Saturday, October 31, 2020
Here are the Massachusetts cities and towns with the highest voting turnouts so far - Boston.com
Close to half of registered voters in Massachusetts have already cast their ballots through in this year’s election, taking advantage of the state’s expanded early and mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to data released by Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office as in-person early voting was wrapping up Friday afternoon, more than 2.2 million people in Massachusetts have already returned their ballots, which is nearly two thirds of the turnout during the 2016 election.
So far, the figure accounts for 46.5 percent of all registered Massachusetts voters this year. But in some cities and towns, the turnout has been much higher.
Leading the way is the small Cape Cod town of Eastham, where more than 72 percent of registered voters have already cast their ballots, followed by the Boston suburbs of Lexington, Sudbury, Concord, and Carlisle.
So far, 51 communities in Massachusetts have already recorded at least 60 percent turnout.
In the city of Boston, nearly 152,000 people — or more than 35 percent of registered voters — have submitted ballots.
Galvin’s office also notes the data released Friday isn’t a complete accounting of all the early voting; it doesn’t include in-person voting after 4 p.m. Friday, not all communities have reported their Friday totals, and local election officials continue to receive mail-in ballots Saturday.
In other words, turnout is actually slightly higher than the latest numbers.
Under Massachusetts state law, local officials will not actually begin counting any ballots until after 8 p.m. on election night Tuesday. But here’s an approximate community-by-community look at how many ballots have at least been submitted.
(Scroll to the far-left column for overall turnout)
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Here’s how the Electoral College works - KRQE News 13
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A rare blue moon will fall on Halloween this year — here's how to see it - Today.com
A blue moon will fall on Halloween this year, making the spookiest night of the year just a little bit eerier. On October 31, there will be the second full moon of the month, which is what's commonly referred to as a "blue moon."
In the past, the definition of a blue moon was different. According to NASA, in a season with four full moons instead of three, the third full moon used to be (and sometimes still is) called “blue.” The Halloween full moon is the second of three in autumn this year.
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"There is not much significance to a blue moon other than timing coincidence," Karl Gebhardt, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Texas at Austin told TODAY. "Since the orbit of the moon around the Earth is about 27 days, as long as the timing is good, we can get two full moons in a month. This is what is now called a blue moon. It’s great that it is happening on Halloween! That doesn’t happen very often, but it is 2020, so all bets are off. As far as I know, having two full moons in one month has never been more or less significant as it is today."
What can you see on Halloween 2020?
A full moon occurs when the near side of the moon is completely sunlit. A blue moon has come to mean the second full moon in a season. For the first time since 2001, a blue moon will fall on Halloween, making it a Halloween blue moon.
The moon won't actually appear the color blue — the moon gets its name from a 16th century folklore writer and back then, the term meant something impossible or absurd.
How rare is a blue moon?
NASA says that the moon is full on Halloween approximately every 19 years.
"In fact, every Halloween full moon is also a blue moon," NASA says. "That's because the cycle of lunar phases (the synodic month) is 29.5 days long, plus or minus a few hours, so any full moon on October 31 must be preceded by a full moon on October 1 or 2."
According to the Farmer's Almanac, this is the first full moon that falls on Halloween which will be visible in all times zones since 1944 (the one in 2001 was only visible in the Central and Pacific time zones).
What is the meaning of the blue moon in astrology?
While scientists at NASA say there is absolutely no significance to the blue moon, some astrologers have a different point of view. In an article in The New York Times, Jessica Dore, a tarot card reader said they can signify change, or set the stage for a rare event to occur.
And although it is not based in science, pop culture has led us to believe that a full moon can make people "crazed," thus the term "lunatic."
When will the blue moon appear on Halloween?
According to NASA, the moon will appear full from everywhere on Earth on October 31 and will rise in the east around sunset and set in the west around sunrise. It is highest overhead in the late night and very early morning hours.
"I suggest going to the scariest place one can find and looking up at the moon,'" said Gebhardt. "It will be up all night, so anytime is good (midnight would be the most fun). I like to think about how humans have actually walked on it. It’s inspiring!"
What’s a rare moon event?
There are many different types of rare moon events, from the supermoon to the blood moon to the blue moon and the harvest moon. Blue moons are relatively rare. They occur about every 2.5 years — the last one was in March 2018.
A super blood wolf moon occurred in January 2019. That's a combination of a total lunar eclipse and a full moon. A super blue blood moon happened in 2018 and even inspired some scary baby naming trends.
In a stunning discovery earlier this week, NASA scientists discovered there is more water on the moon than previously thought. Imagine that as you look up at the sky on Halloween!
"One of the most exciting aspects about what I do is when I look up at the night sky at a very dark site, and I wonder what is out there, how we came to be and where are we headed," said Gebhardt. "While the universe can make us feel insignificant, it is amazing how we are able to come together as a world-team over centuries and begin to understand our place in the cosmos. That is truly inspiring! I hope that everyone who looks at the Halloween blue moon can take away some of that excitement and wonder."
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Genetic testing can assess your risk of getting cancer. Here are the costs involved - CNBC
Tara Kirk was 6 years old when her mother died of lung cancer.
Almost three decades later, at the age of 34, Kirk found out she had a gene mutation that increases her risk of developing a number of diseases, most notably colon and endometrial cancers.
"I was in denial that I could have had it," said Kirk, now 36 and living in Houston with her husband and son.
When people think of gene mutations, the breast cancer (BRCA) genes often come to mind. Actress Angelina Jolie famously laid out her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy after her BRCA1 diagnosis back in 2013.
The lifetime risk of breast cancer is increased by 20% to 49% for women with moderate-risk gene mutations and 50% or higher with those who have high-risk mutations, according to Susan G. Koman.
In fact, researchers have associated mutations in specific genes with about 50 hereditary cancer syndromes, according to the National Cancer Institute.
