NFL makes it difficult to watch football games. In its effort
to maximize profits, it has split who can broadcast what games
and when. Of course, most sports leagues still sell their
biggest rights packages to live TV networks, because that is
still where the largest live audiences are.
There are five channels
you need to access to if you want to watch the NFL. You need
broadcast channels like ESPN and NFL Network either on cable or
various streaming services. For local channels, you need CBS,
NBC, and FOX. These channels can be accessed through a streaming
service depending on your location, or using an antenna.
- Most local NFL games
will be broadcast over the air on network channels like CBS,
FOX, and NBC.
- Sunday football
games air on CBS and FOX during the afternoon and on NBC for
Sunday Night Football.
- Monday Night
Football airs exclusively on ESPN.
- Thursday Night
Football airs on different channels, depending on the week.
The NFL Network will host 5 exclusive games that will only be
found on it. The other 11 games will be simulcast on NFL
Network, FOX, and Amazon Prime.
Bonus - It is long overdue, but the
first time the NFL will be available in 4K on any service,
including satellite and cable is from FuboTV, the only live
streaming service that offers live sports in 4K. This LINK
has the dates and various sports that will be broadcast in 4K on
FUBO.
Why not try a seven day free subscription to see the difference of
4K for live sports.
The Human Freedom Index is the most comprehensive freedom
index created for countries. It covers 162 countries for 2016,
the most recent year for which sufficient data is available. The
index ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year for
which a robust enough index could be produced.
A variety of indicators are used by various study groups to
determine the level of personal freedom enjoyed by citizens
across the world, including economic freedom (the ability to
earn a living wage, and retain it for personal use), political
freedom, access to education, religious freedom, and many
others. The evaluation is then compared between nations.
America’s neighbor to the north, Canada, invariably finishes
with a higher ranking of personal freedom than the United
States, which routinely ranks in the second ten.
On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the
average human freedom rating for 162 countries in 2016 was 6.89.
Since 2008, the level of global freedom has decreased slightly
(−0.06), with 56 countries in the index increasing their ratings
and 81 decreasing. Out of 10 regions, the highest levels of
freedom are in North America (Canada and the United States),
Western Europe, and Oceania. The lowest levels are in the Middle
East, Africa, and South Asia.
The top 10 places, in order, were New Zealand, Switzerland, Hong
Kong, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark (tied in
6th place), Ireland and the United Kingdom (tied in 8th place),
and Finland, Norway, and Taiwan (tied in 10th place).
Selected other countries rank: Germany (13), the United States
and Sweden tie (17), Mexico (75), Russia (119), China (135).
Everything happens for
a reason.
Today is the reason
I am celebrating a Happy Friday!
Many self proclaimed and real experts have once told us and sold
us that these items are either good or bad for us. In fact each
of the following have gone from good to bad or from bad to good
and a few changed back again.
They include:
artificial colors green 1, orange 1, red 1,2,4,32, butter,
chocolate, cigarettes, coffee, cyclamates, eggs, nuts, red meat,
red wine, salt, saturated fats, sugar, potatoes, carbohydrates,
whole milk, coconut oil, baby aspirin, paper bags, plastic bags,
quaaludes, thalidomide, and toilet paper.
If something becomes a
super fad, just wait for a while and the "experts" will change
their mind. Think gluten hype and the less than one percent
of people who are celiac sufferers.
Here are some great NASA spinoffs that many are
not aware of.
Water purification — In
the closed environment of space, keeping water clean is vital.
If and when we colonize the Moon, or Mars, water purification
will be all the more critical.
Air purification — \Clean air is just as important as clean
water, and so air scrubbing was a priority for NASA. Boosted by
NASA technology, air scrubbing is a big business, both for the
home and for the planet. It is possible that NASA’s efforts to
enlist bacteria in an air-purification push will prove to be the
biggest breakthrough of all.
