South of the border, the University of Bristol is one of the few universities to have had its student suicide record disclosed. It has been reported that up to 13 students may have taken their own lives since 2016.

That statistic prompted considerable media attention, including a BBC documentary, Dying for a Degree. It showed that one student, Natasha Abrahart, had asked for help from the student services but didnt receive adequate support before she killed herself. As a result the University of Bristol restructured its mental health counselling system. In October 2018 the university published a suicide prevention and response plan.

READ MORE:Dundee University chief suspended over 300k rent claims

The plan offers students the chance to opt into a scheme which gives the university permission to notify their parents if they are clearly experiencing and struggling with mental health problems.

An estimated 94 per cent of Bristol students consented to the new scheme when registering for the 2018-19 academic year.

The issue of student suicide records has also been raised in the United States. The Associated Press asked the hundred largest US universities for their annual suicide data. It found that 46 universities recorded suicides, while 43 did not. Nine provided limited or inconsistent data and two didnt provide statistics.

Dr Agustina Marconi, an epidemiologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is aiming to establish a new data base that will accurately record the cause of student deaths.

We will create a formal model to accurately document all student deaths at UW-Madison, she was quoted as saying. Our findings and the standards we create will benefit other universities.

One vocal advocate of suicides being recorded at US universities is the former senator for Oregon, Gordon Smith, whose son took his own life in 2003. If you dont collect the data, youre doing half the job, he said.

We need information in mental health if were actually going to be able to better tailor health and well-being.

You can contact the Samaritans by calling them for free from any phone on 116 123, emailing jo@samaritans.org or visiting http://www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch.

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All but one Scottish university fails to record suicide rates, The Ferret reveals - The National

On the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2020: Letter to the Finance Minister – Freedom Newspaper

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Honourable Minister and my Dear Senior Brother,

I salute you on the occasion of another budget season at our National Assembly chambers. Indeed I should congratulate you for having been able to finalise the proposed budget and tabling the draft estimates before our lawmakers. Truly it is a most enormous task to come up with a budget with all numbers adding up sensibly given the harsh macroeconomic realities on the ground.

Those expecting you and your team to work miracles in the budget are speaking from the position of lack of understanding of this complex matter. There is not much that can be done given the realities. I still remember a Finance Minister I worked with when I was head of budget. Upon his appointment, he dazzled President Jammeh and his Cabinet with flowery budgetary terms and promised the sky and the moon regarding the National budget. But when it came to the brass tacks, it was a different ball game; we presented him with the real budget constraints and he just leaned back in his chaired and sighed this is tough!

Coming to the substantive matter at hand, I must say that despite the realities of the constraints you are faced with, given the macro-fiscal antecedents, your budget could have been better and no one should be blamed but you. Since your disingenuous decision to increase salaries by 50 percent (against my advice) and the counterintuitive borrowing spree your government has been indulging in, our budget situation has become worse and therefore you should be cautioned by the National Assembly if they were to take my advice.

My initial reaction to the budget estimates for 2020 is as follows, as shared on my public figure page on Facebook. Quoting from your statement on the estimates I stated:

Finance Minister Mambury Njie has stated that the total revenue and grants in 2020 is projected at D24.47 billion, representing a reduction of 3% over 2019 figure of D25.2 billion

He said project grants are estimated to decrease from D9.9 billion in 2019 to D8.1 billion in 2020

Mr. Njie explained that total expenditure and net-lending is projected to increase from D28.825 billion in 2019 to D30.048 billion in 2020

A government that told her citizens that they should expect pledged donor funds of more than 1.4 billion Euro, is now admitting that donor support is actually falling

Total revenue and grants is falling but expenditure is rising

This is a classic case of mbojo mbojo economics!

#Gambia #Budget2020

As I stated earlier, I am well acquainted with the constraints you are dealing with; but the problem is that you are not helping yourself and the nation. How can you decide to increase your expenditure when you know that your income is dwindling?

The increase in the budget of the office of the President by D34 million is wrong. We all know the problem of dealing with that budget head knowing the difficulty of satisfying the political animal in that office. But the wisdom has always been to constrain the presidencyab initio, and then manage the situation as the budget implementation cycle unfolds.

By expanding expenditure for the presidency, you are simply pampering your boss for political patronage at the expense of the tax payer. The increase in salaries at the office of the President is also waste of resources. We know that the problem at that office is being compounded by further expanding the bureaucracy of an already dysfunctional office instead of taking the tough decision of redeploying or firingall the squares pages in round wholes.

I would surely recommend that the deputies at the Assembly cancel the proposed increase of expenditure under the office of the President to set a perfect example and send a message to the executive that the meagre resources of our tax payers cannot be used for mbumbai in these trying times. This is not a partisan matter and I believe our representatives at the Assembly should set an example on this one if they would expect us to take them seriously.

Let me hasten to add that my call for deputies to vote down the proposed increase in the budget for the Presidency is not based on any political motive. This is motivated by the fact that the executive has for long trodden on the poor tax payers for too long. Now that the tax payers have voted to have something better than what used to obtain in the past, we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of yesteryears. If the Mandinka saying that sila kotor kataa satay kotor leh to is anything g to go by, then you are leading this country back into the doldrums of fiscal obstinacy. We can do better than this so let us strive to make the future better, cleaner and brighter. This is our collective responsibility regardless of our political leanings.

Honourable Minister, do you remember the parable of the firewood seeker I told you in my letter to youOn the Audacity of Fiscal Profligacy? How can you be complaining that the load you are to carry is too heavy and yet you go ahead and increase the load? So you have the audacity to admit that Debt interest payment is projected to consume around 40 percent of governments tax revenues in 2020 compared to 26 percent in 2019, moving from D2.702 billion in 2019 to D4.648 billion in 2020 as a result of mounting debt stock but you are still borrowing? Certainly I did not need to hear you admit that salary payments are also rising because you decided to worsen an already bad situation.

It is worrisome that the lions share of our domestic revenue is being consumed by debt service and salaries (more than 70 percent from figures I am privy to). The rest is left for recurrent expenditure whiledevelopment expenditure is left as a residual standing at D2.7 billion, which will not be fully disbursed during the relevant fiscal year as usual. We already had a structural deficit but you have decided to worsen that and who are you going to blame for this?

Truly the budget you have presented has so many issues that do not align with good fiscal policy thinking but the damage was done before this particular budget season. I only hope that you and your team would work harder to make sure our public corporations bring in more money into the budget as dividend payment to help ameliorate our current debacle. With domestic borrowing rising in the coming fiscal year, surely interest rates will pick up and the crowding out of the private sector I wrote to you about in my previous missives is going to get worse.

And speaking about public corporations, honourable Minister, is it true that The Gambia National Petroleum Company, GNPC actually bought a plot of land in Banjul worth D17 million during your tenure as Managing Director?

Honourable Minister, while looking forward to your response on the above matters, I wish you good luck in your deliberation at a National Assembly that is clearly divided and ready for battle for myriad reasons. May the interest of the country reign supreme during the debate on the budget and may Allah continue to guide, bless and protect our dear nation, The Gambia.

Momodou Sabally

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On the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2020: Letter to the Finance Minister - Freedom Newspaper