Fairfax county board of zoning appeals
Plantation, FL
2019.07.11 02:40 godrestsinreason Plantation, FL
Plantation, FL is a city in Broward County, FL on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale. All about living and visiting Plantation, FL.
2023.03.21 17:46 Skatch142 [M4A] Looking for Long-Term RP Partner on Discord
Howdy, you can call me 142. I'm 22, male, and I have 6+ years of roleplaying experience. I will only accept 18+ partners, preferably 20+.
I don't have a specific setting or roleplay in mind. Rather, I'm looking for someone to brainstorm with and create scenarios. I'm fine with nearly any setting, from sci-fi to fantasy to more niche stuff like southern gothic or dieselpunk, and even unique settings we build togethehave built. I enjoy ditching any semblance of sense from time to time and having an interaction between characters from completely different universes, as I have more interest in personality and how characters behave. I'm also more than willing to take the lead, but I want to see your stories and worlds too.
-So, what plot type am I looking for? Basically anything, honestly. Action, combat, slice of life, short interactions or longer stories with larger plots. I am open to romance plots but it is not a requisite. It's okay if RPs go stale, it happens, we can just start another! But if we lose steam too soon too often, I might have to find someone else.
-I do not roleplay fandoms. And if you somehow convince me to, it's gotta be Star Wars, and it's gotta be OCXOC. I'm far more interested in meeting characters I'm not familiar with and roleplaying characters I've created.
-As far as characters go, you can roleplay whoever you want so long as they're an OC. But I'll be clear, I roleplay furries/nonhuman characters 90% of the time. I'm more than happy to create new characters to fit new settings or plots but I'm not gonna play a human or anything that's human but with only a couple traits changed (elves, orcs, dwarves, etc). I just don't see the appeal of having to use something familiar when I can roleplay a pitch-black shadow beast addicted to Cheezits, or a green, six-legged cat thing with too many knives and a superiority complex.
-For length, I can max the Discord character limit when I need to, but don't tend to write responses much larger than that unless I'm really invested. I usually cruise at 2-3 paragraphs in a close third perspective and can manage at least one reply a day, and I would like a partner who can do the same. My time zone is EST but I've been busy lately so it may take a while to respond sometimes.
-I also love chatting OOC between plots and as long as we don't lose too much pace during them. It's very important to have open and clear communication while creating a setting and figuring out where we want to take a story as we go. I have a habit of sometimes sharing random art that I've found or drawn as well, but feel free to ask me not to.
Here's an example of my writing for you to check out:
"Godsdammit..."
The Khejitsune muttered to herself. She could not see it, but she could feel the cold beer as it dribbled from her chin and soaked into her ruff. The glass hit the table with emphasis as she reached for a crumpled handful of napkins to dab at her doused fur. The woman really did loath these simple round glasses, missing the pitcher-like ones at home with a spout for easy drinking. A lack of lips and jagged, exposed teeth meant she could neither sip like a human nor use a straw, so the fluffy alien was relegated to clumsily pouring the beer directly into her mouth. At the very least, the needless difficulty helped her to pace herself.
A gaze tossed around the room met with a few others, and a small twinge of worry attempted to root itself, only to be stamped out by her thoughts. She had not been recognized, no one would know her here. They were staring because there was a large-ish, fuzzy woman with luminous pupils sitting alone in a bar full of (mostly) humans. Animal-like folk were rather common, but Soulbearers were another story. Out here eyes simply did not have a glow behind them. Maxine relaxed a bit, remembering this. As much as she loved her job and her fanbase, sometimes she would take just about any other kind of attention over being approached for an autograph or impromptu interview. Even if that attention took the form of looks and stares from people too shy or nervous to simply walk up and ask what she even was.
Whew, this is my first post here and I get that it's longer than most others. If you've read this far and you're still interested, sweet! DM me your favorite song as of late and a little about yourself as a roleplayer and we'll see from there.
submitted by Skatch142 to Roleplay [link] [comments]
I don't have a specific setting or roleplay in mind. Rather, I'm looking for someone to brainstorm with and create scenarios. I'm fine with nearly any setting, from sci-fi to fantasy to more niche stuff like southern gothic or dieselpunk, and even unique settings we build togethehave built. I enjoy ditching any semblance of sense from time to time and having an interaction between characters from completely different universes, as I have more interest in personality and how characters behave. I'm also more than willing to take the lead, but I want to see your stories and worlds too.
-So, what plot type am I looking for? Basically anything, honestly. Action, combat, slice of life, short interactions or longer stories with larger plots. I am open to romance plots but it is not a requisite. It's okay if RPs go stale, it happens, we can just start another! But if we lose steam too soon too often, I might have to find someone else.
-I do not roleplay fandoms. And if you somehow convince me to, it's gotta be Star Wars, and it's gotta be OCXOC. I'm far more interested in meeting characters I'm not familiar with and roleplaying characters I've created.
-As far as characters go, you can roleplay whoever you want so long as they're an OC. But I'll be clear, I roleplay furries/nonhuman characters 90% of the time. I'm more than happy to create new characters to fit new settings or plots but I'm not gonna play a human or anything that's human but with only a couple traits changed (elves, orcs, dwarves, etc). I just don't see the appeal of having to use something familiar when I can roleplay a pitch-black shadow beast addicted to Cheezits, or a green, six-legged cat thing with too many knives and a superiority complex.
-For length, I can max the Discord character limit when I need to, but don't tend to write responses much larger than that unless I'm really invested. I usually cruise at 2-3 paragraphs in a close third perspective and can manage at least one reply a day, and I would like a partner who can do the same. My time zone is EST but I've been busy lately so it may take a while to respond sometimes.
-I also love chatting OOC between plots and as long as we don't lose too much pace during them. It's very important to have open and clear communication while creating a setting and figuring out where we want to take a story as we go. I have a habit of sometimes sharing random art that I've found or drawn as well, but feel free to ask me not to.
Here's an example of my writing for you to check out:
"Godsdammit..."
The Khejitsune muttered to herself. She could not see it, but she could feel the cold beer as it dribbled from her chin and soaked into her ruff. The glass hit the table with emphasis as she reached for a crumpled handful of napkins to dab at her doused fur. The woman really did loath these simple round glasses, missing the pitcher-like ones at home with a spout for easy drinking. A lack of lips and jagged, exposed teeth meant she could neither sip like a human nor use a straw, so the fluffy alien was relegated to clumsily pouring the beer directly into her mouth. At the very least, the needless difficulty helped her to pace herself.
A gaze tossed around the room met with a few others, and a small twinge of worry attempted to root itself, only to be stamped out by her thoughts. She had not been recognized, no one would know her here. They were staring because there was a large-ish, fuzzy woman with luminous pupils sitting alone in a bar full of (mostly) humans. Animal-like folk were rather common, but Soulbearers were another story. Out here eyes simply did not have a glow behind them. Maxine relaxed a bit, remembering this. As much as she loved her job and her fanbase, sometimes she would take just about any other kind of attention over being approached for an autograph or impromptu interview. Even if that attention took the form of looks and stares from people too shy or nervous to simply walk up and ask what she even was.
Whew, this is my first post here and I get that it's longer than most others. If you've read this far and you're still interested, sweet! DM me your favorite song as of late and a little about yourself as a roleplayer and we'll see from there.
2023.03.21 17:19 ISuckAtMakingUpNames Recap Escambia County School Board meeting from 3/20 concerning banned books
It was a long night. We wrapped up around 1:10 am.
Look who found the share button on the School Board website. The only new info is going to be the voting records on the motions overturning the appeals, but the appeals and motions are available here, http://go.boarddocs.com/fl/escambia/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CMYQBZ67EF22.
There were a lot of speakers. Some were on topic. Some were not. Some spoke about the law. Some referenced school board policy. Some appealed to a sense of decency. Some railed against indoctrination, woke, and "other acronyms."
In the end, I think people being there and speaking against the bans helped the board decide to keep the challenged books. I only say that because we went from all four challenged books being banned last meeting, 2/21, to all four books being kept this meeting. Even if they were kept at fewer grade levels than I had hoped for.
Drama - approved for middle and high schools
New Kid - approved for middle and high school.
The comments on my last post were great to catch up on when I could. I appreciate that most people kept it civil. And the support was much needed.
I'll be sure to post information concerning the next meeting with more notice. The novel Push will be up for appeal. Looking for Alaska, Black Brother, Black Brother, and Ground Zero could be if the appeals are/were submitted in time.
Thanks for your support and hope to see more people opposed to book bans next meeting. Maybe we can show the School Board that it's a vocal minority seeking these bans.
submitted by ISuckAtMakingUpNames to Pensacola [link] [comments]
Look who found the share button on the School Board website. The only new info is going to be the voting records on the motions overturning the appeals, but the appeals and motions are available here, http://go.boarddocs.com/fl/escambia/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CMYQBZ67EF22.
There were a lot of speakers. Some were on topic. Some were not. Some spoke about the law. Some referenced school board policy. Some appealed to a sense of decency. Some railed against indoctrination, woke, and "other acronyms."
In the end, I think people being there and speaking against the bans helped the board decide to keep the challenged books. I only say that because we went from all four challenged books being banned last meeting, 2/21, to all four books being kept this meeting. Even if they were kept at fewer grade levels than I had hoped for.
Drama - approved for middle and high schools
New Kid - approved for middle and high school.
New Kid being pulled from elementary schools stung the most. This book is perfectly suited for those students. I thank School Board Member Patty Hightower for trying to make that happen. I'm disappointed that School Board Member David Williams moved to amend the motion by removing the book from elementary schools. And School Board Member Paul Fetsko for seconding that motion.The Bluest Eye - approved for 11th and 12th grade
I'm glad The Bluest Eye was kept at all. But I'm not happy that David Williams only voted to approve it for even those two grades because he was afraid of how his former students would be impacted with its removal, without the same regard for other students, especially with his amendment to New Kid.The Nowhere Girls - approved for 11th and 12th grade
Because of the relevance to consent, standing up the bullying, and discussion of sexual assault, this would have been good to keep in grades 9-12.If the video gets posted to YouTube, I'll add the link as a comment.
The comments on my last post were great to catch up on when I could. I appreciate that most people kept it civil. And the support was much needed.
I'll be sure to post information concerning the next meeting with more notice. The novel Push will be up for appeal. Looking for Alaska, Black Brother, Black Brother, and Ground Zero could be if the appeals are/were submitted in time.
Thanks for your support and hope to see more people opposed to book bans next meeting. Maybe we can show the School Board that it's a vocal minority seeking these bans.
2023.03.21 17:15 Nesholassa The Boston Saga, and What to Make of it?
So, background. I (30M) met this girl (27F) at a bachelorette party late last year (I am very good friends with both brides, so they invited me despite my not being in the wedding party) and we hit it off fairly well. We're separated by several states so all communication was via text or snapchat, and in the month between that party and the wedding we'd texted only sporadically but my friends the brides thought we'd hit it off and pushed me to try and get together with her. So I did, at the wedding we hung out a bit and did a couple shots, and in the aftermath she invited me down to her place for a weekend which I accepted.
The wedding is where I think the first red flag unfurled, as she tried (I'm uncertain to this day if she was successful or not) to hook up with a bartender at the afterparty. I blew past this by reasoning I didn't own her sexuality and didn't think I had a right to her attention or whatever, least of all after knowing each other for basically a total of 48 hours.
Then I drove down to her place the following month, she threw a party, we all got wasted, it was a generally good time-- until she rang up a booty call and left me downstairs while she got it on with him upstairs. This one was impossible to justify except on the same lines, but I was upset about it. I thought I was fairly effectively signaling my interest in her by driving all that way to see her, etc..
Towards the end of the year we went on a road trip and did some fun things. This time it was just the two of us and we had a blast, which helped restore my confidence this could work. We got dinner when she was up my way after that, near Christmas, and while there planned out a St. Patrick's Day trip to Boston. That about brings us to the present situation.
Boston we ended up seeing a concert, got shitfaced, and she started asking people if we looked like a couple. She asked me if I liked her, stuff like that. We went out for fresh air, and then... she started chatting up some guy at the bar. His buddy ran interference, told me I was friend-zoned, kept me from seeing them making out (or tried to). I was very angry and jealous, this time, and when she asked me to wait for her downstairs for the Uber (presumably so she could have some time away from me with her new friend?) I just started walking home. When she couldn't find me she went to a bar across the street from the concert venue. Fortunately I returned home safely, though she had my wallet and room key so I had to wait for her. We passed out together as I confessed that I was jealous which she said was "cute."
The following day we did breakfast, lunch, went sightseeing, had a pretty great (if hungover) day. Then the sun set, and she led us in search of the St. Patrick's afterparty. We wound up at a sweet pub, started drinking and dancing, then she went to the bar and returned with a couple of new friends-- a guy, his woman friend, and her fiancé. The woman friend immediately apologized for making me a third wheel, at which point I started immediately getting resentful. Kept drinking, the guy came back to the hotel with us, gave us edibles, then she left me and took an Uber with this guy to some town half an hour away while I was alone, drunk and high (never been high before), feeling like total shit as the room spun and I struggled mightily not to throw up everywhere. This time she told me point-blank she was (her words) "making a mistake" and "being a sl*t" before she "walked him to his car" for the rest of the night. The last thing I said as she left the room was "Please don't leave me again", which in hindsight is pitiful sounding, and which she promptly did.
When she got back in the morning I'd packed and called off our Sunday activities, blaming my hungover state and the long drive home-- in reality I was furious she'd pressured me into taking edibles and then left me alone to deal with it. She asked if I was pissed at her, I confirmed I was, and she apologized for what she'd put me through all weekend. It seemed very heartfelt. She bought breakfast, we talked a bit, had a walk, took some pictures, and I dropped her off at the airport.
In the aftermath I think I've pissed her off because I said if we travel again she should just ask me to leave the room so she doesn't have to Uber out of town with strangers to do her thing. I reasoned it was dangerous and I'd feel like an awful friend if something happened to her. She interpreted that as me "planning for her being a sl*t" and told me to drop it. She hasn't responded to any messages since.
I'm kind of hurt, honestly, after all this. I'm told her last relationship was a long-distance one that saw her boyfriend cheating on her and that she might be scared of another long-distance deal, or that commitment less than a year on from that might be scaring her off.
My friends are now yelling at me to break it off, though I still really like our vibe and when we hang out like 80% of the time it's a total blast. I fell for her hard and can't really bring myself to get over her so soon. I suppose this post is both a bit of an offmychest deal and an appeal for folks here to beat some sense into me. My brain tells me she's not interested, she's made that abundantly clear, she'll sleep with anyone else around me; but my heart keeps getting fooled by the apologies and the compliments (she's very complimentary) and the breakfasts and all the fun couple-ish things we did in the daytime. I think I need other reads on the situation, I need more people to tell me continuing to pursue this is not worth it.
submitted by Nesholassa to dating_advice [link] [comments]
The wedding is where I think the first red flag unfurled, as she tried (I'm uncertain to this day if she was successful or not) to hook up with a bartender at the afterparty. I blew past this by reasoning I didn't own her sexuality and didn't think I had a right to her attention or whatever, least of all after knowing each other for basically a total of 48 hours.
Then I drove down to her place the following month, she threw a party, we all got wasted, it was a generally good time-- until she rang up a booty call and left me downstairs while she got it on with him upstairs. This one was impossible to justify except on the same lines, but I was upset about it. I thought I was fairly effectively signaling my interest in her by driving all that way to see her, etc..
Towards the end of the year we went on a road trip and did some fun things. This time it was just the two of us and we had a blast, which helped restore my confidence this could work. We got dinner when she was up my way after that, near Christmas, and while there planned out a St. Patrick's Day trip to Boston. That about brings us to the present situation.
Boston we ended up seeing a concert, got shitfaced, and she started asking people if we looked like a couple. She asked me if I liked her, stuff like that. We went out for fresh air, and then... she started chatting up some guy at the bar. His buddy ran interference, told me I was friend-zoned, kept me from seeing them making out (or tried to). I was very angry and jealous, this time, and when she asked me to wait for her downstairs for the Uber (presumably so she could have some time away from me with her new friend?) I just started walking home. When she couldn't find me she went to a bar across the street from the concert venue. Fortunately I returned home safely, though she had my wallet and room key so I had to wait for her. We passed out together as I confessed that I was jealous which she said was "cute."
The following day we did breakfast, lunch, went sightseeing, had a pretty great (if hungover) day. Then the sun set, and she led us in search of the St. Patrick's afterparty. We wound up at a sweet pub, started drinking and dancing, then she went to the bar and returned with a couple of new friends-- a guy, his woman friend, and her fiancé. The woman friend immediately apologized for making me a third wheel, at which point I started immediately getting resentful. Kept drinking, the guy came back to the hotel with us, gave us edibles, then she left me and took an Uber with this guy to some town half an hour away while I was alone, drunk and high (never been high before), feeling like total shit as the room spun and I struggled mightily not to throw up everywhere. This time she told me point-blank she was (her words) "making a mistake" and "being a sl*t" before she "walked him to his car" for the rest of the night. The last thing I said as she left the room was "Please don't leave me again", which in hindsight is pitiful sounding, and which she promptly did.
When she got back in the morning I'd packed and called off our Sunday activities, blaming my hungover state and the long drive home-- in reality I was furious she'd pressured me into taking edibles and then left me alone to deal with it. She asked if I was pissed at her, I confirmed I was, and she apologized for what she'd put me through all weekend. It seemed very heartfelt. She bought breakfast, we talked a bit, had a walk, took some pictures, and I dropped her off at the airport.
