#rule 63 exchange 2019

[coinnewz]

Binance slashes costs, Ripple ready for US banks and crypto VCs return

The crackdown on crypto firms by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to have severely affected Binance’s business. During the past few weeks, the crypto exchange reportedly fired over 1,000 employees and slashed some benefits. According to Binance, the “current market environment and regulatory climate” have caused a decline in profits, suggesting more cuts may be in the works. A spokesperson told Cointelegraph the firm would consider scaling back on “certain products, business units, staff benefits and policies” in response to business and regulatory concerns. Binance has yet to face the courts and the 13 charges brought against it by the SEC, as well as the outcome of an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department targeting its activities and executives. Despite cloudy prospects ahead, Binance is still comfortably the most popular centralized crypto exchange in the world, holding assets worth over $63 billion. A token breakdown by DefiLlama shows that the majority of assets held in Binance include Tether (USDT) (27.55%), Bitcoin (BTC) (26.95%), BNB (BNB) (12.82%), and wrapped Ether (10.08%). In remarks on Binance’s anniversary on July 14, the exchange’s CEO Changpeng Zhao recalled that the company’s journey was “never all smooth sailing.” This week’s Crypto Biz looks at Binance’s ongoing efforts to curb declining profits, Ripple’s expectation that U.S. banks may soon adopt XRP (XRP) and the first signs of venture capital returning to crypto. Ripple CLO says court ruling could encourage banks to adopt XRP Stu Alderoty, chief legal officer of Ripple Labs, believes that U.S.-based banks may turn to XRP for cross-border transactions following a recent court ruling. “Hopefully, this quarter will generate a lot of conversations in the United States with customers, and hopefully, some of those conversations will actually turn into real business,” he said during an interview. With the label of “security” seemingly no longer hanging over XRP, partnerships between Ripple and banks dampened by the SEC lawsuit could find new life. Bank of America had been eyeing the blockchain firm in 2019, and American Express first partnered with Ripple in 2017. #NEW: Chairmen @PatrickMcHenry and @CongressmanGT issue a statement regarding the court ruling in SEC v. Ripple and the need for legislative clarity in the digital asset ecosystem to prevent further uncertainty in our financial markets. Read more https://t.co/y1nITVmHvh pic.twitter.com/tn0dn0BDHd — Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) July 14, 2023 Binance cuts back on employee benefits, citing ‘decline in profit’ Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is cutting back on certain employee benefits amid reevaluation efforts at the firm. The company reportedly stopped offering reimbursement to employees for certain expenses, including using mobile phones, fitness and working from home. Binance cited the “current market environment and regulatory climate,” which led to a decline in profit, suggesting more cost-cutting measures may be needed. The report follows a massive layoff in June that affected over 1,000 employees in the exchange. Binance and Zhao were both targeted in suits by the SEC for allegedly offering unregistered securities in the United States. Marathon shareholders file lawsuit against company’s top management Crypto mining company Marathon Digital is heading to court over allegations that its CEO Fred Thiel, alongside other top executives, breached fiduciary duties, unjustly enriched themselves and wasted corporate assets. According to the complaint, the company’s management has been downplaying its problems, artificially inflating Marathon’s valuation, receiving excessive compensation, making lucrative insider sales, and receiving unjustifiably elevated bonuses based on false and misleading statements. Polychain Capital, Coinfund raise $350 million for new crypto funds Web3 venture firms are gearing up for new investments in crypto projects as Polychain Capital raised $200 million for a new investment fund and Coinfund secured $152 million for a seed fund. Polychain still intends to raise $400 million in total for the new fund. It currently operates three funds with approximately $2.6 billion in assets under management. As for Coinfund, its CEO Jake Brukhman said the company set a goal of raising $125 million but managed to rake in an additional $27 million due to a resurgence of interest in the industry. The total volume of venture funding for crypto startups has declined by 76% from year-over-year due to the bear market and turbulence in the industry. July is CoinFund’s 8th anniversary, celebrating the journey of @jbrukh @flexthought and team from kitchen table to cap table. We’re thrilled to bolster this milestone with the announcement that CoinFund has closed its $158M Seed IV Fund to back the leaders of the new internet pic.twitter.com/6kwBFuIHiy — CoinFund (@coinfund_io) July 18, 2023 Before you go: Bitcoin rally will lead to “speculative blow-off top” in 2024, Mark Yusko predicts BlackRock’s application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund has sparked the beginning of a new crypto bull market, which will go parabolic at some point closer to the halving scheduled for April 2024, according to Mark Yusko, the chief investment officer and founder of Morgan Creek Capital. Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse of the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday. Source link Read the full article

[webbingdesign]

Incorporating Mobile-First Indexing: Necessity, Guidelines & Recommendations

Cellphones have obscured and possibly outperformed different innovations promotion contraptions in pertinence and importance as customers effectively use them for essentially everything, be it exploration and study, work or exchange. PDAs adding to roughly '63' percent of the complete of Google's hunt volume in the US, according to ebb and flow information, exploration and measurements.

In regard to these changing utilization examples and client inclinations, Google formally affirmed a couple of years back that it would change from PCs to portable ordering and encoding. Site proprietors, designers and advanced advertisers responded with dread and wariness to this disclosure. In any case, the world is continuously changing, and Google appreciates being a pioneer and trailblazer at the front, all things considered,

What truly is 'Portable First Ordering' and how can it work?

Before we go into the techniques as a whole and approaches that website specialists ought to carry out set up to ensure that their destinations run as expected and really, we should initially characterize and explain the expression Portable First Ordering. Portable First Ordering, according to research, shows and suggests that Google focuses on ordering and positioning versatile renditions of information or content.

Google has proactively begun ordering portable first data and content by defaults, and each page or webpage, transferred to research search after July 2019, is being listed first in versatile mode or arrangement of that site.

It is fundamental you coordinate the accompanying apparatuses and strategies for versatile first ordering to your site;

'Googlebot' approaches the Substance and Information of your Portable Web Form;

Ensure that web index bots like Google can grasp the data and access the material on the versatile form of your page. To offer relevant data for the Google web index, guarantee that Google Bot (a web crawler) appropriately imparts and deciphers your website materials and data. Follow these basic moves toward empower and allow Google Bot to consolidate your information without bugs and issues for versatile ordering;

•          On your work area and versatile site pages, utilize a similar bot Meta labels. Google crawlers can find it hard to record your substance assuming you utilize various labels when your site is set up for portable first ordering.

•          Googlebot will dismiss the order to list your foremost material, for example, media records, that need manual intercession (clicking and input). Consequently, you ought to be cautious while 'Lethargic Stacking' your web content and keep the rules given by Google itself.

•          Approve Google to routinely screen and break down your web assets and information. The pc and portable forms of specific assets and locales have particular locations or URLs. . Assuming that you truly need your site pages to be listed by Google, remember not to forestall or confine them.

Key Substance That Is Steady;

Keep up with the critical material on your work area and portable website pages indistinguishable. Since Google just files versatile renditions of locales, ensure your portable and work area forms are indistinguishable and reliable. Assuming your versatile site gives off an impression of being deficient in happy, hope to further develop it. To give guests an obliging point of interaction, guarantee your headings and sight and sound components are comparative across the two mediums.

Foster a choice and proportionate visual appearance;

Visual material, - for instance pictures and recordings, should be the proper size and goal, across both PC and versatile adaptations of your website pages, for ordering. Executing a couple of conventions for illustrations and rules for videos (as been suggested by Google), are as per the following;

•          Guarantee your photos are in a design that is reasonable for conservative shows and have a high-goal, as Google could do without low-goal pictures while ordering.

•          For Google to deliver a video, it should be in an ideal configuration with the pertinent comments.

•          On both work area and versatile variations of the website page, the graphical substance should be properly organized.

Foster destinations that are versatile and responsive;

The pattern these days is responsive site pages, which permit watchers to see an improved and ideal variant of the site. Portable first ordering and SERPs ought not be an issue for responsive site proprietors.

Portable first ordering is a complex and exhaustive technique for surveying all web information and content. Observe that versatile first ordering has turned into the best wellspring of ordering and positioning, so organizations will not have the option to quit. We suggest that you execute these actions when possible to moderate failing errors.

[asia-ustaad]

WHY IS UBER WINNING THEIR COMPETITION ?

Uber or Uber's rivals - Find the industry's most powerful player. Although first-mover advantage is advantageous at first, it is not necessarily sustainable. Have you used Uber before? What are your thoughts on its business model and the competition from Uber? As a driver and as a third-party spectator, does it appear to be a profitable venture? Let us assist you by discussing this business venture and finding answers to these issues if all of these inquiries result in confusion or ambiguous responses. Uber, for example, is known for bringing in innovative and new ideas to the market. This company pioneered the concept of ride-sharing, which is now employed by a variety of local and international businesses all over the world. "Sometimes freedom from regular rules is what provides you competitive edge," says Reid Hoffman. As a result, this one-of-a-kind approach could be deemed a competitive advantage for the company. But not after everyone else had copied it. Uber's business strategy is unique, and it has achieved a lot of success in a short period of time. However, it is no longer the sole ride-sharing company in operation. In this post, we'll go through Uber's business strategy and how competitors are losing market share to the company. Let's start with a quick overview of the firm and its competition so we can see why Uber is outperforming its competitors.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF UBER:

In 2009, an American startup was founded that pioneered the concept of peer-to-peer ridesharing. It began as a taxi service and then evolved into a peer-to-peer ride-sharing business that can be hired through a smartphone application. Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick proposed and launched the company. Uber has thus far expanded to 63 countries, serving more than 780 cities. Uber has developed a meal delivery service in response to its widespread success in other parts of the world, particularly the United States, and the company is profiting from it in the local US market. The number of Uber users globally has surpassed 110 million. It emphasises the clients' strong acceptability. Uber has a 69 percent market share in the ride-sharing business in the United States, with Uber competitors accounting for the remaining 31 percent. In 2019, the company that began as a private corporation became a public company. The firm's first initial public offering raised money for it, but since then, Uber has been losing money, causing concerns for the stockholders who bought into the company during the IPO.

BUSINESS MODEL OF UBER AND UBER COMPETITORS:

We're confident that almost all of you have a basic understanding of how Uber works. Passengers order rides with a mobile application. In exchange for the money, the driver closest to the passenger picks them up and leaves them off at their destination. Uber is less expensive than taking a cab. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important in the transportation business. Uber hires contract drivers on the supply side. People who want to make money by driving go to Uber's offices, meet the company's requirements, and gain access to the company's mobile application, which allows them to find riders and earn money. Not everyone is eligible to work for Uber as a driver; you must meet specific criteria, including vehicle safety and availability of a driver's licence, before being approved.

UBER COMPETITORS:

As soon as the riders and drivers accepted this business model, more companies with the similar business strategy began to enter the market. Lyft, Ola, Careem, Didi, Taxify, and Yandex Taxi are just a few of the biggest Uber competitors around the world. All of these companies are based on the ride-sharing and peer-to-peer model. Apart from ride-sharing vehicles, personal mobility choices and self-driving vehicles are also a threat to Uber and other market competitors. Aside from all of these competitions, traditional cab services are one of the most important things that none of these ride-sharing firms can overlook. Traditional taxi services still account for a major portion of this industry's revenue.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FACTORS MAKING UBER PROMINENT FROM ITS COMPETITORS?

