Latest news with #GTO
Days of Palestine
a day ago
- Business
- Days of Palestine
Texas hold'em On-line poker 2025 Contrast an educated Hold'em Casino poker Web sites
I really like the fact that you have access to many free poker knowledge information via the RangeConverter website, along with maps. People that pay month-to-month gain access to thoughts-right up GTO variety training application to have an ever before-growing amount of things. Basically, the larger the package, the greater amount of preflop and blog post-flop things you have made GTO options for. Something else you to's neat on the RangeConverter would be the fact it links to many other common poker degree programs, along with PioSolver. The brand new gambling advantages from the research and you can test all greatest playing sites. Most gambling enterprises features casino poker dining tables otherwise casino poker bedroom where you can put your feel on the attempt facing most other professionals. We regularly come back to these elite group casino poker sites to ensure it take care of its higher criteria. We could possibly also add the brand new casino poker internet sites once they render a good world-category internet poker sense. Ignition Poker also provides a comprehensive set of games and you will incidents to possess the usa web based poker field. People will enjoy a lot of professionals by the signing up for it cards space, along with Jackpot Stand & Go Tournaments, Beast Bunch, and up to help you $dos,five-hundred in the weekly freerolls. In addition, Us poker fans can make the best from the experience due to the available Royal Clean and you can Bad Overcome incentives. This site's app has increased most within the last years to give a flawless game play and even better, the company has some of the biggest traffic from the United Claims. Giants Application Announces FarmCon twenty-five To arrive July Once you'lso are ready to move up, you can accept the brand new advanced programmes, which have good web based poker lessons recommendations out of most players. A good Tennessee accountant appropriately titled Chris Moneymaker acquired the country Collection away from Poker Fundamental Knowledge just after getting into the new contest thanks to a keen on line satellite. Exposure transmitted on the ESPN, and you can Moneymaker's facts turned into a nationwide obsession. The aim is to have the most powerful hands of 5 cards, or to end up being the last you to definitely staying in the fresh bullet. The new multiple betting rounds as well as the fact that you will see most of your rivals' notes make this a fantastic online game. Tips for To experience Casino games Instead Security Threats The brand new casino aids of a lot percentage tips, as well as popular possibilities including PayPal, debit cards, and Play+. Debit cards distributions are accomplished in one date, which is the quickest mastercard withdrawal there is certainly during the a All of us on-line casino. All of these finest have review DraftKings PA as one of the best paying web based casinos in america and also the better See online gambling websites. Bear in mind that the new virtual video game of poker is rather distinctive from the typical credit games you might be accustomed. That it casino poker webpages and you can mobile web based poker app are a tested and checked out Playtika unit, a comparable social Local casino monster you to definitely came up with uber-successful apps for example Slotomania and House out of Fun. Playing internet poker doesn't receive any smoother – without software to be installed, all web based poker games will likely be played directly from the online browser that you choose. Investigate breakdown of all the 100 percent free poker sites and you will remember look for more about the subject from the ratings authored on the all of our list of the top online poker web sites. The new profits to own video web based poker are different depending on the amount of gold coins without a doubt. EveryGame Web based poker Software supports antique web based poker variants, mainly Colorado Hold'em and you can Omaha, getting a substantial online game choice for profiles. Should i make a deposit playing video poker? Intended for each other beginners and you may knowledgeable professionals, i send sincere expertise designed to place you ahead of the package, without the distraction otherwise filler. Whenever we come across an alternative website we imagine you are going to take pleasure in, we add it to all of our set of necessary internet sites. Thus go to our profiles of your finest gambling enterprises to help you always stay up-to-date with an informed electronic poker web sites inside the Canada. You can rest assured real money video game are more fun and you may provide stress as you are risking something when to try out. Along with, your play for the ability to winnings real cash, and therefore can't be underestimated. To try out for real money will even allows you to availability all video game variations and invite one collect reward points. To try out Video poker 100percent free Versus. To play For real Money Whether or not your'lso are a new comer to cryptocurrency gaming otherwise an experienced athlete, you'll come across a fascinating number of dining tables. So it platform entices people as a result of normal rewards and you will unique campaigns such as because the daily