In the aftermath I think I've pissed her off because I said if we travel again she should just ask me to leave the room so she doesn't have to Uber out of town with strangers to do her thing. I reasoned it was dangerous and I'd feel like an awful friend if something happened to her. She interpreted that as me "planning for her being a sl*t" and told me to drop it. She hasn't responded to any messages since.
I'm kind of hurt, honestly, after all this. I'm told her last relationship was a long-distance one that saw her boyfriend cheating on her and that she might be scared of another long-distance deal, or that commitment less than a year on from that might be scaring her off.
My friends are now yelling at me to break it off, though I still really like our vibe and when we hang out like 80% of the time it's a total blast. I fell for her hard and can't really bring myself to get over her so soon. I suppose this post is both a bit of an offmychest deal and an appeal for folks here to beat some sense into me. My brain tells me she's not interested, she's made that abundantly clear, she'll sleep with anyone else around me; but my heart keeps getting fooled by the apologies and the compliments (she's very complimentary) and the breakfasts and all the fun couple-ish things we did in the daytime. I think I need other reads on the situation, I need more people to tell me continuing to pursue this is not worth it.
2023.03.21 17:09 InternationalWash822 Warren Buffett invested in these Fintech Companies - How does SOFI Measure Up?
 | The fintech industry has seen one of the most exciting growth trends as it revolutionizes how people access financial services. Right now, there are over 30,000 fintech startups and by the end of 2021, fintech investment reached a total of $210 billion. The fintech sphere is only expected to grow, so I believe it is a very attractive industry for investors and Warren Buffet seems to think so too. submitted by InternationalWash822 to Shortsqueeze [link] [comments] The Oracle of Omaha has been making large investments in multiple fintech companies. In fact, Buffet has invested over $900M (107.1M shares) in the Brazilian company, Nu Holdings, and $907M (30M shares) in ALLY. This is a huge investment even for someone like Buffett. Nu Holdings is actually his 8th largest investment in terms of shares. This raises the question, why has Buffett invested in these other fintech companies, but not in Sofi? Throughout this post, I’ll be talking about Sofi, ALLY, and Nu Holdings - comparing their pros, cons, and similarities. My goal here is to see if there is room for 3 top dogs in the fintech industry or not. Why has Buffett purchased a lot of shares of Nu Holdings, specifically? For starters, the company has grown its customer base to 70.9 million clients in just over a year since going public. Nu Holdings provides credit cards to people who are not eligible to get one through other banks & tries to minimize risk by reducing the eligible benefits that the customer is initially eligible for. As they pay their bills on time, they unlock more benefits & more credit limits. Another reason is its management. It's no secret that Buffett likes to invest in companies with good management. As he once said, “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding management, our favorite holding period is forever.” Nu Holdings has recently hired David Marcus (former president of PayPal & former Meta Board member) on March 6 to be part of its Board of Directors. It’s expected that David will play a crucial role in Nu’s journey going forward. The rest of the management team brings a lot of experience to the table as well:
Nu Holdings’ Edge - Brazil’s Unbanked Population Before Nu Holdings started, over 55 million Brazilians were unbanked. This is because it's notoriously difficult for people who are not wealthy to obtain credit cards in Brazil. In general, it's very difficult to get a credit card in Latin America without being one of the wealthy elites. By offering credit cards to people who would not be able to obtain one any other way, Nu has captured a large, untapped market. This is the main reason Nu is as successful as it is today. Compared to SOFI, Nu Holdings has a much larger client base, this is of course due to its operations in Brazil, Mexico, & Columbia which in total have a larger population than the US. Thanks in part to these widespread operations, Forbes listed Nu Holdings as one of the world’s best banks in 2022. Nu Holdings has a larger client base, more revenues, and is growing at a much faster rate than Sofi. The main reason for this is the fact that Nu Holdings doesn’t have as many competitors as Sofi, especially since they focus on an untapped market in Latin America. With Sofi, they have competitors right, left, and center due to established banks and fintech competitors. Nu Holdings became profitable Q3 2022 - only a year after its inception. After making a net profit of $7.8 million in Q3, it went on to make $58 million the next quarter and is on track to report an EPS of $0.02 & $1.393B in revenues in Q1 2023 Whereas SOFI is still struggling to become profitable and is forecast to make an EPS of $-0.077 & $442.262M in revenue in Q1 2023. https://preview.redd.it/gkta3om784pa1.png?width=626&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d1bfed341d05e0187966a6da3b3e34c4895cbfd https://preview.redd.it/eu2am7q684pa1.png?width=622&format=png&auto=webp&s=6b0d5b8ff376c5c0ae86c565cbc715a50d293f28 *Screenshot taken from Future Investing YouTube* How are Nu Holdings & Sofi similar? But Nu Holdings & Sofi share one very important thing in common. They both want to be a one stop shop for financial services. Since Sofi specializes in student loan refinancing, it creates a bond with younger customers who - hopefully - will turn into lifelong customers that use Sofi for all their banking needs. Similarly, Nu Holdings offers credit cards to customers younger than 18 in Brazil - capturing a demographic of young people who will hopefully become lifelong customers. This means that both companies could continue to grow and expand as their customer base grows older and younger generations adopt their services as well. https://preview.redd.it/xlub4fg884pa1.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d8d039e9347417080f9035758f5cb9435e6dc29 Why has Buffett invested in ALLY? Having invested $1.7B since 2012 in the industry giant, General Motors, you could say Buffet is an expert on the auto industry. Which helps explain why Buffett took an interest in Ally. This fintech company offers multiple services but specializes in the auto loan industry since it once was a financing division of GM, originally known as GMAC. After GM sold the rest of its 8.5% stake in Ally for $900M in 2013, Ally has expanded its market by offering mortgages, credit cards, wealth management, & other services. https://preview.redd.it/y1c473va84pa1.png?width=605&format=png&auto=webp&s=84b47713c9d3fc8551a21260e51fc863cc7d1570 Another reason Buffett is investing in ALLY could be its history of share buybacks. Buffett is a big believer in stock buybacks and has said they can be the best use of corporate capital. ALLY also offers quarterly dividends to shareholders, which is a sign of the company’s fundamental strength. How does ALLY compare to Sofi? The main difference is the source of Ally’s revenue. 65.6% of Ally’s total revenue in 2022 came from the auto finance industry, while Sofi’s edge is student loan refinancing. In 2019, Sofi generated 59.7% of its revenue from student loans. But it’s worth noting that it can be quite difficult to qualify for student loan refinancing if you have a bad credit score whereas it’s a bit easier for people to get auto loans. https://preview.redd.it/q9efotfb84pa1.png?width=615&format=png&auto=webp&s=3dc7776eb6c02cd0e9293b82cb11e14b391cd86b How are Ally & Sofi similar? Ally & Sofi both offer commission free stock trading for investors with a high APY as well. Ally’s savings account offers 3.60% APY and Sofi offers 3.75% APY with a direct deposit. This means that with a direct deposit, you’ll earn a higher APY with Sofi, but without one, you’d earn a higher APY with Ally. Both companies offer multiple services such as mortgage loans, credit cards, insurance, etc. and are online banks with no physical locations. Given their different niches, it makes sense that Ally’s customers tend to be millennials while Sofi’s customers tend to be students or fresh graduates. Sofi’s Edge So after going through the pros and cons of all three of these companies, you might be wondering if SOFI has what it takes to gain market share in the growing Fintech industry. I believe Sofi has an edge over these two competitors when it comes to diversification. The two pictures below show the type of services that Sofi & Ally offer. Sofi is constantly trying to increase its market by opening up different services to attract new customers. To name a few:
https://preview.redd.it/0vcs7h5c84pa1.png?width=541&format=png&auto=webp&s=3521404dec4a95cb3ed2212eb32bbee5416a0fd1 Besides diversification, SOFI’s focus on student loan refinancing is also a plus imo. College education is essential in the US and without a college degree, most people can only get so far in their career. For instance, 53.7% of the US working population in 2021 graduated from college and at least 75% of new jobs require a college degree. When you factor in the average cost of tuition - which has soared 31.4% from 2010-2020 - and that the average student debt among college graduates is $28,000, SOFI is in a great position to profit from this sector. Given this inflationary environment & higher interest rates, I think that demand for student loan refinancing will only increase. This is because employers are constantly looking for people with degrees & the number of jobs requiring this are increasing every year. So it's no surprise that CEO Anthony Noto recently said, “We’d expect the demand for that product (student loans) to really go through the roof and be back to normalized levels that we saw in 2019.” But with the student loan pause in place, SOFI is losing a lot of money. The company stated that it has lost $300M to $400M and is pushing very hard to get a decision passed ending the student loan moratorium. The Supreme Court already heard the oral arguments regarding the case and is expected to give a decision in June. If things are not resolved by then or the Supreme Court rules against federal student loan forgiveness, then payments are expected to resume by the end of August. This is because payments are expected to start up again, 60 days following the ruling. Needless to say this would be a huge catalyst for SOFI and I, personally, believe that the Supreme Court will rule in SOFI’s favor. And the flood of refinancing requests that could come in once this limbo ends could give SOFI’s revenues a much-needed push. With this in mind, June will be a make-or-break moment for SOFI. Now, you might be thinking ‘that’s great and all but what about Buffett’s 8th largest investment by shares? OP is just some dude on the internet, and this is THE Warren Buffett’. https://preview.redd.it/w3k57vtc84pa1.png?width=288&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e5770fad03ae86cb15bcbe116bc706a512d9364 Well, you wouldn’t be wrong. It's hard to argue against Warren Buffett’s logic and I think NU could be a good investment as well, but compared to SOFI, I think that it presents a lot more risk. For one thing, Brazil has just gotten out of one of its worst economic crises in history and with a new government taking over there’s a lot of uncertainty. Corruption is very high in Brazil, and banks which provide their services almost exclusively to the rich in Brazil could use their power to turn the government against Nu Holdings if they feel threatened. Also, giving out credit cards to kids under 18 (even if the card’s benefits are limited) just sounds really risky to me. Given that most people in Brazil are not as financially well off as most US residents, its weaker currency, and struggling economy, Nu Holdings could face the greatest risk of all three companies. But time will tell whether the Brazilian government will make life easier or more difficult for a company like Nu Holdings. So this means that ALLY, which also focuses on the US market for financial services, is probably SOFI’s greatest competition. Both companies have a lot in common, but they’ve chosen to specialize in different niches. So let’s break it down:
Regardless of the potential hit to the automotive sector, when you compare auto loans to student loans you quickly see that student loans take the cake. The market size of the Auto leasing, loans, & sales financing industry is $173.2 billion, while the student loan industry is a massive $1.76 trillion. So Sofi has the upper hand here in terms of the market potential. With college tuition constantly increasing & students entering college year after year, SOFI also has stricter requirements for qualifying for personal loans, such as a credit score of 680 and other factors which make their loans comparatively safer since its clients are more thoroughly vetted. This is good because it allows Sofi to minimize the potential risk of a customer not being able to pay back their loan in the future. Conclusion: So, in conclusion, I think SOFI is in a fairly safe spot as long as the Supreme Court gives a favorable ruling. Since Nu Holdings operates in Latin America it won’t compete with Sofi for market share. Ally & Sofi also have different specializations, but Ally is a more established FinTech company which could take customers from Sofi. Still, SOFI’s goal is to become a one stop shop for all financial services and it has diversified its services extensively over the years which could give it an edge in this industry. Personally, I believe SOFI will be able to grow its customer base better than ALLY because it appeals directly to young adults heading into college. If these customers have a good experience, then SOFI can become their go-to financial service provider for the rest of their life. On this note, the FinTech industry is on track for major growth especially since Covid-19 acted as a catalyst for the industry - leading to wider adoption at a time when contactless payments were becoming essential. Besides this, the FinTech industry will likely continue to grow just out of sheer practicality. For one thing, Fintech cuts down servicing costs like maintaining physical branches while still providing a very high value service. As more and more transactions move online, the digital revolution continues to work in the industry’s favor and the widespread adoption of smartphones means that our phones will increasingly act as wallets. So, it's not surprising that the use of Fintech companies increased 88% from 2020 to 2021. So I'm pretty bullish on three of these stocks for the time being at least. Now for the TA... $SOFI https://preview.redd.it/djuk58id84pa1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74f72c6e21506030efc6bbc44374cb04b07096bb $SOFI has been stuck in a sideways channel since April 2022. The stock has a strong resistance at $7.59 which it tested on its positive Q4 earnings, however SOFI dropped almost 18% to its support at $5.25 due to market uncertainty. Now trading at $5.20, SOFI is below the 50, 200, and 21 MAs on the daily timeframe. Despite this, I’m expecting a bounce and potential retest of the $7.59 resistance leading up to the Supreme Court decision in June since the RSI oversold at 30. Right now SOFI is fundamentally oversold IMO. I bought 1k shares here as a starter with a stop loss at the $4.92 support. I’ll be averaging down under the $5.25 support or averaging up depending on the trend. My take profits will be the 200 MA, $6.43 resistance and the $7.59 resistance. https://preview.redd.it/pakxnr1e84pa1.jpg?width=1458&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fb5c7d97c02030b7ad888463c4c2cf572e973c5 $ALLY: https://preview.redd.it/8zwd6jme84pa1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af9de5ffc042ca2bfaf546417438edac1e9dc409 ALLY was in a downward channel all of 2022 but it broke out at the start of 2023 - testing the $34 resistance after earnings. Since then the trend has reversed and is now bearish. The stock touched its $21.91 support mostly due to market turmoil rather than fundamentals. I’m expecting ALLY to break out of this channel like it did at the start of this year when it approached the $34 support. The stock recently tested what was once the upper trendline and bounced off of it which is a bullish sign. Personally, I think that these banking fears will dissipate now that the government has stepped in - as illustrated by the XLF closing green on Monday. Looking at the daily timeframe, ALLY is oversold with the RSI at 30 so I am expecting a bounce over the next few weeks. Long-term, I think ALLY will trade in a sideways channel between the $23.80 support and $34 resistance until a strong catalyst is able to break it out. But for now, I’ll take a swing here with a stoploss at $23 and my take profits at $27.05 and the 50MA. $NU: https://preview.redd.it/1x33g57f84pa1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e1b3757785d4d1a40bd84ea5607052fd7d5c833 Compared to ALLY and SOFI, NU has not dropped as dramatically, which is likely due to its exposure to Latin American markets rather than the US. The stock is currently trending downwards within the sideways channel. The stock is testing the 200 MA on the daily chart, if it breaks through it I will be going short with the lower trendline as my take profit and the 50 MA as my SL. |
2023.03.21 17:00 DukesMayonaisse Conservation or Appeal?
Which way do y'all like to attack the board? I usually focus on conservation while my wife tends to go for appeal. Our scores are generally within a few points of each other and it's about even between us for wins/losses. Do you tend to prefer one track or do you go for a nice balance? We're at the point now where the games move along pretty quickly and we're just looking to become better players.
submitted by DukesMayonaisse to ArkNova [link] [comments]
2023.03.21 16:56 scsm Help me with my first 500 point beginner list
Here's my idea for my first 500 points. I currently own a box of Firewarriors, a commander, and Crisis Suits. I'm also hoping to grab the Farsight Boarding Actions box when it releases. Does this all make sense and a good base to build off of?
++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (T'au Empire) [23 PL, 500pts, 3CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [3CP]: 1. Combat Patrol (0-50 Total PL / 0-500 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Game Type: 3. Chapter Approved: War Zone Nachmund
Sept Choice: T'au Sept
+ HQ +
Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit [8 PL, 175pts]: 1. Precision of the Hunter, Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, Burst Cannon, Onager Gauntlet, Shield Generator, T'au Flamer, Thermoneutronic Projector, Warlord
+ Troops +
Strike Team [5 PL, 105pts]
. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle
. 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle
. Marker Drone
. Shield Drone
+ Elites +
Crisis Battlesuits [10 PL, 220pts]
. Crisis Shas'ui: Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, T'au Flamer, Target Lock
. Crisis Shas'ui: Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, T'au Flamer, Target Lock
. Crisis Shas'vre: Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, T'au Flamer, Target Lock
. Marker Drone
. Shield Drone
++ Total: [23 PL, 3CP, 500pts] ++
submitted by scsm to Tau40K [link] [comments]
++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (T'au Empire) [23 PL, 500pts, 3CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [3CP]: 1. Combat Patrol (0-50 Total PL / 0-500 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Game Type: 3. Chapter Approved: War Zone Nachmund
Sept Choice: T'au Sept
+ HQ +
Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit [8 PL, 175pts]: 1. Precision of the Hunter, Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, Burst Cannon, Onager Gauntlet, Shield Generator, T'au Flamer, Thermoneutronic Projector, Warlord
+ Troops +
Strike Team [5 PL, 105pts]
. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse Rifle
. 9x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle: 9x Pulse Pistol, 9x Pulse Rifle
. Marker Drone
. Shield Drone
+ Elites +
Crisis Battlesuits [10 PL, 220pts]
. Crisis Shas'ui: Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, T'au Flamer, Target Lock
. Crisis Shas'ui: Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, T'au Flamer, Target Lock
. Crisis Shas'vre: Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, T'au Flamer, Target Lock
. Marker Drone
. Shield Drone
++ Total: [23 PL, 3CP, 500pts] ++
2023.03.21 16:53 fgdfhfyju TROUBLE IN PARADISE AS BALI LOSES PATIENCE WITH RUSSIANS, UKRAINIANS FLEEING WAR
With its balmy beaches, laid back lifestyles and holiday vibe, the tropical paradise of Bali has much to offer any world weary traveler – let alone those fleeing a war zone.
