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News Sports Business Go Play Opinion Obituaries E-Edition Legals
AL Secretary of State calls national Dem's bill to rework campaign laws ' significant federal overreach'
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill testified in front of Congress to push back against national Democrats' sweeping legislation that sponsors say would ease access to voting and tighten campaign finance restrictions.
Merrill — part of a four-person panel that included California's Secretary of State, a former Illinois director of elections and a think-tank executive director — said Wednesday that Democratic plans to enact federal initiatives don't provide adequate funding sources or reasonable deadline. Instead, he claimed it takes power from local officials running elections.
Introduced shortly after the new year began, the bill — House Resolution 1 called the "For the People Act" — would require electronic poll books, paper ballot recording, automatic voter registration and same-day registration. It would also seek to limit campaign spending and outlaw gerrymandering used by both Democrats and Republicans to draw favorable districts for elections.
More:Advocates and experts mixed on whether automatic voter registration would help Alabama voters
The sweeping bill, however, is unlikely to become law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, called the bill a "power grab" and indicated it will not pass under his watch. Still, Democrats, according to national outlets, are using the bill as an early step in their platform for the 2020 elections.
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, asked Merrill to speak at the House Committee on Homeland Security, on which he is the ranking member, about elections and the processes around them in the state.
More:Ainsworth gets $170K from major contributors in first weeks of 2019
"There are some serious concerns and issues with (the bill), in our opinion," Merrill said. "Significant federal overreach has been indicated through the introduction of this legislation."
When asked directly by Rogers whether the bill would help Alabama administer elections, Merrill said no, not in its current form.
U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New York, pushed back against the idea of federal overreach, telling Merrill, and the panel, that the national government has a constitutional responsibility to ensure elections are administered fairly and correctly. She called the idea of federal overreach a "fallacy" and said she hopes officials can work on elections in a nonpartisan manner going forward.
As Alabama moves to update voter systems, Merrill said that they have $6.2 million in federal funds that are unspent, though there are plans in the works to spend it.
Any possible future federal funding, he said, should only have conditional suggestions attached, not strict rules.
"In my mind, it is always best to make those decisions at the local level," he said. Rogers, in a follow-up, asked Merrill whether there are state-level conditions for dispersing funds to municipalities. Merrill said there are federally-mandated rules to do so.
Merrill praised the work he said his office has done in registering voters, turning out voters to the polls and researching cases of voter fraud and campaign finance violations. Since April 2015, Merrill said there have been 878 complaints to his office and six convictions. In the 2018 election, more than 1.7 million voters turned out at the polls.
He criticized some prosecutors in the state for their work in taking voter fraud cases to the courtroom.
More:Alabama election official: Trump's voter fraud commission 'poorly thought out'
"I think it is important to know that we have a number of prosecutors in our state that are not really interested in advancing investigations into voter fraud because they think the penalties are too stiff," he said.
Two cases were highlighted during the committee hearing. The first, Merrill said, involved 119 absentee ballots being mailed to a location that no one lived at. Another, 109 ballots were mailed to the home of the mother of a mayoral candidate. No one was prosecuted in that case, he said.
When it comes to voter fraud, the secretary said it doesn't usually involve cases of faked identity at the polling place.
"The main instances that we see are in the area of absentee ballots, not in walk up in-person voting," he said.
More:Merrill knew from early on that he wanted to be secretary of state


At Asbury Automotive, CIO Barry Cohen leads the IT organization with dealers and customers in mind, and is making IT a broader driver of value to the company.
Asbury Automotive is a $5.3 billion automotive retailer based in Duluth, Ga. For years, the more than a 90 dealerships that make up the company had very little interaction with IT. Part of the issue was that corporate IT was a relatively immature function at the company.
Prior to his ascension to the CIO role, Barry Cohen worked to virtualize almost all of IT, rendering it more flexible and more agile. Freeing up talented people and resources, he was able to put IT people in the regions and, in many cases, in the dealerships themselves. That exposed tech workers where and how business was done, enabling them to glean insights from both dealers and customers.
Now as CIO, Cohen has continued to lead with dealers and customers in mind, and has worked to make IT a much broader driver of value to the enterprise.
CIO Insight: You work for a $5 billion automotive sales company. How do you use information and technology within your operation?
Barry Cohen: Technology is used in all aspect of our automotive operations, including dealership Websites, automotive ERP and CRM systems, business analytics, credit card processing, and another hundred or so applications focused on our employees, vendors and customers. There is a tremendous amount of application integration that takes place to make it all work—not to mention a robust infrastructure to support our 7,800 employees.
CIO Insight: Barry, prior to your time as CIO, you worked to introduce cloud computing to Asbury Automotive. What steps did you undertake in order to do that?
Cohen: I'm very happy to say that we have been data center free for nearly two years. We are 100 percent in public and private clouds, with partners that manage all aspects of their data center operations. The reason for doing that was because I wanted IT to spend most of our time with the rest of the business, and not worrying about technology refresh projects, patching and backups.
Getting there wasn't too difficult, but it did take three years. We started by creating an application inventory and an integration architecture. This enabled us to move everything one piece a time without much disruption.
CIO Insight: IT did not have the best reputation when you started with Asbury. How did you change that?
Cohen: When I started, I heard very typical conversations regarding an immature IT department. We were slow to deliver on projects, operational execution was poor, the infrastructure was weak, and we were not doing very well with project management. There was no alignment between IT and the rest of the business.
To bring about change, we took a hard look at what we were doing. We made a list of our core competencies and started down the path to outsource activities that we were not good at. For example, we no longer do software development.
We also moved operational reporting and business intelligence outside of IT. We still manage the data, and the rest of the business builds the reports they need. By focusing on our strengths, we are seen differently and now viewed as a trusted partner.
CIO Insight: Your dealerships did not have a direct connection to IT until you established an IT role in the dealerships. Please describe the technician role, and the value it has brought to both IT and the dealerships.
Cohen: We used to have call center technicians for phone support and a few technicians in the field, which left many stores without coverage. I combined the role into one position and relocated them to the stores.
Each Tier 1 Technician now has between three and six stores, depending on geography. They spend some time on the phones during their day, but they are also responsible for walking their stores, building relationships and being proactive. The stores love the attention, and our CSI scores prove it.
CIO Insight: You also spend a good amount of time at the dealerships. What information do you glean during these visits?
I learn something new every time I travel. I look for unfulfilled technology needs and inefficient processes. I try to meet as many people as possible, and I watch how the stores interact with our customers. When I return from the trip, I usually have a few pages of notes that I put into action plans and make sure every issue gets addressed.
CIO Insight: You leverage a broad array of external partnerships. How do you govern your partners to ensure that you are always getting the anticipated value from them?
Cohen: We work with our external partners on a daily basis, since they have so much responsibility for our success. We share our technology road maps and strategies, and make sure they are aligned with us.
We have also implemented an elaborate controls system that creates a system of checks and balances. I truly consider my external partners as part of the IT team.
CIO Insight: What is on your road map for the year ahead?
Cohen: I'm a big fan of continuous improvement, so we have a lot of plans to tweak our service desk, security and infrastructure. We also have a number of initiatives regarding all aspects of dealership operations and improving the customer experience.
I'm a big fan of continuous improvement, so we have a lot of plans to tweak our service desk, security and Infrastructure. We also have a number of initiatives regarding all aspects of dealership operations and improving the customer experience.


Live for God. Love others. Reach the nations.
If you're looking for a place to worship God or a church to call home, come visit us! We would love to meet you and have you be part of our fellowship.
Sunday Morning Worship 10:15 a.m.
Adult Prayer and Bible Study 6:00 p.m.
Youth Bible Study 6:00 p.m.
Here at Glenwood FBC, we have a wide variety of ministries so every person has a place to worship, connect, grow and go. To learn more about these ministries, click on the links below.


