TIL Sunderland A.F.C's shirt sponsor for this year is a UK children's cancer charity. This sponsorship was donated to them by the original holders, Betdaq after they choose to end all their football sponsorship deals "to help tackle harm caused by gambling"
GME Gains. Started with $4,500 in November, >1.5 mil in February.
https://imgur.com/a/RDa86Np Started in November with $4,500 that I cash advanced from my credit card and saved by paying my rent with that card for 2 months. I initially bought 75% shares and 25% calls and just pressed buttons on my phone a few times here and then for the next couple months. I didn't want to post this until GME wounds started healing for others. I did, however, go down with the ship in my Fidelity where I lost about 25k on shares. Nothing I did was smart, I got lucky. DON'T FUCKING GAMBLE WITH MONEY YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE. THERE WAS 1 SPOT IN 10 MILLION WHERE THAT SHIT ACTUALLY WORKS AND I ALREADY TOOK IT. Please don't test your luck because you will lose your shirt and your wife will go stay with her boyfriend permanently. Otherwise, keep those Wendie's Tendies flowing you fucking retards. Edit 1: Getting a lot of PM's asking for money. Bitch, I'd love to help everybody and will be making sizeable donation to charities and bringing video games to kids for Christmas. However, I don't just have cash everywhere. I actually adjusted my quality of life DOWNWARDS. Also, if you wanna PM me to ask where to learn about options, you better have some experience in business, logistics, trucking or brokering freight, so you can return the favor. I need help with something so tit for tat. Edit 2: Got a lot of people messaging me asking about what shall not be named i.e. rule 4. If you are interested in that, you can go through my post history. Edit 3: Can't I get a flair or something for being an absolute retard? Edit 4: Yes people, this was my FIRST play in the stock market, I'm not a guru that could do this again. The first's one's always free or at least it was in my case! I am lucky, not skilled. Edit 5: The week of the gamma squeeze, I was up to 90k. I pulled out 46k which was more than 10 times my initial investment. Had I not done that, I would not have had the balls to make this play. My best advice, SET YOURSELF UP FOR AN OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU CAN PLAY RISKY LIKE THIS AND IF IT DOESN'T WORK, YOU ARE STILL BETTER OFF THEN YOU WERE WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED!!! Edit 6: Volatility. How did I not wanna die with such large fluctuations? Well sometimes I did, that's what the liquor was for. Otherwise, as you can probably tell, I was born in the bytecorn space but way out of even the top 25 or 100 corns. I'm talking microcap that would put even the worst copperstonks to shame. This volatility pales in comparison and I became comfortable there, sometimes even happy. Learn to hold onto your pants trading the most volatile asset known to man, and options will be a walk in the park. Also, I learned a ton about greed and chasing gains in the pop of 2017. Lessons to be learned can be found everywhere, it's up to you to determine how much you wanna pay to learn those lessons.
(GMA) Duterte: I got top gambler Atong Ang to help clean up PCSO | President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said that he urged gambling operator and consultant Charlie "Atong" Ang's help to clean up the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Spending 10% of your paycheck on failing lotto tickets for the rest of your life would still be a more worthwhile investment than spending it on tithe
This is probably like a common knowledge kind of thing for this community, but I really wanted to dig into it more than a cynical look at it. As is common tradition, Churches usually advertise(read: enforce) tithing. Akin to like a second tax, the congregation is encouraged to pay 10% of their paycheck(we'll use take home for ease of argument) to the church for tithe. Now tithing is usually given the connotation that should you tithe, God is going to "reimburse" you in some way. Most people give tithing credit for "blessing" them with a better paying job. An example would be NFL Raiders Quarterback Derek Carr who paid a huge tithe to his church. So it stands to reason than many church members will tithe in the hopes that God will "bless" them with better living. What bugs me is that most of the "blessings" these people get would most likely have happened without church or tithing regardless. The difference would be is they could've put that tithe into their savings and have a bigger savings account. Now the lottery can have a bit of a bad reputation since it's essentially gambling, and a gambling addiction can be crippling and a severe problem. However, I sat and thought about how much the tithe takes out of one's paycheck vs a $2 (USD) lotto ticket. So let's say you make $24,000 (USD) a year. 10% of that is is $2,400. Let's also say the "average" jackpot is $1,000,000. Again for sake of argument, we're going to ignore the smaller and larger prizes. 1,000,000 divided by 2,400 is 500. So it would take roughly FIVE HUNDRED years of FAILED lotto tickets for the funds to outweigh the worth, at least in the case of comparing to tithe. Specifically FAILED, because within your life span; if you consistently spent 10% of your paycheck on lotto tickets, you could win the jackpot. But spending 10% of your pay to those charismatic megachurch pastors to help furnish their private jets and lavish mansions literally benefits you in NO WAY. If the church you pay tithe at is actually genuine in helping impoverished communities, then I would compare that to donating to charity. Which goes against tithing in hopes of reaping some kind of divine "blessing" So please, put that money in the bank, or buy a lotto ticket. Stop making charismatic liars rich. Or do, I can't make you live your life.
DisclaimerI want to thank everyone for the gilds, replies and suggestions. I just do not have time to reply to everyone, but I am reading everything. I am not sure how much bigger the thread can be, I already typed this but it vanished so I think I'm at the limit. I will try to keep updating, but I don't expect the thread to be up top for much longer and will likely vanish soon, so if you need anything save it. Yes, it's hard, it sucks, it's depressing. It is something we all have to do if you want to see this virus go. Everyone knows the deal, too many think they're the exception but no one is. However, staying home is hard so maybe I can help at least one or two people with some incentives. I'll try to give links to some things that can help cure the boredom, and some support if you need it. Most of this might be obvious to some, some might not even have internet and of course, money is a big issue, so I'll try to give some suggestions: For streaming and on demand things such as Netflix et al, don't forget you can subscribe for free for your first month. This goes for most things in the list. If you are worried about putting in your payment details and forgetting to cancel a month later, don't worry! You can sign up and immediately cancel and you still get your free month! For people who don't have a smart TV, you can buy a cheap Amazon Fire TV stick or a Roku box. The Fire stick can go as low as £20 often for 1080p. It will drop to £30 for 4k. I picked up a 4k Roku device for £18 on Amazon once. It's fast and snappy. currently it's going for £33 for the 4k version. Having both, there is little difference between the devices. NowTV also do their own roku powered device. Subscription based streaming sites that all offer 2-4 weeks free for first timers
Netflix *According to comments the second month is free.
Amazon Prime You can either get Amazon video on its own, or take prime with other benefits. I strongly urge those who use Amazon for buying off their store front to use [https://smile.amazon.co.uk/] as there is literally no difference except everything you buy amazon donates to a charity of your choice.
Amazon channels. I believe you can get all these individually but Amazon offers them as channels bound to your prime account, and they are again either free for a couple weeks (again, take them, cancel instantly) or very cheap. I recently subscribed to Starzplay for £1 for 3 months. It has some good shows on it like Fringe, doom patrol. It also has channels like Curiosity stream and shudder
If you have not subscribed to the any of the above, you can get a few months of free TV by signing up and cancelling instantly. I suggest waiting at least 5 minutes just to let it go through the system. Some tips for Now TV. IF you already have a subscription, I've noticed you can get it cheaper by cancelling. When you cancel they will beg you to stay. Select "I can not afford it this month" and they should beg again, telling you what shows they have. If you say you still want to cancel, they'll beg one last time and offer you the subscription for cheaper. This won't work every month, but I've noticed they'll always offer it the first time, then again after a couple months. If you're subscribed to both films and entertainment do the most expensive one as it may not work both times (but it might!). You can also pick up passes from storefronts a lot cheaper sometimes, before I could pick one up on Amazon for £3 but, they seem to have cracked down on it. If you shop around (or if anyone knows of a legitimate store please let me know) you might be able to pick it up cheaper. Lastly, check their website and under your account they should have an "offers for you" section. Completely free TV
If you do have a smart TV and/or device, there are some good free streaming apps. One I really love is called PlutoTV. I know this is on both Roku and the fire stick, as well as Ps4/Ps5 and xbox. Pluto offers a bunch of live channels and now an on demand section, all for free. It has adverts but they are actually short (shorter than regular TV and fewer of them). Some of the channels are just streaming certain shows like Mythbusters 24/7 or Dog the bounty hunter, but it has a lot of old movie channels as well as 24/7 kickboxing and MMA. It also has a 24/7 poker channel I quite like. Another one I like is Rakuten Viki however, I haven't watched it for a while as my fire stick is only 1080p and I have too many other devices attached. I believe it is on Roku but you have to jump through some hoops and have an account. The last I checked on the fire stick you did not. Viki offers a metric ton of Asian shows, mainly from Japan and South Korea but it does have chinese, Malaysian etc. It has subtitles. Some Japanese shows are hysterical, albeit weird. Roku also do their own channels with free shows if you own a device. For those who don't have a smart TV or a Streaming device, you can set up your own computer as a dedicated streaming device with Plex. It's been a while since I used it but I believe it now also offers free movies and TV. Anime If you are into Anime there is
The first 2 are free to watch, or offer premium without ads which you can have a trial with. Crunchyroll is the better of the two with more original choice for Japanese voice and subs, while Funimation has more Dubs. I don't believe HiDive is free to watch but you do get a 2 week trial. These are more exclusives than the previous two. PC Centric software If you are a gamer or like Audiobooks or anything that uses computers for things like music making, programming or graphic design
Humble Bundle offers, as per the name, bundles. A long running site that got bought out by IGN. It offers both single items and bundles you can buy individually/as a pack while also offering a separate monthly subscription for around £8-9. The subscription gives you 12 games on average per month. That's the simplest explanation but it changes somewhat as sometimes you get to pick 10 out of 14 games, or get all 12. Humble bundle offers more than just games though. Every Tuesday they bring a new bundle of games, while Thursday (I "think) a new bundle of books. They very often have books from the Black Library giving you a ton of Warhammer books. Sometimes it's standard E-books, other times it's audiobooks. A few times a year they do bundles for graphic design, a typical bundle would include programs like Paintshop Pro Corel Painter etc, They usually go for £0.76 for tier 1 up to around £18 for tier 3, which would include 4-6 full titles with 10+ addons. They also often have Music making bundles or video editing software as well as Programming or video game development. The bundles change often, they usually have around 11 bundles at a time that last for 20 days. Sometimes it's trash but they do often have some very good deals. Fanatical offers the same as humble bundle except usually not as high quality, but sometimes they do have some incredible deals, and they are very very cheap. Both humble and fanatical are safe, trusted and been around a long time, and they are NOT grey market key sites. They work with the publishers and developers. You can buy games both old and new for a lot cheaper than you would most other places. Unless it states otherwise, keys are usually for steam. **BOTH HB and Fanatical (HB much more common) offer free games fairly often. The catch is linking your steam account to them (at least HB). It is safe however. IndieGala is another site like above. Except, these are much much lower quality. However, they offer a metric ton of free games. Quality is low but it is legitimate, and a lot of free stuff. Game Store Fronts
Steam This one is so obvious I didn't add it, but apparently many want me to. It is the best out there, and you can find almost everything, with fantastic deals.
Greenmangaming offers games cheaply. Again, not a grey market site (which are legal but unethical) and they sometimes do bundles.
GoG (Good old games) is a DRM free site run by CDPR, the makers of the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. They offer you games quite cheap and not needing DRM (such as Steam, Uplay etc which is less invasive versions of dodgy DRM from the olden days).
Epic Games Despite the controversy whether you care about their rivalry with valve, they offer free games ever week. Without ever having bought anything I have gained over 170 games. literally. Good games for the most part. They often give you £10 coupons as well.
Twitch Everyone knows twitch, but if you don't, it's a streaming service for watching gamers and girls with low cut tops accidentally bending over in front of the game. However, if you're signed up to prime, you get free games each month (and randomly between the set bunch).
Playstation Store Currently has January sales. Currently the free games for PS+ are for PS4: Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Greedfall. For the Ps5 it is Maneater
Games with GoldBleed 2 and the King of Fighters XIII is available until Janurary 15th whilst little Nightmares is available until January 31st.
Gaming Subscriptions Like the TV versions, you can sign up to these for a free trial (or very cheap). If you do sign up to only one at a time, it should keep you busy for a few months
Xbox Game Pass You can do this on both/either an Xbox or PC. If you sign up to the regular one, you can get a month (maybe three!) for £1. After you have done that, you can sign up to the premium version for 3 months at £1 a month. Most people know game pass, but you can download a large selection of games for free. The premium version gives you games with gold, allowing you to keep the games forever (but can only play with a subscription)
Ubisoft+ I'm not 100% sure if you get a trial or not. This allows a large collection of Ubisoft titles to play for £12.99 a month. Quite expensive but good if you like Ubisoft titles I guess.
EA Play EA's version. Goes by a ton of names I think, EA Access, EA Play, Origin Access etc etc. There's a couple of versions of this, and it is across all platforms (PS4/5, Xbox, PC) but not sure about the switch. I "think" the premium allows you to play on all platforms, while the cheaper one on a single platform, but I may be mistaken.
PS Now a once terrible service that is now actually very good. Allows you to download some Ps4 games to your PS4/5 and lets you stream a massive amount of Ps2/3/4 to your PC or playstation.
There's more like nvidia's service but you need the Shield device which is quite expensive. I'll leave it at that. Audiobooks & Ebooks
Audible Not sure what the current deal is but if you are a prime member you can sign up for a trial and get a free Audiobook each month for 3 months. Some warhammer books are 48 hours long, 3 of those gives you a good 100+ hours of listening!
