For more information visit www.acecleanuk.co.uk, follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or to buy head to your local Tesco's, Morrison's, The Range, Wilko, Waitrose and Sainsbury's. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with have made a great British tradition even greater with their sumptuous version of afternoon tea which ticks all the summer boxes. The glamorous restaurant also was awarded the Commended Awards of Excellence at 2018's Afternoon Tea Awards! Buyagift the UK's leading gift experience providers to give away a fantastic Chocolate Afternoon Tea. This is a truly out-of-the-ordinary indulgent treat for two, crafted by pastry chefs Emmanuel and Sam, winners of Bake Off: The Professionals 2018!
In addition to superior Twinings teas, you will devour delicious light sandwiches, freshly baked (plain, choc chip and raisin) scones, pastries and miniature fancies. Other delights include Pina Colada cheesecake and passion fruit and strawberry jelly tartlets, sending your taste buds into heaven. The artistic creations have to be seen to be believed – and are almost too good to eat...but we think you will manage! Visit the buyagift website to view the experience. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Catit to give away a 6-month supply of Catit Creamy for your feline friend to try!
Catit Creamy is a healthy and hydrating lickable cat treat that is packed with delicious high-quality ingredients, being high in meat content and rich in amino acids with a naturally creamylicious texture that your cat is sure to love! Available in three delicious flavours, Chicken & Liver, Salmon and Seafood varieties with a high proportion of quality meat protein and absolutely no derivatives. Trust us when we say your cat will go wild for Catit Creamy!
Visit the Catit website for more information. 6-month supply of Catit Creamy Treats is made up of 36 packs of 5 tubes each with 3 flavours – 12 x Chicken and Liver, 12 x Salmon, 12 x Seafood worth over £89. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Cattitude Box to give away a subscription box to 5 lucky winners! If you are crazy about cats, you will love the fantastic, newly launched Cattitude Box subscription service.
These cute, quirky, stylish boxes let you pamper your puss and show them just how much you love them, while giving you the opportunity to fully embrace your crazy cat lady status. The boxes are full of handpicked cat-themed products, from chew treats and fun toys, to scarves, mugs and purr-fect purses.
Boxes cost £27.95 and can be ordered on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. They also make a great gift for a feline-loving friend.
For more details go to cattitudebox.com. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
Luxury cat accessories brand Cheshire & Wain is giving away a luxury selection of chic accessories for your fancy feline from their coveted 'Caviar Collection'! Known for their beautiful range of leather safety collars, Cheshire & Wain have been delighting design conscious kitties with high quality wares since 2013 and now your cat can be in with a chance of getting their paws on a collar, gem charm and organic catnip toy luxury bundle worth £85.
The prize includes one 'Beluga' Cat collar, lovingly handmade in London from Italian leather embossed with textured caviar grain, offset with a contrasting soft suede lining in blue and packaged in a special edition caviar tin worth £55. A diamond faceted gem charm in 'Emerald' in gold plated setting worth £15, and one of their durable canvas Caviar illustration toys filled with super-strength organic catnip worth £15. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
Freak Meowt are giving away a fabulous hampurr of handmade catnip cat toys worth over £50, including some brand-new catnip designs alongside their best-selling catnip toys, even a special purrsonalised heart celebrating 25 years of Your Cat Magazine.
Freak Meowt toys are all designed and handmade in Wales using the highest quality materials and Premium Canadian catnip (we don't skimp on the nip). The toys are fully tested by an enthusiastic team before going into full production. We understand that all cats are different and aim to make a variety of shapes and sizes that are appealing to even the fussiest feline. For those who don't appreciate catnip we also stock a selection of Valerian root toys.
To discover the full range of catnip toys please visit the Freak Meowt Not on the Highstreet or Etsy shop. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Gtech to give away a Gtech Multi MK2 Handheld Vacuum. Gtech, have created a cordless handheld vacuum to make cleaning your home easier and more enjoyable. With all the attachments of a traditional vacuum, and none of the bulk, the Gtech Multi is perfect for cleaning all around your home.
The Multi might be small but its range of versatile attachments assists you in big jobs. With an extension tube to add reach, you'll be able to clean your home from floor to ceiling. The power head makes short work of your stairs, while the crevicCae tool lets you clean skirting boards and awkward areas. The dusting brush is ideal for upholstery and car interiors.
To discover the full range of Gtech products visit the Gtech website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Hexbug to give away a bundle of toys for you and your cat. Your cat (and you!) will have hours of fun with the HEXBUG RC Mouse Cat Toy. The cool remote-controlled rodent will whizz around the floor for your cat to chase. The fun HEXBUG Robotic Mouse Cat Toy is also a fun addition to their toy collection and will entertain cats as they chase the cute grey robotic mouse around the floor. The HEXBUG range also features miniature mechanical bugs that scuttle and crawl just like the real thing. The realistic HEXBUG Scarab is terrifyingly realistic and the HEXBUG Beetle displays all its inner workings so you can see exactly what goes into creating these cool mini robots.
To see the full range visit the Hexbug website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Jana Reinhardt to give away this Cat Necklace worth £89, this stunning handmade pendant features an adorable sleepy cat, all curled up and ready to snooze. Handcrafted in solid sterling silver, by award-winning goldsmith Jana Reinhardt, the cat necklace has lots of gorgeous details, from tiny ears, to a cute, curly tail. Made from solid sterling silver, the purrrfect little cat is hand polished to a high shine and measures 13mm across. The matching silver chain can be worn at 16 or 18 inches (41 or 46cm).
Jana Reinhardt jewellery was founded in 2006, by a husband and wife team of master goldsmiths, Jana and Ross. They like create jewellery that is full of personality and are passionate about quality craftsmanship. Jana Reinhardt only use traditional techniques to create their treasures and never machine manufacture. No two items are the same and each piece of jewellery is as unique as the customer. For more info on their fine jewellery collections, or to commission a bespoke piece visit the Jana Reinhardt website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
Natures Menu, Europe's leading expert in raw and natural pet food, is giving away £50 in website vouchers to two lucky winners! Made with quality human-grade meat and fish, blended vegetables, fruits and healthy carbohydrates, Natures Menu is free from artificial colours and flavourings, meat derivatives and other nasties. Offering a delicious selection of complete and balanced meals and meaty treats, combined with real ingredients, passion and expertise, Natures Menu is the best food for your feline friend.
For more info on Natures Menu products please visit their website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with PetSafe® to give away a Drinkwell® Ceramic Pagoda Pet Fountain to two lucky winners. The Drinkwell® Ceramic Pagoda Pet Fountain is the perfect product to keep your dog or cat hydrated, healthy and happy.
The attractive red fountain encourages pets to drink more by providing two litres of continuously circulating filtered water and boasts dual free-falling streams that aerate the water for extra freshness. The fountain also has replaceable charcoal filters that remove bad tastes and odours from the water and replaceable foam filters which help keep the pump and water cleaner by catching hair and debris.
The fountain has an RRP of £75.99 and can be purchased via www.petsafe.com/UK. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
Why should our kitty cats get all the royal treatment? With this amazing blissful spa day for two, you'll be feeling as regal as our feline friends. With loads of spas across the country to choose from, a full day's access to the facilities and a treatment each, it'll have you relaxing like the Queen you are!
A whole day's access to spa facilities! Facilities may vary, but you can expect a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, gym and relaxation room.
To see more Prezzybox products please visit their website. Prezzybox withholds the right to change the prize for something of the same value if the experience day becomes unavailable as a result of discontinuation from the supplier. Vouchers are not exchangeable for money. Minimum age is 18. Voucher valid for 10 months. Availability varies by venue. All dates are subject to availability. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Rosewood Pets to give away a Charcoal Felt Double Tower. This is a modern and stylish piece of furniture for your home and your cat. It is made from a combination of felt, wood and strong plaited paper rope, making it extra robust and suitable for continuous scratching.
It includes three scratching posts and a catnip teaser toy that hangs beneath the top perch to entice play. It also includes two hiding spaces for your cat to relax. Strong and sturdy construction. Easy to assemble with instructions included. H136 x D53 x W119cm. To see more Rosewood Pets products please visit their website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
Scruffs® Rustic Wooden Bed & Cosy Blanket COMBO!
Scruffs® Rustic beds are produced using a contemporary wooden box, with a lowered curved entrance for easy accessibility. The box is accented with a stylish 'worn brass' Scruffs® logo, and has carry handles on each side. A super-soft faux rabbit fur inner cushion sits neatly inside the box, to provide the ideal environment for your pet to relax.
The Cosy Blanket is a great gift for any dog owner. The reversible design provides a soft, plush lining for cold cosy days and a faux suede cover for warmer days. The blankets hollow fibre core means however you decide to use the blanket your pet will remain comfortable. To see more Scruffs® products please visit their website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We have teamed up with Trixie to give away a Lukas Cuddly Cave worth £49.99. The cuddle cave with the name Lukas is the perfect place for playing, resting and sleeping. It comes with plush cover as well as a sisal scratching surface and the ears contain rustling foil. The eyes are made of toys on a ribbon.
To see more Trixie products please visit their website. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
Hamper of Webbox Natural Food and Webbox Treats worth £50!
We've teamed up with leading pet food brand, Webbox, to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a 'pawesome' £50 hamper of Webbox Natural pet food and Webbox treats for their cat.
Connoisseur, fussy eater or simply sensitive, Webbox Natural has something for all cats. With a range of over 30 foods, Webbox Natural products are derived from 100% natural ingredients - all the good stuff your feline friend needs to be naturally themselves.
The prize bundle also includes a selection of your furry friend's favourite treats including Tasty Cat Sticks, Yum-e-Yums and Lick-e-Lix - something to tickle the taste buds of any kitty cat!
For more information visit www.webbox.co.uk. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We've teamed up with Woburn Safari Park to give away a fantastic Big Cat Breakfast Plus Experience for 4 people at Woburn Safari Park worth £299.
The Big Cat Breakfast at Woburn Safari Park gives participants the chance to hand feed big cats in their specially designed houses. A daunting task, made perfectly safe by the expert keepers and careful safety precautions. The VIP Experience prize begins with a visit to the into the lions' or tigers' house in Kingdom of Carnivores. After feeding the big cats some meat, guests will go out in a Land Rover, off road and up close to the lions, tigers, bears and wolves in their parkland home. For details of this and other VIP Experiences go to www.woburnsafari.co.uk/wildlife-experiences. Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
We are giving away a 1-year subscription to Your Cat magazine to two lucky winners. Your Cat is Britain's best-selling, most-loved monthly cat publication. When you subscribe, you'll receive your jam-packed issue of Your Cat Magazine delivered free to your door every month, filled with practical advice, the latest news, competitions, and cracking features - the very best of all things cat!
Prize must be claimed by 12th June 2019, you must have proof of the winning ticket to claim your prize.
A special thank you to all of our prize providers for contributing these fantastic prizes to celebrate our 25 years of Your Cat Magazine!