Even when we're talking about another ride-sharing company, most of us still refer to Uber. How many times have you mistakenly done something like that? You'll be surprised that you weren't even aware of this inadvertent error if you start counting. So, what makes Uber stand out among Uber competitors in our minds? In this part, we'll go over these considerations.

1 - ADVANTAGE OF THE FIRST MOVER:

People with a marketing background are familiar with the concept of the first-mover advantage. That first-mover advantage has come into play in the case of Uber and Uber competitors. For those unfamiliar with the word, it is a basic term that describes the advantage that the first entrant in a market has over the remaining participants. “The Internet moves very fast. In the old world, we could afford to sit and analyze forever. But in the new world, the first mover has the advantage.” — Raymond Kwok When it comes to technology, the importance of having a first mover advantage increases even more. Some of the benefits of being a first-mover include capturing the majority of the market share without having to compete, increased odds of user acceptance, and the likelihood that our brand name will remain in the minds of consumers indefinitely. Furthermore, because you are the first, most customers can relate to your brand. This makes creating brand loyalty easier. As a result, Uber's entry into the market as the first player received all of these advantages, and this is why Uber's competitors have been unable to detract from its image, despite the fact that the company has been losing money for the previous few months. However, as Reid Hoffman points out, "First mover advantage goes to the company that scales up, not the one that starts out," and Uber has been unable to preserve that advantage.

2 - THE COMPETITION PERSPECTIVE:

Another thing to note is that when discussing Uber and Uber competitors, the perspective of competition differs. Other ride-sharing companies, as well as cab services, are certainly competitors for Uber. Uber has consistently surpassed cab services since its inception, which is why it has dominated the industry. When it comes to competition in the ride-sharing market, however, some of the nations where Uber began operations have forced the company to relocate. One of the best examples is China, where one of Uber's competitors drove it out of business.

3 - EXTREMELY EXCESSIVE MARKETING:

Uber, as one of the transportation industry's behemoths, can afford to sell its services effectively. This increases the company's share of mind among customers, increasing the likelihood of them using it. Local Uber competitors that cannot afford to run large marketing frequently lose market share. It's useful in the short term, when Uber is actively selling its services.

However, as Uber's competitors have matured, marketing costs have been less of a concern for the company. Furthermore, even for Uber, tackling the competitive efforts made in aggregate by all of the tiny companies operating in the local market becomes tough.

4 - CONVENIENT SERVICE PROVISION:

Uber and Uber rivals' services are simple to use in comparison to traditional taxi services. In just a few clicks, your car may be with you in minutes. Furthermore, due of the company's strong check and balance in these areas, the quality of the car, service, and safety features are all fully maintained. This is, nevertheless, a crucial consideration for all of the ride-sharing systems now available. As a result, it can only be regarded a complement to the traditional cab services that once dominated the market.

5 - KEEPING PRICES LOW:

Uber was rumoured to be subsidising rides until recently. This was done to ensure that clients become accustomed to the service and became loyal, hence displacing taxi services. The company's approach was intended to limit the appeal of taxi businesses in the industry. Once the firms or individuals who are losing money quit the industry, the way is free for Uber to become a monopoly.

Low graph of the gold price. 3D rendering. Although half of the consequence of this action was seen, the public switched from taxi services to ride-sharing services, it still did not achieve monopoly status due to the emergence of new players. As a result, this strategy of keeping rates low can be considered one of the ways to outclass cab competitors, although it has not performed as intended.

HOW HAS UBER OUTPERFORMED ITS COMPETITION?

The answer, in our judgement, is a resounding no. The key reason for this response is local competition in the ridesharing business. You can see that the players who aren't Uber are gaining a lot of traction. In reality, the industry's customers are not brand loyal. They can switch between services without incurring any further charges. This low cost of switching actually tarnishes Uber's reputation as the industry's pioneer. Customers appreciate a company that is inexpensive, whether it is Uber or one of its competitors. Clients have clung to this point, and they are using it on Uber as well, as this was the purpose of capturing the initial customers from the cab sector.

CONCLUSION:

Uber entered the market with a fresh and innovative concept. It gave clients more convenience and decreased expenses. As a result, this model and the company's services were accepted. However, the introduction of competitors using the same business model as Uber has caused to lose market share, and as a result, it has not been able to maintain the monopoly that would have allowed it to make exclusive revenues. What do you think some of Uber's main competitors are? Which of these rivals is your favourite, and why? Please share your own experiences so that we may gain a better understanding of how the competition operates in the industry and how customers view the various services that the competitors provide. 17 ways how to make money online in 2022 How to sell online - ways to sell products online Read the full article

[redbelles]

rule 63 exchange letter

hi! i’m so sorry this letter is late— life has been really crazy the last couple weeks. i really appreciate your patience, and i’m super excited to get whatever it is you come up with :)

okay, here we go! 

general likes: i love character studies, quiet angst, found family narratives, intense power dynamics and the realities thereof, and bittersweet endings. fluff is generally fine as long as there is some pain in there to temper it

asoiaf:

for any of the characters/pairings listed, i’d love to see how changing their gender would change canon— for example, would f!robb still call the banners and march south? would f!jon still join the night’s watch (pretending to be a boy, maybe?) or would she stay at winterfell? join the silent sisters? anything in that vein for any of the characters would be great! 

the losers:

i love these idiots, and i’d be happy with anything here! team fic, mission shenanigans, found family narratives, AUs where roque and clay are both significantly less stupid and the team gets to stay together, stories about jensen and cougar being ridiculous and smooching a lot, i’m here for all of it.

bonus points for any/all of: roque terrifying people in basic, jensen having zero patience for fake geek girl stereotypes, cougar plaiting sharp things into her hair as part of her “no one touches the hat” policy, clay still having extremely questionable taste in women. really, anything about how being a woman changes—or doesn’t change—them.

red dead redemption:

i love arthur morgan and i want him to be happy, but he suffers so beautifully. pretty much all i want here is that suffering in the context of an always-a-lady!arthur. same goes for john. power dynamics with dutch and how that relationship shakes out would be ideal. also: please be kind to any horses that may appear!

dcu comics: 

power! dynamics! for any and all of these ships! feel free to go heavy on the angst here, given the nature/backstory of the characters (jason in particular); i like my gotham bloody and sad.

pacific rim:

i’m particularly interested in always-a-lady!chuck, but given that the only way pacific rim could be more my exact thing is if there were more ladies, i’ll be happy with anything :)

bonus points for: EMOTIONS ABOUT JAEGERS!!!!!! also people reacting to the fact that mako literally wears the (color of the) blood of her enemies in her hair

[al-the-remix]

SidGeno Fic Rec Masterlist

So obviously there is going to be some over lap in these, but here’s every fic rec list I’ve made! (I think lol...) I’ll try to remember to add the new ones as I go.

The big and spicy rec list 

Mpreg rec list

Weird biology rec list

ABO rec list

Dom Sid rec list

Dom Geno rec list

Food/Feeding rec list

Spooky fic masterlist 

Werewolf rec list

Fantasy rec list

Historical rec list

Royal au rec list

Game of Thrones inspired rec list

Robot au rec list

Rookie Sid rec list

Scary Sid rec list

Pining/Jealousy rec list

Amnesia & Hurt/Comfort rec list

Mob au rec list

Virgin rec list

Slutty Sid rec list

Highschool au rec list

Coming to terms with sexuality rec list

Featuring Sid learning or speaking russian rec list

Geno apprehensive about marriage rec list 

Rule 63/Genderswap rec list

Double Penetration rec list

Some Sex Work recs

Pens fics with various ships 

Bennguin rec list

Read/Reread lists:

One 

Two 

Three

Four

Not my lists but I recommend these recommendations: 

Xeno masterlist 

Advent calendar masterlist 

Bottom Geno Week masterlist 

Sid/Geno heatwave masterlist 

Sid/Geno Exchange 2019: Part One, Part Two

Sid/Geno Exchange 2020: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Spook Fest 2020: Part One, Part Two, Part Three  

Possibly every bottom Sid fic

[freakscircus]

final book list for my colonial comprehensive exam! i have two months to read all this. :~)

Commodities

Bakewell, Peter. Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico: Zacatecas, 1546-1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.

Boza, Alejandra and Solórzano Fonseca, Juan Carlos. “Indigenous Trade in Caribbean Central America, 1700s–1800s.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

McGillivray, Gillian. Blazing Cane: Sugar Communities, Class, and State Formation in Cuba, 1808-1959. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.

Mintz, Sidney. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Murillo Velasco, Dana. “Borderlands in the Silver Mines of New Spain, 1540-1660.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Ortiz, Fernando. Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar translated by de Onis, Harriet. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.

Premo, Bianca. “From the Pockets of Women: The Gendering of the Mita, Migration and Tribute in Colonial Chucuito, Peru.” The Americas 57, (2000): 63-93.

Rogers, Thomas D. The Deepest Wounds: A Labor and Environmental History of Sugar in Northeast Brazil. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

Stein, Barbara H. and Stein, Stanley J. Edge of Crisis: War and Trade in the Spanish Atlantic, 1789-1808. Baltimore; Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.

Schwartz, Stuart B. Tropical Babylons: Sugar and the Making of the Atlantic World, 1450-1680. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

Labor Systems

Miller, Joseph C. The Problem of Slavery as History: A Global Approach. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

Reséndez, Andrés. “Borderlands of Bondage.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Rupert, Linda M. “Shaping an Inter-Imperial Exchange Zone: Smugglers, Runaway Slaves, and Itinerant Priests in the Southern Caribbean.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Schwartz, Stuart B. Slaves, peasants, and rebels : reconsidering Brazilian slavery. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992.

Schwartz, Stuart B. Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian society: Bahia 1550-1835. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Stinchcombe, Arthur L. Sugar Island Slavery in the Age of Enlightenment: The Political Economy of the Caribbean World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.

Tandeter, Enrique. Coercion and Market: Silver Mining in Colonial Potosí 1692-1826. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1993.

Tutino, John. Making a New World: Founding Capitalism in the Bajio and Spanish North America. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011.

Van Young, Eric. “Beyond the Hacienda: Agrarian Relations and Socioeconomic Change in Rural Mesoamerica.” Ethnohistory 50 (2003): 231-245.

Wolf, Eric R. and Mintz, Sydney. “Haciendas and Plantations in Middle America and the Antilles.” Social and Economic Studies 6 (1957): 380-412.

Yaremko, Jason M. “Indigenous Diaspora, Bondage, and Freedom in Colonial Cuba.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

New Philology

Burns, Kathryn. “Making indigenous archives: the quilcaycamayoc of Colonial Cuzco.” Hispanic American Historical Review 91 (2011), 665-689.

Dueñas, Alcira. Indians and Mestizos in the Lettered City: Reshaping Justice, Social Hierarchy, and Political Culture in Colonial Peru.  Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2010.

