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EdTech Winter School 2018
RETHINKING EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
CENTER FOR RESEARCH – CEIBAL FOUNDATION
Promoting research in in Education and Technology
The Center for Research – Ceibal Foundation was created in January 2014 by Ceibal Center; the institution in charge of the first nationwide digital inclusion programme based on the One Laptop per Child model in Uruguay, namely Plan Ceibal. The center was established as an independent institution in relation to Ceibal Center with the aim of promoting excellence in research, capacity-building, knowledge transfer and international cooperation in the field of education and technology. Since 2014, the foundation has actively promoted multidisciplinary and international projects and programs with research centres, ministries of education, public and private educational institutions in Latin and North America, Europe and Asia.
After the success of the 1st EdTech Winter School in 2017 "Emerging trends and new horizons in the study of education and technology", the Center for Research – Ceibal Foundation in partnership with ANII (Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación), will soon open the call for applications to this year's edition.
The theme for the 2018 edition will be "Rethinking education in the age of digital technology". It aims to gather leading keynote speakers from diverse fields at the intersection of education and technology, such as Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining, Teacher training and development, digital and media literacy, skills among others.
The EdTech Winter School aims to offer a stimulating learning environment for participants to present their work or research in the field of EdTech to an international community; to discuss key challenges and opportunities, research trends and policies with leading international experts. Additionally, Winter School participants will have the opportunity of creating joint research proposals and apply to the Education Sector Fund: Digital Inclusion: Education with New Horizons, created by the foundation and ANII.
This year edition "Rethinking education in the age of digital technology" aims to assess, analyze and explore the diverse challenges and opportunities that educational systems face in the 21st century, in particular related to the fast-paced change and advancement of digital technologies.
The past decade has witnessed multiple changes across the economy and society brought or influenced by the gradual integration of information and communication technologies across every sector. ICT have reshaped every aspect of human life, creating new forms of communication and collaboration, enhancing and favouring human rights, creating new economic models, fostering innovation and disruption just to name a few.
While education has and is still being influenced by digital technologies in a moderate way, it is necessary to address how its future might be shaped by ICT-related advancements -such as the Internet of Things or Artificial Intelligence-, and which changes those may bring to society. As other policies, education needs to be able to provide suitable answers to societal needs and challenges, therefore also encompassing changes.
This 2018 edition of the EdTech Winter School will focus on rethinking education with a current but also future perspective in light with the changes that digital technologies are generating across the globe, addressing some of these key questions:
Which is the current landscape of digital education across the world?
Which are the challenges and complexities affecting education and which actions are been taken to address the first?
Are education systems responsive to societal needs and technological change?
Which is the role of digital technologies in education; including institutional and policy frameworks,teachers development, practices and pedagogical methods; teacher and students role in the teaching-learning equation, students' learning practices and skills acquisition; students performance, evaluation and assessment among others?
Have digital technologies generated or enhanced changes in teaching and learning practices and if so, which is the potential of these changes to translate into long-term learning improvements and outcomes across the world?
Are digital technologies fostering disruption or innovation in pedagogical models or teaching practices?
Is education preparing students for the future of work and which is the role of digital technologies in that field?
How are we assessing and evaluating education in the age of digital technology?
The Winter School will offer an exciting opportunity for postgraduate students and early career faculties to analyze and discuss cross-cutting topics at the intersection of Educational and ICT research and policy with leading international experts in the fields; to present their work in the area fostering the creation of networks, exchange experiences and expertise, and creating synergies for future collaboration and work.
Specific objectives:
To create a collaborative environment of discussion and analysis involving keynote speakers from a diversity of international universities and research centers, along with early career scholars and students. This will be an opportunity for learning about novel research methodologies and scientific perspectives enabling capacity-building and knowledge transfer in areas of common interest.
To present and exchange national and international research-based case studies across the five lines for research of the Winter school: Social uses of ICT and Digital Culture; Resources and Platforms; New Ways of Knowing, Learning, Teaching and Evaluate; Extended learning achievements and Educators in the Digital Age.
To create a long-term international academic network of excellence in education and technology (EdTech) based on multidisciplinary studies with different methodological perspectives. The academic network aims to enable international capacity building in the fields of EdTech, innovation and inclusion. This community will be also of great value for promoting and implementing international research projects, seminars and initiatives in the field.
Additionally, Winter School participants' will be invited to:
Collaborate in a special publication that will be prepared, where attendees will disseminate the results of their work during the workshops
Explore future collaborations in areas of common interest;
Become a Ceibal Foundation's affiliate and participate in collective books publications,
Dissemination of academic works in the Institutional Repository of Ceibal Foundation, among other scientific initiatives.
PROGRAM (4 days +1 open day)
From June 4 to June 7, 2018. Open day – June 8, 2018. The School took place at the Hotel del Lago (Punta del Este, Uruguay).
During a week of academic activities, the participants acquired valuable knowledge, skills and significant perspectives in the fields of EdTech, educational innovation and social inclusion. The official language of the event was in English, so the participants had to have a good command of the language.
The program combined lectures, training, workshops, based on joint project-based learning.
International academics and renowned experts were invited to discuss their latest studies and work together with the participants during the workshops.
The participants also organized themselves into teams to design research projects or an impact assessment study of a national EdTech policy. This multidisciplinary work was presented as a poster at the end of the Winter School with the assistants and other communities.
Several social activities were included in the program.
Learn about the working groups and the presentations made during the school
The "open day" (public event) was an additional opportunity where speakers and participants shared their research with teachers and students of elementary and secondary schools and lyceums. The objective of this last day was to exchange knowledge and good practices in education and technology. Learn more about the characteristics of the day [in spanish] HERE.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS
The Winter School has three target audiences:
National and international postgraduate students enrolled in a doctorate, a master's degree or a specialized course at the time of application;
Researchers and national and international teachers;
Makers of national and international policies involved and / or interested in education and technology.
A total of 102 applications were received. The review stage was extended from April 2 to April 16.
The organizing institutions provided full scholarships for the candidates who had the best profiles. In the 2017 edition, a total of 20 scholarships were awarded, while in the second edition a total of 23 full scholarships were awarded. On the other hand, different institutions financed the participation of national and foreign candidates. Centro Ceibal financed the participation of five national participants, and the Education Training Council financed the participation of four national participants. For its part, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Sadozky Foundation, Deakin University (Australia), @Aprende Mx and the Ministries of Peru and Jamaica provided scholarships to a total of 7 foreign participants.
The candidates must have been able to demonstrate academic knowledge or professional skills and experience in the fields related to education and technology, ICT and innovation, and social inclusion. The participation of young candidates, who were beginning their academic or professional career, was positively valued.
The selected candidates were 35, (17 from Uruguay, and 18 from abroad). Among the participating countries, apart from Uruguay, the following stand out: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, the United States, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Paraguay, the United Kingdom and Serbia. The majority of the participants were women (60%), in line with the 2017 edition in which 63% of the participants were women).
The following image shows the presence of participants by country for both editions of the Winter School (thumbtacks in white), as well as the participation of speakers according to the country (thumbtacks in black). In addition to Uruguay, Central America and Argentina stand out as the region and the country with the highest level of participation in the School. United States corresponds to the most important place of origin for the case of international speakers.
Image 1. Participants and speakers according to the country
Image 2 shows the characteristics of the participants for both Winter School editions. Regarding the academic training of the participants, image 2 shows the district for both editions. During the second edition of the school (2018), there is a greater participation of PhD or PhD candidates (7% more). The participation of teachers and candidates for doctors and M.A. is also higher in 2018.
Image 2. Participants academic formation
Shulamit Kotzer, PhD. Dr. Kotzer earned her bachelor degree in Life Science from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. She has graduated with honors in Human Biology, and earned a PhD in Computational Biology from Bar Ilan University Israel. She is also a coordinator of Science and technology program, Medical Sciences program, and teaches in the Science and Arts School in Hadera. In 2010 Shulamit joined the Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, as a developer of online curricular science programs for students and as an instructor of E- learning platform – Moodle. She also lectures in other science educational projects at the Davidson Institute and teacher training courses. Shulamit's work in digital learning has been presented at conferences and published in refereed journals.
Andres Lombana-Bermúdez, PhD. Andres Lombana-Bermudez is a researcher, designer, and digital strategist working at the intersection of digital technology, youth, citizenship, and learning. His approach is transdisciplinary and collaborative, combining ethnographic and quantitative research methods, design-based research, and co-design. He is a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and a Research Associate with the Connected Learning Research Network. Andres has worked in the field of digital media and learning for over a decade and collaborated in projects such as the Digital Edge, Berkman's Youth and Media Lab, the New Media Literacies Project, and Clubes de Ciencia-Colombia. He is particularly interested in researching digital inequalities, citizenship, ICT policy/governance, media ecosystems, and designing for learning, fun and engagement. As a fellow at the the Berkman Center, Andres works with the Youth and Media team. He collaborates with the Digital Literacy Resource Platform, the Youth and Digital Economy, and Coding for All projects, and supports global initiatives such as Digitally Connected, and AI and Inclusion.
Jacob Whitehill, PhD. Worcester Polytechnic Insitute. Assistant professor. His research interests are in machine learning and data science, as well as their applications to effective computing and education. His work is highly interdisciplinary and frequently intersects cognitive science, psychology, and education. Before joining WPI, he was a research scientist at the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning at Harvard University. In 2012, he co-founded Emotient, a San Diego-based startup company for automatic emotion and facial expression recognition. He also love teaching and have lectured, mentored, and tutored students in the USA, South Africa, Rwanda, and Germany.
Luci Pangrazio, PhD. Luci is a Research Fellow in digital literacies/ digital texts at REDI – Research for Educational Impact: Deakin University's Strategic Research Centre for research in Education. Working with Professor Catherine Beavis, her research focuses on critical digital literacies and the changing nature of digital texts. She is currently studying young people's practices and understandings of personal data. Her research interests include digital literacies, data literacies, young people's digital worlds, software studies, platform studies, and creative and critical research methods. Luci's book 'Young People's Literacies in the Digital Age: Continuities, Conflicts and Contradictions in Practice' will be published in 2018 by Taylor and Francis.
George Siemens, PhD – (Remote participation). George Siemens researches, technology, networks, analytics, and openness in education. Dr. Siemens is Professor and Executive Director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab at University of Texas, Arlington. He co-leads the development of the Center for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) at University of South Australia. He has delivered keynote addresses in more than 35 countries on the influence of technology and media on education, organizations, and society. His work has been profiled in provincial, national, and international newspapers (including NY Times), radio, and television. He has served as PI or Co-PI on grants funded by NSF, SSHRC (Canada), Intel, Boeing, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Soros Foundation. He has received numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from Universidad de San Martín de Porres and Fraser Valley University for his pioneering work in learning, technology, and networks. He holds an honorary professorship with University of Edinburgh.
M.S. Vijay Kumar, PhD. Vijay Kumar has been providing leadership for sustainable technology-enabled educational innovation at MIT for the past 21 years. He is currently MIT's Associate Dean of Digital Learning and the Executive Director of the Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL). In his prior roles at MIT as Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Assistant Provost and Director of Academic Computing, as well at other institutions, Vijay has been responsible for strategy development and leading units engaged in the effective integration of information technology and media services in education.
Michael Trucano, ICT & Education Specialist – (Remote participation). Michael Trucano is the World Bank's Senior Education & Technology Policy Specialist and Global Lead for Innovation in Education, working on issues at the intersection of technology use and education in middle- and low-income countries and emerging markets around the world. At a practical working level, Mr. Trucano provides policy advice, research and technical assistance to governments seeking to utilize new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their education systems. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Trucano has been advisor on, evaluator of, and/or working-level participant in, educational technology initiatives in over 50 middle- and low-income countries.


