James Bond was the main focus of the Academy Awards 2025 and the main focus – and something strange.

In a music numberLisa von Blackpink, Doja Cat and Raye sang the Bond Titellieders “Live and Let Die”, “Diamonds Are Forever” or “Skyfall”. No bond movies were nominated for an award, and none of those singers have a connection to the Bond franchise, although they recently worked together on the only “”Reborn. “”

The strange exercise felt less like a celebration and more like an enormous query mark for a screen for a screen symbol, the longer term of which has never felt more insecure.

Since shocking The news was dropped on February 20, 2025The Amazon MGM Studios from Jeff Bezos would take creative control over the James Bond film franchise, commentators and fans asked why.

Why should the broccoli family, who’ve long given the rights of movies by its Eon's rights, to regulate the film series to a Tech partner? They were contradicted?

Two options have appeared.

First, Eons Michael G. Wilson And Barbara BroccoliThe stepson and daughter of the legendary Eon producer Albert R. “Cubby” Brokkolican have reached some extent of creative exhaustion. This theory could give something. According to Pucks Matthew BelloniThe 83-year-old Wilson and the 64-year-old Brokkoli had difficulty finding her next step after 2021. “No time to die. “”

A second reason could possibly be the impatience of Amazon near Eon. In December 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported The Barbara Broccoli struggled back when Jennifer Salke, manager of Amazon Studios, suggested several Bond spinoff projects, including a bond series with a female leadership, for Prime Video. Perhaps frustrated with the patient situation, Amazon Wilson and Brokkoli can have made a proposal that they may not reject to clear them out of the way in which and roll them out of the production of bond content.

Speculation is definitely fascinating. But a more central query mustn’t be ignored: the “what”.

What exactly did Amazon MGM acquire? And what can it actually do with the Bond story?

Remove the rights of bonds

In my research on the 007 franchiseI actually have found that this property has never been a standard film series.

Long before “Star Wars” began 1976 And the Marvel Cinematic Universe was began 2008Bond was based on a lot of media to inform his story.

The Bond franchise didn’t start with a movie in 1953, but with a novel, Ian Flemings “”Casino Royale. “” A 12 months later was “Casino Royale” adapted for American television As a live anthology show. Four years later in 1958 a preferred Bond -Comic strip made his debut.

It was only in 1962 with “Dr. No.“With Sean Connery that the now Iikonic film series began.

Since then, James Bond has been spun in A Animated show for kidsPresent Choose books within the OWN adventureA Romance series “Young Bond”Present Video gamesA Reality showPresent Radio drama and more.

Here is what’s crucial: With its recent deal, Amazon MGM has a controlling proportion only in the fitting Eon holds. Eon has had the fitting to supply future movies and tv programs from Fleming since 1961. Eon secured global merchandising rights and production rights for video games within the early Nineties in 1964.

Other 007 media – the literary, comic and audio series – are managed by fleming estate and Ian Fleming Publications.

I call the James Bond Media franchise a standard right and license network.

No company controls all bond rights, and no one produces all bond media. Although this agreement is complicated, the parts and licensing of rights have made bond it possible as a lucrative and fertile product line. According to my calculations, it now has 330 original stories in 72 years of media production.

In other words, Bond is rather more than the 25 movies published by Eon.

James Bonds many live

So far, the fitting sharing and licensing have ensured that the Bond franchise differentiates between “Star Wars” and Marvel.

The firms that produce these series – Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios – belong to Walt Disney Company. With their rights under a company unit, which also monitors the complete production, “Star Wars” and Marvel were capable of prepare under their stories to a high degree of creative consistency and unity. About movies, TV, comics and video games strive for “Star Wars” and Marvel after what media specialists call ”.Transmedia storytelling. “”

By sharing rights, the Bond franchise is a totally different form of storytelling that broke the story and multiplied the James Bonds as a way to be experienced in various media. The effect just isn’t transmedia storytelling or perhaps a multiverse in Marvel style. In Bond, characters cannot switch to alternative realities and make other versions of themselves.

James Bond exists in many alternative worlds and leads many alternative lives.

To name just a couple of: there’s the binding of Fleming's novels of the Fifties and Nineteen Sixties, which loses his old flame, Vesper Lynd, and hunts her murderers, the members of Smerh, the attack of the Soviet secret services. Flemings Bond also lives within the novels from further Kingsley Amis And John Gardnerwhich were published within the Seventies and Eighties.

There is Eons Silver Screen Bond, who never fell in love with Vesper from 1962 to 2002, but loses his wife Tracy di Vicenzo against the crime syndicate SPOOK And stays drawn by the loss. And in modern times there’s the bond that “appears” within the creator Samantha WeinbergsMoneypenny diaries. ““ The series was released from 2005 to 2008 and shows a version of Bond, which has withdrawn right into a small Scottish island with its lover, Miss MONYPNY from MI6.

The impact of the common structure of Bond is what I’m Dahle “Calculating stories. ““ The novels present different versions of bonds live in other places in history. The film series Creates two own. The comic series offers much more life from 007.

