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According to the Texas Department of Transport, there were 208,000 crashes on the roads of the Lone Star State in 2020 – a significant increase over previous years. This is the case despite there being far less traffic on the roads for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown measures. Emergent statistics from the first half of 2021 indicate that this trend of increasing danger on the roads is continuing. This is a serious problem. Traffic accidents are one of the most common causes of death for people aged between 1 and 50 in the USA. What, then, are the causes of this Texan accident boom, and what can be done about it?

Causes

Early in the lockdown, it was clear that some people had changed their driving habits. Speed-related accidents increased, as did distracted driving-related accidents. Seatbelts were worn less. All of this has contributed to the increased number of accidents in the state. Anybody buying car insurance in El Paso TX, or any other Texan city will have noticed increases in charges related to the general increase in accidents on the road. Everybody loses when accident number increase.

Speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence remain the most common causes of accidents in the state of Texas.

Solutions

There have been many proposed solutions to the rise in vehicle accidents in Texas – and indeed around the United States during 2020. Texas is one of the most lenient states in the country when it comes to enforcing traffic safety. It is one of the only states that does not have a distracted driving law preventing people from using mobile phones on the road. Putting a law in place to stop drivers from using phones at the wheel may prevent accidents, but it would certainly rub some Texans – famous for their distrust of big government – the wrong way. It would certainly be worth rubbing people the wrong way to prevent accidents, but politicians, unfortunately, have votes to protect.

Smart roads may be one solution to increasing accident figures. Smart roads are essentially connected roads: vehicles, road sensors, and traffic control elements all communicate and share data in order to improve road safety. A huge amount of investment is being made into smart roads all around the world.

Regardless of the solutions to the sheer number of accidents, the fact remains that some crashes are inevitable. Preventing serious injury and death during crashes is one of the most challenging tasks for the Texas Department of Transport. There is one factor in many of the road fatalities that can and should be rectified: a huge quantity of the fatalities on Texas roads befell people that were not wearing seatbelts. While it is true that seatbelts can cause secondary injuries in car crash victims, they are also extremely good at preserving those same people’s lives. According to the CDC more than half of the fatalities on the road in the United States involve people that were not wearing their seatbelts. Seatbelts also reduce the likelihood of serious injury during a crash by about 50 percent.

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Real money online gambling can offer some fabulous rewards if you get lucky. Or if you’re highly skilled at a game like poker where you can clean up against players from all over the world. However, there are some risks involved as well, such as winding up at a disreputable online casino or having your financial details compromised.

The only way to eliminate the risks and enjoy all of the great advantages that playing online is known for, is by choosing only the most highly rated and recommended online casinos. For instance, 1xbet NZ has built up a stellar reputation for just about every important element of online casino entertainment.

If you’re thinking of giving it a try for yourself, here are a few pointers on how to choose the best option.

Think About What You Expect from the Experience

Naturally, you probably want to win some money while partaking in games you genuinely enjoy playing. However, you should consider what form you want this to take. For instance, are you an avid slots player dreaming of the moment you hit that life-changing jackpot? Or do you consider yourself a poker or blackjack shark that has the skills necessary to win loads of cash?

There is a the perfect place for you online no matter what type of player you are. So, your only goal is to make sure you’re choosing the ultimate destination. Some casinos are known for massive jackpots and hundreds of slots. While some have poker rooms frequented by pros from all over the globe.

Research the Leading Casinos

Some casinos are so good and well-known that they are hard to miss online. Regardless, it’s always worthwhile to do a few minutes of research to avoid any future hassles or mishaps. In terms of research, all you really need to do is read up on what players and reviewers have to say about the leading sites in your area.

You should also ensure you’re never trusting a casino with your information unless it is fully legitimate. For instance, any type of real money betting requires licensing and regulation. Which you can easily find out online before you join.

Compare Bonus Offers

Everybody’s favorite thing about online casinos is that they offer bonuses that land-based casinos could never. For example, most slots sites will give you a number of free spins, and casinos will even match your first, or first few deposits with credit to use as you like.

These bonuses are worth comparing to ensure you’re getting the deal that matches you best. If you’re a frequent player then meeting the wagering requirements are usually a breeze. But if you don’t play that often, look for no-deposit bonuses or offers that have very low rollovers for the best value.

Moreover, new member bonuses are not the only things you should pay attention to. You should also compare the loyalty programs and what you stand to gain as an active member at the casino.

