Natur International Corp. and China-based Share International Sign Definitive Agreement for a Share Exchange – GlobeNewswire

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Nov. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Natur International Corp., (OTCQB: NTRU), a farm-to-functional producer of natural and organic plant-based foods and beverages including full and broad spectrum CBD (cannabinoid) and terpene-blended consumer products, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement for a share exchange with Share International. The combined company will be renamed Share Natur International Corporation.

The merger will put Natur International in the unique position of being able to collaborate directly with the Chinese government, and more importantly, via their executive board member, Li Zeng, who is also Chairman and CEO of Hualong (Chongqing) Ltd., a part of CQ News. Share Natur will become strategic partners with CQ News, the second largest media company in China. CQ News and the Share Natur offices are both located in the city of ChongQing, which has a population of 32 million people and is located within the ChongQing Province in Southwest China, which has over 280 million inhabitants.

The combination of Natur, a leading Amsterdam-based company in the emerging functional and consumer goods marketplace, and Share International, a global import/export powerhouse and a leader in direct-to-consumer digital distribution in China with disruptive propriety software, will together form a groundbreaking vertically integrated global company. The new Share Natur International is positioned to become the professional direct-to-consumer market leader in seed-to-sale for both hemp-derived and health and wellness-based, functional solutions catering to both the food and non-food FMCG segments across both Europe and Asia.

Share Natur is committed to the global revolution in functional foods and supplements. With the explosion of CBD and cannabinoid health and wellness products, Share Natur is capturing the momentum of this revolution, ignited in North America, and poised to sweep across Europe and China.

Michael Jones, Chief Strategy Officer of Natur International, stated, Our goal in China is simple, to bring the highest quality CBD and other functional products to the worlds largest population. We have an unparalleled international executive management team and are deploying scalable smart vending machines and our proprietary mobile technology commerce platform (SHARE), which is valued over US$6 million and has been developed over 4 years, to achieve our business goals in the Chinese marketplace.

With world-class non-executive board members such as Nina Storms, Boaz Wachtel, and rt. Hon. Mark Simmonds, supporting an accomplished management team, the mission of the combined companies is to disrupt traditional retail and marketplace distribution models by connecting functional products and lean distribution channels into the world's growing allegiance of demanding consumers.

Spencer Chesman, Co-CEO of Natur International, commented, This acquisition is highly strategic and instrumental for Natur as it provides us with a leading distribution platform for our growing portfolio of unique farm-to-functional products. Following North American trends, consumers have been migrating towards functional health and wellness products, with validated supply chains and direct-to-consumer business models. However, there is currently no professional group leading the breed to brand supply chain, and traditional retail and marketplace models do not meet the demands of todays audience. Share Natur aims to seize that leadership position with a unique vertically integrated framework securing up- and downstream proficiency and world-class collaborations that feature best in class capabilities in product, process, breeding, extraction and production in fruit, vegetable, floral and hemp science, hemp derived product, terpenes and medical cannabis.

Li Zeng, CEO of Share Natur China and executive board member of Share Natur International, added, The worldwide reach of Share International, which includes Europe and China, will make us a Eurasian market leader with cutting-edge operations offering a disruptive business model and route to market enabling huge global opportunities. By bringing together these two dynamic companies, we will focus on captivating the consumer with unique technologies and functional products.

Natur Internationals heritage has been to offer functional and CBD-infused brands of juices, shots, smoothies and snacks. The companys unique technologies and genetics offer farm-to-functional CBD and nutrigenomic solutions in the cosmetics and beauty, health and wellness, and food and beverage categories. Their leading-edge affiliate marketing driven direct-to-consumer sales platform ensures authentic products reach a diversity of consumers at the fairest prices.

About Natur International Corp.

Natur, founded in 2015 to market farm-to-functional natural and organic plant-based foods and beverages, expanded its product portfolio this past year to include full and broad spectrum CBD (cannabinoid) and terpene-blended consumer products. With the portfolio expansion, Natur is moving swiftly to place relevant consumer goods in multiple health and wellness categories including food and beverage, snacks, health and beauty, supplements, sports and animal care. Natur personalizes nutrition and strives to enhance ones quality of life by utilizing the forces of nature, driven by science.

Natur applies the most advanced and emerging hi-tech health methodologies as it markets nutritious, delicious and fresh-tasting products. By applying innovative technologies to the breeding of its plant sources, the extraction of its ingredients, and delicate shelf life extension, Natur ensures the peak of freshness, and supplies nutrient- dense products that are superior to competitors offerings. The company remains astute to relevant snackification trends and goes to market through Europes leading retailers, foodservice partners and online eCommerce subscription models. Visit the website at http://www.int.natur.eu.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. While management has based any forward-looking statements included in this release on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and uncertainties, some of which are described in the Risk Factors and in Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which can be found on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Contacts:

PCG Advisory Inc. Jeff Ramson+16468636893jramson@pcgadvisory.comOr Laurens Felderhof CMO, Natur+31639262609ir@natur.eu

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Natur International Corp. and China-based Share International Sign Definitive Agreement for a Share Exchange - GlobeNewswire

Adding insects to the menu offers a new link in our supply chain – inews

LifestyleFood and DrinkTwo billion people worldwide who chomp insects

Friday, 15th November 2019, 7:57 pm

At a market in Goma, a city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an old woman pulls the wings off live grasshoppers and tosses their wriggling bodies into a bucket. She collected the insects from the airport at 5am that morning, and will go back the next day. Grasshopper season has just begun.

Throughout November, dozens of grasshopper-hunters gather at Goma airport most mornings. It is one of the few buildings in the city with constant electricity, and the lights that mark the runway attract swarms of the bug. People stuff them into plastic bottles to take to market. Buyers season them with salt and eat them with rice or cassava.

Selling insects is more lucrative than selling fruit. A small pile of grasshoppers fetches the equivalent of 47p; Congos GDP per person is 436. Gathering them costs nothing but time. Caterpillars are more valuable still. Once they are boiled and salted, a large handful will sell for 90p the same price as 10 bananas.

Households in Kinshasa, the countrys sprawling capital, consume about 300g of caterpillars (about 80, if they are averagely juicy) a week.

Caterpillars are tasty

The Congolese have been eating bugs for centuries. People say caterpillars, in particular, are not just tasty but healthy. Our ancestors taught us to eat them to protect us from illnesses, says Leonie Lukambala, a seller. She believes they can even help people infected with HIV.

Caterpillars are packed with potassium, calcium and magnesium. A hundred grams of them will provide a person with the required daily intake of each of these minerals. They are richer in protein than beef or fish. A handful is packed with about 500 calories, more than are in a fast-food cheeseburger. But that is a boon, not a drawback, in a country that suffers from one of the worlds highest rates of malnutrition.

Others around the world should catch up. Bug farming takes up less land, requires less food and does less damage to the environment than meat or fish farming. Crickets, for example, need 12 times less food than cattle to produce the same amount of protein. Bugs can even be fed farm and kitchen waste, such as rotten fruit and vegetables.

Hunting insects is easy, too. Anyone can wander into the forest or, indeed, to the airport and gather caterpillars, ants and grasshoppers. But that can also lead to bad outcomes.

The wrong variety of insect can poison consumers. Mrs Lukambala says she knows which caterpillars to pick because her family has gathered them for generations (the safe kind have red heads and fall out of trees).

Your correspondent tried a sample: it was brittle and had a smoky taste. Add one more to the two billion people worldwide who chomp insects.

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Adding insects to the menu offers a new link in our supply chain - inews

WATCH: Romeo Langford injures ankle, heads to locker room – Celtics Wire

Boston Celtics guard Romeo Langford, only recently assigned to the Maine Red Claws for the second time this season, has injured his ankle against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants after attempting to block a shot and getting his legs tied up with Mad Ants guard Brian Bowen III just seconds into the second quarter.

Theres been no specific diagnosis on Langfords injury as of yet although the rookie appeared to roll his right ankle. Per an announcement from the Red Claws (h/t MassLives Tom Westerholm), Langford wont return to the game due to his ankle injury.

Langford exited the game with a plus-minus of -1 and missed both shots he took in the seven minutes he played.

