Bidens Strategy To End Hunger In US Includes More Benefits The Killeen Daily Herald
Biden’s Strategy To End Hunger In US Includes More Benefits – The Killeen Daily Herald https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/bidens-strategy-to-end-hunger-in-us-includes-more-benefits-the-killeen-daily-herald/
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is laying out its plan to meet an ambitious goal of ending hunger in the U.S. by 2030, including expanding monthly benefits that help low-income Americans buy food.
The administration, in a plan released Tuesday, is also seeking to increase healthy eating and physical activity so that fewer people are afflicted with diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other diet-related diseases. It said it would work to expand Medicaid and Medicare access to obesity counseling and nutrition.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Dorothy V. Trombitas 1927-2022 | News Sports Jobs Warren Tribune Chronicle
Dorothy V. Trombitas 1927-2022 | News, Sports, Jobs – Warren Tribune Chronicle https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/dorothy-v-trombitas-1927-2022-news-sports-jobs-warren-tribune-chronicle/
WARREN — Dorothy V. Trombitas, 94, passed away on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022.
Dorothy was born Nov. 8, 1927, in Warren, the daughter of the late Simeon and Theresa Moyer.
Dorothy graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in 1946 and was a self-employed seamstress, a profession she enjoyed for over 40 years.
Her greatest joy in life was spending time with family; she never missed an opportunity to host them or travel to join the family. She was passionate about gardening and loved the spring and summer, when she could nurture flowerbeds.
Dorothy was keenly interested in her local community and was a lifetime member of Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox Church.
With her late husband, John Trombitas Sr., she was instrumental in the incorporation of Lordstown Village. She also enjoyed many years volunteering for the Trumbull County Board of Elections, where she appreciated the opportunity to greet and assist the local people. In her later years, Dorothy supported veterans and knitted blankets for the Cleveland veterans’ home.
Dorothy will be missed by her sons, Simeon Trombitas, and his wife, Kellie Snyder Trombitas of San Antonio, Texas, and John Trombitas Jr. and his wife, Mary Trombitas of Clearwater, Fla.; three grandchildren, Paul Trombitas and his wife, Nichole, Simeon Trombitas and Erin Ludwig; five great-grandchildren, Colin and Olivia Trombitas, and Aislyn, Christopher and William Ludwig; sister, Marian Mermer; and niece, Dorian Mermer.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband, John Trombitas Sr., to whom she was married for 59 years.
A viewing will be held 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, at Lane Funeral Homes, Roberts-Clark Chapel, 180 Garfield Drive NE, Warren, OH 44483, followed by a funeral service at noon.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox Church or SouthernCare Hospice.
(special notice)
Metafluence Announces The Usage Of Hyper-Realistic Metahumans In The Metaverse EIN News
Metafluence Announces The Usage Of Hyper-Realistic Metahumans In The Metaverse – EIN News https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/metafluence-announces-the-usage-of-hyper-realistic-metahumans-in-the-metaverse-ein-news/
/EIN News/ — LONDON, UK, Sept. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Metafluence, an immersive, live, and influencer-driven social Metaverse with several virtual properties for influencers, brands, and everyone, has announced the usage of hyper-realistic metahumans in the Metaverse. While metahumans have existed for a long time, Metafluence is deploying them to its virtual city, Metafluence City.
Metafluence City aims to connect brands, influencers, and their audience in the Metaverse. Through this city, Metafluence will grant users an opportunity to showcase and auction NFTs, organize meetings and conferences, set up e-commerce stores, buy virtual properties like plots of land, and regularly interact with influencers and brands globally.
Launched on August 10, 2022, Metafluence’s hyper-realistic metahumans will advance widespread adoption and onboard more users to the emerging virtual world.
Hyper-realistic Metahumans and the Metafluence City
Metafluence has designed several hyper-realistic metahumans and is gradually deploying them into the Metaverse. The first metahuman, Luna, is a compassionate, kind, entertaining, super mysterious, and intelligent influencer who regularly educates users about the potential of artificial intelligence [AI] and how its global adoption can be a profitable venture. Luna loves to show her reaction to current AI, NFT, and Metaverse news on social media, and Metafluence hopes these reactions will help drive more users.
Metafluence’s hyper-realistic metahumans are high fidelity and capable of replicating the owner’s physical appearance in a digital format. They are designed to imitate and mimic their owner’s behavior and serve as avatars on the Metaverse. Additionally, when successfully integrated with AI, as Metafluence plans, they can function independently as AI-built metahumans and influencers in the Metaverse.
A Historic Day for the Metafluence Team
Metafluence also launched the hyper-realistic city, Metafluence City, on August 10, 2022, alongside the metahumans. The Metafluence City is an influencer-driven, Metaverse-based city for brands, influencers, and millions of fans worldwide to conveniently buy virtual properties, socialize, and interact with millions of others. The Hyper-realistic world of Metafluence City is built on four fundamental pillars: virtual spaces (Land Plots and Metahuts), high-fidelity avatars (Metahumans), socialization, and monetization (new income models).
Engraved as a historic day for the Metafluence team, August 10 saw, for the first time, Metafluence team members, influencers, community members, brands, KOLs, and fans spend ample time with their respective avatars.
Since that unforgettable day, the Metafluence team has continued to regularly make updates to the virtual city to guarantee users a better user experience. The Metafluence Alpha Testing version of the virtual town was the team’s first foray into the global stage, offering exceptional features ranging from avatar-to-avatar interactions to group socializations, voice chat, text chat, creation of numerous avatars, video recording, etc.
Metafluence, through these hyper-realistic metahumans and the Metafluence City, hopes to pioneer a new trend in the Metaverse. Many large companies and global brands have joined the Metaverse and Web3 trend. However, the critical problem still stays—Mass Adoption.
Metafluence understands the barrier and how to knock it down, hence the development of an easy-to-use social metaverse platform incentivizing influencers to bring fans into their virtual spaces and keep them hanging around by engaging in one-to-one immersive formats. Thanks to its influencer-driven nature, Metafluence City will bring together audiences of various influencers from all nationalities and industries.
About Metafluence
Metafluence is the first influencer-driven Metaverse platform to provide users with a virtual city to connect with brands, influencers, and millions of fans. Through Metafluence City, Metafluence will allow users to showcase their NFTs, set up Metacommerce stores, organize meetings, and interact with others on a more personal level.
Social Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Metafluence
Telegram: https://t.me/Metafluence
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/metafluence.network
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/metafluence
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Metafluence
GitHub: https://github.com/metafluence/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/metafluence
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/metafluence
Media Contact
Brand: Metafluence
Contact: Nazrin Musayeva, Head of Communications
Email: contact@metafluence.com
Website: https://metafluence.com/
SOURCE: Metafluence
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How To Cool Down Your Smartphone Quickly? Top 7 Easy Ways Gadget Bridge
How To Cool Down Your Smartphone Quickly? Top 7 Easy Ways – Gadget Bridge https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/how-to-cool-down-your-smartphone-quickly-top-7-easy-ways-gadget-bridge/
Modern smartphones are built to handle heavy tasks. This includes photo and video editing, gaming, shooting a video for a long duration of time in high resolution, using navigation services, and a lot more. While smartphone processors can handle these tasks with ease, the performance may drop as the phone begins to overheat. In this article, we show the top 7 easy ways to cool down your smartphone quickly.
Read Also: Apple iPhone 14 Pro review: The Game Changer
Stop using for phone for a while
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Your smartphone may have heated up due to carrying out heavy tasks like playing a graphically demanding game or video editing. Turn off whatever application you’re using and let your phone rest for a while. It is preferable to keep it on a cool surface. An overheated smartphone typically takes 5-7 minutes to cool down entirely. You can resume your activity after the smartphone has cooled down.
Close background apps
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Even when you’re not actively using any app that takes a lot out of your phone’s processor, it can still get heated up. This may be because there are multiple apps running in the background. Close all background apps and let your phone rest for a while. It is also a good idea to check which apps have the most battery usage. Apps with higher battery usage are more likely to overheat your phone.
Take your phone off charging
It is common for smartphones to heat up while charging. While this isn’t entirely problematic, it can become an issue if the phone starts overheating on a regular basis. When your phone overheats while charging, simply take it off the charger and let it cool down. Make sure you don’t keep your phone plugged in after it’s fully charged as that can damage the battery. It is also advised to keep your phone in a cool place with optimum ventilation while charging.
Turn off Gaming Mode
Some smartphones have a dedicated gaming mode that increases the performance of your phone while gaming by exerting the processor to its maximum capacity. While this is beneficial for a short period (like a gaming session), if you keep it turned on for a longer duration of time, your phone will start overheating. It is not advised to keep the high-performance mode turned on after you’ve stopped gaming. You can turn it off simply by sliding down the notification panel and de-selecting the gaming mode.
Take off the phone case
Sometimes the phone cover can prevent it from dissipating heat effectively. This can cause overheating issues. Simply take off the phone’s case and let it rest until it cools down. Make sure that your phone cover is made with materials that do not impede your phone’s cooling capacity.
Use a phone cooling device
If you game on your phone quite regularly and want to manage its internal temperature better, a phone cooling device may help. There are plenty of mobile coolers you can find on Amazon. Using the cooling device while gaming can keep your phone’s temperature under control. Before buying, make sure that the device is compatible with your smartphone.
Keep your phone away from direct sunlight
Exposure to heat and direct sunlight can overheat your phone pretty quickly. Make sure that your phone isn’t exposed to direct sunlight for a long duration of time. Leaving it in your car on a hot sunny day can also overheat your phone, affecting its performance. Always make sure there’s ample shade in the place you keep your phone.
Read Also: Simple and easy ways to share any Google Maps location on WhatsApp (2022)
Conclusion
These are the top 7 easy ways to cool down your smartphone quickly. Constant overheating of your smartphone can lead to a drop in performance, slower speeds, longer charging time, and possibly permanent damage to internal components. If your phone issues an overheating warning, use the steps mentioned above to cool it down quickly. It is also a good idea to keep a tab on your phone’s battery performance from time to time and see which apps put the maximum load on the battery.
For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App. You can find the latest car and bike news here.
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Why Russias Plans To Use Digital Ruble In Trade With China Is Positive For All Crypto Cryptonews
Why Russia’s Plans To Use Digital Ruble In Trade With China Is Positive For All Crypto – Cryptonews https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/why-russias-plans-to-use-digital-ruble-in-trade-with-china-is-positive-for-all-crypto-cryptonews/
Source: Serhii Tyaglovsky/Unsplash
In the aftermath of its aggression against Ukraine, Russia is intensifying plans to use its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble, in the country’s trade with China. The development could encourage other nations across the world to use CBDCs in mutual settlements with foreign partners, accelerating global crypto adoption.
Anatoly Aksakov, a Russian lawmaker and the head of the financial committee of the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said that, after the CBDC is launched early next year, Moscow intends to use the digital ruble to decrease its reliance on western financial institutions.
“The topic of digital financial assets, the digital rouble and cryptocurrencies is currently intensifying in society, as Western countries are imposing sanctions and creating problems for bank transfers, including in international settlements,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.
Aksakov also stated that the project is key because financial flows can bypass systems controlled by countries which maintain frosty relations with Russia. The Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, and the government have failed to reach consensus over cryptocurrency regulation, but the MP said he hoped legislation would emerge by the end of 2022.
“If we launch this, then other countries will begin to actively use it going forward, and America’s control over the global financial system will effectively end,” he said.
Last March, the Bank of Russia announced it officially launched the digital ruble trial, completing the first CBDC transfers among citizens. At the time of the announcement, three banks out of 12 financial institutions in the CBDC’s pilot group had already integrated the digital ruble’s platform, with two of them finalizing a “full cycle of digital ruble transfers between clients using mobile banking applications,” according to the bank.