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Home British Athletics
UK Athletics announce a loss for 2021-2022
byStuart Weir
Mueller Anniversary Games, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
Our friends across the pond have other issues. Their financial challenges since 2017 have been well known. Only in the last two years have the right questions been asked, and under Ian Beattie, chair of UKA, a plan has come about to remedy those issues. Stuart Weir wrote this piece about how UKA is responding to its challenges.
In most cases, interested parties do not have issues with federations when they have financial issues as long as they are developing plans to correct them and build the sport. UKA is in that process. We wish them much success.
Jake Wightman, 2022 World Champ at 1,500m, opens with a tough 3,000m in Sheffield!
Sports Journalists Association (UK) annual awards
Ann Packer, 1964 Olympic champion, 800 meters
UK Athletics announce a loss.
The UK Athletics annual accounts for the year ending 31 March 2022 show a loss of £1.8 (approximately $2.2 Million). Ian Beattie, who became chair of UKA about halfway through the financial year, commented:
"There are multiple reasons that UKA finds itself in this position, but in overall terms, the financial commitments made in recent years have exceeded the income that we have been able to generate, compounded by a significant shortfall in the commercial area.
"The severe cost challenges from operating during the pandemic and the impact on event income have remained a factor in the 2021-22 financial year. A number of changes in staffing structures and associated payments have also added to this pressure, as have significant unbudgeted but essential costs incurred in the safeguarding area.
Ian Beattie, photo by British Athletics
"As a result, I, as Chair, our CEO Jack Buckner and the senior team now in place at UKA have been working hard on a number of areas to ensure that we turn around our financial position, rebuild our reserves and reverse the downward trend in our finances".
Dina Asher-Smith, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
Beyond the issues of finance, the annual report documents the performances and successes of British athletes competing at three major championships across one summer, as well as a host of other international competitions. Beattie stressed that the challenging financial position "does not impact upon the performance team or the World Class Programme operations, which continue to be well supported by UK Sport and the funding we are provided from the National Lottery". The World Class Programme is the funding given to 66 British Athletes through the UK Athletics Olympic World Class Programme for 2022/23 and a similar number of Paralympic athletes.
Beattie also referred to "staff and structural changes with some high-salaried positions removed from the structure, whilst maintaining expertise and knowledge within the organisation". These include the departure of head coach Christian Malcolm whose post was made redundant after the summer.
The structure of track and field in the UK is complicated, with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland having a separate governing bodies. Beattie stated that UKA had "begun the transfer of some areas of activity to our colleagues within the Home Country Athletics Federations, including some areas of development work in the officials and coaches area, along with lower level competition licencing. We believe that these changes are the right way forward for the sport, placing responsibility with the Home Countries who are better placed to perform this work". It will also help UKA's budgetary problems.
Laura Muir, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
UKA has a contract allowing the use of the London Stadium (2012 Olympic stadium) for one month of the year. The financial challenges have re-opened the question of whether UKA would be open to tearing up the contract in exchange for a significant pay-off. Ian Beattie made clear in a briefing that no offer has been received.
See the full UKA 2021-22 financial year accounts: (Follow this link)
Stuart Weir
Since 2015, Stuart Weir has written for RunBlogRun. He attends about 20 events a year including all most global championships and Diamond Leagues. He enjoys finding the quirky and obscure story.
2022 RunBogRun Cross Country Recovery Program, Week 1 of 3, day 4
Coffee With Larry, for Thursday, December 15, 2022, Promoting the sport, World Champs coming to Budapest! Tracktown needs to attract fans…
Coffee With Larry, for Thursday, December 15, 2022, Promoting the sport, World Champs coming to Budapest! Tracktown needs to attract fans...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Костро́мка () — присілок у складі Ярського району Удмуртії, Росія.

Населення
Населення — 90 осіб (2010, 114 у 2002).

