Pelican Press

Penrith await Roosters after Radley blow, 50-point loss Penrith await Roosters after Radley blow, 50-point loss The Sydney Roosters could face premiers Penrith with a heavily-depleted side, Victor Radley being the headline absentee after he was knocked out in a sickening collision in his club’s season-opening loss to Brisbane. Radley was taken from the field in the first half of Thursday’s 50-14 thumping at the hands of the Broncos after a head clash with captain James Tedesco. The England international will miss next Friday’s clash with the Panthers due to the NRL’s concussion protocols and he may not be the only player absent. Angus Crichton could also face suspension after he was placed on report for a late shot on Broncos playmaker Ben Hunt. Utility forward Nat Butcher was also a late scratching from the club’s season opener to an undisclosed operation. “He is concussed. He’s okay in the sheds but you don’t want those things to happen,” Robinson said of Radley’s injury. “He’s pretty key to our team and the way that we run things. To lose him quite early was tough.” With Brandon Smith and Sam Walker both injured for the early part of the season and prop Spencer Leniu suspended for the Penrith clash, the absences of Crichton, Butcher and Radley will be felt keenly. The Roosters lost close to 1000 games of NRL experience over the off-season and are tipped by many experts to miss the top-eight for the first time in close to a decade. Robinson’s side were not able to lay a glove on Brisbane and while many thought their season would be a slow burn, the harrowing nature of the loss has brought the club’s roster back into focus. The Chooks’ bench boasted two debutants and another inexperienced forward in four-gamer Blake Steep. Young centre Rob Toia was also impressive on debut and looked to have struck up a strong partnership with Dom Young. “It’s hard to explain how excited you are about developing a team and watching these guys make three debuts,” Robinson said. “It’s really disappointing, but it’s not a matter of happy or sad. “We’ve got to work hard, and that’s what coaching is. You’ve got to go step by step, and I saw some things that I liked. “We’ll keep getting better as long as we keep our attitude where it needs to be and we keep improving our smarts and we keep belief in our team. “I’ve been asked if I’m worried, or the size of the challenge, but that’s the beauty of it.” Source link #Penrith #await #Roosters #Radley #blow #50point #loss Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC Features a ‘Spookier’ Vibe Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC Features a ‘Spookier’ Vibe Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ creative producer, Jonathan Dumont, has revealed new details about the Claws of Awaji DLC, stating it will feature a ‘spookier’ and ‘different’ vibe. Ahead of the release, Dumont shared information about the game’s post-launch content during an interview with Gamerant. The creative producer stated that Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji DLC will act as a “continuation” of the adventure and story of their two protagonists. The DLC will feature a “different vibe, a bit spookier,” he added. Dumont also stated that Assassin’s Creed Shadows features “a definite ending”, and the Claws of Awaji DLC’s events occur after the “core story of the main game”. This means players will have much to explore after completing the base game, as the DLC will introduce 10+ hours of additional gameplay. Check out the gameplay trailer for Claws of Awaji here. During the same interview, Dumont also discussed the bonus pre-order quest for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Thrown to the Dogs. The creative producer described it as “a simple yet heartfelt side quest,” similar to the side content we saw in AC Odyssey. The quest begins with a beaten-up stray dog at a grave, who takes the protagonists to his former house to uncover some “family secrets,” stated Dumont. In other news, check out the deep dive of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ hideout feature. Also, here’s how to claim the game’s pre-order bonuses. What are your thoughts on Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC featuring a ‘different’ and ‘spookier’ vibe? Let us know in the comments or on our community forum! For more information from Insider Gaming, read about Xbox update resetting consoles to factory default settings. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Assassins #Creed #Shadows #DLC #Features #Spookier #Vibe Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Solar Storm to Trigger Northern Lights in US: Visibility, Timing & Impact Solar Storm to Trigger Northern Lights in US: Visibility, Timing & Impact A solar storm is set to reach Earth tonight, with potential geomagnetic activity that could make the northern lights visible as far south as New York and Idaho. The event is the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun, which was recorded on March 1. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has classified this as a G1-level geomagnetic storm, with a possibility of stronger G2 conditions. As a result, skywatchers in mid-latitudes may witness the aurora borealis in areas where the skies remain clear. Geomagnetic Storm Forecast and Impact According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the CME is expected to make contact with Earth’s magnetic field between March 4 and March 5. The intensity of the storm is predicted to peak between 7:00 p.m. EST and 10:00 p.m. EST on March 5. While a G1 storm is considered minor, space weather physicist Tamitha Skov has indicated that G2 storm conditions remain a possibility, increasing the chances of a more widespread auroral display. Geomagnetic storms occur when charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, potentially affecting satellite communications, power grids, and GPS accuracy. Experts have advised that radio operators, GPS users, and drone pilots may experience signal disruptions, especially during nighttime hours when such interference is more pronounced. Visibility and Viewing Conditions As per reports, aurora visibility will largely depend on atmospheric clarity and light pollution levels. NOAA’s storm classification system places G1 storms as minor, meaning that the northern lights will likely be seen closer to high-latitude regions. If G2 storm conditions occur, visibility could extend further south. Observers are advised to find dark locations away from city lights for the best viewing experience. For real-time updates and forecasts, space weather monitoring agencies continue to track the storm’s progression. For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2025 hub. Source link #Solar #Storm #Trigger #Northern #Lights #Visibility #Timing #Impact Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

This Raspberry Pi Pico protractor has all of the angles covered! This Raspberry Pi Pico protractor has all of the angles covered! The Raspberry Pi maker community never ceases to amaze us and today we have a project that’s no exception. Maker and developer Yaluke demonstrates with their latest creation how easy it is to create a Raspberry Pi Pico-powered protractor module from scratch. This isn’t the same as the static measuring tool you might find in a school but rather is an electronic component that’s surprisingly useful in the world of gaming. This Pi-powered protractor is intended to be used to calculate rotational angles in real time. This particular module is able to convert said measurement into a USB signal which makes it an excellent go to device for simulating steering wheels. If you want to emulate a driving game, this is the sort of setup you could use to make a controller from scratch. According to Yaluke, the Pico relies on a rotary encoder module to determine the rotation data. This information is fed to the Pico using a GPIO connection. The precision of the measurement can be tuned to specific use cases so you can make the steering wheel as sensitive as you need it to be. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Yaluke) (Image credit: Yaluke) The project page indicates that the main board powering the operation is a Raspberry Pi Pico but you could likely get away with using the latest Raspberry Pi Pico 2 instead. The Pico is connected to a DFRobot incremental photoelectric rotary encoder along with a Pimoroni Pico Proto Board. Data can be viewed in real-time using a 4-digit 7-segment TM1637 display module. All of the hardware is housed inside of a custom, 3D-printed case. The software for the protractor was created using C++ for its USB support and extensive compatibility with the PIO (Programmable IO) on the Pico. However, Yaluke mentions experimenting with both MicroPython and CircuitPython before settling on C++. Yaluke was kind enough to create a build guide for this Raspberry Pi project so you can follow along and make your own. Check it out over at Hackster for more details and an in-depth look at its creation. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Raspberry #Pico #protractor #angles #covered Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

House censures Rep. Al Green for heckling Trump speech House censures Rep. Al Green for heckling Trump speech Rep. Al Green (D-TX) shouts out as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Win Mcnamee | Via Reuters The House of Representatives voted Thursday to censure Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green for heckling President Donald Trump during the president’s speech to Congress earlier this week. The vote to censure Green was 224–198. Ten of the lawmaker’s fellow Democrats joined Republicans in voting to formally express disapproval for conduct, which consisted of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reading the censure out loud to Green as he stood in the well of the House chamber. Members of the Congressional ****** Caucus sang the civil rights protest song “We Shall Overcome” as Johnson finished, spurring a handful of Republicans to yell “order!” “Shame on you!” Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Joyce Beatty yelled at GOP representatives. Johnson ordered Green ejected from the House chamber on Tuesday night after the Texan loudly interrupted Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress and refused to sit down. Fewer than 30 members of the House have been censured. Green on Wednesday said he would “suffer the consequences” for heckling Trump. “But truthfully, I would do it again,” he said at the time. Source link #House #censures #Rep #Green #heckling #Trump #speech Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

World of Warships Legends introduces Dutch Cruisers and sequel to Rust ‘n Rumble in new update World of Warships Legends introduces Dutch Cruisers and sequel to Rust ‘n Rumble in new update World of Warships: Legends latest update is here Check out new content including the Dutch cruisers, commanders and more Azur Lane also makes a return with its sixth wave (pun intended) of content As we head into spring, some of you may be taking furtive glances at the sea and wondering whether a dip in chilly waters is worth it for some pre-summer days out at the beach. Well, good news! You can enjoy the fun of the sea in a whole new way without even having to get out of your chair in the latest update for World of Warships: Legends. First off we’ve got perhaps the biggest update for those of you from the Netherlands. Not only are the Dutch getting new cruisers, but they’re also getting a dedicated commander, some snazzy white and orange camouflage and more! You can even head to the Netherlands itself with the new Rotterdam Port to offer picturesque views. Meanwhile, you can also go down under as the 100 milestone campaign offers the Legendary tier HMAS Vampire II as its final reward. But that’s not all of course as Azur Lane returns to the World of Warships: Legends with its sixth wave (pun not intended) of content. The blue sea The Azure Lane collab brings new commanders with distinctive skills and voiceovers, ensuring you’ve got plenty to enjoy when you leap into this latest collab, and that’s not even getting started with the ships that’ll sport distinctive camouflages of their own! Oh, and speaking of, if you enjoyed World of Warships: Legends’ previous Rust ‘n Rumble event be sure to check in because a little birdie says that it might be making a very welcome return. And St Patrick’s Day is also set to see some other special events, so stay tuned. And if you’re going to be jumping back into World of Warships: Legends be sure not to leave yourself adrift! Instead, check in on our list of World of Warships: Legends codes to make sure you get a free boost with some extra rewards we’ve collated across the web. Source link #World #Warships #Legends #introduces #Dutch #Cruisers #sequel #Rust #Rumble #update Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Bad news PC gamers – it seems AMD’s aggressively low price for its Radeon RX 9070 GPU will only be for a limited time Bad news PC gamers – it seems AMD’s aggressively low price for its Radeon RX 9070 GPU will only be for a limited time Some worldwide retailers have confirmed the RX 9070’s timed MSRP It’s claimed only the first batch of select models will be available for $549 Once sold, the new prices could match (or narrow) that of the RX 9070 XT It’s launch day for AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics cards, with the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT now available on store shelves. However, as some online retailers have mentioned already, the former’s respective MSRP ($549) may only apply to the initial batch of the GPUs sold, with future supply seeing a potential price increase. As spotted by Videocardz, it’s alleged that the RX 9070 will only be sold at its MSRP of $549 for a limited time, as AMD’s partners will be able to set their prices. Swedish retailer Inet.se informed the outlet that the MSRP would only be respected for the first run, as the company evidenced this with its selling of PowerColor Reaper variants, as the prices of a second shipment are reportedly already higher. The retailer explained how its AMD RX 9070 stock prices will depend on the manufacturer shipping the different cards, outlining that with “Sapphire and Asus it will be just usual” as you’ll be able to buy the GPUs at MSRP until they run out. However, it also said that it will be different with PowerColor. “Our second shipment from PowerColor is already waiting, and we cannot it at MSRP prices”. To clarify, it says it will sell the first run of PowerColor Reaper RX 9070 cards it has in stock until they are sold out, and then increase prices when it is fulfilling orders from the second batch. “If you receive an order with MSRP price even though the cards are sold out we will of course give you that price, but unfortunately we have no way of continuing to sell cards at MSRP after the first deliveries are sold out”. This is a problem that seems to impact prospective buyers in the *** as well. Andrew Gibson, Purchasing Manager for Overclockers ***, spoke about the limited amount of RX 9070 stock at MSRP from the retailer. He explained the retailer had around 5,000 cards in total from Sapphire (2,000), PowerColor (1,000), and ASRock (1,000), but that “MSRP is capped quantity of a few hundred, so prices will jump once those are sold through”. It’s believed that only four different variants of the AMD RX 9070 will be available for its MSRP price: the PowerColor Reaper, Sapphire Pulse, Asus Prime, and XFX Swift, at least for the initial shipment window, as outlined in Sweden and the ***. There’s a possibility that things could be broadened in the US; however, there’s also no guarantee that the prices you’ll see today (and over the next few days) will be as low as what could come shortly if you don’t pull the trigger early. A wrench in the works for RDNA’s budget performer Earlier today, we praised the fact that many retailers were (seemingly) flush with options for RX 9070 XT stock on launch day, something that we cannot say for the dismal state of Nvidia’s RTX 50 series in contrast. However, while availability doesn’t appear to be marred the same way, the fact that the aggressive $549 starting price seems so ephemeral is disappointing, given the overall value proposition. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. As it stands, the RX 9070 is just $50 cheaper than the (current) RDNA 4 flagship model, the RX 9070 XT, which is available for $599. However, if you’re unable to secure a non-XT model for its recommended retail price, then the overall point of the card in the face of its sibling seems moot by comparison. While stock is flying off the shelves (many of the MSRP models mentioned above are no longer available), you’re prompted to pay extra to get one instead, which is far from ideal. As such, what’s the point of the RX 9070 if you’re going to have to spend the same money (or more) than purchasing the RX 9070 XT instead? The latter appears more available with retailers such as Best Buy, Newegg, B&H, and Micro Center having stock by comparison. To try to avoid disappointment, we recommend keeping up with our regularly updated dedicated RX 9070 and RX 9070 stock tracker. You may also like… Source link #Bad #news #gamers #AMDs #aggressively #price #Radeon #GPU #limited #time Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Trump seeks to dismantle Education Department as he gives tariff reprieve to US automakers – CNN Trump seeks to dismantle Education Department as he gives tariff reprieve to US automakers – CNN Trump seeks to dismantle Education Department as he gives tariff reprieve to US automakers CNNTrump Could Sign Order To Close Department Of Education: Here’s What That Means ForbesSenate confirms McMahon to lead Education Department as Trump pushes to shut it down The Associated PressWhat dismantling the Education Department could mean for Kentucky Courier Journal Source link #Trump #seeks #dismantle #Education #Department #tariff #reprieve #automakers #CNN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Apple’s M4 Mac mini drops to a new record-low price Apple’s M4 Mac mini drops to a new record-low price Apple’s recently-released M4 Mac mini has dropped to a new record-low price. You can scoop one up for $529 via Amazon, . This version ships with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Other models are also on *****, as the one with 16GB/512GB and the beefy 24GB/512GB instead of $1,000. We called the M4 Mac mini “shockingly small” and “incredibly powerful” , and that stands today. The chip is fast, which makes sense as it’s Apple’s latest effort, and the smaller design doesn’t take up much desk space. That leaves plenty of room for a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Apple We like that these desktops don’t go any lower than 16GB of RAM, so any version will excel with music production, light video editing and other creative tasks. For real-deal video editing, you may want to pony up for the extra RAM or go with a model that’s been outfitted with the M4 Pro (which aren’t on *****.) There are front-facing USB-C and headphone ports, which are nice, and plenty more connection options on the rear. On the downside, there’s no SD card reader, which is something that many teensy PCs include. The fan can also get pretty loud during heavy workloads. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice. Source link #Apples #Mac #mini #drops #recordlow #price Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

TSMC expands investments in the U.S. to $165 billion with new fabs and R&D center: A closer look TSMC expands investments in the U.S. to $165 billion with new fabs and R&D center: A closer look On Monday, TSMC announced plans to invest $100 billion in expanding its U.S. manufacturing capacity. The funds will go toward three additional fabs, two advanced packaging plants, and a major R&D facility. We spoke with the company to learn more about its plans and some additional details. The extra $100 billion investment adds to TSMC’s $65 billion commitment for its Fab 21 site near Phoenix, Arizona. This makes TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, one of the biggest foreign investors in the U.S. to date. Given the titanic proportions of TSMC’s $165 billion investment, it’s warranted to see and understand where and how the funds are being used across TSMC’s various U.S. initiatives. Let’s take a look at how this fits in with TSMC’s overall strategy. New Fabs, Packaging Facilities, and an R&D Center Although TSMC said it would invest an additional $100 billion in its U.S. operations, it has not disclosed specific details regarding the timing, locations, or technologies for its expanded U.S. investment. However, the company appears to have enough space to build new facilities at its Fab 21 site. “We have not announced details on timing, locations, or specific technologies for our intended new investments yet,” Nina Kao, head of public relations at TSMC, told Tom’s Hardware. “We are committed to moving as fast as possible to meet our customers’ needs, and we expect to share more information as our plans are finalized.” (Image credit: TSMC) TSMC’s Fab 21 campus near Phoenix, Arizona, is around 1,100 acres in size (4.5 km^2), which is more than twice the size of Monaco or roughly equivalent to 630 football fields placed side by side. The company originally intended to build six fab modules (or phases) there, making the facility one of the largest semiconductor production sites in the world. However, when TSMC finalized its CHIPS deal with the U.S. government last year, it outlined plans to build three Fab 21 phases by 2030. Phase one includes equipment to fabricate N5 and N4 process nodes, which are already in mass production. Phase two is set to become operational in 2028 with N3 capabilities. Then, phase three is set to introduce N2 and A16 process nodes by 2030. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. The new announcement adds three more Fab 21 phases, two advanced packaging facilities, and an R&D center. TSMC hopes to build everything at its Fab 21 site, making it one of its major production hubs. “We originally selected the site in Phoenix, Arizona, and purchased a piece of land that is ******* than 1100 acres because we would like to accommodate several operating fabs and support future expansion to scale for the economics,” Kao told us. “We will work closely with the City, the State, federal government and our local infrastructure and education partners to ensure that our expansion plans can be supported.” (Image credit: TSMC) While TSMC has not formally announced any timing for its new facilities, its latest estimate of 40,000 construction jobs over four years suggests a significant increase compared to the earlier projection of 20,000 unique jobs by the end of the decade. TSMC indicates that some projects will likely proceed in parallel, leading to higher labor demand, but has not specified whether this means doubling production capacity for N3 and/or N2/A16 technology in the U.S. “While we have not announced details of timing yet, we would expect some of these projects to happen in parallel, which would increase the construction demands,” said Kao. While he said that the company has not changed its original schedule for Fab 21 phases, building fabs in parallel could impact their timing. For example, if TSMC secures enough tools to equip its N3 (3nm-class) and N2/A16 (2nm-class, 1.6nm-class) fabs from ASML, Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research earlier than planned, and hires (or relocates from Taiwan) enough qualified personnel to install them, it may accelerate the completion of Fab 21 phase two and/or Fab 21 phase three. Massive investments Given the gargantuan investment, in addition to the projected doubling of workers at the Fab 21 site in the next four years, it’s safe to say that TSMC is accelerating the number of workers at the Arizona campus. However, the increased construction effort is unlikely to mean a doubled investment from $65 billion to $130 billion over the next four years. This is because the company might want to scale its other efforts worldwide, namely in Taiwan, Japan, and Germany. TSMC is expected to spend $38 billion to $42 billion in 2025, and while it will dramatically increase its investments in the U.S., it remains to be seen whether the company will allocate more to its Arizona-based Fab 21 than to its global facilities in Germany, Japan, and Taiwan combined. (Image credit: TSMC) TSMC is currently building a fab in Germany (albeit in its ESMC partnership with Bosch, Infineon, and NXP), and is about to start construction of its second fab in Japan (in its JASM collaboration with Sony and Toyota). As for the company’s operations in Taiwan, TSMC is preparing to ramp up its N2-capable Fab 20 in the coming months. The facility is located adjacent to the R1 R&D center—which developed TSMC’s N2 nodes and their successor—near Baoshan in Hsinchu County. TSMC’s second N2-capable fab is in the Kaohsiung Science Park, a part of the Southern Taiwan Science Park near Kaohsiung. Production at this site is expected to start around 2026. TSMC is also building two advanced packaging facilities in Taiwan. Additionally, there are rumors that TSMC is planning a 1nm-capable Fab 25—for post-N2/A16 nodes—in the Southern Taiwan Science Park near Tainan. TSMC’s leading-edge in the U.S.? Building out a gigafab-class site in the U.S. along with two advanced packaging facilities nearby will certainly affect where TSMC builds its chips for American companies, namely Apple, AMD, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. However, the question is whether is whether TSMC would produce