ssbet77. net
Stock market today: Tech stocks and AI pull Wall Street to more recordsEl Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
White House says at least 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaign
'Keep it quiet:' Here's what to know and do if you win the Mega Millions jackpot
Neal Maupay: Whenever I’m having a bad day I check Everton score and smileMr Carter, a former peanut farmer, served one term in the White House between 1977 and 1981, taking over in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the end of the Vietnam War. After his defeat by Ronald Reagan, he spent his post-presidency years as a global humanitarian, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His death on Sunday was announced by his family and came more than a year after he decided to enter hospice care. He was the longest-lived US president. Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/aqYmcE9tXi — The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) December 29, 2024 His son, Chip Carter, said: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love. “My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. “The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.” Mr Carter is expected to receive a state funeral featuring public observances in Atlanta and Washington DC before being buried in his home town of Plains, Georgia. A moderate democrat born in Plains in October 1924, Mr Carter’s political career took him from the Georgia state senate to the state governorship and finally the White House, where he took office as the 39th president. His presidency saw economic disruption amid volatile oil prices, along with social tensions at home and challenges abroad including the Iranian revolution that sparked a 444-day hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. But he also brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, which led to a peace treaty between the two countries in 1979. After his defeat in the 1980 presidential election, he worked for more than four decades leading the Carter Centre, which he and his late wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope”. Mrs Carter, who died last year aged 96, had played a more active role in her husband’s presidency than previous first ladies, with Mr Carter saying she had been “my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished”. Earlier this year, on his 100th birthday, Mr Carter received a private congratulatory message from the King, expressing admiration for his life of public service.AP News Summary at 6:01 p.m. EST
Origami-inspired Bubble Wrap ditches Plastics for Pleated Paper
Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker, who is overseeing Luigi Mangione’s pre-trial hearings, is facing criticism for her financial ties to the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Reports indicate that Parker is wed to Bret Parker, a past executive at Pfizer, who departed from the company in 2010. Parker, who has managed the proceedings in Mangione’s case, possesses substantial investments in various healthcare and technology companies. Records show she possesses Pfizer stock worth between $50,000 and $100,000. Her portfolio comprises stocks in Abbott Laboratories, Viatris, and CRISPR Therapeutics. Further disclosures emphasized Parker's investments in leading technology firms, such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple. Her spouse still obtains a pension from his time at Pfizer. Journalist Ken Klippenstein, who covered Parker's financial assets, mentioned that she possesses assets valued in the hundreds of thousands. These holdings have raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest in cases linked to the pharmaceutical or healthcare industries. Mangione is alleged to have murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a crime that has garnered national attention. His purported manifesto, sections of which are still vague, reportedly referred to UnitedHealthcare’s substantial market presence. Luigi Mangione, charged with the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, showed up in court on Monday dressed in an outfit that coordinated with his lawyer’s. Mangione pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges, which comprise first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism. Speaking into the courtroom microphone, he assertively declared, "Not guilty." The claims stem from the shooting of Thompson on December 4 near a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The occurrence happened during an investor conference held by UnitedHealth Group. Prosecutors allege that the murder was premeditated and associated with terrorism. If convicted, Mangione might receive a life sentence in prison with no possibility of parole. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News, World and around the world.
Pete Hegseth's mother says The New York Times made 'threats' by asking her to comment on a story
WASHINGTON — A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel's "near-total blockade," after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel. The rare public dispute drew accusations from prominent aid and human-rights figures that the work of the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning System Network, meant to reflect the data-driven analysis of unbiased international experts, has been tainted by politics. A declaration of famine would be a great embarrassment for Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population. U.S. ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized group inaccurate and "irresponsible." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza. Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions. "We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible," Lew said Tuesday. USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The report did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday, but the link to it remained active. The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October. FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. "FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!" Marmorstein said on X. In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency," said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report. "The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations," said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor in international affairs at Princeton University. "It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration's worry about funding Israel's starvation strategy -- to interfere." Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area's residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza's far north, near the Israeli border. North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel's restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels. International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza's people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza. Cindy McCain, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, called earlier this month for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there. Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza's crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on "outdated and inaccurate" data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain. USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted "discrepancies" in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said. "This was relayed before Ambassador Lew's statement," USAID said in a statement. "FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report." Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there. "This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in," he said, adding that "the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won't feed anyone." The U.S., Israel's main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel's war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration's reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month's elections.Maharashtra Election 2024 Live Updates: Is Ashish Shelar's stronghold in Bandra West at risk?