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3 Drug Dealers Arrested in Kunar
EU Supports Afghanistan's Private Sector Amid Economic Crisis
Efforts underway to prevent economic collapse of Afghanistan: IFRC
Ariana NewsFebruary 5, 2022
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that efforts are underway to prevent an economic collapse of Afghanistan.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul on Saturday, deputy head of the IFRC and head of Turkish Red Crescent said that humanitarian aid can't fill the vacuum of economic problems.
"Red Crescent is a door of aid for Afghanistan. We encourage and support all international organizations to assist Afghanistan. We call on them to help Afghanistan as soon as possible.
"The problems like migration will be expanded, if the world does not help Afghanistan," said Kerem Kinik, deputy head of IFRC and head of Turkish Red Crescent.
According to Kinik, Turkey will provide 800 tons of foodstuff, medical supplies and other necessary goods to Afghanistan.
He added that the first consignment of aid will arrive in Kabul soon.
"We have assisted with $10 million to Afghanistan that has reached two million people, it is humanitarian aid, and Turkey aid will continue. The aid includes shelter and foodstuff," said Kinik.
This comes after the UN's World Food Program said that more than half the population of Afghanistan is facing urgent humanitarian assistance.The post Efforts underway to prevent economic collapse of Afghanistan: IFRC first appeared on Ariana News.
Source: Ariana News
Sukhoi, Mirage fighter jets crash in India
Other posts Ariana News
Tahawol: Criticisms over West's policy on IEA discussed
Thousands of Afghans protest against desecration of Quran in Sweden, Netherlands

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Maximum Price. A maximum price is a price ceiling, the market price cannot rise above it.
A maximum price causes price to fall to P', quantity demanded to rise to Qd and quantity supplied to fall to Qs. Resultantly there is excess demand of Qd – Qs.


Apple will reportedly use a new display which isn't compatible with 3D Touch for one of its iPhones this year.
Apple could be ditching its pressure sensitive '3D Touch' feature on one of its iPhones this year. Apple is expected to launch three iPhones this year out of which two would feature 3D Touch. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states that Apple will opt for a new display which is not compatible with 3D Touch.
Apple is expected to completely ditch Touch ID on its iPhones in 2019. Cult of Mac reports Kuo saying that Apple will be updating the display for its upcoming iPhones by going for one that will be lighter reducing chances for it to break.
From the series, Apple is said to launch an upgraded 5.8-inch iPhone X and a 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus. These two iPhones with their OLED displays would support Touch ID. The third iPhone in the making would be a 6.1-inch LCD model with the updated display.
The new display will reportedly raise costs to between $23 and $26, thus, leading Kuo to predict that since Apple's new display module is more expensive, it might ditch the 3D Touch features to balance costs.
Apple is also expected to launch the second-generation iPhone SE soon. iPhone SE 2 is expected to come with upgrades like a slightly bigger screen. It will however retain the Touch ID button according to recent leaks.


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Stocks to Sell / SoFi Stock Is Doomed for a Reason You May Never Even Have Considered
SoFi Stock Is Doomed for a Reason You May Never Even Have Considered
SoFi stock has great growth prospects but history isn't on their side
August 11, 2021 By Tom Kerr, InvestorPlace Contributor Aug 11, 2021, 10:24 am EST August 11, 2021
The whole fintech movement has been a popular theme for investors going back quite some time. One of the leading beneficiaries of this is SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) stock.
Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com
SoFi is a financial services company offering a variety of consumer products.
The product portfolio covers a number of services such as personal, student and home loans, stock and crypto-currency investing, credit card issuance, money management, as well as a B2B fintech service through the Galileo technology platform.
The debate however now centers on whether it is a traditional lender, a technology company, or a fintech company (whatever that means exactly).
SOFI became public through a SPAC merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings, a blank check company controlled by SPAC abuser Chamath Palihapitiya. The deal closed on May 28th and the company became publicly listed on June 1.
A Closer Look at SOFI Stock
SoFi's consumer lending segment represented approximately 76% of total revenues in Q1 2021 (down from 83% in FY 2020). So chalk one up for those that say it's bank. Technically, it's not a federally chartered bank, but considered a digital personal finance company.
Its deposits aren't insured by the FDIC and those customer's deposit accounts can't be used for lending. However, it does sweep customer funds to one or more of its six partner banks to get FDIC insurence.
The true fintech operations generated about 17% of revenues last year but are expected to be the growth engine. The company expects the B2B tech platforms to represent 25% of revenues by 2025.
The other financial services segment only 2% of revenues last year, but is expected to be almost a third of revenues by 2025. These include such products as investment accounts, insurance, credit scoring, and cryptocurrencies.
The money game is notoriously difficult whether you're JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) or a small community bank. This is particularly true if the company doesn't generate substantial free cash flow.
I'll let SoFi describe it best according to their SEC filings which I doubt very few investors read nowadays.
"We expect our competition to continue to increase, as there are generally no substantial barriers to entry to the markets we serve," the filing said.
Every new fintech company thinks they're better than the competition, and some may be.
But the overwhelming amount of consumer lenders, community banks, national banks, brokerage firms and other fintech competitors can not be ignored when investing in this company.
Naming Rights Makes Me Bearish
Valuations are hard to come by with low levels of EBITDA and no shareholders equity to speak of. Let's just say SOFI stock is an overvalued fintech/bank/financial services company that doesn't deserve a $12 billion market cap at this point.
But what really makes me bearish though is the stadium naming rights issue. In 2019 it was reported that SoFi is paying $20 million per year for 20 years to be the name of the new Los Angeles multi-use stadium that will host the LA Rams and LA Chargers.
There used to be a study that correlated when a company pays for expensive stadium naming rights, soon after the stock suffers materially. Think Enron, CMGI, PSINet, Fruit of the Loom, 3Com, Conseco, Adelphia, and Transworld.
On the surface, what is a company that is EBITDA negative and doesn't generate free cash flow (at least in 2019) doing spending $20 million a year for that type of failed marketing? Just a crazy and non-sensical allocation of capital.
I believe SoFi is doomed simply for that reason.
On the date of publication, Tom Kerr did not hold a position in any security mentioned in the article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Tom Kerr has worked in the financial services industry for over 25 years. Currently he is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Rocky Peak Capital Management. Prior to that he was Chief Investment Officer and Director of Research of SGL Investment Advisors, and has served in a number of positions at other investment related organizations. Mr. Kerr has also been a contributing writer to TheStreet.com, RagingBull.com and InvestorPlace.com. He's a CFA charterholder and obtained a B.B.A in Finance from Texas Tech University.
Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/08/sofi-stock-is-doomed-for-a-reason-you-may-never-even-have-considered/.
7 Stocks Getting Ready for a Major Breakout


December 4, 2018 -- A federal judge in Atlanta denied an attempt by a retailer of tainted Rhino male enhancement pills to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the company of false advertising and unfair competition.
This marks the first time a federal judge has weighed in on lawsuits filed by Outlaw Laboratory, LP, which makes competing products, under the Lanham Act against businesses accused of profiting from the illicit sales of male enhancement products known to contain sildenafil and other pharmaceutical drugs.
Gas station and convenience store operator ABCDP Inc., of Roswell, Georgia, was sued in federal court in May for its role in the sale of the pills. ABCDP sought to dismiss the claims on standing grounds, arguing that it was not legally responsible for the misleading statements on the products' packaging, and that Outlaw did not prove it suffered any damage from the Rhino sales.
"Indeed, a plain reading of Amended Complaint, in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, illustrates that ABCDP's role in advertising, promoting and making available for sale Defendants' male enhancement products, which allegedly contained false and misleading statements, directly resulted (at least in part) in Plaintiff's economic and reputational injuries based upon the 'diversion of business from Plaintiff to Defendants,'" wrote Totenberg, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
"The laws against false advertising and unfair competition make it very clear that the disseminator and benefactor of the statements – any entity that profits from consumers being intentionally misled — may be held liable for unfairly profiting over a legitimate competitor, as well as for any physical injuries resulting to unsuspecting people who consume these dangerous products," said Robert Tauler, of Tauler Smith LLP.
"The Rhino products subject to the lawsuit do not list sildenafil, a prescription-only drug, on the label and seek to assure buyers with false statements, including that the products are 'all natural,' contain 'no harmful synthetic chemicals,' 'no prescription necessary,' and have limited side effects. Using Viagra without a doctor's supervision, especially by those with underlying medical conditions, can result in death, serious penile injuries (blood clots and amputation, for instance), heart attacks, stroke and lifelong vision problems.