So perhaps it should be no surprise that since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Indonesia’s most famous holiday island has once again become a magnet for thousands of Russians and Ukrainians seeking to escape the horrors of war.
Some 58,000 Russians visited this Southeast Asian idyll in 2022 following its post-Covid reopening, and a further 22,500 arrived in January 2023 alone, according to the Indonesian government, making them the second biggest group of visitors after Australians. Adding to their number are the more than 7,000 Ukrainians who arrived in 2022, and some 2,500 in the first month of this year.
But for those fleeing the violence – or the draft – there’s trouble in paradise. Balinese authorities this week called for the end to Indonesia’s visa-on-arrival policy for citizens of Russia and Ukraine, citing a spate of alleged incidents involving misbehavior and various examples of visitors overstaying their visas and working illegally as hairdressers, unauthorized tour guides and taxi drivers. The move has been met with dismay by many Ukrainians on the island, who say that most of the incidents involve Russians and that they are being unfairly tarred with the same brush.
“Whenever we get reports about a foreigner behaving badly, it’s almost always Russian,” a local police officer in the town of Kuta told CNN, declining to be identified due to sensitivities surrounding the issue.
“Foreigners come to Bali but they behave like they are above the law. This has always been the case and it has to finally stop,” he said.
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INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 24: Vladimir Maraktaev, 23, and a 30-year-old man who asked to be identified as Andrey are among the five Russians who arrived at South Korea's Incheon International Airport seeking refugee status after receiving their draft notice, but remain in limbo on January 24, 2023 in Incheon, South Korea. (Photo by Michelle Ye Hee Lee/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Five Russian men fleeing military conscription have been living at a South Korean airport for months
Badly behaved tourists can be a touchy subject in Bali, where foreigners of various nationalities regularly make headlines for drunk and inappropriate behavior, public nudity and disrespecting sacred sites.
But the Balinese authorities appear ready to make an example of Russians and Ukrainians amid rising public debate over perceptions of their conduct.
“Why these two countries? Because they are at war so they flock here,” Bali governor Wayan Koster told a news conference this week.
The influx of Russians and Ukrainians into Bali comes despite Ukraine having banned all men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. Russia has no official blanket ban, but has mobilized 300,000 reservists to join the fighting, prompting many young men to flee abroad rather than be drafted.
CNN reached out to the Russian embassy in Indonesia and Ukrainian consulate in Bali. Russian embassy officials did not immediately respond; Ukraine’s Honorary Consulate in Bali said Ukrainians in the country were mostly females there for family unification reasons rather than tourism and that they did “not want to violate the rules and regulations.”
‘We all get along’
While Bali was a favorite with Russian tourists even before the war, its attractions have become only more appealing in the wake of Putin’s grinding invasion and subsequent mobilization.
And it is far from the only refuge in Southeast Asia. The island of Phuket in southern Thailand, often lauded as among the world’s best beach destinations, has seen a sudden influx of Russian arrivals – many of whom have invested in property to ensure they can enjoy long-term stays. “Life in Russia is very different now,” a former investment banker from St. Petersburg who bought an apartment near Phuket’s Old Town district told CNN. He declined to disclose his identity for fear of retaliation from Russian authorities.
Renovated Sino Portuguese Architecture in Phuket old town, Thailand.
Renovated Sino Portuguese Architecture in Phuket old town, Thailand.
Tee11/Adobe Stock
“No one wants to stay and live in the middle of war,” he said. “It is stressful thinking about the possibility of returning to Russia and being punished… (so) it makes sense to invest in a place which costs less than Moscow and is safer.”
In Bali, part of the attraction has been down to Indonesia’s policy that allows nationals of more than 80 countries – including, at least for now, Russia and Ukraine – to apply for visas upon arrival. The visa is valid for 30 days but can be extended once to a total of 60 days.
That might be plenty of time for those planning lengthy vacations, but those seeking a more prolonged stay are not allowed to work. Indonesian authorities said several Russian tourists had been deported in recent months for overstaying their visas, among them a 28-year-old from Moscow who was arrested and deported after he was found to be working as a photographer.
The group held a sign in Russian that read, "580 Separate Howitzer Artillery Division."
Russian wives and mothers call on Putin to stop sending mobilized men 'to the slaughter'
Others who arrived hoping to find work have since returned home, risking Moscow’s wrath if they are suspected of fleeing the draft.
Among the wave of Russians to have traveled to Bali was Sergei Ovseikin, a street artist who created an anti-war mural in the middle of a rice paddy field – a “mural” that reflected his stance on military conscription and the war.
“Like many others forced to leave our native country, I came to Bali as a tourist,” Ovseikin said.
“Russia remains in a difficult political situation. I am against wars, no matter where they take place,” he said.
“A lot of people who disagreed with the war flew to Bali – Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and others,” he added. “We all get along well with each other… and understand that ordinary people did not start this war.”
‘It’s beautiful … no Russian soldiers’
News of the possible change to the visa rules has rattled some of the Ukrainians on the island, many of whom left their homeland when war broke out and have been living on savings ever since, leaving and reentering every 60 days to avoid flouting the rules.
“Bali is a good place,” said one Ukrainian named Dmytro. “It is beautiful, the weather is great and it’s a safe place for Ukrainians – there may be big groups of Russians, but there are no Russian soldiers.”
Ukrainians on the island were a tightly knit community that largely kept away from Russians and had been surprised by the possible move, he added.
“Ukrainians respect Balinese law and culture. We do a lot for our local communities and don’t represent any risk for people in Bali,” Dmytro said. “Many back in Ukraine have questions about Bali and would also love to come.”
“It’s very sad that Ukrainians are being put in the same (category) as Russians. Russians are the second largest tourist group in Bali and if you read the news, you’ll see how often it is Russians breaking local laws and disrespecting Balinese culture and traditions,” he added.
“So why do Ukrainians have to suffer when it isn’t us causing problems in Bali?”
Ukrainian people at the opening of the consulate in Denpasar, Bali.
Ukrainian people at the opening of the consulate in Denpasar, Bali.
HonoraryConsul for Ukraine in Bali
Ukraine’s Honorary Consulate in Bali said in a statement to CNN that there were around 8,500 Ukrainian citizens on the island as of February 2023, holding various temporary and permanent visa permits.
“Ukrainians do not come for holiday to Bali at this current moment as our country is being invaded. The Ukrainians coming to Bali now are for family unification (reasons) and are mostly female,” said spokesperson Nyoman Astama.
“We reaffirm that Ukrainians in Bali do not want to violate the rules and regulations,” Astama added. “It is imperative to enforce the law and implement the consequences for any breach of the law as voiced now by the people in Bali.”
Still, for now at least, anyone from either country still hoping for a visa on arrival can take some comfort in the fact that the central government is yet to decide on whether to grant the request by the Balinese authorities.
“We will discuss it in detail with other stakeholders,” Indonesian Minister of Tourism Sandiaga Uno told local reporters on Monday.
PAID CONTENT
submitted by fgdfhfyju to truefree [link] [comments]
So perhaps it should be no surprise that since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Indonesia’s most famous holiday island has once again become a magnet for thousands of Russians and Ukrainians seeking to escape the horrors of war.
Some 58,000 Russians visited this Southeast Asian idyll in 2022 following its post-Covid reopening, and a further 22,500 arrived in January 2023 alone, according to the Indonesian government, making them the second biggest group of visitors after Australians. Adding to their number are the more than 7,000 Ukrainians who arrived in 2022, and some 2,500 in the first month of this year.
But for those fleeing the violence – or the draft – there’s trouble in paradise. Balinese authorities this week called for the end to Indonesia’s visa-on-arrival policy for citizens of Russia and Ukraine, citing a spate of alleged incidents involving misbehavior and various examples of visitors overstaying their visas and working illegally as hairdressers, unauthorized tour guides and taxi drivers. The move has been met with dismay by many Ukrainians on the island, who say that most of the incidents involve Russians and that they are being unfairly tarred with the same brush.
“Whenever we get reports about a foreigner behaving badly, it’s almost always Russian,” a local police officer in the town of Kuta told CNN, declining to be identified due to sensitivities surrounding the issue.
“Foreigners come to Bali but they behave like they are above the law. This has always been the case and it has to finally stop,” he said.
Ad Feedback
INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 24: Vladimir Maraktaev, 23, and a 30-year-old man who asked to be identified as Andrey are among the five Russians who arrived at South Korea's Incheon International Airport seeking refugee status after receiving their draft notice, but remain in limbo on January 24, 2023 in Incheon, South Korea. (Photo by Michelle Ye Hee Lee/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Five Russian men fleeing military conscription have been living at a South Korean airport for months
Badly behaved tourists can be a touchy subject in Bali, where foreigners of various nationalities regularly make headlines for drunk and inappropriate behavior, public nudity and disrespecting sacred sites.
But the Balinese authorities appear ready to make an example of Russians and Ukrainians amid rising public debate over perceptions of their conduct.
“Why these two countries? Because they are at war so they flock here,” Bali governor Wayan Koster told a news conference this week.
The influx of Russians and Ukrainians into Bali comes despite Ukraine having banned all men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. Russia has no official blanket ban, but has mobilized 300,000 reservists to join the fighting, prompting many young men to flee abroad rather than be drafted.
CNN reached out to the Russian embassy in Indonesia and Ukrainian consulate in Bali. Russian embassy officials did not immediately respond; Ukraine’s Honorary Consulate in Bali said Ukrainians in the country were mostly females there for family unification reasons rather than tourism and that they did “not want to violate the rules and regulations.”
‘We all get along’
While Bali was a favorite with Russian tourists even before the war, its attractions have become only more appealing in the wake of Putin’s grinding invasion and subsequent mobilization.
And it is far from the only refuge in Southeast Asia. The island of Phuket in southern Thailand, often lauded as among the world’s best beach destinations, has seen a sudden influx of Russian arrivals – many of whom have invested in property to ensure they can enjoy long-term stays. “Life in Russia is very different now,” a former investment banker from St. Petersburg who bought an apartment near Phuket’s Old Town district told CNN. He declined to disclose his identity for fear of retaliation from Russian authorities.
Renovated Sino Portuguese Architecture in Phuket old town, Thailand.
Renovated Sino Portuguese Architecture in Phuket old town, Thailand.
Tee11/Adobe Stock
“No one wants to stay and live in the middle of war,” he said. “It is stressful thinking about the possibility of returning to Russia and being punished… (so) it makes sense to invest in a place which costs less than Moscow and is safer.”
In Bali, part of the attraction has been down to Indonesia’s policy that allows nationals of more than 80 countries – including, at least for now, Russia and Ukraine – to apply for visas upon arrival. The visa is valid for 30 days but can be extended once to a total of 60 days.
That might be plenty of time for those planning lengthy vacations, but those seeking a more prolonged stay are not allowed to work. Indonesian authorities said several Russian tourists had been deported in recent months for overstaying their visas, among them a 28-year-old from Moscow who was arrested and deported after he was found to be working as a photographer.
The group held a sign in Russian that read, "580 Separate Howitzer Artillery Division."
Russian wives and mothers call on Putin to stop sending mobilized men 'to the slaughter'
Others who arrived hoping to find work have since returned home, risking Moscow’s wrath if they are suspected of fleeing the draft.
Among the wave of Russians to have traveled to Bali was Sergei Ovseikin, a street artist who created an anti-war mural in the middle of a rice paddy field – a “mural” that reflected his stance on military conscription and the war.
“Like many others forced to leave our native country, I came to Bali as a tourist,” Ovseikin said.
“Russia remains in a difficult political situation. I am against wars, no matter where they take place,” he said.
“A lot of people who disagreed with the war flew to Bali – Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and others,” he added. “We all get along well with each other… and understand that ordinary people did not start this war.”
‘It’s beautiful … no Russian soldiers’
News of the possible change to the visa rules has rattled some of the Ukrainians on the island, many of whom left their homeland when war broke out and have been living on savings ever since, leaving and reentering every 60 days to avoid flouting the rules.
“Bali is a good place,” said one Ukrainian named Dmytro. “It is beautiful, the weather is great and it’s a safe place for Ukrainians – there may be big groups of Russians, but there are no Russian soldiers.”
Ukrainians on the island were a tightly knit community that largely kept away from Russians and had been surprised by the possible move, he added.
“Ukrainians respect Balinese law and culture. We do a lot for our local communities and don’t represent any risk for people in Bali,” Dmytro said. “Many back in Ukraine have questions about Bali and would also love to come.”
“It’s very sad that Ukrainians are being put in the same (category) as Russians. Russians are the second largest tourist group in Bali and if you read the news, you’ll see how often it is Russians breaking local laws and disrespecting Balinese culture and traditions,” he added.
“So why do Ukrainians have to suffer when it isn’t us causing problems in Bali?”
Ukrainian people at the opening of the consulate in Denpasar, Bali.
Ukrainian people at the opening of the consulate in Denpasar, Bali.
HonoraryConsul for Ukraine in Bali
Ukraine’s Honorary Consulate in Bali said in a statement to CNN that there were around 8,500 Ukrainian citizens on the island as of February 2023, holding various temporary and permanent visa permits.
“Ukrainians do not come for holiday to Bali at this current moment as our country is being invaded. The Ukrainians coming to Bali now are for family unification (reasons) and are mostly female,” said spokesperson Nyoman Astama.
“We reaffirm that Ukrainians in Bali do not want to violate the rules and regulations,” Astama added. “It is imperative to enforce the law and implement the consequences for any breach of the law as voiced now by the people in Bali.”
Still, for now at least, anyone from either country still hoping for a visa on arrival can take some comfort in the fact that the central government is yet to decide on whether to grant the request by the Balinese authorities.
“We will discuss it in detail with other stakeholders,” Indonesian Minister of Tourism Sandiaga Uno told local reporters on Monday.
PAID CONTENT
2023.03.21 16:00 Lady_Aya B235 - Criminal Justice (Disclosure of Victims' Remains) Bill (Northern Ireland) - Final Division
Criminal Justice (Disclosure of Victims' Remains) Bill (Northern Ireland)
ABILL
TO
Amend the Parole Commissioners' Rules (Northern Ireland) 2009 to require the Parole Commissioner or Panel to consider whether a convicted murderer has co-operated with authorities, in determining whether to allow or reject the prisoner's appeal.
Section 1: Amendments to the Parole Commissioners' Rules (Northern Ireland) 2009
(1) In Rule 14(6) of the Rules, the following new subparagraph is inserted.
(a) In considering whether to allow or reject an appeal of a prisoner convicted of murder, the Chief Commissioner must take into account any report tendered to the Commissioner relating to the evaluation of a prisoner's co-operation in the investigation of an offence, including -(2) In Rule 16(2), the following new subparagraph is inserted.
(i) the nature and extent of the prisoner's co-operation(b) A refusal of a prisoner's co-operation in the investigation of an offence shall not be held against the decision whether to allow or reject an appeal of a prisoner convicted of murder.
(ii) whether the prisoner has acted in good faith when co-operating with authorities
(iii) the usefulness of the prisoner's co-operation
(iv) the timeliness of the prisoner's co-operation
(a) In considering whether a prisoner convicted of murder shall be released or not, the Panel must take into account any report tendered to the Panel relating to the evaluation of a prisoner's co-operation in the investigation of an offence, including -Section 2: Short Title and Commencement
(i) the nature and extent of the prisoner's co-operation(b) A refusal of a prisoner's co-operation in the investigation of an offence shall not be held against the decision whether to repeal or not a prisoner convicted of murder.
(ii) whether the prisoner has acted in good faith when co-operating with authorities
(iii) the usefulness of the prisoner's co-operation
(iv) the timeliness of the prisoner's co-operation
(1) This act may be cited as the Criminal Justice (Disclosure of Victims' Remains) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023
(2) This act will come into operation upon receiving Royal Assent.
This bill was an election promise that Alliance ran on during the last Stormont elections. The intention of this piece of legislation is to force the Chief Commissioner and/or the panel to consider whether a convicted prisoner has co-operated with authorities when being considered for parole.
In 2012, Charlotte Murray was murdered by a man who refused to disclose the location of the victim's remains to her grieving family. In 2005, Lisa Dorrian disappeared in a caravan park near Ballyhalbert. Despite many offers of rewards and numerous public appeals, police are yet to discover her body. This necessitates that the Stormont must act, to respect the legacy and life of both Charlotte Murray and Lisa Dorrian.
Similar jurisdictions have proposed measures like the bill I have tabled today. In South Australia, the Correctional Services (Parole) Amendment Act 2015 s 6(7) requires the parole board to take into account a number of factors in evaluating whether a prisoner has co-operated with authorities, including the reliability, timeliness, significance/usefulness and nature of the prisoner's co-operation. In Victoria, the Victoria Sentencing Act 1991 s 5(2CA) as amended in 2016 is more explicit, directly requiring a court to evaluate whether an individual, found guilty of murder, accessory to murder, or conspiracy to murder, has disclosed the location of the victims' remains. Failure to do so results in a (likely) longer prison sentence.
Ceann Comhairle, ultimately, we need to do right for those families grieving over a lost one, but are unable to find comfort. This bill does not single-handedly provide that relief to families who suffer loss. But, this bill will provide a step forward in ensuring that our justice system re-orients towards a victim-centric approach. I hope my fellow MLAs will support this effort.