Though talented and the situation unfortunate, Langford is quickly earning the label of injury-prone, having sustained a groin injury, spraining a knee and now likely spraining his ankle in the period of two months. These injuries are only setbacks to his development and integration with the team, which is why hes playing in the G League despite being a lottery pick (14th overall).

Looking ahead, theres a possibility that Langford will miss Maines contest against the Raptors 905 on Saturday as well.

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WATCH: Romeo Langford injures ankle, heads to locker room - Celtics Wire

Replica 1966 Ford GT40 MKII used in ?Ford v Ferrari? heads to auction – Autoblog

Ford v Ferrari opens to wide theatrical release on Friday, and your chance to buy one of the replica Ford GT40 race cars driven by Christian Bale, and several stunt drivers, in the film is fast approaching.

Mecum is offering a Ken Miles Hero Car, one of a pair of replicas of the Superperformance Ford GT40 MKII that Ken Miles drove at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, helping Ford vanquish Ferrari from the victory podium after years of dominating the race. It goes on auction at Kissimmee in January.

Both replicas were built at Rich MacDonalds Superperformance Facility in Irvine, California, with the other, which is not on auction, being a replica of Bruce McLarens black GT40 that technically crossed the finish line in first place that year. This one comes painted in Gulf Blue, with the dual white racing stripes running the length down the middle, red patches surrounding the headlights, a black interior and right-hand drive, and is said to have served for most of the close-up shots, given its scrupulous attention to detail well before 20th Century Fox agreed to use it in the film.

Its powered by a custom Roush V8 stroked to 511 cubic inches that makes 600 horsepower, with a performance fuel injection system and a rear bundle of snakes exhaust. Its mated to a five-speed manual transaxle and features an independent front suspension with trailing arms, unequal-length lateral arms, Bilstein shocks with H&R springs and an anti-roll bar, plus rack-and-pinion steering, vented disc brakes with Wilwood calipers and Shelby American Halibrand-style wheels with knock-off hubs. The roof is pressed steel, and the car has a unibody structure made of electro-galvanized steel. Seats are replicas of the originals but covered in Alcantara with silver rivets.

The car comes signed by Charlie Agapoo, who was Miles crew chief, and Miles son Peter Miles. Mecum expects the car to fetch $275k to $325k.

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Replica 1966 Ford GT40 MKII used in ?Ford v Ferrari? heads to auction - Autoblog

Riverheads heads back to state semifinals with sweep of Middlesex – The News Leader

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Abbey Eavers goes up for an attack in Riverheads Class 1 state quarterfinal win over Middlesex Saturday, November 16.(Photo: Patrick Hite/The News Leader)

GREENVILLE - For the second straight season, Riverheads beat Middlesex in the Class 1 state quarterfinals. And this year the Gladiators did it in straight sets.

The Red Pride won 25-13, 25-11, 25-16 to advance to the state semifinals Tuesday night. Riverheads will travel to Rappahannock, the Region A champion and a five-set winner over Rappahannock County Saturday.

"We really just wanted to keep the momentum up, the energy high and just not get into those unneeded holes," said Riverheads senior Abbey Eavers, who finished with 12 kills andfour digs.

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Outside of the first few moments of the match, Riverheads didn't find itself in many holes. Middlesex jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set before a kill by Sydney Phillips sparked a 9-0 run. Phillips had another kill in the run, while Eavers added a couple andSam Persinger added a pair of aces.

Middlesex never got closer than three the rest of the set.

Riverheads players celebrate beating Middlesex in the Class 1 state quarterfinals Saturday, November 16.(Photo: Patrick Hite/The News Leader)

Riverheads jumped on top 5-1 in the second set and never trailed. Then, after falling behind 12-11 in the final set, Riverheads went on a 5-0 run with help from a Gracie Fulton kill, and never looked back.

Dayton Moore finished with 26 assists. Phillips had six kills and eight digs in the win.

"I think it was very important to us, not just me, but as a team, we all worked super hard for this and we really wanted to go back," Phillips said of reaching the semifinals.

More: PHOTOS: Riverheads volleyball advances to state semifinals

Riverheads still has another step left before equalling last year's team, and needs two more wins to go a step beyond what Riverheads volleyball did in 2018. Last season the Gladiators reachedthe state championship match before coming up short of the title.

"We just want to redeem ourselves," Riverheads coach Nyssa Stapleton said. "We want to get back to where we were and then just prove that we can play a lot better than we did last year."

Eavers said they knew a little about Middlesex after playing them last year. In that match, Riverheads won in four sets. The Gladiatorstook that knowledge from a year ago into Saturday's match.

"And then played smart around what we knew they had," Eaverssaid

Riverheads players celebrate an ace in the Class 1 state quarterfinal win over Middlesex Saturday, November 16.(Photo: Patrick Hite/The News Leader)

Middlesex coach Brian Walton noticed a few differences between the Riverheads team he saw this year and the one they lost to last season.

"The looked more scrappy," he said. "Still, No. 5 [Eavers] is the go-to. We knew that coming in and still couldn't do much with it ... [Riverheads] was definitely the better team than we were today."

More: Staunton's Jennifer Williams finding her place with Virginia Tech volleyball

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Riverheads heads back to state semifinals with sweep of Middlesex - The News Leader

Ferne McCann looks all partied out as she heads home after a girly night out at celebrity hotspot – The Sun

FERNE McCann looked all partied out as she painted the town red with some girl friends last night.

The former Towie star, 29, giggled and flashed a peace sign at the camera after leaving London's swanky Ned Hotel where she was celebrating a pal's birthday party.

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Ferne looked bleary-eyed as she wrapped up in a furry coat and strutted in knee-high leather boots.

The fun night out comes after Ferne revealed she's started dating an old friend - and wants to have a sibling for daughter Sunday.

The reality star admitted she really likes the mystery man, but is keen not to put too much pressure on it.

Speaking to The Sun Online at the launch of the new Chiquitos edible insects range she told us: So my love life is definitely looking promising.

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"Obviously you saw on First Time Mum I was talking to five different guys and youll see throughout the series how that pans out.

But there is one guy that Ive known for ages and I really like him.

"I always feel when I meet someone and speak about it publicly, Ill do an interview a few months down the line saying: 'Yeah it didn't work out.'

"So I dont want to put too much pressure on it, but there is definitely someone who has caught my eye.

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Ferne, who is currently appearing in First Time Mum on ITVBe, is already looking forward to expanding her family, saying: "Id love to have more children."

She had recently been on a few dates with a Spanish man she met on celebrity dating app Raya but has moved on and is now seeing the mystery man from England.

However, Ferne said she was blocked from the app for forgetting her password, joking: You never know if it all works out with this guy I might not need it any more."

The reality star is mum to two-year-old daughter Sunday, her daughter with Arthur Collins, who was jailed for carrying out a horrific acid attack in 2017.

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Her best friend Danielle Armstrong has recently also announced she is pregnant.

Ferne said: She is going to be an amazing mum and she needs no advice from me."

It seems like Ferne may be following in Danielle's footsteps as her baby daddy was also a long-time friend of the Towie actress.

Danielle and pal of 22 years Tom, who went on to fall in love, have been close with Ferne for years.

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Meanwhile, I'm A Celeb 2015 star Ferne said she can't wait for the new series of the jungle show and has offered her advice to the upcoming stars.

She said: I am so excited for this year. Just embrace it and keep busy because boredom was what got me. So keep busy and make loads of friends.

She added: I would go back in a heartbeat - I absolutely loved it."

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Ferne McCann looks all partied out as she heads home after a girly night out at celebrity hotspot - The Sun

For Every New Regulation, Cull Ten: Jokowi Tells Ministers and Regional Heads – Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi"Widodo has asked regional governments to stop issuingtoo many localregulations and told his ministries to cull at least ten regulations before issuing a new one to cut bureaucratic red tapes andimprovethe country's competitiveness.

The president has already made regulatory reform one of his mainprioritiesin his second term. Jokowi was even willing to build a wide coalition in the cabinet to ensure support in the House of Representatives.

Now the president is pressuring theregional heads to follow his directive. Due to Indonesia's regional autonomy laws, regional leaders are immenselypowerful andtheir actions do notalways fall into line with central government policies.

