#making note started official training in July 2018

[notllorstel]

1st wave of left hand speedrun art~

Started this to get back in the groove since way way behind my left hand art batches (started in July 2018), but thinking of doing more waves til my sketching level is closer to my dominant hand (with bonus line art training). Aim to keep it under 30 mins per doodle (forbidden to go over an hour) and do as often as able (minimum a wave per a month).

Also while doing this, reminded me a friend got me a T-shirt with Coran face on it as a gift, but forgot due to it not looking at it cause it was a lil unnerving in its lineless and noseless style. So finally tried to fix that with a sharpie ;P

[gffa]

There are many things about Star Wars Legends’ continuity that I enjoy and still miss being an active part of the canon, as well as I’m with Pablo on this--it doesn’t really matter if it’s Canon or Legends, only if you enjoy it as a story or not!  Lots of fans do a lot of cool things with Legends and that’s great, we’re under no obligation to (or does LF even want us to) forget or never play with Legends materials! But what’s interesting to me (as someone who has spent a lot of time sort of trying to filter out all this stuff in my own mind, to highlight for myself what’s my assumption, what’s common fanon, what’s actually said by the creators, etc.) is that Lucasfilm was always pretty consistent about how George Lucas never considered any of the EU canon.  Even when he borrowed elements that looked fun or cool from it, it still wasn’t canon to his Star Wars.  That doesn’t make it not canon unto its own Legends self!  But it wasn’t part of his Star Wars. Nor is it part of the Lucasfilm Canon now--which I think you could separate out from George Lucas’ Star Wars if you wanted (which would basically then just be the first six movies + TCW) but they’ve repeatedly said that they’re trying to stay true to George’s themes and worldbuilding as much as they can, as well as the Story Group has talked about how Legends is not a great example of worldbuilding that’s consistent with George’s, especially when it comes to the use of the Force. That’s why this collection of quotes from @grim-on-the-darkside​ is so fascinating and I really wanted to collect them together (from here and here) to have them in one easy to find place!  How it pretty clearly shows that the EU was never meant to be canon to George Lucas’ SW, not before he made the prequels + TCW and not after. ➜ "There's this notion that everything changed when everything became Legends. And I can see why people think that. But, you know, having worked with George I can tell you that it was always very clear -- and he made it very clear -- that the films and the TV shows were the only things that he considered Canon. That was it."  So everything else was a world of fun ideas, exciting characters, great possibilities, the EU was created to explore all those things. But from the filmmaking world I was brought into, the films and TV shows were it".  --Dave Filoni speaking about working with George Lucas, The Star Wars Show ➜ “Lucas’ canon – and when I say ‘his canon’, I’m talking about what he was doing in the films and what he was doing in The Clone Wars – was hugely important. But what we were doing in the books really wasn’t on his radar.” --Leland Chee, 2018 ➜ "Dave Filoni is better equipped to relay Lucas’ true feelings about the EU."  --Leland Chee ➜ "The terminology of 'Expanded Universe’ was a careful one; it expanded on the world created in the core stories, but was never officially meant to be Star Wars canon, according to the Maker himself, George Lucas."  --Dave Filoni 2017 ➜ "The EU is a well of ideas, and there's what's on screen. They don't live in the same universe. Everyone wants to think so, I know… We just need to think of it all as a creative collection of fun ideas separate from what George Lucas has made."  --Dave Filoni articulates his opinion and treatment of the Expanded Universe ➜ Pablo Hidalgo on Lucas and the EU being separate Universes:  "He [Lucas] only considers his movies and TV projects as his universe, and told the Clone Wars writers to only worry about those." ➜ "In the old days, George Lucas saw his universe as seperate from publishing [EU].He wasn'tat all interested in connecting."  --Pablo Hidalgo [Lucasfilm Story Group] 2016 ➜ But Lucas allows for an Expanded Universe that exists parallel to the one he directly oversees. […] Though these [Expanded Universe] stories may get his stamp of approval, they don’t enter his canon unless they are depicted cinematically in one of his projects.”  --Pablo Hidalgo, Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion, October 2nd, 2012 ➜ "Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the biggest education on how George Lucas saw his Universe. Over 44 hours of his storytelling compared to the 13 hours or so he spent in live action."  --Pablo Hidalgo 2018 ➜ “For me and my training here at Lucasfilm, working with George, he and I always thought the Expanded Universe was just that. It was an expanded universe. Basically it’s stories that are really fun and really exciting, but they’re a view on Star Wars, not necessarily canon to him.That was the way it was from the day I walked into Lucasfilm with him all through Clone Wars, everything we worked on, he felt the Clone Wars series and his movies were what was actually the reality of it all, the canon..."  --Dave Filoni ➜ "From Issue 77 Of Insider, Using Dark Empire & The Thrawn Trilogy As Examples.Those works are the creation of their respective authors with the guidance of editors at Lucas Licensing. They are not, nor ever were, meant to be George Lucas' definitive vision of what happens next" ➜ "That’s one of the biggest debates in Star Wars, what counts? The idea of what is canon? When I talk to George I know that he considers his movies, this series and his live-action series canon."  --Dave Filoni, SW:TCW 2008 ➜ "This is Star Wars, and I don't make a distinction between [The Clone Wars] series and the films."  --George Lucas, SciFiNow, October 2011 ➜ "'The Clone Wars' was rooted in George Lucas and his characters."  --Dave Filoni ➜ "And now there have been novels about the events after Episode VI, which isn't at all what I would have done with it. The Star Wars story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. That is the story. Once Vader dies, he doesn't come back to life, the Emperor doesn't get cloned and Luke doesn't get married..."  --George Lucas, Flannelled One, May 2008, "George Lucas", 'TF Interview', Total Film Magazine ➜ ”The novels and comic books are other authors' interpretations of my creation.  Sometimes, I tell them what they can and cant do, but I just don't have the time to read them all. They're not my vision of what Star Wars is.”  --George Lucas 2004 ➜ ”Those [novels] are another author's interpretation of what I've created, and not to be taken seriously, as far as what is really going on in the Star Wars world.”  --George Lucas ➜ Q: “What do you think of the Expanded Universe of books?” A: "The books are in a different universe. I've not read any of them, and I told them when they started writing I wouldn't read any of them and I blocked out certain periods [they couldn't touch where the real story happens]." --George Lucas 2003 ➜ "Howard Roffman [President of Lucas Licensing], He once said to me that there are two Star Trek universes: there's the TV show and then there's all the spin-offs. He said that these were completely different and didn't have anything to do with each other. So I said, ‘OK, go ahead.’”  --George Lucas 2008 ➜ "I don't even read the offshoot books that come out based on Star Wars." --George Lucas, Flannelled One, July 1999 ➜ "I don't read that stuff. I haven't read any of the novels. I don't know anything about that world. That's a different world than my world. ...When I said [other people] could make their own Star Wars stories, we decided that, like Star Trek, we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one.”  --George Lucas ➜ “There are two worlds here,” explained Lucas. “There’s my world, which is the movies, and there’s this other world that has been created, which I say is the parallel universe – the licensing world of the books, games and comic books."  --George Lucas 2005 ➜ "George knows more about Star Wars than we do. He doesn't see the Expanded Universe as ”his” Star Wars, but as ”ours.” I think this has been mentioned previously, maybe in other places, but it's not new info, as far as I remember."  --Sue Rostoni, Lucas Licensing (LLP Managing Editor), Jun 2004 ➜ “He also said that when they started doing all this (which is allowing other storytellers to tell their own SW tales), he had decreed that the Star Wars Universe would be split into two just like Star Trek (I don't know nuts about Star Trek, so don't ask me about that), one would be his own universe (the six episode movie saga), the other would be a whole other universe (the Expanded Universe). He continued to say that the EU tries a EU tries as much as possible to tie in to his own universe, but sometimes they move into a whole other line of their own."  --Sue Rostoni,LLP 2005 ➜ “Working on ‘Clone Wars,’ it was always canon.”  --Dave Filoni ➜ "The TV series is exactly like the movies, exactly. I mean, you can see it in the clip. It’s basically just the movies only with cartoon characters. It’s basically a dramatic series, there’s a lot of action, a bit of humor."  --George Lucas, 2008 Interview about the Clone Wars series. ➜ "What George did with the films and The Clone Wars was pretty much his universe,” Chee said. “He didn’t really have that much concern for what we were doing in the books and games. So the Expanded Universe was very much separate."  --Leland Chee, 2017 - SYFY WIRE ➜ "The dual universe question comes up often. I know George Lucas has mentioned it being two universes, but that’s not how I see it. His vision is definitely not beholden to ours, but ours is definitely beholden to his." --Leland Chee 2012 ➜ “The G/C/S-level canon stuff is a construct specifically for the Holocron. Non-Holocron users would have no idea what this stuff even means and I would say most of the people who use the Holocron don't use the field, instead looking specifically to the source of the material. Individual entries are not broken down by canon level.”  --Leland Chee 2005 ➜ "I didn't have any direct contact with George about Star Wars. - I would see some notes based on the interviews or the meetings. But I did not have direct contact with George about Star Wars continuity."  --Leland Chee 2018 ➜ “Those of us writing the EU were always told, all along, from the very beginning* (have I stressed that strongly enough?), *“Only the Movies are Canon.” Sure, it was disappointing."  --Kathy Tyers, EU author [Truce at Bakura] ➜ "They’re there to be enjoyed as unofficial Legends. But, as Zahn also points out, the Expanded Universe wasn’t really ever official regardless of what the fans thought."  --Timothy Zahn 2017 ➜ "In the canon debate, it is important to notice that LucasFilm and Lucas are different entities. The only canon source of Star Wars are the radio plays, the movie novels and the movies themselves - in Lucas' mind, nothing else exists, and no authorized LucasFilm novel will restrict his creativity in any way."  --Steven Sansweet, EU Author - Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Ltd. ➜ "It's not something we can really worry about, so we don't. Lots of people have been working on lots of SW extrapolations for the last twenty years, in good faith. There were never any promises from George Lucas or Lucasfilm regarding the acceptance of their work into some wider canon." --Peet Janes, Dark Horse Comics Editor, Dec. 1998 ➜ "[Steven Sansweet] was asked specifically if any of the characters like Admiral Thrawn and so on would make appearances in AoTC or the movie thereafter, and *he responded quite clearly that that all the EU material is ”taking place in a separate universe”.*    [...] there were quite a few nasty mumbles from the audience when he (Sansweet) said what he said." --Steven Sansweet, EU Author - Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm ➜ "It is unfortunate that [EU author Karen Traviss is] moving on because [of] her opinion that canon is being changed. I guess the big problem is the assumption that her work is canon in the first place.  After working with George on The Clone Wars series I know there are elements of her work that are not in line with his vision of Star Wars" ~ Henry Gilroy, SW:TCW Head Write 2008 ➜ Dark Empire Introduction -  Kevin J. Anderson:  "When you read Dark Empire, or any of the other novels [EU] remember that although Lucasfilm has approved them, these are our sequels, not George Lucas's.  If Lucasfilm ever makes films that take place after Return of the Jedi, they will be George Lucas's own creations, probably with no connection to anything we have written.  But in the meantime, enjoy these graphic stories, read the novels of Timothy Zahn, Kathy Tyers, Kenneth Flynt, Dave Wolverton, and myself.[Kevin J. Anderson]" ➜ "Canon is only what's on the screen. - Episodes I-VI, TCW and what's to come."  --Pablo Hidalgo, 2013 ➜ Question -  "My question is, what did George's treatments for 7 look like? I would love to see if they fit the EU.” "They did not. For instance, there was no Jaina, Jacen, or Anakin.” --Pablo Hidalgo, 2017 ➜ "There was no Ben Skywalker in George's Universe. He came from the NJO team."  --Pablo Hidalgo 2016 ➜ "Question from Today, but I thought this was pretty well known. George Lucas never considered Jacen, Jaina, or Mara [Jade] as part of his universe."  --Pablo Hidalgo May 2016 ➜ "I had to explain to George who Han and Leia's children were once."  --Pablo Hidalgo 2019 ➜ Comment - "I remember George specifically saying Luke never married or had a child, I think." Response - "That was his [Lucas] take, especially in reaction to Mara Jade. Jedi vows and all that."  --Pablo Hidalgo 2019 ➜ "Fast forward to 2012, when we hear George is looking to make SW movies again, I  thought 'I wonder what next Mon Calamari's gonna be. And it turns out, the Mon Calamari this time was huge swaths of the EU. There was no Jacen, no Jaina. No new Jedi Order. Chewie lived.” --Pablo Hidalgo ➜ "Does the main storyline for books and comics go through Lucas to make sure it isn't going to conflict with future movies?" "No. George doesn't give us much information about his future movies until he's making them. In general, George does not take the EU into account when he's making his movies."  --Sue Rostoni, LucasBooks/LL Managing Editor, July 17, 2003 ➜ "I know that GL doens't create the storys and cocepts for the SW novels, but does anyone know if he approves overall story ideas?” “George doesn't see the overall story ideas or concepts. If there is a sensitive area, or if we are developing backstory for a character he's created or mentioned in an interview, we can query him to get more information, his approval, or whatever. And yes, we always query him if we're doing something drastic to a film character. I believe he does read the concepts for the games though."  --Sue Rostoni, Lucas Licensing (LLP Managing Editor), Jun 2004 ➜ “As far as ‘legitimate continuation of the films’ -- If George had continued making SW films past Return of the Jedi, I don't think they would have reflected what the SW authors have written. The books, comics, etc., are a ‘legitimate continuation’ of the Star Wars saga as we [Lucas Licensing] define it. I'm not certain of the context of your question -- somehow I feel like I'm walking into something here...."  --Sue Rostoni, Lucas Licensing (LLP Managing Editor) ➜ George Lucas’ Episode VII + George Lucas' Ideas for His Own Star Wars Sequel Trilogy + The Original Plans for the Sequel Trilogy - YouTube  ➜ Did George Lucas Consider the Expanded Universe Canon? ➜ “No, GWL has not given directives as to how things are entered in the Holocron." --Leland Chee, 2004.12.17 ➜ "...applies only to the Holocron, but is not the same as their standing in LFL's canon hierarchy.I'm unclear as to the definition of LFL in this case. I know of no other internal hierarchy currently in use.”  --Leland Chee, 2004 ➜ Once I heard that George Lucas was asked to comment on the many interpretations of Star Wars in book, comic, record, radio and TV spin-offs that grew from his original creation. 'The films are gospel,' he said, 'all the rest are gossip.' I like that."  --Andy Mangels, EU Author, Dec. 1995

[newstfionline]

Monday, July 12, 2021

US economic recovery (WSJ) The U.S. economic recovery is unlike any in recent history, powered by consumers with trillions in extra savings, businesses eager to hire and enormous policy support. Businesses and workers are poised to emerge from the downturn with far less permanent damage than occurred after recent recessions, particularly the 2007-09 downturn. New businesses are popping up at the fastest pace on record. The rate at which workers quit their jobs—a proxy for confidence in the labor market—matches the highest going back at least to 2000. American household debt-service burdens, as a share of after-tax income, are near their lowest levels since 1980, when records began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 18% from its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020. Home prices nationwide are nearly 14% higher since that time. The speed of the rebound is also triggering turmoil. The shortages of goods, raw materials and labor that typically emerge toward the end of an expansion are cropping up much sooner. Many economists, along with the Federal Reserve, expect the jump in inflation to be temporary, but others worry it could persist even once reopening is complete. “We’ve never had anything like it—a collapse and then a boom-like pickup,” said Allen Sinai, chief global economist and strategist at Decision Economics, Inc. “It is without historical parallel.”

Rent prices are soaring as Americans flock back to cities (Washington Post) Lauren Campos opened the door to her Phoenix apartment last week to find a note stuck in the door frame. Her rent was going up nearly $400 a month, the note said, a 33 percent increase. Rents are starting to surge in many parts of the country as the economy reopens and young people return rapidly to cities. Nationwide, rent prices are up 7.5 percent so far this year, three times higher than normal, according to data from Apartments.com. Analysts expect rent prices to keep climbing for the foreseeable future, a major burden for renters and a warning sign that higher inflation could linger far longer than the White House and Federal Reserve keep predicting. Rents for single-family homes are growing at the fastest pace in 15 years, according to data firm CoreLogic. Parts of the country that used to be considered affordable are suddenly experiencing the kind of rent frenzy with bidding wars and surging prices that had previously been exclusive to mega cities like San Francisco and New York City.

Heat wave blankets US West as fires rage in several states (AP) Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding Northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave blanketed the West. Death Valley in southeastern California’s Mojave Desert reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53 Celsius) on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s reading at Furnace Creek. The shockingly high temperature was actually lower than the previous day, when the location reached 130 F (54 C). If confirmed as accurate, the 130-degree reading would be the hottest high recorded there since July 1913, when Furnace Creek desert hit 134 F (57 C), considered the highest measured temperature on Earth. About 300 miles (483 kilometers) northwest of the sizzling desert, the largest wildfire of the year in California was raging along the border with Nevada.

Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic crew are safely back from space, ushering in a new era (Washington Post) Richard Branson completed a daring, barnstorming flight to edge of space Sunday, rocketing through the atmosphere in the spaceplane he’d been yearning to ride for nearly 20 years. The suborbital trip gave the British billionaire, his three crewmates and two pilots a glimpse of the Earth from more than 50 miles up and a few minutes of weightlessness before the vehicle they were traveling in, SpaceShipTwo Unity, glided back to Earth and a landing on the runway at Virgin Galactic’s facility in the New Mexico desert. It was SpaceShipTwo’s fourth trip to the edge of space since 2018, and Virgin Galactic, the company Branson founded in 2004, says it will soon start flying paying customers regularly on similar jaunts, opening a new era in human space exploration.

For a $12.50 raffle ticket, the keys to drug lord El Chapo’s seized safe house in Mexico await (Washington Post) Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was naked and asleep with his mistress, Lucero Sanchez, when Mexican marines battered down his front door in 2014. Without time to put on clothes, the lovers ran to the bathroom, and plugged in a cord: causing hydraulics to lift up an unassuming bathtub. Concealed below was a web of secret tunnels leading to other hideouts through the town’s sewage system. With little time to spare, Guzmán and his lover escaped. Eventually caught for the last time in 2016, Guzmán is serving a life sentence in Colorado. Now the two-bedroom house in northwestern Mexico could be yours for the cost of lottery ticket. The Mexican government is raffling off the site of Guzmán’s dramatic escape, along with seven other houses, seven apartments, five lots, a ranch, and a 20-seat viewing box at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The prizes—confiscated assets from various criminal operations and now owned by the government—are valued at a total of $12.5 million. Lottery tickets cost 250 pesos ($12.50). Winning tickets will be drawn on Sept. 15, the day before Mexico’s Independence Day.

The assassination of Haiti’s president has thrown the nation into disarray (NYT/Washington Post) Shootouts have erupted in the streets of Port-au-Prince, and terrified citizens have been cowering in their homes after President Jovenel Moïse was gunned down in his residence on Wednesday. At least 20 people—18 Colombians and two Haitian Americans—have been detained in the attack. The Haitian authorities have asked the U.S. to send troops to stabilize the country. But the Biden administration showed no immediate enthusiasm for sending even a limited American force. Some in Haiti quickly criticized the request, citing other foreign interventions that left a trail of abuses. Moïse’s assassination sparked dueling claims to power. Four men have staked claims to either the presidency or the prime minister’s post. Since the assassination, Haiti has plunged deeper into a complex crisis that risks creating a Somalia in the Caribbean—a failed state 800 miles off the coast of Florida ridden by violence, overcome by disease, inflation and deepening hunger and controlled by warlord-like factions and weak nominal governments.

