//= do_shortcode('[in-content-square]')?> Janet Finch-Saunders MS. Photo Welsh Conservatives

Welsh Tories have hit out at new legislation which provides six months notice for no-fault evictions, saying overregulation is driving landlords out of the private sector.

Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 comes into force on December 1, 2022 and will apply to councils, housing associations, supported housing and private accommodation and has major implications, including giving greater security to tenants and placing new responsibilities on landlords.

People with rolling tenancies will need to be given six months notice for no-fault evictions rather than the current period of two months under last-minute changes to the Act.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said: landlords will be forced to give six months notice for no-fault evictions under last minute plans to change a housing law.

Once again, we see Labour ministers moving the goalposts for landlords. Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay have taken too much time to address this legislation and have created chaos in the private housing sector.

Concerningly, this six-month rule will now apply from 2023 to existing tenancies. This overregulation is driving landlords out of the private sector and Labour wont be satisfied until there are none left in Wales.

Labour ministers need to focus on the true cause of the housing crisis their failure to build enough houses in Wales.

Ban no-fault evictions

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated that the Renting Homes Act doesnt go far enough to protect tenants and have called for an inquiry as to why the Act has taken six years to come into effect.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats however have argued that no-fault evictions should be banned in their entirety as has been done in both Scotland and England and that Labour is letting Wales fall behind the rest of the UK when it comes to protections for tenants.

The Renting Homes Act was originally introduced in 2016 but has suffered a series of delays and significant changes which some opposition parties, including the Liberal Democrats see as a watering down of previous commitments.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said: It is utterly shameful that action on no-fault evictions is set to be delayed to June next year, six months after the already extremely delayed Renting Homes Act finally comes into force.

Worse than just a delay we are seeing that the Act will leave us significantly behind Scotland and England when it comes to banning no-fault evictions in their entirety.

This Act has been a disaster from start to end, it should not take the Senedd over six years to introduce legislation. We now need an inquiry into what went wrong with the introduction of thisactto ensure it doesnt happen again and that the taxpayers are getting value for their money when it comes to introducing new legislation.

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

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Labour 'forcing landlords out of Wales,' claim Tories - Nation.Cymru

INLAND EMPIRE, CA Grab your calendars, and get ready for fall festivities!

Halloween and autumn events abound throughout the Inland Empire. Peruse Patch's annual guide to find haunted houses, Dia de los Muertos extravaganzas, trick-or-treating, costume parties, corn mazes, pumpkin patches and more near you.

Enjoy the season and Happy Halloween from Patch!

OCT. 29: Halloween Spooktacular Trunk-Or-Treat: Community Center. "Come by and fill your bags with treats! "

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OCT. 15: Monster Mash Halloween Party & Costume Contest. Featuring free games, candy, reptile exhibit, bouncers, rock climbing & costume contest.

OCT. 31: Halloween Trunk-Or-Treat: Sports Park. Don't forget your costumes!

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OCT. 30: Halloween Spooktacular & Trick-or-Treating. Costume contest, too!

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OCT. 1-31: 'Pumpkin Factory' Pumpkin Patch, Rides & Petting Zoo. With amusement rides for little ones.

OCT. 7-30: Coffin Creek Haunted Village. "Five haunted attractions & Dark Shadow Market Place at one terrifying location."

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OCT. 22: A Very Bizzy Halloween Family Fest & Costume Ball: Bizzyland Gardens. Family-friendly by day & for 21+ by night.-----------

OCT. 1-30: 'Dimensions of Insanity: Torture' - Immersive Haunt Experience. "A nightmarish experience you wish were just a dream."

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OCT. 28-30: Halloween 'Boo At The Bowl': Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre. Get pre-sale or at-the-door tickets for this annual event.

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OCT. 29: Bat Walk Night Adventure in La Quinta Cove. "The best superhero bat costume gets a prize!"-----------

OCT. 15: Bracken Fern Manor & Tudor House Lockdown: Paranormal Investigation. For the super brave, there's a blindfolded, solitary challenge, too.

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SEPT. 24-OCT. 31: ABC Pumpkin Patch - Bounce House, Rides & Giant Slide. Choose a pumpkin & stay for the fun.

SEPT. 30-OCT. 30: 'Undead Circus' Haunted Maze & Carnival, Launch Pointe. The carnival portion is family-friendly with games, pumpkins & bounce houses.

OCT.: Field Of Screams The Haunted Stadium: Canceled for 2022.

OCT. 15: Mariachi Fest & Fireworks: Diamond Stadium. Award-wining performances followed by fireworks finale.

OCT. 28: Halloween Costume Party. With two DJs, food & costume contest. 18+ to party, & 21+ to drink.