Hill Boone, Elizabeth and Mignolo, Walter D, editors. Writing Without Words: Alternative Literacies in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994.

Monteiro, John M. “Indigenous Histories in Colonial Brazil: Between Ethnocide and Ethnogenesis.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Rama, Angel. The Lettered City. Translated by Chasteen, John C. Durham: Duke University Press, 1996.

Restall, Matthew and Asselbergs, Florine, compilers. Invading Guatemala: Spanish, Nahua, and Maya Accounts of the Conquest Wars. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007.

Restall, Matthew and Martin, Rebekah, editors. The New Conquest History and the New Philology in Colonial Mesoamerica. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Restall, Matthew, Sousa, Lisa, and Terraciano, Kevin, editors. Mesoamerican Voices: Native-language writings from colonial Mexico, Oaxaca, Yucatan, and Guatemala. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Ruiz Medrano, Ethelia and Susan Kellogg, eds. Negotiation within domination : New Spain's Indian pueblos confront the Spanish state Boulder: Colorado University Press, 2010.

Terraciano, Kevin, and Lisa Sousa. “The Historiography of New Spain.” In The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History. Edited by José C. Moya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011

Race & Ethnicity

Fisher, Andrew B. and Matthew D. O’Hara, editors. Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.

Graubart, Karen B. With Our Labor and Sweat: Indigenous Women and the Formation of Colonial Society in Peru, 1550-1700. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007.

Jordán, Pilar García, Guiteras Mombiola, Anna, and Frye, David. “The Construction of a Frontier Space: Inter-Ethnic Relations in Northern Bolivia.” In The [Oxford] Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World edited by Levin Rojo, Danna A. and Radding, Cynthia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Larson, Brooke, Harris Olivia, and Tandeter, Enrique, editors. Ethnicity, Markets, and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.

Restall, Matthew. The Black Middle: Africans, Mayas, and Spaniards in Colonial Yucatan. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009.

Lohse, Russell. Africans into Creoles: Slavery, Ethnicity, and Identity in Colonial Costa Rica. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2014.

Matthew, Laura E. and Oudijk, Michel R, editors. Indian Conquistadors: Indigenous Allies in the Conquest of Mesoamerica. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.

Roller, Heather F. Amazonian Routes: Indigenous Mobility and Colonial Communities in Northern Brazil. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2014.

Serulnikov, Sergio. Revolution in the Andes: The Age of Tupac Amaru. Durham: Duke University Press, 2013.

Yannakakis, Yanna. The Art of Being In-between: Native Intermediaries, Indian Identity, and Local Rule in Colonial Oaxaca. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008

[is6621]

Is Tech Disrupting College Enrollment? by Shihua Wu

Education has always been at the foreground of the American Dream. Many individuals, especially immigrants, arrive in The States in hopes of achieving a better future by taking advantage of the American education system. Attending college in America is what many hope to achieve. Anecdotally, this has been the case for a long time but according to new research, college enrollment in the US has declined for the eighth consecutive year in 2019. Although it is hard to pinpoint the cause of this decline, I would think startups in the edtech space have something to do with it. Rising tuition costs exacerbate the decline as well. To put things into perspective, in-state tuition prices among public national universities grew by 63% over a 12-year period from 2008 to 2020. 

Nowadays with the internet, anyone can find out and learn about any topic with just a Google search. One of the biggest edtech trends today is the rise of online education. Once small startups such as Udacity and Udemy are now edtech unicorns specializing in online learning. Udacity and Udemy both have millions of users on their platforms, each with similar missions: to provide online education that helps students gain skills they need to compete in today’s society. Not only are users based in America, but there are also thousands of users across the globe taking courses in different languages. Udacity and Udemy differ in their price structure but both options are miles cheaper than even one year at university. Udemy charges per course and a course could cost anywhere between 20 dollars and 200 dollars. Udacity has a monthly charge for completing its Nanodegrees, something Udacity coined, similar to a certification. Although Udacity and Udemy charge for their main services, they have hundreds of free courses available as well. 

There are many free options for online education. Coursera is another unicorn that offers courses online, many of which are free as well. Coursera partners with universities and organizations around the world, bringing a wide variety of topics and courses to its platform. Khan Academy is a completely free platform that partners with many post-secondary schools to bring students in-depth videos on many subjects. Lambda School is an online school pioneering a new model of higher education. The School’s mission to find untapped or underutilized talent and train that talent in cohorts for the most in-demand jobs in the world. In other words, Lambda School trains people to be software engineers for free in exchange for a share of their future income. The internet is allowing companies to connect students from all over the world who want to learn any time and anywhere. Students are able to learn online using built-in features that utilize an individual’s mouse or trackpad, webcam, and keyboard.

Online education is becoming a big factor when it comes to considering whether an individual wants to go to college or not. Despite this, there are also many edtech startups trying to help students break college enrollment barriers. Companies are increasingly noticing that there is a problem in college admissions. Test scores, grades, and writing ability are heavily emphasized while other factors that may make an applicant stand out are not. With the internet, students can now showcase their talents on different platforms such as YouTube and colleges will take notice. According to a 2018 Kaplan Test Prep survey, about 25% of college admissions officers review applicants’ social media profiles. This number will surely to go up as social media continues to proliferate. If a student has even 10,000 subscribers on YouTube, this could significantly raise an applicants’ attractiveness. John FIsh is a Harvard student who has over 680k subscribers on YouTube and has had his channel before attending Harvard and was recognized by the university. Similarly, an applicant who has influencer status on Instagram will be highly sought after by any university. In an age where social media rules, any good publicity a university can get for free automatically puts them on the map globally. 

All in all, there are many facets of the college process that tech has disrupted and changed. The future of higher education has never been more uncertain. How can colleges increase their enrollment rates when there are so many other options now? This blogpost didn’t even touch on the gig economy and how that has influenced individuals to go straight to work as opposed to pursuing higher education. How can colleges utilize technology and startups to their advantage?

Sources:

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-08-22/why-colleges-look-at-students-social-media-accounts

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/ed-tech-startup-market-map/

https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/topics/technology/how-technology-is-changing-education/

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/default/online-education-was-disruptive-force-25-years-ago-now-it-being

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/05/30/college-enrollment-declines-continue

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/what-you-need-to-know-about-college-tuition-costs

https://www.signalvine.com/admissions/college-enrollment-down

[linskywords]

Stromecat Primer

This is for the anon who asked for one, which YES I will do this thing. I now have copious notes on these two which have to go somewhere. But also I’m relatively new to the pairing, so if people have corrections or things to add, have at it!

Also it’s super long (haha I might as well just have had you guys read my story draft) so I’m putting it after a cut.

OKAY SO.

Here are our boys:

(Dylan. This is his Wikipedia picture but just look at that face. Could not resist.)

(Alex. What a precious Tolkienian Dwarf.)

Okay. So those are our boys. Let’s have us some TIMELINE.

They start playing together in the fall of 2014, after Dylan goes second overall in the 2013 OHL draft to the Erie Otters and Alex signs with them undrafted the following spring. He did not get drafted because he is short and therefore underestimated. They tear it up that year, along with Connor McDavid, who’s playing on a line with them: Alex gets 104 points in 68 games--pretty great for going undrafted--and Dylan gets a whopping 129 points and wins the OHL scoring title.

So our boys are good! Everyone’s very impressed with Dylan. He’s drafted third overall in 2015, after Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, and everyone’s very excited about the Stromes as the next big hockey family (older bro Ryan was drafted fifth overall to the Isles in 2011). The future is bright.

Dylan goes to Coyotes 2015 development camp. He goes to training camp. He plays in a couple of preseason games. But they don’t think he’s ready, so they send him back down to Erie. Pretty normal. Nothing to worry about.

2015-2016, Dylan’s the captain. Alex and Dylan play on a line together (without Connor this time) and have another great year where they are playing and also living together. Alex gets 101 points in 60 games and Dylan gets 111 in 56. They have a kind of rough World Juniors in there--Dylan plays for Team Canada and ends up in 6th place, and Alex plays for the U.S. and gets bronze but gets injured early on and only ends up scoring a single goal in the whole tournament. But, you know, good year with Erie. Future still bright.

(Look at this adorable pair. Ignore the facial hair on one of them who shall remain unspecified. Also this is presumably 2017 based on the letters on their jerseys but shhhh.)

However, Alex continues to be underestimated because he is short! He also had a bad World Juniors, so people are worried he might only be situationally good with the Otters. He’s passed over in the first round of the 2016 NHL draft and ends up being drafted 39th, by the Chicago Blackhawks, who have a history of drafted very competent undertall players. Also they didn’t have a first-round pick that year so I like to think they might have taken him either way.

Dylan and Alex both go to their respective 2016 development camps. And training camps. Alex plays in a preseason game with the Hawks but gets sent down--again, normal. Dylan plays the whole preseason with the Yotes and stays up, but they don’t really commit to him. They scratch him a bunch and only put him in for 7 games--this is either the limit of what they can play someone and still send them down to Juniors or close to it--over the course of a month and a half. Finally, on November 20, they send him back down to Erie, after 7 games played and...one point scored.

So at this point Dylan’s probably feeling pretty bad about himself. His former linemate Connor went straight to the NHL and is about to start his Hart-winning season. Dylan’s getting sent down for the second year straight.

But! 2016-2017 is an awesome year for the Otters. Alex is an A. Dylan gets made captain again at some point.* Dylan and Alex are living together again, and they’re playing together, and they freaking tear it up. They lead the Otters to a first-place finish in the O and win the J. Ross Robertson Cup (the highest award in the OHL). The guys on the team like to talk about that as the best night of their lives. They make it to the final game of the Memorial Cup, the championship for the whole CHL (which includes the OHL, the WHL, and the QMJHL), and lose narrowly to the Windsor Spitfires. However, Dylan gets a tournament record for 7 points in a single game, and they both have great seasons overall. Dylan gets 75 points in 35 games, and Alex gets 127 points in 63 games--more than two points per game for each of them--and Alex wins the Red Tilson Trophy for most outstanding player in the OHL. Also Dylan got to captain Canada’s World Juniors team, and many people (including me) were excited that he got that opportunity as a way to balance his failures thus far in the NHL, though Canada lost in a devastating final game against the U.S.

*If anyone knows when Dylan became captain again, let me know -- all I could figure out was sometime before the playoffs.

Here is Dylan with the Robertson Cup:

(Note the blond hair, which is an abomination they all inflicted upon themselves as a means to achieving playoff victory. You know, apparently it worked.)

Summer of 2017, Dylan and Alex go to their NHL development camps and training camps yet again. Everyone’s excited about Alex after the year he just had in the O. Everyone’s a little antsy about Dylan because good Lord it’s been two years since he was drafted third overall and is he ever going to be good enough for the NHL? (This was definitely me.)

Anyway the Hawks keep Alex up and start playing him. 2017-2018 is a rough year for the Hawks but a good one for Alex, and he surpasses all draft expectations and leads the team in goals (28). He also gets a commitment from the Hawks early in the year, in the form of his housing letter, and he gets a dog that spring named Ralph DeBrindog who is a shiba inu with his own Instagram account. Here are Alex and Ralph:

But things are not so happy in Arizona. Dylan gets to stay up past the 2017-2018 preseason but the Coyotes once again do not commit to him (no housing letter for him!). Dylan barely plays with the team before he gets sent down to the Roadrunners, the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.

