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Welcome to Screen Peakers!   Today's Daily Peak into the Video Game News! - Microsoft believes consoles shortages will continue until April-June 2021! - People are accidentally playing the PS4 version of Call of Duty on PS5! - Study shows video games are good for mental health!   SUBSCRIBE TO THE SCREEN PEAKERS YOUTUBE CHANNEL! - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN7Vx413UwnjpMoasXZvQrA?sub_confirmation=1   The Screen Peakers Video Game Podcast is a place for best friends to talk games, share their opinions and peak together!   Please subscribe to stay up to date with all the latest Screen Peakers episodes! And if you enjoyed us, give us a 5 star rating!   Follow the Screen Peakers on Twitch for LIVE PEAKING! - Screen Peakers Live! - twitch.tv/screenpeakerslive   Support the Screen Peakers! Buy a shirt! - The Peak Store - peakstore.bigcartel.com   Follow the Peakers on Instagram @screenpeakers!   Follow Tony on Twitter and Instagram!  Twitter - @iamtonyreavis Instagram - @iamtonyreavis   Join the conversation by joining the official Screen Peakers Podcast Discord! - https://discord.gg/wCShfxM

South Africa's unemployment rate jumped to 30.8% in the third quarter from 23.3% in the second quarter, the country's statistics agency said on Thursday. The unemployment rate was artificially low in the second quarter because the statistics agency only classifies people as unemployed if they are actively looking for work, which many people were unable to do in the April-June quarter because of a strict coronavirus lockdown. Statistics South Africa put the number of unemployed at 6.5 million people in the third quarter, compared to 4.3 million in the previous three months. To watch Creamer Media's latest video reports, click here

Indonesia’s virus-hit economy contracted in the third quarter, plunging it into its first recession since the archipelago was mired in the Asian financial crisis more than 20 years ago.Activity in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy slumped 3.49 percent on-year in July-September, the statistics agency said Thursday, with tourism, construction and trade among the hardest-hit sectors.The data marked the second consecutive quarter of contraction after a 5.3 percent decline in April-June.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

The Community Ownership Award is given to those who actively support residents, small business owners, community organizations and institutions–serving as active participants and key decision-makers in neighborhood revitalization projects. They support local residents and leaders harness the capacity and community power to create positive change and shape the future of their neighborhood. As active, contributing members of Neighborhood Allies’ Grassroots Grantmaking Committee (GGC), Martel Hedge and Kevin Alton have gone above and beyond in their roles, volunteering 4+ hours every week throughout April-June to interview residents seeking a Love My Neighbor! Grant in addition to spearheading their own initiative to hand out meals to children and senior citizens in their South Hilltop communities during COVID-19. Oftentimes, Martel and Kevin were both just returning home from their day of feeding the community only to log on and interview an aspiring Love My Neighbor! Grantee. They truly create community by supporting and connecting with neighbors and helping to co-power residents to become active players in making their neighborhood better in all that they do. In addition, Kevin and Martel both run their own successful youth-focused organizations in the Hilltop. Kevin Alton’s organization, The Way Organization, creates positive change and shapes the future of youth within the Hilltop. Kevin is a mentor for young boys in the community while raising his own children. He coaches football and engages youth who may otherwise have been caught up in prevalent gang violence, and encourages them to instead expend their energy in excelling in the sport. Martel Hedge’s organization, Daddy’s Hands, also focuses on creating positive experiences for youth . Martel encourages dads to take a more active role as a parent and provides a space for relationships to build so that children can find a mentor in their father. Both men are clear leaders and are actively helping to improve conditions for the youth in the Hilltop.

The domestic equity market ended around 1 per cent higher on Tuesday, led by gains in financial and FMCG stocks. Further, hopes of higher inflows after MSCI said it will implement the new regime on foreign ownership limits in the MSCI Global Indexes containing Indian securities in the November 2020 Semi Annual Index Review, also boosted investor sentiment.   Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex rallied 377 points, or 0.94 per cent to settle at 40,522 levels while the Nifty50 index ended at 11,889, up 122 points, or 1 per cent. India VIX declined nearly 3 per cent to 22.19 levels.   Among sectoral indices, Nifty Private Bank index gained the most - up over 3 per cent to 13,756 points while Nifty Bank added nearly 3 per cent to 24,769.50. Nifty IT, on the other hand, slipped over 1 per cent to 21,023 levels.   In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 1.65 per cent to 14,954 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index rallied 0.6 per cent to 15,090 levels.   Buzzing stocks of the day   Shares of midcap companies were in focus with the S&P BSE Midcap index outperforming the market by gaining more than 1 per cent on the back of strong rally in Shriram Transport Finance Company, MRF and Muthoot Finance, which were up more than 6 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday.   Shares of Ipca Laboratories hit an all-time high during the session. For the April-June quarter (Q1FY21), Ipca had reported over three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 446 due to robust sales.   Shares of Nestle India gained 6 per cent to Rs 17233 on the BSE. The stock has risen over 7 per cent in the past two trading days after the company reported stronger-than-expected recovery with double-digit sales growth for the quarter ended September 2020 (Q3CY20).   Global markets   European equities fell in early trade on Tuesday trading as risk-aversion swept markets, with a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatening the global economic recovery and caution ahead of US elections on November 3.   In commodities, oil prices rose towards $41 a barrel as oil companies shut down some US Gulf of Mexico oil output due to a hurricane, although surging coronavirus infections and rising Libyan supply limited gains.

The domestic stock market ended flat with a positive bias on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex settled 14 points, or 0.04 per cent higher at 38,854.5 levels while NSE's Nifty ended at 11,464, up 15 points, or 0.13 per cent. India VIX dropped nearly 3 per cent to 20.68 levels. SBI (up 2 per cent) ended as the top gainer on the S&P BSE Sensex while IndusInd Bank (down nearly 2 per cent) was the biggest loser. Of 30 constituents, 10 advanced while 20 declined.  On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.29 per cent while Nifty added 1.15 per cent.  The broader market, however, fared bettter than the frontline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index settled at 14,660 levels, up 0.58 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.52 per cent higher at 14,558.  Sectorally, IT stocks rallied the most. The Nifty IT index ended 1.29 per cent higher at 18,633 levels. Nifty PSU Bank index gained 0.79 per cent while Nifty FMCG index settled 0.63 per cent higher at 30,972 levels. Buzzing stocks Shares of Wipro and Tata Elxsi hit their respective 52-week highs on the BSE on Friday on the expectation of strong earnings growth in the current quarter (July-September) of financial year 2020-21 (FY21).  Shares of Max Healthcare Institute (MHIL) hit a high of Rs 133.80 on the BSE during the day on the back of heavy block deals. The stock settled at Rs 131.30, up around 17.5 per cent.   Strides Pharma ended nearly 13 per cent higher at Rs 685.90. In the past two months, the stock has rallied over 64 per cent after the company reported strong performance across all business segments in the April-June 2020 quarter (Q1FY21) despite significant disruptions and ambiguity in the business environment due to Covid 19.

With the phenomenal growth of its economy in recent years and its longstanding democratic record, India — the world's largest democracy — has emerged as a major global power. Not only has democracy survived in India, but in recent decades the country has also established itself as a beacon of hope for other developing countries striving to achieve a similar combination of democracy, development, and the rule of law. India’s management of the COVID pandemic, however, has made news headlines in recent weeks not just because of the massive spike in COVID cases but also because the country’s GDP plunged by 23.9 per cent in the period April – June 2020 – the biggest contraction of any major Asian country. And then there are rising tensions with China. As India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it recently, India is fighting on many fronts.But some of India’s problems began in a pre-COVID era. There were signs that economic growth was slowing and unemployment was on the rise. Guest: Professor Kunal Sen, Director of UNU-WIDER and professor of development economics at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester.Topics discussed:The state of development economics research todayHow is COVID is deepening global inequality?India's economic growth trajectory since 1991Role of India's informal sectorTaxation policy in, and fiscal capacity of, developing countriesResources:Narendra Modi’s performance on the Indian economy – five key policies assessedFive ways coronavirus is deepening global inequalityTransitions between informal and formal jobs in IndiaKunal Sen on TwitterDan Banik on TwitterIn Pursuit of Development on Twitter

With the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown having deeply impacted the economy, India’s GDP contracted 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2020-21 compared to the same quarter last financial year, showed official data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday. Well, the pandemic has weakened the already declining consumer demand and private investment. These figures reveal the pain the economy had to undergo as Covid-19 brought all activity to a standstill during the quarter.   Why is the GDP number important?   GDP is a key indicator of overall economic activity. A sharp fall in growth means slowing business activity, rising unemployment and, consequently, greater stress on the banking sector. The GDP figures are keenly watched every quarter for cues on broader economic performance.   This is the first instance of an economic contraction for the country in at least four decades, and also the first GDP decline since India began publishing quarterly numbers in 1996. In the January-March quarter of this year, the economy had grown by 3.1 per cent year-on-year — the lowest rate in over 17 years — and by 5.2 per cent in the June quarter of 2019-20. The rate of India's GDP growth had declined from 6.1 per cent in FY19 to 4.2 per cent in FY20, the slowest in 11 years.   Meanwhile, After an initial burst on Monday morning that took the S&P BSE Sensex to the day’s high of 40,010.17, the markets lost ground as trade progressed. The S&P BSE Sensex lost over 1,614 points from the day's high and hit a low of 38,395.89 levels. It, however, recouped some of the loss and closed 839 points, or 2.1 per cent, lower at 38,628 levels. Listen to the podcast for more  

Graham and Lewis discuss a bleak financial results season, as airlines count the costs of a ruinous April-June period while grappling with a bumpier-than-expected comeback in the current quarter. The dynamics playing out in global markets are also examined, including the recovery mismatches in domestic and international sectors, the challenges presented by the ending of government support schemes, and the retrenchment of the traditional network carriers. They also discuss the European Commission’s pending decision on a winter waiver for the 80:20 slot rule at the region’s airports, and the impact that could have on the ambitions of industry disruptors. Airline losses mount for second quarter after revenues collapse https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/airline-losses-mount-for-second-quarter-after-revenues-collapse/139640.article Asia-Pacific airlines temper optimism with caution - but for how long? https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/asia-pacific-airlines-temper-optimism-with-caution-but-for-how-long/139706.article Wizz cements Gatwick ambitions by opening new base https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/wizz-cements-gatwick-ambitions-by-opening-new-base/139804.article Airline slot waivers need strict conditions: ACI World chief https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/airline-slot-waivers-need-strict-conditions-aci-world-chief/139480.article Airlines urgently need winter waiver decision: IATA slots chief https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/airlines-urgently-need-winter-waiver-decision-iata-slots-chief/139327.article Air cargo decline narrows in June but market ‘exceptionally challenging’ https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/air-cargo-decline-narrows-in-june-but-market-exceptionally-challenging/139516.article US airlines brace for further volatility in second half of 2020 https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/us-airlines-brace-for-further-volatility-in-second-half-of-2020/139483.article

Indonesia’s current account deficit in the second quarter narrowed slightly from the previous three months to $2.9 billion, or 1.2% of gross domestic product. This is according to a central bank report released on Tuesday. The report showed first quarter’s current account gap was equal to 1.4% of GDP. In the report, Bank Indonesia said Portfolio capital inflows returned in the second quarter after significant outflows at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Indonesia had a $9.2 billion balance of payments surplus in the April-June quarter, compared with a $8.5 billion deficit in the first quarter. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

The Japanese economy has shrunk at its fastest rate on record as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. The world’s third largest economy saw gross domestic product fall 7.8% in April-June from the previous quarter, or 27.8% on an annualised basis. Japan was already struggling with low economic growth before the crisis. The figures released on Monday are a stark reminder of the severe financial impact faced by countries around the world. Japan slipped into recession earlier this year following two successive quarters of economic contraction. Its latest data for the April to June quarter was the biggest decline since comparable figures became available in 1980 and was slightly bigger than analysts had expected. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

The U.K. has kept a lid on its unemployment rate so far during the coronavirus pandemic but, scratch beneath the surface, there are worrying trends that will likely see the jobless total soaring by the end of the year.As department store Debenhams announced another 2,500 job losses on Tuesday, official figures showed that the number of people in paid employment in the April-June quarter fell by the most since the global financial crisis more than a decade go.That didn’t lead to an automatic increase in the unemployment rate, which held steady at a historically low 3.9% as workers need to be actively looking for a job to be counted as jobless. But as a key government salary support package is being phased out, there are concerns that the number of people officially labeled as unemployed could at least double toward the 3 million mark last struck in the 1980s.“Some parts of the economy are undoubtedly showing great resilience but clearly there are going to be bumpy months ahead and a long, long way to go,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.The stable jobless rate is largely due to a government salary support scheme that will end in October, a cliff-edge moment that many economists think will lead to an almost immediate doubling in unemployment.Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the government has been paying a large chunk of the salaries of workers retained rather than fired. Some 1.2 million employers have taken advantage of the program during the lockdown to furlough 9.6 million people at a cost to the government of 33.8 billion pounds ($44 billion).The government has started phasing out the furlough program, with firms now having to cover some of the costs of the plan. The government has said it will end the program in October on the grounds it gives “false hope” to furloughed workers while at the same time limiting their prospects of getting new jobs as their skills fade.While admitting that not every job can be saved, Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said Tuesday's figures said the support measures, have helped to “safeguard millions of jobs and livelihoods that could otherwise have been lost.”The big question is how many of those furloughed workers are being kept on as lockdown restrictions across sectors, including retail and hospitality, have been eased, and how many will be kept on the payroll after the October cut-off date. It’s a tough call for firms facing a historic cash crunch following one of the deepest economic slumps ever recorded in the U.K.“A wide range of indicators suggest that job losses will crystallize from August, when employers must start to cover some of the costs of furloughed staff,” said Samuel Tombs, chief U.K. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.In a sign of the weakness of the U.K.'s labor market, employment fell in the April to June quarter by 220,000, its biggest three-month decline since the 2009 recession. Figures due for release on Wednesday are set to show the economy contracted by nearly 25% in the second quarter of the year from the previous three-month period.The statistics agency also reported that the number of people on payroll in the U.K. fell 81,000 in July to 28.27 million. The number of people coming off the payroll since March is now 730,000, with the falls in employment greatest among younger and older workers.The number of firms cutting jobs has accelerated in the past month or two with big companies like British Airways and Rolls Royce announcing big layoffs, in addition to Tuesday's news from Debenhams.Unions are urging the government to at least extend the furlough scheme to sectors still suffering from lockdown restrictions.“The alarm bells couldn’t be ringing any louder,” said Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.

The benchmark indices ended on a subdued note on Friday; however, the mid and small-cap indices logged decent gains during the session.  The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 38,041, up 15 points or 0.04 per cent with Asian Paints (up over 4 per cent) being the top gainer and Titan Company (down over 2.5 per cent) the biggest loser. NSE's Nifty50 ended at 11,214, up 14 points, or 0.12 per cent. India VIX dropped over 3 per cent to 22.37 levels.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained over 200 points or 1.4 per cent to end at 14,219 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed the session at 13,669, up 106 points, or 0.78 per cent.  On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.15 per cent while Nifty added 1.26 per cent. The sectoral trend on the NSE was mixed. While IT and pharma stocks fell, auto, metals and financial stocks gained. The Nifty IT index slipped 1 per cent to 18,004 levels while the Nifty Pharma index ended at 11,333, down 0.6 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Metal gained 0.85 per cent and Nifty Auto rose 0.75 per cent. Nifty Bank ended 0.5 per cent higher at 21,754 levels. BUZZING STOCKS Shares of Bayer CropScience hit an all-time high of Rs 6,449 apiece on the BSE during the day after the company reported encouraging numbers for the quarter ended June 2020 (Q1FY21). The stock ended at Rs 6,139, up 9 per cent. READ MORE Shares of Lupin ended over 6 per cent lower at Rs 879.40 on the BSE after the pharmaceutical company's net profit for April-June quarter declined 60 per cent on a yearly basis to Rs 106.9 crore. Lupin had posted a profit of Rs 264.7 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.  Shares of Torrent Power rallied 9 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 357.50 on the BSE during the day after the company posted a 35.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 372.66 crore against Rs 275.27 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The stock ended at Rs 337, up nearly 3 per cent. Further, shares of Mindspace Business Parks REIT on Friday listed on the BSE at Rs 304, a 10.54 per cent premium against its issue price of Rs 275 per share. The stock ended at Rs 303.87. 

