To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

With SA bonds now rated as junk or non-investment grade, life for ordinary South Africans just got worse.

Fin24 reporter Moeshfieka Botha gives a rundown of the key elements in the finance minister's maiden mini budget, which he earlier presented to Parliament.

This week’s episode of #EntrepreneurCorner features Antoinette Prophy, who talks about starting her own business at the age of 26, and the benefits of surrounding yourself with smart employees.

Ahead of the Black Friday sale, Fin24 presenter Moeshfieka Botha talks to Vincent Hoogduijn, the CEO of e-commerce at Media 24, about discounts, spending your money wisely and Black Friday FOMO.

Watch our live studio analysis as Fin24's Moeshfieka Botha unpacks the 2018 Budget Speech with a number of prominent political commentators and analysts.

By Bishop Arthur Serratelli

Beneath the soil of every continent lie buried the ruins of fallen civilizations. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Mayans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Minoans, Romans: all of them, faded memories of past grandeur and glory. History records the collapse of at least thirty-two major civilizations that once thrived and prospered before our time. 

No great civilization is built in a day. No great civilization disappears in a single instant. Historians try to explain how these civilizations once so great have slowly vanished into the dustbin of history. Weather, economics, population decline, wars, politics are some of the reasons that they offer. But, ultimately, a civilization disappears when it loses its identity, forfeits its unity and jettisons its commitment to the common good.

Today’s relentless front-page news reports of scandal and sin (many times, stale news served up as current), the incessant discord of our politicians, the unending string of acrimonious tweets, and the rage of angry voices make one wonder whether or not we are facing the decline of our own civilization. Has our unity as a nation become so fragmented that it cannot be repaired?

The TV sitcoms, the talk shows, the din of warring cable news channels do little to promote serious discourse. Rather, they seem at times to make us despair of receiving unbiased reporting. They hardly inspire us to respond to the gospel’s clarion call for truth, justice, compassion and charity. Have we lost our commitment to the common good? Are we in the midst of an unstoppable decline of our nation? 

Some say this is the age of tolerance. As a result, good and evil, right and wrong, vice and virtue, truth and error are accepted as equally valid. But, this is not the age of tolerance. Those who are pro-life are marginalized. Those who cherish and protect the life of the child waiting-to-be-born, the elderly and the terminally ill are branded as bigots, unwilling to show compassion to those suffering. Those who accept the sanctity of marriage and human sexuality as designed by the Creator are vilified. We live at a time when some are not only intolerant to our basic Christian values, but are actively engaged to silence Christians, target the Church and reduce her to ruins. 

In an age of relativism, has it become almost impossible to dialogue rationally on the major issues that face us, such as poverty, migration, and the sanctity of life itself ? “Relativism is the order of the day. Good and evil, right and wrong, innocence and guilt – all these binaries are deliberately confused as antipodal extremes are brought into artificial congruence. Moral clarity is muddled and logical cogency diluted. All inherent preference is suspended out of a misguided attempt to achieve balance where there is none” (Brandon Marlon, “The Decline and Fall of Modern Civilization: 8 Simple Steps to Squandering It All,” The Algemeiner, January 22, 2015).

From the Church, we receive a rich heritage of truth, morality and charity. We have solid and clear moral principles given to us by Jesus. These are the solid building blocks with which to construct a just and peaceful society. Could it be that we ourselves are slowly abandoning these principles? How is it possible that those trained in the Catholic faith assume leadership roles in government and then jettison their Catholic morals? How is it that any one of us can remain complacent to the slow moral deterioration of our country? 

Our country will not collapse if we refuse to hand over our future to those who deny the existence of God and live as if this world is all that there is. Our society will not collapse if we are courageous enough to draw on our moral and spiritual heritage to solve the issues that divide us. Our nation will not collapse if we remain true to our identity given to us by our Founding Fathers as a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Our courage as moral individuals to stand for justice, truth and compassion is the antidote to the collapse of our country.
 

