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IrisImages Earnings season is winding down, but the holiday-shortened Thanksgiving week still brings quarterly updates from several high-profile companies. Tech leaders like CrowdStrike ( CRWD ), Zoom Video Communications ( ZM ), HP ( HPQ ) and Dell Technologies ( DELL
Will Utah State or Boise State forfeit vs. San Jose State in the Mountain West semifinals?Congress Ousts Energy and Mines Minister Amid Miners' ProtestsThe Southwestern Oregon Community College men’s basketball team won its first four games, all with over 100 points. The Lakers finished the season-opening tournament at Treasure Valley with a 103-71 win over the host schools. Six Lakers scored in double figures in the win, with Colby Whicker leading the way with 19. Jett Lundberg had 17, Kam DuPaix 14, Kelby Jessen 13, Connor Wilson 12 and Kaison Herrmann 11. Jessen also had 13 rebounds in the win. SWOCC won its home opener against the Simpson University JV team, 109-63. In that win, seven Lakers scored in double figures, with DuPaix scoring 19 points, Whicker 17, Jessen 14, Julius Adlawan 13 and Cole Roberts, Quinton Christman and Wilson 10 each. The Lakers were at the Corban University Gold squad on Sunday (the score was not available) and this week head to the Red Devil Classic at Lower Columbia, starting against Everett on Friday. The Lakers lost their last game at the Titan Classic in Eugene and then their first two games in the Clackamas Pre-Thanksgiving Invitational. The score was not available for third game, against Bellevue. Treasure Valley beat the Lakers 108-54. Bree Turner had 21 points, Raegan Bruner 16 and Kaydence Apkaw 11 for the Lakers in the loss. At the Clackamas tournament, the host Cougars topped the Lakers 88-45. Turner had 12 points and Kali Hibbert nine for SWOCC in the loss. Traditional power Umpqua topped the Lakers struggled with their shooting all night and fell 78-50. Turner had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Bruner had 13 points and nine boards and Jessi Knudsen had 11 points in the loss. SWOCC shot just 20 percent overall and 19 percent from 3-point line in the loss. The Lakers are now off until two games at Blue Mountain on Dec. 6-7, against Blue Mountain and Yakima Valley. SWOCC will host its own crossover tournament Dec. 13-15, with games against Treasure Valley, Olympic and Highline. SWOCC beat Big Bend 32-21 for its first win of the regular dual meet season, after earlier losses to Corban (44-9), Umpqua (24-21) and Clackamas (31- 15). The Lakers got pins by Ryo Horikawa (141 pounds) and Hakuilua Paaluhi (157) and a technical fall by Joseph Downing (165). Mario Deanda-Lopez won his match and SWOCC got two other wins by forfeits. At the Mick Clock Open in Forest Grove, Deanda-Lopez finished fifth at 174 pounds for the Lakers, going 4-2 during the event. Logan Clayburn finished sixth at 285 pounds, winning three matches to reach the semifinals before losing in the semifinals, consolation semifinals and fifth-place match.
Strategists Bet Canada’s TSX Will Hit 28,000 Next Year as Rates FallI don’t know about you, but I’m done with Christmas already. The stockings have been stuffed away, the tree is already down, and the holiday music has been turned off. When I’m watching a movie, I don’t want to see a single red Santa suit or green mistletoe. I’m over it. If you’re like me, and need a good movie (or three) to watch this weekend, this list is for you. Max has plenty of non-holiday films for you to stream, and this batch, which includes an underrated sports rom-com and a creepy sci-fi flick, is just the ticket to get you over Christmas and prepare for 2025. (Oh, and if you’re also going to the movie theater this weekend, check out Nosferatu . It’s great!) We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix , the best movies on Hulu , the best movies on Amazon Prime Video , the best movies on Max , and the best movies on Disney+ . Leatherheads (2008) Was the world clamoring for a 1920s football rom-com? The answer, then and now, is a resounding no, but we got Leatherheads nonetheless. The 2008 movie didn’t do so well at the box office, and it’s not really remembered today. It’s not a bad film, though, and it features an appealing cast (George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, and John Krasinski form the love triangle) and immersive period detail to appeal to those looking for an old-fashioned romance. Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly (Clooney) has a big problem. It’s 1925, and he’s trying to make pro football a viable, profitable sport. His team, the Duluth Bulldogs, is struggling, and the idea of guys throwing pigskins at each other doesn’t appeal to enough people. Enter Carter “The Bullet” Rutherford, a WWI hero and star player for Princeton University, whom Dodge is convinced can save his team ... and the league. But a nosy reporter, Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) thinks Carter is full of baloney, and is determined to expose him, and ruin Dodge’s dream of playing pro football. If you liked Clooney’s 2023 movie The Boys in the Boat , you’ll like Leatherheads . It has a similar old-timey feel, with direction so languid, you may just fall asleep. That’s praise, I promise! Krasinski shows the leading man qualities he got to flex in his Amazon John Ryan series, and Zellweger is game (pun intended there) to slip into Jean Arthur’s shoes and play a no-nonsense reporter whose looking to get swept off her feet. Leatherheads is streaming on Max . Splice (2009) AI is all the rage these days, but 15 years ago, it was genetic engineering that dominated the hearts and minds of sci-fi nerds