How many employees does National Council of Resistance of Iran have?
These committees serve on behalf of the government ministries. The body has a secretariat in Paris, which is administered by Mahnaz Salimian, the NCRI's Senior Secretary along with Abolghasem Rezai the Deputy Senior Secretary. It is manned by five secretaries, the secretariat, holds meetings, communicates with members, and oversees the organization's administrative activities.
Rajavi Maryam was elected as the NCRI President-elect for the interim period preceding the reliquishing of power to the people, to get to know her more click on this link.
The NCRI's assembly functions as the organization's decision-making body. It organizes meetings to its regular sessions when necessary. Additionally, the secretariat hosts casual weekly discussion groups on current political problems, which members in Paris are welcome to attend if they so want. Mrs. Rajavi presides over committee chair meetings on an as-needed basis.
This organisation now operates representative offices in the United States and European Nations. These offices maintain interaction with local and national government officials, non-governmental organizations, the parliaments, and the Iranian diaspora residing in those nations.
The NCRI's representative offices in each nation serve to represent the NCRI's political views as well as its administrative, legal, and actual interests in those countries. All its members support the NCRI's programs and resolutions. Apart from their personal and professional responsibilities, the members engage in a range of independent human rights, political, cultural, and extracurricular activities that are not always connected to the NCRI's objective.
The following are instances of national council of resistance of Iran committees engaged in non-research activities:
1.The Foreign Affairs Committee
This committee maintains contacts with lawmakers, political personalities, research organisations, United Nations authorities, human rights groups non-governmental organizations, and key government officials in Europe, the United States, and the Arab world. The committee publishes a considerable number of publications in a variety of languages, including English, Arabic, German, Italian, and French on the Iranian situation and recent events.
2.Women's Committee
This Committee collaborates intensively with Iranian women living abroad and keeps frequent interaction with Iranian women residing in Iran. The Women's Committee works in collaboration with a variety of women's rights groups, Iranian diaspora people, and non-governmental organizations. It is a significant source of knowledge on Iranian women, and the committee is a significant source of that information. Members and allies of the committee participate in UN Human Rights Council meetings and other inter-governmental conferences on women's issues, in addition to a continuous campaign against the Iranian coalition's sexism.
3.The Defense and Strategic Research Committee
This committee closely monitors the regime's military actions, notably those involving topics addressing the missile defense systems, regime's nuclear, and other military activities. The mission is carried out in close conjunction with Iran's PMOI network, which enables the collecting of critical data. Numerous significant disclosures concerning the ballistic missile and regime's nuclear operations have been made as a consequence of the committee's investigation.
4.The Political Research Committee
This committee investigates the Iranian regime's internal actions to ascertain the precise condition of circumstances. The committee's tasks include investigating internal factions and changes inside the organization, as well as researching societal discontent, trends, and developments.
Along with assessing and evaluating various studies and research on Iran, the committee also produces internal reports based on information gathered from various sources inside the PMOI's internal network in the nation. The outcomes of this research are reviewed in NCRI meetings and utilized to evaluate the organization's policies and stances.
5.Security and Counter-Terrorism Committee
This committee's principal mission is to combat the intelligence activities and regime's terrorists to destabilize the resistance in Iran. This has been a focal point of the committee's activities for the last two decades.
In the last few years, the Iranian regime has made huge efforts to infiltrate and destabilize the NCRI and PMOI, primarily through the dissemination of propaganda via a vast network of websites maintained by the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
This cyber war has begun and will continue indefinitely. The Committee has made significant disclosures about the Iranian regime's terrorist actions in the region, its intervention in other countries.
Since the NCRI's inception in the early 1990s, sizable Iranian artists have been members. Numerous renowned artists collaborate to further the enrichment of Iran's ancient culture and arts. Among the committee's initiatives are collaborations with other Iranian organizations in the organizing of cultural events, concerts, and creative programs.
Additionally, the committee is tasked with evaluating the status of artists and authors under the mullahs' supervision, as well as other expert work on Iran's future growth in the coming years.
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The Role of Canadian Space Technology in Enabling Global Transparency in Methane Emissions
June 10, 2022 12:13 | April Duffy (Administrator)
Presenter: Eric Choi, Director of Business Development GHGSat Inc.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with 80 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after release. A quarter of today's global temperature increases are caused by anthropogenic methane. Reducing methane emissions 45% over the next five years would have the same 20 year climate benefit as closing 1,300 coal-fired power plants.
Canadian space technology is addressing the growing need for global transparency in methane emissions. A number of past (e.g. SCIAMACHY), current (e.g. Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI) and future (e.g. GeoCarb) space agency missions provide methane data on regional and global scales. An exciting development is the emergence in Canada and abroad of commercial remote sensing companies like GHGSat that are pushing the boundaries with innovative and complementary Earth observation capabilities that would otherwise not be possible with either a space agency or private sector mission alone.
GHGSat's satellites enable the quantification of facility-level methane emissions and provide data and analytics for stakeholders in the energy, resource, power generation, agricultural, waste management, and sustainability sectors to make informed environmental decisions. There are currently three GHGSat satellites in orbit, with the next three satellites scheduled for launch this summer and three more satellites now under construction towards the goal of a ten satellite constellation by the end of 2023. No other government or commercial satellite mission is currently capable of quantifying methane emissions from point sources as small as individual oil and gas wells.
This presentation will include a short history of satellite-based methane monitoring, a summary of GHGSat's satellites and their capabilities, a description of how GHGSat's high-resolution satellites work synergistically with regional-scale data from space agency missions, and conclude with some examples of recent observations from GHGSat's satellites.
Our Speaker
Eric Choi is director of business development at GHGSat. Over the course of his career, he has held positions of increasing technical and managerial responsibility in both the aviation and space sectors, the latter including work on QEYSSat (Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite), the Meteorology (MET) payload on the NASA Phoenix Mars Lander, the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station, the RADARSAT-1 Earth-observation satellite, and the MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution on the Troposphere) instrument. He holds a B.A.Sc in engineering science and an M.A.Sc in aerospace engineering, both from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from York University.


News > Third-Person Shooter > Video Games
The Division Heartland: Release date, trailers, leaks, gameplay, how to register
Ubisoft has announced a brand new game set in The Division universe. Here's all the info about The Division Heartland, including gameplay and how to join the closed beta!
According to Ubisoft, The Division 2 has a community of over 40 million players.
The first game has been released over five years ago, and the world of the post-apocalyptic US quickly gathered a huge community of players.
And today, Ubisoft has announced their future plans not just for The Division 2, but for the next The Division games as well.
They have revealed The Division Heartland, the brand new game set in the same universe as the first two games.
What is The Division Heartland?
Ubisoft has big plans for The Division universe, including a movie and a mobile game (Picture: Ubisoft)
The Division Heartland is a new game set in the world of the previous two games, but it won't be a direct sequel or a part of the main series. Instead, the game is a spin-off title.
It has been developed by Red Storm studio, the studio that has been working on Tom Clancy games since 1997, most noticeably the Ghost Recon series.
Unlike the previous two The Division games, this one will be a free-to-play game.
The Division Heartland gameplay
We don't know much about the game currently, as Ubisoft hasn't shared any additional details about what can we expect from the game.
Ubisoft says that "Heartland is a standalone game that doesn't require previous experience with the series but will provide an all-new perspective on the universe in a new setting."
Based on the fact that this will be a F2P game, we think that it will most likely be a PvP title, and it will probably have things like Battle Passes and all kinds of cosmetics.
The Division Heartland trailers, leaks, more
Ubisoft hasn't yet released and trailers or teasers for the game, nor there are any leaks.
As soon as something becomes available, we will update the article.
The Division Heartland closed beta: How to register
Though we still don't have any details on the game, Ubisoft has already announced that we can soon expect the closed beta to start.
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Everyone will have a chance to participate, and if you want to sign up for a chance to participate, you can do it at this link.
The Division Heartland release date and platforms
The Division Heartland is expected to be released in late 2021 or early 2022 on PC, consoles, and cloud.
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Home Latest IMF: Nigeria Remains Largest Economy in Africa, 26th in the World
IMF: Nigeria Remains Largest Economy in Africa, 26th in the World
By James Emejo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Nigeria maintained its lead as the biggest economy in Africa, in terms of the size of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
But globally, the IMF, in its recently released World Economic Outlook (WEO), reviewed by THISDAY yesterday, ranked Nigeria the 26th largest economy, with an average GDP of $442.976 billion.
The computation was based on nominal GDP, which does not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries.
The IMF ,recently returned a gloomy verdict on the Nigerian economy for 2020, declaring that the nation's economic outlook was challenging.
The multilateral institution, in its recently released 2020 Article IV Consultation on Nigeria, had stated that the country's economy "is buffeted" from side to side by a cocktail of issues, including the uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic, low oil prices, capital outflows and balance of payment challenges."
The IMF had stated: "The COVID-19 global pandemic is exacting a heavy toll on the Nigerian economy, which was already experiencing falling per capita income and double-digit inflation, with limited buffers and structural bottlenecks.
