Category Archives: Progress

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Cameron Smith ended the 2020-21 PGA Tour season determined to do something about the errant driving that kept him from having an even better performance a career year: 14th on the FedEx Cup points list, a victory with Australian countryman Marc Leishman in the Zurich Classic for his third Tour title and a combination of five top-10s in majors, World Golf Championships and Olympic golf.

What he found when reviewing videotape and other swing data was pretty simple in explaining why he was 122nd on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, hitting only .592 of his fairways.

Just something in the set-up, said the Jacksonville resident.

While his driving accuracy in his first two Tour starts this season is about the same as last yeara bit less than 60 percentSmith is seeing progress and Thursdays first round of the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club Seaside Course was a major step.

Smith missed only two fairways and only a balky putter kept him from posting a bogey-free round. As it is, a 6-under 64 might have been four shots off the lead held by Sebastian Muoz but with windy weather in the forecast for the course hard by the St. Simons Sound, Smith is pretty content.

It was a perfect day and we all knew it was out there, said Smith, who crammed six of his birdies in a 10-hole span from Nos. 6 to 15, all on putts of 13 feet or less.

Smith saved himself continually last season with a hot putter. He was 10th in the Tours strokes-gained putting index, first in average putts per round (1.68), second in three-putt avoidance and seventh in percentage of putts made from 10 feet and less.

Smith has tied for ninth in the CJ Cup and for 15th last week in the Hewlett-Packard Houston Open, so hes certainly hanging around leaderboards like last season, when he had eight top-10s and 14 top-25s.

But he was still miffed at being a bit off with his driver last week and is trying to stay patient with the process. He saw some nice rewards on Thursday.

Last week wasnt that great, to be honest, but I felt like it was getting better, Smith said. I just felt a little bit uncomfortable and today I felt more comfortable. It was a nice day today. It will be interesting to see what happens [on Friday] when the wind gets up.

Australians historically perform well under windy conditions, giving many of the tracks they grow up playing. So Smith said he will be in his element.

I love the wind but I just really want to put my driver to the test and see what happens, he said.

Smith said he hasnt gotten everything completely sorted out with his driver. but he didnt have many days last year where he hit 12 fairways so hes trying not to be picky.

Id like to think by now Id have something figure out, he said. Ive been playing golf pretty much my whole life. I think I know what works and I just have to get back to that. The changes are never that much. Its just getting back to what you know works. It was just a little set-up thing and aiming a touch too far left. Over time, it went too far left.

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Driving home a point: After a set-up correction Cameron Smith is seeing progress off the tee - usatoday.com

Folks, things are off to the races. We wondered if Eduardo Rodriguez yesterday would open things up, and sure enough, were off and running now.

Jose Berrios just signed a monster extension with the Blue Jays, and Noah Syndergaard qualifying offer attached, and barely having pitched the last two years is possibly going to be next:

To be sure, once Syndergaard got the qualifying offer, I figured the Cubs were probably out. They were not going to want to give up the high second rounder, the bonus pool space, and the IFA space just to sign Syndergaard to a short-term, high-AAV deal (which is the kind of deal that makes the most sense for Syndergaard, in my opinion). So I was already bummed.

Well see what kind of deal he signs, if it gets to the finish line with the Angels. It makes a lot of sense for them, given their core, his age, and his upside. They arguably need to take huge risks like this on the pitching side, and my guess is they were willing to give him a surprisingly large deal that no other team was going to touch right now.

If the pitching market is exploding right now, and is going to move before the CBA expires, then heres hoping the Cubs are ready to pounce on preferred targets if their market gets to a point where theyre going to sign one way or another. The Cubs cant afford to miss out on the guys they like most just because they prefer to wait for the CBA to be resolved.

UPDATE: Wow, well, I was right that it could be a deal no other team was going to touch, but not in the way that I thought:

I really loved Syndergaard for the Cubs on a one-year deal. He was going to be my absolute number one target for the offseason. But once he got the qualifying offer, the cost to sign him to a one-year deal went up considerably for the Cubs, a high second round pick, the bonus pool space tied to that pick, and then $500K in IFA money. Thats a lot of prospects lost to sign a guy to a one-year deal when youre just hoping to be the team to bounce him back. The Cubs have short-term money to use on signings, and thats what I want to see them do not necessarily give up more prospect costs for short-term additions.