For Kirk, it is the gene known as MSH6, one of several mutations that are classified as Lynch Syndrome.
While there was family history of cancer, she only got tested after her aunt was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Kirk now believes her mother's cancer may have started elsewhere before traveling to the lungs.
Since her diagnosis, Kirk goes for annual screenings, including a colonoscopy, endometrial biopsy, ultrasound, and full body skin exam. She gets an upper endoscopy every other year and was told when she reaches 40, she should have her uterus and ovaries removed.
Fortunately, Kirk has insurance. About $3,500 a year comes out of her paycheck to pay for her employer-sponsored insurance and she spends an additional $2,000 a year out-of-pocket for her surveillance. It's a small price to pay for the chance to catch cancer early, she said.
"My very first colonoscopy they found a precancerous polyp, so knowledge saved my life," Kirk said.
When to get testing done
Not everyone is a candidate for genetic testing. In fact, only about 5% to 10% of all cancers are considered hereditary, although it varies by the specific cancer.
About one in 400 women have a BRAC1 or BRAC2 mutation, although those of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage have a higher risk: one in 40. Lynch syndrome affects approximately one in 270 people and causes about 3% to 5% of colon cancers and 2% to 3% of uterine cancers.
To determine if you have a gene mutation, first gather your family history and see your doctor, said Susan Brown, senior director of education and support at Susan G. Komen.
If your health-care provider thinks you might have a hereditary mutation, you'll be referred to a genetic counselor, who may order a blood or saliva test.
"It's an easy test," Brown said. "The ramifications of the results can be a little more complicated.
"If you have a positive mutation, then you have to think about what you are going to do with that information."
Testing costs anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars and may be covered by insurance. The multigene panel is pricey, since it surveys a number of genes.
If someone in your family has already been diagnosed with a specific mutation, you can be tested for that mutation alone, which is a lot cheaper. For those who don't have health insurance, many of the gene-testing companies have programs that bring the cost down to $250 to $300.
Coverage of BRCA testing for women is required under the Affordable Care Act, although the fate of the law is uncertain. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether the ACA is constitutional after the election in November.
Coverage for other gene mutations is optional, but has grown in recent years, according to Lisa Schlager, vice president of public policy at the hereditary cancer advocacy organization Force, which stands for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered.
"They do [cover testing] for the most part, but it can incur or involve out-of-pocket costs," she said.
Then there are direct-to-consumer companies like 23andMe and Ancestry. Generally, direct-to-consumer tests are not part of recommended clinical practice, according to the National Cancer Institute.
"If they are not done through a doctor in an approved lab, there is potential for errors," Komen's Brown explained.
Some tests may only check for a few mutations.
"You may make a decision and have an understanding of your risk based on incomplete information," she said.
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For $179, AncestryHealth offers testing for genetic risks and says it can detect 80% or more of known DNA differences linked to certain cancers.
"AncestryHealth includes laboratory tests developed and performed by an independent CLIA-certified laboratory partner, and with oversight from an independent clinician network of board-certified physicians and genetic counselors," its website states.
Meanwhile, 23andMe's Health + Ancestry service includes testing for selected variants of BRCA1 and BRCA2.
"23andMe standards for accuracy are incredibly high," the company said in a statement. "Detailed analytical testing through the FDA review process showed that our Genetic Health Risk and Carrier Status reports meet accuracy thresholds of 99 percent or higher."
Costs of screening
If you are found to have a so-called "cancer-gene," you generally will start undergoing annual cancer screenings. You may also opt for preventive, or prophylactic, surgery — typically a mastectomy or hysterectomy.
The costs and amount of insurance coverage — if you have any — vary widely.
Heather Horton, 35, and her mother, 63-year-old Sue Williams, have had two vastly different experiences.
The pair, who live in Portland, Oregon, both have the MLH1 mutation, another gene that falls under Lynch Syndrome.
Williams found out at the age of 54, after her brother was diagnosed with colon cancer in his 40s. She's had no issue with her coverage. She had a preventative hysterectomy and now undergoes regular colonoscopies and endoscopies, which cost her $20 after insurance. She pays $812 a month for her policy.
Horton, on the other hand, has become an expert at reading medical bills and understanding coding after spending a lot of time challenging charges.
Diagnosed at 28 years old, Horton gets the same screenings as her mom, plus ultrasounds, a blood test and an endometrial biopsy to monitor her uterus and ovaries. Over the years, her annual screening costs have run from about $800 to $2,500, with around $1,500 being the norm. Her monthly premium is about $520 for a family plan.
"One of the biggest challenges is [that] it's hard to really track or budget for, because I can't ever really estimate what the expenses are going to be," Horton said.
Fighting to bring down costs
Health insurers aren't required to cover cancer screenings, beyond what is mandated by the ACA, which is focused on the "average risk" population. That leads many to struggle to get coverage for earlier, more intensive screenings and risk-reducing surgeries, according to Force.
While insurance typically covers the surveillance, those who have high-deductible plans may still wind up with a hefty bill, said Force's Schlager.
"We are testing people but not empowering them with easy access, necessarily, to the follow-up care," she said.
Medicare doesn't cover preventive care, unless authorized by Congress. Right now, those over 50 years old can get screening colonoscopies covered and those over 40 can get screening mammograms — as well as a baseline between the ages of 35-39. However, anyone younger on Medicare, such as those with disabilities, won't be covered.
Medicare also doesn't cover breast MRIs, which doctors recommend for those with a high breast cancer risk, as well as preventive surgeries, Schlager said.
She's currently working on legislation with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, to amend the Medicare statute to broaden the preventive cancer screenings.
Medicaid coverage for screenings is more difficult to track, since it varies by state. All but three state programs cover BRCA testing and most cover testing for Lynch Syndrome. Less than a handful cover multigene panel testing, Schlager said. She recommends checking with your state's Medicaid office to find out what's available.