"Low oil prices and sharp capital outflows have significantly increased balance of payments (BOP) pressures and, together with the pandemic-related lockdown, have led to a large output contraction and increased unemployment."
In its estimation, the IMF said supply shortages have pushed up headline inflation to a 30-month high.
It said: "Under current policies, the outlook is challenging. Real GDP is projected to contract by 3¼ per cent in 2020. The recovery is projected to start in 2021, with subdued growth of 1½ per cent and output recovering to its pre-pandemic level only in 2022."
The IMF report, which acknowledged the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to rein in inflation, however, maintained that despite an expected easing of food prices, inflation is projected to remain in double digits and above the CBN's target range.
"Following a significant decline in revenue collections – from levels that were already among the lowest in the world – fiscal deficits are projected to remain elevated in the medium term," the report stated.
Recognising various policy measures put in place by the federal government, the Bretton Wood Institution still believes there is need to put in place more broad market reforms in order to address the pressing balance of payment pressures in Nigeria.
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Arguably the most important figure in American Civil Rights - and one of the country's most important public figures overall - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been understandably mythologized in the decades since his death. And yet while the details of his relatively short life do complicate that mythological portrait, they also paint a picture of a complicated but devoted man whose courage in a conflicted age has inspired such veneration.
Dr. King was born Michael King in Atlanta in 1929,...
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Essays
Letter from Birmingham Jail: A Contemporary Literary Analysis Seanette Culmer College
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If you need automotive window tinting, residential or commercial window tinting, or paint protection solutions, look no farther than Sun Stoppers.
22 year legacy of excellence
Our founder and owner of Sun Stoppers Window Tinting,Mike Burke, strives to create a successful team who work together to provide clients with the best possible experience and finished product. Built on the concept of family values, teamwork, quality products and professional installation, Sun Stoppers has grown to become the industry leader in window tint and automotive paint protection solutions. Mike Burke graduated with a marketing degree from Western Carolina University in 1994 and spent 6 months of the following year as the #1 salesman at Scott Clark Toyota. An entrepreneur at heart he packed up in 1996 and moved to Myrtle Beach to open his first tint shop, Innovations. Homesick after a year at the beach Mike returned to Charlotte and started a mobile tinting company, The Tint Man. He quickly became the primary tint provider for most of the stereo and accessory shops within a 50 mile radius of Charlotte. The Tint Man was so successful that he created his first retail location, Lighting Mike's, in 1999 to keep up with the demand. Over the next 6 years Mike expanded Lightning Mike's into 6 locations throughout the Charlotte area, offering a variety of aftermarket automotive services, inspections, A/V, accessories, wheels & tires in addition to the ever popular window tinting.
By 2005, after gross sales of $1.6 million, Mike sold Lighting Mike's and spend time with his young family. While taking a break from the automotive industry he pulled on his educational background and started an ad agency, Pinpoint Advertising, which focused on direct marketing to upscale clients. After growing Pinpoint to self-sufficiency, he then sold it in 2006 to open Sun Stoppers. With Sun Stoppers, Mike took what he learned building and running his first several companies and decided to follow a Starbucks inspired marketing strategy. Focusing on quality rather than quantity and providing a superior product with excellent customer service. By doing one thing extremely well. That one thing is window tinting! Sun Stoppers built a reputation as the place to go for the best overall customer experience and window tint installation. Over the course of Sun Stoppers' 12 years in business, Mike has expanded his product offerings to include automotive paint protection, roller shades, residential and commercial flat glass tinting and specialty and printed films for commercial storefronts, branding and advertising.
Sun Stoppers now has 11 local retail locations include Matthews, Charlotte, Uptown, South Tryon, Lake Norman, Concord, Monroe, Rock Hill, Southend, Stoughton, Massachusetts as well as Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina and Fairmont, West Virginia. Sun Stoppers has three flat glass divisions that can aid with any commercial or residential window tinting solutions. In addition to window tinting and paint protection services, Sun Stoppers has created a design, print and installation company called Southend Graphics. Southend graphics specializes in full vehicle wraps, automotive graphic accents, graphic design, storefront graphics and installation. As Sun Stoppers and all affiliated companies continue to expand, Mike is careful never to lose sight of the core values that make Sun Stoppers and his team great; motivation, teamwork, quality and putting the client first.
If you're an existing window tint or paint protection company and would like to expand your business through a partnership with Sun Stoppers please contact Mike Burke directly at mike@charlottepaintprotection.com.
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Let us accommodate your schedule with one of our nine area locations! Choose from Charlotte, Matthews, Concord, Rock Hill, Lake Norman, Auto West, Southend, Uptown and Monroe. You can even drop your vehicle off with us and rent one of our Sun Stoppers Courtesy Cars for the day!
Sun Stoppers Fairmont
700 Fairmont Ave, Fairmont, WV 26554, USA
[P] 304-366-5000
[W] https://sunstoppersfairmont.com/
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6810 Albemarle Rd, Charlotte, NC 28212, USA
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114 Clanton Rd, Charlotte, NC 28217, USA
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Jeffrey D. Madelone
Saugerties High School
Seamon-Wilsey Funeral Home, Inc.
45 John Street
SAUGERTIES- Jeffrey D. Madelone, 46, passed away Thursday, June 17, 2021, in his home surrounded by family, after a long battle with ALS. Jeff was born in Schenectady, the son of David and Sally Madelone, before relocating to Saugerties when he was 3 years old. A 1993 graduate of Saugerties High School, Jeff loved his school and community. He played baseball and basketball proudly for SHS. Jeff went on to continue his education, work locally and play recreational sports until ALS forced him to stop in 2001. Along with his parents, he will be desperately missed by his wife, Megan Ackerley, daughter Grace Madelone, sister, Kristina Wood, niece Darian Wood, nephews, Dawson Wood, Dylan and Riley McGlynn, Connor and Avery Ackerley. Everyone who knew Jeff loved him and Jeff's love in return was endless and went far beyond blood. He will be missed by more family and friends than possible to mention. If you knew Jeff, you knew he was a huge sports fan and his dedication to his NY teams was unparalleled. His love for the Yankees was undeniable, but there was so much more that Jeff found joy in over the years. From movie scores to hard rock and everything in between Jeff's love of music was another passion that brought him comfort and connection throughout his life. Jeff fought a courageous battle with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) for 20 years with humor, hope and his "never give up" attitude. We take comfort in knowing that Jeff is shining down upon us all from his special place in heaven and is reunited with his beloved bulldog, Ralphy. A service of remembrance will be held at 5 p.m., Saturday, June 26, 2021, at the main diamond at Cantine Memorial Field, Washington Ave. in Saugerties. Attire is casual. Arrangements are under the direction of the Seamon-Wilsey Funeral Home, Inc. Corner of John and Lafayette Sts., Saugerties. Memorial donations/in lieu of flowers, may be made to Hope Loves Company, supporting children and young adults affected by ALS. https://www.hopelovescompany.org/donate Expressions of condolence may be shared with the family on Jeff's Tribute Wall at www.SeamonWilseyFuneralHome.com.
Published by the Daily Freeman from Jun. 23 to Jun. 24, 2021.
Cantine Memorial Field
Washington Ave., Saugerties, NY
How do you know Jeffrey D. Madelone? (Optional)
Jeffrey was one of the most courageous young men I have and will have ever known! A gifted athlete and a true and loyal friend! I truly grieve his passing but know he no longer suffers! He received the best care known to man by his Wife Megan, Father David and Mother Sally! Jeffrey will always be in our hearts! Love, Uncle Paul
Uncle Paul Madelone
To Megan, Gracie and the Madelone family: It was with great sadness that we learned of Jeff's passing. He fought a valiant effort to beat ALS and he never gave up. Jeff was an inspiration to all who knew him. He was a great guy and loved by all. May it help you all to know that we will all miss him at the games and his pleasant smile. Our deepest sympathy to all during this very sad time. Sincerely, Elaine & Dennis Ferraro
Elaine P. & Dennis P. Ferraro
Condolences to family and friends of One of our finest... Rest in Peace Jeff
Bob Mooers
The Seplavy Family
Our thoughts and prayers are with the whole family at this time. Jeff was a great person and will truly missed
Flo & Ken Krauss


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Charles Darwin's Views on the American Civil War
By Mark Mancini
getty images / getty images
Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln never met in person, but they sure would have had plenty to talk about. For starters, both of these visionary men were born on the exact same day: February 12, 1809. Both lost their mothers at a tragically young age. And both came to hate that "peculiar institution" called slavery.
In 1831, Darwin—then a recent college grad—took the trip of a lifetime aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. Over the next five years, he'd become the resident naturalist, gathering New World plant and animal specimens by the hundreds before shipping them back to England. During these travels, Darwin also began laying the groundwork of an idea that would forever change his life and our world: evolution by natural selection.
But fossils and tortoise shells weren't the only sights catching Darwin's eye. After returning home, he penned a memoir entitled The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. The scientist described in vivid, uncomfortable detail some of the "heart-sickening atrocities" he'd witnessed in the "slave-country" of Brazil:
Near Rio de Janeiro I lived opposite to an old lady, who kept screws to crush the fingers of her female slaves … I have seen a little boy, six or seven years old, struck thrice with a horse-whip (before I could interfere) on his naked head, for having handed me a glass of water not quite clean; I saw his father tremble at a mere glance from his master's eye.