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Sports betting is one of the many aspects of human life that has undergone a massive digital revolution with the impact being witnessed and felt everywhere.

The practice of predicting possible outcomes of a sports event and placing a wager on it has passed through numerous technological advances throughout the years. Thanks to innovation, the industry is ever-evolving and growing, with new ideas and tricks being added to the rules of the game and improvements in user experience.

This has seen online betting growing in popularity as staking is made easy and quick and payouts more instant. As far as the trends in technology and innovation go, the internet was the groundbreaking technology that revolutionized the sports betting industry.

It gave gamblers the flexibility to play anywhere anytime without needing to visit a betting location. But before we dive deeper, in this article, let us go back to history when online betting became a thing and which technology revolutionized the industry.

The Beginning

The sports betting industry has been around for quite some time. Hundreds of years actually. However, it was not until the 1960s, when the gambling legislation was passed, that it started to transition into what we know of it today.

The legislation saw the rise in bookmarkers and the idea of betting in a betting shop. The computer revolution took off in earnest in the 1970s. Games like “Pong” and “Space Invaders” were introduced as mainstream computer beings alongside slot games, giving rise to the main groundbreaking technology: arcade technology.

Arcade Technology

With arcade technology came several microchip-based games that included horse or motor racing. The games involved players backing 10 runners or vehicles against at least six competitors by placing a wager in the spot or car they wanted to bet on.

The race, a mechanical cum microprocessor event, would begin after a set time. After the race, the winner would be declared, and their winnings paid out through a slotted tray, much like a slot machine.

The machine was an analog version of what would become a virtual slot machine applying the same principles of the game, such as wager amount, placing odds, choosing the winner, and payouts.

However, arcade technology grew less and less popular with the arrival of video games around the 1980s which paved the way for virtual sports betting.

Rise In Computer Games And Virtual Sports Betting

Around the 1980s, the boom in computer games played a significant role in shaping how people played sports betting. Personal computers became widely used and affordable through such machines as ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and BBC Micro.

Toward the end of 1980s, computers and computer games were booming businesses and with them. Came more innovations and advancements in virtual gaming. By the 1990s, online sports betting gained traction alongside video games as new features and software were being launched every day.

By 2003 online sports betting was a booming industry, with many betting sites like UK non-Gamstop sites springing up and providing more extensive and better virtual gaming offerings.

As mobile technology advanced and internet speed increased, online sports betting became a respected and influential industry that’s now earning players, bookmakers, and governments millions of dollars in profits and revenue.

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Manchester United have arguably massively outperformed the expectations most of the footballing world had reserved for them at the start of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign. Following a transfer window that saw a plethora of players coming in that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn’t particularly want (see Edinson Cavani, Donny van de Beek and Alex Telles), and a whole host of other players that he did want, but the club were unable to bring in.

To therefore have Champions League football all but guaranteed with six games remaining in the season is a serious achievement whichever way you look at it. Manchester United have never managed successive top four finishes since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, so Solskjaer is well worth the new contract extension he is sure to be announced as having signed.

However, with the fallout of the failed European Super League project, things are looking ominous for United ahead of the 2021/22 campaign. Here are some reasons why, as things stand, 2021/22 could be a tough year for United fans.

Trimming The Fat 

Eric Bailly, a hardly called upon injury-prone third choice centre back, has just signed a contract extension which is the latest example of the club keeping a hold of players that most other top teams would be cutting from their team. It’s ruthless, but it’s the way the top clubs in the world that dominante the football spread markets (aka. the clubs that Manchester United should be aspiring to compete with) ensure they are always in peak condition.

A good example of this in action is with Manchester City’s recent announcement that all time leading goalscorer and club legend Sergio Aguero will be leaving at the end of the season. The 32 year old is still a fine footballer in his own right and only just entering the part of his career where injuries begin to pose a sizeable threat, and yet Pep Guardiola has already sidelined him from most of his starting lineups and preparing for life without a man once thought undroppable.

Given the fact that Manchester United have recently given new contracts to the likes of Phil Jones and Juan Mata, and still have the likes of Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira, Nemanja Matic and Sergio Romero on the books currently, it raises an important question over how ruthless United want to be, and why they always seem to be looking around for some extra cash when the transfer window opens up.