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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2016/05/06/cornell-student-assembly-supports-faculty-diversity-training-program/)
Brittney Chew / Sun Assistant Photography Editor
The University Assembly ultimately decided not to endorse the petition for Cornell to become a sanctuary campus.
Cornell Student Assembly Supports Faculty Diversity Training Program
By Drew Musto | May 6, 2016
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The Student Assembly passed a resolution calling for the creation of a diversity and inclusivity training program for all Cornell employees at its final meeting of the semester Thursday, by a vote of 26-1-0.
Samari Gilbert '17, S.A. minority liaison at large and Black Students United co-president, defended the resolution's necessity by listing anecdotes of racial insensitivity on campus. She cited students' experiences grathered from an anonymous survey.
"One student shared a story about professors calling her a name different than her given one because it was easier to pronounce," Gilbert said. "Another mentioned that one stopped saying her name altogether and called her 'black girl in the back' because it was easier than actually finding out her name."
Gilbert said these examples demonstrate "a lack of understanding for issues on our campus as a whole."
Although the resolution quotes BSU's list of demands released last fall, Gilbert stressed that she was "not trying to pass the list of demands through the Student Assembly."
"This resolution is just the beginning of the conversation," Gilbert said. "We want to prompt faculty to examine where they can improve and how they can be better rather than put forth strict guidelines."
Leaderboard 2
Saim Chaudhary '17, S.A. vice president for diversity and inclusion, praised BSU for its inclusive approach.
"This does not only affect the black community on campus," Chaudhary said. "I want to thank them for bringing this up for the betterment of the whole campus and it is our responsibility to help each and every minority group here at Cornell."
Some S.A. members, however, said they feared the resolution would infringe upon the autonomy of professors and other faculty.
"I think that if we require tenured professors to do things like this, that could create a dangerous precedent where the University starts using that requirement as a threat to tenured professors," argued Mitchell McBride '17, vice president for internal operations. "I think that the ability of tenured professors to be completely independent makes this University actually promote diversity of thought."
Robert Dunbar '18, S.A. arts and sciences representative, expressed similar concerns.
"Would this be used as a requirement for tenure?" Dunbar asked. "If someone refused to participate in it, would they not be able to get tenure?"
Gilbert responded to these concerns by saying she hopes the faculty would answer those questions. She said she considers it "very important to include [the faculty] in this conversation."
Matthew Stefanko '16, S.A. vice president for finance, expressed frustration with some members' arguments, saying that not supporting the resolution would be "crazy."
"I am bothered by a lot of the arguments that have been made because it seems like we're afraid of something and everybody keeps implying that they're afraid of something, but they won't really say what they're afraid of, even though we all know what they're afraid of," Stefanko said.
The S.A. also addressed members of the Slope Day Programming Board who filed an official complaint against the WSH Student Union Board about the board's decision to reassign their office to a new organization.
"We are formally appealing that decision," said Slope Day Programming Board executive chair Samantha Batt '16. "We were not given the opportunity from them to find an alternative solution, so we wanted to bring this to your attention because our office is incredibly important to our organization."
Gabriel Kaufman '18, S.A. undesignated at large representative, explained that the S.A. recently rejected an amendment to create an equivalent appeals process for the Student Union Board's decisions.
"I would very much support creating such a process because you are not the only organization that has been axed by the student union board," Kaufman said.
The S.A. also unanimously passed a resolution granting dorm residents more agency over regulating their room temperatures. This resolution calls for an increase in the temperature bandwidths within which students can select their preferred temperature.
Matthew Battaglia '16, chair of the University Assembly, said that currently, in dorms where residents can choose their own temperatures, residents can only add or subtract two degrees from a fixed temperature — which is 68 degrees in his West Campus dorm, arguing that this range was inadequate.
"If you've ever walked through West during winter, you'll see that a lot of people have their windows open because they want their rooms colder," he said. "What this does is cool the room temporarily, but as soon as the temperature sensing panel on the ceiling determines that the room is colder, it cranks the heat up, makes the room warmer and creates a vicious cycle."
This inefficient cycle "decreases the efficiency of building heating and cooling [and] increases costs and the University's carbon footprint," according to the resolution.
The S.A. also passed a resolution to move February break to the last Sunday in February to divide the spring semester into three equal parts.
About Drew Musto
Hailing from Newtown, Pa., Drew Musto is enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the Class of 2019. He is a Senior Editor on the 135th Editorial Board and can be reached at dmusto@cornellsun.com.
More by Drew
Black Students United Rallies Against 'Senseless and Unjust' Police Violence
By Josh Girsky September 23, 2016
"This is not the last thing that we're going to do," said Gaylord Minett '17.
University Proposes Renaming Cornell Plantations the 'Botanic Gardens'
By Phoebe Keller and Rebecca Blair August 26, 2016
BSU's original demand for the name change came in the context of a series of grievances over what they said was a campus culture that is "not conducive to the overall success of of students of color.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


July 20, 2016 Weekly construction update meetings begin.
May 13, 2014 at the St. James Community Room. About 40 people attended to get updates and learn about the construction impacts.
May 29, 2014- 5-7 p.m.at the Watonwan County Library.
The meeting focused on the latest designs - sidewalk locations, mini-roundabouts, limits of construction, etc. Close to 50 people attended.
Sept. 5, 2013 Open House from 4-6 p.m. at the Community Building was held and about 60 people attended. Thank you for participating!


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TRICHINELLA SPECIES AND TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN WOLVERINE (GULO GULO) FROM NORTHWESTERN CANADA
SHARMA-DISSERTATION-2019.pdf (16.07Mb)
Sharma, Rajnish
Trichinella spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are important foodborne parasites world-wide, and are especially important in wildlife harvested for food and fur in Canada. Due to their top position in the food web as well as their scavenging behavior, large carnivores such as wolverines may be more exposed to these parasites through foodborne routes. Limited information is available on these parasites in wildlife from northwestern Canada, and such information is critical to control and prevent infections in animals and people. To conduct surveillance studies, the first and foremost step is to select samples suitable for detection of the parasites. I first compared tongues and diaphragms of wolverine harvested for fur for the detection of Trichinella species (Chapter 2), and found tongue could act as a better sampling site; therefore, further epidemiological studies on Trichinella used tongue tissues (Chapter 3). Using a double separatory funnel digestion method, we found larvae of Trichinella in the tongue of 78% (95% CI = 73–82) of 338 wolverine from the Yukon Territory. The mean intensity of infection was 22.6 ± 39 (SD, range 0.1–295) larvae per gram of muscle tissue. Species or genotypes of Trichinella circulating in the wildlife of the Yukon are not known. Using multiplex PCR, Trichinella T6 was revealed as the predominant genotype (76%), followed by T. nativa (8%); mixed infections with Trichinella T6 and T. nativa (12%) were observed. While confirming multiplex genotyping by DNA sequencing, I unexpectedly discovered a previously undescribed species of Trichinella in a wolverine from the Canadian North that appeared identical to T. nativa in multiplex PCR. Therefore, I investigated the phylogeny, geography and host range of this undescribed species in Chapter 4. My findings showed that this unknown species of Trichinella, to be designated initially as the T13 genotype, is in fact ancient, and putative sister of the lineages including T. patagoniensis and the remaining species [(sister-clade (T1 + T7) and sister-clade (T2, T6, T3, T8, T5, T9)] of the encapsulated group. A deep divergence for T13 indicates it is the oldest endemic lineage in North America and comparative historical biogeographic studies are necessary to resolve a history of distribution and evolution at high latitudes. Based on my field survey, T13 has only been found in wolverines, and further studies are required to understand the limits of geographic distribution and host range in North America. Overall, wolverines have a high prevalence, intensity, and diversity of Trichinella spp. This work demonstrated that wolverine can host at least 5 species of Trichinella (Trichinella T6, T. nativa, the new species – T13, T. pseudospiralis, and T. spiralis). To find out the suitable sampling sites for detecting T. gondii in wolverines, I used magnetic capture-qPCR to compare tissue prevalence and intensity of DNA of T. gondii in heart and brain (known predilection sites in other species) (Chapter 5). Tissue prevalence (16 positives) and infection intensity (1221 TEG) was higher in heart compared to brain (10 positives, 347 TEG); thus, heart was selected for the next objective (Chapter 6). I also showed that heart fluid (HF) and filter paper eluates (FE) of chest fluid performed equally well in Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Indirect Fluorescent Antibody test (IFAT), and HF performed better with modified agglutination test (MAT). IFAT and ELISA had higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy compared to MAT (Chapter 5). I used this information to fulfill the next knowledge gap; lack of information on the status of T. gondii in the wildlife of northwestern Canada. I used an ELISA to determine the prevalence of antibodies, and a sequence-specific magnetic capture DNA extraction and real-time PCR (MC-qPCR) to detect DNA of T. gondii in wolverines in the Yukon. Antibodies to T. gondii were detected in 27.5% (95% CI 23.0-32.5%) of 338 heart fluid samples. Eighty-one wolverines were positive on both ELISA and MC-qPCR. Strong correlation between the results of ELISA and MC-qPCR was observed. Overall, prevalence of T. gondii in wolverines in the Yukon was lower than that reported in this species elsewhere in northern Canada, which corresponds with lower seroprevalence in people in the western vs central and eastern North American Arctic. Due to their scavenging habits, apex position in the food chain and wide home range, wolverine hosted high prevalence, high larval intensity, and multiple species of Trichinella, and also showed moderate prevalence and intensity of T. gondii infections. Therefore, wolverine should be considered as a sentinel species for surveys for Trichinella spp. and T. gondii across their distributional range, and as potential indicators of human risk of exposure through foodborne routes.
Jenkins, Emily; Gajadhar, Alvin
Hill, Janet; Chilton, Neil; Dhaliwal, Balbir Bagicha Singh; Hoberg, Eric
Trichinella, Toxoplasma, Wolverines, Canada


The 7th annual Portland Underground Film Festival opens tonight, June 9, with the World Premiere of superstar local filmmaker Bob Moricz's epic Felony Flats. The film begins at 8:30 at the Clinton St. Theater.
Moricz filmed Felony Flats in some of the more disreputable areas of Portland and he stars in it as a mentally unstable man let loose on the city streets. Much of the action was inspired by the director's own experiences working in a mental health clinic.
The Portland Underground Film Festival runs from tonight until June 12. The full lineup of movies screening can be found here.
Magic and vegetables, what more do you want?


In the last few years the number of art therapists has grown significantly and the ranges of different contexts where their skills are valued has broadened enormously. This has brought art therapists into contact with many members of the other caring professions, who need and want to know more about art therapy and its benefits for their clients.
There is increasing interest in the use of the arts generally, with disadvantaged people of all kinds. This may include joining in arts activities and also the more personal process of art therapy. The benefits to the people involved may be far-reaching, increasing a sense of self-worth and the ability to communicate. New ways of working are being developed all the time, and art therapists are pushing out the boundaries as they do this. This book describe what actually happens in art therapy in a variety of contexts, as practised by particular art therapists.
The contributors to this volume all work and live in the same geographical region and have evolved their aims as a group. Between them they cover a wide variety of client groups: acute and long-term psychiatric patients, psychogeriatric patients, mentally handicapped people with psychiatric problems, children with psychological problems, offenders in the community and homeless people.