And Darwin doesn't stop there. "Picture to yourself the chance," he instructed his readers, "ever hanging over you, of your wife and your little children … being torn from you and sold like beasts to the first bidder! And these deeds are done and palliated by men, who profess to love their neighbours as themselves, who believe in God, and pray that his Will be done on earth! It makes one's blood boil, yet heart tremble, to think that we Englishmen and our American descendants, with their boastful cry of liberty, have been and are so guilty."
Given these passionate words, when America's Civil War broke out, you can guess which side Darwin supported. Shortly after southern forces fired on Fort Sumter in 1861, he contacted his Yankee colleague, botanist Asa Gray, and wrote:
I have not seen or heard of a soul who is not with the North. Some few, & I am one, even wish to God, though at the loss of millions of lives, that the North would proclaim a crusade against Slavery. In the long run, a million horrid deaths would be amply repaid in the cause of humanity … Great God how I should like to see the greatest curse on Earth, slavery, abolished.
Lincoln never read this document, but his razor-sharp political instincts were second to none. Anti-slavery sentiments just like Darwin's were firmly-rooted throughout much of Europe—a fact upon which "Honest Abe" capitalized with his famous Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
When that brilliant decree rang out, Darwin's reaction was a bit on the skeptical side. "Well," he wrote Gray, "your President has issued his fiat against slavery—God grant it may have some effect." Gray, for his part, believed that the Union would emerge victorious and that slavery's death knell had finally begun. "You see, slavery is dead, dead," Gray had announced that year. Darwin—who once told Gray "you are too hopeful on your side of the water"—had his doubts:
I sometimes cannot help taking [a] most gloomy view about your future. I look to your money depreciating so much that there will be mutiny with your soldiers and quarrels between the different states which are to pay. In short anarchy & then the South & Slavery will be triumphant. But I hope my dismal prophecies will be as utterly wrong as most of my other prophecies have been. But everyone's prophecies have been wrong; those of your Government as wrong as any.—It is a cruel evil to the whole world; I hope that you may prove right and some good come out of it.


Julia Peet - Biography and Images
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Julia Peet is a reporter and presenter for Spotlight, the BBC's regional news programme for the South West.
Julia joined the BBC in 1992 and as well as presenting and reporting, she also helps produce the programme.
Julia has filed reports for Spotlight, News 24, BBC Breakfast and Radio 5 Live from places as diverse as the Zambian bush, Miami and Dunkirk.
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Startup develops new vaccine against hepatitis b
It has been a mystery to scientists for years: being well vaccinated against hepatitis B, but still being able to become infected with the HBV virus. CyTuVax from Maastricht is currently testing a vaccine that reduces the so-called non-response effect. In other words: the risk of infection is further reduced. In November, the last of more than 130 test subjects will receive an injection in the study, CyTuVax expects to publish the results in early 2019. An earlier study already gave positive results; 90% of the test subjects were protected against the virus after vaccination with the new product. The company would like to achieve this result again: "We are confident that the data from the first phase of the study will be reconfirmed. In addition, we hope for a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness and safety of our product in a larger group of non-responders. We aim to provide at least 85% of non-responders with a vaccine," explains Paul van den Brekel, one of the company's founders.
The traditional treatment method currently offers – depending on the vaccine and treatment schedule – a solution for 50% to 70% of the non-responders. After the usual three injections, they will receive three additional shots. "We want to ensure a higher response rate, but also demonstrate that our product is more effective. Instead of three revaccinations now, our vaccine only needs one or two replicates to adequately protect against the virus," emphasises Van den Brekel. About 5% of adults do not produce enough antibodies to be protected against infection, in spite of the vaccinations. It is not known exactly why this is. But in the majority of cases, such a non-response is more common in men over forty who smoke and carry too many kilos with them. Also, factors such as genetics and the functioning of the immune system play a possible role. This effect can be particularly dangerous for people working in healthcare or the sex industry.
"You can imagine that a young surgeon with a non-response has a different view about protection than a tourist who goes to Thailand for two weeks," says Van den Brekel. "But ultimately safety is the most important factor, not only the health of the non-responder but also of those exposed to an infected non-responder." Van den Brekel indicates that a non-responder-specific drug may change the approach of vaccination centres: "In the future, in addition to the standard visits for vaccination, a fourth visit could be planned, where the blood is tested for the number of antibodies. This way you can say with 100% certainty that a vaccination has been successful."
But it will take some time before the vaccine comes available on the market. In the final phase of the clinical study, the vaccine must demonstrate in an even larger group that it works effectively and is completely safe for people. Van den Brekel: "In the coming period we will enter into discussions with registration authorities such as the European Medicine Agency (EMA) to determine how this last study should be set up for a final registration of the product." CyTuVax is also looking for a possible investor who can help financially in this process. "These are long-term, expensive projects. As a startup, we cannot afford that alone."
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CIM Group Completes 169-Unit Prizma Apartment Building in Hollywood's Media District
LOS ANGELES, CA - CIM Group announced that it has completed construction of Prizma, a 169-unit, seven-story apartment building prominently located on the northeast corner of La Brea Blvd. and Willoughby Avenue in Hollywood's Media District. The building also features approximately 33,000 square feet of ground floor retail served by separate public parking and elevators for easy accessibility.
Prizma is designed around a park-like central courtyard that provides residents an outdoor retreat with fire pits, outdoor game area, a 3,000-square-foot pool and deck with barbeque area, and ample seating. Two additional rooftop Wi-Fi-enabled communal outdoor areas offer city views from the Hollywood Hills to the downtown skyline, include outdoor televisions, comfortable seating areas with fire pits.
Residences are a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom floorplans as well as bi-level units, and are equipped with stainless steel kitchen appliances, in-unit washer and dryer, and Nest thermostats and electronic door locks offering optional keyless smartphone enabled access for connected living. Modern finishes such as hardwood floors and sleek tile bathrooms enhance the stylish units that are awash with natural light from floor-to-ceiling operable windows. Embracing the indoor/outdoor California lifestyle, most units offer a balcony or a terrace.
Prizma also features a 24-hour attendant, a fitness center equipped with Life Fitness cardio, cable motion, and free weight machines, a WiFi-enabled co-working office area, and an indoor-outdoor lounge.
Located in a vibrant and evolving area of Los Angeles bordering on West Hollywood, Prizma is well-positioned in a walkable neighborhood with an array of nearby shopping and dining options, and an emerging hub for culture and the arts. It also is a thriving area for business, particularly entertainment and creative industries that are drawn to the variety of contemporary office options including 953 Sycamore and The Lot, a CIM-owned creative studio campus just blocks away.
CIM Group is a long-time owner and operator of commercial real estate throughout Los Angeles and utilized its broad experience in owning, developing and operating multifamily and retail properties to envision and deliver the Prizma apartments and retail uses to Hollywood and neighboring communities.
Source: CIM Group / #Apartments #Multifamily


Critical Condition's Roger Weisberg Answers Viewer Questions
October 21, 2008 By Ruiyan Xu Comments 7 min read
Roger Weisberg is the director of Critical Condition, which aired on POV on September 30, 2008 and is streaming in its entirety online until November 11, 2008.
After the broadcast, many viewers wrote with questions for Roger. Read on for Weisberg's responses to some of the questions he received.
Margo asks: What can I and others really do to help change this antiquated system we call health care?
Roger Weisberg: 1. Write your elected officials and urge them to support efforts to extend health insurance to all Americans.
2. Host a screening or house party to bring visibility to this issue and encourage discussion about health care reform.
3. Join local community groups and national organizations that are pushing the next president and Congress to move the nation towards universal health insurance. For more information about action steps, go to the Take Action page on the POV Critical Condition website.
4. Learn more about this issue and what the presidential candidates are saying about health care reform, and vote for the presidential candidate who is mostly likely to tackle this problem. To learn more about the candidates' positions on health care reform, go to POV's Presidential Plans in Action page.
Adam asks: How can I help Carlos and his family? What can we do to help other people who are uninsured?
Weisberg: Carlos is doing much better. He is now four inches taller and is out of pain for the first time in 15 years. He is able to enjoy his newly acquired ability to play with his four children, and says, "I'm very pleased that I've gotten a second chance at life." About three months after his surgery, Carlos returned to work, but he still has no health insurance. The policy offered at his job is still too expensive for him, and in light of his documented pre-existing condition, Carlos thinks it would be even more expensive than before his operation.
There are several concrete steps people can take to help people like Carlos. They can support various free clinics and community health centers that provide services to the uninsured. There are often volunteer opportunities available at these organizations as well. People can also join or support various community groups, advocacy organizations and grassroots organizations that are trying to improve access to health care for the uninsured. Lastly, people can become more involved in political initiatives at the local, state and national level. The Critical Condition website offers links to many organizations that can help viewers become more informed and involved.
