Flexco introduces Natural Elements, a new line of wood vinyl plank products available in 4” by 36” formats in 18 colors and a luxury vinyl stone tile available in 18” by 18” sizes in eight colors.

The Reclaimé Collection’s new line extensions offer the visual and charm of a floor constructed from reclaimed, vintage wood in a laminate flooring construction, according to Quick-Step.

NPR's Steve Inskeep asks the Brookings Institution's Jon Valant about President-elect Trump's campaign promise to close the Department of Education.

Brock Lesnar after losing his championship in the main event of Wrestlemania 31.; Credit: WWE

World Wrestling Entertainment held their annual Wrestlemania show last weekend in Northern California, the culmination of another year's worth of spectacle. According to the company, it was their highest grossing event of all-time, drawing $12.6 million, with an official attendance placing it fifth on their list of all-time crowds for the event. The show was headlined by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar going up against up-and-coming star (and a relative of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) Roman Reigns.

WWE Network

It comes at a time when the company has embarked on a new way of making money: their over-the-top online programming provider, the WWE Network, where fans can pay $9.99 a month to see programming including what formerly used to cost $45 for most shows and $60 for Wrestlemania. They're one year in now on gambling that enough fans will want the Network that it will ultimately make them more money in the long-term, despite losing that pay-per-view revenue. Wall Street doesn't appear to be buying it — after announcing the day after Wrestlemania that they'd hit 1.3 million subscribers, WWE's stock took a significant loss.

"The point is not whether it's real or if it's staged. The point is, are you entertained by it, or not?" former WWE announcer Jim Ross told KPCC in an interview. WWE is looking for more fans to be entertained enough to plunk down $9.99 for all the pro wrestling content they want.

NXT

They're also in a transitional period with their audiences. They've launched a new show that's only on the Network called "NXT," turning their minor league into a program targeting hardcore pro wrestling fans with a different style of show than the more family-targeted "Raw" and "Smackdown." It's also where they groom potential future stars, many of whom seem to break the mold of some of the traditional stars on WWE's main roster.

They're signing up talent that's been getting buzz on the independent circuits, trying to create their own underground movement that hopefully spells money, and taking the NXT brand on tour for the first time. On the Raw after Wrestlemania, several NXT stars made their debut on the main roster. That follows a sell-out crowd (albeit at a smaller 5,000 seat venue) on the Friday night before Wrestlemania for a non-televised NXT show.

Give Divas a chance

WWE also faces cultural forces pushing them in new directions, including a difference in how society deals with gender. When WWE executive Stephanie McMahon, daughter of the famed Vince McMahon, tweeted in support of Patricia Arquette's speech calling for greater equality for women at the Academy Awards, one of their own wrestlers, AJ Lee, responded by publicly calling Stephanie McMahon out on Twitter for not promoting the women in her own company equally and paying them less than the male stars.

AJ tweet 1

AJ tweet 2

Of course, the women in the company aren't given the same prominence as the men in part because it's felt that they won't make the company as much money. Still, it forced WWE's hand and Stephanie McMahon and the company as a whole publicly embraced the idea of giving the women (who WWE brands as "divas") a chance with the Give Divas A Chance movement (and accompanying trending hashtag).

What's next

The women have been promoted nearly equal to the men in that underground NXT league, but only time will tell if it continues to trickle upward. Wrestlemania didn't seem to show huge promise of that happening, with the one women's match of the show only getting a few minutes in the ring. However, the show also included a high-profile storyline with UFC female fighter and champion Ronda Rousey alongside the Rock, going up against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, so there appears to be the room for women in prominent positions when they have the right storyline.

Whether WWE is able to wade through these forces of change to make more money — and perhaps regain some of the cultural currency that they've lost since becoming a monopoly and purchasing their top competition in 2001 — remains to be seen. They've stayed relatively steady despite a challenge from UFC, which many see as being what pro wrestling would be like if WWE didn't present fictional  They'll have to hope that giving new stars, including "divas," a chance will take them to another level.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

I know these Presidential debates aren’t debates in the historical sense.  Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing how both men do on a topic of immense complexity.  Is Mitt Romney going to be more forthcoming about what tax deductions he’d want cut to keep his tax reform plan from ballooning the deficit?  Will President Obama  give more detail about how he would improve the economy, short of a government stimulus that could never get through a GOP Congress?

I’ll be live tweeting during the debate.  Join me @AirTalk #debates.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer at Siemens AG, Peter Koerte said, “Data centres are growing significantly, double-digit around the world.”

The long-awaited final rule by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on gluten-free labeling was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 5. This voluntary rule became effective on Sept. 4, with the compliance date set for Aug. 5, 2014. 

Nadia Leonelli, general manager of clean-label, non-GMO, gluten-free Element Snacks, talks about the company’s background, growth and future.