2023.03.21 15:29 IPRDaily OREO VS AO LI GEI, Who Is the Winner？
 | With exaggerated facial expressions and impassioned tones, the cheering phrase of “奥利给 (Ao Li Gei in Chinese) ” went viral on short-video platforms. This phrase’s popularity also earned it a spot in the top ten internet buzzwords of 2020. However, the widespread use of this phrase also caught the attention of a company called Shanghai Senyi Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Senyi”), who smelt a business opportunity. In the same year, they began to apply for and register trademarks for “奥利给(Ao Li Gei in Chinese)” as well as “奥力给(Ao Li Gei in Chinese) ”. Afterwards, they started using these trademarks on their own cookies and wafers, and conducting large-scale sales. These products were not only sold in some small and medium-sized convenience stores, but also quickly entered high-end convenience stores and chain supermarkets like 7-11, BHG, and Tesco, as well as major online sales platforms such as TMall, JD, and PDD. submitted by IPRDaily to u/IPRDaily [link] [comments] Consumers brought this product to the attention of Mondelēz China, a member of the Mondelēz International group of companies, due to the confusing similarities of the AO LI GEI products to its OREO products. Let's take a look at the comparison pictures of the two products. VS https://preview.redd.it/glkvd1hwp3pa1.png?width=823&format=png&auto=webp&s=945423a7b29c9fb95723232457bd4ceef88a96ae From the brands, to the cookie device, packaging, and other aspects, there are many similarities between the two products, making it easy for consumers to mistakenly think that “奥利给” / “奥力给” (Both are “Ao Li Gei” in Chinese) brand is one of OERO’s sub-brands, or like the well-known Asian artist Jackson Wang, mistakenly believe that the providers of the two products are related. However, neither of them are the fact. In order to protect its own and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, Intercontinental Great Brands LLC (hereinafter, “IGB”), the owner of the OREO trademarks and a member of the Mondelēz International group of companies, entrusted attorneys Michael Fu and Yang Luo from Chang Tsi & Partners (hereinafter referred to as “this Firm”), to send a cease and desist letter to Senyi and the manufacturer of its products (Dacheng County Mei Sa Jia Shi Da Food Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as “Mei Sa Jia Shi Da”) in August 2020, requiring these two companies to immediately cease the infringement. Since these companies showed no intention of cooperation and launched more product lines and further expanded their online and brick-and-mortar sales network, IGB eventually filed a trademark infringement civil litigation against these two companies before the Xicheng District People’s Court of Beijing.. IGB mainly demands that Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da immediately stop producing, selling, and promoting cookies and wafers using trademarks https://preview.redd.it/v32uxjlaq3pa1.png?width=169&format=png&auto=webp&s=10f5803ff809d3fce82d037c29ceed81f289ca9d and https://preview.redd.it/57hry96jq3pa1.png?width=97&format=png&auto=webp&s=1ae151d10fbf0913e2661517b3beb355bf3ad6be , which are highly similar to the “OREO Series Marks” and “OREO Cookie Device Marks” (hereinafter referred to as the “infringing products” and “infringing trademarks”), and they shall jointly compensate for the economic losses and reasonable expenses incurred in investigating and stopping the infringement. Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da argued that their trademarks do not infringe on the “OREO Series Marks”, for the following reasons: First, Senyi owns the registered trademarks No. 53389500 https://preview.redd.it/wdb393lnq3pa1.png?width=207&format=png&auto=webp&s=54d886671ae7257c46270734713679cefe2bae18 and No. 21979391 https://preview.redd.it/ox7f11upq3pa1.png?width=198&format=png&auto=webp&s=53d8402a1ddf00c5722e4896949f1c59328daa14 , both in Class 30, so it has the right to use the infringing trademarks; Second, the infringing trademarks are distinguishable from the “OREO Series Marks” and “OREO Cookie Device Marks”, so the two trademarks do not constitute similar trademarks; Third, the use of “奥利给 (Ao Li Gei in Chinese)” on the products is the use of an internet buzzword, not a trademark; Fourth, the infringing products have low sales, low prices, a limited market reach, and have not had any impact on the sales of IGB’s products. Moreover, they allegedly claimed that they did not profit, and even suffered losses, so IGB’s claim for compensation has no factual basis. In December 2022, however, the Xicheng District People’s Court of Beijing (“Court”) issued its Civil Judgment (Case No.: (2021) Jing 0102 Min Chu 35274), which ruled in favor of IGB and ordered Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da to stop infringing on the exclusive trademark rights of IGB and to compensate IGB’s economic losses and reasonable expenses at the amount of CNY700,000. The court held that: First, the trademarks and https://preview.redd.it/4qoqoj9wq3pa1.png?width=169&format=png&auto=webp&s=82b026a98f677f0738a3b70b447193660ad20f5b are similar to 奥利奥(OREO in Chinese) marks from pronunciation, overall appearance, and meaning so they are similar trademarks. The cookie device mark “ https://preview.redd.it/1e2wolc0r3pa1.png?width=97&format=png&auto=webp&s=44d42ad275d49f570923181d0805287590a87647 ”, is similar to “OREO Cookie Device Marks”, including but not limited to https://preview.redd.it/3ts8aai3r3pa1.png?width=147&format=png&auto=webp&s=f04890bb5f167d448b96c781b3389750cf7df1df , from composition, colour, overall structure, and etc., so they are similar trademarks. IGB’s trademarks have obtained high distinctiveness and reputation through their extensive promotion and use. As the competitors in the industry of cookies, it is impossible that Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da do not know IGB’s trademarks. However, instead of actively avoiding any disputes, they chose to manufacture products with the trademarks similar to IGB’s, which shows their obvious bad faith of free-riding. Even though the evidence provided by Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da could prove that “奥利给 (Ao Li Gei in Chinese)” is an internet buzzword, this word has weak correlation with the ingredient, function, and raw materials of cookies so it is not a generic word of cookies. From how the infringing trademarks are used, Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da are not using “奥利给 (Ao Li Gei in Chinese)” maintaining its original meaning but separately marking them in an extensive way and with the “TM” logo. This can sufficiently prove the subjective intention of Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da for using https://preview.redd.it/gkkf1is6r3pa1.png?width=169&format=png&auto=webp&s=0155075d7895f49c7574843cc1e21362cf779321 and https://preview.redd.it/6kupouj8r3pa1.png?width=169&format=png&auto=webp&s=e72570ac0906287265361941e1531a82d5fdcd38 as trademarks. In terms of the position and mode of use, these two marks have played the role to distinguish the source of goods. The infringing products, including cookies and wafers, are identical to cookies designated by IGB’s trademarks. When the two parties’ marks are similar, the way how the infringing trademarks are used can sufficiently cause confusion. Considering that Mei Sa Jia Shi Da is authorized by Senyi to manufacture the infringing products, it shall be determined that they both proceeded with the manufacture of the infringing products. Hence, Mei Sa Jia Shi Da’s act of producing the infringing products and Senyi’s acts of authorizing Mei Sa Jia Shi Da to produce and of selling the infringing products shall be recognized as the use of trademarks similar to IGB’s trademarks on identical goods. This shall easily cause confusion and harm the exclusive trademark rights of IGB. The evidence in this case cannot prove that the infringement has been ceased. Therefore, Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da shall be liable to cease the infringement and compensate the loss of IGB. Second, as for the amount of damages, the court determines that Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da shall burden the damages and reasonable expenses at the amount of CNY 700,000 by taking into consideration factors including 1) IGB’s trademarks have high reputation; 2) the sale of the infringing products are sold both online and offline and sale territory is wide; 3) the sale volume of the infringing products is relatively big; 4) the proportion of the infringing trademarks on the infringing products is relatively large and their font is relatively extensive, which will greatly affect consumers’ choice; and 5) the subjective bad faith of Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi is relatively obvious. After the court judgment, Senyi and Mei Sa Jia Shi Da finally decided not to appeal and complied with the first-instance judgment. In this trademark infringement battle between 奥利奥 (OREO in Chinese) and 奥利给 (Ao Li Gei in Chinese), 奥利奥 (OREO in Chinese) has always been the more powerful contender and ultimately emerged victorious. Not only did it successfully combat the egregious trademark infringement behavior in this case, but it also strongly and vigorously protected its own and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers at large. Authors Michael Fu Chang Tsi & Partners Partner、Attorney at Law https://preview.redd.it/y5rq37cdr3pa1.png?width=606&format=png&auto=webp&s=17341ef70af30b7d8b4ad633ea00de4a38cb0269 Michael Fu has focused his practice on intellectual property law for more than 15 years. He could provide intellectual property strategy with creative thinking for clients, and he has represented many Fortune 500 companies including Mondelez, HP, Under Armour, Michael Kors, Tiffany, Four Seasons, etc. He excels at helping clients with the enforcement of their IP rights through administrative and judicial channels in China. As a litigator and partner, Michael leads a professional team with more than 20 attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants. He also teaches the young attorneys and associates with his knowledge and helps them to grow up faster. With his lead, he and his excellent team have won numerous high-profile cases which often attract the media’s attention. Yang Luo Chang Tsi & Partners Attorney at Law https://preview.redd.it/p26azp7fr3pa1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=73f10e993aaab0656e43fcf68178a9223c6b189b Yang Luo has been engaged in foreign-related intellectual property legal services for seven years. She excels in providing comprehensive rights protection strategies and effectively implementing specific actions for foreign clients facing intellectual property infringement issues in the Chinese market, earning high recognition from her clients. Source: Chang Tsi & Partners Editor: IPR Daily-Ann |
2023.03.21 15:25 ujober How To Be Productive Working From Home
Working from home can be a highly productive endeavor if done properly. This requires setting up your workspace, working efficiently and staying motivated. To learn how to be productive from home check out UJober and see the course you can download.
The primary challenge of working from home is juggling work with family responsibilities. To make this easier, establish clear boundaries with family members and let them know you still need to complete your tasks.
Traditionally, workspaces are located within an office building and consist of a desk, phone extension, and access to shared resources like paper files or meeting rooms. However, with the growth of telecommuting and virtual office businesses, workplaces no longer need be physically located.
Instead, many organizations are turning to smart workspaces for support of their remote workers. These modern work environments integrate various applications that manage voice conversations, messaging, calendar data and projects so the team can access these tools from various devices and collaborate in real-time.
A secure workspace should also have a robust security framework. This guarantees employees only have access to information necessary for their job duties, while organizations are able to keep sensitive data private and only accessible to those who require it.
For instance, if you're working on a project, it is likely that you will have access to sensitive data like files and videos. To keep this information secure, a workspace can provide you with a central location to store all these assets securely.
Another advantage of having a workspace is that it helps organize your work better. This makes it simpler to locate essential items and reduces the amount of clutter that can build up over time.
Tracking tasks and priorities without relying on a calendar or other organizational tools is particularly useful if you're managing multiple projects or working on something big that requires lots of coordination.
When working on a social media campaign, it can be beneficial to create distinct workspaces for each brand or client you collaborate with. Doing this allows you to manage each account separately and avoid dealing with messy files, emails, and endless threads of messages.
Start by determining when you must be online and setting a realistic goal. If your work requires that you be available from 6 am - 3 pm, pick an optimal time that meets your requirements and commit to it.
If your company operates across different time zones, then it may be necessary for you to be available there too. While this can present a challenge, it's something to keep in mind when creating your daily schedule.
When planning your work hours, take into account any meetings and commitments that are important to you, such as child care or family events. Furthermore, be aware of your boss' requirements and be willing to work around them whenever possible.
One key to being productive when working from home is creating a regular morning routine. Making time to get ready and have breakfast before starting your day helps you feel prepared and motivated for what lies ahead.
Establishing a regular morning routine can also help you combat fatigue when beginning your workday, which could have an adverse effect on productivity levels.
In addition to having a consistent morning routine, it's also important to make time for breaks throughout the day. While this may be difficult if you don't work in an office environment, taking breaks are essential for remaining productive and feeling refreshed throughout your workday.
One way to accomplish this is by scheduling short breaks between tasks. Take a few minutes to stand up, refill your water, pet your dog or take a walk - these will give your mind and body time for recharge so you can return to work more refreshed and ready to tackle the next item on your list.
You can also utilize a productivity app to stay organized and ensure you don't overlook important tasks. There are numerous apps that will manage your workload, set objectives, and monitor performance - helping you be as productive as possible when working from home.
Establishing a productive routine tailored to your individual needs can help you become more focused and efficient when working from home. Start by making small changes like taking a walk during workday, eating nutritious meals, or scheduling in time for mindfulness at the end of each day.
One of the most crucial tasks when working from home is creating a clear separation between work time and break time. Establishing this boundary helps protect you against working too long or running yourself ragged, which could lead to burnout or productivity issues.
Another tip for staying motivated is creating a calendar that clearly states when tasks must be completed and your progress towards them. You can use a whiteboard, planner or even an online calendar to keep tabs on daily tasks and progress towards reaching your objectives.
Focus is often affected by the visual environment of your workspace, so make it visually appealing and energizing. To achieve this effect, try placing objects that give off a positive vibe in your eyeshot such as photographs or trinkets.
Consider listening to music while working. Studies have indicated that listening to music can increase productivity levels, with some even creating playlists specifically designed to keep you focused on the task at hand.
If you find that background sounds are distracting you, investing in some noise canceling headphones may help block out the background noises. Additionally, you might want to reorganize your office space as needed to reduce clutter and make it easier to focus.
It can be beneficial to turn off notifications on your phone, especially if you aren't actively working in that area of the house. Doing so will help you focus better and prevent you from checking your phone during work hours.
When working from home, it can be easy to become distracted by the day-to-day tasks that can quickly consume your time and take you away from your work. To stay productive and focused, set regular breaks and be consistent in taking them.
One of the best ways to guarantee you take breaks is setting up a calendar and reminders. Some people even prefer using a timer that reminds them when to take their breaks.
You could also try keeping track of your break periods in a daily journal. Doing this will provide an accurate record of when and how long each break lasts, plus it will allow you to decide how many breaks are necessary throughout the day for maximum productivity.
It is essential that you receive the required amount of rest and meal breaks from your employer. California employers must offer non-exempt employees at least a 30-minute rest period every four hours, as well as a 10-minute lunch break.
Take breaks are often forgotten when working from home, but they are essential for both your health and job performance. Maintaining a regular schedule of breaks will reduce stress levels and keep you more focused on the task at hand; plus, taking them can even enhance creativity and problem-solving abilities.
Though it can be tempting to spend your breaks scrolling through social media or watching funny videos, experts recommend doing something more purposeful and enriching with your break. They suggest going for a walk, doing some exercise, reading material or listening to music.
This will also give you some free time to reflect and plan for the future, as well as providing you with mental energy to get back into your work.
Finally, taking breaks with your children at home can give them an opportunity to interact with their parents and feel loved. This is essential for their emotional and psychological development as well as for your own sanity.
submitted by ujober to ujober [link] [comments]
The primary challenge of working from home is juggling work with family responsibilities. To make this easier, establish clear boundaries with family members and let them know you still need to complete your tasks.
Set Up a Workspace
When working from home, it's essential to dedicate a space solely for your work. Doing this will help keep you focused and prevent personal life from interfering with productivity.Traditionally, workspaces are located within an office building and consist of a desk, phone extension, and access to shared resources like paper files or meeting rooms. However, with the growth of telecommuting and virtual office businesses, workplaces no longer need be physically located.
Instead, many organizations are turning to smart workspaces for support of their remote workers. These modern work environments integrate various applications that manage voice conversations, messaging, calendar data and projects so the team can access these tools from various devices and collaborate in real-time.
A secure workspace should also have a robust security framework. This guarantees employees only have access to information necessary for their job duties, while organizations are able to keep sensitive data private and only accessible to those who require it.
For instance, if you're working on a project, it is likely that you will have access to sensitive data like files and videos. To keep this information secure, a workspace can provide you with a central location to store all these assets securely.
Another advantage of having a workspace is that it helps organize your work better. This makes it simpler to locate essential items and reduces the amount of clutter that can build up over time.
Tracking tasks and priorities without relying on a calendar or other organizational tools is particularly useful if you're managing multiple projects or working on something big that requires lots of coordination.
When working on a social media campaign, it can be beneficial to create distinct workspaces for each brand or client you collaborate with. Doing this allows you to manage each account separately and avoid dealing with messy files, emails, and endless threads of messages.
Set a Schedule
Maintaining a schedule when working from home can help you remain productive. It also keeps the work from getting out of hand, helping to achieve balance in both professional and personal life.Start by determining when you must be online and setting a realistic goal. If your work requires that you be available from 6 am - 3 pm, pick an optimal time that meets your requirements and commit to it.
If your company operates across different time zones, then it may be necessary for you to be available there too. While this can present a challenge, it's something to keep in mind when creating your daily schedule.
When planning your work hours, take into account any meetings and commitments that are important to you, such as child care or family events. Furthermore, be aware of your boss' requirements and be willing to work around them whenever possible.
One key to being productive when working from home is creating a regular morning routine. Making time to get ready and have breakfast before starting your day helps you feel prepared and motivated for what lies ahead.
Establishing a regular morning routine can also help you combat fatigue when beginning your workday, which could have an adverse effect on productivity levels.
In addition to having a consistent morning routine, it's also important to make time for breaks throughout the day. While this may be difficult if you don't work in an office environment, taking breaks are essential for remaining productive and feeling refreshed throughout your workday.
One way to accomplish this is by scheduling short breaks between tasks. Take a few minutes to stand up, refill your water, pet your dog or take a walk - these will give your mind and body time for recharge so you can return to work more refreshed and ready to tackle the next item on your list.
You can also utilize a productivity app to stay organized and ensure you don't overlook important tasks. There are numerous apps that will manage your workload, set objectives, and monitor performance - helping you be as productive as possible when working from home.
