Postal data shows poor mail-in deliveries
The Postal Service also Wednesday told a federal judge that it had failed to comply with his order that Postal officials sweep mail facilities in 12 geographic areas for remaining ballots on Tuesday during the time frame set by the judge. The disclosures came in advance of hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.Judge Emmet Sullivan, at that hearing, was furious with the failure of Postal officials to inform him on Tuesday of the failure to do the sweeps as ordered, as opposed to telling him on Wednesday, long after poll locations were closed nationwide.“Someone may have a price to pay for that,” said Sullivan, who also said that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy may have to testify or be deposed in the case.“I’d like you to explain just what the heck happened yesterday,” Sullivan told Joseph Borson, the Justice Department lawyer who is representing the Postal Service in the case. Borson said that the sweeps of the facilities already had been scheduled to happen after the 3 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline set by Sullivan, and that they could not be moved to earlier.“The postmaster is either going to have to be deposed or appear before me and testify under oath about why some actions were not taken after the court issued its injunction,” Sullivan said.“Whether we should spend time on that today, I’m not sure we should, but I’m not going to forget it either.”Kevin Bray, the Postal Service executive responsible for mail processing in the election, testified about the ballot handling process when the hearing resumed. The Postal Service on Election Day failed to deliver a significant percentage of mail-in ballots to several states that could determine who wins the presidential contest between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, data filed with a federal court suggested Wednesday.The states seeing relatively poor levels of mail deliveries of ballots include Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, all of which have yet to declare victors in their tallies for Trump and Biden.The current vote tallies in those states show thin margins between the two candidates. The outcomes in those states could hinge on the mailed-in ballots.- Advertisement – – Advertisement – Returned ballots, where the voter could not be located, are stacked in United States Postal Service containers during the 2020 Presidential election in Provo, Utah, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.George Frey | Bloomberg | Getty Images Democratic hopes of winning Florida were dashed Tuesday in no small part due to Biden’s failure to rack up a large margin of victory over Trump in the Miami-Dade area, a region of South Florida that traditionally skews Democratic.The data based on scans of ballot envelopes that were filed in Sulivan’s courtd Wednesday suggested that in South Florida, just 85.12% of the mail-in ballots were delivered on Election Day.Biden is expected to outperform Trump in mail-in balloting in multiple locations. Trump has cast doubt on the legitimacy of outstanding mail-in and absentee ballots where Biden’s results threaten his path to an Electoral College victory.In central Pennsylvania, just 61.3% of the mail-ballots in the postal system were delivered on time, based on the scan data in the court filing shows. In Philadelphia, slightly more than 66% of the mail-in ballots had been delivered on Election Day.In Atlanta 82.2% percent of the mail-in ballots were delivered on Election Day, the court filing shows.Detroit postal facilities reported less than 79% percent of mail-in ballots delivered that day.In Greensboro, North Carolina, 72.9% percent of the mail-in ballots were delivered on Tuesday.And in Lakeland, Wisconsin, slightly less than 77% of such ballots were delivered, the filing revealed.Correction: The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. A summary in an earlier version had the wrong day. A Postal Service spokesman later Wednesday said that, “The assumption that there are unaccounted ballots within the Postal Service network is inaccurate.”“These ballots were delivered in advance of the election deadlines,” the spokesman said.“We employed extraordinary measures to deliver ballots directly to local boards of elections. When this occurs, by design, these ballots bypass certain processing operations and do not receive a final scan. Instead, they are expedited directly to the boards of elections. We remain in close contact with state and local boards of elections and we do not currently have any open issues. Additionally, the Postal Inspection Service has physically inspected all plants that process ballots.”- Advertisement – – Advertisement –
– Advertisement – That’s all for this week’s episode of Orbital, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on Twitter, Facebook, and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. 