Just over a third of respondents reported increased revenue last year from 2012.

Salt-free water softeners

A lot to look forward to in 2017. How did 2016 treat you: ???? or ????? (at San Francisco, California)

Alison Wildish, Head of Web Services, University of Bath follows up her plenary talk from last year entitled "Let the students do the talking..." which stimulated lot of debate. She spoke of my experiences at Edge Hill University and the success she'd had as a result of a more 'open' approach to Web content and services. In general the community were encouraged by our approach and many claimed to find it inspiring yet others, from the larger and research-led Universities, suggested "... it all sounds very good but Edge Hill is a new University so it HAS to focus on marketing... it's different for us". So twelve months on and now sitting on the other side of the fence, working in a research-led institution at the University of Bath, She will reflect on her previous talk and report on whether or not her approach and vision has changed. She'll be answering the questions many of you wish to ask: Is it just 'easier' to get things done in a new University? Should your vision for the web be dictated by the type of institution you are? Having moved to a research-led University is she now eating her words?

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed Australia's triple-A credit rating and stable economic outlook, stating that the sovereign credit ratings on Australia benefit from the country's strong institutional settings, its wealthy and resilient economy, and a high degree of monetary and fiscal policy flexibility. “These factors provide Australia with a strong ability to absorb large economic and financial shocks, as was demonstrated during the global recession in 2009,” S&P said.

The Lookout by Sally Caldwell Fisher is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to pcs

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/opinion/climate-change-politics-trump-cop29.html By David Wallace-Wells When the COP29 climate conference comes to an end next week, it will have concluded without an appearance by President Biden. This is not because Donald Trump just won the election, supplanting the outgoing American head of state on the world stage. The president-elect isn’t attending, either. Neither is Vice President […]

The character design for Futurama's Fry originally looked too much like a certain character from The Simpsons, but a simple fix gave them enough leeway.

Seven years since You Were Never Really Here debuted at Cannes and with many false starts in-between, Lynne Ramsay is finally set to return. The Martin Scorsese-produced Die, My Love began shooting in recent months with Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, and LaKeith Stanfield, and today first stills of Lawrence and Pattinson have been revealed. An […]

The post First Look at Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love Featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson first appeared on The Film Stage.

Breaking down the matchups in six key areas of Sunday's Week 11 game between the Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders.

Homebuilding sector analysts at Raymond James and Associates see mortgage rates remaining “higher for longer,” given the outcome of the election.

Outlook on Mac - When someone @ mentions your name, Outlook will skip to that line when showing a short snippet in your inbox.

Vittorio D’Onofri has been snapping photos of muxes — those who were registered as male at birth but identify as female or neither male nor female — for more than 20 years…

In advance of Black Friday, looking for e-drums that fit particular criteria...

I'm looking for a set of e-drums that I can basically learn to play on. My criteria:

- mesh heads
- Can connect to a computer for recording (I want to accompany myself on guitar and bass, eventually)
- Inexpensive (<$1000)
- Most importantly, has some kind of learning mode! My favorite kind of drumming-but-not-really in the past was playing Rock Band. So any kind of mode where I can play along with patterns or more would be great. Not expecting anything that will make me amazing, just something to make practice more interesting, really.

Any suggestions?

Like many people here in the United States, my spouse and I are not happy about the recent election here. But we did not get here without precedent; for example, the Nixon administration and Spiro Agnew specifically were very aggressive in demonizing the press as political enemies for reporting on the corruption rampant within that administration. What are some good videos we can watch with other (sympathetic) family members to help them understand the historical underpinnings of our current situation? Some examples of the sort of thing I am talking about below the fold:

Stanley Karnow's Vietnam: A Television History

BBC's Oppenheimer

American Experience's series on LBJ

So 20th century (and earlier, especially slavery/slavers' rebellion related) US history with a political bent, even if politics isn't the main thrust. As always, thanks in advance.

The recent discovery of the largest drug lab in Canada’s history highlights the ongoing expansion and sophistication of Canadian drug gangs. The gangs have developed international connections with Mexican drug cartels and U.S. criminal organizations.

The post Police Photos Reveal Inside Look at Canada’s Largest Drug Lab appeared first on Breitbart.