"Our whole health system is focused on treatment," Schlager said.
"If we were to flip that and focus on prevention, we would probably save the system a lot of money long-term. But we are just not there yet."
'Managing your destiny'
While there may be costs with cancer screenings, it is better than the alternative: not catching cancer early and paying for costly treatments.
"It is really managing your destiny as far as your health," said Susan Dallas, executive director of Lynch Syndrome International.
Her father passed away from pancreatic cancer when she was four years old. At 43, Dallas was diagnosed with colon cancer, and subsequently, Lynch Syndrome, which includes genes MLHL, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM.
"If you don't know what you are dealing with, you can't possibly know what your potential cost could be down the road," Dallas said.
"It could save you thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention the heartache, stress and loss of income because you end up with cancer."
In fact, a new report from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network titled "The Costs of Cancer" found that U.S. cancer patients spent $5.6 billion in out-of-pocket costs for cancer treatment in 2018. Those with ACA-compliant coverage paid between $5,000 out-of-pocket in a large employer plan to over $12,000 in an individual marketplace plan. Short-term limited duration plan patients paid $52,000.
Despite the frustrations she has encountered, Horton doesn't regret getting tested.
"Knowledge is power. We do have some of this within our control to stay on top of it," she said.
"There is some comfort in that, than just kind of waiting for some symptom to appear."
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You can start a venture fund if you’re not rich; here’s how - TechCrunch
For years — decades, even — there was little question about whether you could become a venture capitalist if you weren’t comfortable financially. You couldn’t. The people and institutions that invest in venture funds want to know that fund managers have their own “skin in the game,” so they’ve long required a sizable check from the investor’s own pocket before jumping aboard. Think 2% to 3% of the fund’s total assets, which often equates to millions of dollars.
In fact, five years ago, I wrote that the real obstacle to becoming a venture capitalist has less to do with gender than with financial inequality. I focused then on women, who are paid less (especially Black and Hispanic women), and who possess less wealth. But the same is true of anyone of lesser means.
🤔LPs: The ≧1% of a fund capital commitment you expect from GPs makes it hard for POCs to raise funds.
Consider that “for a $20M fund, a 2% commitment with 2 GPs is still a $200K commitment for each partner.” This is out of reach for many of us. https://t.co/bguXpa3CiY
— lolitataub (@lolitataub) October 29, 2020
Thankfully, things are changing, with more ways to help aspiring VCs raise that initial capital commitment. None of these approaches can guarantee success in raising a fund, but they’re paths that other VCs have effectively used and are good to understand better.
Find investors, i.e. limited partners, who are willing to take less than 2% or 3% and maybe even less than 1% of the overall fund size being targeted. You’ll likely find fewer investors as that “commit” shrinks. But for example Joanna Rupp, who runs the $1.1 billion private equity portfolio for the University of Chicago’s endowment, suggests that both she and other managers she knows are willing to be flexible based on the “specific situation of the GP.”
Says Rupp, “I think there are industry ‘norms,’ but we haven’t required a [general partner] commitment from younger GPs when we have felt that they don’t have the financial means.”
Bob Raynard, founder of the fund administration firm Standish Management, echoes the sentiment, saying that a smaller general partner commitment in exchange for special investor economics is also fairly common. “You might see a reduced management fee for the LP for helping them or reduced carry or both, and that has been done for years.”
Explore management fee offsets, which investors in venture funds often determine to be reasonable. These aren’t uncommon, says Michael Kim of Cendana Capital, a firm that has stakes in dozens of seed stage funds, because they also offer tax advantages (though the IRS has talked about doing away with these).
How do these work? Say your “commit” was $1 million over 10 years (the standard life of a fund). Instead of trying to come up with $1 million that you presumably don’t have, you can offset up to 80% of that, putting in $200,000 instead but reducing your management fees by that same amount over time so that it’s a wash and you’re still getting credit for the entire $1 million. You’re basically converting fee income into the investment you’re supposed to make.
Use your existing portfolio companies as collateral. Kim had at least two highly regarded managers launch a fund not with a “commit” but rather by bringing to the table ownership stakes in startups they’d funded as angel investors.
In both of these cases, it was a great deal for Kim, who says the companies were quickly marked up. For the fund managers’ part, it meant not having to put more of their own money into the funds.
Make a deal with wealthier friends if you can. When Kim launched his fund of funds to invest in venture managers after working for years as a VC himself, he raised $1 million in working capital from six friends to get it off the ground. The money gave Kim, who had a mortgage at the time and young children, enough runway for two years. Obviously, your friends have to be willing to gamble on you, but sweeteners certainly help, too. In Kim’s case, he gave his friends a percentage of Cendana’s economics in perpetuity.
Get a bank loan. Rupp said she would be uncomfortable if a GP funded his or her commit through a bank loan for several reasons. There’s no guarantee a fund manager will make money from a fund, a loan adds risk on top of risk, and should a manager need liquidity related to that loan, he or she might sell a strongly performing position too early.
That said, loans aren’t uncommon, says Raynard. He says banks with venture capital relationships like Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic are typically happy to lend a fund manager a line of credit to help him or her make capital calls, though he says it does depend on who else is involved with the fund. “As long as it’s a diverse group of LPs,” the banks are comfortable moving forward in exchange for winning over a new fund’s business, he suggests.
Consider the merits of so-called front loading. This is a technique with which “more creative LPs can sometimes get comfortable,” says Kim. It’s also how investor Chris Sacca, now a billionaire, got started when he first turned to fund management. How does it work? Some beginning managers blend their annual management fee of 2.5% of assets under management and pay themselves a higher percentage — say 5% for each of its first three years — until by the end of the fund’s life, the manager is receiving no management fee at all.
That could mean no income if you aren’t yet seeing profits from your investments. But presumably — especially given pacing in recent years — you, the general partner, have raised another fund by the time that happens so have resources coming in from a second fund.