The Muste project was suggested in February 2009 by Reijo Sund. The main motivation for the project was that certain unique or otherwise useful properties of Survo were not available in the form of an open source multiple platform software. As the R project had become very popular, and offered an appeling environment for implementing open source statistical software for multiple platforms, it was a natural choice to test how it would be possible to produce Survo-look-a-like functionality in this environment.
It quickly turned out that the Tcl/Tk package, that is a part of base R, would allow the implementation of the editorial approach. More precicely, so called text widget made it possible to create a window containing text and control it appropriately. The first step was to develop a simplified look-a-like version of the Survo editor using R-language. It was also quite simple to include some commands such as LOAD and SAVE as well as a few matrix operations to be used from the editor. It also turned out that it was possible to run real Survo-modules directly from the editor by calling the corresponding exe-files (with the help of Wine in the non-MS-Windows environments).
One of the very first versions of Muste running.
Such tests were so promising that the next step was to test if it would be possible to use the C source code of Survo in the Muste-project. Professor Seppo Mustonen (the developer of Survo) kindly provided all required source code of Survo for such tests, starting with the Survo library functions and editorial arithmetics.
It was rather straightforward to compile the needed parts of the source code of Survo with GCC and then call the produced stand-alone executable from the look-a-like editor running in R. As R allows the use of C sources in the packages, it was also quite easy to implement an exact imitation of the editorial arithmetics of Survo as a part of an actual R-package (i.e. the C code is called from the package's dynamically linked library when needed). Also few other modules were tested, and the conversion required only minor changes to the original Survo C sources.
The next step was to remove the look-a-like editor programmed in R and replace it with the real Survo editor programmed in C. There were some challenges for the implementation, because the I/O-functions had to be reprogrammed to work with Tcl/Tk that was called inside R that run the package compiled from the C sources. Fortunately, the communication between R-level objects and compiled C code works well.
However, especially the screen updating required some tricks, because the strategy to call R function from the C code that then called Tcl/Tk function was too slow if there was a need to produce a lot of small updates. It turned out that the direct call to Tcl/Tk-packages dotTcl()-function was enough to speed up the process (i.e. the idea was to avoid unnecessary R-parsing). The calling of non-registered C-function from the other package required the use of R function R_FindSymbol() (instead of the recommended R_GetCCallable()), and in order to call the function dotTcl() the parameters had to be manually converted to R form (i.e. to LISP-style list).
Another challenge has been to implement an event loop inside the C code that also detected the keyboard and mouse events of Tcl/Tk. The required functionality was obtained by using tcl commands update and after to create a wait-function, and by programming an appropriate event handler so that all keyboard and mouse events recorded also the event time and type that could be peeked using the C-code.
Please see the paper Muste - the R implementation of Survo published in the yearbook of Finnish Statistical Society for more information about the first steps of Muste project.
In may 2013 Muste project had reached such a mature state that its name was changed to: Survo R.


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Latest: COVID-19
Virus tracker
GOP pays price for healthcare stubbornness
By David LauterSenior Editor
Aug. 7, 2020 9:14 AM PT
In a democracy, a political party that steadfastly sets itself against the public will is asking for defeat and will likely get it.
That's the GOP these days on healthcare.
For a dozen years, Republicans have fought an unrelenting campaign in Congress, state legislatures and courts against expanded government help for Americans who need health coverage. At first, that effort yielded the party some big wins, then it became a loser. Now it's become a trap.
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How do we know voters disagree with the Republican stand? They've been asked. Six times in six states, all but one with Republican majorities. As of this week, the score stands 6-0.
The result teaches an important lesson for the presidential campaign and forecasts where policy likely will head if Joe Biden wins in November.
Medicaid's growing popularity
At the high point of his Great Society, President Lyndon Johnson won passage in 1965 of legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid — government-provided healthcare for, respectively, the elderly and the poor. For years after, as a common saying had it, the programs' names described their difference: Americans would care for the elderly; they would, sometimes grudgingly, aid the poor.
Even as Medicare gained steadily in popularity — and cost — becoming politically all-but unassailable, Medicaid initially languished, attacked by conservatives as a form of welfare.
Over the past couple of decades, that's changed, in part because of expansions of the program engineered by one of its champions, former Los Angeles congressman Henry Waxman. With the program now covering one in five medical bills in the U.S. and serving more than 75 million Americans, Medicaid has largely lost the stigma that so often attaches to programs for poor people.
Polling by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation has found that roughly three-quarters of Americans have a favorable view of Medicaid. That includes a large majority of Democrats, unsurprisingly, but even among Republicans, 65% had at least a "somewhat favorable" view of the program, Kaiser found in a 2018 survey.
That shift in attitudes, however, has by and large not reached Republican lawmakers.
In 2010, as part of the Affordable Care Act, Congress approved expanding Medicaid to cover more low-wage working Americans — people with incomes of up to 135% of the federal poverty level, or slightly more than $17,000 per year for an individual. Under the law, the federal government would pick up 90% of the cost, with states covering the rest.
Once the Supreme Court ruled that states had the right to opt out of the expansion, Republican legislatures and governors in 19 red states did so. Many of them had won their elections in 2010, when voters, fearful of the changes Obamacare might bring, swept Republicans into office.
But while voters warmed to the new law, Republican lawmakers remained firmly opposed, and they've fostered a no-compromise position among their core supporters that now gives them little room to maneuver.
In 2016, beaten back in efforts to change the minds of elected officials, Medicaid advocates, led by California healthcare unions, decided to take their case directly to voters in a series of ballot initiatives.
As Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, told Noam Levey in 2018 after the first three victories in their campaign, on healthcare, at least, "we are showing that people in Utah and Idaho and Nebraska want the same thing as people in California."
Maine later joined the other states on that list. Earlier this summer Oklahoma did, too. Now add Missouri.
On Tuesday, Missouri voters, by 53% to 47%, approved a constitutional amendment expanding Medicaid. The measure only won majorities in the state's two big-city regions, St. Louis and Kansas City and their suburbs, and its two university centers, Columbia and Springfield. But even across heavily Republican swaths of rural Missouri, it ran well ahead of the vote share that former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill got in her unsuccessful reelection effort two years ago.
What does that string of victories, five of them in solidly Republican states, mean for the wider course of politics and policy? Two lessons jump out.
First, Democrats have learned over the past decade that complex efforts at market-based solutions to expanding healthcare, like the Affordable Care Act's subsidized marketplaces for low- and middle-income families who lack job-based coverage, don't work politically on two levels: They fail to win over the Republicans they were designed to attract and they aren't as popular with voters as straightforward expansions of public programs.
Biden opposes Medicare for All, but if he wins in November, some form of Medicaid for Many — a public option built around further expansion of the program — will likely form a key part of his administration's program.
And, second, over the next dozen weeks, look for healthcare to once again move into the spotlight of the campaign.
In 2018, Republican efforts to repeal healthcare coverage proved far and away the most effective issue for Democratic congressional candidates.
This year, that issue has been eclipsed by the coronavirus. But if the spread of the virus slows, which President Trump's campaign strategists hope will allow him to start a comeback, he will still face a host of issues on which he was vulnerable long before the pandemic began. His efforts to repeal healthcare coverage for millions of Americans remain high on the list.
Remember that before the coronavirus outbreak, one of the previous low points in Trump's job approval came during his 2017 effort to repeal Obamacare.
Trump knows that, which is why he periodically promises to unveil a "tremendous healthcare plan," as he pledged in his interview last month with Chris Wallace of Fox News. In that interview, he promised a plan in "two weeks" — a standard Trump trope meaning roughly the equivalent of the 30th of February.
He can't develop a real healthcare plan, not only because he's uninterested in the policy issues, but also because he's shackled himself to an ideological faction of his adopted party that firmly opposes any expansion of government help.
In 2016, voters by and large perceived Trump as a moderate. He was hard-line on immigration, of course, but in his campaign, he carefully avoided previous Republican pledges to slow spending on Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements, made supportive statements about same-sex marriage and stepped around many other hot-button ideological issues.
As president, by contrast, he's allied himself firmly with the far-right of the party, and voters have noticed. A series of CBS polls in battleground states this week, for example, found that only about one in eight voters in North Carolina and Georgia viewed Trump as a moderate, compared to well over half who saw him as conservative.
That's fine, of course, with voters who see themselves as conservative, but it's a problem for Trump with the swing voters in closely divided states whose support he barely won four years ago.
Missouri stands as the latest reminder that for Democrats seeking to remind voters why that ideological contrast matters to them, healthcare provides a potent weapon. If the presidential campaign tightens in the fall, as contests typically do, expect to see them wield it far more widely.
Relief negotiations remain deadlocked
Chances are waning for unemployment relief for millions of Americans, Jennifer Haberkorn reported. Talks continued to sputter on Thursday evening, with the two sides still separated by a wide gulf.
Neither side wants to walk away from the table — too much remains at stake, especially for Republican senators running for reelection in swing states — and both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) say they remain committed to getting a deal, but right now, the prospects don't look good.
Trump may take some form of executive action to restore some benefits, including the federal moratorium on home foreclosure, and perhaps a cut in payroll taxes, although the legality of that is under debate. But he's been largely absent from the talks. That's a sign of how he's increasingly wielding less influence, even as crises mount, Eli Stokols and Chris Megerian wrote.
"Congressional Republicans don't want to cross Trump, but they also don't want to carry his water," Republican strategist Alex Conant told them.
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Clock running out for TikTok
Trump's bigger scope for executive action, as past presidents have found, lies in foreign policy, and he's taken a number of actions recently aimed at China — consistent with a major theme of his campaign.
Thursday, he signed an executive order to ban TikTok and WeChat, two popular Chinese-developed apps, from the U.S. within 45 days. As Wendy Lee and Sam Dean wrote, the order comes as Microsoft continues to look at the possibility of buying TikTok's operations in the U.S. and Europe. Trump has said he wants the U.S. Treasury to get a cut of the sale price if that happens.
Combatting campaign disinformation
Black and Latino voters are a main target of disinformation efforts launched by Russia and other foreign actors. As in 2016, the campaigns seek to exploit existing divisions in U.S. society to persuade some voters, especially voters of color, not to show up at the polls.
Unlike in 2016, however, there are now organized efforts to push back at the disinformation campaigns. Evan Halper took a close look at one, run by a group of young activists under the heading of Win Black/Pa'lante.
In theory, the Federal Election Commission might be one agency that could help police illicit efforts to influence U.S. campaigns. In practice, however, the FEC, long toothless, has now been debilitated to the point that it can't even meet. Arit John explains why.
Biden closes in on a running mate
The search for a No. 2 for the Democratic ticket has reached its final stage. Biden is expected to announce his choice sometime next week.
Sen. Kamala Harris remains a leading choice, but several other candidates continue to be in the running, including Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles, former national security advisor Susan Rice, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
Supporters of Bass and Harris have waged an intense lobbying campaign that has divided California Democrats, as Melanie Mason and Phil Willon reported.
Haberrkorn and Adam Elmahrek examined Bass' record, which raises risks for Biden, but also some powerful attractions.
Bass has a low-key manner that has allowed her to work successfully with a wide range of political figures — much like Biden. But she also has a voting record and political background far to the left of the former vice president. It includes elements, such as trips to Cuba, that could hurt his campaign in some key states, especially Florida.
Once the announcement comes, what happens to the candidates who don't get the nod? Some might end up in the Cabinet or other senior positions if Biden wins, as Michael Finnegan reported.
Pandemic's toll reinforces inequality
California's Latinos and Black people feel harsher effects of the pandemic, a new poll from UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies finds. The poll also examines the deep partisan gaps that have emerged in attitudes toward the pandemic.
Orange County needn't provide better coronavirus protections for inmates in its jails under an order from the U.S. Supreme Court. As David Savage wrote, the justices blocked a lower court's order that mandated increased protection. The order is part of a busy summer for the justices, who have ruled on a string of emergency petitions, with conservatives winning nearly all so far.
Not only are there questions about whether jails are adequately protecting people, but the California agency for protecting workers can't protect its own, according to accounts from current and former staff members. Jie Jenny Zou reported on the latest indications of dysfunction at Cal/OSHA.
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Until next time, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration on our Politics page and on Twitter at @latimespolitics.
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David Lauter
David Lauter is a senior editor at the Los Angeles Times, based in Washington, D.C. He began writing news in Washington in 1981 and since then has covered Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and four U.S. presidential campaigns. He served as Washington bureau chief from 2011 through 2020. Lauter lived in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2011, where he was The Times' deputy Foreign editor, deputy Metro editor and then assistant managing editor responsible for California coverage.
Accused Half Moon Bay gunman says he suffered 'years of bullying' as authorities investigate 'deplorable' farm conditions
From California's death row, a phone gave them a love connection. It led to murder