The 2021 Around The Island Powerboat and Jet Ski Race took place this weekend, and you can view all our coverage of the popular event here, and take a look at some virtual 3D popup versions of images from the race below, offering a different view of the fast boats and the island’s always beautiful waters. Related […]

The 3D pop up graphics below aim to give you a three dimensional look at the 2022 Around the Island Powerboat Race event held on Sunday [Aug 7]. You can view all our coverage of the Around the Island Powerboat Race event here, view past 3D photo galleries here, and view ‘virtual art’ themed videos here […]

The Bermuda Motocross season recently resumed at the Southside Motor Sports Park, with the 3D pop up graphics below helping to highlight some of the event’s action. Cassidy Spencer Furbert won the Peewee Class, while the 50cc Class winner was Tinho Tucker Wall. Ajahni Foggo won the 65cc Class, with RJ Pitcher claiming the 85cc […]

In This Article: TOKYO (Reuters) - Mizuho Financial Group reported a 62% jump in second-quarter net profit on Thursday on strong lending demand and higher margins helped by a July interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan. Japan's third-largest lender by assets reported a group net profit of 277…

Inflation accelerated slightly for the month of October, sparking concern the Fed could pause its interest rate-cutting cycle in January.

At a time when Bitcoin has reached its all-time high and a meme coin rally is underway, Popcat (SOL) has… Continue reading Will $POPCAT’s Decline Lead to a Rebound, or Should Investors Look to $FLOCK for Potentially Bigger Gains?

The post Will $POPCAT’s Decline Lead to a Rebound, or Should Investors Look to $FLOCK for Potentially Bigger Gains? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok are obviously two very different players, but attack coach Tony Brown views them as the same when it comes to driving the Springbok attack.

Rassie Erasmus is ruthlessly building a squad that can overcome the inevitable losses of decorated veterans and others to come, and still dominate the matches that matter most in world rugby, writes Lungani Zama.

The Sabres are ready to make a significant move.

Pittsburgh looks to erase Monday from their memory as they look ahead to their matchup against the Detroit Red Wings

Brait is looking to sell UK fashion retailer New Look between October 2025 and March 2026 with a Virgin Active sale or initial public offering (IPO) targeted a year later, after which the rest of its operations will be wound down.

Eclectic interiors, bold cocktails, and flavours that pack a punch - Chor Bizarre has reopened, and it's better than ever.

Microsoft has announced that it will end support for Mail, Calendar, and People apps for Windows by the end of the year. It is migrating users to the new Outlook for Windows app, where they will be able to access their local emails, calendar events, and stored contacts on a single platform — services previously available on three separate apps.

Taipei, Taiwan — Chinese President Xi Jinping departs on a nine-day diplomatic tour to Latin America on Wednesday, during which he will inaugurate a Chinese-financed megaport in Peru and attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Lima and the G20 Summit in Brazil. Analysts say the trip is part of China’s attempt to expand its global influence and present itself as “a responsible global power” at a time when countries around the world brace for uncertainties following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on November 5. “The trip is especially significant since Latin America is viewed as ‘the backyard’ of the United States; and [since] the next U.S. president is likely to return to a unilateral approach in world affairs, it provides China with the opportunity to expand its influence around the world as a champion for global development and multilateral cooperation,” said Zhiqun Zhu, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at Bucknell University. During his state visit to Peru, Xi will inaugurate the $3.5 billion Chancay port with his Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte on Thursday. Situated 80 kilometers north of the Peruvian capital Lima, the port has a maximum depth of 17.8 meters and is expected to become a major trading hub between Latin America and China. “The port will become the largest deep-water port in South America and it will drastically reduce the time needed to ship products from Peru to China,” Leland Lazarus, associate director of national security at Florida International University, told VOA in a video interview. China’s state-run Cosco Shipping Corporation has a majority 60% stake in the port and a 30-year concession to operate the terminal. According to China’s official data, the port can handle up to one million containers and 160,000 vehicles in the first year of operation.  The port is among 17 ports globally where China holds a majority stake, according to the Council on Foreign Relations and is one of more than 100 port projects built globally under China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative. The port is expected to become a major hub for exporting critical commodities such as lithium, copper, iron and soybeans to China more efficiently. Latin American countries including Peru, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador, which had a combined export of $135 billion to China in 2023, could all benefit from the launch of the Chancay Port.  “There is a huge gap in infrastructure development in Global South countries and Western powers are not active in helping [to] fill the gap. [As a result,] China’s investments in such large infrastructure projects are welcomed by host countries,” Zhu at Bucknell University told VOA in a written response. While Latin American countries will likely welcome the inauguration of the Chancay Port, the U.S. has warned about the potential for the port to be used for military purposes by China. That Washington claims could threaten its interests in Latin America.  “It could be used as a dual-use facility, it’s a deepwater port,” said Laura Richardson, the outgoing chief of the U.S. Southern Command told the Financial Times in a recent interview, adding that the Chinese navy could use the port in a scenario that, she said, fits “Beijing’s playbook.” Some experts say it’s difficult for China to deploy its naval vessels to Latin America in the near future and that Peru is unlikely to let Beijing militarize the Chancay port. “Currently, the Chinese navy is not capable of projecting its power across the Pacific, and since Peru still needs to maintain its relationship with the U.S., Peruvian authorities won’t allow the port to be militarized,” Kung Kwo-Wei, an expert of Latin American affairs at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA by phone. However, Lazarus told VOA that Beijing’s activities in other ports around the world suggest it could still use the Chancay port for military purposes in the future. “When looking at Chinese behaviors [at other ports around the world], such as the Port of Bata in Equatorial Guinea and the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia, Chinese state-owned enterprises would promise to expand the ports for commercial purposes, yet there have been allegations that there’s been construction for what looks like military purposes on these areas,” said Lazarus. In addition to the Chancay Port, Peruvian Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told Reuters news agency in an exclusive interview that Beijing and Lima plan to sign around 30 agreements, including an updated free trade agreement, during Xi’s visit.  Kung in Taiwan said these developments show that China’s investment in Latin America is now focusing on logistical infrastructure and access to minerals from Latin America. “China relies heavily on ports and logistical infrastructure to ensure it can export and import commodities at a steady pace, and as Beijing continues to expand its renewable energy industries, its appetite for minerals from Latin America will also grow,” Kung told VOA. As the U.S. could possibly adopt a more isolationist foreign policy approach during Trump’s second term, Lazarus said Xi will use the upcoming APEC and G20 summits to amplify the message that China is a more consistent global power than the U.S. “While the U.S. is going to potentially look inward with another Trump administration, [the summits] are Xi’s big opportunities to show that China is playing a much more global role,” he told VOA. However, some experts say it remains unclear whether China will achieve its intended goals. “Beijing will double down on the image of being the leader of the Global South and some countries will be attracted by that message,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore. “But others who are more clear-eyed and who have followed developments from the Belt and Road Initiative and other Chinese projects will recognize that China is just another great power,” he told VOA in a phone interview. 

