I want to take a moment to list out some of my most challenging problems with Protestantism according to what Scripture says, in no particular order. It is not a comprehensive list of all of the problems that I have with it, but having these answered would go a long way to me taking Protestantism seriously from a theological viewpoint.
We should rely on our own personal interpretation of Scripture
And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰ First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹ because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Here, Peter is saying PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHURCH!!! Listen to what the apostles are teaching and allow that to form your reading of Scripture. If you read the rest of this chapter, He says that "we" (the apostles) have had given to them, "all things that pertain to life and godliness" through knowledge of Jesus Christ. When we read Scripture, we should not read it solely with our own understanding, but allow ourselves to be taught by the apostles (or those appointed by them as successors).
When it comes to Sola Scriptura, I do not see how it is not relying on one's own personal interpretation. How do I know that I am understanding Scripture correctly? How do I know that I do not have an interpretation that is horribly off base? I have never really gotten an answer to this from Protestants.
If I am debating Scripture, according to Protestants, I am debating the sole highest authority. So if I test my interpretation against something else, I am testing against a lesser authority and thus it can still be challenged and I have not sufficiently solved the problem.
We only need to declare Jesus as Lord to get to Heaven
“Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Here Jesus flatly says professing that Jesus is Lord is not enough to get you into Heaven, but doing the will of the Father. Yes, we are saved by faith through grace. If you get baptized and are shot dead the moment you walk out of the church, you will go to Heaven having done nothing except making that "leap of faith." If you are in a car crash and have a minute to live and all you can do is place your trust in Jesus, yes, you will be saved. But for 99.99999% of people, this is not the case. We have our entire lives to live after baptism. So the question is "Do we live according to what we profess with our mouth?"
If I say "I am an Orioles fan." but only ever go to/watch Yankees games and only ever root for the Yankees, would you say that I am actually an Orioles fan? Do I not call into question that statement that I made by my actions? What if I grow up as an Orioles fan, regularly attending games and watching them daily. But then later, my favorite player gets traded to the Yankees and I convert to a Yankees fan. Was I never an Orioles fan to begin with? No. That would be silly. I was an Orioles fan, but then became a Yankees fan.
Likewise, if I say "I am a Christian and believe that Jesus rose from the dead." But I never attend Church, I am not loving others, I am worshipping other gods, etc. Am I really a Christian? Maybe I was at one point, but I certainly am not now based on what I have done.
As such, yes, it is true that works do not save us, but if we act contrary to what we believe, we cannot have assurance of our salvation. Hopefully God still finds a way to bring us to Heaven. I would rather someone spend 1000 years after death having their soul purified knowing that they will go to Heaven then know for a fact that they are in Hell. Even so, we must recognize that Hell is real, it is a real possibility.
Baptism does not save
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
I have ZERO idea where some Protestants get this idea from. The idea that Baptism is not salvific is not at all Scriptural. This really ties into the "Sola Fide" bit of this post.
The Eucharist is merely symbolic
I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread^\)^c\) which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”^\)^d\) ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; ⁵⁴ he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” ⁵⁹ This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Caper′na-um.
Jesus flat out says "This bread that I am talking about here is my flesh." So the disciples challenge Him saying "You mean this figuratively right?... RIGHT?
So Jesus responds repeating himself over and over in verses 53 through 58. How many times does Jesus need to say something for you to believe it? You will latch on to a singular verse that teaches something you agree with (or seems to) for dear life at the exclusion of literally any other verse on the topic, but something else is taught multiple times and you don't believe it? I am confused about how Protestants read the Bible. It does not seem to be in any kind of coherent exegesis.
You are allowed to get divorced and remarried... at all.
“Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,^\)^a\) ⁸ and the two shall become one.’^\)^b\) So they are no longer two but one.^\)^c\) ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”
He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,^\)^c\) and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.”
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
Marriage is "until death do us part." The teachings on divorce from the Gospels is trying to set a trap for Jesus to see which rabbinical school he agrees with. Jesus comes out and says. "Neither." He says "Yeah. Moses allowed for divorce. But this is not how it was from the beginning. What about that "except for unchastity" phrase in Matthew (and only Matthew)?
There Matthew is talking about unions that God did not join together. He is talking about invalid marriages that his primarily Jewish readers would have been thinking about. The gentile converts to Christianity would not have thought about these weird situations, so this is excluded from the other gospels.
You can get re-baptized
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Some that want to say that you can get rebaptized jump to Acts 19. Reading this passage, it would seem that what is going on here is that the Baptism by John was not in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul is essentially saying that the "baptism" that they had received was not valid. He does not say that he "baptized them again into Christ." Rather it says that Paul "baptized them in the name Jesus Christ." As in they were not baptized into Christ, so Paul baptized them "for real this time."
You can only be cleansed from Original Sin once. After that, you can confess your sins and have them forgiven. Baptism is what makes into a child of God. That can only happen once. To do otherwise is a grave sin because you are saying that God was not powerful enough to save you the first time. Again, if a baptism is deemed to be invalid, this is a different story. This is why Paul asks "Into what were you baptized?"
The Church is simply the collection of believers
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Here it is clear that the "Church" is something more than a collection of believers. Jesus teaches here that first, you deal with disagreement 1 on 1. If that does not work, you go and get other believers to help show that they are wrong. If that does not work, then take to the Church. If even that does not work, they are to be treated as an unbeliever (excommunicated).
Certainly, all believers are a part of the Church - which is the body of Christ. The Church is not a parish or a singular building. The Church is universal, but there is a clear structure to it. There are priests, bishops, elders, etc. There is real authority in that structure. This article goes over in Scripture and towards the bottom the Church Fathers what the Church is meant to look like: https://www.scripturecatholic.com/the-biblical-church/
Many Protestant ideas sound nice, but I do not want to believe something merely because it sounds nice. Dessert for dinner sounds nice but it is not good for my body. Likewise, we should not judge something on "does it sound nice." We should judge something on whether it is good for our souls.
I look at many Protestant theological views and note how they seem to not be based in Scripture or based on a misunderstanding of Scripture. I would love to see if Protestants can properly answer these. Simply quoting verses that seem to back you up is not enough here. You need to show that these other verses are not problematic.
I do not only want to trust in Jesus, I want to trust that I am following everything that he taught. Jesus commanded the apostles to teach all that He has commanded, not just the important stuff. If you get the main stuff right but other things wrong, you still got it wrong. If a teacher gave a 10 question quiz and said, "You got questions 1, 2, 5, and 7 right, but everything else wrong. It is ok though those questions were the most important." I still get a failing grade. So, if you want me to convert to Protestantism you need to show that you actually follow all of Scripture, because I want to strive to get a 100% on the "test" of salvation. After all Jesus told us to "Be perfect as Your Heavenly Father is perfect" Not "Be kind of perfect as Your Heavenly Father is perfect."

I passed the Power PE Exam and wanted to share what I did to help my fellow EEs pass too! I studied since January and took my exam April 23. My goal was to study for at least two hours daily (I studied for about 6 hrs Saturdays and Sundays). Total Study time around 250 hrs. I took 3 days off work to give myself a full week off of work to study prior to the exam. I recommend you take some time off before the exam.
I purchased Electrical PE Review on-demand course and focused mainly on reviewing Zach Stone's material and completing the end-of-chapter quizzes for the first two months. The last month and a half I only did practice exams and quizzes. I did the NCEES Practice Exam twice and both times timed myself. I did 4 hrs on Saturday and 4 hrs on Sunday. After grading myself I went over the all the problems and made sure I understood the concepts and the reasoning. I also wrote down any equations that I used that was NOT in the handbook. Here is a list of all the exams I took in order and my scores:

• NCEES Practice Exam (48%)
• Zach Stone's Electrical PE Review 80 AIT Practice Problems (51.25%)
• NCEES Practice Exam (2nd Attempt) (87.5%)
• Zach Stone's Electrical PE Review Practice Exam and Technical Study Guide (61.25%)

How I felt prior to the exam: I felt like I was ready to get it over with. I had been studying for about 3.5 months and wanted to at least attempt it. You will always feel like you can study more.
Exam Day: I finished the first half of the exam in 3.5 hours. I had to guess on about five problems that I just did not have any idea how to solve. Took 30 min break, went to my car to relax, have lunch, and review some concepts that I did not see much of in the first half. The second half of the exam was about the same level of difficulty. I finished in 3.5 hours again and spent the rest of time figuring out creative was to guess on about five problems. Even though I had to guess there was a bit of logic behind my guesses that made me feel better.
Overall opinion on the exam questions: I think the actual exam was overall easier than the practice exams I did. I did have to guess on a few problems, maybe around 10-15 total. There were some guesses that I felt ok on and some I just had no idea. I think the key for me was to always keep going. Don't stop. Just keep solving problem after problem. It truly is a marathon.
Comparison of practice exam to actual PE exam: I maybe saw two or three problems that were similar to the NCEES practice exam. I would recommend you learn how to solve all if not 90% of the NCEES Practice exam problems. I thought the actual exam was a bit easier than the exams I used to study.
When I left the exam I felt like I passed. I was somewhat surprised at the amount I had to guess on. It was not as many as I was anticipating. Even though I thought I had passed, there was doubt just because there are some answers that if you do one thing wrong the wrong answer will still be a solution in the list of multiple choice answers to choose from. NCEES is tricky like that.
Opinion on the Practice Exams: I liked all the practice exams I did and would recommend you try those and compare your results with mine. They were all very educational with a good mix of concepts. I memorized maybe 10 total formulas but in the end I maybe used one of them if that. So I don't think you need to memorize a ton. I would focus on understanding the concepts.
Tips:
I made a letter sized sheet of paper for only the main concepts that I still had trouble on from each section and would review those sheets only daily (like index cards). After taking a practice exam, I would add any equations that I did not know to these sheets (there weren't that many). I would also review Induction and Sync. machines and make sure you understand the concepts and tests. Be comfortable knowing when you need to use sqrt(3) and when not to.
If you put in the time as I did and are consistent you will pass, no doubt about it. Good luck and hope this helps!

