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<p>The rate of teen pregnancies, abortions and births have reached historic lows since their peak in the 1990’s.</p>
<p>According to a new study by the Guttmacher Institute, and detailed in “ <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends10.pdf" type="external">U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2010: National and State Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity</a>,” the rates have sharply declined among all ethnic and racial groups across the U.S.</p>
<p>However, wide variations still persist among different races and ethnic groups despite the overall decline, with black and Hispanic teens having rates twice as high as non-Hispanic white teens.</p>
<p>The rate of pregnancies per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 to 19 was 57.4 in 2010, marking a remarkable 51 percent decline from the peak in 1990, and a 15 percent reduction from 67.8 in 2008.</p>
<p>The birth rate among teens dropped by 44 percent from 1991 down to 34.4 per 1,000, and the abortion rate among this age group decreased by 66 percent from 1988 down to 14.7 per 1,000.</p>
<p>Lead author <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/media/experts/Kost.html" type="external">Kathryn Kost</a> believes these numbers represent very positive news, and that the efforts put forth over the years to educate teens in the realm of <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html" type="external">sex and teen pregnancy</a> have been worthwhile.</p>
<p>“Other reports had already demonstrated sustained declines in births among teens in the past few years; but now we know that this is due to the fact that fewer teens are becoming pregnant in the first place. It appears that efforts to ensure teens can access the information and contraceptive services they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies are paying off,” said Kost in a statement.</p>
<p /> | Teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates hit historic lows | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/05/07/teen-pregnancy-birth-and-abortion-rates-hit-historic-lows/ | 2014-05-07 | 3 |
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<p>Watching the slow-motion train wreck that is the Democratic nomination process is entertaining in a horrible kind of way, but just wait until the flaming hulk comes hurtling into the station. That’s what New York magazine asked West Wing writer Lawrence O’Donnell Jr. to do, commissioning him to a draft a movie treatment of this August’s Democratic confab-slash-conflagration in Denver. The result, <a href="http://nymag.com/news/politics/45786/" type="external">“Four Days in Denver,”</a> is a brilliant piece of political theater, featuring lots of closed-door hijinks, a decisive Clinton-Obama staredown, an inconveniently thin Al Gore, an implausibly popular Wes Clark, and a convincingly savvy Michelle Obama. Plus there’s lots of satisfying trash talk, like this Charlie Rangel comeback to Bill Clinton: “If your wife is elected president, I’m still gonna be chairman of Ways and Means and she’s gonna need me every fucking day. So how do you wanna leave it: Fuck you, Charlie, or I’m sorry, Mr. Chairman?” Who knew superdelegates with appropriation powers could be so much fun? If you’re looking for an amusing, semi-realistic guess about what’s happening behind the poll numbers and delegate counts, check it out.</p>
<p /> | Scripting the Democratic Convention, West Wing-Style | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/04/scripting-democratic-convention-west-wing-style/ | 2008-04-16 | 4 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Young New Mexicans have a chance starting next week to obtain a license to hunt elk this season.</p>
<p>The Game and Fish Department is offering for sale more than 2,000 youth licenses for hunting antlerless elk.</p>
<p>The online sale starts July 9 and the licenses are for hunters who will be under age 18 on the opening day of the hunt.</p>
<p>The licenses are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. They are available for two weeks to New Mexico residents who didn’t draw a big game hunting license in this year’s lottery.</p>
<p>Starting July 23, young out-of-state hunters are eligible to buy a license if they didn’t previously draw an elk permit in the lottery.</p>
<p>The department said the sale is intended to encourage hunting by young sportsmen.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | New Mexico to sell elk licenses to young hunters | false | https://abqjournal.com/423480/new-mexico-to-sell-elk-licenses-to-young-hunters.html | 2 |
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<p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has formed an exploratory committee to consider running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Here's a look at where the two-term governor stands on various issues that will be debated in the GOP primaries:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>IMMIGRATION</p>