Pranay Parab Pranay is in charge of podcasts and videos at Gadgets 360. Over the years, he has written over 500 tutorials on iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac. He has also written in-depth reported features on the intersection of technology and culture, reviewed fitness wearables, been the social media manager, started two podcasts, and produced several tech videos. He loves travelling, particularly to places not frequented by tourists. He keeps running half-marathons across the country and hopes to complete …More Related Stories- Advertisement – Having reviewed the Mi TV 4A Horizon Edition, we decided to speak about budget TVs and which one you should buy. Audio and TV expert Ali Pardiwala joins host Pranay Parab to discuss all things budget TVs. We begin this episode by talking about what to expect from the Mi TV 4A Horizon Edition and whether you should buy this TV. We start off by talking about picture quality and what you can reasonably expect from this TV and then we mention whether this is the ideal smart TV for most people. Next, we talk about the TV’s remote and which features are missing even now. This is when we bring up the TV’s performance and how the company can improve it. Ever wondered why budget phones have 8GB RAM but similarly priced TVs have just 1GB RAM? We answer that question on this episode.Next we talk about Realme and OnePlus’ TVs in this price segment. This is where we tell you what features to consider before making a choice between these budget TVs, in order to help you narrow down models and pick the one that’s absolutely perfect for you. We talk about sound quality towards the end of this podcast and discuss whether you should go for a TV with front firing speakers. Finally we mention which TVs we’d buy in this price range and why that decision depends a lot on the content we’re watching.- Advertisement –
Aug 5, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Three more cases of H5N1 avian influenza in Vietnam, two of them fatal, were officially recognized today by the World Health Organization (WHO) after confirmation came from that country’s Health Ministry, bringing the count to 90 cases with 40 deaths.The two deaths were in a 24-year-old man from southern Tra Vinh province and a 26-year-old woman from Ho Chi Minh City. They both died the last week of July and had been reported on previously in the media but not officially recognized by the government. The source of infection in both is considered to be chicken they had eaten.The third new case involves a 49-year-old woman from Ha Tay province in the north. She remains hospitalized, and her illness, too, apparently stems from eating chicken she bought locally.Vietnam began vaccinating large numbers of chickens and ducks in northern Nam Dinh and southern Tien Giang provinces this week in the largest such program ever undertaken there. Plans are to vaccinate over 2.9 million birds by the end of this month, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua, and to cover all of Vietnam starting in October. More than 400 million doses of vaccine are expected to be used in all, at a cost of about $37 million dollars, reports an Associated Press (AP) story.Birds are to receive three doses over a period of several months, according to the Vietnam News Service. The H5N1 vaccine is being imported from China, and an H5N2 vaccine from the Netherlands.WHO and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) both support Vietnam’s actions, although the country is being cautioned that healthy birds can carry the virus. Challenges inherent in the vaccination program are many, according to the AP, including the facts that the vaccine needs to be kept cool and that milions of the birds are running freely and have to be caught for vaccine administration each time a dose is given.Close to 70% of the waterfowl in the Mekong delta have tested positive for H5N1, according to a story in the Vietnamese paper Labor, says an item posted on ProMED Wednesday. This number is similar to findings reported last spring (see CIDRAP News story cited below).See also:Aug 3 WHO statement http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_08_05/en/index.htmlCIDRAP case count table, giving official and unofficial numbersApr 13, 2005, CIDRAP News story reporting earlier prevalence of H5N1 in Mekong delta
(CIDRAP Source Weekly Briefing) – How does a global company keep sharp its planning for a disaster that may be long in the making, acute at the onset, months in duration, and bigger in scope than any one-time event?For Don Ainslie, global security officer at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 2 years of minding avian flu’s advance and planning for a human influenza pandemic has presented just such a challenge.He’s found that preparing for a pandemic requires attention to another kind of threat–planning fatigue. Ainslie, whose organization provides tax, audit, consulting, and financial advisory services to clients worldwide, has used two strategies to cope:Delivering just enough information to just the right audience.Keeping his team of 15 planners thinking about more than a pandemic.Avoid information overload”Part of the challenge and the responsibility that we have is to sift through information and make sure our message reflects accurate information,” he said. His team relies on the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) for primary information. The team also searches through local news reports.When an e-mail is sent out to a particular department, any information not relevant to the targeted employees is excluded. Recipients get only what is useful for them. At the same time, Deloitte has an avian influenza preparedness Web site made available to Deloitte partnerships located in over 150 countries to ensure everyone can have access to critical information when they go looking for it. Deloitte is made up of some 80 member firm partnerships with 130,000 employees worldwide.Give the planners variety”Planning for a pandemic helps you plan for other events,” Anslie says, and his team knows this. “When you plan for a terrorist act or an earthquake, it does not help you plan for a pandemic.”Nevertheless, focusing time only on pandemic plans can lead to a sense of being overwhelmed by the topic, rather than overloaded with planning work. Because the team has responded to such events as the bombings in London and Hurricane Katrina, everyone has had a chance to step away from a concentration on pandemic planning.So while it may seem counterintuitive, to stay best prepared for a pandemic, the Global Security Office team members focus on multiple projects. So far, he says, for his virtual team (with employees working from such places as the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom), pandemic planning fatigue has not been a problem.
