DELEITURAS

NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND – Less than three months after winning the 2019 Japan Times Bee, Ariya Narayanasamy spelled himself into the next round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Tuesday.

The 12-year-old from Tokyo correctly spelled “bandicoot” and will compete in round three on Wednesday.

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Hosted in National Harbor just outside of Washington, the contest is the premier U.S. spelling competition. The event drew hundreds of spellers from all 50 states and seven other countries.

Narayanasamy earned his ticket to compete this week by out-spelling 39 other students at a spelling bee contest organized by The Japan Times in March. Then a student at the India International School campus in Tokyo, he was locked in a dead heat with the other remaining finalist before correctly spelling “forbearance” to win the entire competition.

His victory in Tokyo made for a close finish. But — as Narayanasamy acknowledged Monday night before the start of the on-stage oral competition — he anticipated a significant increase in the difficulty of the words he would be asked to spell in the Scripps Bee.

Narayanasamy approached the microphone on stage late Tuesday morning before the largest crowd he has ever spelled in front of. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the U.S. contest’s moderator Jacques Bailly asked him to spell “bandicoot.”

To help deconstruct a word with which they may be unfamiliar, competitors are permitted to ask for the pronunciation, language of origin and definition of the word they are asked to spell.

The moderator can also provide a sample sentence that correctly uses the word. These are the only tools available to spellers on stage.

But Narayanasamy did not need any of them.

“Once Dr. Bailly said the word, I knew I knew the word,” Narayanasamy said. “I said to myself: ‘OK, I can spell this word.’ So, I just had to take my time and get every single letter right.”

To force himself to slow down, Narayanasamy asked the moderator to read the definition of “bandicoot” and its language of origin. While Bailly described the Telugu word, meaning “certain … insectivorous and herbivorous marsupial mammals found in Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea,” Narayanasamy was busy neatly arranging nine letters in his head, then out loud: “B-a-n-d-i-c-o-o-t. Bandicoot.”

A second moderator waited just a beat before announcing Narayanasamy’s spelling of the word was correct. The audience broke into applause, as they did for every speller on Tuesday.

Of the record 562 competitors who spelled on stage Tuesday, 518 advanced with Narayanasamy to the third round.

Competitors who both spell correctly in round three and who scored high enough on a paper exam taken Monday will participate in the finals on Thursday.

Narayanasamy will prepare for the next phase of competition the same way he always has: a little bit of studying, a little bit of meditation and a little bit of YouTube, to take the edge off.

Only one international competitor, from South Korea, was eliminated on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, competitors were asked to spell words from a set list of 600. Spellers had the opportunity to study the list ahead of time. The list included words from languages around the world, including those of Japanese origin like “koto,” “daikon” and “tamari.”

Starting with round three, there will be no pre-culled list for competitors to study. Instead, words will be pulled from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, of which there are hundreds of thousands to choose from.

As a victorious Narayanasamy returned to his seat, the corners of his mouth curling into a small smile, the next competitor took the stage and Bailly read the next word: “forbearance.”

The Diet revised various pieces of legislation Wednesday in an effort to bolster measures against workplace harassment, obligating companies to combat increasingly prevalent reports of bullying and abuse of power.

Under revisions to five laws, aspects of workplace harassment were specifically defined and made impermissible for the first time. But none of the legislation prescribes punitive measures that can be taken against violators.

Even so, the new regulations set a significant first legislative step in a country where various forms of workplace harassment had been left untouched for years.

They prohibit any kind of mistreatment of workers who make allegations against people in more senior positions, or discrimination of workers who allege they have been victims of sexual harassment. Pregnant women or women who have returned to work after being on maternity leave are now similarly protected.

The revisions also require, for the first time, businesses to take preventive measures against bosses who abuse their power in the workplace, defining the offenses as “excessive words and behavior by people who take advantage of their superior positions, harming the working environment.”

The government will set guidelines on measures to be taken by companies, such as putting in place consultation programs, and give specific examples of types of power abuses. The government received feedback from companies saying it is difficult to draw a line between harassment and stern but fair management.