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Saginaw (Michigan)
Saginaw (Missouri)
Saginaw (Texas)
Condado de Saginaw (Michigan)
Ou ainda:
Saginaw Township North
Saginaw Township South

Desambiguações de topônimos

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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White House denies any involvement in social media censorship, despite evidence to the contrary
It has become increasingly apparent that President Joe Biden's White House and other elements of his administration have, to some extent, played a role in the censorship and suppression of disfavored speech on various social media platforms, including Twitter.
Yet, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted repeatedly on Friday that the Biden White House was "not involved" in any of Twitter's content moderation decisions, the New York Post reported.
Ex-FBI lawyer fired by Twitter's Musk
That claim came in response to a question about the firing this week of Twitter's General Counsel James Baker, previously the top FBI lawyer, for allegedly stalling and interfering with the transparent public release of Twitter's internal communications on controversial topics.
On Tuesday, journalist Matt Taibbi revealed in a tweet thread that Baker had secretly "vetted" the internal documents and communications that had been turned over to him and other select journalists by new Twitter owner Elon Musk to transparently expose what had previously transpired behind the scenes at the platform.
Just before that thread from Taibbi, Musk had tweeted, "In light of concerns about Baker's possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today."
"We were not involved"
Fast-forward to Friday's press briefing, and given Baker's prior senior role at the FBI before joining Twitter, a reporter asked the press secretary "if anyone in the Biden administration was in touch with Baker, either regarding moderation decisions that critics call 'political censorship' or regarding his transparency efforts recently."
Jean-Pierre replied, "So, it's up to private companies to make these types of decisions. We were not involved. I can say that. We were not involved."
"And as I've said several times this week already, we've talked — we've had this conversation many times in this briefing room just the past couple of days," she continued. "You know, of course, it's up to these companies to make their own decisions about the content on their platform and to ensure content flows their on standards and — on their own standards and policies. Don't have anything more to share."
Pressed on her claim of no involvement in Twitter's censorship, Jean-Pierre reiterated, "We were just — we were just not involved. Just answering your question: We were not involved."
Psaki admitted last year to "flagging" accounts deemed "problematic"
According to Fox Business, Jean-Pierre's repeated insistence that the White House was "not involved" is rather dubious in light of seemingly ample evidence to the contrary.
Indeed, Jean-Pierre's own predecessor, former press secretary Jen Psaki, had openly admitted in July 2021 that the White House, Surgeon General's office, and other federal entities were "in regular touch with social media platforms" about "flagging" accounts and posts deemed "problematic" for spreading alleged "disinformation" about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines.
And, though no direct link to the government was shown, journalist Bari Weiss did reveal in a "Twitter Files" thread that the platform did indeed crackdown on alleged "disinformation" on COVID — which later turned out to be accurate — that had been posted by legitimate doctors and scientists who contradicted the preferred mainstream narratives.
Feds have pushed social media to engage in censorship
Relatedly, the left-leaning The Intercept reported in October on the quiet and likely unconstitutional efforts of the Department of Homeland Security to secretly lean on social media platforms to censor and suppress alleged "misinformation" and "disinformation" about COVID, election fraud, and other controversial topics.
Concurrent with that is a massive lawsuit led by the Republican attorney general of Missouri that has accused the Biden administration — and deposed several current and former top officials, including Psaki and Dr. Anthony Fauci — of violating the First Amendment by encouraging or coercing social media platforms, like Twitter, to engage in the censorship and suppression of free speech that the government itself is prohibited from doing.
Ben Marquis
Ben Marquis is a staff writer for Conservative Institute.


One of the things that is troubling is that many of the children of Sapa work the streets selling items. This little girl approached us to sell some textile goods, but we noticed that she was carrying a sleeping baby as well. We gave her a drink and told her to take a break and relax.
Essentially, there is no child labor law in this part of the world. Everyone works including the children. The irony is that despite their situation, most of these hill tribe kids have a rudimentary level of English speaking skills. Of course they speak Vietnamese too.


Avalon Bay Maplewood, the 235-unit housing development at Springfield Avenue and Boyden Avenue, is nearing completion. "Tentative plans are to have its on-site rental office open by mid-February and [the] first tenants in apartments in late March/early April," said Mayor Vic DeLuca recently.
Maplewood Urban Renewal LLC, an entity of Avalon Bay, is constructing the building at the former PSE&G site. Demolition began late last summer.
Read about Maplewood Planning Board approval for the site plan here; read about the Township Committee's approval of the redevelopment and financial agreements for the project here. Read about Avalon Bay's assurance of fire safety precautions for the new building here.


This will allow the Centre to host larger conventions and events, boosting southern Alberta's tourism sector and increasing traffic and spin-off benefits for local businesses.
"Hosting X Games has always been a goal of Tourism Calgary as it would further solidify our position as Canada's winter sport capital and further our reputation of being the ultimate host city". Securing the rights to bring this project to life has been pursued by Tourism Calgary for nearly a decade.
The Winter X Games in 1997 took place in Bear Lake, Calif., and features events in snowboarding, snowmobiling and skiing during the four-day-long competition.
"We are particularly proud of the Canadian athletes that train here in Calgary at WinSport, using those Olympic legacy facilities who've gone on to achieve great success at the X Games and at the Winter Olympics", said Nenshi. "It's about bringing Calgary to a world stage".
Alongside the sporting competition, X Games will also play host to live music performances and other similar events throughout the city.
"We are thrilled to help bring the X Games to Canada for the first time".
Tourism officials say the events will support about 540 jobs annually and that securing the Canadian rights is the first step in bringing X Games to Canada. "This would be a fantastic opportunity to show Alberta to the world, showcasing not only our unbelievable athletes and facilities, but our artists and culture as well".
Officials say exclusive Canadian rights have been secured by the city to host X Games for a minimum three year run and the city is hoping to hold events in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Manifesto and Insight are now in conversations with potential Calgary, Alberta and Canada-based corporate partners and the response from brands has been overwhelmingly positive.
"Canadian athletes have a rich tradition of high-level performance at X Games events and to bring the X Games to their backyard would be awesome", X Games Vice President Tim Reed said.
"It's about revitalizing downtown, it's about really ensuring that we're building on our natural and physical assets to make sure that we can really do a step change in how we think about travel and tourism here in our community".
This would mark the first time that the X Games are held above the 49th parallel, according to a release from Tourism Calgary. The provincial government has committed $13.5 million in the next three years to secure the X Games.
It has seemingly relinquished this right, for now at least, in order to improve its relationship with Nissan . He has been let out on bail under conditions that he should remain in Japan and should not destroy evidence.


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Regular Colleges or Institutions Computer Science and Information Technology Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA)
Ganga Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM)
20 KM Milestone, Bahadurgarh-Jhajjar Road, Kablana , Jhajjar
District: Jhajjar (Haryana)
Affiliated to : Maharishi Dayanand University
Approved By : All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Courses Offered by Ganga Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM)
UPDATE PHOTOS of Ganga Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM)
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Ganga Institute of Technology And Management was established in 2008 by Pawan Ganga Educational Society with an aim to impart quality technical education in the field of Technology & Management The Society is promoted by well known Educationist, Professionals, Philanthropist and Industrialist since last two decades with a mission to increase the knowledge, skills and creativity in students so as to meet the challenges of the present multinational world Ganga Institute of Technology And Management is committed to world class technical and management education adding value to life. Ganga Institute of Technology And Management aims to provide technical education of the highest standard with the help of state-of-art infrastructure, In order to provide a highly technical environment, to cultivate basic technical skills, impart excellent training for the students and to produce promising professionals in every field, a good deal of infrastructure, in terms of well equipped laboratories, Computer labs with latest system and rich library with a wide range of quality books and journals, have been made available separately. The college has a highly qualified, experienced, dedicated and motivated faculty and supporting technical staff
UPDATE Admission Notification of Ganga Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM)
Well furnished classrooms
State of art laboratories
Well-stocked library
Indoor and outdoor sports facilities
The GITAM boys hostel on the campus of the Institute has a capacity to accommodate around 250 students in all four floors. A highly secured hostel facility is available for girls at 110041 which is just 2 Kms. from Mundka, Delhi Metro Station. The hostel campus is spread over10 acres of lush green, eco-friendly and pollution free environment in West Delhi.
Active and dynamic Placement cell provides 100% assistance to the students in getting placements in the industrial & corporate sector Students are helped with HR sessions, mock interviews, group discussions and online tests 80% students got their placements in well-known as reputed companies with handsome packages up to 5 lac per annum Support provided by NIIT for training of students Institute has been designated as nodal center for virtual labs by IIT Delhi under the subsequent directives issued by MHRD 43 companies visited the campus in 2014-15 for placement
01251-239488, 89
8684000891 / 892 / 893
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Course(s) Offered by Ganga Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) in Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA)
Should be 10+2 pass from a recognized board of education in any stream.
More Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) Colleges in Jhajjar
St. Thomas Management Institute
Jhangripur, Najafgarh (Delhi)-Jhajjhar Road, Near Badsa, Jhajjar District: Jhajjar
Maharaja Agarsen College for Women
Agarsen College Road, Sat Poli Mohalla, Silani Gate, Jhajjar - 124103 District: Jhajjar
BLS Institute of Technology Management
Delhi Rohtak Road, Jakhoda (NCR), Bahadurgarh - 124507 District: Jhajjar
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text:
GCC Accreditation Centre gets international recognition in Laboratories Accreditation
The GCC Accreditation Center earned international recognition in the field of testing laboratories accreditation during the 22nd meeting of the Asia-Pacific Organisation, which was recently held in Taiwan.
Director General of the GCC Accreditation Centre Nabil A. Molla and the Secretary-General of the Standardisation Authority of the Gulf Cooperation Council for Arab States (GCC) said the centre had signed an agreement of mutual recognition with the Organisation of Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC), which enables it to automatically obtain similar international recognition from the International Organisation for Laboratory Accreditation.
He added that this achievement was an incentive and would support infrastructure of quality standards in the Member States, bringing the accreditation services of all applicants in line with international standards.
He pointed out that the Gulf Accreditation Center would continue to extend efforts to expand the field of international recognition to cover new fields, such as granting certificates of conformity for products, standards and inspections.