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Motorola Solutions issues reply to bankruptcy filings by Hytera's U.S. subsidiaries, says legal actions will proceed
Written by Donny Jackson
Motorola Solutions today issued a statement indicating the company's belief that recent bankruptcy filings by Hytera Communications' subsidiaries based in the United States will not halt pending legal efforts seeking an injunction that would prohibit Hytera Communications from selling much of its DMR product portfolio.
Provided to IWCE's Urgent Communications this morning, the Motorola Solutions statement describes the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings by Hytera America and Hytera Communications America (West) as being "part of Hytera's purported 'retreat to China' strategy" after Hytera lost a U.S. federal court case. In March, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Norgle of the Northern District of Illinois entered a judgment requiring China-based Hytera Communications to pay Motorola Solutions $345.8 million in compensatory damages and $418.8 million in punitive damages.
"The Hytera parent entity—the entity that is ultimately responsible for all of Hytera's activity and co-liable for the $765 million judgment—did not file for bankruptcy," according to the Motorola Solutions statement. "Hytera's bankruptcy filings appear to be motivated by evading the $765 million judgment and Motorola Solutions' pending request that the Court enjoin Hytera's ongoing sales of Motorola Solutions' stolen technology by seeking a stay of the proceedings against the U.S. subsidiary defendants.
"However, all pending proceedings will continue against the Hytera parent entity, Hytera Communications Corporation, Ltd., including Motorola Solutions' post-verdict requests for the Court to enjoin Hytera's ongoing sales and to award over $200 million in additional damages, interest, and other recoverable expenses to be added to the jury's $765 million verdict. Motorola Solutions remains committed to providing its mission-critical products to all customers in need."
In a response provided to IWCE's Urgent Communications, Hytera reiterated the company's reasoning behind having the U.S. subsidiaries file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"Hytera America filed Chapter 11 in order to maintain its current business operations in the U.S., including continuing to serve and support its dealers and customers, and to preserve the going concern value of its business for the benefit of all creditors and stakeholders," according to the Hytera statement.
Motorola Solutions did not respond to a request from IWCE's Urgent Communications about the source of the company's "Hytera's purported 'retreat to China' strategy" referenced in today's statement in time to be included in this article. Hytera also did not address this portion of the Motorola Solutions statement in the response provided to IWCE's Urgent Communications.
Attorneys for Hytera and Motorola Solution were scheduled to meet today in a mediation session, according to a joint status report filed by the companies earlier this month with the federal court in Chicago. Sources familiar with the case have noted that the sides have participated in mediation sessions previously during the litigation without resulting in any broad settlements on the most important disputes in the case.
If there is no settlement agreement, Motorola Solutions is scheduled to file its first legal brief in support of its injunction request tomorrow. Hytera would be required to file briefs opposing the permanent-injunction request by June 9. Motorola Solutions' deadline for filing a reply on the matter would be June 23. At that point, the injunction decision would be left to the judge.
During the trial, Hytera attorneys acknowledged that three former Motorola [the company had not yet changed its name to Motorola Solutions at the time] employees—Samuel Chia, Y.T. Kok and G.S. Kok—accessed more than 7,000 Motorola documents prior to each of them leaving and joining Hytera shortly in 2008. However, Hytera attorneys described the three engineers as "bad apples" who did not share with anyone else at Hytera that the DMR trade secrets and software were taken from Motorola.
In its statement, Hytera again expressed the company's disappointment with the federal-court ruling .
"As a result, [Hytera] has requested judgment as a matter of law and a new trial," according to the Hytera statement. "Hytera is further prepared to appeal any adverse rulings in a process that may take two or more years. Hytera has faith that the American justice system will provide a fair outcome for this trade-secret and copyright dispute."
If Hytera's request for a new trial is not granted, Hytera attorneys argue that the award to Motorola should be reduced significantly.
In contrast, Motorola Solutions asks that the financial award that China-based Hytera should pay should be increased by including the profits that Hytera has realized during the time since the trial started, interest and attorney fees.
Tags: homepage-featured-4 Companies Coverage/Interference Critical Infrastructure Enterprise Funding Land Mobile Radio News Policy Standards State & Local Government News
Hytera America files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing Motorola Solutions litigation woes
Hytera, Motorola Solutions propose finishing injunction briefs next month
$764.6 million judgment against Hytera made official, but Motorola Solutions injunction request still pending
Hytera opposes injunctive request, says Motorola Solutions 'seeks to monopolize the market'