Large companies will be obliged to introduce the preventive steps, possibly by next April. Small and midsize companies are requested to tackle the issue under the revised legislation on a voluntary basis from next spring, but its implementation will be mandatory within two years.

As for sexual harassment, firms whose employees target someone in a different workplace are asked to cooperate with the victims’ firm during investigations into the matter.

The government will also consider drawing up guidelines to counter harassment by customers or clients, as well as the sexual harassment of job-seeking students.

The number of cases of bullying and abuse of power in workplaces reported to labor bureaus reached around 72,000 in fiscal 2017, hitting a record high for the sixth consecutive year.

“Although some behavior had to some extent been considered excessive but permissible as a form of instruction, the new legislation will likely help curb extreme abuses of power,” said Masaomi Kaneko, head of the Workplace Harassment Research Institute.

Meanwhile, Shino Naito, vice senior researcher at the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training, said it is “regrettable” that the legislation fails to impose punitive measures. Japan “lags behind the global standard, as the International Labor Organization is set to adopt a treaty to ban harassment in the near future,” she said.

As for power harassment, the revisions are basically in line with arguments by the business community that it is hard to draw a line between cases in which bosses “give instructions and guidance” and cases of harassment.

As harassment may have serious implications for victims, potentially driving them to suffer mental health issues or to engage in self-harm, Japan should introduce punitive measures as quickly as possible, Naito said.

Revisions to the laws, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, also aim to empower working women, obliging small and midsize companies with 101 to 300 workers to set numerical goals for the promotion of women in senior positions. Such a requirement has already been imposed on larger companies.

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The health ministry decided on Wednesday that genetic tests to help cancer patients identify the best drugs and therapies for their treatment will be covered by the public health insurance system.

Insurance coverage for genomic testing starting Saturday will be applied to patients who have not responded to conventional cancer treatment. Patients will only have to pay 10 to 30 percent of the fees, which would otherwise cost several hundred thousand yen.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry approved in December the marketing of cancer genome profiling systems that detect gene mutations in cancer patients by analyzing their tumor tissue.

Two systems — one developed by the National Cancer Center and health instrument-maker Sysmex Corp., and another sold by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. — are capable of profiling over 100 types of cancer-related genes in a single test, according to the entities.

Without insurance coverage, the fee for testing the use of either product would be ¥560,000 ($5,100).

The financial burden on patients can be further reduced if they obtain medical benefits offered to individuals who have exceeded the cap for monthly medical expenses.

Patients eligible for insurance coverage are those suffering from solid cancers, which exclude cancers of the blood, and have not responded to surgery and anti-cancer drug treatment, as well as pediatric cancer patients and patients with rare cancers.

It is expected that up to 26,000 people will use genomic profiling annually, with yearly sales of the products totaling around ¥15 billion.

Patients can provide tumor tissue specimens for testing at 11 hospitals playing a key role in cancer genomic medicine and 156 other hospitals across the country.

Experts will assess drugs that will be effective in the treatment of patients and the findings will be conveyed to each patient through the doctors in charge.

The health ministry will also ask the hospitals to submit the anonymized results of the genomic profiling to a national cancer research center, after obtaining patients’ consent.

The accumulated information is expected to be utilized for the development of new treatments.

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The Diet on Wednesday authorized public broadcaster NHK to start simultaneous online streaming of its television programs amid the increasing popularity of computer- and handset-based services.

NHK, formally called Japan Broadcasting Corp., plans to launch the new service by next March in order to broadcast the Tokyo Olympics torch relay, which is scheduled to start that month.

To date, NHK has streamed disaster reports and some live sports coverage but the revised broadcasting law approved by the House of Councilors will help expand streaming video services via devices including smartphones.

People who possess a TV set are required to pay for an NHK subscription, but the revised law does not require any additional fee.

The law obliges the Tokyo-based broadcaster to disclose the costs of online distribution, amid criticism that its business expansion could have a negative impact on private broadcasters.

The communications minister will give NHK a warning if the broadcaster does not follow the requirements, according to the revised law.

The law also strengthens NHK’s corporate governance by stipulating measures that give the audit committee the authority to investigate executives. This comes after a series of scandals that hit the broadcaster, including two separate cases involving the embezzlement of subscription fees by employees.