Jul 17, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials are proposing to list the virus that causes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) as a select agent, which means that dozens of laboratories possessing it will have to register with the government and adopt various security measures.Agents are added to the federal list of “select agents and toxins” if the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regards them as potentially posing a severe threat to public health and safety.The proposal regarding the SARS-associated coronavirus was announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a Jul 13 Federal Register notice. The agency said the designation is needed because the virus is potentially fatal and easily spread, there is no vaccine or effective treatment for it, and it can persist in the environment.The World Health Organization counted 8,098 cases and 774 deaths in the SARS epidemic of 2003. The virus spreads mainly by respiratory droplets, but people also can become infected by touching contaminated surfaces, the CDC notice says.CDC records show that 138 entities, most of them commercial, currently possess the SARS virus, and 73 of them are already registered with the Select Agent Program of either HHS or the US Department of Agriculture, the notice says. That means 65 labs or facilities will need to register if the virus is listed as a select agent.Besides registering with the program, those groups will have to provide adequate biosafety and physical security measures, screen personnel with access to the virus, and meet record-keeping requirements, the CDC says.The average cost for a facility to register with the CDC and comply with the regulations is estimated to range from $15,300 to $170,000, the notice says. Under the proposal, facilities would have 180 days to comply with the regulations, once the final rule is published.The CDC is inviting the public to comment on the proposal by Sep 11, but it says comments received after that may still be considered. Comments on the proposal should be marked “SARS-CoV” and e-mailed to SAPcomments@cdc.gov (link sends e-mail), the agency said.
On Wednesday, July 26, 2017, the President of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies (UHPA), Mr. Tomislav Fain, met with representatives of the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia to discuss the problems of the gray economy and undeclared work in tourism.According to some estimates, the share of the gray economy in Croatia is close to 30 percent, compared to the most regulated countries where it is estimated to be below, but close to 10 percent. “The gray economy is present in almost all segments of tourism, to which UHPA, as the leading professional association in tourism in Croatia, has been warning the competent institutions for years and giving concrete proposals for their successful solution. Yesterday’s meeting with representatives of the Customs Administration headed by Ms. Mladenka Perić, Head of the Inspection and Inspection Service, is just one in a series of steps that our Association is taking in order to systematically resolve open issues burdening the business of travel agencies. tourism and the economy as a whole. ” pointed out Tomislav Fain, President of UHPA.Some of the specific problems are the performance of tourist (and catering) activities by unregistered natural and legal entities, the sale of excursion programs on the black market, temporary facilities / stands, equipment rental, adventure services, unlicensed tourist guides, illegal sales via web portals and others. adds “We have received a large number of reports from UHPA members regarding the illegal work of renting private accommodation, especially through the online platforms Booking.com and Airbnb. The consequences of this situation are unfair competition, non-payment of taxes, contributions and the outflow of money from Croatia. All this negatively affects the image of the local destination or Croatia as a whole. ” says Fain, adding that unfortunately, there are a large number of those who do not pay any contributions and taxes. In order to protect all tourism, including the payment of taxes, tourist dues, sojourn taxes and other levies, there should be healthy competition where everyone has equal conditions, because unfair competition certainly destroys every entrepreneur as well as the entire sector.It was agreed at the meeting that in cooperation with the tourist inspection, the supervision will be strengthened already this tourist year. In order to systematically solve the problem and further prevent the gray economy in tourism in Croatia, it is necessary to establish cooperation and partnership between businessmen and state institutions, including the adoption of laws and regulations that will finally bring order to the market. “They pointed out, for example, good practice from Slovenia, which started with penalties for renters through sharing platforms. With frequent controls and high fines, colleagues from Slovenia are trying to prevent illegal renting of space, given that they do not have the official status of room renters. In the autumn, we plan to hold a meeting to bring together representatives of key state institutions to discuss further activities regarding the prevention of undeclared work. We expect that state institutions will resolve to prevent undeclared work and unfair competition, from which no one benefits. Only by establishing healthy competition can we win the fight against undeclared work and the gray economy. We expect our members to cooperate and support in pointing out learned irregularities and problems, and to work together to encourage and accelerate the solution of this chronic problem. ” Fain concluded.
