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Safari On Mac Now Vulnerable To Browser History Theft
Posted by justsb On March 14, 2019
There's a new macOS security flaw you and your staff need to be aware of. It was discovered by Jeff Johnson, the developer of the Underpass app for both Mac and iOS, and the StopTheMaddness Safari browser extension.
Fortunately, the new flaw is not one that can be exploited remotely. Users would have to be tricked into installing a malicious app via social engineering or other tricks.
On the other hand, the flaw is critical and impacts all known macOS Mojave versions.
Mr. Johnson had this to say about the matter:
"On Mojave, certain folders have restricted access that is forbidden by default. For example, ~/Library/Safari. In the Terminal app, you can't even list the contents of the folder. However, I've discovered a way to bypass these protections in Mojave and allow apps to look inside ~/Library/Safari without acquiring any permission from the system or from the user. There are no permission dialogs. It Just Works. In this way, a malware app could secretly violate a user's privacy by examining their web browser history."
Johnson reached out to Apple privately and shared the full details of the flaw, but refused to provide more details than the above to the general public, saying that since the issue has yet to be patched, he does not want to put macOS users at risk.
Although Apple has formally acknowledged his report, the company has to this point provided no information on some things. This includes what level of importance they're giving a fix for the issue, and what their time frame might be in terms of issuing a fix.
It's a serious issue, no doubt, but there's a lack of public details about it. The fact that it can't be executed remotely suggests it's not as big a threat as it could be. Even so, be mindful of it until Apple issues a fix.
Android Users Will Get Additional Gmail Features
Is Your Smart TV Listening To Your Personal Conversations?
Windows 10 Will Notify Users When Apps Use Their Microphone
Microsoft Paint Gets New Look In Windows 11
Need Internet On The Go? Here's How To Stay Connected
Fill out the form below to receive a free network assessment and learn how we can make your technology worry-free!
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Reality Check with kt: Lost and Found – An Interview with Lost Coast
Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 2:30pm
Relationships are hard. Sometimes they don't work even with great people in them giving their absolute best. Chemistry matters, timing matters, vision matters. It's a damn wonder two humans ever get it right, even for a while. There are so many variables at play. Bands are dynamic relationships involving 3, 4, 5 or more people. Just like romantic relationships or other friendships, they take work; chemistry matters, timing matters, vision matters. Just like seeing two people who are falling in love or great friends who finish each other's sentences, you literally can see chemistry, or lack thereof, when you watch a band. You know when it's clicking. The audience is drawn in by a band firing on all cylinders. I am happy to write this article about Lost Coast, because the band is made up of guys I've known through the local music scene for years. Ten years? I love watching them play, because I know, this is the "one".
Josh Muddiman, primary songwriter and front man, and Joshua Howard, bass and backing vocals, have been a team for as long as I have known them. Both passionate about music. I've always really liked "the Joshs" and I've booked them on many of the shows I've put together. In all honesty, I've just always wanted to really get excited about one of their projects and Lost Coast is the first time that musically it all hits me right in the ear drums, the way I need it to, for me to choose to support a local band in a big way. They've gone through a laundry list of projects; The Burn Brothers, 40 East, Shoot Out the Lights, among others. All respectable but the current band just has that something special that eluded them in the previous projects. They recruited Alan Tolpolski for a sub gig during the Shoot Out the Lights years. Alan expected it to be a one and done deal. After the show at the old Southgate house, they said, "see you Wednesday at practice." He chuckles. Tolpolski is a top-notch drummer with a jazz background. He has the ability to make complicated passes sound fluid and easy. He's also got a nice way about him. Laid back, sort of formal. Just a nice dude. The final element, a bit of a secret weapon, is Eric Boehmker, lead guitarist. Eric played with Sweet Ray Laurel for several years. SRL was in the vein of Mars Volta or Afghan Whigs. Eric said he hit a point where he was just really craving more Americana music. He wanted to play music more in line with what he liked listening to. His guitar work on their album is really stand out. It's less about guitar solos and more about textures, counter melodies, accents and subtle lines that catch your ear. He adds a dimension to the music that former projects lacked. More than just being synched up musically this band has a clear vision for what they want to achieve. This may be the missing element in many musical projects. The goal is to make great records. Creating an "album"-a collection of songs that have a thread where you listen start to finish-like in the good old days of true record albums, was a theme all agreed on. Mudd commented "this is the truest version of what we wanted to get to".
The recently released album, "Sweet Action", was put together over the course of the past two years. Jacob Tippey (Calumet, The Frankl Project) approached the band to engineer the album. Tippey is highly regarded by local songwriters, so the band was excited to work with him. They appreciated his patience and knowledge during sessions. He easily speaks the language of guitar players—half joking with Eric at one point, "are you going for a John Mayer-ish tone?" Eric quickly pointed out, not trying to sound like John Mayer, just get that tone. There's not always a perfect vernacular to describe the sound a player is trying to tease out. Having someone with the patience to get on the same page as the sound you have created in your head is a big plus in the studio! Having soused out the songs over the past two years allowed plenty of time to play the songs in front of an audience. Alan commented on the ongoing interaction between musicians and the crowd. It is a conversation and you know when the listeners are responding, for better or worse. Playing the songs live for a while gave the guys time to tweak and perfect how they wanted the songs to "be". They went into the session very prepared. Eric commented it was the first time he ever actually charted the songs and laid out exactly what he wanted to play in advance for a studio situation. The sessions were planned but not stiff. One of the songs, "It's Too Late", was written in the studio, with the final lyrics being created off the cuff. They did take some liberties in the studio trying a few things that would be hard to pull off live, however, they showed restraint and didn't just start loading up on sounds just because you can. The sound is deliberate and creative. As Mudd said, you don't want to "over season the dish". A few of the tracks have 70s pop sensibilities. Eric said they made a "California sounding album if it came from the Midwest". It's a good album to drive to, definitely a nice listen from start to finish. My favorite tracks are "Backslide City" an earworm with great pop hook power (they released a nice video for this one, directed by Christopher Keeney), "L.A.", a vibey, free spirited song. Lots of tremolo and sailing guitar passes float above the bedrock of the song, which is especially rich with Joshua Howard layering both electric and upright bass. Mudd's voice is perfection on this tune. "Little White Lie" has some balls with a big rock and roll lead in, then it smooths out when the vocals come in. I really dig this tune, it's got some great riffs and some nice flourishes of feedback. It has a pronounced Neil Young and Crazy Horse atmosphere. The ambiance of the room is particularly good on this one. Definitely my favorite track on the album.
If you haven't had a chance to check these guys out, they've got a packed fall schedule with the next chance to catch them live being this Saturday, September 30th, at Southgate House Revival with Farnsworth and M Ross Perkins. And might I be so bold as to recommend you check them out, as they perform as "The Jack Rabbit Slims" for a Halloween extravaganza with my band, The Tammy WhyNots. They'll be doing music from Quentin Tarantino Movies that night and dressing the part! God dang, I love a theme! Free In The Lounge at SGHR on October 27th! If you can't make it out to a show, these guys are ahead of the game when it comes to cool music videos. They recently collaborated again with Christopher Keeney on their just released video for "Sucker Punch". Check it out, right'cheer.
Over the years there has certainly been trial and error, wins and losses to finally get the right combination that would become Lost Coast. From my vantage point, I'd say the losses are small, to this new sound they've found. Well done, guys!
Kelly Thomas has long been referred to as the first lady of Cincinnati country music, but don't tell her or there'll be no living with her. Thomas has been part of the local music community since 1998 with several bands, collaborations and projects. She is currently with Wilder and The Tammy WhyNots. Likes: big hair, wine, and kissing babies. Dislikes: small talk and snakes.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Build-to-rent - structures for success
By Michael Graves	24 August 2018
Build-to-rent Capital Markets Property & Development
While it is an established asset class offshore, particularly the US and UK, the build-to-rent market in Australia is in its infancy. For build-to-rent to become an established asset class in Australia, social, legal, tax and broader economic challenges need to be overcome. Recent legislative reform and a clear desire from key industry participants to grow the market show that green shoots are emerging in Australia's build-to-rent sector. Michael Graves and Tim Chislett set out how build-to-rent developments could be structured, and highlight the key differences in risk profile from other commercial developments.
The appeal of a fund through model
The key differences in risk profile for build-to-rent
Australia's residential developers and investors have long favoured the build-to-sell-model, where capital is tied up for a shorter period and returns are quicker and often greater. Build-to-rent assets also have a different risk profile to other asset classes, such as commercial office buildings. These differences will influence how build-to-rent projects will be structured and who the likely players in the sector will be.
Despite the different risk profile, we expect Australian banks will be willing to lend to build-to-rent developers and investors. However, we expect that because of this risk profile, the debt-to-equity ratio will be less than for a more traditional commercial or residential development.
As an alternative to bank finance, investors (such as superannuation funds and offshore funds) looking for steady returns who may be attracted to a lower yield, lower risk investment, could play a critical role in the establishment of this asset class in Australia. Such investors may be willing to fund development and enter the market using a fund through model.
While the sector is in its infancy, to better manage their commercial risk exposure, investors may only be willing to acquire part interests, with the developer retaining the balance. This would ensure the developer takes not only development risk, but risk in the ongoing operation and ownership of the asset. In those cases, parties will need to give careful consideration to how their co-owner relationship will be regulated.