bonuses, and this raise associate engagement and supply possibilities to victory a real income. When you are Coins is actually purely to possess enjoyment aim within the enjoy money online game, Sweeps Gold coins secure the potential to getting used the real deal dollars honours below particular standards. One of the standout popular features of Team Web based poker are its affiliate-friendly program, that's designed to offer a seamless gambling sense. If you'lso are to experience on the a desktop or mobile device, the working platform's advanced features ensure it is an easy task to navigate and enjoy your favorite poker online game. An individual-amicable program guarantees a smooth and you will fun playing feel, if your'lso are playing for the a pc otherwise mobile device. How to Enjoy PokerStars Enjoy in the You within the 5 Easy steps? A knowledgeable casino poker education application for people just who aren't always trying to find Game Idea Maximum (GTO) tips try Elite group College or university. Maker Charlie Carrel is a significant proponent out of to try out the person unlike focusing an excessive amount of to your mathematical principles. Hence, if you like the brand new psychological part of casino poker, Elite group College is an excellent alternative. Internet poker training schools including Elite group University and you may features totally free registration choices. All of our publication may also supply the lowdown about how to enjoy free video poker game, the newest give positions from electronic poker, finest ideas to winnings and more. If you would like end up being a profitable video poker player, see a method to reduce the home border to the games your play. Whilst not all campaigns are advantageous, some also offers makes it possible to earn, especially if he has a low rollover demands. Within publication, you'll discover no-rubbish actions, a dysfunction from popular online game, and you can pro tips about enhancing online casino bonuses to compliment your play. Knowing when you should increase, call, otherwise bend according to your role from the table tends to make a difference in your success. As the money is on your own online casino account, your website usually assess the benefit you're entitled to according to the commission they're also offering the profiles. By simply entering your own email address and you will code you could import real cash. Preflop charts are for sale to free and the most affordable direction starts at only $7, however, there are many different complex casino poker programs costing $999. With reduced control, people normally have couple streams to own recourse if they find points. Problems such delay costs, shortage of openness, and you may difficulties within the solving disputes are not uncommon. The global arrive at of Bitcoin casinos might seem countless, nevertheless's imperative to ensure that the gambling enterprise you choose accepts players out of your nation. Having differing regulations round the regions, you'll will not want any possible issues that you may arise out of country-certain limitations. You can use the new deuces to form people winning consolidation, however, the game has a double otherwise little incentive round in the the conclusion all the winning give. The requested really worth offers the user a high rates to conquer our house and you may gather payouts. We've looked large and you may low to find the best casino poker web sites to the the net, to create your all of our recommendations on sites to see correct today. Yet not, between all of the high poker other sites, there are a few rogue providers that greatest averted. View all of our blacklisted sites and find out those that to look out for. Choose a predetermined share per gambling class and you may adhere in order to it to avoid going after loss. Following, we provide your that have a listing of the imperative All of us web based poker websites that will be certain to give you with endless occasions from natural pleasure plus the better possibility to winnings. People of The united states have the most significant number of the if this comes to an educated You real cash casino poker internet sites. With many options avaiable, each poker pro create've questioned one time or another, 'And this internet sites are really the better? Learning the response to you to real question is zero effortless activity, however, fortunately to you personally, that's exactly where all of our systems is based on and what it on-line poker Us guide will help you go. All internet sites regarding the listing offer cellular web based poker software or platforms, in order to play with other casino poker people on the desktop computer, Android, and you can ios. To choose the better, look out for registered and you will safe websites having an enormous video clips casino poker game portfolio, a positive character, and a track record of maintaining reasonable gamble. Shortlink for this post:
New Statesman
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
Picnic at Hanging Rock's vision of girlhood