Carbon capture —
As NASA notes, “Metabolic wastes—mainly evaporative water loss,
urine, utility water, expired carbon dioxide, and feces amount
to 10 to 14 pounds per man per day.” In space, such accumulation
is an enormous burden. NASA knew that carbon is also an energy
source, and so with good science, carbon waste can become carbon
fuel. Thus carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere could
become, potentially, the basis of a new energy source, clearing
the air while powering human civilization. In other words, this
new system could become a closed loop of abundant, and clean,
energy.
Temper Foam —
NASA started out trying to keep astronauts from being crushed or
killed by G-forces and impacts. “The material now known as
Temper Foam, not only provides better impact protection, but
also enhances passenger comfort on long flights because it
distributes body weight and pressure evenly over the entire
contact area.”
Shock absorbers for
buildings — NASA’s efforts to cushion astronauts and their
rockets have turned into a new technology that cushions people
and their buildings: “With NASA funding, North Tonawanda, New
York-based Taylor Devices Inc. developed fluidic shock absorbers
to safely remove the fuel and electrical connectors from the
space shuttles during launch. The company is now employing the
technology as seismic dampers to protect structures from
earthquakes. To date, 550 buildings and bridges have the
dampers, and not a single one has suffered damage in the wake of
an earthquake.”
Freeze-drying food
— One of the early challenges NASA faced was bringing food into
space. Such nutrients had to be kept minimal, had to be kept
clean, and had to be easy to clean up. At the same time, they
had to be satisfying and tasty and now it is a new terrestrial
industry.
3-D food printing —
Even now, the 3-D printing of anything is difficult to
understand. Fortunately, we do not have to understand how it is
done; we can just get the benefits.
Advanced ceramics —
As NASA wrote in 2006, “To meet the requirements of the next
generation of both rocket and air-breathing engines, NASA is
actively pursuing the development and maturation of a variety of
ceramic materials.” In the years since, advanced ceramics have
been used to develop and safeguard all manner of structures in
challenging environments, from wings to engines to antennas.
Powdered lubricants
— In space, where every ounce counts, it’s vital to make
everything as light and efficient as possible. Thanks to
technology transfers, everyone has access to lubricants that
weigh little and last long.
Scratch-resistant
lenses — Plastic lenses are far superior to glass lenses because
they do not shatter. However, early plastics scratched easily.
So NASA figured out how to use an electric discharge of organic
vapor to make a thin plastic film that was both tough and
translucent. That helped considerably with space-helmet visors
and now many eyeglasses are no longer glass.
Other items from the
space program. These include cordless power tools,
flame-resistant firefighter gear, the integrated circuit that
gave rise to the microchip, and thin, lightweight insulation.
Improvements to kidney dialysis, a lightning detector, automated
credit card transactions, radar, jet aviation, and synthetic
rubber.
Contrary to popular
belief, NASA had nothing to do with the development of Tang,
Velcro, or Teflon, although it did use and popularize these
products.
Incidentally, the
first meal on the Moon included bacon squares, cubes
of sugar cookie, a fruit drink, and coffee. Fly me to
the moon
Pandas can sleep anywhere, so they usually
fall asleep wherever they happen to be.
Squirrels use their
tails as umbrellas and parachutes.
A dog’s nose print is as detailed as a human fingerprint and can
be used to identify them.
Giraffes only sleep for about 4 and a half hours a night, on
average.
Tigers have striped skin underneath their striped fur.
Baby elephants suck on their own trunks, like pacifiers.
No one ever died from
an overdose of happy.
I like to soak it
up, devour it, and bathe in it, especially on a Happy Friday!
It is celebrated annually Aug 8
on the founding date of the Society of Happy People, which you
can join for free. The society encourages members to recognize
their happy moments and think about happiness in their daily
life. They have two mottos which include “Happiness Happens” and
“Don’t Even Think of Raining on My Parade.” Their purpose is to
stimulate people’s right to express their happiness.
The holiday is based on
the premise that happiness is unlimited and contagious and that
sharing one's happiness and can bring a lot of joy in other
people's lives. Happiness is encouraged all day. Recognize every
moment of glee, joy, delight, and pleasure. A flicker of a
giggle should be given its due and should it blossom into full
blown happiness.