This is probably the most ambitious project I've done, but I'm on day 62 as of writing this, and it's been a blast! Here are my notes for every day in this: Day 1 (inf-20100607) Did nothing more than make myself a house and get food. Wood seemed scarce, so I mined coal during the night.
Day 2 (inf-20100608) Lit up the area, and made myself a cloth cap and shirt. The first sapling grew today, so I chopped it down and replanted.
Day 1 (again) (inf-20100611) Minecraft decided that my world didn't exist so I had to restart. Not too hard, though. I had to quickly build myself a wooden house (good thing there were so many trees!) and hide in there for the night. I didn't have coal, so no torches, and no torches means no light, and no light means PITCH BLACK nights. I was genuinely scared by this. Also, the skeletons and zombies made player noises. Weird.
Day 2 (again) (inf-20100615) Finished the wood shack and installed windows (not the OS, mind you). Then I added a tube to the back of the mineshaft to get to my house easier, and I also went mining. Found coal, but didn't have enough time to mine it due to it being update time.
Day 3 (inf-20100616-1) Decided to make a giant cobblestone nerd-pole so that I wouldn't get lost when exploring. Speaking of exploring, I did just that... for a little bit. That was very short-lived. I ended up mining for a while, and found the void-lava.
Day 4 (inf-20100617-1) Today was so far the most successful mining trip. I nerded out about the old trees having logs on the inside and the new trees not having that and those two kinds of trees being right next to each other. That's a run on sentence isn't it? Then I went into the mines and found more iron than I can count. Like I said, successful.
Day 5 (inf-20100617-2) Mining trip was good. Got more iron and found some void gold (a gold vein that exposed the void). It was cool.
Day 6 (inf-20100618, Seecret Friday 1) I screwed around with minecarts.
Day 7 (inf-20100624) Decided to light up the area around spawn, but not in spawn. Decided to fight baddies for the heck of it that night. Also made the house look more appealing.
Day 8 (inf-20100625-1) Everything that I placed and did in the last day got reversed to how they were on Day 6, except for my inventory. I spent the day fixing everything. In the night, I went mining and found more iron. No diamonds D:
Day 9 (inf-20100625-2, Seecret Friday 2) Today they added dungeons and some other stuff but it's not very important to me right now. Went mining for the day.
Day 10 (inf-20100627) Nothing interesting was added today so I went exploring to find water. I also made a glass room in my mine to tell the time.
Day 11 (inf-20100630-1) Infdev 20100629 didn't wanna work. So here we are, at 20100630-1. Stairs were added in the last version, so I added stairs to my mine. The stairs sure are finnicky, though! I also filled a creeper blast with water (that is surprisingly calming...)
Day 12 (inf-20100630-2) The last Infdev day. Tomorrow it will be Alpha! To prepare for the long journey of Alpha releases I built a new addition to the house. Finally, I made a sign and a shrine for Infdev. Farewell!
Day 13 (a1.0.1_01) Last version was Seecret Friday, but the file is lost and I have to play this version. But there are so many changes!! Excited! Didn't find redstone in the mines, though. I also finished the new room and organized the chests.
Day 14 (a1.0.2_01) Went exploring for some coal and cooked all my pork chops.
Day 15 (a1.0.2_02) Can't remember much other than that I went mining. That's it I guess?
Day 16 (a1.0.3) Went exploring for some coal but found a cool cave and also found lots of coal and iron
Day 17 (a1.0.4, Seecret Friday 4) Same as Day 16.
Day 18 (a1.0.5) Went back home and decided to go strip-mining because caving didn't go very well. Not much happened.
Day 19 (a1.0.5_01) There is a new project now; I am carving my face on a mountain. Gonna need a lot of stone though. And gravel. Lots and lots of gravel.
Day 20 (a1.0.6, Seecret Friday 5) Cactuses were added. Neat I guess. Also Boats. But that doesn't apply to what I did today because what I did today was work on my face. I went to get gravel. There was a lot of gravel.
Day 21 (a1.0.6_01) Marked the gravel spot, got distracted, and now I'm lost. at least I found a cactus!
Day 22 (a1.0.6_03) Using the power of looking back at the footage, I was able to return home! With the cactus! Yippee!
Day 23 (a1.0.7) Continued work on the face: I did it! Now I am making the body. Might need more gravel...
Day 24 (a1.0.8_01) i died.
Day 25 (a1.0.9) I continued working on my statue of me and got some more gravel. Had 1 block left after finishing!
Day 26 (a1.0.10) Went strip mining, found no diamonds.
Day 27 (a1.0.11, Seecret Friday 6) This update, lots of cool stuff was added but nothing that I can use. Went strip mining and found zero diamonds.
Day 28 (a1.0.12) The splash was "missingno" for some reason. Anyways, continued working on a giant tower. Ladders suck
Day 29 (a1.0.13) Finished the tower. Ladders STILL suck...
Day 30 (a1.0.13_01) Got bored of building so I went in one direction to find some sugarcane. Found some and am going back
Day 31 (a1.0.13_01 1Kin24h edition) The title screen was changed to say 1K in 24h because Minecraft sold 1,000 units in 24 hours! That might not seem like a lot but at the time that was big news. ANYWAYS, got back home and planted sugarcane, and also made a bookshelf. Also, bricks!
Day 32 (a1.0.14-1, Seecret Friday 7) Chickens and chest minecarts and furnace minecarts are added and I WANT A RAIL SYSTEM so I decided that my face could be a cart station. also iron doors suck
Day 33 (a1.0.14-2) What did I do... Oh yeah i put a tower compass thing.
Day 34 (a1.0.15) Played Minecraft, Watched Hermitcraft, Got Gravel.
Day 35 (a1.0.16) Mined some dirt
Day 36 (a1.0.16_01) placed the dirt replacing the sand, also paths.
Day 37 (a1.0.16_02) paths. PATHS!!!!!!1!
Day 38 (a1.0.17_02) Fences were added in alpha 1.0.17 but that version and a1.0.7_01 are lost so this is the one I have to play. Anyways, I got some wood for a farm project. How is that related? You'll see...
Day 39 (a1.0.17_03) See, fences placed underneath farmland makes the farmland UNTRAMPLEABLE. That's nice.
Day 40 (a1.0.17_04) Last a1.0.1x version! Grinding for wood sux.
Day 41 (a1.1.0-1, Seecret Friday 9) Compasses! I WANT A COMPASS. So I don't get lost ;) but i don't have redstone so i went mining for some. NO LUCK as always...
Day 42 (a1.1.0-2) Mining. No. Redstone. Or. Diamonds.
Day 43 (a1.1.1, Seecret Saturday) SNEAKIN' ROUND THE BLOCK, WOOHOO! Spent this legendary version just mining and found BEDROCK. I'll tell you that that wasn't there before. Still no redstone OR diamonds. FOUND A CAVE, THOUGH.
Day 44 (a1.1.2) idk what I did, I cooked pork I guess
Day 45 (a1.1.2_01) I mined out a bit of my face and gave a tour of the world to Pap. Last version with neon foliage.
Day 46 (a1.2.0, Halloween Update) Because this version added the Nether, I desperately tried to get diamonds so I could make a nether portal. Alas, no luck on that front.
Day 47 (a1.2.0_01) Continued mining until my pickaxes broke. After that, I hollowed out some more of my face. That's it?
Day 48 (a1.2.0_02) I tried making a rail way to the resource gathering area, but turns out that furnace minecarts are extremely finnicky. That project will have to wait until Beta 1.5...
Day 49 (a1.2.1_01) Turns out that Alpha 1.2.1 is the only lost Alpha 1.2 version. Go figure. Anyways, I started working on Mama's Mother's Day gift thing, and got ambushed by like a million mobs during the night. This is what I signed up for when switching to Hard mode, what did I expect?
Day 50 (a1.2.2-1) The ability to easily switch between texture packs was added in this version, replacing the ever-defunct "Play tutorial level" button. Also, nether portals with F4. I'm definitely going to use that once I figure out how it works. Update: figured out how the portals work, they seem to be random. I tried it in a test world then in my actual world and it worked! It was really cool in the Nether, but I just so happen to be underground. Ugh.
Day 51 (a1.2.2-2) Spent the day continuing working on the Mother's Day gift. I didn't die this time!
Day 52 (a1.2.3) Coordinates were added to the F3 menu, which is pretty nice. Now I CAN'T get lost! Anyways, I finished the Mother's Day gift and then died due to skelley boi. Man I need to mine... That will be a project for tomorrow.
Day 53 (a1.2.3_01-1) I didn't mine. Instead, I focused on ranged attacks and getting food and leather for armor.
Day 54 (a1.2.3_01-2) I continued to get resources from animals and ended up with a lot of pork chops and a leather shirt.
Day 55 (a1.2.3_02) Started a new mine so that I can get iron and diamonds faster. I found iron actually now!
Day 56 (a1.2.3_04) Turns out a1.2.3_03 doesn't exist. Weird, huh? Anyway, I finished digging down to y11 and am installing stairs.
Day 57 (a1.2.4, a1.2.3_05 in-game) Continued mining out my brand-new definitely not abandoned mineshaft. Got some of the unused rails and put them to good use!
Day 58 (a1.2.4_01) Went a little overtime huh? Well today was kinda uneventful, i mined, mined some more, and mined EVEN MORE. STILL no diamonds. I'm kinda losing hope...
Day 59 (a1.2.5) Only 1 alpha version left! Wow, time really did fly fast, huh? Anyway, I went and made a new room below the furnace room for storage, so that when I am in the beta versions I won't run out of storage. I also need wood.
Day 60 (a1.2.6) It's the LAST version of Alpha, and you know what I'm gonna do? Make an alpha shrine of course! I did the same for Infdev on day 12 if you remember. So yeah, that's what I'll do today. Update: I got killed by a zombie at the last second it COULD have. That sux
Day 61 (b1.0) Immediately, the Alpha shrine got blown up by a creeper instantly. And I died twice. It gets better, though. I continued working on the storage area and got things sorted out. However, there appears to be an inventory bug and that made my life waay harder. Still though, pretty productive day!
Day 62 (b1.0_01) The stupid chest bug was fixed! Yaay!

Just looking for some build ideas. I’m F2P in Master 2, for reference. Bots ~6/7. Weapons ~7/8
I’d prefer to build up a variety of niche builds that I can swap in and out based on how I feel.
A perfect example of this is pretty much any crisis build. Far from op, but pretty unmatched as a sniper. And if I ever feel like I’m quite useless on moon or the canyon map, then switching in a gauss crisis or something should cover that.
Pathfinder is one I’d love. But as f2p, I’m aware that it’s a few years away at least. For any of those games where it’s quite slow and passive, being able to build up stacks of buffs safely, before going aggressive would be nice.
What other ideas are there?? I’m unsure what to level up, and also have no idea what to do with my typhon

DAY: MAY 13, 2024

• 5-13-2024BIKING REVEALED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH LESS KNEE PAIN LATER IN LIFE A study reveals that people who participated in regular bicycling over their lifetime had a lower prevalence of frequent knee pain, radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) and symptomatic radiographic osteoarthritis (SOA). Rheumatologists often encourage regular physical activity for the prevention of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. However, some exercises are more effective than others.
• 5-13-2024STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS CAN INCREASE YOUR RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S Stressful life events, such as the death of a loved one or divorce, put a person at greater risk of developing dementia in later life, a recent study has found. But only if the stressful event happened in childhood or midlife. The study included 1,290 people at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers looked at 18 stressful life events and when in people’s lives they happened.
• 5-13-2024TIPS FOR LOWERING STROKE RISK May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and as part of everyday awareness, Mayo Clinic health care professionals suggest reducing stroke risk and knowing the signs. A stroke happens every 40 seconds in the U.S., and the likelihood of stroke increases with age, according to the National Institutes of Health. Preventing a stroke is a crucial aspect of health care, as about 80% of all strokes are preventable. The focus is on managing risk factors to reduce the long-term risk of stroke.
• 5-13-2024IT’S TIME TO USE TIKTOK TO TALK TO YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT OBESITY, SAYS RESEARCHER There is an urgent need to harness the potential of TikTok and other social media channels to provide scientific information about obesity to young people in engaging and accessible way . The popularity and broad reach of such platforms provides the opportunity to reach diverse audiences, including teenagers and young adults, explains lead researcher Dr. Antonella Franceschelli, of Unicamillus International Medical University, Rome, Italy.
• 5-13-2024WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER TAKE NUTRITION ADVICE FROM A CENTENARIAN It’s a cliche of reporting on people who reach 100 years of age, or even 110, to ask them some variation of the question: “What did you do to live this long?” Inevitably, some interesting and unexpected answer is highlighted. Fish and chips every Friday. Drinking a glass of strong liquor every day. Bacon for breakfast every morning. Wine and chocolate. While a popular news story, this is a relatively meaningless question that doesn’t help us understand why certain people have lived so long.
• 5-13-2024JUNK FOOD MARKETING ON VIDEOGAME LIVESTREAMING PLATFORMS INCREASES PURCHASES AND CONSUMPTION AMONG TEENS, STUDY FINDS Food and drink advertisements on videogame livestreaming platforms (VGLSPs) like Twitch are associated with more positive attitudes towards, and purchases and intake of, unhealthy foods that are high in fat, salt and/or sugar (HFSS) like energy drinks among adolescents aged 18 or younger. The concerning findings prompt researchers to call for stronger regulations on digital marketing of unhealthy foods to young people on these platforms, where there is currently no effective regulation
• 5-13-2024HIGHER BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL AT GESTATIONAL DIABETES DIAGNOSIS LINKED TO HARMFUL OUTCOMES FOR MOTHERS AND BABIES The higher the blood sugar level in pregnant women when first diagnosed with diabetes, the higher the risk of complications around and after birth
• 5-13-2024ASKING ADULTS WITH OBESITY ABOUT THEIR WEIGHT DURING CHILDHOOD COULD HELP DETERMINE THEIR MORTALITY RISK Being asked whether you considered yourself a normal weight, plumper or thinner as a child when attending a doctor’s appointment as an adult might appear like a very strange question to ask, but new research suggests that such questions can help identify increased mortality risk in adults living with obesity.
• 5-13-2024ENERGY DRINKS CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS HEART ISSUES IN KIDS AND TEENS, HEALTH EXPERTS SAY Hennessy Sepulveda thought she was going to die. “I began dissociating as I was driving. I was 10 minutes away from my house. My vision started warping and the lights were hitting me really bright,” she said. “I felt my chest pounding, I felt a wave of panic hit me—I knew something was wrong.” Sepulveda, a Florida International University student who was 19 at the time, was admitted to the hospital, and was surprised by the cause of her symptoms
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I am thinking of doing a part time PhD in the foreseeable future and would like to ask Humanities and Social Sciences PhD students the following questions:

1. Why did you decide to embark on a PhD?
2. How many hours do you study per week?
3. For part time students that will be studying over 6 years, how many hours would you recommend studying per day?
4. Given the necessary expense and time involved, did you ever consider doing something else instead? What would it have been?
5. Would you say that your PhD has been worth it?

