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Both Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series have been around for a long time, and as such, have built up reputations and followings for themselves. Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon's older sibling by three years, has seventeen installments in the series while Ghost Recon boasts a slightly more modest fifteen total games. Both series feature top-secret organizations comprising operatives at the very top of their classes, squad-based gameplay, and first-person shooter gameplay that follows a cohesive storyline. They are similar in so many ways, but as for which series is ultimately better? Read the list below and decide for yourself. If there's anything that prolongs a game's longevity for years after its release, it's fresh content. This is something the Rainbow Six series does very well. The latest installment in the series, Rainbow Six: Siege is bolstered by new weapons, operators, and maps four times per year, every year. Even when a new season doesn't necessarily denote a new map, an old map gets a rework. Players can always count on bug fixes and balancing tweaks with each new season, and fresh content keeps the gameplay itself from growing stale over time. If there's anything big the latest installment in the Rainbow Six series lacks, it's a campaign. Ghost Recon: Wildlands has Siege beat in this category by about a mile, because not only does Wildlands have a great campaign: it's a co-op campaign. Wildlands doesn't betray the fun of multiplayer gameplay for the sake of a good campaign; it simply integrates the two for a more social approach to FPS campaigns. If you're somebody who enjoys a good storyline behind their gameplay rather than just PVP gameplay that can grow repetitive after a few hours, but don't really wanna be a loner, Wildlands is a good choice. Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon both boast their fair share of impressive cosmetics for weapons and operators alike, but in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint's case, getting the cosmetics isn't as easy as it should be. Unlike in Rainbow Six: Siege, which gives players the chance to roll for loot in Alpha Packs at the end of every match their team wins, as well as the opportunity to buy Alpha Packs with in-game currency, Breakpoint makes it harder. In order to outfit weapons in Breakpoint, prepare to shell out real money for packs with cosmetics in them. There is definitely a difference between gameplay in Rainbow Six games and the latest installments of Ghost Recon games. In Siege, players are stuck on relatively small maps with either four teammates and five belligerents or four teammates and a seemingly endless supply of AI terrorists. This makes for close engagements with the enemy and a lot of sneaking around. This kind of gameplay is great for those who like fast-paced, high-stakes gameplay realistic to the circumstances of a real siege and who don't like using longer-range scopes on their weapons. However, if you're a gamer who likes the satisfaction of landing those sweet sniper shots through the head, the Ghost Recon series is better for you. Since you play on larger maps with more distance between you and the enemy, long-range engagements are a must. Large maps also mean more room to roam and less structure around actual gameplay. Playing on the same playlist of small maps over and over again can get stale after a while, and larger maps remedy this by keeping gameplay exciting and new. Breakpoint features a diverse map with different climates and terrain meant to be Bolivia. Again, this depends on what kind of gameplay you personally enjoy, but if one game series currently focuses more on teamwork over the other, it's Rainbow Six. The whole point of Siege is to work with teammates to beat the enemy team, complete the objective, or battle waves of AI terrorists. The game is set up in a way that even one teammate that doesn't do their job sets their team at a huge disadvantage against the enemy team—and on the flipside, cohesive teamwork makes for some great plays. Ubisoft encourages the use of voice chat and suggests using a full squad to rank up in Ranked PVP matches. Of course, sometimes it's nice not to have to worry about irate teammates screaming down your headset or just having yourself to count on for success in a video game. You can play both Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint on solo mode without ever being forced into a co-op experience you don't want. The downside may be that some parts of the campaigns are more difficult to do on your own, but this still doesn't mean you have to play co-op with someone else. In a gaming landscape where multiplayer seems to dominate, it can be nice to get back to the basics of story-based solo play. Rainbow Six has always prided itself on being diverse, given the series revolves around a top-secret antiterrorism unit that employs operatives from all over the world rather than just the United States, the way Ghost Recon games do. This becomes especially apparent in Rainbow Six: Siege, when players can finally choose from a variety of operators from twenty-two different SDUs originating in eighteen different countries. There are currently 19 female operators out of 50 total, and up until recently, the leader of Rainbow Six itself was a woman. How's all that for diverse? The villains in the Rainbow Six story have always been terrorist organizations. Some of then are large, some small; the most recent is faceless and consists of men from multiple countries. In general, while the Rainbow Six enemies pose a threat, they are never as well-trained or deadly as Ghost Recon enemies tend to be. In fact, in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, the biggest, baddest villain is an ex-Ghost named Cole D. Walker who leads a squad of soldiers he calls Wolves. This traitorous act and sense of danger brings an extra layer of intensity to gameplay that Rainbow Six games just don't seem to possess.

The NFL never disappoints and Week 6 was no different. Several games came right down to the whistle, MVP candidates squared off in a thriller and we were treated to several upsets and dominations alike. The action started early with the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London and continued through the massive matchup between Deshaun Watson’s Houston Texans and Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs, to the New York Jets’ upset of the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ handling of the Los Angeles Chargers. Among those games and all the others, several players balled out, so who can we expect to see on a flashy MUT Team of the Week card this week? READ MORE: How to get MUT coins fast Diggs has been one of the most disappointing players this season as he has struggled to produce anywhere close to the levels everyone expected from him. That changed on Sunday. Emphatically. Prior to this week Diggs had just 253 yards receiving and one touchdown, against the Eagles he added 167 yards and three touchdowns. On nine total touches he had 185 yards and was simply uncoverable. 62-yard and 51-yard touchdown catches were followed up by one of the best toe drag swags of the year in the back of the endzone. He tortured the Eagles’ defense and reminded everyone of the player he is, and he should get a highly rated card because of it. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (Hero) – 90 OVRA number of quarterbacks had TOTW worthy performances, but Kyler Murray’s stood out.He played what is probably the best game of his young career, passing for 340 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions, while completing 72% of his passes and adding 32 yards on the ground. He was on point and had the Cardinals’ offense firing on all cylinders for his second win of the season. The Panthers had a great day on defense against the Buccaneers, turning Jameis Winston over seven times and sacking him seven times, and Gerald McCoy was a big reason why. Against his former team the defensive tackle sacked Winston 2.5 times, hit him four times and batted away one of his passes. He was a constant nuisance to the Bucs’ O-line who simply had no answer for him, and he let their sideline know exactly how he felt about his departure from the team. READ MORE: MUT Heavyweights offer best value for your coins Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons – 86 OVRThough on the losing team, Hooper did everything in his power to keep the Falcons in the game against the Cardinals. In doing so, the tight end has quietly joined the ranks of the top TEs in the game.Hooper contributed eight catches, on eight targets, for 117 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals had no answer for him, and had the Falcons had another opportunity to win the game, I’m sure Hooper would have been a key part of the Falcons’ success. James Bradberry, Carolina Panthers – 85 OVRSuch was the Panthers’ defensive performance that they have two players on the TOTW. Winston was under pressure all game and the Panthers made him pay for it. He threw five interceptions and lost two fumbles. Bradberry was on the receiving end of two of those interceptions. While Chris Godwin and Mike Evans had good days statistically, Bradberry’s plays on the ball completely stifled the Bucs’ ability to pass and helped power the Panthers to a 4-2 record. The most surprising result of the week undoubtedly came thanks to the New York Jets. Robby Anderson was probably one of the happiest Jets after the game thanks to the return of his QB, Sam Darnold. Anderson saw his most targets in a game since Darnold was QB, and caught a season best five catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. His 92-yard touchdown decisively swung the game in the Jets’ favor and could signal Anderson’s breakout. Arik Armstead, San Francisco 49ers – 83 OVRThe 49ers defense reminded everyone of what this team was seven years ago with a bullying of the Los Angeles Rams, and Arik Armstead had a huge role to play. He may have only had half a sack, but his six total tackles and fumble recovery show how impactful he was from defensive end. Jared Goff was under constant pressure and the Rams couldn’t win the battle at the line of scrimmage and Armstead’s performance was a big part of that. READ MORE: Who should be the next MUT Legends?Terry McLaurin, Washington Redskins – 82 OVRVery few eyes were drawn to the Washington Redskins’ narrow win against the Miami Dolphins, but people should pay attention to McLaurin. The third-round pick has been one of the few bright spots of the Redskins’ season and Sunday was just a continuation. His route running is excellent and it got him open for four catches, 100-yards and two touchdowns. Considering his core card is just 68 OVR, this is well deserved. Devin Bush, Pittsburgh Steelers – 81 OVRLast week we predicted Bush would make the TOTW, but he outdid himself this week. Bush made seven total tackles, but more importantly came up with a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception in the first half. Bush was instrumental in the Chargers’ struggles and continues to grow into a very impactful player. Want to join the RS team? Become a RealGamer.