Національний склад станом на 2002 рік:
 удмурти — 74 %
 росіяни — 26 %

Примітки

Посилання
 На Вікімапії

Населені пункти Ярського району
Присілки Удмуртії

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Tag: steemleo
Binance's 10th Token Burn
January 18, 2020 Published by rollandthomas
Binance was founded and
run by the one of the great minds in the crypto space, Changpeng Zhao aka CZ.
CZ was originally a coder who built high-frequency trading systems on Wall
Street. He eventually moved into the crypto space working for crypto
wallet/block explorer service Blockchain.info and serving as CTO for the crypto
project OKCoin.
But then CZ lauched Binance in the 2017 and in nine months, Binance became the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume making CZ a billionaire in the process. The rest is kind of history, but Binance continues to make history and make money moves.
In July 2019, Binance created a new entity in Singapore with Vertex Ventures. In Nov. 2019, they acquired WazirX, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Recently, they made it possible for the people in Thailand to trade and invest in cryptos.
Why the emphasis to expand in Asia? Southeast Asia is the cryptocurrency capital of the world. Most of the bitcoin trading volume and cryptocurrency demand comes from this region. South Koreans spend billions of dollars each year on digital goods like avatars and digital gifts.
South Koreans spend billions of dollars each year on digital goods like avatars and digital gifts. Combined with their love for gambling and speculation, along with their love for digital goods, buying cryptocurrencies instantly became a part of the culture.
Binance just announced its 10th successful quarterly burn in a blog today, and with it, a total of 2.216 million BNB tokens worth $38.8 million were burnt from October to December 2019.
When you think about it, burning tokens in crypto space serves the same purpose of companies on the equity markets buying back their shares…it's all about the perception of supply and demand and how we value that supply and demand of shares/tokens. But in the crypto space, unlike the equity markets, when a crypto company buys back their token to burn, that token disappears forever.
The main reason for burning a cryptocurrency is to increase the value of the other tokens that are in circulation. Many cryptocurrencies have a finite total number that can exist and therefore, assuming the demand for the token remains the same, the value should theoretically go up if there are less in circulation.
But even if Binance didn't have any token burns, their token price would still go up over time because they continue to make history and innovate. So where is price headed next, the chart suggests, price is heading to the weekly supply at $23.
This post is my personal opinion. I'm not a financial advisor, this isn't financial advise. Do your own research before making investment decisions.
Tags: bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, crytocurrencies, neoxian, palnet, steemleo, steempress, timm
Unusual Options Activity In Met Life
MetLife, Inc. engages in
the insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management businesses. The company offers life, dental, group short-
and long-term disability, individual disability, accidental death and
dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, etc. Serving
approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in more than 40
countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin
America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
MetLife was named Life
Insurance Company of the Year at the 2019 Middle East Insurance Industry Awards
(MIIA), organized by Middle East Insurance Review. As the fourth time recipient
of the award, MetLife was commended for its customer focus and recognized for
its efforts in enhancing the customer experience.
Last month, MetLife was
named one of America's "Most Responsible Companies" by Newsweek
magazine. MetLife was the top-ranked insurance company on Newsweek's inaugural
list, and number 19 of all 300 companies recognized.
Several months ago, MetLife got into the financial service business when it bought Bequest, Inc. Bequest helps customers draw up legally valid wills and estate planning documents online.
But an interesting move Metlife
made several weeks ago, was when it bought PetFirst Healthcare, a fast-growing
pet health insurance administrator.
The love affair with
pets, in particular cats and dogs goes back to the Egyptian times. Back in the
Egyptian times, dogs and cats were laid to rest in elaborate tombs decorated
with inscriptions, furnished with treasure and scented by incense. It's
believed that dogs and cats improve human physical and mental health.
68% of households in
America have a pet. This is double the percentage of households that have
children. And pet owners will do practically anything or their cat or dog.
The pet insurance market is under-penetrated and fast-growing. The roughly 85 million families that own pets in the United States spend $18 billionii annually on veterinary care, yet, as of 2018, less than 2 percentiii of pets were insured. Following the acquisition, PetFirst will continue to market pet insurance through animal welfare societies and its direct-to-consumer channel. Beginning in the summer of 2020, MetLife will offer this pet insurance to employers through its leading group benefits distribution channel, reaching approximately 41 million employees and dependents across the U.S.
Katie Blakeley, CEO of PetFirst said, "For more than 15 years, we have proudly focused on developing products and services to meet the growing and evolving needs of pet parents across the U.S. During this time, we have seen pet insurance continue to gain importance as a valuable product for families. With MetLife's tremendous reach and resources, we see a strong opportunity to help more pet parents get access to pet insurance and alleviate the potential financial burden of a sick or injured pet."
Metlife now offers a broader suite of products to serve their customers and their financial strengths is admired by investors. So it only makes sense that yesterday, I noticed unusual options activity. The Smart Money bought over 50,000 March call options with strike price at $55.
What's interesting about this trade is that price is approaching a weekly demand zone at $54.50. If I had to put my money on the zone or the Smart Money, my money would go to the Smart Money all the time. Stay tuned.
Tags: neoxian, palnet, steemleo, steempress, Stocks, timm
Did You Miss The Gold Move…Don't Worry…
January 7, 2020 Published by rollandthomas
Lat month, gold fell below the psychological whole number of $1500 and was 5% down from the 6-year-peak reached in September due to profit taking and investors wanting to take on more risks. But the charts told you where the sellers were going to step before hand and for that matter where the buyers were going to step in before hand as well based on the monthly supply and demand zones.
Gold never did hit the monthly demand, missed the zone by $5 and has since rallied. The US air strike in Baghdad ordered by President Donald Trump that killed Qassem Soleimani, has been the catalyst not only for gold, but all the other precious metals as well.
But if you missed the rally in gold, don't worry, according to one article I read this morning, gold is due for a pull back.
Gold is almost guaranteed to record losses in the next two weeks, if history is any guide.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index for the yellow metal soared to 86 on Monday, well above the level of 70 that typically suggests securities are overbought. Previously, there have been only three times since 2000 when the RSI rose above 85, and in each instance bullion fell over the next 10 trading days. The loss averaged 1% compared with a gain of 7% over the previous 10 session.
To be sure, in all three occasions — October 2010, February 2016 and June 2019 — gold eventually resumed its rally. But the momentum had slowed. Gold performs best when interest rates fall and the dollar weakens. Without a further escalation of Middle East tensions, the bulk of the moves in rates and the dollar may be over for now. And the same is probably true for the bounce in gold, at least in the short term.
From my perspective, there is only one reason why gold will pull back and that's because price are in a monthly supply zone.
Supply and demand zones can often indicate institutional buying and selling. The big market participants cannot just enter one trade at once, they need to slowly build their position over time. And often their positions are so large that they will absorb most unfilled orders before price make big and explosive moves on price charts.
Take for instance the daily supply at $1560. Price entered the daily supply and two days later shot down, but when price returned to the zone several months later, well there weren't any unfilled orders remaining at that level.
On Sunday, price gapped up into a monthly supply zone and has sense formed a shooting star candle, which is is a bearish and signals a reversal.
But again, the shooting star only formed because the Smart Money was able to fill, unfilled orders at that level. Ideally, what I would like to see is price breach the monthly supply at $1600, pull back, then move higher to the monthly supply at $1700. But this may or may not happen in that order. So if you missed the rally and want to get long, two level to consider are the daily demand at $1520, but I think the better level to go long is at $1475.
Tags: Commodities, neoxian, palnet, steemleo, steempress, timm
Tesla Continues To Beat The Odds
Earlier in 2019, a former hedge fund manager, Whitney Tilson said Tesla will be below $100 by the end of 2019. At the time, Tesla was trading at $295, but Whitney felt Musk has no more rabbits to pull out of his hat and therefore it was all downhill from there. Whitney also felt for the first time, the number of investors losing faith in Musk is starting to exceed the number of investors. Two months, Tesla announced that was looking to raise almost $3 billion in debt and equity, with Elon buying $25 million in stock as good faith, upping Elon's stake in the company to 20%.
One of the more famous short sellers is Jim Chanos. Jim Chanos is an American investment manager and currently serves as president and founder of Kynikos Associates, a New York City registered investment advisor who is focused on short selling.
Jim is the same person that made headlines when he said Grubhub was a short due to Grubhub's inability to make any money on each order. Weeks later, Grubhub announced dismal earnings and the stock tanked.
Regarding Tesla, there were rumors that Jim Chanos covered his shorts on Tesla, but it was in fact just a rumor. What concerns Jim is that Tesla's valuation within a capital intensive business, making cars. Jim thinks the Model S is a great car, but the competition is knocking on the door. In addition, he feels demand for the Model 3 in North America has peaked. And lastly, Jim feels Elon's behavior is "promotional," meaning he promises the world, but under delivers.
Short sellers have long targeted Tesla shares and currently have almost a $10 billion bet against the Tesla according to data from the financial analytics firm S3 Partners. The 28 million shares shorted amount to 21% of total shares outstanding, according to S3.
But there is one bull, who has been bullish on Tesla for many years.
Catherine's firm focuses disruptive technologies and thinks electric there will be millions and millions of cars on the road faster than people realize. She believe Tesla isn't a car company, but a technology company, Tesla is one of her fund's largest holdings. In February of 2018 she went on CNBC and said she believes Tesla could hit $4000 and that her bear case was $600. In recent weeks, she went back on CNBC and reiterated her targets for Tesla.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares gained 3% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter delivery numbers. The electric vehicle stock is now up 99% in just the past six months, but Tesla short sellers are seemingly still not convinced the rally will last.
Tesla reported 112,000 vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of 106,000 vehicles. For the full year, Tesla delivered 367,500 vehicles in 2019, up 50% from 2018. The 367,500 deliveries was on the low end of the company's 2019 guidance range of between 360,000 and 400,000 deliveries.
On Friday, S3 Partners analyst Ihor Dusaniwsky said there are still 27.64 million shares of Tesla held short, a position worth about $11.89 billion. That short interest represents about 20.6% of Tesla's float.
If the current price action doesn't scare the Shorts, Tesla delivered the first China-made Model 3 one week ago. During their fourth quarter earnings call, Tesla announced that factory has already demonstrated production run-rate of 3,000 units per week and they have the necessary means to get to 150,000 units / year or 40% of Tesla's current annualized global deliveries.
The fact that price broke out last month, the chart suggest the Shorts are due in for more pain ahead.
Tags: neoxian, paln, steemleo, steempress, Stocks, timm
Worst Stocks Of This Decade
December 21, 2019 Published by rollandthomas
Yesterday, I wrote a post about Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg was onto something in his dorm room at Harvard before he dropped out to focus on Facebook. The company went public in 2012, dropped 50%, switch their focus to mobile and the stock price hasn't looked back. If one invested $1000 in Facebook during the IPO, you would be up over $5000 or a 500% ROI.
But all that is glitter is not gold. "All that glitters is not gold" is an aphorism stating that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so. This can be applied to just about any experience in life. It could also be applied to the stock market.
So the worst stocks of the decade go to:
Apache. Ten-year performance: -78%
Freeport-McMoRan. Ten-year performance: -68%
Devon Energy. Ten-year performance: -66%
The Mosaic Company. Ten-year performance: -65%
CenturyLink. Ten-year performance: -63%
Kraft Heinz. Ten-year performance: -56%
Perrigo. Ten-year performance: -54%
Under Armour. Ten-year performance: -54%
Occidental Petroleum. Ten-year performance: – 51%
Schlumberger. Ten-year performance: -31%
Now if you know these companies, 40% of the companies on the list were in the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas sector (aqua block) was the worst performing sector this year.
Technology: 48%
Communication: 32%
S&P 500: 31%
Financials: 31%
Industrials: 28%
Staples: 27%
Discretionary: 27%
Real Estate: 26%
Materials: 22%
Health Care: 20%
Energy: 10%
And Energy compared to the SPY has under-performed going back for five years.
Now the Dow Dogs involves buying the ten stocks with the highest yields among the thirty in the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the end of each year then holding them until the end of the next year. I don't know what they call the worst stocks of the decade and potentially hold them for 10 years. But that's what the Smart Money is doing.
Over the last several weeks, I have been posting about the bullishness going on in the oil and gas industry by way of the Smart Money buying up assets. In particular Sam Zell, Steven Cohen, Ken Griffin and Ray Dalio, all billionaires are buying distressed oil assets in the US.
I have to start looking at this sector as well. Besides that's the premise of my trading edge, follow the Smart Money. I'm feeling the trade that Ray Dalio bought more of. Ray didn't become wealthy by buying asset at high prices. Recently Ray's hedge fund bought an additional 1,177,026 shares to the fund, increasing his stake to over 2.5 million shares.
EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. It produces natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil. EQT is the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. with its asset base located in the heart of the Appalachian Basin with a focus in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