Comixology Another Amazon company, but lets you download some free comics I believe.
Sign LanguageBSL here No experience myself, suggested by n21brown and asked for a few times. Didn't know SL was so popular! Listed as "Pay what you can"
BBC's Bitesizehere is apparently good for home learning. Again, no personal experience.
If you need some spare change Okay, I don't generally bother with it, but maybe some of this could be useful to you. These are NOT a quick way to make a fortune. These are small things you can do over time for a bit of pocket change
If you have prime you can get a FREE FIVE POUND GIFT CARD by literally just streaming a song from Amazon music (which is included in prime) here is the detailsAccording to the comments it's only for select people, but it's worth trying If the link doesn't work for you just google "Amazon £5 coupon music"
Now, these sorts of sites have been around for years, I haven't used any other than talkInsights which I must have signed up to 10-15 years ago. Basically they send you surveys and you answer them. They are confidential and don't ask for personal details in the survey. You need 2000 points and you get £20. During the pandemic they've slowed down but I probably get around £40 a year. Not much I know, but it's an email followed by a quick survey ticking boxes. Depending on your answer sometimes you get screened out, I'm not telling you to lie but just be consistent with your answers and you should be able to work out how to not get screened. Some emails are only worth 20 points, others 200. It's slow to get to the 2000 but very quick to just answer a few questions.
Apparently beermoneyuk is a good sub to make some pocket change with.
There is also matched betting. I have never done this, I don't have the patience but from what I've read, it's legitimate, it works and you can make a fair amount of cash from it so long as you do it correctly, and there's a ton of guides. I mention this because people stuck at home could get into it and as long as you're careful (I.E not entering in the wrong numbers) it's risk free AND it pisses off the betting shops. It seems people in comments have had success with it. Disclaimer A couple have complained about gambling. This arguably is not gambling. If you are susceptible to addiction do not do it. However, it's argued that there is no fun or buzz in this, and it's a very tedious and time consuming thing. Others argue you can't make the same money anymore (People were making thousands, now only hundreds if that). It's risk free providing you know what you're doing, the risks are user error, such as entering the wrong numbers. Someone pointed out that due to the lockdown, bets could potentially be cancelled due to sport stopping. So use on a side of caution. We're (mainly) adults so I'll leave it up just because this doesn't have the excitement of regular gambling.
Microsoft Rewards This is an easy way to make pocket change doing very little. Most people have a MS account. The rewards program offers you numerous ways to grab points, by playing free to play games, answering small questions (you don't even need to answer most of the time, just open the link and shut it) and by using bing and searching on it. I've gotten 20k points JUST by answering questions over a couple months. There are many rewards but you can grab a £5 gift card for 6k for example, or a month of game pass (and AFAIK you can make points playing the games)
Google rewards Someone mentioned this in the comments. I have not used it, so can not give any input on it. Sounds similar to TalkInsights which I linked. Google states "Complete short surveys while standing in line, or waiting for a subway. Get rewarded with Google Play or PayPal credit for each one you complete. Topics include everything from opinion polls, to hotel reviews, to merchant satisfaction surveys. We’ll notify you when a survey is waiting."
That's it for now. I will try to update as I go along. A long post but I hope that it can help some of you with finding something good to do that's free, cheap or a bargain. I do suggest getting prime, especially since you get free music, free delivery, free TV and music and free video games each month. In fact, there's a ton of perks and I feel I've gotten way over the cost investment. Hope it helps someone at least PartTimeCrazy said if you bought an Apple product you get 3 free months of Apple Arcade and Apple TV free for a year fakehunted is upset I didn't mention wanking. Tesco have 225 sheets of Tissue for £0.75! tale_lost suggested Project Gutenberg for a collection of free E-Books Learning Language Unfortunately, I don't have time to check every link listed so I will link the comments: TogtogtogGives a lot of links for Spanish
Board & Tabletop games Corporal_Anaesthetic has made a list of Board games ilyemco suggested these HEALTH I'm not a doctor! But if you're a smoker, something I strongly suggest is to quit. I struggled for years but in the first lockdown I quit, technically. I haven't had a cigarette since, however, I do that silly thing millennials do. I vape, but, it made quitting extremely easy. I would not have been able to do it if it wasn't for 88Vape They sell extremely cheap liquids at £1 each. You can find these in B&M but you can pick up 25 for £20 or buy your own mix. Vitamin D deficiency has been said to be a big problem for the virus. I'd suggest (again, not a doctor!) that you pick some up. Tesco do a 3 for 2 deal. So you can pick up 270 tablets for £7. If you are vulnerable you MIGHT be able to phone tesco and get put on their delivery saver list (currently it's paused but phoning may help. At the very least they might give you a priority slot. I did this for my mum, we didn't shop at Tesco but I phoned for her, and they put her on with no hassle, so she can always get a delivery. HELP & ADVICE The lockdown Rules. Reasons to leave home include:
Work or volunteering where it is "unreasonable" to work from home. This includes work in someone else's home, such as that carried out by social workers, nannies, cleaners and tradespeople
Education, training, childcare and medical appointments and emergencies
Exercise outdoors (limited to once a day). This includes meeting one other person from another household in an open public space to exercise
Shopping for essentials such as food and medicine
Communal religious worship
Meeting your support or childcare bubble. Children can also move between separated parents Activities related to moving house
I want to add, if you are in danger you are also allowed (and must!) to get away from the situation for some reason, BBC seems to have missed this very important thing (or I am blind)
FOR THOSE SHIELDING YOU CAN CONTACT THEROYAL VOLUNTARY SERVICE. These people helped my mother with picking up her medicine from the chemist. They were very helpful and went out their way to keep in touch and do it immediately. (It's the only experience I have with them though) _riotingpacifist wanted these links added, but I simply just don't have the time to vet and check all the suggestions here, so I will link as is:
Krita Arguably the best in my opinion. It has a load of options, brushes and a decent UI. It works fantastic with a tablet.
Gimp This is a decent program but last I used, the UI was a pain, and it isn't so user friendly while misses features, but it works, and it is possible to do some incredible creations on it.
Medibang Paint This is slightly geared towards Comics and Manga. I really enjoy using this with my drawing Tablet. As far as I know, it also for regular tablets for Android/Ipad and is free.
You can pick up a drawing tablet on Amazon quite cheap these days! Small ones that are just a black slate such as the wacom ones are good but takes some practice to get use to, but very worth it if you can't afford a dedicated drawing tablet with a screen. Office suit software A couple of free applications for word processing, spreadsheets etc.
LibreOfficeThis has most the average user would need to write their own books or to work from home. There's not a huge amount of difference between the two I'm linking (since I last used anyway) so it's more for preference.
Open Office You can pick this up here and again, like above it's just preference.
Music Making I'm going to direct to matthewharris806 for some links as all the programs I've used like Reason are expensive, or cheaper stuff in bundles such as Magix software. Games development D_Dad_Default gives some links for that here
Streaming options for Week 8 - Who are you guys streaming next week? Here are my thoughts.
Ready to run over and crush your next week's opponent like a STREAMroller? You're in the right place! If you got a roster spot to spare or a guy you're not particularly fond of and wouldn't mind sacrificing him to the Waiver Wire Gods in return for some more games played next week, streaming is your cup of tea. I'm taking a look at which teams play on scarce gamedays next week, as their players should help most fantasy GMs fill out their starting rosters on those days, and analyzing which players could bring you some juicy stats and a W in the upcoming matchup. Here are my thoughts on the fantasy basketball streamers for Week 8. Just one word before we go deep into next week. I've been getting some amazing replies to my posts in the past few weeks, and thank you guys so much for this! I just wanted to let you know that the whole RotoBaller crew is working hard to help fantasy GMs out, and there is a ton of quality stuff on plenty of topics on our website, so if you're looking for information about something else as well, you can probably find it here:https://www.rotoballer.com/category/nba-fantasy-basketball-advice
NBA Schedule Guide - Week 8
Only Thursday and Saturday (with five games a piece) have fewer than seven games scheduled. There are five teams that play on both of these days, and their players will be the ones we will focus on here. Here's the low-down: Teams with 4 games: Boston Celtics Charlotte Hornets Cleveland Cavaliers Dallas Mavericks Denver Nuggets Detroit Pistons Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets Los Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Milwaukee Bucks Minnesota Timberwolves New Orleans Pelicans Oklahoma City Thunder Orlando Magic Phoenix Suns Portland Trail Blazers San Antonio Spurs Toronto Raptors Washington Wizards Teams with 3 games: Atlanta Hawks Brooklyn Nets Chicago Bulls Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Clippers Miami Heat New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers Sacramento Kings Utah Jazz Teams with 2 games: - Number of teams playing each day: Monday: 16 Tuesday: 14 Wednesday: 18 Thursday: 10 Friday: 22 Saturday: 10 Sunday: 20 Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged-up players who might rest): Monday/Tuesday: GSW, HOU, SAS Tuesday/Wednesday: BKN, NOP Wednesday/Thursday: IND, TOR Thursday/Friday: BOS, DET, ORL, POR Friday/Saturday: ATL, NYK, UTA Saturday/Sunday: PHO Sunday/Monday the following: CLE, LAC, SAC Days with SIX or fewer games: Thursday: 5 games Saturday: 5 games Teams playing on both days: Golden State Warriors (4 games - Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) Houston Rockets (4 games - Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) Indiana Pacers (3 games - Wed, Thurs, Sat) Miami Heat (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sat) Philadelphia 76ers (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sat) Teams with a GOOD START to the week (three games from Monday to Thursday) Golden State Warriors (4 games - Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) Houston Rockets (4 games - Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) Toronto Raptors (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat) Teams with a GOOD END to the week (three games from Thursday to Sunday) Boston Celtics (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun) Detroit Pistons (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun) Orlando Magic (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun) Portland Trail Blazers (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun) Teams with a POOR START to the week (one or no games from Monday to Thursday) Atlanta Hawks (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat) Los Angeles Clippers (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun) New York Knicks (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sat) Sacramento Kings (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sun) Utah Jazz (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sat) Teams with a POOR END to the week (one or no games from Thursday to Sunday) Brooklyn Nets (3 games - Tue, Wed, Sat) Chicago Bulls (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri) New Orleans Pelicans (3 games - Tue, Wed, Fri) Washington Wizards (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 8
Thursday has only four, and Saturday only five games scheduled, while all other days have at least seven. So these are the two days most likely to bring empty starting spots for fantasy GMs. Five teams have games on both these days and their players could fill in these holes nicely. Primarily Golden State and Houston who have a four-game week, and also Indiana, Miami and Philadelphia who play one more time in addition to the two days mentioned above. Players from these five teams will be our focus. Fantasy managers with a bigger acquisition limit who need some help on other days as well could potentially try to maximize their games played by combining several players with different schedules throughout the week. For example, San Antonio has a back-to-back set on Monday and Tuesday, then Atlanta and Indiana play three games from Wednesday till Saturday, and 18 teams play on Sunday so you can have your pick. If you stream players from these teams in the correct order, you could potentially get a six-game week from just one streaming spot using three acquisitions. There are other options as well of course, but this is just one example.
Streaming Options for Week 8
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week (Rostered in 25-75 % of Yahoo leagues): Eric Gordon, SG/SF, HOU, (59% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT% DeMarcus Cousins, PF/C, HOU, (67% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK/STL - positive circumstance: will get more minutes while Christian Wood is out Justin Holiday, SG/SF, IND, (42% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, a bit of everything Jeremy Lamb, SG/SF, IND, (53% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, a bit of everything Duncan Robinson, SG/SF, MIA, (70% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT% Goran Dragic, PG/SG, MIA, (68% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST - buyer beware: sprained his ankle in the previous game and we don't have an update at the moment so be sure to check his status before adding him Kelly Olynyk, PF/C, MIA, (26% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK Seth Curry, PG/SG, PHI, (60% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, AST - buyer beware: an illness kept him out of his previous game
Shallower League Add
DeMarcus Cousins, PF/C, HOU, (67% Rostered) Strong Cats: REB, BLK/STL Positive circumstance: will get more minutes while Christian Wood is out Boogie Cousins is a household name, especially in fantasy basketball. A top-10 player for years while back in Sacramento, Cousins is known to be able to stuff the stat sheet when he hits his groove. And with Wood being out for some time, he should be getting enough playing time to really be fantasy relevant. You gotta take the good with the bad with Boogie, and he could be quite frustrating to have on your team, but when he shines, he shines brightly! Here is what I mean. He is second on the all-time ejections list behind only Rasheed Wallace (found this on several unofficial websites so if it's not correct I apologize, although it sounds legit) and he is starting to gain on Rasheed with a few ejections this season as well. Furthermore, Boogie doesn't care if he's got a cold hand as he is capable of shooting 2-of-16 from the field (in his first of three games that Wood has missed during January). But, then he steps up and hits 9-of-15 (4-of-8 from three-point range), and goes 6-of-7 from the charity stripe for 28 points, adds 17 boards and five assists the very next game. Then he follows that one up with 6-of-11 from the field for 19 points with 11 rebounds, five steals and a block. Very hot and cold. But that's Boogie for you. If you have nerves of steel, and you like having a high impact player (whether it's a positive or negative impact, only Boogie will tell), he is definitely worth a shout with Wood out. Especially with a four-game week with games on the scarce days.
