The Nightshift: 22 June 2017

Press Clippings:
Good Morning, it’s Thursday, 22  June 2017 and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.

The highly secretive Senate health care bill will be unveiled this morning (supposedly) at 9:30 ET. Then–the debate, CBO scoring, controversy, disagreements will erupt. Many in the Senate and House are upset at the way the bill was crafted–behind closed doors, without any input from key members of Congress. Expect dissension.
The Democrats have lost all 4 special elections and are looking for a new approach while pointing the finger at the old leadership (Nancy Pelosi) that people associate with the party. After the election losses in 2016, it was inevitable. There will be a difficult transition to a new vision of the party.
George Clooney and his partners have sold their tequila company for an amount rumored to be $1 billion dollars. Take another shot of courage, you can afford it.
Soccer superstar Christiano Ronaldo has said he might leave Spain, after that country accused him defrauding the country of up to $16 million. There have been other issues in Spain regarding taxes on big name soccer players (Messi). Spain is looking increasingly hostile to big time players. Ronaldo’s play has not suffered because of this controversy; he scored the winning goal in yesterday’s Portugal vs. Russia game.
A Wassily Kandinsky painting sold at auction for $42 million, a new record for the artist.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
Lawfareblog (Washington, DC)
Wired (San Francisco, CA)
The Fine Print:  Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st Century on file. The image has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing.  The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1196 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world. 

24 Hours of Fast

Paying Attention:
The 2017 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is in the record books. Some days you win, some days you lose, and some days you get knocked out of the race by other competitors. It happens. Below: a few shots from this year’s race.

The Fine Print: Images/embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the entire photographic history of the 20th and 21st century on file. We thank them for sharing. No photographs have been altered. 

The Nightshift: 21 June 2017

Press Clippings:

Good Morning, it’s Wednesday, 21 June 2017 and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
Republican Karen Handel beat Democrat Jon Ossof in the race for the vacant representative’s seat in Georgia.
There was a failed terrorist incident at Brussels Central Station. The attacker was killed by police.
The Saudi Royal Family has made an internal change, with King Salman replacing the current crown prince with his son, Mohammed bin Salman, who is 31.
Travis Kalanick, CEO and founder of Uber, the ride sharing service, has resigned, amid mounting pressure from investors. The company has had a series of issues with sexual harassment and  workplace scandals.
 
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
Lawfareblog (Washington, DC)
Wired (San Francisco, CA)
The Fine Print:  Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st Century on file. The image has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing.  The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1194 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world. 

The Nightshift: 20 June 2017

Press Clippings:

Good Morning, it’s Tuesday, 20 June 2017 and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
The American student who was imprisoned in North Korea while on an educational trip, Otto Warmbier, has died without remaining consciousness after being returned to the United States. He was in a coma when he left North Korea.
Russian has warned the U.S. about possible targeting of American warplanes after the U.S. shot down a Syrian plane in an encounter last week. The Russians also suspended the “hotline” designed to prevent confrontations between the two world superpowers in the war zone.
All eyes in America are on the Georgia representative’s race that pits a newcomer, Democrat Jon Ossof against Republican Karen Handel, a longtime professional political operative.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
Lawfareblog (Washington, DC)
Wired (San Francisco, CA)
The Fine Print:  Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st Century on file. The image has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing.  The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1193 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world. 

The Nightshift: 19 June 2017

Press Clippings:

Good Morning, it’s Monday, 19 June 2017 and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
The toll in the  London highrise fire continues to rise and is now above 50. Also in London, a van  drove into a group of worshippers leaving a mosque last evening. And, in Paris, an attacker rammed his car into a police van. The car was filled with explosives.
Brooks Koepka won the U.S.Open golf championship; he posted a 72 hole score of 272, 16 under par, to win his first major.
Team New Zealand opened up a 3-0 lead over defending champ Oracle Team USA in the America’s cup. The first team to 7 wins the Cup.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
Lawfareblog (Washington, DC)
Wired (San Francisco, CA)
The Fine Print:  Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st Century on file. The image has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing.  The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1190 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world. 

The Nightshift: 18 June 2017

Press Clippings:

Good Morning, it’s  Sunday, 18 June 2017 and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed. It’s also Father’s Day in America…very best wishes to all of the fathers out there.
The toll in the horrific London highrise fire is now above 50 victims and rising. Authorities are trying to find out why the fire spread so quickly.
American comedian Bill Cosby’s trial for sexual assault has ended in a mistrial. The District Attorney has vowed to retry the case.
Porsche won the 24 Hours of Le Mans again. It was Porsche’s 19th win in the series. In second place (and leading the race until the last hour) was an LM-P2 car entered Jackie Chan racing. Toyota, the pre-race favorite, had both cars go out with mechanical difficulties in night racing.
The U.S. Open enters its final day today. The leader going into the fourth round is Brian Harman, at 12 under par. Two strokes back is fan favorite Rickie Fowler, at 10 under.
And..if you’re a fan of the America’s Cup (who isn’t), the classic series is on. New Zealand has a 1-0 advantage over Cup Defender Oracle. The Kiwis have adopted a totally different approach to this year’s cup after their last lost. 
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
Lawfareblog (Washington, DC)
Wired (San Francisco, CA)
The Fine Print:  Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st Century on file. The image has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing.  The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1189 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world. 