A Mississippi Man Burned A Cross In A Hate Crime The U.S. Justice Department Alleges NPR
A Mississippi Man Burned A Cross In A Hate Crime, The U.S. Justice Department Alleges – NPR https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/a-mississippi-man-burned-a-cross-in-a-hate-crime-the-u-s-justice-department-alleges-npr/
A Mississippi man is facing a hate crime charge and arson violations after he allegedly burned a cross in his front yard to threaten a Black family. Guenther Gassler/Getty Images/EyeEm hide caption
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Guenther Gassler/Getty Images/EyeEm
A Mississippi man is facing a hate crime charge and arson violations after he allegedly burned a cross in his front yard to threaten a Black family.
Guenther Gassler/Getty Images/EyeEm
A Mississippi man has been charged with a federal hate crime and arson violations after he burned a cross in his front yard in order to threaten and intimidate a Black family, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Axel C. Cox, 23, is charged with one count of criminal interference with the right to fair housing and one count of using fire to commit a federal felony in connection with the alleged cross burning.
According to court documents obtained by NPR, Cox burned a cross in his front yard on Dec. 3, 2020, and used “threatening and racially derogatory remarks” toward his Black neighbors.
Cox chose to burn the cross in front of his Black neighbors because of their race, according to the Justice Department.
Cox’s action of burning the cross, federal prosecutors say, falls under the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (sections of which are called the Fair Housing Act), which prohibits discrimination against a person’s housing rights based on the individual’s race, religion, national origin, sex or family status.
Mississippi Man Charged with Federal Hate Crime for Cross Burninghttps://t.co/J8tmMVy1yQ
— DOJ Civil Rights (@CivilRights) September 23, 2022
“The way hate crimes occur and how they are occurring in our community doesn’t look the exact same as it did many decades ago. But the impact is the same,” Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research and analysis for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, told NPR.
“Still today, this is unfortunately neither a new problem nor a problem that has gone away completely,” she added.
If convicted, Cox will face up to 10 years in prison for violating his neighbors’ housing rights and a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars for using fire to commit a federal felony. He also faces a $250,000 fine “with respect to each charge,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Cross burning’s origins are rooted in racism
Cross burning, also referred to as cross lighting, is considered a hate symbol often associated with the Ku Klux Klan since the early 1900s, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In a 2014 interview, David Cunningham, author of Klansville, U.S.A., told Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross that the Klan’s act of burning crosses was a symbol of “intimidation and terror.”
“The crosses they burned there were often 60 or 70 feet high, so these are enormous crosses they were burning. In itself [they] were just a symbol of how ambitious the Klan’s organization was,” said Cunningham.
“So the act of this enormous cross burning became an act of compelling theater and also the sort of signal of what the Klan was able to accomplish organizationally,” he added.
Vangela M. Wade, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice, told The Associated Press that modern-day cross burnings bring back the blatant racism associated with the Jim Crow South.
“This is another stark reminder of how bigotry, racism and hate-fueled violence are alive and well in our country. Mississippi is no exception,” Wade told the AP.
Steps are being made against the rise in hate crimes
With the rise in hate crimes and hate incidents, federal and state officials are taking new steps when it comes to reporting bias incidents.
In May, the Justice Department announced a series of new guidelines and $10 million in new federal grants to help states develop hotlines for reporting incidents.
Additionally, the Justice Department issued new guidance with the Department of Health and Human Services aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the U.S. experienced a surge of hate crimes and hate incidents against Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
“Throughout our history, and to this day, hate crimes have a singular impact because of the terror and fear they inflict on entire communities,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a news release.
In August, Maryland officials launched an alert system to flag racist incidents and acts of hate. The Emmett Till Alerts system, named in honor of the 14-year-old who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman, will act as a warning system if credible threats are made.
The warning system will notify Black leaders across Maryland of any credible racist incidents or hate crimes that take place anywhere in the state. Once a hate crime or racist incident is reported, a team of people will determine whether an alert should be sent.
The Emmett Till Alerts will be sent to 167 Black elected statewide officials in Maryland along with national civil rights organizations, clergy members and other leaders.
NPR’s Carrie Johnson contributed to this report.
Quantum Technology Reaches Unprecedented Control Over Captured Light Mirage News
Quantum Technology Reaches Unprecedented Control Over Captured Light – Mirage News https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/quantum-technology-reaches-unprecedented-control-over-captured-light-mirage-news/
Researchers in quantum technology at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in developing a technique to control quantum states of light in a three-dimensional cavity. In addition to creating previously known states, the researchers are the first ever to demonstrate the long-sought cubic phase state. The breakthrough is an important step towards efficient error correction in quantum computers. ”We have shown that our technology is on par with the best in the world,” says Simone Gasparinetti, who is head of a research group in experimental quantum physics at Chalmers and one of the study’s senior authors.
Just as a conventional computer is based on bits that can take the value 0 or 1, the most common method of building a quantum computer uses a similar approach. Quantum mechanical systems with two different quantum states, known as quantum bits (qubits), are used as building blocks. One of the quantum states is assigned the value 0 and the other the value 1. However, on account of the quantum mechanical state of superposition, qubits can assume both states 0 and 1 simultaneously, allowing a quantum computer to process huge volumes of data with the possibility of solving problems far beyond the reach of today’s supercomputers.
First time ever for cubic phase state
A major obstacle towards the realisation of a practically useful quantum computer is that the quantum systems used to encode the information are prone to noise and interference, which causes errors. Correcting these errors is a key challenge in the development of quantum computers. A promising approach is to replace qubits with resonators – quantum systems which, instead of having just two defined states, have a very large number of them. These states may be compared to a guitar string, which can vibrate in many different ways. The method is called continuous-variable quantum computing and makes it possible to encode the values 1 and 0 in several quantum mechanical states of a resonator.
However, controlling the states of a resonator is a challenge with which quantum researchers all over the world are grappling. And the results from Chalmers provide a way of doing so. The technique developed at Chalmers allows researchers to generate virtually all previously demonstrated quantum states of light, such as for example Schrödinger’s cat or Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP)states, and the cubic phase state, a state previously described only in theory.
“The cubic phase state is something that many quantum researchers have been trying to create in practice for twenty years. The fact that we have now managed to do this for the first time is a demonstration of how well our technique works, but the most important advance is that there are so many states of varying complexity and we have found a technique that can create any of them,” says Marina Kudra, a doctoral student at the Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience and the study’s lead author.
Improvement in gate speed
The resonator is a three-dimensional superconducting cavity made of aluminium. Complex superpositions of photons trapped inside the resonator are generated by interaction with a secondary superconducting circuit. The quantum mechanical properties of the photons are controlled by applying a set of electromagnetic pulses called gates. The researchers first succeeded in using an algorithm to optimise a specific sequence of simple displacement gates and complex SNAP-gates to generate the state of the photons. When the complex gates proved to be too long, the researchers found a way of making them shorter using optimum control methods to optimise the electromagnetic pulses.
“The drastic improvement in the speed of our SNAP gates allowed us to mitigate the effects of decoherence in our quantum controller, pushing this technology one step forward. We have shown that we have full control over our quantum mechanical system,” says Simone Gasparinetti.
Or, to put it more poetically:
“I captured light in a place where it thrives and shaped it in some truly beautiful forms,” says Marina Kudra.
Achieving this result was also dependent on the high quality of the physical system (the aluminium resonator itself and the superconducting circuit.) Marina Kudra has previously shown how the aluminium cavity is created by first milling it, and then making it extremely clean by methods including heating it to 500 degrees Centigrade and washing it with acid and solvent. The electronics that apply the electromagnetic gates to the cavity were developed in collaboration with the Swedish company Intermodulation Products.
Research part of WACQT research programme
The research was conducted at Chalmers within the framework of the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT), a comprehensive research programme, the aim of which is to make Swedish research and industry leaders in quantum technology. The initiative is led by Professor Per Delsing and a main goal is to develop a quantum computer.
“At Chalmers we have the full stack for building a quantum computer, from theory to experiment, all under one roof. Solving the challenge of error correction is a major bottleneck in the development of large-scale quantum computers, and our results are proof for our culture and ways of working,” says Per Delsing.
The article “Robust Preparation of Wigner-Negative States with Optimized SNAP-Displacement Sequences” was published in the journal PRX Quantum and was written by Marina Kudra, Mikael Kervinen, Ingrid Strandberg, Shahnawaz Ahmed, Marco Scigliuzzo, Amr Osman, Daniel Pérez Lozano, Mats O. Tholén, Riccardo Borgani, David B. Haviland, Giulia Ferrini, Jonas Bylander, Anton Frisk Kockum, Fernando Quijandría, Per Delsing, and Simone Gasparinetti.
/University Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s).View in full here.
A Look At South Dakota High School Football Polls For Sept. 26 Watertown Public Opinion
A Look At South Dakota High School Football Polls For Sept. 26 – Watertown Public Opinion https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/a-look-at-south-dakota-high-school-football-polls-for-sept-26-watertown-public-opinion/
The South Dakota Prep Media football polls for the week of Sept. 26 are listed below, ranking the top-five teams in each class, record, total points and previous ranking. First-place votes received are indicated in parentheses.
Class 11AAA
1. Jefferson (18) 5-0 90 1
2. O’Gorman 4-1 71 2
3. Harrisburg 4-1 55 3
4. Brandon Valley 3-2 32 5
5. Lincoln 2-3 20 4
Receiving votes: Stevens 1, Washington 1.
More:Vote for Argus Leader South Dakota high school football player of the week
Class 11AA
1. Pierre (18) 5-0 90 1
2. Tea Area 5-0 72 2
3. Yankton 3-2 47 3
4. Brookings 4-1 43 4
5. Aberdeen Central 2-3 16 RV
Receiving votes: Sturgis 1, Spearfish 1.
Class 11A
1. West Central (14) 5-0 86 1
2. Dell Rapids (4) 5-0 76 2
3. Beresford 4-1 53 3
4. Dakota Valley 4-1 28 5
T-5. Sioux Falls Christian 3-2 12 RV
T-5. Canton 2-3 12 4
Receiving votes: Lennox 3.
More:Lincoln, Canistota’s records will look better at end of season, and more from week six
Class 11B
1. Winner (18) 5-0 90 1
2. Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan 5-0 63 2
3. Elk Point-Jefferson 5-0 62 3
4. Mount Vernon/Plankinton 6-0 34 4
5. Aberdeen Roncalli 5-0 16 5
Receiving votes: St. Thomas More 3, Hot Springs 2.
Class 9AA
1. Howard (17) 6-0 87 1
2. Wall 6-0 68 2
3. Hamlin (1) 6-0 55 3
4. Hanson 4-1 33 4
5. Elkton-Lake Benton 6-0 16 RV
Receiving votes: Parkston 11.
More:Pierre’s dominance, Harrisburg’s quick rebuild headlined Week 5 of South Dakota high school football
Class 9A
1. Gregory (17) 5-0 88 1
2. Warner (1) 5-0 73 2
3. Castlewood 4-1 40 3
4. Alcester-Hudson 6-0 38 5
5. Lyman 4-1 23 4
Receiving votes: Harding County/Bison 7, Canistota 1.
Class 9B
1. Herreid/Selby Area (17) 5-0 89 1
2. Hitchcock-Tulare (1) 6-0 73 2
3. Corsica-Stickney 5-1 37 5
4. Sully Buttes 5-1 35 3
5. De Smet 3-2 27 4
Receiving votes: Kadoka Area 6, Faith 3.
Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.
Island Gleams On Hidden Gem Cheap Vacation Lists The Anna Maria Islander
Island Gleams On Hidden Gem, Cheap Vacation Lists – The Anna Maria Islander https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/island-gleams-on-hidden-gem-cheap-vacation-lists-the-anna-maria-islander/
Paige and Luke Benda, left, and Robert and Camille Coltman, all visiting from Nashville, Tennessee, share a laugh Sept. 23 at Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach. The couples vacationed on Perico Island Sept. 22-25 to celebrate Camille’s 30th birthday. Islander Photo: Kane Kaiman
Locals agree with the appraisal.
In late July, the online travel blog ParkSleepFly.com rated Anna Maria Island the No. 6 “best hidden gem” in the United States.
The bloggers compiled a list of 150 attractions and landmarks and used Google search volume from June 2021 to May 2022 and Google Maps review scores to determine their rankings.
