International
Pandemic, Protests, and Economic Collapse: A Time of Testing for Law Enforcement
Pandemic, Protests, and Economic Collapse: A Time of Testing for Law Enforcement


We are currently living through unprecedented times of epic proportions. But can correct courses of action help?
Q2 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Against the backdrop of a deadly relentless pandemic and its resulting economic and societal collapse, American cities have now been under siege from the backlash of peaceful protests gone horribly wrong. A tipping point was reached as those in the highest positions of authority threatened the use of active duty USA military against its own citizens; in the aftermath of these actions, voices around the country are now calling for the disbanding and restructuring of police forces throughout the USA.
The Most Correct Courses Of Action
These are challenging times for police all over the country. Police are tasked with quelling the rising violence; often put in situations where split second decisions must be made in the heat of the moment: decisions often questioned in the aftermath by administrators and the public with no understanding of the conditions prompting those decisions.
We are now collectively experiencing a severe time of moral testing. We have an opportunity to rise to the challenge with new and better ways of solving our myriad societal flaws. Our challenge is in knowing what the most correct courses of action would be and in having the inner fortitude to carry out those correct courses of action. So — how can we most effectively create positive change during these troubling times of extreme social discord?
When answers elude the mind, those answers can be found within. Each one of us possesses the means to elevate not only our own consciousness but the collective consciousness of our entire country. With greater clarity of mind and a broader perspective, we will then see clearly the most positive courses of action to take in any given situation. Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a proven, effective way to do that.
TM is a non-religious, powerful brain-based technology. Extensive peer-reviewed research shows that is an effective means not only to reduce individual stress but also to effectively and efficiently reduce the high levels of collective stress causing insurmountable societal problems, thereby creating lasting peace. In particular, published scientific research has shown that when even 1% of a given population practices the TM technique, crime rates and other negative social trends drop sharply. And extensive research on the advanced TM-Sidhi program has repeatedly demonstrated that its group practice creates the same measurable transformation in social trends: positive solutions to ongoing problems occur naturally and society shifts from division to unity.
The TM-Sidhi Program
Consider: The TM-Sidhi program was utilized in Washington D.C. over a two-month period in the summer of 1993, where 4000 meditators gathered for an experiment to lower crime. The result, as documented by an independent board of criminologists, was a 24 percent reduction in criminal violence. This profound reduction in social stress also influenced the public approval of the US president, which suddenly changed from a negative trend to a positive trend, as predicted.
If members of police departments were to learn the TM technique they would gain benefits such as increases in calmness, clarity of mind, happiness, creativity, and energy, as proven by hundreds of independent research studies. This evidence-based approach is highly effective for stress-related conditions such as PTSD, brain function, and cardiovascular health. Here is a chart which illustrates the significant improvements in health and discipline experienced by officers and cadets practicing the TM program in the State of Bahia, Brazil. These improvements resulted in improved community relations as measured by a dramatic increase (1,206%) in the number of positive reports received by the Police Department from the citizens of Salvador.
While this approach may seem too simple to be true, sometimes the simplest approach is the most effective. We recommend the following book: An Antidote to Violence: Evaluating the Evidence, by Barry Spivack and Patricia Anne Saunders, which details in depth the extensive supporting scientific research for utilizing TM to dispel violence and to alleviate PTSD. The current times of pandemic, protest, and economic collapse is the perfect opportunity for us to re-evaluate our approaches to all societal issues, and to evaluate for ourselves the usefulness of TM as a powerful tool for police to use in keeping the peace and also for their own mental health under stressful conditions.
Governments have no time to lose as the very fabric of our society collapses around us; we all need to come up with effective solutions to these issues and the resulting societal discord before is too late.
About the Authors:
Arlene J. Schar has served as Dr. Leffler's Executive Assistant at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS) StrongMilitary.org since 2015. She has co-authored and edited many of Dr. Leffler's articles.
Dr. David Leffler served as an Associate of the Proteus Management Group at the Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director at CAMS.
The post Pandemic, Protests, and Economic Collapse: A Time of Testing for Law Enforcement appeared first on ValueWalk.
International
New York Refuses To Give More Money For Offshore Wind Projects As Cheap “Green” Myth Implodes
New York Refuses To Give More Money For Offshore Wind Projects As Cheap "Green" Myth Implodes
By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com,
The New York…

By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com,
The New York state authorities have rejected a request by Orsted, BP, and Equinor for raising the price of electricity in future power purchase contracts featuring offshore wind energy.
Offshore wind developers have been pressured by rising raw material and component costs, and higher borrowing costs, which has cast doubt over the viability of many projects. Indeed, Reuters reported that some projects planned for the waters off the coast of New York may need to be reconsidered in light of the authorities’ decision.
"Sunrise Wind's viability and therefore ability to be constructed are extremely challenged without this adjustment," Orsted told Reuters.
Sunrise Wind is an offshore project with a planned capacity of 924 MW that could supply electricity to 600,000 households. According to Orsted, it would also involve several hundred million dollars in investments in the state and 800 jobs.
"These projects must be financially sustainable to proceed," the president of Equinor Renewables Americas told Reuters, referring to the offshore wind projects the Norwegian energy major is leading in the U.S.
Per Reuters, Equinor is involved in three projects with BP—the 816 MW Empire Wind 1 and the 1.26 GW Empire Wind 2, as well as the Beacon Wind farm, with a projected capacity of 1.23 GW.
Indeed, rising costs have compromised the financial sustainability of many wind power projects and earlier this year led to the cancellation of a large-scale one off the coast of the UK.
Swedish Vattenfall, which led the Norfolk Boreas project, said it would quit it after it saw costs rise by 40%, which made the project unviable.
To tackle the rising cost problem, wind developers have turned to governments, asking for additional tax incentives and higher electricity prices, busting the myth of cheap wind power.
The New York Public Service Commission said that if they had agreed to do what the wind developers wanted, that would have added 6.7% to New Yorkers’ electricity bills, which are already among the highest in the State.
International
Russia Denies Talks Of A Gas Cartel
Russia Denies Talks Of A Gas Cartel
By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com
There are no plans for the creation of a natural gas cartel similar to…