Tenant Pre-commitments
Unlike other commercial developments such as office buildings or shopping centres, we think it is unlikely that a developer will be able to secure significant levels of tenant pre-commitment for a build-to-rent project. Investors and financiers will therefore need to rely mainly on market demand reports to determine the feasibility of the project.
To partly mitigate this risk, developers may seek to attract pre-commitment from long-term tenants by offering incentives or bespoke apartments. To attract investors, developers may be willing to provide rental guarantees for a period of time following completion.
Stability is key
Investors and financiers will also need to be comfortable that there will be a high turnover of tenants, requiring a significant level of management. Investors and financiers will need to have confidence that the building will remain attractive to tenants long term to be sure that it will be easily re-let.
Shorter leases present risks and opportunities
We expect that many tenants who would be attracted to the build-to-rent market will appreciate the flexibility of not owning a home. Such tenants will prefer to have a short lease term to ensure they maintain that flexibility.
This will not provide comfort to a financier, as the weighted average lease expiry (WALE) will, in most cases, be less than a year. As mentioned above, to partly mitigate this risk, we think developers will be able to attract long-term tenants in some circumstances. Further, in a rising rental market, a low WALE will, of course, give investors the benefit of the reversionary rental uplift.
Developers can deliver tenants greater amenity
One of the most attractive elements of a build-to-rent product for young inner-city renters will be the greater access to amenity and services such as in-house cleaning, maintenance, landscaping and on-site property and facilities management.
When structuring a fund through transaction with an investor, developers will have the opportunity to secure the management rights for the asset. Developers will be able to use the scale of their related management companies to provide exceptional services at a low cost, which will attract and retain tenants as well as generate additional sources of revenue from the asset.
Ultimately, developers and operators will seek to establish brand loyalty, where renters will follow a brand throughout their renting life.
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Contact for further information
Tim Chislett
Allens is an independent partnership operating in alliance with Linklaters LLP. © 2021 Allens, Australia
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Policies, Forms & Resources
Discriminatory Harassment
Bias Response Team
Past Sexual Misconduct
Inclusion Council
Title IX & Smith College
Gender Identity & Expression
Responding to the July 31, 2018, Campus Police Call
Inclusion Conference
Smith College affirms that diversity in all aspects of the educational environment is necessary to achieve the highest level of academic excellence. As a central element of its commitment to excellence, the college seeks to maintain an environment that is free of conduct that unreasonably interferes with the academic and professional experience of any member of its community.
Consistent with its obligations as a recipient of financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education, the college complies with all relevant Federal laws that prohibit discrimination in education, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VI"), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX"), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Section 504"), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The college further complies with all relevant laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that prohibit discrimination in education.
The college is committed to creating an educational environment that is open to all individuals without discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, national origin/ancestry, religion, sex or gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, genetic information, or veteran status/membership in the uniformed services. The college affirms its commitment by holding all of its community members responsible for upholding this principle and recognizing their legal obligations under applicable federal and state statutes.
This policy will be adjudicated by the student-run College Conduct Board and will be used when a student believes that they have experienced discriminatory harassment by another student or students in their college experience. This policy does NOT cover allegations of sexual misconduct, complaints of discrimination involving staff or faculty, or grade disputes. For sexual misconduct complaints, please see the Gender-Based and Sexual Misconduct Policy. For allegations of discrimination involving staff and faculty, please see the Equal Educational Opportunity policy. Grade disputes are governed by the college's Grade Dispute Policy.
Discriminatory Harrassment Defined
Discriminatory harassment is unwelcome conduct directed toward a person based on one or more of the following categories: age, race, color, national origin/ancestry, religion, sex or gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, genetic information or veteran status/membership in the uniformed services. Discriminatory harassment violates college policy the when the conduct is severe, persistent or pervasive such that it interferes with an individual's college experience by creating a hostile environment.
Examples of such conduct include:
Offensive or degrading remarks, verbal abuse, or other hostile behavior such as insulting, teasing, mocking, degrading or ridiculing another person or group;
Racial slurs, derogatory remarks about a person's accent, or display of racially offensive symbols;
Unwelcome or inappropriate physical contact, comments, questions, advances, jokes, epithets or demands; and
Displays or electronic transmission of derogatory, demeaning or hostile materials.
When sanctioning, the offensiveness should be measured by its gravity, whether it is intended to be offensive and disrespectful, whether it is repeated even after the student engaging in the behavior has been clearly told that it is offensive to another, and by the effect the behavior has on the community and the student or students to whom it is directed.
Discriminatory Harassment Resolution Process
This policy will be adjudicated by the student-run College Conduct Board and will be used when a student believes that they have experienced discriminatory harassment by another student or students in their college experience. However, prior to a formal adjudication process the following mechanism may be available to parties:
Informal Resolution Procedures
To promote mutual trust, learning and understanding, students are encouraged to address matters through informal resolution, although they are not required to do so. The college encourages open and honest communication between members of its community. Often differences can be resolved by communication between the relevant parties. Further, the pursuit of an informal resolution does not prevent the student from submitting a formal grievance, if the informal resolution fails.
Students are encouraged to discuss the matter with the community member with whom the underlying dispute concerns. The student affairs staff or Office of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (OIDE) staff are prepared to assist with the assessment of a concern and to explain the options and resources available for resolving and redressing concerns. Questions are encouraged; merely discussing an incident in this way does not commit an individual to making a complaint. Discussions aimed at informal resolution must remain confidential and generally last for no more than seven (7) working days.
The matter will be considered resolved when there is an agreed-upon resolution acceptable to all parties. If the student feels that no satisfactory resolution has been made, the student may seek formal resolution through the College Conduct Board process.
Formal Complaint Procedures
A student may initiate a formal complaint via Ethicspoint or by contacting the dean of students or the institutional equity officer. In all cases, the college will respond to reports of violations of this policy in a prompt, fair and impartial manner. In the interests of ensuring that investigations are done in an effective manner, students are encouraged to make complaints immediately after the conduct of complaint occurs. The complaint should document and describe the alleged discriminatory conduct, how that conduct violated this policy, the evidence supporting the alleged violation, and a description of the redress sought by the complainant.
For the purposes of this policy, the person who reports that they have been subjected to discrimination based on their protected status, or is the subject of such a report shall be referred to as the "Complainant." The person against whom the complaint is filed shall be referred to as the "Respondent."
When the college receives a formal complaint, it will promptly investigate the allegation in a fair and expeditious manner. Every effort will be made to proceed while maintaining confidentiality to the extent practicable under the circumstances. Once the matter is thoroughly investigated, it will be referred to the College Conduct Board. If it is determined that this policy has been violated, the college will act to eliminate the offending conduct and, where appropriate, will impose disciplinary action.
Initial Complaint Assessment
Upon the receipt of a complaint, the institutional equity officer and the conduct board adviser shall together review the complaint to determine whether, on its face, it alleges an actionable violation of college policy or whether the alleged conduct that is the subject of the complaint falls under another college policy. This determination of whether an investigation will proceed shall be completed within seven (7) working days of the filing of the complaint.
In such cases the normal procedures of the College Conduct Board will be followed. The normal procedures will include: referral of a case, review of the incident, notification of complaint, investigation, and hearing. The complaint shall be shared with the Respondent as part of this process.
Investigation and Resolution of a Complaint
The dean of the college's designee, will typically designate the institutional equity officer as the investigator. The investigator will promptly investigate the matter so that finding and recommendations will be issued generally within sixty (60) calendar days of the filing of the complaint.
The investigator will serve as a neutral fact-finder. The investigation will consist of (but will not necessarily be limited to) interviews of the Complainant, the Respondent, and other individuals who may have witnessed the reported incident or incidents. When the investigator has completed the investigation, the outcome of the investigation and a recommendation will be shared with the College Conduct Board, Complainant and the Respondent.
A confidential record of all complaints, including their disposition, will be maintained by the Office of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity.
The college will not tolerate retaliation against an individual for filing a complaint or for assisting in the investigation of a complaint. Retaliation is defined as taking or attempting adverse action around a person or group because that person or group participated in a good faith report or investigation under this procedure whether as a grievant, respondent, witness, administrator or in any other role. Retaliation can be committed by any individual or group of individuals, not just the Complainant or Respondent. Retaliation can take many forms, including threats, intimidation, bullying, assault, physical harm, emotional abuse, damage to or theft of property, exclusion from a position, association or event, among others. A student may initiate a formal retaliation complaint via Ethicspoint or by contacting the dean of students or the institutional equity officer.
All actions taken to investigate and resolve complaints through this procedure shall be conducted with as much privacy, discretion and confidentiality as possible, without compromising the thoroughness and fairness of the investigation. All persons involved should treat the situation with respect. To conduct a thorough investigation, the investigator may discuss the complaint with witnesses and those persons involved in or affected by the complaint, and those persons necessary to assist in the investigation or to implement appropriate disciplinary actions. Disciplinary outcomes will be kept confidential.
Smith College Resources
David Carreon Bradley
Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity & Equity
College Hall 302
oide@smith.edu
Julianne Ohotnicky
Associate Dean College/Dean Students
Clark Hall 203
johotnic@smith.edu
Amy Hunter
Institutional Equity Officer and Title IX Coordinator
ahunter65@smith.edu
State and Federal Agency Complaints
In addition to the above, an individual who believes they have been subjected to illegal discrimination may file a formal complaint with the government agencies listed below. Using the college's complaint process does not prohibit an individual from filing a complaint with either of these agencies. Claims filed with MCAD or must be filed within 300 days from the date of the alleged violation and complaints filed with OCR must be filed within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act..
MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION (MCAD)
Boston Office:
One Ashburton Place, Room 601
New Bedford Office:
800 Purchase Street, Room 501
Springfield Office:
436 Dwight Street, Rm 220
Worcester Office:
484 Main Street, Room 320
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS (OCR)
5 Post Office Square
FAX: 617-289-0150; TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: OCR.Boston@ed.gov


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https://sportswire.usatoday.com/article/how-to-watch-nuggets-vs-lakers-live-stream-info-tv-channel-game-time-january-9/
How to watch Nuggets vs. Lakers: Live stream info, TV channel, game time | January 9
The Los Angeles Lakers (19-21) aim to continue a three-game road winning stretch at the Denver Nuggets (26-13) on Monday, January 9, 2023, at 9:00 PM ET.
In their previous game, the Nuggets defeated the Cavaliers on Friday, 121-108. Nikola Jokic scored a team-high 28 points (and added 10 assists and 15 boards). The Lakers were victorious in their most recent game versus the Kings, 136-134, on Saturday. LeBron James led the way with 37 points, plus eight boards and seven assists.
Below in this article, we provide all the details you need to know about how to view this game on FuboTV.
National Basketball Association odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds updated Monday at 5:40 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
Nuggets vs. Lakers: How to Watch on TV or Live Stream
Game Day: Monday, January 9, 2023
Stadium: Ball Arena
TV Channel: NBA League Pass
Nuggets vs. Lakers Odds and Spread
Spread Favorite: Nuggets (-13)
Moneyline: Nuggets (-768), Lakers (+539)
Total: 237 points


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Washburn Law Named #2 in Government Law by PreLaw Magazine
Washburn University School of Law has been named the #2 law school in the nation for government jobs by preLaw magazine in its Winter 2016 issue. The magazine evaluated law schools to see which do the best job of preparing students for careers in public service, by analyzing job placement data, school curricula, debt, salary, and loan repayment options.
Washburn Law, located in the capitol city of Kansas, features the Center for Law and Government, which provides students with expanded opportunities for public service. The Law School is ideally situated given its proximity to the State Capitol, the Kansas Judicial Center, the Frank Carlson Federal Courthouse, and numerous state agencies. Washburn Law offers students unique and varied opportunities to learn about lawmaking, judicial decision-making, administrative law, and the regulatory process.
Students have the opportunity to achieve a Certificate in Law and Government, a concentration in government and public policy coursework. Washburn Law also offers externships, giving students the opportunity to work with a multitude of state and federal agencies and entities as well as other groups, lobbying firms, and entities that seek to influence government.
The complete story can be found at: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/prelaw_2016winter/#/26
Washburn University School of Law – ABA-Accredited Since 1923
1700 SW College, Topeka, KS 66621
Washburn University School of Law was founded in 1903 with 41 students enrolled in the first class. More than 100 years later, our worldwide network of nearly 7,000 alumni includes nationally recognized lawyers, state and federal judges, Kansas Supreme Court Justices, politicians, television journalists and senior executives of Fortune 500 companies and national legal associations. Washburn University School of Law's tradition of excellence in teaching is enhanced by its six Centers for Excellence: the Business and Transactional Law Center, the Center for Excellence in Advocacy, the Center for Law and Government, the Children and Family Law Center, the International and Comparative Law Center, and the Oil and Gas Law Center. For more information about Washburn Law, visit www.washburnlaw.edu.
Shelia Summers, (785) 670-1841
Director Marketing Communications
shelia.summers@washburn.edu


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© Long Distance Trips
Insider tips / Destinations
DestinationsGourmetCulture
Finally, long-distance travel again: The top 5 destinations for this summer
"The further I travel, the closer I get to myself," US actor Andrew McCarthy once said. Enough distance - and an exclusive as well as a breathtaking backdrop for self-discovery - is offered on the private beach of the Cuixmala resort on Mexico's Pacific coast.
Finally, once again long-distance travel to ...
... Vietnam
The Southeast Asian country impresses with its original culture, but also impressive nature: The Mekong Delta is a huge labyrinth of rivers, swamps and islands. ©Khanh Phan
In Vietnam, the clock ticks differently. Song Xanh Sampan is the name of the covered wooden boats that leisurely glide through the water on the Mekong, past Khmer temples and rice fields. At the floating markets, locals offer fresh fruit and local finger food in their boats. Time seems to have stopped here, in this huge labyrinth of rivers, swamps and islands. Can Tho is the name of the very busy and largest city in the Mekong Delta. Tours can be conveniently booked from here. It is best to take the waterway to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) to slowly arrive in Vietnam, a country that convinces with its original culture. Compared to its neighbour Thailand, the tourism here is still in its infancy. Those interested in culinary delights will get their money's worth: from hotpots to the traditional soup Pho to fresh fruits such as mangos, everything is also available freshly prepared on the street.
Related: Finally long distance travel again - Vietnam
... Mexico
The Latin American state offers a vibrant capital, dream beaches where you can party, but also tranquility in nature - and last but not least, the impressive temple complexes of the Aztecs and Maya. ©Jackie Caradonio
"Wow!" Mexico City is huge - the metropolis has about nine million inhabitants. But little by little, you also discover the calmer corners. You can stroll through the historic old town, past the elegant stores and the small restaurants under the arcades. At some point, you end up in the Plaza de la Constitución, the lively centre with its huge cathedral. Just around the corner, the Museo del Templo Mayor awaits, a former Aztec temple complex; fascinating but creepy, with a wall of skulls telling of human sacrifices. To deepen your historical knowledge, take a trip to the magical ruined city of Teotihuacán. The view from the Pyramid of the Sun is breathtaking - also because you quickly run out of breath on the ascent (be sure to take plenty of water!). If you want to take a more relaxed approach, you can first drive to the Yucatán peninsula, famous for its long sandy beaches with turquoise blue water.
Related: Finally long distance travel again - Mexico
... Japan
A country that could not be more diverse: Futuristic skyscrapers stand next to cherry trees in bloom, Tokyo is a cool megacity, Kyoto takes you back to Japan's royal past. ©Pexels
After a long day in Tokyo it can happen that your eyes fall shut in the subway. No problem: a different melody is played at every station - so you can be sure you're getting off correctly. Little things like this show how well organized everything is in this cool megacity, which still has something futuristic about it. Everyone knows the famous pictures of the intersection in the Shibuya district from movies. In real life, the hustle and bustle is even more impressive, with up to 15 000 people crossing the crosswalks per traffic light phase during peak hours. Nevertheless, it is easy to be on the road in Japan. The country is manageable in size, the train system works brilliantly, and connections are fast. You don't need a car to get anywhere. It's also amazing how many different things there are in such a small area. A few hours by train and you're in a different era: Kyoto takes you to old Japan with its historic temples and imperial palaces, but is also a shopper's paradise (the best tea and the most beautiful handmade knives can be found here).
Related: Long distance travel is back – Time to go to Japan
... Costa Rica
From pumas and howler monkeys in the nature park to sloths on the trees by the side of the road, you'll find it all here. Costa Rica is a safe destination that prides itself on its biodiversity. ©Mauritius Images
Hotspot Costa Rica you immediately feel at home. Although the small country in Central America is becoming increasingly popular as a vacation destination, it remains authentic. Unspoiled nature is right on the doorstep: toucans sing on the balcony in the morning and sloths live up to their name, hanging on trees. In addition, Costa Rica is a safe travel destination, it is considered the "Switzerland of Central America". The capital San José with its more than 300 000 inhabitants can be explored comfortably even with jetlag, the historic city centre has a lot of flair. Costa Rica translates as "rich coast"; in the Museo del Oro, the gold museum, you learn why: valuable pre-Columbian jewellery shines brightly, and some exhibits date back to 500 A.D. and yet seem very modern. Just a few minutes outside the capital, everything turns lush and green. Costa Rica is a biodiversity hotspot. Some 87,000 species live here, including howler monkeys and pumas.
Related: Finally long distance travel again - Costa Rica
... Zanzibar
The realm of spices is strongly influenced by Arab culture and is a natural paradise with endless beaches and crystal blue waters. ©Zuri Zanzibar Hotel
A name that sounds like the Arabian Nights: Zanzibar. Once famous for its spices, the semi-autonomous state of Tanzania is still a place of longing today. A Zanzibar vacation, by the way, can be ideally combined with a safari in Tanzania after which you can spend a few days relaxing on the beach. The water is warm all year round; the inhabitants are friendly. On the streets, you are greeted with a "Jambo" ("Hello" in Swahili) or "Karibu" ("Welcome"). The islands are Muslim and strongly influenced by Arab culture. In Zanzibar City, the capital, this is also evident in the architecture. The magnificent Sultan's Palace Beit-el-Ajaib ("Palace of Miracles") once served as the seat of the British and Zanzibar governments and was the first building in all of East Africa with electricity and running water. Most of the city's houses are built of coral stone and mangrove wood. However, the main reason to come to Zanzibar is the dreamy beaches. Kendwa Beach was an insider tip for a long time, but now word has spread about how colourful the sunsets are and how crystal blue the water is.
Related: Finally long distance travel again - Zanzibar
Text: Karin Cerny, Marion Genetti and Christina Horn
This article appeared in the Falstaff TRAVEL issue Spring 2022.