Incidentally, August 9 is Book Lovers
Day, an unofficial holiday that encourages people to pick up a
book (or two) and spend the day reading, especially all 54 of
my books.
Many are not aware of how much free TV is available using a TV
antenna. There is a handy site that lets you know how many TV
channels you can expect to see using an antenna. There is some
overlap of stations and some not in English or for shopping
only, but there is variety. A number of local stations have
begun adding sub-channels, such as Laff, PBS, CW Network,
Escape, GRIT, Cozi, Retro TV, Movies!, Go, ME TV, This TV,
Justice Network, Weather, Bounce, and more. In fact, there are
over 130 new, free, over-the-air stations coming during the next
year.
Obviously all antennas
are not equal and outdoor are better than indoor for receiving
more stations. LINK
By typing in my zip
code, I find that there are 112 free over the air TV stations,
not including sub-channels available, providing I use the
correct antenna. They are sorted by antenna color code, with the
easiest and cheapest type first.
Yellow - A Small
Multi-Directional Antenna is recommended in Yellow color code
areas. Signal strength is highest, so small antennas that
receive signals equally well in all directions work very well.
Indoor antennas work very well in Yellow color code areas, which
are usually 10 to 15 miles from the TV station transmitter. Many
indoor antennas have a range from 30 to 50 miles.
Green - A Medium
Multi-Directional Antenna is recommended in Green color code
areas. Signal strength is still good, but weaker than in yellow
areas. An amplified indoor antenna may also work in Green color
code areas, which can be up to 30 miles from the TV station
transmitter.
Light Green - A Large
Multi-Directional or Small Directional Antenna is recommended
for Light Green color code areas. Signal levels are weaker, so a
larger omnidirectional antenna or a directional antenna is
needed to receive signals effectively, which can be up to 30
miles from the TV station transmitter.
Red - A Medium
Directional Antenna is recommended in Red color code areas.
Signal strength is weaker, and directional antennas are needed
to pick up signals. These are the most popular antenna types due
to their modest size and effectiveness 30 to 45 miles from the
TV transmitter site.
Blue - A Medium
Directional Antenna with an Antenna Preamplifier or a Large
Directional Antenna is recommended for Blue color code areas.
Signals are weaker, so larger antennas or antennas with
amplification are needed to receive TV signals effectively. TV
antennas in the blue color code area may also need to be
installed on a tower or high rooftop to pick up distant
channels, which can be 45 to 60 miles from the TV station
transmitter.
Violet - A Large
Directional Antenna with an Antenna Preamplifier is recommended
for Violet color code areas. These are areas farthest from the
TV station transmitting towers, and need the largest antennas
and best preamplifiers to pick up TV signals effectively, which
can be 60 miles or more from the TV station transmitter. TV
antennas in the Violet color code area may also need to be
installed on a tower or high rooftop to pick up distant
channels.
This is amazing. For profit companies are
suing a non profit company because it is giving away free access
to local TV stations, and because these companies sell the same
free stuff to cable companies.
CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox
sue Locast, a free, nonprofit TV streaming service for
distributing free channels. Locast has been operating since January 2018
without issue. It reaches 35 million homes in 13 cities. Locast
says it is an independent nonprofit that provides a public
service, and what it does is allowed under copyright law. The
networks it streams are also available free to consumers if they
have an antenna.
Broadcast TV networks
are available for free over the air with an antenna, but selling
the rights to retransmit those signals in other ways is a big
business. Broadcasters reportedly collected $10.1 billion in
2018 and over $11 billion expected during 2019 via
retransmission fees they charge cable and satellite TV
companies.
Because companies like
NBC, etc., typically charge cable and satellite operators a fee
for redistributing their programming, they fear that Locast will
erode this revenue stream, because it does not pay them.
Bottom line,
for-profit companies are suing a nonprofit company for giving
away free the same free channels that they are mandated to
give us for free, but they also charge cable companies for.