The island was bested by Grand Teton National Park, Badlands National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Garden of the Gods and Mount Vernon.
But the approximately 7-mile-long barrier isle beat out household-name destinations, including Devils Tower, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Mackinac Island and Mammoth Cave National Park.
There’s no doubt about the Bradenton area’s popularity with first-time visitors, 94% of whom return within a year, according to Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Elliott Falcione.
However, the region — which experienced a tourism boom during the pandemic — could be transcending “hidden gem” status.
The BACVB uses 2019 metrics as its pre-pandemic benchmark data and Manatee County resort development tax revenue as an indicator of visitation levels.
The resort tax or bed tax is a 5% levy on room rentals of six months or less.
For 17 consecutive months, the county has earned more revenue from the tax than in the same month in the preceding year.
In July, for example, the county earned $2,800,988 in resort tax revenue, up from $1,398,555 in July 2019.
The island’s municipalities — Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria — accounted for more than 50% of the county’s overall resort tax earnings in July.
On Sept. 20, thetravel.com, another travel website, ranked Bradenton Beach the No. 6 “cheapest vacation spot in Florida for 2022.”
Though the outfit did not include its ranking methodology, it lauded the city’s world-famous beaches, namely Coquina Beach; the scenic Historic Bridge Street Pier; Gulf of Mexico sightseeing charters and inexpensive hotels.
The pandemic-era tourism boom appears to have leveled off in recent months as monthly bed tax earnings have narrowly surpassed 2021 levels.
According to a Sept. 19 news release from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport CEO Fredrick Piccolo, the airport — a major feeder of tourists to the island — saw a 2.9% decrease in passenger volume in August compared to August 2021.
Tourism industry proprietors and analysts have pointed to competition from other vacation destinations no longer impacted by pandemic restrictions and an inflated island rental market as factors contributing to the deceleration trend.
Economic factors, such as inflation and high fuel prices, may also be playing a role, meaning the affordability of island vacations could, in part, determine how busy the area will be this fall and winter.
So maybe the Bradenton Beach “cheapest” ranking will help boost travel to AMI after all.
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Business Analysis: All Eyes On IT Policy Draft; Festival Sales Likely To Zoom The Federal
Business Analysis: All Eyes On IT Policy Draft; Festival Sales Likely To Zoom – The Federal https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/business-analysis-all-eyes-on-it-policy-draft-festival-sales-likely-to-zoom-the-federal/
And, according to consulting firm Aon, Indian employers are planning to increase salaries by 10.4% in 2023
The Centre is likely to stick to its stance of appointing an appellate grievance committee that will examine all user complaints against digital platforms. Representational image
The Federal takes a look at news that matters in the world of economy and business, on Tuesday, September 27.
IT Policy draft to be rolled out
The Centre is likely to roll out its new draft IT Policy, after the previous one was withdrawn. It is likely to introduce a Bill in this regard in the Winter Session of Parliament.
What it means: The Centre is likely to stick to its stance of appointing an appellate grievance committee that will examine all user complaints and perhaps give its ruling as well on cases such as online child sexual abuse material and nudity. However, Twitter and Meta (parent company of Flipkart, Whatsapp and Instagram) have opposed the setting up such a panel, claiming that a self-regulated committee is a far better option and will meet compliance requirements. The government believes that an independent grievance appellate committee will act as a neutral body, and work better than a self-regulated one.
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Also read: Investors lose ₹13.30 lakh cr in four days of market crash
RBI rate hike in the offing
According to analysts, the Reserve Bank of India will likely raise repo rates by 35-50 basis points this week.
What it means: According to experts, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which will meet on September 30, may again go for a 50 basis point (bps) increase in repo rates to a three-year high of 5.9%.
The RBI has, since May, raised the short-term lending rate (repo) by 140 bps. This will be the fourth consecutive time the central bank will increase the rates. A further increase of 50 bps will lead to a home loan interest rate hike to 8.6% (HDFC). The EMI will rise to ₹21,854 from ₹21,067 (@ 8.1%) on a home loan of ₹25 lakh for a 20-year tenure. The total payout at the end of the tenure will increase to ₹52,44,977 from ₹50,56,046.
Also read: Debt recovery: Thugs are problematic; Grameen Bank model is more feasible
Festival sales set to jump
E-commerce companies are witnessing an unprecedented spike in festival season sales.
What it means: Amazon, Flipkart and a few others are witnessing pent-up customer demand, especially in tier 2 and 3 cities. It doesn’t reflect the overall economic trend as income levels haven’t kept pace with inflation. Customers have chosen to wait till the festival season and use heavy discounting on e-commerce platforms.
Also read: How ONDC seeks to bring Amazon, Flipkart on even keel with kiranas
Slowdown in education loans
Banks are going slow on disbursing educational loans.
What it means: There has been an increase in non-performing assets (NPAs) in the educational loan category to around 7.82%. As of June-end, the outstanding educational loan was about ₹80,000 crore. This could delay clearing educational loan applications. The Finance Minister has called for a meeting with banks to discuss this issue.
Tata, SIA likely to form JV to merge Vistara and Air India
What it means: Air India recently rolled out Vihaan.AI, a roadmap to increase its aviation market share to 30%. There has been no clarity on whether it will include the other airlines in the Tata Sons portfolio — Vistara and AirAsia India. The Tata Group and Singapore Airlines (SIA) are now said to be working on merging Air India and Vistara under a new joint venture, paving the way to increase the market share of the combined airlines. If the merger does happen, Air India would return to its earlier version, when Air India and Indian Airlines were a single entity.
Survey predicts 10.4% average salary hike in 2023
According to consulting firm Aon, Indian employers are planning to increase salaries by 10.4% in 2023, even though economic growth seems slowing and high inflation is hurting profitability. According to Aon’s 28th Salary Climb Survey, salaries are anticipated to increase by double digits for the second year in 2023, virtually matching the actual increase of 10.6% in 2018.
Also read: Salary hikes in India highest compared to US, UK, Germany in 2022: Survey
What it means: Employers who set aside more funds for salary increases in 2023 are confident of medium to average economic growth. Certain services sectors, including information technology, will likely witness pay rises, especially for recruits and mid-level employees.
Thyroid Cancer Awareness: Ask Your Physician To Check Your Neck NDTV Doctor
Thyroid Cancer Awareness: Ask Your Physician To Check Your Neck – NDTV Doctor https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/thyroid-cancer-awareness-ask-your-physician-to-check-your-neck-ndtv-doctor/
Home » Living Healthy » Thyroid Cancer Awareness: Ask Your Physician To Check Your Neck
Thyroid Cancer: The four main types of thyroid cancer are papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, and anaplastic thyroid cancer.
By: DoctorNDTV Updated: Sep 27, 2022 10:22 IST
3-Min Read
Thyroid Cancer: Periodic check-ups with a doctor can help identify it at early stages
Neetu, a young professional, noticed a small lump on the right side of her neck while getting ready for the office. It was a small, firm, and painless growth. She had no other complaints. Her family physician referred her for an ultrasound of the neck and a few blood investigations. Ultrasound showed growth in the thyroid gland. A needle examination was performed on the growth which revealed that she has developed thyroid cancer. This resulted in anxious moments for Neetu as well as her family members. She underwent thyroid surgery followed by radioactive iodine treatment. 10 years later, she is leading a normal life.
The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck which weighs around 20 grams. The thyroid gland produces important hormones which control heart rate, metabolism, body temperature, and amount of calcium in the blood. The thyroid gland is made up of two main varieties of cells i.e. follicular cells and para-follicular cells (C cells). Follicular cells secrete thyroxine hormone whereas para-follicular cells secrete calcitonin.
What is thyroid cancer? Different types of thyroid cancers
Thyroid cancer is cancer developing from the cells in the thyroid gland. Various risk factors for thyroid cancer are exposure to radiation and a family history of thyroid issues. Thyroid cancer affects people of all ages, from young children to the elderly. Thyroid cancer is diagnosed considerably more commonly in women than in men.
The four main types of thyroid cancer are papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, and anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common type of thyroid cancer, accounting for roughly 85 percent of all thyroid cancers. The cure rates for this type of thyroid cancer are high, especially if diagnosed early.
Follicular thyroid cancer comprises approximately 10 percent of thyroid cancers which begins in follicular cells and usually grows slowly. This type of cancer is also highly treatable if diagnosed early enough.
Medullary thyroid cancer develops from the para-follicular cells (C cells). Nearly everyone with a specific gene mutation develops this rare malignancy.
An uncommon and aggressive form of thyroid cancer called anaplastic thyroid carcinoma typically affects those over 60. This type of cancer is challenging to cure and spreads quickly.
Increasing incidence of thyroid cancer in India and worldwide
The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing worldwide. As per the data from National Cancer Registry Programme(NCRP) India, the incidence rate of thyroid cancer has shown an increase of 62% and 48% respectively among women and men respectively. The increase in incidence is attributed to rising awareness among the people and the availability of diagnostic modalities leading to early diagnosis.
Warning signs and symptoms
Most thyroid cancers present in the form of a small lump/nodule in the neck which is usually firm to hard and generally painless. Some patients may develop hoarseness of voice/difficulty in breathing. No significant weight gain or weight loss is usually noted. A simple neck examination by a medical professional can detect a thyroid nodule. However, 90% of the thyroid nodules are benign and not cancerous. The next investigations ordered are ultrasound of the neck (USG Neck), thyroid function tests (TFTs) followed by needle aspiration i.e. FNAC if required. In some cases, MRI may be ordered for further evaluation.
Although a cancer diagnosis of any kind can be scary, the most common forms of thyroid cancer have a very high long-term survival rate (over 90%), especially when diagnosed early.
Treatment of thyroid cancers
Most thyroid cancers are treated in 2 steps (a) surgery followed by (b) radioactive iodine (Iodine-131) therapy.
(a) Surgery
Most common surgery performed is total thyroidectomy which means the removal of the entire thyroid gland. Additionally, suspicious lymph nodes of the neck are removed during the surgery. The initial surgery is the most important part of the treatment.
(b) Radioactive iodine (iodine-131) therapy
Radioactive iodine or iodine-131 is a radioactive medicine that is given to eliminate (ablate) any remaining thyroid cancer cells that could not be removed during surgery. Radioactive iodine therapy significantly reduces the chances of disease recurrence. This treatment is very well tolerated and does not have major long-term side effects.
Content By: Dr. Ankur Pruthi, DRM, DNB (Nuclear Medicine), Consultant and Head, Manipal Hospital, Dwarka
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information in this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts, or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
DoctorNDTV is the one stop site for all your health needs providing the most credible health information, health news and tips with expert advice on healthy living, diet plans, informative videos etc. You can get the most relevant and accurate info you need about health problems like diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, weight loss and many other lifestyle diseases. We have a panel of over 350 experts who help us develop content by giving their valuable inputs and bringing to us the latest in the world of healthcare.
Tigers Place Fifth In Regionals | News Sports Jobs The Inter-Mountain
Tigers Place Fifth In Regionals | News, Sports, Jobs – The Inter-Mountain https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/tigers-place-fifth-in-regionals-news-sports-jobs-the-inter-mountain/
Submitted photo From left to right are Danica Riggins, Tanner Miller, EHS golf coach Dave Baird, Lucas D’Angelo and Drew Hinzman.
ROANOKE — Elkins placed fifth in the Class AA Region II Golf Championship held Monday at Stonewall Resort.
The Tigers tallied a team-score of 288 and were led by senior Tanner Miller, who carded an 89 to tie Lewis County’s Kade Richards and Lincoln’s Nick Anderson for fifth place in the individual scoring.
Other Tigers competing included sophomore Lucas D’Angelo (95), senior Danica Riggins (104) and sophomore Drew Hinzman (112).
“We struggled coming down the stretch, EHS coach Dave Baird said. “Yet I was happy how we played as a team today.
“This group worked hard this year to continue to get better and even though we came up short today, they can be proud of how they did on a tough golf course.”
The top two teams — Lincoln (269) and Lewis County (280) — advanced to the state tournament, along with the two top scorers not on the state-qualifying teams.