Photo by GTO / Album - Image Once voted the best Australian film of all time, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Peter Weir's 1975 film adaptation of the 1967 novel by Joan Lindsey, might seem, on the surface, an unconventional choice for a cinematic national treasure. Light on plot and vague in its explanations, it's a film of woozy, art-house strangeness. But the dream-like imagery and the mystery at its core cast a spell over viewers, and it became a key film of Australian New Wave cinema, helping drive forward a postwar cinematic boom. Fifty years on, both the novel and its cinematic sibling endure. Echoes of the film's distinct style can be found in everything from the films of Sofia Coppola to the fashion of Valentino, and even Gen Z's ultra-feminine 'coquette' fashion trend. Set in 1900 at an elite girls' boarding school in a remote corner of Australia, the story feels both specific and strangely timeless: a glimpse into a fleeting moment long gone, when Australia was still new to its colonisers and the larger world had so much to be discovered. Opening on Valentine's Day, the pupils at the school – an anachronistic, grand Victorian manor set in the outback – are dizzy with excitement at the prospect of a picnic on nearby natural monolith Hanging Rock. But this excitement is short-lived when three of the girls, and teacher Miss McCraw, mysteriously vanish while exploring. Though one, Irma, is later discovered alive by local boys Albert and Mike, their disappearances begin a chain of tragic events. Lindsay's book is brilliant in its weirdness. From the start, it envelops the reader with an all-knowing atmosphere of impending doom, inviting us to accept that there are mysteries we cannot comprehend. The film is one of those rare adaptations that remains uncannily faithful to the book, without being reductive. It's unusual to find the atmosphere of a novel captured onscreen; dialogue is lifted almost verbatim, and reading it after watching the film makes it difficult to entangle what has been seen, and what has been read on the page. It's only towards the end of the novel where book and film diverge, with the novel ramping up the tragedy and melodrama and pulling the threads of various subplots together. The film prefers to say less, to keep things simple. The 'exquisite languor' the novel describes, the textures on the page, translate perfectly to the screen – the film has lingered in our cultural imaginations in no small part due to its seductive aesthetic, its iconic visual language. The opening scenes are a riot of young girls lacing themselves into white corsets, surrounded by surfaces laden with trinkets. Miranda, one of the young women who goes missing, is described lovingly as a 'Botticelli angel'. They're almost smothered with girlish stuff – roses and cards and pressed flowers, all tastefully soft-lit. Yet under it all, there's a menacing sense of simmering passion. There's something febrile in the way the girls flock around each other, the unselfconsciousness with which tragic young orphan Sara Waybourne recites a love poem for Miranda. Modesty might dictate that they can only remove their gloves, due to the heat, once they've passed through the nearest town, but there's no placidity here, under the layers of frippery. Light floods every scene (until, in some of the grim final scenes, it doesn't). Golden and diffuse, deceptively gentle at times, it has a painterly quality. This isn't surprising, given the cinematography takes inspiration from the Australian impressionists of the late 1800s such as Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts, who portrayed the same kinds of surroundings that the girls would have moved through in hazy, shimmering brushstrokes. Corsets and long skirts, stockings and boots are woefully inadequate for an Australian summer, but shots of the girls lounging on baking rocks, or half-hidden by luscious ferns, are visually startling and lovely as well as historically accurate. As in many of these pictures, the contrast between these artificial refinements, and the landscape they're placed in, is jarring. Beyond the school and the surroundings of the rock are lawn parties, where a band plays 'God Save the Queen' and the guests drink champagne. These colonial trappings seem more than faintly absurd in the arid and mysterious surroundings. Meanwhile, back at the rock they cut into a heart-shaped Valentine's Day cake that would seem more at home at a child's birthday party, iced exuberantly and bursting at the seams. It is soon forgotten, swarmed by ants. Symbolism like this abounds: nature, despite attempts to colonise and tame it, is full of mysteries we can't even imagine – and arrogance can only lead to a downfall. The strange mix of unfamiliar nature and beribboned girlhood, enchant and disorient viewers. The experience of watching it is easy to submit to, as the sounds and images wash over the audience. Dialogue is spoken as if characters are in a trance, or reciting a prophecy. 'What we see, and what we seem, is but a dream: a dream within a dream,' a languorous voiceover intones at the start. The fragile pan pipes of the soundtrack lull us further. But there's a hallucinogenic shift when the girls reach the rock – the music building, synths operatic and soaring, as they leave their recognisable world behind, and we are plunged into the realm of the unknowable for the rest of the film. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe This central unknowability is compelling: not just the mystery of the missing girls, but both the film and the novel's attempts to grapple with a larger sense of the incomprehensibility of nature's vastness, and our relative tininess within the universe. Time is so flimsy; throughout the film and the book, the stopping of clocks is a regular motif. Irma comments, dreamily, on how the faraway people on the ground look like 'ants' from their vantage point on the rock, and how 'a surprising number of human beings are without purpose'. Unfathomable patterns are set in place, they are merely pawns within them. But they don't seem to be alarmed; Miranda, the enigmatic centre of their group, even seems to be prepared for her fate somehow, hinting to Sara that she will be gone soon, and murmuring, on the rock itself, 'Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place.' Girlhood then, in the film, is both a place of innocence and a place of tragic possibility. I felt it too, as a teenager living with one foot in the day-to-day life of rural Wales, and another in a dreamy universe of my own making, of all-consuming friendships, albeit with diaries and mixtapes in place of the pressed flowers and Valentine's cards strewn around the opening scenes of the film. In fields and school corridors I was often bored, but sometimes had the eerie, prickly feeling that there was more to the universe than met the eye. The girls who go missing do not seem quite of this world, with the preternatural beauty of cherubim and their strange, distant statements on time and human nature. Maybe it is this which allows them to vanish into thin air, some kind of receptiveness to mysteries beyond human comprehension. But there's no escaping a more prosaic kind of girlhood, the trappings of their social status as elegant young women-in-training. The vanishings grip the community around the school because of the beauty and youth of the girls. When Irma is found, the doctor assures the adults that she is 'intact'; Mrs Appleyard is surprised at the vanishing of Miss McCraw, thinking her 'masculine intellect' would surely render her immune to any mysterious silliness. Such an environment of repression is a perfect setting for hysteria to take hold. Perhaps it's this acknowledgement of girlhood's complexity that appeals to young women more than anything else in the film. When Irma returns to say goodbye to her friends she isn't greeted with love, but with a sullenness that erupts into hysterical violence, the girls descending upon her as if to tear her to shreds. On one hand, girlhood is ribbons and ruffles. On the other it's viciousness and strangeness. It contains an energy, always under the surface, that can't be repressed forever. Anyone who's ever been a teenage girl, or met one, can attest to that. The tension bubbles throughout the novel and film, and finally breaks through, with devastating effects. With everything falling apart, the film that started drenched in such sunny radiance tips into pure nightmare. Hints of psychedelia become stronger and more twisted, the colours grow darker. Mrs Appleyard descends into her own vortex of cruelty and madness, and the sense of claustrophobia as things crumble spectacularly is all the more powerful given how happy the earlier scenes were. One of the final images of the film – Mrs Appleyard sitting dressed in a lavish funeral outfit, the photographic negative of the white lace gowns elsewhere in the film, manic eyes fixed on an indeterminate point ahead of her – is deeply unsettling. Like the ants devouring the cake, there's a nastiness under the surface niceness of civilisation. One way to keep people invested in a mystery, enchanted by it, is to keep it very much as a mystery – we never find out what happened to the girls, either in the film or in the original edition of the novel. When an 'excised' chapter offering concrete explanations was published in 1987, the reaction was largely negative (I've read it; I wouldn't recommend it). Rewatching it, I was reminded of how fervently readers on social media have taken to the novel I Who Have Never Known Men, another story without a neat conclusion, in which the appeal is in the untangling of the universe's mysteries rather than a neat plot. Narrative-wise, there's always something appealing about a mystery we can feverishly speculate over ourselves. Perhaps it's best to leave some of them unsolved, with the beauty being in what's unknown, and in the interpretations that spring up around them. [See also: There is no contemporary fiction] Related
Daily Mirror
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Sinitta's heartache - 'I wanted to shut the world out'
80s pop icon Sinitta opens up about her new lease of life at 61 – from surviving devastating miscarriages and finding joy in adoption her now teenage twins, and falling in love again Pop star Sinitta, currently playing the formidable Mama Morton in Chicago The Musical , shot to fame as part of Stock Aitken Waterman's hit factory in the 80s. Becoming a household name with hits like So Macho, Toy Boy and GTO – she was Simon Cowell 's first recording star. In 2002, she married Andy Willner and after four months suffered multiple miscarriages followed by three failed attempts of IVF. In 2007, she adopted her two children, Zac and Magdalena, now 18. Here, Sinitta, 61, opens up exclusively to OK! about how the love of her children helped her through dark days, comforting Simon the day they heard the devastating news of the death of Liam Payne, and her new mystery man… Hi, Sinitta! You've got an exciting new role in Chicago. Now that your kids are teens, were you keen to return to your first