Stay Focused
Working from home can be a great way to save money and cut down on commutes, but it also brings its own set of distractions. Whether it's the sound of neighbors talking, your roommate watching TV, or the pile of laundry that sits on the floor - distractions can eat away at your productivity and prevent you from reaching your goals.Establishing a productive routine tailored to your individual needs can help you become more focused and efficient when working from home. Start by making small changes like taking a walk during workday, eating nutritious meals, or scheduling in time for mindfulness at the end of each day.
One of the most crucial tasks when working from home is creating a clear separation between work time and break time. Establishing this boundary helps protect you against working too long or running yourself ragged, which could lead to burnout or productivity issues.
Another tip for staying motivated is creating a calendar that clearly states when tasks must be completed and your progress towards them. You can use a whiteboard, planner or even an online calendar to keep tabs on daily tasks and progress towards reaching your objectives.
Focus is often affected by the visual environment of your workspace, so make it visually appealing and energizing. To achieve this effect, try placing objects that give off a positive vibe in your eyeshot such as photographs or trinkets.
Consider listening to music while working. Studies have indicated that listening to music can increase productivity levels, with some even creating playlists specifically designed to keep you focused on the task at hand.
If you find that background sounds are distracting you, investing in some noise canceling headphones may help block out the background noises. Additionally, you might want to reorganize your office space as needed to reduce clutter and make it easier to focus.
It can be beneficial to turn off notifications on your phone, especially if you aren't actively working in that area of the house. Doing so will help you focus better and prevent you from checking your phone during work hours.
Don’t Forget to Take Breaks
Working from home requires taking breaks to keep both your mind and body refreshed. Studies show that workers who don't take breaks often become physically and mentally fatigued, leading to decreased focus, decreased productivity, and other negative consequences.When working from home, it can be easy to become distracted by the day-to-day tasks that can quickly consume your time and take you away from your work. To stay productive and focused, set regular breaks and be consistent in taking them.
One of the best ways to guarantee you take breaks is setting up a calendar and reminders. Some people even prefer using a timer that reminds them when to take their breaks.
You could also try keeping track of your break periods in a daily journal. Doing this will provide an accurate record of when and how long each break lasts, plus it will allow you to decide how many breaks are necessary throughout the day for maximum productivity.
It is essential that you receive the required amount of rest and meal breaks from your employer. California employers must offer non-exempt employees at least a 30-minute rest period every four hours, as well as a 10-minute lunch break.
Take breaks are often forgotten when working from home, but they are essential for both your health and job performance. Maintaining a regular schedule of breaks will reduce stress levels and keep you more focused on the task at hand; plus, taking them can even enhance creativity and problem-solving abilities.
Though it can be tempting to spend your breaks scrolling through social media or watching funny videos, experts recommend doing something more purposeful and enriching with your break. They suggest going for a walk, doing some exercise, reading material or listening to music.
This will also give you some free time to reflect and plan for the future, as well as providing you with mental energy to get back into your work.
Finally, taking breaks with your children at home can give them an opportunity to interact with their parents and feel loved. This is essential for their emotional and psychological development as well as for your own sanity.
2023.03.21 15:14 Sdmartifact Official war bulletin
 | submitted by Sdmartifact to CIVILWAR [link] [comments] |
2023.03.21 15:09 Paudiste 32 [M4F] - #Austria #online - Meaningful conversations and a deep connection
Hello,
As the title states, I am 32 years old and live in Europe. I have a very normal life in a way. I have a decent job, am close to my family, have some great friends and feel pretty happy with my life as a whole. The only thing that has really been missing for a while has been a relationship and that kind of connection that you can have within a wonderful and intimate relationship. I miss feeling that way and being close to someone. Knowing you can talk to them every day and tell them about what happened in your life, to vent, to get support, but also to listen to their own thoughts as well. I miss knowing there is someone in my corner, someone who supports me and someone who is happy to hear from me. I think I am a good listener and very supportive. I am empathetic, decently smart and I am interested in a wide range of topics which really helps me find interesting conversation topics and always have something to talk about.
As far as my interests go, you can usually find me reading a book (or multiple), watching a show, watching some youtube or listening to a podcast. When I am not home, I love to talk walks and hikes or spend time with friends. I enjoy learning new things and traveling, as well as random facts. I am very interested in sports and nerdy things. I am definitely an introverted person and too much socializing can make me feel drained, although with how little I have been able to do in the last two years, I do miss it a lot. Still, I can't deny that I can be somewhat awkward at times and I do deal with anxiety as well. Although through therapy I have gotten a lot better.
Trust doesn't necessarily come easily for me, but when I get to know someone, it builds very quickly. I open up tremendously if someone encourages it and provides a stable and secure situation for me to do so. I value deep connections and deep conversations. Small talk is obviously fine, but what truly excites me is very deep discussions, meaningful topics that actually help us to get to know one another. I ask a lot of questions, driven by an insatiable curiosity and nosiness, so it is absolutely incredible when the other person does so as well. I think asking the right kinds of questions allows us to get to know each other really well and brings new things to light.
I want that kind of relationship, a relationship built on trust and respect and a close, intimate connection. I have a lot to give to someone who takes the time to get to know me I think. I can offer a lot of attention, a lot of respect, support and more. I can provide a unique mind (or at least I'd like to think it is) that has a lot of depth, depth that I don't think I have explored enough yet. While my experiences have been wonderful, it has always felt like there was more out there for me. That there were depths I had not reached yet.
While an in person situation would obviously be lovely, I am also aware that it's unlikely to find someone completely local to me, so I am perfectly happy with this to be online, or at least to start this way. I am not against it being in person one day though, especially if you are located somewhere in Europe. Though time-zone wise I am also perfectly happy to talk to people in the US or similar, as I tend to have late nights. It just makes eventual meetings tougher. I am very much patient with this and would rather talk and get to know someone slowly over time. I want to have a meaningful connection.
In terms of what you should be like, well... I think if this post has appealed to you so far, it's very likely that we will get along. You have seen that I put in a lot of effort into this and I am very serious about pursuing this, so I am hopeful to hear a little about yourself as well. I don't have any expectations in terms of age, looks or similar. None of that really matters to me. What matters is the person and the personality. I am hopeful to find someone who is smart, kind, giving, empathetic, understanding, supportive and more.
I have said I enjoy close connections, which to me also means a certain regularity in how often we speak. I tend to be available quite often and enjoy texting throughout the day as well as regular voice or video calls. It really brings a much closer connection and helps me feel close to someone. I also want to be able to talk to someone about things that happen in life, about nerdy things or other passions in life. I want a close friendship as a basis of this, because to me that is what really makes this special. I want a real relationship, where we can watch a movie together or play games together or similar too.
If any of this appealed to you, I'd love to hear from you and would love to get to know you!
Thank you for reading this!
submitted by Paudiste to ForeverAloneDating [link] [comments]
As the title states, I am 32 years old and live in Europe. I have a very normal life in a way. I have a decent job, am close to my family, have some great friends and feel pretty happy with my life as a whole. The only thing that has really been missing for a while has been a relationship and that kind of connection that you can have within a wonderful and intimate relationship. I miss feeling that way and being close to someone. Knowing you can talk to them every day and tell them about what happened in your life, to vent, to get support, but also to listen to their own thoughts as well. I miss knowing there is someone in my corner, someone who supports me and someone who is happy to hear from me. I think I am a good listener and very supportive. I am empathetic, decently smart and I am interested in a wide range of topics which really helps me find interesting conversation topics and always have something to talk about.
As far as my interests go, you can usually find me reading a book (or multiple), watching a show, watching some youtube or listening to a podcast. When I am not home, I love to talk walks and hikes or spend time with friends. I enjoy learning new things and traveling, as well as random facts. I am very interested in sports and nerdy things. I am definitely an introverted person and too much socializing can make me feel drained, although with how little I have been able to do in the last two years, I do miss it a lot. Still, I can't deny that I can be somewhat awkward at times and I do deal with anxiety as well. Although through therapy I have gotten a lot better.
Trust doesn't necessarily come easily for me, but when I get to know someone, it builds very quickly. I open up tremendously if someone encourages it and provides a stable and secure situation for me to do so. I value deep connections and deep conversations. Small talk is obviously fine, but what truly excites me is very deep discussions, meaningful topics that actually help us to get to know one another. I ask a lot of questions, driven by an insatiable curiosity and nosiness, so it is absolutely incredible when the other person does so as well. I think asking the right kinds of questions allows us to get to know each other really well and brings new things to light.
I want that kind of relationship, a relationship built on trust and respect and a close, intimate connection. I have a lot to give to someone who takes the time to get to know me I think. I can offer a lot of attention, a lot of respect, support and more. I can provide a unique mind (or at least I'd like to think it is) that has a lot of depth, depth that I don't think I have explored enough yet. While my experiences have been wonderful, it has always felt like there was more out there for me. That there were depths I had not reached yet.
While an in person situation would obviously be lovely, I am also aware that it's unlikely to find someone completely local to me, so I am perfectly happy with this to be online, or at least to start this way. I am not against it being in person one day though, especially if you are located somewhere in Europe. Though time-zone wise I am also perfectly happy to talk to people in the US or similar, as I tend to have late nights. It just makes eventual meetings tougher. I am very much patient with this and would rather talk and get to know someone slowly over time. I want to have a meaningful connection.
In terms of what you should be like, well... I think if this post has appealed to you so far, it's very likely that we will get along. You have seen that I put in a lot of effort into this and I am very serious about pursuing this, so I am hopeful to hear a little about yourself as well. I don't have any expectations in terms of age, looks or similar. None of that really matters to me. What matters is the person and the personality. I am hopeful to find someone who is smart, kind, giving, empathetic, understanding, supportive and more.
I have said I enjoy close connections, which to me also means a certain regularity in how often we speak. I tend to be available quite often and enjoy texting throughout the day as well as regular voice or video calls. It really brings a much closer connection and helps me feel close to someone. I also want to be able to talk to someone about things that happen in life, about nerdy things or other passions in life. I want a close friendship as a basis of this, because to me that is what really makes this special. I want a real relationship, where we can watch a movie together or play games together or similar too.
If any of this appealed to you, I'd love to hear from you and would love to get to know you!
Thank you for reading this!
2023.03.21 15:08 Paudiste 32 [M4F] - #Austria #online - Meaningful conversations and a deep connection
Hello,
As the title states, I am 32 years old and live in Europe. I have a very normal life in a way. I have a decent job, am close to my family, have some great friends and feel pretty happy with my life as a whole. The only thing that has really been missing for a while has been a relationship and that kind of connection that you can have within a wonderful and intimate relationship. I miss feeling that way and being close to someone. Knowing you can talk to them every day and tell them about what happened in your life, to vent, to get support, but also to listen to their own thoughts as well. I miss knowing there is someone in my corner, someone who supports me and someone who is happy to hear from me. I think I am a good listener and very supportive. I am empathetic, decently smart and I am interested in a wide range of topics which really helps me find interesting conversation topics and always have something to talk about.
As far as my interests go, you can usually find me reading a book (or multiple), watching a show, watching some youtube or listening to a podcast. When I am not home, I love to talk walks and hikes or spend time with friends. I enjoy learning new things and traveling, as well as random facts. I am very interested in sports and nerdy things. I am definitely an introverted person and too much socializing can make me feel drained, although with how little I have been able to do in the last two years, I do miss it a lot. Still, I can't deny that I can be somewhat awkward at times and I do deal with anxiety as well. Although through therapy I have gotten a lot better.
Trust doesn't necessarily come easily for me, but when I get to know someone, it builds very quickly. I open up tremendously if someone encourages it and provides a stable and secure situation for me to do so. I value deep connections and deep conversations. Small talk is obviously fine, but what truly excites me is very deep discussions, meaningful topics that actually help us to get to know one another. I ask a lot of questions, driven by an insatiable curiosity and nosiness, so it is absolutely incredible when the other person does so as well. I think asking the right kinds of questions allows us to get to know each other really well and brings new things to light.
I want that kind of relationship, a relationship built on trust and respect and a close, intimate connection. I have a lot to give to someone who takes the time to get to know me I think. I can offer a lot of attention, a lot of respect, support and more. I can provide a unique mind (or at least I'd like to think it is) that has a lot of depth, depth that I don't think I have explored enough yet. While my experiences have been wonderful, it has always felt like there was more out there for me. That there were depths I had not reached yet.
While an in person situation would obviously be lovely, I am also aware that it's unlikely to find someone completely local to me, so I am perfectly happy with this to be online, or at least to start this way. I am not against it being in person one day though, especially if you are located somewhere in Europe. Though time-zone wise I am also perfectly happy to talk to people in the US or similar, as I tend to have late nights. It just makes eventual meetings tougher. I am very much patient with this and would rather talk and get to know someone slowly over time. I want to have a meaningful connection.
In terms of what you should be like, well... I think if this post has appealed to you so far, it's very likely that we will get along. You have seen that I put in a lot of effort into this and I am very serious about pursuing this, so I am hopeful to hear a little about yourself as well. I don't have any expectations in terms of age, looks or similar. None of that really matters to me. What matters is the person and the personality. I am hopeful to find someone who is smart, kind, giving, empathetic, understanding, supportive and more.
I have said I enjoy close connections, which to me also means a certain regularity in how often we speak. I tend to be available quite often and enjoy texting throughout the day as well as regular voice or video calls. It really brings a much closer connection and helps me feel close to someone. I also want to be able to talk to someone about things that happen in life, about nerdy things or other passions in life. I want a close friendship as a basis of this, because to me that is what really makes this special. I want a real relationship, where we can watch a movie together or play games together or similar too.
If any of this appealed to you, I'd love to hear from you and would love to get to know you!
Thank you for reading this!
submitted by Paudiste to R4R30Plus [link] [comments]
As the title states, I am 32 years old and live in Europe. I have a very normal life in a way. I have a decent job, am close to my family, have some great friends and feel pretty happy with my life as a whole. The only thing that has really been missing for a while has been a relationship and that kind of connection that you can have within a wonderful and intimate relationship. I miss feeling that way and being close to someone. Knowing you can talk to them every day and tell them about what happened in your life, to vent, to get support, but also to listen to their own thoughts as well. I miss knowing there is someone in my corner, someone who supports me and someone who is happy to hear from me. I think I am a good listener and very supportive. I am empathetic, decently smart and I am interested in a wide range of topics which really helps me find interesting conversation topics and always have something to talk about.
As far as my interests go, you can usually find me reading a book (or multiple), watching a show, watching some youtube or listening to a podcast. When I am not home, I love to talk walks and hikes or spend time with friends. I enjoy learning new things and traveling, as well as random facts. I am very interested in sports and nerdy things. I am definitely an introverted person and too much socializing can make me feel drained, although with how little I have been able to do in the last two years, I do miss it a lot. Still, I can't deny that I can be somewhat awkward at times and I do deal with anxiety as well. Although through therapy I have gotten a lot better.
Trust doesn't necessarily come easily for me, but when I get to know someone, it builds very quickly. I open up tremendously if someone encourages it and provides a stable and secure situation for me to do so. I value deep connections and deep conversations. Small talk is obviously fine, but what truly excites me is very deep discussions, meaningful topics that actually help us to get to know one another. I ask a lot of questions, driven by an insatiable curiosity and nosiness, so it is absolutely incredible when the other person does so as well. I think asking the right kinds of questions allows us to get to know each other really well and brings new things to light.
I want that kind of relationship, a relationship built on trust and respect and a close, intimate connection. I have a lot to give to someone who takes the time to get to know me I think. I can offer a lot of attention, a lot of respect, support and more. I can provide a unique mind (or at least I'd like to think it is) that has a lot of depth, depth that I don't think I have explored enough yet. While my experiences have been wonderful, it has always felt like there was more out there for me. That there were depths I had not reached yet.
While an in person situation would obviously be lovely, I am also aware that it's unlikely to find someone completely local to me, so I am perfectly happy with this to be online, or at least to start this way. I am not against it being in person one day though, especially if you are located somewhere in Europe. Though time-zone wise I am also perfectly happy to talk to people in the US or similar, as I tend to have late nights. It just makes eventual meetings tougher. I am very much patient with this and would rather talk and get to know someone slowly over time. I want to have a meaningful connection.
In terms of what you should be like, well... I think if this post has appealed to you so far, it's very likely that we will get along. You have seen that I put in a lot of effort into this and I am very serious about pursuing this, so I am hopeful to hear a little about yourself as well. I don't have any expectations in terms of age, looks or similar. None of that really matters to me. What matters is the person and the personality. I am hopeful to find someone who is smart, kind, giving, empathetic, understanding, supportive and more.
I have said I enjoy close connections, which to me also means a certain regularity in how often we speak. I tend to be available quite often and enjoy texting throughout the day as well as regular voice or video calls. It really brings a much closer connection and helps me feel close to someone. I also want to be able to talk to someone about things that happen in life, about nerdy things or other passions in life. I want a close friendship as a basis of this, because to me that is what really makes this special. I want a real relationship, where we can watch a movie together or play games together or similar too.
If any of this appealed to you, I'd love to hear from you and would love to get to know you!
Thank you for reading this!
2023.03.21 15:06 taxgroupnew Leading Tax Group
Contact Address: New York, NY 10166 Phone: 646-374-0196 Website URL https://www.leadingtaxgroup.com
About US Our tax resolution experts have years of experience dealing with many local IRS Auditors, IRS Revenue Officers, Employment Development Department Auditors, Board of Equalization Auditors, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Auditors & Franchise Tax Board Agents. Our reputation for dealing with our counterparts at the IRS with respect and understanding, while aggressively fighting for our clients, precedes us, and this helps to set the stage for professional rapport and cooperation on both sides that helps resolve audits and collections more efficiently and effectively.
