Biden Says U.S. Will Never Recognize Russian Claims On Ukraine Reuters.com
Biden Says U.S. Will Never Recognize Russian Claims On Ukraine – Reuters.com https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/biden-says-u-s-will-never-recognize-russian-claims-on-ukraine-reuters-com/
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden pledged on Thursday the United States will never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine’s sovereign territory as the United States prepared new sanctions to impose once Moscow annexes new areas of Ukraine.
Speaking to Pacific island leaders, Biden denounced referendums that pro-Russian forces conducted in areas of Ukraine as an “absolute sham,” saying the results were “manufactured in Moscow.”
The United States is working with allies on sanctions to impose once Russia annexes new areas of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin will begin annexing four Ukrainian regions to Russia on Friday, and the U.S. response is expected to follow quickly.
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U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Americans with Disabilities Act and “Disability Pride Month,” in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
“The United States, I want to be very clear about this, United States will never, never, never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory,” Biden said.
The sanctions are expected to target “individuals and entities inside and outside Russia that provide support to this action,” the White House said on Wednesday.
“Russia’s assault on Ukraine in pursuit of imperial ambitions is a flagrant, flagrant violation of the UN Charter, and the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Biden.
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Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Steve Holland and Nandita Bose; Editing by Leslie Adler and Toby Chopra
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
News | Celonas 5G LAN Products And Technology Powers Las Vegas | Pipeline Publishing Pipeline Magazine
News | Celona’s 5G LAN Products And Technology Powers Las Vegas | Pipeline Publishing – Pipeline Magazine https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/news-celonas-5g-lan-products-and-technology-powers-las-vegas-pipeline-publishing-pipeline-magazine/
Celona’s 5G LAN Products and Technology Powers Las Vegas
NTT works with the City of Las Vegas to create a new private wireless infrastructure to serve as an open platform for businesses, healthcare, government, and educational institutions
Celona, the industry’s innovator of 5G LAN solutions, announced that its 5G LAN products and technology will be used as the foundation for NTT’s multi-phase Private 5G (P5G) planned expansion project for the City of Las Vegas.
One of the first city-wide private wireless deployments globally, the multiphase plan targets the use of new Citizens Broadband Radio Spectrum (CBRS) to expand the private network across the entire city and potentially into neighboring cities in the future, enabling improved services in other areas including law enforcement, telehealth, and Internet of things infrastructure.
The NTT P5G network-as-a-service platform will allow the City of Las Vegas to harness the power of private cellular technology to link together educational institutions, businesses, and community assets in a manner not previously possible. The Celona-powered NTT P5G platform will help the City of Las Vegas better support local businesses, give visitors and residents access to more services and open new potential revenue streams.
Celona access points operate in shared cellular spectrum that will allow the city to provide coverage with a fraction of the number of Wi-Fi access points which also reduces associated labor and network infrastructure costs.
Combined with full stack Celona Edge software, NTT’s P5G service will serve as an open platform available to local businesses, government, healthcare, and educational institutions. The network will help to bridge the digital divide, supporting a wide range of use cases such as expanding wireless broadband access, video surveillance for public safety and private cellular network access for medical facilities and city departments.
“Our collaboration with Celona on this project can’t be overstated,” said Shahid Ahmed, Group EVP of New Ventures and Innovation at NTT Ltd. “And we believe NTT’s partnership with the City of Las Vegas reflects a new model for wireless connectivity that will drive innovation while creating a scalable framework for municipalities to better offer reliable wireless connectivity, enhanced security, and greater access to critical public services,” Shahid concluded.
With its open and intelligent network, NTT can customize network services to fit varying requirements for new applications, whether involving full stack, edge, or smart solutions. NTT’s LTE/5G network-as-a-service integrates security, control, and privacy by design and allows enterprises and other customers to flexibly secure, scale, and segment their networks.
Through the use of Celona’s patented MicroSlicing technology, NTT is uniquely able offer the highest levels of service assurance by automatically enforcing granular quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as packet loss, throughput, or latency, for each application or device group from the RAN across the entire network.
“The City of Las Vegas has aggressively embraced advances in wireless technology and is quickly becoming viewed as a technology epicenter for business,” said Rajeev Shah, Co-Founder and CEO of Celona. “We are thrilled that Celona products and technology are being used by NTT to underpin this remarkable private wireless project.”
Source: Celona media announcement
New Report Finds Gen Z Loves Tech Gaming Snacks And Shein Morning Brew
New Report Finds Gen Z Loves Tech, Gaming, Snacks, And Shein – Morning Brew https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/new-report-finds-gen-z-loves-tech-gaming-snacks-and-shein-morning-brew/
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Kids these days are still obsessed with YouTube, even if they aren’t exclusively using it to binge 10 hours of Smosh videos. The video platform is Gen Z’s No. 1 brand, according to a new report from Morning Consult.
Back in our day, we had to Ask Jeeves uphill both ways. After YouTube, Gen Z favored tech behemoths Google, Netflix, and Amazon. And growing young adults need snacks for all that google searching: Half of the top 40 most popular Gen Z brands were food and beverage companies, more specifically junk food. M&Ms ranked the highest at No. 5, followed by Doritos (8), KitKat (9), Oreo (10), and the only appropriate drink to wash it all down at No. 11: Gatorade.
Some other highlights that might help you connect with your coworker who keeps calling you “mid”:
A brand’s favorability score was determined by asking participants if they had either a “somewhat” or “very” favorable opinion on each brand. No shock here, but Gen Z’s average favorability rating over all brands was 27%, lower than 33% of all participants and 36% of millennials.
And more Gen Zers saw fast fashion giant Shein favorably (44%) compared to all adults in the survey (22%).—MM
Marty Bs Event Center Approved The Cross Timbers Gazette
Marty B’s Event Center Approved – The Cross Timbers Gazette https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/marty-bs-event-center-approved-the-cross-timbers-gazette/
Last week, the Bartonville Town Council approved a Conditional Use Permit and Site Plan for Marty B’s Event Center.
Marty Bryan, owner of the Marty B’s restaurant and Coffee Company in Bartonville, said he’s excited “to add value to the community” with the new event center, which will host weddings, galas, banquets, conferences and any other special events.
“I think it’s going to be a really great addition to the community,” Bryan said.
The event center will be just under 10,000 square feet with a capacity just under 300 people. Bryan hopes construction will begin in early 2023 and be completed by the end of the year. An in-house team will handle booking and staffing events. Bryan said he has “no intentions of having outdoor music” at the event center, and landscaping will be intentional to reduce noise escaping the property. The building will be designed similarly to the restaurant and coffee shop and will be located on the other side of I.T. Neely from the restaurant.
“That land sat there for four years with a ‘For Sale’ sign, and I guess nobody wanted it except for me,” Bryan said. “I wanted to take it and make it look amazing, have it fit right in to the rural and modern ranch feel of Bartonville, and to beautify the land and make it look really nice.
“Of all the things I could build there, an event center would probably have the least impact on the community and traffic.”
Mark Smith
Mark Smith is the Digital Editor of The Cross Timbers Gazette.
When Will Disney Universal SeaWorld Reopen After Hurricane Ian? USA TODAY
When Will Disney, Universal, SeaWorld Reopen After Hurricane Ian? – USA TODAY https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/when-will-disney-universal-seaworld-reopen-after-hurricane-ian-usa-today/
Florida’s theme parks announce reopening dates, assessing damage
After Hurricane Ian left “historic” damage in Florida, the state’s biggest theme parks are planning for their reopenings.
What to know about flying through Florida amid Tropical Storm Ian
Why Kaena Point on Oahu could be Hawaii’s first national heritage area
How national parks can make nature more accessible to every body
National Parks
The future of traveling to Hawaii: Book a time slot to visit the beach
Travel
Leaf peeping routes: Here are the best Amtrak trails to take
Experience
Florida’s theme parks announce reopening dates, assessing damage
Theme Parks
A PBN Departure And An Opportunity For Hawaii Nonprofits Pacific Business News The Business Journals
A PBN Departure And An Opportunity For Hawaii Nonprofits – Pacific Business News – The Business Journals https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/a-pbn-departure-and-an-opportunity-for-hawaii-nonprofits-pacific-business-news-the-business-journals/
A PBN departure and an opportunity for Hawaii nonprofits – Pacific Business News The Business Journals
THORNE AND TEAM LIQUID ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP BRINGING INNOVATIVE HEALTH AND WELLNESS SOLUTIONS TO THE ESPORTS COMMUNITY PR Newswire
THORNE AND TEAM LIQUID ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP BRINGING INNOVATIVE HEALTH AND WELLNESS SOLUTIONS TO THE ESPORTS COMMUNITY – PR Newswire https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/thorne-and-team-liquid-announce-partnership-bringing-innovative-health-and-wellness-solutions-to-the-esports-community-pr-newswire/
Multi-year collaboration to introduce top athletes and casual gamers alike to science-driven products that support enhanced performance and a healthy lifestyle
, /PRNewswire/ — Thorne HealthTech (“Thorne”) (NASDAQ: THRN), the leader in developing innovative solutions for a personalized approach to health and wellness and Team Liquid, a leading worldwide professional esports organization, today announced that Thorne is now the official Health and Wellness Partner of Team Liquid.
Thorne will offer pathways for personalized health and wellness through quizzes, health tests, and nutritional supplements to support the Team Liquid community – from the professional athlete to the casual gamer – in optimizing peak performance, endurance, and recovery. Thorne’s suite of science-backed products and solutions for nutritional support, restful sleep, and mental focus align and support the esports community’s health and wellness standards.
“Knowing how passionate and connected the Team Liquid community is, we want to ensure they feel empowered and educated about their individual and overall community health and wellness journeys,” said Paul Jacobson, CEO of Thorne HealthTech. “For esports athletes at the highest level to the everyday gamer, we know each journey is personal. We look forward to Team Liquid and the incredible community behind it experiencing first-hand what our high-quality, science-backed products can do.”
“For Team Liquid, this partnership represents the next step in our 360, holistic approach to athlete training, as well as promoting healthy best practices for our extended Liquid community and fans,” said Steve Arhancet, CO-CEO of Team Liquid. “In the past, the physical demands put on the bodies of esports athletes were often overlooked by the industry, but working with Thorne will empower our organization to address how to best educate and fuel our athletes in a way that helps them reach maximum potential.”
Earlier in the year, Team Liquid launched a groundbreaking global training program that quantifies, analyzes, and assesses the cognitive capabilities of esports athletes competing at the highest level to determine the innate ability of the athlete and extended mental potential. This type of cognitive testing underpins the direct link between success in gaming and high-performing cognitive abilities like attention, memory, information processing, and task-switching.
The partnership with Thorne empowers Team Liquid to continue addressing their macro goal of transforming the professional training experience and establishing new industry-wide health and wellness practices and standards. Both parties have begun to discuss a co-authored case study that would feature select Thorne products and solutions put in active practice across a set of Team Liquid athletes. Team Liquid Director of Performance, Chang-Hyun Ko, and Thorne’s Director of Sports Science, Joel Totoro, have been asked to lead the planning of such a study.
Thorne will also elevate notable Team Liquid influencers – AverageJonas, Tiffae, Alixxa, and Acie – as brand ambassadors, with each one having their own unique health and wellness journey that Thorne is excited to support. As ambassadors, they will showcase first-hand experiences with Thorne products and expertise through special events, sponsored streams, and other curated content.
To learn more about the partnership, Thorne’s product suite, and to take one of Thorne’s personalized quizzes please visit tl.gg/thorne.