For reference, I am based in the UK.
Thank you so much for answering the questions in advance...

Ruby groaned as the alarm went off signaling that one of her charges had arrived back from their mission. While troublesome in its own right, what really got under her skin was that she only had one charge at the moment, and that edge lord piece of shit wasn’t supposed to complete his task for AT LEAST another 4 deca-cycles according to the prediction algorithm. Grumbling to herself, she rolled out of bed and poured herself a glass of water to offset the hangover she was trying to recover from.

A few moments later she was gliding down the hall to the meeting room. She knew Jason was going to pitch a fit that she had left him waiting, the self-entitled brat always did think the world revolved around him; but perhaps he should have thought about that before freaking dying so early. If he wanted her to be there to meet him upon death, he could at least have the decency to not die the morning after one of her binges.

Other staff members gave her a wide berth, even if it was a hollow title, she was still technically far above basically anyone else in the pecking order, at least those who had a physical presence within the Agency. She knew they all mocked her behind her back, even divine beings were sadly prone towards gossip. She put the anger at her subordinates/coworkers out of her mind for now; even if she didn’t particularly LIKE Jason, he still didn’t deserve her coming in with baggage.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that she’d arrived in front of the conference room door. She had been mulling over her thoughts, just staring into nothingness, for several minutes before she finally snapped back to the present. With a soft rap on the door, she opened it and floated inside. Jason was lounging, sprawled out on the regally padded chair throne he so fancied.

They exchanged pleasantries before she sat down to go over the mission summary. Upon seeing the cause of death, she had regrettably lost her composure and started to laugh uncontrollably. Her mighty subordinate had been felled by a goblin?! The mighty Jason Alexander Coyle, “mercenary extraordinaire”, had gotten his shit kicked in by a lowly goblin using what looked like a shiny butter knife. Oh, it was just too rich to not laugh at the absurdity.

It took her much longer than she would like to admit, to stop laughing. Jason of course wore a sour look through the entire endeavor. She shrugged it off, she had little doubt that if the same thing had happened to someone else, he would have been right beside her doubled over in laughter. Hell, once he was in a less pissy mood, she might even be able to get him to laugh about it later.

As luck would have it, it appeared that Jason’s actions had been enough to alter the tides of the war. The kingdom, and its divinity, would still lose many to the battles ahead, but Jason had done enough that the Agency could still bill the client for services rendered. As she spoke, she could see the disdain the man had for her, he always complained that she was drunk and reeked of liquor. Sure, that was often true, but he didn’t need to be such a stick in the mud about it all.

She went ahead and authorized the transfer of credits to Jason’s account. As soon as she did so, he opened up the store page and tuned her out. She watched him open up the back-channel site and purchase something, a small part of her wondered who was going to get roasted over the coals this time for allowing their admin privileges to be hacked. She toyed with the idea of bringing up his illegal actions, but truth be told she didn’t really give a shit. The other divinities were far too lax with their security, it had been child's play for one of her previous wards to hack into the Agency’s system and build the black site.

She’d ask him once about the whole thing, didn’t really grasp as much as she would have liked, but basically it functioned by spoofing a handler's credentials. This allowed the user to gain access to encrypted parts of the network, specifically access to certain privileged services that handlers enjoyed and most importantly, access to the mission assignment database. Users could buy and sell restricted or banned goods, and a part of the profits would be siphoned off to her ward’s personal account.

With Jason’s attention otherwise occupied, Ruby went ahead and reviewed the logs for his previous mission. Something about it was nagging at her. She couldn’t put it into words; however, the whole series of events just didn’t feel like ‘bad luck’. Using her divine authority, she rewound events, watching Jason’s lungs unfill with blood and refill with air.

The goblin skulked back to its den of corpses, resheathing the dagger at its hips, and reburied itself underneath the bodies. She let it rewind another few moments before stopping the feed and letting it run at normal time. She watched the goblin, slowly shifting the bodies out of the way, making sure they made no noise when it moved them. Slowly, carefully, it began to creep towards Jason’s exposed back. It drew the blade, again slowly and quietly. It closed the distance making sure to never let Jason see it or to give him any reason to think someone was behind him. Then in a flash of movement it leapt, burying the dagger right into a joint in Jason’s armor. The placement was perfect, no resistance, so the blade sank to the hilt. Allowing it to puncture Jason’s right lung.

Ruby rewound the log once more. This was wrong, very wrong. The goblin was way too good to just be some random grunt. Its movements were too smooth, its aim too precise. No, she was sure of it now, this was not a normal goblin. She focused her attention on the thing, aiming to scan the goblin for abnormalities, the dust covering it offering a surprising level of resistance to her scan. Not enough to stop her from doing what she wanted, but more resistance than she felt was reasonable for the anti-magic powder.

When she finally gained access to the monster’s stat block, her suspicions were proven correct. That was no normal goblin, that was a Redcap, a Redcap assassin no less. What in the dozen hells was a Redcap assassin doing in the middle of a freaking battlefield?! Such a valuable unit wouldn’t be used on the front lines, their skill set was terribly suited for the chaos that was an active battle. No, something was very wrong here and Ruby was going to figure out what.

As her mind raced trying to puzzle out what the actual fuck was going on, something else about the goblin flagged in her mind. It had come out of the corpse pile with the dagger already in its possession. She highlighted the various bodies that had made up the goblin's hidey hole, and then rewound the scene back. Every time one of the highlighted bodies met their fate, she froze the moment and pulled the scene into a separate window. It took a few minutes, but she eventually had all of the corpses frozen in the heartbeat before their deaths. She went through and scanned every single individual. Not a single one had been equipped with a magic disruptor blade. “So, where the fuck did the Redcap get a kingdom issued disruptor?”

Looking up, she saw that Jason was still fiddling with whatever it was that he bought. She tried to make idle conversation with the man, but he had gone full auto pilot, giving curt one-to-two word answers when asked a question or having to respond to a comment. She rolled her eyes, as much as she and him butted heads, she did have to admit that she did kind of like the guy. He had been going a little too hard into the whole dark and brooding edge lord thing recently, but that was hardly his fault. The human soul was ill suited to withstand the trauma of death, much less multiple deaths. The Agency usually did a memory scrub every couple missions, to prevent that kind of issue, but Jason had been dodging the screenings. For a moment she considered just letting sleeping dogs lie. Jason was dead and the mission was over regardless of what she might find, but the whole thing just rubbed her the wrong way.

Taking a little nip from her pocket flask, she once more focuses her attention on the Redcap. After scrubbing through the last several months of the creature’s life, she finally finds what she was looking for. The blade had come from one of Jason’s personal guards.

Ruby did a deep dive on the guard, and what came back made her blood run cold. The man had recently lost his lover. Jason had ordered a company to mop up a fleeing enemy force, before it could regroup and cause more issues. The entire thing had been a ruse and the company had been slaughtered to the last. The guard's lover had been part of that company. The loss had hit the man hard, driving him to the only rock left in his life. His deep belief in the kingdom’s divinity.

And wouldn’t you know it, apparently the kingdom’s divinity had some issues with Jason that it couldn’t be bothered to address through the proper channels. So instead of letting Ruby handle the trainwreck that was Jason’s social skills, this little scum lord of a God, had taken upon themself to deal with the issue. Several months of holy visions were enough to convince the grieving widow to betray everyone and everything he had ever known.

Once the guard had been properly brainwashed into turning his coat, it had been a simple matter to worm his way on to all of Jason’s post-fight surveys of the battlefield. The magic scanners that were exclusive to Jason’s retinue, had allowed him to see that Jason’s inhuman ability to avoid taking damage was really just a creative use of high-level magic. High-level magic that could have easily been used to save many of the kingdom’s soldiers. But of course, Jason believed himself too good to give the common man a means to protect themselves and those they loved. All this knowledge was of course worthless to the guard, he was nowhere near skilled enough to actually challenge Jason. But wouldn’t you know it, the divinity had thought of that too.

The podunk worm had brokered a secret deal with the enemy he’d contracted the Agency to deal with. In exchange for getting rid of a thorn in the God’s side, it would use its powers to scale back the war. Instead of facing a war of eradication, the enemy would be allowed to keep some of the land it had conquered.

At the urging of his God, the guard held a series of clandestine meetings with the Redcap. Imparting all the information he had learned in the months of shadowing Jason. He also gave the beast two gifts, the first was a Disruptor blade the guard had swiped from a fellow honor guard; when Jason’s corpse was found the blade would be traced back to the unfortunate guard instead of the traitor. The second was a satchel of Grarothian powder that had been blessed by the divinity, to ensure that Jason wouldn’t see the attack coming. It had worked of course; Jason hadn’t even known he was in danger till the blade was already buried in his lung. Oh, she was going to have the wannabe God’s head on a pike after this.

It pained her to admit it, but Jason deserved the final say in how this was all going to go down. She attempted to grab his attention, but the man was lost in his own little world. She tried waving her hands, ignored. She tried snapping her fingers in his ears, ignored. She even went so far as to beat her wings, blasting his face with the wind force of just under a category 1 hurricane; again ignored. Her rage was starting to reach fever pitch. So, she defaulted to the most tried and true method of stress reduction she had in her arsenal. She decided the only way for herself and Jason, once he knew the truth, to calm down would be to relax with a drink of the finest Earth treats.

With a heavy heart she opened up her most beloved extra planer storage space. This place was used for the only two things Ruby really cared about anymore. It was where she kept her most prized and coveted liquor, and where she kept the last few mementos, she possessed of her fallen wards. Her eyes scanned the room, she needed to pick the right apology gift. As she carefully made her way towards the back, she saw it. Tucked in about two thirds of the way to the back wall, stood a single hogshead of ancient scotch whiskey. The second to last gift she had received from one of her dearest friends, all those years ago.

Yes, this was the correct one. She felt it deep within her chest, a proper atonement requires a proper level of sacrifice. With a heavy heart she lifted the barrel over her head and began to stride out of the extra dimensional space. As she neared the opening, the soft clink of something falling and a flash of gold caught her eye. Sitting on a tiny end table was a small pouch of coins, one of which had somehow gotten loose and tumbled face up onto the polished table face.