What is the most po[CENSORED]r sport in the world?Football… also known as soccer in some countries.Football is used in British English.Soccer is used in American English.Football is basically a game where two teams of eleven players each try the end a game with the most goals. The game is on a rectangular pitch or field and none of the players can use their hands to touch the ball except for one goalkeeper in each team.A game of football lasts 90 minutes. This is divided into two halves of 45 minutes each. There is a 15-minute break between the first half and the second half. Pitch is used in British EnglishField in used in American EnglishA football team consists of 11 players on the field at the same time. Two teams play against each other and there is a referee to make sure everyone follows the rules of the game.Let’s look at some of the people involved in a game of football:Goalkeeper: There is only one goalkeeper on the field for each team. Their main role is to defend the goal and stop the other team from scoring goals. They can use their hands while they are in the goal area. An informal word for goalkeeper is goalie.The three main positions on the pitch are as a defender near their own goal, in the midfield, which is the centre section, and the forward position where they try to score goals.Defender: these players play near their goalkeeper to help defend their goal.Midfielder: a player who plays between the forwards and the defenders. They sometimes help defend, sometimes they help attack, though they spend most of the time in the middle of the pitch.Forward: an attacking player in a team. When a forward has the main role of scoring goals, he or she can be called a striker.Substitute: this is a player that does not start on the field with the other players. They sit on the bench until it is time to replace a player on the field that is tired on not performing well. Sometimes substitutes are used as a part of a change in tactics.Manager: the person in charge of a football team. They are responsible for selecting the team of players for a match and the tactics they should use on the pitch.The following are responsible for running the game:Referee: The person responsible for making sure all players follow the rules. The referee uses a whistle to get the attention of the players and to signify a change in the flow of the game such as a foul or the end of the half or match.Linesman: a person who helps the referee. There are two linesmen, one on each side of the pitch. The general job of a linesman is to let the referee know when the ball has gone out (has crossed the side line or goal line), when a playing is offside, or if a player commits an offense. They use a flag to indicate the situation to the referee. Another word for linesman is referee’s assistant. The playing surface for soccer/football with its markings to show the area of play is called a soccer field or soccer pitch (or football field or football pitch). It consists of the following:Bench: the area where substitute players sit and wait to be asked to enter the game.Centre circle: this is the circle that is 10 yards (9.15 metres) from the centre mark of the pitch. When a team kick-offs at the start of a half or after a goal, players from the opposing team cannot be inside that circle until the ball has been played.Centre spot: This is the mark in the exact middle of the centre circle where kick-off takes place.Corner: one of the four corners of the pitch. A corner flag is placed here and it is where corner kicks are taken.Crossbar: the horizontal bar of the goal. It must be 8 feet (2.44 metres) above the ground.Goal: The goal consists of two vertical goal posts and a horizontal crossbar. There is normally a net attached to these to help confirm whether the ball has entered between the posts or not.Goal line: the two short boundary lines at opposite ends of the pitch. The goal posts are placed on the goal line.Goal post: A goal consists of two vertical goal posts that are 8 yards (7.32 metres) apart.Halfway line: The marked line that goes across the pitch exactly halfway between the two goal lines.Net: Nets are attached to the goal posts and crossbar and are placed behind the goal to make it easier to know when the ball enters the goal.Penalty area: This is also known as the penalty box. This is the marked area near each goal in which the goalkeeper can use his hands to touch the ball. If a foul happens inside the penalty box, it becomes a penalty instead of a free kick.Penalty spot: (also know as penalty mark) a white mark in the penalty box from which penalties are taken. This spot or mark is 12 yards (11 metres) from the goal line.Stands: this is where the fans / supporters sit in the stadium around the pitchTouchline: The touchlines are the marked lines going along the longest part of the pitch. A ball must completely cross the touchline to be out of play. If any part of the ball is still on or above the touchline, the ball is still in play. When a ball is completely out of play, a throw-in is giving to the opposite team of the last person who touched the ball. Things that happen in a football gameBicycle kick: when a player kicks the ball backwards over his own head to try and score a goal.Clearance: a defensive kick that is intended to remove the ball out of danger from the goal area.Corner kick: a free kick taken from one of the corners of the pitch. A corner kick is given when the ball touches a defending team’s player before going over the goal line (outside of the goal).Dive: when a player deliberately falls over when tackled, mostly when they aren’t even touched. Some unscrupulous players do this act in order to get a free kick or a penalty.Draw / Tie: when the game finishes with both teams having the same amount of goals scored.Equalizer: a goal that is scored that brings the game to where both teams now have the same number of goals.Extra time: Two extra 15-minute periods played when the main 90-minute game ends in a draw and a winner is needed in the competition.Free kick: A player who is fouled by an opponent is given a free kick. It this happens inside the penalty box / goal area, then instead of a free kick, it becomes a penalty.Foul: an action that is not permitted in the game as it is against the rules. A foul gives the other team a free kick.Goal: when the ball passes the line between the two goal posts and under the crossbar, it is a goal. The ball must wholly cross the goal line between the goal posts before a goal is scored.Half time: the short 15-minute break after the first half and before the second half starts.Handball: when a player touches the ball with his/her hand or arm. The other team receives a free kick or a penalty if this happens inside the goal area.Hat trick: when a player has scored three goals in the same match.Header: a shot at goal that involves using the head to guide the direction of the ball.Injury time: Extra minutes added to the end of a half in order to compensate lost playing time due to injury. This is sometimes called stoppage time.Kick-off: the first kick of the game which signifies the start of the match. It is usually written as kickoff (one word) in American English.Offside: when a player receives a pass and they are closer to their opponent’s goal than one of the opposite team’s players excluding the goalkeeper.Own goal: when a player accidentally helps the ball go into their own goal.Penalty: a free kick from the penalty spot. This kick is made by one player against the goalkeeper of the opposite team.Penalty shootout: This happens when the game is tied (both teams have the same number of goals) after extra time in a competition and a winner needs to be decided. Each team takes turns with a penalty kick. The team that gets the most goals after their five shots, wins. If both teams have the same amount of goals after their five shots each, they each have another penalty shot each until there is a winner.Possession: the total amount of time a team is able to keep the ball and prevent the opposition from touching it.Red card: If a player gets a red card, they must leave the pitch immediately and cannot play again during the same match. A player is given a red card for dangerous play on the field or if they get two yellow cards in the same match.Shot: when the ball is kicked or headed in the direction of the opponent’s goal in an attempt to score a goal.Throw-in: When a ball goes completely across the touchline to be out of play, a throw-in is giving to the opposite team of the last person who touched the ball. This is the only time a player can use their hands to touch the ball, in this case only to throw the ball back into play.VAR: This is short for Video Assistant Referees. This system is where the referee can replay the video of events that happened on the field. This can help the referee make decisions such as whether to award a goal or not, give a penalty, or give a player a red card.Wall: when some players from one team stand together in a line to create a barrier or “wall” between the ball and the goal when there is a free kick.Yellow card: A yellow card is given as punishment for a serious foul in the game. When the same player receives two yellow cards in a match, then it becomes a red card and that player must leave the game immediately.Verbs used in FootballTo concede (a goal): when a team receives a goal against them.To cross: to pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the opposite side or into the goal area.To dribble: to move the ball along with your feet as you go up the field.To head: to use your head to make the ball go in a certain direction.To kick: to strike the ball with your foot.To mark: to guard an opposing player to try and stop them from receiving the ball from their teammate or to make it difficult for that player to use the ball how they want.To pass: when a player kicks (or heads) the ball to another player on their same teamTo score (a goal): to get a goalTo shoot: when the ball is kicked in the direction of the opponent’s goal in an attempt to score a goal.To substitute: (to sub) to replace one player on the field with another player that was on the bench.To tackle: to challenge and try and take the ball from an opposing player.To volley: to kick a moving ball before it hits the ground.What do you wear in Football?Teams get changed in the locker room, which is sometimes called the changing room.But what does a football player wear?Armband: the captain wears an armband to let the referee know that he/she is the captain.Boots: special leather shoes, in this case used for playing football.Gloves: The goalkeeper wears gloves on his hands to make it easier to stop the ball.Kit: the football kit refers to the whole uniform that a player wears.Shin pads / Shin guards: protective plastic coverings that protect a player’s shins from getting hurt should they get kicked. The shin is the lower front part of the leg.Shirt / Jersey: The top part of a team uniform that a player wears. It has a number on the back with the player’s name above that number. The goalkeeper wears a difficult colour from all the other players on the pitch.Shorts: short trousers that only reach to the knees or thighs.Socks: a piece of clothing that covers the foot. In football, socks are long and go up to the knee.Studs: small projections fixed to the base of footwear that help the player to not slip over on the pitch. Sometimes studs are called sprigs.The soccer ball / The footballThe ball is round and made of leather or similar material. The ball used in professional football leagues and in the FIFA World Cup is called a size 5 ball. It has a specific size (circumference: 68-70 cm /27-28 in) and weighs (410-450gr / 14-16 oz).The FIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup is an international football/soccer competition held every 4 years between the 32 qualifying nations. The winning country becomes the world champion.In 2014 the competition was held in Brazil and Germany was the champion.In 2018 the competition was held in Russia and France was the champion.In 2022 the competition will be held in Qatar and the champion will be...

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The humble family sedan was once inseparable from American culture, the prime mover of suburban commutes and summer road trips. But most Detroit automakers are ridding their lineups of sedans and diverting investment to S.U.V.s and crossovers, not to mention electric vehicles and self-driving tech. Detroit’s Asian and European rivals see things differently. They’re continuing to invest in smaller cars, in part as a hedge against changing consumer tastes or soaring fuel prices. The outcome of these bets could help determine the competitive fates of automakers in America. For Detroit companies especially, the PowerPoint is on the wall: For years, their car lineups have consistently lost money, with sport utility vehicles and pickups delivering virtually all their profits. That situation was already bad in the recessionary depths of 2009, when cars outsold so-called light trucks — S.U.V.s, pickups and minivans — for the last time. Since then, Americans have gone even more crazy for S.U.V.s and pickups. In 2019, S.U.V.s and pickups are grabbing a record 70 percent of the market, with 5.9 million sales through June versus 2.5 million for cars. Sales of midsize sedans have nose-dived, from 3 million in 2012 to 1.9 million last year. One of every five cars sold was a midsize sedan in 2012; today it’s barely one in 10. As a result, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have decided to stop making conventional family sedans and compact cars almost entirely. Exceptions are made for enduringly po[CENSORED]r muscle cars like the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger. General Motors hasn’t said it will abandon the car market, but it is killing off several money-losing sedans and hatchbacks, including the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt. Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president for North America, said that in this brutally capital-intensive business, it was time to make hard choices: to invest where Ford sees growth and competitive strength, and to shed shrinking or money-losing segments. Ford’s lineup casualties include the Fusion, once among the nation’s most po[CENSORED]r family sedans, and the Focus, the compact sedan and hatchback that helped prove Detroit could compete against Japanese blue-chippers like Honda’s Civic and Toyota’s Corolla. Instead, Ford will expand its S.U.V. and pickup portfolio, and pour $11 billion into 40 electrified models by 2022. Those include an electric version of its F-Series pickup, America’s perennially best-selling vehicle, and a “Mustang-inspired” electric vehicle — in fact, another crossover S.U.V. — that’s expected in 2020. Ford is also investing heavily in self-driving technology, through its Argo AI unit. Those are “all better businesses than traditional sedans,” Mr. Galhotra said. “We’re providing the vehicles that consumers want, and playing to the strength of the company.” Mr. Galhotra, like many analysts and industry executives, said the shift to S.U.V.s appeared to be permanent. He gave familiar reasons for this: the tall stance and “command seating,” which afford better views, make climbing in or out a breeze and make owners feel safer, and the yawning liftgates and cargo holds, which no sedan trunk can match. Even the world’s leading luxury marques, which once scoffed at S.U.V.s, have learned that resistance is futile: Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini and Maserati all offer S.U.V.s, which reliably become their best-selling models in America and globally, with Ferrari and Aston Martin to follow. Yet every mainstream foreign automaker, including Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru and Volkswagen, continues to send new cars to showrooms, despite flagging sales. Brian Smith, chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor America, feels that Ford and Fiat Chrysler’s strategies are shortsighted.