US seeks $18.1B from opioid-maker Purdue Pharma The US Justice Department is seeking as much as 18-point-1 billion dollars from opioid maker, Purdue Pharma, as part of its bankruptcy restructuring plan. The payout would settle criminal and civil investigations into the OxyContin maker over its role in fueling the US opioid epidemic. Last year, the company filed for bankruptcy protection to halt more than 2-thousand lawsuits. Virgin Atlantic files for bankruptcy protection in the US Virgin Atlantic has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, as it looks to survive the coronavirus crisis. The deal will shield the airline's assets in the country while it seeks approval from creditors for its 1-and- a-half billion dollar rescue plan. Meanwhile, sister company, Virgin Australia will lay off a-third of its workforce in a bid to reduce costs. BMW, Honda report quarterly losses as pandemic hits sales Carmakers BMW and Honda swung to losses in the April-June quarter as the pandemic hammered vehicle sales. Germany's BMW booked a net loss of 250-million- dollars in the period, compared to a profit of 1-point-7 billion dollars a year ago. The Japanese automaker, Honda, reported a net loss of 765-million- dollars, marking its biggest quarterly loss in a decade.

The U.S. economy suffered its worst quarter on record, shrinking 32.9% from April-June amid business shutdowns. WCBS' Lynda Lopez spoke with New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals Executive Director Melinda Mack about what can be done to ensure those in underserved communities receive job opportunities as part of New York State's recovery from the pandemic. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

The June quarter results by Reliance Industries will be a major focus in the markets today. Besides, investors will also react to global cues, Covid-19 trends and other corporate results. Reliance Industries reported about 31 per cent rise in Q1 net profit at Rs 13,233 crore, beating Street estimates. Its profit was aided by an exceptional gain of Rs 4,966 crore arising out of the sale of partial stake in the fuel retail business to BP Global Investments, as well as rise in other income. Net sales in the June quarter fell 44 per cent YoY to Rs 88,253 crore -- the lowest level since the June 2017 quarter as the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns hit the energy and retail businesses in Q1. Reliance Jio's pre-tax profit surged almost 147 per cent on a YoY basis to Rs 3,375 crore in the June quarter. Revenue rose 33.7 per cent driven by a tariff hike undertaken last December. Limited customer churn and customer recharges during the lockdown also played a part. Today, a total of 576 companies including State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Indian Oil Corporation are scheduled to announce their quarterly results. For SBI, stake sale gain from SBI Life during the June quarter may be the only saving grace as analysts see the bank's business growth to be modest in Q1 amid declining interest income and lower net profit sequentially. On the Covid front, India recorded 52,249 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total number of Covid-19-positive cases to 16.4 lakh, according to Worldometer. The country's death toll stood at 35,786. Now, a quick look at some other top news. India's FMCG market excluding e-commerce sales will see a flat growth for the current calendar year because of the nearly 18 per cent decline seen in the April-June period, market research agency Nielsen said on Thursday. This was the quarter that saw the full impact of the nationwide lockdown that kicked in from March 25. State-owned insurance behemoth LIC clocked 12.42 per cent growth in FY20 in total premium income at Rs 3.79 trillion, compared to Rs 3.37 trillion in FY19. The insurer’s new business premium was up 25.17 per cent in FY20 to Rs 1.77 trillion. In the end, let's look at the global cues for the day. The SGX Nifty is indicating a green start for the Indian markets today. Globally, US equities dipped overnight after US economy recorded a worst quarterly plunge ever of 33 per cent annualized rate in the June quarter, which is when the viral outbreak shut down businesses. However, the quarterly earnings report by the big tech quartet of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Alphabet, helped soften the blow. Overall, the Dow Jones fell 0.85 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.38 per cent, and the Nasdaq added 0.43 per cent. Asian equities slid in Friday's early deals. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.3 per cent. Australian ASX 200 index lost 1.4 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei also slipped 1.4 per cent. In commodity markets, Brent crude was trading at $43.34 a barrel. Read by Kanishka Gupta

Huawei overtakes Samsung as world's top smartphone seller Huawei has become the world's top seller of smartphones, surpassing Samsung. Industry tracker, Canalys, says sales for the Chinese firm were boosted in the second quarter by strong domestic demand. Huawei shipped 55-point-8 million devices in the April-June period, overtaking Samsung, which suffered a 30-percent drop in shipments. But the South Korean company posted a 23-percent jump in operating profit, boosted by solid chip sales. Royal Dutch Shell, Total avoid underlying losses in Q2 Royal Dutch Shell and Total have avoided underlying losses in the second quarter. That's as a strong performance at the firms' trading units helped to offset lower oil prices. Shell's net profit fell 82-percent to 638-million- dollars, while Total posted a 96-percent fall in earnings to 126-million dollars. Renault reports record $8.6B net loss in first half of year Renault swung to a record loss for the first half of the year. The French carmaker lost 8-point-6 billion dollars in the period.. with its alliance partner, Nissan, accounting for 5-point-6 billion-dollars of that loss. Meanwhile, rival Volkswagen also reported an operating loss of 940-million- dollars for the period.

The domestic stock market ended Wednesday's highly volatile session in the negative territory as investors booked profit in the recent outperformers such as Reliance Industries (RIL), and information technology (IT) counters.  The S&P BSE Sensex ended 422 points or over 1 per cent lower at 38,071 levels with RIL (down nearly 4 per cent) being the top loser, and IndusInd Bank (up 4.5 per cent) the biggest gainer.   Further, RIL was also the major contributor to the Sensex's loss, followed by HDFC Bank, TCS, Infosys, and HDFC.  NSE's Nifty settled at 11,203, down 98 points or 0.86 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, rose nearly 2 per cent to 24.09 levels.  The sectoral trends on the NSE remained mixed. Nifty Pharma advanced the most - up over 3 per cent to 10,441 levels while Nifty PSU Bank index gained over 1.5 per cent to 1,419 points. Nifty Auto, on the other hand, fell over 1 per cent 7,330 levels.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 13,763 levels, up 0.68 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap gained over 0.4 per cent to 12,972 points.  BUZZING STOCKS Shares of auto major, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), ended 1.6 per cent lower at Rs 6,185.60 apiece on the BSE after the company reported a consolidated loss of Rs 268.3 crore for the June quarter of FY21 (Q1FY21) as compared to profit of Rs 1,376.8 crore reported in the corresponding quarter last year.  Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories hit a record high of Rs 4,334 on the BSE after the company reported a better-than-expected net profit of Rs 579 crore in April-June quarter (Q1FY21), on the back of strong revenue growth. The stock ended at Rs 4,300, up over 6 per cent.  Tata Coffee ended over 12 per cent higher at Rs 93 on the BSE after the company reported robust performance for the April-June (Q1FY21) quarter. The Tata Group company's consolidated net profit increased by 77 per cent to Rs 62 crore on the back of strong volumes growth, as against Rs 35 crore profit clocked in the previous year quarter.    Shares of Nestle India ended 3 per cent lower on the BSE on Wednesday after the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major announced its June quarter numbers for the fiscal year 2020-21. For the quarter under review, Nestlé India on Tuesday reported an 11.14 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 486.60 crore for the quarter ended June 2020, helped by an increase in sales

Dalal Street bulls had a field day on Tuesday as the benchmark indices ended around 1.5 per cent higher amid buying in almost all the sectors. Better-than-expected corporate earnings of select companies coupled with positive global cues helped the market log stellar gains.   The benchmark S&P Sensex today rallied 558 points or 1.47 per cent to settle at 38,493, with UltraTech Cement (up 7 per cent) being the top gainer, followed by TCS (up 4.7 per cent), M&M (up nearly 4.5 per cent), and Maruti (up 4 per cent). On the other hand, ICICI Bank (down nearly 2 per cent) ended as the biggest loser on the index. Of 30 constituents, 25 advanced and rest 5 declined.   On the NSE, the broader Nifty index ended at 11,300.5, up 169 points or 1.52 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, declined over 5 per cent to 23.73 levels.   Among individual stocks, UltraTech Cement moved higher by 7 per cent to Rs 4,136 on the BSE after the company reported better-than-expected operational performance in the April-June quarter of FY21 (Q1FY21).   HDFC Life Insurance hit an all-time high of Rs 647.50 on the BSE during the day ahead of its inclusion in the benchmark index Nifty50 from Friday, July 31, 2020, onwards. The stock ended at Rs 640.55.   Shares of Tech Mahindra gained as much as 6 per cent to Rs 702 on the BSE after the company's April-June quarter (Q1FY21) earnings beat Street estimate. The stock settled at Rs 683.50, up nearly 3 per cent.   In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 0.76 per cent higher at 13,669 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 12,917, up 0.6 per cent.   On the sectoral front, barring Nifty Media, all the other indices ended in the green. Nifty Auto index rallied over 3 per cent to 7,417 levels while Nifty IT gained over 2 per cent to 18,043 points.   Now, let's have a look at the global markets.   European stocks inched higher as investors held out for more US stimulus to limit the economic damage of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed lower, but Chinese blue chips rose 0.8 per cent.   In commodity markets, gold hit a record high before falling a bit as investors booked profit following a steep surge in the precious metal. Read by Swati Verma

The Indian stock market ended Friday's volatile session on a flat note with negative bias led by selling in financial, auto, and metal counters. However, Reliance Industries (RIL) and IT stocks gave much-needed support.  The S&P BSE Sensex today ended at 38,129, down 12 points or 0.03 per cent while NSE's Nifty ended 21 points or 0.19 per cent lower at 11,194 points.  Of 30 stocks on Sensex, 23 declined and the rest 7 advanced. HCL Tech (up over 4 per cent) ended as the top gainer on the index, followed by RIL (up 4 per cent) and Tech Mahindra (up over 3 per cent). On the flip side, Axis Bank (down over 3 per cent) emerged as the biggest loser.  On a weekly basis, Sensex rallied 3 per cent while Nifty gained 2.68 per cent.  Among individual stocks, Reliance Industries continued to soar and hit a new high of Rs 2,162.80 on the BSE. The market capitalisation of the company breached Rs 14 trillion today. The stock ended at Rs 2,146, up over 4 per cent on the BSE.   Shares of Mphasis jumped over 14 per cent to Rs 1,118.70 on the BSE after the company’s April-June quarter (Q1FY21) earnings came in-line with Street estimate. Besides, signing of new deal worth $216 million deal in July 2020, in addition to the Q1 TCV declared wins worth $259 million, boosted sentiment.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 0.6 per cent to 13,702.55 while the S&P BSE SmallCap ended at 12,967, down 0.23 per cent.  On the sectoral front, barring Nifty IT, all the other indices ended in the red. Nifty Bank declined 422 points or 1.83 per cent to 22,662 while Nifty Metal slipped over 2 per cent to 2,087.50 levels. Nifty IT, on the other hand, gained 1.4 per cent to 17,286 levels. 

Snapping their five-day gaining streak, the benchmark indices ended Wednesday's choppy session in the red amid selling in IT, private banks, and consumer goods shares. Weak global markets owing to US-China tensions and a surge in coronavirus cases dented the investor sentiment.  The S&P BSE Sensex today ended 59 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 37,872, with Axis Bank (up 7 per cent) being the top gainer and HUL (down 3 per cent) the biggest loser.  NSE's Nifty ended at 11,133, down 30 points or 0.27 per cent. India VIX, the volatility index gained over 1 per cent to 24.75 levels.  Among individual stocks, Reliance Industries (RIL) hit a fresh record high of Rs 2,010 on the BSE during the day. The stock ended at Rs 2,004, up over 1.6 per cent.  Bajaj Auto ended 0.6 per cent lower at Rs 2,986 on the BSE after the company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 528 crore for the April-June quarter of FY21 (Q1FY21), down 53 per cent, from a profit of Rs 1,125.67 crore in the year-ago period.  Shares of Axis Bank ended over 7 per cent higher at Rs 479 on the BSE after the private sector lender reported a healthy set of April-June (Q1FY21) quarter numbers with a strong operational performance.  The sectoral trend on the NSE was largely negative. The Nifty PSU Bank index declined over 1.5 per cent to 1,449.20 levels while the Nifty Auto slipped over 1.2 per cent to 7,203.95 points. The Nifty IT index fell over 1 per cent to 17,076 points. On the other hand, Nifty Bank gained nearly 0.5 per cent to 22,882.60 levels and the Nifty Pharma rose 0.21 per cent to 10,175 points.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.19 per cent to 13,649 while S&P BSE SmallCap index slipped 0.23 per cent to 12,917. 

Indian stock markets continued their gaining streak and ended over 1 per cent higher on Monday, led by buying in financial and IT counters. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 399 points over 1.08 per cent to settle at 37,418.99 levels while NSE's Nifty breached the crucial 11,000 level to end the session at 11,022, up 120.50 points or 1.11 per cent.  Telecom stocks were in focus amid the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) hearing in the Supreme Court in the last hour of the trade. Vodafone Idea witnessed a highly volatile session and ended flat at Rs 8.95, up 0.79 per cent following the observations by the Supreme Court in the case. The Counsel for Vodafone Idea said in the apex court that the total revenues over 10 years were Rs 6.27 trillion, of which Rs 4.95 trillion was spent on expenses. Besides, the entire net worth of the company has been wiped out over the last 15 years. Bharti Airtel ended nearly 2 per cent higher at Rs 578.50 on the BSE while Tata Teleservices was up 5 per cent at Rs 3.66.  Besides, HDFC Bank ended 3 per cent higher at Rs 1,132.80 on the BSE after the private sector lender reported a 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in net profit at Rs 6,659 crore for the April-June quarter (Q1FY21), supported by operational income. The stock was the biggest contributor to the Sensex's gains, followed by Infosys, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, and HCL Tech.  Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (MMFSL) ended over 10 per cent higher at Rs 229.60 after the company said its board approved a 1:1 rights issue at Rs 50 per share, amounting to Rs 3,089 crore. Among sectoral indices on the NSE, barring Nifty Pharma, all the other indices ended in the green. Nifty IT rallied the most - up 2.6 per cent to 17,258 levels. Nifty Bank gained 1.6 per cent to 22,321.85 levels. Nifty Pharma, on the other hand, slipped 1.6 per cent to 10,304.60 levels.  Broader markets, too, participated in the rally. The S&P BSE MidCap index rose 0.9 per cent to 13,654 points while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 1 per cent to 12,915 levels. 

The Indian markets are likely to open higher today. At 7:10 AM, the SGX Nifty was trading 42 points higher at 10,725 levels after a rally in US shares overnight. Technology stocks lifted the Nasdaq 1.44 per cent on the index's way to its fourth record closing high in five days. The Dow Jones rose 0.68 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.78 per cent. Asian indices also ticked up in Thursday's early deals. Australian ASX 200 was last up 0.9 per cent while Japan's Nikkei added 0.3 per cent. A major focus today will be on TCS which is scheduled to kick-off the April-June 2020 earnings season for IT companies today. According to analysts, the company may post up to 7 per cent decline in revenue in constant currency (CC) terms on a sequential basis owing to anticipated pressure in multiple segments due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Besides, 19 other companies including Arvind Fashions, Sadbhav Engineering are set to announce their quarterly numbers today. On Covid-19 front, the total cases in India has now increased to 7.69 lakh with 21,144 deaths. Globally, over 12 million people around the world have been diagnosed with Covid-19. ICICI Bank might trade actively in today's session after its board approved plan to raise upto Rs 15,000 crore to support business growth and create a buffer to absorb any shocks from economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides these, investors will also keep an eye on the newsflow regarding China-US tensions over Tibet. They will also track the Rupee's trajectory and oil price movement. And now, a quick look at other top headlines. A sharp global rally in gold on Wednesday pushed the spot price in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazar to a new all-time high of Rs 48,925 per 10 gram. The Karnataka High Court yesterday gave a preliminary hearing to the matter pertaining to wind-up of schemes by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, and said the matter would be heard on priority in order to complete the hearing within three months. The sharp downward revision in growth projections by various national and international agencies indicates the impact of the coronavirus-induced lockdown and inadequate stimulus package, EY said on Wednesday, adding that June economic indicators including PMI manufacturing and services data, GST collections, and forex reserves have showed some improvement. IRB Infrastructure Developers on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 150 crore through allotment of NCDs on a private placement basis. Dilip Buildcon, in a separate filing, said it has raised Rs 200 crore via NCDs. SBI yesterday got its board's approval to invest a maximum of Rs 1,760 crore in private lender YES Bank’s follow-on public offer. The public sector lender already holds 48.21 per cent in YES Bank. The Union government has shelved the merger of three ailing public sector general insurance companies Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, and United India Insurance, saying the focus will be on making them profitable instead. The Cabinet also approved capital infusion of Rs 12,450 crore into the three firms.  Inflow into equity mutual funds slumped 95 per cent to a little over Rs 240 crore in June as investors pulled out from large-cap and multi-cap funds, data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed. This is the third consecutive monthly decline in inflow in equity mutual funds. Read by Kanishka Gupta

Samsung Electronics forecast a 23-percent rise in second-quarter operating profit Tuesday, with strong demand for memory chips and displays overcoming the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on smartphone sales. The world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker in an earnings estimate said that it expected operating profit to be 8.1 trillion won ($6.8 billion) for April-June, up from 6.6 trillion won in the same period last year. The prediction was far ahead of analyst forecasts of a single-digit decline. Market observer Counterpoint, Park Jin-suk said the earnings surprise seems to have stemmed from Samsung’s memory chip sector observer Counterpoint, pointing to increased demand for memory chips for PCs and a continuing rise in DRAM chip prices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extending its gaining streak into the fifth straight session, the domestic stock market ended in the green on Tuesday, supported by buying in financial and IT counters.  The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 36,675, up 187 points or 0.51 per cent with Bajaj Finance (up around 8 per cent) being the top gainer and Power Grid (down 3 per cent) the biggest loser. NSE's Nifty closed at 10,799.65 points, up 36 points or 0.33 per cent. Financial stocks rallied up to 20 per cent on the BSE after Bajaj Finance said its assets under management (AUM) under moratorium declined from 27 per cent, at the end of April 2020, to about 15.5 per cent at the end of June 2020. Bandhan Bank, too, reported healthy loan and deposit growth in the April-June quarter on a yearly basis despite nationwide Covid-19-induced lockdown.    Shares of IT companies also gained in the trade ahead of the announcement of their June quarter (Q1FY20) results. Tata Consultancy Services will kickoff the earnings season by announcing its numbers on Thursday, July 9. The Nifty IT index rose over 2 per cent to 15,785 levels.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.58 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index added 0.57 per cent.

