Pelican Press

Timothée Chalamet Wears Butter Yellow Givenchy Suit at Oscars Timothée Chalamet Wears Butter Yellow Givenchy Suit at Oscars Timothée Chalamet’s sartorial playfulness has been a consistent theme as he stepped out in memorable looks for each red carpet event over the last few months. For the Oscars, the most conservative red carpet of them all, he did not disappoint. Chalamet arrived in a monochromatic butter yellow custom Givenchy suit designed by Sarah Burton. A leather double-breasted cropped jacket with a notch lapel was paired with matching pants and a silk shirt. “Love that suit,” Conan O’Brien said to Chalamet during the show’s opening monologue. “You will not get hit on your bike tonight.” Chalamet’s girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, was cozied up next to him in the audience in a brown Miu Miu bustier gown with ****** crystal embroidery and cutouts. (Jenner did not attend the Screen Actors Guild Awards last weekend, which was held shortly after her friend and hair stylist, Jesus Guerrero, died.) A best actor nominee for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in the biopic “A Complete Unknown,” Chalamet, 29, nonchalantly bobbed down the red carpet, hands behind his back, in his pastel outfit. Leading up to the release of his film in December, through the months that followed on the awards trail, Chalamet has waged a viral campaign that diverted from the old, staid ways of Hollywood promotion. That has included a slew of eye-catching outfits, including an all-pink ensemble consisting of a Chrome Hearts hoodie and tank top that he wore at the Berlin International Film Festival. And at the SAG Awards, where he wore a ****** leather suit paired with a lime green shirt, he accepted his best actor award with a speech that reaffirmed that he was serious about his job: “I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” he said. “I know people don’t usually talk like that but I want to be one of the greats.” Whether he takes home best actor tonight or not, he takes the prize for men’s wear with his “movie-star trucker vibe,” as our men’s wear critic Guy Trebay wrote. Source link #Timothée #Chalamet #Wears #Butter #Yellow #Givenchy #Suit #Oscars Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Collectors Edition Will Cost $229.99 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Collectors Edition Will Cost $229.99 · · March 9, 2025 A new leak has revealed that Death Stranding 2: On The Beach will have a collectors edition costing $229.99. That’s according to reliable dataminer billbil-kun, who reports that the game is gearing up for an announcement later today. It’s theorised that the announcement could come during Kojima’s appearance at SXSW 2025, where Kojima Productions is set to host a panel. If the pre-orders are not announced during the panel, then it’s almost certain that an announcement will be made later this month, as billbil-kun obtains his datamined information from the backend of websites and stores, meaning that the information has recently been uploaded to the backend and thus, ready for an announcement. According to the leak, the game will have two different physical editions: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – Standard Edition : 79.99 euros / 69.99 US dollars / 69.99 pounds sterling Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – Collector’s Edition : $229.99 USD As pointed out in the leak, the contents of the editions are currently unclear, but at a hefty $229.99 price tag for the collectors edition, it’s likely to contain some kind of statue. The original Death Stranding collectors edition featured a Baby BB Pod Replica. Death Stranding 2 was officially revealed at the Game Awards in 2022 and is set to launch on the PlayStation 5 in 2025. Are you excited for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach? Let me know in the comments or on the Insider Gaming forum. For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Diablo 4 is too easy but Blizzard is changing that SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Death #Stranding #Beach #Collectors #Edition #Cost Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades revealed by FCC: Amiibo, faster Wi-Fi, and more Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades revealed by FCC: Amiibo, faster Wi-Fi, and more New Nintendo Switch 2 technical upgrades have been revealed, via filings made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The filings reveal that Switch 2 will, like its predecessor, support NFC via its right Joy-**** controller, likely confirming support for Amiibo figures when playing original Switch games and Switch 2 software. Switch 2 users will also be able to charge the console using either its bottom USB C port, or the new, second USB port which is located on the top of the device. According to the filings, which were spotted by The Verge, Switch 2 will also support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) networks with up to 80MHz of bandwidth, up from the original Switch console’s Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). FCC filings also indicate that Nintendo Switch 2 is rated for an AC adapter with a maximum of 15V, which is the same as the original Switch, but also mention an AC adapter that goes up to 20V, so it’s unclear whether Switch 2 has faster charging speed or more power when docked. A previous leak had claimed that Switch 2 dock would require a far more powerful AC adapter than its predecessor, indicating that it may have more power when docked. Nintendo officially announced Switch 2 in January, with a teaser video showing the console and Joy-Cons. The trailer also provided a brief look at a new Mario Kart game running on the Switch 2 hardware. Nintendo plans to fully reveal the new console on April 2, during a special Switch 2 Nintendo Direct presentation. Company president Shuntaro Furukawa said last month that the Switch 2 price will take into account numerous factors, including the trademark affordability of the company’s hardware. He also said Nintendo will put measures in place to prevent resellers from significantly impacting Switch 2 launch supplies. He said (via Nikkei, translated by VGC): “We will take all possible measures based on the experience we have accumulated to date (regarding scalpers and the like). We are making preparations.” Market research firm Circana has predicted that Nintendo Switch 2 will sell over four million units in the United States alone in 2025, if it’s released in the first half of the year, accounting for approximately 1/3rd of all video game console hardware units sold this year. Source link #Nintendo #Switch #upgrades #revealed #FCC #Amiibo #faster #WiFi Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Elgato Wave Neo Review: I hope you got this as part of a bundle Elgato Wave Neo Review: I hope you got this as part of a bundle Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Elgato’s stylish, all-white Neo line is designed to be a simple, straightforward, affordable line of plug-and-play (ish) streaming accessories. The current lineup includes five products — a microphone, a webcam, a stream deck, a key light, and a capture card — all priced under $100, except for the capture card, which is $119.99. The Wave Neo is a simple, attractive white standalone USB mic with a (too) large and (too) sensitive tap-to-mute button, a sturdy-feeling but only half-actualized metal desktop stand, and an interchangeable pop filter (that Elgato sells, optionally, in five pastel colors). The Wave Neo is small, lightweight, and designed to make you sound good right out of the box. And while it does make you sound pretty good out of the box, it’s a bit of a stretch to say it works well out of the box. The Wave Neo is, as it turns out, a pretty good example of how a mic’s sound is only one aspect of how well it works. The Wave Neo retails for $89.99, but we’ve seen it on ***** recently for as low as $64.99. And even at that price, we’d recommend one of our best gaming mics — the Logitech Yeti Orb — over the Wave Neo in almost every situation. Design of the Wave Neo The Wave Neo is a small, pill-shaped USB microphone, housed in a white plastic chassis with an interchangeable foam pop filter, a large tap-to-mute button, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The microphone alone — without the stand or arm connected — measures approximately 4.78 inches (121.7mm) high by 2.08 inches (52.8mm) wide, and is 1.68 inches (42.6mm) deep. It weighs just 2.82 ounces (80g), though this jumps to around 6.65 ounces (188.5g) with the swing arm connected. The swing arm, which is metal, measures approximately 3.43 inches (97.5mm) long and attaches to the included stand or a ***** arm (it supports 1/4″, 5/8″, and 3/8″ mounting threads). (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The ****** foam pop filter is designed to be easily removable — it’s attached to a ring of plastic that you can just pull off to replace. Elgato sells additional pop filters for the Wave Neo on its site for $15 in pastel pink, blue, green, lavender, and light gray. Overall, the microphone feels just a little… cheap. Not only is it made of plastic, the seams around the tap-to-mute button and the replaceable pop filter don’t quite line up with each other — a minor detail, perhaps, but this is a $90 mic. Logitech’s Yeti Orb — which is also plastic, and retails for just $60 — looks better put together. Still, it’s a nice-looking little mic that will fit better in a lot of setups than aggressively gamer-oriented USB mics like the HyperX QuadCast 2 S. Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) On-mic controls are limited to tap-to-mute, which is better than nothing — the aforementioned Yeti Orb has zero on-mic controls. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack on the back of the mic, just above the USB-C port. The USB-C port is recessed, and the mic comes with a special USB-C cable that fits nicely into that empty space. (It will also work with other USB-C cables, it just won’t look as pretty). Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The microphone comes with a sturdy metal desktop stand that consists of a flat, round base that measures approximately 3.6 inches (92mm) in diameter and is 0.31 inches (7.9mm) thick and a riser extension measuring 3.93 inches (100mm) tall. The overall setup — mic, stand, and riser — measures around 11.1 inches (182mm) tall and weighs 1.17 pounds (530g). The riser extension screws to the base and the microphone simply drops onto the riser. This sounds like it would be very simple, but it ended up being sort of finicky — screwing the riser onto the base was trickier than I expected, as it was difficult to keep the riser aligned with the alignment pin on the stand (okay, this wasn’t a major imposition, but it definitely wasn’t as “plug-and-play” as an already-mounted mic is). Dropping the mic onto the riser is convenient but not particularly stable — the mic wobbles on the stand and I also kept forgetting that the parts were not screwed together when I picked the mic up to move it on my desk. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) In the box, you’ll find the microphone and its stand — base, riser extension, and connecting hardware — as well as a 5-foot (1.5m) white braided USB-C to USB-A cable. Although Elgato advertises this microphone as being “one mic for everything” and talks about how it can seamlessly work on every device from a PC to an iPhone, it comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable — and that’s it. So you’ll need to get some adapters to plug it into an iPhone — or any phone; I don’t think any phone has ever had a USB-A port. But also, you can plug just about any USB mic into a phone if you have an adapter, so this is hardly something notable about the Wave Neo. Specs Swipe to scroll horizontally Capsule Type Condenser Frequency Response 20 – 20,000 Hz Polar Pattern Cardioid Sensitivity -23 dBFS (min gain) 7 dBFS (max gain) Dynamic Range 94 dB Resolution and Sample Rate 24-bit / 96 kHz Connectivity Wired (USB-C) Adjustable Gain Software Software Wave Link Dimensions (L x W) 4.78 x 2.08 inches / 121.7 x 52.8 mm 11.1 x 3.6 inches / 182 x 92 mm (with stand) Weight 2.82oz. / 80g (mic only) 6.65oz. / 188.5g (mic + swing arm) 1.17lbs / 530g (mic + swing arm + stand) MSRP / Price at Time of Review $89.99 Release Date April 18, 2024 Performance of the Wave Neo The Wave Neo has a condenser capsule with a cardioid polar pattern that records audio at a maximum sample / bit rate of 96 kHz / 24-bit — hi-res audio, which you won’t find on all budget mics (but also isn’t too difficult to find on budget mics these days). For example, while our favorite budget mic, the $60 Logitech Yeti Orb, records 48 kHz / 24-bit audio, the $99 HyperX DuoCast records 96 kHz / 24-bit audio and is currently on ***** at Amazon for just over $60. Also, this isn’t the right mic if you’re recording audio where a 96 kHz sample rate will make a difference. The Wave Neo is a side-address microphone, which means you speak into the side (the front, where the tap-to-mute light is), not into the end (like you do with the Rode PodMic USB). It can be mounted on a ***** arm, but it’s more likely you’ll use the included desktop stand, which is designed to place the mic at an ideal distance from your mouth when it’s placed on your desk / table top. The stand, while sturdily and solidly built, is also somehow not that sturdy. It’s designed to be used with the included riser extension, which screws into the base and uses an alignment pin to prevent it from wobbling or spinning around. This part is fine — the riser secures pretty tightly to the base, though the alignment pin did still allow for a very small amount of wobble. However, once the riser is secured to the base, the swing arm just kind of drops onto the riser, which means more wobble and a stand that keeps coming apart whenever you pick it up to move it. I suppose you can set up the stand without using the riser extension — giving the mic a total height of just under 7.5 inches (190.5mm). However, this is even less stable. Although the swing arm does have a notch for the alignment pin on the riser extension, this notch does not work with the alignment pin on the stand (though it seems like the idea behind the design was that the alignment pin was supposed to work with both the riser’s and the swing arm’s notches). In other words, if you set up the stand without the riser, you end up with a wobbly, spinning mic and a scratched-up base. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Don’t get me wrong — I like the look, feel, and built-in cable clip on the Wave Neo’s stand, but the overall implementation made me wish for the Yeti Orb’s less sleek, but stabler plastic tripod. Stand aside, vocals on the Wave Neo sound pretty good out of the box. It’s not the best-sounding mic on the market, but it’s also not trying to be. Vocals are consistent, clear, and on the warmer side by default, which isn’t a bad thing. The warmth adds a full, round, friendly tone to your voice, and is probably what I’d call the ideal sound profile for this type of plug-and-play mic. Side-by-side, it’s pretty easy to tell that the Wave Neo is a standalone USB mic and not a headset mic, but it’s not necessarily going to be the audio upgrade you may have been hoping for. My colleagues were thoroughly unimpressed with the Wave Neo’s sound, stating that it sounded “…like a microphone.” Indeed. The Wave Neo’s pop filter is also pretty flimsy, and plosives end up reverberating through the whole mic if you’re closer than about 6 inches (152.4mm). The mic has a cardioid polar pattern, which means it only picks up noise from one direction, but it still picks up a decent amount of background noise unless you turn on some software-based noise cancellation. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The mic has a large, oblong tap-to-mute sensor / light on the front, which is white when the mic is unmuted and red when the mic is muted. The actual sensor area extends past the light, however, so it’s easy to accidentally tap the sensor when you’re trying to adjust or move the mic (especially if you fumble the mic when you pick it up because you forgot that the stand is in two pieces), but that wasn’t a big issue for me. What was an issue, however, was that the mute sensor seemed to mute itself at various times, for various reasons. I couldn’t figure out all the situations in which the mute sensor accidentally triggered, but I did notice that it seemed to happen frequently when the mic’s USB cable was at certain angles and/or was touching things like cables or my PC case, and also when any part of the body of the mic (even the back) was touching things. This didn’t happen every time, but it definitely happened too often — I love a tap-to-mute button on a mic, but I wish I could disable the Wave Neo’s tap-to-mute and just mute the mic through software. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack on the back of the Wave Neo, which Elgato says is for zero-delay system audio — not mic monitoring. While you can turn on mic monitoring through the headphone jack in the Wave Link companion software, it is software-based monitoring, not direct, zero-latency monitoring. Features and Software of the Wave Neo The Wave Neo works with Elgato’s Wave Link audio software, which is essentially a virtual mixing studio — pretty useful software if you’re streaming or otherwise trying to mix audio sources, but not quite as useful if you’re just trying to sound good over a regular video call. However, it does tie in to Elgato’s online marketplace, which lets you add audio plugins: equalizers, compressors, de-essers, noise suppression/cancellation, effects, and voice mods. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Wave Link screen is for the virtual mixer, which lets you add different sound input sources (e.g. microphone audio and game audio) and mix them together to create a balanced, stream-friendly output. While this main screen is mainly for mixing audio inputs and monitoring outputs, this is also where you’ll find the option to mute the mic and add effects. You’ll need to open up the mic’s settings, however, to do things like check for firmware updates and adjust the mic’s gain, headphone volume, and LED brightness. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) As usual, I have some issues with this software. First, it’s a hassle to set up. To install it, you can’t have any compatible Elgato products plugged in (which isn’t that much of a hassle, I suppose, but is an unusual requirement), and it requires a restart once it’s installed. But second, and more importantly, it doesn’t always fully recognize the products — the Wave Neo would show up in the software (the software can only be used if you have at least one eligible Elgato product plugged in — just, not while you install it, apparently). But I found that I often wasn’t able to adjust any of the mic’s settings or mix audio unless I restarted the software and/or unplugged the mic. Also, this was, luckily, the extent of what I needed to do to get it working — I did a cursory search when I first encountered the problem and saw that Elgato’s own customer service advised an AppData reset. Bottom Line The Elgato Wave Neo is a compact, plug-and-play, budget-friendly USB mic that sounds pretty good out of the box. It doesn’t require any software tweaks, though there is, of course, Elgato’s companion Wave Link software for those who are looking for more control. The included stand works a lot better in theory than it does in reality, but the good news is that this is a very small, very lightweight mic that you can mount on any dirt-cheap ***** arm from Amazon without issue. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) That said, the Wave Neo retails for $90 — though we’ve seen it on ***** for as low as $65 — which is closer to mid-range rather than budget-friendly. So, unless you’ve already bought into Elgato’s ecosystem (the Wave Neo does work well with Elgato’s other streaming products, such as its stream decks), the Logitech Yeti Orb is a better option: It also sounds great right out of the box, and it retails for $60 but can be found on ***** for around $50. The Yeti Orb lacks the Wave Neo’s hi-res 96 kHz sample rate, but neither of these mics are what we’d recommend for recording hi-res audio anyway. It also lacks an on-mic mute and a 3.5mm audio jack, but the Wave Neo would probably be better without the on-mic mute (and it would be the same without the audio jack, which is for system audio — not direct monitoring). Source link #Elgato #Wave #Neo #Review #hope #part #bundle Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

How work requirements may reduce access to Medicaid How work requirements may reduce access to Medicaid Protect Our Care supporters display “Hands Off Medicaid” message in front of the White House ahead of President Trump’s address to Congress on March 4 in Washington, D.C. Paul Morigi | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Cuts to Medicaid will have to be on the menu if House Republicans want to meet their budget goals, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report this week. The chamber’s budget blueprint includes $880 billion in spending cuts under the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the program. Medicaid helps cover medical costs for people who have limited income and resources, as well as benefits not covered by Medicare such as nursing home care. To curb Medicaid spending, experts say, lawmakers may choose to add work requirements. Doing so would make it so people have to meet certain thresholds, such as 80 hours of work per month, to qualify for Medicaid coverage. Republicans have not yet suggested specific changes to Medicaid. However, a new KFF poll finds 6 in 10 Americans would support adding work requirements to the program. More from Personal Finance: DOGE layoffs may ‘overwhelm’ unemployment system Education Department cuts leave student loan borrowers in the dark Congress’ proposed Medicaid cuts may impact economy Imposing work requirements may provide a portion of lawmakers’ targeted savings. In 2023, the Congressional Budget Office found implementing work requirements could save $109 billion over 10 years. Yet that change could also put 36 million Medicaid enrollees at risk of losing their health-care coverage, estimates the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That represents about 44% of the approximately 80 million individuals who participate in the program. The estimates focus on adults ages 19 to 64, who would be most likely subject to a work requirement. The idea of work requirements is not new. Lawmakers have proposed work hurdles to qualify for other safety net programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The approach shows an ideological difference between the U.S. and European social democracies that accept a baseline responsibility to provide social safety nets, said Farah Khan, a fellow at Brookings Metro’s Center for Community Uplift. “We view ******** as uniquely polarized based on which party comes into power,” Khan said. When one party frames it as a moral failing to be poor because you haven’t worked hard enough, that ignores structural inequalities or systemic injustices that may have led individuals to those circumstances, she said. Medicaid work requirements prompt coverage losses Loss of coverage has been a common result in previous state attempts to add Medicare work requirements. When Arkansas implemented a work requirement policy in 2018, around 1 in 4 people subject to the requirement, or around 18,000 people total, lost coverage in seven months before the program was stopped, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. When New Hampshire attempted to implement a work requirement policy with more flexible reporting requirements, 2 in 3 individuals were susceptible to being disenrolled after two months. “Generally, Medicaid work requirements have resulted in coverage losses without incentivizing or increasing employment and are a policy that is really unnecessary and burdensome,” said Laura Harker, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The “administrative barriers and red tape” from work requirements broadly lead to coverage losses among both working individuals and those who are between jobs or exempt due to disabilities, illnesses or caretaking responsibilities, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Notably, around 9 in 10 Medicaid enrollees are already working or qualify for an exemption, Harker said. Separate research from the American Enterprise Institute finds that in a given month, the majority of working-age people receiving Medicaid who do not have children do not work enough to meet an 80-hour-per-month requirement. Consequently, if work requirements are imposed on nondisabled, working-age Medicaid recipients, that would affect a large number of people who are not currently in compliance, said Kevin Corinth, deputy director at the Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility at the American Enterprise Institute. Either those individuals would increase their work to remain eligible or they wouldn’t, and they would be dropped off the program, Corinth said. “If you put on work requirements, you’re going to affect a lot of people, which could be good or bad, depending on what your view of work requirements are,” Corinth said. Lawmakers may also cut Medicaid in other ways: capping the amount of federal funds provided to state Medicaid programs; limiting the amount of federal money per Medicaid recipient; reducing available health services or eliminating coverage for certain groups. Source link #work #requirements #reduce #access #Medicaid Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘The Interview’: Lady Gaga’s Latest Experiment? Happiness. ‘The Interview’: Lady Gaga’s Latest Experiment? Happiness. The pop superstar reflects on her struggles with mental health, the pressures of the music industry and why she’s returned to the sound that made her famous. Source link #Interview #Lady #Gagas #Latest #Experiment #Happiness Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