Larry asks: Of the 47 million uninsured Americans you mentioned in your film, how many are illegal immigrants? And how many could have afforded insurance, but declined to pay for it out of their own pocket? And how many are eligible for some kind of coverage, but have failed to enroll? I am sympathetic to the characters in the film, but also feel that people need to take personal responsibility for their choices.
Weisberg: Of the 47 million uninsured in 2006, about 4 in 5 (78 percent) were U.S. citizens. Because the main government surveys that ask about health insurance do not ask whether immigrants have legal documentation to be in the U.S., it is impossible to say for sure how many of the 10 million or so uninsured immigrants are undocumented. However, we do know that in 2006, 70 percent of uninsured noncitizens had been in the U.S. for 6 years or more.
With respect to the numbers of people who could have afforded health insurance but declined to pay for it: evidence suggests that when people have access to affordable coverage, most purchase it. Only 1.5 percent of adults say they are uninsured because they do not need coverage. Even among low-income employees, more than half sign up for coverage from their employer when it is offered. Those who do not sign up may not be able to pay their share of the premiums. In 2008, the average annual total premiums for coverage through an employer are $4,704 for individual coverage and $12,680 for family coverage. The amount workers have to pay towards those premiums varies by employer, with 30 percent of smaller employers asking employees to contribute more than half of the premium costs for family coverage. For those who do not have access to employer-sponsored coverage or who cannot afford their share of the premiums, it can be difficult to find coverage on the individual market. About half of uninsured adults have a chronic condition, which may cause insurers to reject them or charge them higher rates if they tried to purchase coverage on their own.
In terms of those who are eligible for coverage, but who have failed to enroll: confusion over who qualifies for Medicaid or State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and an enrollment process that can be difficult to navigate have left one-quarter of the uninsured without coverage, despite being eligible for these programs (2004 data). Most of those who are eligible for public insurance but uninsured are children or parents. About three-quarters of uninsured children are eligible for public coverage, about 28 percent of uninsured parents are eligible and 8 percent of uninsured adults without children are eligible. Children are more likely to be eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP than their parents and most childless adults are not eligible for Medicaid regardless of income. Many states have tried to streamline eligibility and increase awareness of Medicaid and SCHIP to prevent those who are eligible from remaining uninsured, but federal rules and state budget constraints have limited these efforts.
Chris asks: How might alternative health care fit into the equation? Many alternative health care options are available and are a great avenue for preventive care.
Weisberg: At the moment, 47 million Americans have no health insurance whatsoever, and an additional 20 million are "underinsured," which means that their policies have such high copayments, deductibles and exclusions that they experience many of the same access barriers as the uninsured. While it would be nice if the public could access alternative health care options, our first priority needs to be to guarantee access to a basic standard of medical care for all Americans. Then we can have a reasonable discussion about what forms of alternative medicine should be available as part of a basic package of medical benefits.
Rhea asks: I believe that when it comes to health care, insurance companies should be taken completely out of the picture and health care should be nationalized. However, I wouldn't know the first thing about what steps need to be taken to work toward nationalizing health care in this country. Any suggestions?
Weisberg: There are many national, state and local grassroots organizations working on various national health insurance proposals. One organization that is committed to a government-financed health care system that would put private insurance companies out of business is Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP). This organization has the support of thousands of doctors and proposes to replace private insurance companies with a single-payer system that could be most easily described as Medicare for everyone. For more information about PNHP, visit their website. For links to other advocacy organizations, go to the POV website for Critical Condition.
 Archived in POV 2008: Critical Condition and tagged @criticalcondition, ask the filmmaker, election 2008, filmmakers, health care, healthcare, healthcare reform. Bookmark the permalink.
Ruiyan Xu
Former POVer Ruiyan Xu worked on developing and producing materials for POV's website. Before coming to POV, she worked in the Interactive and Broadband department at Channel Thirteen/WNET. Ruiyan was born in Shanghai and graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Modern Culture and Media.
Permalink: http://archive.pov.org/blog/news/2008/10/critical_conditions_roger_weis_1/
Up the Yangtze's Yung Chang Answers Viewer QuestionsBy Ruiyan XuOne response4 min read
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A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates (for example, the sun being at its highest point every day around noon), different places on the Earth need to have different clock times. Time zones have been used in modern times so similarly situated cities can keep exactly the same time, for simplicity and ease of communication.
Standard time zones could be defined by geometrically subdividing the Earth's spheroid into 24 lunes (wedge-shaped sections), bordered by meridians each 15° of longitude apart. The local time in neighboring zones would differ by one hour, and the variation in the position of the sun from one end of the zone to the other (east vs. west) would be at most 1/24th of the sky. Most of the 25 nautical time zones (specifically UTC−11 to UTC+11) are indeed defined this way, and are 15° of longitude wide. An hourly zone in the central Pacific Ocean is split into two 7.5° wide zones (UTC±12) by the 180th meridian, part of which coincides with the International Date Line.
On land, it is more convenient for areas in close commercial or other communication to keep the same time, so time zones tend to follow the boundaries of countries and their subdivisions instead. Of the 40 time zones on land, most are offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by a whole number of hours (UTC−12 to UTC+14), but a few are offset by 30 or 45 minutes from a nearby hourly zone. Daylight saving time is used in some higher-latitude countries to manipulate clock time with respect to the position of the sun for parts of the year, typically by changing clocks by an hour. Many land time zones are skewed toward the west relative to the corresponding nautical time zones, which also creates a permanent daylight saving time-like offset. Computer operating systems use either UTC or a local time zone to time stamp events.
Time zones map (Last update: October 18, 2011)
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Time Zone Abbreviation
Region (City)
NZT New Zealand Time (Auckland, Wellington) GMT + 12:00
USZ9 Russia Time 9 (Vladivostok) GMT + 10:00
AEDT Australia Eastern Daylight Time (Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney) GMT + 10:00
AEST Australia Eastern Time (Brisbane) GMT + 10:00
ACDT Australia Central Daylight Time (Adelaide) GMT + 09:30
ACST Australia Central Time (Darwin) GMT + 09:30
USZ8 Russia Time 8 (Yakutsk) GMT + 09:00
JST Japan Time (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya) GMT + 09:00
USZ7 Russia Time 7 (Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar) GMT + 08:00
CCT China Coastal Time (Beijing, Hong Kong) GMT + 08:00
AWST Australia Western Time (Perth) GMT + 08:00
USZ6 Russia Time 6 (Krasnoyarsk) GMT + 07:00
ICT Indochina Time GMT + 07:00
USZ5 Russia Time 5 (Novosibirsk) GMT + 06:00
USZ4 Russia Time 4 (Ekaterinburg) GMT + 05:00
USZ3 Russia Time 3 GMT + 04:00
R2T Russia Time 2 (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd) GMT + 03:00
R1T Russia Time 1 GMT + 02:00
EET Eastern Europe Time (Athens, Istanbul, Minsk, Sofija ) GMT + 02:00
EAT East Africa Time GMT + 02:00
CET Central Europe Time (Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Sarajevo, Skopje, Vilnius, Warsaw, Zagreb, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna) GMT + 01:00
WET Western Europe Time (Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London) GMT + 00:00
EST Eastern Time (USA, Canada) GMT - 05:00
CDT Centeral Daylight Savings Time (USA, Canada) GMT - 05:00
CST Central Time (USA, Canada) GMT - 06:00
MST Mountain Time (USA, Canada) GMT - 07:00
PST Pacific Time (USA, Canada, Tijuana) >GMT - 08:00
AKST Alaska Std Time GMT - 09:00
AHST Alaska-Hawaii Std Time GMT - 10:00
GMT 1300 Nuku'alofa GMT + 13:00
GMT 1200 Fiji, Kamchatka, Marshall Is. GMT + 12:00
GMT 1100 Magadan, Solomon Is., New Caledonia GMT + 11:00
GMT 1000 Hobart, Brisbane, Guam, Port Moresby GMT + 10:00
GMT 0930 GMT + 09:30
GMT 0900 Seoul GMT + 09:00
GMT 0800 Urumqi, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore GMT + 08:00
GMT 0700 Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta GMT + 07:00
GMT 0630 Rangoon GMT + 06:30
GMT 0600 Sri Jayawardenepura, Almaty, Astana, Dhaka GMT + 06:00
GMT 0545 Kathmandu GMT + 05:45
GMT 0530 Calcutta, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi GMT + 05:30
GMT 0500 Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent GMT + 05:00
GMT 0430 Kabul GMT + 04:30
GMT 0400 Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Abu Dhabi, Muscat GMT + 04:00
GMT 0300 Tehran, Baghdad, Nairobi, Kuwait, Riyadh GMT + 03:00
GMT 0200 Helsinki, Riga, Tallinn, Harare, Pretoria, Cairo, Jerusalem GMT + 02:00
GMT 0100 West Central Africa GMT + 01:00
GMT Casablanca, Monrovia GMT
GMT -0100 Cape Verde Is., Azores GMT - 01:00
GMT -0200 Mid-Atlantic GMT - 02:00
GMT -0230 GMT - 02:30
GMT -0300 Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Georgetown, Greenland GMT - 03:00
GMT -0330 Newfoundland GMT - 03:30
GMT -0400 Atlantic Time (Canada), Santiago, Caracas, La Paz GMT - 04:00
GMT -0500 Bogota, Lima, Quito, Indiana (East) GMT - 05:00
GMT -0600 Central America, Mexico City, Saskatchewan GMT - 06:00
GMT -0700 Arizona GMT - 07:00
GMT -0900 Alaska GMT - 09:00
GMT -1000 Hawaii GMT - 10:00
GMT -1100 Midway Island, Samoa GMT - 11:00
GMT -1200 Eniwetok, Kwajalein GMT - 12:00
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Clay Newcomb's 8 Best Squirrel Hunting Tips
Maggie Hudlow Oct 1, 2021
In Episode 5 of MeatEater Season 10, Steve, Janis, and Clay load up the mules and dogs for an Arkansas squirrel hunt. Here are some of Clay's best tips and tricks to get squirrels from the woods, skinned, and into the crockpot, preferably served with dumplings.