chips using its latest technologies in the U.S. or not. (Image credit: TSMC) Earlier this year, Taiwan’s government changed its export rules, and now TSMC is allowed to export its leading-edge production nodes to facilities overseas. Formally, this opens doors for TSMC to export its most advanced process technologies to the U.S. and perhaps Japan. However, as TSMC develops its fabrication technologies in Taiwan, it is optimal to perform yield ramp (improvements) and production ramp-up in Taiwan, where the developers of these manufacturing processes are located. It should be noted that engineers continue to refine production nodes and reduce defect density for quarters after mass production is initiated. Last year, TSMC gave a peak at its Global GigaFab program that enables the company to port a process technology from one fab to another quickly while maintaining achieved continuous process improvements (CPI) to increase yields, as well as statistical process control (SPC) to reduce performance variations. So, the company seems able to tune its nodes in Taiwan and simultaneously get the same results in the U.S. However, it does not mean TSMC can port a new node to a new fab overnight. Process porting involves porting a fab layout, its settings, and raw materials. The new fab must have (or install) equipment that meets the same specs (i.e., be tuned appropriately) as the original tools. Also, the new fab must use the same raw materials as the original fab. Even slight differences in deposition methods, etch profiles, or temperature uniformities can force re-qualification of multiple steps, which renders achievements of the original fab obsolete and requires another lengthy yield ramp process. Overall, porting a brand-new technology process from one fab to another may take 12-18 months, provided they are configured similarly. With the Global GigaFab program, TSMC can probably cut down that time by several quarters. The good news is that once a fab is configured for a process design kit (e.g., N5, which includes N5P, N4, N4P, and N4X), making chips on other nodes from the same PDK is relatively easy. While several months delay means that Apple will continue to make its iPhone processors in Taiwan, its subsequent processors based on the same PDK and aimed at more expensive devices could be made in the U.S. By contrast, AMD and Nvidia use proven fabrication technologies, so a significant part of their products could be made in the U.S. in the second half of this decade. U.S. manufacturing comes at a premium But this manufacturing will come at a cost. According to unofficial information, chips built on TSMC’s N4 and N5 process nodes in the United States could command a 20% – 30% premium over their Taiwan-made counterparts. Meanwhile, more mature processes produced at the Kumamoto facility in Japan — such as N28/N22 and N16/N12 — are expected to cost 10% – 15% more when compared to similar chips manufactured in Taiwan. (Image credit: TSMC) That 30% premium is larger than a potential 25% tariff that the Trump administration threatened to impose on Taiwan-made chips. Of course, the situation would be different if the tariffs were higher. However, imposing a 50% import tax on Taiwan-made chips and making those products 50% more expensive for American customers is unlikely. Nonetheless, a 20% to 30% premium over Taiwan-made chips means that not all American companies will be interested in making chips at Fab 21 unless absolutely necessary, though the company has indicated that its production capacity is sold out in the US until 2027. During its recent investment announcement, the company also thanked Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Qualcomm for supporting its new US operations, implying that those companies are all customers of the Arizona fabs (these are closely guarded secrets that TSMC typically does not reveal directly). However, considering the premium, TSMC is less incentivized to port older fabrication technologies to its U.S. facilities. Therefore, the U.S. will still need to depend on less advanced chips. It remains to be seen how Apple, AMD, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Qualcomm will compete against rivals that will not use TSMC’s services in the U.S. However, managers at those companies will likely have ideas on how to manage those additional costs. The roundup TSMC is expanding its U.S. manufacturing investment by an additional $100 billion, bringing its total commitment to $165 billion. This expansion includes three new fabs, two advanced packaging facilities, and an R&D center, primarily at its Fab 21 site in Phoenix, Arizona. (Image credit: TSMC) The company can potentially run projects in parallel, which could speed up deployment of TSMC’s fab in the U.S. However, despite Taiwan now allowing the export of leading-edge nodes, TSMC’s preference for ramping up new technologies domestically means that U.S. fabs may experience several months delays in adopting the latest process nodes. While the investment significantly boosts U.S. semiconductor capacity, manufacturing in the U.S. will come at a premium, with chips produced at Fab 21 expected to cost 20% – 30% more than those made in Taiwan. This higher cost could limit how many companies choose to manufacture their chips in the U.S. unless absolutely necessary. Also, that premium means that TSMC is unlikely to port its proven process technologies to the site, and therefore American companies will keep buying chips made on 12nm – 28nm-class nodes in Taiwan. Source link #TSMC #expands #investments #U.S #billion #fabs #center #closer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

A market hedge traders use if volatility spikes and the sell-off gets worse A market hedge traders use if volatility spikes and the sell-off gets worse The Cboe Volatility Index (known as the “VIX”) measures the market’s expectation of volatility over the next 30 days as implied by a weighted strip of S & P 500 Index options. When investors are nervous, options premiums, and therefore the VIX tends to spike, reflecting heightened uncertainty. A very high reading often signals panic or extreme fear. Such spikes sometimes suggest that the market may have overreacted, potentially offering buying opportunities. The problem with using the VIX alone as a buy or a sell signal is that while sometimes fears are overblown, sometimes they’re not. For example, during the so-called “Taper Tantrum” in 2018, in the first 10 days of October the S & P 500 fell more than 6.7% while the VIX more than doubled from ~12 to ~25. . However, that did not prove to be an exceptional buying opportunity, the S & P lost almost another 14% through the lows that December. .VIX 5Y mountain Cboe Volatility Index, 5 years A VIX level in the 20s suggests the market is fearful but does not indicate panic. The VIX around 22 is approximately the 72nd percentile — above average but not extreme. So what constitutes extreme? To give VIX levels some context, I broke it into deciles. In the chart below, along the x-axis are the respective deciles. 0-10 is the lowest decile – the bucket with the lowest 10% of all VIX observations and 90-100 is the top decile, the highest 10% of all VIX observations. The columns represent the average return over the subsequent 30 days. So when the market is extremely complacent, the bottom decile, the average 30 day return looking forward is .72%. The second decile average return is .8% and so on. As of Wednesday’s close, the VIX was at the 71.5%ile for all data, the decile represented by 70-80 along the x-axis in the chart. As you can see, the average return for the S & P 500 over the subsequent 30 days is anemic .07%, and well below the 30-day average return for all data of .81% (the straight blue line). That “bucket” represents VIX levels between 21.59 and 24.28. Does that mean the market will have below-average returns over the next 30 days? Not necessarily, but it’s a dangerous area when considering a couple of other factors. One issue is valuation. While valuation is not a market timing tool, well-above-average valuations present additional risk. The S & P 500 is trading at a 25-30% premium to the average forward earnings multiple over the past 35 years. Second, the VIX is trading at a ~25% premium to the average over the past 30 days. Why does this matter? Volatility is a mean-reverting process, that is, it is much higher than the average of the past month suggests it is currently moving away from the mean, whereas if the prior 30 day average VIX level was higher than the current level it would indicate it is moving back towards the mean. Incorporating those additional factors where the current VIX level is above the rolling 30-day average, and the forward PE is above 18, the average returns over the subsequent 30 days is -.73% This type of data analysis can be sketchy because the more filters one imposes, the sparser the dataset becomes. In 35 years, only 219 trading days, or 2.47% of the data, meet these criteria. The trade If you’re concerned that the rising VIX is a sign that things could get worse before they get better, a hedge might help you avoid the panic, if that’s what’s coming. Using SPDR S & P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) as a portfolio proxy, one could construct a “zero-cost put spread collar.” This collar is so named because the objective is that the premium collected from selling an out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call will offset the cost of purchasing a closer-to-at-the-money put. Below, I’ve provided an example using May options (as/of Wednesday’s closing prices). Buy SPY May 16 $565 put Sell SPY May 16 $610 call Sell SPY May 16 $520 put DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer. Source link #market #hedge #traders #volatility #spikes #selloff #worse Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump wants Canada’s critical minerals. Here’s why they matter so much – National Trump wants Canada’s critical minerals. Here’s why they matter so much – National U.S. President Donald Trump is making the race for critical minerals a key part of his agenda — and Canada’s rich reserves are a prime target for his ambitions. Dozens of minerals are being increasingly traded around the world for technologies such as smartphones, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, as well as modern military equipment. For years, the U.S. has been trying to reduce its reliance on China for those minerals, turning to like-minded producers like Canada. “Canada has strategic reserves the U.S. doesn’t have a lot of,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical mineral studies program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a U.S. think tank. Trump is now looking to accelerate that shift. On Tuesday, he told a joint session of Congress he will be signing new executive orders this week that will “dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the U.S.A.” Story continues below advertisement But Trump is also pushing mineral-rich countries to join his cause — even by threatening their sovereignty. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders last month, in comments caught on a hot mic, that Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada and make it the 51st U.S. state are “very real” because of the desire to control Canada’s critical minerals. The White House hasn’t denied those ambitions, and Trump has talked openly about acquiring Greenland for its own mineral deposits, citing national security. 0:56 Trudeau captured on hot mic calling Trump’s plan to annex Canada ‘a real thing’ Trump is also pushing Ukraine to sign an economic agreement that would give the U.S. access to its critical minerals to ensure American backing in peace talks with Russia. The agreement has yet to be sealed following a blow-up in the Oval Office last week between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had travelled to Washington to sign the deal. Story continues below advertisement Jose W. Fernandez, the former undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and environment who helped craft the Biden administration’s critical minerals strategy, said Trump’s “colonial” tactics are running counter to developing the positive trade relationships the U.S. needs. “Deals are done … by two willing parties, and companies and countries don’t typically like to have a gun to their heads when they do a transaction,” he told Global News. What critical minerals does Canada have? The ********* government’s critical minerals strategy released in late 2022 identified 31 materials it classified as “critical.” Get daily National news Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Potash — a key export to the U.S. used in fertilizers — aluminum, uranium and titanium are included in the list. Six minerals — lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements — are particularly key and hold “the most significant potential for ********* economic growth,” the government said at the time. Story continues below advertisement Those minerals are the ones most frequently found in sought-after components like rechargeable batteries and motors for EVs, as well as smartphones, solar panels, telecommunications and consumer electronics such as televisions. The rise in artificial intelligence over the past two years has further increased demand for copper to power data centres and internet connectivity. Canada has one of the world’s largest reserves of rare earth elements — elements Trump has frequently mentioned — and is a top global supplier of nickel, cobalt and lithium. 