The group of tax resolution experts at Leading Tax Group specialize in all types of tax debts and can provide you with the advice, guidance, and representation that you need. Our clients choose us time and time again because we work hard to achieve the results that you want for your situation. Whether you are facing a financial hardship, or you want to reduce the tax liability assessed against your business, our team of tax experts and make one of the best law firms in New York, are here to help you.
When you turn to our team, you can trust that we will provide you with the best services available in NY. We specialize in all tax problems, and we have seen them all. No tax problem is too large or too small for us to handle. If you would like to learn more about the tax resolution services that we offer or how we can help you in your situation, call our tax experts at Leading Tax Group today. We are here for you!
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Additional Details Working hours: 7am–6:30 pm Saturday-Closed Payment method: Cc, cash, check
GMB Listing https://www.google.com/maps?cid=11924868559020005058
submitted by taxgroupnew to u/taxgroupnew [link] [comments]
About US Our tax resolution experts have years of experience dealing with many local IRS Auditors, IRS Revenue Officers, Employment Development Department Auditors, Board of Equalization Auditors, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Auditors & Franchise Tax Board Agents. Our reputation for dealing with our counterparts at the IRS with respect and understanding, while aggressively fighting for our clients, precedes us, and this helps to set the stage for professional rapport and cooperation on both sides that helps resolve audits and collections more efficiently and effectively.
The group of tax resolution experts at Leading Tax Group specialize in all types of tax debts and can provide you with the advice, guidance, and representation that you need. Our clients choose us time and time again because we work hard to achieve the results that you want for your situation. Whether you are facing a financial hardship, or you want to reduce the tax liability assessed against your business, our team of tax experts and make one of the best law firms in New York, are here to help you.
When you turn to our team, you can trust that we will provide you with the best services available in NY. We specialize in all tax problems, and we have seen them all. No tax problem is too large or too small for us to handle. If you would like to learn more about the tax resolution services that we offer or how we can help you in your situation, call our tax experts at Leading Tax Group today. We are here for you!
Related Searches tax attorney, best tax attorney, tax lawyer, best tax lawyer, tax audit attorney, irs audit attorney, tax audit lawyer, irs tax lawyer, tax lien lawyer, Tax law firm, IRS tax attorney, Tax debt relief, Tax resolution, Tax audit defense, Tax litigation, Tax planning, Tax controversy, Tax Evasion, Estate Tax Planning, Business Tax Planning, Payroll Tax Issues, Sales Tax Issues, Tax Penalty Abatement, Tax Appeals NYC, Manhattan, NY.
Additional Details Working hours: 7am–6:30 pm Saturday-Closed Payment method: Cc, cash, check
GMB Listing https://www.google.com/maps?cid=11924868559020005058
2023.03.21 14:45 InternationalWash822 Warren Buffett invested in these Fintech Companies - How does SOFI Measure Up?
 | The fintech industry has seen one of the most exciting growth trends as it revolutionizes how people access financial services. Right now, there are over 30,000 fintech startups and by the end of 2021, fintech investment reached a total of $210 billion. The fintech sphere is only expected to grow, so I believe it is a very attractive industry for investors and Warren Buffet seems to think so too. submitted by InternationalWash822 to pennystocktoday [link] [comments] The Oracle of Omaha has been making large investments in multiple fintech companies. In fact, Buffet has invested over $900M (107.1M shares) in the Brazilian company, Nu Holdings, and $907M (30M shares) in ALLY. This is a huge investment even for someone like Buffett. Nu Holdings is actually his 8th largest investment in terms of shares. This raises the question, why has Buffett invested in these other fintech companies, but not in Sofi? Throughout this post, I’ll be talking about Sofi, ALLY, and Nu Holdings - comparing their pros, cons, and similarities. My goal here is to see if there is room for 3 top dogs in the fintech industry or not. Why has Buffett purchased a lot of shares of Nu Holdings, specifically? For starters, the company has grown its customer base to 70.9 million clients in just over a year since going public. Nu Holdings provides credit cards to people who are not eligible to get one through other banks & tries to minimize risk by reducing the eligible benefits that the customer is initially eligible for. As they pay their bills on time, they unlock more benefits & more credit limits. Another reason is its management. It's no secret that Buffett likes to invest in companies with good management. As he once said, “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding management, our favorite holding period is forever.” Nu Holdings has recently hired David Marcus (former president of PayPal & former Meta Board member) on March 6 to be part of its Board of Directors. It’s expected that David will play a crucial role in Nu’s journey going forward. The rest of the management team brings a lot of experience to the table as well:
Nu Holdings’ Edge - Brazil’s Unbanked Population Before Nu Holdings started, over 55 million Brazilians were unbanked. This is because it's notoriously difficult for people who are not wealthy to obtain credit cards in Brazil. In general, it's very difficult to get a credit card in Latin America without being one of the wealthy elites. By offering credit cards to people who would not be able to obtain one any other way, Nu has captured a large, untapped market. This is the main reason Nu is as successful as it is today. Compared to SOFI, Nu Holdings has a much larger client base, this is of course due to its operations in Brazil, Mexico, & Columbia which in total have a larger population than the US. Thanks in part to these widespread operations, Forbes listed Nu Holdings as one of the world’s best banks in 2022. Nu Holdings has a larger client base, more revenues, and is growing at a much faster rate than Sofi. The main reason for this is the fact that Nu Holdings doesn’t have as many competitors as Sofi, especially since they focus on an untapped market in Latin America. With Sofi, they have competitors right, left, and center due to established banks and fintech competitors. Nu Holdings became profitable Q3 2022 - only a year after its inception. After making a net profit of $7.8 million in Q3, it went on to make $58 million the next quarter and is on track to report an EPS of $0.02 & $1.393B in revenues in Q1 2023 Whereas SOFI is still struggling to become profitable and is forecast to make an EPS of $-0.077 & $442.262M in revenue in Q1 2023. https://preview.redd.it/517fe3t9i2pa1.png?width=626&format=png&auto=webp&s=158aa08fc0e5eb43bc1517777988d21200732ccb https://preview.redd.it/j2npx01ci2pa1.png?width=622&format=png&auto=webp&s=e72bdae4deb04c74fb2e4b69be83c7d06c0f6de9 *Screenshot taken from Future Investing YouTube* How are Nu Holdings & Sofi similar? But Nu Holdings & Sofi share one very important thing in common. They both want to be a one stop shop for financial services. Since Sofi specializes in student loan refinancing, it creates a bond with younger customers who - hopefully - will turn into lifelong customers that use Sofi for all their banking needs. Similarly, Nu Holdings offers credit cards to customers younger than 18 in Brazil - capturing a demographic of young people who will hopefully become lifelong customers. This means that both companies could continue to grow and expand as their customer base grows older and younger generations adopt their services as well. https://preview.redd.it/ovc89ptgi2pa1.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b00c14bfa93afe32b4fdf2bcea562538e114b2b Why has Buffett invested in ALLY? Having invested $1.7B since 2012 in the industry giant, General Motors, you could say Buffet is an expert on the auto industry. Which helps explain why Buffett took an interest in Ally. This fintech company offers multiple services but specializes in the auto loan industry since it once was a financing division of GM, originally known as GMAC. After GM sold the rest of its 8.5% stake in Ally for $900M in 2013, Ally has expanded its market by offering mortgages, credit cards, wealth management, & other services. https://preview.redd.it/6liekr1ji2pa1.png?width=605&format=png&auto=webp&s=35371e326a0eef95abca694e301214fc37b2a922 Another reason Buffett is investing in ALLY could be its history of share buybacks. Buffett is a big believer in stock buybacks and has said they can be the best use of corporate capital. ALLY also offers quarterly dividends to shareholders, which is a sign of the company’s fundamental strength. How does ALLY compare to Sofi? The main difference is the source of Ally’s revenue. 65.6% of Ally’s total revenue in 2022 came from the auto finance industry, while Sofi’s edge is student loan refinancing. In 2019, Sofi generated 59.7% of its revenue from student loans. But it’s worth noting that it can be quite difficult to qualify for student loan refinancing if you have a bad credit score whereas it’s a bit easier for people to get auto loans. https://preview.redd.it/wvzss9cli2pa1.png?width=615&format=png&auto=webp&s=c18ca9f460bb243e20b50511b4cfeb75cdb1c707 How are Ally & Sofi similar? Ally & Sofi both offer commission free stock trading for investors with a high APY as well. Ally’s savings account offers 3.60% APY and Sofi offers 3.75% APY with a direct deposit. This means that with a direct deposit, you’ll earn a higher APY with Sofi, but without one, you’d earn a higher APY with Ally. Both companies offer multiple services such as mortgage loans, credit cards, insurance, etc. and are online banks with no physical locations. Given their different niches, it makes sense that Ally’s customers tend to be millennials while Sofi’s customers tend to be students or fresh graduates. Sofi’s Edge So after going through the pros and cons of all three of these companies, you might be wondering if SOFI has what it takes to gain market share in the growing Fintech industry. I believe Sofi has an edge over these two competitors when it comes to diversification. The two pictures below show the type of services that Sofi & Ally offer. Sofi is constantly trying to increase its market by opening up different services to attract new customers. To name a few:
https://preview.redd.it/ji26in1xi2pa1.png?width=570&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc4061d928758f1c0eefdaafe27c6757f6646cc3 Besides diversification, SOFI’s focus on student loan refinancing is also a plus imo. College education is essential in the US and without a college degree, most people can only get so far in their career. For instance, 53.7% of the US working population in 2021 graduated from college and at least 75% of new jobs require a college degree. When you factor in the average cost of tuition - which has soared 31.4% from 2010-2020 - and that the average student debt among college graduates is $28,000, SOFI is in a great position to profit from this sector. Given this inflationary environment & higher interest rates, I think that demand for student loan refinancing will only increase. This is because employers are constantly looking for people with degrees & the number of jobs requiring this are increasing every year. So it's no surprise that CEO Anthony Noto recently said, “We’d expect the demand for that product (student loans) to really go through the roof and be back to normalized levels that we saw in 2019.” But with the student loan pause in place, SOFI is losing a lot of money. The company stated that it has lost $300M to $400M and is pushing very hard to get a decision passed ending the student loan moratorium. The Supreme Court already heard the oral arguments regarding the case and is expected to give a decision in June. If things are not resolved by then or the Supreme Court rules against federal student loan forgiveness, then payments are expected to resume by the end of August. This is because payments are expected to start up again, 60 days following the ruling. Needless to say this would be a huge catalyst for SOFI and I, personally, believe that the Supreme Court will rule in SOFI’s favor. And the flood of refinancing requests that could come in once this limbo ends could give SOFI’s revenues a much-needed push. With this in mind, June will be a make-or-break moment for SOFI. Now, you might be thinking ‘that’s great and all but what about Buffett’s 8th largest investment by shares? OP is just some dude on the internet, and this is THE Warren Buffett’. https://preview.redd.it/qonrid93j2pa1.png?width=288&format=png&auto=webp&s=013b4d5c65fb57d66bf5dd85ef7e9543f13c4f7f Well, you wouldn’t be wrong. It's hard to argue against Warren Buffett’s logic and I think NU could be a good investment as well, but compared to SOFI, I think that it presents a lot more risk. For one thing, Brazil has just gotten out of one of its worst economic crises in history and with a new government taking over there’s a lot of uncertainty. Corruption is very high in Brazil, and banks which provide their services almost exclusively to the rich in Brazil could use their power to turn the government against Nu Holdings if they feel threatened. Also, giving out credit cards to kids under 18 (even if the card’s benefits are limited) just sounds really risky to me. Given that most people in Brazil are not as financially well off as most US residents, its weaker currency, and struggling economy, Nu Holdings could face the greatest risk of all three companies. But time will tell whether the Brazilian government will make life easier or more difficult for a company like Nu Holdings. So this means that ALLY, which also focuses on the US market for financial services, is probably SOFI’s greatest competition. Both companies have a lot in common, but they’ve chosen to specialize in different niches. So let’s break it down:
Regardless of the potential hit to the automotive sector, when you compare auto loans to student loans you quickly see that student loans take the cake. The market size of the Auto leasing, loans, & sales financing industry is $173.2 billion, while the student loan industry is a massive $1.76 trillion. So Sofi has the upper hand here in terms of the market potential. With college tuition constantly increasing & students entering college year after year, SOFI also has stricter requirements for qualifying for personal loans, such as a credit score of 680 and other factors which make their loans comparatively safer since its clients are more thoroughly vetted. This is good because it allows Sofi to minimize the potential risk of a customer not being able to pay back their loan in the future. Conclusion: So, in conclusion, I think SOFI is in a fairly safe spot as long as the Supreme Court gives a favorable ruling. Since Nu Holdings operates in Latin America it won’t compete with Sofi for market share. Ally & Sofi also have different specializations, but Ally is a more established FinTech company which could take customers from Sofi. Still, SOFI’s goal is to become a one stop shop for all financial services and it has diversified its services extensively over the years which could give it an edge in this industry. Personally, I believe SOFI will be able to grow its customer base better than ALLY because it appeals directly to young adults heading into college. If these customers have a good experience, then SOFI can become their go-to financial service provider for the rest of their life. On this note, the FinTech industry is on track for major growth especially since Covid-19 acted as a catalyst for the industry - leading to wider adoption at a time when contactless payments were becoming essential. Besides this, the FinTech industry will likely continue to grow just out of sheer practicality. For one thing, Fintech cuts down servicing costs like maintaining physical branches while still providing a very high value service. As more and more transactions move online, the digital revolution continues to work in the industry’s favor and the widespread adoption of smartphones means that our phones will increasingly act as wallets. So, it's not surprising that the use of Fintech companies increased 88% from 2020 to 2021. So I'm pretty bullish on three of these stocks for the time being at least. Now for the TA... $SOFI https://preview.redd.it/rrr2t6qri3pa1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f75f0cc4ccb5f94ee14743e50a6988cc67079f2d $SOFI has been stuck in a sideways channel since April 2022. The stock has a strong resistance at $7.59 which it tested on its positive Q4 earnings, however SOFI dropped almost 18% to its support at $5.25 due to market uncertainty. Now trading at $5.20, SOFI is below the 50, 200, and 21 MAs on the daily timeframe. Despite this, I’m expecting a bounce and potential retest of the $7.59 resistance leading up to the Supreme Court decision in June since the RSI oversold at 30. Right now SOFI is fundamentally oversold IMO. I bought 1k shares here as a starter with a stop loss at the $4.92 support. I’ll be averaging down under the $5.25 support or averaging up depending on the trend. My take profits will be the 200 MA, $6.43 resistance and the $7.59 resistance. https://preview.redd.it/5co1e6nvi3pa1.jpg?width=1458&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b97304f23081aa807ce1d59ea912bd8895725cbf $ALLY: https://preview.redd.it/dsie3d0mj3pa1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ffa57a2231b5f47f9456edefb900bcaea469f9b ALLY was in a downward channel all of 2022 but it broke out at the start of 2023 - testing the $34 resistance after earnings. Since then the trend has reversed and is now bearish. The stock touched its $21.91 support mostly due to market turmoil rather than fundamentals. I’m expecting ALLY to break out of this channel like it did at the start of this year when it approached the $34 support. The stock recently tested what was once the upper trendline and bounced off of it which is a bullish sign. Personally, I think that these banking fears will dissipate now that the government has stepped in - as illustrated by the XLF closing green on Monday. Looking at the daily timeframe, ALLY is oversold with the RSI at 30 so I am expecting a bounce over the next few weeks. Long-term, I think ALLY will trade in a sideways channel between the $23.80 support and $34 resistance until a strong catalyst is able to break it out. But for now, I’ll take a swing here with a stoploss at $23 and my take profits at $27.05 and the 50MA. $NU: https://preview.redd.it/79rqip8jj3pa1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13fa8969d4890aa9c704d8b6a2a93f1e96d62335 Compared to ALLY and SOFI, NU has not dropped as dramatically, which is likely due to its exposure to Latin American markets rather than the US. The stock is currently trending downwards within the sideways channel. The stock is testing the 200 MA on the daily chart, if it breaks through it I will be going short with the lower trendline as my take profit and the 50 MA as my SL. |
2023.03.21 14:39 object-overflow Somebody wants the Bible removed from Davis County school libraries KSL.com
 | I'm surprised it's only Davis County that has received a request for review of the Bible for possible removal. To be clear, I don't think the Bible or any other book should be removed from school libraries. However, since HB374 is the law, it needs to be applied equally to all books. I'm sure the review board will find a totally fair and unbiased reason why the Bible should be exempted from the law while continuing to ban other books with less violence and "pornography." submitted by object-overflow to Utah [link] [comments] |
2023.03.21 14:30 AutoModerator R/Hagerstown Weekly WGOIH Thread March 21, 2023
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County Commissioner Agendas can be found here:
Washington County BOCC Agenda/Minutes
City of Hagerstown Minutes and Agenda
Washington County Public Schools Board Meetings
WIYNN Local Events
Herald Mail Things to do
submitted by AutoModerator to hagerstown [link] [comments]
Useful Information:
County Commissioner Agendas can be found here:
Washington County BOCC Agenda/Minutes
City of Hagerstown Minutes and Agenda
Washington County Public Schools Board Meetings
WIYNN Local Events
Herald Mail Things to do
2023.03.21 14:07 ar141510 Musket for hunting?