Find the Food, Find the Squirrels Clay typically breaks out the squirrel dogs in December and hunts through February. Tree squirrels don't hibernate, so they're active all winter. In order to survive the colder temps, they hoard food by burying it underground or storing it in middens camouflaged by ground cover. While it's not necessary to find individual squirrel caches, they usually won't be far from the original food source.
"You can use what you've learned in the fall deer hunting and pretty much know where the squirrels are going to be because they're going to be eating the same mast," Clay said.
Squirrels will eat just about anything, but their winter food storage is focused on mast crops like acorns, hickory nuts, and beech nuts in the Southeast.
Glass for Tails Start with the trunk then follow the main branches of the tree. "You're not looking for a whole squirrel because you're just not going to see him," Clay said. "What you're looking for is that long tail that blows in the wind and can give them away."
He says you should also glass at the straight lines of the tree and look for bumps. That could be a head, ear, or tail. "If they're hiding from you, they're going to be pretty close to the trunk or on a big limb or right in the fork where those two meet," Clay said. "They're real aware of their silhouette, so they won't be out on a 2-inch limb."
If You Spot a Squirrel, Get There Quickly "There's a timestamp on a tree because the squirrel is extremely mobile in the canopy. So, when you hear those dogs treed, you get there as soon as you can," Clay explained. "By the time you get to a treed dog, 50% of the time the squirrel is going to be running and 50% of the time they're going to be holed up."
Clay likes to use two or three dogs and keep them within about 150 yards so he can get to the treed squirrel before it finds a way to get away.
Get 'em Moving Often you'll find a squirrel in a hole and it'll be hard to get them out of there. "Our biggest trick to get squirrels to move is shaking vines and limbs or just smack a tree with a stick," Clay said. "A lot of times that squirrel is going to be in a tree with vines because they like cover, especially in late winter. And boy, you start banging those vines around and you can get those squirrels moving."
Never Shoot at a Squirrel on the Ground "Number one rule: If he's on the ground, let him run," Clay said. "You don't want to shoot a dog in excitement or even shoot somebody."
Hunt with Buddies and Try Different Firearms "If you're by yourself, you can't see him while he's on the backside of that tree. He knows where you're at," Clay said. "So, you circle around the tree. Well, the squirrel moves. But if a few of you can spread out and get around all sides of the tree with guns pointing up, you're more likely to get that squirrel."
In the MeatEater episode, Clay uses a Rossi Circuit Judge .45 Colt/.410 gauge. You can actually bid to win the exact gun (and more) right now with the MeatEater Season 10 Package in the Auction House of Oddities that benefits our Land Access Initiative.
Steve swears by a .22 in the squirrel woods and shot his CZ American .22 LR in the Ozarks. Steve claims Clay is a big fan of shotguns because he "probably isn't as good a shot as I am," but Clay believes you ideally need at least two people on a squirrel hunt—one with a .22 and one with a shotgun.
"If you're hunting with dogs and you want to kill anything, you better have somebody with a shotgun," Clay explained.
'Black Them Out' Squirrels are a pretty small target, so good marksmanship plays a key role in a successful hunt. If you're shooting with a .22, you're going to be aiming at the head. If you're firing a shotgun, you're more likely to blast at a running squirrel and lead it like you would a duck.
"My grandpa always said, 'black them out,'" Clay said. "Swing your gun until you can't see it anymore and then pull the trigger."
For new hunters, Clay's recommendation is just to get out: "I don't know if there's anything that can prepare you to shoot a squirrel any better than just going and shooting a squirrel."
Hoot, Holler, and Have a Good Time "I'm a grown man and it blows my mind how fast my heart beats when we walk up to a tree and a squirrel breaks," Clay concluded. "You've pretty much got one shot at it in the timber. It's jumping and moving, and you just feel like you've come unglued inside.
"Then you take your shot. And then you're like, 'Man, it's just a squirrel, why did I get so worked up?' That is why we do it. It's chaos. It's great."
If you want to see some of that chaos unfold, check out MeatEater Season 10, Part 1. It's live on Netflix right now!
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onX Hunt App
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Video: How to Skin a Squirrel in 1 Minute
Clay Newcomb
In my experience, this is the best method for skinning squirrels, especially if they were killed with a shotgun or have a torn-up hide. I call it the "Batesville Method," but a more descriptive name would be the dip-and-snip. First, dip the squirrel in water. This keeps most of the hair off the meat while skinning. You'll need a pair of utility snippers that can be purchased at any hardware store for the next part. Clip the feet, tail, and head...
Video: How to Make Squirrel Tail Christmas Ornaments
Looking to add some class to your Christmas tree? I can help you do it. Utilizing wild game for food is the primary reason we hunt, but for eons hunters have memorialized the chase by using non-edible parts of the animal for ornamentation. In this video, you'll learn how to make two types of Christmas tree ornaments using squirrel tails. The first step is deboning the squirrel tail. Second, I salt the tail to dry out the skin. This will preserve...
The Rise and Fall (And Rise Again) of the American Small Game Hunter
It's no secret the MeatEater crew loves small game hunting as much as chasing big bucks or spring gobblers. We grew up small game hunting with friends and family, and we never gave it up. But despite the rich tradition and history of small game hunting in this country, the majority of current American hunters spend little time, if any at all, hunting small game. Squirrels and rabbits barely register as worth the effort. Even upland birds and...


IRS Releases Priority Guidance Plan
The IRS has released its 2021-2022 Priority Guidance Plan. The US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS previously solicited recommendations for items to be included in the priority guidance plan in Notice 2021-28. The 2021-2022 Priority Guidance Plan contains 193 guidance projects that are priorities for allocating Treasury and IRS resources for the period from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Some projects that were in the 2020-2021 Priority Guidance Plan have not been included in the 2021-2022 Plan because the Treasury and the IRS indicate that they are no longer considered priorities for purposes of allocating resources for the current plan year. Some of the projects that are listed in the plan include those necessary to update regulations to reflect statutory changes made with respect to S corporations, C corporations, IRAs and other tax areas. Other projects of note include issuing: (1) guidance to address mark-to-market accounting under Section 475, (2) guidance with respect to the cure provisions for regulated investment companies and for real estate investment trusts (REIT), (3) guidance clarifying the definition of income for REIT qualification, (4) regulations with respect to Section 1001 and the modification of debt instruments, (5) final regulations with regard to the application of Section 163(j) to partnerships, S corporations and their owners, (6) final regulations addressing adjustments to bases and capital accounts and the tax and book basis of partnership property and (7) regulations under subpart F and regulations addressing the treatment of foreign entities held by domestic partnerships and S corporations.
IRS Releases "Limitation of Exchange Gain or Loss on Payment or Disposition of Debt Instrument" Practice Unit
The IRS has released a practice unit titled "Limitation of Exchange Gain or Loss on Payment or Disposition of Debt Instrument". The unit covers basic foreign currency principles related to currency transactions that multinational enterprises may enter and how any exchange rates may impact such entities.
IRS Releases "Section 263A Costs for Self-Constructed Assets" Practice Unit
The IRS has released a practice unit titled "Section 263A Costs for Self-Constructed Assets". The practice unit provides guidance for the capitalization of self-constructed assets, which are assets produced and used by the taxpayer and not sold in the regular course of business. Taxpayers are required to capitalize certain costs (e.g., material and labor costs) incurred to produce self-constructed assets. These capitalizable costs fall into three categories: Section 471 costs, additional Section 263A costs and interest costs capitalized under Section 263A(f). The practice unit does not cover self-constructed assets that qualify for the simplified methods.
Information contained in this publication should not be construed as legal advice or opinion or as a substitute for the advice of counsel. The articles by these authors may have first appeared in other publications. The content provided is for educational and informational purposes for the use of clients and others who may be interested in the subject matter. We recommend that readers seek specific advice from counsel about particular matters of interest.
Copyright © 2021 Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP. All rights reserved.