On top of that, not only are United so willing to offer big contracts to those in their ranks who would probably be best off leaving the club, but there seems to be a real issue with holding down the assets they do possess. Ander Herrera, arguably United’s most passionate and consistent midfielder, was allowed to run down his contract in 2018/19 and has since gone onto appear in consecutive Champions League semi-finals with Paris Saint-Germain, and Paul Pogba is on the cusp of following suit as he enters the final year of his deal.

Overly Protected Defence = Same Old Playstyle 

Few clubs in the world of football have a sense of identity that is as important as Manchester United. The ‘United Way’ has been a part of the club’s DNA for decades upon decades now, and a failure to live up to this identity in the way in which their clubs took to the pitch was a huge contributing factor behind both Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho losing their jobs.

Not only is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a legend at Manchester United because of his goal scoring prowess, but has surrounded himself with the likes of Michael Carrick and Mike Phelan, two coaches who should also know the importance of giving the fans the fast-flowing attacking football they have become so used to over the years.

And whilst the initial part of Solskjaer’s reign and post-lockdown run to a 3rd place finish in 2019/20 certainly housed a plethora of performances that were as good as anything Sir Alex could have put out, 2020/21 has been filled with grindy, results-first approaches that seem more focused with protecting the defence and nicking games by the odd goal.

Once fans return to grounds, it’s clear that this approach will not be tolerated for too long.

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Whilst we are all aware of the phenomenal and arduous work that the brilliant healthcare workers have been doing during this crisis, it is also important to recognize some of the unsung heroes of this pandemic. Today we are going to be focusing on one of those unsung heroes and that is the great work which waste management services like Diamond Environmental Services have been doing during the last 12 months. We may not have seen the work that they have been doing but they, much like those healthcare workers have been working around the clock to try and keep us safe and to try and limit the spread of this nasty virus which has gripped the world.

Here is how they have been doing their bit.

Cleaning the Streets

If you have seen anyone on the streets, dressed up in their hazmat suits and spraying surfaces, those are the people who we are talking about. These men and women have bene hired by local governments to keep our streets clean and sanitized and the number of infections which they will have reduced as a reason for this is incalculable, but certainly huge.

Support With Advice

There is no way that businesses and business owners have become overnight experts on the spread of germs and bacterias, but they have been forced into a position where they had to know. how to deal with it. In such scenarios these businesses discuss things with companies who are experts in it, much like a company which specializes in environmental services and waste management. These businesses have been sharing their knowledge in order to help so many industries to keep their customers safe and to keep their staff safe too.

Hospital Support

It is not just that hospitals have been overwhelmed which is the issue, but also that so many staff inside the hospital have been forced into self-isolation as a result of them getting the Covid virus. This is yet another area where these environmental services have been able to step in and offer their expertise and their manpower to support those hospitals who have found things difficult. This doesn’t get spoken abut too much but the small jobs which the companies inside this industry have been doing have been fantastic and incredibly helpful for those who are facing difficulties.

Hotels and Rentals

Without waste management services the travel and tourism industry would have faced even bigger problems and many more businesses would have been forced to close their doors. The reality is that these companies have been critical to allowing businesses in this industry to open back up and to receive guests again. They have done this thanks to their help in training staff and of course offering their services for cleaning, sanitization and waste management.

As you can see, these are very much one of the unsung heroes of this pandemic and their work has been absolutely crucial for so many.

 

I always think that football predictions are hilarious because at the beginning of the season you sit down and you make all of these guesses and predictions, and then after a couple of months you realize just how little you actually know about the sport. At the beginning of this season I sat down with football writer Cash Myricks and we had our own try at picking out the winner of this season’s Premier League. I have to be honest and say that I picked Chelsea for it, and Cash went with Liverpool.

Now the league is tighter than it usually is at this stage of the season, but it is fair too ay that my Chelsea pick is not looking too good, and losing a manager may come before their title challenge. Cash’ guess is still in with a shout, but at this halfway point I’ll make another bold claim, and say that Manchester City will run away with this title, and here is why.

Mojo Back

Pep Guardiola may not have understood what was meant by the word ‘mojo’ when asked in an interview last month, but the truth is that this is a team which has its mojo back, and everyone should be scared by that. When this City squad feel confident, everyone should quake in their boots.