I would like to see price close above $13 as confirmation that price will continue to rise.
I thought EQT Corp was a Master Limited Partnership, but they aren't, so don't they pay much dividends. Thus, I'm not interested in own the stock, but look what I just found. The Smart Money already bought LEAP options going out to January of 2021. So best believe I will be buying some options on Monday.
Look at that, went from taking about the worst stocks of the decade to wanting to get in the worst sector of decade on Money.
So Was The FDA Approval Already Priced Into Amarin's Stock???
Amarin Corporation plc, a pharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the United States.
The company's lead product is Vascepa, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid capsule, used as an adjunct to diet for reducing triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia. It is also involved in developing Vascepa for the treatment of patients with high triglyceride levels who are also on statin therapy for elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
About a year ago, Amarin published results from a study that show patients who took Vascepa in addition to a statin experienced a 25% reduction in risk of a heart attack, stroke or other serious cardiac event, compared with patients who took a placebo instead of Vascepa. Thus, Amarin wants to get Vascepa approved for other use, which could potentially generate up $2 billion in sales.
Assuming avg. P/E of 15-24 for companies in the pharmaceutical space and Amarin's market cap, if Vascepa sales can reach $2 billion in the years to come, the stock would be worth approx $125.
Yesterday, the FDA approved the label extension for Vascepa, but the stock price seem bored by the announcement.
Amarin (AMRN) investors are scratching their heads as to why the stock tumbled following the announcement that the FDA has approved the label extension of the company's fish oil drug, Vascepa.
That's good news for Amarin, but less good news for long-term investors. You see, according to the principle of "buy the rumor, sell the news," the major catalyst for Amarin stock to rise has now been removed, and traders who were awaiting the FDA approval have now reaped all the gains they're going to get from that particular catalyst. Hence, they're selling the stock today.
One of these sellers, Stifel's Derek Archila, wrote in a research note to clients, "We are taking profits post approval and heading to the sidelines." Indeed, the analyst downgraded AMRN from Buy to Hold, while slightly raising the price target to $28 (from $26), which still implies about 20% upside from current levels.
Many think Amarin's stock price at $22.88 is a steal and think the stock is worth $50 in the future. According to FiercePharma, market chatter is now valuing the company at a $20 billion market cap, or $55 a share, if the company is acquired. So is the stock still worth a buy?
NOTE: since Sept of 2018, the stock has increased from $3 to a little over $20 in 14 months.
To answer the question if the stock is still worth a buy or not, you have to know your time horizon. Once you know your time horizon, than you can select your target price.
Tags: neoxian, palnet, scripsio, steemleo, steempress, Stocks, timm
Tandem Diabetes Is Worth Keeping An Eye On
Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc., a medical device company, designs, develops, and commercializes various products for people with insulin-dependent diabetes in the United States.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels
More than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or prediabetes, according to a new report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report finds that as of 2015, 30.3 million Americans – 9.4 percent of the U.S. population –have diabetes. Another 84.1 million have prediabetes, a condition that if not treated often leads to type 2 diabetes within five years.
The company's flagship product is the t:slim X2 insulin delivery system that comprises t:slim X2 pump, its 300-unit disposable insulin cartridge, and an infusion set. It also provides t:slim X2 Insulin Delivery System with Basal-IQ Technology; t:slim X2 with G5 Integration; and Tandem Device Updater that allows users to update their pump's software
Tandem's t:slim X2 is the smallest durable insulin pump on the market at present and is the only pump in the US market that offers remote software updates. Also, the insulin pump integrates with Dexcom's G6 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system, is the first automated insulin-delivery system approved for use in children as young as six years old.
Tandem Diabetes Care (TNDM) also sells disposable products that are used together with pumps and are replaced every few days.These disposable products are great because they produce reoccurring revenue (think of the disposable razors for the Gillette razor blade…which I hate buying because I know they are overpriced).
Since 2012,Tandem has sold over 72,000 pumps in the US, but 63,000 pumps have been sold in the last four years. In addition, Tandem is also going international to capture opportunities after Johnson & Johnson's exit from the insulin pump market. This is good because Tandem has penetrated less than 1% of the total addressable diabetes market worldwide.
In recent weeks, Tandem attained Health Canada approval for the t:slim X2 insulin pump with Basal-IQ technology. This approval is expected to accelerate Tandem Diabetes' global pump shipments and expand its customer base.
But just the other day, Tandem got better news.
Tandem Diabetes (TNDM) nabbed Food and Drug Administration clearance for a new diabetes management system Friday — prodding TNDM stock to pop midday.
The FDA cleared a diabetes management system dubbed Control-IQ to work with Tandem's insulin pump, dubbed t:slim X2. The closed loop system works with Dexcom's (DXCM) continuous glucose monitor. The devices automatically adjust insulin to prevent high and low blood sugar.
With the clearance, the FDA also created a new category for interoperable medical devices, known as an automated insulin dosing system. This diabetes management system has the potential to rival devices from Medtronic (MDT).
The potential to take on Medtronic is a big deal as Medtronic is the 800 lb gorilla in the room. One should keep Tandem on their radar screen and the levels to pay attention to are the weekly zones near $80 and near $45.
Taiwan Semiconductor…Another Derivative Play On Apple
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM), together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacturing, selling, packaging, testing, and computer-aided design of integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices. The company manufactures masks and electronic spare parts; researches, develops, designs, manufactures, sells, packages, and tests color filters; and offers customer and engineering support services.
(TSM) is the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors. TSM has been involved with chip design since the 1980s and today produces chips for some of the largest clients in the world.
One such company is Apple. TMS produces chips for Apple and gets 20% of its sales from Apple.
Two months ago Apple reportedly boosted component orders for the iPhone 11. In particular, Apple bumped up orders for the $699 iPhone 11 and the $999 iPhone 11 Pro. Some analysts are thinking Apple can sell up to 185 million iPhone 11s. In addition, according to one analyst, Apple AirPods are seeing a surge of demand and could face holiday shortage.
Are you connecting the dots yet?
Apple (AAPL) iPhone chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) saw healthy sales growth in November thanks to strong demand for smartphone processors. Taiwan Semiconductor stock spiked to a record high on the news Thursday.
Taiwan Semi reported revenue of $3.54 billion in November. Sales rose 1.7% from the previous month and popped 9.7% year over year in local currency.
"We think this is largely due to smartphones (seasonal ramp) along with a recovery in data center chips," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mitch Steves said in a report to clients
The chart suggests to look for a pull back to go long near the $52 level.
Another derivative play on Apple is Qualcomm. Qualcomm Incorporated designs, develops, manufactures, and markets digital communication products worldwide and the company happens to be right in the center of 5G.
Qualcomm just announced their Snapdragon 865 5G chip which is capable of processing 2 gigapixels per second while delivering speeds of up to 7.5Gbps 5G connectivity.
Apple has plans on selling four new iPhones next year that could all be compatible with ultra-fast 5G wireless networks.
The chart suggests Qualcomm will continue to move higher to at least the $100 level.
Can Bill Ackman Do It Again With Agilent???
Trading is nothing but a numbers game…you hope your loses are smaller and hope your winners are much larger than your loses. Take the billionaire, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square. The hedge fund's returns fell 4% in 2017, dropped 13.5% in 2016 and declined 20.5% in 2015, but lets look at some of his recent winners.
A year ago, billionaire, Bill took a $1 billion size position in home improvement Lowe's because he thought there were opportunities to improve its supply chain to serve customers better and enhance the customer experience through strategic brands and differentiated in-store experiences. I personally thought Bill was going to take another lost, but boy was I wrong. Bill got in the stock in May of 2018 and thus far that $1 billion is now worth $1.3 billion, a nice paper profit of $300 million thus far.
But Bill's bigger win was in Chipotle. Back in 2016, Bill's Pershing Square bought almost 10% of the shares. Bill thought Chipotle had a strong brand, differentiated offering, enormous growth opportunity, and was undervalued.
The following year Chipotle hired a new CEO, Brian Niccol. At Taco Bell, Niccol was known for food menu innovation as well as driving technological advancements to the customer ordering process. Under Brian's leadership, digital sales quickly grew as Brian had hoped is that more and more customers will skip other eateries and just order their food at Chipotle. And then a year later, Brian introduced a loyalty program.
And look what the stock has done since 2016….WOW.
And Chipotle is the gift that keeps on giving as Chipotle made up of 14% of Bill's hedge fund returns of through mid-2019.
In the most recent news, Bill bought 2.9 million shares in Agilent Technologies on Monday. Agilent provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. Essentially Agilent is a lab testing equipment maker.
Billionaire investor William Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management said Monday it bought shares in testing equipment company Agilent Technologies Inc, only its second new investment this year as the fund has reported a 51% return.
Agilent Technologies' stock price jumped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after Ackman's investment was made public in a regulatory filing. Ackman's $7 billion fund earlier in the year bought Berkshire Hathaway Inc shares.
The filing did not say whether the Agilent investment will be active or passive, and Ackman's spokesman declined to comment. The filing showed that Pershing Square owned 2.9 million shares at the end of September and did not say how big the position is currently. At Monday's stock price, that stake would be worth $246 million.
The fact that Bill and Warren Buffett own Agilent, something must be up. I really like the monthly demand near $60, but something tells me price isn't going to get there anytime soon.
But there is also a great level at the weekly demand at $70 to go long as well.
Brave and EOS…Going In Opposite Directions
December 9, 2019 Published by rollandthomas
Brave is a decentralized,
open source browser that puts the user first by making online privacy its first
priority. Brave also claims to be twice
as fast as Chrome on desktop and eight times faster than Safari on mobile.
The man behind the Brave
browser is CEO, Brendan Eich. Brendan
started his career at Netscape Communications Corporation in April 1995 with
the intent to put Scheme "in the browser." In early 1998, Brendan co-founded the Mozilla
project. And his most recent initiative was creating the Basic Attention Token (BAT), a cryptocurrency
designed for use in the Brave browser when users view and share in the ad revenue.
In the ecosystem, advertisers will give publishers BATs based on the measured
attention of users. Users will also receive some BATs for participating. They
can donate them back to publishers or use them on the platform
If you don't care for the
ads, the Brave browser has an inbuilt ad and tracker blocker. The blocker
inhibits trackers from learning more about a user for monetization purposes.
But Brave is trying to fix the internet by improving the ad model. In the words of founders of Brave "It is a
market filled with middlemen and fraudsters, hurting users, publishers and
advertisers." And Brave's mission of
fixing the internet ad model is gaining traction.
Brave Browser is experiencing robust user growth, gaining another 1.7 million active users over the last three weeks by carving out the privacy niche from Google Chrome.
Since its 1.0 launch mid-November, Brave announced that the open source browser had gained another 1.7 million monthly active users, growing by 19% across all devices. Compared to last year, the numbers are even stronger. The browser's userbase saw a two-fold increase in monthly active users and tripled its daily active users to 3.3 million.
As of today, verified content creators on the platform increased to over 340,000. The majority of these creators publish to YouTube (229,00), followed by Twitter (37,000), business and personal website publishing (38,000), and Twitch (18,000), among others.
A nice level to potentially go long on the BAT is at the daily demand at $0.14.
The EOS blockchain was developed with the aim of facilitating efficient and scalable decentralized applications (dapps). The blockchain includes an operating-system like set of services and functions that works similarly to the ethereum platform.
Despite EOS being the world's seventh-largest blockchain by market cap, my first issues is who in the hell has a year long initial coin offering (ICO)…which raised $4.1 billion in crypto for Block.One. My initial thought was they better deliver due to all the hype.
EOS works on an ownership model whereby users own and are entitled to use resources proportional to their stake, rather than having to pay for every transaction. So, in essence, if you hold N tokens of EOS then you are entitled to N*k transactions. And herein lies the issue.
EOS network's governance issues continue to haunt them as Weiss Ratings recently downgraded the network from B category to C-. Weiss Ratings also posted a Twitter thread explaining why they had to downgrade the project which was once hyped as "Ethereum Killer."
Weiss Ratings in its tweet claimed that although the public sentiment was right behind the project in its hayday and the platform was known for being a fast, efficient and most important a decentralized ecosystem. However, in the past year, there has been a continuous decline in the decentralization aspect where major whales control the majority of the token flow which could be of a deep concern.
Weiss Ratings claimed that the top 100 EOS token holders who represented a meager 0.01% of the total token holders on the platform, has a whopping 68% of the voting power on the network. This means these whales can easily manipulate the network as per their will.
And now EOS block producers and developers devoted to building decentralized apps (dapps) are making little or no money from contributing to the health of the ecosystem. EOS Tribe even wrote about his experience on Steemit. They cited it's longer possible to earn funds for maintaining the blockchain without support from major EOS whales.
Thus the chart suggest EOS is headed to the monthly demand at $1.00.
Tags: Cryptocurrencies, neoxian, palnet, scripsio, steemleo, steempress, timm