Christopher C. Scarpa
Wyden Proposal Would Impact ETF and Mutual Fund Redemptions-in-Kind and PTPs
IRS Extends Time Period for Private Activity Bond Telephonic Hearings
IRS Defers Application of Foreign Partnership Withholding Regs
SIFMA Resubmits Comments to IRS Regarding Transfers of PTP Interests
IRS Issues Revenue Procedure on Accounting Method Changes
Senate Passes Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Meet The Team Government Affairs


Fond du Lac Band stops using COVID-19 test over accuracy concerns
The FDA is looking into inaccuracy reports.
Melissa Turtinen
The National Guard via Flickr
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has stopped using a COVID-19 test that gave fast results due to concerns over the test's accuracy.
The band has been using the Abbott ID NOW test that provides results in fewer than 20 minutes, as well as a test through Mayo Clinic that provides results in 1-5 days. But concerns were raised last week regarding the Abbott ID NOW test, which prompted the band to reevaluate using the test, the band posted on Facebook Tuesday.
"After thorough research and investigation, it was decided that the immediate removal of Abbott ID NOW from our COVID-19 testing options was necessary until further research has been conducted," the post said.
On May 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert that said the Abbott ID NOW test may return false-negative results, with Tim Stenzel of the FDA noting the test can still be used and can correctly identify "many positive cases in minutes," but "negative results may need to be confirmed with a high-sensitivity authorized molecular test."
The band said not all patients who received the Abbott ID NOW test will need to be retested. It has called and reassessed patients who were tested with this test over the last 14 days and scheduled additional testing when appropriate, which will be sent to the Mayo Clinic Laboratory for testing, the post said.
During public health emergencies like we're going through now, the FDA will authorize the use of unapproved medical products in emergency situations when no adequate and approved alternatives are available, the band said, noting this is the case "with all COVID-19 testing."
Abbott Laboratories, based in Illinois, said it has been working closely with the FDA throughout the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process, noting some "studies being conducted to understand the role of ID NOW in ways that it was not designed to be used," a May 14 news release says. Abbott mentions the NYU study, which prompted the FDA's alert, stating the results "are not consistent with other studies."
"While we've seen a few studies with sensitivity performance percentages in the 80s, we've also seen other studies with sensitivity at or above 90 percent, and one as high as 94 percent," Abbott said.
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In total, the FDA has received 15 adverse event reports about the Abbott ID NOW test and it is reviewing the reports, the alert said. It is looking into these and investigating whether false negative results could be due to the types of swaps or viral transport media that were used. The FDA said external studies, like the NYU study, are just one piece of the FDA's overall evaluation of a diagnostic performance.
In response to accuracy concerns, the FDA says Abbott has agreed to conduct post-market studies for the test that will include at least 150 COVID-19 positive patients in a variety of clinical studies, which can help the FDA and Abbott understand the cause or patterns of accuracy issues and inform what steps need to be taken.
Abbott in its May 14 update said it will further clarify product information, noting negative results should be presumed negative unless it is inconsistent with clinical signs and symptoms or necessary for patient management, should be tested with an alternative molecular assay. It is also reinforcing proper sample collection and handling instructions.
As of May 11, Abbott said it had shipped more than 1.7 million ID NOW tests to all 50 states, with the majority sent to outbreak hotspots, and it is manufacturing 50,000 tests per day with the goal of increasing the manufacturing capacity to 2 million tests a month by June.
Fond du LaccloquetAbbottCoronavirus TestingMinnesota
Here are the 6 latest locations for free COVID-19 testing in Minnesota next week
MDH is conducting the testing amid increased community spread in Minnesota.
Minnesota offering free COVID-19 tests at 6 places this weekend
The testing sites have the capacity to test 6,000 people this weekend.
Residents in Ely urged to get tested, quarantine due to COVID-19 outbreak
The northern Minnesota community has seen a "significant" increase in COVID-19 cases.
Fond du Lac Band to choose leader Tuesday
Voting members of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will choose the next chair of their Reservation Business Committee. The position oversees a budget of about $180 million and businesses, including a casino amid a legal battle with the city of Duluth. Pete DeFoe is challenging incumbent Karen Diver for the four-year term.
3M developing paper COVID-19 test to give results in minutes
This test could be administered at the point-of-care and wouldn't need to be sent to a lab to get the result.
City of Duluth files lawsuit to stop Fond du Lac Band from expanding its downtown casino expansion
Duluth claims the tribe breached its contract with the city. The News Tribune reports the band is seeking federal authority to expand its downtown gaming activities to include a former hotel without obtaining approval from the city.
Fond du Lac Band will spear walleye on 13 lakes this spring
Here are the 4 free COVID-19 testing sites in MN for the week of Oct. 19
People don't need to have symptoms or insurance to get tested for free.


Literary | Talks
Wed, Jul 10, 2019
RUN TIME: 1hr with book signing to follow
ALL TICKETS: $20 event only; $40 with book (a savings of over 25% off list price)
See all on-sale dates
Tue Jun 11
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Wednesday July 10, 2019
Part of Unbound
In conversation with Elaine Welteroth
Launch of Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem
Co-presented by BAM and Greenlight Bookstore
High-end streetwear icon Dapper Dan graces the BAM stage to celebrate the launch of his stunning new memoir, Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem. At his now-legendary atelier on 125th Street in Harlem, Dapper Dan remixed classic luxury-brand logos into his own designs in the 1980s and dressed the likes of Eric B. and Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, Mike Tyson, LL Cool J, Jam Master Jay, Diddy, Naomi Campbell, and Jay-Z.
But before he reinvented haute couture, he was a hungry boy with holes in his shoes, a teen who daringly gambled drug dealers out of their money, and a young man in a prison cell who found nourishment in books. And when he turned his attention to fashion, he did so with the energy and curiosity that he approaches all things, eventually emerging as a world-famous designer whose looks went on to define an era. In this playful, poignant, thrilling, and inspiring account, he tells his story for the first time.
Limited Ticket Availability
Standby tickets may become available and are sold on a first-come, first-served basis at the box office just before the start of the program. For the latest update on ticket availability, follow us on Twitter at @BAM_Brooklyn.
Daniel "Dapper Dan" Day's work has been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, The Museum at FIT, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and London's Design Museum. His eponymous boutique was open from 1982 to 1992, and reopened in 2017 in a major partnership with Gucci.
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Elaine Welteroth was formerly the editor in chief of Teen Vogue, becoming the youngest person and the second African-American to hold this title in Condé Nast's 107-year history. Under her leadership, Teen Vogue notably increased its coverage of news and politics, encouraging readers to become civically engaged. Welteroth has written for the show Grown-ish and is currently a judge on Bravo's Project Runway. Her first book, More Than Enough, was recently published by Viking Press.
Photo: Renell Medrano


Apple chief on Chinese VPN app ban: We always toe the line with other nations' laws
Apple boss Tim Cook has said that his company would "rather not" remove apps from its store – but has to comply with the law in China. His comments come after it was revealed that Apple has removed a number of the virtual private network apps that allow users to circumvent the Great Firewall from its Chinese store. Cook was …
Add to 'My topics'
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 12:07 GMT Anonymous Coward
"We always toe the line with other nations' laws"
Except where taxes are concerned, obviously ...
22 6 Reply
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 12:54 GMT Gavin Chester
But they do comply
Tax law is complex, and everyone (both corporates and individual people) will look to minimise the tax they pay.
Some of the MPs who were highly vocal over the tax of Apple / Facebook/ Amazon etc, were also themselves using some of the same rules to benefit form Offshore accounts. On a much smaller remember how IR35 was introduced to stop the self employed doing tax avoidance, the point is we all would try to pay less tax if we could.
Yes big corporates can afford to set up complex systems that minimise tax, but they do so by cleverly staying inside the law. It may not be in the spirit of the law, but it will be to the letter of the law.
And I fully expect downvotes ,,,
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 15:18 GMT big_D
Or consumer protection or, or, or...
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 12:35 GMT Teiwaz
Yes, it's so much more difficult to bend or ignore the law when you either don't have a cop or a politician in your pocket or you're not sure your bought and paid for authority will return the favour.
It's all very Cosa Nostra really.
They know full well they can do what they like as the Western Governments will moan and complain and bleat, but be unable to act due to public opinion concerns or unwilling due to generous donations...
Meanwhile China will just kick them in the wallet where it hurts.
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 12:42 GMT Paul Crawford
Re: "We always toe the line with other nations' laws"
"Governments will moan and complain and bleat, but be unable to act due to public opinion concerns"
Is that not the idea behind democracy?
Is it the idea behind , or the result of?
I would like to be the first to applaud Apples sensible stance in supporting an oppressive regime rather than standing it's ground and losing some money.
Bravo Apple, Bravo.
All they did was remove SOME VPN apps. The ones that complied with Chinese law remain, and nothing was said about disabling the built in VPN capability in iOS.
Please elaborate on "complying with Chinese law" where doing so does not interfere with the privacy or freedom of the Chinese people.
They don't need to disable the built in VPN on iOS as it's probably been slammed so hard by the NSA that China laughs at it.
Apple are so ethical with really cool adverts so I trust them.