He does really well with the Roadrunners, so they bring him back to the NHL in late November (and he gets to play against Alex and the Hawks!). But he doesn’t do great there, so they send him back down for most of the spring, only bringing him up for the last few weeks of the season before sending him back to the AHL for the playoffs.

At this point, the future is looking pretty bleak for Dylan. Too old for Juniors, can’t hack it in the NHL despite his high draft number.  9 points in 21 games with the Coyotes in 2017-2018. People saying he was only good because of his good linemates, which, yeah, Connor and Alex are doing great other places. And sure, lots of people have good linemates and don’t put up numbers like Dylan did, but how else do you explain his failures in Arizona?

So the next season, 2018-2019, Alex is of course still playing with the Hawks. He’s doing even better than he did his rookie year, scoring more consistently. Dylan actually gets to play with the Coyotes, which, woohoo, but he’s putting up terrible numbers: 6 points in 20 games. Theories abound, but the upshot is clear--whatever made Dylan good in Juniors doesn’t translate to the NHL. The Coyotes wasted a draft pick.

BUT.

The Blackhawks evidently don’t think so, because on November 25, 2018, they trade Nick Schmaltz to the Coyotes in exchange for both Brendan Perlini and Dylan Strome. And they put the two of them on a line with Alex. And Dylan starts LIGHTING IT UP. As I write this, he’s at 46 points in 48 games with the Hawks. That’s some elite play there.

And did I mention he and Alex are living together again?

That’s right: apparently Alex was Dylan’s second call when he was traded, right after his parents (you can read more about his experience of the trade here, though you need a subscription). And then Dylan moved into his place.

...I can’t figure out how to embed video, but here is the two of them being adorable in the Road to the Winter Classic. Including Ralph, and also the memorable line, “I want to bodycheck you so bad right now.”

And here they are on the ice:

If that pose is not part of their engagement photos, it should be.

So basically, there are two possible explanations for why Dylan was playing so badly for so long in Arizona:

1) Arizona really sucks. (This should not be ruled out regardless of your opinion on #2.)

2) Dylan and Alex are soulmates and Dylan couldn’t play without him.

To be fair, #2 doesn’t explain why Alex was playing fine in Chicago before Dylan got there. But, you know, maybe he’s just less soulmate dependent than Dylan. Either way, everyone, including the two of them, is talking about the chemistry they have on the ice, and it’s clearly made a big different to Chicago’s season. And they get to play with their best friend again.

(Yes, they’ve both called each other that. It’s adorable.)

Some bonus info:

There is an Otter alum group text! It also includes Taylor & Darren Raddysh, Anthony Cirelli, and Warren Foegele. Dylan says they talk about the OHL championship all the time because it was the best night of their lives.

Dylan became the Otters’ all-time points leader by the end of his OHL career (seriously, makes no sense that he couldn’t play in Arizona, barring soulmate-based explanations)

After Dylan played Alex as a Coyote, he changed his Instagram photo to the two of them facing off.

Alex’s nicknames include Brinksy and the Cat. He’s fine with either but is less fond of Kitty. XD

They are legit eight inches apart. More, if 5′7″ is just Alex’s stats sheet height and not reality.

They are adorable best friends and roommates and linemates and need to be together forever.

And now, some pictures to close it out (starting with the Instagram icon one):

[bobbystompy]

68 Quotes I Enjoyed From 2019

Below are my favorite quotes from 2019. Though most occurred throughout the year, some took place before but were encountered during.

1) “I don’t bitch about Millenials.

John Entwistle once complained that he didn’t understand rap. Pete Townsend said, ‘It’s not our job to understand it. It’s our job to get the fuck out of the way.’

New generations come of age. The older generation’s job is to shut up and adapt.” - @danagould

2) “I can’t do drugs with you until we kiss.”

3) “If you pay me $50 I'll show up to your funeral but stand really far away, holding a black umbrella regardless of the weather, so that people think you died with a dark and interesting secret.” - @DanaSchwartzzz

4) “A human being is a dangerous thing to let loose in a room with itself, when it cannot think.” - Roger Ebert

5) “There are no bad bourbons, only better bourbons.” - Dave Hernandez

6) “You can’t put a dollar in a kimono.”

7) “This is how it was.” - rampant takeaway from watching ‘Superbad’ several years after its release

8) “What if I had been born fifty years before you in a house on the street where you lived / Maybe I’d be outside as you passed on your bike / Would I know? / And in a wide sea of eyes, I see one pair that I recognize” - Ben Folds, ‘The Luckiest’

9) “Learn the rules so you can break them.”

10) “Nobody makes chili for two.” - Stacy Massey

11) “‘Best city in the world,’ I mutter to myself, as i adjust my ‘driving blanket’.” - Chicago resident Deanna Belos, during the 2019 Polar Vortex

12) “Dude, no one’s ever got arrested for listening to Counting Crows.” - Ricky O’Donnell, justifying late night music volume at his party

13) Bill Belichick: We’re going to have fun tonight. Rob Gronkowski: Yes we are. We deserve it. Belichick: You’re damn right. Gronk: I haven’t stepped out in like eight months. I gotta step out tonight. Belichick: I’m with you, man. I’m even going to step out. Gronk: Oh, I like it!

A Super Bowl winning exchange.

14) Center David Andrews thanked Bill Belichick for giving him "a shot".

Belichick disagreed with it.

Andrews: Thank you for giving me a shot. Belichick: A shot? I didn't give you shit. You earned it! I don't give anything.

Another Super Bowl winning exchange.

15) “We elected one of the very worst living human beings to be President, and it's exhausting. Each and every day, it's an exhausting slog, just to exist in a world where that's true.” - Michael Schur

16) “Some of y’all always picked Odd Job when you played Goldeneye and it shows” - @thedad

17) “Any app is a dating app if you try hard enough.” - Z.W. Martin (though he says it’s lifted)

18) "Once you're as woke as I am, you learn to feel bad all the time.”

19) “Everything’s a balance beam when you’re 90.” - John Dingell

20) [I wake up in a world where The Beatles never existed]

Me: Check out this song I just wrote

[I begin playing “Ob La Di Ob La Da” without having first built up years of goodwill]

Crowd of people: Wow, this sucks ass

-- @seanoneal

21) “People change people.” - Corey Matthews, Girl Meets World

22) “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.” - William Goldman

23) “Dan could be like a difficult uncle. I didn’t love his fire-breathing conservative politics. I didn’t love the transformation that came over his novels. In Semi-Tough, he created two benighted Texas jocks and laid their prejudices bare. He was declaring himself a member of the Mark Twain coaching tree. In later books, Dan seemed to be trying to prove he could still tell a racist joke. He insisted that his memoir—the last truly immaculate piece of writing he delivered—include a tirade against political correctness. When his editor said people might be offended, Dan said, ‘Fuck people.’

There are certain writers whose style you pilfer. Certain writers whose moral fiber you try to inherit. For me, Dan represented a third category: a writer whose aura you replicate—or, failing that, try to stand in for a while.” - Bryan Curtis, on Dan Jenkins

24) “Never marry anything. Never choose. Even in love, it's better to be chosen.” - La Dolce Vita

25) “An uncluttered, uncomplicated happy ending might sound wonderful, but it’s hardly ever satisfying. Because the value of great stories lies in the tension between desire and need, between the yearning for the ideal, and the unshakable conviction that ideals don’t really exist, at least not the way we want them to. A great story should hurt a little when it leaves us. There should be some hope, but that hope should remain somewhere just an inch beyond our fingers, because that’s the truth. Even if you had all the perfect moments in the world, you’d still be reaching.” - Zach Handlen, on the Futurama series finale

26) “You can’t see him because he has sunglasses on.” - Alissa Levy

27) “The cinema is the greatest art form ever conceived for generating emotions in its audience. That's what it does best. (If you argue instead for dance or music, drama or painting, I will reply that the cinema incorporates all of these arts).” - Roger Ebert

28) “‘Are you gonna let politics ruin a friendship?’ 

Yes tf I am

People talk about politics as if it’s this isolated, abstract concept that only matters at election time. Somebody’s politics is their world view. It’s whether they think certain human beings deserve rights. It’s how they think the world should be. And if somebody thinks that the world should be colder, meaner, less accepting and downright hostile to people that are different to them, then sure as fuck is the friendship over.”

29) “Can the Supreme Court get me mushrooms?” - J-Papp

30) “Any song under two minutes already has a head start on its way into my heart. Just scream at me and then leave me.” - Drew Magary

31) “Long neck cold beers never broke my heart.” - Clemson Tom

32) “I’d just like to point out that the last spoken words of Game of Thrones were: 

‘I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel.’”

- @Authoroux

33) “Just once before I die, I want to toss my keys to someone and tell them ‘Bring the car around’.” - Mike Skully

34) “For all the weight they're given, last words are usually as significant as first words.” - Grand Maester Pycelle, Game of Thrones

35) “The best remedy for unrequited love is a trip around the world.” - Cheers

36) [on switching from a hotel to a motel]

Manny: I don't like the sound of that. A lot of amenities disappear when an H turns into an M. Jay: Hey when I met you, you were eating cereal out of a bucket.

-- Modern Family

37) “You and Lindsey don’t want to be ‘estranged’. Estranged is the relationship we want to have with our mothers.” - MegFil

38) “Cigarettes are undefeated.”

39) “My toes are like my fingers on my feet. I can pick stuff up with them.” - Tracy Cunningham

40) “Republicans govern without shame, Democrats shame without governing.” - Bill Maher

41) Sam: I don’t understand the vagaries of the Internet Josiah: Post often, without thought, and you’ll either get cancelled or cancel someone else.

-- Blink-155

42) “Hang a lantern on your problems.”

43) “What a weird web we weave.” - The Situation, The Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

44) “Let the ocean worry about being blue.” - Alabama Shakes, ‘Hang Loose’

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45) “Honesty without tact is cruelty.” - Shelley Rokos

46) “My whole life is the wrong porn link.”

47) “One parent can take care of 10 kids, but 10 kids cannot take care of one parent.” - Joe Gestetner, via “an old Yiddish saying”

48) “There are no heroes in the room.” - Classics of Love, ‘Gun Show’

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49) “If I am a little dismissive, it's only because of my harrowing backstory.” - Mitchell, Modern Family (on why he doesn't like sports)

50) “Every time I’m wearing black, I meet a dog.” - Tracy Cunningham

51) “Shower sex? Why would I fuck in my crying chamber” - @chridollarsign

52) “My theory about quarterbacks, having written about some of them, is you either have to believe in god or think you are a god.” - Mina Kimes

53) “The contradictions of capitalism always manifest in our lyrics if you look deeply.” - Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker, Riot Fest 2019

54) “Got a ‘hang loose’ from the weakside bartender.”