everywhere. Plenty of bad movies were made about the dangers of playing God, but one of the best was Splice , a 2009 sci-fi horror movie that stars two actors who aren’t normally associated with the genre: Oscar winners Adrien Brody ( The Pianist ) and Sarah Polley ( Women Talking ). They star as married scientists Clive and Elsa, who are secretly trying to create a female human-animal hybrid so they can extract the creature’s proteins for medical research. Major problems naturally arise when the creature, named Dren, forms a bond with the two, and rapidly mutates as she grows from an infant to adolescence in a matter of days. As Clive and Elsa’s employers grow suspicious, can they hide Dren from them and the world? And can Dren resist her growing urge to leave and explore her surroundings, possibly endangering the human race? Well, what do you think? Splice ‘s plot may seem obvious, but it takes several major detours, including one I’ve never quite seen in a sci-fi before. Both Brody and Polley elevate the material, and director Vincenzo Natali goes for broke in examining the perverse possibilities of playing with nature’s genes. Splice is streaming on Max . Faye (2024) There are divas, and then there’s Faye Dunaway. The Oscar-winning actress, still best known for her work in Bonnie and Clyde , Chinatown , and Network , has a reputation of being temperamental, with past conflicts with director Roman Polanski, actress Bette Davis, and playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber all contributing to her being labeled “difficult.” But as Faye reveals, in archival clips with her peers and her own candid interview that took place recently, she had her reasons. And that’s what makes Faye so fascinating to watch. This isn’t a documentary to whitewash her sins, but rather to explain them, own them, and recontextualize them. The result is a fascinating portrait of a women who wasn’t difficult as much as she was a perfectionist. If that label was acceptable for her male collaborators and peers like Warren Beatty and Stanley Kubrick, well, why not her? Faye is streaming on Max .
Pathstone Holdings LLC Buys 295 Shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)3 underrated (HBO) Max movies you should watch this weekend (December 27-29)Brit, 25, found dead in water at Greek port after ‘losing consciousness while diving’ as instructor & assistant arrested
In my experiences on the field, I found that in the employment pyramid of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), field workers constituted the foundational layer. These individuals, often referred to as social organisers, field officers or field coordinators, were actively engaged with the communities they served. They were dedicated and served as organic intellectuals within their areas. However, despite their crucial role, they often went unrecognised by key stakeholders, including donors and top management. This lack of recognition manifested in inadequate pay, insufficient learning opportunities and the absence of well-defined career paths. Moreover, this issue was pervasive across the sector and was not limited to a specific type of NGO. It persisted regardless of the organisations’ noble missions, robust bank statements, or the geographical diversity of their operational areas. Although these NGOs addressed various community issues, the well-being of their field staff—who were essential to their success—was frequently overlooked or deliberately ignored. I vividly recalled that a well-known NGO leader used to say that if staff were to be trained, then they would leave the organisation. Therefore, the view was that there was no need to send them for training. However, in most organisations, field staff often found that promises of support did not translate into tangible benefits. My field notes, based on discussions with these workers, confirmed that their experiences reflected a broader trend of neglect. All of them said that their leadership never thought about how that attitude would impact staff morale and self-esteem. They listed the areas of neglect as: opportunities for foreign training, international exposure and financial benefits. These observations also stemmed from my experiences with service-providing organisations in the irrigated areas and desert pockets of Sindh. Interestingly, regarding the neglect of field staff, leaders or founders often told a different story that typically began with a claim that their organisations religiously practice the principle of equal opportunity. Curiously, none of them acknowledged the injustice, despite the presence of framed pictures of their international trainings and exposure in their cozy offices, which were enough to contradict their statements. Throughout my work with various multi-sector organisations, I consistently found that they all faced two persistent challenges: financial insecurity and high staff turnover. As a result, many organisations struggled to establish themselves as sustainable institutions, and frequent staff changes hindered the retention of institutional memory. Additionally, the culture of reading and documentation was often discouraged, leading to a lack of continuity in practices and knowledge transfer. Furthermore, compounding these issues, leaders often fell victim to a ‘horizontal scale syndrome’—a misguided focus on spreading programs to other areas—prioritising the acquisition of more funds over their primary responsibility to lead and envision a better future for the community. It was a misconception that scaling up programs or expanding geographical coverage automatically led to increased funding and retention of trained human resources. Instead, NGO