Every version of Bond runs available on the market next to the others and focuses on a bond character that only exists in its unique history of history. This gives the fans an unpredictable, always growing canon of stories that they will pursue and even compare, akin to a Grand-Spot-different game in good time.

Where next to Bond?

The deal between Amazon MGM and Eon Wait the regulatory approval within the USA and Great Britain.

When it goes through, Amazon MGM has a powerful property in its hands. Over the a long time, Eon has intensified certain elements for the character and history: James Bond is a debonair -hitman. Mi6 Chief M gives him high missions. MI6 Armorer Q suits him with the newest devices. And Bond lives tall, enjoys beautiful women, high quality food, Savile Row Mode and Omega watches.

It is unlikely that Amazon MGM will make this Bondian elements. You will probably also keep the movies “” “Bond form” – The gun barrel visually That starts every film artistically designed loan sequencesPresent Film -specific title songsAnd the closing title card with the inscription “:”James Bond will return. “”

However, some fans fear that Amazon MGM will develop “Woke” storylines. Others stipulate that the product is diluted with countless streaming spinoff series.

For me, the more fascinating way is whether or not Amazon will attempt to create a more uniform bond universe that resembles the Marvel Cinematic universe. Yes, the fleming estate will proceed to administer the novels, comics and radio. But with creative control over Eon's rights, Amazon MGM could theoretically develop an elaborate Transmedia strategy that has never been researched on this franchise.

A relaunched film series that will function an “mother ship” by Amazon MGM would slot in video games and streaming shows in satellite series. These games and shows would connect and expand the universe of the movies.

If this had happened, the Bond franchise would really enter right into a recent phase and take the danger of losing a big a part of creative flexibility that it has observed up to now.

In Texas, where I live, marijuana has been illegal for a very long time. In a busy street in my district of Houston, at the least five shops sell cannabis products inside half a mile that promise a robust high.

Texas isn’t alone. Due to a combination of recent legal changes and an unsafe political landscape, the inhabitants in about half of the American countries have easy access to impaired hemp products which have a robust resemblance to marijuana and are far less regulated.

When hemp sales rise – reached Almost 3 billion US dollars in 2023 – Various states tighten their restrictions, while experts analyze the consequences of public health. That's why I analyzed in all hemp policy 50 states With a few of my colleagues on the Baker Institute of Rice University, where I’m one Fellow of drug policy.

Marijuana and hemp: same plant, different guidelines

Marijuana and hemp are each varieties of cannabis sativa, a plant with many uses that produce hundreds of connections. Among them is the favored intoxicating Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or Delta-9 THC.

Hemp is mostly valued as an industrial harvest and for a lot of the American history. freely cultivated. But the legislators had grown within the mid -Twentieth century increasingly against marijuana And were concerned concerning the resemblance of Hanf together with his declaration of impairment.

To enable hemp cultivation and at the identical time prohibit the production of a psychoactive work, the Agricultural Marketing Act from 1946 Defined hemp than all parts of the cannabis plant with a concentration of lower than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC as a consequence of dry weight. Cannabis that exceeded this threshold was taken under consideration MARIJUANA.

The substances controlled in 1970, which was initiated in the trendy era of the ban on marijuana and other drugs. Hemp remained technically legal, but as a consequence of its similarity to marijuana it was listed as a Schedule I drugIn addition to heroin and other substances that were rated as a high potential for abuse and no medical value.

Due to the status of Hanf from Zeitplan I, the Drug Enforcement Administration closely regulated its production. But hemp farmers have long argued that these regulations were excessive – and in 2018 the congress agreed. Legislators adopted one this yr Farm bill The removed hemp from the law on controlled substances and legalized the production and sale of hemp and its derivatives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dz6a5hmtdw

It is crucial that the 2018 invoice still has hemp than all parts of the system and its derivatives with lower than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC. But it left a niche: While Delta-9 is the very best known type of THC, it isn’t the just one. Other types of THC, that are referred to as THC isomers, have similar effects. This isomere, Like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC will be derived from the hemp system and, like Delta-9 THC, may cause impairment. The 2018 farm bill has legalized all of them.

In 2023, the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoids reached 2.8 billion US dollars. Market growth was accompanied by a rise Unwanted health events. Pharmacy Alarm expressed How some hemp products are made, and analyzes They have found from trading products stocked in shops that they contain heavy metals, residual solutions and pesticides.

In view of the lax regulatory environment, many civil servants now query the shortage of guardrails for this burgeoning hemp industry. As a result, civil servants and governments across the country now issue political changes.

Some states cause age and promoting restrictions

In 2023, 11.4% of the twelfth graders stated last yr. Simple access to any substance can promote use, and THC can have negative effects on the Youth brain.

During the federal law prohibits the sale of tobacco And alcohol for people under the age of 21 there is no such thing as a similar national requirement for hemp. But at the least 27 countries that enable the sale of hemp-derived products now have minimum age and a number of other other have pending laws.

