FazzNoth

That doesn't answer my question, also do you think a moderator's activity is in that category? No. And the members who do only activity there I doubt that they are interested in being part of the STAFF.

Hello @LUCIAN-, Your activity in GoG and D-H is very bad...Since most of your content at the beginning of the year is in the games category. Can you explain to me why since 2 March you have been spamming in Games Categories? https://csblackdevil.com/forums/profile/25718-lucian/content/page/8/?all_activity=1

I will give you a pro I hope that you will do your best because being a moderator carries a great responsibility and to continue working hard on the projects. Good Luck!

-Other than that you have less than 200 posts.. -You also joined this forum on March 4... From me you are not ready for this rank.

Joined => January 27 Less than 200 posts You are not part of any project I doubt you have good English as it is recommended here to be part of the staff...

I have nothing to ask you as I have seen that you have good activity in the projects since February and in ZmOldSchool being manager even you are willing to help other members in the forum.Don't forget read the rules to avoid problems. You have my full support

Hello @Shehbaz ツ, Thank you for your application to become a moderator. Although you have been very active lately, you have not respected this requirement where you have to describe yourself in at least 50 words and that is not the case here.... I would also like to ask you a few questions before I give you my vote: 1.Why do you want to be part of the STAFF? 2.Why should we hire you? 3.What is more comfortable for you ( Play games or Doing a real job )?

Nickname: @FazzNoth Video author: IGN Name of the game: Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Video link: Short description of the video: Here's your first look at a new Ghostbusters game. Friday the 13th and Predator: Hunting Grounds developer IllFonic has revealed Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, a new 4v1 asymmetrical multiplayer game that is set to be released on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One in Q4 2022.

Abunch of Anker charging gadgets have been discounted in a new Amazon one-day sale. If you're in need of a new power adapter or battery pack, now's the time to grab one while they're up to 35 percent off. Key among the items on sale are the 40W Nano Pro charger, which is 25 percent off and down to $27, the PowerCore III Elite 26K bundle, which is $50 off and down to $110, and a pack of three Powerline+ II Lightning to USB-A charging cables for $26. While the 40W Nano Pro adapter isn't the latest model from Anker, it remains a good option if you want a small charger with enough power to fast-charge most mobile devices. This model has two USB-C ports on it, so you can simultaneously charge two devices at once. It can power up a MacBook Air at full speed and quickly juice up both an iPhone and an iPad at the same time. And while it's doing so, the device's ActiveShield safety system monitors temperature and controls output to avoid overheating. If you want a device that can power more than two gadgets at the same time, Anker's PowerCore III Elite 26K bundle could do the trick. You get the 25,600 mAh battery pack, the 64W wall charger and a USB-C to USB-C cable in this pack, giving you everything you need to power a number of devices and quickly recharge the battery pack when it runs out of juice. The brick has two USB-A ports (with an 18W shared output) and one 60W USB-C port that can all be used simultaneously to charge things like your laptop, smartphone and earbuds. Plus, the 65W wall charger has enough power to recharge the brick in only 2.5 hours. And if you're set with power adapters and chargers, the pack of Powerline+ II cables is a handy one to pick up. It includes two three-foot and one six-foot Lightning to USB-A cables that are MFi-certified, so they'll work properly with all iPhones. We especially like these braided nylon cables as they tend to be more durable than others and can bend easily in whichever direction you need them to. https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/anker-charging-accessories-are-up-to-35-percent-off-today-only/ar-AAVmDHb?ocid=BingNewsSearch