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Home » Education » This Article
Chargers To Play Host to Packers Under New Offensive Coordinator
Posted by Contributing Editor on November 3, 2019 in Education | 69 Views | Leave a response
Shane Steichen will make his debut as the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator and play caller Sunday when they play host to the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Steichen replaces Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired Monday, one day after the Chargers failed to score more than 20 points for the sixth time in seven games.
"That was not an easy decision," coach Anthony Lynn said. "It's never about one person winning or losing but it's a team. I felt like there was a change that definitely needed to be made."
Lynn said he "just felt like it was time" to make the change.
"If I was eventually going to do it, why not just do it right now?" Lynn said. "We have eight weeks left in this season and we still have everything in front of us that we want. I feel like this move would be smoother for us."
Lynn described the 34-year-old Steichen as young, innovative and "a good communicator." He is three years younger than the quarterback he will be calling plays for, Philip Rivers.
Lynn said he has advised Steichen to "cut back, simplify and let these young men play fast and physical."
Lynn said he will assist Steichen in play calling, just like he assisted Whisenhunt.
"I do not want him looking over his shoulder for any reason," Lynn said. "I have a lot of confidence in Shane and our offensive staff to get this done."
Offensive line coach Pat Meyer will be the run game coordinator, helping Steichen call the run game, Lynn said.
Steichen said there would "be little tweaks here and there" in the Chargers offense, but declined to provide specifics.
The Chargers (3-5) are 23rd in the NFL in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game. They are 28th in rushing in the 32-team league, averaging 69.5 yards.
The Chargers have rushed for 39 yards or less for four consecutive games, including 36 yards on 12 carries in last Sunday's 17-16 victory over the Chicago Bears. The span coincides with Melvin Gordon's return to play after not reporting to the team as he sought a contract extension.
"Sometimes it's hard to reach 40 yards if you don't have enough rushing attempts, but that wasn't all on Ken," Lynn said. "It was just there was no flow, there was no rhythm.
"You have to give guys the chance to get into a rhythm and flow. Sometimes, you can do that through play calling. We'll see moving forward if we can get into that rhythm, if the offensive line can take over a game on the ground and stay on the field."
First-half double-digit deficits against Denver Oct. 6 and Pittsburgh Oct. 13 limited the Chargers to 16 and 14 rushing attempts.
Gordon has rushed for 42 yards or less for eight consecutive games dating back to last season, including the playoffs. The streak began after Gordon suffered a knee injury Nov. 25 that sidelined him the next three games.
Gordon ran for 31 yards on 18 carries against the Bears, including a 19-yard touchdown run with two minutes, 12 seconds left in the first half.
Whisenhunt was in the fourth season of his second stint as Chargers offensive coordinator, rejoining the team in 2016, one year before Lynn became coach. Whisenhunt was also the Chargers offensive coordinator in 2013, then became coach of the Tennessee Titans.
Whisenhunt was the Arizona Cardinals coach from 2007-12, including guiding them to Super Bowl XLIII in the 2008 season.
Steichen joined the Chargers in 2011 as a defensive assistant, a position he held through the 2012 season. He spent the 2013 season as an offensive quality control coach with the Cleveland Browns, working with the quarterbacks.
Steichen returned to the Chargers in 2014 as an offensive quality control coach working primarily with their receivers. He was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2016, a post he held until his promotion to offensive coordinator.
The game is expected to be the 2019 debut of Chargers kicker Michael Badgley who missed the first eight games because of a groin injury. The Chargers released Chase McLaughlin, who had kicked for them the past four games, on Tuesday.
Badgley made a team-record 93.8% of his field goal attempts in 2018, including a 59-yarder, also a team record.
The Chargers will be without defensive tackle Justin Jones (shoulder) and nose tackle Brandon Mebane (knee), both starters, for the third consecutive game.
Starting safety Roderic Teamer is out because of a groin injury.
The Chargers promoted safety Shalom Luani from the practice squad on Saturday. Luani made 18 tackles in 16 games in 2017 for the Oakland Raiders, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL draft out of Washington State. He made nine tackles in 12 games for the Seattle Seahawks in 2018.
Luani also played eight games for the America Samoa men's national soccer team in 2011, scoring three goals in eight games.
The 7-1 Packers share the league's third-best record with New Orleans Saints, behind the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers, who are both 8-0. They have won four consecutive games since their lone loss, 34-27, to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 26.
Green Bay is off to its best start since 2011 when it began the season 8-0 en route to a 15-1 record, in a season it was upset by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the divisional playoffs.
The Chargers 1-10 record against the Packers is their worst against any opponent. Their only victory came in 1984 a 34-28 win at Green Bay's Lambeau Field.
The Chargers have lost the last seven games in the series, including a 27-20 loss in the most recent meeting in 2015, when Rivers set records for passes (65), completions (43) and passing yards (503).
The Chargers are 0-6 in home games against Green Bay.
Green Bay's roster includes two UCLA alumni, tight end Marcedes Lewis and defensive lineman Kenny Clark.
The game is the Chargers Salute to Service game. World War II veterans Rudolfo "Roy" Huereque, Howard Buford, Tom Foreman, Lawrence "Larry" Stevens and Arthur Del Rey will handle the ceremonial firing of the cannon.
There will be collection boxes in Lots 10, 11 and 12 to receive supplies for Operation Gratitude, which will then send items to troops deployed overseas. Operation Gratitude sends more than 300,000 care packages to servicemen and women, first responders, veterans and their children.
Requested items include travel sized toiletries, sunscreen and hand sanitizer. All items collected on Sunday will be packed by Chargers staff, volunteers and active duty military on Tuesday as part of "Huddle for 100," the NFL's effort to get people to donate 100 minutes of their time in connection with the league's 100th season.
Each NFL team designates a home game in November as its Salute to Service game. Players wear camouflage equipment including quarterback towels and captain's patches.
Game-worn Salute to Service merchandise and footballs will be auctioned at NFL.com/Auction. Special camouflage merchandise will be available at NFLShop.com.
The NFL does not profit from the sale of Salute to Service products, a league official said. All charitable contributions are donated to the league's core military nonprofit partners, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, the Pat Tillman Foundation, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), USO and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Chargers To Play Host to Packers Under New Offensive Coordinator was last modified: November 3rd, 2019 by Contributing Editor
Posted in Education | Tagged Chargers, Coordinator, Host, offensive, Packers, play
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As we do every year, ACM convenes a gala event to celebrate and honor colleagues in our computing universe who have achieved pinnacle success in the field.
Our most prestigious recognition is the ACM A.M. Turing Award and the
2017 award goes to John Hennessy and David Patterson:
"For pioneering a systematic, quantitative approach to the design and evaluation of computer architectures with enduring impact on the microprocessor industry."
Their primary insight was to find a
method to systematically and quanti-
tatively evaluate machine instructions
for their utility and to eliminate the
least used of them, replacing them
with sequences of simpler instructions
with faster execution times requiring
lower power. In the end, their designs
resulted in Reduced Instruction Set
Complexity or RISC. Today, most chips
make use of this form of instruction
set. A complete summary of their accom-
plishments can be found within this is-
sue and at the ACM Awards website.a
The second most significant award
from ACM is the ACM Prize in Comput-
ing and the 2017 award goes to Dina
Katabi of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology's Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT
CSAIL). Her contributions to wire-
less communication and applications
are both deep and broad. Concerned
about interference in wireless net-
works, Katabi developed the concept
of network coding in which messages
are encoded and recoded as they move
through network in such a way that in-
creased resilience and capacity can be
achieved. She also pioneered creative
a https://amturing.acm.org/
perceive objects and life forms on the
other side of walls opaque to visual fre-
quencies. The ability to analyze these
extremely weak signals seems truly
straight out of science fiction! A sum-
mary of her work also can be found at
the ACM Awards website.b
A third recognition—the 2018–2019
Athena Lecturer Award—goes to Andrea Goldsmith of Stanford University. In addition to her contributions to the theory and practice of adaptive communications, she is also honored for her successful transfer of technology into practice.
Her theories of time-varying adaptive modulation led to significant improvements in EDGE, Wi-Fi and 3GPP/LTE.
She established a company— Quan-tenna—that developed the first adaptive Multi-in/Multi-out 4X4 antenna for
802.11N Wi-Fi applications. For more information see the ACM Awards website.c There are many more awards to be given and people to be recognized for their extraordinary accomplishments on June 23 in San Francisco. We take great pride in knowing that our colleagues continue to make significant and constructive contributions to our society. I hope that many of you will be able to join us for the celebration of their work.
Speaking of celebrations, it is fit-
ting and timely to recognize the work
of our senior leadership whose terms
come to an end as these celebrations
conclude. Graduating to Past Presi-
b https://awards.acm.org/acm-prize
c https://awards.acm.org/athena
dent, Vicki Hanson will complete her
successful two-year term as President
of ACM at the end of June. Cherri
Pancake will finish her term as Vice
President and Elizabeth Churchill her
term as Secretary-Treasurer. We owe
much to all three of these dedicated
women whose careers and experience
have placed them in leadership roles
in ACM. I have no doubt that they will
continue to contribute to ACM in a va-
riety of ways, as they have in the past.
All three are important and much-needed role models for all who work in computer science.
Artificial intelligence and, especially, machine learning, are experiencing another form of celebration as success after success is reported in diverse applications ranging from board gaming to real-time control of cloud computing cooling systems to self-driving cars. While we can take pride in the constructive aspects of these new tools of computer science, we must also be alert to the quirks, idiosyncrasies, and weaknesses of these emerging technologies. As responsible members of our profession, it is important to help policymakers and the general public to adjust their expectations of these techniques to ensure they are applied with due consideration for their limitations.