The lessons from the tobacco market also show that promoting tricions can Reduce using legal but potentially harmful products. Most of the efforts to contain hemp promoting deal with the youth. Sixteen states limit using packaging and marketing materials that may address minors. Meanwhile federal regulations Also limit the marketing of young people.

There are fewer restrictions on promoting for adults. The Food and Drug Administration prohibits using health claims that should not to be processed for the sale of hemp products, but this standard offers the industry a variety of scope. Hemps often advertise their alleged physical benefits resembling Reduce pain or Improve sleepOr portray them as a mood booster that can provide a sense euphoric and excitedwith few disadvantages.

Other states create potency limits

The use of products with high THC was linked To a better risk of cannabis dependency and disadvantageous psychological health results. Causes regarding product potency have led All states With leisure markets to limit the quantity of delta-9 THC in edible products. This threshold is frequently around 10 milligrams, a dose that is powerful enough to affect most individuals.

Hemp is a unique story. In order to satisfy the federal requirements, Hanf only has to have lower than 0.3% Delta-9 THC to weight. This limitation sounds low, but weight -based metric not takes under consideration heavier products resembling food and drinks.

For example, within the 34 states, through which no milligram caps have hemp products, a 50-gram candy bargain is as large as a Snickers bar with 150 milligrams of Hanf-Delta-9-THC. This is a 15 -times higher dose than the marketplace for leisure marijuana. In the meantime, it may be seen that the door of the Delta 9 content from Hanf also leaves the door open for products with high quantities of other types of THC.

At least 13 countries have responded to potency problems by adding milligram caps to the whole -THC, which is permitted in a single portion of a hemp product. Some of those limits are so low – 1 milligrams or less in ConnecticutPresent latest YorkPresent Montana And Rhode Island – It is unlikely that a portion causes an impairment.

Implementation is a wild card

Only regulations which can be enforced are effective, and the states differ within the energy that they devote to the industry supervision.

In Virginia, the Hemp enforcement office Has handed over $ 12 million in fines for non -compliant hemp dealers since its foundation in 2023. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Massachusetts Consider hemp-derived THC products illegal, but it surely has it unpleasant Local jurisdiction with financial resources for the enforcement, which ends up in further availability of prohibited products.

Some states With legal hemp markets, additional sales taxes have added to finance the enforcement of enforcement. In NebraskaPresent Missouri And ConnecticutGeneral Prosecutors have sued hemp merchants as a consequence of the sale of illegal articles, marketing to minors and deceptive trade practices.

With the expansion of the hemp industry, the protection of public health can be concerned. The demand for THC and the market to produce it continues to grow. If the legislator develops industry -wide security standards or wish to cope with the challenges of online marketplaces that sell hemp products to minors, Washington will take this. In the meantime, many states and political decision -makers examine a spacious middle ground between unrestricted access and ceiling bans.

Google's recent announcement of the launch of Willow, a quantum chip that has reduced the error bias of a few of its predecessors, is a milestone in its efforts to bring quantum computing into the true world and will change the way in which things move forward in the approaching years We think concerning the risk of cryptocurrencies.

Willow's speed is sort of unbelievable – based on Googleis able to performing a calculation in lower than five minutes that might take one in all today's fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years to resolve. Ten septillion is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.

But the accuracy of quantum computing has also been an enormous problem to this point, because quanta are like a garden hose that’s running at full speed and nobody is holding it: the water flows out quickly, but its destination is just not all the time precise. Willow's combination of speed and accuracy could theoretically give hackers the tools to unlock the algorithms that power Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Qubits and Bitcoin can coexist for now

If you don't understand (and never many individuals do) what constitutes quantum computing – qubits – Tim Hollebeek, industry technology strategist at security firm DigiCert, has a simplistic way of serious about the breakthrough. He says, imagine a maze and the way a classical computer would try to seek out its way through the maze from start to complete. It would try one possible path at a time. “A quantum computer would be able to try every path at the same time, which would lead to a much faster solution,” Hollebeek said.

While Willow is probably not ready for real-world applications yet, Willow's speed and accuracy will help pave the way in which for larger quantum computers.

“Part of the problem with qubits is that they are unstable and produce errors. This chip has significant error correction capabilities, which mitigates some of the qubit problems,” said Hollebeek.

That means chips improved after Willow's breakthrough could help hackers goal crypto – but at the least for now, the priority is just theoretical.

“Quantum computers can theoretically solve this much faster and pose a threat to today's cryptographic algorithms if a quantum computer with enough qubits could be developed,” Hollebeek said. But he added that the real-world reason you’ll be able to breathe easier when owning crypto today is easy. “There is none today and is not expected for the next 5, 10, 15 years,” he said, with the fastest five-year timeline depending on an unexpected technological breakthrough.

A decade-long lead for crypto

A Google spokesperson told CNBC that Willow and crypto could coexist. “The Willow chip is not capable of breaking modern cryptography,” he said, adding that Google also believes that quantum technology with this capability remains to be years away.