Deeper League Add
T.J. McConnell, PG/SG, IND, (22% Rostered) Strong Cats: AST, STL I absolutely love McConnell! As I am a big fan of a three-way punt FT%, 3PM, PTS build, he is exactly my type of player in the final rounds of drafts (or off the waiver wire in most cases as well). He brings elite per minute assists and steals to the table, along with a few boards without hurting you FG% from the PG spot, which is quite useful in such builds. Now, T.J. is definitely an acquired taste, as he doesn't shoot or score much, is not too good from the free-throw line and doesn't get many threes or blocks. Furthermore, he might hurt you in the TO department as well on an off night. So, if these categories are important to you, McConnell is probably not your guy. However, in the previous month, he is averaging 5.5 PTS on 49.2 FG% and just 20.0 FT% (but on only 0.4 attempts per game), 0.3 3PM, 3.3 REB, 8.3 AST, 1.9 STL, 0.3 BLK and 2.3 TO in over 25 minutes a game. This is good enough for spot #118 in Yahoo rankings. So, if you don't need much help in his weak categories from your streamer, and you do anticipate a close matchup in AST, STL and FG%, McConnell is your guy! Furthermore, Indiana doesn't play before Wednesday, so if you're a gambling man, and you believe T.J. will be waiting for you, you could potentially get in a Houston, San Antonio or Golden State player for the back-to-back on Mon/Tue and then switch to McConnell for his three games on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Insanely Deep League Add
Juan Toscano-Anderson, SF/PF, GSW, (10% Rostered) Strong Cats: FG%, 3PM, REB, BLK/STL The NBA is crazy, and this season is making it even crazier. Thus, it shouldn't come as too big a surprise that I am recommending a player here who has played just seven games from the start of the season until February and scored a total of 22 points in those seven games. He actually had 11 personal fouls in those seven games as well, so 2 points for every personal foul. Not quite what you want from your fantasy players. Juan Toscano-Anderson is buried in a crowded Warriors' rotation when everyone is healthy. But at this very moment, almost no one is. We got Marquese Chriss, James Wiseman and Kevon Looney already confirmed out for the next week (Chriss even longer of course), and Eric Paschall missing the previous game and questionable for the Week 7 Saturday game, so he could potentially also miss games in Week 8 as well. And in the two February games in these new circumstances, Juan has been quite good, averaging 15.0 points with 2.5 threes on 70.6% from the field and no misses (in just one attempt) from the line, 5.0 boards, 3.0 dimes, 0.5 steals, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 turnovers in 33 minutes a night. I will just mention that this has him ranked at #30 on Yahoo, although this isn't a reliable indicator on such a small sample size. Nevertheless, Juan has been given a shot and has used it quite well. He even played 40 minutes in the previous game. And with so many players making way for him, and such a favorable schedule for GSW next week, Toscano-Anderson is someone who could really contribute to your fantasy team. Of course, he could do nothing as well, since he is a rotational player usually, but it seems he is as good a bet as any in deep leagues.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Rostered in less than 25% of Yahoo leagues Juan Toscano-Anderson, SF/PF, GSW, (10% Rostered) - Strong Cats: FG%, 3PM, REB, BLK/STL Eric Paschall, SF/PF, GSW, (6% Rostered) - Strong Cats: PTS, REB - buyer beware: currently injured day-to-day Kent Bazemore, SG/SF, GSW, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL/BLK, REB Brad Wanamaker, PG/SG, GSW, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: FT%, 3PM, AST, STL Damion Lee, SG/SF, GSW, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL P.J. Tucker, PF/C, HOU, (16% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, REB Jae'sean Tate, SG, HOU, (7% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK - positive circumstance: rookie factor; - buyer beware: also the rookie factor Sterling Brown, SG/SF, HOU, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a little bit of everything David Nwaba, SG/SF, HOU, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: STL, a little bit of everything - buyer beware: missed a couple of games due to an ankle sprain and still hasn't returned Danuel House Jr., SF/PF, HOU, (11% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, a little bit of everything Doug McDermott, SF/PF, IND, (12% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT% Aaron Holiday, PG, IND, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, FT% T.J. McConnell, PG/SG, IND, (22% Rostered) - Strong Cats: AST, STL Goga Bitadze,C, IND, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK Kendrick Nunn, PG/SG, MIA, (19% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL, FT% - buyer beware: his minutes are very dependable on whether Goran Dragic is playing or not Precious Achiuwa, SF/PF, MIA, (3% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK/STL, FG% - buyer beware: plays just 16 minutes a game so far this season Andre Iguodala, SG/SF, MIA, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: AST, STL, REB Shake Milton, PG/SG, PHI, (22% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, AST Danny Green, SG/SF, PHI, (23% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, a bit little of everything Tyrese Maxey, SG, PHI, (6% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS Matisse Thybulle, SG/SF, PHI, (7% Rostered) - Strong Cats: STL/BLK Dwight Howard, C, PHI, (16% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK, FG% - buyer beware: poor FT% Furkan Korkmaz, SG/SF, PHI, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL I hope this article helps you jump over your next obstacle on the way to the Fantasy ring! EDIT: If you read this post in the first 10 minutes of publishing, there were some mistakes in it. Thanks to u/dubious_dinosaur for pointing it out. I've corrected the mistakes. Two games have been added to Week 8 and some schedules have changed a bit. This resulted in an extra game for Boston, Detroit, New Orleans and Toronto. The article should be fully correct now.
Make a 'Robin Hood' Casino where you win money from the rich but lose money to the poor. The charity donated to is one designed to help Gambling addiction, claim all patron losses as 'charitable donations', pay off people at the charity to ensure patrons return.
By the way, is there a subreddit for horrendously unethical ideas?
I debated making this post for awhile because I normally just comment in replies to other things. But someone came across an old post and thought I should share directly, particularly given the influx of homeless discussion. I'm a homeless person in the area. I lived on paid campgrounds in the region when the weather was nicer and now when I have the cash, I stay in motels. So I'm not someone on the lawn, chopping up bikes (I actually sold mine for $50 to pay for another room night) I'm a nobody and you've probably stood in line next to me and had no idea I was homeless because I do everything in my power to keep it together. But I cry a lot and the longer this goes on, the more difficult it is to climb out of because literally everything in society is working against you and I don't think many people realize the logistics of how difficult homelessness can be. I lost my job literally the week after the NBA shut down. For what it's worth, my former boss got a six figure PPP loan (it was on ProPublica which is how I found out) and I haven't heard from them since. Other than when I had to fight some reporting stuff that they messed up. The shitty thing too is, the company made multiple millions of dollars. Still in business. Still operating btw. Anyway... I was raised in foster care, so I don't have a family to run to when times get tough. All of my IRL friends live in Canada and I was actually in the IEC working visa pool and hoping to go over, get work experience, make connections, and eventually immigrate there permanently. My friends there are like my family, but there's nothing they can do to bring me over because we aren't blood related and they can send me some money but the exchange rate sucks and so do all the exchange fees. They really just don't know how this country just lets people struggle. But the pool suspended draws in March and at the end of last year, they fully closed it out. There hasn't been any announcement on if they'll ever bring it back and jesus christ I feel so fucked. So, I want to explain how people end up in situations like mine. I was on a short term lease and it didn't get renewed. It was probably for the better anyway because my former roommate was talking about stabbing Jews like Soros to end the pandemic. (I'm Jewish.) Oh and she owns a business in town. That was early on in the pandemic when I lost my previous place and I thought honestly this would be over by summer, my job would ask me back and it wouldn't be an issue, so I rented airbnbs even though they were pricey. I don't think many people thought this would all go on as long as it did either. Then I had car issues (tires balded completely, brakes, rotors, and tired rods iirc? I needed a whole lot of shit done.) Then I got really sick too and medical bills were an arm and leg. I was applying to places to live and my credit was going to obviously get dinged with maxing out credit cards and having unpaid medical bills would just obviously make me a shitty candidate to rent to. But through June I tried applying to places. But those are hard credit pulls and I did...a number of them over 2-3 months to try my damndest. However, I can't get approved for housing because I'm unemployed and have been unemployed for months. I don't make enough from sex work other than to cover some nights nor is that a viable "job" to most people. I don't have a WA cosigner, hell I don't have ANY cosigner that lives in America, so that takes me out of the running of the vast vast majority of places. And not only that, a number of landlords would only take me if I could pay something like $5k or pay the full amount of the lease upfront. One woman almost rented a room to me, but I have now no "recent" landlord for them to reference and call. When I explained to her I was living in a motel, she called me homeless scum looking for a place to do drugs. One of my friends tried to "act" as a former landlord, but they looked up property records and he wanted to arrest me for fraud. I was just desperate for a place to live (and I want to share this story too because a lot of people make VERY VERY VERY bad suggestions to homeless people.) I don't even drink in this goddamn state full of craft breweries. I don't like NOT having my wits about me. So no, I'm not some tweaker that does drugs. I also cannot fucking stand the smell of marijuana. I'm a lame ass square. But it doesn't matter because every single stereotype is what you are when you are homeless. You can't rent a room without having CURRENT employment THAT PAYS THE RENT. So a part time, 10 hour a week gig at $15 McD's won't qualify you for housing. I don't know what is so difficult about understanding that but people really seem to struggle with that. You need to make at least 3-4x to qualify for anything, including just a bedroom. And? You can't rent without RECENT landlord to reference. It's one of the several sneaky requirements they throw in there in order to make it damn near impossible for someone who is homeless to get permanent housing. Mentally, it's all a constant waking nightmare. I have to try to figure out the best prices on places to stay, I have to make lots of calls, I apply for aid, I have to stay warm, I have to try to sleep, I have to try to promote my sex work, I have to try to think if there's any future for me. It's exhausting. "Now you're wondering why not go to the shelter?" I did one night and I had to fight off assault. I know another girl who was raped and she attempted suicide and had to be committed. PLEASE stop thinking this shit doesn't happen in this town just because your homes cost half a million fucking dollars. Most people may not also understand the restrictions or lack of dignity that occurs at a lot of shelters. Some shelters force you to change into scrubs they provide, so it feels like prison. You can't keep your stuff on you. It's very time restrictive, so if you are working later than the entry time, you're totally fucked. Or if you need to go to work, you can also be fucked for violating the rules. It's also just full of people who are screaming at night from the mental anguish this shit leaves you in. It's literally sleeping among nightmares. A lot of aid in town and in general, America, is run by churches or "loosely affiliated religious organizations". I have been point blank asked to convert in order to get help. I'm ethnically Jewish and I dunno how they can't quite get that I can't exactly convert into a new ethnicity. The synagogue in this county has been closed and offers zero aid or help. Also LOTS of charities focus strictly on families and there is also one in town for young adults (under 24.) While I understand that's important, there isn't a lot of help for people like me in their mid-30s or who are single. "Why not apply for affordable housing?" Well, most people don't even know that the waiting lists are closed for 1 bedrooms. The list is 5-10+ y e a r s long. Many people have probably never visited it, despite constantly suggesting it to me: https://bellinghamhousing.org/home/applicants/open-waitlist/ go ahead and tell me what's open and what's closed. And that's the waiting list- that's not even you getting housing tomorrow. "You must make a lot sex working!" 90% of OnlyFans accounts make under $50 a month. It's not the money maker you think it is, earning even $100 is hard work. Processors take huge chunks of earnings, then you have transfer fees, and yeah it's a lot to be desired. There's also the mental toll it can take. Also, I'm not a hot young college thing, I have a specific niche and it doesn't really pay. So just a few other things, especially as it concerns food:
Not every motel, especially the cheap ones, have rooms with microwaves or fridges. Or they don't work. If you're on a campground, you can't use perishables without ice, a freezer and that has to be constantly maintained.
EBT doesn't cover warm or prepared food or "anything intended to be eaten in the store".
I won't accept food handed to me where I didn't purchase it or it didn't come from a verified place. ESPECIALLY HOMEMADE FOOD. Please, PLEASE reconsider this (I know there is meal train and that might be different, but I'm talking just generally.) I'd actually avoid handing food directly to a homeless person. You have ZERO idea of their allergies or medical conditions. I have NO IDEA if you poisoned it. Now you might laugh, but given the way people who are supposed to be helping have treated me, I really, really can't afford to trust strangers.
Also, I'm wary of the free pantries. Why? Again, because people tamper with food.
YOU may be well-intentioned, but enough people aren't.
I routinely have gotten rotten produce in my food bank box, I can send you fun pics. Point is, most of the stuff is on its last legs or has no legs at all. I have gotten fully molded loaves of bread and I honestly couldn't even eat after seeing it.
PLEASE stop donating your expired goods to the food bank.
PLEASE do not donate UNSEALED things to the food bank. Like your hot chocolate mix in a tin from 2014.
Please donate jams, jellies, honey, and spices because 1) plain beans and rice sucks and 2) surviving on peanut butter sucks and every person struggling right now will tell you some jam would be nice.