0:42 Trump wants Canada’s critical minerals, water: Singh Although Canada exports far more critical minerals than it imports, according to Natural Resources Canada, a report last month from the Center for Strategic & International Studies found the U.S. imports between 50 and 100 per cent of 41 out of 50 critical minerals listed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Story continues below advertisement China has come to dominate the critical minerals industry, not just through its own vast reserves but also by buying controlling stakes in mining companies in Canada and other countries home to those minerals. At least 60 per cent of worldwide production is controlled by China. “China has repeatedly shown its willingness to weaponize these minerals” through export restrictions and bans on several materials over the past two years, the CSIS report said, underscoring the need to reduce reliance. More on Canada More videos “If all [critical minerals] are controlled by China, then China can occupy this kind of critical chokepoint,” said Diya Jiang, a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies and a PhD candidate in political science at McGill University. Trending Now ‘Not going back’: Ford will cancel Starlink-Ontario deal even if tariffs are lifted ‘This is not normal’: Acts of protest at Donald Trump’s address “If they cut off supply of these critical minerals to North America, then that really creates a huge problem for the U.S. and for us, because we wouldn’t be able to produce any of this essential equipment as well as critical technology.” Both Trump, during his first term, and Biden issued executive orders to strengthen and secure critical minerals supply chains in an effort to move away from China. Story continues below advertisement In 2022, when Fernandez was overseeing the U.S. State Department’s creation of the 15-member Minerals Security Partnership to broaden the critical minerals supply chain, he says Canada was the first country he reached out to. That partnership led to investments in Canada and other mineral-rich member countries, as well as dialogue with a sister forum of 15 other producer nations — including Ukraine and Greenland. “In my experience with producing countries, countries with a lot of resources — not just Canada, but Argentina, Chile, the Congo, Serbia, others — what they want is investment, and they want the right investment,” he said. “They want investment that will benefit their people and will comply with their laws. No one’s looking to establish a colonial relationship.” 2:45 Trump-Zelenskyy squabble puts future of US-Ukraine critical minerals deal in jeopardy A separate report from CSIS said Canada would be a key critical minerals ally for the U.S., due to its more substantial mining and refining sectors and favourable business environment. Story continues below advertisement “While fears of a trade war have rattled U.S.-Canada relations, cooperation between the two countries remains essential to safeguard North American prosperity in the face of rising threats,” the report said. In the wake of Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday suggested U.S. reliance on nickel from Ontario, among other critical minerals, could be exploited in retaliation — including cutting off exports. “Our key area — I’m telling you, it’s a key area — is those critical minerals,” Ford said. “That’s our linchpin, right there.” At the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto — one of the largest mining conferences in the Western Hemisphere — stakeholders said Canada should invest in boosting critical mineral production and diversifying its own supply chains. “[Trump is] looking at Canada and sees the wealth of resources we have,” said Brett Kagetsu, a partner at Gowling WLG, a law firm that represents several ********* mining companies. Story continues below advertisement “We have critical minerals in our country, and they’re just sitting there waiting for us to mine. This is our time.” Source link #Trump #Canadas #critical #minerals #Heres #matter #National Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Family tributes to Kendal football girl killed by car on pitch Family tributes to Kendal football girl killed by car on pitch Catherine Lee BBC News, North East and Cumbria Family handout Poppy Atkinson was determined to be a professional footballer, her family said A girl who was killed when a car crashed on to a pitch where she was playing football was a “force of nature”, her family has said. Poppy Atkinson, 10, was fatally struck by the vehicle while attending a training session at Kendal Rugby Club in Cumbria on Wednesday evening. Her family described her as the “focal point of their lives”. She was determined to be a professional footballer and play for Manchester United, they said. An eight-year-old girl, also from Kendal, was injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Cumbria Police arrested a 40-year-old man from Lancaster on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but said there was “no indication to suggest that this incident was a deliberate act”. Family handout Poppy Atkinson (pictured with her brother Edward) touched so many lives, her family said Poppy’s family said their lives revolved around the “small, petite and beautiful” girl’s love for football, adding: “Many who know her, and who know her determination to improve and win, had no doubt she would achieve her goal to one day to play for Manchester United.” “She was a force of nature. She was so special, she was too good for this world. “Poppy touched so many lives, it was easy to see why, her energy, character, spirit and passion for football was infectious and touched huge numbers of people. “The hole in our lives and so many around us that Poppy leaves is enormous, we will never be whole again.” Poppy’s headteacher, Nick Turley, said she had a “wonderful sense of humour” Nick Turley, the headteacher of Old Hutton CE Primary School, where Poppy was a pupil, said the community was devastated. “Poppy was someone who brought joy, light and happiness to all she did,” he said, adding: “She had a wonderful sense of humour and a deep love of life. “Our prayers will remain with Poppy’s family and as a school community we will do all we can to support them.” Eyewitnesses at the scene on Wednesday described “sheer panic”, but said staff acted very quickly to get children off the field and away from the view of the ****** scene. People have laid floral tributes and Kendal Rugby Club has cancelled its fixtures this weekend. Club director Reg Burrow said staff were “shell-shocked”. Floral tributes have been laid at the scene Poppy’s football team, Kendal United, said, following guidance, all training sessions would continue as scheduled “to provide our young players with the stability and routine that is important to help children process such tragic events”. The club committee said they were working to provide “as much support as possible” and ******** officers were on hand. “Words cannot express the sorrow we feel as a club community during this extremely difficult time,” they said. Source link #Family #tributes #Kendal #football #girl #killed #car #pitch Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Split Fiction – How To Escape The Sandfish Split Fiction – How To Escape The Sandfish During the first Split Fiction side story, The Legend of the Sandfish, Mio and Zoe find themselves in a large sandy area with predatory sandfish swirling the area. Stepping foot on the sand around these shark-like creatures will cause almost instant death as they seek you out and attack, so it’s important to work together as a team to overcome the problem. The starting area of the sandfish puzzle The way to cross the sandfishes’ area is for one player to position themselves at a large column, which you can use to distract the sandfish by emitting loud pulses through the sand. While you’re doing this, the other player should quickly dash across the sand to the safety of the next platform. As we discovered, there’s a specific order you need to do this in to be successful. To do this, start at the beginning and send one player to carefully traverse the wooden beam to the platform on the left. As that player uses the column to send a series of pulses out, the second player should head straight forward to the platform in the middle. When the second player reaches the platform, the first player should go back across the wooden beam to the center. You cannot reach the third platform on the left from the first platform as the distance is too large and there are not enough available pulse charges to complete it in time. The second, central platform in the sandfishes’ area When both players are on the central platform, the first player should again use the column to send the distracting pulses out to keep the sandfish near the platform. The second player should use the jump, jump, dash combination to traverse as much sand as possible to reach the platform directly ahead. Do not go to the third platform on the left. Running to the final platform in the sandfishes’ area With one player on the fourth platform, they should use the column to emit the pulses to distract the sandfish, while the other player follows them over. You should now both be on the fourth platform. From there you can jump safely across to the final platform and push the wooden beam down to traverse to the next area of safety. To complete this side story, follow the platforming areas until you get to the section where you need to ride the sandfish to the end of the level. If the sandfish wasn’t enough of a battle, you’ll later be dealing with the Split Fiction piranhas. Source link #Split #Fiction #Escape #Sandfish Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Scientists Warn of Alarming Rise in Marine Heat Waves and Its Impact on Oceans Scientists Warn of Alarming Rise in Marine Heat Waves and Its Impact on Oceans An increase in marine heat waves has been observed worldwide, leading to severe consequences for oceanic ecosystems and coastal communities. Reports indicate that specific regions in the world’s oceans have been experiencing prolonged periods of higher-than-average temperatures at an unprecedented rate. The persistence of these conditions has disrupted marine life, intensified storms, and put coastal populations at risk. Researchers have raised concerns over the long-term impact, emphasising the difficulty of recovery for affected areas as these events become more frequent. Alarming Surge in Marine Heat Waves According to a study published in Nature Climate Change, the frequency of marine heat waves in 2023–2024 was recorded at 240 percent higher than any previously documented *******. Scientists from institutions in Australia and the U.K. have highlighted that these prolonged temperature spikes contribute to increased evaporation, which fuels extreme weather events. Cyclone Gabrielle, which struck New Zealand in 2023 and resulted in 11 fatalities, was linked to these rising ocean temperatures. Devastating Effects on Marine Life As per reports, marine heat waves have led to disruptions in the movement and survival of marine species. Rising temperatures have forced whales and dolphins to venture closer to shore while following their prey, increasing instances of stranding. Species unable to migrate to cooler waters, such as mussels, have suffered mass die-offs. Coral reefs have also been severely affected, with bleaching and degradation threatening entire ecosystems and the marine life dependent on them. Urgent Call for Climate Action Scientists have pointed out that while conservation efforts can mitigate some damage, the primary solution lies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Without decisive action, the persistence of marine heat waves will continue to alter oceanic environments, intensify storms, and endanger marine biodiversity. For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2025 hub. Thandel OTT Release Date: When and Where to Watch Naga Chaitanya, Sai Pallavi’s Film Online? Om Kali Jai Kali Teaser Out: Vimal’s Fierce Avatar in JioHotstar’s Rural Revenge Drama Source link #Scientists #Warn #Alarming #Rise #Marine #Heat #Waves #Impact #Oceans Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