love of musical theatre? Absolutely. I've turned down a lot of theatre jobs over the past few years. It just didn't feel fair to adopt two children, then be at the theatre every night. I would have missed out on bedtimes and bath times and their day-to-day life. I had such a difficult road to motherhood in the first place that I was determined to be there for them every morning. Now they're 18, they hardly have time for me. They are off doing their own thing, I guess just like I did when I was their age. So, I felt like I needed to get back to the work I adore – musical theatre. The very place I first started my career. Do you remember the day you brought Zac and Magdalena home for the very first time? It was extraordinary. I spent months filling out forms, going to interviews. Then suddenly, because they were very young, we were immediately given a date to pick them up. I met them two weeks before I walked out with them in my arms. It felt very strange, surreal – as if I were a stranger stealing children. They told me not to drive, in case I got disoriented having them in the car for the first time. They were right, because I nearly drove down a one-way street the wrong way. It goes without saying, it was a beautiful day and one I will never, ever forget. That must have been ex tra special, after your previous heartbreak trying to have a baby? As I get older, I do tend to reflect on the sad things that happened in the past. Back then, I just pushed all the painful things to the back of my mind. I think, what would have happened if I had had those children that I lost through miscarriage? I then wouldn't have had Zac and Magdalena. So, I do think about that because when you go through something like a miscarriage it's so all-consuming at the time. Was it one of the most difficult moments in your life? Oh, it was hard to breathe. I wanted to curl up in a ball and shut the world out – so perhaps it's only natural those thoughts come back to haunt you, later. The day I adopted my kids I had a reason to live. It's not the British way to talk about things. When people asked how I was, I'd say, 'Oh, I'm fine.' You're too scared to say, well, as a matter of fact, I've just lost a child – in case people are horrified. Nowadays, it's different because people are prepared to discuss mental health. They are more understanding that we don't all live perfect lives. You first met Liam Payne on The X Factor when he first auditioned at the age of 14. Can you tell us about hearing the sad news of his death? On the night it happened I had gone to bed early but left my phone on in the other room. I kept hearing it clicking with new messages. In the morning, I saw the messages and was in complete shock. I literally couldn't speak. It was like living through a nightmare. To me, he was still that little boy who made it all the way to Barbados [for The X Factor 's Judges' Houses] because he was determined to be on the show. Simon and I loved him and begged him to come back when he was 16 – which he did and ended up being the lead singer in One Direction. You never expect anyone younger than you to suddenly die. All I could think about was Cheryl [Tweedy, Liam's ex-girlfriend] and Bear [Liam's son with Cheryl]. Did you speak to Simon that day? Later that day I reached out to Simon, and he was absolutely devastated. I hadn't heard him so upset since his mum died. He sobbed down the phone to me. He couldn't contain his emotions – it was hard to know what to say to him. It was very brave of him to be able to go to the funeral and comfort Liam's parents. You made your name in the 1980s. How do you look back on your first single, So Macho, shooting to the top of the charts? I recently starred in Now That's What I Call A Musical – all set in the 1980s, so I play myself. I dragged out all my original costumes, the white plaits (because my mother wouldn't allow me to bleach my hair!). All that made me think back to those early days. It was an extremely happy time in my life. I loved the innocence of that era. We didn't think the single would sell the way it did – but people were pre-ordering it at record shops, so Simon had to find another pressing plant to press more records overnight. In the end, we got to No2 in the charts and stayed there for weeks. In 1985, in your early twenties, you starred with David Essex in the musical Mutiny. You went on to have an 18-month romance with him, didn't you? It was amazing. That was my breakout part. I was sharing the stage with West End royalty. And yes, David and I grew close and started dating. When I was young, all I dreamed of was doing musical films like Grease and Fame. When I first met Simon, I was doing Little Shop Of Horrors , and he came to see me in it – he became fascinated with musical theatre. We know you have a new man in your life, too. Are you happy? I am in a happy place. I'd been happily single for eight years. In a way, lockdown was a blessing as I got to know myself and missed having a partner. I'd go walking and think, this would be nice if I had someone to walk beside me. So I joined some dating apps, which was a disaster because some blokes just thought I was a 'fake' Sinitta. Then I met someone lovely – but didn't immediately think was right for me as he wasn't my usual type. But that was part of the magic. He's a lovely, normal person who makes me laugh. So, at last I think, I have found someone I can love.
