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Vulnerable groups remain a concern after debt-to-income drop
September 17, 2020, 12:37 p.m. ·4 min read
The drop in the debt-to-disposable income ratio reported by Statistics Canada may not paint an accurate picture of the country's debt profile. The ratio fell from 175.4 per cent to 158.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, though one economist says government supports coming to an end could present risks to groups that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Josh Nye, a senior economist at RBC, says the debt-to-disposable income ratio, while a popular barometer to determine household debt in the country, is not his favourite metric to use. Nye says that in this case, the shift in the second quarter was less about Canadians paying down their debt and had more to do with a jump in disposable income from government supports during a shock to the labour market.
"The government income support programs - particularly the Canada Emergency Response Benefit - more than made up for lost wage income in the second quarter," Nye told Yahoo Finance Canada, "So, you have an 11 per cent increase in disposable income and that pushed that debt-to-income ratio sharply lower."
Nye remains optimistic about the continued government supports during the recovery announced in late August, including the Canada Recovery Benefit that offers $400 to the self-employed who are not eligible for employment insurance, the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit. "The extension of those benefits has reduced our concerns about a debt cliff coming in the fall."
Nye added that the current low interest rate environment means there's less of an incentive to pay down debt moving forward. High household debt typically brings a concern that income allocated to servicing this debt could put a drag on economic consumption – a drag that could prolong the recovery as many businesses find their footing again. A Bank of Canada report in June found that even before the pandemic, household consumption was slowing as consumers became more cautious, "perhaps because of elevated debt levels and a somewhat less robust economy."
"Are they going to use that to pay down their debt? Are they going to just save it and invest it?" Josh Nye, senior economist, RBC
Many Canadians who kept their jobs managed to accumulate 'forced savings' once they began working from home, curbing regular expenses like travel, eating out, and dry-cleaning. Nye says their behaviour could range from spending in a bout of pent-up demand or continuing to save their income instead.
"For those people, the question is: are they going to use that to pay down their debt? Are they going to just save it and invest it? Or will they eventually spend it and [we'll] get some pent-up demand… that could be a nice boost for demand."
However, Nye also pointed out that the pandemic hasn't impacted all Canadians equally. In his report for RBC, he described how residents of oil-producing provinces and younger households were at a greater risk of insolvency. The report explained that Alberta households had a higher average debt-to-income ratio at 208 per cent compared with the 182 per cent for the rest of Canada in 2018. For Millennials, the report described how rising house prices prompted this cohort to take on more debt to get a foothold in the real estate market. Canadians aged 25 to 34 held an average debt-to-income ratio of 216 per cent, being 1.7 times that of Generation X and 2.7 times the ratio of Baby Boomers when they were the same age.
Nye explained that the pandemic job losses have not impacted everyone equally, pointing to the many Canadians who have had to rely on income supports like the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during the crisis. "Generally, it does look like some households are going to have a bit more difficulty keeping up with their debt payments over the next year as those benefits become less generous and deferrals expire,"
Scott Terrio, manager of consumer insolvency at the Ontario debt relief firm Hoyes, Michalos & Associates, echoed this concern. "The service jobs tend to be younger people, so they've had a hard time," Terrio told Yahoo Finance Canada, adding that many are moving apartments to find cheaper housing amidst softening rent rates.
"Banks are not your friend." Scott Terrio, Hoyes, Michalos & Associates
In a return to normalcy, Terrio believes that the 'forced savers' who kept their jobs during the pandemic may be more inclined to spend. However, there remain some vulnerabilities on the debt horizon as courts re-open and banks resume collection activities. "I think you're going to see collection activity ramp way up, the banks are going to be out for blood."
The end of deferrals and supports could mean added pressure for those carrying debt into the recovery phase of this crisis.
"I just think people need to understand that banks are ruthless, banks are not your friend," Terrio said, "It is a business transaction and you will find out exactly how much your bank loves you soon."
WASHINGTON — The Latest on Joe Biden's presidential inauguration (all times local): 2:35 p.m. President Joe Biden's team has started moving into the White House. The building began humming again with activity a few hours after Biden's inauguration Wednesday as staff for the new president started moving into their offices, unpacking belongings and getting the badges that grant them easy access to the property. New press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that she was "in the building and ready to get to work." Psaki has scheduled the new administration's first White House press briefing for later Wednesday. Biden plans to sign a flurry of executive orders, some overturning actions by former President Donald Trump, once he gets to the Oval Office. The White House had been largely emptied out of staff after Trump flew to Florida on Wednesday morning, skipping his successor's swearing-in. ___ HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT JOE BIDEN'S INAUGURATION AS THE 46TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Joe Biden took the oath of office at noon Wednesday to become the 46th president of the United States. He takes charge in a deeply divided nation, inheriting a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. Read more: — Biden's first act: Orders on pandemic, climate, immigration — Biden charts new US direction, promises many Trump reversals — Vice-President Harris: A new chapter opens in US politics — Analysis: For Biden, chance to turn crisis into opportunity — Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of others — Trump frees former aides from ethics pledge, lobbying ban ___ HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON: 2:15 p.m. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris have taken part in the traditional inaugural military tradition of "Pass in Review." Biden, Harris and their spouses stood Wednesday on the East Front steps of the U.S. Capitol to observe the procession of ceremonial military regiments. Several groupings passed by the steps, with military members saluting the newly minted president and musicians playing traditional patriotic tunes. The inaugural parade that typically follows was to be replaced by a virtual parade later in the day because of concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. Following the procession, the couples climbed into vehicles to travel to Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They were to be joined by the former presidents who attended the earlier inaugural ceremony. ___ 1:50 p.m. Congressional leaders have presented President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris with a variety of gifts, including a pair of flags flown over the U.S. Capitol during the inauguration. The presentations to the officials and their respective spouses happened Wednesday in lieu of a congressional luncheon that typically follows the inauguration ceremony. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Lenox had crafted a pair of commemorative vases for Biden and Harris, each weighing 32 pounds (14.5 kilograms). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell gifted them with a pair of U.S. flags that were flown over the Capitol during the inauguration. McConnell noted that both Biden and Harris served in the Senate and "skipped the House altogether." House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer presented photos from Wednesday's ceremony. Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri noted that the Smithsonian had loaned a painting titled "Landscape with Rainbow" by a notable Black painter from around the time of the Civil War. ___ 1:40 p.m. Vice-President Kamala Harris has now taken on a role that would have typically been performed by the outgoing president. Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, stood on the U.S. Capitol steps Wednesday to bid farewell to her predecessor, former Vice-President Mike Pence, and his wife, Karen. The two couples stood and chatted for a few moments, even laughing, on the steps before the Pences got into a vehicle and were driven away. President Donald Trump typically would have performed the sendoff for his second-in-command but opted to skip Wednesday's inaugural festivities. Trump and his wife, Melania, went straight from the White House to Joint Base Andrews earlier Wednesday. He gave a campaign-style farewell speech before boarding Air Force One for a final time as president and travelling to his home in Florida. Pence opted not to attend that event, instead attending Biden's inauguration. ___ 12:50 p.m. Calm prevailed outside heavily fortified state capitol buildings across the U.S. as Joe Biden was sworn in as president. The FBI had warned of the possibility for armed demonstrations leading up to the inauguration after President Donald Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed the election was stolen from him. Fewer than a half-dozen demonstrators showed up outside the capitols in Concord, New Hampshire, and Lansing, Michigan. A lone protester wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat stood outside a chain-link fence surrounding the California Capitol in Sacramento, as dozens of police officers and National Guard troops guarded every entrance. Three protesters were outside the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln, one waving a flag that read "Biden is not the president." Dump trucks, prison buses and other government vehicles were used to barricade streets around the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, though no protesters were there. Michigan lawmakers cancelled a session scheduled for Wednesday out of caution. But in Wisconsin, legislators planned to move ahead with a committee hearing that was to be open to the public. ___ 12:45 p.m. The official swearing-in ceremony for President Joe Biden have concluded, but more events are planned throughout the day. Biden and first lady Jill Biden departed the platform at the U.S. Capitol following a ceremony that included Biden taking the oath Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States. Vice-President Kamala Harris also took her oath of office, becoming the nation's first female vice-president. The day included musical performances from Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks. Celebrated poet Amanda Gorman read a piece noting that, "while democracy can be permanently delayed, it can never be permanently denied." Following his departure from the platform, Biden was expected to sign paperwork in the President's Room within the U.S. Capitol. Afterward, he reviews troops outside the Capitol before departing and travelling to Arlington National Cemetery for a ceremony with former presidents in attendance. Later Wednesday, Biden is expected to make his first official arrival at the White House as president before a virtual inaugural parade. ___ 12:40 p.m. Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant as she called out to the world "even as we grieved, we grew." Gorman is 22, by far the youngest inaugural poet since Robert Frost read for John F. Kennedy in 1961. She quoted biblical scripture and echoed the oratory of Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. among others as she recited her poem at President Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. She referred to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, an event that she said helped inspire her to finish her poem, "The Hill We Climb." ___ 12:30 p.m. Garth Brooks has sung a gospel-tinged and beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace" at President Joe Biden's inauguration. The country superstar took off his black cowboy hat and kept his eyes closed for much of the powerful song, performing it a capella and without strain. He offered a few dazzling smiles as the sun broke through the crowd and asked the audience to sing a verse with him. He said, "Not just the people here, but the people at home, to work as one united." After it was over, Brooks shook hands with Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and former Vice-President Mike Pence. Brooks performed during the inaugural celebration of President Barack Obama in 2009. He turned down a chance to play for President Donald Trump in 2017, citing a scheduling conflict. ___ 12:20 p.m. More than a hundred people stood in the cold waiting to get through a security checkpoint to reach Pennsylvania Avenue, where they hoped to catch a glimpse of the presidential procession. People watched the inauguration ceremony on their phones Wednesday, cheering as Vice-President Kamala Harris, then President Joe Biden took the oath. "I feel so hopeful, so thankful," said Karen Jennings Crooms, a D.C. resident waiting in line with her husband. "It makes us sad that this is where we are but hopeful that democracy will win out in the end. That's what I'm focusing on." Her husband, Vernal Crooms, who attended Howard University at the same time as Harris but didn't know her, said he was happy to see the Donald Trump era end. He said, "We've turned the page. Light prevailed and the lie didn't last." ___ 12:10 p.m. President Joe Biden is calling on Americans to overcome their divisions, declaring in his first address in office that "without unity, there is no peace." Biden also pledged during his inaugural address Wednesday that he would be honest with the country as it continues to confront difficulties, saying that leaders have an obligation "to defend the truth and defeat the lies." He asked even those who did not vote for him to give him a chance. He said, "Hear me out as we move forward." As he did frequently during the campaign, Biden pledged that he will be a "president for all Americans" and will "fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did." He added, "We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue." ___ Noon President Joe Biden says "democracy has prevailed" in a country reeling amid a pandemic and a violent melee two weeks ago at the U.S. Capitol. In his first remarks as president, Biden said Wednesday that his swearing-in marks a day of "history and hope." Biden said in his inaugural address that the country has "learned again that democracy is precious." He added, "The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer." Biden also thanked his predecessors from both parties for attending Wednesday's ceremonies. Former Vice-President Mike Pence was also in attendance, while former President Donald Trump skipped the festivities and headed to Florida earlier in the day. ___ 11:50 a.m. Joe Biden has officially become the 46th president of the United States. Biden took the oath of office just before noon Wednesday during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. The presidential oath was administered by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Biden was sworn in using a Bible that has been in his family since 1893 and was used during his swearing-in as vice-president in 2009 and 2013. The 5-inch thick Bible, which could be seen on a table next to Biden's chair on the dais, has a Celtic cross on its cover and was also used each time he was sworn- n as a U.S. senator. Biden's late son, Beau, also used the Bible for his own swearing-in ceremony as attorney general of Delaware and helped carry the Bible to his father's 2013 ceremony. ___ 11:45 a.m. Kamala Harris has been sworn in as the nation's first female vice-president. The former U.S. senator from California is also the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and becomes the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government. She was sworn in Wednesday by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court. Vice-President Mike Pence, standing in for President Donald Trump, was sitting nearby as Lady Gaga sang the national anthem accompanied by the U.S. Marine Corps band. ___ 11:43 a.m. Lady Gaga belted out the national anthem in a very Lady Gaga way — full of fashion and passion. The Grammy winner wore a large dove pin and a large red sculpted skirt as she sang into a gold microphone, delivering an emotional rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." As she left the podium, she spoke with President-elect Joe Biden and glanced at former President Barack Obama. On Twitter, she was given great marks, especially by many who joked that her skirt was automatically socially distancing. Lady Gaga campaigned in November with Biden in Pennsylvania, and the two worked together the last time he was in the White House to combat sexual assault on college campuses. ___ 11:40 a.m. The White House says President Donald Trump has pardoned Al Pirro, the ex-husband of Fox News Channel host and Trump ally Jeanine Pirro. The pardon for Al Pirro is in addition to the 143 pardons and sentence commutations that Trump announced earlier Wednesday. Pirro's pardon was announced just after Trump landed in Florida after leaving the White House and before Joe Biden was inaugurated as the nation's 46th president. Jeanine Pirro hosts Fox News Channel's "Justice with Judge Jeanine." Al Pirro was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion charges and sentenced to more than two years in prison in 2000. ___ 11:35 a.m. President Joe Biden has chosen career diplomat Daniel Smith to serve as acting secretary of state until his pick for top diplomat, Antony Blinken, is confirmed by the Senate. Smith currently runs the Foreign Service Institute that trains U.S. diplomats and is a former ambassador to Greece. Current and incoming U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday of his temporary appointment, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement. Biden is set to be sworn in at noon as the 46th president of the United States. Blinken had a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, and his confirmation is not expected to face obstacles. He would succeed President Donald Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. — By AP writer Matthew Lee ___ 11:20 a.m. Joe Biden's presidential inauguration ceremony has begun. Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday, becoming the 46th president of the United States. The Democrat is preparing to take the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherit crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. History will be made at Biden's side, as Kamala Harris becomes the first woman to be vice-president. The ceremony in which presidential power is transferred is a hallowed American democratic tradition. And this time it serves as a jarring reminder of the challenges Biden faces: The inauguration unfolds at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago, encircled by security forces. It's devoid of crowds because of the threat of the coronavirus pandemic. Flouting tradition, Donald Trump departed Washington on Wednesday morning ahead of the inauguration rather than accompany his successor to the Capitol. Former Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are attending. The other living former president, 96-year-old Jimmy Carter, previously announced he would not attend. ___ 11:10 a.m. Three Supreme Court justices are absent from President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, citing health risks from the coronavirus pandemic. Justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito did not join the others on the west front of the Capitol Wednesday. Breyer is 82, the oldest member of the court. Thomas is 72 and Alito is 70. Supreme Court spokesperson Kathy Arberg says some members of the court "elected not to attend the inauguration ceremony in light of the public health risks posed by the COVID pandemic." The justices have begun receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, but it is not clear if they all have received both doses. Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the other appointees of President Donald Trump, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were in attendance Wednesday, along with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Roberts was to swear in Biden, while Sotomayor was giving the oath of office to Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. ___ 11:05 a.m. Vice-President Mike Pence has arrived at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, were announced at inaugural festivities at the U.S. Capitol about one hour ahead of Biden's expected swearing-in ceremony. Pence is representing the outgoing Trump administration at Biden's inaugural. President Donald Trump is skipping the festivities, departing Washington earlier in the day for the last time as sitting president. Aboard Air Force One a final time, Trump landed in West Palm Beach, Florida, just before Pence's arrival at the inaugural platform. During remarks before his departure, Trump hinted at a comeback despite a legacy of chaos, tumult and bitter divisions in the country he led for four years, telling supporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland "We will be back in some form." ___ 11:05 a.m. A Capitol police officer hailed as a hero for his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol is accompanying Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris at the inauguration of Harris and President-elect Joe Biden. Officer Eugene Goodman confronted the insurrectionists and led them away from Senate chambers moments after Vice-President Mike Pence was escorted from the Senate chamber as the rioters stormed the Capitol. Goodman is a Black man and was facing an overwhelmingly white mob. He is the only officer seen for a full minute on widely circulated footage captured by a news reporter. Goodman stands in front of the rioters and walks backward as the group follows him to a second-floor hallway, where other officers finally assist him. A police spokeswoman says Goodman's plainclothes assignment to accompany Harris "is a ceremonial role.? ___ 11 a.m. Former Republican leaders and lawmakers are among those gathering at the Capitol for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan said he was attending the Wednesday ceremony to "honour the process" after a year that he said tested the nation's institutions. He said he was there "out of respect for the peaceful transfer of power." Former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona says it's "too bad" that outgoing President Donald Trump did not attend for "that handoff that the world can see." Flake is a Trump critic. He says he hopes it's a "moment of renewal" for the nation. He says he thinks "Americans will sleep easier knowing that we have a more steady hand in the White House." ___ 10:50 a.m. President Donald Trump has arrived in Florida after leaving the White House for the final time as president. Trump said farewell to Washington early Wednesday, leaving before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Trump's plane flew low along the coast as Biden's inauguration played on TV on Fox News Channel. Trump's family was on the plane with him. He spent some of the flight meeting with flight staff, who went up to say goodbye. Trump has hinted about a comeback despite a legacy of chaos, tumult and bitter divisions in the country he led for four years. Trump spoke to supporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where he walked across a red carpet and boarded Air Force One to head to Florida. He said: "So just a goodbye. We love you." And the 45th president added, "We will be back in some form." Trump departs office as the only president ever impeached twice, and with millions more out of work than when he was sworn in and 400,000 dead from the coronavirus. ___ 10:35 a.m. President-elect Joe Biden has arrived at the U.S. Capitol ahead of his inauguration as the United States' 46th president. Biden and his wife, Jill, arrived at the complex on Wednesday morning, about 90 minutes before his noon swearing-in ceremony. They were accompanied by Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, and were greeted by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The president-elect's motorcade wound its way through a mostly deserted Washington following a morning church service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Streets that would typically be lined with thousands of inaugural onlookers were ringed instead with a massive security presence to include military vehicles and armed troops. About 25,000 National Guard members have been dispatched to Washington following the violent melee at the U.S. Capitol two weeks ago. Biden paused to wave from the Capitol steps before entering the building. ___ 10:25 a.m. All of the former U.S. presidents attending President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration have arrived at the U.S. Capitol. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, were first to arrive at the complex on Wednesday morning, several hours before Biden's swearing-in ceremony. Barack and Michelle Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton followed shortly thereafter, with each couple arriving in separate motorcades. The other living former president, 96-year-old Jimmy Carter, previously announced he would not attend Biden's inauguration. Carter and his wife, 93-year-old Rosalynn Carter, have largely spent the coronavirus pandemic at their home in Plains, Georgia. Carter had been the first former president to confirm that he was attending Donald Trump's inaugural in 2017. Trump and first lady Melania Trump departed Washington earlier Wednesday, skipping the Biden inaugural festivities and heading straight to their home in Florida. Trump is the first president since Andrew Johnson not to attend the inauguration of his successor. The Associated Press
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 21 (ANI): The response from Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers across Telangana for the construction of the Ram Mandir on the first day of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan has been much more than expected, said VHP State Secretary Bandari Ramesh on Wednesday, adding that donations for the cause ranged from Rs 10 to Rs 1 crore.
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri (Telangana) [India] Jan 21 (ANI): Four people have been arrested in Telangana's Bhongir for allegedly trafficking 26 children from six states for labour work, police said.
New Mexico State relocated to Arizona in an attempt to play a basketball season. Restrictions in the Aggies' home state made it impossible for them to even practice there, so they packed up and moved into a Phoenix resort. Hamstrung by COVID-19 issues inside and out of the program, New Mexico State has played three games so far this season - only one since Dec. 1.
As recently as Sunday, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick decried 'town hall militants and woke worthies'.
'An inspiration to us all': Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem stirs hope and aweAmanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in US history, delivered a poem that recalled the Capitol riots and looked to the future * Follow inauguration news live