Growing up in Meersbrook, like most young lads in Sheffield, Ian Thomas dreamed of becoming a footballer.
Born into a family of steel workers, Ian signed for his beloved Sheffield United at the age of just nine.
The dream looked like it could be turned into a reality when he had trials for Southampton alongside a young Alan Shearer.
And at the age of just 14, he signed his first schoolboy contract with the Blades.
Ian said: "My brothers used to play football with me when I was a toddler. We used to make a pitch in our living room unbeknown to my mum and we would move the sofa forward and play with a tennis ball.
Ian Thomas, pictured second from the right on the back row, with Sheffield United.
Ian said he started off as a midfielder but admitted a lack of stamina led to him converting to a centre forward.
He added: "When I was 13, a Southampton scout scouted me and five others and asked us to go down and that's where I met Alan Shearer.
But a back injury at the age of 16, ended any dreams of breaking into professional football and he left Newfield Comprehensive School with three O-Levels.
He said: "I put sport before studies despite my parents saying I needed to have a back-up plan, I put everything into it.
After being dealt the blow that football was not his career, Ian was left with the tough decision of either returning to his parents' native Jamaica or move to London.
He started as an accounts assistant with the NSPCC in 1986 before spending four years working in finance in two London boroughs.
But the dad-of-three admitted he developed a strong desire to help children when he started at Base 51 Counselling Service in Nottingham, only to leave for something entirely different.
The duo ran Dance Records, on Abbeydale Road, before moving to Pinstone Street as well as Record Shack at Park Hill flats.
His next role came as senior finance officer in Derby City Council before moving to Trafford as principal accountant for social services and housing in 1999.
It was there he worked on a project to help provide accommodation to those fleeing the war in Kosovo.
Ian said: "It brought a tear to my eyes when I saw a litle girl with a bullet wound in her face and it made me want to help people even more.
He moved onto become the assistant director of social care and housing before becoming strategic director for children and young people nearer home at Derbyshire County Council.
After three years, he was approached to take on 'the most difficult job in Britain' – sorting out what he labelled as the 'toxic' mess that was Rotherham's children's services following the child sexual exploitation scandal in the town.
He took over as the interim director of children's services on January 1, 2015, succedding Joyce Thacker, who left the council after the publication of the damning Jay Report, which outlined 'blatant failures' by council and police leaders who turned a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of at least 1,400 children in Rotherham between 1997 and 2003.
Ian was made a Commander of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours for his work in Rotherham.
He said: "It was a big shock and surprise when I recieved the letter from the Cabinet Office. My first thought was for my parents who came over from Jamaica.
He left his role in Rotherham last year to take over Lewisham Council as chief executive.
But after just seven months he left to become chief executive of Kingston-upon-Thames Council last month.
He now lives in London but said the Steel City will always be close to his heart.
Ian added: "I live in London but I've still got lots of family and friends in Sheffield and I'm a proud Sheffielder.