UPDATE: Its happening, and its for over the qualifying offer amount (as youd expect):

Given the Angels roster, it makes sense for them to ball out on a one-year starting pitcher, more than almost any other team. That said, paying that high of a price, plus the compensatory costs, for a shot at a guy who has essentially not pitched the last two years its about as risky as a one-year deal can get. They say there are no bad one-year deals, and that may still be true. But this is as close as it gets.

THAT SAID I really like Syndergaard, and I think he could be very, very good once hes fully clear from surgery. Its not like hes old, and when he was healthy, he was an absolute stud.

You can expect now that the Angels could go after another qualified free agent, since the cost for doing so drops (third highest pick).

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Noah Syndergaard Reportedly "Making Progress" on a Deal with the Angels (UPDATE: It's Happening) - bleachernation.com

COLORADO SPRINGS Over the last couple of months News5 has worked to keep you updated on an increasing number of construction site thefts happening in the Pikes Peak Region. Colorado Springs Police Department crime prevention officers say thanks to useful information provided by the public they're making progress in their investigations and have identified suspects.

Back in September we learned in the Pikes Peak Region investigators were working more than 250 construction site theft cases and losses totaled more than a million dollars. While these crimes remain a problem, public awareness and the presence of a Crime Stoppers effort are making a difference.

I just learned construction site theft arrests are now pending as investigators at the Colorado Springs Police Department have identified two suspects they believe are involved in multiple crimes at multiple scenes and investigators say they've already recovered about $41,000 worth of stolen items. Investigators say it wouldn't have been possible without the help of the public.

"Just being aware. You see something suspicious, you see someone driving around a construction site at 2:30 or 3 in the morning we need to know that and that's exactly what the community has done and we want to thank them," said M.J. Thomson of the Colorado Springs Police Department. "There is still a lot of work to do. This is by no means over. There are a lot of cases still to be looked at and hopefully more potential arrests, but right now with those arrests warrants forthcoming we are very satisfied with that."

You may have noticed signs being used at construction sites across the Pikes Peak Region reminding people they can turn in anonymous tips through the Crime Stoppers program to help crackdown on these costly crimes that ultimately get passed on to the consumer and create dangers for new neighborhoods.

"We know by virtue of what we've seen on the tip side it does seem to be a deterrent for theft and we are pleased with that," said Don Addy of Pikes Peak Area Crime Stoppers. "Prior to that thefts were running about seven or eight a week."

Through October of this year Pikes Peak Area Crime Stoppers reports there have been more than 18,000 anonymous tips of all kinds submitted to help law enforcement. That is a 10% increase from this time last year and so far this year 42 arrests have been the direct result of tips provided through the program.

"Everything is anonymous. That's the backbone of our system," said Addy. "The fact that we are getting more tips, to me is an indicator that our community is much more aware of what we provide and how we can help our community become safer."

There are still plenty of unsolved cases out there where the public can help investigators including a case in Cimarron Hills where a suspect driving a white pickup truck rammed an El Paso County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle. Tips and information are still needed in this case.

Remember if you have information on this case or any others you can always remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP and could be eligible for a cash reward. You can also visit https://www.crimestop.net/

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CSPD says progress being made in construction site theft investigations - KOAA.com Colorado Springs and Pueblo News

At the 2019 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) the international community came together to demonstrate solidarity with the worlds refugees and the countries and communities that host them, and to make pledges aimed at engaging all stakeholders to build long-term solutions. A pledge made by the UN Secretary-General, and another made by the UNs Emergency Relief Coordinator, committed UN entities to consider refugees in their own analyses and plans, and to advocate with refugee hosting governments to facilitate refugees inclusion in national systems. These two pledges are the focus of this report.

UN Common Pledge

We stand by refugees and will work with governments to include refugees and returnees in relevant development programmes.

We will advocate for refugees and returnees to have access to national services in countries of origin, countries of transit and refugee-hosting countries.

We will advocate for the inclusion of refugees and returnees in regional frameworks and national development plans and reviews, as well as the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. We will work to provide technical, financial and programming support to host countries for this purpose.Inter-Agency Stranding

Committee (IASC) Pledge

The IASC agencies will work with UNHCR and host governments to ensure that all our analysis, policies and response plans integrate the needs of refugees and displaced people.

We pledge to systematically consider how to allocate technical, financial and programming support to host countries in line with the GCR and SDG pledge of Leaving No One Behind.

The IASC member agencies commit to work with UNHCR to support refugees and host governments, to put the needs of refugees and returnees at the centre of humanitarian and development projects.