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text:
Disney's Fox 21 gets Marta Kauffman in a first-look deal
Credit: Melissa Moseley / Netflix
What was Netflix thinking, letting Marta Kauffman and her Okay Goodnight company sign a deal with Disney's Fox 21?
It's simple: whatever creative genius Kauffman wanted, say "yes" to and then sign the check. It's not rocket science.
Instead, Kauffman, who was a co-creator of a little show called Friends and the creative force behind Netflix's longest-running comedy show Grace and Frankie, is now giving the first option on any of her new content to a direct rival.
It's a ludicrous business decision by Netflix, unless there's something else that determined the decision — because it's not a new sense of frugality.
CHECK OUT: Streaming made up majority of spending in 2019
Who is Marta Kauffman?
Born in 1956, Marta Kauffman was co-creator, along with David Crane, of possibly the most popular show in the world, Friends. It's a phenomenon, both in viewing numbers and pop culture relevance.
Outside of Friends, Kauffman also created Veronica's Closet, Five, and Netflix's Grace and Frankie. The latter is heading towards its final season on the streaming platform, which makes the news of Kauffman's Fox 21 (Disney) deal even more surprising.
CHECK OUT: Obi-Wan Disney+ series delayed
Is Netflix reading their data?
Kauffman and her company, Okay Goodnight, already have a show in development, based on a Karen Thompson Walker novel called The Dreamers. It's a story about a sleeping virus that sweeps across the fictional town of Santa Lora in Southern California.
The premise sounds very much like a Netflix show. So, the big question is, how hard did they try to get a first-look deal with Kauffman?
It's very unlikely Disney's Fox 21 outbid Netflix. It's also unlikely Disney via Fox 21 will give the same freedom Netflix can. Thus, it's likely down to Netflix seeing something in their data, or Kauffman wanting freedom from a single streaming service.
Regardless of the reason, if Kauffman ends up delivering a new Friends for Fox 21 (and Disney), this could be a deal that comes back to bite Netflix in the ass big time.
CHECK OUT: Netflix viewing metric has one massive flaw


text:
Jiagou may refer to these towns in Anhui, China:

Jiagou, Huainan
Jiagou, Suzhou, Anhui


Or, you may want some of these products to continue with the detox once you return home after a retreat... - especially the Pro-Biotics, to replace the friendly bacteria in the gut after having flushed them out during the detox.
In case you do get constipated once you start eating, the Colon Cleansers and / or Consti-Free can be helpful.
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Detoxing in a retreat setting is A LOT EASIER than doing it at home. Why?
On a detox retreat, someone else does the deciding, the shopping, the juicing, the washing up, makes the broth, prepares the enema fluids... etc. Detoxing can be time consuming and exhausting - especially if you're still working, looking after family members, having to carry on with your 'roles' in society etc.
In a retreat setting, you don't have to think about anything - there's a yoga class, so you go; there's a meditation session, so you go; there's a talk on Healthy Living, so you go... - no decisions, no organising... and lots and lots of time to relax, to sleep, to lie in the sun, to swim, to laugh, to simply be.


text:
Q: What is the exact relationship between EarthForce and Babylon 5 during season 5? In the first episode of season 5 we are told that Babylon 5 is to remain independent until it can be purchased from Earth by the InterStellar Alliance. However, the practicalities seem a bit more complicated.