leaders often shifted their focus from being change-makers to merely fund mobilisers. Consequently, the organisation’s vision became secondary, and the quest for funds and donor approval took precedence. NGO Takes 'Aim' At Pakistan's Biggest Problems Of Education, Clean Water Moreover, I noted that financial insecurity was deeply entrenched in organisational culture, and discussions about cost-saving measures frequently dominated senior staff meetings. A troubling practice emerged where senior staff advocated for the dual use of the same field staff across different projects to save on salary costs. This approach neglected the physical and emotional toll it took on employees. As a result, field staff were often overburdened with demands from both the organisation and donors, leading to exhaustion. I recalled that many young, idealistic graduates who entered the development sector with dreams of effecting change soon realised that their roles often revolved around organising donor visits and facilitating community meetings. Ultimately, they became mere instruments for maintaining the NGO’s operations and implementing ineffective projects dictated by donors. A stark reality set in: field staff felt that neither organisational leaders nor donors were genuinely committed to meaningful change. Instead, they often found themselves perpetuating the status quo, fostering dependency, and masking government inefficiency and corruption. For example, field staff were compelled to report on successes that were fabricated or exaggerated to satisfy donor requirements, further entrenching the cycle of superficial engagement. On the ground, staff served as dedicated community mobilisers and organic intellectuals within their areas. However, despite their crucial role, they often went unrecognised by key stakeholders, including donors and top management In my long association with the development sector, I observed significant differences in the needs of male and female field staff regarding accommodation, travel arrangements and community engagement. For instance, providing separate accommodations, transportation, and sanitation facilities could enable women to perform their roles more effectively. One female staff member shared two pressing issues: the lack of separate toilets and the community’s insensitivity, which forced her and her colleagues to dispose of sanitary products discreetly at night. Despite repeated requests for proper disposal facilities, the organisation consistently denied these needs. Pakistan’s Aerospace Sector: Driving Innovation, Security, And Economic Growth In another instance, a senior female staff member recounted a distressing experience where she was abruptly called back from maternity leave to accompany a donor on a project visit. Tearfully, she expressed her frustration that even in the presence of women on the donor team who advocated for women’s rights, no one acknowledged her challenging situation. Similarly, in a separate incident, a male colleague was pressured to return from his wedding leave because of donor visits. Such experiences illustrated a broader culture where staff members were discouraged from taking necessary leaves or advocating for better working conditions. When employees voiced their needs, they were often labelled as demanding or ungrateful. Additionally, I noted how the attitudes of senior male staff could negatively impact the reputations of unmarried female field workers. These perceptions could hinder their opportunities for marriage, while many staff members, constantly shifting from one project to another, found themselves overly engaged and lacking the time to explore personal relationships. Many young women were lured by their seniors or leaders of organisations with promises of job security, stability and career advancement. Consequently, some ended up in relationships with older or already married influential individuals within the NGOs, - resulting in complicated dynamics affected their professional and personal lives. Almost all NGOs, regardless of their size, vision, or geographical scale, lacked structured plans for career progression and employment security for their field staff. None of these organisations had implemented regular promotion pathways, leading to intellectual stagnation and discouraging dialogue on change theories and innovative ideas. The absence of these frameworks left field staff feeling unsupported and undervalued. Unfortunately, the culture of centralisation, fear and unnecessary pressure from superiors further hindered their professional growth and eroded happiness in their lives. One female staff member told me that in their organisation, giggling was considered indecent, and even light makeup was noticed with a different message. Gender Gap In Climate Leadership: Why COP29 Must Elevate Women And Young Girls In Climate Action I once posed a question to Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, (a well-known development practitioner and founder of the Orangi Project in Karachi, about the future of field staff. Instead of a direct answer, he likened them to horses in a city park—ill, wounded and worn out, with their eyes covered by blinkers, trained to see only in one direction. In this analogy, field staff were burdened with an overwhelming number of implementation tasks, preventing them from noticing changes in their environments or learning new skills. When leaders eventually recognised their staff's exhaustion, they may have chosen to let them go, because they were not capable to meet expectations. Moreover, the lack of professional development opportunities left field staff feeling stagnant and unmotivated. For example, a field