During discussions on the bill, NHK was urged to improve its management operations. The broadcaster has already decided to cut the subscription fee starting in October 2020.

“In the era of converging broadcasting and communication services, we will work to play the role of a trusted core component of social infrastructure that viewers can rely on,” NHK said.

The bill cleared the House of Representatives on May 16.

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The Diet passed into law Tuesday a bill allowing drivers to use their smartphones while their cars are traveling autonomously under certain circumstances and if they are able to shift to manual driving immediately during an emergency.

The bill to amend the road traffic law, which includes rules on so-called Level 3 self-driving of vehicles under certain circumstances, passed the House of Representatives. The amended law will come into effect by May next year.

In Level 3 situations, automated driving is permitted under conditions that have to do with the type of road, the vehicle speed and other factors. A Level 3 situation includes a traffic jam on an expressway. Drivers will need to switch to manual driving if the conditions are not met.

Under the current road traffic law, people are banned from talking on their mobile phones and looking for long periods of time at navigation systems, televisions or other devices.

The amended law will allow such actions if drivers are able to change over from automated to manual driving immediately.

While the revised law will allow reading and eating, it will prohibit people from drinking alcohol, as there is a possibility that they will have to drive their vehicles manually.

The amended law will also require people to equip their vehicles with a device that will record the operating situation of cars and save the data, in order to detect a system malfunction at an early stage and identify the cause of any accidents.

Police will be able to ask drivers to disclose such information if their car is found to have a defect.

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Andy Carroll, Adrian and Samir Nasri are to leave West Ham this summer, the club have announced.

The trio, along with Spanish striker Toni Martinez, will depart when their contracts expire at the end of June.

West Ham joint-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold said in a statement on the club’s website: “Andy and Adrian have both been great servants to West Ham United throughout their time at the club and we thank them for their loyalty and commitment to the claret-and-blue cause.

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“Both have provided us and our fellow supporters with some unforgettable moments, whether they were sensational scissor kicks and unstoppable headers in Andy’s case, or penalty saves and goals in Adrian’s.

“They can both be assured of warm welcomes whenever they return to London Stadium and we wish them, as well as Samir Nasri and the young players whose contracts are up this summer, the very best for their future careers.”

Striker Carroll joined the Hammers on a season-long loan from Liverpool in August 2012 and the switch was made permanent the following summer.

The 30-year-old’s time with the club has been significantly disrupted by injuries, and he made only 12 Premier League appearances in 2018-19. Carroll’s overall record for the club is 33 goals in 126 league matches.

Goalkeeper Adrian, with West Ham since 2013, has made 150 appearances in all competitions for the club but only five this season, none of which came in the league as Lukasz Fabianski took over as the number one.

Former Manchester City playmaker Nasri joined on a short-term deal on December 31 and went on to feature six times in all competitions.

West Ham signed Martinez from Valencia in July 2016. After a loan spell with Oxford in the season that followed, he then played three times in the FA Cup for the Hammers in 2017-18, and has subsequently been on loan in his homeland with Real Valladolid, Rayo Majadahonda and Lugo.

In their announcement on Wednesday, West Ham also said midfielders Moses Makasi and Noha Sylvestre, defenders Vashon Neufville and Josh Pask and scholars Mason Barrett, Kevin Dalipi, Jay Mingi and Odysseas Spyridis were leaving.

 

Leicester City defender Harry Maguire insists his main focus in playing well for England amid speculation linking him with Manchester United and Manchester City.

Maguire has been linked with a move to Old Trafford for quite some time, as the Red Devils have been looking to bolster their defensive options. However, a move didn’t come into fruition in the summer, with the former Sheffield United and Hull City man staying put at the King Power Stadium.

He continues to be linked with United but the most recent report in the Daily Mail claimed that City could sign Maguire in a deal that ‘might have to eclipse the £75m price Liverpool paid for Virgil Van Dijk’.

And Maguire was asked about the rumours while on England duty, he responded: “When I’m away with England I don’t think about anything to do with club football.

“As soon as I wear this badge it’s really important for myself to focus on England and nothing else.