"Wealready have toomany regulations. We need to entangle them. If every little thing needs a specific regulation, we'd always be slow totake action oradapt to changes,"Jokowi told hundreds of regional heads in a national coordination meeting on Wednesday.

Jokowi promised a sevenpercent growth whenhe became president in 2014 but the Indonesianeconomy has only been able to expand by around 5 percent annually since then.

Red tapes remain one of the main challenges inboostinginvestment,which is why the presidentis convinced simplifying them isthe key for the pace of growth he wants.

The president told his ministers to lead by example and push for regulatory reforms in their own ministries.

"If a minister wants to issueone new regulation, he or she must remove ten regulations first, not just two. Having too many regulations makes things very confusing," Jokowi said.

He said he took hisinspiration from a meeting with the United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross who said the US was now trading one new regulation with two old ones to simplify bureaucracy.

Jokowi saidflexibility and speed in the bureaucracy are very important for Indonesia. All countries are heading in that direction.

"Whoever is faster, wins. Everyone take note. Wemust understand and fix our own problems," Jokowi said.

Police Under Scrutiny

The president also promised he woulddismisslaw enforcement officials who inhibit innovations.

In April, police arrested a farmer who sold a variety of rice seeds he cultivated from a subsidized seed provided by Jokowi's campaign team.

The farmer's fault was that he did not secure the proper paperwork before selling the seeds.

While not specifically referring to the case, the president said he did not want to see a similar incident in the future.

"Never come between innovation andprogress inthis country," he said.

"I will not tolerate law enforcement officials who try to inhibit innovation orfrighten and blackmail bureaucrats, officialsand business people. I will find out," Jokowi said.

If there was no malicious intent, do not go about and looking for one, the president said."If there are potential legal issues, remind them before they go on with their project,usea preventive approach. Do not wait for them[to violate the law], and then give them troubles," Jokowi said.Regional SupportAbdullah Azwar Anas, the chairman of the Association of Regional Governments (Apkasi), welcomed the president's direction."The president has told us what his priorities are. All theregional heads will follow them," Azwarsaid onthe sidelines of the meeting in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday.

"Maybe a meetinglike this with the president shouldbe held every three months,"Azwar said."Witha forum like this, ministers won'thave tomeet us individually anymore, since everyone isclear on what general directionthe government is heading to. Organizing meetings with each ministry is a bighassle for us,"he said.

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For Every New Regulation, Cull Ten: Jokowi Tells Ministers and Regional Heads - Jakarta Globe

Are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the Real-Life Inspiration of a Popular Netflix Movie? – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

A normal girl meets a prince by chance. They fall in love, and despite the fact that she doesnt fit in with the royal family, they get married. They live happily ever after. Its a nice story, but for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, its real life.

We know that someday there will be a lot of movies and books dedicated to Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan. In the future, well need stories about their lives, their relationships, and more importantly, about all the great work that theyre doing. It might surprise some fans to learn that there may already be a movie out there about the royal couple.

As far as we know, Duchess Meghan and Princess Harry havent signed off on the movie that seems to follow their lives. The Netflix film does have some striking similarities to the royal couple, however. So much so that we think the creators of the movies are drawing from the real royal experience for inspiration.

There are 3 films in the series:A Christmas Prince,A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding,andA Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby.The first movie in the series was released on Netflix in the fall of 2017, and since then theyve released a new Christmas Prince movie every year just in time for the holiday season.

Fans notice some striking similarities between the story on the Christmas Prince and the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs life. Are the two timelines really that similar?

The way the couple in the movie meets is very different from how Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry met in real life. In the movie, a young reporter, Amber, sets off to write an expos on the life of Prince Richard. The prince has a reputation as a playboy, which makes him a juicy subject for Amber. To get close to the prince, Amber poses as a tutor. Obviously they fall in love, and end up together.

That story is not at all similar to how Meghan and Harry met. The real royal couple met through friends, and there was no deception on the duchess part.

Of course, she was a famous actress at the time. She already operated in the same social circle as Prince Harry, so she didnt need to fake anything.

Even though the story of how the characters met doesnt match up with how the real royal couple did, there are still plenty of similarities between real life and the movies. In 2018, Amber and Prince Richard got married inA Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding.Thats the same year Prince Harry and Markle tied the knot.

This year, Netflix has releasedA Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby,just months after the real royal baby, Archie, was born.

There are other clues that the creators are taking inspiration from Duchess Meghans real life for the movies. For example, Markle and Amber are both American. Neither come from royal blood.

It also turns out that Prince Richard was adopted, which may be inspired by Prince Harry. Even though Prince Harry wasnt adopted, the creators of the movie may be drawing from some ugly rumors about the real-life prince.

Since Prince Harry was a baby, the tabloids have speculated that Prince Charles might not be his real father. Prince Harrys red hair has led some to believe he is not Prince Charles son, even though Princess Diana comes from a family of redheads.

Princess Diana had an affair with a riding instructor for five years who happened to have red hair, but that was a coincidence. Prince Harry was already born by the time she met him.

Were not sure if Netflix is planning a fourth Christmas Prince movie, but the royal couple has certainly given them enough material to work with.

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Are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the Real-Life Inspiration of a Popular Netflix Movie? - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Red Cup Betting Guide: Rebels look for biggest upset of the year – Red Cup Rebellion

Opening up my banking app brought some very saddening and realistic news - last weeks picks were absolute garbage.

Thats on me, I got a little humbled going 1-3 last week for the first time in months dropping my record to 24-16 on the year. Weve got a couple futures wins already locked in as well, so were still teetering on fine and research ways to get a new identity in my opinion.

First off, huge tip of the hat to Ole Miss for proving me wrong and blasting New Mexico State and easily covering 28.5 points last week. Youre better men than me, because in your position, I would have probably mailed it in that week and relied on my talent.

Boston College literally gave away the game in the fourth quarter to Florida State and were an absolute mess only one week after they nearly broke the scoreboard on the road at Syracuse. Maybe its time to talk about the Noles making a late season surge in the wake of the Willie Taggart firing?

Ohio State predictably blasted Maryland (73-14), but I predicted an under 65 point total only to be stymied by a Buckeye offense that never let up. Plus the Terps made it double digits, which was the biggest surprise to me in this miss.

We did hit on the over in the Clemson-NC State game as the Tigers throttled the Wolfpack, so it was some solace on Saturday to salvage the week.

Now we look ahead to a slate of games tomorrow where rivalry games start to rear its ugly head. Auburn-Georgia, Michigan-Michigan St., and our Magnolia Bowl highlight week 12 picks - an over, an under, a moneyline and a spread. Lets get to the picks.

Both of these teams are averaging 30 points or more per game, though there are some blowout wins included in that statistic. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has to feel the pressure mounting this season with Georgia and Alabama left with a potential to finish 8-4 after a strong start. I think Malzahn uses every play in the playbook this week to get a few touchdowns against Georgia. The Bulldogs meanwhile know they just need to win out, and theyre in the College Football Playoff again. This game is going to be a classic, and Id put it somewhere in that 28-24 kind of range and hitting the over.

The Tigers have one of the best offenses in the country, averaging 44 points per game, while the Rebels are middling around 24 points per game. Lets be real here, a lot of Ole Miss fans would hold their heads high with a 45-24 loss tomorrow to LSU. I think the Rebel coaching staff is going to look to shorten this game however possible, and the seniors on defense are going to step up and play lights out. Ole Miss has bowl eligibility on the line, and this game will be lower scoring than expected, bet the under.

You didnt know this was a huge rivalry game? The Battle for Highway 82?!? I mean, I guess it is a proximity or conference based rivalry that is super lopsided (Bama 81-18-3 overall) with the Tide owning an 11 game winning streak. I dont see that trend changing this year, but I also feel like Alabama will come in ready to show last weeks loss to LSU doesnt change the fact they are wanting another shot at a title. Crimson Tide by three touchdowns doesnt seem like a crazy spread this week, so bet the Tide to cover.

I dont like Jim Harbaugh or the Wolverines, but they are clearly the better team here though the 14-point spread is maybe a little too fat for me to get in on that action. Shea Patterson kind of looks like a pretty good quarterback, and Mark Dantonio is reportedly slipping onto the hot seat this season with a 4-5 record and a four game losing streak going into this rivalry game. The Spartans may be at risk of missing the postseason for the first time since 2016, and I think the Wolverines push them closer to it getting a win on Saturday.