For a moment she hesitated, she knew exactly what those coins were; and knew how much trouble she would get into if upper management found out she had them. That said, she also knew a sign when she saw one. The artifacts that she held within this place were the last remnants of those she had failed most of all. She pondered the meaning behind the fact that two of her previous charges seemed to have taken a shine to Jason, offering up to him their most precious of gifts. With a heavy heart and a plea to those long lost, she grabbed the coin before closing the pocket dimension.

With a loud *CLUNK* She set the hogshead down. Apparently, the sound of the barrel had finally made enough noise to draw Jason’s attention away from his screen. From a much smaller storage pocket she produced two crystal glasses. Pouring a hefty serving into each glass, she set one down in front of herself and the other in front of Jason. Locking eyes with the man, she said a single word.

“Drink”

The man twisted his face up in disgust at the sight of the liquor.

“Thanks, but no thanks, I’m not inclined to degr...”

“I said, DRINK!” Ruby growl bellows, casting the Command spell on the last word. Jason, despite his best efforts to ignore the compulsion, is forced to do as he is told, and takes a hearty swig of his hundred-year-old Scotch. With a smile on her lips, Ruby takes the opportunity to sip the illustrious gift. The hours melt away as they both sip and savor the deep complex flavors of this legendary brew.

As the drink flows her recollection of events becomes just a tad bit hazy. She can’t really remember how long it takes, but she does eventually come clean about the reason for this impromptu bout of drinking. It comes as little shock that Jason is... less than pleased to learn about the events that led to his death. He downs the rest of his drink in a single gulp, a waste of grand booze in Ruby’s opinion, and demands she fill his next one to the brim. For the first time in FAR too long, Ruby gets to see the Jason she had known all those years ago was still in there.

As the festivities carried on, she would occasionally catch him fiddling with the token he had bought. Curiosity finally getting the better of her, she decided to ask him about it, deciding to NOT mention that she knew it was illicitly purchased. He was cagey about it at first, but eventually loosened up and told her the truth.

He had grown bored with the usual missions that he had been assigned. He was sick of always having to play support, always cleaning up someone else’s messes, always laying the groundwork for someone else’s story. So, he had decided to cash in his points, and finally make use of the vacation time he had accrued. He had picked out what looked to be a pretty basic Isekai mission. Ruby suggested not mentioning his luck to anyone else, even she was aware how rare and coveted those missions were.

As the night wound to a close, they said their goodbyes. Before taking her leave, Ruby remembered the other present she had for Jason. A sharp whistle was the only warning she gave him before flicking the coin at his head. Even drunk, the man’s senses were still a thing to marvel at as he caught it in midair .

“The fuck is this?”

“Think of it as a gift.” She snorts.

“Oh, how generous of you. A whole gold coin, whatever will I spend it on.” Jason responds as he jangles the large coin pouch at his hip.

“Oh, fuck off. I’ll take it back if you’re going to be a brat about it.”

Jason drops the coin into his wallet and shakes it again for good measure. “Oops, too late now. Guess you’ll just have to let me keep it.” He gives her a smug grin.

She scoffed before turning around and making for the door. She could hear him activate the token as she closed the door behind her. As she wandered down the hallways back to her room, she pondered the events of the day. The rogue client would need to be dealt with, but she still wasn’t sure if burying him in legal paperwork for the next millennia or two, or just giving him a good old fashion human curb stomping, was the better punishment for his actions.

The choices bounced around in her head till she finally reached her residence. Having made no real progress in deciding her actions, she elected to just table the decision till she woke up next. The God was small time, so it wasn’t like it was going anywhere.

She took her time getting ready to sleep. Being a divine being herself, she didn’t actually NEED to sleep, but she did so enjoy the human customs surrounding the whole process. She took a long hot bath to unwind, before summoning a pair of adorable pajamas. Her body clean, and her mind at peace she laid down in her oversized excessively fluffy bed.

She had barely closed her eyes and began to drift off to blissful sleep, before she was awoken once again by the sound of her alarm going off.

“You have got to be shitting me. HOW?!?!”

I posted a few days with steps for finding purpose at our age group. It had a LOT of great responses and follow up suggestions (plus a few batshit accusations/observations, that's Reddit for you).
I made a TikTok today about life design. I grew up with 90% of my family being drug addicts or in jail. I moved 16 times by the time I was 17, I failed out of high school and college. I moved out at 17 and moved out of state by 19. I had to figure it out on my own. Life is a challenging teacher.
Today I have a PhD, live in my dream apt with floor to ceiling windows, own two companies, and havent had a boss in 8 years. I wrote 12 books and have complete time freedom. I'm not Scrooge Mcduck rich, but comfortable.
Here is how to create the life you want:
Remember one core philosophy: You control your education, fitness level, relationship status, income, job, and where you live. ALL of these can be adjusted. At ANY age.
Most miserable people don't practice self leadership.
They get up and are reactive vs proactive. They have given up on a vision of who they could be.
Never stop dreaming (ex: Willy Wonka, tap into creativity)
Today I woke up at 430am, after I type this out, Ill be at the gym by 630am. Ill then go run, and start my work day at home by around 8:15am. Ill issue a press release for a Hollywood actor in Cobra Kai, create some PR content, and do some media pitches for clients. I'm going to sign up for a free PR cert online that will take 4 days, then Ill go to a business meetup tonight to catch up with friends.
Just by living like this, I tap into 5/6 of the areas above. This is how growth happens.
If you feel unfulfilled in life, here is how to design better: Health/Fitness
Eat more greens, exercise or walk 3x a week, journal or sketch for mental health, get outside more
Relationships
Reduce time on the dating apps, use Meetup.com to find events in your area, make a friend list and actively rotate and support your friend group
Education
Sign up for local classes or take free online courses at MIT/Harvard/Coursera
Income Create a course, write an Ebook, start a paid membership site, teach workshops, do consulting, write a paperback, create an event, develop a skill online and sell it. The internet gives you access to the world. Use it.
Job
I created my dream job. I had ZERO experience and none of my degrees are in my field. Once you nail down what you LOVE doing, you can create a business model around it. If you have a desired career and want to work for someone, Monster.com, placement agencies, and Linkedin is a great way to find it. Don't work for money, work for satisfaction.
I hope this resonates with many of you. Life design is not nearly as hard as people think. Doing the work takes effort, but over time you can live MUCH, MUCH better by simple planning.
Got tips for life improvement? Share below~! Got complaints or criticisms? Share them with your dog.

Basically I think the answer I will receive is I should do a gas 3/4 ton based off of what I’ve read but I’m also in a slightly different position than most. Towing wise I help run a couple car washes and run maintenance on College apartments. So I haul some of the equipment and then pallets of flooring, tile, tools, etc. and the yearly dumpster trailer of mulch or rock. So nothing insane but every week or 2 I tow something.
However my situation differs at the fact that the truck id be looking at will be new-2year old and sub 30k miles and I’ll be looking at driving the same truck the next 8-12 years and my wife’s family owns multiple car dealerships (the main US Brands). So I will get said vehicle at cost and maintenance will be at cost or below. Even my father in law has offered for me to “order” a truck for the dealership that he’d drive for 6-12 months as his demo and be able to write the cost down for the dealership.
Not the most knowledgeable on trucks but was leaning towards the duramax as I’ve read it’s the least “extreme” of the 3 main diesels Also I occasionally do some off roaring seasonally.
Thank you in advance for any recommendations or advice!

Hi all,
This is my very first post and English is not my native language. Please forgive me for any errors.
I admit I don't really know what to expect from this post, creating mainly to let off steam.
It might be quite long haha. So me (24M) and my ex (24F) were together since we were 17.
So we have met in high school. We quickly decided to stay together despite studying in different cities. To be honest we never had a real argument during our 6 and a half years of relationship. Small arguments about boundaries that should not be crossed and which were resolved in a healthy way.
To give some context. My ex has an alcoholic mother and a father who more or less abandoned her at a young age but eventually came back. She also comes from a much more difficult economic background than me.
I am lucky to have a very united and supportive family. We also have no money problems and are there to help us in difficult times.
After a few months of dating, I very quickly integrated my ex into my family. We hosted all the parties at our house, my parents took her on trips with us, and I always did my best to help her in her life (picking her up from work, bringing her meals when she finished work, I took the train every weekend to see her in her city).
She always said that I was an excellent, even perfect boyfriend. I have always proven my loyalty and my love for her. She still seemed extremely happy with it and was a bit boastful about it haha. We ended up moving in together in 2022.
This is where we had our first real problems. Since she had no financial support from her parents, she had to work at the same time as her studies. She was naturally very tired physically and mentally. Personally, at that time I really didn't like my studies and I was very stressed because 1 year later I had to find my first job.
Our first arguments therefore revolved around personal investment in cleaning and maintaining the house. I was never really satisfied with her investment. We had a few arguments but we got there in the end. I naturally relaxed with my reduction in stress and I realized that I had a tendency to want to control my environment during my stressful periods. So I made an effort and things got better.
From summer 2023, we changed apartments and I had my first internship and then my first job. With a significant salary, I told her to stop working and focus on her studies (she repeated her year once because her work took up too much of her time).
So, I took care of everything and I gave her €400 per month so that she could continue to live a normal life. In September 2023, she started to go to her business school and I start to see some personality change.
For more context, I am a very introverted person. I have never smoked, never tried drugs, never gone to nightclubs and I drink very little. I spend my free time playing PC, role-playing games or playing sports. My ex was also very introverted, she loves reading at home while drinking coffee. She went out once every full moon to have a drink with her best friend.
But, once she arrived at her new school, she started going out more often, going to nightclubs (in 6 years she must have gone 3 times). She also started smoking an electronic cigarette.
The fateful moment was at the end of January 2024. As part of her studies, she had to go to Barcelona for 3 months. I was very happy for her knowing that we had already established a long-distance relationship (however, it was me who left and she stayed in our hometown).
The beginning went very well but she ended up joining a shared accommodation in February. From there, she started going out 3 or 4 times a week. She went out to a nightclub with roommates except the girls whom decided to go home and she decided to go only with the boys (I never met them and she only knew them for two weeks). I admit that I may be a little old-fashioned and I consider that the nightclub is necessarily a place of seduction (not that my ex wanted to seduce but she was inevitably going to be hit on). I didn't say anything about it but she quickly understood that I didn't like it. I told her that I wouldn't forbid her anything but I found that knowing me she could suspect that I wouldn't like it.
So we had a change that I found radical in her personality. She went out a lot more. Not to exonerate myself, but it was also a difficult time for me. Again for context, I usally give off the impression of someone who always knows what I do, what I want and who I am. However, during this period I was externally uncomfortable in my skin. I had problems in my job and I was overall very stressed and I had very little self-confidence (which had almost never happened in 6 years).
Coming back to my ex, I noticed this personality change and became increasingly dissatisfied with our call times, the amount of messages and generally the amount of attention she gave me. So we had a lot of disagreements over that. She told me that I was suffocating her, that I was too controlling (again I never told her that I didn't want her to go out or stop having a relation with one of her roommates (my instinct really told me that something was going on with one of her roommates but I didn't know who was the main actor in this potential flirtation).
She started lying to me about insignificant things (she ended up telling me that she was lying to me so I wouldn't get angry???) but I became more and more controlling. Big argument after an evening where she told me she was going home to sleep but I saw her in the club with the localisation of her phone. She offered me a break, I got really angry for the first time in our relationship. For me a break means a breakup (it may be stupid but with everything that was happening that's what seemed to happen to me).
After my outburst (no insults and barely raised my voice (I don't know how to get angry lol)), she came to join me to try to repair things (I was very happy). However, we argued for 8 days, sometimes things went well but it remained tense. Also I saw her staying on her phone every night when I went to bed. I found it too weird. I finally broke down and looked at her messages (first time in 6 years), I found exchanges between them. Nothing blatant but I personally find them flirting. At least she spoke to him the same way she spoke to me at the beginning of our relationship.
She ended up returning to Barcelona and we made small promises to improve the relationship. But once she got back to Barcelona she didn't answer me all day. I blamed her a bit for that and set a little trap for her (it's not good, I know). I told her that I didn't like this guy (I didn't tell her to cut contact (I've had already cut contact with girls that my ex didn't like)). And I told her not to talk to him about this discussion (she talked to him about it that same evening). I asked her if she had told him and she told me that she hadn't told him anything. So I told her “we’ll probably have to separate” and then she left and didn’t want to hear anything more. I told her right away that I loved her and that I didn't want to break up but that I didn't know what to do anymore given her behavior.
So we parted ways. I went back and forth between « I love you more than anything » and « I have to cut you out of my life to move forward ». She told me to leave her alone while she figured out what was happening while saying that in any case it was over. I couldn't leave her alone to think. I learned through a TikTok that she had kissed this famous roommate…. I also had to manage all the administrative formalities alone...
I did everything to heal in the healthiest way possible (sport, therapy, seeing my friends and family). I didn't fall into a band-aid relationship, I didn't fall into alcohol, parties or other palliatives.
It will now be a little over 2 months since we have been separated. I accepted it, I still love her even if her behavior disgusts me. And I find it hard not to blame her for not knowing how to help me during this period (even though she obviously tried even if it was never enough for me).
I admit I'm still a little lost. I still love her even if I don't necessarily want to get back with her. I returned to work, I continue to exercise but the lack of physical and emotional affection is a bit difficult. Having to start all over again seems so difficult to me, I admit that I don't like the culture of one-night stands. I want to get married and have children. I'm a little lost and don't really know what to expect from this post. If you have any advice, explanations for her behavior or need more details, don't hesitate.
Thank you.

