Viltrox the AF 35mm F1.7 Air Series, an affordable and compact lens designed to help beginner photographers elevate their skills beyond the limitations of kit lenses. With its portable design, versatile 35mm focal length (52mm full-frame equivalent), and F1.7 large aperture, this lens is the perfect companion for photographers seeking their first upgrade. Weighing only 170g (about 6oz) and measuring just 64mm by 54.7mm (2.5 inches), the AF 35mm F1.7 Air is small enough to fit in your palm or pocket. It’s lighter than most smartphones yet delivers professional-grade performance. Available in X, E, and Z mounts, it’s tailored for APS-C cameras, offering a natural perspective that’s perfect for portraits, landscapes, street photography, and everyday moments. This lens series does everything possible to help users of every experience level achieve excellent results. The built-in Stepping Motor (STM) provides fast, silent, and accurate autofocus, while intuitive eye and face detection support make photography effortless. A standout feature of the Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 Air is its impressively wide F1.7 aperture in a small package. It can be used for portraits, landscapes, street scenes, or still life shots. The lens has an equivalent full-frame focal length of approximately 52mm, enabling it to present a natural, realistic perspective. This makes the lens even more versatile, excelling even in low-light photography, portrait sessions, and the use of creative background blur. For example, photographers can easily achieve stunning artistic bokeh effects that effortlessly bring creative vision to life, highlighting subjects with remarkable clarity and depth. Get ready to carry less but capture more. Despite its compact size and surprisingly light weight, the lens boasts an advanced optical structure with 11 elements in 9 groups, including extra-low dispersion (ED) glass and aspheric elements to minimize distortion and chromatic aberration. A multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting, ensuring vivid, sharp, and natural colors in every shot. The nine-blade aperture produces smooth and artistic bokeh, making it an excellent choice for photographers experimenting with creative compositions. The AF 35mm F1.7 Air Series is more than just an affordable upgrade; it’s the ultimate learning tool for photographers transitioning from kit lenses. Its lightweight build ensures portability, while its versatile focal length and advanced features provide endless opportunities for creativity. Whether capturing close-ups, landscapes, or portraits, this lens empowers beginners to take their photography to the next level. MSRP: US$179, or 199 EUR (15% Off from Dec 18th-30th during Christmas Boxing Day) For more information, please visit: Available online from the Viltrox store and Viltrox Amazon store: (15% Off from Dec 18th-30th during Christmas Boxing Day) Learn more about Viltrox at Shenzhen Jueying Technology Co., Ltd, known under the Viltrox brand name, was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Viltrox is dedicated to providing high-quality imaging equipment for professional photographers and enthusiasts worldwide. With a focus on innovation, Viltrox designs, develops, manufactures, and sells a wide range of imaging products, including lenses, camera monitors, lens adapters, and photographic lights. Viltrox focuses on anticipating customer needs and leveraging new technology to provide excellent performance, reliability, and affordability. The company invests heavily in research and development, driving technological advancements to empower content creators at all levels.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.Online technology bootcamps available at LTU in 2025

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The 2024 presidential election has set off a new wave of election denialism online — only this time, it is coming from voters on the left. Much as many supporters of President-elect Donald Trump did after the 2020 election, some supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris are demanding recounts in key states in a bid to verify or even overturn the result. They are scrutinizing election results for signs of tampering, questioning whether election machines flipped votes and wondering whether digital technology could have injected fake votes.The Most Unexpected Sci-Fi Sequel of the Year is Shockingly Good

Viridian Therapeutics to Webcast Veligrotug Phase 3 THRIVE-2 Topline Results on December 16, 2024SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 19, 2024-- Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC), a leader in organizational performance improvement, announced today that the conference call to review the Company’s first quarter fiscal 2025 financial results will take place on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. ET (3:00 p.m. MT). The Company’s financial results are expected to be released after the close of the market on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Interested persons may access a live webcast at or may participate via telephone by registering at Once registered, participants will have the option of 1) dialing into the call from their phone (via a personalized PIN); or 2) clicking the “Call Me” option to receive an automated call directly to their phone. For either option, registration will be required to access the call. A replay of the conference call webcast will be archived on the Company’s website for at least 30 days. Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC) is the most trusted leadership company in the world with operations in over 150 countries. We transform organizations by partnering with our clients to build leaders, teams, and cultures that get breakthrough results through collective action, which leads to a more engaging work experience for their people. Available through the Franklin Covey All Access Pass®, our best-in-class content and solutions, experts, technology, and metrics seamlessly integrate together to ensure lasting behavior change at scale. This approach to leadership and organizational change has been tested and refined by working with tens of thousands of teams and organizations over the past 30 years. View source version on : CONTACT: For Further Information: Stephen D. Young Chief Financial Officer 801-817-1776 KEYWORD: UTAH UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CONSULTING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TRAINING HUMAN RESOURCES EDUCATION SOURCE: Franklin Covey Co. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/19/2024 04:03 PM/DISC: 12/19/2024 04:03 PMFormer President Donald Trump vowed that the Republican Party would “use its best efforts” to get rid of Daylight Saving Time. In a post on Truth Social, Trump described Daylight Saving Time as being “inconvenient” and “costly” to the United States. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t,” Trump wrote. “Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.” Under Daylight Saving Time, “civil clocks in most areas of the United States are adjusted ahead one hour in the summer months (known as Daylight Savings Time) and returned back one hour in the winter months (known as standard time.) The dates marking the beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time have changed as Congress has passed new statutes,” according to the website of the United States Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department. Trump’s post comes as throughout the years there have been attempts to make Daylight Saving Time permanent throughout the U.S. As Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak previously reported , in March 2022, the Senate passed a bill by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), called the Sunshine Protection Act. Under the bill, summer time zones would be permanent. The Hill reported that while “most” of the nation has “observed” Daylight Saving Time since the 1960s, former President Woodrow Wilson is reported to have introduced Daylight Saving Time in 1918.Trump picks Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead Labor Department