These are just a few of the ways to get started. There are other paths to take, too, notes Lo Toney of Plexo Capital — which, like Cendana Capital — has stakes in many venture funds. One of these is to use a self-directed IRA to finance that GP commit. Another is to sell a portion of the management company or sell a greater percentage of your carry and use those proceeds to pay your commit. (VCs Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures and Eva Ho of Fika Ventures avoided that path and suggested that first-time managers do the same if they can.)
Either way, suggests Toney, a former partner with Alphabet’s venture arm, GV, it’s important to keep in mind that there’s no one right way to raise a fund — and no disadvantage in using these strategies. Said Toney via email this week: “I have not seen any data on the front end of a VC’s career that wealth indicates future success.”
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Here's how a Biden or Trump presidency would affect your personal finances - CNBC
President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, his Democratic opponent in next week's election, have broadly diverging views on issues that would impact the personal finances of everyday Americans.
It's no guarantee the candidates' ideas and proposals will eventually become law. Much hinges on the outcome of congressional races, for example.
But here are things to consider as voters head to the polls on Tuesday, on issues like taxes, Social Security, student loans and Medicare.
Taxes
The Trump campaign said it would "cut taxes to boost take-home pay and keep jobs in America." It offers scarce details on how this would be accomplished.
Experts believe the president would try to build on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, viewed as his signature legislative achievement during his first term.
The law, enacted in 2017, overhauled the tax code for individuals and businesses. It roughly doubled the standard deduction and limited some itemized deductions (like one for state and local taxes), among other things.
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On average, the law cut taxes for Americans across all income groups, according to a report published by the Joint Committee on Taxation last year.
The richest Americans pocketed most of the benefit. About 76% of the estimated $259 billion in taxpayers' total savings in 2019 went to those making more than $100,000 a year, according to the report.
However, the bill's tax cuts for individuals are temporary. They are set to expire after 2025 and revert back to prior law, effectively raising taxes.
The Trump administration would likely try to make these cuts permanent, tax experts said.
Doing so would raise after-tax income for all households, on average, delivering a 1.5% increase, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. The top 20% of Americans (making roughly $167,000) would get about two-thirds of the benefit.
Trump administration officials like economic advisor Larry Kudlow have also floated the idea of a tax cut for the middle class. Trump has also proposed cutting taxes on capital gains (the top tax rate of which is currently 20%).
Biden, who was vice president during the Obama administration, has proposed raising taxes for wealthy Americans. He would seek to reduce taxes for lower earners via mechanisms like a temporary expansion of the child tax credit.
The Biden campaign floated a top income-tax rate of 39.6% (up from 37%) for those earning more than $400,000. He would raise their payroll taxes, too.
The Biden plan would also limit the value of itemized deductions (write-offs for charitable donations and medical costs, for example) for wealthy households making more than $400,000.
Biden would also increase taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for those making more than $1 million a year — almost double the current rate.
"That's mega, mega significant. A lot of the ultra-high-net-worth people make a great deal of their income through investment income," said Jeffrey Levine, director of advanced planning at Buckingham Wealth Partners.
The top 20% (those making more than roughly $160,000) would be the only group to see a tax increase in 2022, according to the Tax Policy Center. Their tax liability would grow by 5%, or $14,700, in 2022.
Meanwhile, Biden would boost the child tax credit to $3,000 for kids 17 and younger, plus a $600 bonus for children under 6. (The credit is currently $2,000 for kids under 17.) Biden would also make it fully refundable, meaning taxpayers would get a refund even if they owe no tax. (Up to $1,400 is currently refundable for each child.)
The bottom 20% of earners would see after-tax income grow by more than 5%, or roughly $750, in 2022.
Some observers believe low and middle-income taxpayers could see negative indirect effects from Biden's proposal to increase the corporate tax rate, via increased prices for consumer goods or stagnating wages for employees.
Social Security
Biden's plan calls for boosting Social Security checks for individuals in many ways.
For example, his proposal would raise monthly payments for seniors who've been receiving benefits for at least 20 years, to protect against depleted retirement savings.
It would also set a minimum benefit — at least 125% of the poverty level — for those who've worked at least 30 years. Monthly survivor benefits for widows and widowers would grow by 20%.
Biden would also seek to improve Social Security's finances.
Earlier this year, the Social Security Administration projected the trust funds that help pay benefits would run out in 2035. At that time, around 79% of promised benefits would be payable, funded exclusively by payroll taxes.
The unemployment crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has sped up that timeline by a few years, according to some estimates.
Biden would impose Social Security payroll taxes on high earners to improve the program's solvency. Currently, workers pay 6.2% from wages, capped at wages up to $137,700 (which is indexed for inflation). Biden would also apply taxes to earnings over $400,000.
Trump's campaign agenda says he would "protect Social Security." He's tweeted messages of support for Social Security on many occasions and said he would "save" the program.
The president signed an executive measure in August creating a Social Security payroll tax holiday, between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31.
It's a tax deferral, and workers would have to pay the tax back early next year. Businesses had to opt in. It only applied to workers making less than about $100,000 a year.
But Trump has floated forgiving that deferred tax.
"If I'm victorious on Nov. 3, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax," Trump said.
A permanent payroll tax cut could deplete the Social Security trust funds by mid-2023, according to Stephen Goss, Social Security's chief actuary.
Student loans
Biden has proposed forgiving $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers.
He would also forgive federal student debt tied to undergraduate tuition at public colleges and historically Black colleges and universities. That would apply to borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.
Trump hasn't mentioned sweeping plans to forgive student loans. He's called for eliminating public-service loan forgiveness, which allows certain not-for-profit and government employees to have federal student loans canceled after a decade of on-time payments.