Roane County’s Emerson Simons (80) and Robert C. Byrd’s Jacob Brannon (81) secured those at-large qualifying spots.
Simons earned low-medalist honors.
Jace Lancaster shot an 83 for Liberty, which didn’t field a scoring team, to place third.
Lincoln’s Levi Belcastro (88) was fourth.
RCB (285) placed third, followed by Roane County (286), Elkins (288), Philip Barbour (295) and Braxton County (368).
The Colts were paced by Brayden Cole with a 94. Mason Halfin carded a 95, Landon Wilmoth a 106 and Alfred Isch a 111.
The state tournament will be held Oct. 4-5 at the Speidel Golf Course at Oglebay Park in Wheeling.
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God’s Universe Vs Man’s Metaverse – News9 LIVE https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/gods-universe-vs-mans-metaverse-news9-live/
No matter who you think created our universe – a God who suddenly said one day “Let there be light”, or a Big Bang out of nothingness, or a supine Lord who spawned it off his navel – you will agree that it is vastly bigger and more complex than what the human mind at present can grasp. According to one calculation, travelling from one end of the spherical, observable universe to another will take 92 billion light years. And light, we are told, travels at the speed of 3 lakh kilometres a second. I’ll let you calculate the distance.
The James Webb space telescope, which is currently at the Lagrange Point (L2) about 1 million miles away from Earth to give it an unimpeded view of the universe, is already upending some key assumptions and theories about the universe.
For instance, the Big Bang itself. Now, it seems that one gigantic explosion out of nothingness may not be how the universe was created. No doubt, as Webb sends us more data peering into the unending celestial horizon, we will know a lot more about our observable universe.
Let There Be a Metaverse
Back on the pale blue dot, it is man’s hubris that he should speak in terms of a virtual universe. For, the metaverse that he is building is nothing more than an immersive game, where the participant is a virtual avatar or a real human with a virtual reality headset. But why should man want to build a metaverse? ‘Why not?’ is the stock reply. After all, man – religions and philosophy tell us – has been fashioned after God…maybe is even God himself. “Aham Brahmasmi”, declared the Upanishads of the Hindus. Therefore, man can and will play God.
There’s a problem with that, though. Except for his own procreation, all of man’s efforts produce only ‘synthetic’, inorganic results, that too, after he must use something of God’s work. The balmy heat of the Sun on a winter morning, the cool wind blowing off a mountain, the refreshing water of a spring, the smell of wet earth after rain, holding your newborn in your hands for the first time…will they feel the same in a virtual world, even if technology tricks the brain momentarily? No.
Man’s metaverse, therefore, will likely be far worse than the real world he inhabits. Freed of real-world implications, the virtual man is likely to be a worse version of himself. Bullying, assaulting, and defrauding will come all too easily. Already there are reports of metaverse misbehaviour, ranging from outright molestation to assaults to harassment. Web 2.0, dominated by social media platforms, already allows many people to behave in a manner they normally wouldn’t in the real world, primarily thanks to the ease with which fake identities can be set up. Web 3.0, with its virtual avatars and blockchain technology, will make the trauma even more real. A woman getting her avatar cat-called or groped is likely to be as traumatized as in real life. 3-D games have already proved to be as addictive as drugs for some players. Mental health – a silent, global pandemic today – could become an even bigger problem tomorrow.
Better KYC for Metaverse
If the metaverse (or metaverses, since there will be many of these) has to become safe for everyone, then it’s foundation must be a much better know-your-customer standards than what Web 2.0 currently has. Thereafter, there needs to be debate on acceptable behaviour and appropriate punishments for those who commit a crime. (There are video games where what would be outright illegal in real life is not just acceptable, but the ONLY way to earn points.)
These won’t be easy debates. For instance, if my avatar commits a virtual crime, say, jumping a signal in some virtual land, how should I be punished? With a fine in the virtual world, most would say and they would be right. But, what if an avatar molests a child or a woman online? Should that person be punished in real life? Most would again say, yes. But there are many grey areas: how should racial abuse, bullying, theft of digital assets (think a pair of special edition Nike), divorces between married avatars, or a ‘virtual’ financial fraud be dealt with?
How far are real-life customs, norms, mores, and rules transferrable to the virtual world? To be sure, the concept of “virtual realism” – the argument that virtual reality in some scenarios is actual reality – is beginning to take shape. But are our courts and existing laws equipped to deal with such issues? The answer as of now is, no. That means we are going to need an entirely new set of laws meant exclusively for the metaverse.
To answer the question I asked at the start of this piece (“will man find greater happiness or grief in the metaverse?”), I think we can take a cue from humanity’s track record thus far. Has man achieved progress and elevated the happiness quotient in general? The answer would have to be a resounding yes. At the same time, has man ever lost an opportunity to do things that make the world a worse place? Like fight destructive wars, cut down forests, plunder earth’s resources, kill other animals? Unfortunately, he has not.
So, while the metaverse may have its benefits, there will be some among us who will want to exploit it for perverse reasons, and not the greater good. What does that tell us about ourselves, then? Only that what shapes man and his destiny is his impulses. Be it in the God’s great universe or man’s metaverse.
(R. Sridharan is the Managing Editor of TV9 Kannada and, as the reader can tell, also someone who stresses his grey matter too much.)
Bluesound Serves Up New Wireless Audio Gear Sonos Killer? Audioholics
Bluesound Serves Up New Wireless Audio Gear, Sonos Killer? – Audioholics https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/bluesound-serves-up-new-wireless-audio-gear-sonos-killer-audioholics/
Like Sonos… but better. I think it’s fair to say that this was the goal that the Lenbrook Group — parent company to NAD and PSB — set for itself when launching Bluesound back in 2013. (In fact, Lenbrook even served as the Canadian distributor for Sonos in the mid 2000s.) But beating Sonos at its own game is no easy task. As I mentioned in my recent article about the company’s first automotive audio system,
Sonos is easily one of the most successful new audio brands of the last two decades. Like Apple, it succeeds in part because its hardware and software are so deeply interconnected. Sonos also has the best user interface this side of Roon. With a lineup including the likes of PSB’s Paul Barton, Lenbrook’s engineering talent could run rings around the audio boffins at Sonos, or at any tech-focused consumer audio company. But Bluesound would need more than just good-sounding speakers and electronics in order to succeed. Taking on Sonos isn’t about building a product; it’s about designing a whole ecosystem. Plenty of other audio companies have tried to build their own wireless multi-room audio platforms, including heavy-hitters like Denon, Yamaha, and Bose. At the high-end of the market, companies like KEF, Bowers & Wilkins, and Devialet, have made their mark, but the high prices of those products naturally limit their customer base. Tech companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon have changed the game with their smart speakers, but most focus on the futuristic user experience, and not on sound quality. Bluesound came out of the gate with high-res music support, allowing its customers to enjoy 24bit/192kHz downloads in every room of the house. Now that high-res streaming is becoming more commonplace (hello, Apple Music), it’s surprising that Sonos speakers — not to mention Apple’s own HomePods — still haven’t caught up. For the Tidal crowd, Bluesound also handles MQA — a feature that looks increasingly unlikely to find its way into a Sonos speaker near you. With solid audio engineering, real-world prices, an excellent control app, and a better-than-Sonos feature set, Bluesound has come the closest to de-throning the king of multi-room wireless audio. Now the company has introduced three updated products for 2022, including the Node streamer/dac ($549), the Powernode streaming amp ($899), and the Pulse Soundbar+ ($899 or $999, depending on finish).
All three of these new products feature a powerful ARM Cortex A53 Quad-Core processor, which Bluesound says is 8 times faster than the chipsets found in previous generations of Bluesound architecture. The new processor may seem like overkill, but that’s kind of the point. According to Bluesound, all that extra power and speed make these products “ready for whatever technologies the future may hold.” In addition to the significant spec bump in the number-crunching department, the new Node and Powernode boast new DAC designs, improved functionality (more on this later), and fancy new touch-panel controls with proximity sensors. The Powernode also gets a big boost in power over the previous version. Meanwhile, the new Pulse Soundbar+ welcomes Dolby Atmos to the party.
Since the beginning, Bluesound has set out to provide a modern hi-res multi-room streaming experience for customers who care about audio quality. We have seen the NODE and POWERNODE quickly become the go-to streaming components for discerning music lovers, because of our focus on high quality listening and on the software features that make the products – all the way back to our first generation – even better over time. This latest generation, once again, sets the bar for performance and value in their respective categories.
— Matt Simmonds, Bluesound Product Manager
The new Node is a follow-up to the Node 2i from 2018, which represented a major sonic upgrade over the Node 2 that it replaced. This 4th iteration of Bluesound’s core streaming gadget seems mostly to be a refresh of the unit’s computational smarts and its input/output complement, so owners of the Node 2i needn’t rush to trade up. But the new unit does have an updated “audiophile-grade” DAC section based on the highly-capable-on-paper PCM5242 chip from Texas Instruments. While the Node looks virtually identical to its predecessor from the front, around back you’ll see one of its best new features: an HDMI eARC input. Bluesound wants the Node to be flexible and future-friendly, and “as comfortable in a two-channel TV system… as it is in an audiophile’s dedicated listening room… (providing) a hi-res experience no matter where it’s used.” Mated to a nice pair of powered speakers, the Node can be both a music-listening hub and a sound-bar replacement for movies, TV, and gaming. Of course, the Node also has an array of other digital and analog inputs and outputs, as did its predecessors. But one big upgrade would be easy to miss at first glance. While earlier Nodes included a USB input for connecting hard drives loaded with music files, an upcoming firmware update will allow the new Node to send digital data out via that same USB port to an outboard DAC. Until now, optical and coax were the only digital outputs available. Some DACs simply perform better via their USB inputs, and many require the use of USB to unlock certain features (such as MQA decoding and/or rendering). Having a high-quality digital output makes the Node easily upgradable. The user can start with the Node’s internal DAC and analog outputs, and then upgrade its performance by adding a better DAC down the road. But for many, the Node’s feature set will be even more important than its potential for end-game sound quality. Happily, the Node has an exhaustive list of features, including Apple AirPlay 2, voice control (via Siri, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant), and 2-way aptX HD Bluetooth, meaning you can stream from your phone to the Node, or from the Node to your wireless headphones. It’s also Roon Ready, and handles both Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect. The subwoofer output can be optimized for your setup, thanks to customizable crossover settings. Basically, if you were to say, “But does it do___?” The answer is yes, it does. Despite all of this flexibility, the BluOS control app is one of the more user-friendly on the market. Basic functions like play/pause, skipping tracks, and adjusting volume are also available as touch controls via a new, larger touch panel located on top of the unit. And thanks to a proximity sensor, the touch panel fades to black when it’s not being used, and lights up again when your hand moves toward it. Very cool.
The new Powernode does everything that the Node does, and also has an 80-watt integrated amp built in. There’s not too much else to say about it, really. The Powernode uses NAD’s HybridDigital amplifier platform, and its 80-watt power rating (into 8 ohms) is a substantial upgrade over the 60 watts produced by the Powernode 2i from 2018. Like the Node, the Powernode can connect wirelessly to Bluesound’s Pulse Sub+ subwoofer ($749), or via RCA to any subwoofer of your choice. One cool feature is the Powernode’s ability to transform a standard 2-channel rig into a 4.1-channel home theater. Just add a sub and a pair of Bluesound’s Pulse Flex 2i wireless speakers ($299 each) as rear channel additions, and the Powernode can deliver a wireless Dolby surround-sound home theater experience. How many stereo integrated amps can do that?
In 2016, Bluesound launched the world’s first Hi-Res soundbar, setting the bar for audio excellence in the category that continues to this day. With the PULSE SOUNDBAR+, we continue to innovate and refine, making good on our commitment to bring hi-res, HiFi listening to everyday life, even in product categories that traditionally overlook the importance of audio quality.