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com
There are no plans for the creation of a natural gas cartel similar to the OPEC cartel in crude oil, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.
“There are no discussions to set up a (gas) cartel,” Novak told RT Arabic TV as quoted by Reuters.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an organization of gas producers and exporters but it is not coordinating supply to the market the way OPEC does. Russia is a member of the GECF and its top energy official Novak said in the televised interview that the gas organization was “mostly about exchanging views.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the halt of most of Russian pipeline gas supplies to Europe, the EU has turned to LNG imports and increased deliveries via offshore pipelines from Norway and North Africa to replace the Russian supply, which accounted for around one-third of all European gas imports before the war in Ukraine.
The EU aims to ditch Russian gas by 2027.
Having lost the European market, Russia has raised pipeline exports to China and its global LNG exports, which are neither sanctioned nor too shunned in gas-starved Europe.
This year, the exports of Russian gas giant Gazprom to Europe have slumped and dragged its profits down. Gazprom has reported a massive drop in its first-half net profit as deliveries to Europe plunged compared to the same period in 2022 when Russia was still supplying pipeline gas to its European customers.
The major drop in Gazprom’s gas deliveries to key customers was due to the halt of Russian pipeline gas exports to nearly all European countries.
Gazprom started to reduce supply via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany in June 2022, claiming an inability to service gas turbine maintenance outside Russia due to the Western sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. This was weeks before the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines at the end of September 2022, which definitively closed all pipeline gas routes of Russia’s gas to Germany.
International
Carnival Cruise Line enforces a key main dining room rule
Cruisers love to debate every aspect of eating in the main dining room, but Carnival has drawn a line in the sand on one key issue.

For most people on a Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, or Norwegian (NCLH) - Get Free Report cruise the main dining room serves as a gathering and reset point.
During the day families and friends may go off in different directions, but on most nights they gather in the main dining room for a multicourse dinner experience that generally takes about 90 minutes.
Cruise lines have more small tables, so in many cases you're not sitting with strangers as often as you would have been in the past, but dinners in the main dining room remain an important part of cruising.
Dinner brings everyone on a trip together and creates shared memories even when days are spent in different places.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line CEO openly talks about adding unpopular fee
The main dining room , of course, is not the only option. You can opt for specialty dining or the buffet, or you can just grab a pizza. Still, with the capacity to serve the entire ship across multiple seatings, the main dining room dinners remain a crucial part of the cruise experience on Carnival, Royal Caribbean (RCL) - Get Free Report, MSC, and Norwegian sailings.
Cruisers, of course, love to debate any changes and rules that are enforced or not enforced in the main dining room. Thousands of social-media posts argue how and whether each cruise line enforces its dress code, with some people wanting to wear shorts, hats or flip-flops while others lament that passengers no longer wear tuxedos on formal nights.
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) - Get Free Report Brand Ambassador John Heald recently touched off a debate, however, when he outlined on his Facebook page one rule that Carnival does enforce.
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Image source: Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty
Don't be late for your Carnival main dining room time
Heald spends most days answering questions from Carnival's customers. Sometimes he shares notes that have been sent to him and solicits public response.
BOOK YOUR CRUISE NOW: Plan a dream cruise vacation at the best possible price.
In this case, he shared what happened to one family when it arrived 40 minutes late to its designated meal time.
On our recent Pride cruise from Rome, we had a table of 10. After long days in port, we did not always make it on time for early seating and came into the main dining room at intervals. This really threw our servers off and therefore, OUR service suffered. One evening, we were all 40 minutes late That is all.. The restaurant manager told us we had to eat at the buffet or come back to see if there was a table available at the late seating.
Carnival, like most cruise lines, offers early and late seatings as well as "anytime" dining options. People who have a specific seating will eat at the same table every night, while people with flexible time seating will eat in a different dining room.
The family that arrived late shared more info with Heald.
That is not acceptable with teenagers. If Carnival puts a cruise together with long stays in ports then expect many to be late. We were punished for being 30 mins late. Unacceptable !!! You are monsters!
Carnival's brand ambassador tried to be understanding but also backed the main dining room management's decision.
I also understand as a parent myself that getting a family ready for dinner on time is not easy, especially after a long day in port. However, the waiter has not just this table to serve but others and moving back to serving appetisers while everyone else is about to be served their main course really can cause a massive dollop of stress for the waiter. If perhaps they had Your Time Dinning or late seating it might have been manageable but early seating, nope, I support what the Maitre D did by asking them to use the Lido or come back later for a table
Heald also posted a poll asking his followers to vote on whether directing guests who were 40 minutes late to their seating to the buffet was a correct choice.
His followers overwhelmingly agreed with the cruise line: 97% agreed with the decision and 3% said the cruise line should have tried to accommodate the family.
SAVE MONEY ON YOUR CRUISE: Let our travel experts get you booked and sailing.
A comment from Pam Miller Downey seemed to illustrate how most people felt about the issue.
"They were late...that means not on time..that means they eat somewhere else. Most people who are 40 minutes late wouldn't even dream of going to the MDR. They would automatially go to Lido or one of the other eateries," she wrote.
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