WASHINGTON — In his final remarks as president, Donald Trump tried to take credit for accomplishments of his predecessor and even those to come under President Joe Biden. Falsehoods suffused his farewell remarks Wednesday morning and the night before, though he was spot on with this: "We were not a regular administration." As well, in noting Americans were "horrified" by the storming of the Capitol this month, he brushed past the encouragement he had given to the mob in advance — by falsely claiming widespread voting fraud — and his praise of the attackers as "very special" people while they were still ransacking the seat of power. "There is truth and there are lies — lies told for power and for profit," Biden said after he took the helm as president. "Each of us has a duty and a responsibility as citizens, as Americans and especially as leaders ... to defend the truth and defeat the lies." A look at some of Trump's statements to well-wishers at Joint Base Andrews en route to Florida on Wednesday and in his videotaped address Tuesday: COVID-19 TRUMP, boasting of his accomplishments for the U.S.: "Again, we put it in a position like it's never been before, despite the worst plague to hit since I'd guess you say 1917, over a 100 years ago." — remarks Wednesday before leaving Washington. THE FACTS: He got the year wrong for the Spanish flu that hit in 1918 and completely ignored the role his handling of the coronavirus pandemic played in the surging infections and deaths that beset the nation. The U.S. in fact remains in a perilous position when it comes to COVID-19, surpassing 400,000 deaths this week. The Spanish flu pandemic Trump referred to spread from early 1918 to late 1920. After COVID-19 first appeared in the U.S., Trump repeatedly dismissed the virus as less of a danger than the common flu and something that would disappear soon enough. He ignored the advice of government public health officials that people should wear masks, and mocked Biden for doing so. Although his administration shepherded the delivery of two highly successful vaccines, getting shots into the arms of Americans has been frustratingly slow with about 50% of the doses delivered to states actually administered. That followed a debacle with coronavirus testing last year. As infections and deaths grew, Trump, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 himself, falsely asserted that the nation was "rounding the turn" on the virus and he continued to shun wearing a mask and to hold campaign rallies at which face masks were not required. The U.S. has now surged past 24.2 million infections. Biden planned on his first day in office to sign orders putting in place a mask mandate on federal property and creating a White House office to co-ordinate the national response to the virus. ___ TRUMP: "We got the vaccine developed in nine months instead of nine years or five years or 10 years, a long time. It was supposed to take a long time. ... We have two out, we have another one coming almost immediately." — remarks Wednesday. TRUMP: "Another administration would have taken three, four, five, maybe even up to 10 years to develop a vaccine. We did in nine months." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: Actually, the administration didn't develop any vaccines. Pharmaceutical companies did. And one of the two U.S. companies that have come out with vaccines now in use did not take development money from the government. Trump's contention that a vaccine would have taken years under a different administration stretches credulity. COVID-19 vaccines were indeed remarkably fast, but other countries have been developing them, too. A vaccine for the coronavirus is not a singular achievement of the United States, much less the Trump administration. U.S. drugmaker Pfizer developed its vaccine in partnership with Germany's BioNTech, eschewing federal money for development, though benefitting from an advance commitment from Washington to buy large quantities if the vaccine succeeded. A vaccine by Moderna, from the U.S., is also in widespread use. But Britain's AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is being administered in several countries, and vaccines from China and Russia are also in limited use. More than a dozen potential vaccines are in late stages of testing worldwide. ___ TRUMP: "We passed VA Choice." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: No, he did not get the Choice program passed. President Barack Obama did. Trump expanded it. The program allows veterans to get medical care outside the Veterans Affairs system under certain conditions. Trump has tried to take credit for Obama's achievement scores of times. ___ TAXES TRUMP: "We also got tax cuts, the largest tax cut and reform in the history of our country by far." — remarks Wednesday. TRUMP: "We passed the largest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: His tax cuts are not close to the biggest in U.S. history. It's a $1.5 trillion tax cut over 10 years. As a share of the total economy, a tax cut of that size ranks 12th, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. President Ronald Reagan's 1981 cut is the biggest, followed by the 1945 rollback of taxes that had financed World War II. Post-Reagan tax cuts also stand among the historically significant: President George W. Bush's cuts in the early 2000s and Obama's renewal of them a decade later. ___ ECONOMY TRUMP: "We have the greatest economy in the world." — remarks Wednesday. TRUMP: "We also built the greatest economy in the history of the world." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: No, the numbers show it wasn't the greatest in U.S. history. And he is the first president since Herbert Hoover in the Depression to leave office with fewer jobs than when he started. Did the U.S. have the most jobs on record before the pandemic? Sure, the population had grown. The 3.5% unemployment rate before the recession was at a half-century low, but the percentage of people working or searching for jobs was still below a 2000 peak. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer looked at Trump's economic growth record. Growth under Trump averaged 2.48% annually before the pandemic, only slightly better than the 2.41% gains achieved during Obama's second term. By contrast, the economic expansion that began in 1982 during Reagan's presidency averaged 4.2% a year. ___ TRUMP, on the economy after the pandemic: "It's a rocket ship up." — remarks Wednesday. THE FACTS: Not so. There's been no dramatic, V-shaped economic recovery under Trump. Employers cut jobs during his final December in office. But economists say the additional aid approved in December and the prospect of more from Biden could cause the strongest growth this year in more than two decades. ___ TRUMP: "We reignited America's job creation and achieved record-low unemployment for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, women — almost everyone." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: Not an ignition. Job creation actually slowed in 2017, Trump's first year in office, to about 2 million, compared with nearly 2.5 million in 2016, Obama's last year in office. The low unemployment rates refer to a pre-pandemic economy that is no more. The pandemic has cost the U.S. economy 10 million jobs and has made Trump the first president since Hoover to oversee a net loss of jobs. The U.S. has about 2.8 million fewer jobs now than when Trump was inaugurated, and lost 140,000 just in December. And the job losses have fallen disproportionately on Black Americans, Hispanics and women. ___ TRUMP: "We rebuilt the American manufacturing base, opened up thousands of new factories, and brought back the beautiful phrase Made in the USA." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: That's a stretch. There are now 60,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in the U.S. than when Trump took office. Despite gains before the pandemic, the manufacturing base had not exactly been "rebuilt." Before the coronavirus, nearly 500,000 manufacturing jobs were added under Trump, somewhat better than the nearly 400,000 gained during Obama's second term. Still, even before the pandemic, the U.S. had 4.3 million fewer factory jobs than it did in 2001, the year China joined the World Trade Organization and a flood of cheaper imports from that country entered the U.S. ___ CAPITOL INSURRECTION TRUMP: "All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: That may sum up the reaction of most Americans but it ignores his own part in stirring the anger of his supporters before they staged the violent melee. For months, Trump falsely claimed the November election was stolen, then invited supporters to Washington and sent them off to the Capitol with the exhortation to "fight like hell." With the uprising still underway and the velocity of the attack apparent from video and reports from the scene, Trump released a video telling them "to go home now" while repeating "this was a fraudulent election" and adding: "We love you. You're very special." The House impeached Trump, accusing him of inciting an insurrection. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a Trump political ally for four years, said Tuesday the Trump supporters were "fed lies" and "provoked by the president and other powerful people." ___ MILITARY TRUMP: "We rebuilt the United States military." — remarks Wednesday. THE FACTS: That's an exaggeration. It's true that his administration accelerated a sharp buildup in defence spending, including a respite from what the U.S. military considered to be crippling spending limits under budget sequestration. But a number of new Pentagon weapons programs, such as the F-35 fighter jet, were started years before the Trump administration. And it will take years for freshly ordered tanks, planes and other weapons to be built, delivered and put to use. The Air Force's Minuteman 3 missiles, a key part of the U.S. nuclear force, for instance, have been operating since the early 1970s and the modernization was begun under the Obama administration. They are due to be replaced with a new version, but not until later this decade. ___ TRUMP: "We obliterated the ISIS caliphate." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: His suggestion of a 100% defeat is misleading as the Islamic State group still poses a threat. IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017, then lost the last of its land holdings in Syria in March 2019, marking the end of the extremists' self-declared caliphate. Still, extremist sleeper cells have continued to launch attacks in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks and are believed to be responsible for targeted killings against local officials and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The continued attacks are a sign that the militant group is taking advantage of governments otherwise focused on the pandemic and the ensuing slide into economic chaos. The virus is compounding longtime concerns among security and U.N. experts that the group will stage a comeback. ___ CHINA TRUMP: "We imposed historic and monumental tariffs on China. ... Our trade relationship was rapidly changing, billions and billions of dollars were pouring into the U.S., but the virus forced us to go in a different direction." — address Tuesday. THE FACTS: That's a familiar assertion, false to the core. It's false to suggest the U.S. never collected tariffs on Chinese goods before he took action. Tariffs on Chinese goods are simply higher in some cases than they were before. It's also wrong to suggest that the tariffs are being paid by China. Tariff money coming into the government's coffers is mainly from U.S. businesses and consumers, not from China. Tariffs are primarily if not entirely a tax paid domestically. ___ Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. ___ Find AP Fact Checks at http://apnews.com/APFactCheck Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck Hope Yen, Christopher Rugaber And Calvin Woodward, The Associated Press
Associa Cares Provides Support to Hundreds of Families and Special COVID-19 Initiatives in 2020
Dallas, TX, Jan. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa, the industry's largest community management company, and its national nonprofit organization, Associa Cares, provided support to 198 families in 2020 and distributed $327,400 in relief funds. Launched in 2007, Associa Cares is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created to assist families and communities in crisis as a result of natural and man-made disasters. Through donations raised from Associa employees and at fundraising events across the country, Associa Cares is able to provide direct financial relief to those affected by these types of tragedies. Since its inception, Associa Cares has provided over $4 million in relief assistance to more than 3,000 families. In 2020, Associa offered special grants to local organizations serving thousands affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts, distributing $127,900 in COVID-19 relief funds. Community-based grants were issued to local organizations serving at-risk groups, including financial support to food pantries, funds to support meal delivery to at-risk individuals, and support for lunch programs for kids affected by school closings. "Associa Cares continued our commitment to providing crucial financial assistance to families who were overcoming challenging, unforeseen circumstances in 2020, with the generous help of our employees, business partners, and other donors," stated Andrew Fortin, Associa Cares president. "Especially over the last year, we are proud to build upon the legacy of Associa Cares by stepping up to provide financial support and desperately needed hope to families that need it most. We look forward to continuing this mission into 2021 and beyond." Associa Cares funds are distributed to organizations and families of Associa-managed and non-Associa managed communities. To donate to Associa Cares or apply for assistance, please visit our website at http://www.associacares.org or click here to like us on Facebook. Associa Cares is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created to assist families and communities in crisis as a result of natural and man-made disasters. Through donations raised from Associa employees and at fundraising events across the country, Associa Cares is able to provide necessary goods and services to the families affected by these types of tragedies. With more than 200 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com. Stay Connected: Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/associa Subscribe to the Blog: https://hub.associaonline.com/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/associa Join us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/associa Attachment Associa Cares Logo CONTACT: Ashley Cantwell Associa 214-272-4107 acantwell@associaonline.com