— Matt Simmonds, Bluesound Product Manager
Finally, the new $899 Pulse Soundbar+ is designed to be “the ultimate audiophile-grade soundbar that will satisfy any home entertainment need,” according to Bluesound. It represents a “full audio-chain redesign,” with advanced DSP processing made possible by that new ARM Cortex A53 Quad-Core chipset under the hood. The big new feature is Dolby Atmos support, served up via 8 audiophile-quality transducers driven by 120 watts of total power. Bluesound says the new amplification “packs a punch, allowing you to play loud and dig deep, with tight, musical control.” Acoustic design and speaker voicing were performed at Canada’s National Research Council. Like the Node and Powernode, the Pulse Soundbar+ is packed with features, including HDMI eARC, Apple AirPlay 2, and 2-way aptX HD Bluetooth. It can be paired wirelessly with the Pulse Sub+, or to the subwoofer of your choice via a wired connection. Again, a pair of Pulse Flex 2i wireless speakers can serve rear-channel duty, delivering a more immersive surround sound experience. The Pulse Soundbar+ features 2 onboard WiFi chips to prevent network latency, delivering “rock solid and zero-lag audio performance, even for demanding gaming applications.” The front panel sports new touch controls for quick access to basic functions. For ease of installation, the Pulse Soundbar+ comes supplied with a wall-mount bracket and a pair of “kickstand” feet. The optional white finish raises the price from $899 to $999.
Bluesound vs Sonos
I would be interested in a comparison between the Pulse Soundbar+ and the $799 Sonos Arc soundbar, which has scored highly with reviewers, and is certainly a direct competitor. Of course, I don’t know how well these new Bluesound products will sell compared to their Sonos-branded counterparts, which enjoy both a huge amount of mainstream name recognition and a healthy advertising budget. But from an audio performance standpoint, I don’t think any c...
Why RaisedX: Making Money Investing In Crypto The Smart Way Cryptonews
Why RaisedX: Making Money Investing In Crypto The Smart Way – Cryptonews https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/why-raisedx-making-money-investing-in-crypto-the-smart-way-cryptonews/
Disclaimer: The text below is an advertorial article that is not part of Cryptonews.com editorial content.
With over $25 billion raised globally by crypto startups in 2021 and just under $10 billion raised in the first half of 2022 despite less than perfect market conditions, the interest of investors in the crypto space is not abating anytime soon. As blockchain continues redefining the boundaries of what is possible and carving out new ways of creating and transferring value between humans, it is important that everyone is carried along and that no one is left behind. However, despite the unmistakable interest and opportunities in the blockchain space, the funding space is riddled with problems. From one end, only projects that can raise considerable seed capital or have connections get the exposure and traction to be listed on major IEO platforms. This translates to hundreds if not thousands of legitimate projects with enterprising founders that never see the light of day. For the projects that scale through the initial hurdles of listing on expensive IEO platforms, every day small crypto investors are almost always excluded from an equal opportunity to invest, skewing opportunities in favor of big-time and institutional investors or crypto whales.
RaisedX: Our Solution
RaisedX is a public token sale-only platform built with a simple idea; to give every small and medium crypto enthusiasts an equal opportunity to invest in legitimate and promising blockchain projects at their early stages. We are creating a low-barrier, easy-to-access, and safe marketplace where any public investor can put whatever they can afford into vetted crypto startups with the goal of getting high returns on their investment. We are creating a melting point that brings together visionary founders with willing investors in a safe and conducive portal that allows startups to raise the funds they need and investors to get first rights to budding projects within their budget.
Our Background
RaisedX is the brainchild of a core team of 8 finance, technology, and business professionals with decades of combined experience in the blockchain space. Led by consummate corporate banking and finance expert, and DeFi startup founder Denis Molozhavyy, the RaisedX team boasts of authorities with unique experiences from the investing and founding facets of crypto, people who intimately understand the pain points faced by startups and small investors alike. The team came together to bring RaisedX to life after being contacted by countless teams looking for a way to launch public token sales of their projects. With over 20 such requests per week currently, the RaisedX team is confident that it will bring some exciting opportunities for public crypto investors in the months and years ahead.
Why RaisedX
The RaisedX IEO platform is all about inclusion, for investors and startups alike. Our platform comes with basic free registration which guarantees participation opportunities in all token sale events on the platform. We are a beginner and small investor-friendly platform with entry allocations ranging from $200 to $1000. Beyond token sale participation, RaisedX users will have unfettered access to our in-house centralized exchange which lists exclusive new tokens allowing our users to buy, sell, and adjust their portfolio holdings with ease. RaisedX will also have an agile social media presence with VIP accounts to be won by followers of our social channels. Being a VIP account holder offers perks like getting a 100% chance to fill your allocation space for any token sale on the platform.
RaisedX Will be There When You Need Us
Taking customer support to the next level is a solemn commitment of the RaisedX team. Apart from our 24/7 customer support channel via email, we promise to be wherever you are so you can speak to us and forward your complaints and suggestions where you are most comfortable. RaisedX will have a dedicated team on Telegram, Twitter, and other social media to respond to you immediately whenever you have a pressing matter that needs to be addressed. A dedicated chat portal will also be available to attend to your trading inquiries. RaisedX is also rolling out a treasure trove of helpful content and a continuously updated FAQ section to make our customers’ experience better as they seek lucrative opportunities in the projects we list. To complete the inquiry and feedback circle, RaisedX will keep an open suggestion channel for users to bring up features and additions they’ll like to see next. We promise to give each suggestion our attention and serious consideration.
More Opportunities and More Wins for All
Blockchain will continue to make its mark in our lives as humans in the times ahead. RaisedX strongly believes that for the space to fulfill its decentralization mantra, opportunity must be shared equally. Whether you are an investor looking for a viable project to get into early, or you are a founder looking for funds to bring your project to life, RaisedX is a welcoming port of call that makes your life easy in this respect. We look forward to seeing you all on the inside as we begin the next chapter of making smart investment opportunities and innovation in crypto accessible to everyone.
To celebrate our launch, we’re launching AirDrop for our users. Hurry up and get involved!
Link to Gleam: https://bit.ly/launchgleamraisedx
Link to our website: https://raisedx.io
US Navy Sends Its Most Advanced Surface Warship To East Asia CNN
US Navy Sends Its Most Advanced Surface Warship To East Asia – CNN https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/us-navy-sends-its-most-advanced-surface-warship-to-east-asia-cnn/
Seoul, South Korea CNN —
The US Navy’s most advanced surface warship is showing its stealthy profile in the western Pacific on a mission that may set the stage for the eventual deployment of US hypersonic missiles to the region.
The USS Zumwalt is the first in a class of three multimission guided missile destroyers the Navy says will “create a new level of battlespace complexity for potential adversaries.”
In the Pacific, one of those potential adversaries is obviously China, and the Zumwalt will certainly get Beijing’s attention.
“The presence of a stealth warship will draw a great deal of (Chinese) interest,” especially if the Zumwalt is outfitted with hypersonic weapons, said analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain.
And that time may not be far off.
An August report from the US Naval Institute said the Zumwalt will be upgraded next year to accommodate the Pentagon’s Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB), a weapons system that uses a booster rocket motor to fire missiles at hypersonic speed.
According to a May 2022 Congressional Research Service report, “the C-HGB is to be maneuverable, making it more difficult to detect and intercept and can travel at Mach 5 or higher … at least five times faster than the speed of sound or up to 13,000 miles (20,921 kilometers) per hour.
“The C-HGB is intended to be able to destroy targets by virtue of its velocity alone,” the report said.
After making a port call in Guam last week, the Zumwalt arrived in Japan on Monday, a US Navy 7th Fleet spokesman said.
A Navy statement said the warship has been assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15, the US Navy’s largest destroyer squadron based outside of the United States, operating out of Yokosuka Naval Base near Tokyo.
At 610 feet (185 meters) long and displacing 16,000 metric tons, the Zumwalt is “the largest and most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world,” according to a Navy fact sheet.
In contrast, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the backbone of the US Navy’s fleet, are about 100 feet (30 meters) shorter with a displacement under 10,000 tons.
China’s biggest surface combatant, the Type 055 destroyer, displaces around 12,000 to 13,000 tons.
But while China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy can’t match Zumwalt’s size, it can certainly win the battle for quantity.
The US Navy will have only three ships in the Zumwalt class, the others being the USS Michael Mansoor and the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson.
The PLA Navy has six Type 055s active and more are expected to be coming as part of a massive shipbuilding program that has seen the Chinese naval fleet overtake the US to become the world’s largest.
USS Zumwalt is armed with 80 vertical launch cells for missiles that can strike land and sea targets as well as anti-submarine rockets, but the Type 055 has 112 launch cells capable of the same tasks.
The US Navy says the Zumwalt boasts an array of innovations, most striking among them is its stealthy design.
“The wave-piercing tumblehome hull design has facilitated a wide array of advancements. The composite superstructure significantly reduces radar cross section and other signatures, making the ship harder to detect by enemies at sea,” according to the Navy fact sheet.
The Zumwalt class of the destroyers has been a controversial and costly program for the US Navy. With research and development costs rolled in, the three ships in the class come with a price tag of about $8 billion each, according to a 2018 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress.
That per-ship price tag would had been considerably reduced if the Navy had gone ahead with its original plan to build 32 of the massive destroyers, but that number was reduced to the current three after the service decided the Zumwalt class would need substantial modifications to perform an anti-ballistic missile defense mission, something the Arleigh Burkes could do more cheaply, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The ships have also been slow to come on line. Zumwalt was commissioned in 2016, but it took four years for the Navy to accept final delivery from shipbuilder General Dynamics after all its systems were checked out.
While movements of a warship are normally referred to as deployments, the Navy is not using that term for the Zumwalt’s current presence in the Pacific, a Navy official said.
“While the ship and crew are being tasked as ships normally would be, their employment is part of the fleet integration process of introducing a class of ship into the operational environment and understanding how it can best operate with other ships/platforms,” the official said.
Schuster, the Hawaii-based analyst, called the Zumwalt’s movements “more political than military” until the Navy can get those hypersonic weapons aboard.
“At over $8 billion each, Navy is struggling to find a mission for these presently lightly armed ships,” he said.
Still, he said, it will give the PLA Navy something to think about.
Julie McDonald Commentary: White Settlers Flee To Blockhouses During Indian Wars Centralia Chronicle
Julie McDonald Commentary: White Settlers Flee To Blockhouses During Indian Wars – Centralia Chronicle https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/julie-mcdonald-commentary-white-settlers-flee-to-blockhouses-during-indian-wars-centralia-chronicle/
By Julie McDonald / For The Chronicle
With white emigrants settling in the Pacific Northwest during the mid-1850s, Native Americans throughout the region faced huge disruptions to their lives and displacement from their traditional lands.
Gov. Isaac Stevens, who also served as the territory’s Indian Affairs superintendent, negotiated the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek, which preserved native fishing rights but took away farmland. Nisqually Chief Leschi refused to sign it and chose to fight instead.
In October 1855, militia Captain Charles Eaton led his citizen militia, Eaton’s Rangers, against the Nisqually, which resulted in the deaths of two militia men, Joseph Miller and Abram Benton Moses. After the governor ordered the military to capture Leschi and bring him to Olympia, additional skirmishes occurred near what today are Tacoma and Seattle in what was called the Puget Sound Indian War.
On Oct. 28, 1855, in what became known as the White River Massacre, a party of White River, Muckleshoot and Klickitat natives (or alternatively Chief Leschi and his Nisqually band) attacked and killed nine settlers — members of the Harvey Jones, Will Brannon and George E. King families — and burned their homes. Three children escaped on foot, fleeing toward Seattle, but one 5-year-old boy was captured and kept for six months, according to Kathy Weiser with “Legends of America,” and a baby was kidnapped and never recovered.
In response, the militia captured about 4,000 Native Americans and kept them on Fox Island, where some died from lack of food, water and shelter, according to “Indians of the Pacific Northwest: A History” by Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown. The militia relocated Upper and Lower Chehalis to a farm near Steilacoom, the Cowlitz to a Chehalis River site and the Chinook to Fort Vancouver.