Thursday 3rd August 2017 06:26 GMT Anonymous Coward
I don't know Chinese law, but obviously VPN services that comply with the law will compromise the privacy and freedom of the Chinese people in some way. If you are going to suggest that Apple should refuse to cooperate, even to the point of having China ban all their products from sale in China, then where's your suggestion that ALL western companies should cease doing any business with China?
Treat them like South Africa was, divest completely, economically isolate them, and see if that makes them loosen the reigns or clamp down even harder to avoid unrest when their economy is sent into a massive depression as a result? Or is Apple alone required to take a stand by you, and everyone else is off the hook and business as usual? Don't be naive, the idea that once China gets richer their government will loosen control has been proven wrong, so if we really care about their citizens we should cut all economic ties with China and try applying pressure the apartheid way.
Kind of surprised to see the upvotes, and no one bringing up the fact that if we actually did this a massive worldwide recession would result that would make 2008/2009 look like a blip.
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 13:38 GMT I ain't Spartacus
Funny legal compliance
In the UK they don't comply with the most basic rules.
Get an iPhone through a mobile company and try and send it back within warranty period.
They won't take it because Apple insist that you go direct through them. They then try to claim that you have to promise to pay them something stupid like £120 if there's no fault with the phone - and they'll take that off your card at their discretion. Then they ship you replacements and collect yours.
That's totally illegal. Your contract is with your vendor - in this case the mobile phone company. And it's them that are legally responsible for returns.
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 13:52 GMT Timmy B
Re: Funny legal compliance
"Get an iPhone through a mobile company and try and send it back within warranty period."
Must only be phones or that company was lying to you. I took a duff iPad back to PCWorld and they swapped it there and then. And that's PCWorld - they aren't exactly renowned for great customer service. This was a couple of years back, mind.
I don't live in the UK so I don't know the laws or whether what you say is true or not, but why do you assume it is Apple acting illegally? Maybe your carrier didn't want to deal with it so they lied and told you to go through Apple? It isn't as though carriers have a reputation for great customer service...
Thursday 3rd August 2017 08:22 GMT ilovecookiez
Why would you even want to do warranty with your carrier instead of going through Apple? Carriers are worse when it comes to warranties, can confirm as I used to issue warranties on AT&T.
Thursday 3rd August 2017 12:50 GMT David Nash
"Why would you even want to do warranty with your carrier instead of going through Apple? Carriers are worse when it comes to warranties, can confirm as I used to issue warranties on AT&T."
The point is, if you buy something, eg. an iPhone, from a shop, eg. a mobile phone shop, then your contract is with that retailer and not with anyone else, even if that someone else was the original supplier of the goods.
"That's totally illegal. Your contract is with your vendor"
Why did @I ain't Spartacus get downvotes for this statement of fact?
"no backdoors will be created into any of our systems"
Totally believable. Especially from a man who's gonna let Guizhou Big Data Cloud Industries handle all their iCloud bits in the country.
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 14:41 GMT walatam
When Tim Cook says "We strongly believe that participating in markets and bringing benefits to customers is in the best interest of the folks there and in other countries as well" he must think we are all daft. Apple took a pragmatic decision to remove VPN's in China because failure to do so would have affected their bottom line - China may have taken more destructive action if Apple did not comply.
I do not know which is more deplorable - China's repressive regime or Apple's "only doing it for the customer" bullsh*t. I suppose China is slightly more open about being a sh*t.
Wednesday 2nd August 2017 17:16 GMT Your alien overlord - fear me
Good reason to use Android
My Nexus 5 has VPN built in. Even if I went for a 3rd party one, I could download ones from outside of Google Play and pass to to others. How are the Chinese gov't dealing with this then?
Not all VPN apps have been removed
The iPhone has VPN built in as well. Note that it is only some VPN apps that have been removed. China's law requires VPN operators have a license from the government, they are not all banned. Cook said "a number of VPN apps that apparently follow regulations are still available in the App Store in China", but the Reg didn't bother to mention that in their misleading article.
No idea what requirements there are - presumably that they have to do something that lets China censor content.
I read elsewhere that China is going to block all VPNs in their firewall, and only let the approved ones through. So before long you might be able to install whatever VPN app on your Android, but it won't work unless it has been blessed by the government.
Re: Good reason to use Android
A good friend lives in China and only today tried to communicate with me. In the end he gave up and I had a text later to say that 'once again' the vpn wasn't working. I don't know which one he uses but he tells me that it's becoming more hit and miss as to whether he can get a connection.
Thursday 3rd August 2017 09:28 GMT DropBear
Time to try desperate means - Morse and a laser pointer at the retro-reflectors on the Moon perhaps...?
Saturday 5th August 2017 19:34 GMT Strahd Ivarius
What other applications will disappear?
If all the applications available in a country must be used according to the country's laws, when will Apple remove the ones that allow users to commit crimes?
A little list to start:
- any map (you can use it to plan a burglary)
- SMS and phone (same thing)
- an calculator or spreadsheet (it can be used later to divide the results of the above burglary)
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Critical Perspectives on Art, Politics, and Culture • Independent and Free
DEC 20-JAN 21 new!
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The New Social Environment#79
Julie Mehretu, Paul Pfeiffer, and Lawrence Chua with Phong Bui
Monday, July 6, 2020 to Monday, July 6, 2020
1 p.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Pacific
This event is produced by The Brooklyn Rail. Learn how you can donate ✨🌈
Julie Mehretu, Paul Pfeiffer, and Lawrence Chua will discuss their work and the ongoing programs of Denniston Hill with Rail publisher, Phong Bui. We'll conclude with a poetry reading from Vanessa Jimenez Gabb.
Photo credit: Teju Cole
Julie Mehretu is a world renowned painter, born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1970 who lives and works in New York City and Berlin. She received a Master's of Fine Art with honors from The Rhode Island School of Design in 1997. Mehretu makes large-scale, gestural paintings that are built up through layers of acrylic paint on canvas overlaid with mark-making using pencil, pen, ink and thick streams of paint. Mehretu's work conveys a layering and compression of time, space and place and a collapse of art historical references, from the dynamism of the Italian Futurists and the geometric abstraction of Malevich to the enveloping scale of Abstract Expressionist colour field painting. In her highly worked canvases, Mehretu creates new narratives using abstracted images of cities, histories, wars and geographies with a frenetic mark making that for the artist becomes a way of signifying social agency as well suggesting an unravelling of a personal biography.
Photo credit: Joey Trisolini
Paul Pfeiffer is a visual artist living and working in NYC. He was born in 1966 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Known for his innovative manipulation of digital media, Pfeiffer recasts the visual language of pop spectacle to explore how images shape the perception of ourselves and the world. Pfeiffer earned a B.F.A. in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute, an M.F.A. from Hunter College, and was a participant in the Whitney Independent Study Program. Working in video, photography, sculpture, and sound, he is drawn to moments intended for mass audiences (live sports events, stadium concert tours, televised game shows, celebrity glamour shots), which he meticulously samples and re-edits to expose an uncanny emptiness underneath. From the hyperreality of photo retouching and digital erasure to the endless repetition of video loops, his mastery of postproduction allows him to magnify the surreal aspects of contemporary existence, where bodies become sites of saturated observation, and violence-as-entertainment flirts with nationalism, religion, and ancient myth. While he also experiments with the format and scale of his works, immersive audiovisual installations often cohabit with portable fetish objects in his exhibitions. Throughout his practice, Pfeiffer seeks to reflect and heighten the existential condition of the viewer as consumer by perversely blurring the boundary between voyeurism and contemplation.
Photo credit: Timothy Gerken
Lawrence Chua is a historian of the global modern built environment with an emphasis on Asian architecture and urban culture. He is an assistant professor at the School of Architecture, Syracuse University and a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute for 2020-2021. He has been a fellow at the International Institute of Asian Studies in Leiden and the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg. He is the author of Bangkok Utopia: modern architecture and Buddhist Felicities (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2021) as well as a novel, Gold by the Inch (New York: Grove Press, 1998). His writing has also appeared in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Journal of Architecture, Journal of Urban History, Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, and Senses and Society. He received his PhD in the History of Architecture and Urban Development from Cornell University in 2012.
Photo by Nicola Delorme
Phong H. Bui is an artist, writer, independent curator, Publisher and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Rail, the River Rail, Rail Editions, and Rail Curatorial Projects. From 2007 to 2010 he served as Curatorial Advisor at MoMA PS1. His recent projects include Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale that Society Has the Capacity to Destroy, an ongoing curatorial project that was exhibited in 2019 as an official Collateral Event of the Venice Biennale and at Colby Museum in Waterville, Maine. He is a trustee of Studio in a School, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Anthology Film Archives, the Third Rail, the Miami Rail, Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, Second Shift Studio Space of Saint Paul, AICA (2007-2020), and is co-founder of the Monira Foundation, a non-profit which aims to curate ongoing exhibitions and public programming at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City and beyond. Forthcoming projects include the Detroit Rail, the first U.S. retrospective of Jonas Mekas, and Occupy Industry City: Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale that Society Has the Capacity to Destroy, Year 3.