Florida is back over 10,000 COVID cases as the Miami-Dade County total passes 350,000
After two days in which the state reported fewer than 10,000 cases, Florida's Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed 11,914 additional cases of COVID-19. The bump brings the state's known total to 1,601,011. Also, 142 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 24,578.
7 sales that will up your home organization game for less
Home organization is made easy with these sales on space savers at The Home Depot, Target, Wayfair and more—see the details.
FOMO CORP.'S PURGE VIRUS PARTNERS WITH AGILE TECHNOLOGIES GROUP TO FIGHT COVID-19
Chicago, IL, Jan. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOMO CORP. (US OTC: ETFM) is pleased to announce that a Strategic Alignment Agreement has been signed between its wholly owned subsidiary, Purge Virus, LLC (PV) and AGILE Technologies Group, LLC (AGILE), a provider of highly accurate, FDA approved point-of-care rapid COVID-19 testing, technology-based screening, contact tracing, and COVID-19 safety solutions. A description of AGILE's current offerings is provided at http://www.4agiletech.com/, and PV's germicidal disinfection technology offerings are provided here: https://purgevirus.com/. The Agreement between PV and AGILE, effective for 2021, includes reciprocal business referrals with AGILE focusing on an integrated solution for on-site rapid COVID-19 testing and disinfection technology, and PV focusing on supplying the most appropriate disinfection technology to AGILE's clients. AGILE has proven leadership in this new area of COVID-19 prevention with significant sales leadership, which has led to the purchase of PV technologies such as disinfection devices with combinations of ultraviolet, carbon filtration, and HEPA filtration as well as other devices including combinations of ultraviolet and photoplasma. Clients that have benefitted from the AGILE integrated solution with the PV disinfection technologies include: (a prominent Native American tribe spanning Arizona and New Mexico, the City of Gary, Indiana, television production projects, movie production, professional athlete weddings, churches, sound stages, legislative showcase, and testing events coordinated with government officials). One client said "As we have utilized AGILE Technologies for the safety and prevention of this virus for our employees and guests, we have developed a respect for the integrated innovation that provides a comfortable ecosystem of prevention. These innovations and combinations have allowed us to work with assurance for safety." Here is a summary of some of the most significant AGILE COVID-19 testing events: City of Gary, Indiana: AGILE began testing city employees to help increase the quality and availability of municipal services and giving the city the data and controls to help manage the city's workforce,AGILE has been asked to expand testing to include all 76,000 residents,AGILE had been asked to begin test for the Gary Housing Authority, Gary Public Transportation and critically needed warming centers during winter months. Navajo Nation (under contract with the Office of the Nation's Controller): AGILE instituted a new, double rapid test methodology ,With the PV team, the safety solution includes HVAC-installed germicidal ultraviolet-C technology to eliminate coronavirus in the first six 30,000 square foot leadership and administration buildings for the Navajo Nation,Testing personnel wore Bipolar Ionization devices for a physical layer of protection ,The controller stated in a leadership meeting, "This is the happiest that I have seen employees in months. They feel safer now than ever during the pandemic. And, if we become aware that someone has been exposed, we know that AGILE can test everyone and identify anyone who should not be in the building until after an isolation period." High-profile wedding event of NBA player: 240 people tested including hotel staff, wedding/reception staff, vendors, wedding party and guests, AGILE was able to screen and prevent 27 infected individuals from attending the event with testing and screening,Three weeks after the wedding, the bride and groom reported that there were no reports of anyone contracting the disease. State Legislature and local municipal official COVID-19 testing event in an area with unconfirmed, high positivity rate: With a two-day notice, AGILE tested 100 people, identified 20 with active COVID-19 infection and was able to advise them to isolate to protect families, co-workers, and others. Sound Stage for a Christmas Show with a Grammy award winning entertainer: The entire production had been shut down twice for five days. AGILE assumed the COVID-19 safety scope of work and empowered the production team to continue production and filming to complete the television show with no additional breakages in production by identifying all infected actors, dancers, production staff, musicians, and other. Chicago CSO Sports Multiplex (80,000 square foot, multi-use facility): AGILE provided testing and air purification for over 500 basketball tournaments' participants, volleyball and other sports skills camps and for individual personal trainers and all their clients. AGILE is modifying its website, sales/marketing materials and other information to give increased exposure to the air purification solutions offered by PV including sales directly from the PV website as many inquiries have been received about individual and business sales of the PV portable air purification systems. The combined work of AGILE and PV has helped to slow and stop potential super-spreader events, and the ongoing work is setting a new precedent for testing, COVID-19 screening and indoor air safety. "We see tremendous potential in working with Purge Virus on accounts in the U.S. and around the world, given the number of areas that are seeing surges in COVID-19 and the demand for rapid testing and indoor air disinfection," said Roderick A. Martin, Chief Managing Partner, AGILE Technologies Group, LLC. "AGILE expands the number of potential customers for our offerings with the addition of rapid testing, technology-based screening and contact tracing and reinforces our mission to provide a 'One-Stop-Shop' for businesses and individuals who seek protection from COVID-19 and future viruses. Our team has been impressed with AGILE's ability to engage clients that see the value of their integrated solution that provides rapid-testing, contact tracing, and our disinfection technologies," said Charles Szoradi, CEO of Purge Virus, LLC. About FOMO CORP. FOMO CORP., p/k/a 2050 Motors, Inc., is a publicly traded company focused on business incubation and acceleration. The Company invests in and advises emerging companies aligned with a growth mandate. FOMO is developing direct investment and affiliations - majority- and minority-owned as well as in joint venture formats - that afford emerging companies access to the public markets for expansion capital as well as spin-out options to become their own stand-alone public companies. Forward Looking Statements: Statements in this press release about our future expectations, including without limitation, the likelihood that FOMO CORP. will be able to meet minimum sales expectations, be successful and profitable in the market, bring significant value to FOMO CORP.'s stockholders, and leverage capital markets to execute its growth strategy, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and our actual results could differ materially from expected results. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this statement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. FOMO's business strategy described in this press release is subject to innumerable risks, most significantly, whether the Company is successful in securing adequate financing. No information in this press release should be construed in any form shape or manner as an indication of the Company's future revenues, financial condition, or stock price. Contact: Wayman Baker, PhDExec VP Corporate Development and Investor RelationsFOMO CORP.(630) 286-9560 IR@fomoworldwide.com
For Conor McGregor, the best may be yet to come
McGregor is a young 32 in fighting terms, he's got the resources to hire the best coaches, he has a brilliant mind for the game and he has the big-name opponents available.
Frustration is mounting from Europe to North America over reduced shipments of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine while the U.S. pharmaceutical company increases production capacity at its Belgian plant. The leader of Canada's most populous province said Pfizer's chief executive should be chased "with a firecracker." A top European Union official icily invoked the principle of "pacta sunt servanda," a Latin phrase meaning "agreements must be kept."
Holidaymakers in 2021 must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Saga says.
CALGARY — Increasingly uncomfortable with a shrinking timeline, the world governing body of skiing halted Calgary's pursuit of the world freestyle and snowboard championships next month. Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard were working feverishly on plans to host the event Feb. 24 to March 14 at Canada Olympic Park, with the first of roughly 500 athletes due to arrive Feb. 15. Calgary would have been stand-in host city. China was the original site of the 2021 championships doubling as test events for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The logistics of holding an international, multi-disciplinary snow-sport championship amid the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately caused China to give up on it. Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard were in fruitful discussions with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services, but the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) could no longer tolerate the uncertainty with the clock ticking down, said Freestyle Canada chief executive officer Peter Judge. "There was a just an increasing discomfort from the FIS side around the duration it was taking and the uncertainty of what it might look like on the other side," he told The Canadian Press on Wednesday. "We had a good plan, but in this day and age, there's just no certainty. FIS was looking for that certainty." FIS had tentatively scheduled Calgary as world championship host with a "to be confirmed." Athletes would have quarantined upon arrival with regular testing before being able to train in cohorts. "This isn't on the province. It's not their fault," Judge said. "Alberta Health and the authorities are doing their job. Just because we're having an event, there's bigger things in play. "It's disappointing. We thought we could make it all work and get it in and make our international partners comfortable, but at the end of the day, there wasn't that comfort or confidence level." The championship would have included men's and women's freestyle and snowboard big air, halfpipe and slopestyle plus freestyle's moguls and aerials. Ski and snowboard cross and alpine snowboard weren't in the proposal because there isn't enough terrain at COP to include those events. FIS announced earlier this week that the ski and snowboard cross world championships will be held Feb. 11-13 in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, where the Canadian ski cross team is racing World Cups this week. Pandemic postponements and cancellations created an ever-changing international snow sport calendar this winter. World championships in the other freestyle and snowboard disciplines may also be broken up and held at various sites that have been able to host World Cups this season. WinSport's Canada Olympic Park still has an important role to play as a training mecca for Canada's 2022 Olympic team. Athletes who haven't been able to travel and compete elsewhere are using it as a long-term training base. Canadian snowboarders and the freestyle halfpipe and slopestyle teams were there this month before departing for the X Games in Aspen, Colo., going ahead Jan 29-31. The moguls team arrives in Calgary on Thursday before heading to Deer Valley, Utah, in February. The aerials team will eventually end up in Calgary too, Judge said. "Right now, it's about getting as many training days in as we can in February, March, April and getting that mileage in," he said. Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard will now try to bring a series of World Cup events to Calgary in December as part of Canadian athletes' preparation for the Winter Olympics. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2021. Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Up to 3,000 properties in Greater Manchester could be affected by flooding, police have said.
40 amazing Valentine's Day gifts men actually want
Wondering what to get him on February 14? These are the best Valentine's Day gifts for men of 2021, including a beef jerky heart, AirPods Pro, and Ugg slippers.