<p>The son of Indian immigrants, Jindal remains hawkish on immigration issues. The governor says the nation needs an immigration system with a "high wall and a broad gate," with changes that aim to bring in more skilled, legal immigrants and place a stronger focus on border security. He has harshly criticized the executive actions President Barack Obama took last fall to grant work permits to millions of immigrants living in this country illegally. "Unilaterally granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants does nothing to solve our immigration problem, it only makes it worse. Our border is not secure. If we want to solve our immigration problem, job one is to secure the border," Jindal said. Louisiana joined a lawsuit seeking to block the executive orders, which are currently on hold pending an appeals court ruling.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>FOREIGN POLICY</p>
<p>With a limited background in foreign policy, Jindal has increased his overseas travel to bolster his credentials in international relations. But a trip to Europe earlier this year that included a speech to a London-based think tank received widespread criticism when Jindal repeated heavily disputed claims that Muslims have established "no-go zones" in European neighborhoods that operate outside of local civic control. Jindal was an advocate for Congress having a say in any nuclear deal with Iran, saying "a bad deal is worse than no deal," and he's pushed for tougher sanctions on the country. He's repeatedly criticized Obama's foreign policy, saying the president doesn't believe in "American exceptionalism," and he's pushed for more airstrikes and military action against the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>BUDGET AND ENTITLEMENTS</p>
<p>Jindal opposes tax increases and supports a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget, though critics have noted he's repeatedly balanced Louisiana's budget with short-term fixes and one-time financing. Like most other Republicans considering a presidential campaign, Jindal calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act, and he has offered a proposal for its replacement. He proposes "premium support" for Medicare, which would replace the current insurance coverage given to seniors with a federal subsidy to purchase insurance coverage, a sort of voucher program to choose their own coverage plan.</p>
<p>His budget restraint, however, doesn't extend to defense spending, where he says the nation should be spending more. "National defense may not be the only priority of federal government, but it should always be the first priority," he's said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>SOCIAL ISSUES</p>
<p>A Catholic convert raised by Hindu parents, Jindal has carefully cultivated social conservatives and evangelical Christians. He signed the Louisiana Science Education Act that allows science teachers to use outside curriculum, a move some Nobel laureates protest as a back-door way for teachers to teach Biblical creation as science. He pushed for the creation of a voucher program that pays for children to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars, including some religious schools that teach creationism and reject evolution. He opposes same-sex marriage and supports religious freedom laws. On abortion, Jindal has repeatedly supported adding new restrictions to the procedure in Louisiana, and he backs a federal ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, similar to a law on the books in his home state.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>CLIMATE CHANGE</p>
<p>Raised in a state heavily reliant on the oil and gas industry, Jindal has pushed back on actions taken to combat climate change. Instead, he says too little has been done to harness the country's energy potential, and he's pushed for increased oil and gas drilling on federal lands and fought increased regulations on power plants. Jindal has called Obama's environmental regulations "reckless and based on a radical leftist ideology that will kill American jobs and increase energy prices." On climate change, Jindal said "human activity is having an impact on the climate" but said unilateral steps by the United States that hurt the nation's economy would not help the environment. He said any steps to address climate change should be done with its trading partners.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at: <a href="http://twitter.com/MelindaDeslatte" type="external">http://twitter.com/MelindaDeslatte</a></p>
<p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has formed an exploratory committee to consider running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Here's a look at where the two-term governor stands on various issues that will be debated in the GOP primaries:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>IMMIGRATION</p>
<p>The son of Indian immigrants, Jindal remains hawkish on immigration issues. The governor says the nation needs an immigration system with a "high wall and a broad gate," with changes that aim to bring in more skilled, legal immigrants and place a stronger focus on border security. He has harshly criticized the executive actions President Barack Obama took last fall to grant work permits to millions of immigrants living in this country illegally. "Unilaterally granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants does nothing to solve our immigration problem, it only makes it worse. Our border is not secure. If we want to solve our immigration problem, job one is to secure the border," Jindal said. Louisiana joined a lawsuit seeking to block the executive orders, which are currently on hold pending an appeals court ruling.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>FOREIGN POLICY</p>
