It’s been heartening to see Democratic introspection following our 2024 election losses. Some Democrats are clinging to the idea that Americans are too mean, selfish or racist to vote for a left-of-center party, but others are realizing our party itself is the problem. If 2024 is a wake-up call, 2025 can be a year of Democratic renewal. We can appreciate the passion of the left but decide the center is better suited to set our agenda. Thoughtful members of the left may realize the country isn’t with them. They may see that a center-left Democratic Party that shares some of their views and wins elections is a better option than ceding ground to a Republican Party with whom they have much less in common. I’m excited for a more centrist Democratic Party and think it’s useful to have a vision the party can adopt or debate. I define centrist Democrats in two ways: first by a mindset, then by a commitment to achievable policies. First, the mindset. Centrist Democrats understand our party doesn’t have all the answers. We recognize that collaborating with conservative partners is a path to better and more sustainable policies. We celebrate our diverse society, including those Americans whose political beliefs don’t comport with our own. We’re willing to settle for incremental progress when the alternative is no progress at all. We don’t automatically oppose Republican policies but accept, modify or reject them based on our analysis of their merits. We don’t impose our views on others but set a constructive example, achieve results, honor our nation and communicate calmly, honestly and well. We do these things because they’re right, and to earn the support of Americans. Our positions respect the aspirational but pursue the achievable. Centrist Democrats are pro-choice, unequivocally in the case of rape and the health of the mother, but accept limitations at the point of fetal viability. We support policies that make it easier for women exercising their reproductive rights to make the choice to continue a pregnancy. On guns, we support universal background checks and red flag laws that remove weapons from people deemed dangerous after careful adherence to due process. We can imagine a country without assault-style weapons but focus on government policies that incentivize the purchase of gun safes and trigger locks, and we seek a partnership with the National Rifle Association to inculcate a culture of responsible gun ownership and training. We believe these reasonable positions on guns do more to save lives than an endless battle about gun prohibitions and confiscation. Centrist Democrats are pro-immigrant and pro-immigration but believe controlling the southern border is necessary. Uncontrolled crossings make a mockery of the government’s authority and validate a culture of lawlessness, where everyone seems able to choose which laws should be followed. Centrist Democrats have compassion for migrants and make efforts to improve conditions in their home countries, but we honor our laws by enforcing them. We believe the free market is a powerful tool to generate wealth and increase living standards. But we don’t believe an unregulated market is best for the American people. We seek a balance that prevents excess but preserves the incentives required to spur investment and innovation. We remember that spending on national defense and social programs is impossible without the revenue generated by the private sector. Centrist Democrats are hesitant to alter the structures of government. Expanding the Supreme Court or eliminating the Senate filibuster might advance our positions in the short term, but we know any gains would be tenuous and reversible when Republicans achieve a majority or decide to expand the Supreme Court and pack it with their own friendly justices. Centrist Democrats support national service and civics education in schools. We believe Americans should be educated in their responsibilities as well as their rights. For Americans to see the beauty of our system they need to understand its tenets. Centrist Democrats know we can teach our children about the faults of our nation without undermining their love of country. And we believe national service can help stitch together a divided nation. While I hope for the revival of a more traditional Republican Party, it’s right in the meantime for Democrats to oppose Republican extremes. In our constitutional system, that’s the job of the minority party. As the Republicans prepare to exercise their electoral mandate, Democrats would do well to focus on the renovation of our party. We can earn our own electoral mandate if we get it right.koi fish tattoo meaning 。

MEXICO CITY — It would take years, if ever, for Mexico to accomplish what incoming U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding to avoid tariffs: stemming the flow of migrants and drugs over the border. That’s why Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s efforts to avoid a full-blown trade war might be more about doing enough for both sides to claim success. Even a quick phone call — two days after Trump threatened 25% tariffs against his southern neighbor — seemed to change the tone: Trump said on social media that the Mexican president agreed to “stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately.” Sheinbaum, meanwhile, assured her constituents that she touted to Trump Mexico’s existing approach to migration, which she stressed respects human rights, and that a new deal to collaborate would avoid new tariffs, without providing specifics. The whole exchange was reminiscent of Trump’s first term, when he threatened to send troops to shut down the border and