Daybreak

Nightshift Sports:

The Latest Word:
The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is currently in progress. The race started yesterday afternoon and will finish this afternoon.  The teams who have come through the night unscathed (and many did not) now face the daunting prospect that a third of the race is yet to be run. This piece was originally published as part of Nightshift Sports coverage of the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s just as relevant today because it addresses a specific time in a 24 hour endurance race, and not a specific race. 
“In a 24 hour endurance race, it’s only 24 hours for the car. For the crew and drivers, it’s a minimum of 32 or 36 or even 48 hours.”–Miles Geauxbye
Daybreak.
There is a trick that the night/day cycle plays on participants in around-the-clock, 24 hour endurance races.
It is called Sunrise and although the racers naturally feel that racing into the sunrise means the end of the race is very near, that is not the case.
The legendary 24 Hour races start in early afternoon, at 2:00 or 3:00 or 4:00PM and when a team makes it to sunrise–safely and still in the game–there is still approximately a third of the race to left to go.
Sunrise is a signal that, having made it through the night, you are now simultaneously required to do things: turn up the wick to close strongly and keep it all together on the track and in the pits so nothing derails your run to the finish line.
Go fast, but don’t go recklessly.
Do your very best work on the track and off at the precise time of day at which you are the most compromised in terms of energy, attention, strength, focus because you have been up all night and working longer than that.
Sunrise is a marker of progress but it’s also a false horizon: you might think you’re almost there, but you’re not.
You made to morning. Congratulations.
But a third of the race is yet to be run, and this is–like all of the race–yet another strategic point.
The next goal is to make it to twelve noon, the point at which –at Le Mans–you have three hours left.
And once you make it to twelve, you get to turn up the wick and race full blast all the way to the end of the race.
Enjoy the sunrise. But it’s not the natural end to the race, just the unnatural beginning of the end.

The Nightshift: 17 June 2017

Press Clippings:

Good Morning, it’s Saturday, 17 June 2017 and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
The White House is pushing back against the Justice Department and the selection of a special counsel (Robert Mueller) to investigate the Russian meddling into the U.S. 2016 elections. That investigation is–as these types of investigations frequently do–expanding into other areas. One target of the White House: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,
Helmut Kohl, the former German Chancellor who presided over the unification of East and West Germany has died.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank, has raised the federal discount rate another .25% as the economy continues to improve.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race is being contested this weekend in France; in the U.S., the U.S. Open golf tournament is at the midpoint. It’s a good day for international sports.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
Lawfareblog (Washington, DC)
Wired (San Francisco, CA)
The Fine Print:  Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st Century on file. The image has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing.  The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1188 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world. 

Class Warfare: Who's Running What At Le Mans in 2017

Nightshift Sports:
THE LE MANS LINEUP FOR 2017

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is off and running. The 2017 race  is the 94th anniversary of the famed historic endurance race, one of the top three automobile events in the world (Grand Prix of Monaco, Indy 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans), justifiably famous for the demands it puts on cars and teams and for the legends who have won there.
In 2017, there are only four classes at Le Mans. You can read very specific information about each class via this link to the ACO Site. A short description of each of the racing classes is listed below.
LM P1- For manufacturers and privateers. 
There are two subgroups in this class, LM P1 with hybrid energy systems(big factory efforts) and LM P2  without (only privateers can run in the non-hybrid category)
The top class is LM P1, with the most advanced prototypes, dominated over the last decade by the magnificent prototype program run by Audi, but also featuring major league efforts from Porsche, Peugeot, Toyota, and Bentley in the past fifteen years. This year,   Porsche –who has won 18 times overall at Le Mans with their win last year—has staked a claim to being (again) the team to beat at Le Mans. Porsche certainly knows how to win here…but Toyota, which lost in heartbreaking fashion last year..is back and more determined than ever. One of their cars set a new lap record, so it’s on between those two very big guns.
LM P2-For privateers only 
This class is P1,lite. All closed cockpit (in the past there have been open cockpit cars in the class) and a very short list of chassis suppliers (Dallara, Ligier,Oreca, and Riley) and one engine supplier, Gibson).

LM-GTE Pro
LM-GTE (Le Mans Grand Touring endurance) is the professional GT category at Le Mans. This category is packed with factory backed entries. Most of the players in this group are familiar to followers of IMSA and the WEC (World Endurance Championship) series: Porsche (back with yet another iteration of the iconic 911 RSR);  Corvette ; Aston Martin Vantages; Ford  and Ferrari. It was the Ford-Ferrari duel to the finish last year, with four factory Fords fighting a hard charging effort from the privateer Ferrari of Guiseppe Risi’s Risi Competizione team, that provided all the drama in 2017. Both teams are backed. It’s on.
LM-GTE Am
This  is the “amateur” category for GT Racing. In this category, an amateur ( or “gentleman driver”) is paired up with one or two drivers of equal or better skill(there’s a rating system for the drivers) who could be classified as professional. The cars in this category are at least one year old.
Le Mans, to its’ credit, is very generous in opening up classes for privateer and amateur teams. The newspaper headlines will go to the P1 category and the LM-GTE Pro classes but there is close racing in every class for the full 24 hours.