Entire continents, even in the tropics, seem to have been under sheets of ice.

Longtime Democratic Party strategist James Carville defended his past comments warning that the Democratic Party will lose male voters if it does not change its messaging.

Adapted from Ariana Harwicz’s 2017 novel, ‘Die, My Love’ is set in rural America and follows the unraveling of a woman’s psyche, with Lawrence portraying a woman caught between her husband and lover

Wouldn't it be nice if you could go out for a run without fear of being harmed? Technology has a way of making us both safer and at greater risk while out and about, but a new tool from Strava might help with the former. Strava has announced Night Heatmaps, a feature that shows which areas have more activity — or "heat" — between sunset and sunrise. Yes, Heatmaps is the feature that accidentally revealed the location of US military bases. 

The update is a welcome one with sunset getting very early in some areas of the world, while night seems to last late into the morning. It also comes alongside a new Weekly Heatmap, which shows heat levels in an area over the last seven days. Again, this can help you know which paths will have the most people, but at all times of the day. While this added awareness is great for knowing where to go, some people might also purposely choose to avoid the busiest times, for fear of unwanted attention (there's no winning here). 

In either case, the Night and Weekly Heatmaps are only available on subscriber accounts (a membership will cost you $12 monthly or $80 annually). It's also worth noting that Heatmaps pull solely from public activities on Strava, so you're not getting the full story of how many people go where. 

Night and Weekly Heatmaps join the Global Heatmaps (also subscriber exclusive) and your Personal Heatmap. You can access any of them through the Map tab and filter the Heatmap by activity type. 

Amazon has released a new trailer for Secret Level, the upcoming Prime Video show that tells stories set in the worlds of beloved, popular or even upcoming games (and also Concord). Given that it’s an anthology series, there’s unlikely to be an overarching plot, so there’s not much to grok here from a narrative perspective. And the sooner there's a mortarium on trailers being soundtracked to that overused M83 song, the better.

However, the visuals sure do look pretty. The quality of the animation is genuinely impressive. At least in some cases, the art style apes that of the game the episode is based on. That’s particularly true for what we see of the Sifu episode, but Secret Level is not, for instance, retaining Spelunky's aesthetic.

Other episodes are based on the likes of Armored Core, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, Pac-Man, The Outer Worlds 2, Unreal Tournament and Warhammer 40,000, along with "various" PlayStation Studios games. One of those is Concord, which Sony unceremoniously killed for good after its disastrous debut.

Some major mainstream stars have lent their voices and even likenesses to the series, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, Keanu Reeves (who appears in the Armored Core episode), Ariana Greenblatt and Gabriel Luna. Video game stalwarts, including The Last of Us stars Merle Dandridge and Laura Bailey, are involved too.

Secret Level — which is from the creative team behind Netflix's Love, Death and Robots — will debut on December 10. More episodes will be released over the following week.

Are you a self-insured employer looking for ways to reduce healthcare spend? Join us for a webinar on December 11 in which HR executives will share their insights.

The post Where Can Self-Insured Employers Look to Find Healthcare Savings? appeared first on MedCity News.