France captain Dupont has cruciate knee injury France captain Dupont has cruciate knee injury France captain Antoine Dupont ruptured cruciate ligaments in his knee during Les Bleus’ Six Nations win over Ireland on Saturday. Source link #France #captain #Dupont #cruciate #knee #injury Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The Best Dressed Men at the 2025 Oscars Skipped the Traditional Tuxedo The Best Dressed Men at the 2025 Oscars Skipped the Traditional Tuxedo If you wish to fully grasp Timothée Chalamet’s Oscars suit, you may do better to consult a food reporter rather than a fashion critic. They might be able to tell you the outfit was a shade of French butter. Or was it egg yolk? Perhaps just lemon? Whatever the tint of his monochrome look, Mr. Chalamet’s effervescent not-a-tux was the consensus gotta-talk-about-it outfit of the evening. There was certainly much to scrutinize. The jacket was cropped like a maitre d’s uniform. A tie? Overlooked. In its place, a dot of a pearl collar. The pants, which weren’t even suit pants but were, in fact, shaped like five pocket jeans, puddled indifferently around his glossed ****** boots. It’s unclear if this outfit was nodding to an outfit Bob Dylan once wore, as some of Mr. Chalamet’s carpet looks have during this award’s season sprint, but his Oscars look at least had the spirit of Dylan. (This critic’s theory: It was “Blonde on Blonde” in outfit form.) This was a suit that smirked at ceremony but felt glamorous and elevated despite it’s provocation. The unusual red carpet outfit also provided a crucial preview for Givenchy, who made it specially for Mr. Chalamet. The Academy Awards came a day before Paris Fashion Week commences, a week that will include the first runway show from Givenchy’s recently appointed creative director, Sarah Burton. Alongside an Audrey Hepburn-ish ******-bowed gown worn by Elle Fanning, Mr. Chalamet’s Tweety Bird combo served as the amuse-bouche for whatever Ms. Burton is going to present days from now. (Mr. Chalamet is the men’s fashion industry’s teaser of choice. In January he made noise at the Golden Globes in a sequin-speckled suit, the first design from Tom Ford’s new creative director, Haider Ackermann.) Most actors continue to view the Oscars as solemn ground and dress for it. Adrien Brody, Joe Alwyn, Sebastian Stan and Ralph Fiennes reflected the overwhelming majority in aspirational, if expected, ****** tuxedos. Even “The Apprentice” nominee Jeremy Strong, the industry’s leading lobbyist for brown as an acceptable formal-wear color, wore a cappuccino Loro Piana tux that fit, well, as straight and to-the-body as a tuxedo should. What brands like Givenchy seized on is that flouting conventions on the carpet can make for a great publicity, even if it doesn’t always make for praise. Valentino deployed this tactic as well. The label is in the midst of a complete overhaul under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, who joined Valentino last March after nearly eight years at Gucci. And what Sunday proved is that Mr. Michele’s aesthetic (think: Victorian grandpa after a few too many glasses of psychedelic-spiked sherry) may work better on the red carpet than the runway. Take Colman Domingo’s Valentino suit jacket in a red even more potent than the carpet at his feet. Worn with some disco-y flares, the jacket was belted at the waist, like a kimono. Oh, it was rococo all right. But it also granted Mr. Domingo, who was nominated for best actor, a louche ease. Or, Omar Apollo, an actor from “******,” who wore a ****** Valentino suit with beefy lapels and a bouffant scarf streaming down the front in lieu of a tie. (Another actor from “******,” Drew Starkey, wore a similar scarf-as-tie Valentino outfit at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Evidently, Mr. Michele doesn’t see men’s wear’s halting tie revival as revolutionary enough.) There was, though, one more actor who swerved harder than them all: Adam Sandler. During the show’s opening monologue, just after Conan O’Brien declared that “for such a prestigious night it’s important that everyone’s properly dressed,” the camera whipped to Mr. Sandler, dressed in mesh shorts and a hoodie, as if suiting up for pickup basketball. It was a bit, sure. But it was the sort of outfit that has long made Mr. Sandler, 58, Hollywood’s version of John Fetterman. It was played for laughs, but it got at an earnest idea: Mr. Sandler’s passion for mesh is distinctively his own and can be capitalized on. “You know what, Conan, I like the way I look because I’m a good person,” Mr. Sandler lobbed back toward the stage. “I don’t care about what I wear and what I don’t wear.” You know who does care though? Aviator Nation, the brand that made Mr. Sandler’s hoodie. Moments after he appeared on the broadcast, the company sent out an email blast that the neon blue zip-up was available on its website for $175. How rare is that? An Oscars outfit, at a budget price. Source link #Dressed #Men #Oscars #Skipped #Traditional #Tuxedo Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Truck stolen from Ovid recovered. Suspect in theft still on loose Truck stolen from Ovid recovered. Suspect in theft still on loose A truck stolen from Ovid on Thursday was recovered Saturday, and one person arrested, but Ovid police said the individual who had the truck was not the subject of a manhunt. “Update!,” Ovid police said about 8 p.m. Saturday, “The subject that was just arrested by the Lansing Police Department, in possession of the stolen truck from Ovid, was identified at the jail, by a fingerprint scan. He is not our guy… but, we do have the stolen truck! Thank you LPD!! However, our #2 perp, that stole the truck from MMPA, is still on the run.” Ovid police and other agencies have been seeking a man who fled from a home on the east side of Ovid Thursday morning. The man stole a truck in Ovid the same morning and may have been seen Saturday in Dimondale with the stolen truck. The suspect was still driving a white 2015 Chevrolet Silverado pickup stolen from the Michigan Milk Producers Association employee parking lot, the Ovid Police Department’s Facebook page said on Saturday in a post that shared photos of the truck and suspect. Later on Saturday, the department also posted that the second suspect was in custody before revising that statement. “Events like this, being fluid, things can and do change. One of the drawbacks to posting too soon….,” the department said in a comment on the post. In one post on Saturday, Rousseau asked the suspect to turn himself in in comments on a Facebook update. “If the subject is tired of running, please, give us a call,” she said. The search for the man began Thursday morning. Shortly after 8 a.m. that day an Ovid police sergeant went to an address on Warren Road in Shiawassee County, just outside the city limit, to assist the Shiawassee County Sheriff’s Office, Rousseau said in a statement Thursday evening. Police at the address placed a person under arrest due to outstanding warrants. A second suspect, a man, fled on foot. The man was spotted on Michigan Milk Producers Association surveillance cameras as 9:39 a.m. Thursday. At 11:15 a.m., police learned a 2015 white Chevrolet Silverado pickup was reported stolen from the MMPA employee parking lot. On Saturday, Ovid police said the person and the truck were seen on security cameras in the Dimondale area. The man appeared to be stealing Amazon packages from a home. Dimondale is about 40 miles from where the truck was stolen, just southwest of Lansing. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Truck stolen in Ovid recovered by Lansing police. Suspect still being sought Source link #Truck #stolen #Ovid #recovered #Suspect #theft #loose Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

1 Stock to Buy, 1 Stock to Sell This Week: DoorDash, American Eagle 1 Stock to Buy, 1 Stock to Sell This Week: DoorDash, American Eagle • Trump’s trade war, inflation data, and last batch of earnings will be in focus this week. • DoorDash’s imminent inclusion in the S&P 500 is likely to trigger a wave of buying that could propel its stock higher. • American Eagle’s deteriorating earnings expectations and cautious outlook make it a stock to sell. • Looking for more actionable trade ideas? Subscribe here to unlock access to ProPicks AI winners. U.S. stocks finished Friday’s volatile trading session in the green, but the major averages still suffered their worst weekly decline in several months amid a negative mix of news related to President Donald Trump’s trade war. For the week, the 30-stock lost 2.4%, the sank 3.1%, and the tech-heavy tumbled 3.5%. Source: Investing.com The week ahead is expected to be another eventful one as investors monitor fresh developments about Trump’s tariff decisions on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China. On the economic calendar, most important will be Wednesday’s U.S. consumer price inflation report for February, which could spark further turmoil if it comes in higher than expectations. The CPI data will be accompanied by the release of the latest figures on producer prices, which will help fill out the inflation picture. Meanwhile, there will be no Fed speakers on the agenda as the central bank goes into its pre-FOMC blackout mode ahead of the March 18-19 policy meeting. Source: Investing.com Odds for Fed rate cuts have picked up considerably in recent days, as per the Investing.com , with the U.S. central bank now on track to cut interest rates three times this year. And while the earnings season is drawing to a close, a few noteworthy reports loom in the coming week, including Oracle (NYSE:), Adobe (NASDAQ:), Kohl’s (NYSE:), Dollar General (NYSE:), *****’s Sporting Goods (F:), and Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:). Regardless of which direction the market goes, below I highlight one stock likely to be in demand and another which could see fresh downside. Remember though, my timeframe is just for the week ahead, Monday, March 10 – Friday, March 14. Stock to Buy: DoorDash DoorDash (NASDAQ:) stands out as a compelling buy this week, as shares of the leading on-demand food delivery platform will be added to the key S&P 500 index as part of its quarterly reconstitution. This announcement, made after Friday’s market close, signals a new chapter for the company, as it will join the benchmark index before the start of trading on Monday, March 24. Historically, such inclusions have often led to a surge in stock prices. Source: Investing.com DASH ended Friday’s session at $178.08, the lowest closing price since January 17. The Palo Alto, California-based online food delivery company has a market cap of $74.8 billion. Shares are up 6.1% so far in 2025. The inclusion in the S&P 500 is a testament to DoorDash’s growth and stability. This move could lead to a substantial increase in buying of DoorDash’s stock, as index funds and other passive investment vehicles that track the S&P 500 will have to purchase shares to align with the benchmark’s composition. The company has recently demonstrated strong operational performance, with analysts showing optimistic price targets. The most recent analyst coverage shows targets ranging from $175.00 to $235.00, with major firms like Truist Securities ($235.00), Barclays ($200.00), and Cantor Fitzgerald ($230.00) all maintaining positive outlooks. Source: Investing.com The consensus among analysts appears bullish, with most maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings, reflecting mounting confidence in DoorDash’s growth trajectory and market position. Furthermore, InvestingPro’s AI-powered quantitative model rates DoorDash with a ‘GOOD’ Financial Health Score of 2.61, indicating a healthy profitability outlook and strong balance sheet. Be sure to check out InvestingPro to stay in sync with the market trend and what it means for your trading. Subscribe now and position your portfolio one step ahead of everyone else! Stock to Sell: American Eagle Outfitters On the other hand, American Eagle (NYSE:), a popular clothing and accessories retailer, is facing headwinds as it prepares to report its Q4 earnings after the market close on Wednesday at 4:05 PM ET amid a difficult retail landscape. Market participants expect a sizable swing in AEO shares following the print, with the options market pointing to a possible implied move of 8.9% in either direction. Earnings have been catalysts for outsized swings in shares, with the stock