More trifold smartphones are popping up after Huawei’s $3,600 splash More trifold smartphones are popping up after Huawei’s $3,600 splash BARCELONA — China’s Huawei isn’t the only smartphone maker adding a third display to its devices. At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show in Barcelona, a number of firms were showing off their display technology innovations. The South Korean tech giant Samsung revealed its new “trifold” concept devices at the event: the Flex G and Flex S. The Flex G has three screens and folds flat inwards and outwards, a bit like a book. The Flex S, on the other hand, has a more zigzag-like shape. It’s meant to resemble an “S” — hence the name. The Flex S is another concept device Samsung showed off at MWC. It folds in a more zigzag-like way to make an “S” shape. Ryan Browne | CNBC It comes after ******** tech giant Huawei last month launched its new Mate XT, a 3,499 euro ($3,678.56) smartphone with three screens, in international markets. Samsung stressed that its Flex G and S models were only concept devices — so don’t expect to find them on shelves anytime soon. Still, it’s a sign of where smartphone makers are seeing the next wave of innovation. ‘Sea of sameness’ The smartphone market has hit something of a plateau over recent years, with many models not straying far from the standard form factor of a bar-shaped device. Apple set the tone for what the devices in our pockets would look like when it launched the first iPhone in 2008. But smartphone makers are now trying to pull the market out of this so-called “sea of sameness.” On Tuesday, British consumer tech startup Nothing launched its new Phone (3a), a 329-euro ($356.28) budget model with a quirky design and LED light system that lights up when you get calls or notifications. Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis — who is planning a move to India as the startup plans an aggressive expansion push in the country — told CNBC the company is trying to shake up the smartphone market with something more fun and unique. Using the Indian market as an example, Evangelidis said: “People are walking away from pure functional needs when it comes to product. They aspire to brands that have more of an emotional benefit, and I think that’s where the opportunity is.” Innovating on display However, although smartphone makers have been aggressively working to release new folding devices, the category remains a relatively niche area of the market. Plus, folding phones can represent a big jump for the average consumer. For one, they tend to be bulkier than non-folding phones because of the additional screen. And they’re not cheap, either. According to data from market research firm IDC, the average selling price of folding phones is nearly three times higher than that of normal smartphones — roughly $1,218 vs. $421 for non-folding phones. While the foldable phone market grew 6.4% year-over-year to 19.3 million units, the category “represents only 1.6% of total global shipments,” according to Francisco Jeronimo, vice president EMEA for devices at IDC. Nevertheless, this year at MWC, phone companies showed they’re getting better at developing folding phones that can better cater to everyday users. For example, Oppo showed off its new Find N5 device this week. It only has two screens, but it’s a lot thinner than competing folding phones, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 6. Samsung currently holds the leading position in the global foldables segment. In 2024, it commanded a 32.9% share of the market. Huawei was close behind, with 23.1%, while Motorola was the third-biggest folding phone manufacturer with 17% market share. And despite the punchy prices, these companies are betting consumers will be willing to pay for a more premium-grade experience. Source link #trifold #smartphones #popping #Huaweis #splash Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Student loan borrowers in the dark as Trump targets Education Dept. Student loan borrowers in the dark as Trump targets Education Dept. An American flag and a U.S. Department of Education flag fly outside the US Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 1, 2025. Annabelle Gordon | Reuters Federal student loan borrowers experiencing difficulties with their loans could find they have no recourse as President Donald Trump’s cuts to staff at the Department of Education are carried out, employees at the agency said. Staffers at the Education Department tasked with fielding complaints from federal student loan holders and resolving their issues were let go in the recent job cuts, one employee told CNBC. At least eight of the fired staffers were working on a total of nearly 800 student loan borrower complaint cases, an employee said. The remaining staff will likely have to take over these accounts. But, the employee said, “I have no idea when they’ll get reassigned.” As a result, those borrowers “just have to continue to wait, and maybe they go into delinquency,” the staffer said. Hundreds of thousands of people submit complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman at Federal Student Aid each year, according to a rough calculation by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. Trump is expected to sign an executive order calling on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to abolish the agency, a move that experts say would worsen the situation for borrowers. The Wall Street Journal first reported on that expected order. As a department authorized by Congress, the department cannot be eliminated without congressional approval. But in the meantime, the Trump administration can slowly starve it by cutting resources. There are roughly 42 million Americans who owe federal student loans, and the outstanding debt exceeds $1.6 trillion. Currently, around 9.2 million people — 43% of the roughly 22 million borrowers with payments due — are behind on their payments, according to a recent VantageScore report. Federal student loan borrowers need assistance now more than ever, the Education Department staffers said. Collection activity is resuming for the first time in roughly five years after the expiration of pandemic-era relief, and a new repayment plan, called SAVE, that millions had enrolled in is now blocked by the courts. “People will start having their wages or benefits garnished,” the staffer said. “If this happens erroneously, it would be extremely difficult to resolve that on your own.” “Borrowers would be stuck having their money seized without a way to stop it,” they said. More from Personal Finance: Congress’ proposed cuts may jeopardize Medicaid Canada, Mexico tariffs create ‘ripple effects’ on consumer prices Social Security plans to cut about 7,000 workers Borrowers who reach out the Education Department with questions or complaints are now less likely to get assistance, the staffers told CNBC Sources for this story requested anonymity because they feared retribution if they were named.. A White House spokesperson did not respond to questions from CNBC about the slowdown in student loan borrower assistance at the Education Department. The in-house team dedicated to helping borrowers with Public Service Loan Forgiveness program no longer exists, a staffer said. As a result, remaining employees are unsure of where to direct borrowers who have issues with this program, the employee said. (PSLF is a popular way for public servants and those who work at nonprofits to get their debt canceled after 10 years of payments.) “We lost that expertise and the ability to answer complaints in a timely manner,” the employee said. Staffers say borrowers are already feeling the effect. One employee told CNBC they are currently helping a woman get her student debt discharged because of her disability, and that “every time we talk she’s terrified I won’t be there the next time.” The employees said their work in complaint resolution has had huge impacts on people’s financial lives, and those efforts are now at risk. They said they were able to get loans discharged for victims of identity theft, teachers and countless disabled borrowers. Source link #Student #loan #borrowers #dark #Trump #targets #Education #Dept Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Democrats slam GOP campaign committee labeling New York lawmaker an ‘******** immigrant’ Democrats slam GOP campaign committee labeling New York lawmaker an ‘******** immigrant’ House Republicans’ campaign arm directly attacked Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s immigration status, drawing condemnation from Democrats. “Democrats literally chose an ******** immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address,” the National Republican Congressional Committee wrote on X on Wednesday, adding that “Democrats couldn’t be more disconnected from the American people.” The direct attack of Espaillat, the first Dominican American member of Congress and a former undocumented immigrant, was met with a swift response from top Democrats who called the post racist. “These people are disgusting,” House ********* Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X. Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said the GOP “isn’t even trying to hide its racism anymore.” “With Speaker @MikeJohnson leading the charge, they wear their bigotry like a badge of honor — absolutely despicable! @RepEspaillat is a sitting member of Congress, an American citizen, and a dedicated public servant,” Martin said on X. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said “Whoever is the intern @NRCC that tweeted this racist ***** needs to be fired” in his own post to X. Espaillat delivered Democrats’ Spanish-language response to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress earlier this week. He and his family overstayed a tourist visa when he was a child but received green cards within a year. Espaillat, who has now been a U.S. citizen for decades and chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has proudly labeled himself a “former undocumented immigrant turned progressive Congressman.” The New York Democrat has also battled with Trump on immigration policies dating back to his first term. The NRCC doubled down on its language, responding to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul calling the post “Vile, ignorant, and racist.” “Democrats caring more about policing words and fighting facts instead of policing our border and fighting crime shows just how out of touch they are,” said NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella, echoing the NRCC’s response to Hochul online. Espaillat’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Some Democrats, too, have used their political opponents’ citizenship status in recent attacks. On Monday, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) told Elon Musk, who has led Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government, to “go back to South Africa.” Musk was born in South Africa but has been a U.S. citizen for decades. “It was interesting yesterday — I was watching a video of an interview of Elon Musk where he said the Italians should stay in Italy and the ******** should stay in China. My question to Elon Musk is — what the hell are you doing here in America?” Velázquez said at a rally outside HUD, misrepresenting an interview Musk gave where he was encouraging people to have children and reverse declining birth rates. Musk has railed against ******** immigration in the United States. He has said he supports “a highly selective immigration policy” in the U.S. and has implied immigration could lead to a loss of distinct cultures globally. Velázquez’s comments led to a slew of condemnation from Republicans, including from the White House’s rapid response team, which called the comments “completely unhinged.” Source link #Democrats #slam #GOP #campaign #committee #labeling #York #lawmaker #******** #immigrant Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