A young girl in Bangladesh finds comfort in education in the midst of tragic circumstances.

Young entrepreneur Nayef is taking the skills he learned at OM's computer training centre and starting his own business to provide for himself and his family.

Sylvia discovers how eager believers in rural Bangladeshi villages are for fellowship.

Believers begin a conversation with a local religious leader about Jesus.

Moldova, Sweden, France, Latvia, England and Finland won through from the FIFA Futsal World Cup preliminary round to join the top teams in December's main round.

Rosario, Argentina :: Crewmembers with experience working with least-reached people share a message of unity between churches.

Rosario, Argentina :: Church members from a vulnerable community learn about human trafficking and experience care and respect.

Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus, Argentinian Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia.

Buenos Aires, Argentina :: Maintenance crew share Christ's love with local welders helping repair Logos Hope.

Noy shares her journey of experiencing God's love for herself and forgiving the community that persecuted her family.

Ultimately, the payment of municipal utilities and taxes is the responsibility of the property owner, explains an attorney.

Blok has recently launched its latest development, FOUR ON O.

Defying the notion that business-focused smartphones need to be clunky and thick, Samsung's Galaxy XCover Pro is thin, light, and durable. Use it as a walkie-talkie, a mobile point-of-sale (POS) system, and however you get work done.

Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan briefed a joint meeting of Parliament's Portfolio and Standing Committees on Public Enterprises on Wednesday evening.

Patel was appointed editor of the weekly investigative newspaper in October of 2016.

Section 189 notices commencing a consultation process over proposed retrenchments at SAA were procedurally unfair, the Labour Court found on Friday.

The high-end discrete graphics cards will reportedly target the PC gaming market and data centers, putting pressure on AMD and Nvidia. Intel hired a former AMD exec to lead the effort.

The old NATO bunker in Germany was acquired in 2013 and then turned into a heavily-secured data processing center for illegal activities linked to organized crime and the dark web.

South Carolina grants Google permission to pump up to 549 million gallons of groundwater every year to cool servers at its Berkeley County data center.

The House appropriations committee voted Wednesday to advance a bill providing a slight funding increase for the U.S. Department of Education, bringing overall funding to about $71 billion.

Elev8 Baltimore sees the impact relationships and out of school time programs have on one student's life.

Everyone's thinking about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and wondering if there are any cases near where they live. I recently used SAS Software to create a dashboard with a world map showing which countries had reported cases. And now that the virus has spread around the world, a world/country-level [...]

The post Tracking the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States appeared first on Graphically Speaking.

Now that COVID-19 is spreading in the US, I thought it might be helpful to view the data at a more granular level. Follow along as I plot the county data on a map and discuss how the color-binning can influence people's perception of the data. Maps like this can [...]

The post Tracking Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the US at the state/county level appeared first on Graphically Speaking.

Gianluigi Buffon won his 175th and final Italy cap on Monday, a record for a European. Could that soon be under threat, though? We check out the top ten.

The Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) today announced that 17 communities and scattered sites will receive funds from the state’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). More than $2.85 million will be divided amongst the municipalities of Kent and Sussex Counties for housing rehabilitation, water/sewer hookups, demolition, a planning study, street repair, curb/sidewalk installation, and administration to benefit low- to moderate-income families and individuals.

Governor Markell will attend the ribbon cutting ceremony at Heron Run Apartments in Smyrna.

DSHA has partnered with the Department of Education (DOE) to offer reduced interest rates on mortgages for teachers in the Delaware Talent Cooperative, a group of high performing educators who have committed to work in schools with a significant proportion of disadvantaged students

Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) announces the recipient of the 2013 Top Producing Lender Award - Trident Mortgage. Last year, Trident Mortgage successfully secured more than $29 million in mortgage loans for 188 families through DSHA’s homeownership programs. This is the fifth year in a row Trident Mortgage has earned DSHA’s Top Producing Lender Award, helping more than 710 families with more than $113 million in DSHA’s mortgages since 2009.

The Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) honored students in the DSHA housing community for achieving academic excellence by making the honor roll and having perfect attendance, with a luncheon and awards ceremony at Polytech High School in Woodside, Delaware.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell, Senator Chris Coons and Newark Mayor Polly Sierer were among the officials who joined representatives from Ingerman today to break ground on Alder Creek, Delaware’s newest affordable housing community. Other attendees included State Representative Paul Baumbach, DSHA Director Anas Ben Addi, HUD Regional Administrator Jane Vincent, Newark Housing Authority Executive Director Marene Jordan, Ingerman Development Principal David Holden and Capital One Vice President Thomas Houlihan.

Residents of the Liberty Court community in Dover joined Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director Anas Ben Addi, Sherani Patterson, Population Health Manager at Nemours, and Cassandra Codes-Johnson, Delaware Division of Public Health’s Director of Community Health to celebrate the kick-off of the Healthy Homes Initiative. Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen, Senator Brian Bushweller, and Representative Darryl Scott were also on hand for the festivities. The initiative promotes Safe Cleaning, which is designed to reduce asthma-related hospitalization by educating residents on asthma awareness, safe cleaning techniques, and pest management. The event featured face-painting for the children, refreshments, and the 4-H Club distributed raffle tickets for door prizes.

Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) and the Delaware Council of Faith-Based Partnerships will be hosting a free Lunch & Learn on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 in the Carvel State Office Building, 3rd Floor Conference Room, at 820 N. French Street, Wilmington, Delaware.

The Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) has been honored by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for outstanding financial reporting. DSHA’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report earned a Certificate of Achievement for the twentieth consecutive year.

This morning, Congressman John Carney (D-DE) visited Liberty Court Apartments in Dover to announce new legislation to improve affordable housing options. The Housing Assistance Reform Act would increase housing options for low-income Americans and help housing authorities raise capital for affordable housing projects. The legislation would expand access to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Moving to Work program from 39 local housing authorities to 60, and eliminate the current unit cap for the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, allowing any eligible housing authority to participate.

Governor Jack Markell joined Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director Anas Ben Addi to announce two new homeownership programs that will help make homeownership more affordable. DSHA-Paid Mortgage Insurance (MI) will give buyers a lower monthly housing payment by removing the requirement that they purchase mortgage insurance if they do not have a 20% downpayment at the time of settlement. The Home Purchase Rehab program will allow buyers to purchase a home at a low interest rate and make repairs and/or energy improvements in one simple loan.

Downtown revitalization efforts in Wilmington, Dover and Seaford continue to gain momentum, with new projects in all three counties slated to receive funding from Delaware’s Downtown Development Districts program.

Changes will offer more housing choice near job centers, quality schools DOVER, DE — To ensure that all Delawareans have more choice of where to live, the Delaware State Housing Authority is increasing available rental assistance in Areas of Opportunity across the state, allowing families with housing vouchers to move closer to employment centers, quality […]

$4.5 million in grant funding for 11 projects will leverage $130 million in private investment DOVER, DE — Building on progress in Delaware’s downtowns, Governor Jack Markell and the Delaware State Housing Authority announced on Monday that 11 new downtown revitalization projects in Wilmington, Dover and Seaford will receive $4.5 million in grant funding through […]

The Trust Fund helps Delaware veterans cover emergency expenses DOVER, DE – Delaware State Housing Authority employees have raised $1,580 for the Delaware Veterans Trust Fund, an account created in 2013 to help Delaware veterans pay for emergency costs, including medical expenses, utility bills and home repairs. Delaware’s Commission of Veterans Affairs administers the Trust […]

$3.6 million in grant funding for 16 projects to leverage $38.6 million in private investment MILFORD – Building on progress in Delaware’s downtowns, Governor Jack Markell and the Delaware State Housing Authority announced on Tuesday that sixteen new downtown revitalization projects in Harrington, Milford, Dover, Smyrna and Wilmington will receive $3.56 million in grant funding […]