Co-authored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO), this report provides an account of progress to date in implementing these pledges; shares some of the learning generated so far; and outlines key strategic actions that the UN and others need to take in order to realize these commitments by 2023, when the next GRF will take place. The report draws on the following data sources:

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The Road to 2023: Assessing progress and accelerating delivery on the UN Common Pledges in advance of the next Global Refugee Forum - November 2021 -...

Each year, approximately 1.3million women living with HIV become pregnant and just under 1million pregnant women are infected with syphilis (1,2). Despite the availability of affordable diagnostics and treatment, undiagnosed and untreated HIV and active syphilis infections among pregnant women continue to adversely affect the lives of many mothers and their children. Simple-to-use dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), which are recommended by WHO, can integrate and streamline services, and enable more countries to eliminate mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and syphilis.

Today, a new partnership between the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), MedAccess and SD Biosensor will make these dual tests available for under US$1 marking it as the lowest priced WHO prequalified dual HIV/syphilis test available. The announcement of the new pricing is exciting, said Meg Doherty, Director of WHO Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes. It will help more countries adopt dual HIV/syphilis testing and accelerate progress toward EMTCT for both HIV and syphilis and deliver services for key populations, where both infections are common.

WHO has recommended using dual HIV/syphilis RDTs for pregnant women since 2019, not only as the first test in antenatal care to help countries achieve EMTCT for both HIV and syphilis, but also as an important cost-saving measure (3). To date, WHO has prequalified three different dual HIV/syphilis RDTs.

Many countries have adopted WHO recommendations and are introducing dual HIV/syphilis RDTs in antenatal care, particularly in the WHO African Region. WHO estimates that major donors and governments procured more than 5million dual HIV/syphilis RDTs in 2020, with volumes projected to increase (4). For example, Nigeria, which started a pilot programme in 2019, is now moving toward implementation at the national scale, with planned distribution of 4million tests in the coming year.

Despite some important gains, global adoption of dual HIV/syphilis RDTs in antenatal care remains suboptimal with only 23% (n= 45/194) of all countries reporting a national policy (5). The newly negotiated price reduction is an opportunity for more countries to adopt the dual test, and to allow more pregnant women to be tested and treated for HIV and syphilis.

References

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New reduced costs of dual HIV/syphilis rapid tests to accelerate progress toward elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis -...

Even in the context of a series that regularly receives criticism for feeling formulaic, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are particularly familiar. As remakes of the fourth-gen titles Diamond and Pearl, these are homages to an era of Pokemon when the series was just starting to settle into a comfortable niche. Not only that, but these are extremely faithful remakes, right down to the visual style and classic combat mechanics. That makes the experience feel downright homey, if not a little deja vu-inducing.

Diamond and Pearl, and therefore Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, are from a simpler era of Pokemon, before full 3D became the norm. Instead, they harkened back to the series' roots as an overhead, sprite-based RPG. There would be clear delineation between a grass "tile" and a town "tile" and you would move from one to another as if on a checkerboard. You can see some of those roots at work in the remakes too. While your character has a full range of movement in the world and the geometry isn't terribly blocky, there are some obvious anachronisms--how NPCs always move at right angles, for example, or how floor tiles are sized to fit your character perfectly. It's only mildly distracting and, for the most part, is just charming.

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Now Playing: Pokmon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Video Review-In-Progress

Equally charming is the art style itself, especially in the overworld. While the more recent Sword and Shield have adopted a more lithe, elongated style that looks similar to the various Pokemon animated series, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have translated the squat pixel art of the originals into an equally squat and adorable animated chibi style. Your character looks appropriately retro while simply exploring in the tall grass or walking around town, but the style looks especially great when the camera zooms in closer during dialogue sequences. At those points, the artwork really shines because you get to see the depth and vibrancy of the characters. They look almost like living vinyl dolls.

Similarly, many of the eponymous Pokemon themselves benefit from this new art style, especially the designs that are more elegant and simple, like the pleasantly plump Starly. Some of the more complex designs suffer for it, though, since the little flourishes can look awkward. That's a problem when you're going to be spending a significant amount of time looking at a Monferno's red-outlined butt, but otherwise isn't too distracting. Your own characters and NPCs also change from their squat chibi forms into more Sword- and Shield-like models during battles, and those look perfectly fine even if they have less personality.