Scientists say they have created a new device that can turn brain signals into electronic speech. The invention could one day give people who have lost the ability to speak a better way of communicating than current methods. The device was developed by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco. Their results were recently published in a study in the journal Nature. Scientists created a “brain machine interface” that is implanted in the brain. The device was built to read and record brain signals that help control the muscles that produce speech. These include the lips, larynx, tongue and jaw. The brain machine interface, shown here, was developed by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, to turn brain signals into electronic speech. (University of California San Francisco) The experiment involved a two-step process. First, the researchers used a “decoder” to turn electrical brain signals into representations of human vocal movements. A synthesizer then turns the representations into spoken sentences. Other brain-computer interfaces already exist to help people who cannot speak on their own. Often these systems are trained to follow eye or facial movements of people who have learned to spell out their thoughts letter-by-letter. But researchers say this method can produce many errors and is very slow, permitting at most about 10 spoken words per minute. This compares to between 100 and 150 words per minute used in natural speech. Edward Chang is a professor of neurological and member of the university's Weill Institute for Neuroscience. He was a lead researcher on the project. In a statement, he said the new two-step method presents a “proof of principle” with great possibilities for “real-time communication” in the future. This image from video demonstrates how the process turns brain signals into synthesized speech. (University of California San Francisco via YouTube) “For the first time, this study demonstrates that we can generate entire spoken sentences based on an individual’s brain activity,” Chang said. The study involved five volunteer patients who were being treated for epilepsy. The individuals had the ability to speak and already had electrodes implanted in their brains. The volunteers were asked to read several hundred sentences aloud while the researchers recorded their brain activity. The researchers used audio recordings of the voice readings to reproduce the vocal muscle movements needed to produce human speech. This process permitted the scientists to create a realistic “virtual voice” for each individual, controlled by their brain activity. Future studies will test the technology on people who are unable to speak. Josh Chartier is a speech scientist and doctoral student at the University of California, San Francisco. He said the research team was “shocked” when it first heard the synthesized speech results. The study reports the spoken sentences were understandable to hundreds of human listeners asked to write out what they heard. The listeners were able to write out 43 percent of sentences with perfect accuracy. The researchers noted that - as is the case with natural speech - listeners had the highest success rate identifying shorter sentences. The team also reported more success synthesizing slower speech sounds like “sh,” and less success with harder sounds like “b” or “p.” Chartier admitted that much more research of the system will be needed to reach the goal of perfectly reproducing spoken language. But he added: “The levels of accuracy we produced here would be an amazing improvement in real-time communication compared to what’s currently available.” I’m Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Reuters, Nature and online sources. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

It’s mighty interesting to drive through “flyover” country, as the midsection of America is sometimes called. This summer, for family-visiting reasons, my wife and I drove round trip from Colorado to Vermont and back, with a side trip through a chunk of Ontario. Eastbound we drove through Kansas and Missouri. Westbound we skewed north through Iowa and Nebraska. In all four states, with a dash of Illinois and Indiana added, I observed a rather odd billboard phenomenon. A significant plurality of billboards advertised either “adult” video/sex toy stores or evangelical churches with anti-abortion missions. I counted for a while and they were about even on the scorecard. It is beyond my ken why this is so, but I guess in some way best left to the imagination they balance each other out. It’s like the history of Victorian England on Burma Shave signs. (Look it up, youngsters.) Behind a façade of Christian sobriety, folks in the heartland apparently whoop it up behind closed doors. For some reason it made me think about Mike Pence. Having a lot of time and little traffic, my eye constantly drifted to the landscape. I saw disappointment in all directions. Successful farms were evident and massive — the mammoth footprint of agribusiness stomped all over the land. But the smaller parcels, fragments of family farms and farm towns, were abandoned or in the midst of being foreclosed by weather, gravity or banks: warped, gray siding; rusted equipment and weed-tangled yards; broken swing sets and old bicycles. I found myself saddened by the lost hope represented in every frame. My mind’s eye saw a child thrilled by a new bike, or a parent erecting a swing set. And then I saw the faded, drooping remains of what had been someone’s proud new home or the deteriorating evidence of a long ago joyful moment. It wasn’t all bleak, of course. Most exits from the highway had the ubiquitous representations of commercial culture — McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Holiday Inn (though few folks spend holidays in these places). But between the predictable oases designed for passers-through, the countryside was mostly tired and dreary. Back in Vermont I couldn’t shake the feeling, especially when visiting St. Johnsbury and other parts of the Northeast Kingdom. Rural New England is rural Nebraska with more hills. Perhaps it’s just the effects of age — the reality of long life experience, where all new bicycles eventually rust, every porch sags and each cultivated field is inevitably taken back by nature. These cycles have always been part of life. But for most of American history there have been new bicycles, renovated barns and new swing sets for grandchildren. Now, in most of America, deterioration is rapidly outpacing renewal. The juxtaposition of rural dreariness with agribusiness prosperity is a snapshot of America in this era. Our common infrastructure is falling to pieces, while islands of garish consumption grow more obscene. Real wages stagnate while the stock market rises inexorably. Amazon has reduced thousands of Main Streets to ghost towns. Cargill and other corporate behemoths have nearly destroyed the family farms that sustained us for several centuries. Outsourcing and automation have left machine shops, textile mills and manufacturing facilities to rot and rust by roadsides and riversides all over America. Major pharmaceutical companies have squirreled away billions while victims of opioid addiction languish in the dark shadows of forgotten towns. The mal-distribution of wealth and opportunity in America today is not a new thing. The gilded age was even more conspicuously obscene, but economic depression, war and a generation of progressive politics ultimately brought it down. This time the oligarchy is more clever, having convinced a plurality of Americans that their interests will be served by allowing unfettered enterprise. Tides have indeed risen, but they are floating the yachts, not the dinghies. America’s problems are complex. I have great empathy for those who turn to some combination of numbing drugs and evangelic churches (or adult toys). Empathy aside, it is baffling that the majority of rural Americans supports a president who intends nothing good for them — or anyone else. The 2020 election may be the last chance to save the country I’ve grown up in. It’s not too late to reverse the relationship between deterioration and renewal, but it requires revolutionary change, not modest tinkering. There is only one candidate who tells the truth — the whole truth. Vote Bernie 2020. You may not love him, but we don’t have to love the paramedic who is most likely to get our heart beating again. Steve Nelson lives in Boulder, Colo., and Sharon. He can be reached at stevehutnelson@gmail.com.