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The Ghost of Christmas Future Presents: Breaking News! Avengers: Black Panther and the Illuminati!! (Or, The Sixth Night of Clix-Mas 2018!!)
December 20, 2018 December 20, 2018 / HypeFox	/ 1 Comment
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2018, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2018 can be found in our first post of the season, and Night 2 speculated on the next Star Trek set. And Night 3 looked at some of HypeFox's favorite Golden Age pieces! Night 4 dropped yesterday and examined the lack of Fantastic Four in Clix for the last 6 years! Finally, Night 5 brought us a look at HypeFox's favorite Sealed sets!]
Ho ho ho!!
Welcome to Night Six of the Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas!! Sorry we're a little late tonight, but we got some hot off the presses news!
About a year after I called for Infinity Gem Equipment in my Irresponsible Speculation!! Preview of the Avengers: Infinity expansion… we'll actually be getting just that!
That's right–Wizkids announced another Avengers set for next year, and it's gonna have some big hitters in it, with sub-themes including Wakanda itself, the Illuminati, The Cabal, The Elders of the Universe and possibly even the first Malibu character in Clix, Rune (who himself once went after the gems, which would make him a perfect inclusion here).
There will be 78 total figures in the set broken down thusly:
17 Commons (plus 1 Prime)
17 Uncommons (plus 1 Prime)
17 Rares (plus 1 Prime)
16 Super Rares (plus 1 Prime)
6 Chases
1 Ultra Chase
11 Equipment Objects (included with select figures in 5-Figure Boosters)
Never before Clix'd pieces include Astronomer, Challenger, Eitri, Enigma, Everett K. Ross, Kobik, Okoye, and as mentioned before, Rune.
Some of the equipment we'll be getting includes the Cosmic Cube, The Infinity Gems and The Infinity Gauntlet.
Obviously we don't know much more than that, but we can make some educated guesses based upon what we know from the comics! So let's indulge in some quick…
One of the best Marvel covers of the last 10 years…
Speculation #1: The name of the set will be Avengers: Black Panther and the Illuminati.
Why is this important? Well, first of all, "Avengers Black Panther and the Illuminati" just sounds and looks like a weird run-on sentence. It's kind of terrible, like someone just reciting stream-of-consciousness-style everything that they remembered from the set as a title. As a title, it means nothing because it COULD mean anything.
Now, Avengers: Black Panther and the Illuminati is a different story! That could have several distinct meanings!
Firstly, during Hickman's run on New Avengers, the Illuminati took center stage. It basically could have been called Avengers: Illuminati. Currently, Black Panther is also maybe/kinda/sort of trying to reform the Illuminati as a more inclusive organization in his capacity as Avengers chairperson. This storyline may keep developing and even reach a crescendo just before or even during this set's release in June.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Or by then Marvel may reboot everything for a tenth time in 5 years as no one is buying their books right now. Or any books really.]
Nice. Way to bring the mood down.
Annnnnnyhow… that colon may seem small, but it's presence makes a huge difference in my opinion. Or maybe I'm just being anal about it.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Can't both be true?]
Speculation #2: There's 11 Equipment, and we may already know what 8 of them are…
Why is this important? They've already told us that the Cosmic Cube is being remade. That's 1. The Infinity Gems are in this set (see next entry for what else this may tell us). That's six more pieces right there, folks! They're not going to make all the gems one collective piece of equipment, right? Especially since the other piece of equipment in the set they told us about is The Infinity Gauntlet!
So that means there's just 3 unknown pieces of equipment out there! And we have six months to guess what they are!
Speculation #3: The Illuminati members from Hickman's New Avengers run will be the Gem-bearers in this set (ie they will be the figures that the gems come with).
Why is this important? Because if my guess is correct, it tells us a lot about the roster for this set. That would mean new versions of Iron Man (w/ the Reality Gem), either Professor X or Beast (w/ the Mind Gem–in between the distribution of the gems and the start of the incursions, Professor X was murdered by Cyclops or something in AvX–I honestly could be conflating stories, here, but it's not really that important), Namor (w/ the Time Gem), Black Bolt (w/ the Space Gem), Doctor Strange (w/ the Soul Gem) and… someone(?) with the Power Gem?
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Honestly, the color assignment for the gems has been all screwed up ever since the MCU started, so I don't always remember which was which when I'm reading the comics now. I'm pretty sure about the Soul, Reality and Mind; after that, I can never remember.]
See, that's where the theory falls apart. Because in the comics, Reed Richards has the Power Gem at that point. And even though Disney's acquisition of Fox should be finished by that point, it's unclear (at best) whether Marvel will let Wizkids make any FF pieces by then (my best guess is no). Sooooo…
Okay, the Stranger is not an Elder of the Universe, but I don't have time to look up other art for them.
Speculation #4: Speculation #3 is pure fanboy wish fulfillment horse dookie!
Why is this important? It's really not. But in this Scenario, Wizkids will just make new versions of the Elders of the Universe (from whom Thanos stole the gems in the first place) and have THEM come with their respective gems. Plus we're also getting… uh… Astromancer? No, Astronomer! That's it!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Yeah, we're HUGE Marvel Cosmic fans, and even we forgot this guy existed. But hey, in this Scenario, we'd get a new… Runner. Guy. Dude. Yaaay! Oh, $#!t, we might even get another Gardener! Actually… I'd potentially be excited for another Champion!]
Coloring. Fail.
Speculation #5: Wizkids wants this set to sell. Also, they're not stupid.
Why is this important? Look, I'm not trying to worry anyone here who is huge fan of the Infinity Gems (like myself) and wants Wizkids to make them accessible, but whether it's the Illuminati that comes with the Gems or the Elders of the Universe, I mean… there's six Gems… and six Chase slots…
You do the math.
Speculation #6: Who is the Ultra-Chase?
Why is this important? History says it probably isn't, as the previous two Ultra-Chases–while very powerful for their points–didn't make a huge Meta impact. But with Black Panther wielding the Gauntlet during Secret Wars having already been Clix'd, I can think of a few possibilities:
–Captain America wielding the Infinity Gauntlet given to him by the Illuminati in New Avengers #'s 2-3 (or thereabouts).
–God Emperor Doom (also from Secret Wars–but this would be contingent on FF characters being available, which again seems unlikely)
–The aforementioned Rune, who, even as a Malibu character (Malibu comics was the independent publisher behind the Ultraverse, a pretty cool superhero universe that eventually ran out of money and was bought by Marvel in or about the late 90's/early 2000's) once held the Gauntlet for a brief moment before the Silver Surfer used the Power Cosmic to literally dismember Rune's hand (as I recall–I could be misremembering something).
Rune was basically an evil space vampire who already had cosmically powered gems around his neck (the Star Stones–hey, maybe those are another piece of equipment in the set!), so of course he had to try and get a whole new set.
Look, it makes sense (kind of). He's probably going to be the only Ultraverse character in the set, since the Ultraverse isn't a listed sub-theme. I know Rune isn't a popular or well-known character, but neither was the White Rabbit.
Now Wizkids could either make Rune (as he is or with the Star Stones equipment) the Ultra-Chase, or they could be reeeeeeeeeal evil and make Rune the Ultra-Chase… and have him come with the Infinity Gauntlet!
$500 Ultra-Chases anyone?
Okay, that's it for tonight! Sorry we were a little late, but we'll see you again tomorrow for more 12 Nights of Clix-Mas!!
The Ghost of Clix-Mas Future Presents: Star Trek: TNG: Irresponsible Speculation!! (Or, The Second Night of Clix-Mas 2018!!)
I am SO excited to see these characters Clix'd!! Well… most of them. Like at least one of the Crushers. Two Thirds of this set will be sooooo awesome!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2018, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2018 can be found in our previous post!]
So, who's excited for a full, 5-figure Star Trek: TNG set?
Well, put your hands down, cuz it ain't happening.
Instead, WizKids split the set in two. What's more, they also decided to use a Gravity Feed distribution model AND delayed both parts until next year.
Way to stoke that Trek excitement WizKids!!
Anyway, this preview will now focus on the first set (Resistance is Futile), due (for now) in June of 2019.
Now, I've watched EVERY episode of TNG multiple times. Unfortunately for me, I'm old enough that when I was growing up, staying up to watch a double dose of TNG repeats airing on the local UHF station from 11:30pm-1:30am was the height of time-shifted entertainment (we're talking '92-'95-ish here). Those reruns are actually how I got into the show.
TNG remains my favorite version of Trek, so I had been imagining what my dream set would be for some time.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Eh, that could be a lie. Ask me on the right day and I'll say DS9. Sisko was my always my favorite Captain, even if he was just a Commander for the first few seasons. He was a little more "man-of-action-y," which led to more cool space battles, even if that wasn't what Trek was ideally about.]
Now THAT is a tactical genius right there!
Now that we know what the rarity breakdown will be, I'm gonna try and get ultra-nerdy and come up with my ideal "Star Trek: Away Team: The Next Generation: Resistance Is Futile: Too Many Colons!" set!
Keep in mind, from the solicit we know that this first set will focus on Starfleet, Klingons, the Borg and Q Continuum as general themes.
Without further ado, here is my ideal Gravity Feed (sigh… ) Star Trek: Away Team: TNG set!
9 COMMONS (PLUS 1 PRIME):
Wait, I don't think all of these were generics…
001: Federation Security Officer— This piece would have the UFP TA, Sidestep with 1 Damage and RCE ("Set Phasers to Stun") on the front end, Charge and 2 Damage on the back end. Four or five clicks. 50 Points or less.
002: Borg Drone– Five clicks for 50 points, although I would probably have 2 five click-dials and let the player choose which one they were fielding at the beginning of the game with a Trait that is literally called "Resistance is Futile.'
The first dial would be close-combat oriented; the second would be support-y.
Oh, and we'd probably need a Borg TA. Something really strong that represents their adaptability, particularly their shields.
"THE BORG: Once per turn, whenever a friendly character using this Team Ability is damaged by an opposing character's attack, modify the Defense of all other friendly characters using this Team Ability by +1 until end of turn."
Pulling… it… OFF!
003A: Borg Assimilator– Four clicks with the Borg TA and some sort of special Mind Control power that let them use one of a hit character's printed powers when executing their Mind Control attack.
003B: Hugh– Hugh would be like a 75-100 Point Borg. I'm honestly not sure what power set I would give him (Shape Change? Support?) but he needs to be in this set!
004: Nurse Ogawa– Three Clicks with the UFP TA. Like 20 Points or so. She would have a Special Damage Power that reads "Second in Command of Sickbay: Support. Probability Control, but only to reroll rolls made while using the Support power."
That wording gets a little clunky, but I think you get the gist.
Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra, bitches!
005: Tamarian First Officer– Because I don't care what anybody says: "Darmok" was awesome, and it deserves a couple of references in this set. This guy would be 40-60 points with some B/C/F and Leadership mixed in (maybe even some Empower).
You can make a pretty strong argument that the Darmok characters are better thematic fits for the next TNG set, "To Boldly Go… ," and you may be right. But they're trying to jam all of the important Romulan, Ferengi, and Cardassian characters (and even freaking Armus, the oil slick that killed Tasha Yar) that appeared in TNG into that set, so I'm gonna put the Tamarians in this one.
006: Klingon Warrior– This would be your generic Klingon fighter. Think Asgardian Troll as far as the dial goes.