Neal Maupay: Whenever I’m having a bad day I check Everton score and smile
Juan Soto's departure from Yankees not due to support for Donald TrumpWoman who falsely accused Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 publicly admits she liedMoment of silence for former President Jimmy Carter held before the Falcons-Commanders game
Authored by Joshua Stylman via substack, Author's Note : For years, I understood advertising was designed to manipulate behavior. As someone who studied the mechanics of marketing, I considered myself an educated consumer who could navigate rational market choices. What I didn't grasp was how this same psychological architecture shaped every aspect of our cultural landscape . This investigation began as curiosity about the music industry's ties to intelligence agencies. It evolved into a comprehensive examination of how power structures systematically mold public consciousness. What I discovered showed me that even my most cynical assumptions about manufactured culture barely scratched the surface. This revelation has fundamentally altered not just my worldview, but my relationships with those who either cannot or choose not to examine these mechanisms of control. This piece aims to make visible what many sense but cannot fully articulate - to help others see these hidden systems of influence. Because recognizing manipulation is the first step toward resisting it. This investigation unfolds in three parts: First, we'll examine the foundational systems of control established in the early 20th century. Next, we'll explore how these methods evolved through popular culture and counterculture movements. Finally, we'll see how these techniques have been automated and perfected through digital systems. In 2012, Facebook conducted a secret experiment on 689,000 users , manipulating their news feeds to study how changes in content affected their emotions. This crude test was just a glimpse of what was coming. By 2024, algorithms would not be used to simply shape what we feel, but what we believe it is even possible to think. Social media platforms are now able to predict and modify behavior in real-time, while streaming services automatically and continuously curate our cultural consumption, and digital payment systems track every single transaction. What began as simple emotional manipulation has become comprehensive consciousness control. This power to mold human perception didn't emerge overnight. The mechanisms of cultural control we see today were built over more than a century, evolving from Edison's physical monopolies to today's invisible digital chains. To understand how we arrived at this point of algorithmic consciousness control - and more importantly, how to resist it - we must first trace the historical foundations of these systems and the deliberate architecture of control that shaped them. The psychological manipulation revealed by the Facebook experiment may seem like a modern phenomenon, but its roots stretch back to the earliest days of mass communication. One of the first architects of cultural control was Thomas Edison, whose establishment of the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908 laid the groundwork for a century of systematic influence. When Thomas Edison established the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, he created more than a monopoly – he demonstrated how five key mechanisms could systematically control information and shape consciousness: infrastructure control (film production equipment), distribution control (theaters), legal framework (patents), financial pressure (blacklisting), and legitimacy definition ("authorized" vs "unauthorized" content). These same mechanisms would evolve and reappear across industries and eras, becoming increasingly sophisticated tools for engineering public consciousness and controlling the boundaries of possible thought and expression. While Edison was establishing control over visual media, a broader system of institutional power was rapidly taking shape. The early 20th century would witness an unprecedented convergence of concentrated control across multiple domains. When antitrust action broke up the Edison Trust in 1915, control simply shifted from Edison's patent monopoly to a small group of studios. While presented as creating competition, this "breakup" actually consolidated power in an oligarchy of studios that could more effectively and subversively coordinate content control and messaging - a pattern that would repeat in future antitrust actions. While the Trust's breakup appeared to create competition, new forms of control quickly emerged. The Motion Picture Production Code ( Hays Code ) established in 1934 demonstrated how moral panic could justify systematic content control. Just as Edison had controlled film distribution, the Hays Code controlled what could be depicted on screen, establishing templates for narrative manipulation that would persist into the digital age. Edison's template for controlling visual media would soon be replicated across other domains. As I detailed in ‘The Information Factory ’, Rockefeller deployed an identical template in medicine: infrastructure control (medical schools), distribution control (hospitals and clinics), legal framework (licensing), financial