So what rivalry game do you see causing absolute chaos on Saturday? What locks do you have for this week? Comment or tweet @redcuprebellion with your gambling picks.

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Red Cup Betting Guide: Rebels look for biggest upset of the year - Red Cup Rebellion

Wintry weather puts crimp on bird watching at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge – NewYorkUpstate.com

SAVANNAH, N.Y. This past weeks snow and frigid temperatures put a crimp on the bird watching scene at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.

Normally this time of year, the refuge is teeming with large numbers of migrating waterfowl including ring-necked ducks, redheads, scaups, canvasbacks, and a full array of dabbling ducks such as wigeons and gadwalls.

But then the cold snap hit.

Currently, the refuges shallow marshes are frozen over, which prompted many of the ducks to leave for warmer climes. The few ducks sticking around are taking advantage of the open water in the adjacent Cayuga-Seneca Canal and Cayuga Lake, which is just south of the refuge, according to Linda Ziemba, wildlife biologist at the refuge.

If we have a thaw, theres a good chance the numbers of ducks at the refuge will go up again, she said.

Visitors to the refuge, however, can still see bald eagles, which hang around all winter -- plus other raptors.

The emergent marsh wetlands with overhanging mature trees within and adjacent to the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge provide a home for 12 pairs of nesting bald eagles, up from nine in 2018, Ziemba said. In both 2018 and 2019, eagles at the refuge successfully fledged 15 young.

We are thankful to the following dedicated volunteers - Jackie Bakker, Rick Greene, Linda Benedict, and Pete Saracino, who monitored eagle nests this year and provided information on their progress to refuge staff and visitors as well as the NYSDEC.

Thursday, a visitor to the refuge spotted a golden eagle along the refuges Wildlife Drive, Ziemba added. Visitors can also see significant numbers of northern harrier, she added.

One species of bird sandhill cranes -- are still at the refuge in appreciable numbers. A volunteer spotted 70 the other day, Ziemba said.

With the frozen marshes, she said, there are lots of visible muskrat houses, which are being monitored by the bald eagles for a meal.

Its also a good time to look for mink running across Wildlife Drive or along the side of a marsh, she said.

And after a fresh snow, its a good time to come out and look for tracks.

Wildlife Drive, which runs along the main marsh at the refuge, will be closed to visitors after Nov. 30. It will reopen April 1.

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Wintry weather puts crimp on bird watching at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge - NewYorkUpstate.com

Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter turn heads at The Crown premiere – BreakingNews.ie

Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter were both elegant in black as they appeared at the premiere of the third series of The Crown.

The English actresses are both newcomers to the Netflix show, with Colman taking over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from Claire Foy and Bonham Carter playing Princess Margaret.Olivia Colman (Ian West/PA)

Colman was the picture of sophistication as she arrived at the Curzon Mayfair in a black fishtail gown with a bright green bag in her hand.

The actress completed her chic look with simple make-up and long earrings.Helena Bonham Carter (Ian West/PA)

Bonham Carter also wowed the crowd in her quirky tulle dress, which featured sections of beige and pale blue feathers.Erin Doherty (Ian West/PA)

Erin Doherty, who stars as Princess Anne, braved the chill in a dramatic red dress with spaghetti straps.Gillian Anderson (Ian West/PA)

Gillian Anderson looked cosy in a dark blue velvet dress, with a snuggly scarf around her neck.

The actress will play Margaret Thatcher in the fourth series of the programme, which is currently in production.

Tobias Menzies, who plays Prince Philip, and Josh OConnor, who portrays Prince Charles, were also at the screening.

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Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter turn heads at The Crown premiere - BreakingNews.ie

In the long run, we must live – Economic Times

By Hardayal Singh

John Maynard Keynes did a great disservice to future generations when he said that in the long run, we are all dead. Inadvertently, he may have shifted the discourse in public policy towards ad hocism at the expense of long-term outcomes. The consequence of this shift, particularly in India, has been disastrous.

The recent health emergency in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) is one manifestation of such systemic myopia. One of the origins of this crisis springs from surplus rice produced in Haryana and Punjab during the kharif (autumn) season.

Currently, the buffer stock is 27.2 million tonnes against a national requirement of 10.25 million tonnes. Rice is a water guzzler. Production of one tonne of rice requires nearly 7,000 tonnes of water. So, if GoI is compelled to export 12 million tonnesof rice out of its current surplus, it is actually exporting 84 billion tonnes of water. The only reason farmers produce this crop is because they are supplied free water and electricity, and are assured of a minimum support price (MSP).

To conserve scarce groundwater resources, farmers in these two states are statutorily prevented from planting paddy till mid-June every year. So, they can harvest rice only in late October-early November.

The only way they can prepare their fields for the next rabi planting in November is to burn the stubble emanating from the earlier crop.

When wind speeds are low, this creates a poisonous smog. Beyond band-aid solutions, the only way out is to create incentives to nudge farmers away from rice towards crops such as fruit, vegetables and maize. Besides saving scarce water, this would reduce air pollution in Delhi-NCR by about 30%. Augmenting maize production would also help India cope with its ethanol scarcity for fuel purposes.

In the 1980s, GoI resorted to reckless borrowing to finance development. As a result, the combined fiscal deficit of the central and state governments climbed from 6.3% of GDP in FY1982 to 9.4% of GDP in FY1991. By that time, a full-fledged forex crisis broke out, since shortterm external commercial borrowings rose to 146.5% of forex reserves. Timely loans of about $3.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and friendly governments like Japan and Germany, prevented the economy from plunging into chaos.

Called upon to carry out economic reforms by IMF, GoI did the barest minimum required of it. It reformed the consumer markets. But out of fear of a popular backlash, it failed to reform the public sector, education sector and product (land, labour and capital) markets. The consequences of this are being felt even today.

Internationally, too, most governments often do what is expedient at the cost of what is right. In the future, the economic and social costs of such failures are likely to be much greater. As new advances in molecular biology, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, IT and Internet of Things (IoT) shape our lives, the rate of technological and social change will be much faster. As a result, considerable expertise will be required to anticipate and deal with the problems thrown up by a new world. Unemployment will assume anew dimension with increasingautomation. Growth alone will not be able to create jobs. People will have to update their skills through their lives to remain relevant.

Would it not be better if we frame policies that anticipate long-term developments, rather than react to crises when they descend on us? In the case of north Indian cities and towns, seasonally each year.

The writer was chief commissioner, income-tax

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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In the long run, we must live - Economic Times

Gene Editing Tool was Modified to Improve Therapies for HIV – Science Times

(Photo : pexels)

The researchers from the City of Hope may have found a way to sharpen the cheapest, fastest, and most accurate gene-editing tool called the CRISPR-Cas9 so that it can successfully cut out undesirable genetic information. This cutting ability was improved so that one day, experts can fast-trackpotential therapiesfor sickle cell disease, HIV, and other immune conditions.

What is the CRISPR-Cas9 design

Tristan Scott, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a staff research scientist at City of Hope's Center for Gene Therapy, said that the CRISPR-Cas9 design might be the difference between trying to cut a rib eye steak with a butter knife versus cutting it with a steak knife. Other scientists have tried to improve CRISPR cutting through chemical modifications, but that is an expensive process, and it is like diamond-coating a blade. Scientists have designed a better pair of scissors that people can buy easily anywhere.

Thestudythat was done by Dr. Scott and his team was published in Scientific Reports, and it is the first time scientists have systematically gone through the guide RNA sequence to change it and to improve CRISPR-Cas9 technology. A patent application was filed at The Kevin Morris Lab at City of Hope, claiming this improved CRISPR-Cas9 design, which could result in a doubling of activity, but the exact amount was dependent on the target site.

Theeffects of this CRISPR-Cas9 designis downstream as it has more "clean" results in mouse model and cell experiments aimed at making new therapies because the target that was knocked out was more successfully removed. More results could quicken new therapies from the laboratory to patients' bedsides. The therapeutic product should have successful cuts, which could mean that an improved therapy is on the way, but further research is still needed. The exact ways and process of why this change to the CRISPR system improves gene editing still needs to be determined.