About Thorne HealthTech
Thorne HealthTech is a leader in developing innovative solutions for delivering personalized approaches to health and wellness. As a science-driven wellness company that empowers individuals with the support, education, and solutions they need to achieve healthy aging – living healthier longer – Thorne utilizes testing and data to create improved product efficacy and to deliver personalized solutions to consumers, health professionals, and corporations. Predicated on the power of the individual, Thorne leverages artificial intelligence models to provide insights and personalized data, products, and services that help individuals take a proactive and actionable approach to improve and maintain their health and wellness over a lifetime. Thorne is the only supplement manufacturer that collaborates with Mayo Clinic on wellness research and content and is trusted by more than five million customers, 46,000 health-care professionals, thousands of professional athletes, and more than 100 professional sports teams and U.S. National teams. For more information, visit Thorne.com.
About Team Liquid
Team Liquid was founded in 2000 in the Netherlands and has evolved into one of the leading international multigame esports teams with training centers in Utrecht, São Paulo, Brazil and Los Angeles, California. Team Liquid has over 120 athletes competing across 19 distinct games, including all major esports titles, such as VALORANT, Rocket League, DOTA 2, League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, Rainbow 6: Siege, and more. Led by Co-CEOs Steve Arhancet and Victor Goossens, Team Liquid is one of the most successful esports teams in the Western market in terms of competitive achievement and fan engagement across multiple sports. For more information, click HERE.
In addition to the premier esports team franchise, Liquid Enterprises operates various business units created to complement its esports athletic brand. This includes influencer management agency Liquid Media, esports wikipedia Liquipedia, and 1UP Studios, the full service production company known for its high-quality esports documentary style filmmaking, and creative commercial content.
In September 2016, controlling interest in Team Liquid was purchased by esports ownership group, aXiomatic. aXiomatic leadership includes Co-Executive Chairmen Peter Guber, Ted Leonsis, Jeff Vinik and Bruce Karsh who together represent an unparalleled team of sports, technology, entertainment and investment industry titans.
SOURCE Thorne HealthTech, Inc.
Thruway Traffic Slowed After Pedestrian Reportedly Struck | News Sports Jobs Evening Observer
Thruway Traffic Slowed After Pedestrian Reportedly Struck | News, Sports, Jobs – Evening Observer https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/thruway-traffic-slowed-after-pedestrian-reportedly-struck-news-sports-jobs-evening-observer/
SILVER CREEK — A person was reportedly struck by a semi truck on Interstate 90 Thursday.
One lane of westbound traffic was closed near Silver Creek due to the incident, which was reported around 3:30 p.m. and occurred between Allegany and Hanover roads on I-90 in the town of Hanover.
A medical helicopter was requested to the scene.
It’s not known how or why a person was on the Thruway at the time. A fire official told county dispatch that the victim had been struck by a semi.
Photographs posted to social media showed a line of vehicles, including several large trucks, at the Silver Creek exit.
No further information regarding the incident was available by press time Thursday.
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Tim Hortons National Coffee Day Metaverse – Adweek https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/tim-hortons-national-coffee-day-metaverse-adweek/
Tim Hortons is the latest fast food company to enter the metaverse with an obstacle course game in the world of Roblox to celebrate National Coffee Day.
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Amazons ambient Intelligence Spin Sounds A Lot Like Corporate Surveillance Mashable
Amazon’s ‘ambient Intelligence’ Spin Sounds A Lot Like Corporate Surveillance – Mashable https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/amazons-ambient-intelligence-spin-sounds-a-lot-like-corporate-surveillance-mashable/
Amazon’s always listening. Credit: Image: Mashable composite; Amazon, Shutterstock / TWStock, Xaki646
Back in my day, you turned devices off when you didn’t need to use them. But in the age of Amazon, your “smart” home and its ecosystem of gadgets will ideally always be turned on. That vision even has a cool-sounding name: ambient intelligence. It’s A.I. with a new spin and the promise of a (corporate) bear hug.
While I’m not anywhere near old enough to have truly earned my rose-tinted, geezer mindset, I am wrinkled just enough to remember a time before every device was connected to the internet; before the internet of things. So when I look at the direction Amazon is taking its ever-expanding hardware business and the welcoming, futuristic-sounding spin it’s using to sell this to consumers, well, I just can’t kick this dire feeling in my gut.
At a device announcement event on Wednesday, Amazon laid out its vision for “ambient intelligence” (an obvious play on artificial intelligence), a term the company has used since at least 2021. Here’s what Amazon meant by that at the time.
“In the ambient-intelligence vision, an AI service such as Alexa makes sense of the state of your environment, including devices, sensors, objects, people, and activity around you, to help you in every situation where you need assistance — either reactively (customer initiated) or proactively (AI initiated).”
Amazon cut through all that tech jargon at its event with a bunch of practical examples of how ambient intelligence will play out. It added a new bedside sleep tracker called Halo Rise (which is kind of a Google Nest ripoff) and an always-on TV to a long list of devices in the company’s roster of things you’re supposed to plug in, turn on, and… stop thinking about. While no one would deny the usefulness of products like a Ring video doorbell or an Echo smart speaker, Amazon’s marketing speak for “ambient intelligence” sounds a whole lot like giving away the entire infrastructure of your life to one megacorporation with a long history of privacy issues.
Inviting Bezos into every room
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)
Of course, Amazon didn’t just start mobilizing its ambient intelligence operation overnight. This has been years in the making, arguably ever since the Alexa virtual assistant came into being in 2014. Since then, Amazon has been working towards making sure you can’t walk into any room in your home without engaging with one of its products, like Echo smart speakers, smart locks for doors, and even thermostats.
It’s a virtual finger in every household pie.
In the ideal Amazon-run home, this pervasive tech-web would exist moments before you even step inside. Let’s take a tour:
First, wave hello to the Ring video doorbell as we approach the front door. (Hi, Jeff!) You don’t have to worry about protecting your home from potential threats anymore — Amazon will keep an eye out. Sure, you might get sent a motion-tracker notification, but you can just swipe that away like you swipe away most Ring notifications because it usually means there’s a squirrel outside. (But, hey, maybe one time it will actually detect something bad and Amazon can give the footage away to cops without your permission. Convenience!)
It’s tracking every squirrel and bird out there. Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Now, wipe your shoes on the mat and follow me into the living room where have a 75-inch Amazon Omni TV that never. turns. off. Say bye-bye to the boring black screens that have signified that a TV is not in use for decades — this TV will show you widgets, photos, and other… things! This is all very helpful, of course, because it will draw your attention to the fact that a giant screen is in the room. Okay, maybe you don’t intend on using it now, but that’s not the point. There’s a chance that simply looking at it might seed the thought of watching something into your brain. Something on Prime Video, perhaps? I hear The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is good.
Next, follow me as we go down to the lovely basement in our Casa de Alexa. Feeling too cold in the ol’ man-cave? Just give Alexa a shout and she’ll adjust the temperature using the connected thermostat. WiFi struggling to cover everything downstairs? Simply expand it with an Eero router network, silly, which (you guessed it) is owned by Amazon. Heck, if you need to heat up some Pizza Rolls, Alexa can take care of that with this microwave.
Sounds convenient, huh? Now, are you ready to sign (over your privacy) on the dotted line?
I think you’re starting to get the picture.
The idea here is for every room to have some kind of ambient Amazon device whirring in the background — whether it’s a doorbell on the porch, a TV in the living room, or a weird contactless sleep tracker on your bedside table. Of course, you’ll also have Echo speakers strewn throughout the place, which you can use to ask Alexa to play music, or tell you the weather, or simply to turn the lights on or off. (I actually had an old roommate who would shout at Alexa to turn the lights off while he stood next to the light switch.)
The only room that’s safe from Amazon — for now — is the bathroom. Who knows, though? Maybe Amazon will release an Alexa-powered toilet or bidet. The company recently spent $3.9 billion on the primary care provider One Medical, so it’s possible Amazon can quietly measure your gut health, too.
Alexa, live my life for me?
Do you trust Astro? Credit: Amazon
The point to all of Amazon’s ambient intelligence machinations is, above all else, to make you buy products. That’s not surprising or even sinister in and of itself, but innocently buying a smart speaker so you can request songs hands-free could lead down a road of buying a Ring camera, then a Halo Rise sleep tracker, then an always-on TV, and so on.
Eventually, Alexa ends up owning your home — not you.
And if that’s how some people want to live, then more power to them. But for me, having this intricate spider web of one company’s devices constantly monitoring my every move sounds more suffocating than liberating. Heck, the Amazon Astro robot can move with you. Don’t worry, though, it’s just ambient intelligence that’s powering the cute little surveillance robot as it learns the ins and outs of your home. Attach a marketing term to it and suddenly it’s less unnerving.
It all feels like a way to make people self-enforce and shrug off corporate surveillance with a smile. Sure, there’s a history of Amazon employees listening in on Alexa conversations and even tracking location data, but at least Alexa can give you the score of the Thursday Night Football game, which also happens to be broadcast exclusively by Amazon.
I wasn’t joking when I said Amazon has a finger in every single pie.
What’s worse is that Amazon knows its notorious reputation when it comes to privacy and now has to briefly acknowledge when a product doesn’t have a camera or microphone, like it did during the Halo Rise announcement. Maybe the data these devices pull is encrypted very well, but ultimately, a device that’s always monitoring you is a device that’s always compromising you in some way.
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)
It’s just marketing
I don’t want to be a doomer about this stuff (and I only have so much room to talk as a Prime subscriber myself), but I’m just worried about a world where we can’t escape Amazon.
I don’t want an Amazon-branded doohickey to tell me how I’m sleeping because chances are I already have a pretty good idea of that. (Pretty well, lately.) I don’t want a TV that’s always on because sometimes it’s nice to turn the TV off and be alone with my thoughts for a while. And I really, really don’t want a creepy little robot following me around the house like a pet.
Maybe this is an overreaction to something you could reasonably describe as advertising spin. “Ambient intelligence” definitely sounds like it came out of a boardroom. If you make something sound like it exists in a benevolent sci-fi utopia, it’s less threatening to consumers, right? And judging by Amazon’s massive success over the years, the sales folks over there clearly know what they’re doing.
Look, I like technology because it’s fun to use. The problem here is that Amazon’s trying to make technology that uses you to harvest data — be it for advertising, police investigations, or whatever else — and polish it up so it seems squeaky clean instead of dystopian.
You do what you want with your life, but personally, I’m going to keep my home as analog as possible.
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Citadels Ken Griffin Says The Exodus Away From Crypto And NFTs Is Good For The Economy Kitco NEWS
Citadel’s Ken Griffin Says The Exodus Away From Crypto And NFTs Is Good For The Economy – Kitco NEWS https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/citadels-ken-griffin-says-the-exodus-away-from-crypto-and-nfts-is-good-for-the-economy-kitco-news/
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(Kitco News) – Ken Griffin, the founder of Miami-based trading firm Citadel Securities, pulled no punches in a recent conversion with CNBC when he suggested that people moving away from the “speculative bubble” that is crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and meme stocks is a positive sign for the U.S. economy.
The response emerged from a discussion surrounding the government handouts in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 lockdown, which resulted in investors pumping their newly found cash into these “speculative assets.”
All three of the aforementioned asset classes experienced blow-out performances at some point in 2021 as traders frantically attempted to acquire them amid rapidly appreciating prices, only to see their values plummet in 2022 amid a wider economic downturn.
Now that the bubbles have burst, Griffin sees it as a “healthy” sign for the U.S. economy, which can now start to regain some semblance of order.
“Now that we’re past that moment in time and people are starting to spend those savings down to travel, go out to eat, enjoy other items in life that they want to have, we’re seeing that speculative bubble really recede,” the billionaire said at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha Conference Wednesday.
“And this is healthy for the economy. Money misallocated in speculative assets doesn’t create jobs in the long run, doesn’t help to create the long-term prosperity that makes America the country that it is,” Griffin said.
The Citadel Securities founder also noted that younger people, including the ones that work at the firm, are more interested in crypto because they value privacy and have a more “libertarian view of the world.”
Griffin also alluded to platforms like Celsius and Terra/Luna by saying that “billions of dollars going into companies that are effectively going to go broke, tens of billions” is not good for markets.