According to Park Feierbach, a decentralized finance technology expert and CEO of Radiant Commons, even when Willow dramatically increased the speed at which crypto might be cracked, the Quantum chip would still need again and again the universe age to do it. According to NASA, the universe is 13.7 billion years old.

“There is almost no reason to use Willow in this technology in a way that could make manageable progress. It would still take too long,” said Feierbach.

“Estimates suggest that we are at least 10 years away from cracking RSA and that it would require about 4 million physical qubits,” the Google spokesperson said. RSA is an encryption system utilized in cryptocurrencies.

To illustrate: Google's processors now have a size of around 100 physical qubits.

“Quantum-safe” algorithms

The Google spokesperson emphasized that the timeline for quantum breakthroughs is essentially shared and Willow has not modified it.

“Google is on the right track with our planned roadmap,” he said. “The security community has long been aware of the planned timeline for breaking asymmetric encryption and is working to define standards and jointly implement new algorithms that can withstand attacks from both classical and quantum computers,” the spokesperson added.

In fact, Hollebeek says the crypto industry is working on “quantum-safe” crypto.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released several quantum-safe algorithms which might be proof against attacks from future quantum computers, Hollebeek said, and NIST has a roadmap for governments and industry to make use of these algorithms to make sure the country's security and Trade secrets.

“Google and other industry leaders have supported standardization and experimented with the algorithms as drafted,” the Google spokesperson said.

Even though quantum is efficient at deciphering algorithms (traditional crypto equations based on the factorization of enormous prime numbers), they should not infallible, and therein lies the promise of quantum-safe crypto.

“They're really, really good at some things, but not everything,” Hollebeek said, noting that breaking conventional asymmetric cryptography happens to be one in all the things they're really good at. “Fortunately, they perform poorly at other difficult math problems, and asymmetric cryptography can be updated to use these difficult math problems instead of factorization,” he said.

Taqi racing, Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering on the University of Massachusetts Amherst said existing cryptos have to be further developed to fend off qubits. “As the potential of quantum computers to break existing cryptography becomes increasingly concerning, new cryptocurrencies specifically designed for quantum security may be developed. These new quantum cryptos would integrate PQC, cryptographic algorithms that are resistant to the computing power of quantum computers,” Raza said.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman and CEO of digital currency company Circle, said in an interview with CNBC last week that the risk is real, but his focus on the future remains focused on the opportunities that will arise. “The bottom line is that quantum crypto means you can both more easily unlock things that had bad old locks and also create better locks,” Allaire said. “So quantum crypto – this quantum will actually be a huge turbo for crypto computing, for crypto applications and for crypto money.”

Raza expects that the broader changes led to by quantum computing will ultimately extend beyond crypto. Breakthroughs will make devices and software faster, revolutionize AI, and improve data security with highly secure encryption methods. In on a regular basis life, there will probably be advances in computing, healthcare, energy and security, Raza said, and subsequently it is just not the crypto industry that we must always take into consideration in isolation while these changes are still unfolding. “They will probably change the industry,” he said.

Buster Posey held the San Francisco Giants record for the biggest contract in franchise history. In Posey's first big move because the club's president of baseball operations, he didn't hesitate to interrupt through.

The Giants agreed to a seven-year, $182 million contract with free-agent shortstop Willy Adames on Saturday. In doing so, they remodeled the left side of their infield for the rest of the last decade and signaled their determination to stay aggressive in restoring their relevance within the National League West. The agreement with Adames continues to be pending – greater than a minor detail given the medical issues that derailed Carlos Correa's $350 million contract after the 2022 season – and his guaranteed money can be Posey's own nine-year, $167 million contract he signed after that signed, winning the NL MVP Award in 2012.

With Adames and third baseman Matt Chapman signing six-year, $150 million contract extensions in September, the Giants have committed a 3rd of a billion dollars to construct a solid offensive and defensive presence on the left side of their infield . Taken together, these investments aren't all that different from the megadeals the Texas Rangers made to shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien after the 2021 season – a $500 million bet that paid off when the Rangers made the won the primary World Series title in franchise history two years later.

Adames, 29, posted 4.8 fWAR last season as he finished fourth within the majors with 112 RBIs, set profession highs in home runs (32) and stolen bases (21) and led the Milwaukee Brewers to the NL Central title. Arguably just as necessary to Posey and the Giants, Adames was a respected leader in Milwaukee, praised for his endurance and talent to remain on top of things. He was certainly one of the league's best defenders on the shortstop position in 2023, and while a few of his production numbers dipped last season, there's little doubt that he's an improvement over the Giants' in-house options on the position.

Perhaps probably the most telling aspect of the Giants' stunning agreement, reached on the eve of baseball's winter meeting in Dallas, is the way it affects Posey, who had been something of a cipher in his transient tenure as a first-time baseball manager. He fills front-office positions and adds advisory voices but otherwise offers few details about how aggressive he can be to enhance a team that finished 80-82 in 2024 while missing the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons .

However, Posey was clear on one point: he described the acquisition of a shortstop because the club's top priority. And the Giants just agreed to sign the highest shortstop on the free-agent market.