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ID.me Releases Secure Identity Verification Solution for CCPA Compliance
ID.me, a provider of online identity verification, has launched an identity proofing and authentication solution for businesses required to comply with the upcoming California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
ID.me's platform empowers businesses to streamline identity verification to comply with CCPA and reduce the risk of data breaches and hacks.
The CCPA, which takes effect Jan. 1, grants new privacy rights to California consumers.
ID.me's identity verification solution enables businesses to instantly verify the identity of consumers who submit subject rights requests (SRRs) or data subject access requests (DSARs). It integrates into existing digital workflows, privacy rights management software, and consumer-facing portals as an additional login option for customers or as a back-end identity verification solution for websites. With ID.me's portable one-time verification process, consumers only have to verify once to gain secure access across multiple sites where ID.me is integrated.
"We developed the most secure portable identity verification solution with the understanding that identity verification is the trust layer that supports every transaction between a business and consumer," said Pradheep Sampath, chief product officer at ID.me, in a statement. "While CCPA is a step in the right direction, we believe every organization should strive to make the world a more trusted place by proactively securing consumer data."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Watch the Tour all day FREE in Ambleside as big screen brings bike race to town
Visitors coming to Ambleside for the Tour of Britain cycle race will be able to watch the entire day's action FREE on a giant screen in the town centre.
Ambleside Together has arranged for live screening of the event throughout the day in the grounds of the University of Cumbria campus.
Cycling fans who want to see the racers in action on the most dramatic section, the ascent of The Struggle from Ambleside to the Kirkstone Pass, will be able to watch the subsequent action on the screen without leaving the town. After watching the racers go through, they can return to the campus grounds for the entire day's event.
The Tour is Britain's premier road cycling event and Glasgow will host the Grand Depart of the opening stage of the eight-day race on Sunday September 4. After the opening stage finishes in Dumfries and Galloway's Castle Douglas, the cyclists will head for Cumbria on Monday September 5, racing from Carlisle to Kendal.
Free entry to the event is from 9.45 with live coverage from 1pm till 4pm. The morning will include recorded footage and other cycling films.
"We were very excited to learn that the Tour was coming through the town, and thought that this would be a great way to help cycling fans enjoy the whole day," said Ambleside Together treasurer Wendy Rainer. She and the committee arranged for the screen to be in place with grant funding from South Lakeland District Council.
"This is a community-organised event which is all part of our flood-recovery plan. We hope that visitors will stay in town and support local businesses, and in return we wanted to say thanks with this free event."
According to the race organisers, the day's racing starts from Carlisle at 10.45am. It is estimated that the leading cyclists will go through Pooley Bridge at 11.50am, Cockermouth at 13.18am, Keswick at 13.47am, Grasmere at 14.17pm, Rydal at 14.24pm, Ambleside at 14.26pm (Smithy Brow 14.28pm), top of The Struggle (Kirkstone Pass) at 14.35pm, Cook's Corner 14.45pm, Plumgarth's roundabout 15.01pm, and finishing uphill at Beast Banks, Kendal, 15.05pm.
"We are very pleased to be working with the University of Cumbria in providing this great facility for visitors and local residents," said Mrs Rainer.
Ambleside Together, which launched the popular Love Ambleside campaign following the winter floods, is also organising the country's first Festival of the Fells which will be held in the town from September 22-25. For more details see http://www.festivalofthefells.uk/
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 27, 2016 by Stagey Lady.
Lakes' toughest triathlon enters world rankings at Number One
The Lake District's extreme iron-distance race Triathlon X has been judged by the experts as the toughest in the world.
Triathlon X, which was staged at Ambleside last month, enters the ratings for the first time and goes straight to number one, in a list compiled by 220 Triathlon magazine.
Their statisticians base their findings on scores for a range of features including bike elevation and run elevation, run surface type, isolation, the median finishing time (at The X, over 18 hours) and the psychological factor they call the "psych battle".
Triathlon X comes out with a total points score of 89 out of 100, ahead of the join-second-placed Altriman in the Pyrenees, and Snowdonia's The Brutal. Further down the list are races previously considered the toughest, including Norway's Norseman.
"Make no mistake all 11 of these Ironman distance triathlons are tough and not for the faint-hearted, but which is the toughest long-distance race of all?" wrote the magazine's editor.
"And the winner is… Triathlon X in the Lake District. A bike route on the legendary Fred Whitton cyclosportive route and a run up Scafell Pike and down again makes the new-entry Triathlon X the world's toughest triathlon."
"The bike is based on the infamous Fred Whitton cyclosportive route, the hilly granddaddy of all classic bike rides that happens to be 180km long. So it's been an obvious long-held dream to have it as the showpiece of an iron-distance race," said Anthony Gerundini, 10th in 2016 and 113 time Iron finisher.
"The route takes in the iconic passes of the Lake District, including Hardknott and Wrynose. And it further spices up the route to include 'The Struggle' at Kirkstone Pass, familiar to anyone who's done Helvellyn Tri, and the tough 25% gradient of the Honister Pass. The run then takes in the ascents through Mickelden, Rossett Ghyll and Esk Hause before the rock fields of Great End and Broad Crag. And then the challenge of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, and back down again."
The race, hosted by YHA Ambleside at Waterhead, was won by American Andrew Drobeck in 12 hours 40 minutes. First woman home was Newcastle University's Daisy Baggs in 16 hours 50 minutes. They each received £1000 prize money from sponsors Lakeland UK and Heart of the Lakes.
Competitor John Bishop said: "Having done the Brutal as well (I came 2nd in 2014) I'd say you have it hands down. Nicer course too – no laps."
Race director Mark Blackburn said: "We knew we had created the toughest possible course, and that was confirmed by all of our competitors. This is great news, to have the experts prove it with statistics. It is fantastic for Ambleside and the Lake District."
See the findings here: http://www.220triathlon.com/training/iron-distance-triathlons-the-11-toughest/10816-11.html
Hyper-local newspaper proves there's life in print
A pioneering hyper-local newspaper in a quiet seaside town is celebrating 25 years in print with the publication of its 300th edition.
Grange Now covers the area in and around the seaside retreat of Grange over Sands on the southern tip of the Cartmel peninsula, between the mountains and the sea some seven miles from Windermere.
The popular monthly has written well over 10,000 stories directly related to the immediate area and delivered over 1.5 million copies of the paper; that's roughly 36 million pages. "There has been drama, good news, bad news, some big stories and many smaller ones, but all with three things in common: they were hyper local and related to this area, they were delivered to the readers for free, and they were supported by local businesses through their paid adverts," says editor Chris Plumb.
Chris Plumb
Since Plumb took over as editor/publisher in 2013 the parent company has developed two new papers, Windermere Now in 2014, and Ulverston Now earlier this year, and currently prints 27,000 papers a month across the three titles. The August issues between them account for almost 1 million pages of print, and the area of coverage for all three titles now includes the majority of homes in the South Lakes outside Kendal.
Grange is a pretty resort with an Edwardian flavour and a mild climate, on the shores of Morecambe Bay where, from the 13th Century until the 1850s, the major route from Lancaster was across the sands. In 1887, the opening of the Furness Railway led to the growth of Grange from a small hamlet to a flourishing town, as wealthy industrialists from Lancashire and Yorkshire built large houses there.
"The pages of Grange Now have been used to celebrate volunteers, to promote events, applaud local heroes, celebrate artists of all ages, congratulate high achievers and tackle a huge range of issues," said Plumb.
"We are proving that print is not dead. Readers want hyper-local news and we are delivering that to them in a very successful format."
The paper was founded in 1991 by Mary Ann Best and Robin Williamson. When Plumb took over as editor he had just two part time staff. There's now more than a dozen people involved across the three papers.
Plumb said: "Now is the moment to say thank you to all our readers for their involvement, comments, letters, society, school and church reports; to everyone who has worked on the paper and helped to deliver it, and a huge thank you to all the local businesses who have given loyal support. Indeed there are eight advertisers who have been in almost every issue of Grange Now dating back to 1991."
He added: "As we celebrate 25 years of Grange Now in this 300th edition, it is interesting to think about what makes it such a great paper to work on. The answer for me is the people who do little things in the community, often unnoticed, but which make such a difference. Small acts of kindness, keeping an eye out, helping with the look of the area or volunteering in some way or other. When you come across those types of stories in the office it makes all the staff smile and spurs us all on."
Links to the latest August issues including issue 300 of Grange Now.
Ulverston Now 5
Windermere Now 20