I'll delete of it's not ok here. To start I'm not new to black powder I've used a h&r .50 cal with loose powder for 5 years. In my hunting zone buckshot from black powder guns has been legalized. I was wondering if a trade gun or a brown bess would be best for buckshot. Does anyone have any recommendations for a gun for buckshot. I would go with a blunderbuss but the pattern isn't to appealing.
submitted by ar141510 to blackpowder [link] [comments]
2023.03.21 14:02 Sib443 My bestfriend is destroying his life
So I called my best friend of 12 years, a week ago, to check up on him. We are used to calling each other like once a month, but we always pick up right where we left off. But this time I hadn’t called him in 3 months because I was super busy with my master’s application abroad. Soon as he picked up, he wasn’t excited, which he usually was, and his lack of energy was palpable. I hit him with usual questions, how’s life, how’s your degree going and stuff, to which he said he didn’t feel like talking. I pressed on and asked how his health was. For context, he has a history of drug/alcohol abuse since 2016. In January of 2022, I had a winter break and his mum called me directly without his knowledge and informed me as to how worse his situation had gotten and that all his friends nearby were druggies. I packed my bag and left, as he lives in another city. I stayed over at his place for a week, which was his mum’s idea. I tried to talk him out of drugs and reminded him of the time we both were once unofficial addiction counsellors in our time at boarding school and would tell other fellows not to use any stuff and that he’s using substances he once advised against. Also when his other friends came over I scared them away by saying I’ll inform about their activities to authorities if they ever came here. All in all, my stay seemed to be productive and he didn’t use any drug. After that his mother would regularly call me once a week and tell me that he is back to his best and performing well at university. I couldn’t have been happier. Fast forward to end of 2022, he relapsed. This time his mum didn’t call me because she was embarrassed. I found about all this when I called him a week ago. I was devastated and when I mustered some courage, decided to call his mum and she said he wasn’t using drugs that much and that he’s just going through severe depression and anxiety and it’s taking a toll on him and that I should just pray for him to get better.
This is so painful for me as I don’t have many friends and that he is my best-friend. I didn’t befriend many people at boarding and at university I didn’t make even a single one. I was excited that I’d be going abroad for my masters next month until I called him. I feel like an absolute failure now. The fact that he was always more brilliant than me and that he was the one who pushed me out of my comfort zone to achieve good grades and everything. Deep down I feel like my upward trajectory has been due to him. Reminiscing about boarding school time used to be my favourite now it’s excruciating.
submitted by Sib443 to Vent [link] [comments]
This is so painful for me as I don’t have many friends and that he is my best-friend. I didn’t befriend many people at boarding and at university I didn’t make even a single one. I was excited that I’d be going abroad for my masters next month until I called him. I feel like an absolute failure now. The fact that he was always more brilliant than me and that he was the one who pushed me out of my comfort zone to achieve good grades and everything. Deep down I feel like my upward trajectory has been due to him. Reminiscing about boarding school time used to be my favourite now it’s excruciating.
2023.03.21 12:30 Itsspanishforthenino Rock Island County General Election - Candidate help? (April 4th, 2023 election)
Hi All,
Even though I'm not a parent, I value education, and in light of what's happening elsewhere, it's even more important to pay attention to who is being elected to the board of education and the positions that go along with it. However, I just don't know who these candidates are, and unfortunately, there's not much to go on from the Google searches I've been doing. Can anyone shed light on these candidates? I'm including those who are the only choice as well, which is unfortunate, but I'd like to learn more about them, too, if anyone can either a) provide a source, or b) a personal anecdote.
Thanks, in advance!
City of Moline - For Alderperson Ward 1 (4-year term)
Again, thanks for any information you can provide. Facts are very much appreciated, though I understand anecdotes can be blurry, but I'm really just trying to understand who the heck I'm voting for; these are positions that we don't think about until it's too late.
submitted by Itsspanishforthenino to QuadCities [link] [comments]
Even though I'm not a parent, I value education, and in light of what's happening elsewhere, it's even more important to pay attention to who is being elected to the board of education and the positions that go along with it. However, I just don't know who these candidates are, and unfortunately, there's not much to go on from the Google searches I've been doing. Can anyone shed light on these candidates? I'm including those who are the only choice as well, which is unfortunate, but I'd like to learn more about them, too, if anyone can either a) provide a source, or b) a personal anecdote.
Thanks, in advance!
City of Moline - For Alderperson Ward 1 (4-year term)
- Debbie Murphy
- Lindsey M. Hines
- Jason Farrell
- Michelle (Mickey) Carter
- Ramona Dixon
- Justin Anderson
- Audrey N. Adamson
- Mariela A. Trevino
- Christian Jackson
- Samantha Gange
- Jon A. Looney
- David Dyer
- Steven Spivey
- Ummm, no one? Who should I write in? What happens if this position is empty?
- Eric Hand
- Mary Knox
Again, thanks for any information you can provide. Facts are very much appreciated, though I understand anecdotes can be blurry, but I'm really just trying to understand who the heck I'm voting for; these are positions that we don't think about until it's too late.
2023.03.21 11:15 cotocoo Rehoming - two year old pup
My husband and I are in need of rehoming our dog Benny (Benito). We are looking for a forever home for him.
Benny was born Oct. 5th, 2021, at a small pig farm in Colima, Mexico. His mother is a rescued mutt and father, we are unsure. He is a healthy neutered male with a lot of energy. He won't get any bigger and currently weighs about 35 lbs.
The ideal forever home would have the following characteristics: - loving dog parent(s) - Dog parent(s) who love to walk, run and/or hikes - Frequently - someone with patience and time - large back yard (fenced preferably)/farm possibly - no other animals, especially no small animals. - commitment to dog life long updates
A little bit more about Benny: - He's leash trained. Went to boarding school for two months. Was trained with German collar. - Knows commands like sit, stay, come, down, paw, and cage. Sometimes too excited to follow them. Potty trained as well. - Friendly, but very curious, anxious and sometimes other dogs make him uncomfortable. Not the best with small dogs. - Does not have experience with or around children. - Some behavioral issues - loves to sleep in bed but also likes the floor - Is very loving, loyal and unconditional. - Likes to play fetch, but bad at sharing. - Loves belly rubs, pets, shadows and lots of attention
My husband and I will be traveling up to Whatcom county at the end of the month (March) please message me if you are interested.
Please note: Rehoming fee applies. Serious inquiry only.
submitted by cotocoo to Whatcom [link] [comments]
Benny was born Oct. 5th, 2021, at a small pig farm in Colima, Mexico. His mother is a rescued mutt and father, we are unsure. He is a healthy neutered male with a lot of energy. He won't get any bigger and currently weighs about 35 lbs.
The ideal forever home would have the following characteristics: - loving dog parent(s) - Dog parent(s) who love to walk, run and/or hikes - Frequently - someone with patience and time - large back yard (fenced preferably)/farm possibly - no other animals, especially no small animals. - commitment to dog life long updates
A little bit more about Benny: - He's leash trained. Went to boarding school for two months. Was trained with German collar. - Knows commands like sit, stay, come, down, paw, and cage. Sometimes too excited to follow them. Potty trained as well. - Friendly, but very curious, anxious and sometimes other dogs make him uncomfortable. Not the best with small dogs. - Does not have experience with or around children. - Some behavioral issues - loves to sleep in bed but also likes the floor - Is very loving, loyal and unconditional. - Likes to play fetch, but bad at sharing. - Loves belly rubs, pets, shadows and lots of attention
My husband and I will be traveling up to Whatcom county at the end of the month (March) please message me if you are interested.
Please note: Rehoming fee applies. Serious inquiry only.
2023.03.21 11:02 iridael The Ordeal Ch4:Salvage
First Previous [Next]()
Issac watched as the single refinery in sector had raw iron dumped into the cauldron, the induction coils around it heating up red hot as the metal inside the container bubbled and smoked away impurities. The coils dulled down automatically a minute later and the cauldron rotated, pouring molten iron into the facility where it would be poured into ingots for storage, moulds for hull plating and hundreds of other standard fabrication designs that the station might need.
The cargo ship was in its berth, the only one section one had so once the mining ship was done it would have to leave the berth for the docking ship to enter, undergo maintenance and then be moved into storage. Right next to the second cargo ship they’d moved here as well.
Without it in the berth, maintenance and prep had taken and extra day for Bradley to give the all clear. Miles and his security had put a team together and had a container with their equipment. A team of 10 was the limit. Both Issac and Miles wanted more, a team of 25 was preferable, but with the incident one of the things that was hit hard were the vacuum suits. And the security team only had 10 sets intact.
It was just another thing added to the list they needed from the JA cruiser.
His eyes drifted up from the smelter and docks, refocusing onto the titanium glass dome that was covered in a lattice of cracks but had done its job of keeping the atmosphere mostly in and drifted further until it reached the massive gate doors and the mechanism that let them open and close.
The jagged line that had cut through the door had transformed into a pixelated slice, large chunks of metal cut free and gently drifting on cables towards massive maintenance hatches for recycling…and beyond that in the dark was a light that was slightly brighter than the others. Orbiting that slightly brighter light was a ship and on that ship was what he needed to keep this station alive a little longer.
He looked down past the glass past the foundry until his eyes hit the bridge floor, his feet and then focussed on the cup in his hand.
“You’re feeling it aren't you?”
He jumps but doesn't. It's a strange thing he feels the response but then some part of him goes and stops it.
Turning around he sees Clarrissa standing at the door to the bridge. “I checked on the others too, the surviving officers. Told them I had to take the operation because of a tumour. Extended my contract by 15 years for it. Means I got to tell them what to expect. Got them to show me their medical scans, most of them anyway.”
“Expect what?” Issac asks.
“The things they don't tell you when you sign the contract. Your brain is now surplus to requirements, it's been superseded by the neural matrix in your skull. And parts of it are already dying off. The suppressants and drug cocktails giving your body the micro dosages of special elements your implant needs to keep growing, winding its way through your brain. Taking over comparatively sluggish organic processes.”
“Why.”
Clare shrugs. “The problem with evolution is it chooses what works best at the time, not what's efficient. The big wigs wanted a template for a better brain to build a better human around, and once they had that they realised that certain things were a bit surplus to requirements.”
“Such as?”
“Your occipital lobe is the first to go. It had a big lump of crystal and exotic elements shoved into it after all. Means that your vision will change. You’ll gain peripheral acuity, you’ll notice the blind spot of your eye until it disappears in a month or two. Your Parietal lobe, The bit above and in front of your vision centre goes strange next. Its basically working like a backup now. So it’ll simplify, shrink a bit. But that does mean multitasking becomes easier, things like maths and spacial awareness get better. But it also handles pain. So that’ll change.”
“How?” Issac asks, interrupting her with a raised hand. In response she pulls out a long needle and calmly pulls up her sleeve and removes a bandage to reveal where a dozen small wounds are and calmly shoves it through the muscle of her forearm.
“Pain is a message informing you of damage.” she says pulling the needle out. “the reaction ‘ow that hurts!’” she says expressing pain and clamping her hand over the new and bleeding hole. A moment later her expression levels out. And she calmly takes her hand away and starts redressing the area. “It becomes a choice. Your digital mind registers it and then you get the choice to react, or file it away for later.”
“And the frontal cortex?”
“Well, that's the part you need to really watch for. It is furthest from the implants initial location but also the one it messes with the most, because by then it's almost fully integrated. It’ll assault the area, things stop being as entertaining, as funny, some drugs loose effect, others get a lot stronger. Emotions level out…at least it did for me…others in the program I was part of”
“Other snakes.” Issac says.
“Yes…most of them stopped being able to empathise properly. They stopped thinking of the corp as a family and more like a machine. And themselves as the administrators. Answerable only to the board. They forgot that people need a reason beyond the job to work and would look for any reason to make the machine more efficient.”
“And you didn't?” Issac asks.
“I could have. It's so easy to let logic take over. But I'm a botanist. And you can't grow and care for plants without caring. But that's not the part I'm warning you of. A few of my colleagues went further. They started to crave the feelings they used to have but it takes more to get the same result. Relationships become funnels for satisfying urges. Sex becomes rape, light drug use becomes hardcore drug abuse. The thrill of a fight becomes the love of inflicting pain.”
“And every officer is now cyberized and walking down that path.”
“Which is why I'm being mostly honest with you and saying that IF I need to do my job. I will, without mercy.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” Issac asks.
“Yes. Because if you could see the thing you’d become you would be horrified. But now you know what the corp doesn't want you to know. You and the other officers can be on guard to the signs.” she says.
Issac sighs and nods. “You’re right…what do you think of our chances?”
“For the next year? Pretty good. Worst case scenario we’re actually fairly well equipped to rebuild somewhere. Best case scenario? We find other ships, other colonies, maybe jump back to Sol and find earth completely fine.” she replies.
Issac shakes his head. “That's not worse case. Worse case is we find other humans and they destroy the station. Or whatever caused this happens again. Or whoever caused it finds us. There’s a lot of ways we die, humanity dies. But not a lot of ways to survive…thanks for telling me what to expect. You’ll be watching tomorrow?”
“Yea…want me to come up here for it? My team knows their work well enough that I can let them work for a day or two.” she says crossing her arms and smiling at him.
Issac stares at her for a second looking for something that's not there before nodding. “I could use the company up here.”
“Then its a date. I’ll sort us out for lunch.” she says turning and leaving him.
He sighs and looks down at his cup. The liquid inside was cold now and his arm ached from being held up at that angle for so long. A note of worry crept in at how he hadn't noticed until he’d wanted to. Quickly walking over to a welfare station he empties the cold liquid and pours himself a cup of steaming hot caffeine with flavour then returns to his spot at the window watching as the cargo ship leaves, the second one moving on rails into the launching berth where two groups are waiting to load it up.
“System, terminal 9, bring up everything on cyberization implants…search sleep requirements and highlight.” he orders.
The next day he was watching the command terminal. It was off to one side of the bridge and dominated one wall. Right now it was showing exactly what the captain of the cargo ship was seeing, which was a close up and detailed view of the crippled cruiser before panning down to the planet.
“Look at the planet. If we trace back the orbit there’s a 100km gap in one of the slices that hit the planet…” the captain's voice faded out as someone else spoke up. “The cuts planetside aren't actually that deep, a few dozen metres mostly. It's just the scale of the impact. Damage to infrastructure would have been the killing blow. Look, nuclear fallout from reactor damage… a few defences around the city detonated too by the look of things….right the ship sorry I'm a research captain.”
The scope changed again back to the cruiser. “Docking bay for shuttles, Cargo door, or we could go close to the slice and move in from there…shuttle bay it is.”
“They’re not trained for this, remember.” Chief Botanist Clarrissa says walking in with two trays stacked on each other. “They’re going to be nervous, probably trigger happy.”
“Could you do better?” Issac asks.
“Leading them? No. If I had a squad of snakes. We’d go in cold and kill anything in our way to rip out what you needed. Which isn't exactly a good starting point when trying to form bonds of trust between former enemies.” she replies, popping the lid on one of the trays revealing a bowl of steaming rice and some processed insect proteins that look like what he’s been told pork is.
He watches her from the corner of his eye whilst he watches the command screen switch from ship camera to a vac suit camera entering in through a cut out airlock. Two security officers float into the airlock and begin setting up the cutting tools whilst another pair work outside to fit a plastic temporary airlock seal around the blown outer door.
By the time the inner airlock is cut through Clarissa hands him a steaming bowl of rice and not-pork drizzled in sauce. He accepts it and uses the spork to stab a lump of meat before scooping a mouthful of rice up and eating it and immediately gagging on the assault of flavours.
“Shit sorry, you’ve been eating paste since wake up haven't you?” Clare apologises, taking the bowl from him and handing him her yet unflavoured bowl once his coughing fit subsides.
He takes it and puts it to one side before reaching for his coffee and gulping down a mouthful then swishing another around to get rid of the remaining burn. “Spicy.” he notes.
“That was tomato, onion and bell pepper flavouring.” she replies with a smirk. “One of the advantages of having done this a few times post cyberization.” she says picking up the bowl and shoving a spoonful of saucy rice into her mouth. “Don't need to readjust my taste.” she finishes after swallowing the mouthful.
Issac shrugs and takes another small mouthful of just rice this time and lets the assault of texture and flavour batter him before swallowing it and moving onto the pork.
As he does the security team sweep through the corridors of the ship, a secondary screen showing a digital map of where they’ve been and what each section of the ship was for. A large portion of the space they move through is just cargo racks and stores that they quickly scan over, letting the cargo ship and by extension the station systems catalogue as they move.
Issac watches as the team secure their entrance to the ship and start moving through the rear section bit by bit. It doesn't take them long to find the first group of cyro pods. They’re easily twice the size of the ones on the tyco, each one when touched shows a display with the basic information of who’s inside. Name age and health.
“Can it be removed?” he asked before cursing and remembering that there was a good few minutes delay between him and the ship.
“Looks like the pods are built into the ship, it’ll take us some time to figure out a way to remove them safely. Lets get a count first and search for anyone awake, or any corpses.'' The search continued through the cruiser for an hour before the team returned to the cargo ship to rest, refuel their vac suits and go at it again. As they did they identified locked doors for armouries, the engine bay and a series of entrances that matched up with the exposed sections around the slice and the reactor.
The next day the cargo ship moved to the front section of the ship and the security team began again from a forward airlock and began mapping the front end of the ship. They didn't find any cryopods in long rows like last time but did find a locked and sealed room that didn't match anything the teams knew about. By the time they’d mapped everything it was time to wait on a command decision form Issac on how to proceed.
“What do you think?” he asked Clare who had joined him for a second day on the bridge.