During his profession behind the plate, Posey had a knack for cutting through the noise, tackling problems head-on, finding a direct path and avoiding the trap of overthinking. If his first big move because the Giants' chief baseball architect is any indication, he’ll lean on those self same traits and impulses as he looks to shut the sizable gap between his team and the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Identify problem. Fix problem.

Posey wasn't sufficiently deterred by the proven fact that signing Adames, who had been prolonged a qualifying offer by the Brewers, will force the Giants to forfeit their second- and fifth-round picks and $1 million in international bonus money from their pool for 2026. Those aren’t any small considerations for a franchise that also cut its second- and third-round picks on this past draft after signing Chapman and left-hander Blake Snell the previous offseason. The Giants wouldn’t have lost any draft picks in the event that they had traded from Adames to shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, a favourite of Giants manager Bob Melvin from their time together in San Diego but who moved on from offseason shoulder surgery on Opening Day will rehabilitate.

But Adames was clearly the very best shortstop available. And Posey kept it so easy.

“Ultimately it's a boring answer, but you just want complete baseball players,” Posey said on the November GM meetings. “You want people who can do a little bit of everything.”

Interestingly, Posey's first major free agent contract is with fellow CAA player. The Giants recently announced the hiring of Jeff Berry, Posey's former agent and former CAA head of baseball operations, as a special advisor.

ESPN was first to report the agreement. The Giants aren't expected to make an announcement until late Sunday or Monday.

The addition of Adames would push Tyler Fitzgerald into competition at second base with Casey Schmitt, Brett Wisely and possibly Marco Luciano if the organization's former top prospect isn't traded or moved to the outfield.

The biggest query is how aggressive the Giants will probably be to fill their second big need: a pitching presence for a rotation that has thrown the fewest innings within the National League, although their Opening Day ace Logan Webb has thrown probably the most Innings pitched on a person basis. Multiple reports have linked the Giants to former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, a Bakersfield-area native who starred at Saint Mary's College in Moraga and gave the Giants certainly one of the league's best one-two punches.

Before last season with the Baltimore Orioles, Burnes had spent his entire major league profession with the Brewers, so signing Adames might be a selling point for any Giants attempt at a pursuit. Both players are well-known to Zack Minasian, the Giants' newly appointed GM, who served as director of scouting in Milwaukee during his 14 seasons with the organization. Minasian was certainly one of the strongest voices for Burnes winning when the right-hander was showing promise within the minor leagues, advising then-Brewers GM Doug Melvin to make the previous fourth-round pick virtually untouchable in trade talks.

On a money basis, the Giants spent $206 million on player salaries last season, exceeded the posh tax threshold ($237 million) for the primary time since 2018 and suffered operating losses that caused some unease amongst members of the ownership group. Their placeholder budget figures for 2025 had called for a cut in player salaries, which could still be achieved even when the club can win the bid for Burnes – a market expected to exceed $200 million – and Adames.

Adding in Adames' average annual value of $26 million, the Giants' estimated payroll on a money basis can be about $170 million. If the Giants look to enhance in other areas, they might trade a number of of their arbitration-eligible players (including LaMonte Wade Jr. and Camilo Doval). Or they might sign certainly one of several second-tier starting pitchers who aren't low-cost — akin to Luis Severino's three-year, $67 million contract with the A's — but would command only a fraction of what it might take to sign Burnes who notably left CAA for the Boras Corporation in 2023 and whose possible signing would also cost the Giants their third and sixth round draft picks.

Or Posey could do what he has proven so again and again throughout his playing profession: cut through the noise, go after the very best player and persuade owners to spend money.

“I know we will be very careful in our decision-making,” Posey said last month. “But I attempted to convey to the group that we might not be paralyzed by the potential fear of failure. It's about knowing, 'Hey, sometimes we have now to take the chance of individuals within the media saying it is a bad decision or a foul move.' But if we feel condemned in that, then you’ve got to be OK with that.”

Voters in 10 states passed abortion-related measures on November 5, 2024, lots of which sought to expand access to abortion or explicitly recognize a right to abortion within the state structure.

Seven of the ballot measures passed, three failed. Measures in Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana and Nevada were approved by voters, while measures to expand access to abortion in Florida, Nebraska And South Dakota went under.

Nebraskans voted on it two competing measures. The passed law enshrines the present law within the state structure, which allows voluntary abortions as much as 12 weeks. The measure that failed would have prolonged the opportunity of abortion until the fetus is viable, about 24 weeks.

Abortion across the US

The Supreme Court decided then Dobbs vs. Jackson In 2022, because the federal right to abortion was eliminated, states have moved in several directions. Abortion laws within the United States have modified significantly within the last two years vary greatly.

Some states still allow abortions, but only early in pregnancy. Nebraska, for instance, allows Abortions before 12 weeks.

Some states expanded or wrote a law on access to abortion. Colorado, eight other states and Washington, DC allow this Elective abortions as much as birthwithout restriction of gestational age.