https://issuu.com/chrisplumb/docs/wn020_-lo_res/1
Tribute to the team who make Sports happen – and a legend steps down
An army of volunteers has been in action this week to stage the Lake District's oldest and most traditional sporting event.
Ambleside Sports is held today (Thursday) at Rydal Park with events starting at noon. But planning began 12 months ago, and the field has been transformed in the past seven days. The most complex task is the marking out and setting of the 300m track which hosts cycle and running races.
"This has to come first, and the rest of the arena is developed around the track," said chairman Jak Hirst. "Though even before that, we have to clear the entire field of sheep droppings; that's a massive task and we are really grateful to everyone who turns up to help on Shovel Sunday, before the event.
"The organisers set out to stage a fantastic festival of traditional sports. They aim to do this at affordable prices, enabling the whole community to enjoy the event, whether they are spectators or participants."
His committee of around 40 helpers have to transport all the equipment from the store at Ambleside Rugby Club, install portable toilets, and build fences. Grass has to be mown and the various tents used on the day have to be erected and decorated. Contractors then deliver and build the huge marquees which house craft stalls, trade stands, refreshments, and the bar. On the day volunteers from two Rotary clubs, the Lions Club, Round Table and many other local organisations are on duty as marshals, stewards, and parking attendants.
Volunteers break for lunch in one of the newly erected marquees
The Sports, celebrating 130 years this summer, features hound trailing, Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling, grass track cycling and running. Additionally there are two fell races, the short and steep Guides Races, and the nine-mile Rydal Round which follows the route of the Fairfield Horseshoe. The first ever world championship in the Ladies Wrestling will also be taking place.
All the events are sponsored by local companies, who provide the cash prizes and trophies. "It is a fantastic community effort," said Mr Hirst. "I think it is the involvement and interaction of so many sections of our community which makes our model work."
He added: "Of course it is imperative that we have the continued support of the tenant farmer, Chris Hodgson, and the Le Fleming family, who allow us to use the land".
But one loyal supporter will be playing a role for the last time this ye ar. Sports retailer and former fell-racing champion Pete Bland, pictured here, is stepping down as race director for the Rydal Round after 32 years in the post.
Time Regained: an exhibition of work by the painter Linda Ryle
An exhibition of work by the distinctive and unusual artist Linda Ryle is now open in the Lake District.
Linda Ryle was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She trained at Goldsmiths' School of Art, London in the 1960s, and now lives in Cockermouth and is married to the painter Julian Cooper.
The exhibition, at the Heaton Cooper Studio in Grasmere tomorrow, brings together work from the 1970s to present day. Some of the pieces on show are samples of the painted leather belts which Linda designed and produced for the shop Ace on Chelsea's Kings Road (and later at Covent Garden market). The clientele of Ace included singers, actors and celebrities such as Elton John, Lulu, Bianca Jagger and Brit Ekland, who all bought her belts.
These covered the period from 1974 to 1983. The work was mostly sold in London, but also in New York and the South of France.
In 1983 Linda returned to painting. Her main subject matter was animals, in particular cats, but often farm animals too. It was also around this time that Linda began to publish cards of some of the paintings, which over the years amounted to 26 subjects and two prints.
All the animal paintings were signed as Linda Cooper, but by 1984 she was making paintings which did not fit into that category. There was, for example, a series of small canvasses based on dreams, after she had become immersed in the ideas of Carl Jung, the analytical psychologist.
By the end of the 1980s some paintings involved figures and these could be seen as a bridge between the animal paintings and the work that was to follow
Linda's first solo show as Linda Ryle was in 2004 at the Percy House Gallery in Cockermouth where Julian and Linda were then living, having moved from Ambleside in 2002. The paintings of trees, river and beck had begun in the late 1990s, inspired by the sound and movement of wind through leaves and branches, sunlight on pebbles, the drag and flow of reeds.
The house in Cockermouth, built in 1712, has many old features – beams, spice cupboards, worn cellar steps. These became a new source of inspiration which Linda has been developing over the last 10 years, using objects – often ancient – in carefully chosen settings to capture fleeting moments in time where they are transformed by light and shadow.
Last year Linda exhibited 16 of these paintings at The Association of Jungian Analysts in London.
She says: "I take great delight in making an image which creates an illusion of space and different surfaces. I work mainly from photographs and sometimes from life, but never with the aim to produce something photographic."
Linda has gone on to paint other spaces. The blue rope that was there and perfect, waiting to be painted, another niche painted as she found it – empty. But several months later, having purchased an ancient Egyptian Offering Cup – 3000 years old, she knew it had to go in the empty niche painting. Linda felt that something else was needed, and just knowing that meant her unconscious did the rest: on a walk, a rose hip caught her eye, and proved to be the tiny touch of extra colour.
Director of the Heaton Cooper Studio, Becky Heaton Cooper said: "This will be a very exciting departure for us. It is completely removed from anything that's usually on show here in the gallery."
Time Regained: an exhibition of past and present work by the painter Linda Ryle runs at the Heaton Cooper Studio, Grasmere, until the end of October. Details: www.heatoncooper.co.uk
Running masterclass returns to Lake District
A weekend workshop for runners is to be held in Ambleside in September.
The event is being staged by fitness expert Paul Tierney who is the UK master coach for a natural running technique, and Irish international runner, Sarah McCormack.
It follows the success of an early summer "bulletproof runner" course which attracted athletes from across the UK.
Paul, who is also a sports therapist in Ambleside, is one of 11 Born to Run coaches in the UK, and of those he is the Master coach.
He also runs a weekly fitness class in Rothay Park in Ambleside where grown-ups – ranging in age from 18 to not far short of 80 – run, jump, crawl and climb like children, re-learning how their bodies ought to be used, so that they can better enjoy their sport – or life in general. And he also has running classes in Kendal and Ambleside.
The weekend workshop is designed to "give you the tools to improve your running technique – helping you increase efficiency, improve performance and avoid injury," says Paul. It's likely to appeal to physios and sports therapists as well as runners looking for the tools to training pain-free and unlocking their full potential for speed and endurance.
Each participant will be screened for injury susceptibility, and there will be video analysis of running technique, how to apply the appropriate drills to address individual issues, and learning the best neuromuscular drills to increase elasticity, speed and performance. There will also be sessions in how to structure training, lifestyle and diet for maximum recovery and gains in performance; and the most common causes of pain when running and how to prevent and address them.
"Once the fundamental skill and theory has been mastered, we then develop the runner's physiological capacity for running further and faster by developing elasticity, reactive ability and metabolic conditioning," says Paul.
"If you spend all day sitting down, doing something high intensity for half an hour is just adding another physiological stress. There is no easy way around it. You have to move a lot."
Paul, a former top-level Irish hurling player, is soon to defend his title in the Lakeland 100 (mile) race, which he won last year. Known as the 'Ultra Tour of the Lake District' this is the most spectacular long distance trail race in the UK, a circular route around the Lakeland fells on public bridleways and footpaths, with 6300m of climbing.
Paul and Sarah, who represented Ireland recently in the European Mountain Running Championships in Italy, run the Missing Link fitness business.
David McGuigan, who attended the June workshop, said: "Paul and Sarah's courses provide so much opportunity for anyone who wants to improve as a runner. They perfectly blend scientific theory, practical application and the millions of years of human evolution that made us 'born to run'. A month on I'm improving by the day and have never enjoyed my running more."
Details of the course on September 3-4 can be found at http://www.missinglinkfitness.co.uk/#!running-workshops/cz8m
Award-winning hoteliers head for the red carpet in London
Popular Windermere hoteliers Caroline and Jonathan Kaye are heading for the red carpet of the hospitality world this week.
The owners of the Cedar Manor Hotel and Restaurant (pictured here at last week's Cumbria Tourism Awards) will be in London for the finals of the Cateys – the Caterer and Hotelkeeper awards – at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
Considered the Oscars of the hotel world, the Cateys showcase the industry's highest flyers, strongest performers and hottest brands, and the Cedar Manor is one of just three to reach the finals of the Independent Hotel of the Year category. They are up against the Longueville Manor at St Saviour on the island of Jersey, and Yorebridge House, Bainbridge, Yorkshire, in the group sponsored by Sky.
"It's a real achievement to have reached the finals and we are very excited about the award ceremony," said Jonathan. It is great to see a Lake District hotel acknowledged among the best in Britain."
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 3, 2016 by Stagey Lady.