People want to help and I get that. And you're like "goddammit what can I do?" Just hand people money. Just give people the dignity that they know how to prioritize their needs. Research continually bares this out: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/09/americas/direct-giving-homeless-people-vancouver-trnd/index.html Don't give me coats, I have one. The one you gave me probably won't fit or if I'm allergic to wool, I will have no use for it. (I'm not allergic to wool, but people are!) Don't give me things I haven't asked for in general. Someone send me a PM saying they have a twin bed I could have. Uh, I have a bed in storage, no thanks. They called me a cunt and told me to kill myself. Don't hand me lotto tickets. Most scratch offs are loser tickets and then it looks like I'm wasting my money on gambling. You also have no idea who might have be struggling with or recovering from a gambling addiction. Don't donate your trash and expect me to grateful. You gave me the work of throwing away your garbage and reminding me that's all I am to you and the community. Don't bitch about homelessness and in the same breath fight Section 8 or assume shit about housing vouchers. If you're a landlord in this town, maybe you ought to accept vouchers and actually try to be a force for good. Or bitch about how minimum wage is too high. It ain't high enough. Don't send me a PM saying you have a room for me to stay in or will "take me out on a date" to get me food. That's taking advantage of someone. That's also really fucking unsafe. If you do allow homeless and jobless people a place to stay, put that on your facebook or craigslist ad publicly or respond back when someone does explain their situation. (Note: and while I sex work, I'm not an in/outcall worker or an escort. I'm not going to have sex with you or put myself in an incredibly dangerous situation.) Don't criticize people who are homeless who are trying to tell you what they actually need- you do not know their needs. Please stop assuming you do. You can encourage groups to just give straight cash grants. If you absolutely are committed to give giftcards, do them for useful places like Target, Walmart, grocery stores, etc. where someone can buy toiletries, clothing, etc. Don't send me a $5 giftcard to like Cabela's. The closest one is a drive away and what can I do with that? I would spend more in gas to get to one. In the same vein, someone offered me a giftcard to like a steakhouse in Seattle. I hope you can understand how those aren't useful. You can also hold your church, your preferred charity org, etc. ACCOUNTABLE. Actually look what they require of applicants for aid, ask them for how they advertise to the public and what their outreach is, ask how much is going to people, demand transparency. "Okay, so I want to give to United Way--" Wait. Stop. PLEASE understand that United Way is a passthrough organization. It's a middle man. They just help fund other charities and they obviously skim off the top as "operating expenses". Likewise, I saw here and on facebook lots of folks donating to Whatcom Community Foundation. They also do not provide any direct aid. It's also a middle man. Listen, I understand they fund a few scholarships and help promote nonprofits and I'm NOT saying it's bad or the worst idea ever, but if we are talking about the most direct, most efficient, and most bang for your buck, just hand your dollars to people struggling. Hand me $5 and that can go towards my storage unit or cell phone bill or private mailbox or gas or insurance. It can go towards supplements, it can go towards getting a warm cup of soup, or it can go towards another night of a safe warm place to stay. Other sex workers, my friends in Canada, and a couple nice souls on reddit who have helped via paypal/cashapp/venmo? That's been THE reason I've stayed afloat, it's the been THE reason I can stand next to you in line at Target and I don't reek of piss because I was able to actually have a real shower. It has NOT been because of nonprofit organizations. I think it's really important for people to understand that some bills, some bad luck, and some pandemic fuckery can easily spiral your life into daily struggling and homelessness. It's not easy to move and most of our safety net requires you to have a robust social network. I hope one day I can migrate to Canada, but now I need to resave thousands of dollars to qualify for any visa and to be brutal with you, my chances of achieving that dream and being able to have a real life again are very slim. I'll soon age out of IEC Working Holiday visa and I simply don't have tens of thousands of dollars to pay for graduate school as an alternate way in. It's a hard road ahead for me to get through until I can even get the vaccine. My hope in sharing this lengthy long diatribe is that it causes you to think and critique the institutions we have. Please think about how you can truly help and what that looks like in action. Not everyone's struggles are the same, especially not everyone's homeless struggles, but thank you for reading mine. Edit: Thank you again for reading this and really taking it to heart, I really appreciate the kindness and gratitude show. I honestly didn't think anyone would even read this. If anyone else is homeless or struggling or on the verge, I don't take any mind to you sharing your story too and please feel free to just send me a message that this sucks and I'm here to listen to bitching because lordy I get it. xo
Disclaimer I am posting this here because I got a message from the mods asking me to. I'm not from London so links aren't London centric (but hopefully still of help) and the main post is here so any updates will likely be there (I will try here but it's hard to keep up with the amount of suggestions) Thanks. Yes, it's hard, it sucks, it's depressing. It is something we all have to do if you want to see this virus go. Everyone knows the deal, too many think they're the exception but no one is. However, staying home is hard so maybe I can help at least one or two people with some incentives. I'll try to give links to some things that can help cure the boredom, and some support if you need it. Most of this might be obvious to some, some might not even have internet and of course, money is a big issue, so I'll try to give some suggestions: For streaming and on demand things such as Netflix et al, don't forget you can subscribe for free for your first month. This goes for most things in the list. If you are worried about putting in your payment details and forgetting to cancel a month later, don't worry! You can sign up and immediately cancel and you still get your free month! For people who don't have a smart TV, you can buy a cheap Amazon Fire TV stick or a Roku box. The Fire stick can go as low as £20 often for 1080p. It will drop to £30 for 4k. I picked up a 4k Roku device for £18 on Amazon once. It's fast and snappy. currently it's going for £33 for the 4k version. Having both, there is little difference between the devices. NowTV also do their own roku powered device. Subscription based streaming sites that all offer 2-4 weeks free for first timers
Netflix *According to comments the second month is free.
Amazon Prime You can either get Amazon video on its own, or take prime with other benefits. I strongly urge those who use Amazon for buying off their store front to use [https://smile.amazon.co.uk/] as there is literally no difference except everything you buy amazon donates to a charity of your choice.
Amazon channels. I believe you can get all these individually but Amazon offers them as channels bound to your prime account, and they are again either free for a couple weeks (again, take them, cancel instantly) or very cheap. I recently subscribed to Starzplay for £1 for 3 months. It has some good shows on it like Fringe, doom patrol. It also has channels like Curiosity stream and shudder
If you have not subscribed to the any of the above, you can get a few months of free TV by signing up and cancelling instantly. I suggest waiting at least 5 minutes just to let it go through the system. Some tips for Now TV. IF you already have a subscription, I've noticed you can get it cheaper by cancelling. When you cancel they will beg you to stay. Select "I can not afford it this month" and they should beg again, telling you what shows they have. If you say you still want to cancel, they'll beg one last time and offer you the subscription for cheaper. This won't work every month, but I've noticed they'll always offer it the first time, then again after a couple months. If you're subscribed to both films and entertainment do the most expensive one as it may not work both times (but it might!). You can also pick up passes from storefronts a lot cheaper sometimes, before I could pick one up on Amazon for £3 but, they seem to have cracked down on it. If you shop around (or if anyone knows of a legitimate store please let me know) you might be able to pick it up cheaper. Lastly, check their website and under your account they should have an "offers for you" section. Completely free TV
If you do have a smart TV and/or device, there are some good free streaming apps. One I really love is called PlutoTV. I know this is on both Roku and the fire stick, as well as Ps4/Ps5 and xbox. Pluto offers a bunch of live channels and now an on demand section, all for free. It has adverts but they are actually short (shorter than regular TV and fewer of them). Some of the channels are just streaming certain shows like Mythbusters 24/7 or Dog the bounty hunter, but it has a lot of old movie channels as well as 24/7 kickboxing and MMA. It also has a 24/7 poker channel I quite like. Another one I like is Rakuten Viki however, I haven't watched it for a while as my fire stick is only 1080p and I have too many other devices attached. I believe it is on Roku but you have to jump through some hoops and have an account. The last I checked on the fire stick you did not. Viki offers a metric ton of Asian shows, mainly from Japan and South Korea but it does have chinese, Malaysian etc. It has subtitles. Some Japanese shows are hysterical, albeit weird. Roku also do their own channels with free shows if you own a device. For those who don't have a smart TV or a Streaming device, you can set up your own computer as a dedicated streaming device with Plex. It's been a while since I used it but I believe it now also offers free movies and TV. Anime If you are into Anime there is
The first 2 are free to watch, or offer premium without ads which you can have a trial with. Crunchyroll is the better of the two with more original choice for Japanese voice and subs, while Funimation has more Dubs. I don't believe HiDive is free to watch but you do get a 2 week trial. These are more exclusives than the previous two. PC Centric software If you are a gamer or like Audiobooks or anything that uses computers for things like music making, programming or graphic design
Humble Bundle offers, as per the name, bundles. A long running site that got bought out by IGN. It offers both single items and bundles you can buy individually/as a pack while also offering a separate monthly subscription for around £8-9. The subscription gives you 12 games on average per month. That's the simplest explanation but it changes somewhat as sometimes you get to pick 10 out of 14 games, or get all 12. Humble bundle offers more than just games though. Every Tuesday they bring a new bundle of games, while Thursday (I "think) a new bundle of books. They very often have books from the Black Library giving you a ton of Warhammer books. Sometimes it's standard E-books, other times it's audiobooks. A few times a year they do bundles for graphic design, a typical bundle would include programs like Paintshop Pro Corel Painter etc, They usually go for £0.76 for tier 1 up to around £18 for tier 3, which would include 4-6 full titles with 10+ addons. They also often have Music making bundles or video editing software as well as Programming or video game development. The bundles change often, they usually have around 11 bundles at a time that last for 20 days. Sometimes it's trash but they do often have some very good deals. Fanatical offers the same as humble bundle except usually not as high quality, but sometimes they do have some incredible deals, and they are very very cheap. Both humble and fanatical are safe, trusted and been around a long time, and they are NOT grey market key sites. They work with the publishers and developers. You can buy games both old and new for a lot cheaper than you would most other places. Unless it states otherwise, keys are usually for steam. **BOTH HB and Fanatical (HB much more common) offer free games fairly often. The catch is linking your steam account to them (at least HB). It is safe however. IndieGala is another site like above. Except, these are much much lower quality. However, they offer a metric ton of free games. Quality is low but it is legitimate, and a lot of free stuff. Game Store Fronts
Steam This one is so obvious I didn't add it, but apparently many want me to. It is the best out there, and you can find almost everything, with fantastic deals.
Greenmangaming offers games cheaply. Again, not a grey market site (which are legal but unethical) and they sometimes do bundles.
GoG (Good old games) is a DRM free site run by CDPR, the makers of the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. They offer you games quite cheap and not needing DRM (such as Steam, Uplay etc which is less invasive versions of dodgy DRM from the olden days).
Epic Games Despite the controversy whether you care about their rivalry with valve, they offer free games ever week. Without ever having bought anything I have gained over 170 games. literally. Good games for the most part. They often give you £10 coupons as well.
Twitch Everyone knows twitch, but if you don't, it's a streaming service for watching gamers and girls with low cut tops accidentally bending over in front of the game. However, if you're signed up to prime, you get free games each month (and randomly between the set bunch).
Playstation Store Currently has January sales. Currently the free games for PS+ are for PS4: Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Greedfall. For the Ps5 it is Maneater
Games with GoldBleed 2 and the King of Fighters XIII is available until Janurary 15th whilst little Nightmares is available until January 31st.
Gaming Subscriptions Like the TV versions, you can sign up to these for a free trial (or very cheap). If you do sign up to only one at a time, it should keep you busy for a few months
Xbox Game Pass You can do this on both/either an Xbox or PC. If you sign up to the regular one, you can get a month (maybe three!) for £1. After you have done that, you can sign up to the premium version for 3 months at £1 a month. Most people know game pass, but you can download a large selection of games for free. The premium version gives you games with gold, allowing you to keep the games forever (but can only play with a subscription)
Ubisoft+ I'm not 100% sure if you get a trial or not. This allows a large collection of Ubisoft titles to play for £12.99 a month. Quite expensive but good if you like Ubisoft titles I guess.
EA Play EA's version. Goes by a ton of names I think, EA Access, EA Play, Origin Access etc etc. There's a couple of versions of this, and it is across all platforms (PS4/5, Xbox, PC) but not sure about the switch. I "think" the premium allows you to play on all platforms, while the cheaper one on a single platform, but I may be mistaken.
PS Now a once terrible service that is now actually very good. Allows you to download some Ps4 games to your PS4/5 and lets you stream a massive amount of Ps2/3/4 to your PC or playstation.
There's more like nvidia's service but you need the Shield device which is quite expensive. I'll leave it at that. Audiobooks & Ebooks
Audible Not sure what the current deal is but if you are a prime member you can sign up for a trial and get a free Audiobook each month for 3 months. Some warhammer books are 48 hours long, 3 of those gives you a good 100+ hours of listening!
Comixology Another Amazon company, but lets you download some free comics I believe.
Sign LanguageBSL here No experience myself, suggested by n21brown and asked for a few times. Didn't know SL was so popular! Listed as "Pay what you can"
BBC's Bitesizehere is apparently good for home learning. Again, no personal experience.
If you need some spare change Okay, I don't generally bother with it, but maybe some of this could be useful to you. These are NOT a quick way to make a fortune. These are small things you can do over time for a bit of pocket change
If you have prime you can get a FREE FIVE POUND GIFT CARD by literally just streaming a song from Amazon music (which is included in prime) here is the detailsAccording to the comments it's only for select people, but it's worth trying If the link doesn't work for you just google "Amazon £5 coupon music"
Now, these sorts of sites have been around for years, I haven't used any other than talkInsights which I must have signed up to 10-15 years ago. Basically they send you surveys and you answer them. They are confidential and don't ask for personal details in the survey. You need 2000 points and you get £20. During the pandemic they've slowed down but I probably get around £40 a year. Not much I know, but it's an email followed by a quick survey ticking boxes. Depending on your answer sometimes you get screened out, I'm not telling you to lie but just be consistent with your answers and you should be able to work out how to not get screened. Some emails are only worth 20 points, others 200. It's slow to get to the 2000 but very quick to just answer a few questions.
Apparently beermoneyuk is a good sub to make some pocket change with.