tumbling over 11% when the company last reported earnings in December. Source: InvestingPro Analyst sentiment is overwhelmingly bearish with 10 downward revisions and no upward adjustments recorded in the weeks leading up to the report. This negative sentiment suggests that the market is bracing for a possible disappointment. American Eagle is expected to deliver earnings per share of $0.51 for the fourth quarter, declining 16.4% from EPS of $0.61 in the year-ago *******. Revenue is seen falling 5.9% year-over-year to $1.6 billion. Looking ahead, the outlook for American Eagle appears dim as it struggles with a challenging economic backdrop characterized by elevated inflation and shrinking disposable income, leading to slower consumer demand for discretionary items, including clothing purchases. As a result, investors might view American Eagle as a stock to sell, particularly in the face of mounting competitive pressures and cautious guidance on its future performance. Source: Investing.com AEO ended Friday’s session at $12.83, not far from a recent 52-week low of $11.65. At current valuations, the Pittsburgh-based clothing retailer has a market value of $2.5 billion. Shares, which are trading below their key moving averages, are down 23% year-to-date. Whether you’re a novice investor or a seasoned trader, leveraging InvestingPro can unlock a world of investment opportunities while minimizing risks amid the challenging market backdrop. Subscribe now and instantly unlock access to several market-beating features, including: • ProPicks AI: AI-selected stock winners with proven track record. • InvestingPro Fair Value: Instantly find out if a stock is underpriced or overvalued. • Advanced Stock Screener: Search for the best stocks based on hundreds of selected filters, and criteria. • Top Ideas: See what stocks billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, and George Soros are buying. Disclosure: At the time of writing, I am long on the S&P 500, and the via the SPDR® S&P 500 ETF (SPY), and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ). I am also long on the Invesco Top QQQ ETF (QBIG), Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), and VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH). I regularly rebalance my portfolio of individual stocks and ETFs based on ongoing risk assessment of both the macroeconomic environment and companies’ financials. The views discussed in this article are solely the opinion of the author and should not be taken as investment advice. Follow Jesse Cohen on X/Twitter @JesseCohenInv for more stock market analysis and insight. Source link #Stock #Buy #Stock #Sell #Week #DoorDash #American #Eagle Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Spring Preview: A Few Books We’re Excited For Spring Preview: A Few Books We’re Excited For Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | How to Listen Every season brings its share of books to look forward to, and this spring is no different. On this week’s episode the host Gilbert Cruz and his colleague Joumana Khatib talk about a dozen or so titles that sound interesting in the months ahead. Books discussed on this episode: “Dream Count,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Sunrise on the Reaping,” by Suzanne Collins “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” by Stephen Graham Jones “Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools,” by Mary Annette Pember “Great Big Beautiful Life,” by Emily Henry “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,” by Ian Leslie “Yoko: A Biography,” by David Sheff “Searches,” by Vauhini Vara “Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the ******** in America,” by Michael Luo “Rabbit Moon,” by Jennifer Haigh “Mark Twain,” by Ron Chernow “Authority,” by Andrea Long Chu “Spent,” by Alison Bechdel “Fish Tales,” by Nettie Jones We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to *****@*****.tld. Source link #Spring #Preview #Books #Excited Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Cyclone Alfred downgraded as tropical storm hits *********** coast – BBC.com Cyclone Alfred downgraded as tropical storm hits *********** coast – BBC.com Cyclone Alfred downgraded as tropical storm hits *********** coast BBC.comEx-Cyclone Alfred: Body found in floodwaters and troops injured in Australia storm BBC.comRare cyclone weakens to a tropical low weather system as it approaches the *********** east coast The Associated PressA day-by-day breakdown of what to expect from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred ABC News Source link #Cyclone #Alfred #downgraded #tropical #storm #hits #*********** #coast #BBC.com Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

TN Gov. Bill Lee has a bold conservation agenda. These bills would undermine it. TN Gov. Bill Lee has a bold conservation agenda. These bills would undermine it. During his Feb. 10 State of the State address, Gov. Bill Lee outlined a bold conservation strategy. He proposed investments to protect the Duck River alongside legislation to curb Tennessee’s rapid loss of farmland. While I am grateful for Governor Lee’s proposals, I worry that other legislation presently pending in the Tennessee legislature will undermine his efforts. As a native Tennessean, I am grateful for Governor Lee’s conservation mindset. I grew up on a cattle farm in Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and when I’m not working my day job, I raise cows there with my brother on our family farm in the Duck River watershed. Investing millions in the Duck River is the right thing to do The Duck River needs and deserves our protection. It’s one of the most biodiverse rivers in the world, supports a thriving sport fishery, and provides drinking water to more than a quarter-million people. But the river is suffering from growing stressors. Droughts are becoming longer and more severe while industrial and residential water demands are increasing. Water continues to flow at Duck River in Centerville, Tenn., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. During last summer’s drought, water levels in the river plunged to historic lows, putting the river’s health and world-class aquatic ecosystems in jeopardy. At the same time, local utilities are planning to increase dramatically the amount of water they pump from the Duck River to keep pace with Middle Tennessee’s rapid development. Those utilities want permission to pull an additional 22 million gallons of water from the Duck each day, and those threats recently landed the Duck River on a list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers. The rapid growth that is fueling increased water consumption from the Duck is also consuming farmland at alarming rates. Tennessee is losing farmland to development at a rate of ten acres per hour. Opinion: After a 28-day Duck River trip, I know this Tennessee waterway is in trouble It is against that backdrop that Governor Lee proposes investing $100 million in a regional water supply strategy for the Duck River watershed, and his administration is introducing farmland conservation legislation targeted at helping farmers and curbing farmland loss. But those efforts could be undermined by other legislation. These bills would undermine the governor’s efforts A recently introduced bill (HB0895/SB0725) would allow a huge landfill to be built on the banks of the Duck River in Maury County. That proposal would strip away protections for Tennessee scenic rivers, and it would threaten downstream communities with harmful pollution. Another bill (HB0541/SB0670) would remove state law protections for more than 300,000 acres of Tennessee’s wetlands, including wetlands that recharge the groundwater system connected to the Duck River. Wetlands help keep Tennesseans safe and healthy by soaking up floodwaters and acting as natural sponges and filters. Wetlands slowly release water into our surface and groundwater systems, replenishing our springs, streams, rivers, and underground drinking water aquifers. Without abundant wetlands, our springs, streams, and groundwater systems dry up more quickly during drought, and our neighbors and communities suffer more flooding when hard rains come. The upper Duck River watershed is a hotspot for wetlands, and if we destroy those wetlands, we will destroy the groundwater system that recharges the river with healthy flow. Removing legal protections for wetlands will turbocharge farmland loss and make remaining farmland less productive. Farmers should not be forced to suffer losses when crop fields are flooded by runoff from nearby developments, and they should not be forced to worry about their creeks, springs and groundwater wells drying up during drought. I hope that our lawmakers will not undercut Governor Lee’s conservation priorities by stripping protections for Tennessee’s scenic waterways and wetlands. George Nolan is director of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Tennessee office. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee bills undercut Gov. Bill Lee’s conservation agenda | Opinion Source link #Gov #Bill #Lee #bold #conservation #agenda #bills #undermine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

2 Books From Other Shores 2 Books From Other Shores Dear readers, I’m not going to get into the various reasons you might have for wanting to go somewhere else right now — somewhere, let’s say, on the other side of an international border. The fact is that Americans have always been eager tourists and willing expatriates, game to study the histories and decode the customs of neighboring and far-flung places. There are more and less benign versions of this roving impulse, but let’s not get into that either. Also, with due respect to hard-typing globetrotters, travel writing exhausts me. What I’m in the mood for is a scrappy, burrowing cosmopolitanism, books that dig down into the soil of a place and emerge with local dirt under their fingernails. Here are two of those, one a memoir of life in a foreign land, the other an extended excursion into an exotic literature. —A.O. Not long before he died, Origo’s father — an American diplomat married to an Anglo-Irish aristocrat — wrote that he wished his daughter to grow up “free from all this national feeling that makes people so unhappy.” He wanted her “to be a little ‘foreign,’ too, so that, when she grows up, she really will be free to love and marry anyone she likes, without its being difficult.” She was happy to oblige: In 1924, she married an Italian marchese and went to live with him at La Foce, his ancestral estate in a picturesque Tuscan valley. “It has sometimes been pointed out to me,” she begins this memoir (published as she was approaching “the end game,” in her words), “that I have had a very varied and interesting life, have lived in some extremely beautiful places and have met some remarkable people.” Her book both lives up to the implied promise of that opening sentence and wanders happily away from it. “Images and Shadows” narrates a life of privilege and accomplishment in a style that is charmingly casual and digressive and at the same time sharply analytical. A respected biographer (of Lord Byron and the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi, among others), Origo might have made an acute novelist of patrician manners in the line of Edith Wharton and Ford Madox Ford. She writes fondly about the remarkable people she met, and with a fine sense of their ridiculousness. For example: Her mother’s second husband was an architect and writer whose “A History of Taste” “would certainly have been a fascinating and entertaining book” had he ever gotten past the first four words, which were “It is very difficult…” This book isn’t. It’s frank yet formal, honest without being intimate. Origo’s natural elegance leads her to understate her toughness, passion and her bravery — not least in assisting anti-Fascist partisans during World War II — qualities that nonetheless saturate this eminently civilized book. Read if you like: Henry James, Bernard Berenson, Tuscan villas, long afternoons drinking tea with your grandmother. Available from: The book ***** at a small-town library; your friend who is obsessed with the idea of moving to Italy. “O Canada: An American’s Notes on ********* Culture,” by Edmund Wilson Nonfiction, 1965 Wilson, perhaps the hardest-working American literary critic of the 20th century, had formidable range. He wrote mighty books about Marxism, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the literature of the Civil War, and innumerable collections of essays, reviews, diaries and letters. An avowed anti-specialist, proud of never holding an academic post or a staff job at a magazine, he liked to master a subject by writing about it. After a visit to Toronto sometime in the 1950s, Wilson got sufficiently interested in Canada to begin the inquiries that would result in this volume, modestly subtitled “An American’s Notes on ********* Culture.” I should note that the book was published in 1965 and so does not include most of what those of us down here might regard as ********* culture. No Neil Young or Joni Mitchell; no Margaret Atwood or Alice Munro (though a little bit of Mavis Gallant); no SCTV or David Cronenberg. Still, “O Canada” is an irresistible deep cut for Canadaphiles, a large but fittingly circumspect fandom. Wilson is a crisp, thorough writer, with a knack for making his own fascination with a subject contagious. So you can learn quite a bit of ********* history here — not a bad thing to be studying just now — without feeling that you’re in school, and you may find yourself eager to hit the library in search of the works of Hugh MacLennan and Marie-Claire Blais. Mostly, though, you’re likely to be swept up by Wilson’s sense that Canada, in spite of its reputation south of the border, is an intensely dramatic country. This was partly because of the Quebecois separatist movement that was gaining momentum at the time, but also because nationalism and national identity were pressing questions for an alert and curious reader. As they still are. Read if you like: Poutine, butter tarts, Rush. Available from: If all else fails, you can borrow my copy. Thank you for being a subscriber Plunge further into books at The New York Times or our reading recommendations. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Browse all of our subscriber-only newsletters here. Friendly reminder: check your local library for books! Many libraries allow you to reserve copies online. Source link #Books #Shores Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Syria’s Interim President Calls for Unity Amid Fresh Fighting Syria’s Interim President Calls for Unity Amid Fresh Fighting Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, appealed on Sunday for calm and for unity as he moved to reassure the nation after days of clashes that a monitoring group said had killed hundreds of people. “We must preserve national unity and civil peace,” he said from a mosque in Damascus, according to video that circulated online. “We call on Syrians to be reassured because the country has the fundamentals for survival.” The violence erupted last week between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new government, headed by Mr. al-Shara, and those loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. Scores of civilians have been killed, according to two war monitoring groups, along with combatants on both sides of the conflict. Mr. al-Shara’s remarks on Sunday came as fresh fighting was reported in the countryside of the coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces. A spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, told state media that government forces were combing the countryside for armed fighters loyal to the deposed Assad regime. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian conflict since 2011, said that government forces were attacking with drones, tanks and artillery on Sunday. In other areas, it said, government forces were searching for armed groups affiliated with the deposed regime’s military. The clashes have centered in the coastal provinces, where much of the country’s Alawite religious ********* — which dominated the ruling class and upper ranks of the military under the Assad government, and included the Assad family itself — live. That has raised fears of a renewed sectarian conflict in the country. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Tartus and Latakia provinces since the fighting erupted last week, the observatory said early on Sunday. About 700 civilians were included in that figure, most killed by government forces, it said. The information could not be independently verified. Another monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, reported earlier that government security forces had killed some 125 civilians. The group had not yet updated its casualty figures on Sunday. It said that men of all ages were among the casualties and that the forces did not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The violence has been the worst since the Assad government was ousted in early December by rebels who became the country’s new leaders. It presents a major test of the new government’s authority and ability to unify the country, which has deep sectarian divisions after more than 13 years of civil war. Source link #Syrias #Interim #President #Calls #Unity #Fresh #Fighting Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

This delightful new adventure game feels like a long-lost PS1 classic This delightful new adventure game feels like a long-lost PS1 classic I always appreciate a video game that feels like a long-lost classic from another time. I’m not talking about games that deliberately chase a retro aesthetic for nostalgia. Rather, I appreciate ones that feel naturally shaped by history, where childhood influences show. That’s the kind of game ****** Heroes is, a good-natured adventure starring colorful cartoon mascots. If you told me it was a remake of a forgotten PS1 game, I might believe you were it not for some of its modern giveaways. A debut project for indie studio Pancake Games, ****** Heroes is an open-world adventure game about an adorable ****** ball on a quest to save its home from corrupted monsters. Its cheery visuals, whimsical music, and clumsy UI make it feel exactly like a game from the era of mascot-driven platformers. Don’t let that bright surface fool you, though: ****** Heroes is a surprisingly tough game powered by some deceptively deep combat hooks. ****** Heroes – Announcement Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games When my adventure begins, everything seems straightforward enough. I get some inscrutable lore to set my journey up and then I’m crawling through the jungle with a sword in hand (or whatever slimes hold things with). I slash monsters in my path and move on to checkpoints. Easy enough! The modern influences quickly seep in. When I get to my first save station, I realize that ****** Heroes is actually molded from the Dark Souls school of thought. I can upgrade stats like attack power and speed when I get to a checkpoint using resources I’ve collected. If I die, I drop everything I’m carrying and need to retrieve it all or lose it. Considering that there’s some imperfect platforming to be done here and there, coupled with clumsy physics, I find myself dying quite a bit. It’s a bit infuriating and certainly a tonal mismatch for what’s otherwise an adorable, kid-friendly game. That frustration begins to ease the more I see the full picture. ****** Heroes is an open-world game in the same vein as Nobody Saves the World. I can go anywhere I choose, tackling bosses and challenge shrines in any order. That freedom helps rewire my brain, as I hunt around for checkpoints and grab as many upgrade points as I can along the way. If I hit a battle arena that’s too tough, I simply keep exploring and come back when I’m stronger. Whitethorn Games Progression isn’t just about leveling up, though, and that’s where ****** Heroes’ hidden weapon comes in. As I explore, special abilities are drip fed to me as random drops. I get simple equippable powers like projectile blasts and whirlwind attacks that I can place in three different button slots. As a twist, each ability can be paired with another to combine them into a new power. Then, I can also add an additional effect on top of that, like fire or poison damage. It’s a system that rewards experimentation, pushing players to find combinations that can mitigate the challenge. And let me tell you, there are some delightfully busted combos out there. My proudest creation came when I paired an attack-buffing circle with a whirlwind and a life steal perk. Activating it would create a circle with a tornado at its center, which would ***** in nearby enemies. That would allow me to bash them all with my increased power and refill my hearts in an instant. To make that even more effective, I equipped a hat that heals me on successive hits. Combat encounters that seemed impossible at first became a snap thanks to my creativity. That’s only one example, too. From flaming fireballs to meteor storms that turn foes into allies, there’s a lot to tool around with. While its weightless combat and sloppy traversal can dampen the fun, I still find myself compelled to pick away at ****** Heroes as a casual Steam Deck game. I discover something new every time I turn it on, whether it’s an unexplored area or an overpowered ability combination. I haven’t even spent time with its co-op play yet, which especially feels like the ideal way to play for parents looking to play with their kids. What really calls to me most, though, is the warm feeling that I’m playing the kind of beloved childhood game that would have been in my PlayStation collection as a kid. You can call that nostalgia, but it’s the simple joy of living in a bubbly cartoon world that really speaks to me. I’m just happy to inch around as a little blob and soak in the whimsy. ****** Heroes is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Source link #delightful #adventure #game #feels #longlost #PS1 #classic Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Nvidia RTX 50 owners get another Hotfix, with 572.75 addressing crashes and clock speeds Nvidia RTX 50 owners get another Hotfix, with 572.75 addressing crashes and clock speeds The launch of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs has been marred with several issues, including shortages, overheating power connectors, and driver instability. While the first two issues are harder to sort, the last one should be fixable via downloadable software updates. In fact, the company has already released several Hotfix versions, with the last one — version 572.65 — being released March 2. However, it seems that some issues (very similar) remain, so we just received another Hotfix update from Team Green. The GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 572.75 tackles two specific problems: the first one is some overclocked RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs refuse to run at maximum frequency after a system reboot, while the second one fixes ****** screen crashes. (Image credit: Future) Nvidia usually releases driver updates monthly; these Hotfixes are released out of schedule for problems that require priority solutions, like an unstable driver that causes BSODs and ****** screens across the wider community of RTX users. Note that these Hotfixes aren’t usually automatically installed, so you’ll have to find, download, and install them yourself. The company says, “To be sure, these Hotfix drivers are beta, optional and provided as-is. They are run through a much abbreviated QA process. The sole reason they exist is to get fixes out to you more quickly.” Nevertheless, they will still be included with the next drop of Game Ready drivers in the Nvidia app. Even if you don’t know that there’s an issue with your RTX GPU (or are not affected), you’ll still get the fix within the next few weeks. Hardware drivers are inherently complicated pieces of software, especially as Nvidia must consider the huge number of configurations that its hardware will encounter in the field. Aside from that, it must also work flawlessly with thousands of apps and game titles, which means that it is next to impossible to test every possible permutation of hardware and software before it releases a driver. The company says, “A GeForce driver is an incredibly complex piece of software. We have an army of software engineers constantly adding features and fixing bugs.” If you’re experiencing a problem with your newly bought RTX 50-series GPU, maybe downloading a Hotfix would be enough to solve it. But since Hotfixes are essentially Beta versions of what’s coming out in the regular driver update, you might run into another bug here and there. If that happens, you should report it to Nvidia’s customer service — that way, it would have a chance of fixing what you’re experiencing before the Hotfix gets a wider release as part of Nvidia’s Game Ready drivers. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Nvidia #RTX #owners #Hotfix #addressing #crashes #clock #speeds Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Gwen McCrae, 81, Dies; Singer Helped Open the Dance Floor to Disco Gwen McCrae, 81, Dies; Singer Helped Open the Dance Floor to Disco Gwen McCrae, whose gospel-infused R&B hits of the early 1970s like “Lead Me On” and “Rockin’ Chair” featured bouncing, dance-floor-friendly grooves that helped open the door to disco, died on Feb. 21 in Miami. She was 81. Her former husband and frequent singing partner, George McCrae, said she died in a care facility from complications of a stroke she had in 2012. Though she had her share of nationwide hits, Ms. McCrae was best known on the music scene in the Miami area, where her upbeat R&B fit perfectly with the hot nights and subtropical vibe. She released most of her best-known songs through TK Records, a regional powerhouse founded by Henry Stone that counted other proto-disco acts, like Betty Wright and KC and the Sunshine Band, among its stable. She began performing with Mr. McCrae as a duo. They recorded their own albums, sang backup on others and carved a presence for themselves in the clubs of South Florida. They also performed separately, and Ms. McCrae’s repertoire was not limited to dance songs. On her own, she was the first person to release a version of the ballad “You Were Always on My Mind,” in 1972; sometimes shortened to “Always on My Mind,” it was later recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, ******* Nelson and the **** Shop Boys. “She was an amazing talent,” Harry Wayne Casey, a songwriter at TK Records and the lead singer of KC and the Sunshine Band, said in an interview. “She had one of the most soulful voices I’ve ever heard.” After the worldwide success of Mr. McCrae’s signature hit, “Rock Your Baby,” in 1974, Ms. McCrae recorded her own hit the next year: “Rockin’ Chair,” a sensual, swinging tune that topped the Billboard R&B chart and reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 pop chart. There was some dispute over how the two came to record their respective songs. Ms. McCrae later said that Mr. Casey and Richard Finch had written “Rock Your Baby” for her, but that she had given it to her husband to help his career — and then asked for her own hit song once his went big. But Mr. McCrae had a different spin: Their marriage was on the rocks, he said, and she had given him “Rock Your Baby” in a bid to keep them together. Regardless, their marriage did not last. They divorced a year later. After TK Records closed in 1981, she moved to New York City and signed with Atlantic, where she had a minor hit with “Funky Sensation” in 1981 and recorded two albums. Though her career had begun to slow in the post-disco era, she found a new fan base in Europe, especially in Britain, where the discovery of classic American soul — sometimes called “rare groove” — was underway in the 1980s. She recorded new songs and rerecorded old ones for regional markets, and she found a steady stream of singing gigs over the next few decades. D.J.s and hip-hop artists sampled her songs. She became known as the “queen of rare groove” across Britain and Europe. “When I went overseas, I didn’t know people loved me so much. They really loved my old stuff,” she said in a 1996 interview with a Swedish journalist, adding, “Yeah, I was shocked!” Gwendolyn Patricia Mosley was born on Dec. 21, 1943, in Pensacola, Fla. Her father, Aaron, died when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, Winnie (Lee) Mosley. She began singing gospel songs in church and aspired to make religious singing her career. Even later in her career, when she was belting out disco tracks filled with double entendres, she found it uncomfortable to be too explicit. “I had the worst time singing ‘Damn Right It’s Good,’” she said in the 1996 interview, referring to a song she released in 1976. “I sang like ‘Darn right it’s good, you better knock on wood’; I could not sing ‘Damn right it’s good.’ And I still can hardly say it. It ain’t me!” She met George McCrae in 1963, when he was stationed in Pensacola with the U.S. Navy. They married soon after, and they began singing together once he left the service in 1967. She is survived by two daughters from her marriage to Mr. McCrae, Sophia and Leah; a daughter from a previous relationship, Wanda; a son from a later relationship, Alex; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Although “Funky Sensation” was her last hit in the United States, Ms. McCrae continued to make music, and to draw a dedicated following for her live performances, both at home and in Europe. In 2004 she released a gospel album, “I’m Not Worried.” Two years later she worked once more with Mr. Stone, recording an album of standards from the TK Records catalog, “Gwen McCrae Sings TK.” Though she claimed Florida as her primary residence, she toured Europe extensively. She finally stopped in 2012, when a stroke after a concert in England left her paralyzed on the left side of her body. Source link #Gwen #McCrae #Dies #Singer #Helped #Open #Dance #Floor #Disco Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

From Bell Labs to Lumon Industries: The Building That Brings ‘Severance’ to Life – The New York Times From Bell Labs to Lumon Industries: The Building That Brings ‘Severance’ to Life – The New York Times From Bell Labs to Lumon Industries: The Building That Brings ‘Severance’ to Life The New York TimesThe real-life Lumon office from Severance is just one hour from New York City — and it’s open to the public The IndependentSeverance Fans Have Descended on the Bell Labs Campus CurbedYou Can Visit the Real-life Lumon Building From ‘Severance’ Travel + LeisureViolent Trouble in Television Paradise Common Edge Source link #Bell #Labs #Lumon #Industries #Building #Brings #Severance #Life #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

NYT Crossword: answers for Sunday, March 9 NYT Crossword: answers for Sunday, March 9 The New York Times crossword puzzle can be tough, even if it isn’t the Sunday issue! If you’re stuck, we’re here to help you out with today’s clues and answers. Source link #NYT #Crossword #answers #Sunday #March Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Self-replaceable batteries’ return with the Dynabook Portégé Z40L-N business laptop ‘Self-replaceable batteries’ return with the Dynabook Portégé Z40L-N business laptop Dynabook has introduced the Portégé Z40L-N, a new 14-inch Intel Lunar Lake business laptop featuring a simple user-replaceable battery, a feature that has become rare in modern laptops. The device is designed for professionals who require a durable and portable machine with long-term usability. Weighing under 1kg (approximately 2.2lbs), the Portégé Z40L-N has a magnesium alloy chassis that meets MIL-STD-810H standards for durability. It is built to withstand drops, shocks, and environmental stress, making it suitable for mobile work environments. The laptop runs on Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 processors, based on the Lunar Lake architecture, and includes Neural Processing Units (NPUs) for AI-based tasks. It supports Windows Copilot+ features, including Live Captions, gesture controls, and AI-assisted video call enhancements. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Dynabook) (Image credit: Dynabook) (Image credit: Dynabook) One of the key features of the Portégé Z40L-N is its 65Wh replaceable battery. While it may not be the largest in capacity, it addresses concerns over battery degradation, allowing users to replace the unit instead of relying on service repairs or early device replacement. Lunar Lake laptops usually have pretty good battery life, but this “self-replacable battery” doesn’t quite take us back to the era where you had snap-in battery packs that formed part of the device shell, some even offered hot-swap batteries. The Portégé’s battery still looks like it is screwed in, hidden under a small detachable cover. In contrast, Apple’s adoption of sealed batteries in laptops set a trend that other manufacturers followed, enabling slimmer designs, better efficiency, and improved battery optimization. The unibody construction integrated the battery into the device, enhancing structural integrity and extending battery life, but also preventing easy user replacement. This shift gave Apple greater control over service and repair, increasing profits, while other brands adopted similar designs to stay competitive. Although it improved aesthetics and durability, critics argue that sealed batteries reduce user flexibility and contribute to higher repair costs and environmental concerns. Swipe to scroll horizontally Dynabook Portégé Z40L-N Specs CPU • Intel Core Ultra 5 226V • Intel Core Ultra 5 236V (vPro) • Intel Core Ultra 7 258V • Intel Core Ultra 7 268V (vPro) RAM • 16 GB LPDDR5 • 32 GB LPDDR5 Storage PCIe NVMe SSD up to 2 TB Display 14-inch WUXGA (1920×1200), Touch Screen optional Graphics • Intel Arc 130V (Core Ultra 5) • Intel Arc 140V (Core Ultra 7) Webcam • 5MP Webcam + IR Camera • Human Presence Detection Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 7 6GHz Ports • HDMI • 2x USB-C ports Supporting Thunderbolt 4 • 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports • One supporting USB Sleep & Charge • RJ-45 Ethernet LAN port • Headset jack (Mic/Headphone combo port) • microSD Card Slot Battery 65Wh OS Windows 11 Pro Dimensions 312.4 x 224 x 15.9 millimeters Weight Starting under 1kg As for the rest of the features, the Portégé Z40L-N features a 14-inch display with a 1920×1200 resolution and a 5-megapixel infrared camera for Windows Hello facial recognition. Additionally there is a spill-resistant keyboard, Dolby Atmos stereo speakers, and a fingerprint reader. Connectivity options include two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Wireless support includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. The Portégé Z40L-N will be offered in two configurations: one with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor and 16GB of RAM, starting at $1,699, and another with a Core Ultra 7 258V processor and 32GB of RAM, starting at $2,199. Both versions offer up to 2TB of storage. Dynabook’s decision to reintroduce a user-replaceable battery sets the Portégé Z40L-N apart from many competing ultrabooks, which often use sealed designs. This move could appeal to business users looking for longevity and ease of maintenance without relying on manufacturer service centers. Source link #Selfreplaceable #batteries #return #Dynabook #Portégé #Z40LN #business #laptop Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Laura Sessions Stepp, Who Reported on Teenage Sex, Dies at 73 Laura Sessions Stepp, Who Reported on Teenage Sex, Dies at 73 Laura Sessions Stepp, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose reporting on teenage sex and “hookup” culture on college campuses explored in strikingly intimate detail how adolescent girls and young women think about relationships, love and bodily autonomy, died on Feb. 24 in Springfield, Va. She was 73. Her husband, Carl Sessions Stepp, said the cause of her death, at a memory-care facility, was from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. In a series of articles for The Washington Post, and later for her best-selling book, “Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both” (2007), Ms. Sessions Stepp immersed herself in the lives of her subjects in the Washington area and at several colleges — going to parties, hanging out in dorms and tagging along on trips to the mall. She earned their trust with a soothing voice accented by her Arkansas roots. But most of all, she listened. “She wasn’t judgmental,” Henry Allen, her editor in The Post’s Style section, said in an interview. “These girls would tell her these amazing things.” In July of 1999, readers of The Post woke up to a startling front-page headline: “Parents Are Alarmed by an Unsettling New Fad in Middle Schools: *********.” Ms. Sessions Stepp had interviewed several teenagers in Arlington, Va., and discovered that ********* had become a popular way to avoid pregnancy and appear cool. Some of the girls she spoke to were nonchalant: “What’s the big deal? President Clinton did it,” one quipped. Others were more circumspect. “I didn’t really know what it was,” one eighth-grade girl confided about the time a boy had suggested it. “I realized pretty soon that it didn’t make him like me.” Ms. Sessions Stepp’s subsequent articles explored “freak dancing,” the way students “grind” on each other at school dances; “buddysex” among high schoolers; and ******* score cards kept by college women, among them a University of Pennsylvania student who rated her companions and included dates and footnotes. “These women analyze their numbers as if they were comparison shopping for the right size and color of shoes,” Ms. Sessions Stepp wrote in The Post in 2004. “They tell each other that sex is separate from love. And few adults tell them any different.” She was blunt but detached in her newspaper articles, telling fly-on-the-wall stories about provocative topics that didn’t normally surface on the front page of a family newspaper. But that detachment all but disappeared when she expanded on her reporting in “Unhooked.” Now she was worried. “I hope to encourage girls to think hard about whether they’re ‘getting it right,’ whether their ******* and romantic experiences are contributing to — or destroying — their sense of self-worth and strength,” she wrote in the book’s introduction. “Their studied effort to remain uncommitted convinces me only of how strongly they want to be attached.” She ended the book with “A Letter to Mothers and Daughters.” “If you are a woman who came of age during the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s, I suspect you believe, as I do, that we have a responsibility to reach out and help other women improve their lives,” she wrote. “This means especially the next generation: our daughters all, moving through adolescence into young adulthood.” Those admonitions didn’t sit well with some critics, who accused her of being a prudish alarmist. “It is the time-honored duty of the adolescent to alarm adults (parents, in particular),” Meghan O’Rourke wrote in Slate, “by having wild and often idiotic fun — e.g., streaking naked across campus, playing drinking games, throwing things out windows, hooking up with an acquaintance or a friend who, in a flush of late-night hormones, suddenly looks kind of hot.” Ms. O’Rourke, noting that she attended college “in the early days of ‘hookup’ culture,” wrote that her “recollection, through the haze of years, was that the whole point of hookups was that they were pleasurable — a little embarrassing, sometimes, but mostly, well, fun.” Kathy Dobie, a journalist who reviewed the book in The Post, wrote that Ms. Sessions Stepp was “conflating what the girls refuse to conflate: love and sexuality.” “‘Unhooked’ can be downright painful to read,” Ms. Dobie wrote. “The author resurrects the ugly, old notion of sex as something a female gives in return for a male’s good behavior, and she imagines the female body as a thing that can be tarnished by too much use.” Ms. Sessions Stepp defended the book in interviews. “I didn’t want to be a scold, I grew up with scolds,” she told The Baltimore Sun. “And I am not saying, ‘Have less sex.’ I am saying, ‘Have more romance.’ Love is a word that I didn’t hear, along with passion, joy, anticipation, and just being goopily in love.” Her voice rising, she added: “I am sick and tired of having to defend what I think is a reasonable middle position. The far right wants you to wait until you are married to have sex. The far left is telling you to have as much sex as you want, the only requirement is protection. These young women are in the middle trying to figure out how to do this.” Laura Elizabeth Sessions was born on July 27, 1951, in Fort Smith, Ark. Her father, Robert Sessions, was a Methodist minister who preached in support of school desegregation, an unpopular position that resulted in a cross being burned in the family’s front yard. Her mother, Martha Rae (Rutledge) Sessions, was a psychologist. In high school, she dated a lot. Boys picked her up on her doorstep, she recalled in an interview with The New York Times after “Unhooked” was published. Some gave her friendship rings, which her father insisted she return. She studied ******* and English at Earlham College, in Richmond, Ind., graduating in 1973. The following year, she earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her first job was in television news, as a weather reporter. After working at newspapers in Florida and Pennsylvania, she joined The Charlotte Observer in 1979 as an editor overseeing newsroom projects. She led a team of reporters who won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1981 for a series of articles about brown lung disease among textile workers. In 1982, Ms. Sessions Stepp joined The Post as an editor, turning to writing four years later. She took a buyout from the newspaper in 2008. In addition to “Unhooked,” she wrote “Our Last Best Shot: Guiding Our Children Through Early Adolescence” (2000), a well-received book that explored the struggles adolescents face with social belonging, identity, learning and independence. “Our Last Best Shot,” published in 2000, explored the struggles adolescents face with belonging, identity, learning and independence.Credit…Riverhead Her marriage to Robert King ended in divorce. She married Carl Stepp, a journalist and longtime journalism professor at the University of Maryland, in 1981, and they shared each other’s surnames. In addition to Mr. Stepp, she is survived by their son, Jeff Stepp; two stepdaughters, Ashli Stepp Calvert and Amber Stepp; three grandchildren; her stepmother, Julia Sessions; and her sisters, Teresa Kramer, Kathy Sessions and Sarah Lundal. Unlike many reporters in Washington, Ms. Sessions Stepp never wanted to cover politicians or other well-known people. “Chronicling the lives of the rich or famous is a sexy beat,” she wrote in Nieman Reports magazine in 2000. “It wins reporters spots on the front page, not to mention dinner party invitations. But it’s not nearly as personally rewarding, in my view, as writing about ordinary people.” Source link #Laura #Sessions #Stepp #Reported #Teenage #Sex #Dies Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Inside the Sean ’Diddy’ Combs Hotline: The Makings of a Mass Tort Inside the Sean ’Diddy’ Combs Hotline: The Makings of a Mass Tort In a room full of cubicles, workers in headsets read from their computer screens, addressing callers who dialed a 1-800 number. They have a script. “Were you or your loved one ********* abused by Sean ‘Love’ Combs, known as Diddy, Puff Daddy and P. Diddy?” “If the abuse occurred at a party, please list the name of the party. What kind of party was it?” Their employer, Reciprocity Industries, is a legal services company located in a low-slung building in Billings, Mont., more than 2,000 miles from the Brooklyn jail where Mr. Combs awaits trial on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. For years, the company has helped seed litigation by fielding complaints from people hurt by natural disasters, weedkillers or abusive clergy. Now it’s the central collection point for ******* assault allegations against Mr. Combs. Some complaints come in through the phone, others arrive online in response to ads promoted on Facebook and Instagram. (A news conference where a backdrop displayed the hotline in large red numbers made headlines last October.) By the company’s count, it has received some 26,000 contacts. It has deemed hundreds of complaints worthy of review. Already, the lead lawyer handling these cases, Tony Buzbee, a high-profile litigator from Houston, has filed nearly 40 lawsuits against Mr. Combs. He says more are coming. In their court filings, Mr. Combs’ accusers describe harrowing abuse. Fifteen plaintiffs say he ****** them. Three say they were minors at the time. The accounts are often similar: a drink at a party, unusual wooziness and a ******* assault. All were initially filed anonymously. “Plaintiff has experienced a significant impact on her personal life,” lawyers said in a suit that accused Mr. Combs of assaulting a woman at a hotel in 2014. The cases against Mr. Combs, who denies assaulting anyone, amount to what’s called a mass tort, in which many people, often drawn by advertising, file claims against a common defendant. This growing area of the law has long been divisive. Lawyers for plaintiffs say the cases foster justice for those who have suffered at the hands of powerful people or institutions, such as former Boy Scouts who were ********* abused. But critics say mass torts, and the advertising often aligned with them, can draw frivolous claims that are haphazardly vetted, and that the sheer volume of cases can overwhelm both the court system and defense teams. It will be months, perhaps years, before settlements, dismissals or verdicts resolve whether Mr. Combs was a serial predator. But his lawyers are already challenging the ways in which many of the cases have been collected. “We have seen a very high volume of very, very dubious cases,” Mark Cuccaro, one of Mr. Combs’s lawyers, told a judge at a hearing in January. Mr. Combs denies ********* assaulting anyone and has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. His lawyers say the deluge of suits is not evidence of guilt, only proof that some people will seek to feed off financial settlements from a wealthy celebrity. One case was withdrawn last month after the plaintiff, who said she had been ****** by Mr. Combs and the rapper Jay-Z when she was 13, acknowledged having made mistakes in her account in an interview with NBC News. Her allegations have precipitated a contentious legal battle involving private investigators and courts in multiple states. In another Combs case, aspects of an anonymous man’s lawsuit accusing Mr. Combs of ***** — including the year — were amended after inconsistencies emerged in his interview with CNN. Mr. Buzbee said those issues should not affect the other cases. “I’ve always said that each case lives or dies on its own merit,” he said in an interview. The increase in mass torts related to ******* abuse has been driven in part by laws established in the #MeToo era that extended new opportunities for plaintiffs who did not bring claims during the typical statute of limitations. Reciprocity Industries, however, did not enter the Combs case because it was approached by people who said they had been abused, according to Andrew Van Arsdale, the lawyer in charge of the company. It entered, he said, after he noted that an explosive lawsuit had been filed by a former girlfriend of Mr. Combs and that the music mogul had settled it the next day. “Predators don’t just do it to one person,” Mr. Van Arsdale said in an interview, “they do it to many, many people.” Within days, he said, his firm had taken out its first social media ad asking people about their interactions with Mr. Combs. The Rise of Mass Torts The legal landscape changed dramatically in 1977, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition against lawyer advertising violated the First Amendment. Soon lawyers’ faces and testimonials were popping up in newspapers and on television. Rules developed by courts and bar associations restrict lawyers, generally, from calling people injured in, say, a car ****** to ask if they can represent them. But advertising a lawyer’s services in a public forum and, in some cases, tailoring the messaging to a particular group of potential plaintiffs is allowed. Rules prohibit false or misleading ads. Disciplinary action for infractions is uncommon, experts say, but court disciplinary bodies do review ads in response to complaints. Advocates for mass-tort reform, often lawyers who represent companies facing litigation, have sought more regulations on the content of ads and the role of third-party investors who help finance some claims with huge numbers of plaintiffs. Spending on mass-tort television advertising has averaged about $190 million per year over the past decade, according to X Ante, a data analysis company. But social media has become the new frontier. “It’s so much easier and faster to reach that many more people,” said Karen Barth Menzies, a lawyer who has been working on mass-tort cases since the 1990s. Unlike class-action lawsuits, in which a small number of plaintiffs represent a larger group of people, often with largely identical complaints, mass torts are filed as many individual lawsuits that typically feature similar, but factually distinct claims against the same defendant. Reciprocity, which Mr. Van Arsdale operates with a friend from high school, a software engineer, does not actually file mass-tort lawsuits. It assists them by collecting and assessing complaints and turning them over to client law firms or to his own law firm, which is a separate company, to litigate. Mr. Van Arsdale has been in the legal advertising business since 2006, viewing his whole career as devoted to getting people access to the justice system. He decided to become a lawyer and passed the bar in 2018. Shortly after, he was asked to join his first ******* abuse case, the mass tort in which the Boy Scouts organization was accused of failing to protect children. Mr. Van Arsdale and his colleagues took out television spots in search of potential plaintiffs. “It took three weeks of ads to even get the first case,” he said. As the calls and cases rolled in, Mr. Van Arsdale hired more staff. Today, Reciprocity employs roughly 70 employees to answer the phones 24/7 and more than 30 others to further develop potential cases. In the Combs case, three potential clients signed up after the first advertisement. “It wasn’t as big as we thought it was going to be,” he said. Then Mr. Combs was indicted, and Mr. Van Arsdale’s law firm took out another round of social media ads. “The world is watching P. Diddy’s case unfold,” one read, alongside an A.I.-generated image of Mr. Combs in jail. “If you’ve been silenced, now is the time to find your voice.” The contacts began to flow in much more quickly. About a week later, Mr. Van Arsdale said, Mr. Buzbee reached out. Years earlier, he said, Reciprocity had helped Mr. Buzbee with advertising on another mass-tort case. A hard-charging lawyer, Mr. Buzbee built his career filing lawsuits on behalf of oil and gas workers and won some eye-popping verdicts. More recently, he secured settlements for more than two dozen women who accused the football player Deshaun Watson of ******* misconduct in massage appointments. “We started talking about Diddy,” Mr. Van Arsdale recalled of their conversation in September. “I said, ‘Well, we’ve got some cases — I think this is real.’ He said, ‘Well, let’s go, I’d love to work on those.’” His Profile Is Big, Like Texas It takes three elevators to reach Mr. Buzbee’s ********** office on the 75th floor of the tallest building in Texas. Inside, sharks are the decorative motif: a silver sculpture of one, shark-shaped doorknobs and a shark tattoo on Mr. Buzbee’s right forearm. In Houston, where he ran for mayor in 2019, Mr. Buzbee is a well-known figure, largely because of his work, but also because of his penchant for spectacle. A former Marine captain, Mr. Buzbee caused a stir in 2017 by parking a World War II-era tank outside his home in the city. On his ranch in northeast Texas, he keeps hundreds of animals, including zebras and camels that draw the attention of passing drivers. His clients have included former Gov. Rick Perry, who later served as the best man when he married several years ago. When disaster strikes, Mr. Buzbee often enters the legal fray. He filed suits after Hurricane Harvey, after a deadly crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival and after the fatal implosion of the Titan submersible, in which he represents the family of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a maritime expert who died in the disaster. “I get a lot of calls from people that have worked their cases up to a point where they need somebody to come try them, like they can’t do that part of it,” he said. “And that’s the part I do the best.” Colleagues describe Mr. Buzbee as an unrelenting litigator who, as a businessman, can choose to accept only cases he believes in. “Tony gets to say ‘no’ anytime he wants,” said Chad Pinkerton, who once worked at Mr. Buzbee’s firm. Six days after Mr. Buzbee and Mr. Van Arsdale agreed to work together on the Combs cases, they held a news conference at which Mr. Buzbee announced they had 120 clients who intended to sue the music mogul, speaking in front of the sign featuring Reciprocity’s 1-800 number. “The biggest secret in the entertainment industry that really wasn’t a secret at all has finally been revealed to the world,” Mr. Buzbee told those gathered. Within 24 hours, the hotline received roughly 12,000 calls. “It broke our systems,” Mr. Van Arsdale said. Lawyers for Mr. Combs have called the news conference a “publicity stunt” and Mr. Buzbee a “1-800 attorney.” “Sean Combs has never ********* assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,” they said in a statement. “No number of lawsuits, sensationalized allegations, or media theatrics will change that reality.” In Montana, at the Call Center Complaints about Sean Combs to Reciprocity Industries often start with calls to the room filled with cubicles, known as “the floor.” From there, they progress through a system that Mr. Van Arsdale said ferrets out false claims. “You’re going to have scam artists out there, right?” he said in an interview. “You’re going to have crank callers and that’s just part of it, right? But you need to have the proper processes and procedures in place to try to stomp them out.” A questionnaire from a call is reviewed by a second employee, who decides whether to pass it on to “litigation support.” There, staffers gather more information and test whether an account is consistent, Mr. Van Arsdale said. People who respond to social media ads online are called by agents who walk them through the questionnaire. Some contacts have come in through an Arizona law firm that is behind a website urging users to “see if you qualify” to join the Combs litigation. The firm is paid a referral fee for successful claims, Mr. Van Arsdale said. Claims that survive the weed-out process are sent to Mr. Van Arsdale’s law firm, which is about a 15-minute drive away. There, lawyers seek further corroboration, including witness testimony and police or medical records, he said. All of the more than 26,000 contacts related to the Combs cases are organized in a database. More than 600 came to be viewed as potential cases, Mr. Van Arsdale said. Others, he said, were often found to be from pranksters, or people who viewed themselves as witnesses or who had called to complain about something else. Some 200 files were sent on to Mr. Buzbee’s firm, where Mr. Buzbee said he has lawyers and former police personnel who continue to vet the claims. As is typical in mass-tort cases, the lawyers handling the Combs lawsuits would collect a portion of any money awarded in a verdict or settlement, typically 40 percent, Mr. Van Arsdale said. Reciprocity charges fees to the law firms that hire it, and uses that income to support its outreach. In the Boy Scouts case, Mr. Van Arsdale and co-counsels represent roughly 11,000 plaintiffs with accounts of ******* abuse. Several years ago, one of the institution’s insurance carriers, Century Indemnity Company, described Reciprocity in court papers as a “claims aggregator” and questioned its scrutiny of claims, its use of financial incentives and the accuracy of the ads it was using. As evidence, it submitted an affidavit by a former Reciprocity employee who said she had been paid weekly bonuses based on how many claimants she signed up — to start, $200 if she signed up 20. Experts say the payment of such incentives is an ethical gray area, though they were not aware of any specific prohibition. Mr. Van Arsdale said other call centers use incentives but that he got rid of them at his company because they had become a “distraction.” “The same kind of rigorous vetting process that we have and exists today existed then,” he said. An Accuser Becomes a Defendant The woman who accused Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, and Mr. Combs of raping her when she was 13 first gave her account to Reciprocity last fall after responding to a Facebook ad, according to Mr. Van Arsdale. In her subsequent lawsuit, she described being driven to a party after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, where she was given a drink, felt woozy and ended up in a bedroom. She said Mr. Combs and “Celebrity A,” later identified in court papers as Mr. Carter, took turns assaulting her there. But some details of her account later unraveled. After escaping the house, the suit says, the teenager ran to a gas station, where she called her father to pick her up. Her father, though, who lived in Rochester, N.Y., a five-hour drive from Manhattan, told NBC News he did not recall such a trip. In the NBC interview, the woman had identified a musician she said she had spoken to at the party. But the musician had actually been on tour that night in the Midwest. At a news conference, Mr. Carter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, said the suit made “a mockery” of the justice system. Mr. Carter accused Mr. Buzbee of trying to blackmail him. He said that weeks earlier, when the court filing had only identified him as “Celebrity A,” the lawyer sent him a letter suggesting they resolve the matter through “confidential mediation.” Mr. Buzbee said such mediation efforts are standard practice and insisted the complaint had been vetted properly by his lawyers and a retired police detective. He called it “outrageous” to expect someone victimized as a minor to have “perfect recall” more than two decades later. In February, Mr. Buzbee withdrew the woman’s suit, but the court battle has only grown more bitter. Last week, Mr. Carter sued the woman and two of her lawyers, Mr. Buzbee and David Fortney. In court papers submitted by Mr. Carter, a private investigator said she had visited the woman on her front porch in Alabama, where she said the woman admitted her ***** claim against Mr. Carter was false. As for the vetting, court papers filed by Mr. Carter’s lawyers say a public record search would have shown that the woman had a “legally-documented history of mental health issues.” Mr. Buzbee has disputed that his client recanted, and in a recent affidavit, the woman said she stood by her account. She said one reason she had decided to dismiss the lawsuit was because she was “frightened by the reaction of Jay-Z and his supporters” and was concerned she would eventually have to be named. In an email, Mr. Buzbee declined to comment on his client’s mental state, saying it had “nothing to do with her ability to state truth.” Mr. Carter’s complaint has been embraced by Mr. Combs, whose lawyers said the suit was “just the first of many that will not hold up in a court of law.” But the more than 50 lawsuits accusing Mr. Combs of ******* abuse extend beyond those vetted and filed by Mr. Buzbee. More than a dozen other lawyers represent clients who say they were victimized by Mr. Combs, and most of those plaintiffs have sued under their own names. “It validates their own story to hear that they weren’t the only ones,” said Michelle Caiola, a lawyer representing two of those plaintiffs. Last month, Mr. Buzbee filed seven more lawsuits from anonymous plaintiffs who accused Mr. Combs of ******* abuse or violence. One man said he was ****** in a hotel room when he was 14 years old. Mr. Van Arsdale said the ads surrounding the Combs case, having run their course, have been pulled, but the hotline still gets calls. More recently, the law firm had an ad campaign addressed toward people who feel they were harmed by three brothers who have pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges in New York. “If you or a loved one at any time experienced inappropriate behavior by Oren, Tal or Alon Alexander,” one Instagram ad read, “you may be entitled to significant compensation.” Joe Coscarelli and Ben Sisario contributed reporting. Kirsten Noyes contributed research. Source link #Sean #Diddy #Combs #Hotline #Makings #Mass #Tort Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

US Secret Service shoots ‘armed’ man near White House US Secret Service shoots ‘armed’ man near White House The US Secret Service has shot an armed man outside the White House after a confrontation, and the man is now in an area hospital, it says. US President Donald Trump was not in the residence at the time, as he is spending the weekend at his Florida residence. Secret Service officials received a tip on Saturday from local authorities that a suicidal person may be travelling to Washington DC from Indiana and the person’s car was found a block from the White House, it said in a statement. The man brandished a firearm as officers approached him and shots were fired shortly after midnight local time. He was taken to an area hospital and his condition was not known. Source link #Secret #Service #shoots #armed #man #White #House Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Mario Day deals include a Switch OLED that comes with Super Mario Bros. Wonder for $349 Mario Day deals include a Switch OLED that comes with Super Mario Bros. Wonder for $349 Mario Day, otherwise called Mar10 Day or just March 10, is nearly here. This is a yearly celebration to commemorate Nintendo’s iconic plumber. It’s not his birthday or anything, but rather a totally random day that sort of looks like his name when spelled a specific way. It’s just like how Star Wars Day falls on May 4. Nintendo This comes with the console, game and three months of Nintendo Switch Online. $349 at Walmart The main feature of Mar10 Day is deals, on both Nintendo consoles and Mario-themed games. Walmart is selling a Nintendo Switch OLED bundle for $349 that comes with a digital download code for the fantastic Super Mario Bros. Wonder and a three-month subscription to Nintendo Switch Online. That’s a savings of nearly $70. GameStop is also selling just about every notable Mario game for $20 off, making them $40. This even includes the recently-released Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, which is a great port of a 3DS classic. To view this content, you’ll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the “Content and social-media partners” setting to do so. Gamers can pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario 3D World Plus Bowser’s Fury, Super Mario Odyssey and Princess Peach: Showtime, all for $40. The remake of the very first Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is down to just $30. To view this content, you’ll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the “Content and social-media partners” setting to do so. There’s one last little goodie here for Nintendo fans. The company’s famous (or infamous) alarm clock, Alarmo, is now available for purchase from both Walmart and Target, in addition to pre-existing availability on the Nintendo online store. Source link #Mario #Day #deals #include #Switch #OLED #Super #Mario #Bros Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]