At the same time, to the south and east, in retaliation for what was called the Whitman Massacre — the Nov. 29, 1847, murders of Methodist missionaries Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and 11 others at the Waiilatpu mission near Walla Walla — the Yakama, Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla were forced to cede more than six million acres to the United States government. Yakama Chief Kamiakin initially refused but eventually joined other native leaders in signing the Treaty of Yakama at Walla Walla June 9, 1855, which set aside about 1.5 million acres as a reservation for the Yakama.
At the time, Washington Territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens promised that white settlers would not trespass on tribal lands before the treaty was ratified, according to historylink.org.
But then gold was discovered in the Colville and Fraser River areas in what became known as Eastern Washington and British Columbia, drawing large groups of miners across the tribal lands to reach the gold fields. Along the way, some stole horses from Native Americans and mistreated their women, according to historylink.org, which prompted Yakama warriors to kill miners. After Indian subagent Andrew J. Bolon, who was investigating the attacks, was shot and killed at The Dalles in September 1855, Army Major Granville Haller, a noted Indian fighter, and his 84 troops set off for the Yakima Valley, where they engaged in a battle Oct. 5, resulting in casualties on both sides before Haller, greatly outnumbered, retreated back to The Dalles.
A month later, on Nov. 9, 1855, 700 troops led by Army Major Gabriel J. Rains marched against Kamiakin’s 300 Yakama warriors, but the Native Americans escaped, and the soldiers burned the Saint Joseph Catholic Mission after discovering gunpowder buried in the garden.
What does all this have to do with Lewis County?
News quickly spread about Indian uprisings, according to Mary Jane (Mills) Brown, an eyewitness to history who was born in 1838 and crossed the Oregon Trail in 1847. She wrote her recollections about what transpired locally when she was in her 70s.
“The Indians threatened us with war, and it was a miracle that we were not all murdered, but an old Indian by the name of Skleen (or Skloon) turned state’s evidence against the Indians, and the government ordered blockhouses and forts built,” she wrote.
The Washington Territorial Volunteers built 47 blockhouses or forts to protect settlers throughout the territory, and the federal government constructed posts while communities like Claquato and Grand Mound erected blockhouses of their own.
To the north, Fort McAllister, named for Lt. James McCallister, one of Eaton’s Rangers and a Nisqually settler killed during the Indian Wars, was erected at South Prairie in today’s Pierce County. Volunteers erected two blockhouses in the center of Olympia: one later became the city jail and the other was on the Andrew Chambers property. Also constructed were Fort Miller, named for William Winlock Miller, a territorial volunteer and Olympia’s first mayor, on the Tenalquot Prairie north of present-day Rainier and east of the Deschutes River; Fort Preston and Fort Raglan, both on the Nisqually River; and Fort Stevens on the Yelm Prairie, a supply depot.
At Grand Mound, or Mound Prairie, settlers erected Fort Henness, named for Captain Benjamin Lee Henness, a Washington Territorial Volunteer and early Tenino pioneer who lived nearby. The fort consisted of two blockhouses, a stockade, and huts. Its location is marked with a monument and diagram at 183rd and Apricot Road.
At Claquato west of Chehalis, residents erected a blockhouse and lived inside it for 16 months until they could safely return home. That’s where Chehalis founders Schuyler and Eliza Saunders fled with their children during the war, returning home only to discover their home, barn and fences burned, their animals killed, and all their belongings stolen or destroyed.
At Toledo, territorial volunteers erected a blockhouse with a stockade at Cowlitz Landing on the north side of the Cowlitz River, where life remained quiet despite the tension. However, Matilda Jackson, who lived at Highland Farm with her husband, an Englishman named John R. Jackson, refused to flee her home because her 14-year-old son, Felix “Grundy” Koontz, was suffering from white swelling of the knee and too sick to travel. “If the Indians kill him, they will have to kill me,” she said, according to her granddaughter Anna Koontz. Felix died Dec. 7, 1855. Residents to the south of Lewis County built Fort Arkansas on the Cowlitz River near Castle Rock.
On pioneer Joseph Borst’s land, Oregon Volunteers under the direction of Captain Francis Goff in early 1856 built the Fort Borst blockhouse at the Chehalis River crossing near the mouth of the Skookumchuck River, assisted by Borst and local pioneers Patterson Luark and James Lum. Borst hauled logs to the stream and floated them across the river where workers peeled, scored and hewed them to erect the blockhouse, which had only one door and no windows, just narrow slits on the upper and lower floors through which defenders could shoot attackers. Pioneers never sheltered inside the blockhouse, which was used primarily for grain storage to serve the military and militia. Borst later paid $500 to buy the blockhouse, which he and his wife, Mary, lived in for a while during construction of their two-story white house with green shutters. The blockhouse was moved to Riverside Park in 1919 and to its present location in Fort Borst Park in 1922.
But it was to Fort Henness that Elkanah Mills and Robert Brown headed with their families, where 30 families — an estimated 224 men, women and children — took shelter during the Indian War, according to Arthur Dwelley, author of “Prairies & Quarries: Pioneer Days around Tenino, 1830-1900.” The fort was never attacked.
“It wasn’t very long before we were on our way to be forted up at Grand Mound,” Brown wrote. “But when we got to Judge Ford’s place three miles northwest of Centralia, Judge was Indian agent and had little or no protection, so Father and my husband decided to move in and stay by Judge Ford. We lived there that winter, and I can tell anyone it was a scary time for me.”
Sidney S. Ford, with his wife, Nancy, their six children and a hundred head of cattle, had crossed the Oregon Trail in 1845. After a year in the Willamette Valley, the Fords along with Joseph Borst moved north of the Columbia River and, in March 1846, settled in present-day Centralia. Sidney Ford Sr. and his sons built a two-story cabin that served as the Lewis County courthouse and a stopping place for travelers heading to Puget Sound. He served as a justice of the peace, judge, county commissioner and county clerk. Like John R. Jackson, he was a delegate to both the Cowlitz and Monticello territorial conventions. Ford also was an Indian agent, Washington Territorial legislator and, during the war, a lieutenant colonel in the militia.
As Indian agent, he worked with members of the Cowlitz, Chehalis and Quinault tribes, many of whom lived on his homestead.
“Although the governor had taken all the Indians’ guns away from them, it looked to most of the people like they couldn’t hurt us, but I was afraid of those big bows and arrows,” Brown wrote. “They could kill grouse and pheasants with them, and I was afraid they would shoot the whites with them.”
Although the government had captured many Native Americans and relocated others, Brown wrote about a plot to kill her family and the Fords.
“At the time, the Indians were in quarantine by the government, and no hostile Indians were allowed to enter the camp, so they hatched up a lie and said there were hostile Indians lurking around the Ford Camp, and if Judge Ford would give about fifteen of the red men a gun apiece loaded, they would catch those ‘Naheoa Sixash’ (sp) or bad Indians,” Brown wrote.
“At about eleven...
Go With The Flow – Ramona Journal https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/go-with-the-flow-ramona-journal/
When it comes to making art, things don’t always go as planned. Watercolor is notorious for this — no matter your degree of expertise with the medium, sometimes it will act in unpredictable ways.
Life is similar in this respect.
On a recent road trip, my car broke down. I was out of state and about 100 miles from my destination. While waiting for a tow, I could only think about how this might ruin my vacation.
While my friends were seeing the sights, I spent an entire day on the phone trying to secure a service center that would take the car during Labor Day weekend — it was not easy. In hopes of not entirely wasting the day, on a whim I snagged a rideshare to a nearby “old town” for a decent meal and some entertainment.
I found a vibrant art community, with galleries representing more than 30 local artists, as well as a ribbon cutting ceremony for a free little gallery situated along the main drag. Unlike a free little library, it stocked miniature pieces of art on tiny easels in what had to be a two-foot by two-foot square box. There was even an action figure patron!
Over the weekend, I had several enlightening experiences that would not have occurred were I using my own car.
I learned about local haunted and abandoned places from my Lyft driver, I heard a wild avalanche survival story from my tow truck driver, and I was able to enjoy the sights more as my eyes weren’t glued to the road.
I’ve traveled cross-country several times and have taken many shorter road trips in between. Sure, flying is easier, but you just don’t get to enjoy these little Easter eggs scattered about. In the spirit of going with the flow, I had a much more memorable experience.
These days, I’m trying to step outside the box a bit more. Whether visiting new or familiar places, I make it a point to simply observe. There is so much to see in the world and, surprisingly, there are so many ways to relate to others.
A few months back, I created a travel journal with prompts that encourage you to be in the moment. It’s available on Amazon — just search my name — or you can use a blank bound book.
Take note of your intention for the day, the weather, your path and a texture from your surroundings, like a tree or rock. Listen to what others are saying, and if you’re up to it, strike up a conversation.
Even if you’re just traveling to and from town for errands, it can be comforting to live the day mindfully.
With the holidays around the corner, life will be getting more hectic. Be sure to take time, enjoy the moment, and go with the flow.
In the end, it’ll all work out.
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British Business Bank Expands Start Up Loans Programme In Wales Business News Wales
British Business Bank Expands Start Up Loans Programme In Wales – Business News Wales https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/british-business-bank-expands-start-up-loans-programme-in-wales-business-news-wales/
The British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme has expanded to include start-ups that have been trading for up to three years and second Start Up Loans are now available to eligible businesses that have been trading for up to five years.
The programme previously provided finance to start ups which had been trading for up to two years.
Start Up Loans’ expansion follows the 2021/22 Spending Review, at which the government made the commitment to provide 33,000 loans to the programme over the next three years. The scheme has already delivered more than 4,300 loans worth more than £43m to new business owners in Wales since 2012.
Start Up Loans provides funding at a fixed interest rate of 6%, as well as 12 months’ mentoring to its recipients, further supporting aspiring business owners in every corner of the United Kingdom. Start Up Loans’ impact has been particularly noticeable among individuals who might find it difficult to secure loans from traditional lenders.
Case study: Victoria Griffin, founder of Goji Hair from Cardiff, Wales
Victoria took out a loan of £3,700 in 2015 through Start Up Loans delivery partner, Business in Focus, to launch Goji Hair, an organic hair salon. Victoria set up an online shop during the first lockdown, selling her much-loved organic haircare products that were usually bought in-store and delivered them to people’s doors. In 2019, Victoria took out a second loan of £15,000, which enabled her to move to a larger salon to cater for her growing client base.
Victoria Griffin said:
“Start Up Loans was instrumental in kick-starting Goji Hair, and the mentoring support provided us with fantastic financial insight to ensure our accounts were in order from day one. Having a second loan option available is brilliant, and means small businesses are able to grow, particularly after the challenges of the last few years.
“I’d encourage aspiring Welsh business owners to explore all finance options available to them, including the second loan for growing businesses, and to make the most of the support that’s available through the scheme.”
Susan Nightingale, Devolved Nations Director, UK Network, said:
“We are delighted to be able to extend the reach of the Start Up Loans programme to help support businesses, including those who need extra support during a challenging economic environment. This extension of the programme will enable us to work with those businesses that had perhaps just got going when the pandemic hit or are ready to consolidate and grow
their businesses now that they are back on their feet. We want to ensure that these businesses do not get left behind.
“We have always been committed to providing support and funding to smaller businesses that across Wales, with entrepreneurial ambitions across all industry sectors. Having delivered more than £43m in loans to Wales alone highlights our continued efforts to help people from diverse backgrounds achieve their business goals.”
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said:
“From its proud industrial heritage through to the thriving life sciences, aerospace, and services sectors of today, Wales has long been recognised a brilliant place for business.
“In the past decade, we have backed thousands of Welsh small businesses with Start Up Loans totalling £42million, but we want to go further, expanding the scheme to build further jobs and prosperity.”
Martin McTague, Federation of Small Businesses National Chair, said: “The small business community shrank by 400,000 in the first year of the pandemic. As the new Government focuses heavily on economic growth and supporting enterprise, a major element of that will be encouraging a new wave of start-ups – the next generation of entrepreneurs from every diverse background, in all our local communities. So we welcome today’s announcement as it will help more people to start-up, and scale-up.