Negative comments about the cryptocurrency sector are nothing new for Griffin, who once called the space a “jihadist call” against the U.S. dollar and said he is keeping his firm out of the digital asset space because he didn’t want to “help fund the North Koreans.”
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
The US Push For Pay Transparency – BBC https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/the-us-push-for-pay-transparency-bbc/
Zhao points out there are other potential advantages of pay transparency beyond reducing wage gaps. In hiring, for example, being open about pay eradicates information asymmetries – situations in which a prospective employee’s expectations for pay differs wildly from an employer’s. “Pay transparency can help make the job search more efficient for job seekers and employers, letting both sides skip interviews when expectations about pay are too far apart,” he says.
In the short-term, he believes, increased pay transparency might lead to higher turnover by showing employees what their skills are actually worth on the open market; it might give some workers who discover they are underpaid more confidence to quit. But in the long run, adds Zhao, a less opaque market will likely lead to less turnover and more stability because of higher retention rates, which will benefit all.
No silver bullet
For all the potential upside of pay transparency regulation, however, experts also warn that it should not be considered a panacea for making the labour market overall fairer.
For one thing, publishing pay ranges might still lead to some groups of candidates – like minorities – being offered a salary at the bottom of a stated range and other candidates – like white men – negotiating top-of-the-range pay. In the UK, where since 2017 all companies with 250 employees or more have been obliged to publish an annual gender pay gap report, some institutions have exploited loopholes to understate their wage disparities.
There’s also no conclusive evidence of a causal relationship: that all companies who accurately report their pay gaps are necessarily all more effective at making their workplaces fairer and more equitable. “For organisations, this could be a catalyst for positive change,” says Mabel Abraham, associate professor of business at Columbia Business School in New York City. But the reality, she adds, is that it will not uniformly lead to a closing of all pay gaps and an eradication of inequality. Also, the closing of a pay gap should never be considered a perfect proxy for creating a more equitable labour force.
Abraham’s ongoing research shows that one of the key predictors of whether a company will close a pay gap or not is whether leaders have actually taken the time to understand why a gap exists in the first place. “Those that do are considerably more likely to improve – or reduce – the gap,” she says.
Organise’s Draganova agrees. “[Salary transparency is] a step in the right direction, and may well go some way towards resolving long-standing issues of pay equality and equity among workers,” she says, “[but it’s] just one piece of the puzzle – on its own, it can’t guarantee a good workplace for employees or a thriving business for employers.”
Stock Market News Live Updates: Stocks Plunge As Broad Market Sell-Off Intensifies; Dow Sheds 550 Points, Nasdaq Falls 3.4% – Yahoo Canada Finance https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/stock-market-news-live-updates-stocks-plunge-as-broad-market-sell-off-intensifies-dow-sheds-550-points-nasdaq-falls-3-4-yahoo-canada-finance/
U.S. stocks cascaded Thursday — with Apple leading the way down — as renewed recession jitters permeated Wall Street and wiped gains from a fleeting relief bounce in the previous session.
The S&P 500 plummeted 2.1% to a fresh 2022 low, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased more than 450 points, or around 1.5%. The Nasdaq Composite sank 2.8%.
Technology stocks led the slide lower as heavily weighted Apple (AAPL) shares erased roughly 5% on concerns around waning demand that prompted a downgrade from Bank of America. Analysts warned in a note out Thursday that BofA’s research team “expects the demand trajectory to worsen.”
A report from Bloomberg also revealed one of Apple’s most senior executives was leaving the company after he turned up in a viral TikTok video making an off-color joke.
Apple’s declines began Wednesday following a report the tech giant is backing off plans to increase production of its new iPhones this year after demand for the product failed to meet expectations.
Elsewhere in corporate news, Meta Platforms (META) announced plans to restructure teams and reduce headcount for the first time in the company’s history, telling staff the “macroeconomy remains tough and volatile.” Shares closed down 3.7%.
CarMax (KMX) shares also tumbled nearly 25% after the vehicle buyer reported second-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates, citing “affordability challenges” that weighed on sales.
And Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) fell 4% on Thursday after the company posted a wider quarterly loss as persistent merchandising and inventory snafus and inflationary pressures hit the home goods retailer.
On the economic data front, initial jobless claims slid to 193,000, the lowest since April, in the week ended Sept. 24 from a downwardly revised 213,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists called for 215,000 claims, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Elsewhere, a third reading from the Commerce Department on gross domestic product (GDP) showed U.S. economic activity contracted at an annualized 0.6%.
The renewed risk-off mood in the market places all three major averages on pace to give up most of the gains that came after England’s central bank said Wednesday it would resume bond purchases to help stabilize financial and currency markets. Investors celebrated the shift away from aggressive policy tightening by officials in recent months. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq each rallied roughly 2%.
EY Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco said in a note that “the absence of proper policy coordination along with the speed and synchronization of rate hikes” risks an “excessive and disorderly tightening of financial conditions.”
“In the UK, the economic outlook has recently taken a turn for the worse with the release of Prime Minister Liz Truss’ budget leading to a market rout, with treasury yields surging to their highest since 2010 and the British pound plunging to its lowest level in 37 years,” Daco said.
Following the Bank of England’s intervention Wednesday – the purchase of around 65 billion pounds, or roughly $69 million, of long-dated gilts – British 30-year bond yields tumbled 100 basis points after touching a two-decade high.
A man stands outside the Bank of England in London, Britain, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
In the U.S. on Thursday, Treasury yields nudged higher after rising — and then falling — at the fastest pace in decades. On Wednesday, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note — a crucial economic benchmark — briefly hit 4%, hitting an important milestone amid the worst bond sell-off since 1949.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday that the decision by his central bank peers across the Atlantic to return to bond buying did not change his views on U.S. Federal Reserve policy or stoke fears England’s economic faults could pour over.
“I would expect growth to be below trend, we would start to see demand for a wider range of products start to soften, and we would start to see labor markets start to be more rationalized,” Bostic said, adding that if job openings fall substantially, officials may contemplate stopping and holding at that level.
—
Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
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Hurricane Ian: Aid Arrives To Help Lakeland Electric Restore Power The Ledger
Hurricane Ian: Aid Arrives To Help Lakeland Electric Restore Power – The Ledger https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/hurricane-ian-aid-arrives-to-help-lakeland-electric-restore-power-the-ledger/
LAKELAND — Mutual aid crews began arriving in Lakeland Thursday prepared to get to the work of restoring power to Lakeland Electric customers.
The municipal-owned utility initially reported roughly 63,000 customers lost power due to Hurricane Ian. That number was reduced to 51,187 outages by 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Who lost power: See Lakeland, Polk County, power outage map as Hurricane Ian impacts Florida
VIDEO: Lakeland sees damage from Hurricane Ian
Cathryn Lacy, LE spokeswoman, said the utility had started its post-Hurricane Ian damage assessment as of 11:45 a.m..
“We’re seeing a combination of things — lines are down, limbs down, whole trees down — so its a combination of problems,” she said.
Roughly 100 personnel are coming in from across the South to assist LE with restoring power.
Texas-based Lubbock Power & Light sent 15 vehicles and 18 crew members to lend a hand. The utility’s director is Joel Ivy, former manager of Lakeland Electric. Other assistance has arrived from Denton Municipal Electric in Texas, Pike Electric and others from Tennessee.
Lakeland Electric’s restoration process is to start by thoroughly checking the power plant before moving to the transmission lines.
“There we can get groups of thousands or hundreds of customers back on quickly,” she said.
After that, the utility puts a high priority on the area’s hospitals, fire departments and other places that provide critical services.
In the crosshairs: Hurricane Ian’s shifting track puts Polk County in its path, tornadoes a threat
“There is no estimation of restoration at this time,” Lacy said. “We’re hoping to have something really soon to share.”
Lakeland Electric is asking residents to continue to stay away from down power lines, which may be energized.
Lacy has also asked those using portable generators to make sure they are outdoors, away from doors and windows of a building.
A generator should not be plugged into an outlet in a home or business as it could create potentially life-threatening backfeed on the system for restoration crew, according to Lacy.
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.
Quick Chat: Jack Podlesny University Of Georgia Athletics Georgia Bulldogs
Quick Chat: Jack Podlesny – University Of Georgia Athletics – Georgia Bulldogs https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/quick-chat-jack-podlesny-university-of-georgia-athletics-georgia-bulldogs/
09/29/2022 02:11:00 PM | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Jack Podlesny is full of surprises. The Georgia kicker wasn’t all that into football until he got to college and walked on with the Bulldogs. Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn’t dream of playing in the NFL. Instead, Podlesny aspires to a much different position, being in charge of UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides aid to disadvantaged children all over the world.
His life also changed thanks to taking the wrong UGA bus, as he’ll explain below.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Podlesny, a senior from St. Simons Island, Ga., was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation’s William V.Campbell Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete. Podlesny is smart, thoughtful, conscientious, and the latest in a long line of talented Georgia kickers.
During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, he talked about growing up in a vacation destination, where he wants to be in 10 years, the challenge of taking over for the beloved Rodrigo Blankenship, his new dog, how taking the wrong bus led to him following a different path at Georgia, and much more. He also found a great hack to my question about traveling on somebody else’s dime.
Here’s some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What was it like to grow up in St. Simons?
Podlesny: I didn’t appreciate it until I left for college. I wanted to leave so badly in high school. My goal was to move out of the house my junior or senior year and live with my aunt and uncle in North Carolina so I could get in-state tuition at UNC. I had it all figured out, and I told myself, I’m going to hate it here so that it’s easy to leave.
Things never worked out, and then I started to like it even more come senior year and never wanted to leave. Funny enough, I rarely visited the beach besides walking my dogs. The water, I’m sure you’ve seen it, is brown, no waves, nothing. We actually always traveled to North Carolina (to Bald Head Island) when we went on vacation.
Frierson: Would you like to, if you can, have a place at St. Simons one day when you’re older?
Podlesny: Because it relates to this: my goal has never been to play in the NFL. I didn’t love football when I first got here — I didn’t love football until, like, the beginning of last year. So I was very late to the party. I now love it, but the NFL’s never been a dream of mine, and I think that’s helped my success.
I want to buy a house on Bald Head for my parents. I want them to settle down in a house on Bald Head — that’s my No. 1 driving factor.
Frierson: What was it like to follow Rodrigo as Georgia’s kicker? Because he wasn’t just a great kicker, he was a cult figure that got the biggest cheers every time his name was mentioned. That has to be a tough act to follow.
Podlesny: He was the guy for Georgia football. He played with Jake Fromm, and he still got the loudest cheers on Saturdays. I remember when they’d say Rodrigo Blankenship (over the PA system) and everyone would go nuts. There was a lot of pressure following in his footsteps.
Frierson: Growing up on St. Simons, did you ever go to Georgia-Florida games when you were young?
Podlesny: I sat down with Loran Smith not too long ago because he’s writing a book. … And I told him how I didn’t watch football growing up. It was soccer and baseball for me — I’m a huge baseball fan. I’d watch baseball any day of the week — big Phillies fan. My dad grew up in South Jersey, so it’s closer to Philly.
So no, I never went to a Georgia-Florida game until I played in one.
Frierson: If the Phillies are your baseball team, do you have a favorite soccer team?
Podlesny: It’s hard to stay up to date with the (English) Premier League because it’s so ongoing. Baseball’s a little bit easier because it’s homegrown. I still have yet to catch an Atlanta United game but I really want to because I’ve heard those games are the best.
Frierson: What do you do to get away from school and football?
Podlesny: So, I have a dog, and the biggest thing is just going on long walks. That is my escape away from reality. Her name is Bear and she’s a Covid puppy (that looked a great deal like a small black bear cub, hence the name). Back home, when I was in high school, we would foster for the Humane Society. Come Covid, my mom had agreed to take in three puppies.