<p>With a limited background in foreign policy, Jindal has increased his overseas travel to bolster his credentials in international relations. But a trip to Europe earlier this year that included a speech to a London-based think tank received widespread criticism when Jindal repeated heavily disputed claims that Muslims have established "no-go zones" in European neighborhoods that operate outside of local civic control. Jindal was an advocate for Congress having a say in any nuclear deal with Iran, saying "a bad deal is worse than no deal," and he's pushed for tougher sanctions on the country. He's repeatedly criticized Obama's foreign policy, saying the president doesn't believe in "American exceptionalism," and he's pushed for more airstrikes and military action against the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>BUDGET AND ENTITLEMENTS</p>
<p>Jindal opposes tax increases and supports a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget, though critics have noted he's repeatedly balanced Louisiana's budget with short-term fixes and one-time financing. Like most other Republicans considering a presidential campaign, Jindal calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act, and he has offered a proposal for its replacement. He proposes "premium support" for Medicare, which would replace the current insurance coverage given to seniors with a federal subsidy to purchase insurance coverage, a sort of voucher program to choose their own coverage plan.</p>
<p>His budget restraint, however, doesn't extend to defense spending, where he says the nation should be spending more. "National defense may not be the only priority of federal government, but it should always be the first priority," he's said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>SOCIAL ISSUES</p>
<p>A Catholic convert raised by Hindu parents, Jindal has carefully cultivated social conservatives and evangelical Christians. He signed the Louisiana Science Education Act that allows science teachers to use outside curriculum, a move some Nobel laureates protest as a back-door way for teachers to teach Biblical creation as science. He pushed for the creation of a voucher program that pays for children to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars, including some religious schools that teach creationism and reject evolution. He opposes same-sex marriage and supports religious freedom laws. On abortion, Jindal has repeatedly supported adding new restrictions to the procedure in Louisiana, and he backs a federal ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, similar to a law on the books in his home state.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>CLIMATE CHANGE</p>
<p>Raised in a state heavily reliant on the oil and gas industry, Jindal has pushed back on actions taken to combat climate change. Instead, he says too little has been done to harness the country's energy potential, and he's pushed for increased oil and gas drilling on federal lands and fought increased regulations on power plants. Jindal has called Obama's environmental regulations "reckless and based on a radical leftist ideology that will kill American jobs and increase energy prices." On climate change, Jindal said "human activity is having an impact on the climate" but said unilateral steps by the United States that hurt the nation's economy would not help the environment. He said any steps to address climate change should be done with its trading partners.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at: <a href="http://twitter.com/MelindaDeslatte" type="external">http://twitter.com/MelindaDeslatte</a></p> | Where They Stand: Bobby Jindal on issues of 2016 campaign | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d355b9aa0c824c7d95a48c7e3f09e68b | 2015-05-19 | 2 |
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<p>Texas has seen no progress since that shakeup in reducing the scores of allegedly abused or neglected kids who welfare investigators are failing to visit in a timely fashion — meaning the state is effectively breaking its own rules. On any given day around Houston or Dallas, no checks are made on more than 200 kids considered high priority by the state.</p>
<p>Around 50 kids pulled from homes considered dangerous also slept in state offices, motels or emergency shelters in August and September, a roughly five-fold increase since February, according to state figures.</p>
<p>Abbott called the failure of timely visits “completely unacceptable” in a letter to Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Hank Whitman, who the governor appointed in April. Whitman is a retired Texas Ranger who spent his entire career in law enforcement and had no prior child welfare experience.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Although Abbott signaled support for Whitman’s agenda, he also directed him to come up with a swift plan to hire and train more investigators and caseworkers.</p>
<p>“A lack of timely contact only exacerbates backlogs throughout the entire system and potentially leaves a child in a dangerous situation,” Abbott wrote.</p>
<p>The letter, which was also signed by the lieutenant governor and House speaker, did not promise any immediate additional money to increase the salaries of low-paid caseworkers. Many child welfare advocates say raises are crucial to stop an exodus of caseworkers whose starting salary is below $40,000. The turnover rate last year was about 33 percent.</p>