In the Rail: https://brooklynrail.org/contributor/phong-bui
Website: http://www.phongbui.net/index
Vanessa Jimenez Gabb is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection, Pink Salt (Rescue Press, 2021) and Images for Radical Politics (Rescue Press, 2016). She is from and lives in Brooklyn, NY. More at www.vanessajimenezgabb.com
The New Social Environment — Daily conversations with artists, writers, filmmakers, poets around the world where we discuss creative life in the context of our new social reality.
© 2022 The Brooklyn Rail


LCC International University > News and Events archive > Anastasiia Kasianchuk: Journey from RA to RD
Anastasiia Kasianchuk: Journey from RA to RD
Anastasiia Kasianchuk currently works as a Resident Director at LCC for our Karklu Residence Hall. She is an LCC alumna, having graduated from LCC in 2020 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Originally, she is from Zhytomyr, in the mid-west of Ukraine. We invited her to share her insights about her life at LCC through the years.
She first heard about LCC when she was in 7th grade when a representative from LCC made a presentation at her school. Anastasiia shares: "I remember thinking that a North American style university in Europe might be just the place for me, so I left my email address to sign up to receive recruitment materials. Funny enough, I didn't hear from anyone again until January of my senior year." She admits that much of her success is due to her mother and grandmother playing an important role in her life and pushing her to put much effort to achieve her goals. Her mom was the one to convince her to apply to LCC so she would be closer to home. In her senior year, Anastasiia was an exchange student in the United States and was interested in continuing studies somewhere abroad, as well as emerging herself into other cultures. Apparently, she did not need much convincing to head to LCC, even though she got offers to study from other universities.
Before coming to Klaipėda, Anastasiia met with some Ukrainian LCC students to get a bit more information from actual students. She notes: "The more information I gathered, the more I favored LCC over other schools from which I received admission offers also. I was drawn by the promise of a diverse, but tight-knit community and that promise was fulfilled."
The first time Anastasiia came to LCC was in 2016 during LCC's celebration of its 25th Anniversary. She shared how LCC made a great first impression with a grandiose Community Day. "Imagine, besides enjoying the infamous hot dogs, games, and music, also being delighted with a celebratory cake and fireworks during your very first Community Day. You would rightly think LCC is the best university in the world!" Anastasiia was truly impressed with LCC at that point and was looking forward to the rest of the years and even including her graduation. Sadly, Anastasiia and her peers were the first LCC graduates who did not get to enjoy graduation in person due to pandemic restrictions.
After graduating in the Spring of 2020, Anastasiia needed to stay at LCC because of travel restrictions and borders being closed. She then began working as an Assistant Resident Director.
When she was able to go back to Ukraine, she started an internship at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which was truly an exciting experience for her. During her internship, she had a chance to deepen her knowledge in policies and issues concerning inclusivity, equality, sustainability, digitalization, and other topics in education, which has since changed her view toward public service.
When asked about the differences she had noticed here at LCC, she notes that it seems that there are more students from a variety of different countries than when she was a freshman in 2016. "We have so many more students from countries that were rarely represented on campus before. It's great to see students be able to attend LCC with people from their own country to strengthen their cultural identity and to help ease them into this transformational international experience."
During her time as an LCC student, Anastasiia was a Resident Assistant, a tutor at Student Success Center but also on the Honors List frequently. We asked her to share some tips on managing leadership positions, jobs, and studies. "You have to choose and focus on opportunities that bring you the most fulfillment and challenge you in the areas where you want to grow because you must love what you're doing even when it's hard…especially when it's hard!"
Here are a couple of pieces of Anastasiia's advice about managing studies and leadership positions for the current students who are or wish to be student leaders. First, look at the situation realistically. Be honest with yourself when your commitments become overwhelming and don't align with your goals and interests – it's smarter to back out and redirect your focus than to exhaust your resources on something that doesn't have value to you. Next, use a planner to set your priorities and personal deadlines before the start of the week. If you have major conflicts in your schedules, discuss potential delays or changes with your professors and mentors ahead of time. You would be surprised at how open everyone is to meeting you halfway and finding a reasonable compromise. Lastly, find a good spot for studying, where you can get in the mode of being productive. It should be separate from places of rest or socialization. Speaking from personal experience, you can be an RA, a writing tutor, a receptionist, attend several events per week, foster many friendships, and still graduate with the highest academic award all at the same time!
For three of her student years at LCC, Anastasiia was a Resident Assistant. Now she is a Resident Director at our LCC Karklu Residence Hall. She admits that there are many more administrative tasks as RD than she knew about while being an RA, yet on the bright side, she enjoys the opportunity to mentor the RAs and the residents at Karklu. She feels grateful for a team that supports, cares, and inspires her.
What Anastasiia likes most about Klaipėda are the sea and the beaches. She feels like the location of the university plays a big part in building the community. "The beautiful beaches, the calm atmosphere, unique places like The Spit - it all helped create a sense of belonging and home for me here at LCC." In her free time, she likes to go to the beach. She shared that being at the sea is one of her coping mechanisms. "It is at the sight of the boundless sea and at the sound of waves brushing against the shore that I find moments of peace." While enjoying the beach, Anastasiia marvels at the creation of God. She shares, "Manifesting the majesty of our Lord, it reminds me of my smallness and His power so that my soul can take comfort in knowing He, who can calm every storm, is for me." She also likes to spend quality time with her close friends, who help her through difficulties she faces. Anastasiia enjoys doing puzzles or working on DIY projects. She also loves to cook. She jokes that when she is cooking and not following the recipe closely, it makes her feel like a chef.
"For LCC's 30th anniversary I wish them an even more good fortune to continue attracting talented individuals to this institution, from the students to the top staff and faculty. I wish LCC's future growth to be able to comfortably accommodate more individuals than they already do. Most of all, I wish all at LCC never have to do remote work again, as we begin this transition back to normalcy."
Pictures are from Anastasiia Kasianchuk's personal archive.


The New York Times to Double Digital Revenue to $800M by 2020
The company laid out its growth plan to double its digital revenue in the next five years.
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The NYTimes homepage. Courtesy Photo
The New York Times put a virtual stake in the ground on Wednesday, laying out its mission to double its digital revenue to $800 million by 2020. Despite the grand declaration, Wall Street shrugged, as shares remained flat in midday trading.
Chief executive officer Mark Thompson and executive editor Dean Baquet made the bullish statement on Wednesday in a memo to staff, following the announcement of the company's third-quarter earnings release on Oct. 29.
In the note, Baquet and Thompson spoke of a "shared sense of urgency" in transitioning the business toward digital. Over the past five years, The Times has doubled its digital revenue to $400 million in 2014, and in the next five it hopes to do the same.
"Achieve that and we will secure our journalistic mission for the long-term as well as create one of the world's most successful digital content businesses," the memo said.
In order to accomplish this, the execs explained that they must "keep our costs in mind in the years to come," but added that the message was one of "growth," not cuts.
Still, it's hard to escape the fact that the newspaper's recent growth in second-quarter profit to $16.4 million was linked in part to cost cuts. Revenue slid 1.5 percent to $382.7 million, due to shrinking print advertising revenue. Last year, the company also slashed 100 newsroom jobs in a move that would help facilitate its transition to becoming a more robust digital business.
The Times laid out its digital strategy for the next few years in a second note called "Our Path Forward." The 11-page document, written by Baquet and upper management on the business side, described the challenge of growing its digital readership and digital revenue to meet their "enduring commitments to journalism and readers."
"Twelve percent of our digital readers deliver 90 percent of our total digital revenue. To double our digital revenue, we need to more than double the number of these most loyal readers," the memo said. "We will need to develop them increasingly from younger demographics and international audiences. This will require new thinking in journalism, product and marketing. Our print product is a vital ingredient in the mix for many of our most engaged digital readers. We must ensure that it, too, remains relevant and valuable in this digital-centric era."
The company said it wants to create a "daily habit" out of reading the digital news report as it has done with the newspaper. One solution is the development of digital lifestyle and culture products like "Cooking," the company offered. The Times turned to its business model, which focuses on subscription first, then advertising and unique monthly page views.
"Many of our competitors focus primarily on attracting as many uniques as they can with a view to building an advertising-only business. We see our business as a subscription service first, which requires us to offer journalism and products worth paying for. Our focus on quality and a deep engagement with readers is also a competitive advantage in advertising, which at its best is driven by unique consumer insight and superior creative work," the company said, emphasizing a shift of focus to the reader rather than the platform.
The Times said it would have a series of sessions with Baquet and Thompson that will allow staffers to ask questions and provide feedback. Chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. will also host a "State of The Times" gathering next month to keep the lines of communication open.
The memo ended in a flurry addressing the need for communication — which ironically isn't the hallmark of most media companies.
"What's needed adds up to a transformation of the company. Responsibility begins at the top. We know that a lack of unity or clarity among senior leaders can slow everyone down. That's why we've developed this new thinking together. This is not a newsroom plan or a revenue plan or a corporate plan. It's our plan. We all made it and we all back it because we all want the same thing — the future success of The New York Times."
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