I come home from spring break (after UGA shut down) and there are three puppies. I see Bear and I’m like, I’m going to keep that dog. I’ve had her for two years now and she’s two and a half. She’s a mix and she’s 33% pit bull, and she’s got like eight different breeds in her — pit bull, beagle, lab and a bunch more.
Frierson: What is it like growing up in a house where you’re fostering a bunch of dogs? I bet it was easy to get pretty attached to them.
Podlesny: It was. You can get very attached. It’s hard even now, when I have to come back here, to not see the puppies anymore.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Podlesny: [Laughs] Most people on this team would say NFL, right?
Frierson: Absolutely. That’s why I asked you the question, because I it seemed like you might have a much different answer.
Podlesny: I want to be the CEO of a public health company, like UNICEF or UNICEF USA. I’d love to travel and work globally, and work as something like a public health advisor for the CDC. That’s at the beginning, and then one day be the CEO.
Frierson: You’ve already got an undergrad degree in Environmental Health, so what are you studying now?
Podlesny: I was getting an Environmental Health master’s and I switched to Public Health because I wanted a more broad degree.
Frierson: Where did this call or desire to do this come from?
Podlesny: I was coming in as a (Biology) undergrad and I hopped on the wrong bus at orientation, and I went to the College of Public Health. They started talking about the Environmental Health major and I was like, this is kind of fascinating. You could do this and still go to med school, so I was like, I’ll try this out. …
That helped, and then I had the best professor ever, Dr. Luke Naeher, and he has shaped my path for me — I’d say he’s my mentor and one of my best friends now, too.
Frierson: That’s awesome. I love that your life changed by getting on the wrong bus. The only thing better would be if you’d also met the love of your life on that bus.
Podlesny: [Laughs] Right! That’s true.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on somebody else’s dime, where would you go and who would you take with you?
Podlesny: It’s definitely going to be on Jeff Bezos’ dime because he’s got all the money [laughs].
Frierson: I haven’t thought about whose dime it was. You’re the first person to come up with that. It’s a wonderful loophole since that’s pretty much an infinite amount of money.
Podlesny: I’ve always wanted to travel to Japan, and I’d probably take my mom. My mom just means a lot to me — she’s obviously shaped who I am today and I don’t go a day without calling my mom. Once I walk out of this (Butts-Mehre) facility, I’m on the phone with my mom, from when I walk to my car, all the way until I get home.
Frierson: I’m sure she appreciates that, and I’m sure it means a lot to you, too.
Podlesny: A lot of my friends are like, “I need to be better about calling my parents,” and they do it like once every week or two. And I’m like, am I weird for calling my mom every day? Maybe [laughs].
Frierson: Weird isn’t the right word, but I would guess that is unusual.
Podlesny: I see my mom as my mom, but also as my best friend. During Covid, I didn’t take it for granted at all that I got to be home. In 2012, my entire family moved in with my grandfather — he had Parkinson’s and he passed away during the middle of our season in 2020. He was one of my biggest fans and that time at home with him and my entire family during Covid was really special.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
A New Approach To Spotting Tumors: Look For Their Microbes The New York Times
A New Approach To Spotting Tumors: Look For Their Microbes – The New York Times https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/a-new-approach-to-spotting-tumors-look-for-their-microbes-the-new-york-times/
Matter
New research is revealing that cancer is rife with bacteria and fungi — a rich ecosystem that scientists call the tumor microbiome.
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A culture of Candida tropicalis, a type of yeast, isolated from adenocarcinoma-associated mucosa in the lab of Iliyan Iliev, an immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.Credit…Jennifer Conrad and Iliyan Iliev
Sept. 29, 2022Updated 1:19 p.m. ET
Look up an image of a tumor on Google, and you’ll probably end up with a brightly colored cluster of cancer cells on a drab background of healthy tissue. But for Lian Narunsky Haziza, a cancer biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, the picture looks very different. A tumor may also contain millions of microbes, representing dozens of species.
“I think this is an ecosystem,” she said. “It means the cancer cells are not alone.”
Scientists have long known that our bodies are home to microbes, but have tended to treat tumors as if they were sterile. In recent years, however, researchers have laid that notion to rest, demonstrating that tumors are rife with microbes.
In 2020, several research teams showed that tumors are home to various blends of bacteria. And on Thursday, two studies published in the journal Cell found that tumors are also home to many species of fungi.
This so-called tumor microbiome is proving so distinctive in each type of cancer that some scientists hope to find early signs of hidden tumors by measuring the microbial DNA they shed into the blood. And some research hints that microbes may make tumors more aggressive or resistant to treatments. If that proves to be the case, it may be possible to fight cancer by attacking a tumor’s microbiome along with the tumor itself.
“We need to re-evaluate almost everything we know about cancer through the lens of the tumor microbiome,” said Ravid Straussman, a cancer biologist at Weizmann who collaborated with Dr. Narunsky Haziza on one of the new studies.
Over the past two decades, scientists have charted the microbes in the human body by fishing for their DNA in mouth swabs, skin scrapings and stool. These surveys have identified thousands of species that live harmlessly in a healthy person, totaling some 38 trillion cells. Many organs once thought to be sterile turned out to have their own microbiomes.
While researchers explored the healthy microbiome, cancer remained mostly terra incognita. No one knew if the millions of cells that make up tumors provided another habitat where microbes might live.
In 2017, Dr. Straussman and his colleagues stumbled across bacteria living inside pancreatic tumors. They made the discovery while puzzling over how some tumors managed to resist a chemotherapy drug. It turned out that a species of bacteria that could block the drug was living inside them.
Image
Fungal and immune cells in human breast cancer, with the fungal cells stained in pink and the human cell nuclei in blue.Credit…Deborah Nejman and Nancy Gavert
That finding led Dr. Straussman and his colleagues to do a large-scale survey of bacteria in more than 1,000 tumors from seven kinds of cancer. In 2020, they reported finding bacteria lurking in all seven types.
Around the same time, a team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, carried out their own search using a huge database of DNA gathered from different types of cancer in the early 2000s.
The project, called the Cancer Genome Atlas, was intended to help scientists find mutations in tumor genes that make cancer cells grow uncontrollably. But the San Diego team recognized that the raw data might also contain DNA from bacteria in the tumors.
Unfortunately, that meant sifting through the six trillion genetic fragments in the atlas for snippets of bacterial DNA.
“It’s like trying to find needles in a haystack, when there are more straws of hay than there are stars in the Milky Way,” said Gregory Sepich-Poore, a member of the team.
The search took years, but it paid off. Dr. Sepich-Poore and his colleagues found that a small percentage of the DNA fragments in 32 types of cancer belonged to bacteria, not humans.
After the researchers published their study in 2020, they joined forces with Dr. Straussman’s team to see whether the tumors contained fungi as well.
Fungi are one of the great success stories in the history of evolution, with an estimated 6.2 million species. They include the mushrooms that grow in forests, the yeasts that ferment bread and beer, and the mold that brought us penicillin.
Among the hallmarks that all fungi share is the way they eat. They squirt out enzymes to break down nearby organic material and then soak it in. Fungi can also produce vast number of spores, which can survive in all sorts of extreme conditions for years.
We are constantly being exposed to fungi, whether by picking up spores on our skin or eating food on which fungi are hitchhiking. Most of them won’t take up residence in our bodies.
“A lot is just passing through,” said Iliyan Iliev, an immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
But some species have adapted to live inside us. Skin fungi break down oils we make. Others feed on the sugars in our mouths and digestive tracts. Scientists have also found other fungi in our bodies whose lives remain a mystery. “We really don’t know that much,” Dr. Iliev said.
Image
A section of a human lung tumor, in turquoise, with fungi stained in black.Credit…Lian Narunsky Haziza and Nancy Gavert
The San Diego and Weizmann researchers looked for fungi in tumors in much the same way they looked for bacteria, diving back into the galaxy of DNA fragments in the Cancer Genome Atlas. Only this time, they looked for fungal genes. And they also inspected Dr. Straussman’s collection of tumors.
All the types of tumors the scientists examined — from 35 different types of cancer — contained fungi, and each type had a distinctive combination of fungal species, as they reported in one of studies released on Thursday.
In the other new report, Dr. Iliev and his colleagues independently found fungi in tumors from seven parts of the body: mouth, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, breasts and lungs.
Deepak Saxena, a microbial ecologist at New York University who was not involved in either study, was surprised at the sheer scale of the findings. “I was not expecting this amount of fungus in cancer,” he said. “This will change the way we think about it.”
Dr. Sepich-Poore and some of his colleagues in San Diego have founded a company called Micronoma to turn their research into a blood test for cancer. By looking at the DNA shed by fungi and bacteria in a tumor, they say they can accurately predict what kind of cancer the microbes came from.
They don’t know why the test works. Geography may be part of the answer: A lung tumor will tend to attract microbes already in the lung. But some microbes manage to move to new organs to get inside tumors. It’s possible that the particular chemistry inside a tumor, such as its level of oxygen, helps determine which microbes will thrive there.
Both new studies found microbes that appeared to be associated with worse outcomes from cancer. For example, Dr. Iliev and his colleagues found that people were more likely to die of stomach cancer if their tumors contained a species of fungus called Candida tropicalis.
It’s possible that some microbes don’t just take up residence in tumors but help them grow. They may cloak the tumor from the immune system, neutralize drugs or help tumors spread through the body.
Jessica Galloway-Peña, a microbiologist at Texas A&M University who was not involved in the new studies, cautioned that this research alone could not establish if a microbe had any such effect. Scientists will need to conduct experiments on cancer cells in a dish or in animals.
“OK, it’s associated with a specific tumor type, but does that just mean that it’s living hunky-dory with the tumor, or is it actually causing the tumor to get bigger and progress?” Dr. Galloway-Peña asked. “You just don’t know at this point.”
Spartans Take Over Top Spot In Standings | News Sports Jobs Maui News
Spartans Take Over Top Spot In Standings | News, Sports, Jobs – Maui News https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/spartans-take-over-top-spot-in-standings-news-sports-jobs-maui-news/
The Maui News
Kekua Richards recorded a team-high seven kills and four aces, and the Seabury Hall girls volleyball team swept past Haleakala Waldorf 25-7, 25-16, 25-17 on Wednesday night at Erdman Athletic Center in Olinda.
With the win, the Spartans took over sole possession of first place in the Maui Interscholastic League Division II standings at 7-0, a half-game ahead of Lanai (6-0). Seabury is seeking its fifth straight MIL championship.
The Hawks fell to 1-9.
Caelyn Hasegawa had 21 assists, Mercedes Winicki posted nine digs and Caroline Belew added four kills and three solo blocks for Seabury.
*****
MIL Girls Volleyball
DIVISION I STANDINGS
W L Pct. GB
x-Baldwin 10 0 1.000 —
Maui High 6 3 .667 3 1⁄2
Kamehameha Maui 5 4 .556 4 1⁄2
King Kekaulike 2 7 .222 7 1⁄2
Lahainaluna 0 9 .000 9 1⁄2
DIVISION II STANDINGS
W L Pct. GB
Seabury Hall 7 0 1.000 —
Lanai 6 0 1.000 1⁄2
Hana 7 2 .778 1
Maui Prep 4 4 .500 3 1⁄2
Molokai 3 6 .333 5
St. Anthony 1 8 .111 7
Haleakala Waldorf 1 9 .100 7 1⁄2
x-clinched regular-season championship
Tuesday’s Late Result
King Kekaulike def. Lahainaluna 25-23, 25-21, 25-14
Wednesday’s Result
Seabury Hall def. Haleakala Waldorf 25-7, 25-16, 25-17
Today’s Matches
Baldwin at Maui High, 6:30 p.m.
Kamehameha Maui at King Kekaulike, 6:30 p.m.
Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox
PH Firms Keen On Spending Office Time In The Metaverse Says Study INQUIRER.net
PH Firms Keen On Spending Office Time In The Metaverse, Says Study – INQUIRER.net https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/ph-firms-keen-on-spending-office-time-in-the-metaverse-says-study-inquirer-net/
PH firms keen on spending office time in the metaverse, says study INQUIRER.net
The 10 Best Cruises For Teens 2023 U.S. News & World Report
The 10 Best Cruises For Teens 2023 – U.S. News & World Report https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/the-10-best-cruises-for-teens-2023-u-s-news-world-report/
When planning a vacation for the whole family, a cruise can be one of the best options to consider, especially when traveling with active teens. While parents escape to an adults-only venue on the ship and have a quiet dinner for two, teens can mix and mingle with others their age in teen-only clubs, play games, listen to music, or grab a pizza and a movie under the stars. And if your tweens and teens need more action-packed fun to keep them entertained, some cruise ships act like floating amusement parks with zip lines, racetracks, roller coasters, ice skating rinks, laser tag, waterslides and more.
If you’re considering a family getaway or a multigenerational vacation, these top cruise lines offer some of the most exciting and entertaining options to keep teens and tweens – and their parents – happy and engaged at sea.
(Note: Some of the following activities, programs and amenities may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. New policies may be in place, including capacity restrictions, reservation requirements or mask mandates; in addition, certain cruise offerings may be temporarily suspended. Check with your chosen cruise line, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of State before traveling.)
MSC Cruises
(Courtesy of MSC Cruises)
MSC Cruises offers plenty of family fun and activities for teens on its ships, including sports tournaments, waterslides and a family disco. On select ships, you’ll also find a full-size MSC Formula Racer, interactive XD cinema, a virtual reality experience, zip lines and an arcade room. The line’s Young Club programming offers daily activities for 12- to 14-year-old kids while teens 15 to 17 can participate in sports and dance competitions and video game tournaments at the Teen Club. Older kids can also take part in fun themed events, karaoke and even flash mobs – and there’s a teen-only disco.
On the new MSC Seascape (set to debut in December 2022), teens can stay busy in three new concept spaces. “Future” features a state-of-the-art technology area with the latest generation consoles, VR and video screens for hours of entertainment. “Chill out” is just as it sounds – a place to hang out, chat, and play foosball and table tennis. Meanwhile, “Music” is a dance club where kids can choose their own tunes and dance the night away with cool lighting and sound effects. And if that’s not enough, ROBOTRON, the first of its kind at sea, is an amusement park-like ride that combines the thrill of a roller coaster with personalized music and lighting. MSC Seascape also has a VR 360-degree flight simulator, VR motorcycles and high-tech gadgets for teens.
MSC World Europa – another new ship debuting in December 2022 – boasts the largest and most engaging kids area in MSC Cruises’ fleet with an impressive 8,245 square feet of action-packed space. The new TEENS LAB features a completely immersive, technologically advanced and modern area for teenagers with more than 20 of the latest consoles, seven VR stations and dozens of video games. Drone Academy 2.0 is a high-energy relay race where youths have to navigate through 15 obstacles with POV cameras, VR and glow effects. There’s even more onboard fun at Z Active, a new sports program that offers basketball, football and zorb ball alongside two firsts for the line – pickleball and hoverboards.
[Looking to plan a cruise on MSC Cruises? See the top cruises on GoToSea, a service of U.S. News.]
Norwegian Cruise Line
(Courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line)
Norwegian Cruise Line boasts a teen-only venue, Entourage, that caters to young adults 13 to 17 years old. This supervised space – available on 15 of the line’s 18 ships – keeps teens busy in an adult-free lounge that’s filled with video games, movies, music, arts and sports. Teen counselors plan the activities and challenges to keep kids entertained throughout the cruise – and host the events that take place in Entourage. A list of detailed activities is available on embarkation day so teens can plan out their schedule for the cruise.
The line’s newest ship, Norwegian Prima, the first vessel in the Prima class, features many first-at-sea innovations perfect for entertaining families and energetic teens, including a three-level racetrack called Prima Speedway. The new racetrack is 22 percent longer than the racetrack on Norwegian Encore and the speedway now passes through the funnel of the ship. With 14 nail-biting turns – and cars reaching up to 30 miles per hour – the racetrack is one of the highest-rated attractions on the ship. Adventurous teens will also want to check out The Drop & Rush: Billed as the fastest slides at sea, these chutes offer thrill-seekers a heart-pumping 10-story freefall plunge.
If that’s not enough action, teens can also play Bull’s Eye, a classic game of darts that uses a video tracking system, or check out Tee Time for a pumped-up version of mini-golf set against a Las Vegas backdrop where you can compete for prizes. In The Galaxy Pavilion, an indoor gaming complex, you’ll find 14 attractions, including four immersive simulator experiences, two escape rooms and the Topgolf Swing Suite – all of which are unique to Norwegian Prima. When it’s time to cool off, the Tidal Wave waterslide is another first for the brand, letting guests ride inner tubes to catch the surf and ride out the wave.
Norwegian Viva, set to launch in 2023 as the second vessel in the Prima class, will also feature these exciting new high-tech attractions. The line’s Breakaway class – Norwegian Escape, Joy, Bliss and Encore – are also popular with families as these ships offer plenty of activities and attractions well suited for active teens.
[Want to cruise with your family on Norwegian Cruise Line? See the top cruises on GoToSea, a service of U.S. News.]
Disney Cruise Line
(Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line)
Disney Cruise Line features two cool spaces dedicated to teens and tweens, who can hang out on comfy couches, watch shows or movies on large screen televisions, and play video games. These hangouts, called Edge (for ages 11 to 14) and Vibe (ages 14 to 17), are available on all Disney ships.
On Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream, the space at Vibe also features a private outdoor deck with chaise lounges, wading pools, foosball and more. While indoors, teenagers can order sodas and smoothies from the fountain bar, mingle with others their age, or just kick back and relax in individual nooks. There’s a dance club area for karaoke contests, talent shows and dance competitions. The trendy indoor/outdoor space – at almost 9,000 square feet – is accessible with a “teen-only” card. On the new Disney Wish ship, Vibe has a French twist inspired by a French artists loft with neon signs and funk pop art.
For tweens sailing on Disney Fantasy or Dream, Edge is a bright, loft-style gathering spot – located in the funnel – that has individual computer stations for gaming and a massive video wall for screening television, movies and games. There’s also a lighted dance floor for dance parties and a photo booth with green-screen technology. Two nifty features of the space – and its location – are views of the pool decks below as well as three portholes that allow for glimpses of the riders on the water coaster, AquaDuck, as they zoom by.
On the first night of the cruise, kids receive information on what activities and events will be available during their vacation so they can curate a personalized entertainment itinerary. Some fun options throughout the week may include “The Wild Side” (a teen-only excursion on the cruise line’s private island, Castaway Cay) and “Gotcha”: a game of elimination where one teen will become the ultimate victor. For a special treat – and a bit of pampering – don’t miss an afternoon at Chill Spa, located inside Senses Spa & Salon. Here, guests ages 13 to 17 can book indulgent specialty spa treatments like an Ice Cream Manicure and Pedicure, a Hot Chocolate Wrap or an organic Fabulously Fruity Facial.
[Searching for a cruise with your family on Disney Cruise Line? See the top cruises on GoToSea, a service of U.S. News.]
Adventures by Disney
Adventures by Disney offers river and expedition cruises for the whole family; the itineraries span many choices and experiences for tweens and teens with a focus on culture, history, gastronomy and adventure. The river cruises are operated in partnership with AmaWaterways, while the expedition cruises are a collaboration with luxury French cruise line Ponant.
If you’re sailing on the Adventures by Disney Rhine River Cruise itinerary, for example – and docked in Strasbourg, France, for the day – guests can choose between various exciting excursions. Teen-friendly options include a tour of the Black Forest, complete with a toboggan run and a visit to a woodworking museum, or zip lining through the Black Forest combined with a hike to the Triberg Waterfalls. In Melk, Austria, on the Danube itinerary, families can go for a bike ride along the Danube River, hike to the castle in Dürnstein or visit a family-run apricot farm. Another great feature of these cruises is that teens can opt to have dinner and evening get-togethers with same-age cruisers, so they don’t have to dine with their parents or younger siblings every night. Adventure Guides also curate special activities for teens like game shows and pool parties.
In destinations like Antarctica, the Arctic and the Galápagos Islands, expert naturalists lead tours during these bucket list trips. You might even find a bit of Disney storytelling woven into the presentations by the Adventure Guides.
Keep in mind if you have younger kids as well as teens that children need to be 5 or older to sail on the river cruises. For the Galápagos Islands expedition cruises, the minimum age for Junior Adventurers is ...
Circle Announces Acquisition Of Elements To Accelerate Crypto Payments PR Newswire
Circle Announces Acquisition Of Elements To Accelerate Crypto Payments – PR Newswire https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/circle-announces-acquisition-of-elements-to-accelerate-crypto-payments-pr-newswire/
Acquisition of developer-first payments platform to lower the barrier of entry for merchants and create a more seamless crypto payments experience
, /PRNewswire/ — On stage at Converge22 today, Circle announced an accelerated crypto payments roadmap enhanced by the recent acquisition of Elements, a merchant and developer-first payments orchestration platform. The announcement includes plans to quickly scale payment offerings to unlock utility value for crypto and lower the barrier of entry for merchants to access next-gen payments and financial services.
The new payment offerings make it simple for merchants to integrate their existing PSP relationships with Circle’s crypto payment offerings.
“We are very impressed by the Elements team for their work in taking the complexity out of crypto payments,” said Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product Officer at Circle, “Lowering barriers of entry for payments and financial services and establishing dollar payments utility are core to Circle’s mission. Providing well-designed payment products that can facilitate seamless, efficient, frictionless and delightful customer experiences are key to empowering merchants to take advantage of these next-gen payment solutions.”
As the issuer of both USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC), Circle is uniquely positioned to promote digital payments and an always-on financial system as native features of the internet. More than $49 billion USDC is in circulation as of Sept. 28, 2022, and it has powered more than $5 trillion in on-chain transactions since its 2018 inception. Creating a payments platform that allows merchants to accept USDC and other crypto payments at the point-of-sale is a natural progression of the growing global adoption of digital currencies.
“Elements’ mission is to put more money into the hands of merchants. With Circle, we knew the natural synergy in our business models would create an opportunity to deliver a seamless and low cost payments and settlement experience for merchants using a digital currency they can trust,” said Nafis Jamal, Founder and CEO at Elements, “Today’s news is only the beginning of our joint mission to deliver first-class payments offerings and define the next generation of payments.”
Jamal and Hao Min, co-founders of Elements, joined Chandhok onstage at Circle’s inaugural Converge22 conference to demo Circle’s Crypto Payments API which is available in beta today as well as the one-stop checkout SDK for crypto merchants which will be available in Q4 2022. Please visit here to learn more about Circle’s Crypto Payments API.
About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle is powering always-on internet-native commerce and payments and is the issuer of USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC). Today, Circle’s transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through the frictionless exchange of value. Learn more at https://circle.com.
SOURCE Circle Internet Financial, LLC
Analysis | U.S. Rejects Putins Attempted Reverse-Clausewitz. (Ill Explain.) The Washington Post
Analysis | U.S. Rejects Putin’s Attempted Reverse-Clausewitz. (I’ll Explain.) – The Washington Post https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/analysis-u-s-rejects-putins-attempted-reverse-clausewitz-ill-explain-the-washington-post/
Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. On this day in 1943, Lech Walesa, the shipyard electrician who would lead the Solidarity labor movement in Poland and ultimately end Communist rule in his country, was born.
Putin’s illegitimate referenda are war with other means
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Potemkin referendums in eastern Ukraine, bringing four regions closer to illegitimate absorption by Russia, amount to a kind of reverse-Clausewitz effort to substitute a political process for a battlefield offensive that has gone decidedly poorly for him.