So often, fixing one issue causes a whole host of other ones to pop up. Most systems, especially when it comes to networks, are inherently fragile things. The most recent update to PlayStation consoles, which introduced a series of features including Voice Command and new accessibility features to the PS5, seems to have caused the PSN to crash, according to the Ask PlayStation Japanese Twitter account. Players have found themselves unable to connect to multiplayer titles or make purchases from the store. This is a developing story. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/esports/psn-down-following-today-e2-80-99s-ps5-system-software-update/ar-AAVp4Eg?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Once upon a time, the main product of public clouds was infrastructure. That infrastructure was constructed using hardware that the clouds acquired mostly from third-party providers, and the infrastructure hosted whichever third-party software platforms customers chose to deploy on it. Ah, how times have changed. Today, major cloud providers seem to be on a vertical integration bent. Not only are providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform investing heavily in software products that customers can run on top of their cloud infrastructure, they are now even sourcing their own hardware — which means that, at some point in the not-so-distant future, entire cloud computing environments may consist primarily of hardware and software components sourced from a single vendor. The Days of Infrastructure-Only Public Clouds To understand just how much vertical integration is changing cloud computing, you must first understand how the public cloud business model traditionally worked. Originally, public clouds specialized mostly just in infrastructure as a service (IaaS). They sold virtual machine instances, storage, databases, and the like. To the extent that public clouds provided software, it mostly consisted of basic monitoring and administration tooling, like AWS CloudWatch and Azure Monitor, that worked only within each public cloud's own environments. The only area where you could accuse public clouds of vertical integration 10 years ago was the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) front. Early on, the major cloud providers rolled out PaaS solutions (such as AWS Elastic Beanstalk, which debuted in 2011) that competed with third-party offerings like Heroku. By offering their own PaaSes, public clouds were able to couple their IaaS offerings with software tools. But even here, they were targeting a narrow market. To the extent that PaaS vertically oriented public clouds, it did so for limited use cases and limited sets of users. Once upon a time, the main product of public clouds was infrastructure. That infrastructure was constructed using hardware that the clouds acquired mostly from third-party providers, and the infrastructure hosted whichever third-party software platforms customers chose to deploy on it. Ah, how times have changed. Today, major cloud providers seem to be on a vertical integration bent. Not only are providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform investing heavily in software products that customers can run on top of their cloud infrastructure, they are now even sourcing their own hardware — which means that, at some point in the not-so-distant future, entire cloud computing environments may consist primarily of hardware and software components sourced from a single vendor. Here's how vertical integration is playing out in the cloud industry, and what this cloud computing trend means for the future of public cloud. The Days of Infrastructure-Only Public Clouds To understand just how much vertical integration is changing cloud computing, you must first understand how the public cloud business model traditionally worked. Originally, public clouds specialized mostly just in infrastructure as a service (IaaS). They sold virtual machine instances, storage, databases, and the like. To the extent that public clouds provided software, it mostly consisted of basic monitoring and administration tooling, like AWS CloudWatch and Azure Monitor, that worked only within each public cloud's own environments. The only area where you could accuse public clouds of vertical integration 10 years ago was the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) front. Early on, the major cloud providers rolled out PaaS solutions (such as AWS Elastic Beanstalk, which debuted in 2011) that competed with third-party offerings like Heroku. By offering their own PaaSes, public clouds were able to couple their IaaS offerings with software tools. But even here, they were targeting a narrow market. To the extent that PaaS vertically oriented public clouds, it did so for limited use cases and limited sets of users. Public Clouds Become Software Vendors That started to change around the mid-2010s, when public cloud providers began investing more extensively in software platforms that could run on top of their infrastructures. Broadly speaking, most of these solutions fell into three main categories: AI and machine learning services: Services such as AWS Polly and Azure Cognitive Services have turned the public clouds into purveyors of machine learning software, in addition to infrastructure vendors. Data analytics: Through services like Amazon OpenSearch and Azure Data Lake Analytics, the public clouds now let you crunch big data without using third-party software. Business productivity: Platforms such as Google Workspace and Microsoft Office integrate productivity software into the offerings of public cloud vendors. Although not all of these services are directly tied to public clouds, some — Amazon Chime — are. At the same time, the big public clouds doubled down on their investment in PaaS. Alongside basic tools such as Elastic Beanstalk, they built sophisticated managed containers-as-a-service and Kubernetes offerings that — when integrated with managed DevOps tools, like Azure Pipelines, and operating systems, like AWS Bottlerocket — provide developers with everything they need to build, deploy, and orchestrate applications without ever leaving a given cloud provider's ecosystem. Latest Cloud Computing Trend: Hardware Sourcing Not content to be just software vendors, the public clouds are now turning themselves into hardware vendors, too, by developing their own computing chips. AWS, which already offers VM instances powered by chips sourced from the company, is currently the furthest along in this journey. But there are clear signs that Microsoft and Google are close behind. Admittedly, there will probably always be room for third-party hardware inside the Big Three clouds' data centers. So far, the clouds are only building their own chips, not storage devices, NICs, and so on. It's also far too early to say whether cloud vendors intend to transition completely to chips that they source in-house, or to use those processors only for certain services or instance types. Still, the move toward internal hardware sourcing is a very big deal. It means that the day will come (in fact, it's already here, at least for certain AWS use cases) when virtually the entire stack required to host a workload — from the CPU, to the VM instance, to the OS, to the software application — will originate from a single provider. Using the public cloud may feel a lot more like using an Apple product — where almost everything is sourced from one vendor — than running, say, a PC where the hardware comes from Dell, the OS from Microsoft, and the software from a variety of other vendors. What Vertical Integration Means for Cloud's Future Why are cloud providers investing in vertical integration, and how will it shape the future of the cloud? It's hard to do more than speculate at this point, but I suspect that one outcome of this cloud computing trend will be stronger differentiations between public clouds. When all the clouds were basically just IaaS providers, there wasn't a lot of difference between them, apart from details like pricing and how VM instances were configured. But when public clouds become software vendors, and when they design their own chips, they have a greater ability to build unique products and services. Vertical integration is also likely to have major consequences for "alternative" cloud providers, meaning smaller clouds that attempt to compete with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The ability to develop and source hardware and software is probably beyond the capability of most alternative clouds, which means they will have to chase customers in other ways — perhaps by undercutting the larger cloud providers' pricing for core IaaS services. Conclusion The vertical integration trend in the cloud computing market hasn't received a lot of attention, but it should. It's one of the most powerful forces in cloud computing today, and it promises to have profound implications for the way cloud providers operate and the way customers use their platforms. https://www.itprotoday.com/iaas-and-paas/software-hardware-vertical-integration-cloud-trend-watch