Experiments through nanotechnology

The researchers of the study experimented on cells by making certain changes to the tracrRNA or trans-activatingCRISPR RNAwhich they got from Streptococcuspyogenesbacteria, and it is a part of the components that are used to guide the genetic scissors, also known as Cas 9, to the right gene sequence. StreptococcuspyogenesCas9 is the most widely used genetic scissor. Dr. Scott and his team used an RNA protein system because it gives an increase of activity that disappears about 12 hours after being introduced into the cell, which means that there is a decreased chance of accidentally editing the human genelater after the fix has been made.

Scientists found that the modified tracrRNA improved the overall silencing of certain genes by increasing desirable mutations in the genetic material. In this study, the target was an essential component of HIV's lifecycle, the protein CCR5 on immune CD4+ T-cellsa current target in clinical trials seeking to re-create a person's immune system so they can be resistant to HIV. The modified tracrRNA had improved the overall cutting at this site and inactivation of CCR5, and hopefully, that will translate into better protection for the immune system.

The new tracrRNA design is better at improving the activity at the HBB gene and the BCL11A site. The HBB gene, which is responsible for producing beta-globin that is located inside red blood cells, and BCL11A, which may function as a leukemia disease gene, are targeted by the tracrRNA in order to make different therapies for HIV, which is known as a blood disease that does not have any known cure yet.

Dr. Scott stated that if the line of research remains consistent, and they can dependably sharpen the genetic scissor, the result could eventually be new or improved genetic therapies. He also said that his team is at the beginning of a long scientific process.

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Gene Editing Tool was Modified to Improve Therapies for HIV - Science Times

Carbon Fibre Application to Biomaterials Market size with Global Investment and analysis of Leading business players : ACS Material, eSpin…

Carbon Fibre Application to Biomaterials Market with Key Business Factors and Insights

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Carbon Fibre Application to Biomaterials Market size with Global Investment and analysis of Leading business players : ACS Material, eSpin...

Dassault Systmes’ Science in The Age of Experience Event Brings Together Some of the Best and – ARC Viewpoints

Summary

Dassault Systmes typically holds its annual Science in The Age of Experience in the Boston area. This is both because the companys North American headquarters is in Waltham, Mass. and because Boston is a major global center of education, technology, and science. This years conference was held at the Harvard Medical School, a very appropriate forum for an event that would feature how science affects so many aspects of our lives.

The focus of this years event focused on three areas: science for medical, life sciences, and bionics; science for mitigating climate change; and scientific innovation for the future. The latter included some forecasts and predictions on what we can expect to make significant impacts on society at large.

The speakers included a very distinguished list of scientists whose fields included theoretical physics, human body bionics, computer science (quantum computing), carbon-capture technologies, advanced molecular chemistry for batteries, and material science for new product innovation.

Bernard Charles, Vice Chairman and CEO of Dassault Systmes introduced the event. Mr. Charles said that the company has been transforming from being primarily a product lifecycle management (PLM)-focused company to a science-focused company for some time now. Today, Dassault Systmes multiple 3DS brands are dedicated to scientific research and product development. The companys advanced 3D simulation tools like SIMULIA, BIOVIA, and GEOVIA were all represented in the various areas of scientific research presented at the event. Clearly, Bernard is saying that simulation is at the heart of everything 3DS is doing: simulation across multiple spectrums of the physical world is the implementation of the 3DEXPERIENCE.

The keynote speaker for the first day was Lisa Randall, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Harvard University. Dr. Randall is an expert on the origins of the universe, gravitational waves, and dark matter. She focused on how 3D simulation tools help physicists simulate cosmological events on the far edges of the known universe to better understand how the universe was formed. She has made ground-breaking discoveries in gravitational waves and dark matter formed from the collision of gigantic black holes in the very beginning of the universe billions of years ago.

Dr. Randall presented an interesting take on how theoretical physicists make discoveries about the known universe. She noted that scale matters when probing the origins of the universe and that humans can lose the perspective of just how enormous the ever-expanding universe is from our tiny island earth. As a physicist, Dr. Randall maintains that what one observes depends on where you are and intuition is guided by what we can observe. She points out that humans have only discovered a very rudimentary part of the laws of physics and what we have yet to discover will change humankind.

Hugh Herr, Professor of Robotics and Human Bionics from MIT research labs, presented the second keynote on The New Era of Extreme Bionics. Dr. Herr, who as a young man had both legs amputated below the knee due to severe frostbite suffered in high altitude climbing, walked briskly onto the stage on his bionic legs. These were his own invention and development based on advanced robotics and direct feedback from surrounding muscles using computerized sensors. His movements were completely natural and human like without any sign of a mechanized effect while walking, jumping, or other natural movements.

Using SOLIDWORKS, Dr. Herr developed a new robotic, computerized prosthesis. This is attached to living muscle that works from direct brain commands. This enables the wearer to use his or her own natural brain sensory reactions to control movements in the foot and leg protheses. He prototyped the first prosthesis on a friend that lost a leg in a climbing accident. This person was able to return to the actual wall where he fell and finish the climb with his bionic leg. Dr. Herr received a standing ovation from the audience at the conclusion of his presentation.

There were presentations from researchers from the pharma and life sciences industries demonstrating how they use 3DS BIOVIA molecular compounding simulation to develop new drugs in a matter of months, rather than years.

Dr. Jennifer Wilcox, Professor of Physical Chemistry at Worchester Polytech presented on the latest technology used to capture CO2 from the air and from industries. She illustrated a very quantified view of the technology of CO2 capture, multiple forms of storing and using the CO2, and the cost of the various processes.

Dr. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist, co-founder of string theory, renowned futurist, and author of many books on the subject presented on the future of science and made several scientific forecasts. Dr. Kaku presented a look beyond the current third wave of technology (age of digitalization) and looked at the fourth and fifth waves of the future. The fourth wave will be the molecular wave spawned by pervasive use of AI, nanotechnology, and simulation at the molecular level. The fifth wave will be the physical world (physics) at the atomic level where we will finally realize fusion-powered energy and move to pervasive quantum computing. Also in the fifth wave, the Internet as we know it will be replaced by the Brain Net, where humans will be connected at the level of thought and emotions.

At the conclusion of the presentations, the attendees were bused to the MIT research and development labs for a tour of current projects and technologies being developed. Neil Gershfeld, MIT director of the labs, conducted our group through the Atoms and Bits labs where MIT graduate research fellows are conducting some very fascinating and interesting projects. The labs are referred to as the "maker labs" because projects reflect research focused on real-world applications. The labs are funded by a combination of industry, academia, and government.

We saw several nanotechnology projects. One focused on using origami mathematics to develop ultra-lightweight and super-strong folded structures for the aerospace industry. These experimental structures enabled the design of new aerodynamically adaptable wings that could change shape in flight to optimize aerodynamics. Other projects were around 3D printing for cellular-level nanostructures. Another was the development of small builder-bots that were a part of the structures that they built autonomously, piece by piece.

The Science in The Age of Experience event by Dassault Systmes has become an annual gathering of some of the best and brightest scientists and researchers in their respective fields. They present their discoveries, inventions and scientific breakthroughs and an examination of some of the latest scientific achievements that impact industry, business, and society at large. This conference showcases several of the 3DS brands that enable scientists and researchers to simulate, discover, and develop cutting edge processes, products, and technologies, and brings together some of the best scientists in their fields, enabling Dassault Systmes to acknowledge and applaud their singular achievements.

ARC Advisory Group clients can view the complete report at ARC Client Portal

If you would like to buy this report or obtain information about how to become a client, please Contact Us

Keywords: Scientific Innovation, SIMULIA, SOLIDWORKS, BIOVIA, GEOVIA, Simulation, Bionics, Life Sciences, Future of Science, Climate Change, ARC Advisory Group.

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Dassault Systmes' Science in The Age of Experience Event Brings Together Some of the Best and - ARC Viewpoints

A Curator Boyfriend is the Hottest Accessory for 2020 – ELLE.com

With JLaws nuptials to art-world cutie Cooke Maroney behind her, and the recent announcement of Jenny Slates engagement to Ben Shattuck, a new boyfriend paradigm has emerged, inspiring us all to spend more time gallery hopping, and less time at the bars.