Time will tell whether it works for Putin, but what he heard from the White House briefing room on Wednesday — promises of even more military aid for Ukraine, support for Kyiv to fight on regardless of the staged results, new sanctions on Russia — can’t have cheered him.
Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Remember Carl von Clausewitz? The Prussian general whose much-quoted and sometimes-read philosophy of war is regularly reduced to the idea that war is the pursuit of politics “with other means”? (Namely: Force.)
Can’t get what you want through the political process, negotiations, peaceful means? Well, have you considered using military force? (I’m oversimplifying Clausewitz and fully expect a number of .edu or .mil address-holders to complain. But I’m writing for a general audience.)
Using politics to wage war
Anyway, Putin’s war in Ukraine has been going badly for Russia. Ukrainians, armed and equipped by the United States and its allies, have been pushing back Moscow’s troops, whose logistical and battlefield performances have wrecked their image as an irresistible fighting force.
So Putin has embraced a three-pronged escalation: Announce he’s mobilizing up to 300,000 Russians to fight (it’s not going well); warn, again, that he reserves the right to use nuclear weapons; and stage referendums to set the table for Russia to absorb large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine. (It’s not clear as I type this whether the Kremlin is behind the explosions that wrecked the Nord Stream pipelines that carry gas into Europe. In a statement on Thursday, NATO said the damage appeared to be “the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage” and warned of “a united and determined response” if that proves to have been the case. It did not directly blame Russia.)
That last one is the reverse Clausewitz: Putin is using politics to wage war with other means.
The Kremlin’s plan appears to be to annex Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, declare them part of Mother Russia as early as this week, then warn Ukraine (and its friends) Moscow will defend what it now considers its territory will all necessary means, including nukes.
My colleague Robyn Dixon reported Putin on Friday will sign what the Kremlin calls “accession treaties” to seize the four regions “even though Russia does not fully control them militarily or politically.” Russian state TV is reportedly running a countdown clock.
It’s a variation on an approach Putin has successfully used twice in the past. In 2014, his forces overran Ukraine’s Crimea region, then annexed it. In 2008, his troops overran part of Georgia, then helped pro-Moscow enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia declare independence.
But in both of those cases, Russia was acting from a position of strength on the battlefield, effectively dictating terms to far weaker powers with much less international support. This time, Putin’s gambit comes as Ukrainian forces, with U.S. and allied backing, are inflicting considerable damage on the invaders.
White House ain’t buying Putin gambit
At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre served notice that the United States would not be intimidated into halting arms shipments and other aid or into pressuring Ukraine to stop or slow its advance.
“Ukraine has every right to continue to fight for their full sovereignty,” she told reporters at her daily briefing. “We will continue to stand with Ukraine as they defend their territory and sovereignty as we have been doing for the past several months.”
“We will work with our allies and partners to impose additional economic costs on Russia and individuals and entities inside and outside of Russia that provide support to this action,” Jean-Pierre said.
And the Pentagon announced a new $1.1 billion package of weapons and materiel for Kyiv, including 18 additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which have enhanced the range and accuracy of Ukraine’s long-distance strikes on Russian targets.
(Ukraine already has 16 HIMARS. The newest batch won’t roll off the assembly line for “a few years,” a U.S. defense official told reporters in a briefing conducted on the condition of anonymity.)
A Pentagon fact sheet said the latest military assistance also included 150 Humvees, 150 tactical vehicles, explosive ordnance disposal equipment, body armor and an array of tactical secure communications systems, surveillance systems and optics.
It also included 20 multi-mission radars “that can track airborne objects and threats, including mortar and artillery fire, along with enemy unmanned aerial systems,” the Pentagon said.
It certainly doesn’t seem like Putin’s ploy has worked.
And the Russian leader might consider the words of another great thinker, Mark Twain, who warned on the subject of war: “There has never been a just one, never an honorable one — on the part of the instigator of the war.”
Ginni Thomas appears for Jan. 6 committee interview
“Virginia Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, appeared for an interview Thursday with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Jacqueline Alemany reports.
Johns Hopkins doctor and spouse, an Army doctor, indicted for trying to leak medical information to Russia
“A Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist and her spouse, a doctor and major in the U.S. Army, were federally indicted for attempting to provide medical information about members of the military to the Russian government,” the Baltimore Banner‘s Justin Fenton reports.
Harris visits DMZ after North Korean missile tests
“Vice President Harris toured the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea on Thursday, becoming the most senior Biden administration official to inspect the demarcation line during a four-day trip to Asia that has been dominated by Indo-Pacific security concerns,” Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Michelle Ye Hee Lee report.
Ian has brought ‘historic’ damage to Florida, DeSantis says
“The storm is projected to bring potentially ‘life-threatening’ floods, storm surge and winds to parts of Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina as it makes its way toward northeast Florida and then approaches the South Carolina coast on Friday,” Jason Samenow, Kelly Kasulis Cho and Annabelle Timsit report.
Lunchtime reads from The Post
Supreme Court, dogged by questions of legitimacy, is ready to resume
“Polls show public approval of the court plummeted to historic lows — with a record number of respondents saying the court is too conservative — after the right wing of the court overturned Roe v. Wade’s guarantee of a constitutional right to abortion. President Biden is trying to put the court in the political spotlight, hoping the abortion decision’s shock waves rocked the foundation of this fall’s midterm elections, once thought to be a boon to Republicans,” Robert Barnes reports.
“And the justices themselves are openly debating what the court’s rightward turn has meant for its institutional integrity.”
“Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. defends his conservative colleagues, with whom he does not always agree, saying unpopular decisions should not call the court’s legitimacy into question.”
“On the other side, liberal Justice Elena Kagan increasingly is sounding an alarm about the next precedents that could fall and the implications for public perception of the bench.”
A battle over Title IX: Can it be used to exclude trans athletes?
“On Thursday, a federal appellate court will hear arguments concerning the rights of transgender student-athletes. But unlike most other legal challenges, the plaintiffs aren’t trans people suing to have their rights recognized,” Anne Branigin reports.
“Instead, a group of young cisgender women, represented by the Christian conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, is arguing that allowing trans athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity violates the rights of cis women.”
America’s throwaway spies: How the CIA failed Iranian informants in its secret war with Tehran
“Rather than betrayal, [Gholamreza Hosseini] was the victim of CIA negligence, a year-long Reuters investigation into the agency’s handling of its informants found. A faulty CIA covert communications system made it easy for Iranian intelligence to identify and capture him. Jailed for nearly a decade and speaking out for the first time, Hosseini said he never heard from the agency again, even after he was released in 2019,” Reuters’ Joel Schectman and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin report.
“Hosseini’s experience of sloppy handling and abandonment was not unique. In interviews with six Iranian former CIA informants, Reuters found that the agency was careless in other ways amid its intense drive to gather intelligence in Iran, putting in peril those risking their lives to help the United States.”
IG identifies ‘concerns’ with Defense Department phone messaging apps in probe of missing Jan. 6 texts
“The Defense Department’s inspector general said in a letter to Congress this week that his office has identified ‘concerns’ ...
Tech Summit To Feature Big Names In Technology FBC News
Tech Summit To Feature Big Names In Technology – FBC News https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/tech-summit-to-feature-big-names-in-technology-fbc-news/
Business
September 30, 2022 5:40 am
DATEC Chief Executive, Satyen Singh. [Source: DATEC]
The stage is set for Fiji’s biggest ever Tech Summit, with prominent names in technology scheduled to speak on various topics surrounding the Tech World.
The event is scheduled to kick off from November 3–4 at the InterContinental Fiji Resort & Spa.
Satyen Singh, Chief Executive Officer of DATEC (Fiji), says a high caliber of speakers will take the stage during the two-day event.
Article continues after advertisement
He says they will have 70 international members with more than 200 delegates from across the region.
The team wants to provide a platform to make connections and strengthen networks for both suppliers and customers to share, learn, and understand their needs and challenges.
Executive Chairman of Brother International (NZ) Limited, Graham Walshe, is scheduled to speak at the summit.
Walshe will address the growing concerns about the cost of doing business and the need to spend responsibly.
Museum At Werleys Corner Hotel Is Preserving The History Of Northwest Lehigh The Morning Call
Museum At Werleys Corner Hotel Is Preserving The History Of Northwest Lehigh – The Morning Call https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/museum-at-werleys-corner-hotel-is-preserving-the-history-of-northwest-lehigh-the-morning-call/
The latest project to preserve the rich history of northwest Lehigh County started with Denton Herber.
Herber, from Lowhill Township, was killed during World War II when his ship was struck by a torpedo.
His war medals, including his Purple Heart, a photo and other items were donated recently to the Weisenberg/Lowhill Township Historical Society, a hidden gem of the county that’s located in the old Werleys Corner Hotel in Weisenberg Township.
The society saw this as an opportunity to come up with a way to celebrate the veterans from the community.
As she cataloged the items, society member Lucille Heintzelman suggested they be framed so they would stay together and be easily displayed. Board member Helen Donmoyer took on that task.
The items, enough to fill three frames, were the start of the historical society’s latest project, a Veterans Appreciation Wall.
About three months later, the wall has more than 50 photos of deceased veterans, most of them from the Weisenberg-Lowhill area. More photos are waiting to be framed and the society is collecting others.
“The last two events we held, it was very popular,” Donmoyer told me Monday when I stopped by to check out the wall and museum.
The society started by contacting members to ask if they had photos they would like to have displayed. The project took off quickly.
“You would call one person and they would give you three or four names,” President Gloria Zimmerman said.
Society members scoured obituaries and reached out to families that they knew had members in the service.
“It’s a small community and a lot of us knew them,” Zimmerman said.
As photos are submitted, society member Sandy Cappuccino edits them and prints them to the appropriate size to be framed. Board member Keith Breininger then hangs them.
There are a few photos of deceased veterans from outside the northwest Lehigh area. I learned about the project when Donmoyer contacted me asking for a photo of Edward Reiter of Northampton, whom I wrote about recently.
Reiter went missing in action during the Korean War in 1950. His remains were identified a few months ago; they had been found about a year after he was fatally shot, but had been buried as an unknown.
But most of the photos are from the Weisenberg-Lowhill area, with some from nearby Lynn and Heidelberg townships.
Area community members who served in the military are recognized on the memorial wall Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, inside the former Werleys Corner Hotel in New Tripoli, now home to the Weisenberg/Lowhill Township Historical Society. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
The Veterans Appreciation Wall is actually multiple walls. Photos line both sides of a narrow hallway. There also are photos are on the wall of the stairway leading to the second floor, with plenty of room to add more.
The photo and medals of Herber are the first you see when you enter the hallway.
He was aboard the USS LST-342, a tank landing ship, when it exploded and broke in two after being struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine in July 1943 near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
The stern sank but the bow stayed afloat and was towed ashore so equipment could be salvaged.
Herber, 24, was listed as missing in action. A year later, he was declared to be deceased.
The historical society also has the Gold Star Service Flag that was displayed in the front window of his home, and a photo and funeral card of Herber’s uncle, Oliver John Herber. He was an infantryman who was killed in France in 1918 during World War I, at age 22.
The Veterans Appreciation Wall shows what a family affair military service has been in the area. There are photos of brothers, sisters, fathers and sons and fathers and daughters.
They include the Christman brothers (Marvin, Ralph, Thomas); the Fenstermaker brothers (William and Stanley); and brother Franklin Metzger Sr., his sisters Mollie Metzger-Haines and Mary Metzger Morton, and their brother-in-law, Robert Lakatosh.
Glenn Reeder, a historical society board member who was among my tour guides on Monday, provided photos of his father, Waldo Reeder, and uncles Martin and Bland Reeder. All served in World War II and Martin and Bland also served in Korea.
The memorial includes photos of a few service members who died in recent years, including in campaigns in the Middle East. Not all of the veterans who are honored were killed in action. Some returned home after their service.