OCT. 28-30: Storm Halloween Fest, Carnival Rides & Marketplace. Midway features Ferris wheel, wave slide, kiddie rides & more.

OCT. 29: Dia De Los Muertos Celebration: Main Street. Featuring music & dance, artists, vendors, crafts for kids, food & altars.

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OCT. 5, 12, 19, 26 & 31: 'Hitchcocktober' Halloween Movie Fest: Reading Cinemas Cal Oaks. It's the perfect season to enjoy films of Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense.

OCT. 29: Trunk-Or-Treat & 'Ghostbusters' Movie. Free for all at Town Square Park.----------

SEPT. 23-OCT. 29: 'Legend Of Sleepy Hollow': Riley's Farm Theatre Co. Book soon if interested. This beloved, annual event sells fast.------------

SEPT. 30 - OCT. 31: Miss Hazel's Parkwil Manor Haunted House: Shops At Palm Desert. The "deadicated" cast takes scary seriously. At former Westfield Palm Desert.

OCT. 29: The Amazing World of Bats. RSVP as space is limited.

OCT. 29-30: Howl-O-Ween & Trick-or-Treating: Living Desert Zoo. With animal fun & magician, too.

OCT. 30: 'Masquerade' Golf Cart Parade & Halloween Fun. NFL legend & recent Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee, Tom Flores, is Grand Marshal, and this years theme is "Masquerade."-----------

OCT. 28, 29 & 31: 'BITE' Vampire Circus Dining Adventure: PS Underground. With "free-flowing blood-curdling cocktails, beer, wine, hand-passed appetizers & diabolical four-course dinner."OCT. 30: Boys & Girls Club 'Be A Hero For Kids Halloween Bash': Hilton Palm Springs. All proceeds support the organization.

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OCT. 29: 'The Bride Of Pinacate' Haunted Train Ride: SoCal Railway Museum. A young, widowed bride has haunted the tracks for 135 years. All aboard to discover her secrets!

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SEPT. 16-OCT. 31: Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch, Corn Maze & Petting Zoo. Extravaganza includes hay rides, weekend entertainment, rope courses, zip line, duck races & more.

OCT. 22: 'Hollywood Halloween' Trick-Or-Treat Event: Citrus Plaza. With costume parade, petting zoo, face painting & Famous Dave's BBQ lunch.

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SEPT. 23-OCT. 30: 'Castle Dark' Halloween Haunts: Castle Park. Fright-filled mazes are what happens when your neighborhood mini-golf, amusement park lets ghouls visit on weekends.

SEPT. 24-OCT. 30: Dia De Los Muertos & Trick-Or-Treating: Castle Park. Weekend fun with Mexican & Latin American traditions, decorations, music, marionettes and treats.

OCT. 21-22: 'CarnEVIL' - California Riverside Ballet Ghost Walk & Festival. Experience ends at kids carnival, food & vendor court & Tavern of Terror beer garden.-----------

NOV. 5: Annual 'Autumn Elegance' Wine & Food Fundraiser: Soboba Casino. Annual fall event to benefit Hemet-San Jacinto Exchange Club & Friends of Valley-Wide Foundation.-----------

SEPT. 24-OCT. 31: Peltzer Pumpkin Patch & Petting Farm. A community tradition in its 26th season!

SEPT. 30-OCT. 31: 'Mansion Of Lost Souls' Halloween Haunt: Promenade Mall. "We cannot promise that you all will make it through, but we will pray for your survival.:

OCT.: 'Temecula Terror' Halloween Haunt. Canceled for 2022.

OCT. 1-30: Big Horse Corn Maze. Canceled.

OCT. 8: Trick Or Treat at the Aloha Market. Enjoy Hawaiian BBQ, poke & iced coffee, too.

OCT. 8: Autumn Sunset Supper. Supports Sale Ranch Animal Sanctuary.

OCT. 8-30: 'Headless Horseman' Haunted Horse-Drawn Wagon Ride. With "moderate" scare level, so geared to families.

OCT. 20: Adults Harry Potter Trivia Night. For ages 18+ & registration required.

OCT. 24: Teen Movie Night. Get in the spirit with Halloween movie & candy!

OCT. 28: Annual Halloween Carnival: Town Square & Sam Hicks Park. Simultaneous events at two parks.

OCT. 28-29: CarnEvil Ball: Europa Village Wineries & Resort. A "spirited" good time with costume contest.

OCT. 29: Halloween Home Bike Tour. Go for a group spin & check out all the spooktacular decorations.

OCT. 29: Halloween Party at Batch Mead. Tickets on sale.

OCT. 29: HalloWine Party & Costume Contest: Peltzer Winery. Live music, food & costume contest.