On top of the visual distinctions, these remakes pack some quality-of-life tweaks from later games that make it easier to go back to this generation. Borrowing a page from Sword and Shield, EXP Share is on by default and distributes experience across all the Pokemon currently in your party, which makes grinding out levels much less of a chore. Likewise, acquiring Hidden Moves provides you with permanent access to them regardless of who's in your party, which will automatically take care of navigation tasks like breaking rocks or surfing through the water without needing to keep a dummy-Pokemon on-hand. And you can access your Pokemon boxes from anywhere, rather than needing to head back into town and check in at a Pokemon Center. You can have a Pokemon of choice follow you as well once you've progressed, which adds a nice sense of personality to your friendship with the little pocket monsters.

The other major addition is the Grand Underground, a revision of the original Underground mechanic that borrows some elements from more recent games. You can see Pokemon roaming freely, and some Pokemon can only be caught by exploring here, similar to the Wild Areas in Sword and Shield. The change doesn't feel massive, but it does seem primed to add longevity to the endgame once players have fought through all the gyms and bested the Elite 4.

So far, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl keep enough classic elements to feel like a comfy nostalgia trip, while smoothing over enough of the rough edges that they feel relatively contemporary with other recent Pokemon games. It can't be easy for a storied franchise to pay homage to its legacy while also modernizing in this way, but in my experience so far, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl strike the right balance.

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Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl Review-In-Progress - GameSpot

Americans are buying more things retail sales rose a higher-than-expected 1.7 percent in October, with consumers spending more even factoring in inflation, the Commerce Department said Tuesday and some of America's largest retailers have found ways to work around the supply chain kinks that have gummed up global trade. Walmart and Home Depot, both of which reported higher-than-predicted quarterly earnings on Tuesday, and Target have all chartered their own cargo ships and taken other steps to sidestep the congestion at U.S. ports.

One of the highest-profile congested ports, Los Angeles, has cleared some of its backlog in the past few weeks, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said Tuesday in an online forum with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "There's much more work to be done on this front but great progress by our dock workers, shipping lines, truckers, marine terminal operators, and railroad partners," Seroka said.

The port has reduced all import containers on its docks by 25 percent since Oct. 24, and reduced the amount of cargo sitting at least nine daysby 29 percent, Seroka said. The port has also ramped up the removal of empty containers littering the docks, using sweeper ships to remove the empties and help get them back on ships returning to Asia. There are now 84 container ships waiting offshore to unload at the Ports of Los Angeles and its neighboring Port of Long Beach, down from recent 100-plus ships waiting to dock still but much higher than normal.

The Port of Los Angeles is open about 19 hours a day, still short of President Biden's push for 24/7 operation, Seroka said, and "we've had very few takers to date" for the night shifts. Warehouses "traditionally work during the day and they found it difficult to bring in workers during this time," he said, and an inadequate number of truck drivers can only work 11 hours a day under federal rules.

"It's an effort to try to get this entire orchestra of supply chain players to get on the same calendar," Seroka said. Buttigieg said clearing the backlog is "not flipping the switch," and the ports are struggling with both "unprecedented consumer demand," the global pandemic, and "decades of under-investment in our supply chain infrastructure." The infrastructure bill Biden just signed steers $17 billion to U.S. ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach.

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Port of L.A. making 'great progress' in clearing cargo backlog, director says - The Week Magazine

Not so long ago, a different state of play in the U.N. looked possible. The U.N. exploded in size in the middle of the twentieth century, from a 51-nation founding membership to 138 by the mid-1970s,as countries fought for and won their independence.Those newly freed states accordingly saw the U.N. as a venue for planetary justice, given the General Assemblys potential to put freed colonies on equal footing with their colonizers. Amlcar Cabral, the postcolonial theorist and assassinated leader of the Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, referred to the U.N. as a giant with its hands tied. If its institutions were democratized and its voice strengthened to include these hundreds of millions of human beings, he argued, it may fully serve the noble cause of freedom, fraternity, progress, and happiness for mankind. The G77 plus Chinaa still forceful, if divided, bloc of 134 countrieswas formed in 1964 in part to make that vision a reality.

A U.N. designed in the spirit that Cabral hopedas a platform for the majority of the world to have a proportionate say over its governancemight well also have already taken on the climate crisis. Hopes for such an institution were snuffed out, though, as plans for it were felled by (among other factors) an oil shock that made it easier for the U.S. to fracture solidarity among developing nations of the self-described Third World, who found themselves paying more for fossil fuels and U.S. dollars. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the liberal senator who argued Black communities suffer from a culture of poverty and who served as ambassador to India, warned that the U.S. neededto take a more aggressive stance within a U.N. teeming with a multiracial group of Communists and socialists. Among his biggest fears was that the U.S. might be forced to make some kind of material commitments to the U.N.s new majority. America, he thought,might even find its easy access to key resources controlled by the people who governed the countries where those resources came from, as outlined by the New International Economic Order endorsed by the General Assembly in 1974. Avast majority of the nations of the world, he wrote in response to events that year,feel there are claims which can be made on the wealth of individual nations that are both considerable and threateningin any event threatening to countries such as the United States, which regularly finds itself in a minority (often a minority of one or two or at most a half-dozen) in an assembly of 138 members.