India reported 24,248 coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the total to 697,413, an increase of 3.6 per cent according to the Health Ministry. Around 19,700 people have died in the country from Covid-19 so far, with 425 fatalities in a day. India went past Russia on Sunday to become the third worst-hit nation by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Worldometer. Only the US and Brazil are ahead of India in terms of total coronavirus infections. Of the 4,492,218 active cases around the world as of Monday morning, 254,147 are in India. That means one in every 17 active coronavirus infections is in the country. With 15,350 new recoveries, its recovery rate has risen marginally to 60.9 per cent and death rate has fallen to 2.8 per cent.  Five states with the highest test positivity rate (TPR) – the percentage of tested people turning out to be positive for Covid-19 infection (by cumulative data for tests and cases) – are Telangana (21.22 per cent), Maharashtra (18.7 per cent), Delhi (15.45 per cent), Gujarat (8.74 per cent), and Tamil Nadu (8.28 per cent). Total number of tests for detection of Covid-19 has crossed one-crore mark in India, says ICMR official Maharashtra, the most affected state overall, has for reported a net addition of 6,555 cases. Its total tally has reached 206,619, which is 30 per cent of all cases in India.Tamil Nadu, which has reported a single-day jump of 4,150 cases, has added more than 3,000 cases on each of the past 10 days. With 2,244 fresh infections, Delhi's tally of coronavirus cases stands at 99,444, including 63 new deaths. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that out of the 25,000 active Covid-19 cases in Delhi, 15,000 cases are being treated at home and added that the home isolation programme is a success. We've also started the country's first corona plasma bank. Our trials have shown that plasma therapy can help moderate patients improve significantly: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Coronavirus is giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby. If airborne transmission is a significant factor in the pandemic, especially in crowded spaces with poor ventilation, the consequences for containment will be significant. Masks may be needed indoors, even in socially distant settings.    Indian women who contract Covid-19 are at a higher risk of dying than men, a recent study of cases has found — 3.3% of infected women died of the disease as against 2.9% of men. “The data until May 20, 2020, suggests that the overall risk of mortality among women is slightly higher than men,” said William Joe, assistant professor at Population Research Centre at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and the lead author of the study.   Indian IT services firms are learnt to have implemented rigorous employee performance evaluation metrics as most of them are resorting to staff retrenchment to withstand the difficult business environment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to industry insiders, at least 10,000 software professionals in the country might have already lost their jobs in the April-June quarter, while more are expected to lose their jobs in the coming quarters.   The Drug Controller General of India's nod to conduct human trials for Indian Covid-19 vaccine candidates Covaxin and ZyCov-D marks the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic, says an article by a scientist with the Ministry of Science and Technology. The article has been published on the websites of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and the Vigyan Prasar, which is a body under the ministry. The announcement of Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and ZyCov-D by Zydus Cadila is the silver line in the dark clouds, the article by T V Venkateswaran, who is a scientist with Vigyan Prasar, said.   China must be held fully accountable f

Kia ora,Welcome to Thursday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.Today we lead with news that the economic bouncebacks have been rather weak and probably not enough to withstand a renewed virus surge.Advance data for this weekend's American non-farm payroll release shows another recovery in jobs in June. Recall they fell more than -19 mln in April, recovered +3.1 mln in May, and now this June report suggests another +2.4 mln jobs were recovered in the past month. That is a net loss of -14 mln jobs in the past 90 days. But the bounceback isn't as strong as analysts had expected (+3 mln in June).American car sales took a big tumble in the April-June quarter, with GM reporting a -34% fall, similar at Ford and the Japanese brands, and almost -40% at Fiat/Chrysler.There are two June PMI reports out today for the US. The local ISM one says the US factory sector expanded slightly in June on rising orders. The internationally benchmarked Markit one says it contracted in a minor way, also held up by new order growth. Both however reported lower employment. Either way, it is a very weak bounceback on the factory floor.In Europe, they had a PMI bounceback too, but it was weaker and is still contracting. Only France and Ireland are expanding. Germany is contracting quite fast still, mainly because it has been so export-dependent.Globally, the story is similar. China is a bit of an outlier, as overall global recovery is very much being held back by Asian countries. But the better China data may pull them up and out of their slump.In China, their private sector Caixin PMI pointed to a definite recovery in manufacturing conditions, with firms signalling a further rise in production and a renewed increase in total new business. This version has outperformed the official version again.News about China is getting more difficult to verify because Beijing is expelling reporters who provide independent coverage and do not toe the Party line. And in Hong Kong, masked police arrested hundreds on the first day Beijing's new security law came into force. But despite this, thousands braved the streets to protest, an action that now requires a whole new level of personal bravery. As a lifeline, the UK has thrown open its doors to up to 3 mln Hong Kongers who want to escape. Beijing probably won't mind as it will undermine the strength of their opponents in the City of large numbers take up the offer.Australian manufacturing conditions showed a modest improvement in June, according to the headline PMI figure, as the country relaxed its lockdown measures. However, firms were reluctant to invest in new capacity, and instead reduced employment and input purchasing in June to contain costs. All the same, the result was an expansion. The new return of lockdowns in Victoria won't help their July PMI however.In Australia, property values have dropped for a second month in a row and picked up in pace as uncertainty builds about the financial plunge expected to come in September. And building approvals fell sharply in May, led down by a collapse in apartment consents.The collapse of air travel in May is revealed in the latest data, especially international travel. Less than 2% of travellers remain from the levels of a year ago. Air cargo has been hit very hard too, but at least it is operating at a 20% level.The latest compilation of COVID-19 data is here. The global tally is 10,512,400 and up +146,000 in a day. Global deaths reported now exceed 512,000 and rising by about +8000 per day.A quarter of all reported cases globally are in the US, which is up +28,000 since yesterday to 2,638,300. US deaths now exceed 127,000. The number of active infections in the US is now up to 1,790,200, up +11,500 in a day.In Australia, there have been 7,920 cases, another +86 since yesterday and a fast-rising tide, especially in Victoria. Their death count is still at 104 but their recovery rate has slipped back to now 89%. There are now 753 active cases in Australia (up +60 overnight).Wall Street is still in positive territory today, up +0.6% in afternoon trade. That follows modest falls in Europe overnight. Yesterday, Shanghai has a very good day, up +1.4% while Hong Kong was up +0.4%. Tokyo however dropped -0.8%. The ASX200 was up +0.6% but the NZX50 retreated -0.9% on the day.The UST 10yr yield is up +3 bps to 0.68%. The gold price has slipped back after yesterday's high, down -US$10 to US$1,771/oz.Oil prices have firmed marginally today. They are now just under US$40/bbl in the US and the Brent price is just over US$42/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is a little firmer again, now just on 64.7 USc. On the cross rates we are up as well, now at 93.7 AUc and against the euro we are firmer at 57.5 euro cents. That means our TWI-5 has risen to 69.5.The bitcoin price has firmed a little overnight, up +1.6% to US$9,295.You can find links to the articles mentioned today in our show notes.And get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. We will do this again, tomorrow. 

By Matthew Nemeth I am finally back with an overdue Chat Podcast as I discuss April-June and talk about our Summer Plans. Check below for the free podcast Click here for a list of our iTunes feeds. Information matthew@entertainmenttalk.org Please Read More

By Matthew Nemeth I am finally back with an overdue Chat Podcast as I discuss April-June and talk about our Summer Plans. Check below for the free podcast Click here for a list of our iTunes feeds. Information matthew@entertainmenttalk.org Please Read More

By Matthew Nemeth I am finally back with an overdue Chat Podcast as I discuss April-June and talk about our Summer Plans. Check below for the free podcast Click here for a list of our iTunes feeds. Information matthew@entertainmenttalk.org Please Read More

By Matthew Nemeth I am finally back with an overdue Chat Podcast as I discuss April-June and talk about our Summer Plans. Check below for the free podcast Click here for a list of our iTunes feeds. Information matthew@entertainmenttalk.org Please Read More

Episode 8-April-June 2020

Benchmark indices shot up over 3 per cent on Wednesday, propelled by banks and financials, ahead of the upcoming derivative contract expiry. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 996 points to 31,605, and the Nifty50 index reclaimed the 9,300 zones, settling 286 points higher at 9,315. Axis Bank (up 13 per cent) and ICICI Bank (up 9 per cent) were the top Sensex gainers. Besides, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were all up 5 per cent. The Nifty sectoral indices were largely in the green, led by the Nifty Bank index, up over 7 per cent. Broader indices, however, underperformed compared to their frontline peers. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended the session 0.54 per cent higher and the S&P BSE SmallCap index was up 0.28 per cent. Buzzing stocks Shares of Axis Bank soared 13.46 per cent to Rs 387.35 on the BSE on reports that private equity (PE) firm Carlyle was looking to pick around 8 per cent stake in the lender.  Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv recovered from multi-year lows closed 5 per cent and 3 per cent higher on the BSE. Earlier, the Bajaj twins had hit an over two-year low on the BSE amid concerns that the current April-June quarter (Q1FY20) will be a wash-out quarter for Bajaj Finance

A lone trololo cuts through the night, and that can only mean one thing - it's time once again for the annual Miss Cryptid Contest! Now in its 8th year, the Miss Cryptid Contest opens with the Adlet, the Chiang Rai Scarecrow, and the California Dark Watchers. From the harsh cold of northern North American, to the rice fields of Thailand, to the sunny coast of California, these feral fiends will vie for your attention. They will also fight nonstop for your vote! It's your choice of who moves on to the finals and one step closer to the coveted Golden Goatman trophy. Check the Blurry Photos Home Page for the form to vote for your favorite. You can also have your vote be an entry into this year’s Miss Cryptid Prize Pack Sweepstakes. Vote once each week for a total of 4 entries into the Sweepstakes for a prize that includes Blurry Photos swag and a Golden Goatman trophy replica! Special thanks to Derek Hayes of Monsters Among Us Podcast for help this week. Brush off the saddle and coil up the rope - it's time to lasso a lady for the first week of the 2020 Miss Cryptid Contest! Music Danse Macabre, Myst on the Moor - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Sources H. Rink and F. Boas. "Eskimo Tales and Songs", The Journal of American Folk-lore, Volume 2, Number 5, April-June 1889, pages 123-131. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. London. 1889. Jung, AR. Mythical Creature, ‘the Adlet,’ an Inuit dog-man from Greenland. ARJungwriter.com, blog. May 9, 2018. Web. https://arjungwriter.com/2018/05/09/mythical-creature-the-adlet-an-inuit-dog-man-from-greenland-with-writing-prompt-amwriting-writingprompt/ CTN News. The Scarecrow of Chiangrai. Chiang Rai Times. June 30, 2011. Web. https://www.chiangraitimes.com/lifestyles/myths-legends/ghostly-scarecrow-of-chiang-rai/ Thailand Scarecrow extraterrestrial. We Are IF blog. Feb 5, 2020. Web. https://www.weareif.biz/2020/02/thailand-scarecrow-extraterrestrial.html?m=1 Staff. The Mysterious Dark Watchers. Beyond Science TV. Aug 1, 2017. Web. beyondsciencetv.com/2017/08/01/the-mysterious-dark-watchers/ Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory. Penguin Books. New York. 2002.    