A 17-year-old with a gun boarded a flight and was overpowered by passengers and crew, police say A 17-year-old with a gun boarded a flight and was overpowered by passengers and crew, police say Police are investigating after a 17-year-old boarded a plane with a shotgun in Australia. Passengers told local radio he was dressed like an airport worker. The teenager was detained by crew and passengers on the flight. A 17-year-old with a loaded shotgun boarded a flight after breaching airport security, police in Australia said. The incident occurred on Thursday at Avalon Airport, near Melbourne, which has flights operated by the Qantas-owned budget carrier Jetstar. Victoria Police said the teenager was detained by crew and passengers on the flight. Officers also located two bags and a vehicle belonging to the suspect. Images obtained by Australia’s ABC News showed him wearing a high-vis jacket similar to airport ground crew, and being held down in the cabin. The broadcaster reported that Superintendent Michael Reid said the teenager had acted alone and entered the airport through a hole in a security fence. Reid said the teen then made his way to the plane but was overpowered by several passengers after boarding it. Barry Clark, a passenger on the flight, told ABC Radio Melbourne he noticed the 17-year-old as he was being questioned by a flight attendant. “He was dressed up as a worker and he got agitated and before we knew, it there was a gun — shotgun appeared — and I was worried about there being shots so all I could do was get the gun out of the way, threw it down the stairs … and then put him in a hold and throw him to the ground til the police come,” Clark said. Asked what was going through his mind when he tackled the young man, Clark said: “You don’t think, you act.” Reid also told reporters: “No doubt this would have been a very terrifying incident for the passengers of that plane and Victoria Police really commend the bravery of the passengers who were able to overpower that male.” A Jetstar representative told Business Insider the airline was working with police and airport authorities to investigate the incident. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and we can confirm there were no reported injuries,” they said. “We know this would have been a very distressing situation and we are sincerely grateful to the customers who assisted our crew to safely manage the situation.” Read the original article on Business Insider Source link #17yearold #gun #boarded #flight #overpowered #passengers #crew #police Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Why Canadians are stung by Wayne Gretzky’s silence Why Canadians are stung by Wayne Gretzky’s silence As Canada played through controversy at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, its most beloved and iconic sports star grabbed a microphone and stood up for the nation. The ********* men’s national team had just come from behind to tie the Czech Republic 3-3 in a heated round-robin match. Wayne Gretzky, the executive director of Canada’s team, called media reports of unrest in the ********* locker room “American propaganda.” “I don’t think we dislike those countries as much as they dislike us,” he said. “They want to see us fail. They love beating us. … We’ve got to get that same feeling toward them.” It was as fiery as hockey fans had seen the game’s greatest player since he’d retired a few years earlier. Canada was in pursuit of its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey in half a century. “Am I hot? Yeah, I’m hot,” Gretzky said. “Because I’m tired of people taking shots at ********* hockey. … It almost sickens my stomach to turn the TV on because I’m such a proud ********* and such a fan of our game and very proud of all the guys in the locker room, and it makes me ill to hear some of the things that are being said about us.” Gretzky’s emotional defense of Canada was an inspirational turning point for the star-packed ********* team, which went on to win the gold medal on American soil. Since Gretzky rose to fame as a teenage phenom in the 1970s and went on to rewrite almost every scoring record in the game, Canadians have viewed the Great One as a symbol of national pride. Now, all the pride that Canadians have felt in the country’s greatest sporting export is being questioned. North of the border, that sentence was once unfathomable. But Gretzky’s allegiance to U.S. President Donald Trump — and his silence after Trump’s repeated calls to make Canada the 51st state while hammering the northern neighbor with crippling tariffs — has left many Canadians feeling deeply betrayed. Gretzky has made headlines and newscasts across Canada. A petition to rename Gretzky Drive in Edmonton has more than 12,000 signatures. Some of Gretzky’s defenders have called the criticisms unfair and politically motivated. But in Canada, the sentiment reaches beyond the political spectrum, into a deep, rising nationalism as the country feels backed into a corner. For decades, Gretzky — fairly or not — has embodied a sense of patriotism that transcends sports. Yes, Gretzky is the pride of Brantford, Ontario — the tiny boy who learned the game on a backyard rink. He came from a working-class family, which arrived in Canada by way of Ukraine. His journey toward excellence, with hard work and blue-collar spirit, felt representative of a nation. Over the decades, Walter Gretzky, his father, was so frequently seen at small-town rinks that he became affectionately known as Canada’s hockey dad. He lived in the same house in Brantford until he died. People visited. The place felt common and familiar, an anywhere-in-Canada that became a portal to greatness. And despite his fame, Gretzky himself always seemed to retain those small-town ********* ideals. He was kind to fans, humble in interviews, but unapologetic in his pursuit of success and the will it took to achieve. Because of that folksy familiarity, it seemed like Gretzky’s connection to home never wavered, even at the height of his fame. That’s how it felt, anyway. If you grew up in Canada through the 1980s and 1990s, Gretzky was at the pinnacle of national esteem. He set untouchable records in Edmonton, and battled for ********* glory on the ice — and then he wept after learning he was being exported to California. In his greatness, the ********* with the flowing blonde hockey hair made people talk about Canada. We watched him on Saturday morning cartoons, alongside Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson. We saw him in Coke and Nike commercials and referenced in Hollywood movies. He became internationally recognized in a way that no hockey player had before. Rising through a transformative era of globally connected media, Gretzky became the first ********* to sit in the pantheon of the world’s sports legends. So it is difficult to overstate the pride that many Canadians carry for Gretzky. But pride isn’t the only word here. There was also a sense of ownership: that Gretzky belonged to Canada. This, of course, was never true. Gretzky has lived in the U.S. since being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. He married an American and they raised their tightly knit, loyal and loving family south of the ********* border. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen. The Gretzkys have had homes in California, Wyoming, Missouri and Florida. In 2009, Gretzky was awarded with the nation’s highest civilian honor, companion of the Order of Canada. The award recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation. But to date, Gretzky has not taken part in an investiture ceremony to receive the award from Canada’s Governor General at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. Somewhere along the way, the idea of Gretzky as Canada’s constant ambassador became mythology. A simple reality underscores so much of the hurt and resentment Canadians feel about the mockery and threats and economic attacks coming from the U.S. president. There is a sense of knowing that this northern nation orbits its larger neighbor. There’s an unmentioned understanding that our greatest points of pride — indeed, or own sovereignty — can be swallowed by the behemoth. Gretzky was Canada’s, until America inevitably claimed him. Over the past decade, I’ve had several in-depth conversations with Gretzky. He was thoughtful, willing to reflect on all the joy and pain in his life. He spoke of Canada fondly, with a sincere sense of gratitude. Gretzky did not respond to a text requesting to speak for this story. In the past, we’ve chatted about the passion he showed at 2002 Olympics, and later about the death of his close friend and mentor Ace Bailey in the 9/11 terror attacks. We spoke about his late father, his family and his legacy in the game — for which Gretzky mostly deferred to the greatness of other players. I followed him as he crossed the field at Fenway Park during the NHL’s outdoor classic, as fans of all generations called out to him — “Wayne! Wayne! Gretzky! Gretzky!” That aura follows Gretzky wherever he goes. For years, it seemed like that would always be the case. But now in Canada, for many people, the image of Gretzky as a revered symbol of national pride has faded. And that’s not because of his politics or where he chooses to live. It’s not even because of anything Gretzky has done himself. It’s because we know the myth was never real and that maybe it was never a fair standard to hold him to. There was politicized criticism when images of Gretzky first emerged celebrating Trump’s election victory at Mar-a-Lago, and later when he attended the president’s inauguration. But that wasn’t what Canadians were really upset about. It was what came later, when Trump turned his focus to Canada — and Gretzky, the national hero, stayed silent. Wayne Gretzky and his wife, Janet, attended U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. (Kevin Lamarque / Pool / Getty Images) Introduced as ambassador of the ********* team inside TD Garden ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off Final a few weeks ago — a best-on-best match between Canada and the U.S. — Gretzky walked out from the American side of the benches wearing a suit while acknowledging players from both teams. He was greeted with tepid applause and a smattering of boos. From the stands, it was hard to decipher whether the lukewarm response was directed at Gretzky or his role representing Canada. The crowd heavily favored the Americans, but about a third of the building supported the northern rivals. In calmer times, Gretzky’s entrance would have faced a passing degree of scrutiny and then would have been forgotten. But these aren’t calm times north of the border. And when criticism swelled, fairly or not, Gretzky’s silence was interpreted as a statement. Bobby Orr — another *********-born hockey icon — defended Gretzky in a letter published by the Toronto Sun, calling his Hall of Fame counterpart “one of the greatest Canadians ever.” Gretzky has represented Canada as a player and an executive for decades, Orr wrote, criticizing “fickle” people who have turned on him for his personal beliefs. “Wayne respects your rights and beliefs,” Orr wrote. “Why can’t you respect his?” Janet Gretzky shared a message on Instagram thanking Orr for coming to her husband’s defense. “I have never met anyone who is more proud to be ********* and it has broken his heart to read and see mean comments. … He would do anything to make Canadians proud, with his love for hockey and his country.” There hasn’t been an uproar about the silence of so many other *********-born celebrities who found their fame and fortune in the United States. But then, there aren’t any photos of them in a MAGA hat supporting the president who has called for the country to be annexed. President Trump also chimed in, posting on social media that he doesn’t want Canadians to turn on Gretzky. “He is the Greatest ********* of them all, and I am therefore making him a ‘free agent,’ because I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him,” Trump wrote. “He supports Canada the way it is, as he should, even though it’s not nearly as good as it could be as part of the Greatest and Most Powerful Country in the World, the Good Ole’ U.S.A.!” Those taunts were met with more silence from Gretzky and a stinging realization that hurts Canadians even more. In this moment of national upheaval, the Great One is on the opposite bench. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic. Photo: Saul Loeb-Pool via Imagn Images) Source link #Canadians #stung #Wayne #Gretzkys #silence Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 And Warzone Are Getting 'More Sad' With Bugs After Every Update Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 And Warzone Are Getting 'More Sad' With Bugs After Every Update Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 and Warzone bugs are getting out of hand now and they’re stacked after every update. Source link #Call #Duty #****** #Ops #Warzone #039More #Sad039 #Bugs #Update Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The best MacBook Air (M4) preorder deal is at Best Buy – how to score the new Apple laptop for as little as $449 The best MacBook Air (M4) preorder deal is at Best Buy – how to score the new Apple laptop for as little as $449 Apple has finally unveiled the MacBook Air with the M4 chip. That’s great news for laptop shoppers who are looking for a powerful laptop, but what’s more impressive is the price. It starts at a reasonable $999 – which is $100 cheaper than the previous M3 model – but you can get the MacBook Air (M4) for as little as $449 at Best Buy when you trade in your old device. The biggest discount of $550 comes if you have a MacBook Air M3 to hand over, but you also get $500 for the M2 version and up to $300 for a MacBook Air M1. Additionally, Best Buy Plus and Total members get a further $50 off, potentially bringing the price under $400. This is one of the best MacBook Air deals we’ve seen in a long time. Today’s best MacBook Air M4 deal We called the Apple MacBook Air (M3) “easily the best MacBook money can buy for most people”. We’ve not got hands-on time with the new M4 model yet as it’s not released until March 12, but we’re confident we’ll be saying the same thing about the latest version. The M4 chip will supercharge all your workflows with Apple Intelligence making most tasks that little bit easier. The brilliant Liquid Retina display will make any application, video, or website look great, 18 hours of battery life will keep you going all day long, and the small form factor guarantees the highest level of portability. The Apple MacBook Air is the perfect place to start on your MacBook journey or if you’re simply looking for a more affordable upgrade and don’t need the added power from the MacBook Pro. There are other MacBook deals around if you’d prefer something different. In particular, spending more on one of the MacBook Pro deals available could be useful if you plan on editing videos or anything else more demanding. Source link #MacBook #Air #preorder #deal #Buy #score #Apple #laptop Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