I hope to see many of you at the ACM Awards Banquet!
Vinton G. Cerf is vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google. He served as ACM president from 2012–2014.
Copyright held by author.
DOI: 10.1145/3210376 Vinton G. Cerf


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Budget 2014 – Dual employment contracts
Although, non-UK domiciliaries are subject to UK tax on their UK employment income, they may not be subject to tax on foreign employment income where it is not remitted to the UK. In the past, taxpayers have argued that a single employment with overseas duties is two separate employments – one in the UK and one overseas. As a result, salary attributable to the 'overseas employment' can escape a charge to UK tax.
HMRC have successfully challenged such arrangements with existing legislation where:
the foreign employment contract is a 'sham' and so in reality there is only one contract; or
substantive duties of the foreign employment are performed in the UK.
In the Autumn Statement 2013, the Government announced that it would be enacting further legislation to counter contrived dual contract arrangements (http://www.gabelletax.com/blog/2013/12/05/autumn-statement-2013-dual-contracts/) and draft legislation was published in January 2014 for consultation.
The original proposal was for new rules to apply where:
an individual has UK and overseas employments with either the same or associated employers;
the UK and overseas employments are 'related' to each other; and
the foreign tax suffered overseas is less than 75% of the UK additional rate.
In relation to the first condition, a company is 'associated' with another if, broadly, one company controls the other or if both companies are under the control of the same person.
In relation to the second condition, employments would be 'related' if, for example, it could be assumed that the second employment would not exist without the first. So if, for example, the overseas employment would cease as a result of ending the UK employment, the two employments would be related.
These rules would not apply to individuals who qualify for overseas workday relief.
Following consultation, the Government has today announced a number of changes to the draft legislation to protect certain 'innocent' arrangements.
Firstly, a specific exclusion will be included to "prevent charges arising on nominal directorships if they (or associates) own/control less than 5 per cent of the company's ordinary share capital."
A second carve out has been drafted to take into account employments held for legal or regulatory reasons, such as those often seen in the financial services industry.
The legislation will also clarify that income tax charges will not apply retrospectively to employment held before April 2014.
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the foreign tax suffered must now be less than 65% (previously stated to be 75%) of the UK additional rate of tax i.e. foreign tax suffered overseas must be less than 29.25%. This will restrict the application of the rules because fewer overseas jurisdictions will fall within the lower threshold.
It is still unclear why further legislation is needed given that HMRC have been using existing legislation to successfully counter contrived arrangements. Even with the above amendments, the new rules are still likely to catch many genuine commercial arrangements.
The legislation will have effect from 6 April 2014 and individuals with dual contracts in place will need to have their tax position reviewed carefully. Many individuals will want to rethink their employment arrangements.


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Gay Flood
FUHR AND KANE
As an avid Edmonton Oiler fan, I want to thank Ralph Wiley for his fine article on Grant Fuhr (The Puck Stops Here, Jan. 11). Rarely is credit given to Fuhr; he has always been in the background behind Wayne Gretzky and the rest of the goal-scoring Oilers.
Like many other Edmonton fans, I hope that Fuhr will finally receive the attention he deserves and that he will guide his team to another Stanley Cup championship.
ADAM J. WEINER
Weston, Mass.
The few lines about Syracuse wide receiver Tommy Kane's hockey experience touched me. I cheered Kane all season long as he and Syracuse made a run at an undefeated season, but I had no idea what he had gone through before that. Racism once again deprived a fine athlete of an opportunity to play the sport he loves most.
WILLIE BRENNAN
Oxnard, Calif.
LEADING THE 76ERS
I have enjoyed watching Charles Barkley mature as a basketball player (Now Barkley Owns the Ball, Jan. 11). He has raised the caliber of his game, and he also has shown that he can be a leader. Let's hope that when the time comes to select the winner of the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, Barkley won't be overlooked.
CHERYL SNOWDEN
Hey, Barkley is bad, and Grant Fuhr is fantastic, but you mean to tell me that you could muster only eight pages to cover 18 college bowl games, 14 of which were decided by six points or fewer? Sheesh!
A1C EDWARD G. BLACK, USAF
Yokota AB, Japan
Thank you for recognizing the Arizona basketball team (Top Cats Who Are Tough Cats, Jan. 11). The alumni, school and fans are extremely proud of the team, especially since the first-semester grades came out, in early January, showing that out of a possible 4.0, the cumulative average for the 13-man team was 3.05, with no one below 2.0.
Surely that statistic would put the Wildcats in the Top 10 in that category as well.
JIM VERMILYEA
Rick Telander (Raising 'Canes, Jan. 11) suggested we "forget that last year Oklahoma had more academically ineligible freshman players than any other school." Yes, let's do forget that and instead try to remember that for the past three seasons Oklahoma has graduated more than 80% of its players.
Let's also remember that, of the 24 players named to the 1987 Academic All-Big Eight team, 10 were Sooners, including starting defensive tackle Scott Evans, who has a 3.7 grade point average in business finance.
W.T. TATUM, M.D.
Edmond, Okla.
Your 1987 college football preview dismissed Virginia with one sentence: "Virginia is justifiably proud of having the country's highest player graduation rate (89%), but on the gridiron the Wahoos will again fail to make the grade."
Well, I would say that an 8-4 record, including an All-American Bowl victory over BYU, is certainly one we can be proud of.
STEVE BUCK
Williamsburg, Va.
McCONKEY'S CATCH
Your double issue, Pictures '87 (Dec. 28-Jan. 4), captured many stirring moments in sports over the past year, some triumphant, some agonizing—and one, I'm afraid, misidentified. On page 20, your caption says, "Phil McConkey's TD catch helped seal the Giants' Super Bowl win over the Broncos." However, isn't this a shot of a temporarily heartbroken McConkey after he was stopped short of the end zone earlier in the game?
BEN BLINDER
Verona, N.J.
•You're right. Here's a shot of McConkey's TD catch.—ED.
JERRY WACHTER
Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer and should be addressed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020-1393.
John Calipari vs. the State of Kentucky
Hitting Pitchers: Enjoy (Mock) Them While You Can


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The play follows two central characters Josh and Marnie who find themselves somehow connected to a exploitative relationship
After a rocky childhood with her mother and stepfather, Marnie finds herself falling for a man much older than herself. He has everything she ever dreamt of, money, power and what's more he adores her.
Josh is having a really hard time at school, Josh is finding it hard to be accepted, he finds solace in his new best friend.
As an audience we observe the emotional and physical journey each character takes as they try to set themselves or others free. 'Invisible' also highlights other issues such as sexual and domestic abuse, depression, drugs and peer pressure.
Whilst these themes are embedded, there is hope, as we observe the characters learn how to deal and cope with their circumstances.
"Fantastic moving performance highlighting important issues.
The cast were outstanding and built a great relationship with the audience"
"This needs to go UK-wide as the issues highlighted happens in all walks of life"
"Well paced, relevant and entertaining"
Book your school for Invisible


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Tiler delighted with BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year nomination
Rebekah Tiler insists that she is already a winner, whether or not she walks away with the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award this weekend.
At the start of the year you could forgive people for not instantly recognising the name Tiler; at just 15 the young weightlifter is still finding her feet in the sport.
However Tiler certainly left her mark on her rivals in 2014, kicking things off in May when she became the youngest weightlifter to win a senior women's British title as she took gold in 69kg class.
That saw her called up to Team England for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she narrowly missed out on a medal finishing fifth in the same category.
Tiler will head back to Glasgow on Sunday after being named on the ten-strong shortlist for the Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
And while she doesn't expect to walk away with the gong, Tiler – who is up against five more of her fellow Team England stars – is simply happy to be among such esteemed company.
"I'm one of six Team England athletes in the top ten for Young Sports Personality and I just can't believe I'm even on that list," she said.
"I'm so proud to be there. I don't expect to win as the competition, not least from my teammates is so tough, there are Commonwealth champions on the Young Sports Personality list, but to be there is amazing.
"I'm going to Glasgow for the weekend with my mum, I've got my dress and I'm so excited, I can't wait!
"Being in Glasgow was amazing, I was really excited about being selected and about going to a big major event.
"The village was huge and a bit overwhelming, but everyone was so nice it was great. I felt so looked after by Team England and all the other athletes were great and treated me as one of them.
"I couldn't believe the reception I got from the crowd – which was huge – when I started my competition, everyone just started cheering for me which was amazing.
"To have that experience at such a young age is amazing. I want to be World, Olympic and Commonwealth Champion one day and being in Glasgow with Team England has put me on that road."
Since her Glasgow 2014 heroics Tiler has been somewhat quiet with a back injury stunting her rapid rise.
However now back fighting fit, Tiler is determined to not let her 2014 achievements go to waste in the new year as she eyes more Commonwealth glory.
"I've been injured since Glasgow where I hurt my back during competition so I've been having lots of physio since then," Tiler added. "But I'm now back into full training and fully fit again.
"My next step is for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa in September, I want to go out and bring home a medal, I can then work towards the Gold Coast in 2018.
"It'll be a little be strange going to the Youth Games after being part of the senior team, but it'll be good. I'll be one of the more experienced on the team and I should medal."