The evolution continues with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In this episode we discuss with Roxanne Sexton the newly released Forgiveness Application released by the SBA on May 15th. Many of the previously issued guidelines are clarified, new guidelines are provided and other questions remain. While there is talk and speculation about further changes to the rules, like extending the 8 week covered period and the 75%/25% split of how the money should be spent. However, at this point, those changes are just speculation.  SBA Releases PPP Forgiveness Application and Makes Critical Clarifications and Documentation RequirementsThere is now improved guidance on calculation methods, definitions of forgivable expenses and the documents that must be submitted with the forgiveness request. CONTRIBUTORCEO & Attorney at Directed IRA & Directed Trust Company     May 18, 2020 10 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.The SBA released its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Forgiveness Application and clarified a few critical definitions and documentation requirements in their instructions. The forgiveness application is completed by the small-business borrower and is submitted to their bank or lender whom they received their PPP loan from. The application consists of 11 lines that when calculated results in the amount of forgiveness a small-business owner will be eligible for. The forgiveness component of PPP is what attracted small-business owners to take out PPP loans in droves, as the program promised forgiveness of amounts loaned so long as the small business used the funds for payroll, business mortgage interest, rent and utilities. For a summary on forgiveness rules please refer to my prior article here.Three-Part Calculation MethodThe application consists of a three-part calculation to determine the amount eligible for forgiveness. First, the application asks for the payroll and qualifying non-payroll costs that the business has spent over the eight-week period since it received its PPP funds (more on the updated definition of these costs later). The second step is a reduction in the forgiveness amount if you have reduced pay for employees greater than 25 percent or if you have not brought back the same number of full-time equivalent employees (more on that definition later). The full-time equivalent employee (FTE) rule requires a small business to reduce its forgiveness request if it does not bring back the same number of employees that it had pre-pandemic. The application does provide for a waiver of this reduction if the business failed to bring back its same employee count during its eight-week period but later brought back the same number of employees by June 30, 2020.Step three is the 75 percent payroll cost test, which states that the forgiveness request must be comprised of at least 75 percent payroll costs. The other 25 percent can only be rent, mortgage interest debt and utilities. If the forgiveness request in step three exceeds 75 percent, then you will instead take the amount of your payroll costs and will divide that by .75, and this will give you your total forgiveness amount. For example, if you had payroll costs of $70,000 and non-payroll costs $30,000, you would only be at 70 percent and would not meet the 75 percent rule and the $30,000 in non-payroll costs would need to be reduced. The application calculation ($70,000 divided by .75) would bring the total forgiveness amount to $93,333. This calculation is effectively reducing the non-payroll costs from $30,000 to $23,333, and now the forgiveness request consists of 75 percent payroll costs ($70,000) and 25 percent non-payroll costs ($23,333).Rent Includes Leases of Personal and Real PropertyMany small-business owners and their accountants and lawyers were unclear whether the lease of personal property was an amount that could be included in rent, and thus forgiven. The forgiveness application specifically states that rent incudes the following: “Business rent or lease payments pursuant to lease agreements for real or personal property in force between February 15, 2020 (business rent or lease payments).”It was clear that rental payments for office, storefront and other real property was going to be included, but the application now makes it clear that personal property items such as copiers, servers, autos and other common items of personal property that are leased by a business will be includable in the bucket of non-payroll costs that may be forgiven. Similarly, a business “mortgage interest payment” includes loans for real property and personal property, and as a result interest paid on loans for equipment, autos and other personal property items are includable and can be forgiven.   Utilities Definition Includes Internet, Transportation and TelephoneThe application also defines what utility expenses may be added to the application. These expenses include “...electricity, gas, water, transportation, telephone or internet access, for which service began before February 15, 2020.”Most of these utility expenses are straightforward. What falls under transportation is uncertain, but SBA guidance appears to define transportation costs as gas and other auto expenses that would usually be part of the auto deductions on the business-tax return.Average FTE CalculationIn determining your full-time equivalent employees before the pandemic and during the eight-week period, the SBA has given two alternative methods of calculation. The first method takes some math and seems complex at first, but will give flexibility and will meet the intent of the rule — that those small business who retain or bring back all of their employees during the eight-week period or by June 30, 2020 will not have their forgiveness request reduced.  The first option is to take the average number of hours paid each week for each employee, divide by 40 and round the total to the nearest 10th. The maximum number of hours per employee is 40 or 1 FTE. Let’s run a quick example for a small business with three employees.                Employee 1 Average Weekly Hours = 40                40 hours divided by 40 = 1                1 FTE                 Employee 2 Average Weekly Hours = 37                35 hours divided by 40 = .875                Round to nearest tenth = .9                .9 FTE                 Employee 3 Average Weekly Hours = 21                20 hours divided by 40 = .525                Round to nearest tenth = .5                .5 FTE                 Total FTE = 2.4 FTE Since the calculation method tracks each employee by the hours they worked, and since it is the same method to use pre-pandemic and during the eight-week period, it will fairly reflect the small businesses payroll costs and the hours worked without having to worry about whether an employee makes the cut as a full-time equivalent or if they are part-time.  The SBA is also allowing for a simpler method that assigns 1.0 for employees who work 40 hours or more per week and .5 for employees who work fewer than 40 hours. While this may work for some small businesses, there can be some losers in this method, as you may have someone who worked working 35 hours who is now only being counted at .5 under the simple method but would be .9 under the traditional method.Documentation of Payroll CostsThe application outlines what documentation will be required with the forgiveness request. For payroll costs, the business must outline these in a PPP Schedule A Worksheet and must identify each employee paid during the eight-week period. The business must also identify employees paid at an annualized rate below $100,000 in 2019 on one schedule and employees paid at an annualized rate over $100,000 on another schedule. The business owner’s compensation is included on a separate line on the forgiveness application, but still calculates into the application like any employee. Because of the per employee compensation restriction $100,000, no employee or owner can have cash/wage compensation that is forgiven greater than the annualized eight-week amount of $15,385. Consequently, the maximum cash compensation forgiveness request per employee on the Schedule A worksheet will be $15,385. Note that this $15,385 cap does not include health insurance and retirement contributions paid by the business.The forgiveness application gives flexibility to small businesses who have a bi-weekly payroll, such that they will be able to ensure that they can get four pay periods of two weeks into their eight-week covered period regardless of when they receive their PPP loan funds and when their regular bi-weekly payroll schedule hits. This was an important provision and instruction in the application, as many businesses were realizing that their payroll schedules weren’t in synch with the eight-week period, and as a result of their loan funding date and their regular payroll dates, they were only going to have three pay periods representing six weeks covered.To document the payroll costs, the SBA is requiring each of the following:Bank accounts or third-party payroll service reports documenting the cash compensation paid to employees.Tax forms (or equivalent third-party payroll service provider reports) for the periods that overlap with the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period. For tax forms, the SBA is requesting payroll tax forms (usually 941) and state quarterly wage and unemployment filings.Payment receipts, cancelled checks or account statements documenting the amount of employer contributions to employee health insurance and retirement plans.For many small businesses, there will be a significant time lag from when their eight-week period will be up and when a small business will file its quarterly 941s. As a result, many small businesses may have to wait for a month or two after the eight-week period before filing their forgiveness loan application. For example, if your PPP loan was funded on May 15, your 8-week period will run into July and will be part of second quarter (April-June) and third quarter payroll reporting (July-Sept.). This means you won’t have complete 941s to submit to your bank with the forgiveness request until October even though your eight-week period was up in July. We will have to see what flexibility the SBA is going to allow in this instance or if small businesses will just have to wait until October to submit their forgiveness application.It is unclear what documents a sole proprietor or partnership that does not have payroll and does not file 941s will use.Documentation of Rent, Mortgage Interest and UtilitiesTo document the approved non-payroll costs of rent, mortgage interest and utilities, the SBA is requiring existence of the obligation/service prior to February 15, 2020 and evidence of payments during the eight-week period. To document a business mortgage obligation, the business would provide a lender amortization schedule and receipt of payments as well as statements from February 2020 and during the eight-week covered period.To document rent or lease payments, a copy of the lease agreement must be produced showing it was in force before February 15, 2020. To document the payments, the small-business owner will need to produce copies of account statements from its landlord/lessor showing the payments or cancelled checks evidencing the payments made during the eight-week period. Small businesses who are paying rent monthly will generally be able to request two months worth of expenses during the eight-week period.The documentation required for utility payments includes an invoice or statements from February 2020 showing the utility service in place. To document payments made during the eight-week period, the business can use account statements showing the payments made, cancelled checks or bank-account statements showing the payment.Small-businesses owners will submit their forgiveness application and their supporting documentation to their bank, and their bank will have 60 days to approve or reject the forgiveness request. Attention to detail and a correctly completed forgiveness application will be key to ensuring the maximum amount forgivable. Understanding what is in the application now will greatly increase a small business's chances of receiving maximum PPP loan forgiveness. There are still many unanswered questions, but seeing the PPP forgiveness loan application is a big step ahead. 20,845 views|May 19, 2020,08:10am EDTFirst Look At PPP Loan Forgiveness ApplicationKyle WestawayContributorEntrepreneursI write about entrepreneurship, innovation and impact. On May 15, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released the long-awaited Payroll Protection Program Forgiveness Application. Under the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) entrepreneurs may apply to have up to 100 percent of their loan forgiven. However, the SBA has failed to give clear guidance on the details of loan forgiveness, and this has caused entrepreneurs to question what they need to do to prepare for PPP loan forgiveness. The new application provides clarity on a few points. Time Period for ForgivenessYou must spend the money on authorized expenses in a specific period of time in order to be eligible for forgiveness. There has been a slight update to the time period in question. Historically the window was eight weeks from the day the loan hit your bank account. However, if you didn’t receive your money the day before your regularly scheduled payroll period, you may have trouble deploying the full amount of payroll within the eight-week period. So, the new guidance allows you to choose the eight-week period that begins on your first payroll date following the loan disbursement.On May 18, restaurant owners met with President Trump and requested the SBA to extend the eight-week period to 24 weeks. This is especially important for restaurateurs since most of their restaurants are currently closed by government order. Trump seems to be considering it, noting that, “That should be easy," he said. "That's like one of the easiest requests I've ever heard." $2MYou must certify whether or not the total loan amount of your business, and/or your affiliated businesses, is $2M or above. The SBA has previously notified small businesses that loans of $2M or above will likely be audited, and the application shows how they will be flagging those companies.Payroll Reduction ExemptionIn general, you are required to maintain the average number of employees, and any reduction in headcount will result in a reduction in the forgivable amount. However, the new guidance makes it clear that your forgiveness amount will not be reduced for employee reductions related to: Individuals to whom the borrower has made a written offer in good faith to rehire but the employee declined (see FAQ 40);Employees whose employment was terminated for cause; orEmployees who voluntarily resigned.  Owner’s CapMany entrepreneurs have been struggling to calculate payroll costs because they pay themselves through owner’s draws, not a traditional payroll. SBA clarifies that any owner-employee or self-employed individual/general partner may calculate payroll costs as eight weeks of 2019 compensation. However, the total forgivable amount is capped at $15,385 per individual. 75/25 RuleThe 75/25 Rule states that at least 75 percent of your total forgivable amount must be comprised of payroll costs, and only 25 percent can be authorized non-payroll costs. Though many small business groups and the SBA Inspector General are recommending removing this rule, the SBA has made no change at this time. More Clarity Needed“It’s clear the application form and instructions provided yesterday are not enough,” said Erik Asgeirsson (president and CEO of CPA.com, and the American Institute of CPA’s business and technology arm) in a recent news release. “Some of the most pressing issues are not addressed. And in other areas, it appears new questions have arisen.”

Check Keiser Report website for more: https://www.keiserreport.com/In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss the 2.999 trillion (BARGAIN!) the US Treasury expects to borrow for the April– June quarter. They also discuss the ‘infinity war’ that’s raging as central banks around the world expand their menu for their balance sheet – from corporate bonds to consumer loans, everything is on the table for the free-money buffet. In the second half, Max interviews Lawrence Lepard of ema2.com about the Rubicon being crossed as the US government goes direct to helicoptering money. They discuss gold and bitcoin in this era of infinite fiat.

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss the 2.999 trillion (BARGAIN!) the US Treasury expects to borrow for the April– June quarter. They also discuss the ‘infinity war’ that’s raging as central banks around the world expand their menu for their balance sheet – from corporate bonds to consumer loans, everything is on the table for the free-money buffet. In the second half, Max interviews Lawrence Lepard of ema2.com about the Rubicon being crossed as the US government goes direct to helicoptering money. They discuss gold and bitcoin in this era of infinite fiat.

Sweden’s economy shrank slightly in the first quarter with worse to come in the April-June period when full effects of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus are set to be felt. This is according to flash estimates from the Statistics Office on Tuesday. In a statement, the Statistics Office said gross domestic product decreased 0.3% in the first three months of the year compared to the final quarter of 2019 and grew 0.5% from the same period in 2019. The government expects the economy to contract around 7% - the worst recession since 1940 - this year before rebounding sharply in 2021. Production figures for March showed a rapid slowdown across the board, while activity in the manufacturing sector tumbled in April, hitting its lowest level since the financial crisis. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Just how many pollinators can you find on one wild carrot flower? And what exactly is a pollinator? Listen to find out! In this podcast episode, Kaska and Johanna Willi, Fife Council's Biodiversity Officier, marvel at the flowers, bugs and beasties which can be found in Tayport’s wildflower meadows established by Fife’s Buzzing project. PLANT volunteers turned out in force to do the sowing and planting in the Spring of 2016. We hear about the extraordinary benefits of this project for protection of these rapidly vanishing natural spaces locally and how it’s already helped our precious pollinator dwellers. Tips on how to make home for pollinators in your own backyard are also included. Project team was careful to involve Tayport community in selecting the meadow sites, they held consultation 'drop-in' event with the Community Council, and also consulted park users in the Common. Fife’s Buzzing was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Fife Environment Trust. Partners in the project included Fife Council and Buglife Scotland. Land owners involved ac included The Woodland Trust Scotland, Fife Golf Trust, St Andrews Botanic Garden, CommScope, Dalbeath farm, Fife Council. Resources: Fife’s buzzing project: https://www.buglife.org.uk/projects/fifes-buzzing/ Buglife’s B-Lines project providing wildlife corridors for insects to connect fragmented habitats (Tayport is on a B-Line!): https://www.buglife.org.uk/our-work/b-lines/ All things bumblebee at Bumblebee Conservation Trust website: https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/ Exploring pollinators – backyard science: Count pollinators visiting your flowers https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/pollinator-monitoring. Flower-Insect-Timed Counts which involve monitoring a flowering plant in a 50x50cm square for 10-15 minutes and counting the different pollinators that visit the flowers. Record bee-flies for Bee Fly watch (April – June): https://www.brc.ac.uk/soldierflies-and-allies/bee-fly-watch Spotting bumblebees on a BeeWalk: https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/beewalk/ Ideas on how to support pollinators in your garden: - Buglife Make a Mini Meadow: https://www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved/gardening-for-bugs/make-a-mini-meadow/ - Buglife How to make a community meadow: https://www.buglife.org.uk/how-to-make-a-community-meadow/ - RHS plants for pollinators (many ornamental plants included): https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators - Wildlife gardening tips from Wildlife Trusts: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/gardening - Garden for life leaflets (Scotland): https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/local-environmental-quality/community-projects/garden-for-life/resources/

In view of the ongoing crisis, the government has come up with several measures to aid the economy.   Recently it allowed states to avail of up to 50 per cent of their 2020-21 (FY21) borrowing requirements.   Here’s the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and government measures to contain its impact on the economy:   Last month, even before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the indicative borrowing calendar for the states for April-June and the one for the Centre for April-September, the Centre gave states the permission to borrow up to 50 per cent of their limit.   Here is what this means: Even in normal times, states have their fiscal limits to borrow. While those fiscal responsibility and budget management limits are still in place, officials at the Centre and in states acknowledged that these are not normal times.   Now, according to the RBI’s indicative calendar for borrowing by the states in the April-June quarter, they are expected to borrow Rs 1.27 trillion. Of that, around Rs 55,225 crore is expected to happen in April. That amount, and the estimate for the quarter, will certainly be breached.   While there are no official estimates of how much states will borrow in FY21, as all the state budgets are not out yet, economists like Soumya Kanti Ghosh of State Bank of India estimate it could be close to Rs 7 trillion.   Besides, on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference meeting with chief ministers of various states on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. A day later, the finance ministry released Rs 17,287.08 crore to states in revenue-deficit grants and state disaster response mitigation funds for FY21.   However, the amount released by the finance ministry is just a fraction of what states have been demanding, in financial support as well as clearing pending dues.   And to this, Central government officials say there is understandably a resource crunch, but more will be given to states. Now, speaking state wise, Maharashtra had sought a special package worth Rs 25,000 crore from the central government and asked it to release pending dues worth Rs 16,654 crore under various heads by March 31, to fight the economic crisis stemming from the new Covid-19 outbreak.   Tamil Nadu has sought a special assistance of Rs 4,000 crore and a slew of other forms of financial support. West Bengal has also asked for a package of Rs 25,000 crore and clearance of dues worth Rs 36,000 crore. Additionally, all states have sought relaxation of their borrowing limits.   Now, coming to the latest on the coronavirus outbreak. In India, the number of cases saw a dramatic increase of over 700 to 4,298 and death toll rose to 118, according to the Worldometer data. Meanwhile, amid criticism for not reaching out to the Opposition even as the country faced a grave health crisis and a 21-day lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called up several Opposition leaders, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, besides former prime ministers and presidents of the country.   Globally, the death toll surpassed 69,479 and the number of infections rose to 1,274,346. The US death toll is nearing the 10,000-mark, even as the total number of cases in that country now stands at 3,36,670. In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to a hospital because of “persistent” symptoms of the coronavirus, a spokesman confirmed on Sunday.

The AniTAY Podcast returns after an absence for AniTAY Comedy Week with a look at the upcoming Spring 2020 (April-June) anime season. From the good to the bad the the very very bad, no anime is safe from our soon-to-be-proved-wrong predictions. Note: In the interest of getting ahead of most season premieres, we have decided to post this episode a few days early instead of Wednesday. Episode 6 will return to our usual Wednesday schedule and is planned for April 22nd. This episode’s members: hybridmink, Raitzeno, Gugsy, Requiem, Thatsmapizza, Kinksy

Tarot and Oracle card reading for April - June 2020 in America.

Love and Laughter My HEALarious Healing Family! Welcome to the HEALarious Healing Podcast. This episode is the 2019 calendar year wrap up. This is part 1 as I break down 2019 from Jan-March and April-June.... Boy o boy was 2019 turbulent AF... Even when the roller coaster went upside down you didn't fall off.... Grab you a bottle of naturally alkaline spring water and tap into the HEALarious podcast! **Oh yes family I got us the hook up with my favorite water! Eternal Water gave us a deal family... Use my code HEAL50 and get 50% off your order when your water and get it delivered to your home.... #HEALariouslyhealthy click the link order today.** https://www.eternalwater.com/?ref=holisticallyhealarious --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/holisticallyhealarious/support

Telecom giants have announced an increase in their tariffs. Among them, Vodafone-Idea is set to increase in the range of 22 per cent to 67 per cent, Airtel by 14 per cent to 40 per cent and Reliance Jio will introduce new ‘all-in-one’ plans with a hike of up to 40 per cent.  From when will the hike be applicable? On Sunday, Vodafone Idea said that its new plans for its prepaid products and services would be available across India, starting from 3rd December. Speaking of Reliance Jio, the company would introduce new plans with unlimited voice and data, from December 6, 2019. These plans will have a fair usage policy for calls to other mobile networks.  “Although the new all-in-one plans will be priced up to 40 per cent higher, staying true to its promise of being customer-first, Reliance Jio customers will get up to 300 per cent more benefits,” Reliance Jio said in a release. If you are wondering, why these telcos are increasing their tarrifs, after providing affordable, unlimited calling and internet services for so long, here's why: After reporting massive losses in the second quarter (Q2) after an adverse Supreme Court (SC) ruling on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue, the companies decided to increase data charges.  Bharti Airtel reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 31,334 crore for the quarter ended July-September (Q2) after the company provided for outstanding payments to the central government on account of the SC judgment on AGR. The pre-tax loss in the year-ago quarter stood at Rs 1,998 crore. Whereas, Vodafone Idea reported a massive pre-tax loss of Rs 36,959 crore in Q2 after it provided for payments related to AGR. The company took a hit of Rs 30,774 crore (including AGR) for the quarter. This led to a loss of Rs 50,922 crore at the net level — the highest-ever for an Indian company. The company had posted a loss of Rs 4,974 crore in the year-ago quarter, while the loss in the April-June quarter was Rs 4,874 crore. In a massive blow to telecom companies, the apex court, on October 24, allowed the central government to recover Rs 92,641 crore in AGR from telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio, which together account for over 90 per cent of India’s 1.18 billion mobile subscribers, and having a market share of around 30 per cent each.  The apex court ordered the telecom companies to pay as much as Rs 1.4 trillion in past statutory dues after considering non-telecom revenues for their calculation. The companies are seeking waiver of interest and penalties on the dues and extended payment timelines instead of three months mandated by the SC. So, is the government doing anything to provide relief to the economically slumped sector?  To know more, listen to this podcast