Defensive Frailties

Much has been made about the amount of money that Pep has spent on that defense and at the beginning of the season they were seriously shipping goals. The resurgence of John Stones however has put a stop to those goals leaking and this is now a City team which can attack with so much more confidence, knowing that they have a solid backline to rely on should they lose the ball.

Kevin de Bruyne

There is simply no better midfielder in world football right now than Kevin de Bruyne and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he will lead City to this title. There seems to be absolutely nothing that KDB cannot do and that is what is inspiring this City team to perform in the way that they are. Short of an injury to the Belgian, he will be leading this City team to great things this season.

Under The Radar

It seems that we have found the perfect position for Pep Guardiola and that is being written off and at the back. Because of the way that City’s games have fallen, it has meant that they had a number of games in hand throughout the beginning of the season. This, coupled with some poor results left the team way behind, yet they have come steamrolling forward and now they look set to take top spot.

Much was made of Guardiola’s men, but as we can clearly see, they are coming for the crown and nobody is going to be able to stop them, at least this is how I see the season panning out now.

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If you are involved with event management in any way shape or form, you are going to recognise the importance of access control in your job. You need to make sure that you have a plan for access control laid out in your wider decisions for the event. Let’s take a look at why.

Easy to Organise

Firstly, access control for a business or function is actually incredibly easy to organise. You just need to make sure that you arrange it ahead of time so that you have the equipment you need. There are many products that you can use for a big event, but often for something of this scale, a wristband can be best. It should slip discretely beneath the uniform of staff, and would potentially give them hands-free access to staff-only areas.

You can find some great examples here: https://www.idcardsdirect.co.uk/. Investing in equipment like this can be brought from event to event, or even added to what is available at the venue if you permanently run events from there. It is accessible and easy to organise, and will prove its worth time and time again over multiple events.

Staff Only Areas

With event management, it is important to designate some areas as staff only. These tend to be places like back-corridors, catering facilities, and back-stage areas. Event attendees should not be able to get here without the help of a staff member. Of course, that doesn’t always stop them. Whether it is by accident or deliberately, events always seem to come with attendees ending up in places where they should not be.

Access control stops them from doing that. Rather than missing or ignoring a staff-only sign, they won’t be able to get through the door in the first place. It will help the staff keep their areas well-organised and able to run smoothly, so the attendees can all have a good time outside.

Security

Sometimes, access control is necessary for security reasons. You might have something planned like a pyrotechnic show to help wow the guests and pull an event to a close. If you work with bands or other celebrities to put on events, you need to be able to provide them with a safe green room they can relax in before and after the show.

Security is key here, as it helps to keep the guests away from important parts of the show like this. Access control is crucial in keeping everyone where they are supposed to be, and it is a part of your job as an event planner that you can’t ignore.

To have a successful event, you need to ensure that everyone is going to be in the right places at the right time. While you do want this to be as organic as possible, you will need some tools and helping hands to help you make it happen. Mastering access control and putting it to work in just the right places will be the step that you need.

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Games are one of the most desired and entertaining source of people. There are thousands of people who prefer playing online games and make a lot of fun. You never have to be worry if you don’t know the way you can play online games. Moreover, most of them are just for fun whereas some of these games may include gambling, betting and even winning real money. If you are one of the casino lovers, you may really want these games to come online and let you play with the real people so you could win real cash using all the experience and strategy you used to do in the casino.

If you are still looking for a website that could let you make the real usage of your money over their online platform, These games are highly optimized so you don’t need to be worry about their mechanism or even programming because this is always an easy task for everyone to do. You can easily compare this with the normal perspective so you could make sure how the things are going to be done without wasting more of your times.

How to participate in these events?

If you are keen to join the online events in order to win the real cash, you can easily participate in the events that are organized there in these places. Going online is always being the first choice for you because this is something that you need to take care if you don’t want to waste more of your times.

• You can visit here on the website and register yourself with some basic information there.
• Once, you get registered, you can easily get interfered in the section of events and games so you could get to know about the pricing of those events.
• You can participate in those events and invest your amount to win in those games.
• Getting proper strategy will increase the chances of your winning so you could get the money yours and deliver the best choice at the same time.

Remember, you don’t invest a large amount or even invest everything at once because you need to have a backup amount every time.

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Armed conflict in the Middle East and North Africa has disrupted daily life for decades, but in the midst of March 2020, a global emergency brought fighting to a temporary halt in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen. Civil unrest in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and even Iran also subsided as public health officials implemented national quarantines, curfews, and travel restrictions as part of their efforts to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.