007: Ensign Wesley Crusher– <sigh> He has to be included. Look, I'm not trying to pile on–it's kind of a cliche at this point to find Wesley a lil annoying–but he was an integral part of the show's early seasons and frankly has to be in this set.
In his defense, his character got way less annoying when they actually put him in a uniform.
Anyway, this version would be pretty squishy but offer a pretty strong combination of Perplex and a conditional Outwit ("Non-commissioned Genius: Perplex. FREE: Choose a Team Ability possessed by an opposing character within range and line of fire. That character cannot use that Team Ability this turn.).
008: Amanda Rogers– If the Q Continuum is going to be a focus, I'd imagine they're gonna put the only Q-kid from the series in here somewhere (probably not at Common, but that's where I'm putting her!).
She would be more like 40 or like 90 points with some Support-y stuff up front, followed by a Stop click that activates her God Mode on her last two Clicks.
I also would not mind a Q Continuum Team Ability that mimicked the KC Team Ability (these are nigh-omnipotent beings after all).
Anyway, by putting her at Common, folks who pulled poorly would still have a good chance to get a higher point fig to build around.
009: Lt. Tasha Yar– Like 60 Points with alternating CCE and RCE. Basically a better-statted version of 001 Starfleet Security Officer.
8 UNCOMMONS:
010: Lwaxana Troi– A squishy support piece that could use a Power Action to reduce your opponent's Action Total by one on their next turn (representing her mental abilities and negotiating skills).
011: Ensign Ro Laren– Everyone's favorite spunky, no-nonsense helmsperson who inexplicably turned down a regular role on DS9!
Standard UFP Team Ability with some sort of mechanic that allows her to shift her allegiances after being KO'd or down dial (when she brutally betrayed the Federation and joined the evil Maquis! Yes, I realize that's not how it went down…).
012: Chief Miles O'Brien– He has to be a Taxi, right? Only he would use some sort of Special Phasing/TK combo.
013: Dr. Leah Brahms– She would give a bonus to movement for other friendly characters and a special stat bonus to Geordi!
014: Jack Crusher– Past keyword. UFP TA. Would probably give a stat boost to Wesley Crusher.
015: Dr. Katherine Pulaski– 45 Points. Support. UFP TA. Special Attack Power: "Beam Him Straight To Sickbay: POWER: Choose a friendly character with the Starfleet keyword that's not not on their starting Click and give that character an Action Token. If you do, place that character in a square adjacent to Dr. Katherine Pulaski.
016: Gowron– Okay, they probably won't put three Klingons in a row, but all three of these dudes are important Klingons in modern Trek lore.
017: K'mpec– The High Chancellor. He'd have Leadership that wouldn't be adjacent-dependent for Klingons.
018: Duras– Would allow for Klingon/Romulon hybrid teams. Heck, I'd even bring back the Arch-Enemy ring for Duras and Worf!
PLUS… 9 RARES:
019: Lt. Commander Remmick– Think Brood Queen with all the power of Starfleet! this was one of the more disturbing storylines that Trek ever tried, even if they pulled the plug after two installments (what did ever happen to that signal Remmick sent at the end of "Conspiracy?"). I'd actually give him the Starfleet keyword and design a way for him to "infest" other characters with the Starfleet keyword–both friendly and opposing.
020: Worf-– 100 points. Kind of like a ranged Drax dial. Both Klingon and Starfleet keywords.
021: Captain Jean-Luc Picard– Title Character Picard!! This is where they should let their imaginations run wild!
I thought they were actually too restrained with the title characters from the Original Series Away Team set. I would rather see something that more easily affects the game board.
Like, what if Picard had the possibility to "promote" another piece with multiple starting lines up one dial (like when Mangog pulls the Odin sword?) as his ultimate? The possibilities are endless!
022: Kurn– Worf's brother. Starts the whole "Sons of Mogh" storyline that results in Worf straight killing Duras for his crimes!
023: Professor Moriarty– The nemesis that Data accidentally creates on the Holodeck! Robot keyword, with lots of Perplex and Outwit! I'd even consider giving him a "Steal Your Transport" type of power like Nebula had back in the first GotG comics set!
024: Lt. Commander Riker– Clearly this will be the bearded version! I wouldn't be surprised if he's an Uncommon in the second set, so that they can make a Prime Thomas Riker!
025: Lt. Commander Geordi Laforge– He should add +2 to friendly character's Movement speed. Or maybe even give him a Special that says: "POWER: An adjacent character may use Running Shot or Charge as FREE this turn." That would be pretty sick.
026: Q2– In the series, he restores Q's powers in a Season 3 episode (a rather good one, too). How that translates into Clix, I don't know. What I do know is that this guy would–like Q himself–having Living Tribunal-levels of power.
Maybe make him another silver bullet against Colossal Retaliators and/or Cosmic characters?
027: Lal– Data's daughter! Again, Robot keyword. Should have a special Perplex for Data.
5 SUPER RARES (PLUS 1 PRIME!):
028: Tam Elbrun– Wow! This Betazed had crazy mental powers that eventually grew out of control. He can read pretty much everybody's thoughts. How you express that in game could take several forms. He should definitely have a way to cancel opposing Shape Change or Super Senses.
029: Noonian Soong– Scientist keyword. He's the old man who created both Data and Lore. He should be the Chase Agamotto of this set, really.
030: Berlinghoff Rasmussen– Time travelling crook! I would give him a Trait where he can roll for a different power each turn (representing the different items he steals).
031: Deanna Troi– Well… we know she's in the set. I don't see why she would be an SR, but I don't know yet how they're going to translate her empathy powers into actual Clix. Anyway, this is my irresponsible speculation, so I'll put her where I want, dammit!
032A: Data– Think Prime Deathlok from Wolverine and the X-Men. Strong Robot with Outwit and high stats but his combat potential is held back by his credo to never murder.
032B: Lore– And then of course Lore would be the opposite, with lots of Outwit and Perplex, too.
I mean, Data and Lore have to be at least one set of the Primes, right? And given Lore's later connection to the Borg (in Season 7, I believe), it only makes sense to make them the SR flipsides.
AND FINALLY… TWO CHASES!!
033: Locutus of Borg– Okay, if the SR Prime isn't Lore, then it would have to be Locutus. But I think Picard really needs to show up in the Rare slot, so making Locutus a Chase seems like the only other option.
034: Q– So, I think there's a good chance Q ends up as a Super Rare. They could actually make him the SR Chase with one version wearing the Farpoint gear, and the other version wearing a Starfleet uniform (or they could do the Deja Q powerless version that ran around telling people "to change the gravitational constant of the universe" to solve complex problems). But if he's a Chase with Trelane or Mxyptzlk-like powers only with better stats, he will really drive sales of the set.
Okay! So, there's my version of a kickass Star Trek Gravity Feed set, and there's still plenty of great stuff like Armus and Guinan left for the next set! Come June, we'll see how close I got.
What do you all want from a Star Trek: TNG Clix set? Post in the Comments below!
Eight Things I Want From Avengers: Infinity!! (Or, More Irresponsible Speculation!!)
March 11, 2018 March 21, 2018 / HypeFox	/ 1 Comment
Image Credit: Adventures in Poor Taste
Hi There! It's been awhile (well, we've been tweeting up a storm the last few months, but still!).
Fresh off getting my butt kicked at the Spring WKO (look, I'd write about Call-Ins ruining the game, but it's been discussed to death and Wizkids apparently has market research to show that people like extra value inserted into packs via things like Equipment or ID Cards, so, they're not going away anytime soon… ), today we're starting to get ready for one of the biggest sets of the year.
Yup! We're talkin' Avengers: Infinity!
Spoilers won't start for a little while yet, so now is the perfect time for some of our patented Irresponsible Speculation!!
Here are eight things I hope we'll get in this set!
8. Fantastic Four Characters!!
Okay, I like the FF as much as anyone, but the two characters I'm really talking about here are Silver Surfer and Doctor Doom.
Unfortunately, both of these characters are probably still on the ban list until the Disney/Fox merger is complete (probably 16-24 months from now).
Still, Surfer (and, to a lesser extent, Doom) were big characters in the original Infinity Gauntlet (from which many of the characters in this set come), so their absence would definitely be missed.
7. Helicarrier!!
C'mon, Wizkids! We want a Helicarrier already!
We know we're getting vehicles in this set (Spider-Mobile!!); we know that at least one of those vehicles will be S.H.I.E.L.D.-related (Nick Fury's flying car!); and you've even given us special Helicarrier maps in the past, so we know you guys are familiar with them!
Brainiac's Skull Ship proves that you don't mind making big ships, either! So the time has come for everyone's favorite flying gunships to enter Heroclix!
6. Title Character Thanos!!
Of all the things on this list, this one might be the most likely.
The Title Character mechanic has been a lot of fun (and so far, not nearly as overpowered at it first might have seen, although Ninwashui and I still think Title Character Thor has a lot of untapped Meta possibilities), and Title Character Thanos would have the potential to be the coolest one yet (and this wouldn't be a bad pose for his scuplt, either).
They wouldn't necessarily have to give him the Infinity Gauntlet on this piece (although a Chase series of characters who have all wielded it at some point would be cool–hmmm, maybe there were really 9 Things I should have written about for this article), but Thanos is certainly deserving of the Title Character treatment considering he's long been one of Marvel's greatest villains.
5. Title Character Adam Warlock!!
And, in keeping with the recent trend of two Title Characters per set, who better for the second slot than Thanos's greatest foil, Adam Warlock?
In addition to being one of my favorite characters, Adam Warlock was pretty much THE MAIN PROTAGONIST of Infinity Gauntlet (you can argue that Thanos was still the main character of the story; you can also argue that, from a certain point of view, Thanos was actually the protagonist in a weird way and Adam Warlock was the antagonist of the story, keeping Thanos from what he most desired–is it clear that I loved this story and have read and thought about it WAAAAY too much over the last 25 years?).
A Title Character Adam Warlock with the Infinity Watch keyword and some sort of Soul Stone Title Character ability would absolutely make my day!
4. Updated Colossal Watcher!!
We haven't gotten a Watcher since Galactic Guardians and this is the perfect time for an update!
I really liked the way the GG version played, which could fill different roles on your team for different point costs. Really, if they just updated the sculpt and Uatu's stats, they could pretty much just release the last dial they made for him!
3. Infinity Gems!!
Look, we just got Equipment in Thor, and since then, virtually nothing. Give us some Infinity Gem Equipment inserts!!
This is almost too obvious of an idea for Wizkids to actually execute, but I would love to see it.
Who wouldn't want to outfit their team of choice with the six Infinity Gems?
Oh, speaking of that…
2. Full Roster of the Infinity Watch!!
See that guy in the lower right corner? 12-year-old me remembers his name–Maxam! And for a time, he was an official member of the Infinity Watch–and he remains un-Clixed!
We know we'll be getting some Infinity Watch pieces in this set, so it's time for Wizkids to give us the WHOLE team! So yeah, we want Maxam, for sure, but the Galactic Guardians pieces haven't aged well at all, so go ahead and give us updated versions of the entire team!
(For the record, that'd be Adam Warlock, Thanos, Drax, Maxam, Pip the Troll, Gamora and Moondragon.)
1. Some form of Galactus!!
Yeah, he's also tied up with the FF license Disney is trying to get back, but we've gotten a Zombie Galactus in the last few years, so he's always a possiblity. But the unique nature of this set would allow them to give us a Modern Galactus that could be pulled right from a normal booster, something that's never happened with a Galactus piece!
Okay, that's my list! What's on yours? Let me know in the Comments below!
The Ghost of Irresponsible Speculation Is Back With a Look at Modern Marvel/DC stories That Would Make Great Heroclix Sets!! (Or, The Ninth Night of Clix-Mas!!)
December 22, 2017 December 21, 2017 / HypeFox	/ Leave a comment