Unlike archetypes of boyfriends past the Investment Banker, the Silicon Valley Tech Guy, the Artist/Freelance Videographer/Professional Plant Owner the Curator is a breath of fresh air, presenting a bounty of attractive qualities that challenge existing dating-pool stereotypes.

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The Curator is endowed with qualities that include, but are not limited to: the business savvy to navigate the high-stakes art market, enough sensitivity to appreciate the latest Marina Abromovic performance piece, and the occasional invite to party on a boat with Stavros Niarchos. Theyre well-read, worldly and engaged in shaping critical dialogues of our times. The kind of guy you can discuss post-humanism with over pizza, who comments on the decor while ordering you a cab but letting you split the bill.

Were about to enter a new decade, and being self-aware and socially conscious has never been more attractive. Someone who can point to a favorite Louise Bourgeois sculpture or be brought to tears looking at an El Anatsui assemblage is not only in touch with his emotions but also cares about wider social, geopolitical and cultural issues. A Curator may still ghost you, but its probably because hes doing something legitimately interesting with his time, like scouting in the foothills of the Himalayas.

A Curator may still ghost you, but its probably because hes doing something legitimately interesting with his time, like scouting in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Cassidy Sparrow

Yes, many guys who are not Curators also fit this description: Artists/Musicians, Architects, Professors, Writers, Furniture Makers, Doctors, Generally Cool Sensitive Dudes. But unlike the Curator, these careers have the potential to be solitary and isolating.

Getty Images

A Curator enjoys engaging with people on a daily basis resulting in a much more social (read: fun! well-adjusted!) dating prospect.

Ultimately, a Curators heightened attunement to art has a trickle down effect into what is the most differentiating and attractive quality of all taste. Good taste is what most likely allowed a 21-year-old Vito Schnabel (the OG Cute Curator of the early 00s) to date the much older Demi Moore, later Heidi Klum, and most recently Amber Heard. Good taste doesnt listen to Chris Brown, leave half-drunken six packs around your apartment or wear bad shoes. Sorry to that man, and every guy who does this.

Marco Secchi

Venturelli

And ok, yeah - did we mention theyre just hot?

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A Curator Boyfriend is the Hottest Accessory for 2020 - ELLE.com

Another Europe is Possible – Resilience

As harsh austerity and xenophobic nationalism fester in Europe, Yanis Varoufakis discusses his antidote with Tellus Senior Fellow Allen White.

What inspired your career trajectory from academic economist to prominent supranational activist?

I went into politics because of the financial crisis of 2008. Had financial capitalism not imploded, I would have happily continued my quite obscure academic work at some university. The chain reaction of economic crises, financial bailouts, and the rise of what I call the Nationalist International that almost broke financial capitalism, and brought Greece severe hardship, had a profound impact on me.

In the early to mid-2000s, I was beginning to feel that a crash was approaching. I could see that global financial imbalances were growing exponentially and that our generation or the next would be hampered by a systemic crisis.

I left my cocoon writing about mathematical economics and moved from Sydney to Athens at the time Greece was becoming insolvent. I began writing about the current situation and appearing on TV, warning against covering up insolvency with bailouts. Through these appearances as well as writing about governments role in averting the impending crisis, I drifted into politics.

The second transition, from government to activism, was much simpler. Restructuring Greeces debt was my top priority as Minister of Finance. The moment the Prime Minister surrendered to the austerity demands of the European Commission and accepted another loan without debt restructuring, resignation became the easiest decision of my life. Once I resigned, I was back in the streets, theaters, and town hall meetings setting up the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25). I saw activism as the best way to confront the political and banking establishment. Four years later, in July 2019, our Greek branch, entitled MeRA25, entered Parliament with nine MPs. The fight continues.

You are one of the sharpest critics of neoliberalism today. How would you define neoliberalism?

To begin, let me challenge the term neoliberal. The use of the term in relation to West-Soviet relations was just a cloak under which to hide libertarian industrial feudalism, but neoliberalism has as much to do with financialized capital post-1970s as it does with Cold War geopolitical relations. Similarlyand I know this is a controversial statementtheres nothing neoliberal about the world we live in today. It is neither new in the sense of neo nor liberal in the sense of fostering democratic values. Look at what has been happening in Europe over the last decade. Gigantic bank bailouts are funded through taxation. There is nothing really neoliberal about the use of such vast subsidies from the public to finance capitalists.

Even under the government of Margaret Thatcher in the UK from 1979 to 1990, the height of so-called neoliberalism in the UK, the British state grew rapidly, becoming bigger, more powerful, and more authoritarian than ever. We witnessed a state that was weaponized on behalf of the City of London to the benefit of a very small segment of the population. I dont think we should concede the term neoliberalism to the brutish establishment using state power to redistribute wealth from the haves to the have-nots.

How has this brutish establishment become so dominant in shaping the global order?

The first two decades after World War II were the Golden Era of capitalism for a very simple reason: Franklin Roosevelts New Deal was projected onto the rest of the West under the Bretton Woods system. It was a remarkable, though imperfect, system, a kind of enlightenment without socialism. Structures to restrain financial capital were put into place. Banks could not do as they pleased; thats why bankers hated the Bretton Woods system. Recall that Roosevelt banned bankers from attending the Bretton Woods conference and subjected them to reserve controls and rules against shifting money across international borders.

The result of the Bretton Woods system was a remarkable reduction in inequality concurrent with steady growth, low unemployment, and next to zero inflation. The system was predicated upon the USs status as a surplus country, recycling wealth through Europe and Japan in a variety of ways. By the end of the 1960s, however, the Bretton Woods system proved unsustainable. The US began to incur trade deficits with Europe, Japan, and later China at the same time Wall Street, unrestrained by regulatory boundaries, attracted most of the profits from the rest of the world.

Unshackled financial institutions began creating what amounted to private money. Holding an inflow of $5 billion daily for a mere five minutes was enough to divvy it up into derivatives, opaque investment instruments that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. This and other forms of financial engineering produced huge volumes of private money, the value of which, as in the 1929 crash, eventually collapsed in domino-like fashion. Authorities in Washington, Brussels, Paris, and Athens immediately transferred the resulting losses onto the shoulders of taxpayers, a form of socialism for bankers. I described this colossal mishandling of our financial system in my 2009 bookThe Global Minotaur, six years before I became the Greek Minister of Finance.

When I became Minister, I believed that a global crisis of capitalism was underway. Imagine, then, my walking into a meeting of the Eurogroup with all the European finance ministers in the room who knew I held this view. I was the red flag in the eyes of the establishment. In the same vein, the German ambassador to Greece and one of the most powerful (and most corrupt) Greek bankers had warned the future, democratically elected Prime Minster that my appointment as Finance Minister would cause them to close ATMs across the country and lead to collapse of the Greek banking system.

Given your experience inside and outside government, do you believe that there is a fundamental tension between capitalism and democracy?

Yes. Compare the character of a democratic election with a general meeting of shareholders of a private corporation. Both are elections, but in the democratic process, the one person-one vote rule applies, whereas in the corporate process, you have one share-one vote, essentially a wealth-based voting structure. My fellow economists, especially the true believers in free markets, love to portray the market as a voting mechanism. It is true that every time you buy a tub of yogurt, you are voting in favor of that brand. The same applies when you buy a Ford as opposed to a Volkswagen. The more money one has, the more votes one casts.

So, if you think of capitalism as a voting mechanism, it is anti-democratic in the sense that money determines power. The evolution of capitalism over the last few centuries is a history of the constant transfer of power to the wealthy, including the power to make decisions that affect the distribution of income.

Over time, power has been redistributed from the political sphere to the economic sphere. Until the early eighteenth century, there was no difference between these spheres. If you were the king or the baron, you also were rich. And if you were rich, you belonged to the nobility. With the rise of capitalism, a lowly merchant could become economically powerful. As the separation of the political and the economic evolved, power gradually transferred to the latter. What we now call democracy is not real democracy given the growing influence of economic power. To be sure, the voting franchise has been extended to all males (from only landowners), to women, and to blacks. A parallel democratization process has not occurred in the economic sphere, where power has become less inclusive and increasingly concentrated.