then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded by sending the national guard to help apprehend migrants. The move had a limited immediate effect, but sent a strong image that proved enough to at least avert tariffs of up to 25% on all imports from Mexico. Trump’s threats have a “dual objective,” said Palmira Tapia, a political scientist currently working for the government of the State of Mexico. The U.S. president-elect, she said, is simultaneously seeking to appeal to his constituents and strengthen his hand in talks on migration, drugs and trade. Sheinbaum also faces two challenges: She now must find a way to appease Trump to avoid tariffs that could hit 11% of Mexico’s gross domestic product, while also avoiding the perception — at home, and in the White House — that she will easily bend to demands from up north. “She’s talking to Trump, but she’s also talking to the Mexican public. It has to do with giving a dignified response before her voters, but at the same time trying to stop Trump,” said Catalina Perez Correa, a researcher at the Supreme Court’s Center for Constitutional Studies. “She’s saying, ‘I’m not going to let myself be stepped on by Trump.’ She’s saving face in front of the Mexican public.” Migration reality Mexico has long been a stomping ground for the U.S. when it comes to migration policy. It’s been tasked under successive U.S. presidents with beefing up its border security, increasing highway checkpoints and removing migrants from freight trains they often board. Even though migration rose far beyond the 2019 levels in the years after Lopez Obrador’s show of militarizing the border, Mexico has remained an at-times willing partner, accepting most of the millions of migrants who were quickly turned away from the U.S. border during the pandemic. But it hasn’t always been eager to help: The Biden administration often viewed AMLO, as the former president was known, as needing frequent reminders of its expectations for him on enforcement. In 2023, Biden Cabinet officials even visited AMLO in Mexico City just days after Christmas to urge him to do more as a record number of migrants reached the border. Under pressure from the White House during the U.S. election, Mexico helped it decrease border crossings by 65% over an 11-month period starting in December 2023. To do so, Mexican authorities have been detaining migrants in the north of the country and busing them south. There, they are forced to wait until they get an official appointment to apply for asylum in the U.S. — which can take months, if it ever happens at all. It’s all resulted in more than double the number of apprehensions of undocumented migrants between January and August compared with a year earlier, although Mexico has deported few. Experts have said that’s creating a humanitarian crisis in some of the southern cities where migrants are shipped off to. It’s also ratcheting up tensions with some locals, who argue that there aren’t enough jobs or resources to accommodate the newcomers. “What they’re doing now in Mexico is militarization of the border,” said Perez Correa. To further reduce border crossings into the U.S., Mexico could either carry out mass deportations or offer more opportunities to migrants in its territory. Both scenarios seem unrealistic. Simply increasing deportations would go against Lopez Obrador’s policy — which Sheinbaum inherited — of trying to address the problems in their origin countries that pushed them to leave, and it would be an expense for Mexico. After Sheinbaum’s call with Trump, she reiterated her government offers migrants options for international protection in its territory or “voluntary or assisted return” to their countries. The second option doesn’t seem feasible either: Most people want to go to the U.S., where they expect to have higher-paying jobs, more family or community support, and greater safety than in Mexico. Chemical diversions Deaths related to fentanyl — the cheap, synthetic opioid — have reached epidemic levels in the U.S. That’s why reining in the flow of the drug was on Trump’s list of demands. Should recent history be any indication, intervention is never simple. The U.S. arrest of a Mexican alleged drug leader has led to prolonged shootouts in recent months. And in any case, some academics argue simply confiscating more drugs means traffickers learn to produce more, to meet U.S. demand. So far, Mexico has worked to improve its technical capabilities to detect illicit substances at its ports, especially precursor chemicals and fentanyl. “The Navy has provided material and personnel to all ports for the fulfillment of these tasks, the personnel have the necessary training to be able to detect these substances,” said Captain Jose Barradas in an interview at the Manzanillo port, in the state of Colima. “All merchandise that arrives is prone to review under strict security protocols.” Sheinbaum also picked former Mexico City police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch to lead a new national security strategy, a move that was read inside Mexico as a signal of her willingness to increase enforcement in areas where the previous administration had been more hands-off. There’s more that could be done — but it would be hard. Trying to seize these substances at ports is insufficient because synthetic drugs tend to be very small, making them more difficult to detect than traditional drugs, said Victoria Dittmar, researcher at Insight Crime. Those who produce them often innovate with their recipes and use new chemicals that are not illegal. “Mexico can open collaboration paths with the private sector, with the chemical industry, because they know perfectly well its supply