The last two incidents involving military action before the Middle East went into lockdown took place in Iraq. Radical militias supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps launched Katyusha rockets at military bases in Iraq; these attacks resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and a British medic. Dozens of Iraqi coalition troops were injured in the attack, and the United States retaliated with airstrikes targeting facilities used by the militants.

Under “normal” circumstances, the aforementioned attacks should have triggered street protests in Iraq and Iran. Many Iraqis feel that the presence of American forces in their country has become a dangerous liability; at the same time, they are tired of Iranian intervention. In the Islamic Republic, many people are dismayed at their government’s support of foreign radical groups at a time when the country is going through economic chaos. These protests did not materialize because of the COVID-19 situation, and some geopolitical analysts believe that some leaders in the Middle East dodged a bullet because the region seems to be on the verge of another Arab Spring.

For millions of people in the Middle East, the coronavirus pandemic could not have come at a worse time. This is a crisis that requires management by assertive leaders who can count on robust public health systems, and this is unfortunately not the case for countries such as Iran, where the government has been accused of withholding information and reacting poorly. The Islamic Republic has barely recovered from a rash of deadly protests that resulted in multiple deaths and hundreds of serious injuries, and millions of Iranians must now contend with a government that seems to be ill-prepared to handle a public health crisis.

It is important to remember that the Iranian people have endured nearly two years of stringent economic sanctions imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. There has never been a more opportune time to set aside differences and ease sanctions on Iran. Amir Handjani, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote about the immediate need for the Trump administration to realize that American commitment to humanitarian trade with Iran has been ignored for too long.

On paper, each sanction imposed by the U.S. has a set of exceptions with regard to food and medicine; the idea is to avoid civilian populations from being cut off, thus averting socioeconomic catastrophes. In reality, humanitarian trade becomes almost impossible to achieve because each sanction comes with byzantine layers of bureaucratic complexity. The process of importing food, medicine, and even hygiene items into Iran is often Kafkaesque; this is not supposed to happen under policy managed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency in charge of overseeing sanctions, and it has been admonished by the United Nations.

Economic sanctions are far more complex than how they are reported by news media outlets; they extend to other countries and are made more draconian by secondary mechanisms. It is clear that American companies cannot export goods to the Islamic Republic, but secondary sanctions tend to ensnare foreign entities and individuals as well. In some cases, Middle Eastern exporters and distributors prefer to not do business with Iran because they may have a commercial relationship with the U.S. that they do not wish to risk. The mechanisms to activate humanitarian trade exceptions end up creating vicious circles, and this is deeply discouraging. Even oil-for-food programs, which are often monitored by the United Nations, are very difficult to operate because of the overzealous sanctions.

On March 22, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic acknowledged that the U.S. had offered assistance to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Iran is a country that could certainly use this assistance because of its advanced rate of infections and mortality, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused. In fact, the Ayatollah even referred to a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is actually an American-made biological weapon. Millions of Iranians probably rolled their eyes at those comments, but the fact remains that easing the sanctions and allowing humanitarian trade to happen the way it is intended to are urgently needed. When President Hassan Rouhani hinted that quarantine measures could be reduced after a week despite a major spike in infections and deaths, WHO officials were quick to signal their disapproval of his comments.

Some Middle East nations are certainly better prepared to face the disruptions of this pandemic. Countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will certainly suffer revenue losses because they enjoy significant revenue from air travel operations around the world, but their economies have thankfully diversified in the 21st century. Saudi Arabia is already taking steps towards becoming one of the world’s top energy producers, but this will put pressure on neighboring jurisdictions that are heavily reliant on oil production revenues.

As for Yemen and Syria, their respective humanitarian crises caused by years of armed conflict will likely become exacerbated to the point of requiring interventions by the United Nations. Peace agreements may need to be rushed in these two countries, and United Nations peacekeeping forces may have to be deployed. As for Israel and Lebanon, political leaders will have to focus very strongly on meeting the needs of their constituents in order to avoid civil unrest at a time when governance is being questioned.

As the most critical global challenge of the 21st century, the COVID-19 pandemic could bring even more turmoil to the Middle East, but this will largely depend on what governments do to protect their citizens; this will be crucial to avert another Arab Spring situation that could be even more contagious than coronavirus.

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