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The Liberty Champion
The official student newspaper of Liberty University
2020-2021 Champion Staff
ChampiOnion
Websclusives
Entrepreneurship Tabloid
Tag: ChampiOnion
Heated 'Lawnvo' Controversy Cooled
April 1, 2019 Ryan Klinker 2 comments
Back by popular demand, the outdoor event commonly referred to as "Lawnvo" will be returning this May, but things will look a little different in the crowd. According to Office of Residence Life Director Dustin Dubose, all fair-skinned students will be issued an excused absence from the event in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year's event, which […]
Kim and Kanye Come to Konvo, announce presidential bid
March 31, 2019 Lillian Abbatacola Leave a comment
On April 1, Kanye West announced from the Convocation stage that he is running for U.S. president in 2024. "We will change the world. God is on my side. I am a Christian. I am a tax payer. I am myself. God is with us," Kanye West said. The pop culture icons Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West also emphasized […]
Liberty University Adds Enneagram Degree for Fall 2019
March 31, 2019 Deanna Drogan 6 comments
In light of campus pastor David Nasser expressing the need for students to develop a better understanding of their individual personality types, Liberty University has announced its new Enneagram degree program, which will officially launch in the Fall semester of 2019. According to Nasser, the degree will help students not only learn more about themselves, but also about their brothers […]
Student late for class raises umbrella and parts the crowd on the way to DeMoss
March 31, 2019 Sarah Rodriguez Leave a comment
The time was 11:58 a.m., and Tom Strickland was only at the top of the steps in the Vines Center. Two minutes to get to DeMoss for his 12:00 p.m. Old Testament Survey class, and thousands of students stood idle in his way. "As the good student that I am, I waited until the final prayer and dismissal before jumping […]
Pick-up football icon entering NFL draft
March 31, 2019 Ryan Klinker Leave a comment
With his fresh, unscuffed cleats and ripped tank-top that is intentionally oversized, Chad "Dynamite" Broseph has always looked like a future NFL legend. "I mean I've always been an athlete, and I know I have the sneaky quickness that it takes to be a pro receiver," Broseph said. His pick-up career began in the Fall semester of 2015 when his […]
3, 2, 1 Cannonball
April 1, 2016 Sarah Rodriguez One comment
Construction is a typical sight at Liberty University. And the presence of backhoes, piles of dirt, and masses of construction workers will continue as Liberty announced the beginning of construction of a water park on campus. "We are pleased to announce that the university will expand its campus once again with the addition of a waterpark," President Jerry Falwell said. […]
#FrappBae
April 1, 2016 Amber Tiller Leave a comment
"Venti soy white chocolate mocha-raspberry, quad, non-fat frappuccino. No whip, light cream," the barista, Kaleigh Mason said. She looked out at the crowd surrounding the pick-up counter at the Starbucks in the Jerry Falwell Library. "Venti soy ….," Mason said, starting to repeat the order. The barista paused as a small figure, nearly 5'5″ came forward, her straight blonde hair […]
April 1, 2016 Jacob Clarke Leave a comment
Liberty University prides itself on having the title of the largest Christian university in the world. But as the late Dr. Jerry Falwell used to say, "If it's Christian, it ought to be better." For Liberty, "better" comes in the form of claiming a new title: The largest Christian university in the universe. The school announced plans Friday, April 1 […]
Goodbye Gentle Giant
April 1, 2016 Joel Schmieg Leave a comment
In an unexpected announcement last month, Liberty Flames Men's Basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay said center Evan Maxwell would be transferring at the end of the academic year. Maxwell had a break-out season for the Flames, averaging 10 points and five rebounds per game after averaging just two points and one rebound per game the season before. "Honestly, I was […]
Single and Ready to LU Mingle
April 1, 2016 Quinn Foley 3 comments
There are now more ways than ever to help Liberty University students get their ring by spring. During Convocation Friday, April 1, Senior Vice President for Spiritual Development David Nasser announced a new program available just for Liberty students. "We know its spring time and a lot of you still haven't found 'the one,'" Nasser said. "So we are officially […]
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Home/US News/Authenticity Of Email About Biden's Deal With Chinese Company Confirmed by Recipient
Featured NewsIn The NewsUS News
Authenticity Of Email About Biden's Deal With Chinese Company Confirmed by Recipient
Chuck RossOctober 17, 2020
One of the recipients on an email chain with Hunter Biden that was published earlier this week has authenticated the document, Fox News reported.
The email in question, which is dated March 13, 2017, purportedly shows a business partner of Biden's discussing "remuneration packages" for participants in a deal involving CEFC China Energy, a Chinese energy company that was owned at the time by Ye Jianming.
The New York Post published portions of the email on Thursday as part of a series of stories based on documents purportedly from Biden's laptop.
Some Democrats have questioned the authenticity of emails published by the Post. But according to Fox News, a person copied on the March 13, 2017, email confirmed that the published document is authentic.
Fox News did not identify which of the people on the email thread confirmed its authenticity. The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to everyone on the thread but did not receive any responses.
Hunter Biden is identified as "Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC" in the email. It also says that "Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate."
The author of the email also included a proposed breakdown of payments, including "20" for "H" and the notation: "10 held by H for the big guy?"
According to Fox News, sources said that "the big guy" is a reference to Joe Biden.
The Biden campaign and Hunter Biden have not disputed the authenticity of the emails released so far. Instead, they have dismissed the publication of the documents as a smear campaign orchestrated by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Some Democrats have alleged that the Russian government may have a hand in obtaining or releasing the emails, but the Biden campaign and Hunter Biden have not disputed the story about how he obtained the laptop.
Giuliani claims he obtained the Biden documents from John Paul Mac Isaac, who owns the Mac Shop in Wilmington. Giuliani provided copies of the emails to the Post on Sunday.
Isaac told the newspaper that a man he believes to be Hunter Biden dropped off his computer for repair in April 2019 but never came back to retrieve it. He has said that he notified the FBI through an intermediary about the computer late last year, and that the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware subpoenaed the device in December.
Isaac said he made copies of the computer hard drive before handing the computer over to authorities. He has also said he contacted various senators about the computer but did not receive a response. He contacted a lawyer for Giuliani last month, he claims.
Giuliani has been investigating the Bidens' various business dealings since at least 2018. He met several times beginning last year with Arkady Derkach, a Ukrainian member of parliament who the U.S. sanctioned last month because of his links to Russia.
A Senate report released last month detailed Biden's business arrangement with Ye, the former chairman of CEFC.
The report said that companies affiliated with CEFC wired $5 million to a company co-owned by Biden and a Ye associate named Gongweng Deng.
The report said that Ye worked in the 2000s for a front group affiliated with the People's Liberation Army.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]
China Hunter Biden Joe Biden the 2020 Election
Chuck Ross
Will Joe Biden Get Tested? – Ben Garrison Cartoon
President Donald Trump's Schedule for Sunday, October 18, 2020


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WORLD HERITAGE "PROTECTION"
UNESCO's War Against National Sovereignty
by Berit Kjos - 1997
See also Local Agenda 21 | The Habitat II Agenda
World Heritage List | The Memory of the World
What do the Statue of Liberty and a tropical rainforest in Australia have in common? What links the Grand Canyon and Yosemite to Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids, Machu Pichu, and Auschwitz Concentration Camp?
All these, along with hundreds of other scenic and cultural treasures around the world, have come under the "protection" of UNESCO through the World Heritage Convention. Signed by former President Nixon in 1973, this treaty gives the United Nations authority to guide the safe-keeping of international sites and monuments "considered to be of such exceptional interest and such universal value that their protection is the responsibility of all humanity." 1
What if some Heritage lands are privately owned?
It doesn't matter. In the eyes of UNESCO, private owners can't be trusted to guard "a World Heritage which belongs to all humanity"2 any more than parents can be trusted to raise their own children. The rights of the global collective must replace the old Western individual rights. To persuade the public, a new revolutionary way of thinking -- often called holistic, integrated, or "systems thinking" -- must replace the contrary old Western thoughts and ways.
"The real enemy is a dysfunctional way of thinking,"3 said Al Gore in Earth in the Balance. His solution:
"A worldwide education program... We should actively search for ways to promote a new way of thinking about the current relationship between human civilization and the earth...."4 UNESCO is leading the way.
FROM INDIVIDUAL TO COLLECTIVE RIGHTS
Joe Baylis' gold mine was outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. It fulfilled all state and federal environmental requirements. But those facts didn't stop UNESCO from exercising its authority over Baylis' land. According to new holistic interpretations of the World Heritage treaty, UN jurisdiction now also includes "critical buffer zones." So when World Heritage Committee members from Europe and Asia appeared in Wyoming in 1995 to help radical environmentalist fight the environmentally friendly mining company, they claimed -- and won -- the right to censure human activity within the entire ecosystem. In other words, "systems thinking" rather than scientific facts and logic prevailed.
What would be the boundaries of the Yellowstone World Heritage ecosystem? They are not yet established, explained Tony Barnosky, the moderator for the international hearing. But he admitted that it would include parts of "Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, an area of between 14 and 18 million acres."5 Yellowstone Park itself covers only about 2.2 million acres.6 Must the United States then submit to UN regulations for human activity within this entire region?
Ken Smith (not his real name)7 didn't believe this could happen to him. His farm in the "wet tropics" of north-eastern Australia included a small piece of rainforest which he had researched and lovingly nurtured through the years. But when government environmentalists discovered that Smith had preserved ancient trees that had long vanished from most of the government-owned rainforest around him, they coveted his superior piece.
Australia signed the World Heritage Convention in 1974, and in 1988 the wet tropics came under the watchful eye of the United Nations. Its Australian partners, operating through the Department of Environment, counted nearly a hundred species of "rare and threatened plants" on and near Smith's property along Cooper Creek. By 1991, the Cooper Creek catchment was recognized as one of Australia's most important botanical sites.
Smith didn't want to yield his control of his land to the World Heritage administrators, but they claimed it anyway. He tried to work with the environmental agencies established to carry out UN directives. But their irrational regulations made it impossible for him to continue growing tropical fruit in his small orchard adjacent to the forest. Sad and embittered, he sold his limited land rights to Prue, Neil and Brian Hewett, who hoped to earn a living on the land through ecotourism.
Led to believe they had their government's consent, the Hewetts submitted a detailed plan for their forest's further protection. They also requested permission to extend their guided walks through the forest. The government not only ignored the petition, it began to direct tourism away from their area. When bureaucratic delays tested their patience and limited resources, the Hewetts challenged the Department of Environment to answer in court.
On December 10, 1996, the Department warned the Hewetts that any form of tourism in their area would be discouraged. Only botanists and zoologist would be welcome into an area of such "great scientific interest". In other words, the original terms of the agreement had been replaced by the new systemic perspective that would guide the new managers of the land and its people.
Yet, these globalist guardians did nothing to keep swimmers and sightseers from trampling the unprotected part of the Hewett's land. "We, the owners, are in the best position to protect our land," said Prue Hewett who genuinely wants to promote what she calls sustainable ecotourism. "The managers are far away at their desks in the cities. The local people here believe the government wants to reduce the population and get rid of the whole local community."
She may be right. Could it be that World Heritage bureaucrats really don't care that much about nature or "all humanity"?
FROM APATHY TO CONSENSUS
Those who have lost property rights would probably say "yes", but the rest of the world seems oblivious to the changes. It doesn't matter whether people live in the Northern or Southern hemisphere. Few are noticing the progressive steps from national sovereignty to a global management system.
After all, the promotional literature sounds so good! To the people I met in Australia and New Zealand on a recent tour of UNESCO lands, the World Heritage label means honor, recognition, and additional income.
"It's a benefit to eco-tourism," said a New Zealand tour guide eager for more business.
"Being a World Heritage Area helps us protect our environment," added a visitor from Australia.
UNESCO and other globalist change agents would have been proud. Their efforts to build public consensus and win approval are succeeding. Young and old are accepting the environmental media messages and believe the UN propaganda. Few check the facts behind the deceptive "science" and noble visions.
"How can you be so sure that human activity causes global warming," I asked some fellow travelers, knowing well that car exhaust and other "destructive greenhouse gasses" have little effect on nature compared to the massive output of chlorine gasses from major volcanoes and ocean evaporation.8
"The scientists tell us," was the confident answer.
Few realize that environmental "scientists" who receive government funding and UN approval must provide "scientific" backing for this political agenda.9 The battle for public support is won by those who "inform" and persuade the people. "Saving the earth" provides the cause and crisis that persuades people to submit to unthinkable regulations.
As Stanford scientist Stephen Schneider said,
"We'd like to... get some broad-based support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements and make little mention of any doubts we might have...."10
With the media on their side, global greens are winning the war. Around the world, people are bombarded with the scary images and distorted information designed to change attitudes and boost compliance.
FROM SPECIFIC FACTS TO HOLISTIC AMBIGUITY
To pacify their opposition, globalists are redefining their terms and making nice-sounding but ambiguous promises subject to their own evolving interpretations. Remember, those who define the terms control the program, and UNESCO doesn't play by the old rules.
When the three World Heritage Committee members flew to Wyoming in September 1995 to exercise their authority over Yellowstone Park, they ignored the arguments given by the US Forest Service and state agencies. Federal and state assurances that the mine would cause no environmental problems made no difference. The mine wasn't the issue. What UNESCO sought was the right to impose its evolving regulations "on properties of World Heritage."
To gain control, it added new meaning to the agreement. In the seventies, the World Heritage Convention had defined "natural heritage" as "precisely delineated areas...." For Yellowstone, that "precise" delineation was a site measuring 2.2 million acres. Now the World Heritage leaders were claiming the right to "protect" what environmentalist considered an entire ecosystem of 14 to 18 million acres
World Heritage Committee Chairman Adul Wichiencharoen of Thailand explained the new terms. He suggested that Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being prepared by the US Forest Service was taking a "fragmented" rather than a more "holistic approach" to the Yellowstone ecosystem.
"It's a bit too much piecemeal, doesn't speak to the biological interactions outside park boundaries,"11 added Executive Director Bernd Von Droat, of Germany.
Joe Baylis, President of Crown Butte's New World gold mine, wasn't surprised. He viewed the attack on his project as part of a far greater attack on all kinds of development near the park. The UNESCO committee's call for a broadly defined ecosystem was simply a political strategy to overcome the rational but contrary facts presented by the U.S. Forest Service.
"The New World project as proposed will not threaten the park. It will benefit it," said Baylis, who had agreed to clean up all existing mine waste as well as to follow all the new state and federal regulations.
Since the UN and its army of radical environmentalists were writing the rules for ecosystem management, it's no wonder the mining company lost. This new global partnership has little tolerance for commercial concerns or property rights. All who treasure the freedoms America has offered for over two hundred years share in that loss.
This loss meant victory to President Clinton. Defending UNESCO's claims, he signed the agreement that killed the gold mine. "This fight was not simply waged by those of you who live here for your families and your community and your future," he assured his army of eco-warriors. "You waged this fight for all the people in the United States and, indeed, the people of the world who believe in the preservation of our natural resources."12
FROM NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY TO GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Few international leaders have fought more zealously for globalism than Canadian oil magnate Maurice Strong, who led the 1992 UN "Earth Summit" (the UN Conference on Environment and Development) in Rio de Janeiro. The Rio Summit produced the controversial Biodiversity Treaty13 and Agenda 21 -- two parts of an intrusive plan for managing the world along environmental guidelines.
It makes sense that the new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would choose Maurice Strong to reform the UN. Henry Lamb, publisher of Eco-Logic, lists Strong's accomplishments: vice-president of Dome Petrolium (by age 25), first executive director of the UN Environmental Programme, founder of Planetary Citizens, director of the World Future Society, founder and co-chair of the World Economic Forum, member of the Club of Rome, trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and Aspen Institute, and member of the UN Commission on Global Governance.14
Strong currently heads the Earth Council, which works with the UN to implement an Earth Charter -- a global code of conduct based on earth-centered spirituality and globalist values. His publication, Earth Ethics, suggests that apes, our "fellow animals", should be treated as "full members of the community of equals."15
According to Henry Lamb, Strong told the opening session of the Earth Summit that "current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class -- involving high meat intake... use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work-place air-conditioning, and suburban housing -- are not sustainable. A shift is necessary.... which will require a vast strengthening of the multilateral system, including the United Nations..."16
How soon would all this happen?
"By the year 2012, these changes must be fully integrated into our economic and political life,"17 wrote Strong in a foreword to Beyond Interdependence: The Meshing of the World's Economy and the Earth's Ecology published by the Trilateran Commission.
Strong's plan is documented in Our Global Neighborhood, the report of the UN Commission on Global Governance on which Strong served. It calls for a vast bureaucratic system including a Trusteeship Council to guard and assess the global commons -- humanity's common "environmental assets" and "fragile ecological systems."18 It also calls for a volunteer UN army to help quell any disruptive forces:
"Governments are understandably reluctant to commit troops rapidly for UN action, particularly in civil wars and internal conflicts...
"In many of today's crises, it is clear than an early intervention could have prevented later negative developments.... This underlines the need for a highly trained UN Volunteer Force that is willing, if necessary, to take combat risks....This would be particularly useful in low-level but dangerous conflicts.
"Such an international Volunteer Force would be under the exclusive authority of the Security Council....19
What if the UN decides to exercise its alleged right to station "national contingents on call for international duty"20 on American soil? Could the US simply veto the plan?
Not if Strong follows the blueprint detailed in Our Global Neighborhood. The United States, which is billed 25% of the huge UN budget, would be dismissed from the Security Council:
"We recommend that a new class of 'standing ' members be established.... Of these new members, two should be drawn from industrial countries and three from among the larger developing countries. Of the two from industrial countries, presumably one will be from Asia and one from Europe....
"The new standing members will not possess a veto, and we believe the aim should be for the power of the veto to be phased out."21
It looks as if the UN and its global partners are superimposing on America a global regulatory system that bypasses Congress and threatens the Constitutional rights of every American. Vital to their success are the U.S. "surveillance technologies, communications equipment and enhanced information management systems"22 described in a 1995 UN report titled Toward A Rapid Reaction Capability for the United Nations. (56)
According to this report published by the Canadian Government, the United States would be expected to contribute people as well as its expertise in surveillance and reconnaissance technology. Our taxes would fund and arm a system determined to destroy national sovereignty, Western culture, free enterprise, and the US Constitution.
Paradigm shifts of this magnitude don't happen without opposition. So to minimize conflict, UN leaders and local partners seek the consent of a gullible public "informed" with the latest government approved "scientific" information.
"...information..." says Al Gore, "should be collected in a manner that facilitates public education and fosters a greater understanding of what the new information means within the larger context of rapid global change."23
The World Heritage Youth have been enlisted to speed the process. As members of UNESCO's "Young People Participating in World Heritage Preservation and Promotion," they are working with teachers on the production of a World Heritage Education Kit, which will be distributed to schools worldwide in 1997.24 Could this signify the rise of a worldwide "democratic" or "civil" government whereby the chosen elite rule by manipulating a well-indoctrinated public, starting with the youth?
In his second inaugural speech, President Clinton said "government must change. We need a new government for a new century." Could he be referring to the UN plans for managing and monitoring human and natural resources everywhere? His ambiguous visions fit the UN agenda, to which he has repeatedly pledged his support.
If global governance becomes reality, there will be no place for dissenters to hide -- other than in Christ. Now is the time to watch for the signs, learn the facts, inform others, call Congress, and -- above all -- pray to the only God who can preserve His gift of freedom in this land.
To learn how globalists use our education system to persuade people and build consensus, read Brave New Schools.
1 "World Heritage", UNESCO wall map and brochure, no date.
3 Al Gore, Earth in the Balance (Houghton-Mifflin, 1992), 274.
4 Ibid., 355.
5 Chris Tollefson, "UNESCO Group Focuses on Park Ecosystem," Star Tribune (Casper WY), 9 September, 1995.
6 "Yellowstone National Park," The World Heritage website on Internet.
7 To protect the families involved in the controversy over this piece of land, I prefer to maintain their anonymity. Anyone interested in contacted them can call me for more information.
8 Read about environmental education in Chapter 5 of Brave New School.
9 See" Food Summit Speeds UN Agenda" in Media Bypass, January 1997.
10 Jonathan Schell, "Our Fragile Earth," Discover (October 1989); 44.
11 Tollefson.
12 Tom DeWeese, "Yellowstone Update," The DeWeese Report, September 1996.
13 The Biodiversity Treaty has not yet been ratified by the U.S. Senate. Tell your representatives not to yield to White House pressures to ratify.
14 Henry Lamb, "Meet Maurice Strong," Eco-Logic (Box 191, Powel Rock, TN, 38342-0191) November/December 1995.
15 Cliff Kincaid, "Reform farce at the UN starring Annan," The Washington Times, 1-31-97.
16 Henry Lamb.
18 Our Global Neighborhood, The Commission on Global Governance (Oxford University Press, 1995), 214, 216.
19 Ibid., 110,111.
20 Ibid., 112.
21 Ibid., 240 241.
22 Toward A Rapid Reaction Capability for the United Nations, Report of the Government of Canada, 1995, 56.
23 Gore, 356.
24 The World Heritage Newsletter, No. 12, October 1996. Available on the World Heritage website.
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text:
How Startups Can Create Minimum Viable Traction
Vala Afshar, Contributor
Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce
The top five reasons startups fail are: 1. no market need, 2. ran out of cash, 3. not the right team, 4. get out-competed and pricing or cost issues - this according to a postmortem analysis of 101 startups. One notable reason missing from the list is the ability for startups to gain traction. To learn more about startup critical success factors, Ray Wang, founder and CEO of Constellation Research, and I invited a brilliant venture capitalists with a proven track record in early stage investments in unicorn startups with multi-billion dollar exits to our weekly show DisrupTV.
The top reasons startups fail
Bruce Cleveland is a Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners where he focuses on investments in artificial intelligence (AI) marketing, EdTech, enterprise software as a service (SaaS) and the Internet of Things (IoT). His specific areas of interest include enterprise automation, education and training, and general business applications. Cleveland works with early stage companies that use technology and data to increase revenue and decrease costs.
Bruce Cleveland , Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners
Cleveland is interested in growing entrepreneurial hubs outside of Silicon Valley, with a particular focus on the Pacific Northwest. Cleveland also is committed to sharing his knowledge and experience through the Traction Gap Framework™, which helps entrepreneurs navigate the critical go-to-market period between initial product release (IPR) and reaching minimal viable traction (MVT). Cleveland held senior executive roles in engineering, product management and product marketing with companies, such as Apple, AT&T, Oracle and Siebel Systems. Cleveland began his venture capital career at InterWest Partners, where he was the first investor and a former board member of Marketo, which held an IPO in 2013 and was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2016 for $1.8 billion.
Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with Bruce Cleveland:
The 21st Century Wildcatters Are Technologists
Cleveland provided us with a historic perspective in terms of the next generation of wildcatters. In the twentieth century, land and oil drove the industrial age and created tremendous wealth for the early wildcatters of that century. In the 21st century, the wildcatters are technologist in the first intelligence age. These technologist are developing systems of intelligence that enable other companies and consumers to prospect, refine and monetize digital oil, or data. Cleveland invests in companies that focus on capitalization and monetization of data - like Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba. In the first intelligence age, companies that focus on macro digitization are focus areas for Wildcat Venture Partners.
The Traction Gap Framework
80-90% of all startups fail in terms of returning capital, according to Cleveland. Cleveland used 10 years of investing expertise to develop a new framework for ensuring startup success. Cleveland began describing the traction gap framework using a historic perspective. As an entrepreneur and venture investor, Cleveland saw many startups successfully go from an idea to product (the go-to-product phase), from product to traction (the go-to-market phase), and from traction to scale (the go-to-scale phase). Yet time and again, too many companies falter in the middle, go-to-market phase, exposing themselves to lower valuations, significant financing risks, and sub-optimal outcomes.
Cleveland referenced the work by Steve Blank, and the Lean Startup initiative, led by Eric Ries, in terms of their incredible value helping early-stage startups through the go-to-product phase. Cleveland also referenced the Chasm, developed by author Geoffrey Moore, as a framework used by later-stage startups to successfully advance through the go-to-scale phase. The missing piece for Cleveland was what occurs between an early-stage idea and a company that is scaling. Cleveland notes that too often companies stumble in the middle, go-to-market phase, as they fail to generate sufficient momentum to attract new customers or users, and, as a result, investors. This is what Wildcat Ventures calls the Traction Gap™, and Cleveland his team have developed a framework to better equip entrepreneurs during this critical phase.
The initial go-to-market failures are rarely about the product or technology, according to Cleveland. The initial go-to-market period is successful when it includes a revenue architecture, a team architecture, and a systems architecture that powers the team. Startup founders need to know how and when to hire a head of sales - an example Cleveland used to demonstrate the need for a systematic approach that is guided by a framework. To arm company founders with a go-to-market blueprint aimed at ensuring optimal traction, Cleveland and his team created a framework with value inflection points in order to maximize startup traction and a go-to-scale playbooks. A playbook for early stage startups exposes tactics, metrics and successful best practices from go-to-product, to go-to-market and go-to-scale.
The Traction Gap
Wildcat Ventures
A startup seldom marches in linear fashion across the Traction Gap path. Rather, it is far more typical for a startup to move in fits and starts – forward and backward - as it experiments, learns, iterates, and executes. Ever present, no matter where a startup may be currently positioned along the Traction Gap, are four core architectures — Product, Revenue, Team and Systems. These are the foundational building blocks of all companies irrespective of their size or maturity level. — Bruce Cleveland
Startups must successfully reach a series of increasing value inflection points along the Traction Gap Framework path. Here are the phase definitions used by Cleveland and the Wildcat Ventures team:
MVC (Minimum Viable Category): Name and definition of the category a startup is attempting to create or redefine – and evidence that the category is large enough to warrant pursuit. MVC is a key part of the Traction Gap Framework. Competing in an existing, well-defined category dominated by an incumbent can be disastrous and result in outright failure. This milestone must be reached well before entering the Traction Gap.
IPR (Initial Product Release): First publicly developed product iteration. IPR is when a startup first makes its product generally available to the public. At this stage, the team is seeking customer validation metrics to demonstrate it is on the path to developing a MVP. This milestone signals entry into the Traction Gap.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product): Product has achieved minimal customer validation metrics. MVP is a debated term, but we define it as the most pared down version of a product that will be purchased or used by customers.
MVR (Minimum Viable Repeatability): Solution-grade product, business model, and repeatable sales/marketing. Wildcat defines MVR as the smallest amount of repeatability a startup can execute to demonstrate its business model feasibility and product/ market fit. MVR is a critical value inflection point for most startups.
MVT (Minimum Viable Traction): MVR + multiple quarters of growth. MVT signals a company's exit from the Traction Gap. To reach the point of MVT, a startup must build upon the lessons it learned reaching MVR. It must now scale successively quarter over quarter for the next 12-18 months.
Cleveland and a network of experts at the Traction Institute evaluate startups in order to baseline and develop a personalized traction gap analysis, that leads to action plans that illustrate proficiencies and deficiencies that can be addressed to reach optimal traction.
Digital Transformation Will Impact Every Company, Every Industry
Cleveland believes that digital transformation is impacting every company, including the big incumbents. Cleveland referenced Salesforce as a company that successfully defined a whole new category. Just because you are a big company, doesn't mean that you are not vulnerable, according to Cleveland. Cleveland also talked about new business models to disrupt industries - a shift away from product and service disruption and more of a focus on new processes and delivery channels. Cleveland spoke about workforce training using a micro-credentials model of education with 85% job placement success. as an example of investing in new business model innovation opportunities.
The One Thing VCs Look For in Entrepreneurs
I asked Cleveland to give his best advice regarding what he looks for before making an investment decision. Cleveland looks for athletes. Did they compete? The ability to put fear aside. To be completely dedicated to their craft. This could be a chess master, it doesn't have to be a sport according to Cleveland. Cleveland looks for people who like to compete and win. Being self-taught, having grit, and continuing to compete is a key part of the successful entrepreneurs DNA.
Please watch our video conversation with Bruce Cleveland to learn more about how successful venture capitalists operate and develop their investment thesis.