NZ Autocar
04-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
1994 Mitsubishi GTO
During the late 80s and early 90s, we got a slew of great performance cars originating from the Land of the Rising Sun. With a booming economy and sake flowing freely at planning meetings, nothing was deemed too outrageous. The marketers and bean counters let the engineers go crazy, who were keen to show the automotive world that Japan could be innovators. Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Mazda were all in on it, as was Mitsubishi. The R&D department at the diamond brand was not only busy developing cars to win rallies, but also concocting a technological showpiece, which we came to know as the GTO. Launched in October 1990, Mitsubishi called its GTO a 'new-age super four-wheel drive sports car'. Up front was a new 3.0-litre intercooled twin-turbo V6 engine, making the gentleman's agreement max of 206kW with a handy 417Nm of torque flowing from 2500rpm. The entry-level model made do with a naturally aspirated version making 168kW and 275Nm, helped along by electronically-controlled variable inlet valve system. For convenience's sake, this could be had with a four-stage auto, while the twin-turbo was paired exclusively with a Getrag five-speed manual. Helping ground the power, the GTO enjoyed a fulltime four-wheel drive system using a viscous coupling centre differential splitting the torque 45:55 front to rear. While the MacPherson struts up front weren't overly sophisticated, the GTO did enjoy a double wishbone type arrangement at the rear. And the suspension was electronically controlled, adjusting the damping rates in its Tour and Sport modes. Helping it round up the bends, Mitsubishi gave it a four-wheel steering system, the rear wheels moving in the same direction as those up front at 'mid- to high-speed'. A neat addition was the Active Aero System, automatically lowering the front 'venturi cover' and adjusting the rake of the rear spoiler at speeds above 80km/h. And don't forget the Active Exhaust System, re-routing the spent gases either through or bypassing the rear silencer for a louder or quieter exhaust note. The GTO was not a JDM special; Mitsi exported it to the US as the 3000GT VR-4, and it sold the car in Europe too. The car was also reskinned as the Dodge Stealth for US consumption (Mitsubishi and Chrysler had ties back then). In production for over a decade, the Series 2 model debuted in 1994, which saw the car's pop-up headlights replaced by fixed projector beam units along with a new bumper. The twin-turbo gained a six-speed manual while from 1996 the V6 got a torque bump with the new MIVEC valve timing tech. To remain competitive on pricing, Mitsubishi also began stripping away some of the tech highlights, phasing out the active exhaust and adaptive dampers in 1995 and the active aero a year later. A couple of variations on the GTO included the MR, a JDM-specific model essentially stripped of the gizmos to add lightness. Deleted from the spec was the rear-wheel steering, ABS, electronic suspension and active spoilers. It had a revised final drive to help improve acceleration, while uprated AP brakes were an option. In the US, a limited run of Spyder models was created, Mitsubishi working with a third party engineering firm to create a convertible model with a folding hardtop. Our example here is a 1994 model that has lived an easy life with just a few owners and only 42,000km on the clock. It was snapped up by its new owner as something a bit different. And they are hard to come by in such good, original condition. As the owner says, the brand of car doesn't matter so long as it is original, has low mileage and a bit of character. And while the GTO was a common sight a decade or so ago (mainly the NA auto type), they are rare now. Open the bonnet, and the 2972cc 6G72, narrow-angle V6 lies transversely across the bay, sitting up high and in front of the axle. Like the rest of the car, it's super clean under here. The under-bonnet heat shields are a little more robust than usual, suggesting the turbos generate some warmth. Turbo tech was a little fragile in its infancy. The handbook stresses to change the oil at the recommended intervals to avoid turbo damage. Other tips to prolong turbo life, according to the manual, include avoiding sudden acceleration or unnecessary revving when the engine oil is cold, and letting it idle for at least one minute before shutting it off after it has been driven at speed. The GTO has quite squat proportions; it's wide, sitting on a short wheelbase. It's not quite as cool without the pop-up lights but the 17s (shod with 235/45 rubber) look good, as do the numerous slots and vents about