I love bow blouses. I wish I had more occasion to wear them, especially the pretty chiffon ones! I was at Target today, browsing their current Jason Wu line, and picked up a bow blouse for my shopping cart. But then I realized I needed to buy Breaking Dawn: Part 1 on Blu-Ray instead, and saw another shirt from the collection for $22.99, a regular t-shirt with a bow... What a great idea! Especially since I'm a little obsessed with the bow that character Emma Pillsbury wears so consistently on Glee.
I checked out the construction, and it was simple enough. This is something a novice can do! I think it took me a total of about twenty minutes. The shirts are super soft, and they are more casual than a normal bow blouse. I could wear these with jeans, or a coordinating cardigan!
1) Sew the bow right sides together, then turn inside out. Finish the ends.
2) Simply pin to the inside of the collar, and sew!
Make sure your thread blends with the shirt color to hide your work.
Gleek Peek: I hate being right.
Gleek Peek: Soy una Gleek y yo sabes!


This webinar provides an overview of energy resources and describes how various forms of energy are obtained, distributed and used within and outside jurisdictions.
At this PTI and Department of Energy webinar, you'll learn about the role of the smart grid in energy assurance.
Help utilities respond to electric outages and even implement self-healing systems that reroute power around trouble spots.
When developing energy assurance plans, local governments will want to identify energy interdependencies at the local, state, regional, and national levels and examine how they affect local critical infrastructure.