55) “It’s Jennifer’s birthday always.” - Eric Hutchinson 

56) “I can’t think of a less relevant artist in 2019 than Kanye West. A Jesus freak in a MAGA hat. Yeah, congrats dude -- you’re every grandma who watches ‘Young Sheldon’ and mails checks to Joel Osteen now.” - Dan Ozzi

57) “The past and future are in the mind. I’m in the now.” - Tom Brady, via someone else

58) “Sometimes you walk around boring places and you feel like the most exciting thing in it.” - Drew Magary

59) “Sitting is the new smoking.” - Modern Family

60) “I'll straight up fight folks at a book club and discuss books at a fight club I really don't give a shit anymore.” - George Wallace

61) “Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.” - Rose Garvey via wine country

62) “It’s all ‘ok boomer’ until you need someone who can drive stick shift.” - @OrdinaryAlso

63) “He likes the result of the math.” - Dad, talking about my worst subject frustrating during the process but satisfying in the end

64) Stepmom: Do you want a Bears urn or Alabama urn? Dad: Ask me after they play Auburn.

65) “A cold body carries a warm heart.” - Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Instagram, after his Iceland sabbatical

66) [preparing a dish called the Sandwich of Justice with his friend’s recipe]

"The fun thing about it is when you give it to someone, you can say 'Justice is served.’ That's, uh, Ryan's line. I built my whole life on the backs of my friends." - You Suck At Cooking

67) “Usually three people can keep a secret only when two of them are dead.” - The Irishman

68) “An artist can't control who consumes their content any more than a chemist can control how their chemicals are used once they're created.” - Brian Crooks

[ao3feed-buckynat]

So Show Me That You Love Me

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2onskST

by Anonymous

Trying to keep presents a secret from your partner, who happens to be a world-renowned spy, can be tough. But it can also be a chance to have a grand old time.

Words: 100, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel, Rule 63 - Fandom

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, Gen

Characters: Natasha Romanov (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov

Additional Tags: Genderswap, Female James "Bucky" Barnes, Gifts, Drabble, Marvel Femslash Drabble Exchange 2019

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2onskST

[quakerjoe]

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was formally charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust on Thursday, making him the first Israeli premier to be indicted while in office and sending Israel’s already stalemated political system into further disarray.

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit capped almost three years of investigation and months of speculation by handing down a 63-page indictment against the country’s longest-serving prime minister and its center of political gravity for the last decade.

The cases against Netanyahu center on allegations that the prime minister and his wife, Sara, accepted more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods in exchange for political favors and that Netanyahu interceded with regulators and lawmakers on behalf of two media companies in exchange for positive news stories.

Netanyahu, 70, has steadfastly denied wrongdoing during a wide-ranging probe that he has dismissed as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

In October, the prime minister’s legal team spent four marathon days in front of prosecutors arguing that the charges should be reduced or dismissed, an effort that apparently had little effect.

“I made this decision with a heavy heart but with a whole heart and a sense of commitment to the rule of law,” Mandelblit said at a news conference carried live on Israeli television. “Law enforcement is not a discretionary matter. It is an obligation that is imposed on us. It is my duty to the citizens of Israel to ensure that they live in a country where no one is above the law and that suspicions of corruption are thoroughly investigated.”

Few here expect the pugnacious prime minister to do anything other than ferociously fight the counts that emerged. Many predict he will seek a vote in parliament granting him some measure of immunity.

In a combative address Thursday night, Netanyahu called the indictment “a coup attempt” driven by a corrupt set of prosecutors. He demanded that an independent body to review the prosecution. “It’s time to investigate the investigators,” he said.

“I give my life for our country. I fought for this country, I was injured for this country. I have been fighting for this country in recent years, both on the international stage and here in order to make us a global force. And I am very proud of our achievements,” Netanyahu said. “This is a very difficult day for me and those who support me.”

Of immediate concern is how the indictments will scramble his standing in Israel’s chaotic political standoff.

“We are in a historical and unprecedented situation with new legal questions almost every day,” said Suzie Navot, a professor of constitutional law at the Haim Striks Law School in Rishon LeZion.

The indictments came down on the first day of an unparalleled phase in Israeli politics: a 21-day window in which any member of parliament can try to form a governing majority, including Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz, who both failed at that task in recent weeks. If no one succeeds, Israel would head back to national elections for the third time in a year.

While the law allows for an indicted prime minister to remain in office until he or she is convicted and has exhausted all appeals, it is unclear whether Netanyahu remains eligible to present a proposed ruling coalition t to Israel’s president.

“This is a question that will be brought to the Supreme Court of Israel,” Navot said. “I can imagine they will say the president does not have to give the mandate to an indicted member of the Knesset, that he can choose to give it to another member of the same faction.”

Several lawmakers said they would immediately petition the Supreme Court to have Netanyahu removed from office. In Jerusalem, protesters on both sides faced off outside the prime minister’s residence Thursday night.

The day’s news marked a stunning— and ignominious — moment in the remarkable career of “King Bibi.” Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics in recent years like few other leaders before him.

Political observers have marveled at his survival powers in the rough and tumble of Israel’s fractious party system and his ability to wield the levers of government to his own advantage.

But after two officials that he appointed to their jobs became instrumental in the corruption investigation — Mandelblit, his former cabinet secretary, and former Israeli Police Chief Roni Alsheich — Netanyahu’s powers to ward off threats seem diminished.

“It shows that he’s not as omnipotent as everyone thought,” said Anshel Pfeffer, a Ha’aretz columnist who wrote a recent biography of the prime minister. “It shows the system is stronger than Netanyahu.”

In the first of the three cases, in which he’s charged with breach of trust and fraud, police say the Netanyahus accepted more than a quarter of a million dollars in jewelry, cigars and other gifts from wealthy benefactors who had official business with the government. Among them was the Israeli-born producer Arnon Milchan, whose credits include “Fight Club” and “Pretty Woman.”

Netanyahu also allegedly pressed the United States repeatedly to give Milchan a U.S. visa and, in Israel, pushed the finance minister to extend an income tax exemption that would benefit the producer. That also produced indictments for breach of trust and fraud.

The most serious charge, bribery, stemmed from another case arising from a period in which Netanyahu served as his own minister of communications. He allegedly intervened to smooth the way for a merger sought by Shaul Elovitch, majority shareholder of Bezeq, the country’s largest telecommunications company, in exchange for favorable coverage on the popular news website Walla, also owned by Elovitch. Walla reporters and editors have described being ordered to spike stories, tweak headlines and change photographs in ways that boosted Netanyahu’s image.

Elovitch and his wife Iris were also charged with bribery, disruption of legal proceedings and impeachment in the investigation. Their lawyers issued a statement denying the allegations.

It is unclear how the charges will affect Netanyahu’s political standing. He would remain eligible to run in a possible third election next spring. (Only those convicted of moral turpitude are barred from the ballot). But even the threat of indictment has been a major issue in the two previous campaigns. Gantz, who built his own campaign around a pledge not to serve with an indicted premier, issued a one-sentence statement Thursday: “This is a very sad day for the State of Israel.”

One October poll showed that a small majority of Israelis, 53.5 percent, thought Netanyahu should resign if indicted. Almost half, 47 percent, of his core right-wing supporters thought the same.

“Among Likud members and the right-wing there is deep distrust for the legal process,” said Tal Schneider, a diplomatic and political correspondent for the Israeli business newspaper Globes. “Likud is backing him up because they have convinced themselves that it’s all a witch hunt and we hear the same things from D.C. about Trump.”

Gadi Taub of the Federmann School of Public Policy at Hebrew University, also compared the unfolding drama in Jerusalem to the impeachment hearings in Washington.

“The difference is that the impeachment is a political process, whereas in Israel, the prosecutor is also the legal adviser to the government, which is absolutely ridiculous,” Taub said.

Many will be watching Netanyahu’s Likud party for signs that the indictments will weaken what has been his formidable grip on it.

Netanyahu was first elected as chairman of the Likud in 1993, serving in the opposition until 1996. He resigned from politics after being defeated in a general election in 1999, returning to lead the party in 2005. Since then he has consolidated his position in Likud, dividing and weakening his opponents and facing very few challenges over the years.

On Thursday there were already indications that a leadership challenge was underway inside Likud.

Speaking at a diplomatic conference, former Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar said holding elections for a new party leader, especially if the country was forced into a third election, was “the right and necessary thing to do under the current circumstances.”

“First of all, that is what our constitution requires if we are about to have new elections,” he said. “We are a democratic party, and we haven't had primaries for several years already.”

Sa’ar said that he supported the prime minister’s efforts to form a national unity government, but “if we do go to elections, it is not reasonable to think that he will be successful in forming a government after third elections.”

He added, “I think I will be able to form a government, and I think I will be able to unite the country and the nation.”

[reconditarmonia]

The exchange I moderated is open! Everyone is lesbians now!*

* Not everyone, but genderswapped-to-f/f is the most common thing people wrote/drew for this

[kanikasingblogs]

Lead Generation Through Digital Marketing

8 Ways in which to get Leads Online Email Selling Statista forecast shows that the numbers of active e-mail accounts are expected to be 5.6 billion in 2019.

Email Marketing is one in every of the most effective lead generation strategies that stood out during this ever-changing world. Whether the case is to draw in a stranger, promote new product/services or nurture a lead. In fact, DemandWave report on B2B promoting channel that drives leads conjointly showed that email is that the top supply.

Conjointly, most marketers believe and live by the rule that emails are nice assets to earn.

Best Email Promoting Ways: Realize Right Person to Email The primary issue you wish to try and do before sending an email is to find the proper person. Today, you'll’t build relation from a general email like info@example.com. You need their personal email.

Supply a Value Give a transparent and engaging value that creates them your loyal customers.

Specialise in Email Subject Line Write a killer subject line that entices a user to open your mail.

Segment your List It is the most effective technique to stay track of your leads vs. customers. You can send an email based mostly on interest prospects have shown. This helps in building a relationship for a long time.

Build an Email Series Build a series from welcome email template to the provide you wish to provide. This automates your campaign because it becomes easy to send the identical value to every new individual that signups.

Email Signature Don’t forget to add an email signature. It may be a nice way to redirect folks to your landing page or blog posts.

Things to Remember:

In email marketing there are 3 necessary factors that influence the success rate:

Open rate Click through rate also known as CTR Unsubscribe Higher the open rate better is the email campaign and higher the CTR means that higher the lead counts. If the unsubscribe rate is higher it indicates to alter your campaign and offer.

Related Resources:

20 Best Email Marketing Tools for Your Business

11 Things to Start Doing with Your Email Selling

seven Laws of Email Selling

The most effective Email Marketing Practices for Your Campaign’s Success

online-lead-generation-via-email-promoting ImageSource: DigitalMarketingPhilippines

Content Selling

According to the Content Selling Institute, ninety onepercent of b2b organizations use content marketing and 86percent b2c respondents. Conjointly, DemandMetric concluded that content selling is more effective in generating leads three times better than ancient selling.

Best Content Promoting Strategies: Produce a Blog Beginning with a blog is a great method to rank for a targeted keyword, produce interest in your services/product, build whole awareness and increase traffic to the web site.

