After a drawn-out contracting saga that lasted more than five years, the Pentagon is eager to finally implement its first-ever contracts to provide enterprise cloud computing services for the entire Defense Department. Officials said they’ll be ready to start accepting orders under the multibillion dollar Joint Warfighter Cloud Computing contracts within the next 15 days.
But the process of actually awarding work to the four vendors who won the contracts this week will take longer...
After a drawn-out contracting saga that lasted more than five years, the Pentagon is eager to finally implement its first-ever contracts to provide enterprise cloud computing services for the entire Defense Department. Officials said they’ll be ready to start accepting orders under the multibillion dollar Joint Warfighter Cloud Computing contracts within the next 15 days.
But the process of actually awarding work to the four vendors who won the contracts this week will take longer than Defense officials originally envisioned when they began designing JWCC. Instead of turning individual orders around within five to ten days, each new task order will likely take weeks or months to award, officials said Thursday.
That’s largely because each of the four companies — Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Oracle — will be allowed to submit individual proposals for each task order DoD solicits under JWCC. Previously, the department intended to automate the selection process for each task order by comparing each company’s prices and service offerings in a pre-populated catalog against each new requirement for cloud services, then placing an order for whichever service offering best met its needs.
The change appears to have been driven, at least in part, by a desire to achieve lower prices by allowing a more traditional competition at the task order level.
“While we have discounted pricing already within the overall construct, each of those task orders will be competed and therefore we could potentially receive even additional cost savings as we go forward,” Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency told reporters Thursday.
The department still plans to use some degree of automation in the JWCC task order process. The Account Tracking and Automation Tool (AT-AT) DISA’s Hosting and Computing Center (HACC) developed will handle some of the bureaucratic steps of actually writing and managing task orders, but the actual selection process for each order will be handled by traditional government review teams, said Sharon Woods, the HACC’s director.
“The automation will be in the building of the acquisition process, which can be a little bit cumbersome,” she said. “So as mission partners put together the different pieces of their packages, that’s what will be provided to the contractors to compete. But for the competition process itself, we’ll use evaluation teams. It includes all the subjectivity and all of the critical consideration that you would expect with a competition.”
The extent to which potential customers in the military services and Defense agencies will embrace JWCC remains unclear, especially considering that unlike its ill-fated predecessor, the JEDI Cloud contract, DoD is not mandating its use.
Each of the military services now have their own well-developed contracting vehicles to buy commercial cloud services, and officials emphasized Thursday that they see JWCC as a “complement,” not a competitor to those other contracts.
But they also believe that in addition to potentially lower prices, JWCC offers another key selling point: It is the department’s only cloud purchasing vehicle offering cloud services that are authorized to handle unclassified, secret and top-secret level data.
“None of the other contracts do it at all three security classification levels, spanning the entire enterprise, from the continental United States all the way out to the tactical edge,” said John Sherman, the DoD chief information officer. “What this also brings us is direct access to these cloud service providers without going through an intermediary or reseller. This creates a more efficient and effective leveraging of these capabilities, and it’s something we’re very excited about.”
But those classified versions of JWCC aren’t available just yet. The contracts call for each vendor to start providing secret-level services within the next 60 days, and top secret services within the next 180 days.
This week’s awards — worth a total of $9 billion over up to five years — were unusual in that rather than placing all the winning companies on a multiple-award contract, DoD chose to award each company its own single-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. Each contract includes a three-year base period and two additional one-year option periods.
On paper, Wednesday’s contract announcements placed the ceiling value of the four contracts at $9 billion each, but Defense officials said Thursday that they would spend no more than $9 billion combined across the four contracts, and no company is guaranteed a particular amount of work beyond the $100,000 minimum specified in their contract.
JWCC was devised in 2021 as something of a short-term solution after DoD decided to cancel the single-award JEDI Cloud contract it had made to Microsoft after years of bid protest litigation. The JWCC construct, in which the department hand-picked the four vendors it invited to bid on the contracts it ultimately awarded this week, was meant to serve as a bridge until the department could conduct another full-and-open competition for enterprise cloud services.
Defense officials have previously said they hoped to start that full-and-open competition roughly one year after it made the final JWCC awards, but on Thursday, they were less committal about that timeframe.