*

*Lochley wears an EarthForce uniform together with a lot of the other staff from CIC, whereas Zack still wears the independent B5 uniform. Not sure about Stephen's uniform, it looks like an EarthForce one.

*I saw a framed plaque on Lochley's desk in one episode (I think 5x11) saying "EarthForce Station Babylon 5" with her name, which must mean it was still known as an EarthForce Station at the time she came on board.

*If it's really independent (from Earth, as well as everyone else) then I don't understand why it would need to be bought from Earth at all.
Can anyone clarify?

A: It's like buying a car. Even though you're the one driving the car around town, and you're parking it in your driveway at night, the title is in the bank's name. When you take out that loan on the car, you're really convincing the bank to buy the car FOR you and then you're buying it from the bank. The bank literally OWNS the car until you finish paying it off.
In a similar vein, Earth still held the title on Babylon 5 while the Earth & Alliance hashed out the details of the purchase. In the time between, however, the station remained POLITICALLY independent. Earthforce personnel handled the day-to-day operations of the station, while the Alliance maintained a presence and used it as their unofficial headquarters (but only until the permanent one on Mimbari could be finished).

A: In a (speculative) word, politics.
They don't really detail this in the show because they quickly get into other plots, but it seems fairly simple.  Babylon 5 was originally Earth Force property, under Earth Force command, and funded by Earth government.  While it became an independent state, expectations back on Earth would probably have been that once questions of command, responsibility, and prosecution surrounding Sheridan's rebellion had been settled, that control of the station would have reverted back to Earth.
Except, no, surprise! We're announcing an Alliance, and we'd like to keep your stuff!
Cutting Earth out of the picture on such a straightforward concern would have been political suicide at that point, especially with all the other trouble they were stirring up.  Promises of further tech or not, few would have believed their promises if they were willing to just take what they needed right off the bat.  So on the books, Babylon 5 stayed an independent state so that Earth would be clear the Alliance was calling the shots there.  Earth Force personnel, presuming they wanted to stay with Earth Force, would have been considered on loan, or inserted into the Interstellar Alliance chain of command (which I presume was the case with Lochley), and would probably have rotated in and out as needs demanded or tours and terms expired.  The Alliance would have arranged payment for the physical property of Babylon 5 once all the bureaucratic terms had been hashed out so no one would have felt that Earth was shafted.  Once it's all evened out it can be officially considered a state or outpost of the Alliance.
Politics can add spice, but this is largely boring gap-filler, so thus why I beleive it was never covered in-show.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Colorado State U. Global's provost says online education is the future
Paul Savory, who joined CSU Global last week as its new provost, told EdScoop that online education shows "huge potential for growth."
( Nathana Rebouças / Unsplash)
After serving in faculty and administration roles at traditional universities for 25 years, Paul Savory last week joined the fully-online Colorado State University Global as its new provost and chief academic officer.
Online education was expanding even before the pandemic, but in an interview with EdScoop, Savory said he believes it will play a central role in higher education's future.
Paul Savory (LinkedIn)
"There's huge potential for growth," he said. "As we look at online education, it's going to play a critical role to support Americans as we come out of the pandemic in terms of providing opportunities."
Before assuming his latest role, Savory served at Doane University, a small liberal arts school outside Lincoln, Nebraska; Nebraska Methodist College, where he said about one third of the institution's 800 students attended online; and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he served, amid other roles during his 18 years at that institution, as its associate vice chancellor for extended education, an online program.
"What excited me about CSU Global [is] we're 100% online but we're a public university and our focus is on creating that great online experience for our students," Savory said.
Traditional universities rushed last year to convert their in-person programs to online formats as they shut down their campuses and pleaded with students to stay enrolled. Some professors went all out, building semi-professional home studios and redesigning their courses for the new format, but even such early adopters often admitted that there were flaws in their new teaching models.
"As we look at the pandemic, even at my other schools, the school I just left, we always offered some [online component] and everyone has had mixed success," Savory said. "Not every class delivered over the internet should be termed 'online education.'"
The main distinguishing factor of "online education," as opposed to "remote education," he said, is that it's designed to be asynchronous and flexible, meeting the needs of students who may be attending remotely because they have other life obligations, such as family or career. CSU Global, he said, is designed with flexibility and cost considerations in mind.
"At my prior school, our tuition went up 3-4% at least every year and I don't believe at CSU Global they've raised their tuition in the last eight years," he said.
Leaders at CSU Global, which has nearly 20,000 students, also take great pride in the school's pedagogy, Savory said, drawing heavily on "cutting-edge" research and best practices to prepare students for the most in-demand career skills, like cybersecurity, business leadership, project management and IT.
To further its offerings to adult learners, CSU Global last week launched Direct Path Education, a new program centered on industry-specific education that allows students to transfer their credits toward a degree or earn certificates and professional certifications. The six-week courses add to a growing trend in the U.S. as many workers who lost their jobs following the pandemic search for new opportunities. Savory said programs this one speak to why he entered education in the first place.
"Our goal here, and my goal here is to change lives," he said. "We're trying to prepare students for success, to impact them personally and professionally."
In the U.S., the percentage of undergraduate students taking at least one course online grew from 15% in 2004 to 43% in 2016, a 2018 study from the National Center for Education Statistics found. And as K-12 students who've been forced by the pandemic to study from home gain more experience with remote learning, Savory said those numbers could get an extra boost as norms and expectations around education shift.
"They're going to be the next generation of college students and they're going to expect some aspect of online as part of that college experience, at whatever school they go to," he said. "Online education is only going to grow, and from my perspective it's the kind of education we do want and need more of."
Colorado State University Global
Paul Savory
Campuses mostly back to normal, but university enrollment is still falling
The Zoom Innovation Lab at Arizona State University (Mike Sanchez / Arizona State University)
Arizona State launches Zoom Innovation Lab
A five-year partnership between Arizona State and Zoom will allow students to develop new uses for the video-conferencing platform
Scantron machines and old treadmills: How colleges handle unwanted tech
Colleges are keeping virtual services even after in-person resumed
UMass Global announces first new chancellor since acquisition
Education industry looks to balance OPM oversight between institutional control and federal regulation
George Mason and AWS to develop college-transfer platform
2U announces layoffs, spending cuts to counter decline in online learning business


LUBBOCK, Texas - Marial Shayok scored 20 points, Michael Jacobson had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Iowa State beat No. 8 Texas Tech 68-64 on Wednesday night, handing the Red Raiders their first Big 12 loss.
Nick Weiler-Babb and Lindell Wigginton scored 11 points apiece, including a bucket for each after the Red Raiders had pulled even at 61-all with less than two minutes remaining.
Weiler-Babb hit a tiebreaking jumper, and Wigginton added an alley-oop layup from Tyrese Haliburton after Jacobson blocked Jarrett Culver's layup attempt.
Jacobson's double-double was his third of the season.