The V12 is smooth, the gearbox on this 58,000-mile car loose and easy to operate. So because there is time, you can tootle about for a bit. My goodness, it rides well. No anti-roll bars here or ‘anti-traction devices’ as they used to be called at McLaren. The unassisted steering communicates like that of a Lotus and no wonder: there are Exiges you can buy that weigh more than this.And then you can resist no longer so, pausing only to remind yourself that this is 627bhp in 1164kg of car and that it has no safety systems of any kind at all, you give it the boot. Which is when part of you that somehow and stupidly filed this car under ‘nice old thing’ loses all comprehension of what happens next; and it will only be regained when you remember the old dear has a better power-to-weight ratio than a Bugatti Veyron. Really. In the cockpit, all your limbs are busy changing gear after gear and holding it straight. By the time you feel you can afford to glance down, an insane number is already on the speedometer, like 150mph. Then something else happens or, more accurately, doesn’t happen: the rate of acceleration scarcely slows, because compared with modern cars whose bodies generate downforce, the F1 has no drag. Out of deference to its age and value, I don’t press on much further, but this very car once did over 240mph, which is way faster than either of its younger, far more powerful descendants could manage.Article continues below advertisementBut while the F1 feels utterly mighty in a straight line, around the rest of the lap, the years start to show. This is by no means all bad news because on new Michelins (the only components on the car not to period spec as the original Goodyears are no longer available), the car has surprisingly good grip and a nice balance near the limit. But I don’t want to throw it around and that has nothing to do with its value: F1s tend not to react brilliantly when pushed further than they care to go and I’m very happy to leave that aspect of its character unexplored. But there’s no avoiding the brakes: and by both modern standards and those of any car with this level of performance they are, frankly, terrible What will the P1 feel like after that? There’s so much about it that seems less, well, good. It has a small turbo V8, not an enormous atmospheric V12. You shift gears via paddles, not a lever. You can get only two people on board and there’s not much room for luggage. And, yes, it’s far more powerful thanks to its hybridassisted 903bhp engine but so, too, does that very system make it heavier – 300-odd kilograms heavier. When it originally appeared alongside the LaFerrari and Porsche 918, hybrids were a novelty, so much so in cars like this that a new term was coined that was never applied to the F1 in period: these were ‘hypercars’. But is it really such a leap?Well, and in a word, yes. For the avoidance of doubt, I’d have the F1 powertrain over the P1 equivalent every day of the week, month and year but that doesn’t make the P1 less than one hell of a car, and capable in ways the F1 simply cannot be.But let’s look first at what they share, beyond a badge, all-carbon construction and very funky doors. And the curious thing is that despite the 20 years that separate them and the fact that very few of the people who worked on the F1 were still around in Woking to work on the P1, they still feel related. And it’s that sense of light and space in the cabin that does it. This is a massively more complex car, bristling with driving modes for the powertrain and chassis, push-to-pass power boost and DRS buttons, but it still manages to make you feel at home. The difference is that here the chassis is no longer cast in a supporting role to the engine. They get equal billing and provide a double act of what, even today, is rare ability. The P1 actually feels quicker in a straight line than the F1 because the hybrid system fills in all the holes in the torque delivery, providing turbocharged shove with zero lag. It doesn’t sound beautiful like the F1 – in fact, it sounds quite ugly – but it somehow fits the maniacal rate at which it gathers speed.But while you’re conservative with the F1’s entry speed into corners and downright cautious with its brakes, you can treat the P1 almost like a racing car. You can brake from 190mph, feel the carbon brakes shed 100mph like they’re shrugging off a coat and then fling it into a corner while still hard on the stoppers. Try that in the F1 and you’d be in the trees. It has massively more grip yet, despite that, the limit is not something to be carefully skirted as you would in the F1: it’s a place to seek out and enjoy. With proper downforce, active aero, (relatively) modern tyres and one of the world’s most sophisticated suspension systems, the P1 is actually a far easier and more accessible car to drive fast than the F1, and that fact stands as a powerful riposte to the many and varied ways in which the older car proves that not all progress is always in the right direction. But it is the Senna that shows how McLaren hypercar philosophy has evolved over a quarter of a century. The F1 was a pure road car and always intended as such. The P1 is a finely judged balance between road and track and uses its suspension to prove itself very plausible in both environments. But the Senna? I once spent a long day on the road in one and it was thrilling. So, too, was it hard. Really hard. The car is noisy and it is uncomfortable. You never know what reaction you’re going to get when you nail the throttle because you’ll almost always instantly trigger a traction control system so sophisticated that all you usually notice is a reduction in engine power. You can, of course, turn it off but get ready to get busy if you do. More than anything, the Senna feels like a caged beast on the road because, unlike the others here, unless you’re driving it as fast as you can, there’s not much point being on board. And you can’t do that in public.But on the track? Oh my goodness. The Senna is so good it actually makes the P1 feel if not actually clumsy then certainly its age. It feels like a racing car, or as much like a racing car as a street-legal tyre will permit in 2019. Its composure in quick corners is utterly unlike that of any other road car I’ve driven. Its precision, speed and feel at big speeds is simply sublime. If it has a problem, it is only that the car is so much better than its Pirelli Trofeo R tyres, which are themselves state of the art. In high-speed corners, when there’s 800kg of downforce nailing the car to the road, it’s mesmerising, in a different world even from that inhabited by the P1. In the slow stuff, when it can only rely on mechanical grip, there is understeer that needs a degree of management. Happily, being closer in weight to the F1 than the P1 and more chuckable than either, there’s much fun to be had sorting it out. And it is utterly viceless, too. I don’t much like ‘horses for courses’ verdicts, but it seems iniquitous to come up with a one, two, three order for these cars, separated as they are not just in time, but concept, too. While the F1 is entirely established as perhaps the automotive icon of the last generation, neither the Senna nor even the P1 have yet had time to find their place in history, but the progression from road car to track car is clear. How interesting, then, that the next car in McLaren’s Ultimate Series is the Speedtail, a car billed as more luxurious and road oriented even than the F1. So it seems the circle will be complete.Is history about to repeat itself?No one ever called the F1 a hypercar – at least to my recollection – largely because this exceptionally ugly word was not in remotely common parlance, even if it existed at all. But, in retrospect, was it the first? Probably, although I’d listen to the case for the Jaguar XJ220, which itself produced a quantum leap forward in road car performance only a year before the F1.It took an age – nearly 20 years, in fact – for the standard of street car performance to return to F1 levels, with the likes of the P1, LaFerrari and Porsche 918. But now it seems as though it’s going to leap again. Twenty-five years after the F1, the Aston Martin Valkyrie and MercedesBenz Project One may take a similarly long leap forward, however hard that is to imagine. Nor should we forget the T50 of F1 creator Gordon Murray.And then there are the electric cars: the Rimac Concept 2, Pininfarina Battista and Lotus Evija, to name just three. Their plan appears to be to replace the sound and feel of the internal combustion engine with ever increasing amounts of raw power. Quite what 2000bhp feels like in a road car, not to mention quite how or where it will be usable, remains to be seen.

Analyzing hours of social media video of recent clashes in southern Yemen, CNN found multiple instances of American MRAPs being used by militia groups, many of them fighting against government forces. One of the most prominent is a group known as Alwiyat al Amalqa or "Giants Brigade" -- a predominantly Salafi, or ultra-conservative Sunni -- militia supported by the UAE. One of their videos shows a US-made MaxxPro MRAP vehicle, purportedly being driven in convoy to join the separatists' battle against government forces in the south. A US-made BAE Caiman MRAP vehicle captured by Yemeni army forces from separatist groups in Shabwah, southern Yemen. Photographed in September 2019.The Giants Brigade did not respond to CNN's requests for comment. Earlier in the year, a senior Emirati official told CNN the Giants Brigade was "part of Yemeni forces" and under the "direct supervision" of the UAE. But the brigade has now joined the separatists in their battle against the government.Responding to the latest evidence, a UAE official said: "There were no instances when US-made equipment was used without direct UAE oversight. Except for four vehicles that were captured by the enemy."The Saudi Arabian government has not responded to CNN's request for comment on this issue.Not only is US weaponry being used directly against America's allies in Yemen, but its presence also plays into Iranian propaganda in the region. The latest example of this saw footage being broadcast on a pro-Iranian Lebanese channel that showed US-made armored vehicles being unloaded into a Yemeni port off UAE ships. It turned out this footage was not recent, but the broadcast indicates the presence of US hardware in Yemen continues to be a card played by America's enemies. As infighting has escalated in southern Yemen, ISIS has seized the opportunity to resurface there. It claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Aden in August, the first in more than a year and a worrying sign that the conflict is creating a vacuum for extremists to flourish.US lawmakers have reacted with outrage to CNN's new findings. One of them, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a frontrunner to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 2020, said: "One report of US military equipment ending up in the hands of our enemies is troubling. Two reports is deeply disturbing."Warren said she intends to pursue the findings with the Trump administration, adding: "The Defense and State Departments have not yet provided answers to questions I asked back in February and I intend to follow up."Breaking arms agreementsWorking with local journalists, CNN was able to film a number of US-made Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles that have been used by separatist militia groups led by the Southern Transitional Council (STC).One was a BAE Caiman that was used by separatists in the fight for Shabwah, southern Yemen, against government forces in August.It, like several other pieces of weaponry that CNN identified, can be traced back to a $2.5 billion arms sale contract between the US and the UAE in 2014. Like all arms deals, this contract was bound by an end user agreement which certifies the recipient -- in this case the UAE -- as the final user of the weaponry. From this evidence, it is clear that this agreement has been broken.In February, the UAE told CNN that there was no violation of end use requirements "in any manner."Inside the vehicle was further evidence of its provenance. Its air conditioning system had a serial number from American company Real Time Laboratories, indicating the part was manufactured at its facility in Mississippi.When asked whether it knew if its technology was ending up in the wrong hands in Yemen, Real Time Laboratories told CNN they had supplied the product to BAE Systems in 2010 under a US government subcontract, but "cannot comment on what the US Government may have eventually done with this vehicle."A spokeswoman for BAE Systems, which manufactured the Caiman MRAP vehicle, said the company complies with "all relevant export control laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate," and referred CNN to the Pentagon for further comment.In response to CNN's new findings, Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Carla Gleason said in September that the joint investigation by the State Department and Department of Defense into unauthorized weapons transfer in Yemen remains "ongoing."