1. Finding a Job You’re Interested In

Step one is incredibly important in your job-hunting journey because you don’t want to waste your time searching, applying, and interviewing for a position you don’t actually want. You can get the same practice interviewing by going out for jobs you really want, so you have to figure this out.
Is there a particular area of IT that interests you? Maybe you don’t see yourself specializing in your work, and that’s fine. There are companies seeking IT professionals who can follow various types of projects and work closely alongside other tech experts.
Not only is becoming an IT professional a practical job choice, but it’s also dependable in terms of career growth. The demand for IT professionals has continued to steadily grow over the years, with employment for IT specialists estimated to grow by a whopping 11% in the next decade.
As an IT professional, your skills will also make you eligible for employment at businesses other than tech companies. You might also decide to teach or be your own boss as an independent contractor for IT services. An IT education displays the skills necessary to work in a wide range of occupations, including government, finance, healthcare, and more! Should you transition into another field of study, IT courses still offer an educational foundation that you can build on throughout your life.
In today’s market, careers don’t have a linear direction—instead of moving up the office positions, you may shift from one occupation to another, learning to pick up certain skills as they become more in demand. IT professionals show great career development. They have strengthened problem-solving skills, technical knowledge, and interpersonal relations, all trending job traits.
Another way to narrow down your options is to pick a city or location in which you want to work and begin searching there. You can search in nearby areas as well if the immediate city doesn’t have open positions for IT professionals. Maybe you want to find a position that is flexible, so you can work some hours remotely or on the weekends to fit your lifestyle better.
Whatever the case, once you narrow down your criteria and select some jobs you’re interested in, you can begin applying and interviewing.

1. Getting Past the Gatekeepers

Highlight your skills and credentials to potential employers. This will help you stand out, and it showcases your credibility and skills. Accreditation ensures high-quality education and services for schools in a similar way that certification ensures high-quality job candidates.
As a graduate of the CompTIA certification program, you secure more than the necessary coursework needed to sit for various IT exams and certifications, such as the CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications. These certifications are well-recognized in the industry and can significantly boost your employability.
Your CompTIA certification demonstrates your competence and readiness to handle IT tasks effectively. Not only is CompTIA recognized globally, but it also aligns with industry standards and expectations. Employers often look for candidates with certifications from accredited programs, as it assures them of the quality and relevance of the skills acquired.

1. Using Temporary Agencies

Once your certification is completed, the next steps and hunt for an entry-level career begin. Temporary agencies, or staffing agencies, are one of the best and time-tested strategies in the IT hiring process.
For a short period of time, employers hire temporary workers until they have time to find a permanent employee. Temp jobs can give you experience in industries and careers you might not have otherwise thought of trying—without a long-term commitment. Furthermore, firms like Robert Half Technology are well-paying and reputable temp agencies in the IT field.
They will send you out for short-term assignments, which is an ideal amount of time to get your foot in the door for a full-time position or to gain experience in a particular field. Having a high-powered connection is the most likely way to getting hired. These include a recruiter, a temp agency, or a personal friend who has connections in the industry. If you have no connections or you haven’t made it to a recruiter’s list yet, then your best bet is to go in through a tech temp agency.
The temp process should not last longer than a year. As a result, you may want to pursue a part-time position as a temp in a firm while you are getting your degree or other qualifications. Regardless of how you get on the inside of a firm, remember the cardinal rule number two in all firms is privacy. You should avoid gossip and discussing your business, or the business of others, with those inside the firm. Use discretion when releasing any personal information. You want to make and maintain friendships while remaining professional and representing the firm you are under at all times. You never know where networking will lead you, or how it can help you get hired in the future!

1. Interviewing for an IT Job

Before interviewing with a company or any of its representatives, you will want to remember a few important facts. IT managers are often detail-oriented and thorough. Consequently, they listen to every detail you say and weigh it in the balance of what it is they want from you. Therefore, choose your words carefully and avoid getting personal.
While you don’t want to get too personal, you also don’t want to answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no.” Explain your reasons for answering a question a certain way. Take time to answer an interviewer’s questions. If you need a minute to think before you answer, take it. You don’t want to look stuck and allow long periods of silence, but thinking about a question before you commit to an answer shows the interviewer that you care about your answers and want to be hired. If you reiterate the question back to the interviewer, you can ensure that you’ve understood them correctly and buy yourself a few more moments to consider your response.
This is a cardinal rule in negotiations: He who speaks first loses. At a time when you are seeking to negotiate a salary, view our previous IT blog post for tips on negotiating an above-average IT salary.

1. Accepting the Job

The goal of the interview process is to be hired for the job, so this moment is exciting and probably intimidating as well. You might decide to accept the job, decline the job, or negotiate the job with pending acceptance. When you’re offered a job that you’re unsure of accepting, it’s okay to consider the offer prior to accepting or declining. If you tell the company you’d like to think about the offer, give them a date you’ll let them know by, never more than a few days. They have a position to fill and others to notify, so they can’t wait around for you to respond to their offer.
Here are some things to consider about a potential job:

• Growth Opportunities
  
• Compensation
  
• Benefits
  
• Responsibilities
  

Once you are offered a position and decide you’re ready to accept the job, you’ll need to let the prospective employer know. Be proactive. It’s common to wait 24 hours before accepting a job, and during that time you can ask for the offer in writing if it is not provided. Verbal offers and acceptances are okay, but written communication alleviates room for any disconnect between you and your potential employer in the scope of the job, benefits, etc. Make sure you discuss the starting date of employment. Allow yourself enough time to prepare and conclude your time with any previous employers if necessary.
Perhaps the most important reason to pursue IT certification programs is that you have all the tools to achieve a career doing what you love. IT courses provide the tools and develop the skills necessary to excel in the field. Accessible resources may include online case citation software, exercises that strengthen your technical knowledge, research and investigative skills, technology organization, and multitasking.
If you’re searching for the tools you need to earn your certification in a convenient and affordable manner, then consider reputable institutions that offer comprehensive IT programs. These institutions provide you with the complete freedom to manage your personal life, get hired at your dream job, and pursue your education—all at your own pace. Contact them today and discover how their excellence in online career training can help turn your dreams of an IT career into a reality.

1. Finding a Job You’re Interested In

Step one is incredibly important in your job-hunting journey because you don’t want to waste your time searching, applying, and interviewing for a position you don’t actually want. You can get the same practice interviewing by going out for jobs you really want, so you have to figure this out.
Is there a particular area of IT that interests you? Maybe you don’t see yourself specializing in your work, and that’s fine. There are companies seeking IT professionals who can follow various types of projects and work closely alongside other tech experts.
Not only is becoming an IT professional a practical job choice, but it’s also dependable in terms of career growth. The demand for IT professionals has continued to steadily grow over the years, with employment for IT specialists estimated to grow by a whopping 11% in the next decade.
As an IT professional, your skills will also make you eligible for employment at businesses other than tech companies. You might also decide to teach or be your own boss as an independent contractor for IT services. An IT education displays the skills necessary to work in a wide range of occupations, including government, finance, healthcare, and more! Should you transition into another field of study, IT courses still offer an educational foundation that you can build on throughout your life.
In today’s market, careers don’t have a linear direction—instead of moving up the office positions, you may shift from one occupation to another, learning to pick up certain skills as they become more in demand. IT professionals show great career development. They have strengthened problem-solving skills, technical knowledge, and interpersonal relations, all trending job traits.
Another way to narrow down your options is to pick a city or location in which you want to work and begin searching there. You can search in nearby areas as well if the immediate city doesn’t have open positions for IT professionals. Maybe you want to find a position that is flexible, so you can work some hours remotely or on the weekends to fit your lifestyle better.
Whatever the case, once you narrow down your criteria and select some jobs you’re interested in, you can begin applying and interviewing.

1. Getting Past the Gatekeepers

Highlight your skills and credentials to potential employers. This will help you stand out, and it showcases your credibility and skills. Accreditation ensures high-quality education and services for schools in a similar way that certification ensures high-quality job candidates.
As a graduate of the CompTIA certification program, you secure more than the necessary coursework needed to sit for various IT exams and certifications, such as the CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications. These certifications are well-recognized in the industry and can significantly boost your employability.
Your CompTIA certification demonstrates your competence and readiness to handle IT tasks effectively. Not only is CompTIA recognized globally, but it also aligns with industry standards and expectations. Employers often look for candidates with certifications from accredited programs, as it assures them of the quality and relevance of the skills acquired.

1. Using Temporary Agencies

Once your certification is completed, the next steps and hunt for an entry-level career begin. Temporary agencies, or staffing agencies, are one of the best and time-tested strategies in the IT hiring process.
For a short period of time, employers hire temporary workers until they have time to find a permanent employee. Temp jobs can give you experience in industries and careers you might not have otherwise thought of trying—without a long-term commitment. Furthermore, firms like Robert Half Technology are well-paying and reputable temp agencies in the IT field.
They will send you out for short-term assignments, which is an ideal amount of time to get your foot in the door for a full-time position or to gain experience in a particular field. Having a high-powered connection is the most likely way to getting hired. These include a recruiter, a temp agency, or a personal friend who has connections in the industry. If you have no connections or you haven’t made it to a recruiter’s list yet, then your best bet is to go in through a tech temp agency.
The temp process should not last longer than a year. As a result, you may want to pursue a part-time position as a temp in a firm while you are getting your degree or other qualifications. Regardless of how you get on the inside of a firm, remember the cardinal rule number two in all firms is privacy. You should avoid gossip and discussing your business, or the business of others, with those inside the firm. Use discretion when releasing any personal information. You want to make and maintain friendships while remaining professional and representing the firm you are under at all times. You never know where networking will lead you, or how it can help you get hired in the future!