“Based on how the [JWCC] contract is satisfying the needs, we will continue on. There will be a full and open competition at some point in the future, based on the mission requirements and where the department is at that time,” Skinner said. “If the department decided not to exercise the option years, then we would have to start a little bit earlier from an acquisition standpoint to get things set up.”
People who have sought help for drugs and alcohol should be actively involved when developing new services according to new research from the University of Aberdeen.
A team of public health experts from Aberdeen Center for Health Data Science recently published their findings on the importance of giving service-users "a voice" in the journal PLoS Global Public Health.
Working alongside partners in research organizations, services and non-profit and advocacy groups in South Africa, the team set out to establish new ways to Boost engagement and dialogue in public services—specifically around drug and alcohol programs. The 8-year-long project will look at how best to engage participants and Boost retainment in health improvement services.
Working with and for rural communities, the first part of the project identified alcohol and drugs as a key priority in rural South Africa and highlighted the value of involving the people who will actually use health improvement services. This approach is one that project lead, Dr. Lucia D'Ambruoso suggests would benefit health systems all over the world including the NHS.
Dr. D'Ambruoso explains, "Whilst this project is based on work with rural communities in South Africa, alcohol and drugs serious present public health problems to our own communities and Health Service in Scotland. The lessons that we have learned from our community-led approach in South Africa are also very relevant here at home."
Dr. D'Ambruoso and her team led an initiative that created spaces for people and health systems to join together, produce research evidence, act on this evidence, and therefore learn to address common health concerns. This is contrary to approaches that may not always include the lived experience of people they are trying to help.
Dr. D'Ambruoso adds, "We took a participatory approach where we shared power throughout the research process: the health issues under investigation were not imposed by outsiders, but were instead directed by participants.
"We then took 'community voice' a step further—it is perfectly possible to raise community voice on local public health concerns—people are experts in their own lives after all. What is critical, and often missing, is connecting community voice to the authorities to support the establishment of virtuous cycles of 'community voice' and 'state response.'
"Marginalized community voices seldom feature in public services, however, in this project, it was possible, even in a setting of deep distrust between people and the authorities, to create spaces and processes connecting stakeholders to build dialogue, evidence, action, and learning for cooperative action on health.
"The process needed time, space and a sensitive, inclusive, informed approach shifting power and control towards those most affected and, adapting to changing circumstances and needs. The authorities embraced the process and there has been formal recognition and uptake in other settings in South Africa.
"Our experience shows that regular safe spaces can develop and align community voice with state capacity to respond—a mutual empowerment—that contributes to responses based in shared rights and responsibilities for health equity."
Dr. D'Ambruoso is also in discussions with planners and policy makers within the NHS with a view to rolling out new-participatory approaches as part of strategic plans and priorities on substance use, community empowerment and learning health systems in NHS Grampian.
John Mooney, Consultant in Public Health with NHS Grampian remarked, "Local drug and alcohol services in NHS Grampian have recently become very pro-active in exploring the most effective means of incorporating genuine lived experience into all aspects of service development and delivery.
"The work of Dr. D'Ambruoso and colleagues with very marginalized service user groups in South Africa, is therefore likely to be of great significance as we look towards fully engaging our lived experience community across our whole multi-agency network of drug and alcohol service provision."
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Wide receiver Gunner Olszewski signed on with the Steelers as a former First-Team All-Pro punt returner.
Olszewski is attacking his new assignment willingly, as he does whatever else he's asked to do from week to week.
"It's nothing I've done before but I'm putting my best foot forward," Olszewski said of trying to clear paths for wide receiver Steven Sims on kickoff returns. "We're getting stuff going and I'm excited to be out there and help him any way that I can.
"Someone once told me that's what mental toughness is, doing what's best for the team when everything ain't best for you. That's the approach that I've been taking."
Olszewski also got a block on Colts cornerback Tony Brown after lining up in the left slot on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line on what became running back Benny Snell Jr.'s run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Monday night's 24-17 win in Indianapolis.
Olszewski's effort on Brown was highlighted by ESPN analyst Troy Aikman during an overhead replay of what Aikman maintained ended up becoming a "pretty easy walk-in" for Snell.