Biden would keep that program but make changes, instead forgiving $10,000 a year of undergraduate or graduate student debt for up to five years.
The Trump administration has allowed borrowers to pause monthly student loan payments without interest accrual during the Covid-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education initially offered that moratorium in March, and the president signed an executive measure over the summer extending that pause through 2020.
It's unclear if that moratorium would be extended next year if Trump (or Biden) wins the election.
Medicare
Trump has taken some steps to ease costs for Medicare beneficiaries and has proposed some changes to the senior health program.
For example, the president has moved to reduce drug costs, by lifting "gag orders" on pharmacists that prohibited them from telling patients there was a cheaper option for their prescriptions, for example. He capped monthly insulin costs, effective next year, for some Medicare beneficiaries.
Trump also wants to send $200 payment cards to some individuals on Medicare to help pay for drugs, he said in a speech last month.
The Trump administration is supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act. That law, known as Obamacare, made some changes to Medicare. For example, it added certain free preventive benefits to Medicare and eliminated, over several years, a spike in out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs that some beneficiaries faced.
Biden has proposed some changes to Medicare, too.
His plan would allow individuals to enroll in Medicare starting at age 60 instead of 65. The program would cover dental, vision and hearing, all of which are currently excluded.
Biden also wants to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries by, for example, allowing the government to negotiate those prices — which is currently prohibited by law. He would prohibit most drug prices from rising faster than inflation.
His campaign also supports the Affordable Care Act.
— CNBC reporters Lorie Konish, Darla Mercado, Annie Nova and Sarah O'Brien contributed to this story.
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With Deluge Of Mail Ballots, Here's When To Expect Election Results In 6 Key States - NPR
Election workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Phoenix. Matt York/AP
For months now, election officials have cautioned that the winner of the presidential election may still be unknown when election night is over.
Rules in some states don't allow election workers to begin the labor-intensive work of processing mail-in ballots until Election Day. And with a record number of voters casting their ballots by mail, the influx could delay final tallies for days.
In six particularly key states — Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the margin of victory is expected to be slim, so it may be hard to know who won until their mail ballots are fully counted. It takes 270 electoral votes to secure the White House — these states account for 101 combined.
While election officials in the swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania are telling voters it may take a few days before results are tallied in full, officials in Arizona, Florida and North Carolina, where mail ballots can be processed far in advance, are expecting to have results more quickly. But if the contest is close in those states, a final count could take a long time as absentee ballots sent close to Election Day trickle in.
Here's a closer look at what to expect:
Arizona
State law in Arizona allows election officials to count mail votes up to two weeks before Election Day, so most ballots received by this weekend will already be counted in advance. Those tallies can be released starting around 10 p.m. ET on election night, along with early vote results. Votes cast at polling places on Election Day will follow shortly afterward.
The pre-counted absentee ballots and in-person votes will make up the bulk of votes cast in Arizona, so it's possible a winner there could be declared on election night.
Absentee ballots sent right before the election, however, may not be tallied until Thursday or Friday, so if the race is close, it could remain undecided late into next week.
In Arizona, as well as elsewhere where mail votes can be counted ahead of Election Day, early tallies may show a lead for Joe Biden. But the results could begin to swing back toward President Trump when in-person votes are factored in later in the evening. For good measure, that could all shift again as the last remaining mail ballots trickle in.
Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Christina White examines signatures on vote-by-mail ballots with members of the Canvassing Board. Lynne Sladky/AP
Florida
Americans may know who won Florida before they go to bed on election night.
Unlike Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Florida allows counties to do processing work — like sorting and opening envelopes — weeks before Election Day. Also unlike other states, it doesn't allow a grace period for receiving mail ballots after Election Day.
All early votes and mail ballots tabulated in advance are supposed to be released starting around 7:30 p.m. ET on election night, according to Mark Ard, communications director at the Florida Department of State.
"If the election is decisive enough, we should be able to call Florida on Election Night," University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Like Arizona, those early and mail ballot votes that are tallied in advance and released first are expected to be more favorable to Biden, balanced out shortly after as polls close and in-person votes are counted.
However, it may take some counties longer to finish counting mail ballots that arrive just before and right on Election Day. If the election is close, it may take until Wednesday or Thursday, when those counties finish counting, to determine who won the Sunshine State.
An election worker organizes absentee ballots ahead of Election Day at the city clerk office in Warren, Mich. David Goldman/AP
Michigan
"It could take until Friday, Nov. 6 for all ballots to be counted," the office of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wrote on Thursday. "Depending on how close the races are, this likely means that outcomes will not be determined on Tuesday."
In Michigan, election officials in cities with more than 25,000 residents can start processing mail ballots on Monday at 10 a.m., sorting ballots and removing outer envelopes. They can't be counted, though, until polls close.
Historically, the city of Detroit, an important Democratic stronghold, has been slow to tally election results. In a press conference on Thursday, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said the city has hired thousands of additional poll workers to improve the process, but warned that the final results won't be ready on Tuesday night and talked about the idea of "election week."
"Time is not a real concern of ours," Winfrey said. "We want to make sure that every voter and every ballot ... has been properly processed, received and tabulated on Election Day."
As in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Democrats in Michigan are expected to disproportionately cast their ballots by mail. If in-person tallies start to be released before mail ballots are totaled, it could show President Trump ahead at first, with his lead narrowing or disappearing as more mail ballots are counted.
North Carolina
North Carolina is another state where initial results should come quickly.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections estimates 80% of votes will be cast early or by mail and will be released once polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET.
"For the 20% or so of North Carolinians who vote on Election Day, we will be receiving those from the precinct and uploading those, as well," executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections Karen Brinson-Bell said on Thursday. "So, if there are really close races, those Election Day votes will tremendously matter in the outcomes of these elections."
Initial results may favor Democrats, who are more likely to vote by mail. An influx of Republican votes could pour in as Election Day votes are tallied.