NOV. 2: Da de los Muertos D.I.Y. Crafternoon. For ages 3-12. Sign up in advance, as in-person registration only.------------

OCT. 15: Rooted In Nature Craft Brew Festival: Marna O'Brien Park. Annual fall event with beer garden, live music, wildlife park & food trucks.

OCT. 22: Fall Family Fun Fair. With live music, puppeteer, free pony rides, bounce houses, rock- climbing wall, food trucks & more.

OCT. 29: Halloween Trunk-Or-Treat: Marna OBrien Park. "A family fun and safe Halloween event."

See the original post here:

Where To Find Pumpkin Patches, Halloween Fun Near Banning, Beaumont - Patch

Nobody can say for sure, but theres an expectation among aides on Capitol Hill that if Democrats lose control of the Houseas is the most likely scenario, per one Democratic aideNancy Pelosi will step down. There are the all-important caveats (Anyone who tells you that they know what Speaker Pelosi is going to dounless it is Speaker Pelosiis lying to you, another aide tells me), but as the November midterms inch closer, and the prospect of being in the minority grows, the jockeying to succeed one of the most storied Democratic leadership teams has begun in full force.

The drama isnt only around Pelosis next steps, however. Between the 82-year-old Speaker, House majority leader Steny Hoyer, 83, and House majority whip Jim Clyburn, 82Pelosis number two and threeDemocrats top leadership team combined has more than a century of experience in the House. Democratic lawmakers arent just eyeing who would replace their top leader; theres an appetite for a completely new generation to lead the party that could rankle some of Democrats most senior members.

It is always good to have a deep bench of people who are going to continue to lead the party in a way that resonates with people, Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said. I think that there is a real sense that there is a real opportunity for some generational change in leadership, whether or not we hold the House. I think what we dont know is what that looks like, and who in the current leadership feels that way or doesnt feel that way.

In 2018, Pelosi agreed to a term limit for her speakership. But her office has routinely and repeatedly dismissed questions about her plans or possible succession; Pelosis office has said the Speaker is too focused on the midterms to be concerned about her title. The Speaker is not on a shift. Shes on a mission, Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told Vanity Fair. Notably, Clyburn and Hoyer havent publicly stated their plans. Hoyer is proud to have the support of his colleagues and the American people and looks forward to building on this strong record by strengthening our majority and furthering efforts to ensure workers and families have the tools they need to Make It in America, Margaret Mulkerrin, Hoyers communications director, said when contacted for this article. (Clyburns office did not respond to a request for comment). If Hoyer or Clyburn make a play for the top job, or even if they make a bid to stay in their current roles, things could get messy quickly. For now, the mystery has led to a monthslong quiet race among some of the partys budding starsbased entirely on hypotheticals.

Conversations with congressional aides and lawmakers have painted the following picture of this shadow contest. New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries, currently the House Democratic Caucus chair, emerged as an early front-runner to take over for Pelosi. Jeffriess office declined to comment, but termed-out of his current position as caucus chair, Jeffries is fully expected to run for a higher rung in leadership. California congressman Adam Schiff is also seen as in the mix. While he hasnt announced any plans to make a bid for Speaker, he has had conversations with other members about the possibility. Schiffs prolific fundraising capabilitieshe touts a staggering nearly $20 million in his war chestwhich, as Puck recently laid out, could serve as an argument in his favor for a more prominent role within the caucus. Asked about the speakership, Schiff spokesperson Cate Hurley said, Chairman Schiff is doing everything possible to support vulnerable Democratic colleagues and promising challengers so that we can retain the House Democratic majority in November. That is where his time and energy are focused.

Any replacement would face the arduous task of propping up Democrats big tent. Despite her long tenure, Pelosis grip on the Democratic caucus has not gone unchallenged since she first became the leader in 2003. Particularly in recent leadership races, she has had to cut deals and make promises with factions of her party to hang on to the helm (like her pledge to step aside by the end of 2022). The partys historic premium on seniority has long been a source of tension; there is a sense among some members that they will never have a shot at leadership positions. Some feel the partys old guard is standing in the way of progress and change. These gripes again bubbled to the surface this month after House leadership unveiled a bill aimed at banning lawmakers from owning stocks that was disparaged by ethics experts. Virginia congresswoman Abigail Spanberger said it was designed to fail. This moment marks a failure of House leadershipand its yet another example of why I believe that the Democratic Party needs new leaders in the halls of Capitol Hill, as I have long made known, Spanberger said in a statement.

Im waiting and watching, Pennsylvania congresswoman Madeleine Dean said when asked about a changing of the guard within the party. Im certain there will be, at some point, a lot of change. You see already in the pipeline tremendous talent from folks who are leading us now at different levels, she said, in reference to the Democrats bench and the possibility of a new generation of leadership at the table.

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Is the End of the Nancy Pelosi Era Near? The Jockeying to Succeed Her Is in Full Force - Vanity Fair

NORMAL In the first of two official debates in the governors race this month, Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday night finally faced the candidate whose victory in the Republican primary election this summer was helped along by $30 million in spending by the billionaire Democrat whom hes also spent months labeling too extreme for Illinois.

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) used the opportunity to call Pritzker dangerous and an arrogant liar to the governors face. Pritzker accused Bailey of telling more lies as the Republican repeated his well-worn criticisms of Democrats sweeping criminal justice law passed last year, which is centered on abolishing cash bail in Illinois.

Despite consistent polls showing Illinois voters ranking crime below other issues like the economy and reproductive rights, Bailey and other Republicans running for state office have made their opposition to the SAFE-T Act the centerpiece of their campaigns, with the GOP nominee repeatedly claiming Illinois will experience The Purge when the law is fully implemented on Jan. 1.

While some provisions of the law have already gone into effect including tightening standards for police use-of-force and expands the scenarios in which a law enforcement or corrections officer can be decertified, and thus deemed ineligible for hire in Illinois the states elimination of cash bail doesnt begin until 2023. Instead of allowing arrestees to post bond in order to get released from jail, the new system instructs judges to consider whether to detain alleged criminals based on the severity of their offense, the risk of an arrestee not appearing for court and the danger he or she poses to an individual or community if they were to be released. Thats not unlike the federal court system, which eliminated cash bail in the 1980s.

But in the nearly two years since Democrats pushed the law through the legislature in the waning hours of the General Assemblys Lame Duck session in January 2021, Republicans have amped up their criticism of the SAFE-T Act, claiming it will have the opposite of its intended effect, in part due to the phrasing within the 700-page law. While Democrats have recently become more public in their acknowledgement of the need for clarification within the law, theyre reticent to identify specific changes theyd make before January.

Well, I think that there are clarifications, Pritzker said in response to a debate question about what hed alter in the law.

But he stopped short of answering the question, instead turning his ire on the GOP.

As you know, the Republicans have put out a lot of disinformation a whole list of things that they say are non-detainable offenses. There's no such thing under the SAFE-T Act as non-detainable offenses. And again, the goal of [the law] is to keep murderers, rapists, domestic abusers and violent criminals in jail, and a poor young mother who shoplifts diapers and formula would be kept in for months if she doesnt have the $500 for bail.

Bailey claimed the elimination of cashless bail will be tantamount to revolving doors to every jail in the state of Illinois.

This SAFE-T Act must be repealed because it will let violent criminals and murderers out of jail before trial, Bailey said. Now, Governor Pritzker could have proposed a bail reform for nonviolent criminals. I would have supported that. But he didntAnd friends, we're going to have the exact same problem across the state that Chicago is experiencing after Jan. 1.

In reliably blue Illinois, Democrats have tried to wedge Republicans into a corner on the issue of abortion access, using the U.S. Supreme Courts June repeal of Roe v. Wade to energize both their base and independent voters activated by reproductive rights. GOP candidates, especially in areas where abortion access is a key political driver, have largely tried to avoid the subject another factor in centering campaign messaging around crime and the SAFE-T Act.

But Bailey has not been shy about his position on abortion as a much more conservative Republican than the brand of GOP politicians whove traditionally enjoyed political success in Illinois. Thursday nights debate featured clips of both candidates played in surround sound for the approximately 1,200 audience members in ISUs Braden Auditorium. One of those clips featured then-legislative candidate Bailey in a 2017 Facebook live video unearthed this summer, in which the Republican compared abortion to the Holocaust.

Bailey has previously accused Democrats and the media of exaggerating his statement that the attempted extermination of the Jews of WWII doesnt even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization. But he also defended his statement in August, claiming that Jewish leaders told him he was right. Asked on Thursday to identify those leaders, Bailey refused.

He also acknowledged the limited power he would have as governor to enact policies severely limiting abortions, especially with a Democratically led legislature.

Illinois has the most permissive abortion laws in the nation, Bailey said. Nothings going to change when Im governor. I couldnt change them.

Pritzker seized the opportunity to label Bailey as an extremist on abortion, saying the Republican wants to take away womens reproductive rights even in the case of rape and incest.

Youre so divisive, Bailey scolded.

Providing more legal protections to out-of-state women who seek abortions in Illinois, as well as healthcare providers who cross state lines to perform abortions was supposed to be one area the General Assembly addressed in a special session this summer, but momentum for that session never came to fruition.

Another policy area that Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers said theyd address in that special session was the states gun laws after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day Parade left seven dead and three dozen wounded. The governor and Bailey sparred over the need to enact more restrictive gun laws, with Bailey claiming the number of shootings in Illinois proved the states existing laws arent working.

A majority of Illinoisans and Americans favor banning assault-style weapons, as Congress did for a 10-year period between 1994 and 2004. Pritzker re-upped his call for that ban on Thursday night, but when asked why Democrats didnt take up the issue this summer, the governor punted responsibility to the legislature. Bailey, too, demurred to the General Assembly on that question, pivoting instead to talking about mental health, and at one point blaming the influx of migrants at the nations southern border.

The debate moved through a series of rapid-fire questions on a variety of topics, but Bailey tried to find moments to attack Pritzker on Illinois high property taxes and the states reputation as a poorly run government with an unattractive business climate. The governor touted the six credit upgrades Illinois has received from New York bond houses since last year, though the state still has the worst credit rating in the nation.

Pritzker claimed that if Democrats keep improving Illinois previously dismal financial picture, eventually the state could see lower taxes, but declined to answer how many years he thought that might take in a post-debate media availability.

Bailey, on the other hand, claimed he could save the state billions of dollars by implementing zero-based budgeting, wherein continuing appropriations are nixed and each line item in Illinois now $40-billion budget would have to be justified. But the Republican declined to elaborate on what he thought hed turn up in wasteful spending.

After the hour-long debate, Pritzker took a handful of questions from reporters who tried to pin him down on more specifics left unanswered in the back-and-forth between him and Bailey.

Bailey, however, did not choose to meet the press, instead sending a campaign staffer who briefly addressed reporters left waiting in the so-called spin room.

It is clear the senator won the debate tonight, Bailey spokesman Joe DeBose said before saying his boss wouldnt be answering questions.

Im just here to tell you that we won and winners dont need spin, he said, donning a black cowboy hat as he left the room.

Excerpt from:

Pritzker, Bailey square off in first of two debates, each accusing the other of lying - Northern Public Radio (WNIJ)

Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook has no "shadow banning" policy, but admitted that mistakes do happen.

In a three-hour interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Meta CEO talked about topics from the metaverseto his views onthe credibility of the FBI, calling it a "legitimate institution."

Rogan then asked Zuckerberg to explain whether "shadow banning" occurred on social media platforms such as Facebook. He replied: "There's no policy that is 'shadow banning', so I think it's sort of a slang term. But that maybe refers to some of the demotions [of posts] that we're talking about."

Zuckerberg was referring to posts that are marked as false, misinformative, or fall into harmful content categories. They include foreign nations interfering in politics, terrorism, child pornography, and blatant intellectual property violation.

If a post is "marked as false by a fact-checker, it will get somewhat less shown," Zuckerberg said. "But if there's some history within a page, then there can be some kind of broader policy that applies."

He continued: "Unfortunately, there are a lot of mistake, and part of the issue is that there's 3.5 billion people using these services, and if we make a mistake 0.1% of the time, there's still million of mistakes ... and that sucks."

He also blamed "some bug in the system, or some system didn't work like it was supposed to," for posts that get banned. "It is a real issue, but it isn't an ideological issue."

Zuckerberg said some posts failed to reach a wide audience simply because they are not very good.

"Empowering people is very deep in the ethos of the company," he said. "Whenever we mess that up which we do, frequently we pay the price for it and people don't like those things that we do and we have to run them back."

Zuckerberg, who is worth $58. billion according to Forbes, created Facebook while studying at Harvard University in 2004 to help other students match names and photos of classmates.

The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012 and was last year renamed Meta. It also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Zuckerberg Says No 'Shadow Banning' on Facebook but Admits 'Mistakes'

Cheating is one of the biggest issues in Call of Duty: Warzone. The game is notorious for the number of cheaters who sneak through the cracks of its anti-cheat system and exploit the games various weaknesses to dominate games unfairly. To help combat this, the Warzone team uses a few different methods, including the practice of shadow banning suspected cheaters.

Getting shadow banned isnt quite the same as being banned. Players who are shadow banned can still open the game and play, seemingly like normal. What shadow banning does, however, is take accounts that are cheating and group them into a separate player pool, away from the normal servers of players who arent suspected of cheating. The logic is simple: make the cheaters play against other cheaters, instead of ruining the game for players who are legitimate. The game does not tell you if youre shadow banned to keep cheaters playing the shadow ban version of the game for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, this system isnt perfect. There have been plenty of cases of players who werent cheating but still managed to get shadow banned. If you think you mightve been shadow banned, here are the signs to look for to confirm it and how to get rid of the shadow ban.

The first and most obvious way to tell if youre shadow banned is if you notice a sizable uptick in cheaters in your lobbies. This can sometimes be a bit difficult to tell, however. Sometimes, it just seems like everyone in the lobby is better than you, and theres nothing you can do about it. Generally speaking, accounts of players that arent already good at Warzone usually wont get shadow banned, meaning that cheaters will be most noticeable if you generally got good results while playing Warzone and then suddenly seem to hit a wall for no reason in gun fights.

Of course, not all cheats are created equal. If your killcam constantly looks like your opponents have inhuman aim, you might be playing in shadow ban lobbies.

On the other hand, there are cheaters who dont get shadow banned and still manage to run around in regular player lobbies. In this case, another good way to tell if your account has been shadow banned is if your queue times suddenly get considerably longer. Since the shadow ban pool of players is so much smaller than the regular pool of players, it takes longer for lobbies to bring in enough players for games.

One final way to tell if youre shadow banned in Warzone is if you suddenly start seeing your game struggle with ping. If youre used to a certain level of ping and then your game seems to consistently go over 300 ping for no reason related to your internet connection, its another clue that your account might be shadow banned.

All of these signs might indicate a shadow banned account, but if you seem to notice more than one of these clues, or all three, the odds that your account has been shadow banned increase considerably.

If you think that youve been mistakenly shadow banned, there are a couple of ways you can go about trying to lift the ban from your account. The first way is the easiest: wait a while. If youve been banned on accident, shadow bans usually lift in a week or two. After that time period, your game should return to normal and you can play in regular Warzone lobbies again.

If thats too long to wait, players can also appeal the ban via the Activision Ban Appeal page. This will require you to log into your Activision account (which you can do with your information from the platform on which you play Warzone), and then plead your case to Activision. If you were cheating, on the other hand, trying to submit an unban request in this way is extremely unlikely to help your case.

It may be that you submit an unban request and it turns out that your account wasnt shadow banned at all. And while that might be a little hit to your ego, theres no harm in still trying to see if you can lift a shadow ban if you think one has been mistakenly placed on your account.

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Warzone shadow banned, explained - Dot Esports

More green madness from Americas worst and most radical state.

California Gov. Newsom signs executive order to increase electricity supply as state braces for major heatwave

By Fox News, August 31, 2022

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed an executive order that will allow the state to ramp upelectricity supplyas its power grid braces for stress during a weeklong heatwave.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Newsom said the executive order would grant California more flexibility across the spectrum in terms of procuring supply toprepare for the heatwave.

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Democrat California Tells Drivers to Stop Charging Cars, Right After ...

Labour would ban imports of foie gras and hunting trophies very early after winning power, Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon has said.

Animal welfare campaigners were outraged earlier this month when Liz Truss junked a Conservative commitment to outlaw the controversial pt.

Nature and farming groups are also dismayed that the new administration has paused post-Brexit subsidies that incentivised agriculture without saying what will replace them.

Speaking to i at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr McMahon could hardly contain his glee at the furious backlash to a threatened rolling-back of environmental protections. He says the Tories are taking their rural heartlands for granted and will suffer the electoral consequences.

But he acknowledged that he will come under immediate pressure to make good on a host of long-standing promises cherished by Labour supporters to improve animal welfare, of which import bans on foie gras and hunting trophies are the most high-profile.

i revealed last year that Jacob Rees-Mogg, now the Business Secretary, was leading efforts to shelve the proposed ban on foie gras and last week it emerged that it had been scrapped entirely.

To produce foie gras which translates as fatty liver male ducks and geese are force fed grain and fat three or four times a day in a process known as gavage. The forced feeding causes the birds livers to swell to up to 10 times their normal size.

Asked when a Labour government would bring in the bans, Mr McMahon said: There will be a lot to do in that first Queens Speech but there will be an expectation on Labour to set our stall on animal welfare very early that I am working hard to achieve.

He added that he was exploring whether the bans could be implemented without passing new laws to free up Commons time for other high-priority legislation, saying: Its about the art of the possible.

Mr McMahon said the bans are the easier stuff and added: The question for us and the current Government is how do you marry higher animal welfare standards with new international trade deals.

Ms Truss, when she was International Trade Secretary, won a Cabinet battle to force through a new trade deal with Australia despite worries it exposed British farmers to competition from producers with lower standards. Mr McMahon said the party was considering banning any future such deals and would double down on efforts to make the UK a world leader in ethical and green food.

He said he was astonished that the new Environment Secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, paused plans for post-Brexit farm subsidies, the Environment Land Management Scheme, without saying what comes next leaving the National Farmers Union and green groups united in fury.