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Lev Raphael Web Site
Writers Are Not Robots
January 18, 2020 September 5, 2018 by Lev Raphael
Well, I'm not, anyway.
I do have writer friends who can produce a book (or more) a year no matter what kind of crisis is hitting them at home. Contracts pull them through. That, and stubbornness. I couldn't work with so much pressure; I'd feel like I was on an assembly line….
I was recently at a party and someone asked me what I was working on. I said, "Nothing. I published my 25th book last Fall. I'm taking time off." He looked at me like I was a slacker or something. But that's not an unusual response.
I've been a member of the same health club for over two decades and lots of people there read my Nick Hoffman mysteries set in a college town not unlike East Lansing. No matter when I publish a book in the series, someone will always ask, "So when's the next one coming out?"
It could be the very same week there's been an article in a local paper or a radio interview. Really. As if I'm churning them out on an assembly line with the help of a team of research assistants.
And if I don't have news about another book in press, I often get blank stares. What's wrong with me, am I lazy? seems to be the unspoken assumption.
Okay, publishing 25 books in different genres over the last 25 years isn't shabby — but they haven't come out on any sort of regular basis. Some years I haven't published anything and one year I published three different books just because that's how the publishers' schedules worked out.
In case that sounds like I'm Type A, I should explain that my second novel took almost twenty years to finish. Yes, twenty, working on and off because I kept re-conceiving it. I'm glad I did, because The German Money got one of the best reviews of my life. The Washington Post compared me to Kafka, Philip Roth and John le Carré — and I was sent on book tours in England and Germany to promote the editions published there.
But some books took me only six months to write from concept to completion for various reasons. And another book was fairly easy to put together because it was a collection of already-published essays and didn't need extensive editing. So it's all highly unpredictable.
You can't explain that to the cheerful guys who call you "Dude!" and ask about your next book while you're on the way to the showers just wearing a towel and flipflops. Or people who decide to chat with you while you're sweating on the treadmill. Or the people who think that popping out another book can't be that difficult since it's not like I have a real job, anyway.
Maybe I should ask them, "So, when are you doing your next brain surgery?" or "When's your next super-messy divorce case?' or "When's your next multi-million dollar real estate deal?"
Nah. I'll just blog about it, or write them into my next book. Whenever.
Lev Raphael teaches creative writing online at writewithoutborders.com.
Categories writers, Writing Tags Authors, Books, creative writing, fans author fans, inspiration, Lev Raphael, Memoirs, motivation, mysteries, novels, Publishing, the writer's life, the writing life, writers, writewithoutborders.com, Writing Leave a comment
Why Authors Believe in Ghosts
June 16, 2018 by Lev Raphael
It's because all of us writers are haunted.
Not just by reviews that sting or that never even happened. Not by interviews that went sideways. Not just by book tours that flopped or by books whose sales figures were disappointing.
No, many of the specters hovering around our desks, laptops, and tablets are the books we started and gave up on. They're in our dreams, and their presence lingers no matter what we complete and publish.
We have unfinished chapters, abandoned proposals, piles of research we've boxed, notes we scribbled and filed and can barely decipher any more. Even shelves' worth of reference books we're gathered together, read or skimmed or never got to. There are also characters we fell in love with but we couldn't get around to giving them life.
And then there the ghosts that are more insidious. These are the ghosts inside the books we've written: the plot twists we changed and regretted after the book came out, the scenes we axed for one reason or another, the narrative threads we cut for expediency or coherence but later wished we hadn't. And sometimes a book is haunted by what you wanted it to be, and what you couldn't accomplish for any number of reasons: a deadline, mischance, falling ill, or just not being ready.
One of my ghosts resides in a file cabinet drawer crammed with material for a novel that never grew past a first chapter I'm crazy about. But every time I've gone back to it, I've thought the research involved would take too long, plus I've doubted the book's marketability. It's a novel about a murdered American artist and I've got all sorts of juicy research about him and his family, including a rare book of poetry published by the killer.
For all the time I spent living and dreaming that book, it's stuck in the land of What Might Have Been. The further away I get from it, the less inviting the whole project becomes. And I'm not alone: I know we're all ghost writers of one kind or another.
Lev Raphael is the prize-winning author of The Vampyre of Gotham and 24 other books in genres from memoir to mystery. You can study creative writing with him on line at writewithoutborders.com
Categories writers Tags author, author research, creative writing, ghosts, haunted, http://writewithoutborders.com/, ideas, inspiration, manuscripts, motivation, Publishing, The Ghost Writer, the writer's life, the writing life, unfinished books, unfinished manuscripts, writers, Writing Leave a comment
How Philip Roth Changed My Life
July 7, 2018 May 23, 2018 by Lev Raphael
My first Roth book was Portnoy's Complaint, which I read as a teenager. It blew my mind because I'd never read a first person narrative that was so anarchic. As Roth has written: "Nobody expects a Jew to go crazy in public." It was also wickedly funny, and broke many other taboos. Nothing I read for school came even close to being so alive–and so entertaining. The book changed American literature forever, as the Washington Post reported today.
It hit home for me. The over-protectiveness as well as the carping of Alexander Portnoy's parents reminded me of my own mother and father who sometimes said things just as diminishing and weird. And his rage against anti-Semitism was revelatory. But it would be awhile before I found the courage to write freely about being Jewish, the son of Holocaust survivors, and gay.
Soon after college, I read The Ghost Writer. I was in love with Henry James at the time and it seemed very Jamesian, like one of the Master's tales about the "madness of art"–with a Holocaust twist. I read it over and over. The prose struck me as perfect, the story profound, and I thought that if I could someday write a book even half that beautiful, I would have really accomplished something fine.
I did a report on Portnoy's Complaint in graduate school which had the seminar in hysterics because I read sections of the book aloud. It taught me something about writing as performance which I would utilize years later on my many book tours. I followed his work almost religiously, reading his criticism as well as his fiction, and the anger of his critics in the Jewish community sobered me. My first book, which combined Jewish and gay themes, got some savage reviews in the Jewish press, though nothing as bad or as widespread as Roth's Goodbye, Columbus.
Years later, my memoir about coming terms with Germany as a son of Holocaust survivors was basically ignored by the Jewish press, including publications that had published my short stories and essays. I was relieved in a way. I didn't have the skill to skewer critics the way Roth did, and I would not have relished a firestorm. It was bad enough that when I spoke about that memoir at a famous Jewish venue, I was attacked by members of the audience for saying anything remotely positive about my experiences in Germany. My favorite angry comment, which seems right out of a Zuckerman novel: "Okay, so you've been to Germany, why go back? There aren't other countries in the world?"
Before I became a regular reviewer for the Detroit Free Press, I was asked to review his memoir Patrimony and I declined. I felt too humbled by the power and precision of his work. Now I'm sorry that I didn't at least try.
I met Roth when he spoke at Michigan State University. He seemed bored by the questions from the audience, including mine, and when I had him sign one of his books afterwards, he was as aloof as if the experience pained him. I'd given him one of my own books with a Roth quote written above my signature and he seemed startled, "Did I really write that?"
It was a chilly interaction, but that didn't stop me from reading and enjoying later novels, and assigning his work in a Jewish-American literature class whose students loved The Plot against America. And I'm proud to say that an essay of mine appeared in a collection where he was one of the star contributors. Better still, a reviewer in the Washington Post compared my novel The German Money to Roth (and Kafka!).
I haven't uniformly admired all his books, but he's still a model for me of dedication, insight, and perseverance–and his dialogue is some of the best any contemporary American author has written. Along with James, D.H. Lawrence, Anita Brookner, Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, he's been an abiding, inspiring presence in my life as a writer.
As Dwight Garner puts it so well in the New York Times, "His work had more rage, more wit, more lust, more talk, more crosscurrents of thought and emotion, more turning over of the universals of existence….than any writer of his time."
Lev Raphael is the author of 25 books in many genres, including the historical novel Rosedale in Love (The House of Mirth Revisited). He's been teaching creative writing at Michigan State University and you can study with him online at writewithoutborders.com
Categories writers Tags anti-Semitism, creative writing, critics, Holocaust survivors, http://writewithoutborders.com/, My Germany, novels, Phillip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint, reviewers, reviews, The German Money, The Ghost Writer, The Plot Against America Leave a comment
Writers Are Always Writing, Even When They're Not "Writing"
April 8, 2018 April 8, 2018 by Lev Raphael
People at my health club often ask me "What are you working on?" or "Are you writing another book?" This happens even if I've just published a book. and it was covered in the local newspapers and on local radio.
When I say "I'm always working on something," most people look bemused. It probably sounds too vague, or maybe they think it's an excuse, a cover for the fact that I'm not actually writing anything at all.
But it's the truth. I never stop writing. I don't need a PC, tablet, legal pad, Post-it notes or anything physical to write. Once I have an idea, it settles into whatever part of my brain has become Lev Raphael, Inc. and has its own independent life. Sometimes it has Casual Fridays or staycations, but that company is busy 24/7.
Watching a movie or TV show, I'm not a passive viewer. I rewrite dialogue in my head and sometimes say it out loud (only at home). When I caught an episode of The White Princess, I winced when two characters in Tudor England said to someone whose daughter had died, "I'm sorry for your loss." That struck me as way too 2018, and Lev Raphael, Inc. was thinking of ways the show's writers could have expressed the thought with a less 21st century feel: "Your loss grieves me" or maybe "I mourn for your loss."
Dialogue that misses the mark makes me think harder about the dialogue in whatever book I'm working on.
Of course, I enjoy it more when the dialogue is memorable, and that's one reason I've watched Scandal. It's showcased characters each episode by giving them moments where they go off and repeat themselves in various ways with different emphases. Sometimes the feel is comic, sometimes it's threatening or even grotesque, sometimes it's all of that–and it's always entertaining.
On Scandal the character playing Attorney General David Rosen once actually brought a human head in a box to his ex-girlfriend's apartment, asking her to store it briefly in her freezer or fridge. She was incredulous and demanded to know why the powerful, shady character Rowan had given it to him. Hapless Rosen said it was because he needed a DNA sample to track down a deceased villain. While the box sat in his lap, he explained:
That man terrifies me, I was not about to argue. He gives me a head, I say thank you for the head. I take the head and I go, right?
I had DVR'd the episode, so I replayed this a few times. His lines made me take mental notes about a character in an extreme situation not responding with panic, but acting almost normally while reporting something completely bizarre. The contrast between the box and how he spoke about it was highly instructive: Lev Raphael, Inc. opened another file…..
Lev Raphael is the prize-winning author of 25 books in genres from mystery to memoir, including, Writer's Block is Bunk, a guide to the writing life. You can study creative writing with him on line at www.writewithoutborders.com.
Categories writers, Writing Tags #amwriting, Authors, dialogue, Lev Raphael, Publishing, Scandal, Stephen King, the writing life, writer's block, Writer's Block is Bunk, writer's life, writers, Writing, writing dialogue Leave a comment
The Secret World of Author Blurbs
January 14, 2018 January 10, 2018 by Lev Raphael
Before I got my first book published, a novelist I knew quipped, "The only thing worse than not being published is being published." I had no idea what he meant, but I soon figured it out.
Take blurbs. Begging for blurbs for your forthcoming book is a definite downside of being published. It's humiliating to have grovel to for them rather than have your publisher take care of it (when they remember!). You can feel like Dorothy in Oz.
Far too many authors think blurbs will magically rocket a book to success. That the right, brilliant blurb by some famous author will impress the publisher, readers, reviewers–and of course our friends, family, and fans.
But do blurbs really make a difference in terms of sales? It's hard to say. How can you quantify a blurb's impact? As a reader, there are actually some authors whose names make me not want to read a book because they're what's known in publishing as "blurb whores" and love having their names on as many book jackets as possible.
What you can be sure of is that not getting a blurb you hope and pray for is a major buzz kill, and getting it is often like July 4th on steroids. The entire world is ablaze with joy. Someone famous, or at least someone you admire, has given you their blessing. They like your book, they really like it–won't their fame be contagious?
Is it any wonder blurbs can make us writers frazzled? A writer friend told me a hilarious, sad story about a new author asking a national best-selling author for a blurb. I can't name the celebrity writer, but she's huge. The newbie waited and waited. No response. So the anxious author tried again. This time she got a swift and stinging reply:
"My Dear: I understood your letter to be a request, not a demand."
I sympathized with the celebrity author feeling put upon, but I felt sorry for the writer who was embarrassed, and wished The Famous One had simply said "no" the first time.
Stories like that have made me determined never to ignore a request from an author or publisher asking for a blurb. If I can't do it for whatever reason, I always let them know ASAP.
Still, you never know how competent a publisher is. Once a publisher of mine in New York never got advance copies of my book out in time for blurbs and had to rely on reviews for my previous book. That wasn't a disaster, but it was very frustrating. And I recently did a blurb that the author loved, but despite her insistence, it didn't show up on the book. The publisher wasted my time and the author's, which is just more proof–if anyone needed it–that publishing is a crazy business.
Lev Raphael is the author of Writer's Guide is Bunk and 24 other books in genres from mystery to memoir which have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Categories writers Tags author blurbs, Authors, blurbs, book blurbs, book marketing, book publishing, Books, famous authors, newbie authors, Publishing, the publishing industry, writers, Writing Leave a comment
What Do Writers Really Want?
January 18, 2020 April 27, 2015 by Lev Raphael
The answer is simple: Everything.
Roxane Gay once pointed out in Salon that discussions about whether women writers don't get enough press coverage miss the point. Even successful authors are easily dissatisfied: "What most writers have in common is desire. We want and want and want and want."
I learned this early in my publishing career when an author I was getting to know told me about another writer whose first novel had been reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review. It was subsequently on the NYT best seller list, and sold about 500,000 copies. That's the kind of exposure, notoriety, and sales record most writers would kill for. My friend had lunch with this author who turned out to be miserable. Why? He hadn't been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and couldn't let go of the disappointment.
I've met a millionaire author of thrillers whose books sell worldwide and have been made into movies–but that's not enough. What's missing? Respect from established literary critics. Another writer friend who's spoken all across the country and has taught writing workshops in Europe is eaten up by not being invited to keynote an annual writer's conference back home in a small college town.
No matter what level of achievement writers reach, many of us just can't stop hoping for more. Sadly, we don't wish we were writing better books, we wish we were better known, richer, more respected, had more exposure or just had something other writers had–whatever that is. And in the end, it wouldn't be enough, because for many writers, there's never enough.
Roxane Gay's essay was another voice in the controversy launched when novelist Jennifer Weiner went public about about not being as admired as Jonathan Franzen, not getting his level of respect or review coverage. She's a writer of popular fiction, she's been a New York Times best seller, she's made millions from her books and more than one was turned into a movie. It's an enviable place to be, but she apparently envies literary novelist Jonathan Franzen, who's been on the cover of TIME and endlessly praised by the literary establishment.
Whatever you think about her complaints or about her writing, I can't imagine Weiner would be happy if she had everything she thinks she wants, because there would be something else beyond her reach. She's a writer, after all. For way too many of us, our favorite music is what the poet Linda Pastan calls "the song of the self." It's a one-voice melody that runs up and down the scale "like a mouse maddened/by its own elusive tail."
Lev Raphael is the author of Writer's Block is Bunk and 24 other books in genres from memoir to mystery which you can find at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Categories writers Tags Authors, Career, Jennifer Weiner, Jonathan Franzen, novels, Publishing, Pulitzer Prize, Roxanne Gay, TIME Magazine, Writing 2 Comments
Martin Luther King, Jr. and My Life as a Writer
4 Things Writers Should Know Before Doing Readings From Their Work
Review: All Hail Our New Literary Genius?
Review: "Sword of Kings" is Another Bernard Cornwell Triumph
I Ditched My Famous Literary Agent–And Never Regretted It
Lev Raphael on The New York Times Outs a "Blurb Whore"
Elizabeth Zelvin on The New York Times Outs a "Blurb Whore"
Lev Raphael on Martin Luther King, Jr. and My Life as a Writer
Lydia on Martin Luther King, Jr. and My Life as a Writer
Lev Raphael on Review: "Sword of Kings" is Another Bernard Cornwell Triumph
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Internationale lucht- en ruimtevaart organisatie: Fédération Aéronautique Internationale;
Iberische anarchisten: Federación Anarquista Ibérica;
De Sovjet FAI (pantserwagen) uit het interbellum;
Football Association of Ireland: de Ierse voetbalbond.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Things to know before traveling to Africa's smallest inland country - The Gambia
Senegal - The Gambia (Amdallai) Border Post.
Welcome to The Gambia, a tiny country that is enclaved by Senegal and is cut through by the river Gambia. The Gambia is Africa's tiniest inland country, taking up a distance of 48 kilometers at its widest.
The official language in the Gambia is English, with other languages spoken by different tribes. The other languages such as Wolof, Aku's Creole (Pidgin English) and Mandingo.
The Gambia is a country that understands tourism and has for many years focused on travel and tourism. Most of the travelers from the Gambia come from Europe, specifically the UK as this was a British colony.
Kanilai Ferry crossing the River Gambia.
The Gambian currency is the Gambian dalasi since 1971 which replaced the Gambian Pound.
You can also pay in Euros or US Dollars in certain establishments but remember that you can't exchange the money out of Gambia unless at land borders that enter into The Gambia.
Graffiti on the streets of Banjul, #Gambia 🇬🇲 #BreakingBorders #Thesolowanderer
A post shared by Katchie Nzama (@thesolowandera) on Jul 19, 2017 at 5:51am PDT
The most convenient Bank with a foreign card is EcoBank. This has not changed and remains the same across west and central Africa.
*** Please check the current exchange rate at your time of travel before traveling.
Most hotels in the city will provide you with Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi is uncapped but there is no guarantee that it will always work. I had bought an Orange sim card at the airport. None of the guys spoke English so you may write your request down and they will help you with a smile while teaching you some French or Arabic.
Transport from the border.
The yellow and green taxis are really cheap as a local mode of transport around Banjul. Unless you hire it and negotiate with the driver to take you somewhere specific which would be out of his route.
For longer distance trips, you would get a sharing mini bus. Most of the places you would have to go to you have to use the ferry to cross. This can be annoying and delay you if you trying to keep a schedule. There are no set times for the ferry, and getting on will usually be a moment of pushing as there are a lot of people trying to get from one point to the next. Give the ferry situation a good 2 hours for the wait as well as for crossing. The crossing alone won't take more than 20minutes depending on which ferry you will get on that day, there are 2 different ferries.
Getting off the ferry in Banjul from Barra.
Muslims constitute 90% of the Gambian population, although the country thrives off tourists and tourism it is always important to dress conservatively and respect the cultures and religion of each country. Your shorts and vest will be ok but I would not advise you to wear that to the rural areas. This is not just for the Gambia but for any country you travel to. Also, not the short shorts that almost has your buttcheeks hanging out. But feel free to bring those out for the nightlife.
Well, this is the home of the Jollof. Jollof rice is a dish very popular in West Africa. Jollof is a name that comes from the Wollof people of Sene-Gambia (Senegal and Gambia) and it means one pot, everything is cooked together one pot. So that is the number one dish I would recommend but I was also in the Gambia during mango season and those were some of the juiciest, sweetest mangoes I have ever tasted.
I am generally on the safe side and opt to drink bottled water at all cost.
The local brew is called Julbrew. There is also STAR beer that you will find in all West African countries and every country claims it as their local brew.
FINALLY #BreakingBorders can continue 🎉🤗🎉 Country #16 of #BreakingBorders loading... Country #31 on the African continent for #Thesolowanderer Thank you again Accra. Was great seeing you again 💋
A post shared by Katchie Nzama (@thesolowandera) on Oct 24, 2017 at 8:03am PDT
Visa and Travel Documentation
I got my visa in Pretoria before I traveled for the price of USD35. It takes 2 working days for the visa process and the embassy staff is super friendly and very helpful. Also, I was the first person to ever apply for a Gambian tourist visa. They were also shocked why I would want to travel there. But they told me about their Jollof ad I went there with my stomach ready.
You will need a yellow fever certificate. The beauty of this certificate is that you only have to go back to your travel DR after 5years to renew it.
The docking station at the Juffure village.
The Gambia enjoys a Subtropical weather. They have 2 seasons like all of West Africa – Dry or Rainy season. It is usually warm throughout the year, but you would have to just double check the weather upon your dates of travel. During the dry season, the temperatures can go up to 43 degrees Celsius. That is from November to May.
Remember your sunscreen, hat, sunglasses and loads of mosquito repellent.
The Gambia is a malaria-prone country.
#BreakingBorders is sponsored by Simeka Capital Holdings.
#Breakingborders Africa backpacker Backpacking gambia safari solo female travel things to know travel. blogger west africa
Location: Banjul, The Gambia