Rishi Sunak has increased the income threshold for National Insurance to give a £330 annual tax cut for employees as the chancellor delivered gloomy updated forecasts for the UK economy during his spring economic statement. Sunak said the threshold at which employees pay National Insurance will be lifted by £3,000 to £12,570 a year from July in what the chancellor called a “£6bn personal tax cut for 30 million people across the United Kingdom”, while also promising to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20 per cent to 19 per cent in April 2024. It will come after an already announced 1.25 percentage point increase in National Insurance for employees and employers from next month, with Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves saying today’s announcement “begs the question – why did he embark on these changes in the first place?” Motorists will get help with the cost of living squeeze with a 5p cut to fuel duty, while the chancellor also announced a series of Research and Development (R&D) tax credits to try and boost private sector investment. The chancellor claimed his tax plan “delivers the biggest net cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century”. It came as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded its economic growth forecasts on the back of UK sanctions on Russia, particularly its energy exports, in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The OBR said Brits are now facing the largest fall in living standards since the 1950s. Speaking about the National Insurance changes, Sunak said: “The Institute for Fiscal Studies has called it ‘the best way to help low and middle earners through the tax system”. It creates what the Centre for Policy Studies has called a “universal working income’. “It is a tax cut that rewards work. And, Mr Speaker, around 70 per cent of all workers will have their taxes cut by more than the amount they’ll pay through the new Levy. Once again it is this Conservative government delivering for hardworking families and helping with the cost of living.” He added: “Last year, I told the House I would cut taxes for hardworking families, but I would do so in a responsible and sustainable way and today, I am delivering on that promise. So let me say this – cutting taxes is not easy, it requires hard work, prioritisation and the willingness to make difficult and often unpo[CENSORED]r arguments elsewhere. “It is only because this government has been prepared to make those difficult but necessary choices to fix our public finances that I can stand here and tell this House that not only are taxes being cut.” The OBR now expects GDP growth to hit 3.8 per cent this year, after previously forecasting six per cent in autumn last year. Inflation is now expected by the budgetary watchdog to hit 7.2 per cent this year – more than three per cent more than predicted in October. Responding to the statement, Reeves said: “Despite the chancellor’s reluctant measures, the facts are that he is taking money out of people’s purses and wallets with an increase in national insurance contributions. “The changes he is making today, beg the question – why did he embark on these changes in the first place? “Despite the warnings from the Labour party and many, many others. Now it’s one thing for the Prime Minister and chancellor to disagree with each other, but the centre piece of the statement that the chancellor has delivered today is based on a disagreement with himself.” Tony Danker, director-general at the CBI, said the chancellor’s statement was “welcome”, but that it doesn’t “do enough to tackle the current challenges facing firms”. “In reality, we cannot wait until October to get growth going. The government needs to get moving straight away,” he said. “We need concrete plans now on how we get new nuclear, hydrogen and onshore wind investment.” Will Tanner, director of centre-right think tank Onward, said: “The 5p cut to fuel duty and the rising threshold for National Insurance contributions offer considerable protection against spiralling inflation, especially for those on the lowest incomes – and, from 2024, he ensured that voters will keep an extra penny from every pound they earn. “But while voters recognise that the Chancellor is fighting fires on all fronts, he cannot lose sight of why the Government was elected back in 2019 – to level up opportunity across the UK. Today’s statement had positive language on capital investment, R&D and apprenticeships, but scant detail and no decisions until the autumn.” https://www.cityam.com/sunak-gives-national-insurance-help-amid-gloomy-news-for-uk-economy/