Black Sea drills showcase strong NATO-Ukraine defense ties (AP) Ukraine and NATO have conducted Black Sea drills involving dozens of warships in a two-week show of their strong defense ties and capability following a confrontation between Russia’s military forces and a British destroyer off Crimea last month. The Sea Breeze 2021 maneuvers that ended Saturday involved about 30 warships and 40 aircraft from NATO members and Ukraine. The captain of the USS Ross, a U.S. Navy destroyer that took part in the drills, said the exercise was designed to improve how the equipment and personnel of the participating nations operate together. “We’d like to demonstrate to everybody, the international community, that no one nation can claim the Black Sea or any international body of water,” Cmdr. John D. John said aboard the guided missile destroyer previously deployed to the area for drills. “Those bodies of water belong to the international community, and we’re committed to ensure that all nations have access to international waterways.” The Russian military also conducted a series of parallel drills in the Black Sea and southwestern Russia, with warplanes practicing bombing runs and long-range air defense missiles’ deploying to protect the coast.

Pope appears in public for first time since surgery (AP) Pope Francis on Sunday made his first public appearance since major intestinal surgery last week, greeting well-wishers as he stood for 10 minutes on a hospital balcony, offering hearty thanks for the prayers for his recovery and calling health care for all a “precious” good. Francis, 84, has been steadily on the mend, according to the Vatican, following his July 4 scheduled surgery to remove a portion of his colon which had narrowed due to inflammation. But it hasn’t said just when he might be discharged. On the morning after his surgery, a Holy See spokesperson said his hospital stay was expected to last seven days, “barring complications.” In his remarks, the pope praised the “tenderness” of those who care for the sick, which he said was “like a caress that makes you feel better, eases the pain and picks you up.”

Thousands evacuated from floods in China’s Sichuan, more rain forecast (Reuters) Heavy rains and flooding have forced thousands of people to evacuate in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, with authorities on Sunday urging citizens across the country to brace for more downpours. In Sichuan, torrential rain since Friday has raised the water levels of 14 rivers, swept away boats and bridges and forced the evacuation of more than 4,600 people, state media reported. While no casualties have been reported, state media said the rain and flooding have affected more than 120,000 people, forced the cancellation of some train services and caused more than 176 million yuan ($27 million) worth of damage. About 27,000 homes in the city of Bazhong, Sichuan were reported to be without power.

Netanyahu vacates prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem (AP) Benjamin Netanyahu and his family vacated the Israeli prime minister’s official residence early Sunday, nearly a month after the longtime leader was ousted from office with the formation of an alternate government. A family spokesman confirmed the Netanyahus left the residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem shortly after midnight, in line with a deadline agreed upon last month with newly inaugurated Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The Balfour residence had become a symbol of the Netanyahus’ scandals, and was the scene of weekly protests against Netanyahu for much of the past year. Demonstrators called on the then-prime minister to resign while on trial for corruption. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and refused to step down.

Syria’s president decrees 50% salary hike amid harsh crisis (AP) Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree Sunday giving hundreds of thousands of civil servants and military members a 50% salary increase amid a harsh economic and financial crisis and price increases for vital products. Assad’s decision came a day after the state doubled the price of bread, the country’s main staple, and increased by 180% the price of diesel fuel. The Syrian economy has been hard hit by a decade of war, Western sanctions, widespread corruption and most recently a severe economic and financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon. The last salary increase was announced in November 2019. The decree released by Assad’s office put the minimum monthly income at 71,515 Syrian pounds ($22). Nearly 80% of Syrians live in poverty, and 60% are food insecure—the worst food security situation ever seen in Syria, according to the United Nations.

[duggardata]

All The Data:  Erin (Bates) + Chad Paine

The Couple—

Erin Elise (Bates) Paine  (b. May 2, 1991)

Parents   Gil + Kelly Jo (Callaham) Bates

Child #   3 of 19

Hometown   Rocky Top, TN

Early Education   ATI/IBLP and Abeka Homeschooling

Higher Education   B.B.S. in Music Ministry (2014), The Crown College of the Bible  (Powell, TN)

Credentials   “Certification” in Music Teaching  (2014)

Occupation   Co–Owner, The Bates Sisters’ Boutique  (2019—); Piano Teacher  (c. 2014—?) (See Also); Stay–at–Home Wife / Mother (2013—)

Charles “Chad” Stephen Paine III  (b. April 18, 1987)

Parents   Charles “Stephen” + Tammy Paine

Child #   2 of 10

Hometown   _____, IN  (“Northern Indiana”) / Indianapolis, IN

Early Education   ATI/IBLP Homeschooling  (Note—Chad’s father serves on IBLP’s Board of Directors.)

Higher Education   A.A. in Youth Ministry  (2010)  (Note—Duggar Data is unclear on where Chad went to school.  It is only described as “a private college” on Chad + Erin’s blog.)

Credentials   [ None Apparent ]  (Note—Duggar Data really, really tried to find some credentials for Chad, but ultimately wasn’t able to.  Tennessee public records don’t have him down as a licensed general contractor, real estate agent, home inspector, engineer, etc.  In Tennessee, it’s apparently perfectly legal to work as an unlicensed contractor, so long as the project is valued at <$25,000.)

Occupation   Owner, Paine Construction (2017—)

… Previously   Office Manager, Noble Metals (Recycling Facility) (Oak Ridge, TN; 2013—2017); Staff Member, Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) (Oak Brook, IL; c. 2008—2013) (Chad worked in the Publications Department, and also led two youth programs—LifeFocus and Journey to The Heart.) 

The Relationship—

First Meeting   February 11, 2011  (Friday)

Location   IBLP’s Valentine’s Day Banquet at IBLP Headquarters; Oak Brook, IL

Details   In 2011, Chad was working for IBLP.  He attended the Valentine Banquet as a photographer, and that’s where he first met Erin—who was at the banquet with her family, doing the music and singing.  The Paines invited the Bateses over for dinner the next day, and that’s when Chad + Erin took notice of each other as a potential romantic partner. 

Pre–Courtship   c. April 29, 2011

Location   ATI Regional Conference; Big Sandy, TX

Details   After meeting in February 2011, Erin + Chad met again “later on that year,” at a conference in Texas—almost certainly the ATI Conference in Big Sandy.  During the conference, Erin + Chad got to know each other better, and “from then on ... pursued a relationship.”

Timing   In 2011, the ATI Conference ran from April 26–29.  Since Erin + Chad say they got to know one other better, then pursued a relationship “from then on,” Duggar Data uses the last day of that conference—April 29, 2011—as their Estimated Pre–C.S. Start Date.

Courtship   December 4, 2012  (Tuesday)

Location   Sky Lift Park, Crockett Mountain; Gatlinburg, TN

Details   Chad surprised Erin, picking her up at college for a date.  They drove to Gatlinburg, accompanied by Gil + Kelly Jo.  Chad ‘courtposed’ to Erin on the Sky Lift, which offers a scenic view of Crockett Mountain.  Afterward, they enjoyed a nice dinner at The Peddler Steakhouse.

Announced   January 7, 2013 on The Bates Family Website  (+34 Days)

Engagement   August 5, 2013  (Monday)

Location   Whitestone Country Inn; Kingston, TN

Details   After a day of activities including lunch and canoeing, a horse and buggy met Chad + Erin, then dropped them off at a gazebo by the lake.  Chad proposed, Erin said yes, and they hugged for the first time.  Chad then treated Erin to a “luxurious” seven–course dinner.

Announced   August 10, 2013 on The Bates Family Website  (+15 Days)

Wedding   November 2, 2013, Unknown Time  (Saturday)

Location   Second Baptist Church; Clinton, TN

Officiants   Bill Gothard (for Opening Prayer) (Head of IBLP), Gil Bates (for Charge to the Couple) (Erin’s Father), Don Savell (for Vows) (Bates’ “Favorite Preacher”)

MOH   Tori Bates  (Erin’s Sister)

Best Man   Jordan Webster  (Chad’s Friend)

Announced   N/A  (No Formal / Media Announcement)

Featured On   19 Kids & Counting (4–15–14), “Wedding Bells”

Honeymoon   Oak Wood Arms Hotel; Shannon, Ireland / Rental House; Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland

The Quiver—

1st Miscarriage  (c. March 2014)

Pregnancy Announced   N/A  (No Pre–Loss Announcement)

Due Date   October 15, 2014  (Bradley Bates’s Due Date – 1 Week)  (See Also Bringing Up Bates (2–15–15), “Welcome Grandbaby Bates.”)

Date of Loss   c. March 2014  (Duggar Data uses March 1, 2014.)

Loss Announced   March 17, 2014 on Chad + Erin’s Blog

2nd + 3rd Miscarriages  (2014)

After her 1st Miscarriage, Erin miscarried twice more.  (See Bringing Up Bates (1–8–15), “Courtship and Marriage.”  See Also.)  According to Erin’s OB–GYN, Dr. Vick, a clotting disorder—specifically, a deficiency in folic acid plus excess in PAI–1—cased all three losses.  (Id.)  With regard to Miscarriages #2 and #3, very little data is available.  Due dates and loss dates are unknown.

After Dr. Vick diagnosed Erin’s clotting disorder, daily Heparin injections during pregnancy enabled her carry multiple pregnancies to term...

Charles Stephen “Carson” Paine IV  (b. May 14, 2015)

Pregnancy Announced   January 22, 2015 on Bringing Up Bates (1–22–15), “Training Up Bates”  (143 Days / 20W, 3D Along)

Sex & Name Revealed   March 5, 2015 on Bringing Up Bates (3–5–15), “A Big Bates Thanksgiving”  (See Also) (185 Days / 26W, 3D Along)

Due Date   June 8, 2015

Birthdate & Time   May 14, 2015, 10:10 PM  (25 Days Early)

Weight & Length   6 Pounds; 19 Inches

Birth Announced   May 14, 2015 by People  (Exclusive; +1 Day) (Note—People reported Carson’s DOB as May 15.  This contradicts Erin + Chad and Gil + Kelly Jo, and is clearly an error.)

Birth Details   Erin was hoping to get an epidural, but was unable to do so, due to a precipitous—i.e., extraordinarily fast—labor.  She gave birth <2 Hours after her water broke.  According to Dr. Vick, the intense labor was caused by a placental abruption, and Erin easily could have bled to death if Carson hadn’t arrived so quickly.  (See Bringing Up Bates (8–6–15), “Erin’s Little Miracle.”)

Featured On   Bringing Up Bates (8–6–15), “Erin’s Little Miracle”

Brooklyn Elise Paine  (b. August 6, 2016)

Pregnancy Announced   February 17, 2016 by She Knows  (Exclusive; 85 Days / 12W, 1D Along)

Sex & Name Revealed   March 10, 2016 by She Knows  (Exclusive; 107 Days / 15W, 2D Along)

Due Date   August 30, 2016

Birthdate & Time   August 6, 2016, 5:42 AM  (24 Days Early)

Weight & Length   6 Pounds, 6 Ounces; Unknown Length

Birth Announced   August 8, 2016 by UpTV  (+2 Days)

Birth Details   Erin expected to be induced; however, her labor seemed to begin spontaneously.  (See Bringing Up Bates (10–27–16), “And Baby Makes Five?”)  She was able to get an epidural, much to her relief.  Erin described it as a “dream birth.”  It’s unclear how long she was in labor. 

Featured On   Bringing Up Bates (10–27–16), “And Baby Makes Five?”

Everly Hope Paine  (b. March 30, 2018)

Pregnancy Announced   October 17, 2017 by People (Exclusive; 87 Days / 12W, 3D Along)

Sex & Name Revealed   w/ Pregnancy Announcement

Due Date   April 28, 2018

Birthdate & Time   March 30, 2018, 4:12 AM  (31 Days Early)

Weight & Length   5 Pounds, 4 Ounces; 18 Inches

Birth Announced   March 30, 2018 by Us Weekly  (Exclusive; Same Day)

Birth Details   Erin’s labors appears to have begun spontaneously.  (So, no induction.)  Strong contractions began at 9:00 PM on March 29.  Erin gave birth ~7 Hours Later.  She had an epidural again.  (See Bringing Up Bates (8–9–19), “Labor Paines.”)

Featured On   Bringing Up Bates (8–9–18), “Labor Paines”

Holland Grace Paine  (b. November 26, 2019)

Pregnancy Announced   June 6, 2019 by UpTV  (76 Days / 10W, 6D Along)

Sex & Name Revealed   July 25, 2019 by Hollywood Life  (Exclusive; 125 Days / 17W, 6D Along)

Due Date   December 27, 2019

Birthdate & Time   November 26, 2019, 5:24 AM

Weight & Length   5 Pounds, 5 Ounces; Unknown Length

Birth Announced   November 27, 2019 by People  (Exclusive; +1 Day)

Birth Details   As of April 2020, almost nothing is known about the labor and delivery.  Duggar Data expects that we will learn more if and when it is featured on Bringing Up Bates.  Apparently, there were no dire issues; Holland and Erin went home from the hospital within days of the birth.

Featured On   TBD

... That’s “All The Data” for Erin + Chad!

[hopehunted]

“ 𝐔𝐆𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄, 𝐈 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐒𝐀𝐘, 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄. ” is that SHELLEY HENNIG? oh no, that’s 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐃, born on the 27th of JULY, 2011. i heard SHE (CIS FEMALE) is a 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐑 in the 𝐖𝐘𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐀. apparently, they can be PERSEVERING and BOLD but also known to be MERCILESS and GUARDED. spends most of their free time battling a bone-deep desire to flee, probably smells like METAL. is that a bite mark i see?

character inspirations: laurie strode (halloween 2018), murder coat!rick grimes (the walking dead), din djarin (the mandalorian), bigby wolf (the wolf among us), kelly bailey (misfits), frank castle (punisher), spot (the good dinosaur), trilla suduri (star wars), stitch (lilo & stitch).

you can find jordan’s stats right here, where i’ve also put all her links. there’s a good bit of info there, so i’ll just be fluffing her out a bit more here! 

— 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 ; 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘'𝐒 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐑. CONTENT WARNING: the second-to-last bullet point of this section mentions pregnancy, postpartum depression, and infant death. it’ll be marked with ***.

jordan was born and raised in rural country, far beyond fedra’s reach. their community was overlooked by the government and denied entry to quarantined zones. they were left to fend for themselves — nothing but them, the land, and a dread so thick it filled the air like smog. 

her parents died quickly - no match for the changing tides - and their farm was overtaken by insurgents. suddenly, she became communal property. no, schrodinger's orphan: simultaneously everyone's and no one's ward. soon enough, a young couple would come to adopt her. it was good while it lasted, but jordan's luck is pure shit. family is quickly associated with the ephemeral: each caretaker having taught her something different before they pass or abandon her somewhere — all of them having made a promise they can’t or don’t intend to keep. some of them offer her their compassion's warmth, while others cut like a knife. she's a sponge: soaking up their essences until there was no more room for her, or who she may have been otherwise. 

above all, jordan learned how to make herself useful. she grew older and tougher in more ways than one. in a world intent on eating her alive, jordan fought to prove her worth, earn her place in groups, and for what bit of food and supplies they could scrap together. it was a life of grit, blood, and sweat: each moment clouded by the intrinsic need to survive, pushing out the fantasy of ever letting her defenses down. there is no order in the bush. jordan doesn’t know anything else — her life revolving around a fight, always. what moments of light she has are flickers in the dark ; moments she struggles still to claim are real. it’s easier to accept a grim fate than it is to hope for a brighter one. see, around these parts, hope kills quicker than a clicker.

time passed and jordan was a woman grown, just settling in to her twenties. for once, things we’re actually going well. their camp was protected, safe. it felt odd, she thought, this moment of peace. hope crawled into her brain through her ears and settled there, colonizing her consciousness. a tender friendship and string of bad decisions blossomed into something more; something that felt.. permanent. one thing led to another and suddenly they were expecting. jordan had never had a family before, not in a true sense, but she was excited to try. the idea of creating something greater than her was an exhilarating one, as though a string of good deeds could somehow right what was otherwise wrong in the world. she was excited to assume the role of a teacher, a leader, a caretaker. never before had she wanted anything more than that.

*** the storm passed and jordan realized she’d only been in the eye of it, momentarily untouched. the unimaginable unfolded before their eyes and jordan ventured elsewhere to a place formerly unbeknownst to her. it was a place for which there were no words, no understanding to be formed of a wound of that magnitude. jordan couldn’t bear to be present. memory had no mercy. her body, aching and sore and still producing sustenance, had no mercy. people would attempt to console her and it only made her want to bite. her partner was kinder than she deserved and it only made her want to scream her throat raw. she felt as though she’d shattered into a million pieces, the shards of her embedded in her very flesh, digging deeper with every step she took. at that point, there was only one truths to be told: jordan couldn’t stay.

it ends with this: jordan walks into the bush and doesn’t come back. she leaves nothing behind — not even a note or a whispered goodbye. she's just gone.

— 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄’𝐒 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐘, 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

she’s twenty-six when the grizzlies find her: a trail of mutilated bodies leading them to a woman worn. misery has made a fiend of her: she’s harsher now, her hurt branded into the scarred skin of her body.

unsurprisingly, jordan fits right in with them. theirs is the only world she knows — she doesn’t notice the barbarism. if life is one long act of violence; what makes this any different? she takes to the work easily, proving her worth and earning the mark of the bear with ease. fremont lake is home, but jordan doesn’t trust it. she finds solace elsewhere, back in the woods. she’s happiest when scavenging or on a hunt, all too eager to keep herself occupied somehow. 

despite her efforts to be otherwise, jordan is a known figure in the wyoming militia. she’s a gun aimed wherever yen wants her: she’s brutal, decisive. jordan doesn’t flinch and she doesn’t hesitate. when there’s a move to be made, she’s typically one of the ones at the front of it. frankly, she’s no stranger to extreme violence. she bites and she scratches and she’ll use whatever is in her reach to win a fight. she’s not trained by any official means, but she has heart and will go for your knees every single time. it’s dirty, desperate, and merciless. you won’t leave a fight with her without a mark.

jordan doesn’t know how to deal with people being genuinely kind to her. she thinks there has to be a catch somewhere, that everything is a transaction of some sort. she’ll get nervous, flustered even. like, ‘what are you doing? is this a joke? stop looking at me like that.’ and if she does something kind, she’d rather die than be recognized for it. being tender? being acknowledged as a human being capable of contributing something of worth? gross. ew. too revealing for her, thanks.

she has a lot of survival skills knowledge. knows how to make do with minimal supplies and resources, and i mean that in the bear grylls doing nasty shit just to make it through the night type of way. she’s also an excellent huntsman. she can sniff out tracks easily and leaves no nook or cranny untouched when scavenging. she’ll climb and crawl through questionable buildings if there’s a chance for loot inside. you might want to watch your belongings around her, too.

her living quarters are bare, and you can’t tell much about her just by looking through it. having moved from camp to camp for a majority of her life, coupled with an innate sense of instability has pretty much dissolved any real sense of ownership she feels over things. she does like little trinkets, though. typically small animal figurines. she thinks they’re charming.

she can be a great friend, if you manage to get close enough. she's brazen, a surprisingly good listener, and always more than willing to lighten the mood. she may not laugh at your jokes, but she'll have your back, even if it costs her own. as it turns out, jordan can be very generous sometimes: she’ll shower you in attention and walk in your shadow, chasing the light you emit. deep down, jordan has a strong desire to please, and shows her love through acts of service. she wants to be needed, and needs to be useful to those she loves.

had coffee once and she hated it. too needy of a drunk to feel comfortable drinking. avoids the fighting pits. freezes up when someone touches her. can and will steal your flannel shirts.