Just minutes after fulfilling his wife’s final wish – scattering her ashes in Stone Lake – Ralph Seichi Miyata collapsed in the water and later died, joining her first into the lake and then into the afterlife.Married for 64 years, the couple lived most of those years in LaPorte, where they enjoyed Stone Lake, part of the larger Pine Lake. There, Margie Miyata logged many miles of swimming, enjoyed slalom water skiing, and loved the challenge of wind surfing. Ralph, proud captain of his chartered boat the Banzai (a Japanese battle cry), loved to fish with Margie and their four children.“To this day, he is a legend to the fishermen,” states his obituary, written by the couple’s daughter, Jill Miyata Spencer.The couple met in Chicago, tying the knot June 5, 1955, and living in Illinois until 1965 when they moved to Indiana. In 2012, they moved to Florida, but obviously their hearts never left LaPorte, where they dropped anchor as a family.During World War II, Ralph’s family was housed at an internment camp in Arizona for Japanese-American citizens, forced to give up all their possessions but not their pride, Spencer said.The couple met in Chicago, tying the knot June 5, 1955, and living in Illinois until 1965 when they moved to Indiana.The couple met in Chicago, tying the knot June 5, 1955, and living in Illinois until 1965 when they moved to Indiana. (Family of Ralph Miyata)“My father was one of the proudest people to be an American. He always proudly displayed the American flag despite what America did to his family,” his obit states. “It’s amazing how resilient and forgiving my father was… he did not hold a grudge against the country he loved so much.”Ralph had an even fiercer love for Margie.“My parents’ story is a beautiful bond of deep love,” Spencer said.On April 21 of this year, Easter Day, Margie died while in hospice care at a nursing home in Florida. She was 87. Ralph knew what he had to do – spread her cremated ashes in her “happy place” of Stone Lake.“Dad was very adamant, he did not want any of us kids to be with him. This was something he wanted to do in private,” Spencer said.[Most read] CPS strike updates: Mayor, Chicago Teachers Union to resume negotiations as teachers’ strike likely to head into week 2 »On June 3, with her cremains in tow, Ralph flew from Florida to South Bend, then drove to LaPorte. He had arranged to use the boat of old friends, another married couple who still live lakeside.“My mom’s best friend, Betty Sprecher, her cohort in crime in the trio of water sports, and her husband, Dr. Sprecher,” Spencer said.On June 4, while clutching Margie’s ashes, they launched the boat into the middle of the lake, toward her final resting place. Betty Sprecher placed a white peony on the water as a marker before returning to the dock.While covering the boat, Ralph suffered ventricular fibrillation and fell into the lake.“Dad literally dropped dead,” Spencer said.[Most read] CPS strike updates: No deal yet, but Chicago Teachers Union says some tentative agreements reached: ‘We’re not hearing no anymore’ »When Spencer received the call, she was making flight plans to visit her father at his Florida home for Father’s Day weekend. She instead went to the lake his parents loved so dearly.“I stood in the exact spot where dad passed,” Spencer said.She quietly took in all the sights, sounds and smells that surrounded her father in his last moments – crisp air, calm waters, blue skies, familiar boat and a beautiful view of the 140-acre lake near Soldiers Memorial Park.“It was perfect,” Spencer said. “I will forever cherish the memory of the happiness that was in my dad’s voice when I talked to him just the night before.”According to the LaPorte County coroner’s office, Ralph’s body was retrieved from the lake by his old friend, Dr. James Sprecher, who called 911 and began CPR. Ralph was transported to a hospital where he died. He was 88 years old.[Most read] Trump derided Obama’s executive orders as ‘power grabs.’ But in each year of his presidency, Trump has surpassed Obama’s total over the same time span. »“It was a natural death so we didn’t do a drowning report,” said Lt. Shawn Brown, an Indiana conservation officer.Ralph Miyata with his wife, Margie, in an undated photo.Ralph Miyata with his wife, Margie, in an undated photo. (Family of Ralph Miyata)The next day, the couple would have celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary.“They didn’t miss a beat in being together for their special day,” Spencer said. “Happy anniversary in heaven mom and dad.”“It’s a back home again in Indiana love story. Sometimes real life is better than any ending Hallmark could have scripted!” his obit states. “Go be guardian angels and watch over us, your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.”According to the couple’s son, James Miyata, of Tucson, Ariz., his father’s body was cremated, just like his mother’s. And, yes, his ashes will also be spread in the couple’s treasured little lake. Together again, swirling amid decades of loving memories.

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After six monthly declines to start the year, the industry is down 2.4 percent halfway through 2019. It's on pace to finish at slightly more than 16.9 million, which would be the first time shy of 17 million since 2014.That's still strong by historical standards. And all analyst bets are off if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates this year, as rising auto loan rates have hurt demand."The U.S. economy continues to grow at a healthy pace. Jobs are plentiful and inflation remains low," General Motors' chief economist, Elaine Buckberg, said in a statement last week. "Auto demand was better than anticipated in the first half and we expect strong performance in the second half of the year. If the Fed cuts rates, as widely expected, lower financing costs will provide further support to auto sales."Here are some developments in the first half of 2019 and things to watch during the summer selling season and beyond.Compact crossovers cool offWhat's been the hottest segment in the industry for years is on track to shrink in 2019. Sales of compact crossovers are down 4 percent through June. It's still the largest segment in the U.S., but automakers are up against increasing competition for a pool of customers that's no longer growing, which is a potentially troublesome combination. The Nissan Rogue, Ford Escape and Jeep Compass have been the segment's biggest decliners this year.Pickups picking up steamThere's no sign of slowing momentum for pickups. Full-size pickups rose 1.5 percent in the first half of the year, with Ram taking share from most of its rivals, and the Ford Ranger and Jeep Gladiator pushing midsize pickups to a 15 percent gain.Content from Chase AutoDriving into 2025: The Future of Electric Vehicles | J.P. MorganThe car industry is undergoing a radical transformation, with most carmakers agreeing the next 10 years will bring more change than the two previous decades.read moreRam's two-truck strategy — it's still building and selling the previous generation to attract cost-conscious customers, while raking in huge profits from the higher-priced new version — has it poised to finish the year ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado for the first time. Ram nearly doubled its lead over the Silverado in June to more than 44,000. The Ford F series remains solidly in first place, but it will likely face mounting pressure in the second half of the year as the battle between Chevy and Ram intensifies."We are well on our way to selling a million pickup trucks in the United States in 2019," Mark LaNeve, Ford's vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, said on a conference call last week. "We haven't eclipsed a million since 2005."Subaru's successThe margins haven't been all that big lately, but Subaru has stretched its streak of year-over-year gains to 91 months as of June. If that's not impressive enough, Subaru is now the industry's largest brand that's still growing in the U.S., as all six brands with more market share posted declines in the first half of the year. It's up 5.2 percent on the year.Korean brands reboundThe Detroit 3's sales declined 3 percent in the first half. Japanese brands were down 3.5 percent, and European manufacturers dipped 1 percent. But Hyundai and Kia, the Korean brands that were struggling mightily as car sales began to plummet in recent years, are up in 2019. And Genesis, Hyundai's luxury spinoff, is the fastest-growing brand in the country, up 38 percent on the year. Hyundai mostly has the Kona subcompact crossover to thank for its resurgence. Kia's three-row Telluride has quickly put up big numbers, and the Genesis G70 is off to a fast start.Lost yearJune marked the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year declines for two brands: Chevy and Mazda. Both makes also posted their lowest sales totals in the first half of a year since 2011. The only brands that have posted negative numbers for more than a full year are Mini, Fiat and Smart.

“It was great. We had more people, more films, more positive feedback — just so many new people,” Geoffrey Morris said of the 2019 Ridgefield Independent Film Festival. “The people who were here last year came again, and they told people, and the people who heard about it came.”There were 120 different films shown shown at four venues in town — the Ridgefield Theater Barn, the Ridgefield Library, the Ridgefield Playhouse and Keeler Tavern Museum — from Thursday, Oct. 10, through Monday, Oct. 14.This is the second year Morris’s TownVibe Fund has organized and run the film festival. Megan Smith-Harris was the festival director.Since people could buy passes good for numerous events, as well as tickets to individual screenings, organizers can’t say exactly how many people attended this year’s Ridgefield Independent Film Festival — known by the acronym RIFF.“Getting a really accurately count is hard,” Morris said. “...Ticket sales were a little higher.”He estimated about 4,000 attended this year’s festival.“In 2018, we had roughly 3,250 unique guests (not counting people who come to multiple films, of which there are many),” said Smith-Harris. “This year, I would agree with Geoffrey that for attendance we had around 4,000.”The festival also had a good turnout of people in the business.“As for filmmakers, we had 46 — this includes actors, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, and executive producers,” said Smith-Harris. “Filmmakers came from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Norway.”The four-year-old event was again in the fall, rather than the spring, this year.“I think this time of year really helps. It used to be in May,” Morris said. “In May, it’s just starting to get nice, and people are ‘Let’s go outside and do something!’”Movies, awardsOf course, what ultimately makes a film festival work are the movies.“Our festival director is really a creative force, and picked some stellar movies,” Morris said.There were 15 awards, many with local sponsors, and some of the award-winning films had local connections.“Redding resident and filmmaker Cindy Meehl, won RIFF Best of Fest for her powerful documentary, The Dog Dog, which features Ridgefield resident, integrative veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein who launched Smith Ridge Veterinary Center in South Salem, and is internationally recognized as a visionary for his approach to integrative medicine for animals,” Smith-Harris said.“RIFF partnered with local animal shelter ROAR to spread the word about the film, and there was a full house at the screening held at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, October 13.”The festival’s Best Narrative Feature award went to Sell By, an hour-and-a-half romantic comedy directed by Mike Doyle, an actor and director who grew up in Ridgefield.For RIFF’s Script-to-Screen initiative, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield provided what Smith-Harris described as a “very generous $25,000 production grant.”Scripts for short films were accepted throughout the year, and one script was selected for production. The finished film will be screened next year at RIFF and other film festivals around the country.The winning script this year, Family Matters by Sarah T. Schwab, was performed as a staged reading at the Ridgefield Theater Barn on Saturday, Oct. 12. Two of the children's roles were played by Ridgefield actors Dean Trevisani and Colby Knipes.Another screenplay competition was Scene-in-CT, open to screenwriters anywhere in the world as long as the screenplay was in English and had at least one major scene set in the state of Connecticut. This year's winner was The Land That Time Like Totally Forgot by Norwalk-based writer Steven Tspaelas. That script also had a live reading at the Theater Barn on Saturday, with a cast of ten actors.“We had a great partnership with the Theater Barn this year. We had things going on there every day,” Morris said.On the first night of the festival, Pizza, A Love Story, a documentary on the famous New Haven pizza scene, was screened at the Theater Barn, with a question and answer period afterwards with filmmaker Gordon Bechard.“The place was full, standing room only,” Morris said. “Then we had the Playhouse on Friday.”The Ridgefield Playhouse went from noon to 10:30 p.m. Friday, showing a series of five longer films with an hour and a half of “curated shots” in the middle of the afternoon.The Ridgefield Library showed three films Friday, five on Saturday and three Sunday.The Keeler Tavern showed two documentaries Sunday and a series of seven shorts Sunday night.Monday Keeler Tavern had a series of eight shorts at 1, and a series of nine shorts at 3, followed by an 84-minute documentary about a religious missionary’s return to Guatemala“We had the library every day, we had Keeler Tavern,” Morris said. “It’s great that we have those resources, to show films at those places…”

Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin prepares to testify before Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on June 7, 2017.Chip Somodevilla—Getty ImagesBy David Shulkin October 16, 2019IDEASDr. David Shulkin served as Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Trump and is the author of It Shouldn't Be This Hard to Serve Your Country.David Shulkin, a physician and former healthcare executive, was an under secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under President Obama and the Secretary of the VA under President Trump. In March 2018, he was abruptly fired amid charges of improperly accepting gifts and misusing taxpayer funds for personal travel. Shulkin has consistently denied wrongdoing and says he was pushed out by political insiders trying to privatize the VA. In his forthcoming book, It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Serve Your Country, Shulkin traces his thirteen tumultuous months in the Trump Administration. As he notes in the book, all direct quotes are reconstructed to the best of his memory and corroborated by his wife Merle Bari’s contemporaneous daily diary, which reflected what Shulkin told her on a regular basis during his time in Washington. This excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.Around 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, I received a call telling me I was expected at Trump Tower in New York at 2 p.m. that afternoon. After about an hour of sustained panic driving with my wife Merle on snow-covered roads from Philadelphia, my cell phone rang. It was Reince Priebus.“Sorry not to have called sooner, but we’re all set. You’ll be meeting with the president-elect on Monday at 2:00 p.m.” Monday, not today.We found the nearest exit, turned around and headed back home.Later that afternoon, Priebus called again, this time with some questions for me — mainly, it seemed, to help him figure out how I had gotten on his call list. He wanted to know how I knew Trump. I told him I didn’t. He seemed perplexed that I had no connection to the Trump campaign. He also wanted to know how I became under secretary for Obama. Without commenting on any of my answers, Priebus asked me to meet with him for lunch on Monday prior to my meeting with the president-elect. On Sunday, still mystified but intrigued, I took a train to New York. Clarifying some final details, they asked me if I wanted to enter Trump Tower through the main lobby or use a private entrance to avoid being seen. A year and a half into my service in Washington, I still didn’t quite understand optics and the strategy behind these kinds of decisions. I saw no reason to hide a meeting with the president-elect. “I’ll go through the front door,” I said.The next day, I headed over to Trump Tower, around which the NYPD had set up a security corridor in all directions. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but even if this meeting was nothing more than an exit interview, I wanted the chance to tell the president-elect where progress was being made at the VA and what direction his new administration should take.In 2014, when Obama administration officials first approached me about coming to the VA, many of my colleagues expressed concern that the job was a no-win situation. They felt it was a sure fire way to ruin my career leading large hospital systems — a career that had been marked by distinction. They warned that the VA was simply too big and complex to change. Others pointed out that it did not make sense to accept a dramatic pay cut in return for such enormous headaches. But I took the job because I felt a sense of responsibility to our nation’s veterans. There are more than 20 million American veterans, about a quarter of them living in rural areas, and many of them need VA benefits just to get by. More than nine million of our veterans rely on VA health care, a system that is spread across the entire country, with approximately 1,300 facilities and more than 340,000 employees. It’s the largest health care system in the U.S. and one of the most complicated organizations in the government. Dealing with the size and scope, budget realities, capital deficits and political pressure surrounding the VA is nearly impossible under the best of circumstances.I arrived in 2015 as Under Secretary of the Veterans Health Administration amidst chilling reports of excessive wait times for VA medical care in many parts of the country. There was also an unacceptable breakdown in delivery of mental health and addiction care, which left veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to fend for themselves during epidemics of traumatic brain injuries and posttraumatic stress — neglect that led to myriad suicides and overdoses. The VA health care system was all but publicly declared to be on life support.But after 17 months of work and a great deal of progress on many fronts, I felt optimistic, energized and even more responsible than ever, which is why, when presented with the chaotic swirl of events that were my introduction to Donald Trump and his team, I went in head first. I arrived in 2015 as Under Secretary of the Veterans Health Administration amidst chilling reports of excessive wait times for VA medical care in many parts of the country. There was also an unacceptable breakdown in delivery of mental health and addiction care, which left veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to fend for themselves during epidemics of traumatic brain injuries and posttraumatic stress — neglect that led to myriad suicides and overdoses. The VA health care system was all but publicly declared to be on life support.But after 17 months of work and a great deal of progress on many fronts, I felt optimistic, energized and even more responsible than ever, which is why, when presented with the chaotic swirl of events that were my introduction to Donald Trump and his team, I went in head first.Just inside Trump Tower, I was met by several Republican National Committee staffers, who escorted me to the lobby restaurant. As Priebus and I shook hands, he told me that he no longer had time for lunch. I said I understood, but knowing that he was from Green Bay, I added, “By the way, congratulations on the Packers’ win this weekend.”He smiled and said, “You know, maybe I do have time for a quick bite.”Making our way through the small restaurant, we were stopped by swarms of diners who all seemed to want their picture taken with Priebus, so I became the amateur photographer as table after table stood up to pose with him. We took a back table, ordered chicken Caesar salad and spent most of our time casually discussing our families and nonpolitical interests. I gleaned nothing of substance and no explanation for why I was summoned to New York. After lunch, he escorted me upstairs.As we approached the inner sanctum, Steve Bannon came out to greet us and escort me into Trump’s office, familiar to millions as the set of The Apprentice. Against a wall of glass, the president-elect sat at a huge desk covered with copies of Time magazine with his picture on the cover as Person of the Year. A part of me wondered where the secret cameras were hidden.As we shook hands, Trump announced to his staff in the room, “He’s a good-looking guy.” He then quickly repeated, “He’s a good-looking guy, isn’t he?”Taken aback, I could think of nothing better to say than, “Nice to meet you, Mr. President-Elect.”Glancing around the room, I noticed that the one non-glass interior wall was filled with awards and plaques from events honoring Trump. I sat down in the only chair facing him, across the desk.It seemed by now that most of Trump’s inner circle were milling about in the room behind me — Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway, Michael Cohen, Bannon and Priebus.Kushner and Conway were having a side conversation, which they took outside. Then Trump turned to me and asked, “So what’s the best hospital in the city?”“Well, Mr. Trump, I think it depends on—”“You know, I used to think well of this one place, but I know a guy who went in there feeling okay, and they just chopped his thing right off! They chopped it off! I wouldn’t go there for anything now.”Once again, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Yes. Well . . . no hospital is good at treating every condition,” I managed.

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Secretary of Energy Rick Perry plans to leave his position at the end of the year, President Trump confirmed to reporters Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas. Trump praised Perry and said he already has a replacement in mind."Rick has done a fantastic job," Trump said. "But it was time."Trump said that Perry's resignation didn't come as a surprise and that he has considered leaving for six months because "he's got some very big plans."Perry, 69, is one of Trump's original Cabinet members and recently has emerged as a central figure in the impeachment inquiry of Trump.Perry was part of what was dubbed "the three amigos" — in addition to Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, former envoy to Ukraine — charged with managing the U.S.-Ukraine relationship after the White House removed the core of its Ukraine policy team last spring.Trump reportedly blamed Perry earlier this month for that now-famous call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump pressed Zelenskiy to investigate his potential political rival former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden's son.Perry says he wanted Trump and Zelenskiy to talk strengthening energy business ties between the two countries. Regarding the Biden issue, Perry told the Christian Broadcasting Network, "As God is my witness, not once was a Biden name — not the former vice president, not his son — ever mentioned."Perry's name first emerged in the appendix of the whistleblower complaint that launched the impeachment inquiry. He was tapped to attend Zelenskiy's inauguration last May.Democrats issued Perry a subpoena on Oct. 10, seeking documents and communications connected to that trip and a series of other events related to the inquiry.While Perry's name is making headlines now because of the Ukraine scandal, he had a long political career before becoming energy secretary.For just over 14 years, he was governor of Texas, the longest-serving governor of the state. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1998 and succeeded George W. Bush when he resigned to become president.Perry twice ran for president and on the campaign trail vowed to eliminate the agency he would come to lead — although, he famously forgot the name of the Department of Energy during a 2011 debate.Perry changed his mind about that right around the time Trump nominated him to be secretary of energy. At his confirmation hearing, Perry said he regretted ever suggesting that idea.Trump tapped him for the job despite wilting criticism Perry delivered as an opponent during the 2016 primary campaign. At a 2015 event, Perry said Trump "offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued."As head of the Department of Energy, Perry was criticized for efforts to help the struggling coal industry. His plan to provide new subsidies to coal and nuclear power plants was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Last year, a photographer said he lost his job after leaking photos of a private 2017 meeting between Perry and coal executive and Trump donor Robert "Bob" Murray. The photos show Perry hugging Murray and the coal boss handing Perry an "action plan" to help the coal companies.Perry has repeatedly questioned the science behind climate change. Still, his home state of Texas is the largest wind energy producer in the country. For the first half of this year, more electricity was generated in the state by wind than coal, according to member station KUT.As energy secretary, Perry's oversight extended well beyond the country's energy supply. The Department of Energy also oversees 17 national laboratories and is charged with keeping the country's nuclear weapons safe.During his tenure, Perry pushed to restart licensing of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage project in Nevada. He also tried to attract more young people to the nuclear energy business, vowing to "make nuclear cool again." Under Perry's leadership, the agency held a series of events called the Millennial Nuclear Caucus.Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:President Trump confirmed today that Energy Secretary Rick Perry plans to leave his post soon, and Trump says he already has a replacement in mind. The president says he'll announce that name at a rally tonight in Texas. Perry has emerged as a central figure in the impeachment inquiry of Trump. NPR's Jeff Brady joins us now.And, Jeff, remind us what that role is in this impeachment investigation.JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: Well, Energy Secretary Rick Perry was part of what's been dubbed the Three Amigos, which also included Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, former envoy to Ukraine. The three were charged with managing the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and earlier this month, President Trump said - talking about that July 25 phone call, he said he didn't want to make that phone call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. And he said that Perry pressed him to make that phone call, and that's the one where Trump also pressed Zelenskiy to investigate the president's political rival Joe Biden.Perry later said that he did urge Trump and Zelenskiy to talk but that he wanted them to talk about strengthening energy ties and that he never mentioned Biden. And now, of course, Democrats have issued a subpoena to Perry. They want documents and communications related to a series of events related to the inquiry, and Perry was given until tomorrow to comply with that.CORNISH: So to be clear, Perry is not accused of wrongdoing.BRADY: That's exactly right. Most of the people I talked with say Perry's focus in Ukraine was on energy, especially the natural gas business, and that's very important because Ukraine, you know, has had trouble coming out from under Russia's shadow since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Russia tends to use its big gas supplies to achieve political objectives in Europe, and the pipeline for that gas runs through Ukraine. There's a lot of money and corruption in the gas business in Ukraine, and most people I talk with say Perry was a force for trying to Westernize the gas business there, to open the markets and get rid of the corruption.Now, we do have some people, including European Union ambassador Gordon Sondland today - he said that President Trump told Perry to consult with Rudy Giuliani about some of his work in Ukraine, and that's raised some questions. And Democrats in Congress are going to want to know more about the interactions between Giuliani and Perry as the impeachment inquiry continues.CORNISH: Before I let you go, can we talk about his tenure at Energy? He was one of the president's original cabinet members.BRADY: He was, and he's been criticized, mostly by environmental groups for trying to help the struggling coal industry. He met with coal executive Bob Murray in 2017, and there are photos of the two men hugging. Perry also has been a booster for nuclear energy, especially with young people. He said he wants to make nuclear cool again. But overall, he really hasn't had a very controversial legacy at the agency.CORNISH: That's NPR's Jeff Brady.Thank you.