16 Cheap, Healthy Dinners to Make on Repeat 16 Cheap, Healthy Dinners to Make on Repeat It would be fair to assume that being an editor at New York Times Cooking makes my dinner decisions easier. After all, I’m thumbing through our vast recipe archive almost daily, revisiting old standbys, discovering unsung supper heroes and meeting new classics. I can tell you, as someone whose choice fatigue looks more like choice paralysis, this is not the case. So, maybe like you, I rely on our curated recipe collections to be my starting points, and this new lineup of 16 cheap, healthy dinner ideas by Emily Johnson comes at just the right time (tax season). Many of these are already on a heavy rotation in my home — always a pleasure, chana masala and spicy tuna salad with crispy rice — though I’m frankly surprised that I haven’t already made this larb-like spicy turkey stir-fry with crisp ginger and garlic from Melissa Clark. Ground turkey gets plenty of umami oomph from soy and fish sauces; a good kick from ginger, lime juice and red chile flakes; and flashes of freshness from cilantro and basil. If spicy isn’t your thing, simply pull back or omit the chile, and if you don’t want rice (absolutely cannot relate, but you do you!), you could instead pile this stir-fry on shredded iceberg lettuce. Featured Recipe Spicy Turkey Stir-Fry With Crisp Ginger and Garlic View Recipe → If you’d like more options in this “easy but healthful” category, here is Allison Jiang’s collection of 14 easy, healthy dinner ideas to put on repeat. We published this at the start of the year for anyone looking to refresh and reinvigorate their dinner routine; as we barrel into a new month and (hopefully, soon) a new season, I think the sentiment still stands. One of my favorite ways to save a bit of money when cooking is to stretch a luxe ingredient over multiple dishes. That jar of cashew butter in the fridge is not meant to be liberally spread on toast but instead to anoint Zainab Shah’s mattar paneer — truly a NYT Cooking classic — and her new cashew butter chicken korma. Three tablespoons of the stuff adds body and creaminess to a tomato sauce spiced with cumin, turmeric and a touch of chile powder; the recipe has already earned five stars and rave reviews. Feta cheese isn’t the star of Hetty Lui McKinnon’s crispy gnocchi with spinach and feta but rather a supporting player; the plot of this dish is driven by those plump potato nuggets and handfuls of baby spinach. And that spinach, by the way, isn’t boiled or sautéed but instead massaged with the cheese and some olive oil, salt and pepper so that it becomes slightly softened but still keeps plenty of its leafy greenness. Hetty also has this new yuzu-miso soba noodle soup, which uses bottled yuzu juice to add sparkly shine to the earthy flavors of miso and buckwheat noodles. If you can’t find yuzu juice, swap in lemon, though you might want to start with less than the recipe calls for since lemon is more sour than yuzu. And if you do have yuzu juice, try swapping it in for lemon in your favorite vinaigrettes or dressings (at least, that’s what I’m going to do). Before we get to dessert: I must apologize for a typo in my Saturday newsletter. The cook time for Ali Slagle’s genius microwave Nutella pudding cake is 45 to 60 seconds, not 45 to 60 minutes, which, eep. But I haven’t heard of a new wave of pudding-induced microwave explosions, so I think we might be OK. Lastly, here are Zaynab Issa’s chocolate crepes, a recipe that’s surprisingly simple for how fancy-feeling the results are. I’ll let Erica K., a reader, take it from here: “Made these after the picture stared at me all day as ‘Recipe of the Day.’ They were super easy to whip up while dinner was cooking. The batter stayed in the fridge until we were ready for dessert. Light, not too sweet and paired well with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. For my kids, I put a few chocolate chips on top and folded it over. Will definitely keep this recipe on standby when I want a little chocolate.” Source link #Cheap #Healthy #Dinners #Repeat Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

House censures Rep. Al Green for heckling Trump speech House censures Rep. Al Green for heckling Trump speech Rep. Al Green (D-TX) shouts out as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Win Mcnamee | Via Reuters The House of Representatives voted Thursday to censure Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green for heckling President Donald Trump during the president’s speech to Congress earlier this week. The vote to censure Green was 224–198. Ten of the lawmaker’s fellow Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the punishment, which consisted of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reading the censure out loud to Green. Members of the Congressional ****** Caucus sang the civil rights protest song “We Shall Overcome” as Johnson finished, spurring a handful of Republicans to yell “order!” “Shame on you!” Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Joyce Beatty yelled at GOP representatives. Johnson ordered Green ejected from the House chamber on Tuesday night after the Texan loudly interrupted Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress and refused to sit down. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. Source link #House #censures #Rep #Green #heckling #Trump #speech Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The best college basketball Cinderella story you won’t hear about in March The best college basketball Cinderella story you won’t hear about in March ST. PAUL, Minn. — Doors open for Beach Night with a feels-like temperature of 7 degrees and purple aloha shirts for the first 250 students through — a true commitment to the bit. But the party is on inside, already. Crudites and chicken skewers are disappearing apace; an open bar is working like a bug light. Decades of St. Thomas men’s basketball alums are filing into a private reception, sorting through rosters and info sheets for a soon-to-open $175 million arena, warming up the space for one of their own. Johnny Tauer, Ph.D., walks in at 6:26 p.m. The four-shot almond milk latte in his right hand tracks. Five years ago, he was a Division III coach and tenured psychology professor at his alma mater, driving a forest green minivan and living in his childhood home. On this Saturday in February, Tauer is a Division I coach who doesn’t teach or drive a minivan anymore but still lives in the same house five minutes from campus. His team plays for first place in the Summit League at the top of the hour. It’s a hell of a thing, to do what’s never been done before without going anywhere. For now, Tauer, 52, belongs here. In this room at the Anderson Athletics Complex, to these people, some of whom he played with, some of whom he coached at his eponymous summer camp or St. Thomas — or both. He jokes about getting a free orange juice at Scooter’s during his recruiting visit. Calls out Petey and Lau and Tommy in the crowd. Draws guffaws by mimicking the timeout calls of his old coach, Steve ******, who’s sitting along the wall and laughing, too. Tauer apologizes if it feels like a sauna in here, then notes it might not be much better in a sold-out 1,800-seat gym. “You kind of pinch yourself,” Tauer says, “because these are the nights that are about as good as it gets in college basketball, short of March Madness.” That last part lands hard. The best college basketball story of March is, arguably, the story no one will hear about most of March. The St. Thomas Tommies, basically kicked out of Division III six years ago, bold enough to make a first-of-its-kind leap to Division I, driven by a local who quotes Aristotle and Kant, good enough to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament … well, they can’t play in the NCAA Tournament. Not until 2026, per the conditions of their transition. Cinderella, without a slipper. Which is not the same as the end of the story. The school’s stress test of identity — one eye on something *******, and one eye on the way it’s always been — might be as fascinating as what preceded it. Before he leaves the reception, Tauer urges alums to help capitalize on this momentum. He talks about an opportunity to be the most special mid-major program in the country, doing everything just how they’ve done it since ****** was in charge: Value every opportunity. And make the correct decisions when it’s time. “In many ways, it’s a metaphor for life,” Tauer says. “You get the ball; what are you going to do with it?” In 1920, seven schools founded the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. One of them retained its charm — they still say you’ll marry the person you kiss under the arches off Summit Avenue — while also growing some noticeable muscles over the next century. The College of St. Thomas became a coed university, its five-figure enrollment dwarfed that of conference peers, and its athletics teams dominated, winning 33 MIAC all-sports trophies, including 12 straight beginning in 2007-08. In theory, when Phil Esten became his alma mater’s new athletic director in January 2019, he took the helm of a self-driving tank. A couple days in, Esten met with the league’s then-commissioner, Carlyle Carter. Esten quickly learned the rumors about the MIAC’s unhappiness with St. Thomas were a fait accompli: Conference presidents wanted to boot the Tommies for being too big and too good. Five months later, they officially did so: At the end of the 2020-21 school year, St. Thomas was “involuntarily removed” from an organization for which it helped lay the bricks. “It was very jarring for alumni and for the community and for college athletics,” Esten says now. “For those of us that had been living it for the four or five months leading up to it, it was, OK, next steps. How do we quickly pivot?” Among the jarred was a professor alternately working out of a John R. ****** Center classroom and Schoenecker Arena, the cozy basketball gym nestled inside the school’s athletics complex. Johnny Tauer grew up in St. Paul. He scored 1,200-plus points for St. Thomas, earning a spot in the school’s athletic hall of fame. He pursued a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, didn’t plan on returning to teach, then wound up doing so after an instructor in social psychology died and a job opened. He won 185 games and a national championship in eight seasons after taking over for ****** as men’s basketball coach. This took an eraser to all of that providence. “I mean, there was an element of like, OK, this is where we’ve been for 100 years,” Tauer says, “and there aren’t logical solutions.” So they went with the beanstalk ride into the sky. Not long after the MIAC made its proclamation, Esten heard from then-Summit League commissioner Tom Douple. Unbeknownst to anyone, Douple had visited St. Thomas’ campus while in town for the 2019 Final Four in Minneapolis. Now he broached the idea of the Tommies joining the conference for basketball and other sports besides football and hockey — the Summit League didn’t sponsor those — which merely required a move from Division III straight to Division I without the standard Division II layover. For a university aiming at national visibility, it was intriguing. The only issue: No school had tried it. But when St. Thomas and the Summit League contacted the NCAA to determine if such a leap was even possible, they found amenability where the wall of red tape was expected to be. By October, St. Thomas accepted a Summit League invitation, with Douple labeling the school “the full package.” The following