The great ways that are revealed posts on topics you’re skilled in, original analysis, How-to guides, infographic, trending topic, case studies, and videos.

Guest Post on Authoritative Sites Become a publisher on alternative non-competing websites that have alike audience sort.  This will establish your authority and brings a replacement audience to your web site.

Produce Lead Magnets Lead magnets are the best ways to get an email address in exchange of free PDF, Case studies, E-book, and Webinar

Answer questions on Quora Quora may be a great platform and has 300 million monthly users. You can establish yourself as an inspiration leader by answering questions connected to your niche.

Host a Webinar Hosting a webinar offers you a chance to engage with individuals who are already fascinated by your product/services and convert them into a lead. After a webinar is completed you'll be able to send them additional relevant articles or downloadable resources, invite them to your next event, and survey them relating to their experience.

You can conjointly increase your audience reach by co-hosting with industry influencers.

Make Videos Youtube is the globe’s second fashionable search engine with 1.5 billion monthly users if you are not publishing video than you are losing a possible buyer. You'll post a video with a link to your web site in an exceedingly description.

Launch a Podcast Podcast provides the same chance as a webinar. Folks who listen to you're fascinated by your offerings. You'll be able to convert them as lead by sending them to your supply page.

On-line PR On-line PR could be a cost-effective selling strategy to achieve a wider audience and increase awareness about your products and services.

Related Resources:

six Straightforward Content Promoting Tips for Best Engagement

five Common Content Promoting Mistakes Each B2B Content Marketer Is Making

Why Content Marketing Success Is crucial for B2B Lead Generation?

content marketing stats ImageSource: cision.com

Search Engine Optimization 94% of the whole organic traffic comes from Google. (Source: Internet Presence Solutions SEO stats)

Whenever people have any reasonably question they turn to Google for answers. That becomes an chance for businesses to focus on the keyword user are searching for and give worth and convert them into a lead.

Conjointly, the majority supply of B2B lead generation comes from search engine traffic.

If you acquire the 1st position on Google or shows up on the primary page then you get most of the organic traffic. This provides long term benefits of a continual stream of valuable traffic on your website and saves your cash on Ads.

Best SEO Methods: Apprehend your Audience Produce a buyer persona. This helps you know your customer’s age, challenges, pain points, interest, and abundant more. That can help you target additional in a very customized manner.

Establish Target Keywords Make an inventory of keywords your audience is looking out for your product or services.

Fix Technical SEO Make sure your web site is simple for search engine bots to index and crawl. This makes sure you'll rank in search engines.

Monitor Rankings Monitor how you're engaged on the web. That keyword drives a lot of traffic and that is low-performing keyword and optimize accordingly.

Audit Errors Use Google search console to stay an eye on any error on your web site and fix it.

Define Leads Define the subsequent step web site guests are going to make i.e signup to the mail list or product trial, download an e-book or case-study.

Things to Remember:

Avoid Keyword Stuffing Link Schemes Automatically generated content Spamming Related Resources:

What is SEO? – Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization

A Quick Guide to Ace SEO for Startups

ImageSource: netsmartz.com

Social Media Nowadays, everybody is on social media. It is a great platform to attach, engage with each alternative.

In 2018, Facebook reported that it has one.forty seven billion daily active users. Instagram hits 1 billion monthly users.  LinkedIn stated it's 610 million members.

According to Selling Proof research, LinkedIn has proved to be a additional effective platform in generating b2b leads. In B2C, FaceBook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram are going to platforms.

Best Social Media Strategies: Social Media Chatbots Chatbots help in beginning an automatic conversation and producing warm leads. All you wish to do is pre-program the discussion.

FaceBook With the assistance of FaceBook, you can gather a lot of reviews on your page, invite for newsletter signups, and include a decision to action in profile or posts.  You can even begin a FB group to make the subsequent. Use FaceBook remarketing to connect with an audience who has shown interest in your services/product.

Twitter You'll be able to find influencer or lead on Twitter using search or tool like Followerwonk, following right hashtags, collaborating in chats, and promoting participating tweets. Even you'll create your own hashtags and vend to come up with buzz.

LinkedIn Connect with prospects on LinkedIn through messaging, joining & collaborating in groups, and posting relevant content or video. Take advantage of LinkedIn Ads.

Instagram Go live to tell the tale Instagram for big announcements, Q&A sessions, and unleash product teaser. For individuals to require action to provide a link in a very bio. Build a following; create price through images and engagement by running a contest.

Pinterest Produce niche related boards and embody CTAs through images.

YouTube Take benefit of YouTube by as well as CTAs & relevant cards within the video, and link in the description.

Things to Remember:

Social media platforms aren't solely about self-promotion. Artistic effort is needed before obtaining a lead. Connected Resources:

How To generate Leads Through Social Media Channels

eight Successful Social Media Marketing Tips to Build Your Complete

five Social Media Ways To Boost Sales For Your Startup

7 B2B Social Media Tactics to Increase Engagement on Your Blog

A Comprehensive Guide To Increase Your Social Media Return On Investment (ROI)

Paid Advertising

SEO takes times to point out results whereas paid advertising can offer you instant targeted traffic. In truth, you can show your ads on relevant keywords that you would like to focus on.

According to WordStream, Businesses make a mean of $a pair of in revenue for every $one they spend on Google Ads. The average price per click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $a pair of.69 on the search network and $zero.63 on the show network.

Also by 2021, the video advertising can grow to a $twenty two billion trade (Supply: eMarketer)

Best Paid Media Strategies: Social media advertising Through Facebook Ads, you'll target an audience primarily based on their demographic and interest. LinkedIn Ads let you increase B2B leads. With Google Ads, you'll show up for the targeted keywords.

Show up on Non-Competitors Websites Trade Ads house with businesses that have similar quite services but don't seem to be your direct competitors and performing well.

Media Buys Reach out to media sites and get space on their websites to push your ads.

Affiliate Marketing Affiliate selling is taking a back seat and let another drive. It may be a tactic in which somebody else gets commission by promoting your merchandise/services.

Remarketing Remarketing because the name depicts is employed to focus on those audiences who have visited your landing page or website however didn’t convert. It is like icing on the cake, you can keep reminding users concerning your offers.

Social Media Influencers Social media influencers have a huge influence on their followers that single recommendations from them will increase business leads and sales.

Connected Resources:

Guide to get Leads from PPC Campaigns

Website Optimization

A web site may be a place where you'll be able to create your 1st impression.

A lead generating website includes a user-friendly description of their price proposition, is definitely accessible, give valuable information, offers opportunities to sign up and offer contact info that easily accessible.

If we take into account stats by Sweor, it states that “fifty sevenp.c of all mobile users will not recommend a business if their mobile web site is poorly designed or unresponsive.”

Best Website Optimization Ways: Record Web site Visitors Use Google Analytics to work out what type of audience visits your web site and use this knowledge to optimize your website to convert leads.

Fix Broken Page Use Google webmaster tools to spot technical errors on a web site and fix it.

Mobile Friendly Every person includes a mobile and individuals are looking on the go. Your website desires to be mobile friendly in order to provide a higher user experience.

Keyword Opportunities Optimize your web site for the keyword people are searching. You'll be able to keyword opportunity in Google Analytics and target competitors’ keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner.

Analyze Competitors Backlinks Build quality backlinks to your website. This will increase your authority and ranking in search engine.

Use Pop-ups Increase sales by integrating pop-ups to your web site like slide-in opt-ins, Exist popup, Sidebar Widgets, After Post widget,  and Floating Footer bar.

Related Resources:

ten Hacks To get Additional Leads Through Your Website

What Kind of Website is Right for Your Business

twelve Successful B2B Lead Generation Methods for Website Owners

web site-on-line-lead-generation-technique

Selling Automation

With promoting automation, you can place all of your lead generation efforts on auto-pilot mode. Be it email selling, qualifying leads or nurturing. It helps to deliver the correct content based mostly on the interest of the audience. Also, automation makes personalization pretty easy.

Best Selling Automation Strategies: Use Lead generation tools to identify leads Use Email selling tools to send email automatically on any given time or day Use tools like Buffer to schedule and post on social media Related Resources:

6 Selling Automation Tools to Completely Transform Your Business

Is Selling Automation Worth The Hassle?

best lead generation tools | aeroleads

Growth Hacking Growth hacking may be a revolutionary manner to unfold awareness of your business. All you wish to try and do is produce an irresistible provide like free credits that may lead to leads.

You'll build this valuable and addictive element of your web site accessible to a bigger audience by sharing and inviting new users which will expand your leads tremendously in a short span of time.

Best Growth Hacking Strategies: Supply Free Product Trials Offer Coupons Host Referral Program Lead generation through inventive pop-ups Investing in Chat Bots Connected Resources:

High ten Lead Generation Growth Hacking For Startups

generate-b2b-leads-on-line-from-growth-hacking Conclusion:

Therefore which strategy does you wish the most? Which strategy you have already used or using in your marketing? Let me know your views in the comment section below.

[sweeter-than]

fic: Saltarello, Medici, Lorenzo x Francesco rule 63

Saltarello a Medici: The Magnificent story by dirty diana Lorenzo de' Medici/Francesco de' Pazzi rated teen 4300 words contains: always a girl AU, love/hate, frenemies to lovers to actual enemies, canon unhappy ending for Impala_Chick in Rule 63 Exchange 2019, and also for the temptation bingo square at historium. beta by Karios.

It's a familiar dance--Lorenzo and Francesca are part of each other's stories from the start. Featuring classic Pazzi shade, and also Renaissance poet Lorenzo de' Medici.

read on AO3

read on DW

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Saturday was the deadline for Americans in most states to enroll in health plans for 2019 through the marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act. When Barack Obama was in office, the federal government, including the president himself, spent the days and weeks before the deadline constantly urging people to sign up. But this year, like in 2017, President Trump and the federal government did little outreach.

That hands-off approach to ACA enrollment isn’t an accident or an oversight. It’s part of an intense, sustained, nearly nine-year-long Republican campaign to stop or limit the implementation of the ACA, better known as Obamacare. (A group of Republicans filed a lawsuit against the ACA minutes after President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010.)

“Virtually no major health reform has become the subject of an partisan assault so quickly after its passage,” said Philip Rocco, a Marquette University political science professor and co-author of the 2016 book “Obamacare Wars.”

You’ve probably read about the many attempts by Republicans on Capitol Hill to repeal Obamacare, most notably the failed push last year. But the anti-Obamacare movement is way broader than just the effort to undo it with legislation in Congress. It is not a single, top-down operation, but rather different parts of the conservative movement taking actions in their own spheres in opposition to the law.

Conservative-leaning groups and Republican elected officials have filed numerous lawsuits challenging various planks of the law. (In one of those lawsuits, a federal judge ruled the entire ACA unconstitutional on Friday. That ruling does not immediately go into effect and maybe never will, as legal experts expect other judges to overturn it. But there’s also now the very real possibility that the case ends up before the Supreme Court.)