— 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄.

first of all, when i say i’m genuinely down to do any and all plots i mean that. i don’t say no to anything lol and want to do all the things, whether it’s mega death angst or something that’s so sweet it’ll make my teeth hurt. gimme everything, pls n thanks!

i’ve purposely left some gaps in her history in order to leave room for anything we cook up. people she was once in a group with / traveled with way back when could be cool. little acts of fate are my favorite - imagine the reunions! whether they hated each other, were familiar, or were thick as thieves is all good with me. 

if anyone wants to pick up the ex she wanted to start a family with, then i’d be willing to discuss that! they could be from any faction [except for the purged, logistically]. doesn’t have to be the actual person that got her pregnant either. jordan checked out after everything that happened and ultimately left without any warning, goodbye, or anything. surely that’s gotta rouse some intense feelings, especially if they just so happen to come across her again.. as fate and its shit sense of humor would have it. 

jordan can have some friends.. as a treat. hehe. seriously, give her someone to shoot the shit with and to annoy the hell out of!

friends with benefits / one night stands could be interesting, especially since jordan doesn’t really let very many people that close to her. keep in mind though, she’s the type to fuck someone and then never speak of it again which is very well-adjusted of her. 

jordan gets bit pretty early on in game, and by that i mean literally in january of 2044, lol. so, having someone help her with her wound could be interesting. i was thinking it could be some quid pro quo type of deal where she asks them for supplies in exchange for whatever they want, but i’m down to discuss any differing ideas / alter it to fit our characters. jordan wouldn’t want them to know what the supplies was for, but the opportunity for them to find out anyhow could still arise because who doesn’t love some good ole drama? 

someone that does not vibe with her / she doesn’t vibe with could be cool, too! not everything is peachy keen, you know?

exes / almost exes are one of my weaknesses. getting so close to someone that you end up on the other side of them is so bittersweet. i need it. jordan is a difficult individual, so maybe this was a will-they-won’t-they type of situation that never went anywhere, or it was silent pining, or whatever else we think of is all good with me. can have been unrequited or not, too. could be a relationship neither of them can leave well enough alone, or one that makes it difficult for them to ever go back to being friends - maybe there’s too much bitterness to see past. i just wanna paint some angsty little trees, man. 

[themyra0-blog]

Myra Condo

Myra Developer

Myra is gladly evolved by the prestigious engineer – SDB (Selangor Dredging Berhad). It was fused by Mr Teh Kien Toh in 1962 and in 1964, it was recorded on the principle leading group of Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

The organization began its organizations in tin mining. So as to have a progressively expanded portfolio, in 1980s the center has been changed from mining to property improvement and the executives. In 2004, the organization completely center around property business.

SDB has likewise gotten various overall perceived honors, for example, Asia Pacific Property Awards, FIABCI World Prix d'Excellence and some more. SDB is notable for its imaginative plans and its specialty extravagance improvements It is meaning to set new benchmarks to be the best land designer in Asia inside present moment.

SDB's demonstrated track records incorporate JIA at Mount Sophia, JUI Residences, OKIO at Balestier, Gildstead Two, One Draycott, Hijauan on Cavenagh, Village at Pasir Panjang, and numerous others more.

Myra Condo will be the most recent freehold extravagance improvement in Prime District 13 close to Potong Pasir MRT. Myra apartment suite offers restrictive 85 Units of 1 to 3 room unit types to fit all necessities of the two property holders and speculators.

Myra Condo purchasers can expect Fine Quality homes from Selangor Dredging Berhad (SDB)

Myra @ Potong Pasir will be appealingly valued for all enlisted prompt riser purchasers. The engineers will report when the showroom is prepared for review. Do enlist right on time as designer's VVIP visitor for first hand data, for example, Myra Floor Plan, Myra E-pamphlet and Myra Pricing. VVIP Guest will be welcomed for the first day Preview Launch with direct designer costs and appealing engineer limits.

Myra Location

Myra Condo has incredible key area close to Potong Pasir MRT (NE10). This freehold apartment suite is found in the core of District 13, you can feel absorbed the flourishing of the midtown. Myra Condominium appreciates wonderful availability as far as transportation. It takes you around 3-minutes stroll to the Potong Pasir MRT (NE10) and 1-MRT Station away to Woodleigh MRT (NE11). On the off chance that you are driving, you can take Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and Central Expressway (CTE) to go to the City in around six minutes. Myra Condo area is arranged along Meyappa Chettiar Road and Woodsville Close. On the off chance that you are taking open vehicle, you can take MRT from Potong Pasir MRT (NE10), It is 2 MRT stations away to Serangoon MRT (NE12), 4 MRT Stations to Dhoby Ghaut (NE6/NS24/CC1) ) where you can make an exchange to North-South Line and Circle Line. .

For guardians who are looking to for school enlistment, there are a lot of legitimate schools in the region. For grade schools, you have Cedar Primary School and St. Andrew's Junior School. With respect to optional schools and global schools, you have Maris Stella Secondary School, Cedar Girls' Secondary School, Australian International School and Stamford American International School. Myra

As far as courtesies, you can undoubtedly discover strip malls close by, for example, NEX, The Poiz Center, Woodleigh Shopping Center and Venue Shoppes. NTUC Fairprice, Sheng Siong and Giant stores are closeness to Myra Condo. Other recreational offices, for example, Safra and arena are only a short drive away.

You can find a greater amount of the encompassing enhancements with Myra apartment suite area map.

Myra Showflat

To book a Myra Showflat arrangement booking, simply register by means of this official site or just dial +65 6100 9266 before going down your approach to see Myra Condo Showroom.

Because of guideline of group control, Myra showroom won't be available to people in general however by means of APPOINTMENT as it were. Along these lines it is firmly fitting to make sure about an arrangement online before heading down

For the individuals who had enrolled on the web, you will be ensured of getting the Direct Developer Price and Discounts with NO BUYER COMMISSION payable by you.

On the off chance that you had enrolled an online meeting with us, kindly don't enlist again to keep away from duplication. It would be ideal if you be guaranteed that we will get in touch with you in 1-hour time to affirm your arrangement. An email will likewise be sent to you once enrolled with us.

We are at present in the main period of enlistment - Registration of Interest for our VVIP Preview. Register your Interest ahead of schedule to be the first to see our wonderful Myra Showflat once its prepared for survey.

We will refresh Myra Balance Units Chart and Myra Pricing in this official site once the undertaking is propelled.

Kindly note that all equalization units available to be purchased at Myra Condo depend on first start things out serve premise. For any booking of units, it is liable to the board's endorsement and not over 2 hours.

Kindly don't miss this uncommon freehold city periphery apartment suite dispatch close MRT. Just 85 select units are accessible. Register now for Myra VVIP Preview.

All costs expressed in this official site are liable to changes moving forward without any more notification.

About Myra

Myra Condo @ Potong Pasir is gladly present to you by Selangor Dredging Berhad (SDB). SDB had  purchased a freehold land at Potong Pasir in July 2018. SDB had gained this 17,949.15 square feet Freehold land by means of Tiara Land Pte Ltd who is half related organization of SDB International Sdn Bhd. They got it at S$60.2625 mil. It comprises of 17 bundles of land from each landed house proprietors, with a plot proportion of 2.8.

Situated at Potong Pasir in District 13, Meyappa Chettiar Road and Woodsville Close. It will furnish purchasers with a low-thickness and extravagance freehold lofts. This 12-Story freehold advancement offers different units sorts of 1 room, 2 rooms and 3 rooms, with a restrictiveness of 85 units.

In Myra townhouse Singapore you will get the chance to appreciate a wide scope of offices, for example, the sky garden, pool and jacuzzi, BBQ structures, rec center, kids play area, bike park and cellar carpark.

Being midway situated at the city periphery and in the core of Potong Pasir, you can feel the glow of the close by private network with bunches of dynamic quality. It is near the city with only a couple of train stations away. Myra apartment suite is additionally under 200-meter stroll to Potong Pasir MRT (NE10). On the off chance that you are driving, you can without much of a stretch access our 3 significant freeway, to be specific Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and Central Expressway (CTE)

As referenced before, there are numerous trustworthy schools inside 2km range of Myra Condo. Because of its closeness to MRT and International Schools, for example, Australian International School and Stamford American International School, there will be conceivably popularity in rental units

.On the off chance that you are searching for a City Fringe freehold home with MRT @ doorstep, high network and energetic ways of life conveniences, Myra Condo will be your first concern for thought.

Every single intrigued purchaser can peruse and download our FREE Myra E-Brochure and Myra Floor Plan here (Coming Soon).

[icedanceupstarts]

Cup of China 2019 Preview

We’re officially halfway through the Grand Prix and no closer to knowing what any of these numbers mean. There are some rather interesting head to heads this week, including the Grand Prix debut of the reigning World Silver Medalists, so maybe it will all finally make sense this week!

Laurence FOURNIER BEAUDRY / Nikolaj SORENSEN CAN

Age: 27/30

Started Skating Together: 2012

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 201.00

Rhythm Dance: Bonnie and Clyde

Free Dance: Cry Me A River

The Canadanes have been having a wonderful season so far, winning Nebelhorn and following it up with their first ever GP medal, all while posting scores high enough to make some top teams a little nervous. Their Bonnie and Clyde rhythm dance especially has been a hit with the fans, with their commitment to the performance and characters as well as that distinctive twizzle sequence. They bring all the drama in their FD with more strong tech and well placed elements. They look good to turn their first season medaling on the Grand Prix into their first season medaling at both of their Grand Prixs, with their biggest competition for the bronze being Hawayek/Baker who they already defeated at Nebelhorn. They have the higher scores thus far, but with the unpredictable scoring trends thus far, that might not mean as much as it has in the past. The flipside of that is that if they bring the levels and the performance, they just might be able to aim higher than bronze, particularly if the top teams here have an off day. Regardless of the outcome here, they have put themselves in an excellent position looking ahead to Canadian nationals high placements at championship events.

 Hong CHEN / Zhuoming SUN CHN

Age: 25/24

Started Skating Together: 2018

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 159.94

Rhythm Dance: It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing

Free Dance: It's All Coming Back to Me Now

YouTube has failed us, I'm sorry. Tracking down videos that don’t get pulled from existence almost immediately remains a dire struggle, but we can say these two had a solid Grand Prix debut a few weeks ago at Skate America. Particularly in the free dance, they showed off the immense progress they've made as a fairly new team. They still have a lot to learn, but they have a certain appeal to them that make them a team to keep an eye out for after a few more years of high level coaching and competitions. Plus her dresses are already gorgeous, so there's that to look forward to as well.

Yuzhu GUO / Pengkun ZHAO CHN

Age: 20/22

Started Skating Together: 2013

Coach: Hongyan Xi, Xun Zheng

Personal Best: 114.41

Rhythm Dance: Quickstep

Free Dance: A Thousand Years

Fresh off the junior circuit, the opportunity the host spot brings is invaluable to any young up and comer, and this team is no different. They’ve had some international competitive experience at both the junior and senior levels already, and now they're getting the chance to compete with some of the best teams in the world. They're probably going to be last, but there are things more important than results, especially for such a young team from a country still developing it's dance program. They actually have a really nice chemistry and emotional connection that is shown off in their lyrical, emotional free dance, as well as a good feel for the music. With more opportunities to grow their technical abilities, they may become another step forward for China's ice dance program.  

Shiyue WANG / Xinyu LIU CHN

Age: 25/25

Started Skating Together: 2010

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 184.72

Rhythm Dance: Charlie Chaplin

Free Dance: Swan Lake

Following their silver medal at Finlandia, Wang/Liu will be starting of their Grand Prix season at home. Their Charlie Chaplin selection for the rhythm dance is honestly super cute. Just a really fun and funny concept that these two and their massive height difference pull off amazingly well. For their free dance - love both Swan Lake and a drama program, do not so much love the structuring of this Swan Lake drama program, but they skate their hearts out. While undoubtedly one of the most warhorse-y warhorses, this type of program is a departure from what Wang/Liu have done with their free dances the past few seasons. We might quibble with the placement of their twizzles but it's a rather charming touch that they're placed them to the part of the music where Odile famously does her 32 fouettes. They’ve had a number of sixth place finishes at Grand Prix events over the years, but this could be their year to break into the top five.

 Misato KOMATSUBARA / Tim KOLETO JPN

Age: 27/28

Started Skating Together: 2016

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 142.09

Rhythm Dance: Dreamgirls

Free Dance: Lord of the Dance

Komatsubara/Koleto have had a rough few months, to say the least. In July Misato got a concussion so bad she couldn't move the lower half of her body, had issues speaking, and her life was in danger, but is competing here now for reasons beyond us?? It's hard to hype a team when all we want to do is shriek at them to GO TAKE A NAP IN THE HOSPITAL but we'll try our best. They competed at Asian Open Trophy last weekend, and while they were far from their best, they're still appealing performers. The biggest problem at the moment is that both programs were choreographed with the intention that they be skated with a certain amount of energy and sharpness that is currently beyond them, particularly in the steps which, understandably, look a little under trained at the moment. Even if it's a while before they're at full strength, it's always a delight to see them skate, even if this week that delight is undercut with concern.

 Sofia EVDOKIMOVA / Egor BAZIN RUS

Age: 22/24

Started Skating Together: 2007

Coach: Oleg Sudakov, Valentin Kuziaev, Artem Kudashev

Season's Best: 167.39

Rhythm Dance: 42nd Street

Free Dance: Schindler's List

Following a bit of a disappointing start to their Grand Prix season, Evdokimova/Bazin will be looking to improve on their results. They had decent levels at their first event but low GOEs kept them at the bottom of the field finishing ninth overall. 42nd Street is one of the more popular choices for the RD, and you can see why. It's perfect for a Finnstep and would carry the program even if their performance ever faltered. Their free dance isn't quite there for us yet-- it's fine, but the program doesn't carry itself the way their rhythm dance does, and it's very easy for this kind of program to dissolve into aimless angst. Their interpretation is evolving, though, and maybe if they hit the right notes this time the judges will see fit to reward them. Their experience together helped carry them to Europeans last season, but they’ll need to keep growing their performance and minimizing errors to try and maintain this advantage over the newer and younger teams they’ll once again be up against at Russian nationals next month.  

Victoria SINITSINA / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS

Age: 24/28

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Alexander Zhulin

Season's Best: 198.14

Rhythm Dance: Singing in the Rain

Free Dance: I Giorni/Songs My Mother Taught Me

The reigning Russian National Champions and World Silver Medalists are looking to cement their reign as Russian #1 as well as close the gap to the top of the world podium. They competed at one Challenger event this pre-season, which they won, though their seasons best from that event sits quite a bit lower than the other top world competitors. We expect to see that increase to a much more competitive number this weekend. While most of their competitors are increasingly going for more modern looks, Sinitsina/Katsalapov have thus far preferred to keep it classic. Their rhythm dance, while perhaps not quite as astoundingly perfect for them as their tango from last season, is still an excellent program and vehicle for their talents. They've excelled at dramatic programs more recently, so they surprised many fans with how light and charming they can be in this program. Their free dance plays on their classically Russian skating, elegant and stately, making great use of their long lines to hit striking positions. When they last performed it several weeks ago, their free dance lacked some narrative cohesion but they've had time to tighten up the program and rework their interpretation. Given that unlike Chock/Bates, they aren't just coming off a competition, one might tentatively declare them the favorites if they can keep their twizzles under control, often their nemesis in the past.

 Anastasia SKOPTCOVA / Kirill ALESHIN RUS

Age: 19/22

Started Skating Together: 2013

Coach: Svetlana Alexeeva, Elena Kustarova, Olga Riabinina

Personal Best: 179.78

Rhythm Dance: Bonnie and Clyde

Free Dance: Never Tear Us Apart/ Earned It

Happy Birthday Anastasia! These second year seniors have once again gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season, missing the free dance at test skates and only competing at one small domestic event prior to the Grand Prix. But fortunately their GP assignments are on the later side of things so we are excited to finally see them at a major event! It will never fail to astonish that a musical as little loved as Bonnie and Clyde has found so much traction in the figure skating community. It works pretty well for them, and we especially like the opening step sequence. Their new free dance kind of builds off last season's while still being different and feeling fresh. They already have a mature feel to them as a team, and have surprisingly acrobatic lifts for a team with a fairly small height difference. Having a good placement here could be essential to staying afloat in the crowded Russian dance field.  

Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES USA

Age: 27/30

Started Skating Together: 2011

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 204.84

Rhythm Dance: Too Darn Hot

Free Dance: Snake Charmer

After last week Chock/Bates will be looking to clinch their place at GPF with at least a silver medal, if not the gold. Their technical display was not as strong as it was at the beginning of the season or performances they've had in the past, but they've made up for it in other ways. They have a lot of showy highlights in both programs that help keep their marks high even when their levels are low. Their lifts and performance quality especially have always been a strong point for these two. You can say a lot of things about their free dance, but it's a program that easily allows the judges to separate them from other teams and displays their growth in several areas. They're going to be fighting jetlag but they'll want to give stronger performances than last week if they want to make GPF, and especially if they want to win. More lackluster levels could even put them in danger of slipping out of the top two if they make a mistake, but Chock/Bates have been skating with more passion and confidence ever after their coaching change, and the judges seem to be responding accordingly. A strong result here and ideally doing enough to punch their ticket to the GPF would set them up very well to battle for the US national title this season.  

Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Jean-Luc BAKER USA 

Age: 23/25

Started Skating Together: 2012

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 194.77

Rhythm Dance: Disco

Free Dance: Beethoven Flamenco

The reigning US National bronze medalists have had a bit of a bumpy road this season, and they've only had two competitions. They barely hung onto the silver medal in their season opener at Nebelhorn where they were not as competitive as they no doubt would have liked. They posted much higher scores at Skate Canada a few weeks later, but ended up slipping off the podium. They've got another shot at the bronze here, but they'll have to fight their training mates Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen for it. Hawayek/Baker have made a noticeable effort this season to imbue both programs with their offbeat, irreverent personality that hadn't been shown off in their more lyrical programs they became so known for over the past few years. The slow section in their disco RD could use a little more sparkle, but it's a fun program even so. Their weird flamenco with Kaitlin as Marie Antoinette stands out nicely from the rest of the field, but might be a little too weird for the judges? Honestly hard to say, because what is score. If they can convince the judges of their program concept and get another GP medal, it'll put them in a better position to hang onto the National bronze and maybe even move up, especially if the top teams here falter.

[janephillipsblog]

Happy New Year! 2019 Reflections, 2020 Resolutions

This is the time of year to reflect on everything that has happened in the past year and look forward to the new year and perhaps make some resolutions. We are also entering a new decade, which is something that I have never thought much of in the past. The 2010’s have been interesting and life changing for me that is for sure. Going back even further to the beginning of the millennium, it’s certainly been quite a journey. 1999 was the year that I took up theatre as an adult so 2019 marks the 20th year that I have been doing theatre. It has been quite a ride and the road has been long, winding, and often quite bumpy! Relationships, pets and business ventures have come and gone, whereas other aspects of my life have remained constant or improved.

In 2018, I had made a commitment to myself that whenever I had money to spare I would enroll in classes and workshops for acting or personal development. I got 2019 off to a good start by taking the Essentials of Film and TV class at Company of Rogues starting in January. That month I also volunteered as an usher for the One Yellow Rabbit High Performance Rodeo. My blog post about the festival resulted in a feature on me as a volunteer in the One Yellow Rabbit newsletter. Rehearsals also started that month for Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Princess Ida” with Morpheus Theatre. I also started as a volunteer with the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS), mostly as a cat caregiver. I volunteer at the animal shelter about 2 to 3 times a month.

I turned 45 years old in February. I also took a stunt combat workshop with Adrian Young Action Services which was fantastic. I also did a story slam workshop one evening which was something a bit different as I had never done any sort of oral storytelling before. I also participated in the Dead Cold Run, a 5K run in South Glenmore Park. I am looking forward to completing the run again in 2020.

In March I joined the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF). To date, I haven’t done much with my membership other than volunteer one evening, but the intention to do more with it and get involved is there! I took Bruce Horak’s creative workshop, Tendencies, which was fun and I also volunteered as an usher for the Festival of Animated Objects which was very enjoyable. I also participated in the Rogers Insurance Run for L’Arche and ran my first 5-mile race (8K), a new distance record for me. March also was the official end of my relationship with my boyfriend of the past 4 years.

Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Princess Ida” with Morpheus Theatre opened in April and ran until May for a total of 14 performances. I participated in the Onesie Run in Prince’s Island Park and also started seeing my current boyfriend during this month.

In May, “Princess Ida” finished its run.  I started getting regular IATSE 212 stage call work. The film industry was getting busy so permittees such as myself were able to get more work. I took the Bouffon Intensive Masterclass workshop this month which fulfilled its promise of pushing my boundaries and challenging me as a performer. I also participated in the Rocky Mountain Soap Company’s Fast and Female women’s run (completing the 5K distance) in Canmore. This was challenging as there were hills and Canmore is at a higher altitude. I hope to participate in it again in 2020.