pressure (strategic funding), and legitimacy definition ("scientific" vs "alternative" medicine). This wasn't just about eliminating competition – it was about controlling what constituted legitimate knowledge itself. This wasn't a coincidence. The early 20th century witnessed unprecedented bureaucratic convergence, as formerly separate domains - medicine, media, education, finance, entertainment, and scientific research - began operating with remarkable coordination. The walls between public institutions, private industry, and government agencies became increasingly permeable. Major foundations played a crucial role in this convergence. The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations , while presenting themselves as philanthropic organizations, effectively shaped academic research priorities and social science methodologies . Through strategic grant-making and institutional support, they helped establish and maintain approved frameworks for understanding society itself . By determining what research got funded and which ideas received institutional backing, these foundations became powerful gatekeepers of acceptable knowledge—extending Rockefeller's medical model into the broader intellectual sphere. This unprecedented administrative alignment represented more than coordination - it established interlocking systems for controlling both physical reality and public consciousness. From Edison's control of visual media to Rockefeller's definition of medical knowledge to the Federal Reserve's monetary control, each piece contributed to a comprehensive architecture of social control. What made this system so subtly pervasive was its masterful packaging - each erosion of autonomy was presented as progress, each restriction as protection, each form of control as convenience. The public not only accepted but eagerly embraced these changes, never recognizing that their choices, beliefs, and very understanding of reality were being carefully engineered through institutions they trusted. The power of this converged system was first demonstrated at scale in profoundly reshaping America's global role. The narrative of American 'isolationism' emerged as one of the most influential shapers of public consciousness. While America had long projected power through banking networks, corporate expansion, and gunboat diplomacy, this reality was gradually reframed and cunningly marketed to an unsuspecting public By establishing a story of American withdrawal from world affairs, advocates for military intervention could position themselves as reluctant modernizers guiding a hesitant nation toward global responsibility. J.P. Morgan's simultaneous acquisition of major newspapers , controlling 25% of American papers by 1917, helped establish this narrative framework. It wasn't just about profit – it was about establishing the machinery of public consciousness management in preparation for coming conflicts desired by the ruling class. By the 1950s, Operation Mockingbird formalized this influence as the CIA systematically infiltrated major media organizations . The program demonstrated how thoroughly intelligence agencies understood the need to shape public perception through seemingly independent channels. Building on methods refined during wartime propaganda efforts, Mockingbird's techniques would influence everything from news coverage to entertainment programming, establishing templates for information manipulation that continue to evolve today. What Operation Mockingbird achieved through human editors and planted stories, today's platforms accomplish automatically through content moderation algorithms and recommendation systems. The same principles of narrative control persist, but the human intermediaries have been replaced by automated systems operating at breathtaking speed on a global scale. This media-intelligence nexus was exemplified by William S. Paley, who transformed CBS from a small radio network into a broadcasting empire. During World War II, Paley served as supervisor of the Office of War Information (OWI) in the Mediterranean theater before becoming chief of radio in the OWI's Psychological Warfare Division. His wartime experience in psychological operations directly informed CBS's postwar programming strategy, where entertainment began to serve as an effective vehicle for social engineering. Under Paley's leadership, CBS became known as the 'Tiffany Network,' masterfully blending entertainment with subtle manipulation techniques refined during his psychological warfare service. This fusion of entertainment and social control would become the template for modern media operations. This machinery of mass influence would adapt to emerging technologies. By the 1950s, the payola scandal revealed how record companies shaped public consciousness through controlled exposure. Presented as a controversy about DJ bribes, payola actually represented an evolved system for shaping popular taste. The companies controlling these cultural channels maintained deep institutional ties - Paley's CBS Records continued its military contractor relationships, while RCA's role in shaping mass culture traced back to its 1919 formation as a Navy-coordinated communications monopoly . Created to maintain domestic control of