Olszewski celebrated as if he'd scored himself.
"Touchdowns are fun, it don't matter who gets in the box, man," Olszewski maintained. "That was cool, and that was the go-ahead score. And Benny getting the opportunity, he hadn't had much opportunities this year so I think the whole team was pulling for him. There was never a doubt in my mind he's putting the ball through that end zone.
"They called Bennie's number, no surprise there, he was hot all night. So I was just doing what I can to help him get in the end zone."
Olszewski, a 6-foot, 190-pound native of Alvin, Texas, arrived in veteran free agency as a three-year pro who had led the league in punt returns for New England in 2020 (Olszewski's All-Pro season).
He was the punt and kickoff returner when the season began on Sept. 11 in Cincinnati.
But Sims was eventually assigned both of those duties.
Olszewski lined up opposite Snell as the last line of protection in front of Sims on the kickoff return team in Indianapolis.
Olszewski also played 21 snaps on offense against the Colts (30 percent). He wasn't targeted but he ran the ball once for 9 yards.
He has three catches for 43 yards on the season and has even been a gunner on the punt team on occasion.
And he's as exited to be with the Steelers as when he first got here.
"I love being on this team," Olszewski emphasized. "I love whatever role I got. It's professional football so at the end of the day you're trying to win games. There's 'dawgs' all over the place, and sometimes you want a certain role but the role is given to someone else and they bump you somewhere else and you just try to do what you can to help the team win.
"Maybe that's a learned thing but that's something I think I've always had. So it's pretty easy for me to just adjust and play ball."
Substituting can be a tricky art, especially when stars are involved.
When massive stars explode, they can collapse into extremely dense — and mysterious — objects known as neutron stars. But neutron stars are too far away and much too small for even the most powerful telescopes to look inside, so scientists want to find a way to figure out what a neutron star is made of. In new research, astrophysicists tested a potential approach to determining the state of the matter inside a neutron star. (More familiar states of matter are solid, liquid and gas.)
What scientists want to know is a neutron star's equation of state, or EoS. This equation describes the properties of matter in an object or substance. But getting the precise measurements needed to solve this equation for a neutron star, especially its radius, has not been easy.
Related: Hubble Space Telescope finds neutron star collision's jet travels nearly as fast as light
So the researchers tested whether they could simplify the effort by substituting another measurement for the neutron star's radius. They turned to what scientists call the peak spectral frequency of the gravitational waves — ripples in space-time — that are emitted when neutron stars merge into one larger neutron star.
The glob of dense star stuff that remains after such a collision will spew out massive gravitational waves as it moves back and forth while rotating at breakneck speed. The signal from these waves can be picked up by the hypersensitive instruments of a gravitational wave observatory like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).
"At least in principle, the peak spectral frequency can be calculated from the gravitational wave signal emitted by the wobbling remnant of two merged neutron stars," Elias Most, an astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey and co-author on the new research, said in a statement.
Until now, scientists assumed f2 could stand in for a neutron star's radius because the two values are often linked to each other. But that is not always the case, the new research determined. Instead, to make the substitution work, scientists must incorporate a second value related to the neutron star's mass and radius.
The researchers hope that this determination will help scientists shed light on a theory that the neutrons in the cores of these stars break down into even smaller subatomic particles, called quarks.
The research is described in a paper published in July in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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The Responsive Classroom approach to teaching and discipline focuses primarily on assisting educators in creating an environment for students to develop and enhance their academic skills. The evidence-based methodology is inclusive of engaging academics, a positive community, effective management, and developmental awareness.
CRS educates teachers on this method through resources and programs that have received the 'CASEL Select Program' certification from CASEL, The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. This is the highest certification in the CASEL Program Guide.
CRS provides educators with its SEL resources in the form of one-day and four-day workshops, on-site consultation services for schools and districts, a rigorous educator certification program, award-winning books, and free online resources. Schools and educators can choose any of these options depending on the demands of the school.
CRS implements programs that are developed by trained educators who have experience in being in the classroom and have developed materials to create the best learning environment for students. According to Dr. Lora Hodges, the president and CEO of CRS, the organization was founded on the belief that students cannot progress academically if they lack social and emotional skills. It is important to ensure that they feel safe emotionally and have a sense of belonging in their classroom.