From the 1870s to the 1920s, democracy gradually became disempowered as the corporate worlda democracy-free zoneemerged. Since the end of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s, power has migrated to finance. Goldman Sachs suddenly became more important than Ford, General Motors, or General Electric. Even corporations like Apple and Google are increasingly becoming financialized. Apple, for example, is sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars, and it is operating more like a financier than an iPhone producer.

This dynamic guarantees that when we vote, an act of celebrating democracy, we increasingly are participating in a sphere that has become totally disempowered. Capitalism is predicated on defeating democracy, even as the democratic cloak continues to legitimize the prevailing system.

Given this fundamental tension between capitalism and democracy, do you believe the European Union can be reformed? And if so, how?

We must aim for something much closer to a democratic federated Europe than what we have now. The tragedy is that the moment you start making such a case as the only antidote to disintegration, you serve the cause of nationalists, xenophobes, racists, and fascists. In ten years, either were going to have a democratic federated European Union, or the political monsters will be victorious.

How do we achieve a future democratic federation? The most urgent and difficult task is to go out into the streets of Athens, Rome, Berlin, Paris, and Lisbon and have a discussion with people about the crisis the EU faces. Many dont want to hear about Europes future anymore. What used to be a very attractive vision of a unified Europe as a larger homeland for all its citizens has become toxic in the minds and the hearts of many Europeans. For them, the democratic European Union has become synonymous with an anti-humanist, even totalitarian, vision. We need to construct a new vision to counteract this kind of thinking.

You have been at the forefront of the recently formed Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25). Tell us about DiEM25s pan-European mission and strategy.

DiEM25 seeks to put forward proposals that stimulate cooperation that is truly democratic. This will take time and will require recreating European institutions and a political economy that includes a massive Green New Deal or similar strategy. We must spend immediately at least 500 billion Euros annually on green energy, green transport, and a green transition in industry and agriculture. We can do this by creatively harnessing the power of existing institutions. The European Investment Bank, for example, could issue bonds worth half a trillion Euros every year, with that money going toward good-quality green jobs and technologies. The European Central Bank, sitting on the sidelines, could be ready to buy these bonds if needed to keep inflation in check. At the same time, we must engage with a broad spectrum of groups to stabilize Europe and so to bring back hope. With that movement underway, we can then have a discussion about democratic governance of the EU.

Im an old-fashioned lefty. I dont believe in destroying institutions. I believe in taking them over and transforming them into true public servants.

What does DiEM25 offer beyond the proposals of parties like Die Linke in Germany, Podemos in Spain, or other Green or Left parties throughout Europe?

Most members of these groups are our friends and comrades. We share a humanist attitude towards life and capitalism. The reason we created DiEM25 is that the major crises in Europe require local and national action as well as pan-European, if not global, action. It makes no sense to prioritize the local and national over the transnational, or vice versa. We must operate simultaneously at all levels.

For example, the design of urban transportation systems must consider the planetary, or systemic, impacts of alternative choices. The problem with national political parties is that they are not very good at such systemic thinking. What we need in Europe is a pan-European movement, which is more than a confederacy of autonomously operating states that make promises to local and national electorates independently of one another and then get together in Brussels to discuss the promises that each has committed to. This model is doomed to fail.

When DiEM25 was inaugurated in February of 2016, we sought to bring together Podemos, Die Linke, and allies from the UK to develop a Green New Deal for Europe. We hoped to unify such movements around a common pan-European program. It didnt work out that way. Why? Die Linke comprises two distinct groups: one faction believes that the European Union is beyond redemption and should be dismantled; the other believes that the EU is salvageable through democratic activism and social transformation, a view shared by DiEM. This division between supporters of exit and remain stood in the way of an alliance.

Another impediment to unity was that Podemos and others opposed a European voice in national and local policies and decision-making. What is Podemos going to say, for example, about the level and allocation of investment funds among member states? If a Podemos candidate is elected to the European Parliament, what financial policies will she support? We need clarity and unity on such issuesto have a voice not of a Greek, a German, or a Spaniard, but of a European internationalist. We will continue to struggle to create a unified, coherent agenda for all of Europe. Unity without cohesion is the curse of the left.

Lets not forget that the historical call was not for workers of each nation to organize within their borders. It was for workers of the world to unite.

Are there lessons to be learned from previous episodes of leftist internationalism, such as the Internationals, for our current time of global mobilization?

There are many lessons. Anybody who doesnt learn from history is a dangerous fanatic. Lesson number one is that socialist nationalism is the worst antidote to national socialism. Remember what happened in World War I when the German Social Democrats were co-opted into a nationalist agenda and supported the war effort of Germany against the much of Europe. That kind of socialist nationalism will always be gobbled up by Nazism. Anyone who supports a left-wing agenda and at the same time supports a nationalist, populist workers agenda is going to be devoured by fascists. They will end up effectively blowing wind into the fascists sails, intentionally or not.

Lesson number two is that Internationals fail if they are just a confederacy of national parties. The moment agendas and organizations are nationally based, as was the case in postwar Communist parties, the international movement will inevitably fragment and collapse. This is why DiEM25 places all its energies into not becoming a confederacy of a Greek DiEM25, a German DiEM25, and an Italian DiEM25. This is not a theoretical matter, but a practical one: transnationality as opposed to confederacy is critical to building a new, progressive political enterprise. Studying the failures of earlier Internationals is fundamental in shaping this strategy.

To be clear, when we created DiEM25, we envisioned a movement, not a party. And it remains a movement, but we decided about a year ago to create our own electoral wings in each country. In Germany, DiEM25 created Democratie Europa (Democracy in Europe); in Denmark, Alternativet (The Alternative). In short, if you are a member of a DiEM25created party, you also are a member of the larger movement. But you also can be a member of the larger movement without membership in a DiEM25-created party.

In a forthcoming book, you imagine another world in 2035 in which global financial capital is essentially demolished. What would this world look like? What would it take to get there?

I begin with the view that the present system is, simply stated, both awful and unsustainable. My story is told from the perspective of 2035, when my characters discover that, back in 2008, at the height of our crisis, the timeline split into two: one that you and I inhabit and another one that yielded a post-capitalist society. It is my narrative strategy for sketching out how post-capitalism could work and feel today had our response to the 2008 been different.

My forthcoming book, entitledAnother Now: Dispatches from an AlternativePresent, asks the following questions: Could the world be non-capitalist or post-capitalist? Could we see humanism in action? What would it look like? What would socialist corporations look like? How would they function? How would democracy function? What would happen to borders, migration, and defense? I try to create a vision of a liberal, socialist society that is not based on private property but does use money as a vehicle for exchange and markets as coordinating devices. I preserve money and markets because the alternative would be to fall to some fearsome hierarchical control, which, for me, is a nightmare scenario.

A deep transformation of values and institutions is essential to building a world of solidarity, well-being, and ecological resiliencewhat we call a Great Transitionis more urgent than ever. In a dark time, what basis for hope and advice can you offer fellow internationalists at this critical, historic moment?

We have the tools necessary in order to spend at least five percent of the global GDP on a Great Transition that saves the planet. Technically, we know how to create a new Bretton Woods, a progressive Green New Deal that diverts resources to saving the planet and creating quality green jobs across the globe.

To achieve such a future, we must offer a cautionary note regarding the role of borders. Some on the left are unfortunately moving toward the belief that migrants are a threat to domestic workers. That is a right-wing narrative that is factually untrue. We need to emancipate progressives from the notion that strong borders protect the working class. They do not. They are a scar on the face of the Earth, and they harm labor across the world.

Teaser photo credit: By Robert Crc Subversive festival media, FAL

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Another Europe is Possible - Resilience

These Staunton residents struggled to find a secular community so they made their own – The News Leader

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Tom Cardarella (left), Charles Phinizy (center) and Lou Boden (right) gather for a meeting of the Staunton Secular Humanists at Crucible Coffee on Nov. 3, 2019.(Photo: Rilyn Eischens/The News Leader)

STAUNTON Kim Newton spent Thanksgiving weekend last year constructing a display for Staunton's annual Celebration of Holiday Lights. She painted the Earth on a huge sign, strung lights around it and set it up at Gypsy Hill Park with a few friends.

Newton was gladto see heridentity as a secular humanist represented in the festive display andhoped the sign would raise awareness of the newly established group Staunton Secular Humanists. Several people stopped to ask questions about humanism and group meetings, which Newton took as a positivesign.