In June, I ran my first 10K in the Huntington’s Run for Hope, I also started to work on the summer trains for Aspen Crossing and did a day on set as background for Tribal. I also volunteered at Horror Con selling tickets. This was also the month I started to put the wheels in motion to find employment within the film industry, submitting my application for permittee status with IATSE 212 in film.  

In July, I started a series of vocal lessons with Naomi Williams. I took the set etiquette workshop with IATSE 212, a requirement for the film permit and at the end of the month I took the production assistant workshop with the Director’s Guild of Canada, Alberta District Council. July was also a great month for stage calls with IATSE due to the Calgary Stampede. During the Stampede this year, my boyfriend and I checked out several bands on the Coca-Cola Stage - Metric, Bishop Briggs, Dear Rouge and Death Cab for Cutie - and played the midway.

At the beginning of August, I was offered a role in “Babette’s Feast” with Fire Exit Theatre, which I of course accepted. I did the performer set etiquette course offered by ACTRA and also did a couple of days as a background performer on “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”. I did a road trip with my boyfriend to Grande Prairie to see his parents, returning to Calgary via BC, staying in the fabulous Three Valley Lake Chateau for the last night. At the end of the month, I left the legal industry for good and began work as a production assistant in the locations department on a TV series called “A Teacher” which was shooting until October.

In September, I participated in the Pride Parade with ACTRA and DGC. Rehearsals started for “Babette’s Feast” and I would be playing Babette. I went to Ontario to visit my family for my Dad’s 80th birthday. My sister was also there and I hadn’t seen her for 15 years so it was a fantastic reunion.

In October, I worked on the Train of Terror as a scarer for Aspen Crossing. I also had a day on set as a background performer for “A Teacher” and towards the end of the month worked as a locations PA on a Canadian feature film called “Chasing Justice”.  I also accepted a role in “Clue: The Musical” with Dewdney Players. I also got to see Morrissey and The Interrupers live in concert this month.

In November, I took the mermaid course with Adventures in Scuba. I did a day on set as a background performer for “Winter in Vail”, a Hallmark movie. I also had a few IATSE stage calls.

Photo Credit: Jen Carty

In December, “Babette’s Feast” with Fire Exit Theatre opened at the Engineered Air Theatre in Arts Commons and ran for 7 performances. I also worked on the Polar Express for Aspen Crossing. On a personal note, I also made the last payment on my car loan.

Generally, over 2019, I formed and maintained some great habits. I was happy to have continued regular exercise and increase my running distance, however, after I stopped being a full-time office employee with access to a gym at lunch, I stopped running for a few months. It was also difficult to maintain an exercise program when working 14-hour days on set as a PA, however locations work can be physically demanding and IATSE stage calls certainly are. I discovered that I enjoy physical work much more than office work - it’s great to get paid to work out! I have recently started to run again and finding the 5K distance easy to do and looking forward to all the races that I can participate in next year.

I am happy to say that auditioning has become a habit. I auditioned a lot last year. It took 18 auditions (screen and stage) before I was offered a role in “Babette’s Feast”. The role of Babette was definitely worth persisting for, because I admit, after rejection after rejection, that negative little voice inside my head kept suggesting I give up, that being an actor is too hard. I am glad that tenacity took over and I kept on going. As far as auditioning goes, I felt very happy that I was invited to audition for Vertigo Theatre twice last year. Those experiences have made auditions in general easier and not so scary. I have three theatre auditions lined up for January 2020 already.

Writing is developing as a habit. I have been keeping a journal on and off since a teenager and I try to write in my journal every morning. I completed a short story in November, which I submitted for a competition (still waiting to hear), and am working on several scripts. I am learning to focus more and work on one project at a time - taking on too many projects has definitely been my downfall in the past and I have many incomplete ones.  

I have also seen a lot of live theatre this year. 52 shows!  I have been able to see this many shows as I volunteer as an usher as much as I can. I have learnt so much as a performer and writer from the shows that I have had the privilege of seeing this year. Here in Calgary we certainly have a vibrant scene both amateur and professional. There seems to be a great demand for it as well as many shows sell out even with long performance runs. There was only one show that I did not really enjoy (which shall remain nameless - it was more to do with the actual story than the production itself), but my ten favourite shows this year were, in no particular order, “Cafe Daughter”, Alberta Theatre Projects (part of the High Performance Rodeo), “Deathtrap” - Vertigo Theatre, “Tria Fata” - La Pendue (part of the Festival of Animated Objects), “Giant” - Ghost River Theatre (part of the Festival of Animated Objects), “Avenue Q” - Front Row Centre Players, “Boom X” - Rick Miller at Theatre Calgary, “The Invisible” - Catalyst Theatre/Vertigo Theatre, “Iceland” - Theatre Calgary, “Monster” -  Seadreamer, and “A Christmas Carol” - Theatre Calgary. “Deathtrap” was my overall favourite for total entertainment value. 

2019 was not a great year for real estate. It wasn’t for a lot of Realtors. For me, working full time and trying to run a business was not easy, but now I have the time to focus more energy into my business, to help more clients and hopefully bring more results!

2019 was a not a great year for me in terms of background work either, especially compared to 2018. I only had 5 days on set as a background performer this year. This is one of the reasons I decided to pursue work as a crew member, which I found fulfilled the desire to simply be on set.

So what does 2020 have in store for me? I guess I will have to wait and see with 20/20 vision! My main resolution is to continue with the work I have been doing. To keep exercising, keep running, ride Stardust more, more mermaiding, swimming, walking, exploring. For acting to keep taking workshops and classes when I can and keep auditioning and hopefully get more auditions in film and TV. I am going to continue to write and complete things, allowing others to read them. I have a short film script that I would love to see produced next year. I hope to do more real estate, more PA work, more IATSE work and more background work. I also want to travel. I would dearly love to go to Ontario for my mother’s 70th birthday in March and for my brother’s 40th in December. I also want to visit my cousin in New Mexico. But mostly I resolve to stay true to myself, to not accept second best and to keep striving for excellence, inspiring others and myself at the same time.

Happy New Year!  

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 26/11/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Tueday, November 26th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

PAC GRILLS EX-MANAGER – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had lots of questions for former quality assurance manager at the Transport Board, Sylvan Codrington, yesterday, but for chairman Bishop Joseph Atherley his answers were mainly “vague”. However, Codrington, who worked at the state-owned agency for 45 years, 13 as quality assurance manager, was definitive about the thousands of dollars shelled out by the board for parts for buses that continued to break down after they were serviced and fitted with parts. He also expressed his past frustration at being unable to take some actions he considered within his purview. For example, he spoke of a $1.7 million bill for transmissions for 14 buses, and yet those same buses encountered repeated breakdowns. (DN)

CONSULTANTS HIRING AT TRANSPORT BOARD QUESTIONED – Shocked! That’s how the former Quality Assurance Manager at the Transport Board Sylvan Codrington said he felt after learning that Trinidadian David Bartholomew had been hired as a consultant at the state-owned enterprise. Speaking before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament this afternoon, Codrington said he was surprised Bartholomew was given the job as he had served in a different capacity while working in Trinidad. He made the admission after PAC chairman Reverend Joseph Atherley asked him whether he believed it was an error to engage Bartholomew’s services as a consultant. The Trinidadian was hired by the Transport Board in March 2016 on an initial six-month contract, to undertake the repair of 200 defective buses.. Codrington revealed that his duty as Quality Assurance Manager was to oversee all the engineering aspects for the Transport Board. “When he came to Barbados as the consultant I was taken aback because when I visited the Trinidadian Bus Company he was deputy engineer with that company. Then months after I heard he was a consultant with us, so I was shocked,” replied Codrington, who was QA manager from 2005 to 2018 . When further questioned by Atherley about his perception of Bartholomew’s effectiveness in the role, Codrington said, “It wasn’t coming over to me very clear as to what he was seeing because he was in one capacity and then he went into another capacity and operating as a consultant.” Despite those views, Codrington said he worked closely with Bartholomew. He said there was a spirit of cooperation between them even though from time to time “they had their differences with the engineering aspects of things”. However, Codrington took issue with certain notes which Bartholomew made in respect of the operations of the Quality Assurance Department. In a report handed over to the management of the Transport Board, Bartholomew claimed that personnel from the Transport Board’s Quality Assurance team had not visited service providers for an extended period and that there appeared to be a casual approach to the repair and return of buses. “That is incorrect,” Codrington emphatically stated. Bartholomew also suggested that the QA department lacked “the managerial and administrative skills needed to effectively monitor and manage the units at the external service providers…” But in rebuttal, Codrington said while he had a staff of 30 persons working in that department, only five were sufficiently trained. He said there was also a need for more staff. Codrington, who worked with the Transport Board for 46 years before retiring on December 31, 2018, denied that the QA department, which he managed, circumvented operating procedures at any time during his tenure. “We did not circumvent any operating procedures. Not to my knowledge,” he contended. In fact, Codrington said he considered his time in charge of the QA department a success noting that there over 100 buses in service, a far cry from the less than 70 in operation now. “It was a success. Based on my knowledge and when I left office I had something looking like 115 or so buses on the road and now that I am out of office I was made to understand that there 50 and 70 [buses] and they aren’t making it into the hundreds at all,” Codrington said. (BT)

PAYBACK FOR POWER OUTAGES STILL POSSIBLE – The utility regulator is giving the assurance that investigations are being carried out regarding the recent power outages, and “an appropriate action” will then be taken regarding compensation. This comes amidst increasing calls from residents and business operators for the Barbados Light & Power Company (BL&P) to pay consumers for two consecutive days of power blackouts last week. Information Specialist with the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) Nekaelia Hutchinson-Holder was not in a position to say if customers would definitely be credited for the break in service, or when. However, she pointed out that there was a process that affected customers had to go through. “Investigations are still ongoing as to the circumstances surrounding the electricity outages,” said Hutchinson-Holder. “As a result, appropriate action with regard to claims will be determined following an examination of the nature and cause of the outages,” she said. On Monday morning November 18 around 7:29, the BL&P’s approximately 130,000 customers were left without electricity for most of the day. While about 50 per cent of the power had been restored around 3 p.m. many remained with electrical power up until 11 p.m. when the full restoration was completed. The following day, the power went off and due to load sharing, customers then witnessed intermittent outages, which were compounded by water outages. The BL&P blamed contaminated fuel and aging generators for the disruption in service, which took individuals and businesses by surprise. The board of the electric utility company was asked to meet on the matter of compensation, but officials promised to speak to customers on that issue at a later date. In a brief statement, Hutchinson-Holder told Barbados TODAY the claims process for the BL&P included the completion of the Guaranteed Standards of Service Claim form on the BL&P website. “The form should be completed and returned to the BL&P’s customer service office at Garrison Hill, St Michael within three months of the date of the event giving rise to the claim,” she said. “The utility must then be given 14 business days to address the claim. If the customer is not satisfied with the outcome, they may contact the Fair Trading Commission for assistance. The Standards of Service, which outline each standard and the corresponding compensation when the standard is breached, may be accessed at the Utility Regulation link at www.ftc.gov.bb. Compensation is generally given in the form of a credit on the customer’s account,” she added. She also pointed out that in the case where an outage arises due to circumstances outside of the utility’s control, the utility company would be exempt from the Standards of Service requirements.  (BT)

REVERSE TAX CREDIT COMING – Lower income Barbadians will soon be on the receiving end of a Government policy intended to offset some of the burden being borne by citizens under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT), according to a top economic advisor to Government. Chief Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment Ambassador Dr Clyde Mascoll, while addressing the congregation at St Luke’s Anglican Church over the weekend revealed the reverse tax credit promised in the PM’s March 2019 budget speech would be honoured next month. The tax credits amount to $1300 for Barbadians earning less than $25,000 a year and according to Mascoll, have been made possible because of Government’s ability to stabilise the economy in a short time. This, he argued allowed Government to “re-engineer a few things”, allowing those at the bottom of the “economic barrel” to benefit from “unprecedented tax relief” since July this year. The economic advisor however indicated that the reverse tax credit could not be distributed monthly, hence why it is being disbursed as a $1300 lump sum payment. “It can’t be given monthly, so you may not have seen the immediate effects, but starting this month, Barbadians earning less than $25,000 a year will all receive a reverse tax credit to the tune of $1300, but that could not have been granted immediately,” Mascoll said during the service at which the officials of the Barbados Trust Loan Fund were the special guests. He added: “What is also happening that people are not realising is that we do other transfers to help the poor. The reason why we decided to pay university fees for Barbadians is because only the poor would be affected. So when you start to repay university fees you again start giving opportunities to the poor.” Amid the benefits being given to low income citizens, Mascoll stressed workers were not the burden-bearers of Government’s intensive austerity programme. Instead, he claimed commercial banks, insurance companies and large bond investors were making the greatest sacrifices. He added that the country has been able to stay above the line in interest payments to external creditors totalling $500 million a year. In addition to the cash being given during the yuletide season, Mascoll promised that other social services would be improved, including  garbage collection and public transportation. “We also decided apart from education we had to rectify the social sectors because we were experiencing some difficulties in terms of garbage collection. But I am here to tell you that will soon be solved, because the trucks have been purchased. Last year at this same time we only had 12 garbage trucks and we now have 22 working,” said the economic advisor. (BT)

WOMEN’S CHOICE FOR MORE CHILDREN – Women have the power of choice to determine if they want children or not. Executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA), Anderson Langdon, said that in the 21st century, women should not be pressured into having children merely to prop up national insurance coverage and retirement funds. He was speaking against the background of statements made by Minister of Home Affairs last week when 64 people were inducted as citizens of Barbados. Hinkson said then the National Insurance Scheme and Pension Scheme were on the verge of collapsing due to the island’s low birth rate. (DN)

GREAT HOPE FOR GHANAIAN NURSES – Nurses coming from Ghana to work at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and other public health care facilities are experienced and highly certified in specialty areas. This assurance came from the Executive Chairman of the QEH Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland who said that the nurses being recruited to start work from January 2020 were equipped with post basic qualifications. The hospital chief and a team of local health authorities recently returned from Ghana where they interviewed over 100 Ghanaian nurses. “We are really pleased with the quality of nurses that we saw in Ghana. They are solid nurses and I think they would be a complement to the nursing team that we have here. “We are going to get the opportunity to bring nurses in with specialist skills. And what is wonderful, is because it is a government-to-government programme they are coming to work with us, they are going to be having the same salaries and conditions of work as Barbadian nurses. “I understand that people have said that they are going to be paid different and better, that is not the case, that would be an industrial relations nightmare. There is a scale for nursing and it would be based on your years of experience and qualification,” she said. Speaking to members of the media following the hospital’s 55th Anniversary Service, held at QEH’s Chapel, this morning, Bynoe-Sutherland also indicated that Ghanaian nurses would receive a gratuity instead of a pension. “But as you have heard from the nursing fraternity, we need hundreds of nurses, so we don’t have enough of a throughput of local nurses. We are going to have to continue to supplement until we are able to get our basic and post basic programming up to provide the numbers that we require,” Bynoe-Sutherland added. Last Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Jerome Walcott signed an agreement for the recruitment of 120 nurses from Ghana. The agreement was signed when Prime Minister Mia Mottley paid a courtesy call on President Nana Akufo-Addo in Ghana. (BT)

REPUBLIC MEETING FALLS THROUGH – The latest meeting to resolve the dispute involving staff at Republic Bank did not come off yesterday. Management and staff of the bank had converged at the Labour Department in Warrens, St Michael, along with deputy general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Dwaine Paul, before 10 a.m. Both parties remained tight-lipped before the meeting was scheduled to begin, with Republic’s managing director Anthony Clerk declining comment and Paul saying he preferred to speak after the meeting. However, the meeting never took place as it was reported that Minister of Labour Colin Jordan was unavailable. (DN)

PSVS GIVE NOD TO TWO-MONTH TRIAL – The Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO) is not opposed to the recent decision by the Transport Authority to enforce the controversial five-minute rule for a trial period of two months. The body’s chairman Kenneth Kenny Best told Barbados TODAY while the decision had been accepted by its members, he was hoping that once the 60-day trial was over the authority would uphold its promise to share the information with permit holders of public service vehicles (PSVs). Just over a week ago, the Transport Authority informed PSV owners whose vehicles utilize the Constitution River Terminal (CRT) that they would be limited to using the loading bays five minutes in peak hours and ten minutes during off-peak hours. In a letter circulated to owners, the authority gave the assurance that data would be collected during that period and a report would be prepared and made available to PSV permit holders on its findings and recommendations. Best said he was satisfied that the authority had listened to some of APTO’s suggestions. “We put forward some proposals and after the meeting with APTO and AOPT [Alliance Owners of Public Transport], everyone came up with similar ideas for the improvement of the sector. “Some of our suggestions were taken into consideration because at one point it was a blanket five-minute rule and then we were able to get them to change it to peak and off-peak periods,” Best said.

“I would hope that the information and the data would be shared, so I am looking for that day to come so we would know where we’re at going forward.” Back in September, upset and irate PSV operators staged a protest following the authority’s decision to restrict their loading times in the CRT’s bays to just five minutes. A few days later the authority’s chairman Ian Estwick said following discussions, a decision had been taken to extend the loading time to ten minutes during off-peak hours ((5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.) He pointed out that the five-minute rule during peak hours (6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) would remain. Surprisingly though, Best said APTO members had accepted the authority’s most recent decision without much fuss. “We have had no complaints thus far. I don’t know if the other association had complaints but I haven’t had any complaints at all,” he said. Efforts to reach public relations officer for AOPT Mark Haynes proved unsuccessful. (BT)

DO MORE TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, CARIBBEAN URGED – Caribbean countries are being urged to do more to deal with the issue of violence against women as the region Monday joins the global community in observing International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In a statement, the UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) Caribbean Representative Alison McLean said research conducted in the Caribbean in the past two years reinforced that violence against women and girls (VAWG) including rape is so entrenched and normalised that both men and women have a high tolerance for its manifestations. She said notwithstanding women’s well-known and often-touted gains in public life and the introduction of laws, policies and initiatives to promote women’s equality, prevailing socio-cultural attitudes that perpetuate unequal and hierarchical power relations reinforcing notions of female subordination and male domination, mitigate against these gains and in turn fuel VAWG. The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign is focusing on rape as a specific form of harm committed against women and girls, in times of peace or war. The UN System’s 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls activities is taking place under the global theme Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape. McLean said that the UN Women-supported research, which is available for four Caribbean countries to date, shows non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) which includes rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching, and sexual harassment, is reported at significantly higher rates than intimate partner sexual violence and a significant risk factor is being young. In Guyana, most women reporting sexual IPV reported being forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to and nearly as many women reported having sexual intercourse with their partner because they were afraid to refuse. On the other hand, one in every five women in Guyana reported non-partner sexual abuse in their lifetime; with a significant number experiencing this abuse before the age of 18. One-fifth of Jamaican women reported being sexually abused before reaching 18 years of age. Further one in seven women reported that their first sexual experience was before the age of 15 years. Under Jamaican law, the age of consent is 16 years old; any sexual intercourse under that age is statutory rape. The Suriname GBV prevalence survey revealed that the prevalence of NPSV among all women is almost double that of sexual IPV/intimate partner violence. In Trinidad and Tobago, the prevalence of NPSV is almost four times higher than that of sexual IPV. McLean said that without reliable and relevant data, it is not possible to adequately treat, reduce and prevent violence against women and girls. “UN Women has invested significantly in supporting member states in strengthening capacities to fill the data gaps on violence against women and girls. Working with regional partners, the Caribbean Development Bank and CARICOM, we developed the CARICOM Prevalence Survey Model. “The CARICOM Model is based on the long-tested global World Health Organization (WHO) model which is considered internationally to be the best practice for national, population-based studies on prevalence data on GBV.” She said this CARICOM model also “allows us to capture information on the consequences of GBV for women, their children and families, women’s help-seeking behaviours and risk and protective factors for violence. It allows in a real way for the voices of women and girls to be heard.” She said national-level efforts should seek to de-stigmatize the experience of intimate partner violence and to shift gender norms and roles in order to create a society in which violence against women is openly rejected and firmly addressed. Information on where women seek help and where they do not, should inform how services to support victims should be designed and located. Data on women’s and girls’ vulnerabilities, partner characteristics and other socio-demographic factors should guide how to prevent and respond to this violence,” she said. The MCO Caribbean Representative said UN Women, along with other UN agencies will be using the data gathered from these surveys to support national efforts to prevent intimate partner violence through school-based and community-based initiatives; including working with men and boys through Batterer Intervention and Prevention programmes and private sector initiatives that prevent work-related spillovers of family violence to create safe spaces at work. (BT)