officer who had been with an NGO for several years mentioned that he had not received any training or capacity-building opportunities to enhance his skills. As a result, he felt stuck in his role, unable to contribute meaningfully to the organisation’s mission or to his own professional growth. This situation was common, as many organisations failed to invest in the continuous development of their staff, leading to a workforce that was disengaged and disenchanted. Let me state that the burnout among field staff in the development sector was a multifaceted issue influenced by organisational practices, leadership priorities and the broader socio-political context. For genuine community development to occur, a fundamental shift was necessary in how organisations supported their field staff. This shift must have ensured their well-being, professional growth, and capacity to foster meaningful change within their communities. I think it is important, even if NGOs are motivated only by their own survival, to prioritise the well-being of their staff by implementing structured career pathways, providing regular training and professional development opportunities, and fostering a culture of open communication where staff can voice their needs without fear of retribution. Furthermore, organisations should recognise and address the unique needs of female staff to create a more inclusive and supportive work environment. Kohistan's Girls Face An Educational Crisis I think by taking these steps, NGOs can not only enhance the effectiveness of their field staff but also contribute to a more sustainable and impactful development sector. Only then can we hope to break the cycle of burnout and disengagement, allowing field staff to thrive and fulfil their potential as agents of change within their communities.The Digital Dialogue: Freedom Network convenes stakeholders for Internet governance, media sustainability
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is solidifying his standing as a pro-Israel politician with the New York City mayoral race just months away. Cuomo joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legal team, which is fighting war crime charges from the International Criminal Court, and recently called out the New York Times for its coverage of the murder of a Dubai rabbi. The tactics could be a plan from Cuomo to garner support from the Jewish and pro-Israel community in New York City in a bid to lead the Big Apple, though he'd have to fight through a crowded Democratic field. When asked about Cuomo's plans, a spokesperson didn't deny he would run for mayor and touted his past accomplishments. “This is all premature," Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi told the Washington Examiner. "But New Yorkers know it was Governor Cuomo who raised wages for hundreds of thousands of workers, codified Roe v. Wade into state law before the Supreme Court overturned it, put the strongest gun protections, and paid family leave laws in the nation on the books and built projects previously declared impossible, such as the Moynihan train station, the new LaGuardia and JFK airport, the Second Avenue subway and the Kosciuszko Bridge, all while cutting taxes and reining in spending.” Cuomo spoke at an event for the National Committee for the Advancement of Jewish Education on Sunday. "This is the moment that counts," he said. "This is the moment that is going to be in the history books. ... This is the moment that true friends stand up, shoulder to shoulder, and fight for the state of Israel." According to Jewish Insider, some Jewish leaders and political observers believe Cuomo will run for mayor. Leon Goldberg, an Orthodox business leader in Brooklyn and an ally of Mayor Eric Adams, told the outlet he would “seriously” consider looking at Cuomo if he decided to enter the race. “He’s probably the only normal person there,” he said. Past speculation has been that Cuomo would only enter the race if Adams, who Cuomo considers a friend, declines to run for reelection or resigns under the weight of his corruption charges. However, it's possible that time is running out for Cuomo. The Democratic primary is held in June, about six months from now, and the field of Democrats aiming for Adams's office continues to grow. At least six Democrats, including city comptroller Brad Lander and former city comptroller Scott Stringer, will run in June's primary. Adams has already said he will run for reelection, and his corruption case appears to be heading in the right direction with the election of Donald Trump. Adams has been more friendly to Trump than most Democrats, and Trump appointed a new Southern District of New York attorney. But if Cuomo runs along with Adams, they could split the moderate and pro-Israel vote, allowing a challenger like progressive Lander to triumph, an outcome neither likely wants. A rightward shift in the city, indicated by larger vote shares for Trump in the presidential election, is good for Adams and Cuomo. But both have sustained enough controversy to damage their respective hopes. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Whether that's enough for voters to shy away from them is another story, but Cuomo would be a major contender if he decided to enter the mayoral race. His name recognition alone dwarfs most contenders outside of Adams. Cuomo's entry into the race could reflect a larger shift in New York City politics. Rep.-elect George Latimer defeated Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in New York's 16th congressional District, riding his pro-Israel sentiment to a decisive victory over the skeptical-on-Israel Bowman.2025 Carnival To Be Held From June 11–16