“At the moment, nothing’s going through my head in terms of club football. I’m fully focused on the games coming up.”

 

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More Mails, please. Send your thoughts to [email protected]

 

Graeme Souness has rattled my cage
So I’m on holiday in Cyprus and will be watching the Champions League final in a random bar with the family. I’m still giddy with excitement and keep going over all the great games and moments Spurs have given all us Spurs fans in the tournament this season.

What’s rattled my happy cage is that I’ve just witnessed the video where Souness says that Spurs don’t deserve to be in the Champions League final! Mainly due to Spurs losing a lot of games over the course of the season.

I read somewhere on the internet (must be true) that every team we have played during our run to the final have been top of their league. PSV, Barcelona, Inter, Dortmund, City and Ajax. We’ve done it the hard way, shown massive character, and come through it all.

I’ve come to the view that he has now cultivated such a caricature of himself that he no longer feels he needs to have any reason to his arguments and just needs to deliver this macho nonsense and repeat what he would have done in a time gone by. And in doing so, not doing it as well as Roy Keane.

Liverpool lost 19 games in the 2005 season, did they not deserve to get there either Graeme?

Here’s to what promises to be quite an amazing game.
Dave (weirdly probably more able to cope with a defeat than victory) Winchester Spurs

 

Liverpool fan perspective
Got to agree with Wayne Germany about perspective. I saw Ipswich win one playoff final in my time supporting them so far, 20 odd years. Sure they had a couple of entertaining group stages in Europa, never got past the knockouts mind, and in the second of those seasons they got relegated. I had hope they may return mind, for 16 years I had hope. The closest they got was being knocked out by Norwich in the playoff semi-finals.

Still, as noted with my optimistic mail at the start of the season I thought you may see something special this year. You did. They got relegated bottom again and Norwich won the league. Oh rapturous joy of football. A lot of Liverpool fans do think they have it hard, and I do keep them in my thoughts (I have many friends that are Red supporters who don’t fit that description… well not that much) but I’m reminded of Jim Carey in Liar Liar when I hear them complain “Oh Come On!”

Don’t need to put up with it as much now, opportunity has knocked elsewhere.

So for reasons of variety, I’m gonna back the Spuds, and given my record supporting teams, you can now put your house on Liverpool
Chris ITFC, Bourne

 

Fergie & St Mirren
On Sunday there was a massive result for my humble Scottish team, St Mirren.

In a similar system to the Czech playoffs outlined by David Szmidt, 2nd-4th in the Championship have two rounds of playoffs, before the winner goes on to play a two-legged relegation/promotion playoff against 11th in the Premiership. In this case, Dundee Utd from the Championship, vs. St Mirren of the Premiership.

The 1st leg was very uneventful (yes, as is typical of Scottish football, etc) and ended 0-0. The 2nd leg at St Mirren Park saw Dundee Utd get an “I’ve seen them given” hand-ball decision, putting away the penalty to make it 1-0. Within 2 minutes, Danny Mullen capitalised on a defensive error to volley home the equaliser. 1-1. Into extra time and it’s all very tense before substitute Nazon is harshly dismissed for an elbow, when his eyes were on the ball the whole time. This sets up a nervy finish with the dreaded penalty shootout looming.

St Mirren hilariously piss the shootout 2-0 after Dundee Utd missed all four of their attempts. Cue a pitch invasion.

For those who have never heard about or care about St Mirren, they are infamous for being the only team to sack Sir Alex Ferguson.

This young, charismatic manager was well respected for reconnecting the people of Paisley, whom a lot of were travelling into Glasgow (7 miles away) to see Celtic or Rangers, to their local team, which had a big stadium but low attendances. My late uncle, whose back garden shared a wall with Love Street Stadium, described how Sir Alex was drinking in the club bar, when a wee Irish woman (my late grandmother) walked up and pulled on his shirt. As he turned round she said, “Mr Ferguson, my boy has been coming here since he was 12, you better not let him down.” For the next two hours drinks kept getting sent over to her table, courtesy of Mr Ferguson.