A strategic agreement has been signed between Thomas Cook and Expedia that will provide new opportunities for customers for both companies. As announced by Thomas Cook, a multi-year partnership with Expedia, one of the world’s largest travel companies, will provide travelers with more destinations to choose from when planning their holiday.With the latest agreement, Expedia will contribute to expanding Thomas Cook’s business opportunities by supporting European sales with a large number of available hotel and city offers, as its booking platform will directly connect more than 60.000 accommodation facilities.This will allow Thomas Cook to provide his clients with wider leisure opportunities, at a lower cost. “The combination of Expedia’s portfolio of hotels and the best online classic technologies will transform citybreak travel and hotel offerings to clients, thereby helping our business and one important step forward in delivering our strategy for profitable growth. Joining forces with a company that has the global reach and expertise of Expedia will enable Thomas Cook to further simplify our systems and processes. ”, said Thomas Fankhauser, CEO of Thomas Cook.On the other hand, Expedia will use its experience and technology to secure the best bookings through all of Thomas Cook’s marketing channels. In this way, the company will increase its visibility and distribution. “We believe that our collaboration will improve our ability to help more people go out and see the world, while increasing each of our competitive positions in the European market. Expedia’s Global Partner Solutions business revives the ability to harness the power of our technology and operations for our partners, introducing leading brands with private labels, agencies, web services and operations for all travel products, including accommodation, flight, package, and car rental “, Added Aman Bhutani, President of the Expedia brand.Otherwise, Expedia the group introduced a new direct communication tool “Expedia PartnerCentral Conversations ” which encourages direct communication and engagement between hoteliers and guests who have booked their accommodation, providing a personal and personalized experience for guests. The goal of the new tool is direct communication of the guest with the hotel in order to inform and request additional services and facilities of the hotel.Related news: EXPEDIA LAUNCHES A NEW COMMUNICATION TOOL FOR HOTELS
The portal of the Croatian National Tourist Board recently published a subpage on which it presents health tourism, available via a link Health & Wellness – Full of well-being.It is a joint project of the Croatian Tourist Board and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce whose goal is to present the national offer of health tourism in one place, ie business entities that contribute to improving and enriching the tourist offer and developing content to extend the tourist season and positioning Croatia as a health tourism destination. On this subpage, business entities are divided into 10 tourist regions and their activities, and information is available in six foreign languages, thus promoting all companies involved in health tourism in a unique way.Public call for participation in the national promotion of health tourism on the subpage Croatia – Full of well-beingThe Croatian Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board, invites additional applications from business entities providing health tourism services to join the project of national promotion of health tourism on the subpage of the existing Croatian Tourist Board portal, where health tourism excellence in Croatia is presented.Business entities are presented under the common slogan Croatia – Full of well-being on the portal Health and Wellness – Full of well-being, and the right to apply for participation in the national promotion of health tourism have business entities from the sections wellness tourism, SPA / health tourism and medical tourism, travel agencies and special intermediaries / facilitators dealing with health tourism.More information about the application is attached: PUBLIC INVITATION to participate in the national promotion of health tourism on the subpage “Croatia – full of well-being”
As part of the project “Homeland of Nikola Tesla”, the company Eva Blue from Zagreb in cooperation with the City of Zagreb, September 21.09.2018, 12, from 18.00 to 3 on Cvjetni Square, organizes the premiere presentation of the most anticipated vehicle in the world, electric Tesla Model XNUMX. The vehicle, which already aroused unprecedented interest and reservations of over 400.000 vehicles during its first presentation last spring, symbolizes the transition to an affordable electric vehicle with a long range and the most advanced technology of the future. Thus, Croatia, ie the city of Zagreb, will have the honor and privilege to be the first European city to have the opportunity to present its citizens with the Tesla Model 3, which will be able to take a closer look at Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X, examples of