Is it an excellent face or a face which could do with a couple of changes that you find in the mirror? On the off chance that you fall into the last class then restorative surgery is for you. A flawless look is conceivable with the redress of the considerable number of disfigurements in the body, minor or major. This can incorporate an orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery bosom diminishment, plastic surgery growth, plastic surgery rhinoplasty, plastic surgery confront, weight reduction surgery, plastic surgery button embed, restorative cosmetic touch up surgery, corrective surgery bosom enlargement, corrective surgery bosom inserts, corrective surgery confront, podiatric surgery (where amendments of the hip, lower leg, foot and knee are embraced) and some more. Many individuals do go in for one or significantly more surgeries relying on their decision, in meeting with the specialist.
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The face is the main thing you see when you meet a man. A great many people initially focus on remedying the face and after that whatever is left of the body. A straightforward thing like a laser facial hair evacuation helps in having any kind of effect. Laser hair evacuation keeps the hair out for all time. That is the reason it is so prevalent and laser hair expulsion swimsuit is quick getting up to speed with the ones who appreciate the shorelines. Laser is likewise prominent with the pixel laser skin reemerging procedure where the skin staining is practically evacuated and it fixes the skin and with a check change in its surface. Another new method being presented the field of plastic surgery is endoscopic plastic surgery where the specialist gets a picture of the inward structure. The entry point made to embed the endoscope is fairly little leaving no imprints after the surgery.
A facial plastic surgery is presumably the most widely recognized facial surgery. A laser plastic surgery is utilized successfully, the feature being that it should be possible on neighborhood anesthesia and does not leave checks as a rule. A facial restorative surgery can do miracles to one's looks. A cosmetic touch up surgery is done to evacuate the abundance fat store on the face. The facelift surgery makes the skin more tightly and removes a long time from your face. Pick your cosmetic touch up specialist with care and alert. An appropriate exchange and comprehension of the entire technique with the specialist is an outright should.
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CALGARY, April 15, 2019 /CNW/ – Pond Technologies Holdings Inc. (« Pond ») (TSX.V:POND.V – News) is pleased to announce that it has received a binding funding commitment from its project funding partner, New York-based, boutique investment company, Inventiv Capital Management (ICM) to provide up to CDN $7 Million for Phase 1 of the Stelco Project and up to CDN $13.5 Million for Phase 2 of the Stelco Project. The balance of the project financing has been secured from the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and Pond.
The Stelco Inc. Lake Erie Works facility is located in Ontario, Canada. When completed, the Stelco Project is expected to produce 3,500 Metric tonnes of algae and sequester approximately 6,300 Metric tonnes of CO2 per year. Algae biomass from this facility can be used for high-protein feed for fish and livestock, or as a renewable feedstock for pigments, or bio-plastics. Pond has already completed process engineering and is currently commissioning the first algae bioreactor for this project.
Inventiv, https://inventivcapital.com/ manages fiduciary investments targeting outperformance which are designed to drive institutional scale capital into solutions that support the United Nations Sustainable Development goals..
Located in Markham Ontario, Pond is a technology company that provides profitable solutions to the global health and wellness challenges of climate change and nutrition. Pond's proprietary growth platform, including patented advanced photonics, optimizes key growth inputs in order to provide a controlled environment that maximizes the growth of algae and other organisms. This enables industrial emitters to generate new revenue streams from the transformation of underutilized CO2 to valuable algae-based products, such as protein for animal feed and nutraceutical products like Chlorella, Spirulina, and Astaxanthin for human consumption. For more information visit https://www.pondtech.com/.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding expected production from the Stelco project and, anticipated funding from Inventiv. Such forward-looking statements are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Pond, including expectations and assumptions concerning Inventiv's ability to source opportunities for deployment of Pond's technology that are timely and economically accretive to Pond, and the satisfaction of the due diligence in respect of such opportunities. Although Pond believe that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on thereon and Pond can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. By its nature, such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause the actual results and expectations to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date hereof, and to not use such forward-looking information for anything other than its intended purpose. Pond does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.


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, född 23 september 1991 i Tochigi prefektur, är en japansk fotbollsspelare.

Nakami började sin karriär 2014 i Tochigi SC. Efter Tochigi SC spelade han för Sagan Tosu, Zweigen Kanazawa och Matsumoto Yamaga FC.

Källor

Japanska fotbollsspelare
Spelare i Tochigi SC
Spelare i Sagan Tosu
Spelare i Zweigen Kanazawa
Spelare i Matsumoto Yamaga FC
Födda 1991
Levande personer
Män
Personer från Tochigi prefektur


Former Bachelor Arie & His Fiance Bought a PHX Home!
Khloe K FINALLY Adresses Tristan's Cheating!
Kanye's HARSH Words to KIM!
We all know Kanye can be mean to random people, but to his LOVE Kim Kardashian?! dang. Check out what he said to her here: I would be SO OFFENDED with that approach!
Pete Davidson is REALLY Excited To Be Engaged to Ariana Grande!
Starbucks Is Shutting Down LOTS of Stores!


After years of mobile web mediocrity, an evolution of existing standards is finally here. Progressive Web App (PWAs) technology is poised to transform mobile shopping as we know it into an engaging, lightning fast experience.
Join our upcoming webinar with Adobe's Peter Sheldon and Google's Chris Sater as they discuss "Redefining the Modern Mobile Experience".
Thank you for your submission. To watch the webinar, please click the button below.
We've put together this educational primer to provide an overview of Progressive Web App technology and how it's being positioned to transform the way consumers – and merchants – conduct business through mobile.