1. Interviewing for an IT Job

Before interviewing with a company or any of its representatives, you will want to remember a few important facts. IT managers are often detail-oriented and thorough. Consequently, they listen to every detail you say and weigh it in the balance of what it is they want from you. Therefore, choose your words carefully and avoid getting personal.
While you don’t want to get too personal, you also don’t want to answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no.” Explain your reasons for answering a question a certain way. Take time to answer an interviewer’s questions. If you need a minute to think before you answer, take it. You don’t want to look stuck and allow long periods of silence, but thinking about a question before you commit to an answer shows the interviewer that you care about your answers and want to be hired. If you reiterate the question back to the interviewer, you can ensure that you’ve understood them correctly and buy yourself a few more moments to consider your response.
This is a cardinal rule in negotiations: He who speaks first loses. At a time when you are seeking to negotiate a salary, view our previous IT blog post for tips on negotiating an above-average IT salary.

1. Accepting the Job

The goal of the interview process is to be hired for the job, so this moment is exciting and probably intimidating as well. You might decide to accept the job, decline the job, or negotiate the job with pending acceptance. When you’re offered a job that you’re unsure of accepting, it’s okay to consider the offer prior to accepting or declining. If you tell the company you’d like to think about the offer, give them a date you’ll let them know by, never more than a few days. They have a position to fill and others to notify, so they can’t wait around for you to respond to their offer.
Here are some things to consider about a potential job:

• Growth Opportunities
  
• Compensation
  
• Benefits
  
• Responsibilities
  

Once you are offered a position and decide you’re ready to accept the job, you’ll need to let the prospective employer know. Be proactive. It’s common to wait 24 hours before accepting a job, and during that time you can ask for the offer in writing if it is not provided. Verbal offers and acceptances are okay, but written communication alleviates room for any disconnect between you and your potential employer in the scope of the job, benefits, etc. Make sure you discuss the starting date of employment. Allow yourself enough time to prepare and conclude your time with any previous employers if necessary.
Perhaps the most important reason to pursue IT certification programs is that you have all the tools to achieve a career doing what you love. IT courses provide the tools and develop the skills necessary to excel in the field. Accessible resources may include online case citation software, exercises that strengthen your technical knowledge, research and investigative skills, technology organization, and multitasking.
If you’re searching for the tools you need to earn your certification in a convenient and affordable manner, then consider reputable institutions that offer comprehensive IT programs. These institutions provide you with the complete freedom to manage your personal life, get hired at your dream job, and pursue your education—all at your own pace. Contact them today and discover how their excellence in online career training can help turn your dreams of an IT career into a reality.

Bangladesh was extremely mediocre in their 2022 T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. They defeated Netherlands and Zimbabwe in close margins, but lost to India, South Africa and Pakistan. They still had the chance to qualify for the Semi Finals if they were able to defeat Pakistan in their final matches but ultimately failed to do so. But since since they had a good run of form in T20 bilateral series.
​
T20I Bilateral Results between 2022-2024 T20 World Cups:
​

Bangladesh vs England	Bangladesh won the Series 3-0
Bangladesh vs Ireland	Bangladesh won the Series 2-1
Bangladesh vs Afghanistan	Bangladesh won the Series 2-0
New Zealand vs Bangladesh	Series Drawn 1-1
Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka	Bangladesh lost the Series 2-1
Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe	Bangladesh won the Series 4-1

Even though the string of results are promising with the only series defeat coming from a close fought T20I Series against Sri Lanka. Many problems persist especially with Batting where none of the batsman who have a career strike rate of 140+ and top order Batsman being out of form. But the bowling looks promising and they would likely have to carry the batting lineup if Bangladesh have want chances at success at this World Cup in the United States and the West Indies.
​
Bangladesh in World Cups and Asia Cups:

Matches	Wins	Losses
48	14	33

​
Squad
​

SL	Players	Role
1	Nazmul Hossian Shanto	Captain
2	Litton Das	Wicket Keeper
3	Jaker Ali Anik	Wicket Keeper
4	Towhid Hridoy	Batsman
5	Tanzid Hasan Tamim	Batsman
6	Mahmudullah Riyad	Batting All Rounder
7	Soumya Sarker	Batting All Rounder
8	Shakib Al Hasan	All Rounder
9	Mahedi Hasan	Bowling All Rounder
10	Rishad Hossian	Bowling All Rounder
11	Tanvir Islam	Spinner
12	Mustafizur Rahman	Pacer
13	Taskin Ahmed	Pacer
14	Shoriful Islam	Pacer
15	Tanzim Hasan Shakib	Pacer

Reserves: Hasan Mahmud, Afif Hossian
Squad Stats
*Stats for all players include BPL, Other T20s and T20Is in the last 2 and all time record against other Group D teams in T20Is. Stats for reserves players not included
Batsman
​

1. Nazmul Hossian Shanto(c):

​

	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	691	27.6	109.9
Group D Teams	108	27	113.68
T20Is	373	26.6	114.4

2) Litton Das (wk)
​

	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	769	28.5	130.1
Group D Teams	210	17.5	108.24
T20Is	403	28.8	127.5

3) Jaker Ali Anik (wk)
​

	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	374	41.6	130.8
Group D Teams	72	36	153.19
T20Is	197	39.4	127.9

4) Towhid Hridoy
​

	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	865	37.6	145.1
Group D Teams	40	20	129.03
T20Is	371	28.5	133.9
LPL	114	39.8	139.5

5) Tanzid Hasan Tamim
​

	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	384	32	135.7
Group D Teams	-	-	-
T20Is	160	40	122.9

​
Batting Allrounders:
6) Mahmudullah Riyad
​

	Runs	Batting Average	Strike Rate	Wickets	Bowling Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	445	24.7	136.1	0	-	13
Group D Teams	433	28.86	139.67	9	29.77	6.7
T20Is	143	47.7	149	1	1	1

​
7) Soumya Sarker
​

	Runs	Batting Average	Strike Rate	Wickets	Bowling Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	436	18.2	119.1	3	71.3	10.03
Group D Teams	376	20.88	138.23	4	32	9.84
T20Is	123	17.6	119.4	1	34	8.5

​
All Rounder:
8) Shakib Al Hasan
​

	Runs	Batting Average	Strike Rate	Wickets	Bowling Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	630	31.5	167.6	27	22.1	6.31
Group D Teams	312	15	109.47	28	18.39	6.95
T20Is	163	32.6	130.4	17	11.6	6.03
Other T20s	139	19.9	114.9	10	24.7	6.07

​
Bowling All Rounders:
​
9) Mahedi Hasan
​

	Runs	Batting Average	Strike Rate	Wickets	Bowling Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	349	19.4	132.7	23	23.2	7.17
Group D Teams	74	14.8	107.24	3	65	9.36
T20Is	58	19.3	96.7	8	25.2	6.66

​
10) Rishad Hossian
​

	Runs	Batting Average	Strike Rate	Wickets	Bowling Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	-	-	-	6	12.5	8.33
Group D Teams	53	26.5	165.62	3	29.33	8
T20Is	79	15.8	131.7	11	29.9	7.83

​
Bowlers:
11) Tanvir Islam
​

	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	83.1	30	19	6.84
Group D Teams	-	-	-	-
T20Is	9	2	34.5	7.67

​
12) Mustafizur Rahman
​

	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	65.3	23	23.7	8.31
Group D Teams	60	15	34.4	8.6
T20Is	52	13	29	7.25
IPL	41.2	15	26.5	9.6

​
13) Tanzim Hasan Shakib
​

	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	53	19	26.8	9.62
Group D Teams	-	-	-	-
T20Is	14	3	42.7	9.14

​
14) Taskin Ahmed
​

	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	78.1	23	24.9	7.32
Group D Teams	46	15	26.06	8.72
T20Is	58.4	29	13.9	6.89

​
15) Shoriful Islam
​

	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate
Bangladesh Premier League	56.4	26	16.8	7.69
Group D Teams	16	2	55	6.87
T20Is	34.5	11	24.7	7.81

​
Strengths: Batting and Bowling depth, Bangladesh would bowl 6-7 bowlers and bat upto 8-9 because of their all rounders. Their forms is a different concern but the depth in both batting and bowling exists.
Weakness: Top order batting is out of form and doesn't have the best stats, and they do not reliably get Bangladesh off to a flying start. The death bowling is another point of weakness.
​
Probable First XI:

Tanzid Hasan Tamim
Soumya Sarker
Nazmul Hossian Shanto
Towhid Hridoy
Shakib Al Hasan
Mahmudullah Riyad
Jaker Ali Anik
Rishad Hossian
Taskin Ahmed
Shoriful Islam
Mustafizur Rahman

Conclusion: Even after good T20I Bilateral performances leading up to the World Cup, many don't have high hopes for the team to do well in this World Cup. The best case scenario is qualifying to the Super 8s and winning a game but the worst case scenario is losing to Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka and finishing 4th in their group.
​
​

The American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War jointly released a report，China's Roadmap to Peaceful Reunification.
"From Coercion to Surrender, How China Can Conquer Others Without Fighting."

Mid 2024
After Lai Qingde took office, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council severely condemned him.
Several People's Liberation Army ships passed through Taiwan's contiguous zone in an unannounced exercise.
The Rocket Force regularly conducts missile tests over and around Taiwan.
Planes of the Chinese Air Force enter the air defense identification zone every day and begin to frequently approach the Taiwan contiguous zone.
The first article on the unofficial "peace platform" was published by a Chinese scholar, trying to build on the Fujian-Taiwan economic integration plan.
End of 2024
Xi Jinping said in a speech that "the time has come to solve the Taiwan issue."
High-profile Chinese civilian and People's Liberation Army scholars have commented proposing an unofficial cross-strait "peace framework."
China has stepped up its global information operations and accused the United States of trying to provoke a military conflict over Taiwan.
Early 2025
The National People's Congress revised the 2005 Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China to establish strict but unclear penalties for individuals who engage in separatist behavior.
The People's Liberation Army has begun higher-intensity drills that coincide with regular closures of air and sea areas around Taiwan.
The Coast Guard, with the support of the Navy, began to conduct ship inspections of cargo ships heading to Taiwan
Mid 2025
Chinese customs announced a ban on specific products imported from Taiwan.
The ministries of foreign affairs and commerce met with neighboring governments in Asia to reassure them of the escalating threat across the region and to re-emphasize trade and investment ties.
End of 2025
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission directed key Chinese state-owned enterprises to stockpile essential goods in anticipation of potential U.S.-led containment efforts.
China has threatened to sanction U.S. companies in Taiwan that may have ties to the defense industry.
Early 2026
China has successfully normalized shipping inspections and stepped up PLA activity in the contiguous zone, with PLAAF bombers now regularly flying around Taiwan.
The People's Liberation Army regularly conducts missile flights over Taiwan's territory, including ballistic missiles that passed through Taiwan's airspace for the first time (in fact, they have already passed through it).
The ministries of foreign affairs and commerce announced trade negotiations with the United States.
Mid 2026
China imposed previously threatened sanctions on U.S. companies selling products with potential defense uses in Taiwan.
Taiwanese authorities have reported a significant increase in the frequency of DDoS and ransomware attacks on their networks.
Chinese customs have imposed broader restrictions on multinational companies doing business in Taiwan.
Taiwan's anti-China hawks and some other politicians have received death threats from Taiwanese organized criminals.
End of 2026
For the first time, Chinese elites have directly commented on the proposed unofficial "peace framework". Some prominent Taiwanese commentators have also begun to raise objections.
The Rocket Force conducts missile firing exercises in waters outside the second island chain and conducts follow-up exercises regularly.
China announced a long-term "rotational deployment" of People's Liberation Army personnel to the Solomon Islands.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Front Work Department led a regional propaganda campaign condemning "Japan's militarization of the Ryukyu Islands".
North Korea claims it has successfully developed technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads that can equip its longest-range missiles. Previously, seismic readings suggested it was an underground nuclear test (old news).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued vague threats to countries around the world, warning governments to avoid alliances with Taiwan and the United States.
Early 2027
The People's Liberation Army has conducted an even more brazen air and sea blockade while targeting radar on some Taiwanese military platforms.
Coast guards sunk and occasionally boarded ships that resisted inspections.
Taiwanese authorities reported a cyber attack on an LNG terminal, and the Chinese government pressured LNG producers to cancel contracts with Taiwanese companies.
Taiwanese companies face growing regulatory hurdles and unannounced restrictions in mainland China, hampering their business.
The Ministry of Commerce announced the suspension of ECFA.
North Korea launched multiple sets of long-range missiles over Japan.
Groups affiliated with the United Front Work Department and the Ministry of National Security have used China's claims that the Ryukyu Islands are militarized to encourage local Japanese residents to protest against Japanese and U.S. troops stationed there.
The Rocket Force now joins the Navy and Air Force in coordinated joint long-range missile exercises to strike simulated targets beyond the second island chain.
Bomb threats disrupt Taipei's MRT system.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel warning for Japan following the anti-China violence at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
The United States and China announced the signing of a major trade deal.
Taiwanese authorities reported that a chemical factory in Tainan was damaged by unknown saboteurs.
Mid 2027
Large-scale ransomware attacks have been reported across major economic sectors in Taiwan.
The People's Liberation Army Air Force forced a Taiwanese cargo plane to land in China and detained the crew.
China and its allies have vetoed a U.N. resolution condemning pressure on Taiwan.
The People's Liberation Army's electronic warfare operations often interfere with high-level Taiwan-U.S. communications.
Rumors circulated on Taiwanese social media about Taiwanese officials formulating a wartime escape plan.
Chinese-influenced Taiwanese media spread rumors that Beijing would introduce a new model of unification.
China-influenced Taiwanese media amplified a Taiwanese business leader and political commentator's proposals on how to prevent further escalation.
Intrusions by Chinese air and maritime military platforms regularly reach Taiwan's 12-nautical-mile border, while Rocket Force missiles frequently intrude into Taiwan's airspace during tests and exercises.
A joint exercise between the Chinese navy and a regional partner entered the Taiwan contiguous zone.
Swarms of drones from China frequently appear over Kinmen and Matsu.
The People's Liberation Army and Coast Guard began a close blockade of Taiping Island in the Nansha Islands and authorized the use of lethal force to implement the blockade.
End of 2027
Several North Korean stray bullets hit a South Korean navy patrol ship near the Northern Limit Line near Seoul.
China sanctions senior Japanese officials who meet directly with Taiwanese officials.
Chinese media across Asia spread rumors that Japan's prime minister had launched a program to develop nuclear weapons.
The United Front Work Department and the Ministry of National Security secretly use violence to attack Taiwanese politicians and others who use proxy organizations.
The People's Liberation Army coordinated a missile attack on Pengjia Island, killing and injuring dozens of Taiwan Coast Patrol officers.
China’s cyberattacks and sabotage on Taiwan have targeted critical infrastructure including water, electricity, sewer and food distribution networks.
Chinese affiliates in Taiwan have spread rumors that Taiwan's president is considering developing nuclear weapons.
The United States' refusal to respond forcefully to China's attack on Peng Jiayu has seriously damaged U.S.-Taiwan relations, while China has stepped up information operations targeting the American public.
A cyberattack led by the Strategic Support Force (which no longer exists) caused Taiwan’s early warning system to broadcast false missile warnings to the Taiwanese public.
China-owned Taiwanese media openly supports a "peace framework" with China.