Republicans in Congress have done away with some parts of the law and cut funding in other areas. GOP-controlled state legislatures and Republican governors have opted out of some of Obamacare’s key provisions. The Trump administration is using its executive powers to essentially rewrite some parts of the law, and it’s taking a largely hands-off approach to some parts it doesn’t like, like the enrollment process, that might benefit from a supportive federal government.

This campaign has curtailed Obamacare in some ways we can clearly measure:

Fourteen states have not yet opted in to the Medicaid expansion, leaving about 4 million eligible Americans unable to enroll. A lawsuit brought by GOP elected officials and a conservative-leaning business group led to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states did not have to extend Medicaid benefits to more of their residents, as the ACA had initially mandated.

Republicans currently control both houses of the state legislature in all 14 of these states, and the governor’s office in all but one (North Carolina). The biggest holdout is Texas, where the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that more than 1 million additional people would be eligible for Medicaid if the state participated.

Twenty-eight states have completely opted out of running local Obamacare exchanges, which means all enrollment processes are left up to the federal government. As originally written, Obamacare gave states the option of running their own insurance marketplaces. Like with Medicaid, more conservative states have been chosen not to participate. Of the 28 states that leave their health insurance marketplace entirely up to the federal government, Trump won 24. And of the 22 that are involved in running their own exchanges, Hillary Clinton won 16.

Why does this matter? Well, states that run their own insurance exchanges can also run their own enrollment drives — which means extra staffing and promotional efforts — and they can also create their own deadlines for signing up. So in California, residents can enroll for health care through Jan 15, giving them a full month longer than, say, Texas or other states that don’t have their own Obamacare marketplaces and rely completely on the federal government.

Federal spending to promote ACA enrollment has been cut from $163 million to $20 million. The Trump administration has cut money both from government programs designed to increase Obamacare enrollment and from grants that are given to nongovernmental groups to help people enroll. In Obama’s last year in office, the federal government spent about $100 million in advertising to encourage people to enroll in ACA plans and gave out $63 million to groups who were supposed to boost enrollment. This year, the Trump administration is spending $10 million on ads and giving to $10 million to these assistance groups.

When Obama was president, these outside groups were deeply involved in enrollment efforts, particularly in states that were hostile to the ACA. But these groups now get much less federal funding, which they say limits how much outreach they can do.

Those are the parts of the anti-Obamacare campaign where the effects are easiest to quantify. Here are some other effects where the numbers are less clear:

The percentage of Americans without health insurance decreased from about 16 percent in 2010, before the ACA went into effect, to just under 9 percent in 2018. Experts attribute that drop largely to the ACA. But how many more people would have health insurance if Republicans had fully participated in the ACA by expanding Medicaid and starting state-level marketplaces in places where they have political power? How many more would sign up if the Trump administration were conducting extensive enrollment outreach at the federal level, like Obama and his team did?

We know some people are not enrolling because they are confused about whether certain benefits still exist or if the law is still on the books. But how much of that confusion has been heightened by the constant efforts to render the law moot, whether by invalidating it in the courts or repealing it on Capitol Hill?

Congressional Republicans and Trump got rid of the individual mandate, the requirement that many people who don’t have health insurance pay a fine. The Trump administration has started allowing the sale of more limited health insurance plans that don’t conform to Obamacare regulations. How many people will end up uninsured because they aren’t required to buy insurance? How many will end in plans that will probably have cheaper premiums than Obamacare but that also offer less coverage, potentially increasing their out-of-pocket costs if they get sick or hurt?

The Republican effort to dismantle Obamacare hasn’t just changed how the program works in practice — I think it has also changed the politics and policy of health care more broadly. The Democratic Party has strongly defended Obamacare since its passage. But many Democrats, particularly on the party’s left, have long been dissatisfied with the law, arguing there are still too many people either uninsured or paying very high costs for their health care. More centrist Democrats initially thought the ACA’s fairly modest approach would garner some Republican support — or at least avoid an outright war against the law. That bet was wrong. So now both the left and center-left of the Democratic Party are pushing proposals that would either let some Americans choose to enroll in a Medicare-style program or basically force all Americans into a broader single-payer health system.

We don’t really know exactly how a program written and designed like Obamacare originally was would truly work — and we probably never will find out. The Republicans have blocked, slowed or impeded so much of the law that what’s left in its place is something like Obamacare Lite or Obamacare Version 0.75. Republicans will probably keep trying to destroy the current system — and Democrats now want something new and improved.

[statetalks]

How Many Republicans Are In The 116th Congress

What Is The Average Age Of Congress

The average age of the 117th Congress is 59 years old and the median is 60 years old. This is much higher than the median age of 38 years in the United States in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Of its 435 members, the House has 38 members born in the 1980s and one born in the 1990s, while the Senate welcomed its first millennial. But the age groups with the biggest gains, compared to the 116th Congress, were those born in the 1930s and 1960s. Members in the 80+ and 50-59 age group saw gains, while the 30-39 age group saw the biggest losses. Members of Congress are, overall, getting older.

How Much Damage Have Republicans Done In The States

Turns out making cuts to public services to fit an ideology of small government and traditionalism is just not very popular.

Mr. Grossmann is the author of Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States.

The 2018 election marked at least a temporary end to Republicans rise to power in many states. Before their losses in that election, Republicans had full control of 26 states, giving them a sustained opportunity to transform American subnational government.

Liberals certainly feared the worst from this Republican grip on the states. Dark portraits of the Koch brothers network and the American Legislative Exchange Council suggested that Republicans were in a position to fundamentally reorient states to scale back public services, serve corporations and the rich, and impose a conservative social agenda. Democrats, from this perspective, would need years, if not decades, to reverse the trend.

The Republican Party still controls many more state governments and legislative chambers than Democrats nationwide. But the fact is, the Republican results at the state level have not been very impressive. Republican-controlled state governments largely failed to enact policies that advance conservative goals. They have been effective at staying in power but have not altered the reach of government or its socio-economic impact.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on , and .

Changes To House Rules

After Democrats took control of the House in the 116th Congress, they voted to change some rules from the previous session of Congress when Republicans were in control. Some of the changes appear below.

PAYGO: Democrats approved PAYGO, a provision that requires legislation that would increase the deficit to be offset by spending cuts or revenue increases.

Ethics: Democrats made changes to House ethics rules that required all House members to take ethics training, not just new members. The rules also required members to reimburse taxpayers for settlements that that result from a members discrimination of someone based on race, religion, sex, national origin, or disability, among other things. Lawmakers were also prohibited from sitting on corporate boards.

Climate change committee: Democrats created a new climate change committee to address the issue. The committee was not given subpoena power or the ability to bring bills to the floor.

A full explanation of the rules changes can be viewed here.

The House Of Representatives

117th Congress membership breakdown by party:

Democrats: 222

Republicans: 211

Vacant: 2

Freshmen Class: There will be 60 freshmen in the 117th Congress. Seventeen of those seats flipped during the 2020 general election, with Republicans picking up 14 seats and Democrats picking up 3. This resulted in a current net gain of 11 seats for Republicans. Eleven of the Republicans who picked up seats defeated Democrats who flipped seats in the wave year of 2018, while one GOP pickup came from the defeat of long-time Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, one came in an open seat and one was in a Libertarian-held seat .

None of the new Democratic House members defeated sitting Republicans.

Freshmen: 60

Total 2020 flipped House districts: 17

Democrat: 3

Democrats: 89

Republicans: 29

The 117th Congress will see a record number of women in the House, and a record number of Republican women. Ten of the Republicans who flipped Democratic seats were women.

Total freshmen women: 27

70s: 63

80s: 12

Republican Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, born August 1, 1995, will be the youngest member of this Congress at age 25. He takes that title from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York who, at 31, is now the chamber’s second youngest member. Cawthorn is also the first member of Congress born in the 1990s.

Making House history:

Th United States Congress: A Survey Of Books Written By Members

Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help.

Chat with a librarian, Monday through Friday, 12-4pm Eastern Time .

Editors:Salina Bush, Reference Specialist, Researcher and Reference Services Division

Kevin Jones, Library Technician, Researcher and Reference Services Division

Matthew Stalbaum, Library Technician, Researcher and Reference Services Division

Almost 40 Percent Of House Members More Than Half Republicans Cite Business Experience

In addition to small business owners and corporate executives, the House is filled with people who worked in finance, insurance and banking.

Members with business backgrounds sometimes argue that their outside the Beltway experience will enable them to run government more like a business to reduce grift and waste and to pass laws more efficiently. Indeed, a majority of Americans think the country would be better governed with more people from business and management, according to a 2014 Gallup poll.

House members with business backgrounds get more contributions from corporations and vote for pro-business legislation more often. Other research has shown that states with more legislators who worked in the insurance industry are likely to pass bills more favorable to it.

Diversity Of The Freshman Class

The demographics of the 116th U.S. Congress freshmen were more diverse than any previous incoming class.

At least 25 new congressional representatives were Hispanic, Native American, or people of color, and the incoming class included the first Native American women, the first Muslim women, and the two youngest women ever elected. The 116th Congress included more women elected to the House than any previous Congress.

Opinionhow Can Democrats Fight The Gop Power Grab On Congressional Seats You Wont Like It

Facing mounting pressure from within the party, Senate Democrats finally hinted Tuesday that an emboldened Schumer may bring the For the People Act back for a second attempt at passage. But with no hope of GOP support for any voting or redistricting reforms and Republicans Senate numbers strong enough to require any vote to cross the 60-vote filibuster threshold, Schumers effort will almost certainly fail.

Senate Democrats are running out of time to protect Americas blue cities, and the cost of inaction could be a permanent Democratic minority in the House. Without resorting to nuclear filibuster reform tactics, Biden, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be presiding over a devastating loss of Democrats most reliable electoral fortresses.

Partisan Composition Of State Legislatures

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming See also

The partisan composition of state legislatures refers to which political party holds the majority of seats in the State Senate and State House. Altogether, there are 1,972 state senators and 5,411 state representatives.The breakdown of chamber control after the November 2020 election is as follows:

37 chambers

One chamber with power sharing between the parties

The breakdown of chamber control prior to the November 2020 election was as follows:

39 chambers

See also: Partisan composition of state houses and Partisan composition of state senates

state government trifecta

As of August 15, 2021, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

The Battleground States Advancing Controversial Election And Voting Bills

May 7, 2021 / 9:51 AM / CBS News

Washington Several battleground states controlled by Republicans have pushed for big changes in voting and election laws in recent months, in the wake of former President Donald Trumps electoral loss and a rise in mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

These states are considering changes to election laws, such as measures to enforce additional ID requirements, restrict access to dropboxes and shrink the pool of voters.

Arizona, Florida, and Texas each have growing and increasingly diverse populations and play a substantial role in the outcome of presidential contests. All three have Republican legislatures and governorships. Michigan has a Democratic governor, but its Republican-controlled legislature is considering several bills that could make absentee voting more difficult.

Arizona and Michigan narrowly supported President Biden in the 2020 election, and Mr. Trump won Florida and Texas. Georgia, which Mr. Biden also won, has already passed a controversial voting law including some new restrictions.