North Carolina accepts mail ballots that arrive by Nov. 12 so long as they were postmarked by Election Day, a policy recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. So as in other states with generous mail ballot deadlines, those final ballots could matter if races are tight and leave the final result unclear for days past Election Day.
Pennsylvania
Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar has said that the "overwhelming majority" of ballots will be tallied by Friday, Nov. 6.
"We're sure it will take more time than it used to," Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday. "We probably won't know results on election night."
Pennsylvania election officials can accept mail ballots that arrive up to three days after the election, as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 3.
Many counties say they will begin processing ballots as soon as allowed, at 7 a.m. on Election Day, but a handful, like Cumberland County outside Harrisburg, say they won't begin dealing with absentee ballots until Wednesday.
"We're having a conversation with any county that says they're waiting," Boockvar said on Thursday. "I want every one of them starting on Election Day."
An election official gathers mail-in ballots being sorted in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Matt Slocum/AP
Erie County, which swung from Obama to Trump in 2016, will begin processing absentee ballots on Election Day, but will wait to count them until about 11 p.m., after in-person ballots are counted.
In Luzerne County, home to Wilkes-Barre, County Manager David Pedri told NPR the county is hoping to count a large portion of the mail ballots on Tuesday night, but won't finish until Wednesday or Thursday. He said he has 40 people working from 7 a.m. until 9 or 10 p.m. processing and later counting ballots. Keeping them on the clock much longer can result in mistakes being made, said Pedri.
During the primary, Pedri says it took four days to count 40,000 mail ballots. They've since added an envelope opening machine that should speed the process, but this fall, Luzerne has sent out 70,000 mail ballots — a third of the electorate.
In Bucks County, outside Philadelphia, Commissioner Robert Harvie told NPR that officials will begin announcing batches of results from in-person and mail voting at 10 p.m. on election night. He says it's hard to know how long it will take to finish because they don't know how many absentee ballots will be returned still, but he's confident they will be done "before Friday."
If the 2020 election comes down to Pennsylvania, and the margin is tight, it is possible the election hangs in the balance for several days.
Wisconsin
"I believe that we will be able to know the results of the Wisconsin election, hopefully that night and maybe at the latest the very next day," Gov. Tony Evers said earlier this month.
Wisconsin cannot begin the bulk of its processing work until Election Day, but most counties say they expect to finish counting before Wednesday morning.
Julietta Henry, the Milwaukee County elections director, said she expects the county will finish reporting absentee ballots between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
"If it takes longer than that, we just ask that you be patient because we want to make sure every vote is counted and is counted accurately," she says. "We'll be here 'til it's done."
State law says the count cannot be paused once it begins, so election workers may end up working through the night, though the elections commission has expressed some leniency on that front.
"There are certainly smaller cities and towns where the results will come in like normal," said Reid Magney, public information officer for the Wisconsin Elections Commission. "But in some bigger cities, especially where they count absentee ballots at a central location instead of the polling place, we might not see all the results until the next morning."
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October 31, 2020 at 06:00PM
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With Deluge Of Mail Ballots, Here's When To Expect Election Results In 6 Key States - NPR
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Friday, October 30, 2020
It’s Halloween, so here are some mischievous skeletons - The Verge
Everyone focuses on what’s blowing up on TikTok, but here’s something that’s been getting a bit of attention over on Byte: some playful little skeletons.
Over the past month, designer Andre Zimmermann has been posting short looping clips of meddlesome skeletons getting into low-stakes hijinks, like running off with food from a table or knocking a plant off a ledge. “They sort of became these jerks,” Zimmermann said. “Like a cat.”
They’re the furthest thing from spooky, but their mischievous antics feel a bit more comforting during what’s already a high-stress Halloween.
My favorite of Zimmermann’s not-quite-spooky animations shows a humanoid collection of skulls dancing to a looping disco track. To make it, Zimmermann said he imported a motion-capture file of someone dancing, then set the skulls to follow their movements. “It’s just a man basically with skulls stuck to him,” Zimmermann said.
Zimmermann has only been working with 3D art for three years. He started making icons and customizations for Android home screens, then moved on to illustrations and animations. His projects all come together in his free time after work and take a day or two each.
The quick turnarounds are intentional, Zimmermann said, because it’s too easy for any given post to go unnoticed on social platforms. “Putting a lot of time into these long hard complex works doesn’t really pay off,” he said. He’d like to build up an audience — recently, he had some success on Instagram, where one of his skeleton posts got 1.6 million views. On Byte, the view count is far lower, but the animations have been surfacing as part of the app’s “Spooky Season” section.
One element of Zimmermann’s animations that really pulls them together is the music. That selection actually comes last in the process, he said. Once the video is exported, he looks around to see what fits and what will loop properly, since he wants the clips to seem endless.
“The length has to fit,” he said. “And getting that right away is not really something you can plan.”
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October 31, 2020 at 11:00AM
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It’s Halloween, so here are some mischievous skeletons - The Verge
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Halloween Poses A Scary Amount Of COVID-19 Risk. Here's How To Make Your Celebrations Safer - Capital Public Radio News
As COVID-19 infections rise across the United States, California is battling to keep its rates and hospitalizations low. But much like the Memorial Day and Fourth of July holidays, this weekend’s Halloween celebrations — and the coinciding Mexican-American tradition of Día de Los Muertos — could lead to a rise in the disease if people don’t take the necessary precautions.
In Sacramento County, officials say Halloween isn’t canceled, it’s just got to be modified. They published Halloween safety guidelines back in September.
“We have put out messages of how to celebrate the holiday safely, especially because we know this is a holiday that is cherished, especially by children,” said county public health director Dr. Olivia Kasirye. “Fortunately a lot of the activities are outdoors, which tends to be safe.”