Countermeasures proposed by think tanks against this roadmap:

1. The US does not establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but treats Taiwan as a sovereign country and safeguards all Taiwan's sovereignty.
   
2. The U.S. military wears civilian clothes, enters Taiwan as tourists, and then joins the Taiwan military to perform tasks.
   
3. The U.S. military conducts regular sea and air patrols in the Taiwan Strait and conducts joint exercises with the Taiwan military to prevent Taiwan from being blocked.
   
4. Taiwan has strengthened its network security and stockpiled disaster relief and survival supplies and equipment to prevent hacker attacks, water and power outages, network interruptions, and air traffic (road) blockades.
   
5. Taiwan has established its own Merchant Fleet to prevent foreign merchant ships from going to Taiwan for fear of mainland sanctions.
   
6. The US and Taiwan are strengthening cognitive operations globally and on the island to make the world support Taiwan independence and not dare to abandon Taiwan, and to make the island dare not surrender.
   

Read the full report.

Hey guys,
So I’m a new player, level 36 I believe, and I’m looking at forming a champion pool.
The main thing I want to make sure of is that they fill different roles so I have different answers for different problems. I’ve played most (not all) of the ADCs and enjoy all of them honestly so was hoping someone could ‘categorise’ the champs in a clear way so that I can understand my options better. I’ve tried watching YouTube guides for this but the videos I’ve seen have all been 2+ years old and contradict each other. I understand Jinx and Kogmaw are ‘hyper carries’ so in that instance I’d pick one over the other to add to my pool, still wouldn’t really understand when they are the right pick in a game though.
My most played at the moment are Jhin and Jinx (got my first penta on her last night!) but want to round the pool out. Aphelios has some cool moments but I understand he’ll take a lot of grinding to master and not sure if he fills the same role as Jinx or Jhin for example.
Any help/insight would be great, thank you!

ANALYSIS:

• FX analysis:
• We see looking at EURUSD that skew is v elevated as IV is elevated on calls vs puts.
• EURUSD is stuck under 1.08 but traders are looking for a break towards 1.09. Note that traders seem to be pricing in softer inflation data. If PPI comes hot and CPI too tomorrow, we can see strong downward move in EURUSD as traders are seemingly complacent from positioning on soft inflation data
• BTC:
• BTC positioning shows traders sell calls. Skew points downward. Can see some pressure for this OPEX as a result, but should push up after that. Hence why price is lower in premarket.
• https://imgur.com/a/mShRPhn
• Oil:
• Range bound as traders waiting for US economic data this week. But skew is still pointing higher. Buyer momentum is higher, so it is positioned for a move higher but I suppose traders hold their breath waiting for the data.
• Silver:
• Looks like can continue higher. Skew is higher, IV change is rising.
• Calls on 28 adn 29 are the main options.
• https://imgur.com/a/q3KxHuN
• USDJPY - gamma wall at 157C. Can get stopped there, before move higher after. Positioning on JPY v bearish.

DATA LEDE:

• Japan PPI:
• YOY came 0.9% vs 0.9% forecast, last month was revised to 0.9% YOY too.
• So is gradually increasing since November.
• German Final inflation revision showed no change to preliminary reading. Confirmed the prelim reading. inflation of 2.2% vs 2.2% last time.
• UK EMPLOYMENT DATA
• 178k people got laid off in the last month, less than the 215k expected.
• More than the 156k last month.
• So labour market is continuing to weaken.
• Unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in line with expectations. Highest reading in over a year.
• Average earnings still came hot though, at 5.7% growth YOY vs 5.3% forecasted. Last month was 5.7% YOY.
• Average earnings growth has come down a lot though in the last year and is now near yearly lows of growth.
• So UK labour market data showed weakening of labour market.
• EURO ZEW Economic Sentiment index:
• Came 47 vs 46.1 expected.
• Highest economic sentiment reading in over a year.
• Economic sentiment in Eurozone continues to improve.
• German economic sentiment index came 47.1 vs 46 expected. Highest in a year.
• US PPI Data
• Fed’s Powell is due to speak at 10am, unlikely to say anything in particular.

MARKETS:

• Markets are flat, waiting for PPI.
• SPX trading flat around the levels it was at yesterday, ahead of PPI. Market waiting for PPI
• Nasdaq: 18,200. Trading flat around these levels.
• DJI flat at 39.5k
• GEr40: Trading flat at the highs, trading at 18,700.
• HKG trading lower by 0.8%. Tested close to 19k and held.
• OIL trading flat the last week or so around 77-79.
• GOLD: trading flat at 2,344.

FX:

• GBP down due to weak employment data, which points to firstly, rate cuts being on the horizon, and weakness in UK economy.
• Also down because BOE’s Pill says that Rate cut is likely to come under consideration in Summer, after employment data. Gilts are up in UK as a result. V explicit mention of rate cuts to come.
• Recovered somewhat with EURO which headed higher after ZEW Economic survey
• Yen continues weakness after failed intervention
• DXY flat ahead of PPI
• EURUSD trading t the 1.08 resistance
• AUDUSD trading at 0.66. Still stuck under the downtrend trend line.

EARNINGS:
BABA

• EPS of 10.14 vs 10.21 expected. Miss by 0.7%
• Revenue of 221.8B beat by 1%. Up 6% YOY
• Adjusted EBITDA was 30.81B yuan, beat by 1.4%
• Segment revenue:
• Taobao group was 93B, beat estimates by 1%, down 28% QOQ
• Cloud intelligence was down 8% QOQ
• Local services group revenue was 15B Yuan
• Cainiao Smart logistics network was 20.12B yuan
• So mixed segment revenue.
• Approved a $4B dividend for Fy 2024.
• One time extraordinary cash dividend
• Repurchased $12.5B worth of shares in Fy 2024.
• They are focusing on enhancing customer experience and growing AI product capabilities
• Significant investments in strategic business priorities, particularly in ecomm
• CEO comments:
• Returning to growth, our china and international commerce business saw double digit GMV growth
• Accelerated revenue in cloud computing
• NOT GREAT EARNINGS ON THE WHOLE. EPS was dissapoitning, segment revenues were dissapointing.

HD

• Down as they say that delayed spring selling is hurting sales.
• Weak current quarter, comps were down worse than expected. But they maintained the Full year guide, which was better than many expected imo
• Rev $36.4B vs $36.7B est. missed narrowly
• Comps -2.8% vs -2.2% est. worse than expected
• EPS $3.63 vs $3.60 est. slightly better than expected
• Customer transactions were down 1% YOY
• Average ticket down 1.3% YOY
• Sales per retail square foot were down 3.4% YOY
• Maintains FY guide
• FY EPS of $15.26
• FY sales of 154.2B
• The 1Q weakness is in-line with what we highlighted, but FY guide maintained = better than feared by some.
• Delayed start to sprint and softness in larger discretionary projects hurt sales.
• Still seeing challenges
• But are trying to look forward to rest of the fiscal year with robust plans to engage customers.

SONY:

• Announced new leadership structure.
• Is adopting a new dual CEO structure for their video game Unit.
• Net profit was 189B yen , up 34% YOY and beat by 26.8%
• Revenue was 3.48T, up 14% YOY, beat by 14%
• EPS of 153.6, beat by 34%
• Segment performance:
• Game Business revenue was 3.481T, up 14% YOY
• Game business operating profit was 105.9B, more than double YOY
• Moving business operating profit was nearly double YOY
• So strong quarter results
• GUIDANCE FOR FY2025:
• Revenue of 12.31T, down 5.5% YOY
• Net profit of 925B down 4% YOY
• Planning partial spin off of financial unit
• Conducting 5-1 stock split
• Announced buyback of 250B shares
• Seen strong performance in game and movie business, leading to robust quarter.

MAG 7 NEWS:

• MSFT - OPENAI announcements yesterday:
• Releases voice assistant, which acts as a translator in real time.
• OpenAI GPT 4o which is faster, omnimodel and easier. It will launch on desktop version too. Said this model will be available for free.
• Showcased use of AI for tutoring.
• Announced they have over 100m+ users using chatGPT worldwide.
• TSLA - rehires their key Supercharger Team, reversing recent cuts.
• GOOGL, AMZN - Anthropic, which is backed by these companies is launching its GenAI chatbot Claude throughout europe including EU countries Switzerland and Iceland.
• GOOGL - has their own IO developer event today. Is expected to showcase its latest AI tools and AI linked enhancements to products.
• AAPL - Foxconn reported earnings. Whilst their results jumped a lot YOY, they missed estimates. They said they saw strong server demand due to AI, but consumer electronics sales were down 9%, weakness in iPhone in CHina.
• Said they are cautious about near term consumer electronics demand.
• AAPL - preparing o sell Vision Pro device outside of US for first time, plans to expand to CHina, Japan and France.