There is also matched betting. I have never done this, I don't have the patience but from what I've read, it's legitimate, it works and you can make a fair amount of cash from it so long as you do it correctly, and there's a ton of guides. I mention this because people stuck at home could get into it and as long as you're careful (I.E not entering in the wrong numbers) it's risk free AND it pisses off the betting shops. It seems people in comments have had success with it. Disclaimer A couple have complained about gambling. This arguably is not gambling. If you are susceptible to addiction do not do it. However, it's argued that there is no fun or buzz in this, and it's a very tedious and time consuming thing. Others argue you can't make the same money anymore (People were making thousands, now only hundreds if that). It's risk free providing you know what you're doing, the risks are user error, such as entering the wrong numbers. Someone pointed out that due to the lockdown, bets could potentially be cancelled due to sport stopping. So use on a side of caution. We're (mainly) adults so I'll leave it up just because this doesn't have the excitement of regular gambling.
Microsoft Rewards This is an easy way to make pocket change doing very little. Most people have a MS account. The rewards program offers you numerous ways to grab points, by playing free to play games, answering small questions (you don't even need to answer most of the time, just open the link and shut it) and by using bing and searching on it. I've gotten 20k points JUST by answering questions over a couple months. There are many rewards but you can grab a £5 gift card for 6k for example, or a month of game pass (and AFAIK you can make points playing the games)
Google rewards Someone mentioned this in the comments. I have not used it, so can not give any input on it. Sounds similar to TalkInsights which I linked. Google states "Complete short surveys while standing in line, or waiting for a subway. Get rewarded with Google Play or PayPal credit for each one you complete. Topics include everything from opinion polls, to hotel reviews, to merchant satisfaction surveys. We’ll notify you when a survey is waiting."
That's it for now. I will try to update as I go along. A long post but I hope that it can help some of you with finding something good to do that's free, cheap or a bargain. I do suggest getting prime, especially since you get free music, free delivery, free TV and music and free video games each month. In fact, there's a ton of perks and I feel I've gotten way over the cost investment. Hope it helps someone at least PartTimeCrazy said if you bought an Apple product you get 3 free months of Apple Arcade and Apple TV free for a year fakehunted is upset I didn't mention wanking. Tesco have 225 sheets of Tissue for £0.75! tale_lost suggested Project Gutenberg for a collection of free E-Books Learning Language Unfortunately, I don't have time to check every link listed so I will link the comments: TogtogtogGives a lot of links for Spanish
Board & Tabletop games Corporal_Anaesthetic has made a list of Board games ilyemco suggested these HEALTH I'm not a doctor! But if you're a smoker, something I strongly suggest is to quit. I struggled for years but in the first lockdown I quit, technically. I haven't had a cigarette since, however, I do that silly thing millennials do. I vape, but, it made quitting extremely easy. I would not have been able to do it if it wasn't for 88Vape They sell extremely cheap liquids at £1 each. You can find these in B&M but you can pick up 25 for £20 or buy your own mix. Vitamin D deficiency has been said to be a big problem for the virus. I'd suggest (again, not a doctor!) that you pick some up. Tesco do a 3 for 2 deal. So you can pick up 270 tablets for £7. If you are vulnerable you MIGHT be able to phone tesco and get put on their delivery saver list (currently it's paused but phoning may help. At the very least they might give you a priority slot. I did this for my mum, we didn't shop at Tesco but I phoned for her, and they put her on with no hassle, so she can always get a delivery. HELP & ADVICE The lockdown Rules. Reasons to leave home include:
Work or volunteering where it is "unreasonable" to work from home. This includes work in someone else's home, such as that carried out by social workers, nannies, cleaners and tradespeople
Education, training, childcare and medical appointments and emergencies
Exercise outdoors (limited to once a day). This includes meeting one other person from another household in an open public space to exercise
Shopping for essentials such as food and medicine
Communal religious worship
Meeting your support or childcare bubble. Children can also move between separated parents Activities related to moving house
I want to add, if you are in danger you are also allowed (and must!) to get away from the situation for some reason, BBC seems to have missed this very important thing (or I am blind)
FOR THOSE SHIELDING YOU CAN CONTACT THEROYAL VOLUNTARY SERVICE. These people helped my mother with picking up her medicine from the chemist. They were very helpful and went out their way to keep in touch and do it immediately. (It's the only experience I have with them though) _riotingpacifist wanted this links added, but I simply just don't have the time to vet and check all the suggestions here, so I will link as is:
Krita Arguably the best in my opinion. It has a load of options, brushes and a decent UI. It works fantastic with a tablet.
Gimp This is a decent program but last I used, the UI was a pain, and it isn't so user friendly while misses features, but it works, and it is possible to do some incredible creations on it.
Medibang Paint This is slightly geared towards Comics and Manga. I really enjoy using this with my drawing Tablet. As far as I know, it also for regular tablets for Android/Ipad and is free.
You can pick up a drawing tablet on Amazon quite cheap these days! Small ones that are just a black slate such as the wacom ones are good but takes some practice to get use to, but very worth it if you can't afford a dedicated drawing tablet with a screen. Office suit software A couple of free applications for word processing, spreadsheets etc.
LibreOfficeThis has most the average user would need to write their own books or to work from home. There's not a huge amount of difference between the two I'm linking (since I last used anyway) so it's more for preference.
Open Office You can pick this up here and again, like above it's just preference.
Music Making I'm going to direct to matthewharris806 for some links as all the programs I've used like Reason are expensive, or cheaper stuff in bundles such as Magix software. Games development D_Dad_Default gives some links for that here
This is the first relevant megathread for the joyous, drunken festival of Purim. This is NOT in any way meant to limit the number of Purim-related posts standing alone in the sub, but rather is meant to provide a central location for questions, comments, and advice as we approach what for many Jews around the world will be their second Purim in relative isolation. Those of us lacking vaccination and/or live-in community (that is, family) will likely have to get creative again this year to fully celebrate this celebration. However, that doesn't mean that you'll be alone this year for this most wine-soaked time of our year. Ask questions and share ideas here to help your fellow Jews the world over celebrate with as much merry community merriment as possible. Some resources to introduce the holiday:
These links were from a quick consultation with Rav Google (and just knowing some good resources). There are many, many resources about Purim out there. If you have any to add to this list, please share below. In most of the world, this Persian-Jewish festival starts on the evening of Thursday, February 25 and runs through Friday, February 26. For those of us who prefer to use our own calendar, it all happens on Adar 14. And since Jerusalemites like being more special than the rest of us, they have Purim on the 15th. Because walls. See u/Elementarrrry's comment from last year here for more context on that. Special Edit: This year (5781/2021) is also special for those special Jerusalemites because it's Purim Meshulash, a three-fold Purim. More info here. Story Time: Purim celebrates the story of Queen Esther, mamash a shayna punim from the Achaemenid Persian Empire about three MBP (5th century BCE). She and her cousin/uncle/fathehusband (choose one) Mordechai decide to put her up as a candidate for queen after the king, Ahasuerus (possibly Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I) 'removed' his wife, Vashti, for refusing to do a strip-tease for his cronies during a six-month shindig he threw in the city of Shushan. Esther, being as beautiful and poised as she was, was the clear choice, and she became the next queen. The king doesn't know she's Jewish, which at first isn't an issue but becomes evidently relevant shortly. Note: if anyone has issues with my description of her beauty, you may go kvetch withu/MendyZibulnik. I prefer to think of Esther as a hottie. A little while later Mordechai, being the mensch he is, stops an assassination attempt against the king by two royal guards. He gets promoted to someone that the king officially likes. However, not everyone likes him. Enter: Haman (aka shmuck supreme), the king's royal advisor who also wore stupid hats. Or maybe just had stupid ears. The jury is out on this point (all three of them). As most old men are wont to do, Mordechai likes to chill by the palace gates. Coincidentally, Haman goes through those gates a lot. He also expects everyone to bow to him, since he's all special and stuck-up. But Mordechai isn't just a mensch in public: he's also mamash a yiddisher kop, and won't bow to Haman. Naturally, Haman then wants to kill all the Jews. Because, y'know, why not? So Haman, being the shmendrik he is, drew lots (viz. gambling lots) to decide on the day he's going to kill all of us. Linguistic note: This is where the name for the holiday comes in: in Hebrew, פור / pür, is a gambling lot, related to the term for fate: גורל. Purim means "lots." (There are also some great divrei Torah relating Purim to Yom Kippur, which have more in common than just linguistic roots.) Mordechai discovers this plot and tells Esther about it. There's some back and forth, and eventually they both are publicly mourning: fasting, rending their clothes, etc. Since no one likes to be left out, all the other Jews of Shushan join in, and as any mob of wailing people would, it gets the king's attention. At first he's not so concerned, because, y'know, Jews, but then he finds out that his own wife is Jewish and then 👏 shit 👏 gets 👏 real. Queen Esther convinces her husband the king to do something, so instead of awarding some special honors to Haman as the king was planning, he tells Haman to award those honors to Mordechai. Super embarrassing for Haman. The story ends with Haman and his entire family being hung hanged from the gallows built for . . . us! An additional 75,000 of Haman's henchmen/supporters are also killed in the streets throughout the empire as a pre-emptive defense by the Jews, with the blessing of the king. The end. -- The four main ways people celebrate this day are:
Megillah: listening (not just hearing, but actually listening) to the reading of the Megillat Esther(Book/Scroll of Esther) twice, once in the evening (erev Purim) and once during the day (Purim)
Mishteh: having a big meal (seudah) and eating foods that refer to the story: hamantaschen, ojos de Haman, blintzes, kreplach, seeds and nuts
Mishloach manot: exchanging/giving 'goody bags' that usually include two different foods (I've seen disagreement on whether the two foods need to have different brachot, or just be two different foods)
Matanot l'evyonim: giving tzedakah/charity
Two other common ways to celebrate are:
Carnivals: dressing up in costume and having parties with games, music, etc.
Shpiels: general insanity, fun and games, making up stupid stories and laughing at people who don't understand what the hell is going on
There are many other traditions, and I encourage any of our Persian/Iranian brothers and sisters to contribute their traditions, as I am not comfortable explaining them. All I really know is that in some communities this is seen as a major feminist holiday, and some Iranian Jews visit Esther's grave. I encourage everyone to spend some time online today reading about the holiday. It’s a great historical holiday and with research a great way to break from the doldrums of modern Jewish life.
Feb/4/2021: (1) Armenia will grow weed (2) Colonel charged w/bribery & tampering w/draft during war (3) Education reform: grading, curriculum, preschool (4) Bill: treason, disability ranking, media (5) Diplomacy (6) Rumors & rebuttals (7) Cancer stats & free treatment (8) $750M bond (9) in-out stats
Your 14-minute Thursday report in 3497 words. Part 1.