strategic communications, RCA's expansion into broadcasting, records and consumer electronics preserved these foundational connections to military and intelligence networks. These methods of cultural control didn't develop in isolation - they were part of a broader system of social engineering that expanded dramatically during periods of global conflict. While historians typically treat the World Wars as discrete conflicts, they are better understood as phases in a continuous expansion of social control mechanisms. The infrastructure and methods developed between these conflicts reveals this continuity - the wars provided both the justification and testing grounds for increasingly sophisticated systems of mass psychological manipulation. Military installations like Lookout Mountain Air Force Station in Laurel Canyon weren't just bases – they were centers for psychological warfare operations, perfectly positioned near the heart of the entertainment industry. Lookout Mountain alone produced over 19,000 classified films, while maintaining high-level connections to Hollywood production By 1943, this system was so well established that the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) explicitly outlined its strategy in a now-declassified document . Their assessment was unequivocal: motion pictures represented 'an unparalleled instructional medium' and 'a patent force in attitude formation' that could 'stimulate or inhibit action.' The document further stated that the US must 'exploit the potentialities of the motion picture as a weapon of psychological warfare.' This wasn't just about controlling information—it was about fundamentally altering how people understood and experienced reality itself. While Edison and Rockefeller were establishing physical control systems in America, the entertainment industry was already being integrated into intelligence operations. This pattern stretched back to the industry's earliest days - Harry Houdini is rumored to have collaborated with British intelligence during World War I, using his performances as cover to gather information in German enclaves. From Charlie Chaplin's films being analyzed for propaganda potential to Mary Pickford's war bond drives setting the precedent for celebrity messaging, World War I marked the birth of systematic coordination between Hollywood and intelligence agencies. During World War II, these connections were formalized through the OSS, evolving into today's Entertainment Liaison Office , through which agencies like the Department of Defense actively shape desired military-themed film narratives. While American industries were perfecting control of physical infrastructure and entertainment, British intelligence was developing something even more fundamental - methods to control consciousness itself. Understanding that territorial control was temporary but the power to shape beliefs, desires, and worldviews could be permanent, their innovations would transform social engineering forever. In 1914, they established what began as an innocuous sounding entity called ' Wellington House ,' which would evolve into increasingly bold bureaucratic iterations - the 'Department of Information,' and finally the explicitly Orwellian sounding ' Ministry of Information .' Through this organization, they systematized mass psychological manipulation based on new principles - that indirect influence through trusted voices works better than direct propaganda, that emotional resonance matters more than facts, that people trust peer sharing over authority. These psychological principles would become the foundational algorithms of social media platforms a century later. These insights didn't fade with time - they evolved. When Facebook conducts A/B testing on emotional contagion or social media algorithms promote peer-to-peer sharing over institutional sources, they're deploying Tavistock's psychological principles in real-time. This work evolved through the treatment of shell-shocked soldiers at the Tavistock Clinic (later the Tavistock Institute), where Dr. John Rawlings Rees and his colleagues discovered how psychological trauma could be used to reshape not just individual consciousness, but entire social systems. Through systematic study of trauma and group psychology, they developed methods to shape not just what people could see, but how they would interpret reality itself. The Institute's work revealed how psychological vulnerability could be used to reshape both individual and group behavior - insights that would prove invaluable as mechanisms of influence evolved from overt censorship to subtle manipulation of perception. Though largely unknown to the public, Tavistock would become one of the most influential organizations in shaping modern social control methods. While most people today know Tavistock only through recent controversies over gender-affirming care , the institute's influence extends back generations, shaping cultural narratives and social transformation since its inception. Their current work represents not an anomaly but a continuation of its long-standing mission to reshape human consciousness. Former MI6 intelligence officer John Coleman's seminal work The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations provided an insider's