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2017, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2017 can be found right here! And we announced a new Holiday Scenario for our local venue on Night Two! And the Ghost of Christmas Past named a few of his favorite things from the past Clix year right here! On Night Four, the Ghost of Christmas Present left us his Top Ten Figures from Star Trek: Away Team!! Then, the Ghost of Christmas Future gifted us some Irresponsible Speculation about IndyClix!! Later, the Ghost of Christmas Future came back and talked about licensed properties that would make great Clix sets! Then the Ghost of Christmas Present gave us a presentation of the Top Eleven most valuable Heroclix released this year! Finally, yesterday, the Ghost of Christmas Future published an editorial on the putrid state of Marvel's publishing division and why that makes IndyClix sets even more important to Wizkids!]
Justice League: Trinity War showed how one plot line from the comics can form the backbone of a regular set release, not just Storyline OP's.
Welcome to Night Nine of The Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas, our annual event where our little operation here tries to churn out fresh content for twelve straight nights!
After yesterday's semi-editorial about the woeful state of Marvel publishing, I thought today would be a great day to look at three recent (read: published in the last five years) Marvel or DC stories that would form the basis for great Heroclix sets (or even just great sets in general)!
So without further ado, let's dive right in!
1. DARK KNIGHT: METAL:
From the last five years?! How about a story that's ONGOING RIGHT NOW! Now, Wizkids might have to make a slight title change for marketing purposes–maybe something like "Batman: Metal" or "Justice League: Metal," although it's not impossible that they'd be just fine with the name as is.
But this set would allow Wizkids to give us:
–All new versions of the Justice League;
–Cool, creepy generics like Jokerized Robins; more Court of Owls pieces;
–Alternate Earth versions of DC heroes and villains;
Common Prime: Jokerized Damien Wayne;
Uncommon Prime: Joker of Earth-22;
Rare Prime: The Superman of Earth-1 (renegade Superman who the Batman of that world killed by becoming the Devastator);
Super Rare Prime: Nightmaster;
–Chases:
The Dark Knights (The Red Death, The Devastator, The Drowned, The Dawnbreaker, The Merciless, The Murder Machine, The Batman Who Laughs) and Barbatos.
I think a set like this would have DC Heroclix fans really excited, and it would synergize well with this year's Elseworlds and Harley Quinn sets!
2. TIME RUNS OUT:
This was the lead up to Secret Wars, but that encompasses like two or three years worth of comics!
–You'd have entire teams of alternate Earth Avengers you could draw from;
–Strange, never before seen POWERFUL generics like the Black Priests;
–Ultra powerful Chases like Doctor Strange as the leader of the Black Priests; a new Black Swan piece; Thanos leading the Cabal; and Doctor Doom as Rabum Alal.
All of which would lead us into…
3. SECRET WARS (2015):
This could even be a Storyline OP, right?
But we would get:
–The members of the 616 life rafts;
–The long awaited return of the Fantastic Four, although not quite as we remembered them;
–Any number of alternate versions of all of the Marvel Heroes and Villains–you could cherry pick from your favorite tie-in Battleworld series;
–A Colossal Thing as "The Wall!"
–More Thanos!
–A Chase Molecule Man, Chase Black Panther (with Infinity Gauntlet), or even…
–An Ultra-Chase God-Emperor Doom!!
So yeah, there are still plenty of other great stories from Marvel and DC out there for Heroclix to adapt!
Which ones would you like to see?
Why IndyClix Matter!! (Or, The Ghost of Christmas Future Is Back With an Editorial!!) (Or OR The Eighth Night of Clix-Mas 2017!!)
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2017, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2017 can be found right here! And we announced a new Holiday Scenario for our local venue on Night Two! And the Ghost of Christmas Past named a few of his favorite things from the past Clix year right here! On Night Four, the Ghost of Christmas Present left us his Top Ten Figures from Star Trek: Away Team!! Then, the Ghost of Christmas Future gifted us some Irresponsible Speculation about IndyClix!! Later, the Ghost of Christmas Future came back and talked about licensed properties that would make great Clix sets! And finally, the Ghost of Christmas Present gave us a presentation of the Top Eleven most valuable Heroclix released this year!]
And so we've made it to Night Eight, which means we're two-thirds of the way through The Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas, 2017!!
So tonight at my local venue we were playing the Holiday Havoc Scenario (from Night Two) and in between rounds I was talking to one of our regular players about Marvel comics. It turns out that neither of us had read much from Marvel in the last two years (for me, nothing really since Secret Wars, which was, what, like 2015?). And the more people I asked, the more I got the same(ish) answer.
Now, I don't want to get into any of the corporate politics at Marvel or why their books have pretty much gone off the rails in terms of sales–there are plenty of other outlets that have been covering Marvel's ongoing publishing death spiral (and whether the recent ascendance of new Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski will turn things around) for the better part of a year.
Actual internal sales document from Marvel…
What I'm more interested in is the effect this fallow period might have on Heroclix. It's tough to make a game based on a comic book license if the comics themselves have no following. And when you consider that Marvel sets make up the bulk of the Heroclix product line, this has the potential to become a huge issue.
Hell, Wizkids almost went out of their way this past year to create Marvel sets that had nothing to do with current or even rectent storylines in the comics. Let's look at the Marvel set releases (minus the MCU sets which, obviously, were based on movies and not comics):
Deadpool and X-Force: Okay, this took from both old and somewhat recent Deadpool comics. Fair enough.
Avengers/Defenders War: Uhhhh… what? This story was decades old. And the main Sub-Theme, Marvel Knights, primarily–yet unofficially–revolved around all of the Marvel Netflix heroes.
What If… ?: Again, an older series about alternate versions of superheroes that I don't think has been published by Marvel in years. There were a few newer figs (like the Young Avenger versions of the Runaways), but not many.
The Mighty Thor: Among all the classic Thor stuff, I think there were maybe five or six pieces pulled from the last three years worth of stories, like Jane Foster Thor, Angela Prime and Colossal Ms. Marvel, among others. Out of more than seventy pieces!
So what does all this have to do with Indy Clix? Well… I think this is part of the reason why Wizkids has been pursuing other licenses like TMNT and Star Trek. Furthermore, I think it's at least part of the reason why those sets are all Modern Legal, where previous Indy sets like Kick-Ass 2 or Pacific Rim or Iron Maiden were not.
Could we ever get to a point where Wizkids is releasing mostly MCU, DC and Indy sets in a calendar year?
Heck, the fact that Star Trek: Away Team was a 5-figure booster set instead of a Gravity Feed was almost shocking! Could this have been a stealthy "proof of concept" for Wizkids to show that the game could survive without the need for strong Marvel-publishing-based sets?
Well… no. I think that's all just conjecture that I made up literally while I was typing the last couple paragraphs.
But! I think Marvel's sales numbers HAVE to be concerning to Wizkids. I think they welcome the fact that Infinity War is coming out next year and that they have a chance to again revisit some old cosmic Marvel stories from the 90's as a result!
So that's all I have for today. But I don't want to be all doom and gloom–tomorrow we'll look at a few Marvel and DC stories from the last 5 years that could be adapted into great Heroclix sets!
The Ghost of Christmas Future Is Back for More Irresponsible Speculation!! (Or, The Sixth Night of Clix-Mas 2017!!)
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2017, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2017 can be found right here! And we announced a new Holiday Scenario for our local venue on Night Two! And the Ghost of Christmas Past named a few of his favorite things from the past Clix year right here! On Night Four, the Ghost of Christmas Present left us his Top Ten Figures from Star Trek: Away Team!! And yesterday, the Ghost of Christmas Future gifted us some Irresponsible Speculation about IndyClix!!]
Welcome back! It's Night Six of The Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas, and we're continuing yesterday's Irresponsible Speculation by pondering which non-Marvel, non-DC licensed properties out there would make a great Heroclix expansion!
As always, we'll start with the obvious…
Image Credit: geekgirl137 (@byntp137)
TRANSFORMERS:
Why It'd Work:
Giant robots in disguise? Hell yeah!
A Heroclix set based on the 80's cartoon and toy line would kick serious butt. It would also tick all the boxes on the unofficial "Heroclix Licensed Property Checklist."
–Property with large awareness and appeal to target audience;
–Long roster of BOTH heroes and villains from which to pull figures from;
–Plenty of characters with powers/abilities that would be easily adapted to the Heroclix format;
In fact, this is such a no-brainer THAT IT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE... sort of!
An amateur creator going by the handle "geekgirl137" actually created a whole Transformers Heroclix set and sent two bricks of it to the folks at HyperRPG's "Indomitable" show! Check it out!
Will We Ever See It?
I'm inclined to say no, for three reasons.
First, I have no idea how much the Transformers license would be, but I'm guessing it might cost more than some of the other licensed properties out there. Also, part of the core business of Transformers is selling action figures, which isn't in the same category as Heroclix, but isn't that different at the end of the day.
Also, from a design standpoint, virtually every piece in the set would have the Robot keyword, which could technically lead to Themed Teams of figures that have no business being Themed together.
Finally, these characters are, for the most part, giant robots. Dramatizing that as an actual 3D sculpt that doesn't look ridiculous next to normal Marvel and DC Clix yet still fits in a Gravity Feed or five figure Booster Pack is definitely going to be a logistical challenge.
G.I. Joe:
The G.I. Joe universe is practically as close as one can get to Marvel or DC without actually being them. Plenty of great, colorful heroes and villains to bring into Heroclix, all with distinct abilities (read: power sets), iconic costumes and cool codenames. Duke, Flint, Gung Ho, Snake Eyes, Quick Kick, Scarlet, The Baroness, Destro, Cobra Commander… this set practically designs itself!
Look, we've gotten the Turtles already. One could argue that this would be the next logical step! While I doubt there's anything in the works, I could definitely see this happening at some point.
Because it's a hot, modern property!
Stranger Things doesn't have the breadth of content that the previous two entries on this list have, but it certainly has enough to fill out, say, an 18 piece Gravity Feed set and a Starter.
If nothing else, this set would give us a great Map or two!
This would be really out of the box thinking. The folks in charge of Stranger Things have been licensing the bejeezus out of the property recently, but I don't think this would interest Wizkids. Usually, when we see an unexpected property adapted in Heroclix, it's a film (Kick-Ass 2, Pacific Rim), not a television series. Star Trek: Away Team is kind of an outlier in this regard.
Agree? Disagree? What properties would YOU like to see adapted by Wizkids? And would you like to see an expanded version of this article at a future date? Sound off in the comments below.
And don't forget to come back tomorrow for more Clix-Mas goodness!!
The Ghost of Christmas Future is Back With Some Irresponsible Indy Speculation!! (Or, The Fifth Night of Clix-Mas!!)
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2017, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2017 can be found right here! And we announced a new Holiday Scenario for our local venue on Night Two! And the Ghost of Christmas Past named a few of his favorite things from the past Clix year right here! And yesterday, the Ghost of Christmas Present left us his Top Ten Figures from Star Trek: Away Team!!]
So we're always talking about what we'd like to see Wizkids do with their Marvel or DC licenses, but we never talk about the independent stuff they put out, and where we'd like to see them take those properties.