“Hmm. if there’s any officers chances are they’re in a secure area close to what we think is the bridge. Every other section of the ship we’re fairly sure we know about. So it depends if you want to scrap as much as possible then wake up crew, or wake them up first and see about cooperating.”
Issac doesn't reply instantly. Instead he’s chewing over possible outcomes and what way is best to proceed. After a minute of silence he nods. “I want them to cut into what we think is the officers pod bay. Extract a few pods and bring them over along with whatever supplies we can easily grab. Get into the cargo bay for that but don't destructively open the bay doors. It’ll be easier if we’re not rescuing drifting supplies.” he orders.
Half an hour later the security team were moving again. This time they moved through the ship with purpose towards the sealed forward section and after setting up a pressurised zone, started cutting into the armoured door. It took them longer than expected since the door was reinforced beyond their expectations but after a brief consultation with one of the cargo ships crew they changed up their cutting mix and sliced through the bulkhead leaving melted hot slag around a large hole. Inside what just what they expected, more cryopods. What they didn't expect was a single starved person holding a rifle aiming at the door, pod open.
“Tyco security forces! Stand down! We’ve boarded the ship looking for survivors!” the officer in charge shouts.
The JA officer looks around and backs up still pointing his gun at the security team before backing up to the back wall. “STAY BACK I’LL S-Shoot!” he screams.
“Easy. everyone out, just me inside.” the security officer orders.
“Smart call.” Clare notes watching it from the bridge with Issac.
“Why?”
“The poor sod pulls the trigger, kills only one guy, the rest throw in a stun grenade and merc him. Recover the pods carry on with one casualty.” she notes.
Issac nods at the logic and returns his attention to the screen.
“Easy sir. We’re from tyco, your ships crippled. Something hit you just like it hit us.”
“LIAR. I i i i it w-was an attack. My pod opened so I could assess damage but the power went down, the door wouldn't open…orders are to stay awake and monitor situation…”
“So you did your job. And now a rescue team is here. But listen. We’ve searched the entire ship. Most of your crew seem to be alive but we don't know how to open these pods safely. You do…tell you what. One of the guys has a nutrient pack here. You look like you need it more than we do…”
The skinny officer nods still wide eyed. “Michel, grab your nutrient pack and pass it here would you?” the security man shouts.
A moment later a hand moves into view holding a foil pack with a spout on it. The officer takes it and holds it out. “I'm going to drift forward to the middle of the room ok. I’ll open the pack and take a sip so you know its not bad and then you can have the rest ok?”
The JA officer shakily nods and Issac notes the gun drop down slightly. The camera shows the security officer move forwards, then after a moment of sound. “Ugh, I swear it tastes worse than the usual stuff.” he groans before pushing it towards the officer. “I'm warning you that stuff is nasty. But it keeps you alive.”
The JA officer doesn't pay attention, instead taking the pack with one hand and sipping at the slurry inside, he grimaces and nearly heaves the precious sludge back up but within moments the pack is empty and he sighs in relief.
“How long have you been awake?” the security guard asks.
“Don't know. Since the incident.” the officer replies.
“We’ve been in the system, about 2 weeks now. So well done on surviving this long.” he says. “Listen my orders are to recover as many pods as possible, can we move these things safely?”
The officer nods. “Where to?”
“We have a cargo hauler docked to the ship. We’re going to take whatever we can. And leave the wreckage.”
“Wreckage?”
“That's right. Your ships been cut in half. Our’s isn't jump worthy but it's in one piece. And we have room for you and all your crew.”
“But your tyco.”
“And your JA and whoever hit you hit us just the same.” the security officer replies.
They go back and forth for a while more until the officer agrees to put on a crew survival suit and follow the security officer to the cargo ship. Once inside he’s shown the damage to the ship and the planet below.
“What did this?”
“We don't know. But we still need your help and your crew's help.”
“Are there any JA ships in system?”
“Not that we’ve managed to spot. Our stations scanners were damaged and still getting repaired.”
The officer sighs. “Alright, h-h-here's what you need to do.”
submitted by iridael to HFY [link] [comments]
The cargo ship was in its berth, the only one section one had so once the mining ship was done it would have to leave the berth for the docking ship to enter, undergo maintenance and then be moved into storage. Right next to the second cargo ship they’d moved here as well.
Without it in the berth, maintenance and prep had taken and extra day for Bradley to give the all clear. Miles and his security had put a team together and had a container with their equipment. A team of 10 was the limit. Both Issac and Miles wanted more, a team of 25 was preferable, but with the incident one of the things that was hit hard were the vacuum suits. And the security team only had 10 sets intact.
It was just another thing added to the list they needed from the JA cruiser.
His eyes drifted up from the smelter and docks, refocusing onto the titanium glass dome that was covered in a lattice of cracks but had done its job of keeping the atmosphere mostly in and drifted further until it reached the massive gate doors and the mechanism that let them open and close.
The jagged line that had cut through the door had transformed into a pixelated slice, large chunks of metal cut free and gently drifting on cables towards massive maintenance hatches for recycling…and beyond that in the dark was a light that was slightly brighter than the others. Orbiting that slightly brighter light was a ship and on that ship was what he needed to keep this station alive a little longer.
He looked down past the glass past the foundry until his eyes hit the bridge floor, his feet and then focussed on the cup in his hand.
“You’re feeling it aren't you?”
He jumps but doesn't. It's a strange thing he feels the response but then some part of him goes and stops it.
Turning around he sees Clarrissa standing at the door to the bridge. “I checked on the others too, the surviving officers. Told them I had to take the operation because of a tumour. Extended my contract by 15 years for it. Means I got to tell them what to expect. Got them to show me their medical scans, most of them anyway.”
“Expect what?” Issac asks.
“The things they don't tell you when you sign the contract. Your brain is now surplus to requirements, it's been superseded by the neural matrix in your skull. And parts of it are already dying off. The suppressants and drug cocktails giving your body the micro dosages of special elements your implant needs to keep growing, winding its way through your brain. Taking over comparatively sluggish organic processes.”
“Why.”
Clare shrugs. “The problem with evolution is it chooses what works best at the time, not what's efficient. The big wigs wanted a template for a better brain to build a better human around, and once they had that they realised that certain things were a bit surplus to requirements.”
“Such as?”
“Your occipital lobe is the first to go. It had a big lump of crystal and exotic elements shoved into it after all. Means that your vision will change. You’ll gain peripheral acuity, you’ll notice the blind spot of your eye until it disappears in a month or two. Your Parietal lobe, The bit above and in front of your vision centre goes strange next. Its basically working like a backup now. So it’ll simplify, shrink a bit. But that does mean multitasking becomes easier, things like maths and spacial awareness get better. But it also handles pain. So that’ll change.”
“How?” Issac asks, interrupting her with a raised hand. In response she pulls out a long needle and calmly pulls up her sleeve and removes a bandage to reveal where a dozen small wounds are and calmly shoves it through the muscle of her forearm.
“Pain is a message informing you of damage.” she says pulling the needle out. “the reaction ‘ow that hurts!’” she says expressing pain and clamping her hand over the new and bleeding hole. A moment later her expression levels out. And she calmly takes her hand away and starts redressing the area. “It becomes a choice. Your digital mind registers it and then you get the choice to react, or file it away for later.”
“And the frontal cortex?”
“Well, that's the part you need to really watch for. It is furthest from the implants initial location but also the one it messes with the most, because by then it's almost fully integrated. It’ll assault the area, things stop being as entertaining, as funny, some drugs loose effect, others get a lot stronger. Emotions level out…at least it did for me…others in the program I was part of”
“Other snakes.” Issac says.
“Yes…most of them stopped being able to empathise properly. They stopped thinking of the corp as a family and more like a machine. And themselves as the administrators. Answerable only to the board. They forgot that people need a reason beyond the job to work and would look for any reason to make the machine more efficient.”
“And you didn't?” Issac asks.
“I could have. It's so easy to let logic take over. But I'm a botanist. And you can't grow and care for plants without caring. But that's not the part I'm warning you of. A few of my colleagues went further. They started to crave the feelings they used to have but it takes more to get the same result. Relationships become funnels for satisfying urges. Sex becomes rape, light drug use becomes hardcore drug abuse. The thrill of a fight becomes the love of inflicting pain.”
“And every officer is now cyberized and walking down that path.”
“Which is why I'm being mostly honest with you and saying that IF I need to do my job. I will, without mercy.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” Issac asks.
“Yes. Because if you could see the thing you’d become you would be horrified. But now you know what the corp doesn't want you to know. You and the other officers can be on guard to the signs.” she says.
Issac sighs and nods. “You’re right…what do you think of our chances?”
“For the next year? Pretty good. Worst case scenario we’re actually fairly well equipped to rebuild somewhere. Best case scenario? We find other ships, other colonies, maybe jump back to Sol and find earth completely fine.” she replies.
Issac shakes his head. “That's not worse case. Worse case is we find other humans and they destroy the station. Or whatever caused this happens again. Or whoever caused it finds us. There’s a lot of ways we die, humanity dies. But not a lot of ways to survive…thanks for telling me what to expect. You’ll be watching tomorrow?”
“Yea…want me to come up here for it? My team knows their work well enough that I can let them work for a day or two.” she says crossing her arms and smiling at him.
Issac stares at her for a second looking for something that's not there before nodding. “I could use the company up here.”
“Then its a date. I’ll sort us out for lunch.” she says turning and leaving him.
He sighs and looks down at his cup. The liquid inside was cold now and his arm ached from being held up at that angle for so long. A note of worry crept in at how he hadn't noticed until he’d wanted to. Quickly walking over to a welfare station he empties the cold liquid and pours himself a cup of steaming hot caffeine with flavour then returns to his spot at the window watching as the cargo ship leaves, the second one moving on rails into the launching berth where two groups are waiting to load it up.
“System, terminal 9, bring up everything on cyberization implants…search sleep requirements and highlight.” he orders.
The next day he was watching the command terminal. It was off to one side of the bridge and dominated one wall. Right now it was showing exactly what the captain of the cargo ship was seeing, which was a close up and detailed view of the crippled cruiser before panning down to the planet.
“Look at the planet. If we trace back the orbit there’s a 100km gap in one of the slices that hit the planet…” the captain's voice faded out as someone else spoke up. “The cuts planetside aren't actually that deep, a few dozen metres mostly. It's just the scale of the impact. Damage to infrastructure would have been the killing blow. Look, nuclear fallout from reactor damage… a few defences around the city detonated too by the look of things….right the ship sorry I'm a research captain.”
The scope changed again back to the cruiser. “Docking bay for shuttles, Cargo door, or we could go close to the slice and move in from there…shuttle bay it is.”
“They’re not trained for this, remember.” Chief Botanist Clarrissa says walking in with two trays stacked on each other. “They’re going to be nervous, probably trigger happy.”
“Could you do better?” Issac asks.
“Leading them? No. If I had a squad of snakes. We’d go in cold and kill anything in our way to rip out what you needed. Which isn't exactly a good starting point when trying to form bonds of trust between former enemies.” she replies, popping the lid on one of the trays revealing a bowl of steaming rice and some processed insect proteins that look like what he’s been told pork is.
He watches her from the corner of his eye whilst he watches the command screen switch from ship camera to a vac suit camera entering in through a cut out airlock. Two security officers float into the airlock and begin setting up the cutting tools whilst another pair work outside to fit a plastic temporary airlock seal around the blown outer door.
By the time the inner airlock is cut through Clarissa hands him a steaming bowl of rice and not-pork drizzled in sauce. He accepts it and uses the spork to stab a lump of meat before scooping a mouthful of rice up and eating it and immediately gagging on the assault of flavours.
“Shit sorry, you’ve been eating paste since wake up haven't you?” Clare apologises, taking the bowl from him and handing him her yet unflavoured bowl once his coughing fit subsides.
He takes it and puts it to one side before reaching for his coffee and gulping down a mouthful then swishing another around to get rid of the remaining burn. “Spicy.” he notes.
“That was tomato, onion and bell pepper flavouring.” she replies with a smirk. “One of the advantages of having done this a few times post cyberization.” she says picking up the bowl and shoving a spoonful of saucy rice into her mouth. “Don't need to readjust my taste.” she finishes after swallowing the mouthful.
Issac shrugs and takes another small mouthful of just rice this time and lets the assault of texture and flavour batter him before swallowing it and moving onto the pork.
As he does the security team sweep through the corridors of the ship, a secondary screen showing a digital map of where they’ve been and what each section of the ship was for. A large portion of the space they move through is just cargo racks and stores that they quickly scan over, letting the cargo ship and by extension the station systems catalogue as they move.
Issac watches as the team secure their entrance to the ship and start moving through the rear section bit by bit. It doesn't take them long to find the first group of cyro pods. They’re easily twice the size of the ones on the tyco, each one when touched shows a display with the basic information of who’s inside. Name age and health.
“Can it be removed?” he asked before cursing and remembering that there was a good few minutes delay between him and the ship.
“Looks like the pods are built into the ship, it’ll take us some time to figure out a way to remove them safely. Lets get a count first and search for anyone awake, or any corpses.'' The search continued through the cruiser for an hour before the team returned to the cargo ship to rest, refuel their vac suits and go at it again. As they did they identified locked doors for armouries, the engine bay and a series of entrances that matched up with the exposed sections around the slice and the reactor.
The next day the cargo ship moved to the front section of the ship and the security team began again from a forward airlock and began mapping the front end of the ship. They didn't find any cryopods in long rows like last time but did find a locked and sealed room that didn't match anything the teams knew about. By the time they’d mapped everything it was time to wait on a command decision form Issac on how to proceed.
“What do you think?” he asked Clare who had joined him for a second day on the bridge.
“Hmm. if there’s any officers chances are they’re in a secure area close to what we think is the bridge. Every other section of the ship we’re fairly sure we know about. So it depends if you want to scrap as much as possible then wake up crew, or wake them up first and see about cooperating.”
Issac doesn't reply instantly. Instead he’s chewing over possible outcomes and what way is best to proceed. After a minute of silence he nods. “I want them to cut into what we think is the officers pod bay. Extract a few pods and bring them over along with whatever supplies we can easily grab. Get into the cargo bay for that but don't destructively open the bay doors. It’ll be easier if we’re not rescuing drifting supplies.” he orders.
Half an hour later the security team were moving again. This time they moved through the ship with purpose towards the sealed forward section and after setting up a pressurised zone, started cutting into the armoured door. It took them longer than expected since the door was reinforced beyond their expectations but after a brief consultation with one of the cargo ships crew they changed up their cutting mix and sliced through the bulkhead leaving melted hot slag around a large hole. Inside what just what they expected, more cryopods. What they didn't expect was a single starved person holding a rifle aiming at the door, pod open.
“Tyco security forces! Stand down! We’ve boarded the ship looking for survivors!” the officer in charge shouts.
The JA officer looks around and backs up still pointing his gun at the security team before backing up to the back wall. “STAY BACK I’LL S-Shoot!” he screams.
“Easy. everyone out, just me inside.” the security officer orders.
“Smart call.” Clare notes watching it from the bridge with Issac.
“Why?”
“The poor sod pulls the trigger, kills only one guy, the rest throw in a stun grenade and merc him. Recover the pods carry on with one casualty.” she notes.
Issac nods at the logic and returns his attention to the screen.
“Easy sir. We’re from tyco, your ships crippled. Something hit you just like it hit us.”
“LIAR. I i i i it w-was an attack. My pod opened so I could assess damage but the power went down, the door wouldn't open…orders are to stay awake and monitor situation…”
“So you did your job. And now a rescue team is here. But listen. We’ve searched the entire ship. Most of your crew seem to be alive but we don't know how to open these pods safely. You do…tell you what. One of the guys has a nutrient pack here. You look like you need it more than we do…”
The skinny officer nods still wide eyed. “Michel, grab your nutrient pack and pass it here would you?” the security man shouts.
A moment later a hand moves into view holding a foil pack with a spout on it. The officer takes it and holds it out. “I'm going to drift forward to the middle of the room ok. I’ll open the pack and take a sip so you know its not bad and then you can have the rest ok?”
The JA officer shakily nods and Issac notes the gun drop down slightly. The camera shows the security officer move forwards, then after a moment of sound. “Ugh, I swear it tastes worse than the usual stuff.” he groans before pushing it towards the officer. “I'm warning you that stuff is nasty. But it keeps you alive.”
The JA officer doesn't pay attention, instead taking the pack with one hand and sipping at the slurry inside, he grimaces and nearly heaves the precious sludge back up but within moments the pack is empty and he sighs in relief.
“How long have you been awake?” the security guard asks.
“Don't know. Since the incident.” the officer replies.
“We’ve been in the system, about 2 weeks now. So well done on surviving this long.” he says. “Listen my orders are to recover as many pods as possible, can we move these things safely?”
The officer nods. “Where to?”
“We have a cargo hauler docked to the ship. We’re going to take whatever we can. And leave the wreckage.”
“Wreckage?”
“That's right. Your ships been cut in half. Our’s isn't jump worthy but it's in one piece. And we have room for you and all your crew.”
“But your tyco.”
“And your JA and whoever hit you hit us just the same.” the security officer replies.
They go back and forth for a while more until the officer agrees to put on a crew survival suit and follow the security officer to the cargo ship. Once inside he’s shown the damage to the ship and the planet below.
“What did this?”
“We don't know. But we still need your help and your crew's help.”
“Are there any JA ships in system?”
“Not that we’ve managed to spot. Our stations scanners were damaged and still getting repaired.”
The officer sighs. “Alright, h-h-here's what you need to do.”