In 1822, Irish thief Alexander Pearce joined seven convicts fleeing a penal colony in western Tasmania. As they struggled eastward through some of the most inhospitable terrain on Earth, starvation pressed the party into a series of grim sacrifices. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the prisoners on their nightmarish bid for freedom. We'll also unearth another giant and puzzle over an eagle's itinerary. Intro: Two presenters at an 1884 AAAS meeting reported on "musical sand" at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. In scenes of pathos, Charles Dickens often slipped into blank verse. Sources for our feature on Alexander Pearce: Paul Collins, Hell's Gates, 2014. Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding, 2012. Robert Cox, A Compulsion to Kill: The Surprising Story of Australia's Earliest Serial Killers, 2014. Jane Stadler, Peta Mitchell, and Stephen Carleton, Imagined Landscapes: Geovisualizing Australian Spatial Narratives, 2015. "Alexander Pearce," Convict Records of Australia (accessed Oct. 27, 2019). Roger W. Byard and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, "Cannibalism Amongst Penitentiary Escapees From Sarah Island in Nineteenth Century Van Diemen's Land," Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology 1:3 (September 2018), 410–415. Therese-Marie Meyer, "Prison Without Walls: The Tasmanian Bush in Australian Convict Novels," Antipodes 27:2 (December 2013), 143-148. Michael A. Ashby and Leigh E. Rich, "Eating People Is Wrong ... or How We Decide Morally What to Eat," Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 10:2 (June 2013), 129–131. Gananath Obeyesekere, "'British Cannibals': Contemplation of an Event in the Death and Resurrection of James Cook, Explorer," Critical Inquiry 18:4 (Summer 1992), 630-654. Craig Cormick, "Confessions of a Cannibal," MARGIN: Monash Australiana Research Group Informal Notes, Issue 62, April 2004. Cassie Crofts, "Australian History: The Cannibal Convict," National Geographic, Jan. 8, 2016. "Alexander Pearce," Australian Geographic (accessed Oct. 27, 2019). Simon Morris, "No Person Can Tell What He Will Do When Driven by Hunger," Australian Geographic 94 (April-June 2009), 74-79. "The Convict Cannibal," Australian Geographic 94 (April-June 2009), 77. Tim Kroenert, "Cannibal Convict's Tour of Hell," Eureka Street 19:18 (Sept. 25, 2009), 5-7. "John Hagan: On the Trail of a Cannibal," Belfast Telegraph, May 12, 2007, 1. Paul Kalina, "Grisly Confession of a Cannibal Convict: Cover Story," The Age, Jan. 22, 2009, 12. Christopher Bantick, "Mind of a Maneater," Sunday Tasmanian, Aug. 10, 2008, A.8. Rebecca Fitzgibbon, "Our Own Breed of Horror," Sunday Tasmanian, Nov. 2, 2008, 68. Anita Beaumont, "Cannibal Convicts: Cover Story," [Newcastle, N.S.W.] Herald, Jan. 23, 2009, 5. Fran Cusworth, "Meat on the Hoof," [Melbourne] Herald Sun, Dec. 7, 2002, W.21. "A Real Life Horror Story of the Irish Cannibal Who Terrorized Australia," IrishCentral, Oct. 4, 2018. Rebecca Fitzgibbon, "Heart of Darkness," Sunday Tasmanian, Sept. 20, 2009, 25. LJ Charleston, "'We Ate Each Other One by One': The Gruesome Story of Alexander Pearce the Cannibal Convict," news.com.au, May 5, 2019. Greg Clarke, "Heavenly Signs at Gates to Hell," Sunday Tasmanian, Aug. 3, 2008, A.18. "Colonial Crime: Alexander Pearce, the Cannibal," Nightlife, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Dec. 20, 2018. "Alexander Pearce (1790 - 1824)," WikiTree (accessed Nov. 1, 2019). Listener mail: A. Glenn Rogers, "The Taughannock Giant," Life in the Finger Lakes, 1953. Charley Githler, "A Look Back At: Home-Grown Hoax: The Taughannock Giant," [Ithaca, N.Y.] Tompkins Weekly, Dec. 26, 2017. Charley Githler, "Local Legend: The Taughannock Giant," Ithaca.com, June 15, 2019. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Sharon. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Markets are expected to remain in the consolidation-mode, as investors watch out for key micro and macro-level developments through the week. During the truncated week, market participants would, first, eye the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate decision. The MPC, which is scheduled to meet on Oct 1, 3 and 4th, will announce its decision on the last day of the meeting. After a cut in the corporate tax rate by the Finance Minister, investors await whether or not the Central bank would change its stance and decide to cut short the rate cut cycle. Further, auto and cement sales data, for the month of September, would be released through the week, starting Tuesday, which could keep auto and cement stocks volatile. That apart, Infrastructure output for August, fiscal deficit for April-August period, and current account deficit and external debt for April-June quarter will be announced on Monday.  Moreover, Manufacturing PMI for September month will be declared on Tuesday while Services PMI for September will be released on Friday. Globally, investors would eye progress in the US-China trade talks. Delegations from both the sides are likely to meet on Oct 10 and any development ahead of it would be keenly watched. Besides, the movement of rupee against the dollar, Brent crude oil price movement and investments by FPIs and DIIs will also be watched. Given all these developments, analysts advise investors to adopt a stock-specific trading approach and focus more on the index majors for short term trades. For today, investors should keep an eye on Reliance Annual General Meeting. In what is probably the first for any major corporation, the resolution professional for Reliance Communications will chair and address the shareholders on Monday. The AGMs of Reliance Capital, Reliance Infra, Reliance Power, Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Communication are slated for Monday. Also, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the online ticketing, tourism and the catering arm of the railways, is scheduled to launch its IPO on Monday. The IPO is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) where 2.01 crore equity shares will be put on the block. Trends on SGX Nifty were suggesting a quiet start for the domestic indices. On the global front, Asian shares were off to a cautious start on Monday as reports that the U.S. administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from the U.S. stock exchanges kept investors on the sidelines. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.11% while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.61%. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite slipped over 1 per cent during the overnight trade on Friday, the S&P500 dipped 0.53%, and the Dow Jones closed 0.26% lower.  Back home, The S&P BSE Sensex lost 167 points or 0.43% to settle at 38,822 level while the Nifty50 index closed at 11,512-mark, down 59 points or 0.51%. Top headlines for the day >> HDFC Capital Advisors looks to raise $1 billion in affordable housing fund >> Govt may seek Rs 30,000 crore interim dividend from RBI >> Brickwork downgrades Peninsula Lands debentures from 'A' to 'BBB-' >> Investor flows shift to 'safer' corporate bond funds, say experts

Amalgamating 10 govt banks into 4 entities in mega consolidation move: FM India is merging its state-run banks to form fewer and stronger lenders, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to boost credit and revive economic growth from a five-year low. India's economic growth dips to 7-year low of 5% in April-June India's economic growth dropped to a seven-year low of 5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2019-20 due to a sharp deceleration in the manufacturing sector and sluggish agriculture output, according to official data released on Friday. Slowdown cyclical, but deep reforms needed, says RBI The slowdown in the Indian economy could be cyclical, with deep structural problems requiring urgent reforms, according to the Annual Report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), released on Thursday. FDI norms have been eased for single brand retail, digital media, manufacturing The Union Cabinet on Wednesday relaxed the rules for single-brand retail, more than seven years after the foreign investment cap was removed for the segment to attract marquee foreign brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ikea and others into the country. The latest government move is in line with the recent Budget announcements on FDI changes. RBI's approval of a record Rs 1.76 trillion surplus transfer to government The Reserve Bank of India on Monday decided to transfer a record Rs 1,23,414 crore of its surplus to the central government for the fiscal year 2018-19 or FY19 (July to June), and an additional Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions as recommended by the Bimal Jalan committee on Economic Capital Framework. IT industry is on a hiring spree, adding a record number of employees in Q1 The Indian information technology industry added a record number of employees in the April-June quarter of the ongoing financial year, with around 85,000 new hires. This is the highest-ever net employee addition by the industry in a single quarter in six years, according to a recent report by equity research firm CLSA.

Indian shares are set for a flat start on Friday amid expectations of the first quarter GDP data due to be released today. A poll conducted by Reuters showed that the Indian economy likely expanded at its slowest pace in more than five years in the April-June quarter, driven by weak investment growth and sluggish demand.  In global markets, Asian shares rose as China struck a hopeful tone on trade with the United States but continued fears about a global growth slowdown, or even a recession, capped sharp rallies.  On Thursday, Indian benchmark indices fell for a second day, led by losses in financial stocks. The Sensex settled 383 points lower, or 1.02 percent, to close Thursday's trade at 37,068. The Nifty50 also slipped 98 points, or 0.89 percent, to settle at 10,948.  At 7.12 AM, the SGX Nifty futures traded 4.50 points, or 0.04 percent, lower 11,012.50, pointing to a muted start for the Sensex and the Nifty50. Stocks to watch: CG Power, HDFC Bank, ICRA in focus.

Forecasters say Hurricane Dorian could become a dangerous Category 3 hurricane before it's expected to pass near or over the northern Bahamas on Saturday and close in on Florida by Sunday afternoon. It was a Category 1 hurricane when it caused power outages and flooding in northeastern Caribbean islands on Wednesday, but left no major damage. The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator is warning British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he won't back down before the Oct. 31 departure date. Michel Barnier says he won't make concessions just to break a deadlock and avoid a chaotic no-deal departure of the U.K. The U.S. economy slowed in the spring, and many economists think it'll continue through the second half of the year. The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product advanced at a moderate 2% annual rate in the April-June quarter, down from a 3.1% gain in the first quarter.

Indices ended August series of Futures and Options (F&O) above 37,000 level at the S&P BSE Sensex, but below the psychological mark of 11,000 at the Nifty50. Markets remained choppy as fears of an impending global recession and worsening US-China trade relations marred investor sentiment. The benchmark Sensex closed at 37,069 level, down 383 points or 1.02 per cent, dragged by public sector banks. Sun Pharma, Vedanta, NTPC, and ONGC were among the nine stocks that settled in the green, while State Bank of India (SBI), YES Bank, HDFC, and Axis Bank ended the day as top drags. The broader Nifty50, on the other hand, closed at 10,948-mark, down 98 points or 0.89 per cent. Domestic investors also remained cautious ahead of GDP data for the April-June quarter (Q1FY20) due on Friday. According to a Reuters poll, Indian economy is set for weakest quarter of growth in five years. The poll median showed the economy was expected to have grown at a year-on-year pace of 5.7 per cent in the June quarter, a touch slower than 5.8 per cent in the preceding three months. Sectorally, Nifty PSU Bank index ended 2.5 per cent lower, followed by Nifty Financial Services index (down 1.7 per cent), and Nifty Bank index (down 1.6 per cent). Among the gainers, Nifty Pharma index closed 2.24 per cent higher, followed by Nifty Metal, up 1.4 per cent.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 22 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 13,333 level. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed 78 points, or 0.62 per cent, lower at 12,430. BUZZING STOCKS Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance cracked  as much as 8 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in the intra-day trade after the exchange announced that the company will be excluded from the benchmark index Nifty50, with effect from September 27. The stock eventually closed 0.35 per cent lower at Rs 455 apiece.  On the flip side, Berger Paints hit a new high of Rs 372, up one per cent on the BSE on hopes of strong volume growth in decorative segment. It settled 1.04 per cent higher at Rs 370 per share.

Markets witnessed another volatile trading session on Wednesday as investors rolled-over their positions ahead of the August Futures & Options (F&O) series expiry due on Thursday. Besides, weak global cues and uncertainty over resumption of trade talks between the United States and China kept investors on the sidelines.  The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed at 37,452 level, down 189 points or 0.50 per cent, dragged by heavyweight stocks like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and HDFC Bank. 23 of the 30 shares listed at the index ended in the red. HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HDFC were the top gainers, while YES Bank, Tata Steel, Vedanta, and ONGC ended as the top laggards. In the intra-day trade, the Sensex cracked 392 points to hit a low of 37,249 level.  The broader Nifty50, too, settled 59 points, or 0.53 per cent, lower at 11,046 level. The index hit an intra-day low of 10,988-mark, down 118 points. Sectorally, realty stocks gained the most, with the Nifty Realty index settling 2.4 per cent higher. This was followed by Nifty IT index which closed 1.3 per cent higher. On the downside, Nifty Metals index shed 3.4 per cent, followed by Nifty Auto index, down 2 per cent. In the broader market, S&P BSE Mid-cap index closed at 13,356 level, down 124 points or 0.92 per cent. The S&P BSE Small-cap index, too, dipped 80 points, or 0.64 per cent, to settle at 12,508 level.  BUZZING STOCKS Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) slipped as much as 2 per cent to Rs 1,824.15 apiece on the BSE in the early morning trade on Wednesday after the company said it has cut prices of its Lux, Lifebuoy and Dove soaps in the past month following muted growth in the category.  Shares of Vadilal Industries were trading higher for the fourth straight day, up 4 per cent at Rs 682 on the BSE on Wednesday after the company reported a good set of numbers for the April-June quarter (Q1FY20). The stock was trading at its 52-week high levels. In the past four trading days, it has rallied 22 per cent, as compared to a 3 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Domestic indices pared gains in the afternoon trade to end flat on Monday. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 316 points to touch an intra-day high of 37,719 after hopes of a revivial package from the government lifted sentiment at D-Street. Sentiment was also supported by gains in the Asian markets. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 52 points, or 0.14 per cent higher, at 37,402 levels with buying being witnessed across the board. Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, and L&T ended the day as top gainers at the 30-share index, while YES Bank, Power Grid, State Bank of India, and ONGC settled as top laggards. The broader Nifty50, settled at 11,054 levels, up 6 points or 0.05 per cent. Sectorally, pharma stocks gained the most, while public sector banks ended as the top losers. Nifty Pharma index closed 0.84 per cent higher, followed by gains in Nifty Media index, up 0.65 per cent, and Nifty Realty index, up 0.38 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank index settled 0.85 per cent lower. In the broader market, S&P BSE mid-cap closed at 13,518 levels, up 27 points, or 0.20 per cent. The S&P BSE small-cap index settled 64 points higher, or 0.51 per cent, at 12,649 levels. Shares of Coffee Day Enterprises, owner of cafe chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), were locked in the upper circuit of 5 per cent on the BSE on Monday after the company appealed to its lenders and creditors to give it sufficient time to honour its repayment obligations. News reports further suggested that the promoters of the company were planning to restart talks with beverage-firm Coca-Cola for selling a part of their stake in the company to pare debt. Shares of Godfrey Phillips India surged 9 per cent to Rs 1,088 apiece in the intra-day trade on Monday, rallying 53 per cent in past four trading days on the BSE after the company reported a more than double consolidated net profit at Rs 119 crore in April-June quarter (Q1FY20) on strong volume growth. The company, which is engaged in cigarettes and tobacco products business, had posted a profit of Rs 57 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Indices remained buoyed on Friday, ahead of the government's meeting with foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and representatives from the financial sector, which was scheduled later in the day. Sentiment was further strengthened on reports that government could approach the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to relieve the auto-industry from tax payment for three-six months along with measures to relieve real estate sector.  The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex soared 480 points intra-day to 37,807.5 level, while the Nifty50 zoomed 149 points to 11,181 mark. At close, the Sensex settled 255 points, or 0.68 per cent, higher at 37,582 levels lifted by gains in auto and banking counters. Maruti Suzuki, Vedanta, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers while YES Bank, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, and ITC were the top laggards. The broader Nifty50, too, ended at 11,110 mark, up 77 points, or 0.7 per cent. Sectorally, metal, information technology (IT), pharma and public sector bank (PSBs) indices ended in the red while auto, private bank, realty, and FMCG scrips ended with gains. Nifty auto index was the top gainers, up 2 per cent, while Nifty metal index slipped 0.68 per cent.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE mid-cap index ended 104 points, or 0.77 per cent, higher at 13,670 level. The S&P BSE small-cap index, on the other hand, settled 125 points, or 1 per cent, higher at 12,699 level. NBCC (India) shares tumbled 14 per cent to Rs 34 apiece, trading near the stock's five-year low price on the BSE on Friday on weak June quarter results. The state-owned construction & engineering company reported a 38 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 51 crore in the June quarter (Q1FY20), due to poor performance by real estate segment. It had a profit of Rs 83 crore in the same quarter year ago. Shares of Page Industries hit an over two-year low of Rs 17,438, down 6 per cent intra-day on the BSE on Friday, after the company reported drop in net profit for the second quarter in a row, due to lower volume growth during April-June quarter (Q1FY20). The stock was trading at its lowest level since February 6, 2018.

Tensions in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir coupled with simmering trade war concerns between the United States and China led to broad-based sell-off at D-street on Monday as benchmark indices plunged up to 675 points at the S&P BSE Sensex and 215 points at the Nifty50 intra-day. Benign corporate earnings and sluggih economic activity furter contributed to fresh-five month lows during the volatile trade. The Sensex ended 418 points, or 1.13 per cent, lower at 36,700 levels dragged by selling across public sector banks and metal counters. YES Bank, Tata Motors, Power Grid, and Reliance Industries were the top laggards while Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, TCS and Bajaj Auto gained the most during the day. The Nifty50, too, slipped 135 points, or 1.23 per cent, to settle at 10,863 mark. India VIX, the volatility index, rose 15 per cent intra-day. The Narendra Modi government on Monday moved to scrap provisions under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which grants a special status to the state of Jammu & Kashmir in the Union of India. It has decided that Jammu and Kashmir would be turned into a Union Territory with a legislature, similar to Delhi and Puducherry, and the Ladakh division would be made a separate Union Territory without legislature, akin to Chandigarh and most other Union Territories.  In the broader-market, S&P BSE Mid-cap dipped to 13,376 level, down 170 points, or 1.26 per cent. The S&P BSE Small-cap closed at 12,285 level, down 212 points, or 1.7 per cent. Sectorally, all but Nifty IT index ended with cuts. Nifty auto, metal, PSU bank, realty, private bank, and financial services indices ended between 1.4 to 2 per cent lower. NIfty IT index settled 0.63 per cent higher at close. Shares of Nestle India rallied 4 per cent intra-day to Rs 11,912 apiece, in an otherwise weak market, on the BSE on Monday after the company reported a good April-June quarter (Q2CY19) results. The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company also declared a dividend of Rs 203 per share, including a special dividend of Rs 180 per share. The stock was trading close to its record high level of Rs 12,026 touched on July 1, 2019 on the BSE in the intra-day deal.

Bears took charge at D-Street on Thursday as fresh trade war concerns and mixed April-June quarter earnings eroded investors' confidence. Heavy selling was witnessed across the board with stocks of public sector banks, automobiles and metals slipping the most. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed 318 points, or 0.81 per cent, lower at 38,897 level with YES Bank, Tata Motors, ONGC, and Maruti being the top laggards. In an otherwise weak market, only HDFC, HDFC Bank and ITC remained the top gainers. The broader Nifty50, too, ended at 11,597 mark, down 91 points, or 0.78 per cent. In the broader market, S&P BSE MidCap closed 179 points, or 1.23 per cent lower at 14,364 level while the S&P BSE SmallCap lost 158 points, or 1.15 per cent, to settle at 13,558 level. Sectorally, PSU Banks slipped the most with the index closing 3.18 per cent lower. This was followed by Nifty Auto index (down 2.74 per cent) and Nifty Metal index (down 2.46 per cent). Nifty Financial Servcies index closed 0.11 per cent higher. BUZZING STOCKS Shares of YES Bank plunged up to 15 per cent to Rs 84 per share iin early morning deals on the BSE on Thursday after the private sector lender reported 91 per cent YoY decline in net profit in the April-June quarter of financial year 2019-20. The stock was trading at its lowest level since April 21, 2014.  Shares of Mindtree plunged 10 per cent to Rs 675, also its fresh 52-week low, in Thursday's early morning trade on the BSE, after the company’s consolidated net profit more than halved to Rs 93 crore in June quarter (Q1FY20), as compared to previous quarter. It had reported a profit of Rs 198 crore in the March quarter (Q4FY19).

Positive global sentiment lifted pharma and information technology stocks on Monday. Consequently, markets ended in the positive territory. Encouraging Chinese GDP data for April-June quarter boosted investors' sentiment as it suggested the world’s second-biggest economy may be starting to stabilise. The S&P BSE Sensex settled 160 points, or 0.41 per cent, higher at 38,897 levels with Infosys, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Maruti being the top gainers. On the contrary, IndusInd Bank, L&T, ITC and Bharti Airtel were the top laggards. The broader Nifty50 too settled with gains of 36 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 11,588 levels.  In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap settled 88 points, or 0.61 per cent, lower at 14,466 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap closed 87 points, or 0.63 per cent, lower at 13,689  levels. Sectorally, Nifty IT was the biggest gainer, closing nearly 3 per cent higher while Nifty Pharma index closed 1 per cent up. Among the laggards, Nifty PSU banks took the biggest knock, down 2.5 per cent followed by losses in the FMCG index (down 0.59 per cent). Infosys reacted to the Q1FY20 results announced post market hours on Friday, with the stock rising over 7 per cent to close at Rs 779 levels on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). An uptick in demand for its digital services, apart from a momentum in the large deal space, prompted company to raise its FY20 revenue guidance to 8.5-10 per cent from 7.5-9.5 per cent as guided earlier.  BUZZING STOCKS Shares of Allahabad Bank tanked 15 per cent to Rs 40 on the BSE on Monday's early morning trade after the state-owned lender on Saturday reported fraud of Rs 1,775 crore by Bhushan Power and Steel to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  Shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) were locked in the lower circuit of 10 per cent at Rs 62 on the BSE on Monday after the company reported a standalone net loss of Rs 2,223 crore for the quarter ending March 2019 (Q4F19), owing to higher provisioning. The non-banking finance company had posted net profit of Rs 134 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Markets witnessed a volatile trade on Tuesday as investors looked for clarity on issues of taxation on share buyback and surcharge on FPI investment. Furthermore, waning rate cut hopes from the US Fedral Reserve dented sentiment across Asian markets. Markets pared losses and ended the session on a flat note. The Sensex closed 10.25 points, or 0.03 per cent, higher at 38,731 levels with TCS, HCL Tech and ITC being the top laggards. On the contrary, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Hero Moto Corp were the top gainers on the Sensex. The broader Nifty50, too, settled 2.7 points, or 0.02 per cent, lower at 11,556 levels.  The Sensex hit an intra-day low of 38,436, down 285 points, while the Nifty50 skid 98 points to touch 11,461 mark. In the broader market, S&P BSE Mid-Cap ended 92 points, or 0.63 per cent, higher at 14,524 levels while the BSE Small-Cap gained 7 points, or 0.05 levels, to settle at 13,802 levels. Sectorally, FMCG and information technology counters took the biggest knock with the respective indices settling nearly 0.95 per cent each. Among gainers, Nifty Realty and Pharma indices closed 2.75 and 2.62 per cent higher respectively followed by Nifty PSU Bank index which was up 1.55 per cent. BUZZING STOCKS Shares of Titan Company slumped as much as 13 per cent to Rs 1,094 apiece on the BSE in the opening deals on Monday after the company reported a lower-than-expected growth in jewellery business during April-June quarter (Q1FY20) owing to a tough macro-economic environment with consumption taking a hit.  Shares of consumer discretionary companies were under pressure on Tuesday on concerns over lower-than- expected earnings for April-June quarter (Q1FY19), due to a tough macro-economic environment.  Mindtree shares extended losses on Tuesday and slipped 4 per cent intra-day to hit a new 52-week low of Rs 736. The downward trend, which led to a fall of 17 per cent in the stock's value in the past two days, began after three founders of the Bengaluru-based IT services company resigned following a change of control. 

S02 Episode 15: Theatre maker Georgia Frost shares her views on mental health. DISCLAIMER: We apologise for the varying quality in noise levels during this episode-we were unfortunately unable to record this interview in a private space. Hear Georgia discuss the gender equality movement, the importance of representation across creatives for the LGBTQ+ community and how we need to ensure the rhetoric used in drama schools and the industry is inclusive and encouraging. Georgia is one third of GEMA, Gender Equality Movement for Actors: a collective devoted to promoting opportunity & visibility for female-identifying/non-binary actors & creatives. She also is one half of Otherland, a Queer Theatre Company presenting 'The Queen Season' this April-June at the Tristan Bates Theatre. https://www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-queer-season Cathy and Scarlett are not medical professionals - just two young women on a mission to open up the conversation on mental health by sharing as many individual stories and experiences as possible.

Law firms are under pressure from many quarters these days – from clients to demonstrate greater value and cost efficiency, from competitors such as legal process outsourcing, as well as from other law firms. Trevor Faure, head of Smarter Law Solutions and former head of global legal services at EY, says lawyers need to take into consideration everything from emotional intelligence to artificial intelligence as they transform their firms as both legal practices and business entities. Faure’s new book, Smarter Law: transforming busy lawyers into business leaders, can drive greater law firm performance. Faure will be speaking on a global Smarter Law tour of New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, London, Paris & Singapore during April-June 2019. Events include dedicated workshops and annual events of ACC and National Bar Association. Full details at smarterlawsolutions.com/news  

Our 2018 Year in Review for sports from the Second Quarter of the year (April-June) for McPherson High sports and other area teams.

Join Pete and Dave for the 80s Eagles magazines issues 57-60, for April/June 1983, where Doom comes to Prattlewell, SMOG falls over Brittan, Crow Street Comprehensive gets dark, and Dan Dare and Transparent Tearaway Tim go raiding.

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! We’re nearing the end of a series of episodes of Pep Talks for Side Hustlers, I’m going to take you behind the scenes of my strategic planning process – so be sure that you’re subscribed so that you don’t miss a step! From setting big goals to getting into the weeds with data to planning out what I’m doing next and and when it’s going to happen, I’m going to break it all down for you, and share the insights I’ve uncovered along the way. In episode 155, I shared with you some key metrics that you’ll need to pull together so that you can figure out where to focus your time and money in the upcoming year, and a formula for figuring out what to focus on based on the numbers. In episode 156, we talked about how to survey our current email list to find out who is buying from us, who isn’t and what to do about it. Then in episode 157, I shared with how to figure out if what you’re spending your time and money on is actually worth your efforts. And in episode 158, we talked about a method of goal setting that I learned that led me to where I am right now and I walked you through how to do it in your side hustle. So if you’re not subscribed to the podcast, go ahead and do that now so that you don’t miss another episode, because today we’re going to talk about how to put these goals into an actual plan so that you really do them. And first, I’m going to recommend my business coach Vicki Fitch’s Rockstar Guide to Getting it Done, which I’ve linked up in the show notes – you can just scroll down on this episode to see them and then tap that link to head over to her site, or just go to VickiFitch.com/courses and you’ll see it. Some of the concepts I’m going to share with you today I learned from that guide, but there’s a whole entire planning process that goes into that if you implement it, you will be a machine and you’ll feel like you’re totally in control of life! Okay, so the first thing I want you to do is block three to four days on your calendar to walk through this planning process for next year. You’ll need one day to gather all the data and put together your customer survey like we talked about in 155 and 156, and then another day to review how you’re spending your time vs. your marketing goals and to actually brainstorm some goals and set your PUSH goal. You’ll need a third day to create this plan I’m going to share with you, and you might possibly need a 4th day for budgeting which I’ll talk about tomorrow, so be sure you’re subscribed. They don’t have to be consecutive days, but I’m a nerd like that so I like them to be. If you’re side hustling this might need to be two weekends, or a weekend day a month, or whatever. So give yourself enough time for this process, it’s important. After you’ve blocked the time this year, go ahead and block it on your calendar for next year. Yep, we’re not just planning, we’re planning ahead! Then, I want you to pick one day a quarter for planning the next quarter. So in October, I’m planning for January – March, and in January, I’m planning for April – June, and so on. And then, at the end of every month, pick a day to plan out the next month. This can overlap with those quarterly planning days. And then every week, pick the day that you’ll plan the next week. I do mine on Sundays. You’ve planned time to plan. That’s a huge first step that most people don’t do, and that’s straight out of the Rockstar Guide to Getting it Done which I highly, highly recommend. And I also know what my goals are thanks to the process I walked through yesterday, and I know exactly which one to focus on first thanks to my PUSH goal. So for me, the rest of this year will be best spent building a team to support my next goal which is to increase the number of Done For You clients that I book, and I want to do that starting in Q1 of 2019. And then you plan out when you want make all the things happen. Think about what’s going on in your life in certain months, when holidays typically fall, when people are typically taking vacations, when other people in your niche are doing big promotions, and work around that stuff, or at least be aware of it. This next step is key. What has to happen before that thing you’re doing to actually make it happen? Marketing, planning, hiring, creating. And just a note about marketing, this is a great time to make a content calendar. What content do you have to create to market the things that you’re doing and when those things need to roll out in advance of those launches and promotions. I go into this process for members of my Serious Side Hustlers in a live workshop, it’s too much to cover on the podcast. Put it on the calendar. Then look at it. Do you have time left over to actually do that thing you do in your business? Is there time for the day-to-day? For your day job? Is there time for LIFE? If you’re thinking “how can I fit this all in?” you might need to pare down the number of goals to accomplish, or decide what you’re going to stop doing in other parts of your life or business to make it happen. You might need to hire someone to help you. You’re going to have to make some tough decisions about what you really want. This is where the dreams become the reality. When you schedule the time for it on your calendar and commit to it. It’s no longer, “Well, I’d love to do this and this and this.” It’s I’m doing this, and here’s when, and here’s what I’m doing leading up to that to make it happen. And it’s strategic. It’s based on data. And it’s based on your WHY. There’s so, so many more ninja tricks to planning that you can learn inside of Vicki’s Rockstar Guide to getting it Done that I wish I could just tell them all to you but then that would be copyright infringement and I’m not all about that, so definitely check that out, it’s worth the investment in the amount of time you’ll save and the progress you’ll make. Okay so we have our plan… Now how are we gonna make it happen? Well, we need a budget. And that’s what we’re going to walk through tomorrow, so hit that subscribe button and I’ll see you right back here tomorrow.

In 1977, a young woman named Robyn Davidson set out to pursue what she called a "lunatic idea" -- to lead a group of camels 1,700 miles across western Australia, from the center of the continent to the Indian Ocean. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Davidson's remarkable journey alone through the Outback and learn what it taught her. We'll also dive into the La Brea Tar Pits and puzzle over some striking workers. Intro: O.E. Young of Petersburg, Va., assembled a two-story house from the marble headstones of 2,000 Union soldiers. In 1946 Stan Bult began recording the faces of London clowns on eggshells. Sources for our feature on Robyn Davidson: Robyn Davidson, Tracks, 1980. Paul Smethurst, Travel Writing and the Natural World, 1768-1840, 2012. Robert Clarke, Travel Writing From Black Australia: Utopia, Melancholia, and Aboriginality, 2016. Amanda Hooton, "Travels of the Heart," Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 8, 2014. Robyn Davidson, "Walk My Country," Mānoa 18:2 (Winter 2006), 7-17. "The Inspiration: Robyn Davidson," Australian Geographic 90 (April-June 2008), 112-112. Dea Birkett, "The Books Interview: Robyn Davidson -- Landmarks of an Accursed Art," Independent, Aug. 4, 2001, 9. Luke Slattery, "10 Questions: Robyn Davidson, Writer, Traveller, 59," Australian Magazine, Oct. 13, 2012, 10. Michele Field, "Robyn Davidson: A Literary Nomad," Publishers Weekly 243:46 (Nov. 11, 1996), 52-53. Cathy Pryor, "Tracks Author Robyn Davidson Reflects on a Changing Australia, 40 Years After Her Desert Trek," ABC News, Dec. 8, 2017. Richard Feloni, "16 Striking Photos of One Woman's 2,835km Trek Across the Australian Outback," Business Insider Australia, Feb. 15, 2015. Robyn Davidson, "Tracks: The True Story Behind the Film," Telegraph, April 19, 2014. Duncan Campbell, "Making Tracks: Robyn Davidson's Australian Camel Trip on the Big Screen," Guardian, April 21, 2014. "Indomitable Spirit," Canberra Times, Sept. 29, 2012, 8. Coburn Dukehart, "Rick Smolan's Trek With Tracks, From Australian Outback to Silver Screen," National Geographic, Sept. 19, 2014. Brad Wetzler, "Australian Camel Odyssey: A Voyage of Self Discovery," Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Jan. 2, 1993, E1. Eleanor Massey, "Women Who Discovered the World," Eureka Street 21:2 (Feb. 11, 2011), 1-2. Mary Warner Marien, "Desert Journeys With Women Are Anything But Dry," Christian Science Monitor, March 12, 1997. Jennifer H. Laing and Geoffrey I. Crouch, "Lone Wolves? Isolation and Solitude Within the Frontier Travel Experience," Geografiska Annaler, Series B, Human Geography 91:4 (December 2009), 325-342. Gary Krist, "Ironic Journeys: Travel Writing in the Age of Tourism," Hudson Review 45:4 (Winter 1993), 593-601. Robert Clarke, "Travel and Celebrity Culture: An Introduction," Postcolonial Studies 12:2 (June 2009), 145-152. Richard Snailham, "Tracks by Robyn Davidson," Geographical Journal 148:1 (March 1982), 116-117. Ihab Hassan, "Australian Journeys: A Personal Essay on Spirit," Religion & Literature 34:3 (Autumn, 2002), 75-90. Rachael Weaver, "Adaptation and Authorial Celebrity: Robyn Davidson and the Context of John Curran's Tracks (2013)," Adaptation 9:1 (March 2016), 12-21. Listener mail: Helen Lawson, "'My Job Stinks': The Diver Who Has to Swim Through Sewers to Unblock the Drains of Mexico City," Daily Mail, March 23, 2013. Michael Walsh, "It's A Dirty Job: Meet Mexico City’S Official Sewer Diver," New York Daily News, March 23, 2013. Eric Hodge, Phoebe Judge, and Rebecca Martinez, "Criminal: La Brea Dave's Deep Dive," WUNC, Dec. 18, 2015. Wikipedia, "La Brea Tar Pits" (accessed April 19, 2018). "FAQs," La Brea Tar Pits & Museum (accessed April 19, 2018). Andrew Blankstein, "Police Find Evidence Linked to Homicide in La Brea Tar Pits," Los Angeles Times, June 7, 2013. Wikipedia, "Grapheme-Color Synesthesia" (accessed April 19, 2018). Maggie Koerth-Baker, "Magnetic Letters Taught Us More Than How to Spell," National Geographic, March 9, 2016. "Synesthesia," Psychology Today (accessed April 19, 2018). Nathan Witthoft, Jonathan Winawer, and David M. Eagleman, "Prevalence of Learned Grapheme-Color Pairings in a Large Online Sample of Synesthetes," PLOS One 10:3 (March 4, 2015), e0118996. A.N. Rich, J.L. Bradshaw, and J.B. Mattingley, "A Systematic, Large-Scale Study of Synaesthesia: Implications for the Role of Early Experience in Lexical-Colour Associations," Cognition 98:1 (November 2005), 53-84. Wikipedia, "Synesthesia" (accessed April 19, 2018). Patricia Lynne Duffy, Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens: How Synesthetes Color Their Worlds, 2011. This week's lateral thinking puzzle is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 2014 book Remarkable Lateral Thinking Puzzles. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

It's officially Quarter 2 (April - June) and if you haven't stayed on track with your goals, today's episode is going to walk you through on: 1. Why you're not reaching your goals 2. The 4 step formula to set better goals 3. The resource you need to have to help you set and track your goals. Show Notes Ep 8 - https://docs.google.com/document/d/15XTGUvSxPNwxBXsmWkb-XedrzUVwyZvgMS1-EWZm_Zo/edit?usp=sharing

In this episode, Tia discusses 7 elements to kickstart your biz for the first six months of 2018. Tia also encourages you to say YES to yourself and the possibilities.  Tia suggests creating themes for the months of Jan-Mar and April-June to aid in the direction of your business. The 7 Elements: 1. Understand life cycles of business 2. Your mindset + emotions will be the determining factor of your rate or growth and the people you surround yourself with 3. Wellness-eat and exercise and self care  4. Cross your “T” and dot your “I”. Do the basics 5. Pick three social networking platforms that you love to connect with your peeps regularly 6. Plan- Playbook, mastermind 7. Efficiently pick workshops, courses, and networking events   Based in Philadelphia, Tia is an intuitive healer, international speaker, and best-selling author. Tia loves helping spiritually centered people crack the code of their intuitive gifts & overcome energetic blocks. For close to a decade, Tia has spoken to thousands of people nationally and internationally at several events, such as the Mind, Body, Spirit Expo, DivaGirl and Women's Empowerment Conferences, and empowerment cruises.    Learn more about Tia at www.TiaMarieJohnson.com

In 1770, Hungarian engineer Wolfgang von Kempelen unveiled a miracle: a mechanical man who could play chess against human challengers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet Kempelen's Mechanical Turk, which mystified audiences in Europe and the United States for more than 60 years. We'll also sit down with Paul Erdős and puzzle over a useful amateur. Intro: Lewis Carroll sent a birthday wish list to child friend Jessie Sinclair in 1878. An octopus named Paul picked the winners of all seven of Germany’s World Cup games in 2010. Sources for our feature on the Mechanical Turk: Tom Standage, The Turk, 2002. Elizabeth Bridges, "Maria Theresa, 'The Turk,' and Habsburg Nostalgia," Journal of Austrian Studies 47:2 (Summer 2014), 17-36. Stephen P. Rice, "Making Way for the Machine: Maelzel's Automaton Chess-Player and Antebellum American Culture," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, 106 (1994), 1-16. Dan Campbell, "'Echec': The Deutsches Museum Reconstructs the Chess-Playing Turk," Events and Sightings, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 26:2 (April-June 2004), 84-85. John F. Ohl and Joseph Earl Arrington, "John Maelzel, Master Showman of Automata and Panoramas," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 84:1 (January 1960), 56-92. James W. Cook Jr., "From the Age of Reason to the Age of Barnum: The Great Automaton Chess-Player and the Emergence of Victorian Cultural Illusionism," Winterthur Portfolio 30:4 (Winter 1995), 231-257. W.K. Wimsatt Jr., "Poe and the Chess Automaton," American Literature 11:2 (May 1939), 138-151. Peggy Aldrich Kidwell, "Playing Checkers With Machines -- From Ajeeb to Chinook," Information & Culture 50:4 (2015), 578-587. Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis, "IBM's Chess Players: On AI and Its Supplements," Information Society 24 (2008), 69-82. Nathan Ensmenger, "Is Chess the Drosophila of Artificial Intelligence? A Social History of an Algorithm," Social Studies of Science 42:1 (February 2012), 5-30. Martin Kemp, "A Mechanical Mind," Nature 421:6920 (Jan. 16, 2003), 214. Marco Ernandes, "Artificial Intelligence & Games: Should Computational Psychology Be Revalued?" Topoi 24:2 (September 2005), 229–242. Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis, "The Revenge of the Object? On Artificial Intelligence as a Cultural Enterprise," Social Analysis 41:1 (March 1997), 29-45. Mark Sussman, "Performing the Intelligent Machine: Deception and Enchantment in the Life of the Automaton Chess Player," TDR 43:3 (Autumn 1999), 81-96. James Berkley, "Post-Human Mimesis and the Debunked Machine: Reading Environmental Appropriation in Poe's 'Maelzel's Chess-Player' and 'The Man That Was Used Up,'" Comparative Literature Studies 41:3 (2004), 356-376. Kat Eschner, "Debunking the Mechanical Turk Helped Set Edgar Allan Poe on the Path to Mystery Writing," Smithsonian.com, July 20, 2017. Lincoln Michel, "The Grandmaster Hoax," Paris Review, March 28, 2012. Adam Gopnik, "A Point of View: Chess and 18th Century Artificial Intelligence," BBC News, March 22, 2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21876120 Ella Morton, "The Mechanical Chess Player That Unsettled the World," Slate, Aug. 20, 2015. "The Automaton Chess Player," Scientific American 48:7 (February 17, 1883), 103-104. Robert Willis, An Attempt to Analyse the Automaton Chess Player, of Mr. de Kempelen, 1821. "The Automaton Chess-Player," Cornhill Magazine 5:27 (September 1885), 299-306. Edgar Allan Poe, "Maelzel's Chess-Player," Southern Literary Messenger, April 1836, 318-326. You can play through six of the Turk's games on Chessgames.com. Listener mail: Nicholas Gibbs, "Voynich Manuscript: The Solution," Times Literary Supplement, Sept. 5, 2017. Annalee Newitz, "The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript Has Finally Been Decoded," Ars Technica, Sept. 8, 2017. Natasha Frost, "The World's Most Mysterious Medieval Manuscript May No Longer Be a Mystery," Atlas Obscura, Sept. 8, 2017. Sarah Zhang, "Has a Mysterious Medieval Code Really Been Solved?" Atlantic, Sept. 10, 2017. Annalee Newitz, "So Much for That Voynich Manuscript 'Solution,'" Ars Technica, Sept. 10, 2017. "Imaginary Erdős Number," Numberphile, Nov. 26, 2014. Oleg Pikhurko, "Erdős Lap Number," Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick (accessed Sept. 15, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alex Baumans, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

The "Dry CleanerCast" presents "Need to Know" "Need To Know" is a new quarterly podcast featuring conversations with security experts focused on the terrorism and intelligence stories dominating the headlines. On this episode of "Need to Know" host Chris Carr is joined by former CIA officer Yaya J. Fanusie. Chris and Yaya discuss the recent terrorist attacks that occurred in Manchester, London and Paris between April - June 2017 and the wider issues that surround these attacks. Yaya has recently published an article titled "How to neutralise the violent Jihadist pull" You can view it here: http://muslimmatters.org/2017/07/12/how-to-neutralize-the-violent-jihadist-pull/ Do you like what we're doing? Then please connect with us on twitter. Go to https://twitter.com/drycleanercast And please support the show by becoming a Dry CleanerCast Patreon subscriber today. Go to https://www.patreon.com/DryCleanerCast

This interview took place on 4/30/2015, at the Independence Public Library. MC Lars came to Independence as part of the Big Read Grant, April-June 2015, a community-wide celebration of Edgar Allan Poe. He gave a workshop with students at Independence High School and performed that evening for the community.

To: Zenwest members, associates, patrons, and donors   From: Eshu Osho, Zenwest Board, and members of the Zenwest strategic planning group   Dear friends and supporters of Zenwest,   In our global community, locally, and within our Sangha, the past 3 years have been filled with change. We are writing to talk with you about the changes we have been discussing over the past eight months as part of the 2017 strategic planning process.   Some of you are already familiar with Zenwest’s current model, while for others this is new information. To ensure that everyone has access to the background information to help you understand the history and context for our proposed changes, we have included as an appendix to this letter an overview of the developments in Zenwest that led to the current model, written by Eshu Osho who provides his perspective from 22 years of practicing with Zenwest and 13 years as Abbot.   The model that Zenwest has been operating under since 2005 served Zenwest well for many years. Unfortunately, as a result of multiple factors (discussed in detail in the Appendix) we have come to the difficult conclusion that under the current circumstances the strategic model we have been running is not sustainable, and Zenwest needs to make significant changes going forward.   Our collective recommendation is that Zenwest undergo a transition over the next 12 months to: (a) gradually phase out financial compensation for Eshu Osho, (b) undertake a review of all aspects of our programming, and (c) engage in deep community discussions to determine how to go forward in revitalizing and renewing our community.   These are very significant, serious changes that we are suggesting and we need to know whether the sangha is supportive of this proposed direction.   We want to be clear that the recommendation to end Eshu Osho’s employment with Zenwest is in no way a comment on Eshu’s performance as Abbot. Rather it is a reflection that our membership has shrunk (as discussed in the Appendix) and it is no longer financially sustainable to support a paid position.   Throughout the extended and at times painful discussions that led to this recommendation, we have held two core principles: First, that we are responsible to treat all of the Zenwest relationships with integrity and care. This includes the relationships between Zenwest and Eshu Osho and the Martin family, between sangha members, and relationships with external bodies such as the University of Victoria Multifaith Services where we have a chaplaincy. Second, we all remain committed to Zen practice and creating spaces for people to practice in community. However, it is unclear at this time what that might look like. We see the need to create space for organizational transformation, where we individually and collectively deeply consider what we want to do, what brings us joy, and how we want to practice.   What we are proposing for the next year is a three-phase transition.   Phase 1: June-September 2017 Eshu Osho continue to work 0.4 FTE at Zenwest (the current arrangement). All Sunday and Tuesday practice opportunities remain the same. Begin community discussions about the future of Zenwest.   Phase 2: October 2017-March 2018 Eliminate cash salary from Eshu Osho’s compensation arrangement. Zenwest will continue to provide a residence and amenities to the Abbot and his family at the temple in Sooke as compensation for Eshu’s continuing work (hours to be negotiated between Eshu and the Zenwest Board). Sunday and Tuesday sits will continue. Continue community discussions about the future of Zenwest.   Phase 3: April-June 2018 All compensation will be eliminated from the relationship between Eshu Osho and Zenwest, and Eshu Osho will cease to be an employee of Zenwest Buddhist Society. This is conceptualized as a “pause” to allow our sangha and Eshu to reflect and consider what we want going forward. It is not yet clear what member-led practice opportunities might continue to be available during this time, this will depend in part on the community discussions in earlier phases.   It is our hope that this staged withdrawal arrangement will allow both Eshu Osho and the members and board of Zenwest Buddhist Society time to explore, plan, and prepare financially and organizationally for what will be a major transformation of how the future of Zenwest will unfold.   Further, it is our hope that this staged arrangement will alleviate the financial demands of Zenwest without creating catastrophic financial hardship for Eshu Osho and his family; Eshu has been employed and served our Sangha as our Abbot and teacher for the past 13 years, and his family has been very generous in sharing their home space as a temple.   The direction set out above can only be undertaken if members, associates, patrons and donors are willing to support this transition, both in principle and financially. It is our intention to continue to provide practice opportunities until April 2018 and we hope that members and associates will remain actively engaged in Zenwest and continue to provide financial support through dues in this period. We will also need to continue to hold quarterly fundraising drives in addition to dues, to allow for a gradual transition for Eshu Osho and his family. At this time we anticipate that the fundraising targets will be $6,000 in June, $5,500 in September, and $2,550 in December. Fundraising after this time depends on what the community decides to do together.   Although we don't yet know what form this will take, we are clear that we want to continue to practice Zen in community. To determine what this will look like requires our collective wisdom and creativity. As you have been a participant and contributor to this community, we would like to extend an invitation to you to participate in the conversation and exploration of how Zenwest will be moving forward into the future.   To facilitate these discussions, and also give an opportunity for people to ask questions and talk about this letter, we will be holding in-person and online meetings, including the following: An in-person member get-together Wednesday June 28, hosted by Kozan, Seishin, and Yushin. This will kick off a series of monthly potlucks open to anyone interested in the future of Zenwest who wants to share ideas in community. One-to-one video chat between Eshu Osho and Distance members. An online Zoom meeting open to all associates, and people who have completed the online Orientation course, facilitated by Eshu Osho. A facilitated discussion at the Tuesday night Zen open house, coordinated by Rev. Soshin.   Additionally, members, associates, and supporters can email Eshu Osho or any of the Board members or other Strategic Planning participants to discuss this letter and clarify any issues of concern. Contact information is included below.   We very much value and appreciate your support, and look forward to hearing your ideas and comments.   Sincerely,   Eshu Osho, Abbot, Zenwest Buddhist Society, eshu@zenwest.ca Rev. Hoyu Tommi Boulter, Chair, Zenwest Buddhist Society, reverendhoyu@shaw.ca Rev. Soshin Ruth McMurchy, Treasurer, Zenwest Buddhist Society, ramcmurchy@gmail.com Rev. Doshu Lars Rogers, Secretary, Zenwest Buddhist Society, doshu@zenwest.ca Joshua Goldberg, Strategic Planning participant, jgoldberg@shaw.ca Seishin Susanne Ledingham, Strategic Planning participant, sledingham@gmail.com Kozan Nori Nishigaya, Strategic Planning participant, anishi@gmail.com Yushin Charles Rose, Strategic Planning participant, charles@roseware.com       APPENDIX: HISTORY AND CONTEXT By Eshu Osho, Abbot, Zenwest   In 2004, a strategic planning group that included the Zenwest board of directors, a group of members who had committed to being a part of the planning process, and the Zenwest Abbot together created a plan and vision for how Zenwest would grow into the future - and out of this plan and vision, a model was created.   Two key features of this plan were: Maintenance of a stable and consistent practice space appropriate for all levels of Zen training. The full-time employment of Abbot and teacher Eshu Osho.   We believed that the best way to ensure the stability of the community, its programs, and the consistency of teaching was by employing a skilled professional who can have these goals as their primary focus, and having an appropriate place to do Zen practice.   This planning group also fully recognized that the costs of committing to supporting a full-time employee and practice space were significant, and several models of membership were suggested and considered, such as: A straightforward business model in which the cost of membership was based on the expenses divided by the membership. A donor model, in which there are no membership dues, but rather we would ask for donations and hope that enough came it to pay for expenses.   As a group we felt that the first model would likely be more exclusive than we wanted, with a membership in the neighbourhood of $200+/mo; which would put it way out of range of some that would greatly benefit from Zen practice.   Conversely, the instability and insecurity inherent in the second model would likely make basic survival a monthly worry and would be a distraction from practice and development.   In the end, together we created a community-centred model for Zenwest Buddhist Society. We would offer different levels of membership from “Full” (with dues representing a single full share of the cost of the resources and opportunities available), to “Basic” (with dues being non-trivial, but significantly less than a full share of the actual cost of the resources and opportunities available).   Full members would have access to all activities, and Basic Members would be required to pay for activities and opportunities outside of basic sits.   Beyond this, we made provisions to accommodate those who experienced financial hardship, as well as opportunities for work-exchange for membership.   From the outset, we recognized that by initiating this model, membership dues alone would not fully cover expenses; we committed to doing regular fundraising drives based on the belief that: Our teacher, our tradition, and our practice are not commodities for us to purchase, but rather a symbiotic culture in which each of us has a part to contribute and accept responsibility for in the co-creation of community. All of our members recognize the value of the teacher, community, and physical resources that we have in place. All members recognize that by making membership accessible to everyone regardless of financial ability to pay that membership dues alone would not cover organizational expenses. Thus when quarterly fundraising drives take place, all members will contribute as much as they can (even if they felt it was insignificant in the grand scheme), based on the understanding that we are co-creating this community – together.   Our basic philosophy setting out was that we would take care of and support one another – as a community.   Our understanding was that some of us struggle to make ends meet financially, but could offer our time and energy to building and nourishing the community, supporting programming etc.   Others among us have greater financial resources, and less time, yet are committed to giving more financially so that this tradition, practice, and resources can be available locally to as many people as is possible.   Some of us have both material resources and an abundance of time to commit to making Zen come alive at Zenwest; and some of us are working full speed ahead just to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads; and underlying all of this, we recognized that for each of us, our circumstances can change with very little notice, and that by creating community together we could create a community of awakening and refuge.   As I take the time to write this down, I realize how ambitious this model is; how countercultural and almost revolutionary it is in the context of North American culture today. I also have to accept responsibility for not championing it strongly enough.   Where we are today:   For more than a decade, our model helped Zenwest to grow, and for the training and teaching that happens here to become known around the world. The efforts of our board of directors in the development of organizational structures, policies and procedures for Zen Centres in North America have been adopted or have contributed to other Zen organizations around the world. Our use of orientation education, online resources, podcasts, and videos (once thought almost heretical) has become the norm in modern Dharma practice globally. Zenwest and Eshu Osho have become recognized and respected by Zen communities and teachers internationally.   Somehow though, as a community we lost sight of the interdependence and mutual responsibility that was inherent and intentionally built into the model.   Perhaps because of the consistency of our programming, or the stability of the teaching, or my own failure to press this principle; it seems that complacency was born into the mix.   Growth of the membership is only beneficial if all three aspects grow together – member dues, volunteer labour, and distribution of donations from members – because more members also increases financial demands as well as labour demands. When the membership did grow at Zenwest, it was in only one area: member dues. Impact and the feeling of member ownership was not emphasized, and certainly participation in fundraising was not emphasized to new members, and perhaps this was a major mistake. Regardless, the fundamental model is one in which costs – both operational and labour are not covered by dues, therefore no amount of growth will alter that balance.   While our membership was growing, fundraising drives were still a significant component of meeting expenses. Over time, while the donor pool has diversified thanks to international podcast listeners supporting Zenwest, fewer individual members are making contributions, in terms of finances as well as participation in operational teams, facilitating activities, and board involvement.   Perhaps members have felt like everything was well in hand, or that their participation wasn’t needed, or that they were already contributing as much as they possibly could. It’s impossible to say, and was perhaps “all of the above”.   Practically, it meant that expenses and programming needed to be cut, and that a diminishing group of members and donors were contributing more and more so that our endeavour could continue to be available to as many people as possible.   By late 2015 it was clear to our Board of Directors and Abbot that many of our key financial and labour contributors were rapidly reaching the point of complete exhaustion.   In terms of our budget, virtually all programs and resources that could be cut from the budget had been cut. Even so, our fundraising drives were falling short of the targets. After some very challenging discussions, the Board and Abbot decided that the only viable way forward was to reduce human resource expenses, namely the Abbot’s salary.   Fortunately I was able to find external part-time employment at Victoria Hospice relatively quickly. The downside was that many of the operational and organizational tasks that were formerly performed by the Abbot and Director of Operations had to be delegated to others; others who were already overloaded and weren’t familiar with the tasks, so needed time to learn and time to develop. This had significant impacts on new membership growth, and membership retention. In short, while our expenses were significantly reduced, our membership revenue diminished apace.   In spite of this, since the switch to a part-time Abbot, Zenwest has managed to continue to offer consistent programming. Our spring 2017 Orientation to Zen led by Rev. Doshu in Victoria was well attended, and more than 20 individuals participated in the recent NRTP with leadership shared by all ordained clergy. However, on top of being unbelievably stretched, each member of the Zenwest clergy and governance team are facing significant personal challenges that eliminate the option of doing more, even where there is a desire or capacity to do so.   Zenwest Buddhist Society is entering a period of significant change and a re-imagining of who we are, and how we are to proceed in the future. Most of all I want to reassure all of our members that my dedication to Rinzai Zen practice and the Buddhadharma remain as strong as ever. Regardless of where this transition takes us as an organization, I will continue to practice and teach the Dharma to those who wish to make Zen come alive.   Warm regards, Eshu