Other states, like Texastried to limit abortions every year heartbeat is recognized after about six weeks.

All of those variations will be confusing. And as Professor of health lawI understand how essential it’s for people to know the law in order that pregnant women or women who’ve had a miscarriage aren’t afraid to hunt medical help.

Which abortion laws regulate

In my opinion, an important thing to know is that laws governing abortion apply to actions health care providers take to intentionally terminate a pregnancy.

Laws Restricting Abortion Procedures mustn’t block access to care for girls in search of treatment for a Miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

Abortion laws Don’t punish or criminalize women seek an abortion; They regulate healthcare providers. This is true even in states with restrictive abortion laws, corresponding to: South Dakota, Indiana, Texas And Alabama.

Regulating the behavior of doctors just isn’t latest – neither is it unique to abortion laws. Very specific laws regulate the behavior of doctors with serious and even criminal sanctions, e.g possibly fraudulent billing, Disregarding federal data protection regulations or improper prescription of medicines.

Colorado enshrines abortion rights

In Colorado, Proposed initiative 89 passed with 62% the vote. The initiative added language to the state structure that expressly recognizes a “right to abortion.”

In 2022 the The Colorado legislature codified access to abortion without restrictions on gestational age. The initiative adds the availability to the state structure, making it everlasting law so lawmakers cannot change or modify it.

The initiative also hit the language Colorado Constitution That banned using taxpayer money to fund abortions for girls with Medicaid or government-sponsored insurance coverage. Colorado already requires private insurance to cover the full cost of abortions.

Supporter of the initiative say allowing taxpayers to fund abortions will stop the “discriminatory and harmful effects” of previous coverage restrictions.

Um 38 states ban it Using taxpayer money for abortion while some states The use of taxpayers' money for abortions is simply permitted if there may be rape or incest or if the lady's life is in danger.

Florida votes to maintain abortion law in place

In Florida, Change 4which voters didn’t approve, proposed a state constitutional amendment to permanently expand it Access to abortions. This measure would have allowed women to have an abortion for any reason until it was viable. It would even have allowed abortion based on viability until birth “if necessary to protect the health of the patient.”

The US Supreme Court In 1973, it was decided that “health” included not only the physical health of a pregnant woman, but in addition consideration of her age, emotional state or psychological well-being.

Since Amendment 4 was not passed in Florida, the law stays the identical.

Florida only allows abortions as much as the sixth week of pregnancy. However, Florida law There are several exceptions that allow abortions for crimes corresponding to rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking for as much as 15 weeks.

Florida also allows abortions in the primary two trimesters if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. Finally, Florida has exceptions that allow abortions in emergencies or when continuing the pregnancy would pose a threat to the lady's life or physical health.

Misconceptions about abortion laws

Several items including a series in ProPublicahave described cases during which pregnant women in search of emergency medical treatment suffered complications or died.

The death of a young woman is tragic. However, for my part, these cases reflect a misunderstanding of what the law allows, which may lead to doctors being unsure and slow to treat the patient. In some cases, there may be misunderstandings in communication or possible medical mismanagement.

Unfortunately, incorrect and even missed diagnoses are common in emergency rooms and will be debilitating 7.4 million people per yr. One in 350 people missed a diagnosis will experience severe disability or death.

State laws regulating abortion don’t prevent physicians from intervening to supply vital or life-saving medical care to women.

Florida law clearly states that when there may be a conflict between trying to save lots of the lifetime of the lady or the fetus, the doctor “must consider the preservation of the life and health of the woman as a priority.”

Florida And Georgia have provided physicians with guidance to make clear what the law allows when treating their patients.

All states – including those with restrictive abortion laws corresponding to Texas And Indiana – Have exceptions that allow abortion in medical emergencies or if continuing the pregnancy would pose a risk to the lady's life or health. Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice has declared that individuals have a constitutional right to travel to hunt health care or abortions from willing providers in other states.

Doctors who feel unsafe can contact us a lawyer or find information from them State Health Department for clarification.

The Army-Navy game holds a special yet peculiar place on the faculty football calendar.

Its significance is undeniable given the history, ferocity and grandeur of the rivalry. It is literally the one championship weekend game on the Saturday after the conference in December. Still, the stakes of the sport normally don't matter with regards to the rankings or the race for the national championship.

This yr it's complicated.

The service academies are each undefeated and ranked. And the 12-team College Football Playoff means the No. 23 Black Knights (7-0) and No. 24 Midshipmen (6-0) are bona fide playoff contenders — if either of them can win the American Athletic Conference .

But the playoff field shall be determined Dec. 8 — six days before the beginning of the annual Army-Navy game in Landover, Maryland. And with Army and Navy now conference mates within the AAC, the Dec. 14 matchup could possibly be the 2 teams' second meeting in a season.

Here's a have a look at how things could end up.

How did we get here?

It is the primary time since 1926 that the Army and Navy have each began a season 6-0.

The Black Knights are 7-0 and have yet to play a game. Of course, they lead the nation in rushing offense, led by quarterback Bryson Daily, who recorded 26 total touchdowns. Army is already 6-0 in AAC play, meaning only two conference games remain (at North Texas, UTSA).