the bodywork. This has all the mod cons inside, the seat with a power slider, along with adjustable bolstering, also powered It's quite wide too, designed with the American market in mind perhaps. There is a liberal sprinkling of buttons on the dash and console, with switches for the exhaust, aeros, cruise control. The double DIN audio cassette deck takes up a fair chunk of the centre stack while the gauge pod at the top keeps an eye on oil and water temperature, the time and the all-important boost pressure. Its steering wheel is large with stubby spokes as the airbag contraption dominates. Trimmed in grey fabric with matching grey plastics and that unmistakable JDM interior aroma, it's all so nineties. Under the large glass liftback, the boot is shallow but wide, and you can fold the two rear seats. These offer next to no leg room being of the +2 variety. While this example hasn't travelled to the moon and back (that would see 765,000km on the odo), the shocks have been replaced, and are no longer of the adaptive kind. And it seems the exhaust mode button no longer does its trick either. But the aero gizmo still works, the rear spoiler changing its angle of attack visibly in the rear mirror and with an accompanying whirring. There's lots of turbo-fed midrange torque, at least once the V6 winds up past two and a half thousand that is, and then it's on. The engine's not a quick revver but spins toward 7000rpm without getting breathless. Kept above 3000rpm, the response is okay, and while it's not the most sonorous six ever, it's nice to be able to hear it over the road noise. While the six-speeder doesn't like to be rushed, it can be guided easily to the next gate where it slots a higher ratio without an excess of notchiness. The steering isn't quite the precision instrument, but the GTO turns in nicely. It loads up in the corner and transmits all the road below, the good and the bad, though manages to keep the ugly rack rattle at bay. You can also feel the input from the rears as well through some corners, usually when you've given the steering a bit more lock. The GTO gets a bit of a lean on heading into the bends but then settles itself well enough to track through untroubled. The ride is accommodating and when the boost hits the GTO sinks back on its rears and proves reasonably quick, despite its 1680kg weight. And that mass probably lends to its comfort quotient. There's not too much in the way of rattle and shake through the cabin when it rumbles over the bumps. As the name suggests, it's a comfortable and quick GT type of car, one that probably suited American tastes quite well, where it sold in reasonable numbers. While it's not in the same realm as the other Japanese manufacturers' halo products of the era, it's not nearly as expensive either. This one traded hands in the low $30k bracket, making it quite the bargain in the scheme of things.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge Halts Federal Scrutiny of $200 Transactions
Among the many intrusions of the federal government into our lives is the requirement that cash transactions of $10,000 or more be reported to the authorities. It's just one exercise in surveillance of our lives that should be done away with. But instead of abolishing currency transaction reports, the federal government recently lowered the reporting threshold to $200 in some border areas. Fortunately, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the order in California while legal challenges move forward. "Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) to further combat the illicit activities and money laundering of Mexico-based cartels and other criminal actors along the southwest border of the United States," the U.S. government's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced March 11. "The GTO requires all money services businesses (MSBs) located in 30 ZIP codes across California and Texas near the southwest border to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) with FinCEN at a $200 threshold, in connection with cash transactions." A decade ago, the policy change might have been justified in the name of fighting terrorists; these days, the feds fret over criminal cartels (although, as Reason's Joe Lancaster reported, President Donald Trump split the difference by designating cartels as terrorists). But no matter who government officials claim to be targeting, the burden of compliance always falls on individuals and small businesses. The change is a big one. Prior to the March 11 announcement, the threshold had been set at $10,000 since 1972. The dollar has lost much of its purchasing power since then, meaning that more and more transactions are subject to the