Sacramento County was hoping to get positivity rates low enough to “turn Sacramento orange by Halloween,” referring to the possibility of moving to a less restrictive tier according to the state’s blueprint for reopening the economy. But the positivity rate remains too high due to outbreaks at nursing facilities, so Sacramento is still in the red tier.
Both Halloween and Día de Los Muertos are traditionally celebrated in large groups. State and local officials are urging people not to gather, and to wear face coverings and stay apart if they do see people outside their household. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, such as fever, cough, sore throat, body aches or loss of smell, should stay home.
Here’s what the experts say about Halloween and Day of the Dead:
Skip The Parties
Health officials say it’s not safe to gather indoors with people you don’t live with. Viral particles can build up in a room over time and infect others, even if some people are wearing face coverings or standing far away from one another. (You can see a visual demonstration of how viral particles travel indoors here.)
The state of California recently put out guidelines for outdoor gatherings, which recommend getting together with no more than three households for no more than two hours. They’re urging people to gather consistently with the same households so as to limit the risk of spreading infection from one social bubble to another.
Both Sacramento County and UC Davis have suggested alternatives to traditional parties:
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Virtual party, scary movie watch or costume contest
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Distanced outdoor costume parade
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Contact-free neighborhood scavenger hunt
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Making your home a haunted house
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Drive-through Halloween displays or movies
Rethink Trick-or-Treating
Officials say it’s extremely important to stay in your own neighborhood this year, and to avoid interacting with people outside your immediate family. They say going to people’s doorsteps for candy is a recipe for COVID-19 spread.
“These activities involve face to face interactions with people from different households, and if an infection is detected among a participant, it will be very difficult to find and notify those who may have been exposed,” the state wrote in a recent message to the public.
If you do decide to go trick-or-treating in your own neighborhood, officials urge you to stay together as a family and not interact with other trick-or-treaters. As an alternative to giving out candy on doorsteps, the state, Sacramento County and UC Davis have the following suggestions:
- Set up a table to stand behind and hand out candy using candy-grabber or tongs. It’s safer to have an adult give out candy than to have many children reaching into the same candy bowl.
- Make treat bags and hang them from streamers outside for kids to grab
- Stage a “trunk-or-treat” where cars full of candy are parked more than six feet apart
- Ask neighbors if they’ll do a “reverse trick or treat” activity, such as driving by and throwing candy to kids standing on front lawns.
Wear A (Real) Mask
Many Halloween costumes involve a mask — either something built into the costume itself or a separate mask that covers part of all of your face.
But experts warn that these types of masks do not effectively prevent the spread fo COVID-19, because they usually have slits for breathing, which let viral particles out.
Doctors recommend designing an impenetrable cloth face covering to go with your costume, or wearing a regular covering under your costume mask.
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Halloween Poses A Scary Amount Of COVID-19 Risk. Here's How To Make Your Celebrations Safer - Capital Public Radio News
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Here's what happened when NBC News tried to report on the alleged Hunter Biden emails - NBC News
The complaints from President Donald Trump and his allies have been growing louder as the election approaches: Why isn’t the mainstream media covering the Hunter Biden laptop story?
Trump and his allies say there is evidence of corruption in emails and documents allegedly found on a laptop belonging to Democrat Joe Biden’s son. They say those and other documents show that Hunter Biden used his father’s influence to enrich himself through business deals in Ukraine and China, and that his father not only facilitated that, but may have benefited financially.
But the Wall Street Journal and Fox News — among the only news organizations that have been given access to key documents — found that the emails and other records don’t make that case. Leaving aside the many questions about their provenance, the materials offered no evidence that Joe Biden played any role in his son’s dealings in China, let alone profited from them, both news organizations concluded.
As to Ukraine, a single email published by the New York Post suggests Joe Biden may have had a meeting with a representative of a Ukrainian company that employed his son. Trump and his allies alleged that means Joe Biden has lied when he said he never discussed his son’s business roles. The Biden campaign denies the meeting happened.
The lack of major new revelations is perhaps the biggest reason the story has not gotten traction, but not the only one. Among others: Most mainstream news organizations, including NBC News, have not been granted access to the documents. NBC News asked by email, text, phone call and certified mail, and was ultimately denied.
And, although no evidence has emerged that the documents are the product of Russian disinformation, as some experts initially suggested, many questions remain about how the materials got into the hands of Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who has met with Russian agents in his effort to dig dirt on the Bidens.
U.S. intelligence agencies have informed the White House that Giuliani has been in contact with alleged Russian intelligence agents. The FBI has been looking into whether the Russians played any role, and no official has ruled that out.
At the same time, dozens of former intelligence officials have said the story has the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation. After the election interference of 2016, the news media is especially wary of doing anything to further an effort by a foreign government to intervene in a presidential campaign.
Another factor tamping down coverage of the story is that there isn’t much new in what the laptop documents appear to reveal. The allegation that Hunter Biden has traded on his family name has been thoroughly explored in previous news stories, including a lengthy New Yorker investigation last year in which Robert Weissman, the president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, said, “It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Hunter’s foreign employers and partners were seeking to leverage Hunter’s relationship with Joe, either by seeking improper influence or to project access to him.” Reports published while the elder Biden was still vice president raised ethical questions about the Burisma deal.
While the question of whether Joe Biden enabled his son to profit from the vice president’s influence is relevant to the presidential campaign, issues of balance and proportionality also come into play.
Trump, according to the same good government advocates who have criticized Hunter Biden, is ethically challenged when it comes to appearing to use the power of his office to enrich himself and his family. David Farenthold of The Washington Post has used federal and other records to calculate that the federal government has spent at least $2.5 million on food and lodging at Trump properties since Trump took office. Earlier this month, Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska who is up for re-election, told supporters that Trump’s family “has treated the presidency like a business opportunity.”