Breakdown of loans by region
UK Region
Loans Made
Amount Lent (£)
Average Loan Amount (£)
East Midlands
5,468
49,820,763
9,111
East of England
6,893
65,561,712
9,511
Isle of Man
3
12,500
4,167
London
20,474
187,085,791
9,138
North East
5,313
48,138,743
9,061
North West
12,019
108,464,154
9,024
Northern Ireland
1,495
12,764,845
8,538
Scotland
6,309
55,574,315
8,809
South East
9,626
97,040,179
10,081
South West
8,328
75,798,566
9,102
Wales
4,376
43,526,310
9,947
West Midlands
8,031
73,671,613
9,173
Yorkshire and The Humber
8,490
81,181,195
9,562
Region not obtained
444
5,478,723
12,339
Grand Total
97,269
904,119,406
9,295
Quality Sleep And Healthy Living With Vitafoam: Questions And Answers Tribune Online
Quality Sleep And Healthy Living With Vitafoam: Questions And Answers – Tribune Online https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/quality-sleep-and-healthy-living-with-vitafoam-questions-and-answers-tribune-online/
Following our information sharing on matters concerning quality sleep which is naturally vital to our physical and mental well-being towards a healthy and productive life, we engage in questions and answers series with you, our audience. We thank you immensely for your participation in this interactive aspect of our publication. Here are the extracts from the series for widespread benefit.
Dear Doctor,
I do have difficulty with my sleep. Firstly, it takes me a long time at times rolling on the bed before sleep comes to my eyes, any remedy for that? At times when I woke up at midnight to urinate, after coming back to sleep, I find it difficult to sleep back, any remedy for that?
H.I.
Dear H.I.
The difficulty in falling asleep either at the beginning of sleep time or after a disturbance by urination or noise during sleep is one of the common sleep problems. For sleep to kick off, a regulatory sleep switch in the brain will be purposefully activated in response to night-dark time, fatigue and exhaustion. The activated in-built brain sleep switch initiates the sleep mode which temporarily shuts down the brain and body activities for rest and resetting to be ready for the next activity period.
The difficulty in falling asleep usually results from poor function of the in-built brain regulatory sleep switch with inadequate activation and lack of sleep mode initiation.
The brain sleep switch functions well when the brain is in a good state of health, physically, mentally and socially. And also the sleep mode initiation is supported when other things in the environment around the person are sleep-inducing.
So, to correct the poor function of the brain switch, improve its activation and ensure adequate sleep mode initiation, when necessary;
Firstly, do the following to ensure the brain’s good state of health:
– Consistently drink an adequate quantity of water at least 4.5L – 5.0L over the day, with your urine turning colourless which is the colour of water.
– Regularly eat just enough quantity of balanced diet regularly two or three times daily.
– Regularly do some SAFE exercises like fast walking along the streets or around your home, push-up sets, etc. – graded duration starting from any duration you can tolerate targeting 30mins – daily or at least five times a week.
– Avoiding smoking, excess alcohol and stimulants like caffeine.
– Practicing good stress management by avoiding avoidable stressors and handling the avoidable stresses positively with acceptance of reality, adequate rest and leisure
– Adopting a regular sleep schedule as much as possible, maintaining the same range of time to go to bed.
– Do not use sleeping drugs, unless well trained medical practitioner has checked you by asking questions to get a clear picture of your sleep patterns, physical checking the body with hands and equipment and conducting relevant laboratory tests, before prescribing the sleeping drugs as needed.
Secondly, ensure sleeping-inducing surroundings by:
– Practicing relaxing techniques such as listening to soothing soft music, reading a good book, repetitive recitation of familiar statements or counting numbers, gentle yoga, deep breathing exercises or quiet meditation.
– Sleeping in a calming and relaxing environment that is noiseless, dark, smelling nice with cool temperature
– Sleeping on a quality mattress and pillow that are conducive sleeping surfaces for supportive posture
Yours in service,
Dr Charles Uzodimma
Let us remember that where you sleep, when you sleep and how you sleep affect your mental health, physical wellbeing and living a healthy life. We all need quality sleep to be set for more productivity in our endeavours.
Do you need further information on the above subject? Are you looking for the best way to maintain quality sleep for general wellbeing and healthy living? Are you currently facing any sleeping difficulty? Remember, a doctor is an appropriate person to offer relevant advice for maintenance of quality sleep and solution to sleep difficulties. Do you want to contact the Orthopaedic Sleep Consultant, Dr Charles Uzodimma, kindly send your request to sleepinfo@vitafoam.com.ng
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc is the first foam manufacturing company in Nigeria to partner with a Sleep Expert in educating Nigerians on Quality Sleep and Healthy Living. They are truly passionate about quality sleep, healthy living and general well-being of Nigerians. Vitafoam is proudly Nigerian and constantly supports Nigerians with consistent quality products for comfort and well-being. With Vitafoam, you don’t just sleep, they give you the comfort that gets you recharged. To learn more about Vitafoam, visit www.vitafoamng.com
Eagle Field Hockey Sinks Midd-West 3-0 | News Sports Jobs The Sentinel Lewistown Sentinel
Eagle Field Hockey Sinks Midd-West, 3-0 | News, Sports, Jobs – The Sentinel – Lewistown Sentinel https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/eagle-field-hockey-sinks-midd-west-3-0-news-sports-jobs-the-sentinel-lewistown-sentinel/
Sentinel photo by BOB HOCKENBROCK Midd-West’s Azaria McCartney powers the ball over the net in an attempt to score during a volleyball game against Southern Huntingdon on Monday.
From staff reports
HERNDON — Line Mountain upset Midd-West in field hockey action on Monday, 3-0.
Alana Martz scored two goals to guide the Eagles (4-5-1).
Paris Seibel tallied eight saves for the Mustangs (6-3).
Midd-West visits Muncy on Wednesday.
LINE MOUNTAIN 3, MIDD-WEST 0
First quarter
LM-Alana Martz (Taylor Rothermel), 11:38.
LM-Martz, 10:07.
Second quarter
LM-Brooke Barwick (Kaitlyn Kline), 7:33.
Shots: LM 11-2.
Corners: LM 12-4.
Saves: Midd-West 8 (Paris Seibel); Line Mountain 2 (Jasmine Schaffner).
Records: Midd-West 6-3. Line Mountain 4-5-1.
Buffaloes rout Huskies
NEWPORT — Mifflin County fell to Newport 6-2 in a non-league field hockey game Monday evening.
Hailee Sheetz scored both goals for Mifflin County. Sophie McCurdy collected 14 saves.
The Huskies also lost in the JV game 6-0.
Mifflin County travels to Carlisle today.
Tigers fall to Rockets
THREE SPRINGS — East Juniata fell to Southern Huntingdon 5-2 in field hockey action Monday.
Astrid Valladares scored both goals for the Tigers.
East Juniata hosts Line Mountain today.
Tennis
Eagles blank Huskies
MECHANICSBURG — Mifflin County battled in its road tennis match at Cumberland Valley on Monday.
But, the Huskies (1-11) fell 5-0 as Eagle Riya Srinivas won her singles match over Aija Binder, 6-0, 6-0.
In more singles play, Ashley Ross of Cumberland Valley (11-2) held on against Ella Knepp, 6-4, 6-3.
Cumberland Valley 5,
Mifflin County 0
SINGLES
Riya Srinivas (CV) def. Binder, 6-0, 6-0.
Ross (CV) def. Knepp, 6-4, 6-3.
Varnika Udhayakumar (CV) def. Katey Riden, 6-0, 6-0
DOUBLES
Megha Lomada/Riya Datta (CV) def. Mackenna Yoder/Lindsay Wolfley, 6-0, 6-0
Aparna Ragha/Skylar Rozyekie (CV) def. Ava Kelly/Lily Breon, 6-1, 6-0
Volleyball
Mifflin County wins
ALEXANDRIA — Mifflin County defeated Juniata Valley 3-1 in a non-league volleyball game on Monday.
Dakota Hershberger had 27 kills while Gracen Haines had eight blocks, Jamilee Gilbert collected 32 assists, Riley Hine had 17 digs and Liv Suydam also had 22 digs.
Mifflin County hosts Red Land Wednesday.
Indians win in four
MIFFLINTOWN — Juniata took care of business against Steelton-Highspire with a 3-1 volleyball victory Monday.
Lexi Frontz had six kills and five aces. Cheyenne Nealman collected 14 aces.
Juniata travels to St. Joseph’s today.
Juniata 3, Steelton-Highspire 1
Scores: 25-3, 25-19, 20-25, 25-11
Tigers fall to Mustangs
COCOLAMUS — East Juniata hung around the best it could be just could not get over the hump against West Perry 3-0 in volleyball action Monday.
Kendahl Stroup had 11 digs for the Tigers while Danika Lucas collected four blocks and had two kills.
East Juniata hosts Sugar Valley today.
West Perry 3, East Juniata 0
Scores: 25-13, 25-22, 25-18
Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox
Metaverse Dating: Can You Find Love Based On What NFTs You Hold? BeInCrypto
Metaverse Dating: Can You Find Love Based On What NFTs You Hold? – BeInCrypto https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/metaverse-dating-can-you-find-love-based-on-what-nfts-you-hold-beincrypto/
Metaverse dating is here. But, are you ready for it? Well, that doesn’t matter because it is ready for you.
Looking for love on dating apps can be like sifting through a bin. But what if there are other ways to find love online? And what if those ways involved all the stuff you awesome nerds love… like the metaverse, NFTs and crypto?
It seems that the day has arrived where we can be matched according to our metaverse interests. There are a few ideas here, all in their absolute infancy. But they are compelling. So if you are single, and definitely not loving it, then read on.
A new app called metaMATCH will launch any day now. It is the creation of media personality Emily Lyons.
She says she started metaMATCH because online dating lacks humanity. “To date, the online experience has provided many shortcuts but primarily connects individuals based upon superficialities. We have become so obsessed with our online personas and the idea of perfection, that many individuals lose sight of who they really are and the type of person with whom they can establish a meaningful relationship.”
metaMATCH will unfold in functionality over the coming months. At first, it will match people based on what NFT communities they are in, and what NFTs they own. The app can identify commonalities based on shared psychographics, and match based on that person’s unique online behavior.
Says Lyons, “So many dating apps are based on the premise of ‘swipe left, swipe right,’ but we believe that people are more than just a photo. From ‘in your brain’ to ‘on-chain,’ we want to help people connect on a deeper level and create meaningful relationships.”
The app is also a hybrid matchmaker. That is, users can book a coaching session with dating experts and get advice on how to have a good conversation, what to wear on a date, and how to stop being so anxious. So if you are an anxious NFT nerd, put that app on your phone ASAP.
Dating DAOs
Yes, there are now dating DAOs. If you don’t know what a DAO is, then read up here first.
A dating DAO is a dating app like Tinder or Bumble, but on the blockchain. Each DAO has rules and guidelines that are agreed upon by the DAO community and put into a smart contract.
So why are these rising as an alternative to existing Web2 dating apps? Because people are falling out of love with swiping.
The early days of Web2 dating apps seemed to be exciting for user. However, now, it has been widely reported that such apps make people miserable, and aren’t leading to connections like they used to. Dating app fatigue has definitely set in. So something new is definitely needed to fill the gap.
Dating DAO members can vote on the way the DAO operates. They can decide how people are matched with each other. If that process is a hot mess, they can vote again to improve the process.
An example is Metacubes. Members can Date-to-Earn on Web3.
Metacubes say that Date-toEarn on Web3 sets them apart from traditional face-swiping dating apps. “With our platform, users can utilize NFT avatars to venture through different cities to socialize, form relationships, and enable chats.”
To join, users must attain membership via NFTs. The initial mint price is 300 USDT (around $300).
Premium memberships are linked to NFT rarity levels. With these, enthusiasts can unlock enhanced functionalities such as extended match limits.
In an interesting twist, users can earn cryptocurrency while they mingle. Rewards are based on platform usage, and chats opened, and relationships formed.
The idea seems to be a good one. They have nearly 15,000 followers on their Twitter account.