view of its operations. More recently, researchers like Daniel Estulin , Courtenay Turner and Jay Dyer have further examined its profound impact. The Institute's most refined achievement was transforming psychological theories into practical tools for cultural engineering, particularly through popular music and youth culture. By embedding their principles into seemingly spontaneous cultural trends, they created a template for social programming invisible to its subjects. These methods would first be tested through music. The State Department's jazz diplomacy program of the 1950s-60s revealed how power centers understood music's potential for cultural design. While Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie toured as 'jazz ambassadors,' another powerful influence was shaping the jazz scene from within. The Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter - born into the Rothschild banking dynasty - became a crucial patron of bebop artists like Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, both of whom would die in her homes years apart . While her passion for jazz may have been genuine, her deep involvement in the scene coincided with the era when the U.S. State Department and CIA were actively using jazz as a tool of cultural diplomacy. This patronage, whether intentional or not, foreshadowed a pattern of European banking aristocracy's involvement in supposedly revolutionary musical movements. In Part Two, we'll explore the next phase of consciousness control which operated through culture itself. The early experiments in jazz would evolve into an invisible and systematic program of cultural engineering. Institutions would design and ignite cultural movements that appeared organic and by doing so, governing bodies would shape not just what people thought, but their entire framework for understanding anything and everything.El Salvador's Congress on Monday approved a bill promoted by President Nayib Bukele to roll back a ban on the mining of gold and other metals, dismaying environmentalists. The small Central American nation became the world's first country to outlaw metal mining in 2017, warning of the harmful effects of the chemicals used, like cyanide and mercury. The move by Bukele's predecessor, former left-wing rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren, reflected a growing rejection of mining by rural communities in the region. But last month, Bukele, who is popular at home for his crackdown on street gangs, signaled that he wanted to change course. The bill to bring back metal mining was approved by 57 deputies out of a total of 60, said Ernesto Castro, head of the legislature -- which is dominated by the ruling party -- as environmental campaigners protested nearby. Critics fear that mining will pollute the Lempa River, which runs through a potential mining zone proposed by Bukele and supplies water to 70 percent of the inhabitants of the capital and surrounding areas. "This wretched mining will punish the people, it will contaminate our waters and rivers and that's an attack on life," activist Vidalina Morales told reporters. Bukele said last month that El Salvador, a country of 6.6 million people, had "potentially" the largest gold deposits per square kilometer in the world. "God placed a gigantic treasure underneath our feet," he wrote on social media, arguing that the mining ban was "absurd." "If we make responsible use of our natural resources, we can change the economy of El Salvador overnight," he said. The new law stipulates that the state will be the only entity authorized to search for, extract and process mined metals. However, the government may do so through companies in which it is a shareholder. The bill prohibits the use of mercury in mining operations, which may not be carried out in protected natural areas or places with important water sources. A survey by Central American University published on Monday revealed that 59 percent of respondents do not consider El Salvador "an appropriate country for metal mining." Since El Salvador dollarized its remittances-reliant economy in 2001, it has registered average annual growth of 2.1 percent. Twenty-seven percent of Salvadorans live in poverty, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and 70 percent of the workforce operates in the informal sector. Elsewhere in the region, Costa Rica and Honduras have banned open-pit mining, and Panama declared a moratorium on new mining concessions last year after mass protests over plans for a huge copper mine. ob/fj/dr/jgc
The Rise Of Digital Art In The USA: Trends And Future Insights