July, the NCAA granted a first-of-its-kind Division III-to-Division I transition waiver. The Tommies wouldn’t skip steps as much as take on a couple big ones at once. “If you look at our profile — our enrollment, our endowment — we do look a lot more like Creighton and Marquette and Loyola-Chicago and DePaul than we do the other schools in (the MIAC),” Tauer says. “I think a lot of people would say this may have worked out in the best for the teams in the MIAC and what they wanted, and where St. Thomas is headed.” Of course, when you say you want to be a Division I school, the NCAA expects you to act like one. St. Thomas, ever striving, obliged. A full floor of university flex space was renovated into new offices for football and both basketball programs. A dance studio transformed into a fueling station for all athletes. An athletic department of 33 full-time staffers grew to more than 100. The problem of a hockey venue unsuitable for Division I? Benefactors Lee and Penny Anderson solved that with a $75 million lead gift, which spurred the construction of an on-campus arena that will be the new home for St. Thomas’ hockey and basketball programs and an operations hub for five other sports. “I am absolutely blown away that, in Year 4, we’re going to be playing in arguably one of the best arenas in the Midwest for our level — or any level,” says Tommies associate head coach Mike Maker, who previously ran programs in both Division I (Marist) and Division III (Williams College). But the “monumental jump,” as Maker puts it, does not include NCAA Tournament eligibility. Not yet. Provisional membership requires schools to meet a set of benchmarks, such as scholarships offered and staffing and compliance regulations met, before it awards full membership and access to championships. The NCAA voted in January to reduce St. Thomas’ transition ******* by a year, assuming the school meets certain criteria by June. But the provisional pause on postseason appearances couldn’t be skipped. So a team with a better KenPom.com rating than nine power conference programs as of mid-February could win the Summit League tournament this weekend … and then plunge into the offseason, because it can’t use the March Madness invitation it would earn. (The automatic bid would go to the team with the best regular-season conference record.) “I wouldn’t say it’s a bummer,” senior forward Kendall Blue says. “I think it’s just another reason why they should let us go, you know?” Blue laughs. He knows it’s not that simple. None of this is simple. St. Thomas brags on its charm but also wears its ambition in plain sight. It wants to be the same and different, in a hurry. It’s fair to wonder if it’s worth the trouble, too, especially at a time when college basketball and college hockey aren’t necessarily drivers to national Division I prominence. As it happens, there’s a doctor in the house, and his specialty is figuring out why anyone does anything. While Johnny Tauer played on state championship basketball and baseball teams at *******-Derham Hall High – tales of beating out Chris Weinke for the starting first base gig are greatly exaggerated, he insists – he always wondered why the guys with more talent weren’t motivated to work as compulsively as he did. He then followed his father’s footsteps to St. Thomas, but not much farther. John Tauer was a golf captain and Class of 1963 grad who went into finance. Johnny stuck with basketball and, while aptitude tests suggested the younger Tauer go into actuarial science, a sophomore-year psychology course rendered everything else moot. “I was getting like a D-plus, and I loved it,” Johnny Tauer says. “That’s what fascinated me. What makes people tick.” The desire to do something because you love it — to do it for its own sake – is essentially his life’s work. Tauer has published scholarly papers, essays and a book on “WOSPs” (Well-Intentioned, Overinvolved Sports Parents). “Winning Isn’t Everything: Competition, Achievement Orientation, and Intrinsic Motivation” is a paper published while he was in grad school, in which Tauer argued that competition doesn’t affect motivation negatively, as many had written; it increases the enjoyment in those highly motivated to achieve. “The Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Intrinsic Motivation and Performance” landed in 2004, based on Tauer’s dissertation plus five summers of data collection at his basketball camp; he concluded that combining cooperation and competition optimized motivation instead of working as opposing concepts. It’s plainly sports psychology at its stem, the obsession of someone fully invested in moving a disparate group in one direction. The cooperation and competition paper even begins with a tremendously Minnesota guy quote from former Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek: “I’d much rather win the World Series. Then you can go out and get drunk with 25 other guys. If you win the MVP, you get to go out and get drunk by yourself. What fun is that?” Tauer also didn’t ask to be a Division I coach. Circumstances foisted the responsibility on someone who calls himself “wildly boring,” who orders the same hulking $6 omelet every day, who says he’s perfectly satisfied biking for miles while listening to podcasts when the weather permits. He was content to teach — “Nobody writes about you when you have a bad lecture, right?” Tauer says — and coach in a world that got him home by 10:15 p.m. after almost any conference game. “When you feel like you can have all the things personally and professionally that you want,” Tauer says, “you better be careful messing with happy.” And that’s the point. Johnny Tauer didn’t have to choose between anything. He loves basketball. He loves St. Paul, and St. Paul loves him. “He could probably run for mayor and be unaffiliated with a party, and he’d have a legitimate chance to win a seat,” says former assistant Dennis Harrington. And becoming a Division I coach just … happened. No change of address form required. “It was easy for me to get on board in the sense of, what an opportunity,” Tauer says. “So now part of the question is, how good can we get?” The program’s ethos – VALUE YOUR TEAMMATES. VALUE THE BALL is painted on one wall of Tauer’s office — would be strained as much as anything by consistently better competition. In their first year of Division I men’s basketball, the Tommies recorded one dunk. But they also threatened the NCAA record for fewest turnovers per game — the 8.1 miscues on average was a touch sloppier than Wisconsin’s 7.4 in 2014-15. They won 10 games with a roster of players who were in Division III a year prior. There was also a 12-game losing streak and a road trip during which Tauer got vertigo and had to crawl back to his hotel room after a meeting. But those struggles at a new level amounted to “the best pressure test of our culture, ever,” in Tauer’s estimation. St. Thomas won 19 games the following season, and its 71 total wins in Division I are second most ever through the first four years of transition. (Grand Canyon had 81.) As of March 2, the Tommies’ 197-spot improvement in the NCAA’s NET rankings over four years was the fifth-largest improvement nationally in that stretch. And this 22-win season, specifically, looks like indelible proof of concept. Like most analytically driven teams, St. Thomas prioritizes layups, free throws and unguarded 3-point looks. But most analytically driven teams have been giving out scholarships for more than four years. On the morning after the regular season ended with an 18th straight home win, the Tommies ranked second nationally in effective field goal percentage (58.0), eighth in 2-point percentage (58.4), 14th in 3-point percentage (38.3) and 17th nationally in free-throw accuracy (78.4). No player, meanwhile, averaged more than junior Miles Barnstable’s 14.7 points per game and the team-wide turnover rate was a glistening 13.8 percent. “Be unselfish and be smart,” says Barnstable, who spent his first two seasons at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater. “You’ll end up being in the flow of the game if you’re unselfish.” Or as third-leading scorer Drake Dobbs puts it: “A lot of places, it’s really structured and you get to almost be robotic. Which isn’t a bad thing. That’s just how some programs are. But here it’s pretty much complete freedom.” The offense is basically a fever dream of Princeton offense concepts melded with the scheme former West Virginia and Michigan coach John Beilein ran, with a dose of serendipity. While Tauer appreciated those West Virginia offenses from afar, he had no idea Maker was an assistant coach on that Mountaineers staff. Nor did he know Maker would lose the Marist job in 2018 and move to the Twin Cities so his wife could coach the cross country team at St. Olaf College. Neither knew they’d be having coffee in St. Paul, talking about a Division I program right down the street, developing an attack that’s been translatable in part because it’s somewhat un-scoutable; the Tommies just go where you aren’t. “They’re not plays,” Maker says. “They’re movements based on how the defense is guarding you, and you need to take advantage of that.” It is indeed a philosophy. It is Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, memorized by Johnny Tauer years ago in a class he hated, now running through the spine of a college basketball program: I ought not to act except in such a way that I can also will that my actions should become universal law. He has it the way he wants it. St. Thomas will have access to the grandest stage in the sport, soon enough, while Tauer can make impromptu coffee dates with his wife, Chancey, and 3-year-old daughter, Issa, and keep tabs on three sons in the area. (Jack attends St. Norbert College, Adam is a Tommies walk-on and RQ is a junior at *******-Derham Hall.) He can run a program that both competes with power league squads and is totally fine with longtime bus driver Stevie Lanz eating takeout ribs in the front row during film sessions in Kansas City. It’s as Tauer tells his players all the time: Life isn’t easy. But it can be simple. “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior,” Tauer says. “If I wanted to go somewhere else, then I would have gone somewhere else a long time ago.” On a relatively quiet February afternoon – there’s no point in doing construction if the materials won’t hold up to a high temperature of minus 2 – a stroll through Lee & Penny Anderson Arena requires a hard hat and a little imagination. Hydrotherapy tubs are covered by a massive wood slat. One basketball practice gym has a fresh coat of paint but the other is mainly a dining area for workers. The lower concourse and auxiliary ice sheet are, basically, dirt. Nine cranes clutter what will be the arena floor. Still, the shape of the endeavor is clear. This is a $175 million audacity. “There’s not another school that has this,” says Cory Chapman, St. Thomas’ deputy athletic director for internal development. “It’s truly a unicorn.” It’s a claim based on seven sports operating out of one facility, but semantics and superlatives aren’t the point. Existence is. There is nothing homey about a state-of-the-art arena rising out of the ground in mere months. This is a school, and by extension a men’s hoops program (among others), thinking about itself differently, up to and including semi-unspoken aspirations about catching the attention of the Big East one of these days. On the other side of campus, Johnny Tauer runs practice in the same complex that hosts his summer camp, now going into its 30th year. That first summer, his mother and father took the calls and scribbled names on a yellow legal pad. Camp ran two weeks and cost $60. A total of 25 kids showed up. The next year it was 100. The year after that, 200. By the summer of 2019, attendance pushed 2,000. Names like Chet Holmgren and Jalen Suggs have come through as grade-schoolers, as the camp went from a college senior’s bright idea to a rite of passage. Things have started real small and gotten real big here before. But as fancy as the new arena will be, the Johnny Tauer Basketball Camp will continue inside the current 1,800-seat home gym and on the intramural courts one floor up. Same as ever, or at least the last 15 years. It’s not along for the ride on the roller-coaster that Division I transition has been, to use Tauer’s analogy. It’s a part of St. Thomas that will be what it’s been for decades. The rest of the year, everyone can hold on to the sides and await what’s at the end of the track. “I’ve said I think this is the coolest story in college basketball,” Tauer says. “That doesn’t make it right. But I think it is. So it’s right for me.” (Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Courtesy of University of St. Thomas) Source link #college #basketball #Cinderella #story #wont #hear #March Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]