Is Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine finally on the way for kids under six? The company said Wednesday its coronavirus vaccine generated a strong immune response in children between six months and six years old, NBC News reports. The vaccine was given to kids at a lower dose than is given to adults. The data comes from a trial that consisted of about 6,900 children, and Moderna said the vaccine generated a "robust neutralizing antibody response" both in kids between six months and under two years old and kids between two and six years old. The "majority of adverse events were mild or moderate," the company also said. "We believe these latest results from the KidCOVE study are good news for parents of children under 6 years of age," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said. "We now have clinical data on the performance of our vaccine from infants six months of age through older adults. Given the need for a vaccine against COVID-19 in infants and young children we are working with the U.S. FDA and regulators globally to submit these data as soon as possible." The vaccine was about 43.7 percent effective against the Omicron variant in children between six months and two years old and 37.5 percent effective in kids between two and five years old. Moderna now plans to seek emergency use authorization for the vaccine in kids under six from the FDA. NBC medical correspondent John Torres said on the Today show this FDA approval will be a "huge game-changer," and he speculated it could happen within the next month or so. "That's going to let us get back to more normal lives," Torres added. https://news.yahoo.com/moderna-says-data-provides-good-130956889.html

Nickname: @FazzNoth Video author: IGN Name of the game: Atomic Heart Video link: Short description of the video: Check out the release window trailer for Atomic Heart, the mysterious first-person shooter from developer Mundfish. We're starting to learn a bit more about it, though. The team describes the game as "an action-packed first-person shooter set in the alternative, retro-future version of the 1950s USSR." Atomic Heart will be out for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. And yes, if that soundtrack sounds a bit familiar, it's because it is indeed being done by Mick Gordon (Doom, Doom Eternal).