Next they will be coming after us for using an antenna to view
those same stations. Yikes!
The following is Gluten-free, fat-free, non
toxic, and GMO-free.
The FDA’s 2015 guidance made clear that some labeling actions
were violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: “Another
example of a statement in food labeling that may be false or
misleading could be the statement ‘None of the ingredients in
this food is genetically engineered’ on a food where some of the
ingredients are incapable of being produced through genetic
engineering (e.g., salt).”
“GMO-free” labels are
found on products that have never had “genetically modified”
counterparts. They are even on products that could not possibly
come from “genetically modified organisms” because they do not
come from organisms at all, such as salt and water. They are
used to imply health and safety risks which, according to the
judgment of more than 280 global health, safety, academic,
scientific, and governmental organizations, including our FDA,
do not exist.
The agency’s recently
updated guidance once again makes it clear that the Non-GMO
Project and many other GMO-free labels are “false and
misleading” and violate long-standing truth-in-labeling laws.
Whether a food is
manufactured to be free of gluten or by nature is free of gluten
(e.g., bottled water), it may bear a gluten-free labeling claim
if it meets all FDA requirements for a gluten-free food. The
claim is voluntary.
If you have not filed a claim for cash compensation in
response to the Equifax breach, you might be out of luck. The
company is no longer offering payouts in lieu of credit
monitoring.
The Federal Trade Commission page devoted to the settlement it
announced with Equifax last week was updated July 31 to say that
any consumer affected can claim up to 10 years of free credit
monitoring. "Previously, a cash payment was identified as an
option," the site now adds, "but there are limited funds
available."
The FTC said in a statement that "public response to the
settlement has been overwhelming." In a separate blog post, the
commission said the "unexpected number of claims" would result
in claimants not getting the money they thought.
Step 1: Check your eligibility. Use the
eligibility lookup
tool to see if you were among the 144 million US residents
who was affected by the breach.
If the answer is no, congratulations. Your data may be still
included in dozens of other breaches, but not this one. If the
answer is yes, proceed.
Step 2: File a claim. You can use an online
form or, if you prefer, send in a paper claims form. On
the first page of the online claim form, fill in your personal
information and click next. The second page will ask you to
choose what you want to claim: cash or credit monitoring.
Selecting either option will bring up an explanation of your
choice. If you select credit monitoring, you will also have the
option to add an additional six years of service, provided by
Equifax, to the initial four years provided by Experian.
Finally, the form will ask if you lost or spent money as a
result of trying to prevent or recover from identity theft
linked to the incident. If you select "yes," you will be
presented with a form asking you to provide detailed information
and to upload documents supporting your claim. Funds spent
freezing your credit or paying for credit monitoring in the wake
of the breach are eligible in this section.
Drinking coffee does not change a person's risk of being
diagnosed with or dying from cancer. The research findings have
been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The
QIMR Berghofer study used cancer data drawn from the UK Biobank
cohort for more than 46,000 people who had been diagnosed with
most invasive cancer types, including about 7,000 people who
died from the disease. The genetic and preference information
from the people with cancer was compared to data from more than
270,000 others who had never been diagnosed with cancer.
Senior author and head
of QIMR Berghofer's Statistical Genetics Group, Associate
Professor Stuart MacGregor, said the study looked at data from
more than 300,000 people and showed drinking coffee every
day neither reduced nor increased a person's risk of
developing any cancer.
Associate Professor
MacGregor said, "We also know that a preference for coffee is
heritable. Our two-pronged research looked at whether cancer
rates differed among people with different levels of
self-reported coffee consumption, and whether the same trend was
seen when we replaced self-reported consumption with genetic
predisposition towards coffee consumption. We found there was no
real relationship between how many cups of coffee a person had a
day and if they developed any particular cancers."
"The study also ruled
out a link between coffee intake and dying from the disease."
In an August 2018
statement, the US Food and Drug Administration said current
science indicated that consuming coffee posed no significant
risk of cancer.