The Midshipmen are 6-0 heading right into a huge game against No. 12 Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and 4-0 within the AAC. It's already their best season since 2019, after they won 11 games.

The Army and Navy currently occupy the highest two spots within the AAC rankings.

So… does that mean they might play twice?

Yes – in consecutive weeks. They could face one another within the conference championship game on December sixth and meet again on December 14th for his or her annual rivalry.

But Tulane is correct behind them with a 3-0 conference record heading into play against Navy on November sixteenth. A loss could end Navy's probability of punching its ticket to the conference championship, thereby dashing the Mids' playoff hopes.

Will the Army-Navy game be considered for the CFP?

A possible meet within the AAC Championship can be possible. But the annual, neutral game won’t happen.

Selection day for the playoffs is Sunday, December 8, and the annual Army-Navy game is the next Saturday. In the four-team playoff era, the choice committee had a protocol that allowed it to attend for Army-Navy if it had an impact on the sphere. But with the 12-team playoffs starting the weekend of December 20-21, there was no waiting for the result this time.

This means there’s a scenario through which a service academy wins the AAC and a spot within the CFP, then loses its final regular-season game against the identical opponent it beat to advance to the playoffs.

There will still be bragging rights at stake, after all.

Would the Army or Navy have less time to organize for a playoff game?

Given that no other team plays a game the week of Dec. 14, certainly one of the service academies would have less time to organize for its postseason opponent if it were to clinch a playoff spot.

What are the probabilities of Army or Navy making the playoffs?

There is a 29.6 percent probability that Army or Navy will make the playoffs, but each teams' individual percentages will look barely different depending on the outcomes of their next games.

If Navy beats Notre Dame on Saturday, the Midshipmen's possibilities of making the playoffs increase to 10 percent, in accordance with Austin Mock's prediction model. In the event of a loss, this drops to five percent.

The Army has a better opponent within the Air Force, so the cadets' odds are higher: 30 percent in the event that they win and 14 percent in the event that they lose. Army also must play Notre Dame on Nov. 23 at Yankee Stadium.

Mock's model gives the Army a 63 percent probability of winning the AAC, while the Navy has a 15 percent probability.

What else has to occur for either team to make the playoffs?

Two things should occur. First, it is clear that Army or Navy will proceed to win and win the AAC. It's unlikely that either of them could make the playoffs as an overall team.

Second, they probably need the Mountain West to beat one another up. Boise State (5-1) is currently ahead of Army and Navy, and the Broncos' only blemish is a road loss at Oregon.

The other Mountain West team to fret about is UNLV (6-1). Boise State plays at UNLV on Friday, which may have a major impact on the Group of 5 playoff bid.

If you would like a guide to getting Army or Navy into the CFP, I'd probably make the case for UNLV to tug off an upset this weekend after which proceed to make the case for each of those teams to lose down the stretch. —

Has the Army or Navy ever won a national championship?

Yes, but the main points are a bit complicated since college football hasn't all the time had a national championship game.

Army wins five national championships (1914, 1916, 1944, 1945, 1946), although several programs win titles in 4 of those years. Likewise, the Navy claims a share of the 1926 national title.

The last time either team reached the AP top 10 was 1964, when Navy peaked at No. 6.

What's next?

Army finishes the regular season with Air Force (1-6), North Texas (5-2), Notre Dame (6-1), UTSA (3-4) and Navy.

Navy ties with Notre Dame, Rice (2-5), South Florida (3-4), Tulane (5-2), East Carolina (3-4) and Army.

It wasn't way back that the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, feared that annual inflation would exceed 9% Mid-2022. Prices within the U.S. economy had not risen so quickly for the reason that Nineteen Eighties, and almost everyone feared that a series of rate of interest hikes would plunge the economy into recession.

What a difference two years could make.

Inflation cooled to 2.4% in September 2024, in response to consumer price index data released by the Labor Department on October 10. This is down from 2.5% the previous month and consistent with market expectations 2.3% to 2.4%. The inflation rate peaked at 8.9% in June 2022 – a 41-year high.

The news brings the Fed – and its Chairman Jerome Powell – significantly closer to its 2% inflation goal. It can be the fourth consecutive month by which year-on-year price changes were below 3% and the third consecutive month of declining inflation rates.

Speak as Economist and finance professorI feel this could possibly be a giant deal for the Federal Reserve, which meets in November – and will cut rates of interest again.

Fodder for one more rate of interest cut?

The Fed has what is named Dual mandate: It goals for each low inflation and stable employment, two goals that may sometimes be contradictory. Cutting rates of interest can boost employment but worsen inflation, while raising rates of interest can do the alternative.

Since inflation began to take off During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fed officials have stressed that their job is just not done until price increases return to the two percent goal.

But given recent jobs news, Powell and his colleagues have done so have modified their messages a bit. This suggests that the upside risks of inflation are lower than the risks related to a weakening labor market.