anti-corruption: Defense Ministry official busted with bribery & tampering with draft during war
NSS report says: a Colonel, who had oversight over subdivisions, received a ֏975K bribe from a conscript to transfer him to another location on Sep-13-2020. Part of the bribe was transferred to his online gambling account. When the war began, a draft was declared and recruits began training at a location in Armenia. The Colonel took a ֏1.2M bribe from a soldier in exchange for not sending him to the front lines. During the winter draft, the Colonel took a ֏5.2M bribe from another conscript and used his connections to send him to the desired service location. A similar ֏1M bribe was requested on January 6th from another recruit. The Colonel took another ֏1.4M bribe to help promote a conscript and allow him to work at a hospital instead of regular service. On October 22nd, during the war, the Colonel decided to help a friend move from bordering Khndzoresk (Syunik) hospital back to Yerevan. As a result, the clinic became understaffed and couldn't fulfill its duties. Moreover, the Colonel then helped the same friend not to be deployed on Syunik borders as a soldier and instead to handle tasks in the rear, on October 26th, in exchange for a ֏300K bribe. On October 13th, during the war, the Colonel and his accomplices wanted to help a soldier to leave Artsakh. When they learned that the latter was already on the "deserted" list, they took steps to remove him from the list. Then, he learned that his friends' sons received a draft notice, and use his connections to remove them from the draft list. After the war, on Dec-13, a friend asked the Colonel to make sure that his son, who was serving in Lusakert, wasn't sent to the front lines. The Colonel contacted the Lusakert facility but learned that the soldier was not among those who were supposed to be sent to the front lines. Nonetheless, the Colonel decided to defraud his friend by claiming that "he took care of it", and received a ֏200K bribe. The colonel and over a dozen others were arrested. Illegal weapons were found under their possession. The investigation continues to expose other possible suspects. https://youtu.be/ifo13WJLpsU https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042334.html
bill: harsher punishment for treason, spying, espionage
BHK MPs drafted a bill to increase punishment for traitors, spies, passing of state secrets. They want to raise the maximum punishment from 15 years to 20-life. The authors explained the move by citing many media reports about alleged "treason" incidents. The bill was discussed at a relevant Parliamentary committee. The chairman QP MP Vladimir said he supports life imprisonment as the minimum punishment. However, during the discussion, they agreed to settle on 15-20 years plus property confiscation, or a life sentence. The committee found the espionage punishment too harsh and asked the bill author to reduce it from 15 to 12 years. The BHK author agreed. The bill was approved unanimously and will be debated/voted on the Parliament floor later. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042354.html
Jalal is back with another position
The wounded ex-Artsakh army commander Jalal Harutyunyan will serve as the Republic of Armenia's Defense Ministry's Head of the Military Control Service. He will replace General Movses Mosi Hakobyan who quit on November 18th. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042353.html
Russian-Turkish ceasefire monitoring group begins operations
ECHR received Armenia's complaint against Azerbaijan regarding 228 POWs / Azeris counter-claim for 13 POWs
Armenian families submitted a petition to ECHR to require Azerbaijan to provide information regarding 228 individuals. Azeris want to know data about 13 people. (From the language it is unclear to me whether the petition is for confirmed POWs, or it also includes families of missing soldiers who want to know whether their relatives are POWs. Likely the former.) https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042406.html
Russia removed tomato import ban on 13 Armenian firms
Russian regulator will allow 13 Armenian sellers to export tomato and pepper to Russia again after earlier finding a food virus in them. A similar ban was implemented against Azeri tomatoes. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042433.html
US Congressman demands an explanation from the US ambassador to Azerbaijan over "congratulatory" statement
Rep. Bred Sherman wants to know why the US ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenberger congratulated Azerbaijan's Economy Minister with "de-occupying territories and US's willingness to aid Azerbaijan with rebuilding those territories". He reminded the US officials that the US is a member of the Minsk Group and should take steps to ensure Artsakh's safety and prevention of a new war. Bred Sherman praised Biden's appointee Anthony Blinken for stating that the US will review its military assistance to Azerbaijan after the latest war in Artsakh. Artsakh MFA yesterday released a statement urging countries, officials, and organizations to refrain from such "congratulatory" statements. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042370.html
de-occupy Hadrut NGO
... aims to help 13,500 Hadrut residents who lost their homes during the war. It was founded during the war by activists who held protests in front of various embassies. In the early days, they received aid from President Sarkissian's office. The latter gave shelter to 25 families. Today the NGO aims to help refugees with employment, while simultaneously lobbying for Minsk Group to de-occupy Hadrut so residents can return. "I hope that one day our NGO will shut down because Hadrut is no longer occupied," said co-founder Meri Davtyan. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042286.html
govt session: financial aid for Syunik border villagers
The government approved a new aid package for residents of Syunik's Shurnukh and Vorotan villagers. Those who lost their homes will qualify for the same aid package as Artsakh refugees: one-time ֏300K payment plus monthly ֏65K payments for 6 months. There is another pending aid package to build new houses for them. Context: Two dozen houses in Vorotan and Shurnukh went under Azeri control because they were built on the Azeri side of the internationally-recognized borders. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042362.html
bill: disability ranking to be replaced with degrees of functionality impairment
The government approved a bill, yet to be approved by Parliament, to reform the disability system. The disability assessment process will analyze the person's level of functional impairment while taking into account surrounding conditions. "Today, the system is run under a 1993 law that does not do a comprehensive assessment of the surrounding environment, person's ability to function in public life," says the govt. The draft bill will repeal the 1-3 Categories and Disabled Child category. A person's functionality impairment degrees will be light, medium, heavy, or deep. Disability will no longer be considered a permanent health problem. The assessment will be based not only on the factor of health problems but also on the environmental factors of the person's activity and participation in public life. Healthcare and Social Ministries, NGOs, the UN, and the EU worked together to create and test an assessment methodology. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042365.html Tags: #DisabilityLaw #disabled
bill: require unknown Telegram/Facebook media channel owners identified before "linking" by mass media
QP MPs want to require social media channel operators identified before a "mainstream media" can link to them. It doesn't restrict citing "anonymous sources", however. It also requires outlets to disclose sources of revenues for transparency. Read yesterday's news for context and arguments in favor or against it.. The debate continued today. QP MP Arthur: For example, a legitimate news organization with an editorial staff of 30 people generates information, holds interviews, etc., while a Telegram channel that we do not know where it is managed from and by whom, begins to disseminate sensationalized information and over time becomes more "legitimate" than real media outlets because media outlets "advertised" them. This is also a national security risk because it is very possible that such sources are being operated by an adversary country to spread instability and an atmosphere of fear in the country. // The co-author criticized the critics who "claimed that the bill intends to ban anonymous sources. That's not true. This also won't affect the protection of journalists' source secrecy." https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042357.html If you're interested in more debates: https://youtu.be/MTHwRa4YjgY , https://youtu.be/ThDNVwZYEp8 , https://youtu.be/S6C_NocS9N0 , https://youtu.be/3_-i2Z23ubI , https://youtu.be/wiPnmfeLNJ8 Tags: #MediaLaw #TelegramLaw #FreeSpeech
rumors and rebuttals: Artsakh army isn't being dissolved
Serj's won-in-law Mishik earlier circulated rumors that were denied by state officials. Today, Kocharyan-ally Vitali Balasanyan, who serves as Artsakh's Security Council chief, confirmed that the army isn't "disintegrating." After the restructuring process, there will be subdivisions with professional contractors, he said. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042344.html
rumors and rebuttals: Azeri flag won't fly over Artsakh govt buildings
rumors and rebuttals: Azeri families won't resettle in Stenapakert / none are shopping in market
Vitalik Balasanyan said there are false rumors about two districts in Stepanakert being populated by Azeris, and Azeris allegedly freely shopping in Stepanakert market. "Dear citizens of Artsakh, on behalf of the authorities of the Artsakh Republic, I assure you that despite the irreparable losses inflicted on us as a result of the war, the state is always committed to fulfilling its responsibilities to ensure the security and normal life of the population. Accordingly, I urge you not to pay attention to the false news. Everything is being done to create and expand the necessary conditions for a dignified life of the people of Artsakh." https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042344.html
rumors and rebuttals: Artsakh envoy won't stop operating in Russia
The Permanent Representation of the Artsakh Republic in Russia will not be terminated, said the Artsakh govt in response to rumors. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042367.html
rumors and rebuttals: no single currency in EAEU trade bloc
There is a district called Hollywood in Yerevan, Armenia. Gamblers were caught running an underground casino in there. This is the second such bust in the past few months. The police say ֏5.5B in damages was done to the state. https://youtu.be/sp0Sb--e_ms?t=60 https://factor.am/335320.html
anti-corruption: prosecutors charge education officials with ֏1.2B auction shenanigans
Prosecutors said: State Oversight Committee (SOC) audited the "National Center for Educational Technology" government-affiliated agency's finances between 2013-2020. Every year, the agency submitted a report on the work done by them towards servicing the education system. The bill was ֏700M annually. It was revealed that between 2012-2015, they granted an auction-based contract to the same company. It received a combined ֏2.8B in funding. The law requires the auction-holding officials to examine the market and take other steps before the auction. They failed to do so. Later, during 2017-2019, the same company was selected to do the job, but this time it was only paid ֏300-400M annually, far lower than during the previous years. ֏1.2B in damages was done to the state. A felony case is launched. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042389.html
re: Armenia's $750M eurobond sale / lowest % in history / $3B demand by investors / economy news
Read yesterday's news for context. Pashinyan: The issuance of $750M eurobonds is a strong positive signal for the start of the economic year. The issuance was done under the most favorable conditions in the history of our republic, with the lowest 3.8% percentage rate. Our previous record was in 2019 at 4.2%. The demand was for $3B but we decided to issue only $0.750B. First, it provides a guarantee of macroeconomic stability. Second, this is the first serious signal of overcoming the post-war economic shock, which shows that international investors have confidence in the economic future of Armenia and the policy pursued by the government. // Economy Minister Janjughazyan: this was part of our long-term plan and we had planned to do it while drafting the 2021 budget. We planned to issue fewer bonds but decided to add $250M because of favorable terms. We plan to use that extra cash towards the stabilization deposit, as a safety pad, to be used throughout the year if necessary. As long as our budget has a deficit we will have to borrow. But this is only part of the story; the country's overall debt burden is calculated based on various indicators. So far Armenia has been rated as a country with a lower debt burden. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042351.html, https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042352.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042363.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042393.html
how many people did leave and arrive after reopening air traffic with Russia?
The governments of Armenia and Russian worked on an "app" to allow mutual travel after taking a test. By February 15th, there will be 4-route flights in 2 directions. There were several flights in the past few days. 3900 left and 3400 arrived. 1423 Armenian citizens left and 1263 Armenian citizens arrived. "More people were willing to leave in December than today," noted Diaspora Committee chief Sinanyan. "Some people flew to Russia but had to return due to a problem. This wasn't due to the COVID app implemented by us. Preliminary data shows that they went to Russia with a paper QP code which raised the suspicion of Russian authorities. We will work with them to resolve this," said Deputy PM Mher. (say what??) "We need to better inform the public about the existence of this app. Restoring routine flights will help the tourism industry," said PM Pashinyan. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042358.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042383.html
Pashinyan about the suspended Amulsar gold mining project
He repeated his earlier position that "Decisions must be made that take into account Armenia's best interests." "The mining industry plays a very important role in the development of Armenia's economy, including in the security context." "We must make decisions to make investment programs acceptable for the Armenian public while taking into account interests of Republic of Armenia." https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042368.html
COVID stats
1829 tested. 147 infected. 352 healed. 11 deaths. 4637 active. "We're negotiating for vaccines via COVAX global initiative. Separately, we're negotiating with Russia for Sputnik-V. Vaccines should be available in March. It will be targeted at specific groups. It won't be mandatory," said Healthcare Minister Avanesyan. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042341.html , https://youtu.be/vXz3pHx1BlM?t=92
the consumer market price increase in the past 12 months
Armenia's consumer market inflation was +4.5% from January to January. Food +6.4%. Alcohol & tobacco +10.8%. Clothing +2.6%. Utilities +0.6%. Appliances +5.8%. Healthcare +5.6%. Transport +5.7%. Telecom +0.5%. Leisure & culture -0.8%. Education +2%. Dining +1.6%. Misc +3.5%. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042323.html
Parliament MP stops a citizen's suicide attempt
Someone tried to jump from Kievyan bridge. QP MP Gor Gevorgyan was nearby and stopped the attempt. The police took the distressed person to a station. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042329.html
psychological support will be provided to war participants and the public
Emergency Ministry says 15-30% of people have PTSD after the war. Today the government approved a plan to provide psychological aid to war participants and others. The target group includes families of missing people, POWs and their families, those who received disabilities, families of those who died, those who fought in the war, IDPs, civilians who were affected in any way. The program will work in Armenia and Artsakh. The government will purchase services from experienced mental health service agencies. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042403.html
Armenia will grow industrial marijuana on mass industrial scale / incentive to boost land utilization
Hemp is a type of weed that contains less of the substance that makes you feel high. The government wants to grow industrial hemp on a mass scale to boost mood land utilization and revenues. Pashinyan: this is going to open room for many speculations. It's important to present the project in detail so the public will have a full understanding of what is being done. Unfortunately, "hemp" is interpreted as something else, while in reality, it is a very important industrial raw material. The growing process has risks but there are oversight mechanisms that have been tested in many countries. Deputy PM Avinyan: the US, Russia, and China have a great experience with industrial hemp production. The practice was examined by the Economy Ministry. We're talking about industrial production only. It will significantly activate agricultural land utilization. Today, 40% of lands are gone unused. This is part of our plan to boost the production of high-value agricultural products. https://youtu.be/ssZgr2DR3DM?t=7 https://www.healthline.com/health/hemp-vs-marijuana#marijuana https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042372.html
Education Minister says the "controversial" parts of Church/History merger were "resolved"
Education Ministry wants to merge the school subjects "Armenian Church History" and "Armenian History". Critics said it will shrink the church-related materials too much, others called it treason, while others supported the decision, stating that it's all part of our history and having a separate class is inefficient. Education Minister Dumanyan says he met colleagues at the National Academy of Sciences and they resolved the conflicts "that caused a noise earlier." He will reveal details soon. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042379.html , https://youtu.be/V0sC3dx-gzU
Major education reforms: "education alone will not solve all problems, but there is no problem that can be solved without an education"
... said PM Pashinyan during a govt session while discussing education reforms. Kids in 1-5 grades will no longer receive grades; tt will be pass or no pass (still needs Parliamentary approval). "There will be a criticism. How can you not grade? But this is a comprehensive program that emphasizes the student's needs and preferences," said Pashinyan. "We need to pay attention to how the time is spent in schools and what skills are being taught in school hours. It will reflect in our society 15-20 years later. It will define whether we have a technological product or not. What we were doing in 12 years (school length) can be done within 9 years, but a 9-year school isn't the solution. Instead of shortening the school, we're trying to fill the gap in a way to have a 50% higher efficiency by the end of the 12th year. In developed countries, education starts not from school but from preschool. The lower the education entry age the more developed the countries are," said Pashinyan. (the govt has a plan to make sure 70% of kids attend preschools by 2023) https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042394.html
cancer stats in Armenia / annual rate / drops among children / fewer abandon treatment
world 9.6 million people die from cancer annually. 1/3rd is possible to prevent. Another part can be cured with the help of early detection. Armenia Cancer was the 2nd leading cause of death in 2020. It has increased in the past 10 years but at a small rate. Lung cancer is more common among men, and breast cancer among women. First time diagnosis by year: 2018 - 8762, 2019 - 7908, 2020 - 7050. Deaths by year: 2018 - 5199, 2019 - 5434. 2020 - unavailable. (55% men, 45% women) The cancer rate went up by 1.5x compared to 1990. However, it declined by 2x among children under 14yo. Fewer people abandon treatment. 3 years ago 53% of lung patients did so, today it's 40%. Breast cancer treatment abandonment went from 47% to 22%. (I translated the word բարձիթողության as "abandonment". Correct me if it refers to something else.) Artsakh The number of cancer cases has decreased in Artsakh: from 345 to 260 YoY. prevention Oncologist Safaryan says the early detection helps to avoid complications and save lives, even if it's the type of cancer that is known to reappear. There are many patients who defeat cancer. "Smokers should get a lung x-ray twice a year. Those working in chemical plants should get a frequent screening. Do not ignore symptoms and չգցել ականջի հետև. You can defeat it more easily when it's at 1-2 stages. It's a lot harder when it advances to 4." Preventing cancer isn't easy. The causes of this disease are many. Genetics, bad habits, obesity, surrounding environment. A genetic test can reveal the likelihood of suffering from illness. Some women choose to undergo a mastectomy to prevent possible breast cancer in the future. "I decided that if 1-in-100 is destined to be cured, I will be that one," said Ashkhen, a woman who recently defeated cancer. More: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042291.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042364.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042405.html
cancer diagnosis, surgery, and radiotherapy are free
The treatment was made free recently. The Oncology Center urges the public to get screened as part of an early-detection initiative. The pilot program began in Vanadzor; 307 women were screened. Cancer diagnosis, surgery, and radiotherapy are free, while the medication has a co-payment. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042423.html
Artsakh president Arayik met donor Alec Baghdasaryan and thanked him. "Only with the joint efforts of the Armenian people is it possible to quickly overcome the difficulties and to plan development programs." Alec plans more charity programs relating to education. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042326.html
My gift to you - a better list of things you can do to stop losing all of your fucking money.