Here is a rundown of some of the key states states proposing changes to voting and election laws:

Climate Deniers In The 117th Congress

According to new analysis from the Center for American Progress, there are still 139 elected officials in the 117th Congress, including 109 representatives and 30 senators, who refuse to acknowledge the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change. All 139 of these climate-denying elected officials have made recent statements casting doubt on the clear, established scientific consensus that the world is warmingand that human activity is to blame. These same 139 climate-denying members have received more than $61 million in lifetime contributions from the coal, oil, and gas industries.

Minorities Veterans And Retiring Members

Total Black members in the House and Senate: 61House: 58

Newly elected: 8

Reelected incumbents: 50

Senate: 3

Reelected incumbent: 1

No election: 2

Total Latino members in the House and Senate: 44House: 39

Newly elected House: 6

Reelected House incumbents: 33

Senate: 5

Newly elected Senate: 1

No election: 4

Total LGBTQ members in the House and Senate: 11House: 9

Newly elected: 2

Reelected incumbents: 7

Senate: 2

No election: 2

Total veteran members in the House and Senate: 91House: 74

Newly elected: 14

Reelected incumbents: 60

Senate: 17

Newly elected: 2

Reelected incumbents: 9

No election: 6

Retiring members in the House and Senate: 3

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania

Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas

CNN’s Chandelis Duster contributed to this report.

Connect With Members Of The 117th Congress

FiscalNotes solutions allow government relations professionals like you to build relationships with members of the 117th Congress. Identifying constituents of members with similar biographies lets you make stronger personal connections and build relationships with specific legislators or groups of legislators. 

FiscalNotes stakeholder and people datasets as well as CQs immense full member bios that include, contracts, grants, and companies in their district/state, as well as average interest groups ratings, lets you take things to the next level when building a report on the likely members most aligned with your issues.

Once youre ready to start your outreach, FiscalNotes legislator and staffer directory, Knowlegis, has the most up to date contact information for Congress as the best deliverability rate to the Hill, and the option of building mailing lists by issue area, party, role, caucus, voting record, committee, delegation and so on.

Gubernatorial And Legislative Party Control Of State Government

Top 10 Closest Primaries: January to June 2020

Wave elections

Gubernatorial and legislative party control of state government refers to the role of political parties in the power dynamic between state legislatures and executives. Below, we examine the partisan affiliation of the 1,972 state senators, 5,411 state representatives, and 50 state governors across the United States.

Partisan breakdown of state governments

Below, Ballotpedia presents our information on the partisan breakdown of state senators, state representatives, and governors as well as the state legislature and state executive branch as a whole. We also examine state government trifectas, which occur when the state house, the state senate, and the office of the governor are each controlled by one political party. Trifectas are important to highlight since unified partisan affiliation between the branches of state government can impact a states legislative process.

The following maps display current state government trifectas as well as historical trifectas leading up to the 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections. Use the buttons below to select a map.

Florida Vs California: How Two States Tackled Covid

The researchers theorized that one reason for the change is that Democrats were in charge of states where people who had the virus first arrived in the country but Republicans were less stringent about safeguards, which could have contributed to their states ultimately higher incidence and death rates.

The early trends could be explained by high Covid-19 cases and deaths among Democratic-led states that are home to initial ports of entry for the virus in early 2020, the researchers wrote. However, the subsequent reversal in trends, particularly with respect to testing, may reflect policy differences that could have facilitated the spread of the virus.

The study, which which was published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Preventive Medicine, examined Covid-19 incidence, death, testing, and test positivity rates from March 15 through December 15, 2020, when there were 16 million confirmed cases in the U.S. and 300,000 deaths. It focused on per-capita infection and death rates in the 26 GOP-led states and 24 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., and made statistical adjustments for issues such as population density.

But policy differences between the Republican and Democratic leaders emerged as a big factor for the reversal of the states fortunes, the study suggests.

One of the most concerning things last year is the politicization of public health restrictions, Lee said. Theyre not opinions, theyre based on evidence.

Who Are The Youngest Members

As for the youngest members of the 117th Congress, they are all part of the House of Representatives. Most were born in the 1980s with the exception of the youngest member of them all.

Here are the five youngest members of Congress:

Madison Cawthorn, age 25, is the Republican U.S. Representative for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district. He is the first member of Congress born in the 1990s.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 31, is the Democratic U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district

Sara Jacobs, age 31, is the Democratic U.S. Representative for California’s 53rd congressional district

Ritchie Torres, age 32, is the Democratic U.S. Representative for New York’s 15th congressional district

Jake LaTurner, age 32, is the Republican U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 2nd congressional district

Democrats May Have Control At The Federal Level But Republicans Are Pushing Back Through States

30 state legislatures are now controlled by Republicans, while only 18 are controlled by Democrats.

Though the hotly anticipated Blue Wave did not sweep over the country as thoroughly as some analysts had predicted in the weeks and months leading up to the American election on November 3, 2020, theres no denying that Democrats notched major victories in both the Senate and the White House, despite losing several seats in the House of Representatives.

But that victory is beginning to be undercut by the majority of state legislatures, which are Republican-controlled, as they begin to enact stricter voting laws, pass state sovereignty bills and push through highly conservative legislation to push back against Democratic ideologies in Washington.

The Fossil Fuel Industrys Funding Of Denial

CAPs analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics shows that these 139 climate science deniers have accepted more than $61 million in lifetime direct contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industries, which comes out to an average of $442,293 per elected official of Congress that denies climate change. This figure includes all contributions above the Federal Election Commissions mandated reporting threshold of $200 from management, employees, and political action committees in the fossil fuel industries. Not included in this data are the many other avenues available to fossil fuel interests to influence campaigns and elected officials. For example, oil, gas, and coal companies spent heavily during the 2020 election cycle to keep the Senate under the control of former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a known climate denierwith major oil companies like Valero, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips contributing more than $1 million each to the conservative Senate Leadership Fund.

This analysis only shows direct, publicly disclosed contributions to federal candidates. The fossil fuel industry regularly spends millions of dollars of dark money advertising to the public; shaping corporate decisions; lobbying members of Congress; and otherwise funding the infrastructure that makes climate denial politically feasible and even profitable.

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For instance, in 2020, Yarmuth won his Louisville district with a comfortable 62.7 percent of the vote. By turning Yarmuths single district into portions of two or three new districts, Republicans could turn his safe blue seat into swing districts and safe Republican strongholds. But the naked politicking of that kind of move would invite dozens of court challenges from outraged Democrats and election integrity organizations, tying up GOP time and treasure in the middle of campaign season.

Yet relying on the Republican-aligned Supreme Court to find a remedy is a gamble that could just as easily backfire on Democrats. In the 2019 case Rucho v. Common Cause, the conservative majority ruled 5-4 that Congress, not the federal courts, must address partisan gerrymandering. As a result, half a dozen Democrat-filed federal cases were tossed out and the gerrymandered district maps allowed to stand. More outcomes like that would be catastrophic both for Democrats and democracy.

For now, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee is fighting back against Republican efforts in a flurry of high-profile lawsuits. The organization, chaired by former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., has said it is committed to countering the Republican plan to split up blue cities.

About 5 Percent Of Representatives Dont Have A Bachelors Degree Compared With About Two

The path to the House starts with higher education. About half of members graduated from public universities, often in their home states, but more than 10 percent of representatives have bachelors degrees from elite, private colleges.

It makes sense to elect educated leaders, and voters seem to think a college education is a necessary qualification for office. But the link between having a degree and being a more effective politician is tenuous. Research on legislators in the United States and in Brazil shows that lawmakers with more formal education are not more productive, more popular or less likely to be corrupt.

The gap between legislators and their constituents is stark in graduate education, too. Almost 70 percent of representatives attended graduate school, but only around 10 percent of Americans 25 and older can say the same.

Religious Makeup Of New Congress Similar To That Of Previous Class

While the overall composition of the new Congress is similar to that of the previous Congress roughly nine-in-ten members of each identified as Christian the 116th Congress has 14 fewer Christians than the 115th, and 20 fewer Christians than the 114th Congress .

Anglicans/Episcopalians and Presbyterians experienced the largest losses in the 116th Congress, which has nine fewer members in each of these groups compared with the previous Congress. Methodists, Congregationalists, Restorationists and Christian Scientists also lost at least one seat; there are no longer any Christian Scientists in Congress.

Some Protestant denominational families now have more members in the new Congress, led by those in the unspecified/other category, which gained 16 seats, bringing the total number in this category to 80. Among members of Congress, unspecified/other Protestants include those who say they are Christian, evangelical Christian, evangelical Protestant or Protestant, without specifying a denomination. By contrast, nondenominational Protestants, who also gained two seats , are Christians who specifically describe themselves as nondenominational.

There are five fewer Catholics and three fewer Mormons in the new Congress. There has been no change in the number of Orthodox Christians .

Sinema remains the sole member of Congress who publicly identifies as religiously unaffiliated, although there has been an increase of eight members in the dont know/refused category.

Th Congress: Breaking Down The Historic Numbers

— The 117th Congress, being sworn in Sunday, is historically diverse, with record-setting numbers of women, Black and Latino members and members who identify as LGBTQ.

But even as the new Congress begins, its roster will likely remain unsettled for months.

There will be two vacancies in the House: New York’s 22nd District will not have representation as legal challenges in the race continue, and Louisiana’s 5th District will not have representation due to the death of Republican Rep.-elect Luke Letlow. In the Senate, one of Georgia’s Senate seats will be vacant as Republican Sen. David Perdue battles in a runoff for the seat on January 5.

Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler is also running in Georgia’s dual runoff elections Tuesday. Perdue’s term finished at the end of the 116th Congress, so he is not included in the new Congress’ numbers. Loeffler’s term will continue unless she is defeated Tuesday, so she is counted.

In other changes to congressional rosters in the coming weeks, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be stepping down from her Senate seat to be replaced by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.

Here is a breakdown by numbers of the new Congress as it begins, as well as some notable members who will be sworn into office.

Highly Effective Republican Lawmakers In The 116th House Of Representatives

Top Ten List House Republicans

Name

56%

Moderate

Turning to the Republican side of the aisle, the above table lists the most effective Republican lawmakers in the 116th House.  It also shows the percentage of the vote that each of these lawmakers received in their 2018 elections to enter the 116th House, as well as whether they tend to be ideologically moderate or conservative in their voting patterns on the floor of the House. 

In contrast to the House average of winning 65% of the vote, eight of the top ten Republican lawmakers won with 58% or less, which suggests that they were coming from at-risk districts.  Perhaps they focused on achieving lawmaking successes to aid in their reelection efforts.  And indeed, in 2020, all of these at-risk top performers won reelection .  Recent research, however, suggests that lawmaking effectiveness is more beneficial in primary election contests than in the general election. 

Coming off a stint as subcommittee chair of Transportation Security, Rep. Katko continued his legislative efforts in the transportation area.  And Rep. Young continued his focus on issues of importance to his home state of Alaska.  The fact that those with tightly tailored agendas were at the very top of our list is consistent with recent research on the lawmaking value of gaining expertise in Congress through specialization.

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-are-in-the-116th-congress/