Volvo has a reputation for building the safest cars on the road. Now, it wants to be known for producing the least amount of pollution, too.On October 16th, the China-owned / Sweden-based automaker unveiled its first fully electric car, the XC40 Recharge. Everything about the reveal event was understated: the stage was small, the SUV was compact, and the backdrop was a pink so soft you could almost call it rose. Sure, there was a little dry ice and some EDM when the car was revealed, but Volvo was less concerned with the mise-en-scène and more concerned with the message."Volvo was less concerned with the mise en scène, and more concerned with the message"But there was still a car to consider. The XC40 Recharge won’t blow people away or engender rapturous headlines in the same way as the Tesla Model 3 or the Porsche Taycan. The least you can say about it is that it looks almost exactly like the gas-powered XC40, just without a front grille and a tailpipe.The real differences, of course, are just beneath the surface. The battery pack, stuffed into the floor of the vehicle, is encased in a neon orange aluminum case that Volvo is calling “a safety cage.” Embedded in the middle of the car’s body, the safety cage creates a built-in crumple zone around the battery. Leave it to Volvo to put as much thought into keeping passengers safe as it does its drivetrain. Interestingly enough, the battery almost ended up being much weaker, with fewer cells and less capacity, than what was eventually decided upon. According to Henrik Green, Volvo’s chief technology officer, the company’s engineers were halfway through the XC40 Recharge’s development cycle when something big happened in the EV space that threw them for a loop: the unveiling of the Model 3.When Volvo learned that the Model 3 would have a range of over 300 miles, the company’s engineers set to work to do what they could to increase their own range by upgrading the vehicle’s battery. “We decided to go for a bigger size than we originally thought,” Green said."“That was not a fun decision.”"That meant contacting the automaker’s battery suppliers, South Korea’s LG Chem and CTAL in China, to add modules to its battery to improve the performance. If customers wanted electric cars with bigger batteries and longer ranges, then Volvo would have to deliver, he said. “That was not a fun decision,” Green added, “being adamant about quality and everything about producing vehicles, doing that very late in the program was super critical.”Here’s where things ended up: the car’s powertrain offers a range of over 400 kilometers on a single charge based on Europe’s WLTP standard, or 200-plus miles in the US, though the automaker has yet to obtain an official EPA rating. It will have an output of 408 horsepower (or 402 hp in the US), and the battery charges to 80 percent of its capacity in 40 minutes on a fast-charger system.RelatedVolvo unveils its first fully electric car — and a bold pledge to go carbon-neutralAnother crucial decision was the one to work hand-in-glove with Google to embed the tech giant’s Android Automotive software in the car. That meant replacing Volvo’s own operating system with Google’s — something that most other car companies have been hesitant to do. Green said one of the motivating factors was making a car with one of the best voice assistants on the market today. “Honestly speech functions in cars typically suck today,” he said. “It’s really not a nice experience.”"“Honestly speech functions in cars typically suck today.”"Green predicts that other OEMs will follow suit once they realize that the voice assistants they are trying to develop fall short of the standard set by Google, Amazon, and others working in this space.“I just came to the conclusion that there is no chance on earth that a car company, with the volume we have, with the power we have, would compete on probably one of the biggest battles going on in tech today,” he said. “Why should the car industry be there, up against the Amazons and the Googles and the Apples, on who’s going to build the best assistant in the world? It’s crazy.”It wasn’t an obvious choice: Volvo is a luxury marque, and Android is closely associated with mass-market phones. Still, Green calls the collaboration between the two companies “the perfect match.”It’s not an obvious choice maybe, but it certainly has obvious advantages. The native Android Auto infotainment system means the XC40 Recharge can receive over-the-air software updates. So while the car’s driver-assist system isn’t nearly as advanced as Tesla’s Autopilot or GM’s Super Cruise, it can get better once Volvo develops the right software. And then it can simply push out an update to its entire fleet.The XC40 isn’t the first vehicle in Volvo’s lineup to get the embedded Android Auto operating system; that would be the Polestar 2 from the automaker’s performance sub-brand. The XC40 bears a lot of similarities to the Polestar 2. Both cars are slated to go on sale in 2020, but the XC40 Recharge is less expensive and higher volume than Polestar, so it will obviously reach more customers.The XC40 is just the first in what will eventually be an entire lineup of electric cars. And Volvo is taking a more holistic view by promising to reduce its own carbon footprint by 40 percent by 2025. The company has big goals, and it all starts with this compact SUV. It’s a modest start to a very transformative endeavor.