reporting requirement, increasing the burden of compliance. "The inflation-adjusted threshold in 2023 would have been about $72,880," a December 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report observed. "Using an inflation-adjusted threshold would have reduced the number of CTRs filed by at least 90 percent annually since 2014." Not only are Americans suffering under intrusive paperwork, but law enforcement is trying to drink from a firehose of reports. "Law enforcement agencies accessed less than 3 percent of CTRs filed from 2014 through 2023," the GAO added. But instead of eliminating or streamlining the reporting requirement, the feds lowered the threshold. That means much more paperwork for everybody in the affected ZIP codes. "Esperanza Gomez and Arnoldo Gonzalez, Jr. run small businesses near the U.S.-Mexico border that provide everyday, small-dollar financial services—often for customers without bank accounts," the Institute for Justice noted in an April 15 press release about a lawsuit challenging the lowered reporting threshold. "While $10,000 is a large amount to Esperanza and Arnoldo's customers—Esperanza's business, for instance, has never had a transaction that large—lowering the threshold to $200 will mean that almost every transaction triggers a report. The reports require detailed information including birthdates, Social Security numbers, and home addresses." Each report takes Gomez and Gonzalez 20 minutes to file, which means hours of extra work every day. Meanwhile, any actual criminals interested in evading the reporting requirement can take their business to a ZIP code outside the affected area. The excessiveness of the policy change proved persuasive to U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino of the Southern District of California. On Tuesday, she issued a temporary restraining order that applies to enforcement of the reporting threshold change in the California ZIP codes. "Sammartino ruled that the San Diego plaintiffs, Gomez and her business, Novedades y Servicios Plus, 'have demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their claims,'" reports Alex Riggins of The San Diego Union-Tribune. "The plaintiffs had argued that the geographic targeting order was unlawfully issued without undergoing the notice-and-comment procedures prescribed by federal law and that the rule is arbitrary and capricious under federal law." "The government's order enlists these businesses to carry out an unprecedented and sweeping government surveillance system, and buried them in paperwork in the process," commented Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Rob Johnson. "We are grateful for this temporary relief and will continue to fight to make it permanent." The plaintiffs plan to request an extended restraining order that will remain in place for the duration of litigation. Ultimately, they hope to entirely overturn the lowered reporting requirement. Earlier this month, financial services businesses along the Texas border won a more-targeted restraining order against the government that temporarily relieves them of the burden of compliance while their lawsuit proceeds. One of the plaintiffs in that case pointed out that many of his competitors are located on the Mexican side of the border, beyond the reach of U.S. government reporting requirements. In a May 2024 piece for Reason, Nicholas Anthony and Naomi Brockwell pointed out that financial surveillance has become increasingly intrusive in recent decades with relatively little pushback relative to other forms of government snoopiness. "Compared to today, customers in the 1970s had far more freedom in opening accounts and interacting with their own money. Back then, the decision to transact with a bank could be based on the cash in one's pocket," they wrote. "Transactions were not scrutinized for threats of terrorism or drug trafficking. Customers were not legally required to supply a photo ID to set up an account." Change, and the erosion of financial privacy, came with the passage of the Bank Secrecy Act, they added. Inflation has further extended the government's reach by applying what were once high-dollar thresholds for scrutiny to relatively common transactions. Along with the Biden administration's aborted attempt to monitor cash flows of as little as $600, the recent FinCen reduction of the reporting threshold to $200 makes it clear that government officials want to know where our money is at all times. Hopefully, more forceful pushback against financial surveillance will begin with the temporary restraining order in California and its companion in Texas. The post Judge Halts Federal Scrutiny of $200 Transactions appeared first on