Today, the realme GT Neo 3 got unveiled in China and it's packing some serious tech specs and features. As previously reported, the realme GT Neo 3 is featuring a MediaTek Dimensity 8100 chipset but that's not the highlight. In fact, this phone is packed with an 80W fast charging technology which is said to fully charge an empty 5000mAh battery within 32 minutes. On the other hand, there's also a 150W UltraDart charging technology for another variant, charging a 4500mAh battery pack up to 50% in just 5 minutes. In other words, the two variants are based on the 80W and 150W charging capability. To ensure safety when charging the phone, the company took 38 battery security protective measures to make sure that the temperature stays under 43°C with a special temperature managing algorithm. The 150W model has a pair of battery packs and claims that it can retain 80% capacity after 1000 complete charging cycles. Both have the same 6.7-inch AMOLED 120Hz display, a realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12 as well as a 50MP (main) + 8MP (ultrawide) + 2MP (macro) triple rear camera. There are also many different memory variants with the price tags below: realme GT Neo 3 (80W) 6GB + 128GB - 1999 Yuan (~RM1324) realme GT Neo 3 (80W) 8GB + 128GB - 2299 Yuan (~RM1523) realme GT Neo 3 (80W) 12GB + 256GB - 2599 Yuan (~RM1722) realme GT Neo 3 (120W) 8GB + 256GB - 2699 Yuan (~RM1788) realme GT Neo 3 (120W) 12GB + 256GB - 2899 Yuan (~RM1921) realme Malaysia is quite likely to import this phone here. So until then, stay tuned for the official news only at TechNave.com. https://technave.com/gadget/realme-GT-Neo-3-release-up-to-150W-UltraDart-charging-technology-starting-price-from-RM1324-29245.html

Beaten-down software company Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) was bouncing back in a big way on Monday, up nearly 12% as of 12:30 p.m. ET. While there was no company-specific news that came out today, another peer in the enterprise software sector was scooped up by a private equity firm over the weekend. After a 65% plunge from all-time highs about a year ago culminating in another brutal post-earnings sell-off last week, investors may be thinking Coupa could be the next software target to get scooped up. One would think Coupa's software sales would be booming right now, since its products help businesses optimize supply chains and connect businesses with suppliers. However, after a burst of digitization during the pandemic, some software companies are seeing things slow down as the economy normalizes. In addition, global inflation is pushing up interest rates, which are a killer for high-growth but unprofitable stocks such as Coupa. Yes, Coupa is posting break-even to slight profits on an adjusted basis, but when you factor in stock-based compensation, it still posted a $244 million operating loss according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in 2021. It also didn't help matters that Coupa guided for underwhelming growth for the current year during its fourth-quarter earnings report last week, which came in well below analyst estimates. Decelerating growth and higher interest rates are a killer combination for Coupa and other stocks like it. Still, with the stock now down below nine times this year's revenue estimates, could it be due for a bounce, or even a takeover? Over the weekend, private equity firm Thoma Bravo reached an agreement to acquire software peer Anaplan for roughly $10.7 billion in cash, representing a 30% premium to Anaplan's stock price as of Friday. Anaplan, which helps companies plan their financial and operational planning, was of similar size and function to Coupa before the deal was announced. Therefore, with Coupa down so much from its highs, it's not unreasonable to think it could become the next target for an acquisition by private equity at a similar premium. As much sense as this makes, investors should never buy stocks on the mere rumor or potential for acquisition, as it may not happen. Investors should assess Coupa based on its own merits. Less than nine times forward revenue would have been considered cheap for a software stock not too long ago, but with interest rates on the rise, that may no longer be the case. At some point, software companies will need to either reaccelerate growth or show a clear path to GAAP profitability to regain the market's favor. That may not happen with Coupa in the near future. SPONSORED: 10 stocks we like better than Coupa Software When our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Coupa Software wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstocks/why-coupa-software-bounced-back-strongly-today/ar-AAVkpfA?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Microsoft has taken a hard stance on Windows 11 minimum hardware requirements and the company is now informing users when their hardware doesn't meet them through a system notification. Testers have spotted that a recent Windows 11 preview update presents a watermark on the desktop wallpaper when it detects the hardware doesn't meet Microsoft's strict minimum requirements, as reported by The Verge. It also produces an alert within the Settings app. Microsoft requires PC hardware that has at least 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage; UEFI secure boot enabled; a graphics card that's compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with a WDDM 2.0 driver; and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0. The company is aiming to beef up security, but the requirements also aim to make Windows better for games released in the future through DirectX 12, which is important after its mega $21.6 billion acquisition of Activision in January. Microsoft's new minimum requirement alerts came to Windows 11 users on March 15 in the Build 22000.588 (KB5011563) for Windows Insiders on the Beta and Release Preview Channels. Microsoft opted not to mention the new minimum requirement alerts in its release notes for that build. However, testers certainly noticed when the OS presented the message "System requirements not met". The minimum requirements for Windows 11 aren't that high. Most smartphones, for example, already exceed it. Yet it's still a problem for consumers with older but functioning hardware who don't want to buy new kit, and for enterprises with a sizable chunk of their fleets consisting of hardware that doesn't cut it for Windows 11. Microsoft did leave a loophole for people who want Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, but those users can't be guaranteed of receiving security updates from Windows Update. The company is betting that by 2025, when Windows 10 support ends, all customers will be able to move to Windows 11 and that minimum hardware requirements won't matter because businesses typically refresh hardware every three to five years. But, as The Verge points out, Windows 11 today only officially supports Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake or Zen+ and Zen 2 CPUs and up. Microsoft's official documentation is here and its requirements for Windows 11 on Intel, AMD and Arm are here. https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-11-will-add-a-watermark-on-your-desktop-if-your-hardware-isnt-supported/