I had never been to the Weisenberg/Lowhill Township Historical Society before my visit Monday. I could have spent all day there if time allowed.
The society has done a wonderful job of acquiring and displaying items to preserve northwest Lehigh County’s history. That includes preserving the Civil War-era hotel where the society is based.
You don’t have to be from the Weisenberg-Lowhill region to appreciate the museum. It reflects the heritage of the broader Lehigh Valley area and Pennsylvania, too.
The Werleys Corner Hotel was built in 1865, with an addition in the 1880s. It included a general store and post office. The original store counter and post office boxes are still there and in great condition. The bar is still there, too. Some of the rooms have original wallpaper.
Zimmerman grew up in the hotel, which was purchased by her grandparents in 1917. She deeded the closed hotel to the historical society, which opened the museum in 2002.
Gloria Zimmerman poses at the original bar Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, inside the former Werleys Corner Hotel in New Tripoli, now home to the Weisenberg/Lowhill Township Historical Society. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
The building was empty when she donated it. Now it’s full of artifacts such as furniture; Bibles; maps; lamps; a rifle case; shaving and personal care items; playing cards; dinnerware; commemorative plates; an organ; and items from local businesses.
Clothing includes the ornate garb of fraternal organizations, and baseball uniforms from the Lyon Valley team that was managed by the father of historical society President Emeritus and Historian Donald Breininger, who was another of my tour guides during my visit, along with Sterling Reinert, the society vice president.
One of the rooms at the hotel is filled with items from Zimmerman’s family, including the wedding attire of her parents. She has no siblings or children, and this is how she intends to pass down her heritage.
“It’s a labor of love,” said Zimmerman, who now lives in South Whitehall. “I always liked history. I always liked local history. So what we are doing is preserving history.”
The adjacent barn and outbuildings contain many more artifacts including farm equipment, tools, a horse-drawn carriage, wheelchair, school desks and kitchen and butchering equipment.
The museum does not have public visiting hours, but is open during the many events that the historical society holds. It also can be open by appointment.
Upcoming events include a Halloween Spooktacular from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 23; fall basket socials on various dates between Nov. 6 and Nov. 12; and Christmas cookie, soup and candy sales from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 10 and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 11.
A schedule of events and more information about the museum and historical society are available on its website, weisenberglowhill.org/.
If you have a photo of a deceased veteran from northwest Lehigh that you would like to be displayed on the Veterans Appreciation Wall, call 610-298-2091 or email weislowths@gmail.com. Photos must show the veteran in their uniform.
Historian Don Breininger speaks Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, about many historical pieces that are part of the collection of the Weisenberg/Lowhill Township Historical Society, located inside the former Werleys Corner Hotel in New Tripoli. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
Bonus Vacation Or Choppy Nightmare? Heres What Its Like On A Cruise Ship Stuck At Sea During A Hurricane The Points Guy
Bonus Vacation Or Choppy Nightmare? Here’s What It’s Like On A Cruise Ship Stuck At Sea During A Hurricane – The Points Guy https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/bonus-vacation-or-choppy-nightmare-heres-what-its-like-on-a-cruise-ship-stuck-at-sea-during-a-hurricane-the-points-guy/
There’s always a possibility of bad weather and rough seas when you go on a cruise, but cruise lines are well prepared to change course if an approaching storm could be too dangerous to navigate. There are also contingencies if they are unable to return to port as scheduled. Right now, all those playbooks have been dusted off and are in use.
On Monday, Sept. 26, as Hurricane Ian was closing in on Florida, Disney Wish left Port Canaveral for a four-night Bahamas cruise with planned stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s private island, before a planned return to Port Canaveral on Friday, Sept. 30.
But with Hurricane Ian a dangerous Category 4 storm making landfall in Central Florida, Port Canaveral closed and has ceased all operations until further notice.
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Without the option to return to Florida as originally scheduled, Disney Wish — along with other cruise ships — is (temporarily) “stuck” at sea.
While staying at sea and away from the storm is the safest decision, travelers still have a lot of questions, concerns and general curiosity about the change of course. The Points Guy spoke with passengers currently on board Disney Wish to learn what it’s like being out at sea for a few extra days during a hurricane.
You’ll get frequent updates from the captain
When Disney Wish set sail on Sept. 26, the captain made an announcement that the ship might return to Port Canaveral later in the day than originally planned based on the projected forecast at that time. Matt Roseboom, editor and publisher at Attractions Magazine, is on board the sailing and captured video footage of the initial announcement.
The captain notified guests with flights leaving before 3 p.m. on Sept. 30 to contact their airline to depart later in the day, if possible. He also advised that they were watching Hurricane Ian carefully and would continue to keep passengers updated on the weather throughout the voyage.
Lizzie Meeks, a Disney travel advisor in Nashville, is also on the sailing and explained to TPG that the captain told guests “the port authority will need to assess any damage before giving the ship the green light to move into port and the cruise terminal.”
Your itinerary might be adjusted
A cruise ship’s schedule of port visits and sea days can be adjusted midcruise for a number of reasons. The weather is certainly one of those reasons — even absent a full-fledged hurricane. But when a hurricane is churning, it is very possible that the ship’s itinerary will change.
For Disney Wish, a port change announcement came on the morning of Sept. 28 when the ship was scheduled to dock at Castaway Cay for the day. Rather than head toward Disney’s private island, and toward the storm, the ship turned toward the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean where seas would be calmer.
Meeks shared that the winds near Castaway Cay were too strong, with little hope for improvement, so the captain made the decision to sail away from the area.
LIZZY MEEKS
A day at port became a day at sea, but Disney conjured a bit of its famous “Disney magic” and added more activities throughout the day, according to Roseboom. “They made an announcement and told us to close out of the Disney Cruise app and reopen it to see the new schedule of activities,” he said. Mickey and his friends still wore their island outfits to greet guests, even if everyone had to stay on board.
“They’ve really made an effort to make it a special day,” Meeks said. “There have been a ton of new character meet and greets throughout the day, including Marvel, ‘Star Wars’ and Halloween characters that are typically reserved for special event cruises. New group games and trivia themes have been added, as well as additional times for drink tastings like Champagne, bourbon, gin and more,” she added.
Related: What happens when a hurricane hits Disney World
Your cruise might be extended
If a hurricane strikes while you are at sea, it’s also possible that you may end up with an extended sailing and extra days on the ship.
That’s currently the situation for Carnival Paradise, Carnival Elation, Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Getaway, MSC Cruise’s MSC Divina and Disney Wish. With several Florida ports closed due to the storm, the ships cannot return to disembark passengers on schedule.
LIZZY MEEKS
In such cases, cruise lines have two options: head to a different port up or down the coast to disembark passengers or remain at sea until the ship’s home port reopens. Docking at a different port creates a whole new set of issues for passengers who need to return to cars, homes or airports near the originally scheduled port — so that option is rarely used.
Related: At least 5 cruise ships stuck at sea as Hurricane Ian closes Florida ports
In the case of Disney Wish, the first announcement came on the evening of Sept. 27 as the storm moved closer to shore. Based on updated forecasts, the captain announced the ship would not return to port until Saturday or Sunday, after the storm had passed and they could better assess the situation at Port Canaveral. That meant passengers would remain on board one or two days longer than expected.
Before he could even complete the announcement, cheers erupted through the ship, as seen in the below video.
In a subsequent announcement on the afternoon of Sept. 28, the captain updated guests that Disney Wish would return to Port Canaveral on Sunday instead of Friday and that the ship should be able to dock at Castaway Cay on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Even before the extension of this sailing was formally announced, Disney Cruise Line canceled the upcoming Disney Wish sailing that was set to depart Port Canaveral on Friday, Sept. 30, as a safety precaution.
Extra days are generally a good thing
As that announcement was made, audible cheers confirmed that most guests were thrilled that their vacation was just extended indefinitely. “The general sentiment is that people are content and happy about the extra day(s),” Roseboom said.
Cruise ships can easily avoid storms by sailing away from them and chasing better weather. For Disney Wish, at least, the weather has been fairly calm. “The current weather is sunshine with some humidity. We had choppier waves this morning [when the ship was closer to the storm], but from where we are now, you wouldn’t even know there was a hurricane in the distance,” Meeks said.
LIZZY MEEKS
Plus, the crew is prepared to innovate to accommodate the extra days. The entertainment staff will schedule more sea-day activities, just as they did when Castaway Cay got canceled.
Guests don’t need to worry about running out of food, as cruise ships carry more than just one sailing’s worth of food on board. In a pinch, the cruise ship can find a way of picking up provisions in the islands. With two extra days at sea, the ship might run out of specific perishables, like berries, but passengers will still have plenty of choices at every meal.
Because Disney Wish employs a rotational dining schedule, in which passengers are assigned nights at each of the ship’s main restaurants, guests must now wait to be told which restaurants they should dine in on the additional nights of the sailing. “Since Disney Cruise Line uses rotational dining, they simply assigned us two more nights of a restaurant. It’s really operating like normal in many ways,” Meeks said.
You’ll have to rearrange travel plans
Roseboom, who resides in Central Florida, is enjoying the extra day or two of vacation, but is equally worried about his house and friends and family back home in the wake of Hurricane Ian. “For cruisers who live outside of Florida, they seem to be mostly happy, but they do have to figure out how to change their flights,” he shared.
For Meeks, reality set in as the cheers subsided.
“Some people, including myself, found the news concerning because of travel logistics — changing transfers and flights, booking a hotel room just in case our flights are canceled and communicating with family back home are all stressful and you could feel the tension late last night,” she said.
Not only is Port Canaveral closed until Hurricane Ian passes and the wind calms, but Orlando International Airport (MCO) has also shuttered during the storm.
Even once the airport reopens after the storm has passed, it will take some time for planes and crews to get back into position, and longer still to accommodate all of the passengers who have been temporarily stranded in the Central Florida area.
This is one of the reasons why when cruising during hurricane season, it’s very important to seriously consider travel insurance, or at least book your trip using a credit card that conveys some built-in trip protections to help minimize the financial impact.
Bottom line
“There are certainly worse places to be ‘stuck,'” Meeks told us. “A lot of people have the perspective that we are safe and have much to be thankful for,” she added. Crew and passenger safety is the reason cruise lines make the decision to stay at sea past the end of their scheduled itinerary. Yes, it can be inconvenient, but cruise lines do go out of their way to make the most of the experience for their guests, and safety is always the top priority.
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LogicMonitor Appoints Sean Pavan To APJ Channel Lead Tech Business News
LogicMonitor Appoints Sean Pavan To APJ Channel Lead – Tech Business News https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/logicmonitor-appoints-sean-pavan-to-apj-channel-lead-tech-business-news/
LogicMonitor, provider of the leading SaaS-based unified observability platform for enterprises and managed service providers (MSPs), today announced the appointment of Sean Pavan as Director of Channel for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ).
In this role, Sean will champion LogicMonitor’s business development in the region, strengthen existing and new customer relationships, and drive the channel team to reinforce LogicMonitor’s charge as the top provider of unified observability solutions.
With 20 years of experience in technology, Sean comes from New Relic where he headed up the Alliances & Channels Business for Asia, and has had tenures with Juniper Networks and Cisco, both in a channel leader capacity.
“I am thrilled to be joining a team that has had such impressive growth in the region over the past 12 months. This is a testament to the talents the company has assembled in the region.”
“In this new era of digital transformation, it’s an inspiring time for LogicMonitor as it continues to deliver advanced solutions for its customers and help them navigate the growing number of technologies heavily ingrained in their daily operations,” says Pavan.
Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan at LogicMonitor, Richard Gerdis, welcomes the appointment saying, “Sean’s deep passion for technology and extensive knowledge of the Asia Pacific and Japan region will take LogicMonitor to new heights.