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — This isn’t a week when coach Todd Bowles feels he needs to find the right words to ensure his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are motivated to face the last-place Carolina Panthers. The Bucs (8-7) have won eight of the last nine meetings between the NFC South rivals, including the past three with Baker Mayfield at quarterback. It hasn’t exactly been smoothly sailing against the Panthers (4-11), though, for the three-time defending division champions. And, with at least a share of first place on the line Sunday, Bowles and his players say they are focused solely on rebounding from last week’s disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys. “We know it’s going to be a tough ballgame. It went overtime last time. They’re coached very well; they play very hard,” Bowles said, referencing Tampa Bay’s 26-23 win at Carolina on Dec. 1. “We know what’s at stake for us. It doesn’t need to be talked about. Everybody understands that,” Bowles added. “We’ve got to clean up our own mistakes, and we’ve got to play an error-free football game.” The Bucs are tied with Atlanta for the best record in the NFC South, however the Falcons (8-7) hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series between the teams. To claim a fourth straight division title, Tampa Bay needs to win remaining home games against the Panthers and New Orleans Saints while Atlanta loses at least once in the last two weeks of the regular season. If the Falcons hold on to win the South, the Bucs can earn a wild-card playoff berth if they win out and the Washington Commanders lose twice. Mayfield, who has resurrected his career since being released by Carolina two years ago, summed up the attitude in a resilient locker room. The Bucs have won four of five games following a four-game losing streak threatened their playoff hopes. “I keep saying it, this team has the mental makeup of a great team. We just have to continue to fight and find ways to win,” the quarterback said. “If we don’t take of business, we won’t be in the playoffs.” Chuba’s revenge Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard cost his team the game four weeks ago against Tampa Bay when he fumbled on the second possession of overtime just after Carolina had reached field goal range. Mayfield responded by leading the Bucs back down the field for the winning field goal. The loss was devastating for Hubbard at the time, but he promised himself when the opportunity arose again he’d make the most of it. He did that this past Sunday, when he carried twice for 49 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run in which he broke two tackles, in overtime to lift the Panthers to a 36-30 win over Arizona, knocking the Cardinals out of the playoff hunt. “I’d let it go, but it’s definitely been in the back of my head a little bit,” Hubbard said. “Like I said, when the next opportunity came, I told myself I’m going to get it back for them. To be able to have them trust me in that opportunity again, and to have it in that way is a blessing from God.” Young’s development Bryce Young has shown solid progress in his decision making, particularly when the pocket begins to break down. Last week, the second-year QB ran for a career-best 68 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown. Young was benched after two games this season, but since returning to the lineup has played better, restoring some faith that perhaps the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 can be the team’s quarterback of the future. “Just time in the system and time as a team for us to come together,” Young said of why he has improved. “For me, being able to get reps, and get time with everyone. It’s just all of us being able to feed off of each other, and it’s been able to allow us to turn in the right direction.” Awful vs. the run The Panthers have been abysmal against the run, allowing nearly 200 yards per game on the ground over the last seven games. In the last meeting with Tampa Bay, Bucky Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown, so Carolina’s defense has a good idea of what's coming Sunday. Close calls Mayfield has beaten Carolina three times since joining the Bucs in 2023. All of the meetings have been close, though, with the Panthers losing twice by three points and Tampa Bay settling for three field goals in a 9-0 regular season-ending victory that clinched its third straight NFC South championship last January. “We know them well. They know us well,” Mayfield said. ___ AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report. ___ NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Fred Goodall, The Associated PressAshoka India Equity Investment (LON:AIE) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why
Double-whammy: Household insurance costs to soar again, adding to inflationQuest PharmaTech Inc. ( CVE:QPT – Get Free Report ) shot up 40% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$0.04 and last traded at C$0.04. 1,172,033 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1,485% from the average session volume of 73,952 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.03. Quest PharmaTech Stock Up 20.0 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$0.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.50 and a beta of 0.14. About Quest PharmaTech ( Get Free Report ) Quest PharmaTech Inc, a pharmaceutical company, engages in the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of targeted cancer. Its lead product candidate is Mab AR 9.6 against truncated O-glycan on MUC16, for targeted cancer therapy applications. The company also offers Oregovomab, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of ovarian cancer. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Quest PharmaTech Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Quest PharmaTech and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .