Monthly Archives: September 2020

Is mail theft surging in the U.S.? Postal Service inspectors don’t know – NBC News

Posted: September 28, 2020 at 11:13 am

One day in January, a pair of thieves in black ski masks drove into a restricted area behind a post office in Phoenix. They jumped out of their car, snatched several trays of mail that had just been dropped off and sped away.

Over six days in early April, thieves in New York City stole several bags of mail from a carrier cart, swiped packages from a Postal Service truck and made off with an entire pushcart filled with mail near the famed Grand Central station.

In a city outside Seattle, mail has been stolen so many times at a sprawling apartment complex that carriers avoid leaving unemployment and Social Security checks.

Its accelerated to the point where its insane now, Jack Huster, a post office supervisor in Federal Way, Washington, said of the regions mail theft problem.

The U.S. Postal Service has been under fire for months for a delivery slowdown spurred by changes brought by the new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy.

But the nations mail system has also been plagued by a previously undisclosed problem: It has no reliable system for tracking mail theft.

The Postal Services law enforcement arm acknowledged the shortcoming after NBC News, prompted by anecdotal accounts of an uptick in mail theft around the country, sought and received mail theft figures through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Postal Inspection Service data showed that mail theft reports soared by 600% over the past three years, from about 25,000 in 2017 to roughly 177,000 through Aug. 24 of this year.

But when asked to explain the apparent explosion in mail theft, the Postal Inspection Service said the figures actually reflected multiple types of customer complaints, not just those involving theft. The agency said it couldnt provide figures on mail theft alone due to limitations in the internal system it uses to capture customer reports.

We discovered that the mail theft complaint numbers provided to you were overstated due to the fact they included a significant number of reported customer complaints unrelated to mail theft, such as mailbox vandalism, mail delivery issues, and matters unrelated to the mail or Postal Service, the agency said in a statement.

The reporting system allows for an individual to label their complaint as mail theft, however, the system is not designed to automatically discern which of these are legitimate complaints of theft of U.S. mail.

In addition to including complaints beyond mail theft, the data provided to NBC News was misleading because the 2017 figures reflected only Aug. 23 through Dec. 31, the agency said. The Postal Inspection Service said it was planning to develop a system to better track mail theft complaints.

For fiscal year 2021, we are developing a plan to more effectively capture our internal review of these complaints in order to track and report mail theft complaint data, the agency said.

The disclosure of the agencys complaint data and the revelation that mail theft is not being closely tracked comes during a time of intense scrutiny of the Postal Services ability to manage and safeguard the influx of mail-in ballots expected for the 2020 presidential election.

To me, its rather startling, said Janet Lauritsen, a criminologist who has done extensive research on national law enforcement statistics. They are supposed to investigate these issues, so how can it be possible that they do not have the data necessary to do those investigations? I cant make sense of it.

Lauritsen said that despite the Postal Inspection Services explanation, the sharp spike in complaint numbers is troubling. The data provided to NBC News, which was shared with Lauritsen, showed a rise in complaints from 99,506 in all of 2019 to more than 177,000 through the first nine months of 2020.

The trend in the data still indicates something, and it seems that their statements are designed to minimize alarms over the state of the Postal Service, said Lauritsen, a professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Postal Service did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Postal Service Office of Inspector General referred questions to the Postal Inspection Service.

NBC News initially requested 10 years' worth of data on mail theft reports but was told the Postal Inspection Service only had records dating back three years. No further explanation was provided.

Without reliable figures, its difficult to say if the nation is facing an epidemic of mail theft. But interviews with postal inspectors, police officers and supervisors, as well as local police officials, suggest parts of the country are seeing spikes in the crime.

Its not even a question. Mail theft has gone through the roof, said one Postal Police officer who works on the East Coast and requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. And thats only whats reported. If they steal mail that you dont know was coming, you dont report it.

Mail theft reports flow into the Postal Inspection Service through a variety of sources: postal officials, local police and customers who can file online or by phone.

When asked if data was available on reports from sources other than customers, the agency declined further comment.

Several mail theft victims previously interviewed by NBC News, as well as this reporter, never received any follow-up after reporting to the Postal Inspection Service that checks they mailed in Jersey City, New Jersey, were stolen, altered and cashed.

They said they would open an investigation and get back to me, said Corey Eisenberg, who filed a complaint after mailing two separate checks last year that were intercepted and cashed. But they never did and I stopped following up.

Thieves employ an array of strategies to steal mail, experts say, largely dictated by geography and population density.

In big cities, criminals often target the blue collection boxes that dot street corners and amass large amounts of mail. In suburban and rural areas, thieves often focus on residential curbside boxes, which tend to be far easier to break into.

The police department in Minnetonka, Minnesota, released a bulletin last month warning residents about a spike in mail theft and advising them not to leave outgoing mail in their residential boxes.

Capt. Andy Gardner said the alert was sparked by a flood of reports from people who suspected their mail was stolen and from neighbors who found several pieces of opened and discarded mail in their yards or curbside boxes.

That means the thieves had already gone through it to look for anything valuable, Gardner said.

No arrests have been made.

In scattered cities across the country, criminals have gone directly to the source the post offices themselves in an effort to steal mail.

Cases of post office burglaries have been reported in South Carolina, Minnesota and Florida just last month alone.

Mail theft is not a new crime.

But it has evolved in many parts of the country, experts say, as criminal gangs have grown more sophisticated and identity theft has grown more lucrative. In and around larger cities, thieves have been known to work with more organized criminal networks to steal, alter and cash checks and to amass personal information from stolen mail to commit identity theft.

In the Southwest, where mail theft has been rampant for years, it remains a crime largely fueled by drug addiction, according to Liz Davis, a postal inspector and public information officer based in Phoenix.

They arent mastermind identity theft scammers, Davis said. They are usually drug-addicted people who try to find things in the mail like gift cards and cash, so they can get their next hit.

Earlier this year, a more audacious pair of mail thieves began hitting the Phoenix area.

The thieves made off with a significant quantity of mail from the Daisy Mountain Post Office in January, snatching trays of letters from a back dock and speeding away in a silver Toyota Corolla all in broad daylight, authorities said.

It was very brazen, and they were getting a lot of mail in one swoop, Davis said.

The coronavirus pandemic ushered in an uptick in mail theft, Davis said, likely because more people were experiencing financial hardship and the arrival of stimulus checks made an alluring target.

One of the suspects in the Phoenix post office caper, identified as Rodolfo Rodriguez, was arrested on Jan. 20 and charged with three counts of mail theft and four counts of robbery of mail, according to a criminal complaint filed in Nevada.

Federal prosecutors say Rodriguez stole mail from the Phoenix post office as part of a crime wave in which he and unidentified accomplices swiped mail from postal workers vehicles and robbed postal workers in Las Vegas, as well as stole letters from the dock of a Las Vegas post office.

Rodriguezs lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

In several parts of the country, the postal service has replaced the blue sidewalk collection boxes with more secure models designed to combat a practice known as mailbox fishing, in which thieves pull mail out of the boxes using a wire or rope attached to an object slathered in glue or a sticky rodent trap.

The new boxes have cut down on mailbox fishing, but in New York City, thieves have merely changed tactics.

No longer able to fish mail out of sidewalk boxes, they began to target the carriers themselves, as well as their trucks.

The tamper-proof boxes just changed the mode of crime, said James Bjork, national business agent for the Postal Police Officers Association.

NBC News obtained internal Postal Police daily incident reports from late March to early May, four days in late May, mid-July to mid-August and a couple of days in early September.

The reports document 24 cases of thieves targeting carriers or their vehicles over 83 days on average, one every 3 1/2 days.

Some are harrowing.

While delivering mail at a building in the Bronx, New York City, on April 22, a mail carrier observed an individual going through his mail cart, a report says. As the carrier approached, the individual pointed a gun at him and fled. The individual was later arrested by New York City Police Department officers, and the weapon was found to be a paintball gun, a report says.

Two weeks earlier, on April 9, a mail carrier had his arrow key taken from him at knifepoint in Brooklyn, a report says, documenting a crime with significant consequences. Arrow keys are used to open up a variety of Postal Service boxes in a given neighborhood. Stealing one gives an assailant access to an entire universe of mail.

When a thief gets these arrow keys, its huge, said the Postal Police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They are basically skeleton keys and they open every collection box, every relay box and every cluster box in a given ZIP code.

A Postal Service Office of Inspector General report released in late August found that the Postal Service's management controls over arrow keys were ineffective.

Specifically, the number of arrow keys in circulation is unknown, and local units did not adequately report lost, stolen, or broken keys or maintain key inventories, the report says.

Earlier this month, Kevin Ronny Williams, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to stealing mail in upstate New York using a Postal Service key given to him by a rogue Postal Service employee.

Williams, 23, admitted to using the key to open mail collection boxes in Liverpool in early March, according to federal prosecutors. Williams didnt operate in street clothes: He wore a Postal Service letter carrier uniform and clutched a Postal Service mail satchel while committing the crimes, prosecutors said.

The former Postal Service employee who allegedly helped him has also been charged and is awaiting trial, prosecutors said.

In the Seattle suburb of Federal Way, located along the Puget Sound, thieves swipe mail from curbside boxes with alarming regularity, said Huster, the post office supervisor.

He suspects the citys location, surrounded by highways, is one factor that makes it a magnet for thieves.

We have incredibly easy access to I-5 and the Pacific Highway, Huster said. You can hit a place and literally vanish.

Every day it happens, he added. The amount is ridiculous.

Mail carriers know to avoid leaving easily identifiable government checks in the cluster boxes at a large apartment complex in Federal Way, Huster said, because mail has been stolen from them on a regular basis.

We leave a notice informing them to pick it up at the post office, Huster said. This complex has really been a thorn in my side.

Huster said the thefts in his area largely victimize people who are older and live on fixed incomes.

These are often low-income people, someones grandma and grandpa, he said. They are the core people we serve, and Im just left speechless. I feel awful for them.

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Is mail theft surging in the U.S.? Postal Service inspectors don't know - NBC News

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Letters to the Editor: Five reasons why the PLP will win – EyeWitness News

Posted: at 11:13 am

Dear Editor,

As National Director of the Public Policy Institute (PPI) and Common Cause, it is now almost inevitable that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) will be returned to high office whenever the general elections are held. The Hon. Philip Brave Davis, QC, MP (PLP-Cat Island; Rum Cay & San Salvador), God willing, will be appointed Prime Minister by the current Governor-General, the Hon. Cornelius Smith, to his dismay.

The New Deal PLP will do this because there are five clear cut reasons why the FNM, if led by the hapless and totally out of touch Dr. Minnis, will lose and do so very badly.

First and foremost the FNM and its leadership cadre lied to the Bahamian people during the campaign in 2017. You are able to do and say all sorts of things to the unwashed masses but do not lie to them. They lied about VAT. They lied about Freedom of Information. They lied about capital punishment.

They lied about National Health Care. They lied about Fiscal Transparency & Accountability. They lied about constitutional reforms and amendments. They are, to put it simply, chronic liars of the highest order. Now they are busy preparing for what looks like a snap election in a bogus attempt to catch the New Deal PLP with its pants down below the knees. This cannot and will not happen.

Secondly, the FNM is devoid of a National Development Plan. Christie was the laziest Prime Minister in memory but at least he had the sense to appoint a task force to consider such a plan and to make recommendations. In fact, the task force did submit a cohesive plan just before the 2017 elections. Unfortunately, Minnis, who is equally as lazy, paid that plan no mind and it is gathering dust as you read this.

Thirdly, this regime is tone deaf and does not care or know how to effectively communicate with the average Bahamian. Minnis loves to lecture and talk down to Bahamians. He talks to you all as if he is a school master and we are the dumber than dumb students. He seems to be incapable of respecting you all with a venom.

Fourthly, our infrastructure and upgrades are crumbling right before our collective eyes. You can say whatever you like about former Prime Minister Ingraham but he was a go getter and a man with a strategic master plan. Yes too much money may have been spent on the airport gate way but it was monies well spent.

The current minster with responsibility is useless, in my view, and is merely acting as if he is doing something while the FNM clock ticks towards their unceremonious but expected departure.

New Providence and Grand Bahama are crumbling and exceedingly nasty. Downtown Nassau is a disgraceful looking ghost town. Where is the celebrated Downtown Development Commission headed by my good friend Edward Fields? Freeport has been a ghost town for decades despite it now having all of the parliamentary seats.

Where there is no vision, it has been written, the people will perish. Between Dorian; Covid-19 and the inept performance of this crew, that is just what is happening to the unwashed massesthey are literally perishing and dropping down like flies. You do not believe me?

During the early days of COVID, up to the end of June, we had 11 known recorded deaths related to that dreaded disease. At the stroke of Minnis pen, prematurely reopening the borders to allow Bahamians to travel and return without health protocols and quarantine, we now see in excess of 80 deaths.

Imagine this and contrast 11 deaths with 80an increase of almost 700 percent! Innocent Bahamian blood has been shed due to any number of factors but the buck stops at the desk of the Competent Authority. He elevates a man whom he roundly condemned and cursed out in the House of Assembly when that man was a chameleon of a different kind.

Fifthly, the wide income gaps continue to be too vast. No, I am not advocating income equality or redistribution. No, I am not a socialist/communist. The tax burden on the lower and middle classes are simply too damned high. The FNM has shown its true colors under Dr Minnis watch. They are for the elite and upper classes and to hell with the unwashed masses. Income tax should have been introduced years ago.

The New Deal PLP must revisit VAT (reduce it back to 7.5 percent); introduce a flat 10 percent income tax rate across the board; free up Crown Land for development to indigenous Bahamians; usher in a real National Health Initiative; enter into more public/private sector partnerships, especially for the redevelopment of the down town areas of New Providence and Grand Bahama and ensure that Bahamians have access to the covid vaccine whenever it becomes available.

The New Deal PLP under the dynamic leadership of Brave WILL win the next general elections with a minimum of 25 seats. Ten current FNMs will be returned to power. The other three seats, assuming that there is no unnecessary increase in the number of house seats, will go to individuals who will not New Dealers, PLP styled, but who will be elected on Braves long coat tails.

This lose coalition will move faster and with better focus. There will be no more time to lose once Brave takes over. The FNM must/will fall on its sword come the generals. The above are the five incontrovertible reasons why the FNM will be burnt big time by its own torch.

Signed,

Ortland H. Bodie, Jr.Business Consultant & Talk ShowHost

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The Futurist art movement tried its hand at cooking, with unappetizing results – The A.V. Club

Posted: September 26, 2020 at 7:01 am

Photo: Lorenzo Tombola / Moment (Getty Images)Wiki WormholeWe explore some of Wikipedias oddities in our 5,664,405-week series, Wiki Wormhole.

We explore some of Wikipedias oddities in our 6,150,520-week series, Wiki Wormhole.

This weeks entry: Futurist Cooking

What its about: Sure, food is good and all, but what if instead of providing nourishment and community, meals were a high-concept art project with rigid aesthetic rules taking precedence over enjoyingor even eatingthe meal? Thats the question the Futuristsan early 20th-century European art movement obsessed with modernityposed in Manifesto Of Futurist Cooking. (The answer was given in the form of the staggeringly low number of futurist-inspired restaurants that followed.)

Biggest controversy: The very first rule mentioned here is no pasta, as it causes lassitude, pessimism, and a lack of passion. You can imagine how that went over in Italy, where the Futurist movement began. The Italian press was outraged, and the Duke Of Bovino (actually the Mayor Of Naples) declared that The angels in heaven eat nothing but vermicelli al pomodoro. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the founder of the movement and co-author of Manifesto Of Futurist Cooking, fired back that this menu confirmed his suspicions about the monotony of Paradise.

He and the rest of the Futurists decided to lean into the backlash by trolling the public with increasingly unappealing dishesmortadella with nougat, or pineapples with sardines.

Strangest fact: Based on the glimpses of the Manifesto we get here, it appears to be The Joyless Of Cooking. Knives and forks are prohibited, as are music and poetry at mealtime except during certain intervals. Some of the food on the table would not be eaten, but only experienced by the eyes and nose. Food would contain many flavors, but be served in portions of only a few mouthfuls. On the plus side, political discussion at the dinner table is also forbidden.

Thing we were happiest to learn: Futurists were way ahead of the curve on molecular gastronomy. Obsessed as they were with modernity and machinery, the futurists were big on kitchen gadgets, including using chemical indicators to determine if food needed more seasoning, and colloidal mills to pulverize food. Some of their kitchen equipment was a bit more questionable, like ozonizers to give the food the smell of ozone, ultraviolet light that would purportedly activate vitamins, and electrolyzers to decompose items into new forms and properties, which sounds disconcertingly vague.

Thing we were unhappiest to learn: None of Futurist cookings elaborate rules seem to have been written with actually enjoying a meal in mind. While Futurist chefs strove for absolute originality in the food, sometimes the tried-and-true is pretty appealing, when the alternative is dishes like Diabolical Roses (deep-fried roses in full bloom), Milk In A Green Light (a bowl of milk, with black grapes and radishes, illuminated by a green light. For dessert, enjoy Italian Breasts In The Sunshine (almond paste topped with a strawberry and sprinkled with black pepper).

Futurist cooking also suggests sculpting meat, and use of perfumes to enhance the tasting experience. As anyone whos ever kissed someones neck and gotten a mouthful of perfume as a reward can attest, thats good eatin.

Also noteworthy: Not content to impose their bizarre vision on individual recipes, Futurist chefs concocted entire insane dinner parties. The Futurist Cookbook describes the Tactile Dinner, in which each guest puts on a pair of pajamas, each covered in a different material (sponge, sandpaper, cork, felt). Guests are then taken into a darkened room, and choose a dinner partner according to their tactile impression, only seeing who theyve paired up with upon entering the dining room. The first course is polyrhythmic salad, a bowl of lettuce, dates, and grapes with no dressing, to be eaten with one hand while diners crank a music box with the other, which the waiters dance to.

The second course is magic food, balls of caramel filled with surprise ingredients including raw meat, garlic, mashed banana, or chocolate, served in small bowls, covered with tactile materials. The third course is tactile vegetable garden, more raw vegetables, sans dressing, which must be eaten without using the hands. Instead, diners are expected to bury their face in the plate of vegetables, feeling the sensation of the greens on their face. Every time they raise their head, the waiters spray their face with perfume, because if theres anything better than tasting perfume, its having it sprayed into your eyes.

Best link to elsewhere on Wikipedia: Besides the numerous aesthetic rules Marinetti established in Manifesto, he also insisted that Italians stop eating foreign food, and stop using foreign names for food, wanting to rename the sandwich the traidue (between two), and retitle maitre d to guidopalato (palate guide). Food critic Elizabeth David accused Marinettis nationalism, absurdist as it may have been, to be rooted in that other early 20th-century Italian movement, fascism. That far-right political movement, based on outspoken nationalism, suppressing dissent while claiming the mantle of populism, and a leader who proposes only he can solve [the countrys problems] and all his political opponents are enemies or traitors, is worth reading up on just out of pure intellectual curiosity and not because its become suddenly relevant or anything.

Further Down The Wormhole: One of the more striking breaks from tradition in Futurist cooking (which is only given passing mention here) is doing away with that ubiquitous utensil, the humble fork. While the fork is associated with Western cuisine and chopsticks with China, the fork in fact originated in China, while as late as the 10th century Italians were eating pasta with a long wooden spike, not unlike a chopstick.

Chinese forks have been found in Bronze Age archeological sites, and are depicted in art dating back to the Han Dynasty. Han was the second imperial dynasty, ruling from 202 BC to AD 220, and an interesting fact were jumping to solely for the sake of the next link is that wealthy Han-era citizens wore silk, and coats make from fox fur, while peasants clothes were made of wool, hemp, and ferret fur.

Ferrets are a domesticated version of the polecat, and have been kept as pets for roughly 2,500 years. Theyre occasionally used for hunting rabbits, and on one bizarre occasion have been inducted into the world of sports. Well look at the ill-advised sport of ferret-leggingwhich involves shoving one of the animals down ones pantsnext week.

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What could our lives be like in 2025? Futurists think Americans may eat, fly and go to school differently post-COVID – USA TODAY

Posted: at 7:01 am

The U.S. has reached 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Now experts are looking ahead, and the forecast for the fall and winter isn't good. USA TODAY

Nobody can say for sure whenthe COVID-19 pandemic will finally be over. The answer depends on the availability of an effective vaccine and other unpredictable factors, according to scientificexperts.

But some parts of our pre-pandemic life arent coming back no matter when the crisis clears. Some might taketime to return. And some will be forever changed.

To gain better insight into where were headed, USA TODAY posed a question to several futurists, whose jobs involve reading trends in various parts of the consumer business world:

What does American life look like in 2025, assuming thecoronavirusis safely contained by then?

Scar-tissue economy: Coronavirus pandemic likely to leave a legacy of fear and uncertainty that holds back economy for decades

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Among other things:

Travelers might have fewer choices as airlines merge to form giant companies like Frontier Spirit United.

Air purifiers might become nearly as common as air-conditioners.

Sports stadiums also likely will be filled with people again by then, even if it takes another year or two from now to get there.

The difference in 2025 is that when those people go home (from the stadium), they might be taking a self-driving Uber, and their e-commerce might all be delivered by drones, said Jason Schenker, founder of Prestige Economics, an economic forecasting firm in Austin, Texas. The next day, they go to work in their home. That night, they do their masters degree online from their home. The one thing theyre going to leave the house for is something cool they can post on Instagram and boast about and enjoy in person.

The salad, soup, and bakery buffet chain called Sweet Tomatoes in 15 states and Souplantation in Southern California has called it a day. All 97 locations of the operation, from Oregon to Florida, Nevada to Massachusetts, are permanently shut.(Photo: Courtesy of FASTILY via Wikimedia Commons)

From coast to coast, the pandemic acceleratedthe demise ofbuffet-style restaurants and cafeteria chains that weren't as well=suited to outdoor dining or takeout options.

Several declared bankruptcy or announced plans to close this year, including the owners of Souplantation in California (founded in 1978), Lubys Cafeteria in Texas (founded in 1947) and K&W Cafeterias in the Carolinas (founded in 1937).

Other independent restaurants had struggled for years with health care, labor and rent expenses before getting punched out by the pandemic.

A lot arent coming back, said KaraNielsen, director of Food & Drink at WGSN, a trend-forecasting company.

Nearly 1 in 6restaurants is either closedpermanently or long-term in relation to the pandemic, according to a surveyreleased last week by the National Restaurant Association. That's nearly 100,000 restaurants, including the 20th Street Cafe in Denver, which opened in 1946.

Nielsen predicts more diners will want plant-based meat alternatives because of concerns about the impact of meat on health, labor and the environment, especially after problems arose at meatpacking plants during the pandemic. She also noted rising awareness about the dark side of global supply chains, such as how trees in the Amazon forest in Brazil have been cleared to plant soy to feed to pigs in China.

Its not tenable, she said. As we go to rebuilding, I think more and more people are going to be putting investment and energy into rebuilding in a different way.

Thats why its a good time for innovation in the restaurant business, said Tim Stock, co-founder at scenarioDNA, a consulting firm that analyzes trends and uses social science to gain insight on the future for clients. Because of capacity limits, indoor dining will need to be smaller, more intimate experiences and more fluid in their offerings.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and Southwest Airlines flight attendant JacqueRae Hill(Photo: JacqueRae Hill, Special to USA TODAY)

Airline and hotel businesses that have been hit hard bythe pandemic might be forced to merge to cut costs and stay viable a development that seems straight from the script of a futuristic comedy series that debuted in May on Amazon Prime. The show called Upload takes place in 2033, when passengers are practically piled onto each other aboard themerged airline Frontier Spirit United."

Upload (Amazon, 2020): Andy Allo plays Nora Antony, an angel for the deceased Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), who "uploaded" himself into a virtual heaven-like afterlife.(Photo: KATIE YU/AMAZON STUDIOS)

Other merged brands on the show include Nokia Taco Bell and Google Samsung. This isnt too far-fetched, said Schenker, who predicts fewer brands in general.

We probably wont have this many airlines five years from now, and we probably wont have this many hotel chains five years from now, said Schenker, author of the book The Future After COVID.

We probably wont have this many retail chains five years from now," he added."We might also begin to see similar things in the academic world in the five- or 10-year window as well.

United Airlines passengers flying during the coronavirus pandemic must fill out a health assessment during online check-in, on its mobile app or at the airport.(Photo: United Airlines)

More than ever before, the shutdowns forced workers, shoppersand employers to ask serious questions about the need for office space and retail centers:

Why get in your car to commute to work, or shop if you can get your job and shopping done at home with a phone and computer? If youre a business owner, do you really need to pay rent on all that real estate for employees to come into work every day?

We might not be able to wind the clock back now that people have realized theres a significant convenience in lifestyle by working, studying or shopping from home, Schenker said.

Likewise, colleges might find that they are able to generate revenue with significantly less cost by investing more in online courses and degrees, possibly leading to more choices for studentsin a higher education market thats historically been a guild, Schenker said.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Add more artificial intelligence to the workplace and new questions are bound to arise about the nature of work and education. Manufacturing jobs will continue to be at risk because of increased automation, Stock said. So will delivery driver jobs with the rise of driver-less transportation.

The list of which jobs will be taken over by AI is growing fast," Stock said. "The work of the future will be about creativity and analysis, very acute human skills. Which brings us full circle to how do we teach to that? On Zoom?

Although no country in the world has a gold standard, gold is still needed for the economy, especially now in the middle of the pandemic. USA TODAY

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 ushered in more medical research, sanitation habits and even smoking bans in public places that didnt exist before but remained in placeafterward. In this pandemic, air purifiers are in hot demand and soon might be considered essential, too and not just because of the fear of airborne germs. In recent months, Western states have been plagued by poor air quality from wildfires and smog issues exacerbated by global warming.

Smoke from wildfires across the western U.S. hangs over Boise, Idaho.(Photo: Darin Oswald, Idaho Statesman via AP)

Eventually, the desire for clean air will migrate to building systems that we take for granted, Stock said. It will be expected in schools, homes, stores and workplaces."

Meanwhile, the national debt is soaring toward $30 trillion with no signs of being reduced, no matter who wins the presidential election in November. This outlook bodes well for those who have invested in gold, betting that the precious metal will be more valuable over time than the American dollar. This year, gold soared to record prices of more than $2,000 per ounce.

I dont know if I can make a super bullish case (for gold) when weve already seen it rise this much, but its very tough to make a bearish case, Schenker said.

This air purifier may help increase the breathing quality of your home.(Photo: Amazon)

Local shopping malls that are dead or dying arent just possiblecandidates to become e-commerce distribution centers for Amazon.

By 2025, they are more likely to be diabetes clinics and pet care spaces, said Antonia Ward, Global Director of Advisory Services at Stylus, a trends intelligence agency.

Old malls also could become home tofood delivery kitchens, small manufacturing plants or more PGA Tour Superstores, which offer hands-on golf experiences that cant be delivered by Amazon.

Some pedestrian-friendly malls still will attract consumers with the right mix of offerings and experiences, including dining. A big reason for that is people will especially crave and value social interaction and public meeting places as they feel more isolated working, shopping and learning at home.

My guess is its going to cost more to go out but we have this urge to do it, Nielsen said.As an example, she said, "look at whats happening on college campuses, where it's been especially difficult to prevent social gatherings.

One potential people magnet is the $5 billion stadium project near the Los Angeles airport, home of the NFLs Rams and Chargers. That new stadium recently debuted without fans allowed because of the pandemic. It eventually will include retail, office and concert space over about 300 acres all part of grand plans that had been laid before the spread of the coronavirus.

The next 12 months are probably going to be kind of dicey, maybe even the next 24 months, Schenker said of fans being allowed at stadium. Five years from now, people will be packing that puppy.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

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Scientists Claim to Find First-Ever Planet in Another Galaxy – Futurism

Posted: at 7:01 am

Outer Reaches

A team of scientists says its spotted what might be the first-known exoplanet in an entirely different galaxy.

There could be billions of exoplanets within our own galaxy, but finding new worlds in even the next galaxies over is vastly more difficult. Now, with evidence that a planet-sized object is orbiting a binary system in the Whirlpool galaxy, New Scientist reportsthat a team of Harvard-Smithsonian scientists may have finally broken that barrier.

Over the years, a few scientists found signs of exoplanets in other galaxies, but none have ever been confirmed. The same is true for this potential exoplanet, according to preprint research shared online last week. But still, scientists are cautiously optimistic.

Its exciting, but not unexpected, Angelle Tanner, a Mississippi State University astronomer who didnt work on the study, told New Scientist. Theres absolutely no reason to think there wouldnt be planets in other galaxies.

Unfortunately, any confirmation could be entire decades away, New Scientist reports. The team found evidence that an object the size of Saturn potentially a gas giant itself passed in front of one of the stars in its binary system. But because its also orbiting at about the same distance as Saturn does our Sun, it might be decades before it does so again, at which point scientists could confirm the discovery.

It could be something that just passed in front of this system, never returning again, Tanner said.

READ MORE: Astronomers may have found the first planet in another galaxy [New Scientist]

More on exoplanets: This is the First Image of a Multi-Planet System Around a Sun-Like Star

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Scientists Claim to Find First-Ever Planet in Another Galaxy - Futurism

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Global Motorcycle Rental Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario – Verdant News

Posted: at 7:01 am

Global Marketers has published the latest market research report on Global Motorcycle Rental Market. The global report is ready in collaboration with the leading top industry experts and research analyst team to provide an enterprise with comprehensively market insights and help them to make crucial business decisions. This report covers present market trends, opportunities, challenges, and detailed competitive analysis of the industry players in the market.

Motorcycle Rental Market research study contains the wide-ranging usage of both primary and secondary data sources. The research process involved the study of different factors affect the industry, including market environment, competitive landscape, past data, present trends in the market, technological modernization, forthcoming technologies, and the technical progress in related industry, opportunities, market barriers, and challenges.

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Top Key Players:

Wickedride Adventure ServicesMotoQuestWheelstreetMotoroadsEagleRiderAdriatic Moto ToursDubbelju Motorcycle RentalsHertz RideKizuki Rental ServiceHarley-Davidson

The key regions covered in the Motorcycle Rental Market report are:

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

Germany

France

U.K.

Italy

Russia

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

South Korea

India

Australia

Taiwan

Indonesia

Thailand

Malaysia

Philippines

Vietnam

Latin America

Mexico

Brazil

Argentina

Middle East & Africa

Turkey

Saudi Arabia

U.A.E

This is anticipated to drive the Global Motorcycle Rental Market over the forecast period. This research report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the near future. After studying top companies, the report focuses on the new entrants contributing to the enlargement of the Motorcycle Rental market. Most companies in the Global Motorcycle Rental Market are currently adopting new technological trends in the market.

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Global Motorcycle Rental Market Size & Share, by Type

Global Motorcycle Rental Market Size & Share, Applications

The report clearly shows that the Motorcycle Rental industry has achieved amazing progress since 2027 with several significant developments boost the growth of the market. This report contains a comprehensive assessment of the industry by experts. To conclude, stakeholders, investors, product managers, marketing executives, and other experts in search of factual data on supply, demand, and outlook predictions would find the Motorcycle Rental report.

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Benefits of buying the report:

The important point from Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Motorcycle Rental Market Overview

Chapter 2 Motorcycle Rental Market Segment Analysis by Player

Chapter 3 Motorcycle Rental Market Segment Analysis by Type

Chapter 4 Motorcycle Rental Market Segment Analysis by Application

Chapter 5 Motorcycle Rental Market Segment Analysis by Sales Channel

Chapter 6 Motorcycle Rental Market Segment Analysis by Region

Chapter 7 Profile of Leading Motorcycle Rental Players

Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Analysis of Motorcycle Rental

Chapter 9 Development Trend of Motorcycle Rental (2020-2027)

Chapter 10 Appendix

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Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario -…

Posted: at 7:01 am

Global Marketers has published the latest market research report on Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market. The global report is ready in collaboration with the leading top industry experts and research analyst team to provide an enterprise with comprehensively market insights and help them to make crucial business decisions. This report covers present market trends, opportunities, challenges, and detailed competitive analysis of the industry players in the market.

Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market research study contains the wide-ranging usage of both primary and secondary data sources. The research process involved the study of different factors affect the industry, including market environment, competitive landscape, past data, present trends in the market, technological modernization, forthcoming technologies, and the technical progress in related industry, opportunities, market barriers, and challenges.

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Top Key Players:

UTAC Holdings LtdChipMOS Technologies Inc.ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd.TongFu Microelectronics Co., Ltd.SPILTianshui Huatian Technology Co.,LtdPowertech Technology Inc.JCET (STATS ChipPAC)King Yuan Electronics CO., Ltd.Amkor Technology

The key regions covered in the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market report are:

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

Germany

France

U.K.

Italy

Russia

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

South Korea

India

Australia

Taiwan

Indonesia

Thailand

Malaysia

Philippines

Vietnam

Latin America

Mexico

Brazil

Argentina

Middle East & Africa

Turkey

Saudi Arabia

U.A.E

This is anticipated to drive the Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market over the forecast period. This research report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the near future. After studying top companies, the report focuses on the new entrants contributing to the enlargement of the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) market. Most companies in the Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market are currently adopting new technological trends in the market.

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Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Size & Share, by Type

Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Size & Share, Applications

The report clearly shows that the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) industry has achieved amazing progress since 2027 with several significant developments boost the growth of the market. This report contains a comprehensive assessment of the industry by experts. To conclude, stakeholders, investors, product managers, marketing executives, and other experts in search of factual data on supply, demand, and outlook predictions would find the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) report.

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Benefits of buying the report:

The important point from Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Overview

Chapter 2 Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Segment Analysis by Player

Chapter 3 Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Segment Analysis by Type

Chapter 4 Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Segment Analysis by Application

Chapter 5 Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Segment Analysis by Sales Channel

Chapter 6 Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Segment Analysis by Region

Chapter 7 Profile of Leading Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Players

Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Analysis of Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT)

Chapter 9 Development Trend of Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) (2020-2027)

Chapter 10 Appendix

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Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario -...

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Earth Appears to Be Capturing a Tiny New Moon – Futurism

Posted: at 7:01 am

Cuffing Season

Theres a mysterious object in space heading our way and while it poses no threat to the Earth, it will probably get trapped in our orbit and become a new minimoon.

If it does, then the object dubbed 2020 SOby researchers would become just the third confirmed minimoon to spend time in Earths orbit, ScienceAlert reports. Like the other two, 2020 SO is officially classified as an asteroid, but theres evidence that it may be something else: a long-lost piece of human-made space garbage thats finally re-entering our orbit.

Scientists told ScienceAlert theres a decent chance 2020 SO is actually the discarded Centaur stage of a rocket that launched the lunar lander Surveyor 2 during a failed mission in 1966. The object is about the right size,they say, and its traveling much slower than an asteroid would.

The velocity seems to be a big one, Flinders University space archaeologist Alice Gorman told ScienceAlert. What Im seeing is that its just moving too slowly, which reflects its initial velocity. Thats essentially a big giveaway.

It turns out its hard to track all the space junk weve launched into orbit over the decades experts told ScienceAlert it wouldnt be surprising to hear wed lost track of one Centaur stage.

Whatever it is, our minimoon visitor wouldnt be around for too long. Current projections show that it would be trapped in orbit through May 2021, at which point it would once more whip off into space.

READ MORE: Earth Is About to Capture a Minimoon, But Theres Something Odd About This One [ScienceAlert]

More on minimoons: Astronomers: Our Planet Might Have Another Moon, Except Its Tiny

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Global Floating Wind Turbines Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario – The Daily Chronicle

Posted: at 7:01 am

Global Marketers has published the latest market research report on Global Floating Wind Turbines Market. The global report is ready in collaboration with the leading top industry experts and research analyst team to provide an enterprise with comprehensively market insights and help them to make crucial business decisions. This report covers present market trends, opportunities, challenges, and detailed competitive analysis of the industry players in the market.

Floating Wind Turbines Market research study contains the wide-ranging usage of both primary and secondary data sources. The research process involved the study of different factors affect the industry, including market environment, competitive landscape, past data, present trends in the market, technological modernization, forthcoming technologies, and the technical progress in related industry, opportunities, market barriers, and challenges.

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Top Key Players:

Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Co.Hitachi Ltd.General ElectricGoldwindAdwenNordex SEABB Ltd.Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A.Envision EnergySuzlon Energy LimitedSenvion S.A.MHI Vestas Offshore Wind

The key regions covered in the Floating Wind Turbines Market report are:

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

Germany

France

U.K.

Italy

Russia

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

South Korea

India

Australia

Taiwan

Indonesia

Thailand

Malaysia

Philippines

Vietnam

Latin America

Mexico

Brazil

Argentina

Middle East & Africa

Turkey

Saudi Arabia

U.A.E

This is anticipated to drive the Global Floating Wind Turbines Market over the forecast period. This research report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the near future. After studying top companies, the report focuses on the new entrants contributing to the enlargement of the Floating Wind Turbines market. Most companies in the Global Floating Wind Turbines Market are currently adopting new technological trends in the market.

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Global Floating Wind Turbines Market Size & Share, by Type

Global Floating Wind Turbines Market Size & Share, Applications

The report clearly shows that the Floating Wind Turbines industry has achieved amazing progress since 2027 with several significant developments boost the growth of the market. This report contains a comprehensive assessment of the industry by experts. To conclude, stakeholders, investors, product managers, marketing executives, and other experts in search of factual data on supply, demand, and outlook predictions would find the Floating Wind Turbines report.