Unfortunately the Saints’ beloved Love Street, home since 1894, was sold off to Tesco in 2009 to make way for a bloody supermarket which never even materialised, and the club moved to its new home a mile up the road.

This article does a great job of outlining Fergie’s early career, including his rise and ‘fall’ at St Mirren. His crowning moment was winning the league in the second tier, having implemented a strict regime with exacting standards, and a full-blooded style of football. But by the end, he had lost his relationship with the Chairman and was flirting with the idea of moving to Aberdeen. All the same, he felt he was unfairly dismissed and the case went to a tribunal.

The tribunal went in the Chairman’s favour, with the ruling describing Ferguson as: “possessing neither by experience nor talent any managerial ability at all”.
Brian Badonde, London & Paisley

 

Silly Mail…
Quiet week in the mailbox, maybe a good time for a stupid mail? it’s always a good time for a stupid mail!

So many people seem to like telling us their credentials as a fan such as signing off with the end they watch the game from or stating how they’ve been following their club for many barren years before the glory days – you get the picture…

I think we desperately need some way of ranking fans credentials so we can pass judgement on them based on how loyal they are. Plastic fan writes in, who cares, let’s trash them. So, in way of ranking, I’d suggest the following criteria, maybe whoscored or OPTA can run this on an official basis as I sometimes have to pretend to work.

Criteria 1: Where you lived when you grew up

Walking distance from the ground – 10 pts

A short Bus trip away – 9 pts

10 mins on the train – 8 pts

And there’s no way I can do this all the way down the scale so it just goes all the way down to…

I’ve never even been anywhere near the city this team plays in – 0 pts

Criteria 2: How many games did you go to this last season

All of them, Home and away – 10 pts

All Home games, some away – 9 pts

All Home games – 8 pts

down to…

Bugger all – 0 pts

Criteria 3: How long have you been a supporter (this ones easier, we’ll just give 1 pt per 5 years

50 years – 10 pts

30 years – 6 pts

less than 5 years – 0 pts

Criteria 4: How many games do you consume, including at the ground on the tellybox, radio, biddy printer, whatever you can get to:

All of them – 10 pts

I might miss one or 2 for a family wedding, birth or global event – 9 pts

Down to…

I don’t watch any – 0 pts

I’ll provide my scores so you can see what a shit fan I am – would love to know what the highest score is in the mailbox – I bet there’s a few high ones in there and probably lots as low as mine.

Criteria 1: I only went to Old Trafford once and that was an England game against Greece (2-2, thank you Becks), I grew up in the midlands so I’ll give myself 2 pts

Criteria 2: I live in Cape Town now so I get a big fat 0 there

Criteria 3: 35 years so I at least get 7 pts there

Criteria 4: In the past would have got 9 or 10 here but adulting gets in the way now, as does an often terrible playing style (plastic attitude, I know) means I’m probably an 8 now.

To turn this in an OPTA style, divide my 17 by 4 gives me an out of 10 fans rating of 4.25

I didn’t want to add things like travelling to European games or going to finals as that doesn’t apply to a lot of clubs. And unfortunately, all of us Ex-pats or foreigners on the site are going to score low for number 1 but that’s our fault for prioritising work or lifestyle or circumstances above footy.

How do you score? Did I miss any criteria? It should go without saying but if you’ve ever changed teams or support 2 teams in one city (I once knew someone who claimed to support Everton and Liverpool) then all criteria are overruled and you get 0 unless you can convince or bribe a 3 man panel of lifelong fans, all scoring 9+ on the scale otherwise.
Jon (6,170 miles from Old Trafford but the sun is shining in Cape Town)

 

Death or glory for Newcastle
As a Newcastle fan it’s never easy to remain calm about a takeover but this week has got me thinking that we’re probably looking at the biggest range of realistic fortunes of any Premier League team next season.

Even before this takeover noise I was quietly optimistic about next year. In Rafa stays, we have quite a good core of a team and second half of the season we were genuinely excellent – would have been top 4 since end of Jan. We have one of the best keepers in the league (look at Dubravka’s high claim stats, does so much more than shot stopping), a mean defence (Schar and Lejeune are seriously good), a great academy prospect in CM (Longstaff) and a nice mix of pace and skill in attacking positions (Almiron and Perez). With a Rondon (or similar) striker, some upgrades at wing back and a CM, we might be looking at a comfy top 10 finish and then let’s see… That sounds very optimistic, but remember the form guide since Almiron signed!