I realize none of you actually care about making money, but on the off chance I can help one person then this post will be worth it. (1) u/BeardlessPete is a fucking moron. He’s hawking TradingView. His post is an advertisement masquerading as enlightenment on reading charts. He doesn’t know shit about making money. Learn the story on a stock — the company — and not some tick mark bullshit on a squiggly fucking line. His post: https://www.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/kj7p0e/my_gift_to_you_a_list_of_things_you_can_do_to/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf (2) The best stock pickers are only correct about 40% to 50% of the time. That’s right, not as often as you think! What does it mean to be “right” or “wrong”? Here’s the answer: Just because you made or lost money doesn’t mean you are right or wrong. You always have a choice, invest in Stock A, invest in a broad market index, or do nothing. You might be up 10% YTD and feel great, but the S&P 500 is up 14% YTD. You could have made more money with substantially less risk compounding with an index. (3) Are you better than the index? Find out! Practice on tools like caps.fool.com. Make a pick and see how it performs against the market. If you don’t know if you are right or wrong you won’t learn how to make money. (4) You aren’t going to make “boy band” money if you lose a lot of money. When you gamble on a speculative stock and lose 80%, you need a 400% return to get back to even. If you can steadily make 7%, do it 10 times in a row and you’ve made 100%. Or at 10%, it’s 7 times. There will of course be volatility and varying time horizons. But, aim to (mostly) round the bases with singles, not (always) trying to swing for the fences with a cucumber as a bat. Fake internet points from loss porn are not badges of honor. You think the game different this time? It’s not. Degenerates have gambled since the beginning of markets. An irrationally exuberant market on a stock will end. Do yourself a favor and learn to be better. Having some speculative picks is fine — just understand and accept the inherent risks and volatility. (5) Have a bazooka gun of cash ready when quality goes on sale. You will have a chance to buy most companies at a fair price. There will be pull backs and market dislocations. Be ready. Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Facebook, Intuitive Surgical, and many of the best performing stocks of all time have gone on sale — many times. Be ready when the market corrects and buy quality. Be patient! Don’t have always FOMO. (6) Market corrections with declines of between 10% and 20% happen about 2.5 times each year on average (source: Guggenheim). The average bear market lasts 18 months. Know this and use it to your advantage. Don’t panic sell quality names. Stay calm. If you don’t need the money to survive today, leave it alone. If you do, what the fuck were you doing investing in stocks? Think about this. How will you act WHEN markets correct next? (7) Most of your investment returns are going to come from just a few of your stock picks. Let the winners run! At some point you’ll consider rebalancing — that’s smart and okay. But having an oversized winner at 15% of your stock portfolio can be okay (if it’s a quality stock, not speculative). Let compound returns take over. Nothing is better than crushing the market with 1% gain from a compounding stock. Better yet, when that 1% gain is MORE than your cost basis. (8) Trading isn’t therapy for boredom. Go play with yourself and then go for a walk. Trading isn’t going to make your day better. Have the discipline to trade less, not more. (9) Read more. Do you even know what you are investing in? Know everything about your stocks. For 30+ years now all information ever published is at your fingertips. Yet, most of you won’t bother doing your own research. Readings someone else’s pitch (or article) can help you get started. But go read the 10-K. Read industry data. Twitter and message boards are full of morons with pump and dump agendas. Do basic research yourself. Do people like working there? How can that company make more money? Betting on companies is a very different mindset than just betting on tickers. Bet on companies. (10) What can you learn about a company that (practically) no one else knows. Make a thesis. Will Facebook be successful on mobile? Can Microsoft move its massive enterprise software business to the cloud? Can RiteAid compete with online pharmacies? Can Google close it’s acquisition of FitBit? (11) Investor Relations doesn’t care about your cost basis or the number of shares that you own. They don’t. Management says they respect investors — but they mostly don’t give a shit. Jeff Bezos carves out 6 hours a year to talk to investors — just to be polite. Management teams are trying to run a complex enterprise, with major human capital issues. Most management teams are incentivized to build value over eternity. They don’t give a shit about your time horizon. Most care about themselves first, employees second, customers third, suppliers fourth, partners fifth, the community sixth, and investors last. There’s very little that a company can do to affect share price in the short term. (12) Add to your winners. Don’t double down on losers, double up on winners. (13) Find stocks that aren’t always in the headlines. Headlines lead to redlines. If the story is in the news, you are probably too late (for now). Buying a stock isn’t like lining up to buy one of a limited number of holiday cakes. There’s always more stock. Wait until the news cycle forgets about the stock and then consider buying. Do research first. (14) If you can’t sleep at night because you own a stock, you should NOT own that stock. Stocks don’t cuddle. They are like a brutally honest toddler with mood swings and basic needs. Overtime they might grow into a good adult but keep your expectations inline. It’s a long road to adulthood. (15) Lastly, what do you want the future to look like. Get off the of the news cycle and quarterly earnings game. Go find stocks that are FOCUSED on being massively better and more important in 5+ years. Price targets for these types of companies are bullshit. They always have been and they always will be. You’ll be amazed by what focused teams — motivated by making a better world — can achieve. The stock price simply weighs this impact — it doesn’t mean you a genius. You didn’t do the science. Be humble and donate some to charity and help the impoverished, because you were just a spectator holding shares. TLDR: u/BeardlessPete is a moron. Don’t lose money by being an idiot. Know if you are smart or lucky. Be patient. Be humble. Be kind.
This week I bought into in both Gamestop and AMC movie theaters. It was a gamble on a longshot and I looked at it as a gamble and not an investment. I didn't put in a lot, no more than I could afford to lose. As of now I've lost, maybe it's over, maybe it's not. What I have left is sitting there waiting to see. I'm not worried, it's been fun, it's been exciting, hell probably the most excitement I've had since this whole lockdown crap. I've learned a lot, not so much about stocks but about people. I've learned that theres people on both sides of things that just want to rag on someone who's worse off than they are. I guess it makes them feel superior. I don't let them get to me. In fact I feel bad for them. It must suck to be that unhappy. I learned that a common enemy really does bring people together. In hopes of fighting the dishonesty wall street. I saw people or all races, ethnicities, orientations, and political & social views come together. It was an American thing in the start but when it seemed the shorters were winning I saw people from Austria, Germany, Canada, Korea Japan, New Zeland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and more not only give words of support but their money to keep things going. I saw good things happen, I saw a 15 year old kid take his 3k and make 250k and pull his profit to pay for college. I saw a 10 year old kid get rich from a gift his mom gave him years ago. I saw a man find out his dog needed life saving surgery and because of his profit he could do it. I saw a guy donate nintindo switches (a lot of them) to St Judes. I saw someone buy tendie lunches for all the workers at Gillette childrens healthcare. I saw a CEO donate it all to a charity for small businesses. I saw so many reports of good things! People helping people with their winnings. Was it worth it even if I never recoup my money? Hell yes! It's great to see so many people come together despite their differences. To see so many good things come out of it. Were there greedy people involved, sure. Were there some who stepped on others, sure. Happens everywhere, but it's not always balanced with the good. It's nice to be reminded of the good. Oh and I'm holding! Diamond Hands till death!! TL;DR - Win or lose it's been a good experience
MEGATHREAD & NEWS WRAP-UP --- Nov/18/2020: \\ War in Artsakh (Karabakh) \\ Artsakh's international recognition \\ roadmap for future \\ opposition & pro-govt demonstrations \\ suspects charged over hooliganism \\ Kievyan bridge incident \\ videos \\ humanitarian aid \\ COVID & healthcare \\ more...
Your 12-minute Wednesday report in 2971 words.
November 18 timeline
Nevada's Clarke County (Las Vegas) has officially recognized the Artsakh Republic. https://twitter.com/ANCA_Wstatus/1328753472565493761 9:37: 1700 Artsakh refugees have returned home so far. The population was around 145,000 before the war. Some 10-20% never left. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035190.html 10:09 PM Pashinyan presented the roadmap: It is time to talk about methods to overcome the current situation. I have already stated that I consider myself the number-one responsible for the situation. I am also responsible for overcoming the situation and establishing stability and security in the country. 1) Negotiations must resume in OSCE format, with the emphasis on Artsakh status and the return of Artsakh residents to their homeland. 2) Secure Artsakh residents' rights to return home. Fully restore daily life. Repair infrastructure. 3) Social aid for families of fallen soldiers. 4) Repairing infrastructure damaged in the Republic of Armenia. 5) Aid for wounded soldiers, obtaining prosthetics, educational training courses for changing professions if necessary. 6) Returning POWs and aid for their families. Clarification of the status of those who are missing, and aid for their families. 7) Rehabilitation system for those who participated in the war, and for the general public, too. 8) The beginning of reforms in the army. 9) Defeating COVID and overcoming its consequences. 10) Restoration of the environment for economic activity. 11) Activation of demographic programs. 12) Reforming electoral laws [opposition and the govt had agreed to lower the passing threshold to allow more opposition parties to enter Parliament, etc.] 13) Introduction of the Institute of Specialized Judges as the first step in establishing an anti-corruption courts. Launching the process to confiscate illegally embezzled property. 14) Conducting regular consultations with representatives of the Armenian political and civil community. 15) Consultations with diasporan institutes and individuals. The goal is to ensure the democratic stability of Armenia and to create guarantees that nothing threatens the formation of power in Armenia through the free will of the people. For this, I'll make changes to the government team. We will need 6 months to launch the aforementioned tasks. In June 2021, I will report to you the progress, and based on the public response, we will decide on what to do next. Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035193.html 11:11: US Senator Bob Menendez called on the US government to impose sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan for the military aggression, and to end weapon supplies to them. He called for a $100 million aid to Artsakh refugees. https://youtu.be/JCh49hna7hA https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035203.html 11:42 COVID stats: +4,109 tested. +1,589 infected (down). +1,726 healed. +28 deaths. 38,082 active (down). HealthMin Torosyan: the percentage of positive tests and the absolute numbers are declining, but the healthcare system is still under stress. We still have 375 patients waiting for beds, 25 of whom are in serious condition. We will likely hospitalize them sometime today. A few days ago the waiting list was 800. The trend can change again with the resumption of schools. Our main issue right now is oxygen supplies. Without it, the medication is ineffective. We'll soon receive more oxygen stations, followed by four large stations in December. We had purchased many oxygen stations during the first wave but today's large numbers, partly a result of the war, were outside of our predications. We're negotiating over vaccines. There are agreements. They will likely arrive in mid-Spring. We have no shortage of COVID test kits. New test labs are opening; two in the past week alone. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035206.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035232.html 11:43: earlier this year, a part of a residential apartment complex collapsed in Yerevan. The govt has issued free housing certificates to the affected residents. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035207.html 12:05: several soldiers returned from Artsakh and decided to organize a demonstration in support of PM Pashinyan. PM's office and QP party urged them to stay home and not to gather, citing the Martial Law that currently prohibits large gatherings and demonstrations. A dozen prominent opposition figures were charged with ignoring the Martial Law and organizing demonstrations earlier. If found guilty, they are facing anywhere between a $415 fine to 2 months of jail. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035208.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035240.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035245.html , https://www.arlis.am/documentView.aspx?docid=69646 , https://news.am/arm/news/614215.html 12:27: Aznavour Foundation and the Armenian Foundation of France have launched a committee to coordinate the aid process from France. Earlier they met President Macron about humanitarian aid and Artsakh's recognition. Links in the article: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035213.html 12:38: Parliament Speaker QP MP Ararat Mirzoyan was severely beaten by rioters on November 10th. Healthcare Minister says he will soon recover after one more surgery [which was done today]. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035215.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035236.html 12:45: German-Armenian pianist Margarit Hovhannisyan gave a solo performance to collect aid for Armenia Fund (www.HimnaDram.org). She donated $5,000 in proceeds. The German colleagues expressed support for Artsakh and Armenians. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035216.html 12:49: diasporan-Armenian singer Iveta Mukuchyan went to Artsakh's Dadivank church and performed "Sirt im sasani" (Սիրտ իմ սասանի) religious music. Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=845836856202879 Mukushyan released a German-language video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=782524012332940 13:50: The US will donate $5 million to Red Cross and other orgs to help those who suffered from the war. https://factor.am/311291.html 14:02: the identification of soldiers who died in battles continues. 81 more names were published, bringing the total identified to 1586. Around 800 remain unidentified. Several hundred bodies were exchanged recently. The process continues. MoD Tonoyan: The list of missing soldiers is shrinking; many soldiers end up being discovered alive and well. We drafted a bill to aid the families of soldiers who're missing. Update: HealthMin Torosyan: we've examined 2425 bodies. 250 of them remain unidentified. https://youtu.be/zrXQBUJLdK0 https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035225.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035249.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035288.html 14:05 Armenia Fund (Himnadram) report: hundreds of thousands have donated. The aid was provided to Artsakh and Armenia from the first day of the war. Diesel generators, emergency vehicles, medical products, basic consumer products, heating devices, portable gas stoves, mobile fuel stations, beds, etc. were purchased during the war. Simultaneously, 100 tons of aid was coordinated. Himnadram will help Armenia's budget to pay for social welfare, healthcare, infrastructure repair, etc. The documents are ready. Tens of thousands of Artsakh refugees were aided. International independent auditors will examine the finances.