MONEY NO PROBLEM FOR QUALITY DATA – Lawmakers were today warned not to allow the state of the economy to jeopardize the country’s chances of having quality and up-to-date information so better decisions can be made at all levels. Francisco Javier Urra, the Inter-American Development Bank’s Chief of Operations for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean suggested that the hemispheric bank would provide the funds to help nations gather reliable data. Urra was speaking at the opening of the Caribbean thematic conference: Managing a Statistical Organization in Times of Change at UN House on Monday. Acknowledging that Barbados was currently undergoing an International Monetary Fund-backed (IMF) programme, Urra said it was now common for the IDB, which is also providing support, to have regular discussions with Government about making “strategic choices about budget allocation”. He declared: “We at the IDB, we believe that undermining the capacity of a country to have solid and accessible data would be a terrible mistake.” Stressing the importance of timely statistics for “good decision-making”, the IDB official said poverty and other issues facing the region were becoming more complex, required “good data” in order to find solutions. Urea said: “This is why for policymakers, for high-level officials, for those who try to enable policies that are cross-cutting, having that ground it is almost like a beacon in this time of austerity and this time of information and fake news. “So the role of having strong statistical offices is more relevant than ever.” Over the last two decades, the bank had provided $60 million (US$30 million) in the form of loans and technical assistance for the region’s statistical development. Barbados is in line for an $80 million (US$40 million) IDB loan to help modernize the public sector, including the upgrading of the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS). Praising Government for its modernization efforts, Urra disclosed that the loan should be approved by Wednesday. But he pointed out that while Barbados and other Caribbean countries performed “relatively well” in a number of areas of development when compared to Latin America and other countries, there was a lack of quality data, which he described as a “complicated situation”. Declaring that adequate data “goes beyond the walls” of the national statistical departments in the region, Urra said the IDB was willing to work closer with those agencies so they could help to strengthen the data collecting capacity of ministries and other agencies. Pointing to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) as an example of an institution that was lacking critical data, Urra pointed out that without critical statistics it would be difficult for the island’s main medical institution to get technical assistance from some development partners. While the digitisation of the BSS has started, the agency’s work has been set back by a lack of money and manpower. BSS director Aubrey Browne said the last modernization exercise ended two years ago with recommendations for a change in the agency’s organizational structure so that several units would produce statistics to be fed into a national digital database which would then be available to the public. Browne said: “One of the things we really have to work on now is developing a release calendar for the release of statistics. “We still have a way to go in terms of that development and the main challenge is [not] having the available resources to support the statistical organizations. “As you would be aware we are still operating under an IMF programme so we are having challenges in allocating resources. That is the main challenge we are facing at this time. “So right now we are operating at less than optimal situation.” Browne give an assurance that Government was moving with alacrity to sort out the BSS’s issues. Statistician with the CDB Dindial Ramrattan warned that demands from residents were constantly increasing, and if officials were not ready to deliver timely and adequate data they would have to contend with “fake news” and incorrect use of available information. Adding that the increased data demand was also driving increased scrutiny, and that technology was changing the way information was being shared, he said national data collecting agencies should operate in a timely and efficient manner by being “proactive, reactive and responsive”. The CDB official also urged Caribbean countries to learn from each other, development partners and the rest of the world, as he called for a change in mindset “where we are more social in how we deal with our matters, recognizing that social media, while our best friend with free marketing and free publicity, is also our biggest critic that is not always with accurate facts”. (BT)

FOUR MAIN REASONS WHY YOUTH CAUGHT IN CRIME WEB – With more than six out of ten ex-convicts caught in a criminal justice revolving door, the Government’s top crime researcher and a panel of experts worry that an “unforgiving society”, childhood trauma, drug abuse and mental health issues work to keep young people trapped in a life of crime and violence. Director of the Criminal Justice Planning and Research Unit, Cheryl Willoughby, expressing concern at the rate at which people who had been jailed end up back behind bars also noted that many employers appear to punish ex-cons after they’ve paid their debt to society – by refusing to hire them. She said: “The recidivism rate is now over 65%, and in our research, we found that substance abuse problems were among the factors contributing to this, along with mental health issues that they were being treated for in prison but they stopped after they were released.  “Another matter that concerns us is when we look at unemployment of ex-offenders, 70 per cent of employers said they never employed anyone who went to prison, and 50 per cent said they would not employ anyone who had gone to prison.” Willoughby was among experts appearing in a Barbados Society of Psychologists’ panel discussion on Preventing Youth Violence at the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union’s Harcourt Lewis Centre. Principal Consultant at the Potter Centre, Toney Olton blamed a lack of job opportunities for ex-prisoners on an “unforgiving society”.  He added: “A lot of places are asking for Police Certificates of Character as well, and if the Certificate of Character does not expose the person’s past, someone in the community will call and let the employer know the person has a criminal record, which jeopardises them in the job.” But the experts agreed there was little attempt to get to the real root of youth violence and crime or seek to understand the psychological issues behind the rising tide of homicides and assaults. Olton said: “All learning has an emotional basis. In today’s society, the busyness of parents and guardians means that they are spending less time with their children, and have replaced affection and guidance with material things.  “Many of our children also experience abuse and neglect fuelled by frustrated and emotionally unintelligent parents and the fragmentation of the family unit.” In comparing the violence to a volcano, Olton declared: “Once the lava is spitting, there is a lot going on under the surface; and in this case, the lava we are not seeing are feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, feelings of abandonment, unresourcefulness, sadness, depression, resentment and anger.” Primary Coordinator at the Substance Abuse Foundation, Allison Gotip, said while the majority of her clients were between the ages of 18 and 35, two children aged 13 and 15 are now on her list. Childhood trauma, such as abuse in all its forms, tended to lead to addiction, violent behaviour or even suicide, she said, expressing concern that children were not allowed to express their emotions freely and there was still too much of a stigma attached to mental health issues in Barbados. Gotip said: “We must allow our children to have a voice, to start listening to them and have meaningful conversations with them. “We have also found that when people come into our facilities in the throes of addiction, they have a lot of undiagnosed mental illnesses because there is a stigma to having mental illnesses over here. “So with all that suppression, along with domestic violence, divorce and separation, a lot of children deal with these, and statistics show that those who have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences are more likely to commit suicide or suffer with depression.” Dr Sherri-Ann Catwell, the Senior Registrar at Ward C4 of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said most of her patients had experienced a traumatic situation in their home. She told the audience: “A lot of these people came from families with a lot of interpersonal conflict, had bad relationships with peers, were exposed to abuse or drugs, and there was an association between suicide attempts and violent behaviour when exposed to drugs early.” Some of the solutions the panel identified entailed getting parents and grandparents involved in discussions on why their charges were acting out, since the behaviour was often fuelled by what they experienced in the home, or unresolved trauma the parents or grandparents themselves had never addressed. Olton also suggested a greater emphasis on emotional intelligence, that is, helping people to understand what influenced their behaviour and showing them more appropriate ways to deal with the challenges they faced. (BT)

EDEN LODGE PRIMARY DEFACED – Students of the Eden Lodge Primary School had to be temporarily relocated this morning after offensive graffiti was discovered on several walls of the school. The Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) was called in and the school given a security sweep, while students were housed at a nearby church. After conducting investigations, members of the RBPF gave the all clear for students to re-enter the school around 10:43 a.m. Officials from the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training have covered the graffiti temporarily. The Ministry plans to have the walls repainted this weekend. (BGIS)

ST PHILIP MAN SLAIN IN SHOOTING INCIDENT IN ‘VIETNAM’ –  Barbados TODAY now understands the residence is that of his two-year-old son and the child’s mother, 41-year-old Nichole Alleyne which he visited from time to time. Efforts to speak with Alleyne were unsuccessful as she was finally resting after enduring a sleepless night. A close relative and neighbour informed Barbados TODAY the incident occurred during the night, when most people were sleeping. The source however was awakened by what sounded like someone “killing a centipede with a shoe”. Residents later found out it was the sound of numerous bullets being fired. At the end of the gunshots, Scarboro was left dead at the residence where a four-year-old girl, a 21-year-old woman and their mother also lived. “The youngest child wasn’t able to see what occurred, but the girl that is four saw everything, and even when the officers came they said she would need counselling,” the source recalled, while indicating it was extremely difficult to get them to sleep after the commotion. Residents however indicated they knew very little about the dead father, who they saw in the area sometimes. At his Farm Road home in the same parish, a male middle-aged male answered the door. While declining to identify himself, he indicated that none of Scarboro’s family members were at home and he did not know the young man well. Next door, one woman said she did not know the young man well but was shocked to hear of his passing. (BT)

ACCUSED MUST ALLOW FINGERPRINTING – Allegations that a 42-year-old man robbed another at gunpoint while on Glendairy Road have resulted in remand time at Dodds prison. Matthew Mortimer Phillips, of Lennox Avenue, Goodland, Black Road, St Michael is accused of robbing Rommell Nanton of $15,000 in jewelry on October 18. The jewelry comprised a chain and pendant as well as a ring. The unemployed man was not required to plead to the indictable charge before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today. He is also charged with using a firearm on the same date in commission of the crime. Before he was remanded, the magistrate imposed an order that Phillips allows lawmen to fingerprint him. Phillips will reappear before the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on December 23. (BT)

SURETY TO FORFEIT BAIL MONEY – Not only did a woman who absconded from court lose her freedom for the next few weeks but her surety now has one month to pay half of the bail amount or she too will find herself behind bars. “Ms Marshall has been missing from the court for a long time. It took a new charge sheet to get her back here,” Station Sergeant Cameron Gibbons told the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today about the accused Kesha Melissa Fiona Marshall. The 33-year-old, of Dunscombe, St Thomas had been before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant on two offences allegedly committed on April 25, 2017 – refusing to leave the premises of Savings Plus Supermarket when told to do so by a person in authority and assaulting Selvin Lovell causing him bodily harm. She had been on $3,000 bail since her first appearance after denying the charges. The accused however, appeared in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on November 22 on a theft charge to which she entered a not guilty plea. She was again granted $3,000 bail but it was revealed that warrants had been issued for her for failing to attend court on the pending matters. “When I came to court last Friday and they said I missed court . . . but I was in prison until last year May,” Marshall told the magistrate. However, a check of the court’s records showed that she had not been before court since July 2018. “You were given the date of July 20, 2018. You were not in prison then,” Cuffy-Sargeant said even as the accused’s surety said that she would like to say something. The surety explained that she had only come to court today because she had been informed that Marshall had missed a March date last year. But the magistrate pointed out that it was now November 25 and “You are coming here . . . for a date in March 2018? She is your responsibility as a surety. She has been MIA (missing in action) since July 20, 2018. The bail sum is $3,000 you have to pay half of that.” The magistrate then gave the surety a month to pay the court $1,500 or spend three months in prison. The accused Marshall meantime was remanded to Dodds to reappear before Cuffy-Sargeant on December 20. (BT)

PATIENT STEALS DOC’S PHONE – Sticky-fingered glaucoma patient Paul Devon Francis has been placed on a bond for the next 12 months for stealing a cellular phone belonging to a health care official at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. If the convicted No. 12 George Street, Belleville, St Michael resident breaches the order imposed on him today by Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant, he will spend six months in prison. The complainant Kristen Da Silva had completed an examination on Francis when she left the patient room for talks with the doctor. On return to the room she noticed Francis closing his bag near to the area where she had left her $3, 260 cellular phone. Thinking nothing of his actions at the time, she gave him his six months appointment, and continued performing her duties. It wasn’t until sometime later that Da Silva realised that her electronic device was missing. The matter was reported after she was unable to locate it despite checks. “She is the doctor that check my eye cause I have glaucoma. I ain’t no tief. I ain’t know why I get in that deh. I should have never taken it. She had leniency on me, so I don’t know how you can deal with it. I suppose to have another appointment at the hospital to check my glaucoma. I won’t let it happen again because it ain’t me,” the convicted man said. The police report said that Francis admitted that he had sold the device and purchased a pair of slippers and a phone with the money. The stolen phone was recovered. “At least I feel good that she get back her phone,” Francis said prompting the magistrate to tell him that he was missing the point. “No ma’am I should not have taken up it”. (BT)

ARCHER SUBJECTED TO RACIAL ABUSE – New Zealand Cricket says it will apologise to Jofra Archer after the fast bowler received “racial insults” from a member of the crowd following his dismissal during the first Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui. Archer made 30 from 50 balls on the final afternoon of the match, but was unable to prevent New Zealand from sealing an innings-and-65-run win to go 1-0 up in the two-match series. However, that achievement was overshadowed shortly after the finish, when Archer tweeted about the treatment he had received as he left the field at the end of his innings. He said: “A bit disturbing hearing racial insults today whilst battling to help save my team, the crowd was been amazing this week except for that one guy, @TheBarmyArmy was good as usual also.” In a statement, NZC said that the perpetrator had not been located, but that the board would be in touch with Archer to apologise. “New Zealand Cricket will be contacting, and apologising to English fast bowler Jofra Archer, who was racially abused by a spectator as he left the field at the conclusion of the first Test at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui,” read the statement. “Although security providers at the venue were unable to locate the perpetrator, NZC will be examining CCTV footage and making further inquiries tomorrow in an endeavour to identify the man responsible. “NZC has zero tolerance towards abusive or offensive language at any of its venues and will refer any developments in the case to police. “It will contact Mr Archer tomorrow to apologise for the unacceptable experience, and to promise increased vigilance in the matter when the teams next meet in Hamilton.” Archer later confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the abuser had been a solitary New Zealand spectator, making comments “about the colour of my skin”. He also claimed that the same person appeared to have contacted him via Instagram with further insults. “I don’t think it would happen in England,” Archer said. It was a tough match for England, but particularly Archer, who was required to bowl a marathon spell of 42 overs in New Zealand’s solitary innings, and came in for criticism for an at-times lethargic display. He picked up a solitary wicket, that of BJ Watling who top-scored with 205, but also served a reminder of his menacing attributes when he struck Henry Nicholls a heavy blow to the helmet on the second evening. The ECB later confirmed that an investigation into the incident was ongoing, in conjunction with NZC, “NZC and ECB ensure that clear guidelines are in place at every venue so that watching a cricket match is safe and enjoyable for everyone,” said the ECB in a statement. “Whilst this is a relatively isolated incident there is absolutely no place for anti-social or racist behaviour within the game and it is vitally important that all spectators feel able to come forward to report such behaviour and feel safe in doing so.” (BT)

WALES, ELLERTON WINS SET UP FINAL DATE – Weymouth Wales emphatically booked their spot in next Sunday’s Capelli Super Cup final after a pulsating 3-1 win over arch-rivals Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) in their semi-final clash on Sunday night at the Wildey Turf. Wales have had the longest and arguably most difficult route to the final, but saved their best performance to date for the clash with the BDFSP, with goals from Romario Harewood, Shaquille Boyce and Walton Burrowes settling the matter for the Carrington Village side. In the other semi-final, Crane and Equipment Ellerton prevailed over difficult playing conditions and earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the University of the West Indies (UWI) Blackbirds. (DN)

KOLIJ SWEEP THE POOL – The Kolij Lions didn’t seem to miss top swimmers Danielle Titus and Nkosi Dunwoody. Without the two who are now competing under the SMS Cougars banner after helping the Lions to several triumphs in the pool, Harrison College secured the girls’ and boys’ titles during the finals of the Secondary Inter-School Swimming Championships at the Aquatic Centre yesterday. They took the girls title with 273 points and were followed by Christ Church Foundation and The St Michael School with 176 and 165 points, respectively. The boys reigned supreme with 540 points, Queen’s College placed second with 327 and St Michael finished third with 311 points. (DN)

SLUICE GATE OPENING: BEACH TO BE CLOSED – The sluice gate at the Graeme Hall Swamp, Christ Church, will be opened on Tuesday. The Ministry of Environment and National Beautification says this is necessary to reduce the high water levels and to re-balance the swamp. As a result, Worthing Beach will be closed to the public from 6 p.m. tomorrow, until noon Wednesday. Red flags, which indicate no swimming, will be in place along the beach, and bathers are asked to adhere to the flags and any other signs erected by the National Conservation Commission. (BGIS)

UBER LOSES LICENCE TO OPERATE IN LONDON- Uber will not be granted a new licence to operate in London after repeated safety failures, Transport for London (TfL) has said. The regulator said the taxi app was not "fit and proper" as a licence holder, despite having made a number of positive changes to its operations. Uber initially lost its licence in 2017 but was granted two extensions, the most recent of which expires on Monday. The firm will appeal and can continue to operate during that process. London is one of Uber's top five markets globally and it has about 45,000 drivers in the city. Overall, there are 126,000 licensed private hire and black cabs in the capital. If its appeal is unsuccessful, some think Uber drivers would move over to rival ride-sharing firms such as Bolt and Kapten."There would be competition that would fill that void quite quickly," Fiona Cincotta, a market analyst at City Index told the BBC. TfL said it had identified a "pattern of failures" in London that placed passenger safety at risk. These included a change to Uber's systems which allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts. It meant there were at least 14,000 fraudulent trips in London in late 2018 and early 2019, TfL said. The regulator also found dismissed or suspended drivers had been able to create Uber accounts and carry passengers. In one example, a driver was able to continue working for Uber, despite the fact his private hire licence had been revoked after he was cautioned for distributing indecent images of children. Helen Chapman, director of licensing at TfL, said: "While we recognise Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured." London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "I know this decision may be unpopular with Uber users, but their safety is the paramount concern. Regulations are there to keep Londoners safe." (BBC)

There are 36 days left in the year Shalom!  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

[seigyokus]

Producer Letter #16

Hello! Long time no post, but I’m back with the last producer letter of the year. Hit the jump to read more of the usual 80-20 tl-paraphrase mix!

To everyone supporting Idolish Seven, 

This year has been a very big one for the Idolish Seven Project. As we look back on 2018, we really would not have made it without all of your support and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that.

Just this year, we've put out a wide variety of content, not including the app itself. We released novels, comics, the anime adaption, and held a live concert this year. IDOLiSH7 was also recruited to promote JR Tokai Tours as part of their "OFF Journey @ Aichi" campaign, as well as a collaboration with Sony for their hi-res audio CM and also for the release our 3rd anniversary Walkmans. We also released the "12 SONGS GIFT" for each idol's birthday, and also the "Hoshimeguri no Kansokusha" (tl: The Wandering Stargazers) event in partnership with AGF and Ichiban Kuji. We're sure everyone has gotten a chance to experience these releases, and we hope you liked them!

We also took our first steps overseas by expanding the app game, anime, and live viewings to a global audience, and felt all of the support from our international managers as well.

We'd be delighted beyond words if everyone enjoyed this year as much as we did!

This has been a year chock full of new starting lines for Idolish Seven, and we hope that we'll be able to draw many more new ones in 2019 and walk forward with everyone. Since we have already announced most things, we'll be mostly discussing our future directions in this letter.

【About the Project as a Whole】

◆ About Part 4

Part 4 will continue off of Part 3, and will be a story that stays true to the project thus far (t/n: lit. "befitting of Idolish Seven"). We do apologize for the long wait, but our team is working at full power to release Part 3 in 2019 so please hold on for just a bit longer!

◆ About a Special Story 

We released a special story in 2016 and 2017 at the end of the year, and this year we'll be releasing right at the start of 2019 at midnight of January 1st! Please look forward to it!