The Responsive Classroom approach outlines how schools and educators can accomplish this and create a sense of adult community so that teachers get the support they need to focus on the work they need to do.
The importance of having such an approach to providing support to teachers is particularly significant in light of recurrent teacher shortages across the US and high burnout rates.
Schools are desperate to hire experienced educators and to retain the teachers that they have hired. Teachers face a lot of stress on a daily basis, and according to Dr. Lora Hodges, the Responsive Classroom approach can equip educators with the social and emotional skills to handle the demands of a stressful profession.
"We need to support our educators, who are giving so much to our communities. With social and emotional training they need to be able to combat stress and create a positive learning environment for their students. Investing in SEL can play a significant role in retaining teachers and creating a healthy work environment. We hear from teachers all the time that attending our course has been the most compelling professional development they've experienced, and it's transformed their perspective on the work that they do. This attests to the effectiveness of our approach," concludes, Dr. Lora Hodges.
About CRS
Center for Responsive Schools (CRS) is a nonprofit educational development organization and publishing house. It specializes in the development of high-quality research and evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, products, and services for students and educators. The work of CRS is designed by educational professionals and extensively tested in a classroom setting to ensure its effectiveness.
When developers are creating a new application, they may build security features over time or take advantage of commercial offerings or open source libraries to implement certain security functions such as authentication or secrets management. Pangea Cyber wants to change that with an API-driven approach to adding security to an application, making it as easy as adding a few lines of code.
The company’s approach has attracted a fair bit of investor attention with over $50 million raised since it launched last year, an amazing amount of funding in a short amount of time, especially in the current funding environment. The latest round is a $26 million Series B.
Company co-founder and CEO Oliver Friedrichs says they decided to offer a security service for developers in the same way that Stripe offers payment services or Twilio offers communications.
“We’re calling this SPaaS. So essentially Security Platform as a Service, where we’re going to be providing dozens of different security building blocks that are all API-driven that developers can easily embed in their applications,” Friedrichs told TechCrunch.
The services start with authentication and authorization as basic building blocks, but then include more sophisticated elements like logging, scanning files for malicious activity, storing secrets and so forth.
“There’s a lot of things that applications need that are securely related. And right now they’re scattered across many open source and a fragmented list of commercial offerings. We’re looking to provide them all in one place,” he said.
There are developer-oriented pieces like Auth0 (acquired by Okta in 2021) providing authorization or HashiCorp providing secrets management, but there hasn’t been this hub of security services aimed specifically at developers, Friedrichs says.
And he believes that developer focus is what separates his company from the pack. “That’s really where this developer-first delivery model is important and unique, and it doesn’t really exist. For decades now, we have built all these traditional shrink-wrapped products for end users across the entire security industry, but we haven’t built things that are API only or API first that can be plugged in by developers,” he said.
The company already has 40 employees as it attacks this problem, and with multiple startups, including Phantom Cyber, behind him, Friedrichs has deep experience in building companies. He says, even with the economic downturn, he believes his company will thrive.
“Cybersecurity is one of those sectors that’s always resilient and always needed. While there’s a correction in valuations, we rarely see people removing cybersecurity. In fact, it continues to grow and evolve,” he said.
He says as he grows the company, diversity is a big priority for him, but even with all his experience as a founder, it remains challenging. “We focus on it deliberately across the management team and across our recruiting team. We have a full-time recruiter in-house, which is unusual for this early stage, as well as outside resources, and we have conscious conversations around it,” he said.
“Now. Is it easy? It’s not easy, right? Despite how hard you try, you can’t always meet those goals. But we are trying and I think that step number one is to make sure that that’s an objective that we do want to meet, [while understanding that] we can always do better.”
Today’s $26 million Series B investment was led by GV with participation from Decibel and Okta Ventures, along with existing investors Ballistic Ventures and SYN Ventures. The company has now raised a total of $52 million. Okta’s participation is noteworthy because, as previously noted, it acquired a developer-driven authorization piece in Auth0.
As a member of the cancer research community who has dedicated her professional career to studying and fighting cancer, I am starkly aware of the devastating impact of this disease as it continues to be the second leading cause of death globally. At the same time, I am incredibly encouraged by the work being done to transform cancer care through ongoing research and innovation in oncology.