There are lots of ways to raise Cain. Cousins raise Cain at family reunion picnics. Shareholders raise Cain at board meetings over bad earnings reports. Basketball coaches raise Cain with referees on the sideline. But nobody raises Cain like the Senate at the confirmation hearing of a Supreme Court justice. SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARINGS TO BEGIN FOR BIDEN'S SUPREME COURT PICK JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON Granted, this doesn’t happen every time a Supreme Court nominee goes before the Senate for confirmation. But senators and activists on both sides have raised a lot of Cain at recent confirmation hearings. The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991 and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 practically raised Cain. The failed confirmation fights involving nominees Robert Bork and, briefly, Douglas Ginsburg in 1987 came close. But other Supreme Court confirmation hearings are tame. To be clear, they may not appear as bucolic as a warm spring day with "Morning Mood" by Edvard Grieg playing in the background. But despite the raucous affairs to confirm Thomas and Kavanaugh, fervid confirmation hearings are the exception, not the rule. But let’s explore why some of these confirmation hearings erupt in chaos. Legislative. Executive. Judiciary. The nomination of a Supreme Court justice fuses all three branches of government into a symbiotic, political ballet. That mixture is rare in American politics. A lifetime appointment of a justice can shift a nation over the course of his or her term. So much is at stake. And that’s why both sides sometimes go for broke over a given nominee. Thomas seemed to be on track for confirmation when his hearings initially closed in September 1991. But that was before law professor Anita Hill leveled salacious charges of sexual harassment at Thomas. The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired at the time by then-Sen. Joe Biden, re-opened the hearings. And hell was thusly raised. "This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace," fumed Thomas. "It is a high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks." Every network took Thomas’ hearings live. The public: transfixed. CBS owned the rights to the Major League Baseball playoffs that fall. CBS even briefly debated forgoing the national pastime and showing the hearings instead. The Senate closed its hearings in early September 2018 for Kavanaugh. But the Senate soon found itself on a Miltonian bridge over chaos when Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her nearly four decades earlier when they were in high school. "When you see (Supreme Court Justices) Sotomayor and Kagan, tell them that Lindsey said hello because I voted for them. I would never do to them what you've done to this guy," erupted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., practically spitting his words at Democrats on the dais. "Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it." After Thomas’ confirmation, a set of rather vanilla hearings unfolded for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen Breyer, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch’s hearing was not rambunctious, but his nomination was supercharged. That’s because Democrats believed the seat Gorsuch would soon occupy should have gone to current Attorney General Merrick Garland. President Obama nominated Garland for the high court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in early 2016. But Republicans refused to grant Garland a hearing. When President Trump took office and nominated Gorsuch, the GOP gave Gorsuch a hearing and confirmed him. However, current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did have to establish a new procedural precedent to prevent Democrats from filibustering Gorsuch’s nomination. "We’ll do what’s necessary to confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court," said Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., at the time, then the Majority Whip. McConnell argued that the Senate should not confirm Garland in a presidential election year. But even though the confirmation hearing for Justice Amy Coney Barrett went smoothly, Republicans raced to confirm her – just days before the 2020 election. "I recognize, Mr. Chairman, that this goose is pretty much cooked," mused Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., of Republican tactics at Barrett’s hearing. In fact, Barrett’s hearing was exceptionally calm for two reasons. First, few things could top the spectacle surrounding Kavanaugh’s hearings. Both parties wanted to avoid a repeat. Secondly, the Capitol remained mostly shuttered to the public and demonstrators due to the pandemic. But this is a look at the dispositions of the confirmation hearings themselves. Most are snoozers. The anomalies were the bedlam that unfolded around hearings for Thomas and Kavanaugh. Instances where hell was actually raised. But even the mayhem over Kavanaugh’s confirmation was no match for the smut that dominated Thomas’ hearings in 1991. "I think the one that was the most embarrassing was his discussion of pornography involving women with large breasts and engaged in a variety of sex with different people or animals," testified Anita Hill after she leveled sexual harassment charges against Thomas. Republican senators sought to undercut Hill’s allegations. They suggested Hill wasn’t credible. Perhaps, they hinted, Hill made the entire thing up. Senators tested insinuation by Hill that Thomas spoke to her about a pubic hair apparently floating around in a soft drink. "You said you never did say this, ‘Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?’" questioned former Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, of Thomas. Republicans thought the Coke story mirrored a scene depicted in the novel "The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty. Hatch showed up to one hearing, one day, armed with a copy. "Page 70 of this particular version of ‘The Exorcist’," read Hatch. "‘There appeared to be an alien pubic hair floating around in my gin.’" Each day of the hearings was more risqué. Supreme Court nominees never even garnered confirmation hearings until more than 100 years ago. Supreme Court Justice John Harlan received the first "modern" confirmation hearing in 1955. But over time, confirmation hearings evolved into public spectacles – hyped for television. BERKELEY LAW DEAN CLAIMS ‘NO PLAUSIBLE BASIS’ TO OPPOSE KETANJI JACKSON NOMINATION, SLAMS REPUBLICAN ‘SMEARS’ "A lot of show horse members of Congress treat this as their opportunity to build a national brand," said George Washington University political science professor Casey Burgat. "It is high theatrics." Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., served as the "sherpa" for Gorsuch’s confirmation process. Each administration usually fills the sherpa role with someone who is intimately familiar with senators and Senate customs. The sherpa escorts the nominees around to meetings with senators and prepares them for tough questions they may face in their hearings. Ayotte described "gotcha" questions for nominees as "gamesmanship" in the Senate. "They’re trying to see if they can trip the nominee up," said Ayotte. Senators aren’t expecting hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson to devolve into a hell- raising experience. So far. "It will be a serious, dignified process," said McConnell. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-confirmation-hearings-reputation-political-circuses