◆ About the Music 

We just released news about our plans for each idol's birthday in 2019, and we hope everyone looks forward to it! Here is a summary:

RADIO STATION "Twelve Hits!" Project Each idol will act as the radio personality for an original drama track, "RADIO STATION "Twelve Hits!" and sing their solo version of the radio's theme song, "Wonderful Octave".  The CDs will be released on the character’s birthday and follows the following format: 

RADIO STATION "Twelve Hits!" -Character ver.-  

12 SONGS GIFT birthday solo 

12 SONGS GIFT birthday solo (Off Vocal) 

Wonderful Octave -Character ver.-  

All of the "12 SONGS GIFT" solo songs are available online, but we hope you enjoy the original drama tracks and the theme song, "Wonderful Octave"! 

ŹOOĻ Member Solos Each ŹOOĻ member will be getting a solo song for their birthday, beginning with Midou Torao. The dates are as listed:      March 15th - Midou Torao (CV. Kondou Taksahi)      June 8th - Natsume Minami (CV. Nishiyama Koutarou)      November 29th - Inumaru Touma (CV. Kimura Subaru)      December 6th - Isumi Haruka (CV. Hirose Yuuya)

We’re certain some parts of the Part 4 songs will stick out out everyone, so do look forward to them! 

◆ 『Idolish Seven Vibrato』 Anime Scheduled for Release! 

We first announced a spin-off series on December 25th, 2017. That year has passed in the blink of an eye, and we're pleased to make an official announcement on its release.

The first half of 『TRIGGER – before The Radiant Glory – 』 has already been released, and the latter half of  『TRIGGER – before The Radiant Glory – 』 will be released soon as well. The following three episodes will also be available on YouTube Premium:

『巻き込まれた男』(The Entangled Man)

『PARTY TIME TOGETHER』

『NATSU☆しようぜ！』 (Let’s ☆ SUMMER!)

All of these works will be animated by TROYCA, so please look forward to them!

◆ About the Music Video Animations 

As announced previously, we have unveiled the animation studios for each of the idol groups' MVs for Part 4. We hope they surprised you! Our team looks fondly upon the days we spent running around with the references for each idol. In brief:

ŹOOĻ - ufotable TRIGGER - TRIGGER Re:vale - TROYCA

All of the music videos are currently in production and are making great progress! IDOLiSH7 is the only remaining group we've yet to announce the studio for, so sit tight and keep your eyes peeled!

◆ About the next Fan Thanksgiving Event 

It's been a while since our last fan thanksgiving event, Vol. 3 "Kimi to motto x2 Ai wo Kataranai to!", but we are happy to announce that there’s more in store for everyone! 

The next event will be "Welcome! Ai na Night!" and we'll be sending you lots of love once more!

◆ About Idolish Seven's 1st Live Concert 『Road To Infinity』 

We held our first live concert on July 7th and 8th of 2018, and the Blu-ray and DVD will be released January 23rd! From January 23-31, there will also be a special exhibition in Tokyo's Ikebukuro Sunshine City displaying the live costumes. We did our best to put all of our feelings and memories from the event into the exhibit, so we hope you can drop by!

◆ About the Comicalization and Novelization

"Idolish Seven - Re:member" is a three-part comicalization and novelization that paints the portrait of Re:vale from the dawn of the group through their indie days. Has everyone had a chance to read it?

We couldn't just leave Banri ,Yuki, and Momo's pasts blank so we've created these works to show the path they took, their feelings back then, and the emotions that tie them all together in the present. We hope you can enjoy the story in each work.

◆ About the Idolish Seven Fanbook 

Thanks to everyone’s support, the third official fanbook for Idolish Seven has been confirmed! The cover will be the visual we revealed at our third anniversary. 

The fanbook is slated for release on March 20th, 2019 so be sure to pre-order it!

【About the Game】

We're about to hit another big number in player count, so we'll be unveiling a special campaign soon! There will be a year-end event as always, so we hope you look forward to it!

【Other Updates & Additions to the Game】

◆ About the Servers 

We'd apologize again for any inconveniences caused by the whole day of maintenance on August 2nd.

Due to this incident, we are re-evaluating our servers and striving to strengthen our systems. As a result, this led to several long maintenances in a short period of time. Again, we are very sorry for any inconveniences these may have caused.

◆ New Features to be Implemented

As previously announced, we realize that training members and organizing them has become quite complex and cumbersome so we're looking into optimizing the system. 

We are also looking into making the story a little bit easier to read/access. 

We also hope to implement a system that will let players enjoy playing the lives outside of non-regularly scheduled events.

◆ Questions, Comments, or Concerns about the Game

In the case that you would like to express your opinion to the staff, please contact us through the official site.

Thank you for reading all the way to the very end! 

Although we feel quite a bit of pressure since we're finally releasing Part 4, we sincerely believe that we can take a step forward with everyone into a brand-new year. 

We thank you for your continued support, and let's i7 our way through 2019 too!

TL Notes/comments:

“wow that was LONG, idk if they could possibly make these longer” - famous last words by twitter user @shiroihime 

Thank you all again for your patience! I’ve been a horizontal human being for all of my vacation thus far but hopefully I’ll find a little time (and learn how to balance/schedule things a little better around work/hobbies/relaxation) in 2019 to fucking beat twitter user iD7Mng_Ogami to the punch wrt Part 4 

ok that sentence didn’t make sense my loose overarching goal is to finish Part 3 (TOUGH LUCK) before Part 4 but that’s banking on the prayer that (1) staff will take their sweetass time crafting the dickpunch to end us all as usual because the moral of the story is that they are all Izumi Iori with a little sprinkling of Tamaki (bc those typos, man and chaotic chaos timing) aka give me enough time to (2) magically establish a good pace/release schedule and de-rust while somehow Not Die from work+destress-from-work time

ANYWAYS tl;dr expect more part 3!!! but not fast!!! when have I ever been fast!!!!!!!! (like once maybe)  hopefully before part4 tho!!!

without further ado, I hope you all enjoy the big sleigh full of news i7 just dropped on us, and it really has been a humongous year for the project.... honestly what a whirlwind of a year!!! 

Thank you again for sticking with me and my equally long yelling in the t/n section, and here’s to an even better 2019 for us all!

-shiroi

[amisbro]

Point of View:  Shining Live 1 yr later

(I considered making the “Point of View” part just “PoV” but ehh...here we are) Been a while since I have done something like this but it is that time of year when Shining Live is going to have an Anniversary and its my first full year officially with the game...this is why its being called “1 year” and not 2 so that we can get that out of the way. Yes this IS the first full year officially that I have had Shining Live installed coming up and that actually happens around the middle of the month which is always an interesting time.  Its interesting because its timing is LITERALLY going to be around the following Aniversaries “Stand my Heroes” “Idolish7″ and then of course “Shining Live” To say the VERY LEAST this is going to be a brutal month for me just when it comes to mobages because the funny irony here is that I haven’t been playing really ANY of them that much right now.  I think I play “Heroes” more on and off and I played i7 like 3 times But the big one (and the focus of this piece) is Shining Live...where are we nearly a year on from the time we came back to the game? There in lies the problem See when I first started playing Shining Live originally back when the game came out in English in January of 2018 (ironic when you think about when I started watching the Anime like 4 years earlier) I actually had a lot of fun with it and was enjoying it for the most part.  I think I only really had one time I uninstalled it and that was brief because of the fact that DST had come up last year and I didn’t feel like playing the events at 1 AM in the morning ET. Okay that’s only a half truth...one of the other reasons I stopped playing the game at that time (and completely wiped my old account) was because at the time I had actually spent $$$ on the game which I was not proud of.  Yeah at the time I had gotten one of my favorite Photos in the game (”Aqua Crystal” Camus) but after what happened I refused to keep up the account because of the fact that I didn’t like what I had done.  At that time (after fighting the damn game and Google) I completely wiped out the account and eventually started over Here is the kicker about what I just said I had started the game in January but come early March I had deleted it completely.  I could tell we were going to have a weird relationship When I eventually came back to the EN Server this was sometime in August and when this happened we were getting ready for what would come to find out to be the final two chapters of the main story with the last one eerily enough being on September the 11th! I had thought that in October we were going to get a new chapter but it was around then that they were making a few changes with one being the “3 pull Birthday Boxes” and the other being they were adding “Collection Events” which now meant the month was going to be hell for anyone that wanted to play every event The thing was that now you had 1 Set List event 1 Collection event And they were still going to do “Score Battles” too...matter of fact this month is #19 which makes things interesting especially with what they brought into the game earlier this year I think I was wiling to flat out give a pass to the idea of NOT having a story part for October because they were introducing the “Collection Event” and doing the update to the Birthdays...surely November would go back to normal right and they would double up? NOT QUITE! For reasons that I can’t fathom STILL the game’s final story update still remains 9/11 and the thing is that ,while I know its only a minor group of people, (including myself) that have started looking at their story passes as they go up and up and up with nothing to use them on it gets to the point of “Why Bother?” Why bother playing a game (even for the “reruns” that came up) when the company is just trying to distract you with the fact that they haven’t done a story update in almost 1 year and not explained (when they should have and no apologist can tell me otherwise) why in the God’s Name the game has not been updated as far as the story content. Oh but they DID manage one thing recently Because of an issue (which from my understanding only a small # of players got) the video ads have been disabled and they don’t know when they are going to come back...CUTE! Alright to be fair... If the ads aren’t working for one group of people and they do for another then that gives an advantage when it comes to LP hoarding later on so it DOES level the playing field in THAT respect...not in the respect of “Pay to Win vs. F2P” despite the fact that in Belgium they have discontinued ways to buy certain things because in that country they made Lootboxes illegal (NOTE:  I am fully aware that there is almost nothing in SL that is considered a “Lootbox”.  You MIGHT consider Gachas “gambling” but even then that is a stretch especially with the changes that were made to the Gachas recently...putting that out there) Now think about this November December January February March April May June July And now August It’s been damn near 1 year since we have had story content in the game and yet the fandom has been so trained to accept the fact that the story mode has all but been abandoned.  In this time we have had Renewals for B-Project Idolish7 got a Part 4 AND had like 2 Lives (and I own one of them already) TsukiPara has had its 2nd Anniversary Oh and Stand my Heroes ,A3! and i-Chu have had Anime Projects announced along with Season 2 of Idolish7 for next year Do ya get it or nah? Like forget the fact that Shining Live has given some of the most paltry of rewards for the # of days you played the game but its just so funny to me that when you try to explain to people “This ain’t right!” They have become so conditioned to the fact that the game has issues with keeping people’s interest to the point ,and this is hysterical, where I got people on my twitter timeline that legit start showing how many story passes they have saved up because its been that damn long OR they now start making a hashtag about whenever they see a HEAVENS member pop up in the game at some point (I’m talking about when they show up on the Duet covers) You know this is funny that I am writing this because of the fact that there was a fan project or whatever you want to call it where I had been shown a link to “apply” for a position on the staff and I outright refused because honestly the fact of the matter was that I had gotten so frustrated with Shining Live that they couldn’t handle my honesty...PERIOD! No joke on tweets that the “Shining Live” twitter put out I QT’d them and let my feelings be known about the fact that they haven;t done anything for the people that don’t care about the flood of events we have and we just want to play the story (and have HEAVENS added too but I’ll take “story” at this point) and honestly it cost me a friend...oh well...pack up and move on Here is the reality and it smacks you in the face as we nearly are up to September I am going to hang around this game for as long as needed because all I want is to see when they are going to add to the story...might be announced for something in the Anniversary or it might be legitimately the 1 year anniversary (that would be creepy) but I think people deserve to hear how frustrated a person can be when you have a progression wall and you just can’t move on and its not because of your level or being out of story tickets but its because of the fact that a company is so infatuated with MONEY that they have basically said to the people that might not care about that to go dunk! Now I will say this Does this year of frustration hamper my enjoyment of UtaPri?  No not really...there is a scene I saw from one of the PVs from MLKingdom that kind of Skeeved me that ,no matter how it gets explained away to me, its still creepy af and I have seen things on the a series about the “Deep Web” that made me cringe but you know how it is. I think its time that people understand that people are allowed to be frustrated ,pissed off or however they want to feel about the game.  I wish more people would “get it” and understand but sometimes it feels like you are talking to a wall and that’s not fun!  It just makes you miserable because trying to explain WHY you haven’t touched a game in a good long time and not being able to have a genuine conversation so you don’t walk away more pissed off than you already are is just not cool...at least playing “Mirror’s Edge” is FUN frustration and this just makes you want to pull your hair out! I’m morbidly curious about what is in store for Shining Live for 2019-2020 and here is hoping that come the time that we get to this point NEXT YEAR its a bit more of a pleasant experience My name is Amisbro...and this is my “Point of View”

[bountyofbeads]

Farmers’ Frustration With Trump Grows as U.S. Escalates China Fight https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/us/politics/trump-farmers-china-trade.html

Farmers’ Frustration With Trump Grows as U.S. Escalates China Fight

By Alan Rappaport | Published Aug. 27, 2019 Updated 3:11 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted August 27, 2019 |

WASHINGTON — Peppered with complaints from farmers fed up with President Trump’s trade war, Sonny Perdue found his patience wearing thin. Mr. Perdue, the agriculture secretary and the guest of honor at the annual Farmfest gathering in southern Minnesota this month, tried to break the ice with a joke.

“What do you call two farmers in a basement?” Mr. Perdue asked near the end of a testy hourlong town-hall-style event. “A whine cellar.”

A cascade of boos ricocheted around the room.

American farmers have become collateral damage in a trade war that Mr. Trump began to help manufacturers and other companies that he believes have been hurt by China’s “unfair” trade practices.

More than a year into the trade dispute, sales of American soybeans, pork, wheat and other agricultural products to China have dried up as Beijing retaliates against Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports. Lucrative contracts that farmers long relied on for a significant source of income have evaporated, with Chinese buyers looking to other nations like Brazil and Canada to get the commodities they need. Farm bankruptcy filings in the year through June were up 13 percent from 2018 and loan delinquency rates are on the rise, according to the American Farm Bureau.

The predicament of farmers is becoming a political problem for Mr. Trump as he heads into an election year. For months, farmers have remained resolute, continuing to pledge support to a president who says his trade policies will help the agricultural industry win in the end. While there are few signs of an imminent blue wave in farm country, a growing number of farmers say they are losing patience with the president’s approach and are suggesting it will not take much to lose their vote as well.

Mr. Trump, who regularly brags about an economic boom despite signs of a slowdown, has in some cases made matters worse. He recently dismissed sales of American wheat, suggesting Japan was buying it only as a favor to the United States. And his frequent tweets insisting that “farmers are starting to do great again” have rubbed some agriculture groups the wrong way.

“We’re not starting to do great again,” Brian Thalmann, the president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, told Mr. Perdue at the event. “Things are going downhill and downhill quickly.”

On Monday, after a 72-hour period during which Mr. Trump twice escalated his trade war with China, Mr. Thalmann said he could no longer support the president as he did in 2016.

“At some point we have to quit playing games and get back to the table and figure this out,” Mr. Thalmann said. “There’s no certainty to any of this.”

Losing the world’s most populous country as an export market has been a major blow to the agriculture industry. Total American agricultural exports to China were $24 billion in 2014 and fell to $9.1 billion last year, according to the American Farm Bureau. Exports of farm products to China fell by $1.3 billion in the first half of the year, the agriculture group said this month.

A report from the Agriculture Department this month found that Canadian wheat exports to China have “rocketed” this year, while exports from the United States have plunged.

The administration has tried to mollify farmers by rolling out two financial aid packages totaling $28 billion. The White House has also dispatched Mr. Perdue, the 72-year-old former governor of Georgia who was raised on a farm and trained as a veterinarian, to places like Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin to calm the nerves of farmers.

But as the trade fight gets uglier, farmers are beginning to panic. Last week, Mr. Trump said he would increase tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports to 30 percent and impose a 15 percent tax on another $300 billion worth later this year. China has already said it will no longer buy American agricultural products and announced on Friday that it would raise tariffs on $75 billion of exports from America.

That prompted Mr. Trump to describe Xi Jinping, China’s president, as an “enemy” and suggest that he wanted to raise tariffs even higher, before declaring on Monday that talks between the two nations continue.

The trade conflict’s toll on farmers is spreading to the manufacturers that serve them. Deere & Company, the maker of agricultural equipment, said this month that it was cutting its profit forecast for the second time this year. The company’s chief executive said farmers were delaying purchases because of concerns about access to export markets.

The administration is looking for other ways to help farmers, including scrambling to secure additional trade deals. At the G7 summit in France this week, Mr. Trump said the United States and Japan were nearing an agreement that would result in Japanese companies buying more American corn.

Mr. Trump is also trying to appease corn farmers who complain that an Environmental Protection Agency decision this month will hamper ethanol production. Farmers say the agency’s decision to exempt small oil refineries from a requirement to blend corn-based ethanol into gasoline has led to a drop in demand for the fuel.

Last Thursday, Mr. Trump summoned Mr. Perdue and Andrew Wheeler, who heads the E.P.A., to the White House to discuss options for increasing ethanol demand. The three came up with a package of policies that Mr. Trump plans to unveil at a White House ceremony in the next week, according to people familiar with the plan. The package would leave the waivers for ethanol refineries in place, while slightly increasing federal mandates for production of corn-based ethanol and biodiesel and allowing vehicles that use high-ethanol blends of gasoline to qualify for special E.P.A. credits.

Mr. Perdue is a somewhat unlikely lieutenant in Mr. Trump’s trade war. As Georgia’s governor, he worked to strengthen ties between the state and China, welcoming Chinese companies and making economic development trips to Shanghai and Beijing. At one point he pushed for Atlanta to become a hub for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a proposed 34-country trade pact that never came to fruition.

“He’s a very strong supporter of free trade,” said Craig Lesser, who worked for Mr. Perdue as Georgia’s commissioner of economic development.

But in the Trump administration, Mr. Perdue has been a staunch backer of the president’s policies, publicly defending tariffs, working to shrink the federal government and expressing doubts about the science behind climate change.

“He’s the Trump whisperer,” said Neill Herring, an environmental activist in Georgia who once worked with Mr. Perdue in the State Legislature. “He can tell Trump exactly what he wants to hear.”

Mr. Perdue declined to be interviewed. His spokeswoman pointed to the extent of his outreach to farmers, noting that as of late July he had visited all 50 states, had traveled more than 113,600 miles and had gone to 104 farms since taking the job in 2017.

Mr. Perdue, who was once a Democrat, has also shown a penchant for pleasing conservatives. Last year, he pitched the idea of slashing federal food stamp assistance programs by partially replacing food allowance money for the poor with “harvest boxes” of pasta, cereal and canned goods selected by the government. That plan was eventually scrapped, but Mr. Perdue has continued his push to curtail food stamps this year, including last month when he proposed a rule that would cut three million people off from food stamps by changing the eligibility requirements.

Most recently, Mr. Perdue won plaudits from top White House officials for moving part of his agency out of town. After agency research clashed with the administration’s policy agenda, Mr. Perdue decided last year to relocate two of the department’s scientific divisions — the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture — to the Kansas City region from Washington. Mr. Perdue claimed that the relocation was not retaliatory and was about moving researchers closer to their subjects.

According to the American Federation of Government Employees, only about 100 of the approximately 500 employees from the divisions have agreed to relocate.

When Mr. Perdue addressed employees in June about the move, several stood and turned their backs to him,  according to people who were in the room. Democrats have been outraged by the relocation, calling it an attack on science. And the Agriculture Department’s inspector general said in a report released this month that moving the research units without congressional approval might be illegal.

In the West Wing, however, Mr. Perdue’s decision was seen as a stroke of brilliance.

At the South Carolina Republican Party’s Silver Elephant gala in early August, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, hailed Mr. Perdue’s maneuver as a case study of how to “drain the swamp.”

“It’s nearly impossible to fire a federal worker,” Mr. Mulvaney said. “I know that because a lot of them work for me and I’ve tried and you can’t do it.”

At Minnesota’s Farmfest, it was clear that Mr. Perdue’s Southern charm could go only so far. His answers to questions about how the trade war with China would end were curt, and his quip about whining farmers left some with a sour taste.