chains and the vulnerable areas where there could be diversions,” she said. “This collaboration is essential.” Mexico can also work to identify intermediaries that connect fentanyl producers with chemical suppliers abroad and in the country, people who work in certain companies and are authorized to divert these substances, according to Dittmar. Still, “the main weakness is not putting demand reduction as a priority, to prevent overdose deaths,” Dittmar said. “It’s a shared responsibility. It’s not just the fault of Mexico, the U.S. or Canada, but it’s an issue that affects the entire North American region.” A senior Mexican official said that the country’s actions to address drug trafficking have moved the nation in the direction of the fentanyl crackdown that Trump is demanding. The official cited a new law that will allow for coordinated intelligence efforts that is due to be implemented next year. History repeats It’s plausible that in the medium-term Trump will lower the intensity of his threats because a trade war would be the worst case scenario for both countries, said Tapia, the political scientist. But until then, she said, “Sheinbaum is on trial as to how well she will do” relative to her predecessor, who had a respectful relationship with Trump and often praised him. One strategy that Sheinbaum could pursue: Finding ways to give Trump the appearance of political victory. That was part of the rationale behind AMLO’s deployment of the National Guard — a move Trump still talks about now. “We got thousands of Mexicans patrolling our border free of charge,” he boasted at a recent event about his relationship with AMLO. “He’s a socialist,” Trump said. “But these are minor details.” ——— (With assistance from Eric Martin, Carolina Millan and Ramsey Al-Rikabi.) ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Michigan, Ohio State fight broken up with police pepper spray after Wolverines stun Buckeyes 13-10

Ghana counted ballots on Saturday after a tight election with the ruling party's Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia trying to shake off anger over economic woes and rebuff a challenge by opposition party candidate ex-president John Mahama. Ghana's struggling economy dominated the election, after the west Africa gold and cacao producer went through a debt default, high inflation and negotiations for a $3 billion IMF bailout. Voters were choosing a successor to Bawumia's boss, President Nana Akufo-Addo, who steps down after serving the maximum of two four-year terms. They will also elect the country's new parliament. Voting was mostly calm, but one person was shot dead and four people arrested at a polling station in Nyankpala in the country's northern region, police and local media said. After polls closed at 1700 GMT, election teams immediately began tallying ballots under the watch of agents from political parties before sending them to collation centres. Preliminary results are expected early Sunday, with full presidential results scheduled by Tuesday. "Everyone is complaining prices are high. So I want a change, I want a good president who will bring in changes," Abdullah Mohammed, a student said after voting in Accra's Nima district. With a history of political stability, Ghana's two main parties, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC), have alternated in power equally since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992. Touting the slogan "Break the 8" -- a reference to going past the usual two terms in power -- the NPP hopes Bawumia can lead them to an unprecedented third term. But he struggled to break away from criticism of Akufo-Addo's economic record. "I think we have done a lot of work with our message to the people and the message has been well received," Bawumia said after voting in his northern home Walewale. A UK-educated economist and former central banker, he points to an economy turning a corner and the government's continued plans for digitalisation to ease business, as well as free education and health programmes. But though inflation slowed from more than 50 percent to around 23 percent, and other macro-economic indicators are stabilising, the economic pain was still a clear election issue. Many Ghanaians still say they struggle with the cost of living, scarce jobs and a depreciated cedi currency. Frustration over the economy has opened the way for a comeback challenge from Mahama, who was president from 2012 to 2017 but has since failed twice in presidential bids. The NDC flag-bearer says he will "reset" Ghana and introduce a "24-hour economy", extending industrial hours to create jobs, and also renegotiate parts of the IMF deal. "Other elections have not been as obvious," Mahama said voting in his northern hometown. "With this one, everybody can tell the direction because of the abysmal performance of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government." Some analysts gave him an edge because of voter dismay with NPP, but the former president faced criticism from those who remember financial woes and massive power cuts during his time in office. Shoe saleswoman Esther Adobea said the economic situation hurt, but she was willing to give Bawumia a chance to make things better. "I can see he can handle the country for us. Our economy is not good, but he can do better," she said. Both major candidates are from the north of the country -- traditionally an NDC stronghold, but now more fragmented -- making the region a key battleground. While the economy was key, Ghana also faces an increasing risk of spillover in its northern regions from jihadist conflicts in Niger and Burkina Faso, where military juntas rule. The spread of illegal gold mining also became an election issue. Akufo-Addo promised to stop illegal mining, but it has expanded, poisoning riverways and impacting cacao farmlands -- a major source of export income. bur-pma/jm