modern technologies in the world. Our country, as the only Homeland of Nikola Tesla, synonymous with all advanced ideas of the new world, has the opportunity for all its citizens to feel the immediate benefits of implementing new technologies through not only electric vehicles, but also renewable energy sources, especially solar panels, battery factories, server farms. and other forms of new green technologies.”On the occasion of the European Mobility Week 2018 dedicated to sustainable development, the message we want to send with the presentation of this and in the very near future and other advanced and affordable electric vehicles, is that with education and greater infrastructure development of electric vehicles can benefit everyone, and it is especially important to themthis use within urban centers due to the reduction of CO2 emissions and noise. Early adaptation of new technologies is a unique opportunity for our country to create new jobs and significantly strengthen its own energy production capacities through renewable energy sources. In this way, the now large import of electricity will be reduced (around 40 percent) and billions of kunas will be kept within Croatia. ” Tina Kolovrat, director of Eva Blue, pointed out and added that it is extremely important that the City of Zagreb keeps pace with recent world trends and recognizes and supports their initiative “Homeland of Nikola Tesla” with the aim of promoting knowledge and technology, but and encouraging the implementation of advanced technological solutions.See more about Tesla Model 3 on the official web site.Nikola Tesla EV Rally Croatia – an innovative and unique tourist projectBy the way, the company Eva Blue is the organizer of the Nikola Tesla EV Rally Croatia – the most beautiful and quietest rally in the world, which this year marked its fifth edition.Photo: Nikola Tesa EV RallyLuxury tourist e-tour, which combines e-mobility, ecology and tourism, allows participants from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Belgium, Norway, to show the best of Croatian cultural heritage and natural beauty with tasting of high quality wines and gastronomic delicacies and staying in luxury hotels. Thus, 60 teams in Tesla vehicles during the eight days of driving passed a 1550 km long route through beautiful landscapes over five islands and six national parks, with many attractions on the route, which is the official “Green Highway” with charging stations.This is Croatia that we must strive for.
This year, conference participants will have the opportunity to listen to a number of eminent experts from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Spain, Great Britain and other top tourist destinations which will touch on many interesting topics such as – year-round tourism, trends and sustainability that will be discussed Bruno Walter, ITB Advisory, Jill thompson, Thomas Cook i James Chappell, Horwath HTL London; about creative recycling of local specifics to new quality and experiences tailored to modern tourists will speak Caroline Couret, Creative Tourism Network®; about the applications of new technologies in tourism will talk Marko Lukičić, Jadranka group and Acquaint; interesting and educational successful examples from practice will be presented Chelo Escabias, North Incomig Service, Bettina Habel, Vulcano Schinkenmanufaktur, Dominik S. Černjak, Collegium Mondial Travel i Andrijana Copf, Sarajevo Film Festival, and will talk about concrete steps from the goal to the realization on the panel Tomislav Varga, Atlas TA i Petar Pavic, STAR Digital Group. Year-round tourism is one of the most important challenges for the further development of Croatian tourism, but also tourism in the region, at all levels, from strategic to operational, especially in terms of sustainability. There is a great potential for the development of year-round tourism in Croatia, both on the coast and in the continental part. More about the conference and registration on the website: http://www.turizam365.com/ “As in previous years, this year we aim to present and discuss the potentials, opportunities, positive practices and solutions for the development of year-round tourism in Croatia and the region and develop proposals on how to encourage and develop tourism 365. This year we placed special emphasis on new technologies and creativity, because I believe that we need a little motivation and courage, and we will talk about sustainability, destination development and trends in all spheres of tourism.”, Emphasizes Ivana Kolar, conference organizer. Ivana Kolar U Tuesday, September 24th The third international conference on year-round tourism will be held at the Sheraton Zagreb Hotel “Can Croatian tourism 365”, and this year ‘s theme of the conference is “Creative and new technologies”. The development of year-round tourism is a hot topic that always arouses great interest of the professional public and the media. Conference Can Croatian Tourism 365? – creative and new technologies, is an excellent opportunity for networking of all actors involved in tourism development. 