Yet stories about Trump’s children and their business dealings are not dominating the news cycle in the days before the election, because they have already been covered, just as the Hunter Biden story has been covered. (Trump’s tax information, on the other hand, has been covered extensively by The New York Times, because the secret tax data obtained by the newspaper revealed important new information about his tax payments and his business dealings.)
'No role for Joe Biden'
The first story about the Hunter Biden laptop appeared in the New York Post, a conservative tabloid. One of the bylines was that of a former producer for Fox News pundit Sean Hannity.
The New York Times reported that a Post reporter who did much of the work declined to allow his byline to appear on the story.
The Times also reported that the Trump campaign initially shopped the story to the Wall Street Journal, hoping that a mainstream news organization would validate their assertions that the documents hinted at corruption.
The Journal didn’t do that.
The Journal published a story focusing on claims about an alleged deal proposal in China — claims made by a former Hunter Biden associate named Tony Bobulinski, who came forward after the laptop story broke to say that the senior Biden was well aware of his son’s arrangements.
After examining text messages provided by Bobulinski, the Journal reported that “the venture — set up in 2017 after Mr. Biden left the vice presidency and before his presidential campaign — never received proposed funds from the Chinese company or completed any deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Corporate records…show no role for Joe Biden.”
Fox News, meanwhile said it “reviewed emails from Bobulinski related to the venture — and they don't show that the elder Biden had business dealings with SinoHawk Holdings, or took any payments from them or the Chinese.”
An NBC News correspondent asked Bobulinski for an interview and for copies of documents in his possession, but he declined.
“All of your questions will be answered on Tucker Carlson tonight,” Bobulinski wrote on Oct. 27.
On air, to make his case that Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings, Bobulinski described an encounter he says he had with the senior Biden.
At a meeting in May 2017 in Los Angeles, Bobulinski says Hunter Biden introduced him to the former vice president, saying: “This is Tony, dad, the individual I told you about that's helping us with the business we are working and the Chinese.”
Even if that statement was made, it says very little about how much Joe Biden knew, and nothing about whether he was involved.
The Biden campaign has denied that Biden knew about the venture or stood to profit from it.
The laptop
NBC News has sought to obtain the documents on the alleged Hunter Biden laptop, but has been rebuffed.
An NBC News correspondent sent a letter two weeks ago to Giuliani, seeking copies of the materials.
His lawyer, Robert Costello, granted the correspondent the opportunity to review some Hunter Biden emails and other materials in person. The materials included copies of Hunter Biden identification documents that appeared to be genuine. But without taking possession of the copies, it was not possible to conduct the sort of forensic analysis that might help authenticate the emails and documents.
It was Giuliani who ultimately told NBC News he would not be providing a copy of the hard drive. NBC News responded by asking if, instead of a full copy of the hard drive, he could just provide copies of the full set of emails. Giuliani did not agree to that proposal. NBC News then declined an offer of copies of a small group of emails.
NBC News has also requested the documents from Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, but has not received a response.
Key questions remain about the origins of the laptop and how it got into Giuliani’s hands.
The owner of a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, John Paul Mac Isaac, has said a man he believes was Hunter Biden left a water-damaged Apple computer at his shop in April 2019 for repairs and data recovery.
But Biden never retrieved the machine, Mac Isaac has said, and at some point he began to examine the data. He said he found material that disturbed him, though he has never publicly explained what that was. His lawyer said he contacted the FBI, which ultimately served a grand jury subpoena for the laptop and a hard drive.
After hearing nothing from the FBI for months, Mac Isaac said he grew frustrated and turned a copy of the laptop’s contents over to Giuliani’s lawyer.
A representative for Giuliani said one of Giuliani’s companies received an e-mail from Mac Isaac saying he had the laptop and thought Giuliani should be aware of its contents. The representative said Mac Isaac provided a copy of the hard drive to Giuliani’s team.
According to the representative, Mac Isaac said he wrote to Giuliani’s team after trying to reach out to Republican members of Congress without success.
Giuliani’s attorney said Mac Isaac did not ask for or receive payment for the copy of the drive.
The subpoena, which was published by the New York Post, was signed by a federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Wilmington.
A photo of a receipt provided to Mac Isaac by FBI agents was published on the Fox News website. It contained an FBI code, 272D, which the bureau uses to signify an investigation into money laundering where the unlawful activity is unknown.
U.S. officials have refused to explain why they seized the laptops and what, if anything, they are investigating.
NBC News attempted to speak to Mac Isaac, but he did not respond to requests for comment. NBC News published an article quoting responses he had given to The Daily Beast. His lawyer then sent NBC News a letter that said, “Your network and affiliates should cease any further discussion of Mr. Mac Isaac as much of the information you are presenting is false.”
James Rosen, a reporter for the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest operator of local television stations, reported this week that a Justice Department official told him the FBI had opened a criminal investigation into Hunter Biden and his associates last year focused on allegations of money-laundering — and that the probe remains active.
NBC News has not confirmed any such investigation.
Rosen also reported that the FBI interviewed former Biden associate Bobulinski last week.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that Bobulinski initiated the interview.
Bobulinski said the FBI told him he’s “listed as a material witness,” but law enforcement officials say the FBI does not use that term in this context.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, did not respond to a request for comment by NBC News. He has not asserted — nor has the Biden campaign — that the laptop did not belong to Hunter Biden.
If he did leave the machine in Delaware, it would have marked at least the second time he has left behind a laptop.
According to two people familiar with the matter, a different Hunter Biden laptop landed in the custody of the DEA in February when they executed a search warrant on the Massachusetts office of a psychiatrist accused of professional misconduct. The psychiatrist has not been charged with a crime.
Hunter Biden was not a target of the search or the investigation, and his lawyer ultimately got his laptop back. It’s not clear why his computer was left in the doctor’s office.
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Here's what happened when NBC News tried to report on the alleged Hunter Biden emails - NBC News
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