I know Ranil reasonably well, Mr McMahon said. Im staggered that hes been missing in action. He should have been on the phone to the big groups like the NFU and Wildlife Trust. Its just a matter of respect. Even if the intention isnt to throw it all out but to pause, reflect and rebuild theres going to be a breakdown in trust.

The former Oldham council leader admitted his current job was not necessarily an obvious fit: The only greenery I saw as a kid were the weeds growing through the cracks in the pavement.

Unsurprisingly for a politician he showered praise on farmers and fishermen as grafters who are the best of British but also said he wants to make townies care more about the county by bringing it into urban areas.

Of course I am going to fight for the shires and coastal communities who have some of the most beautiful parts of the country on their doorstep, Mr McMahon said. But you cant just pitch up in somewhere like Oldham and say, Its your responsibility to tackle the climate change emergency, when whats their own environment like? Its grey and its depressing and theres no access to safe green spaces. Theres a huge opportunity there for Labour to fill in the gap.

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Labour will ban foie gras and hunting trophies imports if it takes power - iNews

For all the hype around the metaverse, it is easy to forget it is still in its infancy. While the term has only recently entered the broad public consciousness, its impact on how we interact with technology is already expected to be deeply consequential. McKinsey & Company estimates that annual global spending within the metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030 across domains as broad as gaming, social, fitness, commerce and remote learning.

The question of how to define and build technology with such broad capabilities is in flux. While a number of games such as Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft have been hailed as early examples of successful metaverse platforms, a more holistic approach would see unrestricted interaction for players across these games. Interoperability between metaverse platforms is one key component that should be considered.

While only recently entering the public lexicon, the metaverse is not a new concept. The term was originally used to describe a fictional break from reality in Neil Stevensons Snow Crash. The popularity of digital entertainment surged massively during the pandemic. From games like Among Us to services like Netflix Party and Zoom, the opportunity to socialize virtually was highly appealing to many during a time of deep isolation.

Related: AI will help realize the true vision the metaverse hopes to achieve

These changes have fundamentally reshaped our ideas of how we socialize and work together, with enduring habits formed in connecting and collaborating virtually an important factor accelerating engagement with the metaverse. Virtual experiences such as Travis Scotts Fortnite concert have made positive steps forward in developing in-game socially immersive experiences. However, a multi-platform hypersocial virtual experience has yet to reach the market.

Freedom, community and collaboration are all defining characteristics of the metaverse. Achieving this requires infrastructure that can support the transfer of sensitive metadata across different blockchain protocols, metaverse platforms and gaming ecosystems in a blend of social media, crypto wallets and decentralized applications. So, before an interoperable metaverse introduces new business models and cross-platform capabilities, the issue of multichain identity and moderation must be addressed.

Decentralization brings with it the opportunity to experiment with community-led tactics, incentivizing certain behaviors and allowing the collective to dictate its own preferences. PubDAO, a publishing collective launched in conjunction with Decrypt, provides a good example of how these structures can function. Significantly, it makes a clear distinction between moderation and censorship. Pubbers are like-minded individuals, writers in this case, who get screened, onboarded and integrated into the culture of the community.

Scaling this model up to billions of people creates problems, as individual screening is unfeasible. Legacy social media is plagued with this issue, deploying shadow banning and other censorship tools to deal with the issue. A common solution proposed by Web3 advocates involves algorithmic detection and incentivized moderation to counteract abuse, and yet this fails to account for the nature of a multichain metaverse.

Even when done transparently and equitably, far too many abuses would slip through the net. Using the same machinations of the infamous Tornado Cash mixer, the laundering tool of choice for 52% of nonfungible token (NFT) scam proceeds prior to being sanctioned, one would be able to hide the origin of abusive messages in the name of free speech. Even if the perpetrator got doxed on one chain, they could hop to the next. This is not the type of metaverse anyone wants to inhabit.

The potential solution lies in moving moderation tools upstream. Twitter has trialed such a process with success. By providing warning prompts prior to publishing tweets, 9% of users were encouraged to cancel their posts. Overall, the study concluded that there was a 6% reduction in offensive tweets as a result of this mechanism.

Implementing a metadata standard and infusing it with decentralized identifiers (DIDs) could provide an avenue for ethical moderation, one that does not impose on privacy but ensures accountability. Such a multichain technical standard would ensure that tokens minted on any chain can be traced back to their origin within the metaverse. NFTs could be infused with verifiable credentials, enabling platforms to afford privacy to their users and define the terms in which these rights would be forfeited.