A senator is set to introduce a bill today supported by primatologist Jane Goodall that would phase out elephants in captivity, put a stop to big cats at roadside zoos and give some animals legal standing in court. Sen. Marty Klyne says he will reintroduce the Jane Goodall Act, which was first introduced in late 2020 but died last year when the election was called. Klyne says the federal bill would ban new captivity of lions, apes, bears and hundreds of other animals at roadside zoos. Several zoos have signed on in support of the bill: the Toronto Zoo, the Calgary Zoo, the Granby Zoo, the Assiniboine Park Zoo and the Montreal Biodome. Klyne says those zoos would be exempt from the captivity ban and others can apply to become designated "animal care organizations" that meet standards of care and whistleblower protections. He says the Granby Zoo in Quebec would also transition out of elephant captivity. Klyne said several zoos and animal rights organizations helped draft the bill. "Their expertise and passion have contributed to strengthening the bill to ban new captivity of lions, tigers, bears and hundreds more species at roadside zoos," Klyne said in a written statement. Goodall, who is renowned for her decades-long study of family and social interactions among chimpanzees, called it an "important day for animals." "So many of them are in desperate need of our help and the Jane Goodall Act establishes protection and support for animals under human care," Goodall wrote in a statement. The Toronto Zoo said it was proud to support the proposed bill. "It represents a critical step forward in protecting wild animals," CEO Dolf DeJong wrote in a statement. Several other prominent animal rights organizations have also lent their support to the proposed bill. "Animal Justice is especially pleased that the bill would offer animals limited legal standing in court—a groundbreaking move toward making sure our legal system prioritizes their well-being," said the organization's executive director, Camille Labchuk. If passed, the bill would require organizations that own tigers or cheetahs, for example, to apply for a permit to breed them or acquire new ones. The applications would be considered on a case-by-case basis. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2022. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/senator-proposes-bill-to-ban-captivity-of-certain-animals-protect-others-1.5828989