text:
Lens-Lestang ist eine französische Gemeinde mit  Einwohnern (Stand ) im Département Drôme in der Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes; sie gehört zum Arrondissement Valence und zum Kanton Drôme des collines.

Geographie
Die Gemeinde liegt östlich des Rhône-Tales, rund 30 Kilometer östlich von Annonay und 20 Kilometer südöstlich von Roussillon, an der Grenze zum benachbarten Département Isère. Nachbargemeinden von Lens-Lestang sind:
 Beaurepaire im Norden,
 Marcollin und Lentiol im Osten,
 Hauterives im Süden,
 Moras-en-Valloire im Westen und
 Manthes im Nordwesten.
Der Ort selbst befindet sich am linken Ufer des Baches Ruisseau Regrimay, der von Osten kommend hier nach Norden einschwenkt und wenig später in die Dolure mündet, die über die Collières bei Saint-Rambert-d'Albon in die Rhône entwässert.

Die Départementsstraße D538, die von Romans-sur-Isère nach Vienne verläuft, erschließt verkehrstechnisch die Gemeinde.

Bevölkerungsentwicklung

Sehenswürdigkeiten
 Schloss Château du Double aus dem 17. Jahrhundert, Monument historique
 Kirche Notre Dame im Weiler Chatenay

Weblinks

 Website über die Gemeinde

Einzelnachweise

Ort in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Vicious Circuits: Korea's IMF Cinema and the End of the American Century. Post*45 Series. Stanford University Press, 2019.
Racial Things, Racial Forms: Objecthood in Avant-Garde Asian American Poetry. Contemporary North American Poetry Series. University of Iowa Press, 2012.


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High-speed software running, by 3GB RAM 32GB ROM, consumes less power. Perfect for large games meet the needs for game enthusiasts.
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The Seal of Excellence is a quality label awarded to project proposals submitted to Horizon 2020 which succeeded a highly competitive evaluation process by independent experts, but did not received funding due to budget limits.
This quality label is a guarantee for investors to find high standard project proposals from European SMEs with growth potential.
Colsen, Adviesburo voor Milieutechniek B.V.
GoOpti Intelligent Transport Solutions Ltd.
Hybrid Energy Storage Solutions S.L.
Naukowo Badawcze Centrum Rozwoju Soi "AgeSoya" Sp. z o.o.
Scientific & Manufacturing Company Ecopharm Ltd.
Sea4Us - Biotecnologia e Recursos Marinhos, Lda.


We then did some further study on the Euler Method. The global error with the Euler Method is and we need to reduce this by coming up with a better method or adjusting the Euler Method.
We looked at the Three Term Taylor Method as a better method. To employ the Three Term Taylor Method we need implicit differentiation, which means more pen-and-paper work.
We could avoid implicit differentiation by looking at Huen's Method, which is an adjustment of Euler's Method in that it uses lines.
In VBA we finished off the Euler Method Lab 2 and looked at P. 122, Exercise 1. The first group also started P. 123, Exercise 2, but the later groups instead used the time for some theory revision.
We will finish off the Three Term Taylor Method Example we didn't finish and talk again about Heun's Method.
We will also introduce second order differential equations and how to attack them numerically.
In VBA we have MCQ III and look at Lab 3, on Heun's Method.
To add a bit of interest to the Ungraded Concept MCQs, I will keep a league table.
Unless you are excelling, you are identified by the last five digits of your student number. AW is the number of attendance warnings received.
Please ask questions in the lab about questions you have gotten wrong.


The list below gives an idea of the topics that will be covered in the workshop.
The number of topics that will be covered depends on the duration of the workshop (i.e. one, two or three days). In a one or two day workshop it may not be possible to cover all topics, and so the workshop will be tailored to suit the specific needs of the learners.


CFMA General Members represent all types of contractors, including generals and subcontractors as well as developers, construction managers, architects, engineers, principals and material and equipment suppliers. General Member Dues for the current membership year are $355, plus any local chapter dues where applicable.
CFMA Associate Members are those serving the construction industry, such as public accountants, sureties, bankers, insurance agents/brokers and carrier's consultants and other service providers. Associate Member Dues for the current membership year are $455, plus any local chapter dues where applicable.
CFMA International Members are any General or Associate member living and working outside the United States and Canada. These members encompass those who are employed in the construction industry as well as those servicing the construction industry as described above. The international membership is an electronic only membership, including communications and publications. International General member dues are $230 (US Dollars) annually and International Associate member dues are $300 (US Dollars) annually.
CFMA Educator Members are full time educators who are teachers, professors or general educators from an accredited educational institution teaching courses related to the construction industry. The Educator dues are $355 annually. For more information contact CFMA.
CFMA Student Members are full time undergraduate or graduate students who are in a course of study related to the construction industry, specifically in accounting, law or general business. The student membership is electronic only, including any publications. There are no dues for student members however, there is a qualification process and a current transcript of courses is required. For more information contact CFMA.
CFMA Retired Members are existing members with at least 5 consecutive years of general or associate membership in CFMA at the time of retirement. This category is not available to student or in transition members. Retired member dues are $165 annually.
CFMA Member in Transition is a special membership category designed to assist existing active members during a period of transition in their careers. The member in transition category is effective for a period of one renewal cycle only- ending on March 31 of the following year. Contact CFMA for more details.
For more information on any of the membership categories listed above contact membership@cfma.org or call us directly at 888-421-9996.


Texas A&M University Transportation Services held a "Donations for Citations" food drive event that offered community members the opportunity to donate food or personal care items in exchange for a credit of up to $30 towards their university parking citation. Donations were delivered today to the Brazos Valley Food Bank by representatives of the department.
In total, more than 1,100 pounds of donations were collected during the campaign and delivered to the Brazos Valley Food Bank. All donated items will be processed for redistribution to members of the community.
One of the coordinators of the event Therese Kucera oversaw the collection of the donations. "It was really great seeing the students bring in their donations to have their citation reduced and for this being our first campaign, the amount we collected far exceeded our expectations," she said.
To have received up to $30 off of their parking citation, either 10 food items or five personal items had to have been donated. To assist with the collection, Transportation Services set up a pick-up station in their customer service office, located in the Koldus building, and as soon as the campaign kicked off, the donations started coming in.
"We highly value Texas A&M Transportation Services for hosting a unique and beneficial food drive for [Brazos Valley Food Bank]. We are able to provide meals to our hungry neighbors in need with this generous donation. Thank you so much," said Rhonda Behrens, distribution manager.
Texas A&M community feedback about the "Donations for Citations" campaign was also positive.
"I just wanted to commend you and your team on the 'Donations for Citations' idea. The ability to donate instead of paying money for parking violations communicates, to me, that transportation services is not about the money, but about keeping our campus organized and safe for parking. It sends an extremely positive message to the Texas A&M community," said a community member in a message sent to the department.