The Essential Weekly Podcast For New And Aspiring Indie Authors Paul's Podcast Diary Feature 1) My planning board for Quarter 2 (April – June): 2) The Facebook page for this podcast: https://www.facebook.com/SelfPublishingJourneys/ 3) My Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/PaulTeague 4) Self-Publishing Academy on Teachable: http://self-publishing-academy.teachable.com/p/self-publishing-academy/ 5) How To Use Vellum On A PC on Teachable: http://self-publishing-academy.teachable.com/p/how-to-use-vellum-on-a-pc/   --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/self-publishing-journeys/message

The 22 May 2013 program features Liz Fekete, Director of the Institute of Race Relations and the journal's review editor Jon Burnett, Assistant Editor of IRR News and the author of a major article on new geographies of racial violence in the current April–June 2013; 54(4) issue.

On this episode of Turtle Soup, we take another bold step in the journey by reviewing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Present: Mighty Mutanimals: Issue 8 and 9 (April/June 93)! AAC Format MP3 Format Next Episode: ?????????

Ffoton talks with London-based documentary photographer Marc Vallée, whose work explores the tension between public and private space in the context of contemporary youth culture. Marc’s pictures, self-published photography zines and photobooks have been published and exhibited worldwide. Tate Britain and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) hold Marc’s work in its library collections. Ffoton brought Marc to Cardiff as a guest speaker during our 3 months of #urbanwales shows and photographer talks April - June 2016.

The entertainment news for the week ending Thursday, August 13th 2015 as seen by Beef, Neil and Wing. As usual, we discuss news from the world of entertainment from movies to TV, the web and more. Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! These discussions will be spoiler filled and will contain explicit language, so consider yourself warned.                 For more geeky podcasts visit GonnaGeek.com You can find us on iTunes under “Legends Podcast”. Please subscribe and give us a positive review. You can also follow us on Twitter @LegendsPodcast or even better, send us an e-mail. You can find all of our contact information here on the GonnaGeek.com network page.  Our complete archive is always available atwww.legendspodcast.com   Comics Marvel:Secret Wars #5, A-Force #3, Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #2, Attilan Rising #4, Squirrel Girl #8, Lando #2DC:Green Arrow #43, Batman #43, Starfire #2Image:The Walking Dead #145 (trade waiting)Indy: Star Trek & Green Lantern #2 (IDW), Orphan Black #5 - Rachel (IDW)   Online MediaCord Cutting: Over half a million US viewers “cut the cord” between April-June. Winter is coming.http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/cord-cutting-gets-ugly-u-s-pay-tv-sector-drops-566000-customers-in-q2-1201559878/ Ultra-HD Blu-ray: ...Which begs the question, who will actually buy new 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray disks & new players? (licences for the new format launch on Aug 24)http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/ultra-hd-blu-ray/248259/ultra-hd-blu-ray-launching-later-this-year   TV News Fear the Walking Dead: Behind the camera featurette released by AMCArticle:http://www.superherohype.com/news/349407-go-inside-fear-the-walking-dead-in-new-video#/slide/1  Video:https://youtu.be/YAJ1elwOH98 True Detective: Season 2 ends. The Internet is generally not impressed. 22% Decrease in viewership over last year’s S.1 finale.http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenkilloran/2015/08/10/true-detective-season-2-finale-does-not-justify-a-season-3-but-hbo-will-likely-renew-anyway/ Daredevil: First look at the Punisher on the set of Daredevil Season 2http://www.justjared.com/2015/08/08/jon-bernthal-films-a-brutal-fight-scene-for-daredevil/ Sense 8: Sense 8 Gets a second season from Netflix… but has anyone seen it?http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflixs-sense8-renewed-season-2-814098 Westworld: HBO Previews first teaser for Westworld. Anyone else getting an Inception vibe?Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8HNuRLIBIArticle:http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/westworld-teaser-watch-hbo-1201566394/ The Bastard Executioner: “There’s Nothing Wrong with Brutality” Says SoA Creator.Trailer:https://youtu.be/YRg81aX_tlMArticle:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bastard-executioner-creator-kurt-sutter-813988 The Daily Show: 3.5M People Watched Jon Stewart say Goodbye “I’m gonna go get a drink”http://deadline.com/2015/08/daily-show-ratings-jon-stewart-final-show-comedy-central-gop-debate-1201495090/ The Strain: FX renews the Strain for Season 3http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/fx-renews-strain-third-season-813848 Torentz: Yarrr!! “Pirates” leak two Fox pilots and two NBC pilots ahead of fall premieres.http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/piracy-minority-report-blindspot-lucifer-carmichael-show-1201566568/ Arrow: Matt Ryan to reprise his role of Constantine on Arrow!  #SavedConstantinehttp://www.tvinsider.com/article/33819/constantines-matt-ryan-conjures-up-magical-return-on-arrow/ Killjoys: … firefly , defiance, event horizon, all the good sci ish , class separation, bounty hunters, all goodness wrapped into inTrailer:https://youtu.be/T8rLnjMqi78 Movies Weekend Box-office:Link to box office Mojo for the week is in the FF news (Part 3) Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation: 28.5 Mil Fantastic Four: 25.6 Mil The Gift: 11.8 Mil Vacation: 8.9 Mil Ant-Man:7.9 Mil FF Part 1: Josh Trank Blames Fox in a tweet... Fox turns around and blames Trankhttp://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/07/fantastic-four-josh-trank-tweethttp://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=123745http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fantastic-four-blame-game-fox-814764 Update -- The Blame-game continues! Trank lawyers up as new ugly details emerge. http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=123917   FF Part 2: Fox knew it was coming… confirms no X-men crossover days before openinghttp://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/fantastic-x-men-not-film-universe-article-1.2314517 FF Part 3: Weekend Box office was only $26.2M, behind MI:5. BUT FF sequel still plannedhttp://www.denofgeek.us/movies/fantastic-four/248295/fantastic-four-2-still-plannedhttp://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/ Batfleck! Ben Affleck pushes back his next two movies. + Rumors of early screeners of B v. S looking great coincide with rumor he’ll write & direct more Batman.Delay:http://variety.com/2015/film/news/ben-affleck-live-by-night-the-accountant-release-1201559113/New:http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/batman/248269/report-affleck-to-star-in-3-stand-alone-batman-movies Ghostbusters: Bill Murray will be in Ghostbustershttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ghostbusters-bill-murray-appear-814125 Star Wars: New international tv spot for The Force Awakens w/ 2 sec of new footageArticle:http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/08/10/star-wars-the-force-awakens-debuts-first-international-tv-spot-have-you-felt-it/Video: https://youtu.be/YpPWWeWvI6QDissecting the 2sec: http://io9.com/lets-dissect-the-crap-out-of-this-new-star-wars-the-fo-1723109598 Star Wars Part 2: No new trailer or footage at D23...Article:http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/08/11/j-j-abrams-says-no-new-star-wars-the-force-awakens-footage-at-d23/ Star Wars Part 3: ...but they have pretty pictures...Article:http://www.ew.com/gallery/star-wars-force-awakens-first-look-gallery/2274288_clone-all-crops-gallery-star-wars-force-awakens-2015-daisy-ridley-and-john-boyega-0 Star Wars Part 4: ...and branded stuff! (No Happy Meals tho.)http://variety.com/2015/film/news/star-wars-the-force-awakens-takes-on-seven-promo-partners-1201569309/ Beetlejuice: WTF… Winona Ryder says Beetlejuice 2 is a go on Late Nite w/ Seth MeyerArticle:http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/08/11/yes-beetlejuice-2-is-really-happening-winona-ryder-confirms/Video:https://youtu.be/y5l2IK_ywa4 Lego Batman seems to have found its JokerArticle: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/zach-galifianakis-joker-lego-batman-1201568733/ The Hateful 8: The first trailer to Quentin Tarantino’s 8th film, the Hateful 8, debuts onlineArticle:http://deadline.com/2015/08/the-hateful-eight-trailer-quentin-tarantino-kurt-russell-1201497958/Video:https://youtu.be/gnRbXn4-Yis Trumbo: Bryan Cranston gets blacklisted in the first trailer for TrumboArticle:http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/trumbo/248397/trumbo-trailer-with-bryan-cranston-arrivesVideo:https://youtu.be/n0dZ_2ICpJE Deadwood Movie: HBO Confirms talks of a Deadwood MovieArticle: http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/hbo-confirms-early-talks-of-deadwood-movie-1201569178/ Non News Benedict Cumberbatch asks fans to “Hashtag the Shit” out of this: Don’t record me on stage.http://variety.com/2015/legit/news/watch-benedict-cumberbatch-begs-fans-to-stop-recording-hamlet-its-morifying-1201566996/   Guillermo del Toro on why he develops 5 properties at the same timehttp://collider.com/pacific-rim-2-hellboy-3-updates-guillermo-del-toro/   Giant Robots, Aliens, Dragons? Best. Election. Ad. Ever! (BTW, Canada is having an election)Article:http://io9.com/this-could-seriously-be-the-greatest-political-campaign-1723555465Video:https://youtu.be/DG6fhub9HDQ

This is about the value of stepping back from your preoccupations to do more nothing. Busyness is a cultural habit that is also an addiction. Physiologically as well as on a level of personal identity. Are you one of those people who is sooo busy and you can’t tell where the time is going? When you see someone and they ask how you are – do you find yourself inclined to say, “I am soooo busy.” It’s a state we can all relate to. It’s also often a boast hidden in a complaint. Culturally we have all agreed to take on this state of life – thanks to texting and smart phones and email and social media. They are making you mentally connected to all people and obligations and stores and humans simultaneously. Hence- the empty private time with yourself, alone is gone! The biggest downside of the busyness pattern is you trade your life, day by day, to this insecurity. It can happen without you noticing, quite simply because your not present. You are caught up in your busy thoughts. So that’s what today’s podcast is about: slowing down – and stopping. Literally, I am going to promote the idea of doing nothing. Nothing but being. Hanging out. Nothing on your agenda. No one to respond to – nothing to pick up, attend, return. When was the last time you sat in an extended amount of time – like that? The episode has three parts. Part 1: Why aim to do nothing. Part 2: Self-Diagnosis. Part 3: 3 Tools to help you free up your time. And to download the Journal Exercises mentioned in the episode head here: https://teaspoonofhappy.squarespace.com/busyness AND if from April-June 2015, if you haven’t yet, please enter the Headspace contest to win a year awesome mind-soothing meditations! http://www.teaspoonofhappy.com/headspace-contest This episode is dedicated to Irene May Bates - my grandmother and one of my heroes. She makes the most valuable moments in your day.

Sunlight Absorption on the Greenland ice sheet Experiment (SAGE)" Tuesday, January 07 2014, 12:00pm - 1:30pm 041 Haldeman Center Chris Polashenski, PhD, Research Geophysicist, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laborator (CRREL) Big changes are happening on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Trends show increasing melt extent, longer melt seasons, lower surface albedo, higher ice temperatures, and increased ice flow. All of these are important because the Greenland Ice Sheet is a major potential contributor to sea level rise. Zoe Courville, PhD, and Chris Polashenski, PhD, at the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) are leading a series of studies aimed at better understanding how albedo feedbacks are contributing to enhanced melt on the ice sheet. These studies are organized around large scale traverses of the ice sheet, observing albedo, snow properties, light absorbing impurity concentrations, and firn temperatures, and synthesizing data from the traverses with remote sensing observations and large scale modeling. The first traverse occurred from April-June 2013 and preliminary results will be presented. Part of the traverse followed the route pioneered by the godfather of Greenland research, Carl Benson. Replicating Benson's observations shows substantial warming has occurred in mid altitudes of the ice sheet. The traverse also found enhanced black carbon concentrations in the 2012 melt layer. We analyze these to assess the role that black carbon deposition may have played in the 2012 melt event, and compare the impacts of black carbon with grain metamorphosis. Finally we discuss plans for 2014 and invite comments and discussion. Dr. Polashenski is a research geophysicist with the Terrestrial and Cryospheric Sciences Branch at CRREL specializing in the physical properties of sea ice and snow. He received his undergraduate degree and a doctoral degree in material engineering from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, and is a veteran of Dartmouth's NSF IGERT program on polar environmental change. Now he leads research programs exploring processes of the cryosphere, particularly those that influence energy balance feedbacks, such as melt pond formation on sea ice, aerosol deposition in snow, and snow grain metamorphosis. Sponsored by the Institute of Arctic Studies at the Dickey Center and the IGERT Dialogues in Polar Science & Society.