Then in December, the group was distressed to see the display's lightsunplugged several times. Member Charles Phinizy started driving through Gypsy HillPark every night to see if it was still lit.

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Undeterred by the tension, Staunton Secular Humanistsis gearing up to post another holiday displayand to host its second winter solstice celebration next month. The group has grown since last year and now holds weekly meetings for residents toenjoy the company and communityreligious people might find at churches, mosques and synagogues.

"It's important to me that non-religious identities have equal treatment and are seen and treated with respect in our community," Newton said. "That was a big part of the impetus for wanting to have a public group."

The Staunton Secular Humanists posted their first display in Staunton's Celebration of Lights in 2018.(Photo: Courtesy of Kim Newton)

The share of United States adults who say they aren't affiliated with any religion has increased in recent years, and the percentage of those who identify as Christian has declined. The trend is especially pronounced among people ages 23 to 38, of whom 40% identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research Center.

Newton identifies as a secular humanist a philosophy that, broadly, teaches theuse of compassion and critical thinking to do good but the Staunton group is intended to serve all religiously unaffiliated, secular and spiritual residents. Newton and Phinizy explained thatnon-Christians can often feel isolated or even ostracized intraditional regions like the Shenandoah Valley.

More: Find out how this elementary school is accredited despite failing to meet Va. standards

Phinizy said he's experienced this ostracism firsthand. Before he moved to the Valley, many of his coworkers stopped socializing with him and his family when they learned he wasn't Christian, he said. He no longer advertises his identity at work and was eager to learn about the brand-new Staunton group last winter.

"Anything outside of the norm of traditional Christianity is stigmatized," Newton said. "Being more public with your secular identity, being more public with the ideals that you hold and the values that you hold, I think, is actually a good way to help overcome [stereotypes]."

For the last several months, the group has held meetings at Staunton cafesevery Sunday morning. The number of attendees varies week to week, but at least a handful always come to sip coffee and chat, Newton and Phinizy said. The group rarely discusses religion newcomers are more likely to find members talking about weekend plans, hobbies and issues they're passionate about.

More: A tale of two cities: How Staunton and a small city in North Macedonia became friends

Going forward, members plan to shift the group's focus toward community service. They'd also like to see it expand and reachmore local families. Newton, a new mom, said they'vehoped to find a child-friendly space for meetingsbut struggle to find a facility willing to host the secular organization.

"A lot of families get that community support they need from their church, but not everyone has that, and not everyone wants that type of community, so it's important to me to try to make that space for kids and for my kid," Newton said.

On a recent bright Sunday morning, Phinizy and local artists Tom Cardarella and Lou Boden camped out at the end of a long table in Crucible Coffee.They drank hot coffee from white to-go cups and talked about the Staunton art scene, among other topics.

Boden, a retired interfaith minister who said he believes strongly in God,explained thatthe prospect of good conversation with open-minded people drew him to the group.

"No matter what your belief or opinion, you're welcome as long as you respect everyone else's beliefs, and that's what interests me," Boden said.

More information about the group is available on its Facebook page.

More: Chaplain hopes to create culture of mindfulness at Stuart Hall, one breath at a time

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These Staunton residents struggled to find a secular community so they made their own - The News Leader

This retired professor from IIT-Delhi is on a mission to unite the youth against the rising hatred and intolerance in the country – EdexLive

At a time when there is so much unrest, violence and hatred among the people in this country, Vipin Tripathi, a retired professor from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, is trying to spread the message of peace and love among people across all the age groups - by distributing flyers, organising workshops on humanism, interacting with them on the serious issues in the country. He started this mission of spreading peace in 1989 and has been practising it till date. He says, "I am doing this because there is so much hatred and violence spewing in the world today. And it has increased in the past few years. Let's take the Kashmir situation post the Article 370 debacle, for example. It has been more than three months since the government has restricted people's movement, they are surrounded by the Indian army and phone calls have also been barred. The present Indian government thinks that they have done something daring, but their approach was completely wrong. They should have taken the Kashmiris into confidence before they could revoke section 370. They are as much Indians as we are. This has led to further polarisation in our country."

When it comes to the issue of Kashmir, Tripathi wants youngsters to raise their voices and tell the government what is right and wrong. He adds, "I want them to understand the agony of Kashmiris so that they can unite and fight on their behalf. I just want to tell them that we are not in war with Kashmir."

Tripathi also works as a convener for a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation called Sadhbav thataims at developing grassroots resistance against communalism and mobilising people on basic issues like education. He explains, "This organisation was started in 1990 after the Bhagalpur riots and Ramshila Poojan movement which shook our country. We stood for clarity of perception in the midst of communal frenzy and organised marches, fasts, corner meetings and poster and flyer campaigns."

Apart from all this, Tripathi has been distributing flyers among people to educate them about different national and regional issues, all by himself. He also organises workshops for school and college students. While the Science students attend his physics workshop, the Arts students attend history workshops. "Even if you are not a student, you can attend one of these workshops to gain knowledge and interact with people. The speciality of my workshops is that the first half is related to the subject and the second half is all about humanism. I feel that opening up with students and youngsters for dialogue is the only way to curb hatred and violence. The prejudices are so strong that they are rooted in the psyche of young minds. Dialogue will help them to fight their own prejudices. Though it is a slow process, I feel that it will be successful one day," says Tripathi who is trying to reach every corner of North India.

Media plays a negative roleApart from people and the government, the retired Physics professor believes that media including newspaper, television and social media have a greater role to play in conditioning the minds of young citizens. "These days, media hardly talks about the real issues that are of concern to society. By promoting selective news, they are directing people to form wrong opinions about fellow citizens."

NRC to roast the countryAnother issue that Tripathi is worried about is the imposition ofNational Register of Citizens (NRC) policy in Assam that now threatens to be in force in the rest of the country. "When India gained independence in 1947, Gandhi said that people living in this country are the citizens of India. Then why this policy now? A few weeks ago, I travelled to Assam to do some groundwork. Most of these people who are out of the NRC list are not just non-Hindus. It includes poor and hard-working farmers who belong to different castes. Just because they did not have sufficient proof to prove their nationality does not mean they should be thrown out of the country. Hence I am going to pick this issue and talk to the people as well as parliament members."

During the last parliament elections, Tripathi started working on a project that aims to inculcate 'inclusive growth'. This includes the political, cultural, economic and educational inclusivity to bring the marginal section of the society to the mainstream. He says, "I will be conducting workshops on this theme across the country. We have already started writing booklets on this theme."

All 365 days dedicated to social workWhen Tripathi was working at IITD, he would dedicate his summer holidays and evening hours during the college days to reach out to people. Now that he is retired, he dedicates all 365 days to his mission of peace. He says, "My father Hardas Sharma was a freedom fighter and I have always followed the Gandhian principles."

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This retired professor from IIT-Delhi is on a mission to unite the youth against the rising hatred and intolerance in the country - EdexLive

Nehru and Hindi, Urdu Writers: How They Enriched Each Other – The Quint

When Nehru dies, the shock and grief among the progressive writers is near-palpable. They have already come to his defence when he found himself beleaguered after the debacle of the Indo-China war. Writing about the sick and ailing Nehru in Boorha Majhi, Anand Narain Mulla makes a plea to the young and ruthless waiting to seize power:

Mujh ko dhaare se hataane ki yeh koshish na karo...

When the terrible news comes of his death, a vast amount of poetry is written in a near-spontaneous outpouring of grief. Some among the progressives draw solace that Nehrus tired body may have given up, but his spirit will live on. Sahir writes:

Jism ki maut koi maut nahi hotiJism mitt jaane se insaan nahi mar jaate

In much the same vein, in Dil Tang Na Ho, Ravish Siddiqui writes:

Wadi-e ishq se jab baad-e saba aayegiDil-e Nehru ke dhadakne ki sada aayegiin

But Makhdoom Mohiuddin knows the loss is irreplaceable for there may be many like him but theres only one Nehru:

Hazaar pairahan aaiyenge zamane meinMagar woh sandal-o gul ka ghubar, musht-e bahar...

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Nehru and Hindi, Urdu Writers: How They Enriched Each Other - The Quint