Throughout my career, I have been driven by a personal commitment to the relentless search for new ideas that drive this innovation. Perhaps most notably is the use of next-generation technologies to help discover novel therapeutic agents with the potential to change the lives of, and restore hope for, people living with cancer and those who care for them.
Progress in immune oncology and drug discovery innovation offers potential for novel therapies and combinations
Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of cancer. However, only a fraction of people with unique tumor features benefits from this class of therapies. Cancer cells are exceptionally adept at hiding themselves from the immune system and generating an immunosuppressive microenvironment. In fact, many tumors exhibit altered cytokine profiles and low-to-no T cell infiltration. These non-inflamed, “cold” tumors do not respond to certain immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors.
We now see the next wave of potential cancer therapies on the horizon, propelled by significant advancements in immunology, as well as an increased understanding of tumor-driven mechanisms of immune evasion.
These new insights, together with advancement in the technologies at our disposal, may converge toward new, more targeted therapies. In addition, novel combinations of complementary therapies targeting the immune system as well as the tumor and the tumor microenvironment may offer potential alternatives for people living with cancer.
New technologies are changing cancer R&D
Just as vaccines transformed medicine over a century ago, the rapid technological advances of the past decade are changing drug discovery and development as we know it. R&D teams have access to tools to research pioneering therapeutics that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. Progress in genomic and transcriptomic approaches are also providing insights into why an individual may respond or be resistant to therapy and are helping researchers target malignancies with potentially higher precision.
Antibodies are powerful immune proteins that recognize and bind to specific target molecules. Linking cancer-fighting small molecules to tumor-targeted antibodies gives rise to “antibody–drug conjugates” (ADCs) designed to deliver powerful cytotoxic payloads to cancer cells. Significant progress has been made over the past two decades on the design of cytotoxic ADCs. Since the first ADC approval by the FDA in 2000, a dozen cytotoxic ADCs have made it to market. Importantly, some of these ADCs can elicit an “immunogenic cell death” response, a type of cell demise that could be harnessed to enhance the activity of existing immunotherapies. More recently, a new generation of immune-modulatory ADCs are under investigation. These novel agents are being investigated to deliver molecules that can potentially localize immune stimulation at the tumor site and potentially drive immune-mediated responses to malignant cells.
Although most immunotherapies have focused on T cells, it has become clear that additional approaches are required to address the vast majority of patients that either relapse on treatment (acquired resistance), or do not experience benefit from existing immunotherapies to begin with (primary resistance). For instance, researchers are exploring the potential of natural killer (NK) cells as immunotherapies for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. These potent cytotoxic cells are part of the innate immune system, and can identify and kill abnormal cells with a lower propensity to trigger cytokine release syndrome. Importantly, allogeneic NK cells can be obtained from healthy donors and expanded ex-vivo, making it an off-the-shelf cell-based therapy.
NK cell engagers (NKCEs) represent another emerging technology platform under investigation to redirect NK cells to the tumor. These multi-functional biologics possess a potentially tumor-targeting domain and one or two binding sites for activating receptors on the NK cell surface that can potentially boost their cytotoxicity. These NKCEs are being investigated to potentially harness the anti-tumor activity of endogenous NK cells. However, the combination of NKCEs and NK cell therapy represents an additional way to potentially impact tumor cells.
By investigating these new approaches, I believe the scientific community will be able to research and develop the next generation of immunotherapies capable of fighting cancer.
A personal commitment and many reasons for hope
The advent of new technologies is dramatically improving our ability to develop potentially practice-changing medicines for people struggling with difficult-to-treat cancers. I am excited about the potential of emerging therapeutic agents in oncology and, ultimately, our ability to possibly transform lives.
Photo: Main_sail, Getty Images
If bipartisanship really were to take hold in either the lame-duck session or the next Congress, action aimed at mitigating street homelessness would be a good place to start.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Austin, Portland, Seattle and New York face a wave of what the British call “rough sleepers,” whether in tents or on heating grates. As New York subway riders tragically learned, some are not just unhoused but unhinged—and have pushed the unwary onto the train tracks, with fatal results.