The livestream starts at 9 AM EDT / 1 PM GMT. After the Alfa Romeo Tonale, another troubled Italian marque is downsizing its SUV recipe to lure in more buyers that want an alternative to the Germans. Maserati has been teasing the Levante for months on end, during which our spies have caught more prototypes than we can count. It all ends today with the world premiere of the Grecale, a sub-Levante model the Trident certainly needs to turn things around. While the fully electric Folgore-badged version was spied this week, the EV won't premiere until 2023. Today, we'll only see the gasoline-fueled model, complete with a high-performance Trofeo version as evidenced in the teaser clip below. According to a previously released preview, the sporty one promises to deliver an unspecified amount of horsepower that will "knock your socks off." Expect the Maserati Grecale to ride on the same FCA-developed Giorgio platform as the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. Logic tells us we'll see mild-hybrid four-cylinder engines and a V6 reserved for the Trofeo. It should be significantly smaller than the Levante, which stretches at 197 inches (5,003 millimeters) long, 77.5 in (1,968 mm) wide, and 66.1 in (1,679 mm) tall, with a wheelbase of 118.3 in (3,004 mm). Modena's belated answer to the Porsche Macan has been teased and spied with an all-new interior brimming with tech and loads of room for its class. Although enthusiasts would much rather see the new GranTurismo first, let's all admit that Grecale is far more important from a business perspective. Yes, it's yet another crossover, but this type of body style is what lures in buyers looking for a do-it-all car. The Grecale will face some stiff competition and we're anxious to see whether Maserati has done enough to live up to the hype it created in the last months. It's exactly the sort of model it needs in its portfolio because the aging Ghibli and Quattro sedans are not enough. We could say the same thing about the MC20 since it's a low-volume product by the nature of the segment it's competing in. Should you want something bigger than the Grecale, Maserati has already confirmed a second-generation Levante. It's due to arrive by the middle of the decade and it too will over an EV derivative. In the meantime, join us for the world premiere of the 2023 Maserati Levante at 9 AM EDT / 1 PM GMT when the livestream is scheduled to start. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/news/2023-maserati-grecale-debuts-today-see-the-livestream/ar-AAVm2ZY?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Voted

Yes @Mr.Bada

Happy mother's day!