COMPANY SPECIFIC:

• SPWR up as part of a short squeeze of meme stocks, and other heavily shorted stocks.
• GME - Up 40% in premarket. The squeeze continues.
• AMC up 50% too, BB up 15%
• The meme stocks are seeing momentum continuing on from yesterday, after coming into focus due to Roaring Kitty’s tweet during weekend.
• Chinese EV company, BYD is unveiling Plug in hybrid pickup truck in Mexico. It’s called the shark and will be distributed globally except for US.
• RUM - Rumble sues Google for $1B over anticompetitive ad practices. Files lawsuit
• WMT - to lay off and relocate hundreds of corporate workers. Remote workers have been asked to move to larger corporate hubs. Small office employees in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto to relocate
• UBER - Willa acquire FoodPanda’s Taiwan business for 950M
• ULTA - maintained at hold by Stifel

OTHER NEWS

• Meme stock rally this morning continues.
• US small business index ahead of expectations, but much below the historically average level. Cost pressures remain the main issue as many small businesses still raise wages to retain workers.Inflation still the main issue for small businesses in US, but less so than before.
• Yesterday’s trading saw the lowest volume day since Thanksgiving 2023. This is as traders await the key economic news coming out this week.
• Yesterday saw inflation expectations rise for next year to 3.3%, highest since November 2023.
• From the data this morning then, we can see that the macro trends are:
• UK labour market continues to weaken
• Euro economic sentiment improves
• Bank of America sees slower growth but still positive spending in the US. People are getting user to higher rate environment.
• US administration increases tariffs on $18B of Chinese imports. Including semiconductors, batteries, solars, EVs etc. Trying to bolster domestic manufacturing.
• Yesterday, Yellen said that China is not really playing by the rules on trade, said it is unacceptable to be dependent on China in key industries.
• B of A fund manager survey shows fund managers are most bullish since 2021. Not seeing signs of big pullback here. Cash allocation decreasing as fund managers INCREASE exposure to the market too. Lowest cash level since 2021.
• BOE’s Pill says that Rate cut is likely to come under consideration in Summer, after employment data. Gilts are up in UK as a result. V explicit mention of rate cuts to come.
• Said we can cut rates and still have restrictive policy.
• OPEC sees demand for doc crude in 2024 at 43.2M BPD in 2024, and says they will now only forecast demand for doc crude
• OPEC said that despite some downside risks, there is further upside potential for global economic growth in 2024.

ANALYSIS:

• FX analysis:
• We see looking at EURUSD that skew is v elevated as IV is elevated on calls vs puts.
• EURUSD is stuck under 1.08 but traders are looking for a break towards 1.09. Note that traders seem to be pricing in softer inflation data. If PPI comes hot and CPI too tomorrow, we can see strong downward move in EURUSD as traders are seemingly complacent from positioning on soft inflation data
• BTC:
• BTC positioning shows traders sell calls. Skew points downward. Can see some pressure for this OPEX as a result, but should push up after that. Hence why price is lower in premarket.
• https://imgur.com/a/mShRPhn
• Oil:
• Range bound as traders waiting for US economic data this week. But skew is still pointing higher. Buyer momentum is higher, so it is positioned for a move higher but I suppose traders hold their breath waiting for the data.
• Silver:
• Looks like can continue higher. Skew is higher, IV change is rising.
• Calls on 28 adn 29 are the main options.
• https://imgur.com/a/q3KxHuN
• USDJPY - gamma wall at 157C. Can get stopped there, before move higher after. Positioning on JPY v bearish.

DATA LEDE:

• Japan PPI:
• YOY came 0.9% vs 0.9% forecast, last month was revised to 0.9% YOY too.
• So is gradually increasing since November.
• German Final inflation revision showed no change to preliminary reading. Confirmed the prelim reading. inflation of 2.2% vs 2.2% last time.
• UK EMPLOYMENT DATA
• 178k people got laid off in the last month, less than the 215k expected.
• More than the 156k last month.
• So labour market is continuing to weaken.
• Unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in line with expectations. Highest reading in over a year.
• Average earnings still came hot though, at 5.7% growth YOY vs 5.3% forecasted. Last month was 5.7% YOY.
• Average earnings growth has come down a lot though in the last year and is now near yearly lows of growth.
• So UK labour market data showed weakening of labour market.
• EURO ZEW Economic Sentiment index:
• Came 47 vs 46.1 expected.
• Highest economic sentiment reading in over a year.
• Economic sentiment in Eurozone continues to improve.
• German economic sentiment index came 47.1 vs 46 expected. Highest in a year.
• US PPI Data
• Fed’s Powell is due to speak at 10am, unlikely to say anything in particular.

MARKETS:

• Markets are flat, waiting for PPI.
• SPX trading flat around the levels it was at yesterday, ahead of PPI. Market waiting for PPI
• Nasdaq: 18,200. Trading flat around these levels.
• DJI flat at 39.5k
• GEr40: Trading flat at the highs, trading at 18,700.
• HKG trading lower by 0.8%. Tested close to 19k and held.
• OIL trading flat the last week or so around 77-79.
• GOLD: trading flat at 2,344.

FX:

• GBP down due to weak employment data, which points to firstly, rate cuts being on the horizon, and weakness in UK economy.
• Also down because BOE’s Pill says that Rate cut is likely to come under consideration in Summer, after employment data. Gilts are up in UK as a result. V explicit mention of rate cuts to come.
• Recovered somewhat with EURO which headed higher after ZEW Economic survey
• Yen continues weakness after failed intervention
• DXY flat ahead of PPI
• EURUSD trading t the 1.08 resistance
• AUDUSD trading at 0.66. Still stuck under the downtrend trend line.

EARNINGS:
BABA

• EPS of 10.14 vs 10.21 expected. Miss by 0.7%
• Revenue of 221.8B beat by 1%. Up 6% YOY
• Adjusted EBITDA was 30.81B yuan, beat by 1.4%
• Segment revenue:
• Taobao group was 93B, beat estimates by 1%, down 28% QOQ
• Cloud intelligence was down 8% QOQ
• Local services group revenue was 15B Yuan
• Cainiao Smart logistics network was 20.12B yuan
• So mixed segment revenue.
• Approved a $4B dividend for Fy 2024.
• One time extraordinary cash dividend
• Repurchased $12.5B worth of shares in Fy 2024.
• They are focusing on enhancing customer experience and growing AI product capabilities
• Significant investments in strategic business priorities, particularly in ecomm
• CEO comments:
• Returning to growth, our china and international commerce business saw double digit GMV growth
• Accelerated revenue in cloud computing
• NOT GREAT EARNINGS ON THE WHOLE. EPS was dissapoitning, segment revenues were dissapointing.

HD

• Down as they say that delayed spring selling is hurting sales.
• Weak current quarter, comps were down worse than expected. But they maintained the Full year guide, which was better than many expected imo
• Rev $36.4B vs $36.7B est. missed narrowly
• Comps -2.8% vs -2.2% est. worse than expected
• EPS $3.63 vs $3.60 est. slightly better than expected
• Customer transactions were down 1% YOY
• Average ticket down 1.3% YOY
• Sales per retail square foot were down 3.4% YOY
• Maintains FY guide
• FY EPS of $15.26
• FY sales of 154.2B
• The 1Q weakness is in-line with what we highlighted, but FY guide maintained = better than feared by some.
• Delayed start to sprint and softness in larger discretionary projects hurt sales.
• Still seeing challenges
• But are trying to look forward to rest of the fiscal year with robust plans to engage customers.

SONY:

• Announced new leadership structure.
• Is adopting a new dual CEO structure for their video game Unit.
• Net profit was 189B yen , up 34% YOY and beat by 26.8%
• Revenue was 3.48T, up 14% YOY, beat by 14%
• EPS of 153.6, beat by 34%
• Segment performance:
• Game Business revenue was 3.481T, up 14% YOY
• Game business operating profit was 105.9B, more than double YOY
• Moving business operating profit was nearly double YOY
• So strong quarter results
• GUIDANCE FOR FY2025:
• Revenue of 12.31T, down 5.5% YOY
• Net profit of 925B down 4% YOY
• Planning partial spin off of financial unit
• Conducting 5-1 stock split
• Announced buyback of 250B shares
• Seen strong performance in game and movie business, leading to robust quarter.

MAG 7 NEWS:

• MSFT - OPENAI announcements yesterday:
• Releases voice assistant, which acts as a translator in real time.
• OpenAI GPT 4o which is faster, omnimodel and easier. It will launch on desktop version too. Said this model will be available for free.
• Showcased use of AI for tutoring.
• Announced they have over 100m+ users using chatGPT worldwide.
• TSLA - rehires their key Supercharger Team, reversing recent cuts.
• GOOGL, AMZN - Anthropic, which is backed by these companies is launching its GenAI chatbot Claude throughout europe including EU countries Switzerland and Iceland.
• GOOGL - has their own IO developer event today. Is expected to showcase its latest AI tools and AI linked enhancements to products.
• AAPL - Foxconn reported earnings. Whilst their results jumped a lot YOY, they missed estimates. They said they saw strong server demand due to AI, but consumer electronics sales were down 9%, weakness in iPhone in CHina.
• Said they are cautious about near term consumer electronics demand.
• AAPL - preparing o sell Vision Pro device outside of US for first time, plans to expand to CHina, Japan and France.

COMPANY SPECIFIC:

• SPWR up as part of a short squeeze of meme stocks, and other heavily shorted stocks.
• GME - Up 40% in premarket. The squeeze continues.
• AMC up 50% too, BB up 15%
• The meme stocks are seeing momentum continuing on from yesterday, after coming into focus due to Roaring Kitty’s tweet during weekend.
• Chinese EV company, BYD is unveiling Plug in hybrid pickup truck in Mexico. It’s called the shark and will be distributed globally except for US.
• RUM - Rumble sues Google for $1B over anticompetitive ad practices. Files lawsuit
• WMT - to lay off and relocate hundreds of corporate workers. Remote workers have been asked to move to larger corporate hubs. Small office employees in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto to relocate
• UBER - Willa acquire FoodPanda’s Taiwan business for 950M
• ULTA - maintained at hold by Stifel

OTHER NEWS

• Meme stock rally this morning continues.
• US small business index ahead of expectations, but much below the historically average level. Cost pressures remain the main issue as many small businesses still raise wages to retain workers.Inflation still the main issue for small businesses in US, but less so than before.
• Yesterday’s trading saw the lowest volume day since Thanksgiving 2023. This is as traders await the key economic news coming out this week.
• Yesterday saw inflation expectations rise for next year to 3.3%, highest since November 2023.
• From the data this morning then, we can see that the macro trends are:
• UK labour market continues to weaken
• Euro economic sentiment improves
• Bank of America sees slower growth but still positive spending in the US. People are getting user to higher rate environment.
• US administration increases tariffs on $18B of Chinese imports. Including semiconductors, batteries, solars, EVs etc. Trying to bolster domestic manufacturing.
• Yesterday, Yellen said that China is not really playing by the rules on trade, said it is unacceptable to be dependent on China in key industries.
• B of A fund manager survey shows fund managers are most bullish since 2021. Not seeing signs of big pullback here. Cash allocation decreasing as fund managers INCREASE exposure to the market too. Lowest cash level since 2021.
• BOE’s Pill says that Rate cut is likely to come under consideration in Summer, after employment data. Gilts are up in UK as a result. V explicit mention of rate cuts to come.
• Said we can cut rates and still have restrictive policy.
• OPEC sees demand for doc crude in 2024 at 43.2M BPD in 2024, and says they will now only forecast demand for doc crude
• OPEC said that despite some downside risks, there is further upside potential for global economic growth in 2024.