Early days
Dating DAO success isn’t necessarily a given though. Many DAOs specializing in dating in the early days (circa 2018) seem to have died or have folded through lack of people joining up. However, perhaps they were before their time. Now seems to be a good time to date-to-earn. Singles, go fall on the sword for us and try it out! And report back!
Metaverse Dating: Catfish-Proof
A new product coming soon to dating is TruYou.io. The founders say that TruYou is a portal for love in the metaverse. They offer tokenized matching with other members, verification so that catfish can’t get you and your crypto, and in-app staking, among other things.
They say we are at the precipice of a blockchain-governed era. “Industries have steadily taken the leap into adopting new-age technologies, with many allocating massive resources into developing and adapting their businesses to keep pace with the evolving standards of practice. One market lagging behind the curve in this aspect is the online dating industry.”
While Web2 dating apps have their problems, they say that Web3 dating can solve a lot of these. “Dating industry applications and websites lack key aspects that blockchain can provide: trustless verification, immutability, decentralization, and smart contract validation.”
Anyone who has used Web2 dating apps knows that they are full of love scammers and people looking to be paid for sex. So perhaps Web3 dating could prove to be a solution?
It’s early days in metaverse dating, however, the first baby that is born out of this better have a cool name like X Æ A-12.
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Best Air Purifiers For Home To Ensure Your Space Is Free Of Pollutants Times Of India
Best Air Purifiers For Home To Ensure Your Space Is Free Of Pollutants – Times Of India https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/best-air-purifiers-for-home-to-ensure-your-space-is-free-of-pollutants-times-of-india/
Crypto Exchange FTX To Acquire Bankrupt Voyagers Assets Reuters
Crypto Exchange FTX To Acquire Bankrupt Voyager’s Assets – Reuters https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/crypto-exchange-ftx-to-acquire-bankrupt-voyagers-assets-reuters/
Representations of cryptocurrencies and Voyager Digital logo are seen in this illustration taken, July 7, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustrations
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Sept 26 (Reuters) – Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital said on Monday crypto exchange FTX has won an auction for its assets, in a bid valued at about $1.42 billion.
FTX’s bid comprises of a fair market value of all Voyager cryptocurrency, at a to-be-determined date, which is estimated to be $1.31 billion at current market prices and an additional consideration estimated as providing about $111 million of incremental value, Voyager said in a statement.
The company added that its claims against hedge fund Three Arrows Capital will remain with the bankruptcy estate, which will distribute any available recovery on such claims to the estate’s creditors.
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Voyager issued a notice of default to the Singapore-based hedge fund in June, for its failure to make required payments on a loan of 15,250 bitcoin. read more
Earlier this year, Voyager spurned a bailout proposal from FTX, founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, as a “low-ball bid dressed up as a white knight rescue” and alleged the plan would disrupt its bankruptcy process. read more
Crypto lenders including Voyager boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, luring depositors with high interest rates and easy access to loans rarely offered by traditional banks. However, the slump in crypto markets has hurt crypto companies and investors.
In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in July, Voyager estimated that it had more than 100,000 creditors and between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets, as well as liabilities of the same value. read more
Last week, Voyager said its Chief Financial Officer Ashwin Prithipaul was preparing to step down from his role within months of his appointment at the crypto lender. read more
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Reporting by Juby Babu and Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
U.S. Whistleblowers Aiding Migrant Children Feared Retaliation -Watchdog Reuters
U.S. Whistleblowers Aiding Migrant Children Feared Retaliation -Watchdog – Reuters https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/u-s-whistleblowers-aiding-migrant-children-feared-retaliation-watchdog-reuters/
Activists defending the rights of migrants hold a protest near Fort Bliss to call for the end of the detention of unaccompanied minors at the facility in El Paso, Texas, U.S, June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
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WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) – U.S. government workers feared retaliation for raising concerns last year about the treatment of unaccompanied migrant children on a Texas military base, where children have been held amid record arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a watchdog report released on Tuesday.
Two U.S. government employees said they experienced retaliation after they sounded alarms about the conditions at Fort Bliss, which has been used for emergency housing since March 2021, according to the report issued by the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general’s office.
The alleged acts of retaliation, which included demotion and removal from assignments, may have caused a broader “whistleblower chilling,” the inspector general’s office said, “effectively scaring staff into withholding any complaints or reports of wrongdoing.”
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The whistleblowers cited in Tuesday’s report included a staff member working with HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) leadership. ORR oversees the care and custody of unaccompanied minors.
The staffer, who was not named, was allegedly demoted and transferred after raising concerns about the treatment of children at the base and the removal of certain safety checks in the program to release children to sponsors.
An HHS official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters the agency would not retaliate against someone for raising a child welfare concern.
The HHS official said the agency faced challenges during an emergency situation in the spring of 2021, but that conditions at Fort Bliss now are “night and day” compared to then. There are currently 589 children at the base, the official said, and children stay, on average, for 13 days before being released to parents or other sponsors.
ORR’s parent agency agreed with all the report’s recommendations, including ensuring that employees and contractors are aware of whistleblower protections.
In a letter to the inspector general, the agency pledged to more explicitly specify the protections in contractor agreements and trainings.
Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics
The number of children caught crossing the border with Mexico rose steeply in 2021, posing operational and humanitarian challenges for U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat. To alleviate overcrowding in border stations, HHS opened several emergency shelters to house unaccompanied children until they could be placed with sponsors in the United States.
Migrant children sent to the emergency shelters, including Fort Bliss, described crowded living conditions, spoiled food, lack of clean clothes and struggles with depression, according to child testimonials filed in court in June 2021. read more
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Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Aurora Ellis
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China Science Technology News Summary Sept. 27 China.org.cn
China Science, Technology News Summary — Sept. 27 – China.org.cn https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/china-science-technology-news-summary-sept-27-china-org-cn/
BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news in China.
REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE
China sent a new remote sensing satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday.
The satellite, Yaogan-36, was launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 9:38 p.m. (Beijing Time) and has entered the planned orbit successfully.
NEW DISCOVERY BY LAMOST
Chinese astronomers have detected a non-accreting and non-beaming neutron star using the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), a leading optical telescope in China, according to a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The discovery has promoted the detection of dense celestial bodies such as neutron stars and black holes, which are difficult to detect. It will likely boost further study on the formation and evolution of stars and the physical properties and formation theory of neutron stars and black holes.
DIGITAL MASK
Chinese researchers have developed a digital mask to make anonymity when seeing a doctor come true and save patients’ facial privacy, according to a research article recently published in the journal, Nature Medicine.
The face can present a variety of physiological or pathological features of the human body. Thus, facial information is important for clinical diagnosis and the treatment of diseases, including ophthalmology, cardiovascular, and nervous systems. Enditem
India’s Online Gaming Quandary – Moneycontrol https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/indias-online-gaming-quandary-moneycontrol/
The online gaming ecosystem, despite having huge economic and employment potential, is being targeted by state governments and the tax authorities. A national gaming commission to lay down transparent rules and supervise the industry is badly needed
September 27, 2022 / 09:02 AM IST
Representative image.
Highlights Starting Wednesday, Google will launch a limited-time pilot for fantasy sports and rummy apps But the lack of clarity and regulatory oversight on what constitutes games of skill is a problem Several states have tried to ban online gaming Online gaming is growing by leaps and bounds and holds significant economic and employment potential A gaming commission is the need of the hour Come September 28 and India’s thriving online gaming community will be turning its gaze on Google’s Play Store. For years, its parent…
PRO Panorama
Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | The case for a 50-bps rate hike
Sep 26, 2022 / 03:13 PM IST
In today’s edition of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: RBI’s liquidity problem, Telecom draft bill needs rectification, plummeting Hang Seng raises China’s concerns, India’s road sector in quandary, and more
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County Republican Party Holds A meet The Candidates Event The Reflector
County Republican Party Holds A ‘meet The Candidates’ Event – The Reflector https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/county-republican-party-holds-a-meet-the-candidates-event-the-reflector/
The Reflector
Republican or Republican-supported candidates for local and state offices showed up in Hockinson earlier this month during a “meet the candidates” barbecue and picnic put on by the local GOP.
On Sept. 17, numerous candidates for positions ranging from Clark County Council, the Washington State Legislature and other offices on the November ballot in Clark County took part in the event on a property off of Ward Road. The event brought in more than 150 attendees and raised thousands of dollars for the candidates ahead of the midterm general election, a release from the Clark County Republican Party stated.
The candidate seeking the highest office at the event was Tiffany Smiley, the challenger to Democrat Patty Murray for her U.S. Senate seat.
Serving as keynote speaker, Smiley spoke at length about retiring Murray, the release stated. She said Murray was a key politician supporting President Joe Biden’s agenda “and steering our thriving economy into high inflation and restrictions,” the release stated.
Clark County sheriff’s candidate Rey Reynolds spoke about recent increases in crime, the release stated, while Clark County auditor’s candidate Brett Simpson argued for greater scrutiny of local election practices, the release stated.
Several candidates for state Legislature seats spoke, including Greg Cheney, who is seeking to replace fellow Republican Larry Hoff for the 18th Legislative District Position 2 seat. Hoff declined to run for a third term this year.
Cheney and other statehouse hopefuls pledged to reverse “extremely radical” laws passed in the last two years dealing with education, elections, taxes and police reform, the release stated.
Don Benton, who is running for the nonpartisan Clark County Council District 5 seat, also took part in the event.
Local Republican volunteer Cecil Anderson said the event was about “getting back to basics.”
“Politicians in Washington have made a habit of hiding from voters behind masks and Zoom calls,” Anderson said. “Saturday, we saw the power of face-to-face politics and the need for accountability. Voters desire a change and events like this barbecue are so rare these days.”
China Gets Ready For Travel During The National Day Holiday China Daily
China Gets Ready For Travel During The National Day Holiday – China Daily https://bentoncountynewsnow.com/china-gets-ready-for-travel-during-the-national-day-holiday-china-daily/
Tourists ride on camels during Mid-Autumn Festival holiday at Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang, Northwest China’s Gansu province, Sept 10, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
People’s enthusiasm for travelling is rising in China for the upcoming week-long National Day holiday.
Air ticket prices and booking volume are seeing an obvious increase during the week-long period compared with this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the Chinanews.com reported Tuesday.
By Sept 16, the average price of the booked air ticket during the National Day holiday surpassed 700 yuan ($97.93), increasing nearly 40 percent compared with the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, said the online travel agency TravelGo.
Air tickets for some routes are in short supply during the upcoming holiday, with the price of economy class on some routes surging to full price, said another online travel platform Qunar.
The discounts for air tickets have been greatly reduced from Sept 28 to 30 on some popular travel routes, such as Beijing-Dunhuang, Shanghai-Lijiang, Guangzhou-Jiuzhaigou and Tianjin-Jieyang.
The top 10 most popular destinations by flight during the upcoming National Day holiday are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xi’an, Chongqing, Changsha and Qingdao, according to the online tour platform Ctrip.
With the relaxation of entry and quarantine policies in some countries and regions, the search and order volumes of air tickets on international routes have significantly increased.
Data from the TravelGo showed that the average price of the international flights jumps 18 percent year-on-year during the week-long holiday.
By Sept 25, Japan became the hottest flight destination from China, with the number of booked flight orders for that route surging 67 percent week-on-week during the holiday. Moreover, the air price of the route increased 32 percent.
Popular overseas flight destinations also include the UK, South Korea, Singapore and Russia.
The short-distance trip, such as local and surrounding tours, remains mainstream during the holiday due to some uncertainties brought by the pandemic, with domestic scenic spots, hotels and minsu (a Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishment) expected to usher in a large number of visitors, TravelGo said.
TravelGo predicted that parent-child travel, rural travel, as well as leisure outdoor and self-driving travel will become the most popular tourism “themes” during the National Day holiday. People’s attention to high-star hotels with various leisure and vacation themes increased by 130 percent after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
In addition, young tourists prefer in-depth urban tours and various light outdoor games. According to the TravelGo, the search volume for various light outdoor travels has increased by over 150 percent month-on-month since September. Light outdoor sports including citywalks, frisbee, flag football, paddle board, cycling and kayaking have become popular experiences among young tourists.
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