“Sorry, we can’t help you,” said the Apple store Genius. My AirPods were dying. After just 15 minutes of use, the wireless headphones I use daily chirp a sad little battery-depleted alert. I came to Apple to get them repaired.The employee said there were lots of people like me, with $159 AirPods purchased in 2016 and 2017 that now can’t hold a charge. But even though Apple promises “battery service,” the store had no way to fix my AirPods. It didn’t even have a way to test themPost Reports: In praise of lithium-ion batteries, and a Nobel Prize everyone can understand.Cupertino, we have a problem: AirPods are comfortable and convenient headphones that have attracted tens of millions of customers. But each one of those white sticks contains a rechargeable battery marching toward an untimely death in as little as two years. Apple’s plan to deal with that reality is just to sell us new ear buds. When your AirPods’ day comes, the only option is to ask Apple for discounted replacements — but you’ll need to know its code word to even get that.ADNot long ago, headphones were among the most universal, long-lasting electronics. We shouldn’t let Apple turn them into expensive, disposable electronics. It’s hurting our wallets — and the environment. Apple doesn’t dispute that the lithium-ion batteries inside AirPods wear out. “All rechargeable batteries have a limited life span and may eventually need to be serviced or recycled,” Apple says on its website. Replacing batteries is very common on phones and laptops. In 2018, Apple stores got deluged when the company offered to replace the batteries in older iPhones for $29.But with AirPods, Apple offers far less help. First, there’s no way to determine the health of the batteries in the ear buds or their charging case. Apple won’t even share guidelines on their life expectancy. “AirPods are built to be long-lasting,” said Apple spokeswoman Lori Lodes, without specifics. Mine went for 34 months; others have reported they die in as little as 18 months.ADHelp Desk: Ask our tech columnist a questionWhen your AirPod batteries finally go, even Apple’s employees are confused about your options. Across three separate support encounters in the store and online, they told me I had to buy a replacement pair for $138, nearly the price of a whole new set. But I remembered Apple had once told me it would service depleted batteries for $49. I reported that in The Post, along with my recommendation to buy AirPods. So what gives?After weeks of back-and-forth with Apple — and refusing to take no for an answer at the store — I finally got answers:If your AirPods are less than a year old and the battery is not performing up to the promised five hours of listening time, an Apple store will replace them at no cost.Apple recently began selling its AppleCare+ warranty for $29, which covers the battery, too. But this extended warranty lasts only two years — which wouldn’t have been long enough to save my AirPods.If your AirPods are out of warranty, Apple will replace them for $49 per stick — so in reality, $98 total. A replacement for the charging case, which doesn’t wear out as quickly, is also $49. The key phrase to say is “battery service.” (Apple is providing additional training to customer service representatives on that point, but if you still have trouble, show them this link — or this column.)A $98 battery fix is still mighty expensive. Apple will replace the battery on an iPhone for as little as $49. An Apple Watch battery costs just $79. What makes AirPods so different? Because Apple’s “battery service” for AirPods is code for “throwing it away.” Apple isn’t repairing AirPods — it’s just replacing the ear buds and recycling your old ones.To understand why, I performed an autopsy on a dearly departed pair. Inside, I found the design of AirPods makes them inevitably obsolete. What could be so hard about replacing the battery in an AirPod? I don’t ordinarily go CSI on gadgets, so I sought advice from some folks who do.ADKyle Wiens, the chief executive of repair website iFixit, offers instructions on how to disassemble electronics and sells replacement parts. The first time Wiens tried to get inside an AirPod, he cut himself and bled all over it. Another time, the battery combusted in a poof of smoke on his team.AirPods were never meant to be opened, Wiens warned me.But I wanted to see for myself. With Wiens watching, I began the operation with the silver cap at the end of the AirPod stick. You might think it unscrews to let you get inside. No such luck. It’s glued in there, and I couldn’t yank it out even after carefully heating the AirPod to loosen the glue. That meant I had to cut in — and to save my fingers, Wiens lent me a special vibrating knife that slices plastic.The new Apple upgrade rule: Why the iPhone 11 is — or isn’t — for youInside the AirPod, I found so much glue I couldn’t even tug out the now-exposed end of the battery with tweezers. So I cut very carefully along the edges of the AirPod stick, to crack open a section like the top of a coconut. There, at last, was the battery, about as thick as a large spaghetti noodle. Greenwashing is in fashionThe cause of death on my AirPods was clear: bad product design.Earlier this year, the website Vice called AirPods a “tragedy” of disposable wealth. I see them as a symptom of Apple’s preoccupation with thin products. It’s the tech-world version of fashion’s fixation on skinny models, where Apple sets the trend and other manufacturers feel pressure to follow.ADExcessive thinness isn’t healthy for gadgets, either. Apple’s desire to shave a few millimeters off designs has resulted in MacBook keyboards that fail, iPads that catch fire at recycling centers and now millions of AirPods that will probably end up in the trash.Sealing up electronics with glue instead of screws and latches can help make devices lighter and more resistant to moisture and dust. But great ear buds — even ones tiny enough to sit in your ears — don’t have to be impenetrable. iFixit found a way to pop open Samsung’s $129 Galaxy Buds, so replacement batteries can slip in kind of like on a watch. Samsung doesn’t officially offer this repair option, but iFixit sells a pair of replacement batteries for $29.How to buy a refurbished iPhone that's cheaper, and better for the earthApple’s disposable AirPod design is expensive for us. But it’s doing permanent damage to our environment. That’s not how Apple talks about it, though. In the Greenpeace 2017 Guide to Greener Electronics, Apple got a “B-” grade overall because of its commitments to using renewable energy and efforts to create a closed-loop supply chain. But the environmental group gave Apple a “D” in the category of product life extension, because it has “consistently made it more difficult for customers to repair their devices, replace their batteries, or upgrade the devices so that they continue to stay in use.”ADApple isn’t the only tech company guilty of pushing consumption over repair. New $130 headphones from Amazon called Echo Buds contain batteries that can’t be repaired, the company told me. (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Microsoft says it would also replace an entire unit when the battery fails on its $249 Surface Earbuds.Galaxy Fold: This flip phone’s a flop, but the folding trend won’t stopBefore this trend continues, let’s agree on a common-sense rule suggested by Wiens: The life span of an expensive, resource-intensive gadget shouldn’t be limited to the life span of one consumable component. You wouldn’t buy an electric toothbrush where you couldn’t replace the brush. Or a car with glued-on tires.Apple kept fundamentally the same design for AirPods between its first- and second-generation of the headphones, which debuted in March. Now, the Apple rumor mill has lit up with hints of forthcoming third-generation AirPods in pre-release code for iOS 13.2.ADLet’s hope this time around, AirPods really are “designed with the environment in mind.” Not to mention our wallets.Read more tech advice and analysis from Geoffrey A. Fowler:Alexa has been eavesdropping on you this whole timeGoodbye, Chrome: Google’s Web browser has become spy softwareIt’s the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to?Discover something new:We’ve curated these stories to inspire your curiosity.Understanding the human cost of your smartphoneThe world has grown reliant on lithium-ion batteries, but the desperate search for the ingredients carries a steep cost.The debate over how to provide affordable urban housingD.C. housed the homeless in upscale apartments. Now, police visits to the building have nearly quadrupled since 2016.Understanding why airplane WiFi is getting better — but still so badGogo announced it would introduce a faster 5G network for the smaller jets that use air-to-ground systems in 2021. That includes regional planes, private jets and smaller mainline aircraft.

Download all videos from all social networking sites whether they are on Instagram or Whatsapp or Facebook with distinctive quality that you will not find in other programs, but what are the possibilities of the program? And how it works in the user service? This is what we will recognize in the coming lines. Read also: Download lucky patcher for Android without root What is Fat Matt Often the user needs to download videos from different sites on the Internet, but some applications can not download applications and this is what makes a lot of people download this special program to use in downloading all applications in high quality HD and this of course what the program provides. Many other downloaders can not give users the ability to download from different sites, especially since some sites do not allow the user to watch more than just videos without downloading this in addition to the possibility to download and retain videos very easily. The program has a lot of privileges that make it the most downloaded amid a lot of other applications because of its many features: Downloading the app can not be limited to one location but to different sites. The application is small in size compared to other applications where the size of about 8.48 MB so it does not need to provide as much space in your phone as other applications. It supports all Android systems. The application can be downloaded through various electronic stores. The app is available in many languages so it can be used by everyone around the world. The program downloads videos for songs in HD or any other systems available within the application. The application or software supports more than 1000 different locations. Through the app you can convert downloads to MP3 or MP4. Unlimited app in downloads. Enables you to play live streams of programs and football matches in the highest quality unlike other apps that do not work well. Disadvantages of FatMat 2020 There is no doubt that each application or program has some disadvantages in spite of many of its features, but this application does not have to minor flaws Although it can not be underestimated, but it can be avoided by the developer of the application in the future. Where the application is maligned that it is not suitable for download for young children without censorship from parents, the application has a lot of videos that may have some violence or other things not suitable for children The company producing the application did not control it and put some additions or improvements that make it easy to Child download it like other applications found in software platforms in electronic stores. It is also maligned that slow loading in the case of Internet problems or slow network and this disadvantage can not be seen because it occurs in all downloads and other applications normally. Download Fat Matt 2020 app for Android What are the steps to download Fat Matt? In the beginning, you must access one of the various electronic stores, most notably the Google Play Store and click on the download link of the program from here. After clicking on the word Download your browser downloads the application. You see a message with the download permissions that you must accept and click to approve. After that the application is downloaded in a few minutes and the icon of the application appears on the phone and can be opened and used after that with ease. The application has a lot of distinctive videos that can be downloaded from religious videos and humor and other clips. Inside the app is a search engine that can upload the video you want. Requirements for FatMate for Android The application is free other than the applications deployed on the software platforms that must be purchased. Some applications provide users with a free but watermarked application that cannot be disposed of until purchased. The size of the application is small compared to other applications if you have a little space in the phone you can download this application where the size of up to 8.48 MB. The app has been rated by four-star users. The application has been installed more than 100 million times. The application needs an Android 4.0.2 or 4.0.1 phone. The program is supported in several languages other than Arabic so it is suitable for many people. Download Fat Matt 2020 How to download videos from FatMate 2020? After you finish downloading the app and open the app you can choose the right video you like. Then you start by clicking on the upload arrow in the video. You can also choose the quality of the application you want to download. The video will then be ready for download within a few minutes and will appear on the phone in the downloads file or any other file that has been prepared in the phone for downloads. Then you can watch the video with ease. The application allows you to register it by using your Facebook account or e-mail whatever account to control all the features of the applicati

PC A computer is a system of many parts that work together. The physical parts of a computer are the parts you can see and touch. Hardly a home without this device, which has become one of the most important devices today, and here are the basic components of the computer. Basic computer componenst Hardware, divided into three sections: The System Unit, which consists of: power supply, motherboard, processor, memory, storage, graphics card and sound card. Input Units, consisting of keyboard, mouse, microphone, scanner, and camera. Output Units, consisting of: monitor, speakers, and printer. System unit componenst The Power Supply, a box located in the back of the computer case, is used to power the device to operate. Motherboard, also named because it is the piece that all other computer parts are connected to in the computer, and its mission is to allow, coordinate between all devices, to cooperate and transfer data, and to communicate information to various parts of the computer via the local bus. The CPU, the mastermind of the computer, receives and mani[CENSORED]tes commands, and gives results in the form of information to take advantage of, a square, lightweight piece of millions of transistors, collected in a small silicon chip, This chip is secured by the manufacturer on the processor cover or inside, until it connects to the needles under The processor RAM, an abbreviation of Random Access Memory, which relies on temporary memory, to store data and commands, then processed, and output to execute, where the RAM plays a large role in the speed of the computer, to process information, and the larger the size of RAM, the greater the amount of information processed by In a short time, and the RAM does not retain any data inside, so the information is stored on hard drives, to save storage space. Hard Disk, which is the main storage unit in a computer, consists of a hard disk of magnetic disks, moving in a circular motion, and the electromagnetic pickup process read and write to, and to magnetic disks, and each hard disk is distinguished from any other disk of storage capacity, And rotational speed. The VGA card is used to display images, where the images are executed in the console, then transferred to the RAM, and then displayed by the graphics card. The Sound Card, a card that facilitates input and output to and from the device, through the audio signal, and the presence of control of computer programs. Input Unist Keyboard, a basic keyboard consisting of buttons, used to enter data into your computer.These buttons write uppercase and lowercase letters, several languages, symbols, and numbers. Mouse, used for pointing and clicking, used on an auxiliary surface for the user to control, and the mouse consists of two buttons and a wheel in the middle. The MIC, which uses the microphone to record sounds on a computer, enables the user to make voice calls over the Internet. Scanner is used to insert graphics and photos into the computer, converting them into digital images, to suit the nature of the device, and to facilitate the process of storing them in files, and recall them when needed. Webcam, a digital camera, sends images continuously or intermittently to a web provider and is used for online communication, transmitting images instantly between contacts in chat programs. Qutput Unist Monitor, one of the main components of the computer, shows everything the user is doing. Speakers, the unit responsible for the sound output in your computer. Printer Printer, a device used to create paper copies of any document on your computer, is supplied to the printer by connecting it to your computer.