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If your address is on Cycle 1 Billing, then your utility bill is due on the 15th each month. Late fees are applied the next business day, and are 10% of the amount due on your account. If your bill has not been paid, your water service will be disconnected on the 25th of the month, unless you have filled out a Payment Extension Form. You can extend your payment one week past the disconnect date. There is a maximum of four payment extensions allowed per calendar year.
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Actress Alyssa Milano Called for a Female 'Sex Strike' for This Ridiculous Reason
otwadmin May 13, 2019 0
You can always count on Hollywood to be unruly and aggressive towards any issue that leans towards conservatism.
In the President Trump-era it has escalated to violence and many in Hollywood are responsible for perpetuating it.
And actress Alyssa Milano took it to a whole new level when she called for a female "sex strike" for this absurd reason.
Social media ignited when Georgia Governor Brian Kemp put HB 481 into law – outlawing abortions when a heartbeat is detected, which is typically six weeks after conception.
Nobody was more furious than the Hollywood film industry because they consistently shoot movies there due to the state's tax incentive structure for productions.
But nobody, nobody, was more furious than actress Alyssa Milano because she announced that women should go on a nationwide "sex strike."
She announced on May 10th, "Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I'm calling for a #SexStrike, Pass it on."
Our reproductive rights are being erased.
Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy.
JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back.
I'm calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on. pic.twitter.com/uOgN4FKwpg
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 11, 2019
It's one of the most bizarre attempts at a boycott ever constructed in American history.
But you might be surprised to learn it's happened elsewhere in the world and it was actually effective.
Sex strikes have spanned hundreds of years and multiple countries. In 1600, for example, Iroquois women refused to engage in sex as a way to stop unregulated warfare. The tactic worked: They gained veto power concerning all future wars and paved the way for future feminist rebellions.
In more recent years, sex strikes have surged in popularity as a means to achieve political ends.
In 2003, Leymah Gbowee organized a well-publicized sex strike to end Liberia's civil war. Not only did warlords agree to end the violence, Gbowee was later awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.
Unfortunately for the Milano, that will never happen in this country because even her fellow liberals mocked her ridiculous idea over a bill designed to protect unborn children's lives.
Delaney Tarr, co-founder of March for Our Lives, even wrote, "The abortion bans are horrific, and represent a terrifying leap backwards for womxn everywhere. But the answer is not a sex strike. Women (and anyone who can get pregnant) are more than providers of sex- they can enjoy it too, and a strike merely punished the oppressed group."
One Twitter user, Cindy kick 2, especially let her have it, "Alyssa While you busy talking bullshit about a damn sex strike. Our friend @RealJamesWoods was wrongly punished by Twitter for a simple quote? He reached out to u during the fires and helped you. Why have you not reached out to him and supported him? Classic asshole move."
Yikes. She's right. Regardless of your political affiliation, we should all be able to put our differences aside and help those in need. Milano made no effort to help Woods.
But the funniest reaction to Milano's sex strike was a video from Eva Victor mocking how women would try to explain to their boyfriends or spouses why they are sex striking.
me explaining to my boyfriend why we're going on a sex strike: pic.twitter.com/AU6PYVv30C
— Eva Victor (@evaandheriud) May 12, 2019
Alyssa Milano's reaction might be the silliest most aggressive move to a law that won't affect her at the end of the day because this was a Georgia state bill and she lives in California.
Tags entertainment Hollywood's Liberal Agenda
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Home News Obama Calls for Better Protocol in US Ebola Cases
Obama Calls for Better Protocol in US Ebola Cases
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings speaks to residents on the street of the apartment of a hospital worker in Dallas, Oct. 12, 2014.
VOA News – President Barack Obama called for immediate steps to ensure the U.S. medical system is ready to follow the proper protocol for treating Ebola patients.
Obama spoke Sunday with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell about the first case of Ebola transmission in the United States.
Obama ordered the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to quickly investigate how a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital contracted the virus.
The nurse was part of the team treating the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the United States, Thomas Duncan, who died last week.
Texas officials say the health worker wore full protective gear and complied with CDC guidelines when she had contact with Duncan.
Breach of protocol
CDC Director Tom Frieden said the fact the worker was infected with Ebola shows there was a breach of protocol.
Frieden said, at this time, it appears only one person may have had contact with the health care worker while she may have been infectious. However, the case in Texas indicated a professional lapse that may have caused other health workers at the hospital to also be infected, he added.
Initial testing showed that the level of virus in the worker's system is low. The CDC will conduct a secondary test to confirm the results from a lab in Austin that showed Ebola infection, he said.
"Unfortunately it is possible in the coming days that we will see additional cases of Ebola," Frieden added.
A union for registered nurses said the Texas health care worker's case in Dallas showed that not enough is being done to educate health workers on how to manage patients who show signs of infection.
"Handing out a piece of paper with a link to the Centers for Disease Control, or telling nurses just to look at the CDC website – as we have heard some hospitals are doing – is not preparedness," said Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and senior official with National Nurses United.
Meanwhile, in Spain, authorities said a woman in Madrid infected with Ebola remains in serious condition, but is showing signs of slight improvement and that the level of virus in her blood is decreasing.
The new U.S. case comes as several airports begin a stepped-up program to screen passengers arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where thousands of people have died from the virus.
Authorities at New York's JFK International Airport are taking passengers' temperatures and asking them questions to determine whether they may have come into contact with an infected person.
The enhanced screening will expand to four other airports Thursday, including the Newark airport in New Jersey, Washington's Dulles Airport, Chicago's O'Hare and the international airport in Atlanta.
Airport screenings
Together, the five airports receive more than 90 percent of all travelers entering the United States from the three worst-affected West African countries.
Britain is also introducing Ebola screening at certain airports and train stations.
The World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed at least 4,000 people with about 8,400 reported cases.
Outside of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, eight people died in Nigeria and one patient died in the United States.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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Roger Christie October 15, 2014 at 7:40 am
Aloha. I hope this is true and can be proven.
http://cannabisdigest.ca/cbd-protective-ebola-vir…
All the best to everyone,
Roger Christie
http://www.thc-ministry.org http://www.the-last-marijuana-trial.com


Caribbean hotels and resorets across the region are offering special deals as the holidays approach. Here's a look at the big-time savings that can be had if you think ahead and book for later right now.
The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort and Spa is offering guests who pay one night at the regular rate 40 percent off the next night.
The offer applies to arrivals any day of the week, with a minimum two-night stay through April 30, 2014. Regular rates start at $209 per night, double occupancy.
On St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort is offering a month-long "national Hangover Day" special for all of January 2014 featuring 20 percent off ocean-view accommodations, free stays for the third and fourth adults ages 18 and older in a room with two full-fare guests, and that's just to start.
You'll also get one "hair of the dog" complimentary rum punch and bottle of local Cruzan rum upon arrival and one cruise for up to four guests on board the resort's 53-foot catamaran (a $55 per person value).
The offer is available with stays of five nights or more; daily rates start at $370.36 per person for up to four adults.
Tobago's Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort is offering an Early Booking Bonus featuring a 15 percent off nightly rates on reservations made by Jan. 31, 2014 for travel from January 5 to April 30, 2014.
Under the promotion nightly rates start at $115 per person, per night, double occupancy for reservations in a deluxe oceanfront room. Rates include an elaborate daily breakfast buffet.
In addition one child up to age 12 can stay free-of-charge when sharing a room with two paying adults. St. Lucia's Capella Marigot Bay is offering a "Christmas Early Bird Special" featuring a complimentary Christmas Day stay for guests who book five-nights stay from December 20 through Jan. 5, 2014.
Rates begin at $450 per night and include complimentary daily breakfast for two.