He summed up his antidote to that succinctly in an interview the same year with The New York Times: It is time for the United States to go into the United Nations and every other international forum and start raising hell. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger adopted a similar stance. We can resist confrontation and rhetorical attacks if other nations choose that path, he said. And we can ignore unrealistic demands and peremptory demands.

That history seemed to come to life at the COP26 climate summit. Kicking off the talks, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called on wealthy countries to use the enormous power of their central banks to finance bonds for the energy transition, and support a $500 billion extension of IMF Special Drawing Rights. Our world, my friends, stands at a fork in the roadone no less significant than when the United Nations was formed in 1945, Mottley said. But then, the majority of our countries here did not exist. We exist now. The difference is, we want to exist one hundred years from now.

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The U.S. Is Still Blocking Climate Progress - The New Republic

As part of its Q3 interim report, publisher Paradox Interactive has offered an update on the beleaguered Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, saying it's "happy with the progress" being made by the game's still unknown new developer, but that it won't be in a position to provide an updated release date for "quite some time".

Back in October, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester admitted the publisher had almost scrapped Bloodlines 2 completely after its incredibly troubled development, which has seen the project hit with multiple delays and other controversies since its announcement back in 2019 - a sequence of events that ultimately lead to original developer Hardsuit Labs being removed from the project earlier this year.

Wester also confirmed Bloodlines 2 was now in the hands of a "very reputable and talented" new developer and that the studio had "high hopes" the title would "be a good game that meets our players' desires." One thing Wester did not share, however, was the new developer's name, and Paradox has now confirmed that secrecy will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 - Come Dance Trailer.

In a live Q&A that followed the release of Paradox's Q3 interim report (as spotted by PC Gamer), CFO Alexander Bricca explained, "We prefer to give the studio a situation where they can focus fully on the game development and not having to address fans reaching out to them. So therefore we have so far not disclosed the name of the studio and we are very happy to keep it that way for still some time."

Despite the secrecy, Paradox says the new developer is "doing quite well and we are happy with the progress of the project now". Unsurprisingly, however, the turmoil surrounding the development of Bloodlines 2 has had a dramatic impact on its launch timeline. Whereas Paradox was initially aiming to ship the game this year before booting Hardsuit off the project, it now says there is "still quite some time before we can start to talk about release dates."

Away from the troubled development of Bloodlines 2, 2021 has been a challenging year for Paradox in other ways. In September, the publisher found itself mired in controversy when it was accused of fostering a culture of bullying and gender discrimination after a union-led employee survey revealed almost half of the 133 participating staff had experienced "mistreatment", with the issues said to be "worst for women".

Although Paradox pledged to conduct a "thorough audit" of its processes following the report, eyebrows were raised a week later when Wester publicly admitted to an incident of "inappropriate behaviour" towards another employee during a company wide conference in 2018. "This was something I immediately and sincerely apologised for in-person the following Monday in a process reviewed by HR," Wester wrote.

Further damning allegations aimed at the studio surfaced earlier this month, when Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet detailed a "culture of silence" within the company - a sentiment shared by Paradox employees Eurogamer has spoken to. In response to the report, Paradox said it had now hired an external and independent auditor to investigate its company culture, beginning with its employees based in Sweden.

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Paradox says it's "happy" with progress of Bloodlines 2 under new developer - Eurogamer.net

Construction is nearing completion on the new Butler Transit Authority park and ride lot and building addition.

The Authoritys board approved a change order of over $28,000 at their Tuesday night meeting to cover the cost of the removal of a large building foundation in front of where the rail car is parked.

Work at the Hollywood Drive building includes new bus shelters and waiting area along with a 47 space park and ride area for commuter service. Construction on the project remains on or ahead of schedule with the Park and Ride set to open for use by commuters to and from Pittsburgh beginning January 2nd. Work on the waiting area will continue into the new year.

A total of about $3 million is being spent on this project with 80% of funding coming from the federal government and the other 20% from state and local sources.

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Transit Making Progress On New Park and Ride - ButlerRadio.com - Butler, PA - butlerradio.com