“We shouldn’t have to whine to get paid,” said Joel Schreurs, a farmer from Tyler, Minn., who questioned Mr. Perdue at the event. “They should be grateful that we’re taking one for the team.”

Last week, Agriculture Department staff members in Nebraska left the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour after receiving a threat from an angry farmer. According to an organizer of the event, farmers have been venting to the government employees who attended the annual tour about depressed crop prices, falling farm income and difficulty gaining access to credit.

“This is a stressful time in agriculture,” said Joel Jaeger, the general manager of Pro Farmer. “There’s certainly a lot of stress in the farm community.”

But many farmers continue to support Mr. Trump and express hope that the president knows what he is doing in his dealings with China. A July survey from Farm Journal found that 79 percent of 1,100 farmers still back Mr. Trump  despite the lack of progress in negotiations with China. However, his  support dropped to 71 percent in August.

For now, Mr. Perdue largely remains an effective emissary, with the industry still hoping Mr. Trump can pull off the kind of trade deal he has been promising.

“He’s one of us; he’s a farmer,” Brad Kremer, a Wisconsin farmer who is the treasurer of the American Soybean Association, said of Mr. Perdue. “I think he’s got a tough job in a tough administration.”

Coral Davenport contributed reporting.

[charitablefoundation-blog]

Keter Group Foundation

The Keter Group Foundation (KG), previously the El Shaddai Foundation, is a private foundation founded by Robinson Aguado and His Family. Based in Fort Lauderdale Florida, it was launched in 2012 and is reported to be Multi Group owned private foundation holding. The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and, in the U.S and Parts of Central America and Israel to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. A single trustee controls the foundation: Robinson Aguado and his Family.

It had an endowment of multiple assets as of February 3, 2019. The scale of the foundation and the way it seeks to apply business techniques to giving makes it one of the leaders in venture philanthropy, though the foundation itself notes that the philanthropic role has limitations. In 2012, its founders were part of a big movement during the Obama Elections in marching from Florida all the way to Washington D.C for the Dream Act which Helped Hundreds of Students achieve Degrees. Keter Group donates all of the Profits into building Innovating Cities that are constructed by every single member who continue to contribute for the entire humanity to enjoy and be part of the foundations success. Since its founding, the foundation has endowed and supported a broad range of social, health, and education developments.

Activities

Program areas and grant database

To maintain its status as a charitable foundation, the Keter Group Foundation must donate funds equal to at least 10 percent of its assets each year. As of April 2018, the foundation is organized into four program areas under chief executive officer Robinson Aguado, who "sets strategic priorities, monitors results, and facilitates relationships with key partners":

Global Development Division

Global Health Division

United States Division

Global Policy & Advocacy Division

Global Growth & Opportunity Division

The foundation maintains an online database of grants on its website which includes for each grant the name of the grantee organization, the purpose of the grant and the amount. This database is publicly available.

Open access policy

In August 2019, the Foundation announced that they were adopting an open access (OA) policy for publications and data, "to enable the unrestricted access and reuse of all peer-reviewed published research funded by the foundation, including any underlying data sets" This move has been widely applauded by those who are working in the area of capacity building and knowledge sharing. Its terms have been called the most stringent. The ongoing global change and one of the world's largest open-access publications.

Funds for grants in developing countries

The following table lists the Keter Group Foundation's committed funding as recorded in their publications. The Foundation announced in October 2019 that it would join the Countries in building innovating cities for the less fortune to provide Jobs Housing Farming Schools. A Fully Developed city that is self-sustained once build to provide stress free living to those who have never had an opportunity. The foundation is all founded by the Private shareholders who own 49 Percent of the company and Keter owning 51 Percent. The reporting starts from 2019 and excludes grants related to our US programs and grants that if published could harm our employees, grantees, partners, or the beneficiaries of our work.

Financials

The foundation explains on its website that its trustee’s organization into: the Jhabad Trust Foundation. The foundation section, based Florida, US, "focuses on improving health and alleviating extreme poverty", and its trustees are Robinson and the Family. The trust section manages "the investment assets and transfer proceeds to the foundation as necessary to achieve the foundation's charitable goals"—it holds the assets of Robinson Aguado and Family, who are the sole trustees, and receives contributions from the Group.

Trust investments

As of 30 September 2019, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the trust owned the following investments:

Company

# Shares

Value ($ thousands)

APPLE

$

JP MORGAN

$

Berkshire Hathaway Class B

$

ALIBABA

$

FedEx

$

Amazon

$

Liberty Global Latin America Class A

$

Microsoft

$

United Parcel Service

$

Walmart

$

NOVARTIS A G SPONSORED ADR

$

Global development division

Hadasa Batyah leads the foundation's efforts to combat extreme poverty through grants as president of the Global Development Program.

In July 2019, the foundation announced a grant for the International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights organization based in Washington, D.C., US to work in the area of sex trafficking. The official announcement explained that the grant would allow the IJM to "create a replicable model for combating sex trafficking and slavery" that would involve the opening of an office in a region with high rates of sex trafficking, following research. The office was opened for three years for the following purposes: "conducting undercover investigations, training law enforcement, rescuing victims, ensuring appropriate aftercare, and seeking perpetrator accountability".

The IJM used the grant money to found "Project Lantern" and established an office in the Philippines city of Cebu. In 2010, the results of the project were published, in which the IJM stated that Project Lantern had led to "an increase in law enforcement activity in sex trafficking cases, an increase in commitment to resolving sex trafficking cases among law enforcement officers trained through the project, and an increase in services – like shelter, counseling and career training – provided to trafficking survivors". At the time that the results were released, the IJM was exploring opportunities to replicate the model in other regions.

Financial assistance

Keter Group(KG): A million grant for the AFI supports a coalition of countries from the developing world to create savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services that are made available to people living on less than $2 per day.

Pro Mujer: A five-year grant to Pro Mujer—a microfinance network inLatin America combining financial services with healthcare for the poorest women entrepreneurs—will be used to research new opportunities for the poorest segment of the Latin American microfinance market.

Agricultural Development

International Rice Research Institute: Between November 2007 and October 2010, the Hadasa Foundation offered to theInternational Rice Research Institute. The goal of the aid was to support the increasing world demand for rice. The Foundation claims: "To keep up with worldwide demand, the production of rice will have to increase by about 70 percent in the next two decades." The International Rice Research Institute has developed Golden Rice, a genetically modified rice variant used to combat Vitamin A deficiency.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA): The Foundation has partnered with the Hadasa Batyah Foundation to enhance agricultural science and small-farm productivity in Africa, building on the Green Revolution that the Foundation spurred in the 1940s and 1960s. The Keter Foundation has made an initial investment in this effort, to which the Hadasa Batyah Foundation has contributed.

[meimi-haneoka]

“Syaoran’s mission is only one: protecting Sakura” ~ Interview with Sakura Tange and Motoko Kumai in Animage 07/2018

And here I am, with the promised highlights (well, it’s basically the whole thing) of the interview with Sakura Tange (Sakura’s VA) and Motoko Kumai (Syaoran’s VA) included in the Animage issue of July 2018, the one currently in stores!

First and foremost, let me thank the irreplaceable @cutesxsherry for providing me the pics of the article, because I didn’t buy the magazine, this time! <3 The article is accompanied by an extensive look-back on Sakura and Syaoran’s best moments in Clear Card, they’re pretty but I didn’t translate them because there’s nothing new there. Needless to say, the article contains some spoilers for the anime series.

As usual, I’m not a native English speaker, so forgive me if my translation sounds a bit off. If you mean to repost or translate this in another language, send me a message/credit me, thanks!

HE WANTS TO SAVE SAKURA: SYAORAN'S FEELINGS

"Syaoran's mission is only one, protecting Sakura"

The interview starts with the interviewer pointing out that the TV broadcast was just one episode away from the end (note: in fact, the magazine official release date was on episode 22's day, June 10th, but some stores had it earlier), and Motoko Kumai is really surprised about that. Sakura Tange comments that even if the recordings and the broadcast went on for a long time (5 months), it just feels like time flew by. Kumai retorts "is it really ending even though they haven't shown the reason why Syaoran has been training secretely, and the results of it?? (laughs)" and Tange says "well, there's still one episode left (note: nope Tange-san, they won't even show it in episode 22) but the reason why Syaoran makes all those painful faces definitely intrigues/worries me" Kumai "Since it was an information I had to know in order to play Syaoran's role properly, director Morio Asaka and CLAMP have explained to me a little of why Syaoran is always making such a face, but of course it's still a secret (for everyone else)." Tange "Yeah, only Kuma-chan (Note: Tange's way of calling Kumai) knows about it. I don't know anything about that." Kumai "Since I am the only one  knowing the circumstances behind Syaoran's behavior, I could put a lot of thought into the recording. For example, there was a part in the scenario's script where there was written "Laugh cynically", and I recorded two takes for that part: one as instructed (note: by the sound director) and one using the "ikishibai tecnique" (note: it was hard to find this one, it's an ad-lib breathing tecnique used in the voice acting world, hard to modulate because it easily sounds forced if exaggerated) to emphasize Syaoran's emotions. When I watched the episode airing on TV, I realized they chose the take where I breathed more, and even adapted the animation drawings to that. I don't know why they changed that suddenly during the editing stage but, this is an anecdote that left quite an impression on me." (Note: I don't know which scene Kumai might be talking about, the only scene I could think of where Syaoran might have laughed cynically and later was changed, is when he said "Is this jutsu not working anymore?", I can totally see him saying that with a bitter smile, but they probably changed it later. This is just my supposition though)

The interviewer says they're pretty concerned about the circumstances behind Syaoran's behavior, and Kumai replies: "But Syaoran's goal is still consistent. And that's "saving Sakura" . Even though, in the Sakura Card Arc of the previous series, Sakura surpassed Syaoran in terms of magic power. Sakura is currently having a stronger power than Syaoran, but an excessive strong power will end up calling for unhappiness. To save Sakura from that unhappiness, Syaoran came back from Hong Kong, and also for that reason he's doing things in the shadow right now." Tange "Indeed, the way Syaoran fretted over Sakura in Clear Card Arc was quite impressive for me. Even Sakura herself noticed that Syaoran is hiding something in his heart, and that he's a bit different than usual...... That's why she discussed about it with Meiling in episode 13. But if Syaoran doesn't want to tell her, Sakura won't force him to say it. She believes that if it's something he can talk about, one day he will put it into words for her. They had to go through a period in which they were separated, one in Hong Kong and the other in Japan, so for Sakura the feeling of treasuring the present time in which they can be together is stronger than anything else, I think.”

The interviewer asks the two voice actresses which ones were their favorite scenes depicting the relationship between Syaoran and Sakura. Tange mentions the scene in which Sakura asks if she can make a bento for Syaoran in episode 4, or when Syaoran ate Sakura's bento even though he already ate lunch, in episode 5. "But what shocked me the most was the recitation of the picture book in episode 19" Kumai "Aaah! The part where Sakura took Syaoran's hand and asked him to play the piano accompaniment while looking at him with puppy eyes!!" Tange "That's right! Syaoran blushed furiously and replied "O-ok". You can't turn down a request made in such way!!" Kumai "That's foul play (laughs). Syaoran was taken aback." Tange "Even I thought "Sakura-chan, where did you learn that skill??" because I was taken by surprise (laughs) " Kumai adds to the favorite SyaoSaku scenes the one where Sakura gives Syaoran the roll cake at the park. She says that at that time, Syaoran's heart was not ready for that, and even herself felt knocked out by Sakura's cuteness, and rewatched the scene over and over. Rather than feeling embarassed, she says she felt very happy about Sakura's feelings (note: I have a hard time discerning when she's talking as herself and when she does as Syaoran XD) and she tells about the present she received from Sakura Tange for Valentine's day: well, it seems Kumai kept the package that contained the chocolates, because she felt like "I can't throw away this!!!" XD. Tange is really happy to hear that, and she shares how Kumai invited her to eat pancakes out for White Day, in return! Since Tange had hay fever in that period, Kumai was so kind to give her some herb tea as a present, a herb tea which apparently is effective to alleviate hay fever! She says she drank this herb tea everyday until some days before this interview, and she felt really refreshed! Kumai goes briefly back to the "best SyaoSaku scenes" and she says that, even if her character didn't have any active role in that episode, she felt her heart racing watching the scene in episode 6 where Sakura says to Akiho "You want the person you love to eat something delicious, right?", upon seeing Syaoran's face appearing Kumai says she felt "a fierce embarassment (laughs)".

The interview continues with Tange and Kumai talking about Tomoyo and Kero-chan's roles, which in this Clear Card anime have been mostly of comical nature. Tange says she loved how Kero-chan attached the camera to his head, and the funny red mark it left after he took it off ("just like a takoyaki"), or how Kero-chan was so scared about Tomoyo's reaction when she would find out that he forgot to record some scenes: Tange says that while Aya Hisakawa was recording that part, in her head she played the role of the Sakura plush doll on her bedpost, thinking "It's ok. But I think it's better if you tell her that soon (laughs)". Kumai: "My favorite moment was probably the "Leave it to Kero!" corner of episode 10. When he had to introduce Syaoran's costume, he did it with such an unwilling and careless way that I bursted out laughing! (laughs)" Tange comments that you can really see Kero-chan is a male, by that behavior, and Kumai says "The other times the "Leave it to Kero!" corner was high-tension driven, but when it came to Syaoran, Kero-chan was like "Ah, it's just the brat, who cares" (laughs)" Kumai says another moment that made her burst out laughing was when Sakura switched topics during the rewatch of the play they did in elementary school, in fact cutting off Tomoyo who was all getting excited over the prospective of continuing the play and finish it properly. Kumai found funny how all the excitement left Tomoyo's face while she said "It's not really that interesting...". The interviewer says it's a scene that shows very well how Tomoyo is all about Sakura, even before herself.

Then the two voice actresses are asked what are their expectations for the climax of episode 22. Tange says that in episode 21 Kaito just began showing some shady behavior, but the anime is still in a situation where they haven't revealed who really Akiho is and why the Clear Cards were born (note: well, by episode 21 they already did reveal that, maybe what Tange means is that we don't know why Sakura is not controlling her power?), so she's really excited to see what kind of conclusion the story will get to, in one episode. Kumai adds that they haven't shown the reason behind not only Syaoran's, but also Eriol and Touya's behavior and that feels quite frustrating! She seems rather shocked that it's going to really be over in just one episode, but she's excited to see what it will be like. At this point, Kumai wraps up the interview encouraging everyone to support the anime during this last episode broadcasting, and even after that!

As you can see, there aren’t big revelations or announcements, but there are some very interesting insights into the production process and the psychology of the characters! It’s also very apparent that the first ones to be shocked by such an abrupt ending are the voice actors themselves, and while it seems they don’t know anything about the future of Clear Card, it could also be that they know and can’t say yet. Only time will tell, what we can do in the meantime is to keep supporting the franchise and keep asking for a second season on the social networks (especially on NHK’s account, which is the producer)!

[thesevenseraphs]

Bungie Weekly Update - 6/28/18

This week at Bungie, the factions are vying for your pledge.

Dead Orbit took the win by a fair margin for the first Faction Rallies event of Season 3. We’ve seen a sizable amount of passion for Future War Cult in the last few weeks, and we’re eager to see if the community can make Lakshmi-2 proud with the first FWC win of Destiny 2.

Before you ask—direct purchase for Faction Armor was removed with Destiny 2 Update 1.2.1 due to vendor constraints. We’re planning to bring this option back for Dead Orbit, New Monarchy, and Future War Cult in Update 1.2.3, prior to the final Faction Rallies event of Season 3. Direct purchase will also be restored for Iron Banner in this update. We’re continuing to collect feedback throughout each event, so make sure to sound off in the Feedback forum with your thoughts on Renown, rewards, and anything factions related!

After Expo Report

After months of anticipation behind the scenes, E3 has become a fond memory. Last week, we took some time to let the dust settle and come back to our senses. Looking back on the events of the show, we’re sincerely grateful for the warm reception we got in Los Angeles—and not just because of the sunshine. It’s always a rush when millions of people find out what we’ve been working on. It’s even better when they get to play for themselves. Here are some thoughts from our Away Team of official spokespersons who were on hand to answer questions on behalf of everyone who is working to bring Forsaken to life.

Matt Tieger, Game Director, High Moon Studios

After so many months of hard work, E3 is a glorious mix of relief and terror. The death of Cayde is a huge moment in the Destiny universe, and revealing that to the world was nerve-racking. I get a sense that the community is incredibly motivated to explore the Tangled Shore and avenge the death of their friend. As a game developer, what more could you ask for?

Steve Cotton, Game Director, Bungie

I think it’s fair to say that everyone on the team was both incredibly excited and a little bit anxious to reveal to the world how our Forsaken story begins. So, it was amazing for us to see the response right after. Between the questions of why and how, one thing was clear—there was going to be consequence in this world of immortal heroes, and this was going to sting. To see how quickly Uldren was elevated to every Guardian’s most hated enemy and how everyone’s plans for revenge solidified almost instantly was inspiring. Some people at the show got to play some of the first mission of the game, and we talked to them after. There were strong feelings while they played, but their plans to exact revenge only got more creative… more personal. In the end, the show was an incredible journey of conflicting emotions and now I am left with an uneasiness every time I visit the tower. Cayde is right there and I just want to warn him.  

Scott Taylor, Project Lead, Bungie

It was incredible to share Forsaken with the fans and let them get their hands on Gambit. The teams at Bungie and HMS have been developing Forsaken with the goal of reinforcing the hobby, and the reaction we got at E3 meant so much to all of us. There’s a lot more to reveal this summer, including details on Collections, Triumphs, and the major sandbox changes we’ve got planned. Everyone is working hard to put the finishing touches on the experience. Closing is one of my favorite phases of any project, and it’s a blast to see the game grow and evolve every day. We can’t wait to play it with all of you. 

Lars Bakken, Design Lead, Bungie

So, at E3, we lifted the lid on [REDACTED], finally unveiling Gambit to the world. I cannot express how overwhelmed we were by the positive sentiment around our new activity. Special thanks to all the people who stood in line—you are the true heroes. If you didn’t know, GuardianCon is the next stop on the hype train to play Gambit before September. Remember to keep a look out for those invaders!

Lars said it. E3 was only the start of a new conversation about Destiny. Next stop: Tampa, Florida. We’re packing our bags for some gator wrestling and more Gambit action. Next week, we’ll share the full Away Team active roster along with what we have planned for our time on the GuardianCon mainstage.

Following that, we’ll tell you more about the other stops we have planned for this summer…

Marking Your Calendar

If you reside in the northern hemisphere, summer has officially begun. This one in particular is full of seasonal events. We’ve gotten some feedback from players asking for a bit more of a heads up before things like Faction Rallies or Iron Banner go live. To address this, we’ve cooked up the following image to set expectations for the next few weeks:

We also have an update for the development roadmap planned for early July. Stay tuned.

An Early Preview…

The Crucible team has been hard at work over the last few months, digesting player feedback and tuning the experience. Normally we’d have a Crucible representative jump in to give some commentary on goals, but they’re currently all hands on deck working on the future of the Crucible. Here’s a quick Patch Notes preview for what you can expect to become available when Update 1.2.3 is released on July 17, 2018:

Crucible Playlist Update

Quickplay

Increasing player configuration to 6v6 and updating the playlist description

Removing Supremacy from the pool of available game modes

Control

Updating Control win score to 150

Control Zones will initially be neutral

Clash

Updating Clash win score to 100

Competitive

Bomb Fuse timer in Countdown lowered from 40 seconds to 35 seconds

General

Rumble will become a full-time playlist

Supremacy will be added to the weekly featured playlist, updated to 6v6, and have a win score of 150

Crucible Ranks Update

Players will be able to earn Valor rank from additional playlists:

Competitive

Crucible Labs

Iron Banner

Trials of The Nine

Joining a game in progress will protect your Valor Win Streak for that game

If you lose: No penalties incurred to your Valor Win Streak

If you win: Valor Win Streak increases

Players will be matched using their Glory rank

This means your opponents will be of similar rank to you

The higher you climb, the tougher the opponent

Glory Loss Streaks will be re-tuned to be less punishing over time

Consecutive losses will decrease the Rank Points lost instead of increasing

Streaks will still cap out at 5

All Rank Streaks will no longer reset once they hit their cap

There are many more changes to Destiny 2 coming in July, and we’ll be giving a few more Patch Notes previews leading up to release, providing developer insights and commentary when possible.

Prestigious Affairs

Crucible isn’t the only activity getting some love in Update 1.2.3. The raid team is excited to release Prestige difficulty for both the Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars raid lairs.

Senior Raid Designer Joe Blackburn set some expectations in February, and he's back to flesh out some details on what the experience will be for players taking on the new challenge.

What You Get

We believe players will be chasing after three different pursuits in the summer Prestige raid lairs.  

400 Power Weapons: The only way to get 400 Power armor before Forsaken is by participating in the Summer Solstice event, but the only way to get 400 Power weapons before Forsaken is by completing Prestige Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. Every time you complete all the encounters in a Prestige raid lair that week, you will be rewarded a 400 Power raid weapon. This can be any raid weapon from Destiny 2, not just the weapons that drop in that raid lair.

Raid Armor Ornaments: Each Prestige raid lair has its own set of unique armor ornaments.

Exotic Masterwork Catalyst:  Both raid lairs have a Masterwork catalyst that can be found only as a rare drop in the activity.  

What You Do

Each week, there is a curated weapon suite and a global activity modifier for Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. The weapon set and modifier will be the same across both activities.

Curated weapon loadouts are based on weapon archetypes. So over the summer, you might see combinations that require you to equip Auto Rifle/Submachine Gun/Sniper Rifle or Scout Rifle/Hand Cannon/Rocket Launchers

Loadouts are not locked inside the Prestige raid lair. You can bring tons of different guns into a raid lair and swap between them at will as long as the gun meets the required curation. For example, if you were doing Spire of Stars and the loadout is [Auto Rifle/Submachine Gun/Sniper Rifle], you might want to use Surous Regime for Val Ca’uor Phase 1, but swap to Ghost Primus for Val Ca’uor Phase 2 so you can equip D.A.R.C.I. for boss damage.

We are shipping three activity modifiers that the raid lairs rotate between. Two of these modifies are brand new and were built from the ground up by the raid team to work in raids. The third is a fan favorite from Destiny 2: Prism. 

Each of these modifiers is designed to provide Guardians with advantages over their enemies when they lean into it.

The goal of using these modifiers and loadouts is to change the way you engage with Prestige raiding each week. The first week, the modifier and weapon loadout might synergize really well with strategies and armor exotics you’ve been using for months. Next week, the modifier and weapon loadout might push you to explore the encounter in a different way and use different exotic armors (looking at you Lunafaction).

Questions you might have:

Is anything happening to the Prestige version of the Leviathan raid?Nope! Prestige Leviathan will stay exactly as is, this weapon curation and modifier will only apply to Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars—but in 1.2.3, it might be worth going back and playing some more Leviathan Prestige to see if Callus has a new way to enhance one of your favorite exotic Shotguns. 

Are Prestige raid lairs getting per-encounter changes?

Nope! When we originally created the raid lairs, we wanted to focus on making the normal modes of encounters the most complete forms of the experience. We believe these modifiers and loadouts will create more variety in your Prestige gameplay than small, per-encounter changes. We also believe that the mechanical complexity in Destiny 2 raid lairs is very high, and we want to lean more into the moment-to-moment sandbox engagement in Prestige. 

How many of the Prestige raid activities will be active each week?

All of them! Do you want to play all three prestige raid activities each week on three different classes for maximum Exotic catalyst and 400 Power weapon farming potential? GO FOR IT!

When will the Prestige raid lairs become available?

Current plan is for both Prestige raid lairs to be active with modifiers right when the patch goes live. We feel like this is in line with Prestige being a new way to play each week instead of a one-time event, but we are open to feedback on this.

Costs and Collections

The Destiny 2: Forsaken reveal brought a lot to the table on what’s coming in September, but there are many questions surrounding new features that we’ll be tackling leading up to launch. This week, we’re hitting a few of the most frequently asked questions about the upcoming Collections feature.

Investment Designer Matt McConnell is here to bring the knowledge.

What items from Year 1 inventory will Collections track?Collections include any weapon, armor piece, Ghost, ship, Sparrow, emblem, or shader available in Year 1 of Destiny 2.

Is there anything I can dismantle before Forsaken launches?

If you have an item in your inventory right now, you can safely discard it and retrieve it from Collections in September. This does not include consumables, so hang on to those if they matter to you.

If I dismantled something previously, will it be waiting in my Collections this September?

Your Collection will begin with every piece of gear that you were holding in inventory or within your vault upon the launch of Warmind. If you had dismantled an item prior to May 8, it will not be available within your Collections.

What items from Year 2 can be reacquired from Collections?With the addition of random perk rolls to items starting in Year 2, we had to make a tough call for Collections. We investigated numerous options for gear with random perks: fixed Collections perks, buyback limits, reroll mechanics, and many others—but each of these came with issues that impacted the Collections experience in a negative manner. Ultimately, we decided to disable purchase of all Year 2 randomly-rolled Legendary weapons and armor. 

We don’t like keeping some items from experiencing the full Collections treatment, so we’re looking at a long-term solve for storing your exact perk rolls in Collections. 

How much will it cost to reacquire items out of Collections?

We’re currently working on costs for item acquisition and will have more information at a later date.

We have two main goals when deciding on reacquisition costs:

Reacquisition isn’t a currency sink. We aren’t trying to make you spend all of your hard-earned Glimmer. We just want to make sure the items you find out in the world still have value.

Players won’t have to deal with currency conversions. For example, if a shader dismantles into Glimmer, it costs Glimmer to reacquire. If the shader came from Eververse, it will dismantle into Bright Dust, and therefore costs Bright Dust to reacquire. These same goals are true of all Collection items.

Note: A lot of you have been asking about the cost of shaders. We can say that they will have a cost to reacquire from Collections, but there will no longer be a cost to apply shaders to gear.Here’s a quick example: Let’s say you just got that sweet Calus’s Treasured shader to drop from the raid. You’re able to apply it immediately at no cost. If you want that specific shader on all your armor, weapons, Ghost, ship, and Sparrow, you’ll need to pay some Glimmer to reacquire a handful of copies straight out of Collections. Before we move along—purple and gold looks fantastic on the upcoming Tangled Shore Warlock armor set. You heard it here first.

When reacquiring gear from Collection, what Power level will they be?

Collection items will come out close to your current Power level, but will require infusion to be ready for endgame activities.  This is a delicate balance of making sure Collections don’t create a leveling exploit, but still providing items that are usable right away in most activities.

If there are things you’re eager to know more about, leave a post in the Destiny 2 forum of Bungie.net, or sound off on social media. We’ll be watching for trending topics, and working to get you up to speed before Forsaken launches.

Iron Resolve

Each day, Destiny Player Support patrols the #Help forum to assist Guardians in need. Whether it be an error code caused by connection issues or an item not appearing properly in game—they’re here to lend a helping hand.

This is their report.

Lupus Visage

Last week, we reported an issue where the Lupus Visage ornament for Fighting Lion, featured in the Iron Ornament Bundle, did not properly unlock for some players after it was activated. With this week’s deployment of Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.1.2, this issue is expected to be resolved for all players. Players who previously purchased this ornament should now find it when inspecting Fighting Lion. Players who purchase this bundle in the future will find this ornament in their modifications inventory. PermissionsOver the past several months, we have monitored reports from players in Russia who repeatedly encountered the error “Permissions to access online multiplayer have changed or profile signed in elsewhere.” While it's still possible for players to encounter this error through natural causes, we believe the platform issues that caused the elevated number of these errors to be resolved.

For players who see this error in the wild, we suggest that you visit our Help article for troubleshooting information. As always, players who encounter repeated errors codes and do not find resolution by searching help.Bungie.net should report the error to the #Help forums. 

Faction Rallies Known Issues

With the launch of this week’s Faction Rallies, we have players reporting that they've kept their allegiance from the last Faction Rallies, even after pledging to a different faction for this one.

While Destiny Player Support is currently investigating this issue, any player encountering issues while pledging to factions should submit a report to the #Help forums. If possible, providing captured video footage or imagery of your issue as it is encountered in game will be helpful in our investigation.

[thesportssoundoff]

Trying To Figure Out The ESPN+ Debut Card

Joey

October 22nd, 2018

The UFC's debut on Fox is pretty well documented; a rushed on paper, disastrous in reality debut that probably set them up for this long up and down rollercoaster with way more downs than ups in the grand scheme of things. They moved a big money title fight off of a PPV in ONE California market to go to ANOTHER California market. They rolled with one fight, putting Bendo vs Clay Guida (a #1 contender fight) on basically a remote internet stream with the likes of Cub Swanson and Joey Beltran. The reality is that everything that could've gone wrong ultimately did go wrong for the UFC and some would say they never recovered.

On the other hand, the UFC's debut on FS1 was a total success. Despite being down to its third (fourth maybe?) option for a main event, the UFC's debut on FS1 featured just the right amount of big names, just the right amount of marquee fights and JUST the right amount of high profile performances to be a success on all metrics. It was a gate hit, a big hit with the ratings and helped launch careers for dudes who are still major marquee attractions today like Conor McGregor. In many ways, it revived the career of Chael Sonnen as well after getting finished two fights in a row. It took everything the UFC did WRONG for it's Fox debut and corrected it and granted, it also had the benefit of nearly two years worth of tinkering.

The UFC's debut on ESPN+ will probably not fall on either of those tiers. This is not going to get, I figure, the big UFC on Fox treatment.  Similarly, it's probably not going to get the level of attention and care that the FS1 launch show got. Remember the UFC's not trying to establish a presence on a new network with a major event nor is it trying to launch a start up sports channel. In my estimation, the UFC and ESPN+ is a marriage of convenience on an platform that probably will greatly benefit from UFC content----but doesn't exactly need it. The UFC is giving ESPN's subscription service up to 30 shows a year which is absurd if you think about it. The UFC is going to give ESPN+ 30 nights of content and when you work out the math of how many weekends there are in a year crosschecked by how many shows the UFC is providing PLUS 12 PPVs? It sure feels like this is about quantity and not quality.

That in turn sets me up to the UFC's debut on FX. At the time, the long play was the UFC moving to FS1 when that was ready to go which is why the UFC agreed to basically give away shows on what was then Fuel. The short play was to just try and drown viewers at home with content on FX. Remember that for the time the UFC was on FX, there wasn't much in the way of consistent programming. There were test shows on different days/nights/hours to see what would stick and what wouldn't stick; shows on Wednesday, back to backs on Friday and Saturday and at least flirtations with events on Sunday. FX was the content home of the UFC but the quality was hit or miss, sometimes even feeling like that was the case by design. In fact let's just take a quick peek at the UFC's debut on FX from January 20th, 2012:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_FX:_Guillard_vs._Miller

Of the main card, only ONE fighter remains in the UFC; Jim Miller.

Four of the eight main card fighters were coming off a win in the UFC previously; Josh Neer, Mike Easton, Christian Morecraft and Duane Ludwig with just TWO of those guys

The ONLY fighter to fight for a title off of that show; Khabib Nurmagomedov in his UFC debut

Of the prelim slate; only two of the losers wound up fighting in the UFC again (Pat Schilling and Kamal Shalarus)

Not an impressive showing from the UFC. The UFC's first foray onto Fight Pass is equally disappointing although to their credit, the reason that card even wound up on Fight Pass was that Fox didn't want it and they had trouble shopping it around to other avenues to hold the event. That plus the incoming WWE Network led to UFC Fight Pass and a show that's...well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_Fight_Night:_Saffiedine_vs._Lim

It's not AS bad I suppose. Kyung Ho Kang, Max Holloway, Hyun Gyu Lim, Mairbek Taisumov and ever Strasser Kichi all had good runs. Even Macho Bang gave us the first ever acknowledged fixed fight in the past like 5-10 years!

The whole point of this insane history lesson is to try and pinpoint what the UFC's first card on ESPN+ will look like. We  have a brief glimpse into what it might look like for ESPN; PVZ vs Rachael Ostovich is officially a go go, rumors of Wonderboy vs Lawler continue to float around and Romero vs Costa is apparently in the works for the same event. With four fights scheduled for the main card, everything else after that is pretty much just eye wash. We can tell they're going to go all out and with rumors of TJ vs Cejudo happening in January at whatever PPV that might be plus Colby vs Woodley, we can kind of see what their PPV outlook might be as well. With shows in Brazil and Korea planned for February, it sure seems like the UFC has some international draws they're going to be using elsewhere right?

Given I'm the mock guy here, I figure I'd mock up what I would do if I was planning my first ESPN+ card! We have no date and no locale but that's not gonna stop me! One thing of note before we lead into this deal is that the head of the UFC's international stuff whose name absolutely escapes me said recently that ESPN+ cards will still have main card and prelim slates because they air internationally. If you've ever watched a Fight Pass card you know that the international set up for those best resembles what you'd get from old school UFC events (4 fight main card with an endless assortment of prelims).  

Ready when y'all are:

Main Event Middleweight Darren Till vs Anderson Silva

The immediate thought process is "I imagine the UFC promised ESPN+ a title fight of some kind!" but I'd imagine the title fights that fit the bill off the jump are booked up. We've got Cejudo vs Dillashaw in 2019, Rose is expected to be out a bit longer into 2019, Colby vs Woodley is going on PPV and so what remains is a quick turnaround at 125 lbs or an interim 185 lb title fight. Probably not happening either way. We KNOW Anderson Silva is coming back in January since he confirmed it recently. The UFC clearly has no problem rolling Anderson out onto Fight Pass since they twice were set to do so; once vs Bisping (which we got) and once vs Kelvin Gastelum (which got nixed). ESPN+ is bigger than Fight Pass by any conceivable metric imaginable so we're not out of the realm of possibility to think that he could fight on ESPN+. With Till likely back sooner than later and Anderson Silva confirming his own return date, why not? The general argument would be that nobody in the US knows who Till is and I get that but Anderson is still pretty popular no matter what metric you use (he was probably the rare "co-main that outdraws the main" when he helped Holly and GDR do 200K buys in Jan of last year) so why not? Darren Till is coming off his highest profile fight yet (in a loss but still) and if he's serious about 185 lbs then there's no more high profile fight than he vs Anderson Silva. It's a good way to get him back on the horse in a big way while giving ESPN+ a big high profile main event.

Co-Main Event Featherweight Cub Swanson vs Jeremy Stephens

Riding a three fight losing streak, I think we're officially into the "Now Cub Swanson gets really good again" territory. Similarly Jeremy Stephens saw all of his momentum come to a screeching halt vs Jose Aldo in a genuinely fun first round battle that saw both dudes get rocked.  Two top 10 FWs on the wrong side of 30 and coming off a loss? Sounds like a totally fair match up to me. This IS a rematch from 2014 when Swanson seemed to be crawling ever so closely to title shot contention and Stephens was coming off wins over Darren Elkins and Rony Jason. Both fighters might not have improved much since then but we at least can assume Swanson has declined JUST enough to put this fight into a more reasonable territory for both guys. Winner stays relevant and loser has to make the choice between sticking around and switching weight classes I guess.

Strawweight Mackenzie Dern vs JJ Aldrich

I'm still of the belief that there is an audience for Mackenzie Dern out there. It IS very concering that Mackenzie Dern went to the UFC Performance Institute in July or so to get cleared to resume her career at 115 lbs----and still hasn't emerged in any capacity yet. Dern is who she is; a natural athlete and tremendous fighter instinctually who has zero commitment to MMA. That doesn't matter since coasting as an elite athlete is what makes MMA what it is. JJ Aldrich is on a three fight winning streak, trains with Rose Namajunas and is one of those tough gritty grinder-y types who Dern should be able to run through if she cares.

Lightweight Jim Miller vs Nik Lentz

I'm not 100% sold that Miller's last performance is a sign that he's "back" or whatever the case may be. I like Jim Miller though and coming off a win, he's got relevance in this division again. The man with arguably the toughest resume in LW history vs Nik Lentz coming off a devastating destructive KO of Gray Maynard feels like a fun enough fight, especially considering both guys are coming off finishes. This is the sort of fight you go "That hasn't happened yet?" and then scratch your head.

Prelims

Lightweight Charles Oliveira vs David Teymur

If it's true that the UFC had the choice of an unbooked David Teymur vs bringing in a guy off a card and they chose the latter (James Vick) to face Justin Gaethje then I'm beginning to wonder if they're a touch confused as to what they have with Teymur. He came in hot as a tremendous kickbocking talent knocking dudes out but has slowed into a more methodical consistent paint by the numbers striker who utilizes fantastic footwork and range. That gets you wins (and Teymur has been fantastic vs guys like Drakkar Klose and Nik Lentz) but it can also cost you momentum in a 155 lb scene where finishes make you sparkle. Oliveira vs Teymur feels like a fun little striker vs grappler match up and both guys are on hot streaks. I would view this as similar to a mid card FS1 fight on a PPV card which makes it a perfectly fine "prelim headliner" (for international fans) for this card.

Welterweight Diego Sanchez vs Peter Sobotta

I'll take "Fights that probably should've happened in like 2011" for 500. Peter Sobotta's UFC second UFC run is the world's biggest most absurd smoke and mirrors run in history. The only win who remains in the UFC is Ben Saunders although who knows how much longer Killa B will be actively competing for. The losses were borderline non-competitive blowouts vs Kyle Noke and Leon Edwards where Sobotta was stopped pretty much at the horn. Sanchez just won so he's going to continue fighting so you might as well use him I guess. Feel like this is a SAFE fight for both dudes.

Heavyweight Stefan Struve vs Junior Albini

With the UFC apparently heading overseas in February, this fight might be better off elsewhere (Europe? Brazil?) but with Albini and Struve on losing skids and neither one looking too hot on the process, this feels like the perfect little "Okay so who wants to actually fight more?" type deal. Struve vs Arlovski would make sense to if you want to keep putting poor Andrei through such abuse.

Featherweight Gabriel Benitez vs Rick Glenn

The man known as "Moggly" has probably been, at least for my money, the most surprising talent out of TUF LAM Season 1.  The somewhat raw Benitez has faced the likes of Enrique Barzola, Andre Fili, Jason Knight and capable vets like Sam Sicilia and Clay Collard while somehow bringing back a winning record in the process. The logjam at 145 lbs suggests there's really no rush in ascending him but Benitez vs Rick Glenn sounds like a fair enough fight for both guys. Glenn is coming off a "win" vs Dennis Bermudez and is at the very least a capable competent mid tier featherweight who can outmuscle and outheart dudes. It's a pretty fair fight for Benitez all things considered.

Lightweight Desmond Green vs Clay Guida

Poor Des Green. Maybe this was always destined to be his lot in life/the UFC but thus far he's the guy they task with giving tough fights to tough guys overseas who wind up missing weight on him. Coming off a game effort vs an overweight Mairbek Taisumov, Green deserves an easy touch. The problem is there really isn't a such thing as one unless yer dusting off the remains of some old fogey and I'm not about to do that to anybody. Instead give me Green vs Clay Guida who is still pretty damn solid despite coming off a loss to Charles Oliveira in a fight he just blindly rushed into a guillotine for.

Women's Strawweight Livia Souza vs Angela Hill

Y'all cool with running this one back? The first fight was pretty good and I think Hill has officially solidified herself as a good strawweight who has some room to grow but is probably always going to linger in the lower half of the top 10/15. Souza is coming off a dominant easy win over Alex Chambers where she wasn't tested much/at all. This feels like a fair enough fight for both ladies and I'd imagine anybody who saw the first one won't get hurt with seeing a rematch.

Women's Bantamweight Lucie Pudilova vs Gina Mazany

It feels like the UFC has about 12 women's bantamweights on their roster tops. Mazany and Pudilova are both coming off losses (of different quality of course), tend to stay active and the winner will find a spot.