“We’re confident Sean’s experience in the channel will provide our customers and partners in the region with the relevant counsel needed to help them move from being reactive to proactive, moving their focus from maintenance to innovation.”
The appointment of Sean, who is based in Singapore, compliments LogicMonitor’s growth and commitment across APJ, with recent hires of an ANZ Channel Lead, Marco Marinelli and Caerl Murray as ANZ Sales Director.
Matthew Giannelis
Secondary editor and executive officer at Tech Business News. Contracting as an IT support engineer for 20 years Matthew has a passion for sharing his knowledge of the technology industry. He’s also an advocate for global cyber security matters.
Matthew Giannelis
Secondary editor and executive officer at Tech Business News. Contracting as an IT support engineer for 20 years Matthew has a passion for sharing his knowledge of the technology industry. He’s also an advocate for global cyber security matters.
Music In The Metaverse: Redefining Music Rights In The Web3 World Music Business Worldwide
Music In The Metaverse: Redefining Music Rights In The Web3 World – Music Business Worldwide https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/music-in-the-metaverse-redefining-music-rights-in-the-web3-world-music-business-worldwide/
The following MBW op/ed comes from Deborah Mannis-Gardner, Owner/President, Disney Music Group [20 articles]”DMG Clearances, and a global expert on music rights clearances. After starting DMG Clearances, Inc. in 1996, Mannis-Gardner has since cleared releases for artists including Drake, Tyler the Creator, DJ Khaled, Eminem, Pop Smoke, Logic, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Frank Ocean, Jay-Z, John Legend, Megan Thee Stallion, Big K.R.I.T., Brockhampton, French Montana, Big Sean, J. Cole, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and more. Mannis-Gardner has also handled music clearances for metaverse platforms Meta and Roblox; films by Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, and Richard Linklater; TV networks and streaming services such as HBO, Showtime, Netflix [270 articles]”Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount+; ad campaigns for Google [710 articles]”Google, Ciroc, and Kmart; podcasts such as Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell’s “Broken Record”; video games such as Rockstar Games franchises “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption”; and political campaigns such as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign. Mannis-Gardner also served as the award-winning music supervisor of HBO’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine docu-series “The Defiant Ones.”
It feels like just yesterday when “the metaverse” was only a hot new word, a thing of the distant future. Now, the music industry is playing catch-up to the world of Web3 and the rapid pace with which it is changing and growing.
Whether it be Lil Nas X performing in Roblox, AI musicians, or NFTs, Web3 is opening the door to many exciting and new opportunities. However, they also come with a subset of issues that the music and tech industries need to address as soon as possible.
Music rights are my life’s work and passion, and I have had the honor of working with artists like DJ Khaled, Megan Thee Stallion, Drake, and more, as well as film/TV and podcast projects for Rick Rubin, The Coen Brothers, Richard Linklater, Netflix, and Disney+, among others.
Recently, I worked with Post Malone to handle music clearances for his metaverse performance on the Meta platform, and something struck me.
Back in the early 1990s, when hip-hop artists were struggling to legitimize sampling, music industry executives tried to fit a square peg in a round hole by applying existing licensing criteria and terminology to a new field that they considered a “fad.” Of course, sampling only grew more popular, and eventually, a new licensing framework was created to accommodate it.
Currently, we are having the same problem with Web3, and after that Post Malone metaverse project, I immersed myself in the Web3 world to apply the lessons I learned from the early days of sampling to this new field. More specifically, it has been my personal goal to address licensing terminology, which in my experience, has been a very complicated and confusing process for everyone involved.
It all begins with mechanical licenses, which cover the publishing side of a composition. Mechanical royalty rates are set by the government and are not subject to negotiations — if an artist wants to cover a song and release it on their album, they only need to provide notice and pay the government-mandated royalty.
Where things get tricky is when a song is paired with a visual, like in an advertising campaign, TV show, or movie. At that point, a synchronization license is needed, which requires negotiations with not only the publishing company but also the label that owns the master recording of a work. Either party can request as much money as they want, and they can shut down the usage completely by saying no.
However, over the past few years, mechanical and synchronization licenses have quickly become antiquated. For example, sometimes music usages in audiobooks and podcasts are paid via mechanical licenses, the argument being that there is no visual linked to the audio. But shouldn’t a song’s rights-holders get the opportunity to decide which kinds of audio content they want their songs to be associated with, and for how much?
Now, Web3, the metaverse, and NFTs are challenging these licensing definitions even further. With traditional synchronization licenses, rights-holders can see exactly what they are agreeing to connect their music with. But in the metaverse, the vast majority of content is user-generated, and that should come into consideration. Also, NFTs can take many forms, from an exclusive track, which could fall under a mechanical license, or video/audio set to music, which would require a synchronization license. NFTs can also be resold, and rights-holders should be able to receive a portion of each sale.
So, how do we solve this problem? I would argue the best way is to introduce the new licensing terms Art-Driven Mechanical (for the mechanical reproduction in another art form) and Art-Driven Synchronization (for the syncing of music to another art form). By creating these new terms for Web3, we can grant permission to music copyright holders to generate at least two values or quotes as a means of collecting proper compensation for new Web3 music uses, whether or not music is the primary art form — and this art form will include the written word and other media.
For example, an NFT would be subject to three fees: an art-driven mechanical royalty rate to generate income from included songs over time, an art-driven synchronization flat fee to cover any video/audio syncs, and an ongoing resale fee that provides a portion of future revenue to rights-holders on a pro-rated basis. Music usages in the metaverse would then be subject to two fees: an art-driven synchronization flat fee to use the song in the platform and a separate user-generated content (UGC) fee, in addition to the performance fees for the recording and compensation through PROs and CMOs.
To help make this a reality, I have joined fellow music industry professionals Jessica Vaughn (Head of Sync of Venice Music and President of Head Bitch Music), Stacey Haber (The Music Firm), Vickie Nauman (Founder & CEO of CrossBorderWorks), Jess Furman (SVP of Sync Strategy at Big Noise Music), Brian Blatz (Attorney for Granderson Des Rochers), and Donovan Brown (Sr. Community Manager at Venice Music) to start the Web3 Music Rights Group. Our goal is to share insight and knowledge from our broad areas of expertise in music licensing, law, music tech, record labels, publishing, and more.
The music industry is always evolving, and it is crucial that we have more discussions about embracing the world of Web3 and the metaverse so that we are always protecting the art and everyone involved. Redefining terminology can be scary and a lot of work to figure out, but we will all be left better prepared instead of playing catch-up. I encourage anyone interested in being part of this discussion to join the Web3 Music Rights Group by registering at web3musicrights.com.Music Business Worldwide
The Lakeside Journal News Roundup: American Heroes Lineup Volunteers Needed Little Elm ISD Updates Star Local Media
The Lakeside Journal News Roundup: American Heroes Lineup, Volunteers Needed, Little Elm ISD Updates – Star Local Media https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/the-lakeside-journal-news-roundup-american-heroes-lineup-volunteers-needed-little-elm-isd-updates-star-local-media/
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Why Luxury Trains Are The Next Stop For Some Luxury Hotel Brands The Points Guy
Why Luxury Trains Are The Next Stop For Some Luxury Hotel Brands – The Points Guy https://dentoncountynewsonline.com/why-luxury-trains-are-the-next-stop-for-some-luxury-hotel-brands-the-points-guy/
You have more than Agatha Christie to thank if you immediately think “Orient Express” when someone brings up the notion of luxury train travel (preferably sans murder).
The Venice-Simplon Orient Express still runs today thanks to travel company Belmond (formerly known as Orient Express Hotels). The luxury train operates between a variety of cities, including Paris and Istanbul, and will set passengers back a hefty penny: A five-night voyage between the two cities next August costs over $36,000 for a double occupancy historic cabin, Belmond’s entry-level offering aboard the VSOE.
Want a nicer suite? That’ll run more than $86,000.
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With rates like that — and trains that frequently sell out — it’s no wonder others are entering the luxury train orbit and why there are increasingly more luxury train offerings around the world.
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In Japan, one doesn’t just book an overnight trip on the Seven Stars train service — you apply to be picked from a lottery. If selected, travelers take one- to three-night journeys through Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island known for its volcanoes and beaches. Fares range from $6,332 for a one-person suite on the one-night voyage to nearly $17,000 for a one-person deluxe suite on the three-night excursion.
Belmond, which declined questions for this story, operates trains like the Royal Scotsman and British Pullman in the U.K. In Asia, there’s the Eastern & Oriental Express, and in Peru, Belmond offers the Andean Explorer.
A newer entrant in luxury-on-rails comes from the hotel sphere. Accor plans to launch its own Orient Express, the Orient Express La Dolce Vita, sometime next year amid its broader expansion of the Orient Express brand into hospitality.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to take a brand that people dream about — a true luxury brand is one that you can fall in love with,” Stephen Alden, Accor’s CEO of Raffles and Orient Express, told TPG earlier this year. “Who hasn’t dreamed of taking a trip with Orient Express?”
Accor’s soon-to-be-refurbished Orient Express rail car. ACCOR
Hotels on the rails
It may seem like a head-scratcher that hotel companies want to get into the business of train transit, but experts say this isn’t some out-of-left-field infrastructure play by the hospitality sector. Instead, it’s something akin to how Marriott International is getting into the cruise business while Four Seasons rolled out a private jet service.
In short: This array of Orient Express offerings or Belmond’s luxury train lineup isn’t exactly Amtrak’s Northeast Regional between Boston and New York City.
“I’m not sure that hospitality train services are going to be mainstream. I think it’s going to remain a niche offering, which will be an interesting one,” said Nicolas Graf, associate dean at New York University’s Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. “I’m not discounting that [possibility], but I don’t think it’s something that will grow as another alternative type of lodging.”
But there’s still a reason to go even after the most niche of travel sectors, as customers in this space tend to spend more on travel. Hotel companies made various plays for luxury consumers in recent years, and those overtures ramped up during the pandemic.
The Grand Suite aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. BELMOND
IHG acquired ultra-luxury brands like Regent and Six Senses. Marriott International launched a vacation rental platform called Homes & Villas. Mandarin Oriental went a step further by launching its own vacation home rental arm, but this division went through a 700-point checklist to guarantee the homes Mandarin Oriental offered were basically at the same quality level as an actual Mandarin Oriental hotel.
“If your objective is to catch as close to 100% of the share of your guest’s travel wallet, you want to have enough scale that they never need to look outside your ecosystem,” Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said at Skift Global Forum this month, while introducing the rationale for why the company launched Homes & Villas.
Using that logic, why wouldn’t a hotel company or two go after luxury train travelers? It’s a way to offer yet another new experience to the booming leisure travel segment.
“I’m not surprised that Accor is getting into it. It’s fabulous because it’s another extension of the hospitality experience to be able to provide something new and different,” said Leora Lanz, assistant dean of academic affairs at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration. “This, to me, is just another creative offering to provide for the leisure experience. It’s about creating memorable experiences.”
Trainspotting
The Eastern & Oriental Express. BELMOND
Just because there’s a market for something like this doesn’t mean you should expect Belmond or Accor to suddenly start running luxury trains along the Northeast Corridor or across the U.S. Instead, this is likely to remain a geographically limited travel sector rooted in places that historically had ties to luxury train travel like Europe and select parts of Asia.
That can also mean using historic train routes that take longer to traverse in order to give riders a more scenic route — and enough time to make it seem like they are getting bang for their buck.
“If you look at the railroad system, the modern one, for the most part, has been designed for efficiency. Instead of going up the mountain, they build a tunnel. Now, the more historical ones go through windy paths and up mountains and pass by lakes. They have a totally different scenery,” Graf said. “You need these ingredients to make it worth more money. I would look at where historically these were built because they are the ones that would offer the ingredients for the ultra-luxury train experience.”
Sorry, Northeast Regional. Maybe in a few hundred years you’ll get your Venice-Simplon Orient Express moment.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