Related: Get ready for the feds to start indicting NFT traders

More importantly, at a time where cybersecurity is an increasingly greater concern, a metadata standard would afford individual users more protection. Data breaches in gaming are notoriously common, with more than half of frequent gamers targeted by hacks, according to a 2020 report from Akamai. The wealth of victims and the prevalence of in-game microtransactions make a lucrative target for cybercriminals. On top of that, users tend to use the same password across accounts, making credential stuffing a serious issue with the potential to percolate across industries.

While certainly not a panacea, an interoperable standard would go a long way to consolidating individual security needs. Web3 is set up to accommodate an identity system that removes the need for sensitive data to be stored on centralized servers, making it harder for hackers to access. In the event that personal assets are compromised, a metadata standard imbued with DIDs would enable traceability across the multichain metaverse.

Data standards will dictate the evolution of the web, so it is important that we get them right. Interoperability is easier to set up from the outset than retrofitting it in. By learning the lessons offered by the development of the internet, we can together build a revolutionary metadata standard that fosters a positive, shared techno-social experience on Web3.

Witek Radomski is the chief technology officer and a co-founder of Enjin, a blockchain tech company building products for next-generation NFTs. Witek is the author of the ERC-1155 token standard, the only token standard that enables the configuration of both fungible tokens and NFTs in a single smart contract.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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Enjin co-founder: Use NFTs to track users in the metaverse - Cointelegraph

The NBA announced the findings of its independent investigation into allegations that Phoenix Suns governor Robert Sarver created a racist and sexist atmosphere inside the Suns and Mercury organizations. The allegations became public in an expos by ESPN last year. As a result of the leagues findings, Sarver will be fined $10 million and suspended from his role as team governor for a year. This feckless and toothless punishment by the NBA reveals where the true power resides.

In 2014 in his first year as commissioner Adam Silver took the unprecedented step of banning then Los Angeles Clippers governor Donald Sterling for life. Private recordings of Sterling making racist comments were made public. This was hailed as a bold move by the new commissioner and it furthered the myth of the NBA as a progressive league unafraid to challenge its owners.

Of course Sterling was a known racist for decades by many in and around the NBA and found himself in court fighting allegations of racial discrimination towards minority tenants in his Los Angeles apartment complexes.

The only reason he was banned from the NBA is because those recordings became public and the league could no longer pretend it didnt know.

In 2014 when talk of Sterling being banned picked up steam, outspoken Dallas Mavericks governor Mark Cuban spoke out against the banning of Sterling, calling it a slippery slope.

Cuban was no ally of Sterlings, as he referred to his actions as abhorrent. But he was concerned about the precedent being set, and more broadly what this would mean for other governors.

In order for the commissioner to remove a governor from his position, he needs three-fourths of the governors to vote yes. Given what was said and the optics, the league is majority Black and, remember, players were planning to boycott playoff games finding 23 owners to vote yes was easy for Silver.

Apparently, in this instance with Sarver not so much. What Sarver did is no less abhorrent and egregious than Sterling.

The NBAs investigation revealed that on at least five separate occasions Sarver used the N-word. At least five, which means there were many more times. He made sexist comments towards women he employed, and revealed his genitalia to employees in the workplace.

But interestingly enough, the 43-page report detailing investigation also said:

Say what now?

Your detailed investigation all but confirms the scathing ESPN report but Sarvers not a racist or a sexist?

Sure thing.

Like Sterling, Sarver and his exploits have been rumored and whispered about around the NBA for years. How do you think something like the ESPN story gets started?

Sarver has a penchant for lewdness and crassness at best, and at worst behavior far more abhorrent.

In 2021 at a luau-themed roast and memorial service for his deceased business partner Richard (Dick) Heckmann, Sarver left many of the guests uncomfortable with the sexual tales of his good buddy Dick.

Sarvers net worth is approximately $800 million. A $10 million fine is chump change, and his one-year suspension basically means he cant be seen in public around the team. His bidding will still be done through a proxy, because he is the governor.

The 30 governors of the NBA franchises are where the true power in the league resides. Silver works for them, despite the relationship he has with the players and the public appearance that he can hold the governors collective feet to the fire.

If the governors decided they wanted Sarver out, he wouldve already been voted out. But there is a saying about birds of a feather. Given that the other governors are also mostly wealthy white men, do you think Sarver is the only governor whose engaged in less than ideal behavior, to put it mildly?

Probably not. So there is no incentive for them to start what would essentially be voting against their own interests.

A fine, the largest amount that the league can levy, and a one-year suspension is the best the NBA could do to try and move past this situation. Because what they dont want is a full on deep probe with subpoenas, full electronic discovery. A thorough search under the hood with the CSI microscopes would reveal things theyd rather not know.

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Phoenix Suns Governor Robert Sarver Banned For One Year And Fined $10M For Racist And Sexist Behavior | Weak Punishment By NBA Shows Where The Power...