Well, not anymore! Today is all about what we want to see coming down the pike from Wizkids and their non-Marvel, non-DC releases!
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES:
TMNT: The Movies Clix!!
This one is easy. They've almost done everything they can with the animated Turtles Clix, and I'm honestly not sure there's a ton more to be mined from the comics, either.
But they could, like, TOTALLY squeeze two or three sets from the live-action Turtles movies! Who doesn't want a vintage Vanilla Ice piece with some sort of "Ninja Rap" Damage Special, or a Megan Fox as April O'Neil figure (it would at least have to be better than her Megan Fox as Lilah from Jonah Hex piece, right?)?
Chances We'll Actually Get It:
Honestly? Probably not good. From what I understand, this might be a bit of a licensing nightmare. It would be a license of several 20-25 year old properties that were themselves licensed products that were capitalizing on the success of an animated series that was itself licensed from an independent comicandnowmybrainhurts!!
Still, stranger things have happened…
STAR TREK:
Everyone wants original cast movie Clix or TNG clix. That would be fine with me. But I'd love a set that's focused on all of the "Mirror Universe" characters that have floated in and out of Trek's continuity!
Whether that means a whole set of Alternate Reality pieces (sort of a Star Trek version of the What If… ? or Elseworlds sets we just got) from throughout Trek's history, or just a DS9 set with a "Mirror" Sub-Theme, those are the pieces that would have me reserving a Brick at my FLGS.
It's not impossible, but it's probably years away. If Star Trek: Away Team sells well, we'll probably see two or three more sets focused on the Original Cast and the TNG folks before they'd really consider making any DS9 characters (and with them, the DS9 "Mirror" characters).
Still, the fact that the Mirror folks have their own Team Ability is a good sign…
Heroclix UNDEAD (aka HORRORCLIX):
Undead was fun, but I want to see the full return of the Horrorclix brand!! I actually think they had the right idea when they started of mixing original properties with specially curated licensed releases, all under the Horroclix name.
Imagine a Horrorclix Buffy set, all designed with modern rules in mind, all Modern Age tournament legal. Or a re-release of a Colossal Cthulu, followed by Gravity Feed set of more Dead Presidents (like Zombie Lincoln).
This would be a great way for Wizkids to hit up popular licensed properties without having to commit to more than one or two sets at a time!
Pretty dubious. I think Wizkids has become much more cautious when it comes to licensing other properties for Heroclix (which, by the way, isn't necessarily a bad thing). That said, the idea of, say, going to Target to buy an Alien Queen sort of Raid Scenario for two or more players sounds like a lot of fun to me. But first we need to see if we'll even be getting more Undead pieces!
Okay, that's all for now folks! Come back and see us tomorrow, when we'll talk about what properties Wizkids has never Clix'd but should seriously consider. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Coming Up Next-er!! (Or, A Look at the Rest of Your Year!! Part 2: Wonder Woman, HorrorClix, ATA Rotations and More!!)
March 26, 2017 / HypeFox	/ Leave a comment
[EDITOR'S NOTE: So, Preview Week was blown out by what was pretty much Southeastern Michigan's worst windstorm in, well, a long time. I mean, we've had tornadoes come through and do less structural damage. It was insane. But, that said, we are trying again this week with a look at what's coming up for Heroclix fans for the rest of the year. In Part 1, we took a look at the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 set.]
We're gonna cover a few upcoming Gravity Feed releases in about half the space as yesterday's look at the new GotG Vol. 2 set, and for good reason.
We know next to nothing about either of them.
WONDER WOMAN:
Precious little. This SHOULD release in May of this year, although no exact date has been selected. It's meant to coincide with Wonder Woman's 75th Anniversary, and will probably be comic-based.
Unless it isn't. In which case it may or may not be based on the movie that comes out on June 2nd.
We do know that the set is expected to have 16 total figures split between a Mass Market (Target) version and a Core Hobby (Comic Shop) edition, with 8 Commons across both and 4 exclusive Rare figures for each.
That's about it for what we know.
What We Think We Know:
Uh… it revolves around Wonder Woman? Oh, and unlike Guardians, there probably won't be any Chases.
It is actually astounding how LITTLE we know of this set, considering how imminent its release is. Some have said it's actually going to vaguely tie in with the Wonder Woman movie. Some think it will revolve around a specific classic Wonder Woman story.
What We're Guessing:
While either is possible, it seems at this point more likely that it will be a sort of "greatest hits" of characters from Wonder Woman's 75-year history.
But we'll have to wait til May to find out.
HOLLYWOOD HEROCLIX: UNDEAD:
In June, it's the return of HorrorClix… kind of!! 19 new figures in a Gravity Feed, running the horror gamut from generic ghosts, werewolves and demons to specific public domain scary folk like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The figure breakdown is 9 Commons, 8 Rares and 2 Chases.
What We Don't Know:
There's one main thing we don't know for sure about this set: Will it be Modern Age? That's the major question remaining about this set. If it is, I'd expect sales to be fairly steady. If not, this will end up on the same scrap heap as Kick-Ass 2.
I can't imagine Wizkids releasing a non-Modern Age Gravity right in the middle of their 15th Anniversary summer, so I'm gonna guess that this will be Modern Age AND Modern Age relevant. Don't sleep on the Undead!
Finally, let's talk about the 2017 Rotations!
In addition to the all the sets rotating, Wizkids is dumping the ATA mechanic. As of June, all ATA's will be Golden Age, and there are no plans to ever create more.
Or will there be?
Even though ATA's as a mechanic are technically going away, to be honest, it feels more like they're morphing.
As we've seen in the most recent Deadpool set, Wizkids is essentially keeping ATA's around as static Traits that are common to a large portion of figures with a certain keyword (for example, many of the new X-Force pieces in Deadpool & X-Force have a Trait simply called "X-Force" that grants Stealth; Age of Ultron featured several characters with the "Mighty Avengers" Trait; etc.).
While I kind of like this idea, I want to see them take this mechanic even further, or even require Theme to activate, which would give greater incentive to play Themed Teams.
For example, an ATA Trait could read something like this:
"Themed Team–X-Force: If Cable is part of an X-Force Themed Team, he can use Stealth."
Or you could even keep X-Force the way it is, but use Themed Teams to boost certain individual members, like so:
"Themed Team–X-Force: Cable can use Stealth. If he is part of an X-Force Themed Team, he can use also use Leadership, but he can only use it to remove tokens from characters with the X-Force keyword." And so on.
So what do you guys think? Are you excited for Wonder Woman or Undead? What do you think about the (supposed) end of ATA's?
Sound off in the Comments below! And keep an eye on this space for the next Preview article, the Deadpool & X-Force Top Ten AND the scenario for Month 3 of Heroclix: The Gathering!!
Welcome to Preview Week, Part 2!!
March 3, 2017 / HypeFox	/ Leave a comment
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to our first ever Preview Week, which is devoted to–you guessed it–Previews!! With Deadpool and X-Force dropping in one week, we're gonna devote the next five days to taking a look at what's gonna be coming our way this year–from DXF and beyond! Part 1 dropped two days ago and can be found here.]
Today we take a look at some of the interesting Rares and Super Rares from DXF!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: There's just so much to talk about with the Rares that we're gonna save Super Rares and Primes for tomorrow, followed by Chases and beyond in Part 4!]
RARES:
DXF034A-C Deadpool — 75 Points — Rare: Wow–Deadpool in an ultra-supporty role? Whaa… ? Yup–it's true. All three versions of this "Shifting Focus" sculpt have the same powers. They only differ in their main named Keyword and which Keyword their powers affect.
But they will all give you 4 Range, 3 Damage top dial, Phasing/Teleport, a limited Prob, a limited DOUBLE PERPLEX and Defend. And yes, you can shift to him AFTER making a ranged or close attack with some of his more offensive versions, then use his double Perp and Prob on his teammates. Awesomesauce.
DXF035 Howard the Duck — 50 Points — Rare: Look, everyone loves Howard the Duck, but there's just not a ton to work with here. Sidestep, Stealth, minimal Damage Output and a Special Damage Power (We Can Do This the Wrong Way, or My Way!: At the beginning of your turn, choose a standard power that an adjacent friendly character can use. Until your next turn, all characters within 6 squares and line of fire of Howard the Duck can't use the chosen power.) that might hurt you as much as it hurts your opponent, especially since ONE OF YOUR CHARACTERS HAS TO ALREADY HAVE THE POWER YOU WANT TO DISALLOW!!
He picks up a decent Incapacitate Special in the middle of his dial (Fowl-Mouthed!: Howard the Duck can use Incapacitate. When he does, he may target all adjacent opposing characters.), but it's not enough to save this piece.
DXF039 Squirrel Girl — 85 Points — Rare: A close combat machine who is also a token generator, Squirrel Girl becomes more of a problem for your opponent as the game goes on.
With her first Trait (Chuk Chitty Chit Chit Chkk!: Give Squirrel Girl a free action when she has one action token and place a Squirrel bystander adjacent.), she can generate her own tie-up supporting figs and her third Trait (Fighting Squirrel Man!: Give Squirrel Girl a free action if there are 6 Squirrel bystanders on the map. Replace them with a Squirrel Man bystander in one of their squares.) lets her bring in what is essentially another Secondary Attacker (Squirrel Man).
DXF042 Boom-Boom — 60 Points — Rare: Running Shot mixed with an absolutely AWESOME Attack Special (3,2,1… Boom!: Boom-Boom can use Energy Explosion and Penetrating/Psychic Blast. When she makes a range attack and has no action tokens, modify her attack and damage values by +1.) makes Boom-Boom an extremely efficient Secondary Attacker.
DXF044 Shatterstar — 60 Points — Rare: Basically the close combat version of the Boom-Boom I just mentioned. He has Traited Sidestep and Toughness, and his Attack Special (Twin Blades: Shatterstar can use Blades/Claws/Fangs. When he does, once per turn he may reroll the d6.) lets him essentially Prob his Blades roll.
I would definitely say there's some dark horse Meta potential with both Boom-Boom and Shatterstar as they're both Secondary Attackers for Tertiary Attacker prices.
DXF046 Doop — 90 or 35 Points — Rare: I just played him at his 35 Point level at a Sealed last night and he was great. His Trait is long and wordy:
The Unimaginable Power of Doop: Give Doop a power action. Roll a d6 that can only be rerolled once per turn by removing a Headline token from him.
1-2 Moving Between Panels: Place Doop and all adjacent characters into any square adjacent to themselves.
3-4 Doop Space: All characters within 4 squares are placed adjacent to Doop.
5 Gleaming The Cosmic Cube: Choose a friendly character and it can use the Power Cosmic team ability until your next turn.
6 Hailstorm of Mjolnirs: Doop makes a range attack with a range value of 10 and Targeting: OO>. Instead of normal damage, each hit character and each character adjacent to 1 or more hit characters is dealt 3 damage.
And it's totally usable at either point level. At 35 Points, he still comes with Sidestep, Invincible and Prob, which makes him nearly indispensable in a Sealed environment. In the Meta, I still prefer Spectre on his Tower Click for the same 35 Points, but it's close, and Doop doesn't break Theme on X-Force or X-Statix Builds.
The Con Exclusive is still better, but the more I play this Doop, the more useful he becomes.
Okay! That's all our time for today, but keep watching this space for some standout Super Rares, Primes, Chases and more as we Preview the Deadpool & X-Force set–and beyond during Preview Week!
And finally, I want to once again give special thanks to Wizkids, Scott Porter, all the eagle-eyed folks in the HCRealms.com community (especially Jaysol for putting everything there together), the good people at Married With Clix and everyone else who's helped spoil this set. This article wouldn't have been possible without all of their hard work.