Except further indulged by a British Commercial Court sitting in London, Nigeria risks losing a whopping $9 billion worth of assets in the UK to a British firm, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), which two years ago got an arbitration award of $6.6billion against the country for breach of agreement.
The balance of $2.6 billion is interest at seven per cent on the principal award effective from March 20, 2013, the date of declaration of dispute. This could be more, as interest continues to mount, growing at a staggering rate of $1.3 million per day.
Nigeria's crippling liability, a substantial 11 per cent of its entire external reserves put at $43.2 billion, arose from a dispute between it and the British Virgin Islands' company over a Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) signed in January 2010.
After a couple of legal challenges to the award failed, in part due to carelessness of its officials in the foreign and justice ministries, two enforcement proceedings are now pending in the UK and the US.
While the proceedings in a US Federal District Court in Washington has entered appeal stage at the instance of Nigeria, the one in the UK is due for enforcement hearing on February 15, a day before the presidential election that President Muhammadu Buhari is strenuously pursuing.
Last month, the English court gave Nigeria one last chance to present its defence to enforcement of the Award. On February 15 the question of whether P&ID may seize Nigeria's commercial assets in England will be "finally determined once and for all".
P&ID had declared a dispute, submitting to arbitration, which proceedings commenced on January 29, 2013 before the London Arbitration Tribunal composed of Leonard Lord Hoffmann (presiding); Sir Anthony Evans QC, nominated by P&ID; and Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), nominated by Nigeria, and eventually entered overall award of $6.597 billion (now with interest $9 billion) against Nigeria on February 10, 2017.
Under the English Arbitration Act 1996, Nigeria had within 28 days of award to apply to set it aside but failed to do so as at March 10, 2017 when the time lapsed, exposing it to the danger of coughing out the huge sums should its legal challenge to the confirmation application of P&ID fail on February 15.
Should the English court allow P&ID to enforce the award in the country, Nigeria risks seizure of its assets in England and any other of the over 100 countries that are signatories to the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the "New York Convention"), including all of the major trading partners of Nigeria.
In practical terms, the risk amounts to about 11 per cent of the current entire foreign reserves of Nigeria put at $43.2 billion and could deal a devastating blow to the credit rating of the country, which has in the last three years plus, relied heavily on borrowing to sustain its annual budgets.
Nigeria, which emerged from recession in 2017 and has had a sluggish growth rate of below two per cent, approved a three-year borrowing plan in 2016, estimating that 40 per cent of this would come from offshore to lower costs of lending.
This borrowing plan would appear to now be at risk as Nigeria, rather than settle its arbitral award obligation continues to pursue a legal challenge, which some arbitration lawyers, including some of its advisory counsel have said is basically weak.
"Nigeria's chances, are very weak," an experienced lawyer close to the proceedings told THISDAY at the weekend, saying the country's application is way out of time and had expired.
He pointed out that in addition to the fact that Nigeria's application was statute-barred, the composition of the tribunal that issued the award was too solid for their findings to be reviewed.
The presiding arbitrator, Lord Hoffmann, was former Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, during whose tenure, it was the highest judicial position in the UK, and the equivalent of today's UK and Nigerian Supreme Court. The other arbitrators, Evans and Ojo were former chief justice of Dubai International Financial Centre Courts (and the English Court of Appeal) and former attorney-general of Nigeria respectively.
P&ID, an engineering and project management company with about 30 years' experience in Nigeria, founded by two Irish, Michael Quinn and Brendan Cahill, had entered into the GSPA with Nigeria in 2010, stating that the company would build a state-of-the-art gas processing facility along the country's coast.
The project was to refine associated natural gas (also known as wet gas) into non-associated natural gas (lean gas) to be used by Nigeria in powering its national electric grid. Nigeria was to supply P&ID with agreed-upon quantities of wet gas, at first 150 million, and eventually, 400 million standard cubic feet (SCF) per day for a 20-year period at no cost.
This, however, required Nigeria to construct a pipeline to carry the gas to P&ID facility. The company was in turn to strip away the heavy hydrocarbons known as Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) that make the wet gas unsuitable for electricity generation, then return to Nigeria the lean gas created at no cost, while P&ID would have the right to the by-products received from processing the gas.
The project, however, collapsed two years later because of the failure of the federal government to secure a supply of wet gas or to build the pipeline to bring gas to the processing plant, forcing the company to declare a dispute.
In January 2013 P&ID gave the government one more chance to secure a supply of wet gas, but to no avail, leaving P&ID with no choice but to bring the contract to an end and pursue damages.
"It is unfortunate for the Nigerian people that the government caused such a promising project to fail and result in an arbitration award against it of billions of dollars that it now shows no interest in satisfying or even trying to resolve amicably on a reasonable basis" said Brendan Cahill, a co-founder of P&ID, when contacted by THIS DAY.
"This is a sad ending to a project that would have delivered electricity to millions of families across Nigeria, and brought significant income to the Nigerian treasury," he said.
If as, P&ID expected, the UK court grants enforcement on 15 February, the company will be entitled to seize Nigeria's commercial assets in London, the world's leading financial centre. In previous high-profile enforcement cases against sovereign states, wide-ranging disclosure orders have been made in respect of assets, and major assets such as ships have been seized.
After Argentina defaulted on its sovereign debt, creditors detained the Argentine naval vessel ARA Libertad when it docked in the Ghanaian port of Tema in 2012. For many years Argentina found itself largely locked out of the global capital markets. Argentina's foreign reserves, and other assets, were legitimately targeted. Nigeria can ill afford to find itself in a similar dilemma.


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Vets, Lawmakers Irate over New VA 'Choice' Program
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media
When the scandal erupted last year over long wait lists at the Phoenix VA, Alaska was found to have quite short wait times. The Alaska VA has for years been buying care for veterans outside the VA, at community and private-sector clinics, and especially through the Native health care system. The concept is dubbed "Care Closer to Home." That's the model Congress chose when it passed the Veterans Choice Act last year, aimed at solving the backlog for VA services in the Lower 48. But as the new Choice program spreads across the country and takes hold in Alaska, vets and providers say it's undoing parts of the Alaska-grown system that have worked well.
Damita Duplantis is an Air Force vet and has back pain. She didn't know about the Choice program until she got a call from the office of the neurosurgeon she hoped would operate on her back.
"And they called and told me that they had to cancel my appointment, because the VA was doing some kind of new funding thing and they were not accepting that type of funding that the VA was changing over to," she says.
So Duplantis called the VA. She eventually learned that for an appointment outside the VA, now she has to go through something called the Veterans Choice program. In Alaska and 27 other states, Choice is administered by a company called TriWest. DuPlantis says she probably spent five hours on the phone, bouncing between TriWest and the VA.
"The thing that frustrated me, is one, my appointment is being canceled, I'm in pain," she said. "And two, they changed over to this new program and didn't even tell the veterans what they were doing."
Alaska's congressional delegation has received dozens of calls from angry veterans. Vets say clinics they'd been going to aren't accepting Choice, and that appointments elsewhere are hard or impossible to get. They tell of long hold times to reach TriWest call centers, emails that get no response and broken links on VA websites.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was furious when she learned of the changes in late May.
"This is a threat to a collaborative effort that has been built over a period of years that has been very beneficial to our veterans," she said earlier this month.
She fired off a four-alarm letter to the VA secretary. Congressman Don Young sent his own this week, and Sen. Dan Sullivan called for a congressional hearing. By late this week, the VA relented, in part: They've restored funds for non-Native veterans to get care at Native hospitals and clinics.
Andy Teuber, president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, says last year, some 1400 Alaska vets used their VA benefits to get care at Native health facilities, and most of those vets were non-Natives. The VA reimbursement came to nearly $6 million, a small part of the $100 million or so the Alaska VA spends each year to purchase care outside the VA system.
Before the VA restored money for tribal providers this week, Teuber said he didn't see the utility of TriWest, the contractor for the Choice program. By inserting a private company in the administration of VA care, Teuber says, you add a middleman that needs to make a profit.
"And it's a wasteful layer of bureaucracy that effectively rations care of the veterans here in Alaska," he said.
Hal Blair, deputy program manager at TriWest, says the company provides an important service, or the VA wouldn't have asked the contractor to take on the Choice Program for much of the country, and on short notice.
"We had basically 30 days, with our VA partners, to go from a blank sheet of paper to having contact centers that could respond to the Choice requirements," he said.
Blair says TriWest is working hard to sign up more providers in Alaska. Thanks to a special amendment to the Choice Act, they can now pay Alaska providers above the Medicare rate. Blair and VA officials say that should help.
Saving the government money is a big part of the mission at TriWest, Blair says.
"We like to think of ourselves as taxpayers first and businessmen second," he says.
But contracts like this are expensive to administer, especially, he says, in their initial phases. A recent VA Inspector General's report found that, for a related contract TriWest has with the VA, the government paid TriWest $8.4 million last year to buy $2.3 million worth of medical care for veterans.
Blair says he hadn't seen the IG report, but he says TriWest's value will become clear once more veterans sign up.
In Alaska, the new Choice program is baffling for some vets not well situated to cope with it. Jesse Gotschall, of Anchorage, was a truck driver in the Army. He served in both Iraq and Aghanistan.
"I have back problems, right? And I need help with it," he says.
He says accupuncture and chiropractic care help him stand up straight so he can work. He also has PTSD, and trouble remembering things. It was hard enough for him to learn how to use the VA system before the rules changed. Now, he says, he feels like he's trying to play chess on a Scrabble board.
"I honestly don't know. And like, that's part of the problem," he said. "I try to figure this stuff out and I don't know where to call, and you try to talk to someone and (you're told) 'you gotta do this, you gotta do that.'"
He's beyond frustrated. He says sometimes he feels like giving up on the mortgage he's trying to pay and leaving the country. One person who has helped him was his acupuncturist, Valerie DeLaune. He says she explained the VA programs to him, and also encouraged him to get treatment for his PTSD. Gottschall, though, will soon have to find treatment somewhere else. DeLaune was a TriWest provider, but says she dropped out due to a messy accounting dispute with the company.
The Alaska VA director says they're planning a big campaign to explain the Choice program to veterans.
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Liz Ruskin covers Alaska issues in Washington as the network's D.C. correspondent. She was born in Anchorage and is a West High grad. She has degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. She previously worked at the Homer News, the Anchorage Daily News and the Washington bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. She also freelanced for several years from the U.K. and Japan, in print and radio. Liz has been APRN's Washington, D.C. correspondent since October 2013. She welcomes your news tips at lruskin (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | About Liz