How deepfake technology works

Rutgers 77, Georgia Southern 60LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--dec 12, 2024-- Shurick Agapitov, oprichter van Xsolla en visionair in de game-industrie, kondigt met trots de release van Once Upon Tomorrow Fortnite Island aan. Deze meeslepende Fortnite Creative-kaart neemt spelers mee naar de rijke verhalende wereld van zijn roman. De innovatieve ervaring, ontwikkeld in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), combineert op meesterlijke wijze razendsnelle parkour-uitdagingen met diepgaande thematische elementen uit Once Upon Tomorrow . Spelers worden uitgenodigd om hun vaardigheden te testen terwijl ze door een visueel boeiend landschap reizen dat de veerkracht en het avontuur van de personages uit het boek belichaamt. Dit persbericht bevat multimedia. Bekijk hier het volledige persbericht: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212642158/nl/ (Graphic: Xsolla) “Once Upon Tomorrow in Fortnite Creative is onze manier om het bereik en de diepgang van de roman te vergroten en spelers een interactieve reis te bieden die zowel hun vaardigheden als hun begrip van de thema's van het verhaal uitdaagt," aldus Shurick Agapitov, oprichter van Xsolla. “We hebben deze map ontworpen om spelers te boeien die naar een flinke uitdaging verlangen. We willen hen meenemen in een wereld die visueel rijk is en diep geïnspireerd op het boek. Het is een avontuur dat gebruik maakt van de technische sterke punten van UEFN om het vertellen van verhalen in Fortnite te verbeteren op een manier die de game''ervaring echt transformeert.” Once Upon Tomorrow is gemaakt om de grenzen van Fortnite Creative te verleggen. Het spel biedt spelers een dynamisch, verhalend parkouravontuur in een zorgvuldig gemaakte omgeving geïnspireerd op Agapitovs boek en visie. Elk parkour bestaat uit een reeks behendigheidsuitdagingen waarbij spelers met precisie en snelheid moeten sprinten, springen en klimmen, terwijl ze worden ondergedompeld in een wereld vol visuele aanwijzingen die de thema's uithoudingsvermogen en ontdekking uit het boek weerspiegelen. Agapitov heeft een ervaring gecreëerd die verder gaat dan traditionele parkourkaarten door gameplay te verweven met verhalen, waardoor zowel opwindende gameplay als een betekenisvolle band met de wereld van het boek ontstaat. Once Upon Tomorrow is een project binnen Fortnite Creative, waarin parkour op het scherpst van de snede naadloos wordt gecombineerd met verhalende diepgang. De kaart laat zien wat er mogelijk is met UEFN en biedt een boeiende en gelaagde ervaring die aantrekkelijk is voor de grote spelersgroep van Fortnite en fans van nieuwe en verhalende spelervaringen. Elk aspect van de kaart, van de intense gameplay-mechanieken tot het meeslepende, sfeervolle ontwerp, is gemaakt om een nieuwe standaard te zetten in Fortnite Creative. Ga voor meer informatie over Once Upon Tomorrow en de meeslepende Fortnite Creative-ervaring naar xsolla.blog/outf Over Shurick Agapitov Agapitov is de visionaire oprichter van Xsolla, een wereldwijd erkende leider op het gebied van handel in videogames. Bekend om zijn bijdragen aan gaming, Web3 en de metaverse, heeft Agapitov Xsolla ontwikkeld tot een essentiële bron voor gameontwikkelaars en -uitgevers wereldwijd. Zijn toewijding aan het verbeteren van digitale en interactieve ervaringen wordt weerspiegeld in de lancering van Once Upon Tomorrow , waarmee hij zijn visie uitbreidt van de pagina naar de dynamische wereld van Fortnite Creative. Over Xsolla Xsolla is een wereldwijd videogamehandelsbedrijf met een robuuste en krachtige set tools en services die speciaal zijn ontworpen voor de industrie. Sinds de oprichting in 2005 heeft Xsolla duizenden gameontwikkelaars en uitgevers van alle omvang geholpen hun games wereldwijd en op meerdere platforms te financieren, op de markt te brengen, te lanceren en te gelde te maken. Als innovatieve leider in gamehandel is het de missie van Xsolla om de inherente complexiteit van wereldwijde distributie, marketing en monetisatie op te lossen om onze partners te helpen meer geografische gebieden te bereiken, meer inkomsten te genereren en relaties met gamers wereldwijd op te bouwen. Xsolla heeft haar hoofdkantoor en is gevestigd in Los Angeles, Californië, met kantoren in Londen, Berlijn, Seoul, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Raleigh, Tokyo, Montreal en steden over de hele wereld. Xsolla ondersteunt toonaangevende gamingpartners zoals Valve, Twitch, Epic Games, Take-Two, KRAFTON, Nexters, NetEase, Playstudios, Playrix, miHoYo, en anderen. Ga voor meer informatie of leer meer op xsolla.com Deze bekendmaking is officieel geldend in de originele brontaal. Vertalingen zijn slechts als leeshulp bedoeld en moeten worden vergeleken met de tekst in de brontaal, die als enige rechtsgeldig is. Bekijk het oorspronkelijke bericht op businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212642158/nl/ CONTACT: Mediacontact Derrick Stembridge Global Director of Public Relations, Xsolla d.stembridge@xsolla.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SOFTWARE METAVERSE ENTERTAINMENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FINTECH DATA MANAGEMENT CONSUMER ELECTRONICS PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY WEB3 FINANCE ELECTRONIC GAMES SOURCE: Xsolla Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/12/2024 05:46 PM/DISC: 12/12/2024 05:47 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212642158/nl