Then we get linked with this takeover and some actual money. Fans of opposition teams probably don’t appreciate how starved of investment Newcastle’s team is, but when we played Liverpool (and gave them a real good go), the whole 11 cost about £30m, less than we sold Sissoko for.

We’re not asking for billions, just a normal level of spend. Add that to this core and you start dreaming of top 4- Man U look awful, Chelsea may not have a team and Arsenal aren’t all that and you can paint this glorious picture where it happens (Although Leicester probably fancy it more).

On the other hand, this take over may be nonsense, Rafa may leave and we lose a couple of those players. Schar is a perfect signing for anyone looking for a ball playing CB and you could probably get him for £20m and Longstaff may yet go to Man U. Joselu and Gayle will not keep you in the league but if we don’t buy a striker, that is it. Suddenly you’re in the mix for relegation.

So, two huge parts to Newcastle’s story in the next few weeks – Rafa and Takeover = dream of top 6 versus No Rafa and No Takeover = relegation battle. It’s tenser than watching us play…
James, London

 

Where’s the love?
I’m a United fan and let me just say, I hate United at the moment.

I also hate UEFA.

Hate FIFA

Hate Azerbaijan

I hate City, PSG and their blood-stained Oil cash

I hate Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Spurs.

Hate racist fans in Italy and everywhere else

Hate Woodward

Hate the Glazers

I hate Raiola

I hate De Ligt

I hate Football Twitter

I hate football. Because, well, football appears to be broken.

Thanks,
Keenon (up the Proteas for the CWC)

 

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Graeme Souness doesn’t think Tottenham deserve to be in the Champions League final against Liverpool.

Spurs battled through to the final against all the odds to beat both Ajax and Manchester City on away goals but Souness points to the amount of games Spurs have lost to make his case.

Souness believes that Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been “fortunate” and that barely any of their side would get into Liverpool’s.

“Spurs shouldn’t be there,” Souness told Balls.ie. “You say to anyone at the start of the season a team is going to lose 19 games in all competitions, and yet they’ll find themselves in the final of Champions League, you’d say you are talking nonsense.

“But they’ve somehow got themselves there, and I think they are fortunate to be there.

“I think another way to look at it, I’m looking at it through the eyes mostly, of a Liverpool supporter, and I’d pose a question, if you were picking a team from the 22 players that were going to start the game, how many Spurs players would be in that 11?

“I’m thinking as we’re standing here, Eriksen possibly in midfield, and Harry Kane, then you’ve got nine Liverpool players. But the minute you try and attach any logic to a game of football, you come unstuck.”

 

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Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has moved to clarify the status of his attempted takeover at Newcastle.

A statement issued to Press Association Sport by the Bin Zayed Group, of which he is chairman, on Wednesday said: “In consideration of the numerous speculations in regards to the timelines of the acquisition of Newcastle United Football Club by Bin Zayed Group, we feel the need to issue this statement.

“Terms have been agreed between us and Mike Ashley; these terms have been reflected in a document, signed by both parties, which has been forwarded to the Premier League.

“The proof of funds statement was forwarded to Mike Ashley’s lawyers on April 17 2019.

“The so called fit-and-proper Premier League process is a standard procedure which will take time, and we are doing all we can to assist the Premier League during this process.

“We feel the need to clarify this point in order for the fans and the general public to understand the timelines.”

The Bin Zayed Group claimed on Monday that Sheikh Khaled had “agreed terms” to buy out current owner Ashley and was attempting to “complete the transaction at the earliest opportunity”.

As Newcastle fans celebrated, speculation mounted over Sheikh Khaled’s ability to push through a deal with previous bids led by Amanda Staveley and Peter Kenyon having ultimately come to nothing.

It is understood the Dubai-based businessman’s representatives are one of a series of interested parties currently in talks with Ashley, who bought the club for £134.4million in 2007.

 

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