And in September the The Fed lowered the federal funds rate by 0.5 percentage points, or 50 basis points – the primary cut for the reason that rate hike began in March 2022. The move got here as unemployment had risen 4.3% in July, Job offers fell sharply and broader labor markets weakened.

Increasingly optimistic markets

The stock markets recovered in regards to the news of the rate of interest cut in September. Investors imagine a cut within the federal funds rate, a key rate of interest that dictates mortgage rates, auto loans, bank card rates and residential equity lines of credit, will spur a surge in investment and consumption and send the economy right into a so-called crisis soft landing as a substitute of a recession.

After that meeting, most members of the Federal Reserve Board indicated that they’d accomplish that also support rate of interest cuts by 25 basis points each Meetings in November and December.

Between today's inflation news and this unexpectedly sunny jobs report On October 4th, investors and markets have lots of news to digest as they consider where rates of interest will move in the approaching months. Many proceed to imagine that we may yet see it two cuts of 25 basis points by the tip of 2024 – and me too.

A bunch of residents sit around a game board, a map of the Los Robles Mobile Home Park area in Novato. Their markers – each representing a unique mode of transportation – are scattered along streets and paths. A hearth has broken out nearby. One player has drawn a Chance card and asked if she would love to make use of her turn to notify a neighbor who lives a protracted driveway down.

“My heart says yes, but my head says no,” said player Trish Prokop.

Residents played an experimental emergency preparedness game designed to simulate an evacuation. The Los Robles neighborhood has 213 homes, 320 residents over the age of 55 – and one entrance and exit. Around 60 residents attended the sport night on the neighborhood's clubhouse on Monday.

“Winning isn't that exciting,” said Tom Maiorana, the sport's inventor. “It's more about learning.”

Maiorana, a professor of design on the University of California, Davis, said he developed the sport to prototype complex systems while constructing community resilience. The game is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The aim of the sport is to get participants to take into consideration how they might behave in a stressful situation and what difficult decisions they may need to make. The simulation allows participants to explore these emergency scenarios in a protected, non-judgmental and low-risk environment.

“The real key for me when I think about these kinds of experiences is: How can we make these things that are really scary and hard to think through fun and engaging?” Maiorana said. “So that we can start to make progress on these issues in a way that helps keep people safe and motivates them to take action.”

Participants are encouraged to play as themselves, and the sport is customized to every community. Players can start with some bonus points, but only in the event that they have prepared an emergency bag, have an evacuation plan, and have signed up for the Alert Marin notification system.

Before each round, players draw a random card that mimics a real-world scenario, similar to an empty tank or a roadblock. Some of the cards are specific to every community; Maiorana meets with community leaders to learn concerning the specific challenges they face.

For example, one random card said that the ability had gone out and the neighborhood's electric gate wouldn't open. If someone on the table knew how you can open it with a Phillips screwdriver, everyone kept playing; if not, everyone skipped a round.

Some probability cards give players a bonus, often giving them extra spaces, similar to in the event that they have hardened their house or volunteered locally prior to now 12 months. Additionally, one person plays the “fire” and draws a wind and fire card at the top of every round. This causes the fireplace in the sport to grow larger or smaller, spread to recent areas, or change direction.

For player Marti Cates, the fireplace was particularly bad – the sport board was suffering from pinpoint fires, forcing some players to vary course and reevaluate their evacuation routes.

“The fires are spreading and we're not making very fast progress,” Cates said. “I found it very informative and a safe environment to scope out the terrain.”

Lynda Beth Unkeless, a resident of the neighborhood, learned about Maiorana's game when she heard on the news that Tomales residents were playing it. She thought it is likely to be of profit to Los Robles residents.

After the sport, she realized that she was not nearly as well prepared as she must have been.

“People were just very honest,” said Unkeless. “It was a confrontation with the truth.”

After the sport, Novato Assistant Fire Chief John Dicochea and Novato Police Captain Jim Correa discussed protected evacuation habits and knowledge. They also answered questions that got here up in the course of the game.

“It was fantastic,” said Katie Cartwright, president of the neighborhood association. “Everyone was engaged, which is a good sign.”

Maiorana said he’s studying whether the sport can encourage people to take motion to arrange for an emergency. He hopes it’ll help people understand the importance of short-term goals – things that might be done tomorrow, next week or next month – in constructing momentum.

“It seems to create a real drive, if you will,” Maiorana said.

Joanne Saint-Pierre, a resident of Los Robles, said the sport raised many questions and gave her an inventory of things to follow up on.

“Every time we turned over a card, there was a lot of discussion,” Saint-Pierre said.

At Prokop's table, the Notify Neighbors card sparked a broader discussion about nighttime emergencies. Several players mentioned that residents who wear hearing aids take them off at night and that individuals often turn off their cell phones once they go to bed, limiting the power to receive emergency alerts.

“This raises a lot of questions,” said Prokop. “It's good because it makes you think. For example: Yes, I can go out of the house and to the gate, but then what?”

Originally published: September 25, 2024 at 6:00 am