Both California Democrats and Texas Republicans should want to make common cause to help these unfortunate Americans. For too long, however, housing advocates have used their plight as an argument for more subsidized housing—on the premise that this would provide the solution.
If you have a Star Trek fan in your life of any age, you can't afford to let this deal on a faithful recreation of the U.S.S. Enterprise jump to Warp 8 and speed away.
With a discount of 32% for Black Friday, the Playmobil Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 is more affordable than ever at just $340.25 on Amazon. (opens in new tab)
While Playmobil is typically marketed at young children, this U.S.S. Enterprise from "Star Trek: The Original Series" is sure to please any fan of the seminal sci-fi franchise that has inspired generations of fans. This Enterprise comes with the legendary crew of NCC-1701 and numerous details that make this a collector's item as well as one epic playset. You can check out our Playmobil Star Trek USS Enterprise review to see how impressed we were with this set.
If you're less of a Trekkie and more of a Star Wars fan, be sure to check out our Star Wars Lego deals as well as our latest Black Friday deals for more gift ideas for this holiday season.
The Playmobil Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise includes many thoughtful features that are sure to please longtime Trekkies in addition to anyone just seeking a fun starship toy. For one, the Enterprise comes with crewmembers Captain Kirk, Spock, Uhura, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty and Chekov, meaning you can act out your favorite moments from the original series.
In addition, the set comes with a removable roof so that you can place the crew in the iconic bridge of NCC-1701 which has plenty of authentic built-in lights and sound effects.
Coolest of all, the bridge features a special section where the Enterprise's main viewscreen would be that allows users to place their mobile phones in place of the viewscreen. That means you can replay actual clips of the Enterprise's viewscreen in action, from clips of communications with hostile aliens to shots of the Enterprise navigating dangerous stretches of deep space.
Playmobil's U.S.S. Enterprise can be hung using an included hanging kit, or placed on an included stand.
If Star Trek isn't your thing, we've still got you covered this Black Friday. Check out our guide to the best Lego Star Wars sets and our best Lego Star Wars deals to prepare for the holiday season, or even our guide on the best Lego space deals to offer more familiar rockets and other sets from a galaxy much closer to home.
Follow Brett on Twitter at @bretttingley (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
A woman’s stance on how to approach a first date has divided the internet, with much-heated discussion online.
The debate started on TikTok after one woman said she decided to go on another date after not hearing from the person she was supposed to on the original date with.
The woman, who goes by @Viv.aboufaissal online, said: “We were supposed to go bowling and we made the plan three days ago but we haven’t spoken since and he hasn’t messaged me to confirm.
“We said 7pm, and it’s 2pm so in my head it’s not happening.”
She said she ended up going for a drink with another person she had met on a dating app, revealing she’d had the best time.
But she then asked what other people would have done in her position.
Another woman made her own video on the Topic to back up the original video, answering Viv’s question.
The woman, known online as @bewellwithadiel, shared a similar stance and said if there is no confirmation on the morning of, the date isn’t happening.
“If someone planned a whole date, made a reservation and offered to pick me up but doesn’t text me the morning of to confirm I’m assuming the date is cancelled,” she said.
“I’m not reaching out to confirm and I’m not letting him know that I’m cancelling it.
“Even if he confirmed a whole 24 hours ago, it’s a whole new day, and if he doesn’t reach out to confirm then he wasn’t that interested to begin with.”
Many sided with the women about their opinion on how people should confirm first dates.
One said: “I agree, if it’s not confirmed it’s canceled. And I’m not rescheduling either. I will let him know I’m not coming if he asks though.”
“A simple hello, good morning are we still on for our date tonight? Is what’s expected by the person who asked for the date,” another added.
Another added: “I do this with my friends, too. I’m not spending hours Studying just for someone to cancel.”
But not everyone agreed with the woman’s stance on dates.
“Arranged is confirmed. If you need that reassurance you make sure to ask for it,” one person said.
Another person added: “As someone with ASD/ADHD. Once plans are made to me they are confirmed. I don’t get this.”
One said: “Communication is a two-way street, nothing is wrong with a woman communicating to confirm, it sets the expectations.”
One man claimed the woman had very specific taste and he wished her luck finding a man who would meet those expectations.