text:
Megan Rapinoe: America showed its true colors…
Megan Rapinoe: America showed its true colors during Capitol attack
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe says everyone with a role in mob attack on Congress needs to be punished
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe spoke in San Jose last year during a the Watermark Conference for Women 2020. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By Elliott Almond | ealmond@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: January 12, 2021 at 2:05 p.m. | UPDATED: January 13, 2021 at 3:58 a.m.
Megan Rapinoe, one of America's most outspoken star athletes, said the attack on the Capitol Building last week unveiled the country's "true colors" and everyone involved should be punished.
"This is America, make no mistake about it," she said during a video interview with soccer reporters.
"This was about white supremacy and holding up white supremacy," added Rapinoe, who has rejoined the U.S. women's national soccer team for the first time in a year.
The team is holding a winter camp in Orlando, Florida, that ends with exhibitions against Colombia on Jan. 18 and 22.
The U.S. women are scheduled to appear with Brazil, Canada and Japan in the sixth annual SheBelieves tournament Feb. 18-24 in Orlando.
Rapinoe, 35, is trying to make the roster for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo while also using her celebrity to call out injustices in race and gender politics.
The striker who grew up in Redding took six minutes to answer the first question focused on the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday as lawmakers prepared to vote to certify Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.
"This is not the first time we've seen a murderous mob like that," Rapinoe said. "Unleashing a white supremacist mob is nothing new to America as people of color, Black and Brown people, know that very well."
A mob breached the Capitol after attending a rally spearheaded by President Donald Trump, who continued his unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him.
Six deaths — including two Capitol Police officers — have been tied to the riot. Law enforcement officials have arrested and charged at least 70 people involved in the act. Investigators are trying to identify and track down many more, according to federal prosecutors.
"It's just striking how horrible it was, and just how insane it was, from the climate in the country being such that we have our political leaders, our chief political leader, inciting an actual real-life murderous and deadly insurrection against his own government, against his own people, against his own party," Rapinoe said.
"The utter bottomlessness of some of these lawmakers to incite violence and still call for the election to be overturned when the mandate has been given by the people of the United States is just insane. They should be held accountable. For us to move on, that has to happen."
Rapinoe described the attack as the "last layer that we needed to rip off although it has been abundantly clear for 100s of years this is about white supremacy. It is all out in the open. It is all stripped bare."
But she said moving forward will not happen unless those involved are investigated and punished.
"We should not underestimate what could have happened," Rapinoe said. "We saw people with weapons and people with zip ties and they put a gallows up outside the Capitol building where they were chanting to hang the vice-president of the United States.
"Maybe we haven't seen this in our lifetimes, but I think that we should make no mistake about what the intent was. It was a murderous moment. Five people are dead and we can't bring them back."
The striker gained national attention in 2016 when kneeling during the anthem before a U.S. women's game in a Colin Kaepernick-like protest against racial injustice. The action led the U.S. Soccer Federation to ban kneeling before national team matches. Soccer officials repealed the three-year-old ban last June during the Black Lives Matter protests.
Rapinoe led the popular women's team to a World Cup title in 2019 while involved in a Twitter spat with Trump. Then she won the 2019 Ballon d'Or trophy as the world's top player.
Rapinoe has been equally impactful off the field in promoting the rights of women, racial minorities and LGBTQ people.
She was ready on Tuesday to speak about the incident in Washington D.C. that has rocked the country.
"Hopefully (it's) the final straw for so many people to really understand the reason that we're here is because we never have actually had a reckoning with what our country really is," Rapinoe said.
She also had harsh words when asked about an Oakland woman shown in a photo at the San Francisco International Airport wearing a USWNT sweatshirt and a Trump mask after returning from the rally in Washington.
"From a personal standpoint, and I can speak for a lot of my teammates, that is not the kind of fan we would welcome," Rapinoe said. "The U.S. crest is not to be confused with white supremacy or anything to do with the Trump administration, anything to do with the divisive culture we saw at the Capitol. We want to continue to create a place that's inclusive and safe and diverse.
"So, don't bring that (BS) here."
Celebrity Politics
Elliott Almond | Olympics & Soccer reporter
Elliott Almond is a sports reporter for the Bay Area News Group.
ealmond@bayareanewsgroup.com
Follow Elliott Almond	@elliottalmond


text:
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