Inquire Before [emailprotected]

Benefits of buying the report:

The important point from Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Floating Wind Turbines Market Overview

Chapter 2 Floating Wind Turbines Market Segment Analysis by Player

Chapter 3 Floating Wind Turbines Market Segment Analysis by Type

Chapter 4 Floating Wind Turbines Market Segment Analysis by Application

Chapter 5 Floating Wind Turbines Market Segment Analysis by Sales Channel

Chapter 6 Floating Wind Turbines Market Segment Analysis by Region

Chapter 7 Profile of Leading Floating Wind Turbines Players

Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Analysis of Floating Wind Turbines

Chapter 9 Development Trend of Floating Wind Turbines (2020-2027)

Chapter 10 Appendix

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Global Floating Wind Turbines Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario - The Daily Chronicle

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Beijing motor show – Infiniti QX60 preview | Automotive Industry Analysis – just-auto.com

Posted: at 7:01 am

Unusually, the press days are both on a weekend: 26 & 27 September

More information about future models can be found by searching PLDB, just-auto's global vehicle database. Simply click on the link at the end of this list.

Audi A3 L: not yet confirmed as a debutante this extended wheelbase sedan will soon be in production at FAW Volkswagen's Foshan plant.

Audi Q5 L facelift: public premiere for the extended wheelbase body which continues to be built exclusively in China.

Bestune B70: third generation model is a 4,810 mm long sedan powered by a 124 kW 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo.

BMW 5 Series Li/Le facelift: the Beijing-built G38 long-wheelbase sedan gains the same changes announced for G30/G31 announced in May.

Chery Tiggo 3X Plus: high-spec variant has a different front end to the existing small SUV.

Chery Tiggo 8 Plus: a luxurious version of the 4.7 m long SUV.

Ford Territory EV: a new motor produces 120 kW (163 PS) and 280 Nm (207 lb ft), while the battery's capacity rises to 60.4 kWh. Maximum NEDC range is claimed to be 435 km compared to 360 km when this model was launched in June 2019.

Foton Da Jiang Jun 'Big General': new pick-up which looks a lot like the outgoing Ford F-150 Raptor.

GAC Trumpchi Enpulse concept: no official details as yet for this electric sports car.

Geely Preface: development code for this4,785 mm long four-door fastback is FS11.

GWM Futurist concept: retro sedan which is claimed to have a cobalt-free battery and an NEDC range of up to 700 km.

Haval H2: awaiting confirmation from GWM that this new generation of the small SUV will be making its worldwide premiere.

Honda CR-V PHEV: likely to be manufactured in Wuhan by the Dongfeng Honda JV but confirmation awaited.

Honda EV concept: only a sketch at the moment with full details yet to be disclosed.

Hozon Auto: Eureka 03 concept should be a preview of an electric sedan to supplement the existing Eureka 01, an SUV.

Human Horizons HiPhi X concept: revealed as a prototype in July 2019, this large electric crossover will be the start-up brand's first model.

Hyundai Custo: the brand's first MPV for the Chinese market, this Sonata-based model is due on sale in the fourth quarter.

Infiniti QX60 Monograph: concept preview of next year's successor for the by then nine-year old QX60.

Leap Motor C01 or C11: no official name yet for an electric crossover which will be the production version of the C-More concept from AutoShanghai 2019.

Lynk & Co 06 / 06 PHEV: 4,340 long crossover uses BMA architecture and powered by a three-cylinder petrol turbo engine / same 1.5-litre turbo plus a single motor.

Lynk & Co Zero concept: a preview of the first vehicle for SEA, a new open source EV platform, which will be also be used for Geely, Volvo and Polestar models. The five-door hatchback prototype is said to be 4,850 mm long, 1,980 mm wide and 1,530 mm high with a 2,999 mm wheelbase. DC1E is the codename for what might be called Lynk & Co 08 in production form.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class: public premiere after the recent online announcement.

MG 5: a fastback-look sedan which is based upon the earlier but out of production GT.

MG Linghang: based on the HS, this SUV will eventually replace that model. Engines are 1.5- and 2.0-litre turbos, with FWD and AWD variants.

Qoros Milestone concept: details to follow.

Roewe i6 Max & i6 Max PHEV: first of the pair is powered by a 178 hp and 275 Nm 1.5-litre turbo engine, while the i6 Max PHEV adds a single motor for a combined power output of 308 hp and 480 Nm.

Roewe iMax: previewed by the iM8 concept at a brand event held in May, the production model could premiere unless SAIC holds it over until the Guangzhou show in November.

Rolls-Royce Ghost & Ghost Extended: wheelbases are 3,295 and 3,465, engine is Cullinan's 420 kW (571 PS) and 850 Nm (627 lb ft) 6,749 cc biturbo V12.

Wuling Victory: Chinese market sales of this 4,875 mm long six-seat MPV will commence in Q4.

More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of GlobalData's Automotive Intelligence Center.

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Beijing motor show - Infiniti QX60 preview | Automotive Industry Analysis - just-auto.com

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Monthly Archives: September 2020

Is mail theft surging in the U.S.? Postal Service inspectors don’t know – NBC News

Letters to the Editor: Five reasons why the PLP will win – EyeWitness News

The Futurist art movement tried its hand at cooking, with unappetizing results – The A.V. Club

What could our lives be like in 2025? Futurists think Americans may eat, fly and go to school differently post-COVID – USA TODAY

Scientists Claim to Find First-Ever Planet in Another Galaxy – Futurism

Global Motorcycle Rental Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario – Verdant News

Global Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario -…

Earth Appears to Be Capturing a Tiny New Moon – Futurism

Global Floating Wind Turbines Market provides a futurist Forecast of the market growth in the post-COVID-19 scenario – The Daily Chronicle

Beijing motor show – Infiniti QX60 preview | Automotive Industry Analysis – just-auto.com

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