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Body Camera Video: Shootout Between University Of Chicago Police Officer And Gunman In Hyde ParkBody camera footage released by the University of Chicago shows a shootout between a U of C police officer and a gunman a few blocks from campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Musicians On Call: Just What The Doctor OrderedA little music seems like just what the doctor ordered for some patients Nancy Giles has been visiting:
Chicago Blues Festival In Full SwingGuitarist Jimmy Johnson paid tribute to Chicago blues icon Magic Sam at the opening night of the annual Chicago Blues Festival.
Remembering Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater"Eddy would hit the stage with that big smile of his and win over the crowd right from the start. He was loved by all."
A 7-Eleven Is Blasting Opera Music To Stop Crime & LoiteringThe Jacksonville convenience store has reportedly been blasting the classical tunes for three weeks in the hopes of encouraging unwanted guests to leave the area.
Live Nation Kicks Off 'National Concert Week' With $20 Ticket OfferThe events promoter is celebrating the start of National Concert Week with $20 "all-in" tickets to over 2,000 of the company's tour of summer concerts.
Avicii, EDM Pioneer And DJ, Found Dead At 28The Swedish-born producer and DJ known as Avicii has been found dead in Oman. Publicist Diana Baron said in a statement that the 28-year-old DJ, born Tim Bergling, was in Muscat, Oman.
2018 Grammy Awards: List Of Winners In Top CategoriesBruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar win big at this year's Grammys.
2018 Grammy Awards: List Of Nominees In Top Categories Jay-Z is the leader of the 2018 Grammy Award nominations in a year where the top four categories are heavily dominated by rap and R&B artists, giving the often overlooked genres a strong chance of winning big.
Jay-Z Leads Grammy Nominations With 8Jay-Z is the leader of the 2018 Grammy Award nominations in a year where the top four categories are heavily dominated by rap and R&B artists.
Drake Did Not Submit Latest Album To The GrammysDrake's "More Life" album won't earn him more Grammy Awards: The rapper didn't submit the album for consideration at the 2018 Grammys.
Women Dominate American Music Awards, But Not As NomineesThis year's American Music Awards was a reflection of the year in pop music, with women dominating the show, but not as nominees or winners.
Chicago's 39th Annual Jazz Festival With Dr. Lonnie Smith TrioChicago's 39th annual Jazz Festival kicks off this weekend in Millennium Park.
Another Music Loss, Remembering George Michael And A Look Back At 2016 Loses2016 comes to an end, with the passing of pop singer George Michael, one of many iconic musicians who died this year.
Beyoncé And Adele Receive Emmy NominationsBeyoncé and Adele's new music are sure to earn multiple Grammy nominations, but before that they are celebrating with Emmy nominations.
The Ultimate Running Playlist for EnduranceMusic can play a significant role when you're training for or participating in an endurance event and this master trainer offers her best choices for a perfect playlist for endurance.
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Working For Chicago


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WAITING FOR MAMA
The Lower East Side life of Russian/Jewish immigrants, as experienced by Becky, who has come over with her father, brother and older sister Rachel though Mama and the baby were barred from passage because the baby got sick. As Mama had to use her boat fare to return to Russia, the rest of the family must work and save up for a new ticket--all except Becky, who has to go to school instead but wishes she could do her part. Then Papa, who presses suits, finally amasses enough pennies and nickels to send for Mama, Rachel begins doing extra sewing late at night so that she can buy material to make her mother a coat, and Becky sneaks out of bed to help, earning enough pennies to buy silver buttons for the coat. Much of the interest lies in the drabness and poverty of the milieu, which is appropriately conveyed by Lebenson's sentimental-realistic black wash illustrations--and if that final huddled family portrait with the Statue of Liberty in the background crosses the border into heart-clenching cliche, Lebenson is only taking his cue from the text.
Pub Date: April 1st, 1975
Page count: 91pp
Publisher: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan


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Pok last won the day on February 23 2018
Pok had the most liked content!
About Pok
Sircan
Warcradle Zak
Bad Idea Comics
Toxic_Rat
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: New profiles for Dystopian Legion Troops in LWX? April 9
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: An example of Vector Movement December 7, 2018
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: An example of Vector Movement November 24, 2018
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: Notes from Stuart, part 2 October 20, 2018
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Notes from Stuart, part 2
Pok replied to Toxic_Rat's topic in General Discussion
As long as it's not boiled down to "Directorate is corporate, therefore the ships have to be freighters with guns bolted on" sort of caricature (which doesn't make sense, logically a corporation would produce something as cost-effective as possible, and purpose-built warship will be more cost-effective than freghter with guns), or aquan ships being literal dolphins with lasers, and there's enough continuity concept-wise I'll be happy to check it out.
Too Easy to Sink Ships.....
Pok replied to Dave Bednarek's topic in General Discussion
There is nothing stopping you from "roleplaying" and moving the ship off the table when it's damaged. The fact is, making a game where not getting hurt is the way to win is going to result in turtle tactics. Getting a game in is a massive expenditure of time- you prepare the models, you paint them, you arrange a game in your precious time off work, and then it's over by turn 1 because Yamato got scared off by some torpedoes? Sure, it might be realistic, but I personally will not bother playing a game that simulates the most boring aspects of battle, and given that none of the mainstream games do so either, I imagine I'm not in minority on this.
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: Too Easy to Sink Ships..... September 29, 2018
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: Future FA rules September 8, 2018
The Beta Lives!
On the contrary, I enjoyed 1.0 and 1.1 a lot. But that was very much despite the rulebook's best attempts rather than thanks to them. So yes, when I see that the new company took steps to amend what was in my opinion the biggest stinkers (SRS spam and boarding), I will gladly voice my opinion in it's defense.
I will ignore the fact that this was literally the Spartan games' reputation online, the game where whoever rolls more 6s wins (due to exploding D6 and bucket of dice attacks), but there is nothing non-abstract about how boarding worked. Nothing about the defender/attacker allocation was realistic, considering who won in which section of the ship had no result on what assault effects you got, and therefore made the whole thing a waste of everyone's time.
You mean killing the company? But yeah, this threat mostly proves there is no point in relying on "old fans" when trying to promote a revival of an IP, they just want the game that failed once already. As for the ever useful comment of "if you didnt like X just dont do X", guess what, opponents could've boarded me even if I didnt board anything, and then I had to play out the confused, slow, unexciting "boarding" process anyway. It was poorly written, poorly executed, and added no actual depth to the game.
GreenOakSteve reacted to a post in a topic: The Beta Lives! September 1, 2018
Kaptyn Krys reacted to a post in a topic: The Beta Lives! September 1, 2018
sleeping_squirrel reacted to a post in a topic: The Beta Lives! August 31, 2018
I genuinely hope damage reduction of ad is a thing of the past. It slowed the game to a crawl, if i have to pick between aos or new dw, i will go for the one that plays faster. As for boarding, it was always a chore in dw, so im happy its more like FA 2.0 boarding.
Dystopian Wars Beta Rules and their implications on FSA
Pok replied to Brimat's topic in General Discussion
Im pleasantly surprised.
I will be honest, this thing, at least after one read, exceeded my expectations. Such a marked improvement over the 2.0 version. Less clutter, the dual state statscards are elegant solution. Not a huge fan of so many different extra cards, but overall it looks like i will be giving it a whirl to try out.
Toxic_Rat reacted to a post in a topic: Is the 3.0 in the pipeline scrapped April 21, 2018
Future FA rules
Pok replied to Frans's topic in General Discussion
And with that, my interest in the project dies. I have nothing against the man as a person, but I couldn't stand Planetfall, his take on Dystopian, and I doubt I'll like his take on FA. I'll check the rules out when they're done, but don't expect miracles out of it.
Casualties in Space Combat
Pok replied to alextroy's topic in General Discussion
It feels like discussion about wording. In game terms, a ship with 0HP is out of action. To you, as a commander, it doesn't matter if it turned into gas or just blew a tire. In either case, it's state is so bad it cannot move under it's own power. After the battle the victor can roll to see if his ships are recoverable (probably not tho...at some point, the cost of repairs is higher than cost of building a new ship) if you want to play a campaign, but it should have no impact on the actual battle. It's destroyed until proven otherwise.
Ryjak reacted to a post in a topic: Future FA rules March 6, 2018
I think the military has a special name for people who run away from the fight without orders?
fracas reacted to a post in a topic: Future FA rules March 3, 2018
You die, because there is no way that a human can react in time to anything happening in any remotely hard sci-fi combat scenario.
Skyhawk reacted to a post in a topic: Future FA rules February 23, 2018
Warcradle Stuart reacted to a post in a topic: Future FA rules February 23, 2018
How about we start with a working engine that's quick, fun and allows for decent tactical choices first, so we know what has to be written to make it work background wise?
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: Thoughts on ship Classes February 20, 2018
Pok reacted to a post in a topic: What if you didn't halve dice when linking? February 20, 2018
Less Dice Rolls, More Game
I'd rather stick to damage dice if possible. I tried DropFleet, and the pegs damage system was used once before we went back to the more convenient and quicker dice damage tracking. Apps are fine...until the phone battery dies, which as we all know, happens at the worst of times. Cards are a fine solution, I don't mind them at all, and best option would be to have a simple program to prepare a fleet list, and print it out with all hardpoints accounted for. It also gets round the "1st ed cards packed with models when we're on v2" issue that come with pre-printed cards.
Is the 3.0 in the pipeline scrapped
Pok replied to Sniddy's topic in General Discussion
What I'd like to see but almost certainly will not be is move from land-inspired "lots of chaff, some mediums and few larges" list. Look at Jutland, the British had 28 battleships involved, with 14 cruisers/light cruisers in squadrons, and around 45 destroyers in the grand fleet. Obviously no one will field 28 BB's in a game, but it shows a force that is much more top-heavy than "balanced" fleets in Firestorm. I could be an unique selling point- focusing the game on large ships, you could have as much depth of detail as you want without bogging it down.