During a Parliamentary session, the Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan confirmed that Himnadram has transferred some of the funds for humanitarian work. In response, former regime's HHK MP Armen Ashotyan, without evidence, claimed the money is being stolen. [Context: The former regime is mad because they were caught stealing Himnadram's donations in 2018. After the 2018 revolution, the Pashinyan administration busted HHK's Himnadram director with stealing the funds and using them on gambling. The director confessed and returned part of the stolen money. Himnadram then underwent a complete change in administration which raised the trust towards the fund. Now the former regime is sabotaging the diaspora's donation efforts for political gain.] More: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035224.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614194.html 14:14: there are over 40 suspects charged with mass riots, attempts to forcefully seize power, and overthrowing the constitutional order, after the November 10 attack on the government buildings. 5 are arrested, 5 are told not to leave the country. 70 suspects, some of whom severely beat Parliament Speaker Mirzoyan and vandalized PM's residence, were also identified. They are on the wanted list. Rioters who physically abused Pashinyan's spokeswoman Mane Gevorgyan, and broke into Azatutyun media outlet's office, are also wanted by police. Some were arrested. https://youtu.be/1qA8iJ1JXmM?t=197 https://youtu.be/kSQ389vQA8U?t=3 https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035226.html 14:18: Opposition LHK has its roadmap: no elections necessary, PM resigns, the ruling QP party appoints new PM, the new PM appoints ministers from various political parties. [similar to what Pashinyan did in 2018 when he appointed opposition Ministers for a brief period]. https://factor.am/311328.html 14:19: Azerbaijan earlier shot a Russian helicopter in Armenia. Two Russian pilots died and one was wounded. Armenia issued them military service medals. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035227.html 14:49: video showing more Russian peacekeepers moving to Artsakh: https://youtu.be/o7nwWmN59d8 15:18: Italian community of Viareggio has officially recognized the Artsakh Republic. https://factor.am/311370.html 15:55: Aurora humanitarian organization will help Artsakh residents. IDeA's first aid program will begin today. They're open to humanitarian program suggestions. Link in the article: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035237.html 16:27: Aghdam is one of the adjacent regions that's being given/returned to Azerbaijan. Seven villages with a combined 2,000 population will be resettled elsewhere. https://news.am/arm/news/614171.html 16:42: food prices in October YoY rose +0.6%. Consumer price index +1.3%. https://factor.am/311385.html 16:44: the head of Military Control Service Movses Hakobyan had resigned on November 10th. It was announced today. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035242.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614169.html 17:04: will Germany follow France and ban the Turkish extremist-terrorist "Grey Wolves" organization? German Parliament will hold a discussion tomorrow. Two bills were proposed. One of them appears to be bipartisan. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035248.html 17:05 Healthcare Minister Torosyan: we need to build a new 250-bed center for wounded soldiers and their rehabilitation. We need to maximally use the existing resources; some of them require upgrades. This will cost approximately $5.2 million. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035247.html 17:09: Legatium Prosperity Index 2020 has ranked Armenia 55th in the world. That's a 23-step improvement over 2010. The strongest point was the business & investment atmosphere, with the environment being the weakest point. Georgia 53, Armenia 55, Azerbaijan 78, Iran 120. https://news.am/arm/news/614184.html 17:58: My Step charity foundation will double the number of wounded soldiers they help. The center will provide therapy, dental, and other services for 600 former soldiers. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035262.html 14:57: it's SNOWING in Gavar and Jermuk cities, and roads near Sevan and Aparan! Georgian roads are also snowy; the Lars transport hub with Russia is open only for large cargo trucks. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035233.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035253.html 17:38: Pashinyan was in Parliament to discuss various topics and answer questions. The opposition BHK and LHK parties boycotted and left. Ind. MP: do you support forming a government of national accord, which could be one of the ways to find a solution out of the current situation? Pashinyan: our task is to create an atmosphere of agreement in the country. No government can stay in power without the permission of the people. At atmosphere of agreement is not always achieved by forming [aforementioned type of govt consisted of various parties]. There is a need for agreement around two points: security and stability, and to guarantee democracy. Ind. MP: will there be changes in the government? Pashinyan: we are discussing it. Structural changes aren't being discussed right now. Full: https://youtu.be/64iJuNWbk_Q https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035259.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614076.html 17:58: another video from November 4th showing battles on the outskirts of Shushi. [still believe it was "given away" without a fight? 🤔] Hovhannes Avagyan, one of the deputy Artsakh army commanders, was killed during Shushi battles on November 7th. He received the Combat Cross medal posthumously. https://youtu.be/yrzBbKvXFO4 https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/287858/ 18:18: the 16 opposition parties resumed their demonstrations. They demand the government's and Pashinyan's resignation. The police urged them to respect the Martial Law and not to gather. They will also hold a demonstration on Saturday and present a document, presumably their own roadmap. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035264.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035280.html 18:21 Police: body of the 27-year-old Garnik Petrosyan was found under Kievyan Bridge on November 13th. A medical examination was carried out and an investigation was launched. The examination revealed that Petrosyan was among the rioters who broke into the govt building and caused destruction on November 10th. A felony case was launched against him and he was arrested shortly afterward. On November 13th he was charged with multiple felony counts. The same day, at 8 pm, his 3-day detention period had expired so he was released from the police station. The same day, prosecutors asked the court to arrest him for 2 months before his trial. Petrosyan was questioned until 9 pm. The tragic incident happened at 10:04 pm. Social media spread rumors that he was allegedly murdered and it wasn't a suicide by jumping from the bridge. Investigation revealed a witness who was walking nearby and saw how a man grabbed a flag pole and climbed at the center of the bridge at around 10 pm. By the time the witness picked up the phone to call 911 it was too late. Immediately afterward, two other people and the witness looked down the bridge and saw the body laying on the road below the bridge. The police arrived. The witnesses were questioned. The victim was there alone. CCTV footages were examined. It showed how the victim went there by himself, climbed on the edge, and jumped. It was revealed that the victim had attempted suicide in 2010 by overdosing on medications. He was registered at a special center up until 2019, where he was taking special medication. He stopped taking them in January 2019 at his own will. [Media outlets run by the former regime, and a Telegram channel called Mediaport, had earlier circulated rumors, without evidence, that the rioter was murdered by a ruling party member Hayk Sargsyan. The latter often finds himself the target of rumors]: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035265.html 18:22: Ara Ayvazyan is the new Foreign Minister. He is a graduate of YSU eastern studies Arabic faculty. Served in the Soviet army. Graduated from Beirut's Haykazyan college. Worked in MFA since 1995. Served as ambassador to several states in 1996-2018. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035266.html 18:56: despite being told to stay home, Pashinyan supporters gathered in front of the govt building, urging him not to resign. "I came from Martakert outposts. I have participated in war since 1992, and so did my family members. They [former regime] should have purchased weapons instead of private islands and mansions," said one demonstrator. "By hitting the Parliament Speaker Mirzoyan you're hitting me." PM's aide met the demonstrators and said his resignation isn't being discussed. Pashinyan went outside to meet them and asked them to go home, "I know that there are tens of thousands of you who are ready to gather in Public Square if necessary. Thank you. I bow to all the volunteers, fallen soldiers, and their families. Go home now. If necessary, I will invite you." The police began telling the gathered crowd to leave, citing the Martial Law. Pashinyan goes outside: https://youtu.be/ueXhEKJhcwA Soldiers: https://youtu.be/vgoGD89vNeA Soldiers: https://youtu.be/KhXFjOiERY4 Soldiers: https://youtu.be/G00E049LsdY https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035268.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035271.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035279.html 18:56: Russian humanitarian envoy will help Artsakh authorities to travel around and document the damage to civilian infrastructure. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035269.html 19:01: the army published names of soldiers who committed acts of bravery during the war. Lt. Colonel Ryurik Semyonov blew up 2 Kamaz trucks full of ammo, 2 anti-tank equipment, 3 tanks, 8 cars, 1 TR artillery unit. Lt. Colonel Arthur Qaramyan destroyed 3 and captured another 3 tanks. He helped to save 600 soldiers from encirclement. Private Suren Gabrielyan shot 6 armored vehicles and 2 tanks. Lieutenant Tigran Petrosyan shot 6 tanks. More: https://factor.am/311564.html 19:04: a soldier uploaded a video from trenches saying the army wasn't properly prepared and that the trenches have been in poor shape for 30 years. "Not deep enough to defend against explosions." He says this Martakert position was defended during the war despite the poor condtions. https://youtu.be/aWPzBZwk2j4 20:54: the opposition ended today's demonstration and promised to return at 2 pm on Saturday. They called for PM's resignation again. HHK Shawarmazanov said, "we won't engage in active politics if he resigns". Opposition Arthur Vanetsyan announced plans to participate in elections if they take place now. https://youtu.be/ZAuGcDRJ3uk https://news.am/arm/news/614243.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614239.html , https://factor.am/311610.html 21:05: the City Council of Paris has a resolution that urges the Paris mayor to ask the French MFA to officially recognize the independence of the Artsakh Republic. It takes into account a recent push by 15 French mayors to recognize Artsakh, Azeri-Turkish aggression and the use of hired jihadists, war crimes against Armenian civilians, destruction of 80% of infrastructure objects in Stepanakert (including schools and clinics). Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035284.html 21:11: Azerbaijan's opposition National Front criticized the govt for placing Russian peacekeepers on the borders with Artsakh. They held a demonstration and chanted "Putin, leave. Turkey, come." https://factor.am/311609.html 21:57 photos: these boys defended the borders: https://hetq.am/hy/article/124436 Here are the tankists: https://hetq.am/hy/article/124452 22:02: the government of Armenia and Artsakh formed a joint committee to coordinate humanitarian work. 1) Social issues 2) Education 3) Healthcare 4) Business environment 5) Infrastructure repair. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035291.html 22:50: Nations League Soccer Spoiler Alert! The Armenian team defeated Northern Macedonia 1-0, after winning the match against Georgia a few days ago. For the first time ever, the team, led by Spanish expert Joaquin Caparros, is the leader in its group. What does this victory mean? This tournament has four tiered Leagues: A, B, C, D. League A contains the "best" countries who compete for the champion's cup. The teams in lower leagues compete to climb up to higher leagues, with the ultimate goal of making into League A and winning the cup. Armenia has just advanced from League C to League B. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035292.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_UEFA_Nations_League 23:40: A1+ outlet wants to restore its TV broadcasting rights. They were suspended by the Kocharyan regime. They insisted it was politically motivated for their opposition views. The media outlet was targeted for covering the March 1st, 2008 events. Several outlets are currently competing for public airway licenses. The winners will be known in January. The TV regulator said those with the best programming will receive the license. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201204 23:47: The French Senate will discuss the need to recognize the Artsakh Republic. Presidents of the five largest parties supported the idea to hold a discussion. http://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/11/18/Ֆրանսիայի-Սենատը-որոշում-է-կայացրել-քվերակության-ներկայացնել-«ԼՂՀ-ճանաչման-անհրաժեշտության-մասին»-բանաձևի-նախագիծը/408863
Operating and leading the national provider National Gambling Helpline, this recognized independent charity has existed since 1997. Finance and debt management are among the services provided by this organization to help gamblers who have gambling-related problems. With this service, the gamblers are sensitized to seek out support on GamCare. Charity gambling events can really help make a difference. If you are interested in learning more about popular charitable gambling events in your area, make sure to ask at your local casinos. To support this work on your own, consider contacting valuable non-profit organizations and helping them to schedule a casino night to help them raise the funds they need to survive. BeGambleAware is one of the most recognisable gambling charities around. The charity runs the various different services gamers can use if they’re affected by gambling-related harm. The charity also funds the research, education and treatment of gambling addiction in the UK and it is funded by UK gambling operators. It offers plenty of information on gambling addiction and runs the 24/7 National Gambling Helpline, which you contact via GamCare above. GamSTOP You can call the national gambling helpline free of charge on 0808 8020 133 (24 hours a day). This list of problem gambling organisations can also help you find a service that is right for you.... I got so good at lying about gambling, now I help others open up through the Peer Aid programme. You can talk to someone who understands. Call the National Gambling Helpline now for free support, self-exclusion and gambling blocking software. Problem gambling is gambling that ‘disrupts or damages personal, family or recreational pursuits.’ Approximately 9 people in every 1000 currently have a problem with gambling; however, a further 70 people per 1000 gamble at risky levels that could become a problem in the future (Royal College of Psychiatrists). Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others do the same. This site offers various aids for the compulsive gambler including a forum, a chat room, literature and most importantly a meeting finder. Gambling with Lives was set up by the families and friends of young people who had taken their own lives as a direct result of gambling. These were all very normal, bright, popular and happy young folk who had great futures ahead of them … gambling was their only problem. To help make people aware of the potential impact of gambling on health and wellbeing at this time, we have published a short document with information and resources which can help ensure people are kept safe from gambling harms. Britain’s leading gambling charity, which is funded by the industry, has censored addicts on its forums who lobby against the predatory behaviour of betting firms.The online forums of Gamcare, which
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