<p>Texans Care for Children, an Austin-based advocacy group, responded to the letter by calling for immediate plans to improve caseworker pay and mental health services for foster kids.</p>
<p>In a statement, Whitman said he appreciated the support from state leaders but offered no hints at how he might address their concerns.</p>
<p>“Protecting children is our highest priority. We have to do better,” Whitman said.</p>
<p>The uptick in the number of children sleeping in state offices is tied to the state losing almost 400 residential treatment center beds this year, DFPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said. He added that the foster care system lacks the capacity for “high-needs foster youth” and said removals of children into foster care is up 10 percent from last year.</p>
<p>A federal judge last year ruled that Texas’ foster care system was unconstitutionally broken and appointed an outsider to oversee reforms.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/pauljweber" type="external">www.twitter.com/pauljweber</a></p> | Texas governor calls child welfare backlog ‘unacceptable’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/865895/texas-governor-calls-child-welfare-backlog-unacceptable.html | 2 |
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<p>Because people are freaking ruthless and never forget ANYTHING embarrassing…ever, when President-elect Trump became the newest addition to the golden shower troupe, immediately jokes went flying linking R. Kelly to the Inauguration concert.</p>
<p>If you are confused by this you are either too young to remember or you lived under a rock during this controversy. Earlier this week Buzzfeed published an unsubstantiated article claiming Trump was involved in some NSFW events that included prostitutes, a presidential bed, and, well…urine. Connecting R. Kelly to this only came naturally since he has been linked to some serious sexual assault allegations in the past that included urinating on a young lady.</p>
<p>This is where the jokes came into play. Twitter blew up talking about R. Kelly confirming his attendance at the Inauguration.</p>
<p />
<p>Of course some people didn’t get the joke so R. Kelly had to make it perfectly clear that he was not, in any way, performing at the inauguration.</p>
<p />
<p>So it’s good Kelly cleared up the rumors but for pete’s sake did he have to make a giant yellow sign to let us all know? You might as well have put little umbrellas on the picture.</p>
<p>Sorry if you were looking forward to a little R. Kelly action this election season.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Featured image via <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/kelly/" type="external">Reddit.</a></p> | R. Kelly Hilariously Linked To Trump — His Response Is PRICELESS (VIDEO) | true | http://offthemainpage.com/2017/01/16/r-kelly-not-only-got-linked-to-the-don-for-hilarious-reasons-his-response-is-priceless-video/ | 2017-01-16 | 4 |
<p>BANGKOK, Thailand —&#160;Asia’s favorite high — meth — is cheap, dirty and more popular than ever.</p>
<p>New data from the United Nations reveals that authorities seized more than 270 million pills of meth by authorities last year. That’s a whopping 10-fold increase in just seven years.&#160;Even pot can’t compete.</p>
<p>The more meth cranked out by underground chemists in far-flung labs, the cheaper meth tends to get. Even Asia’s most destitute peasants can now afford meth if they’re willing to forego food for a day — which isn’t hard once the meth vaporizes your appetite.&#160;</p>
<p>Here are a few staggering facts about Asia’s meth habit gleaned from the&#160; <a href="http://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/2015/05/regional-ats-nps-launch/story.html" type="external">UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime</a>&#160;as well as GlobalPost’s own field reporting.</p>
<p>Meth in Asia is often cheaper than a Whopper value meal at Burger King</p>
<p>This is a price-per-pill meth breakdown for countries across Asia. As a point of comparison, consider that a Whopper value meal at Burger King consistently sells in the region for about $5.</p>
<p>Meth tends to be cheapest&#160;in unruly zones where meth is actually produced. And&#160;Myanmar’s Shan State, which once churned out much of New York’s heroin, is Asia’s top meth production zone.&#160;</p>
<p>These unruly hills are home to a patchwork of militias. Some are aligned with the government. Some have battled the government for years. But all types of militias can exploit the area’s general lawlessness to oversee underground labs that churn out the bulk of Asia's meth.</p>
<p>Many living close to this meth-producing heartland can buy pills for prices below the UN’s lowest cited figure of $2. A senior officer with an anti-government "liberation army" based close to the Myanmar-China border told GlobalPost that meth pills in his region are now selling for 50 cents. The price per pill, he says, goes up to $1 or $2 in Mandalay, the nearest major city.</p>
<p>Asia’s annual meth seizures could get all of California high for a week straight</p>
<p>Determining the amount of meth produced in Asia is impossible. But analysts can at least track how much meth is seized by cops — which is presumed to be a mere fraction of the volume successfully hitting the streets.</p>
<p>Last year, the amount of meth confiscated in Asia amounted to 270 million pills.&#160;(Asia in this context means China to New Zealand and all points in between. Russia and India aren't included.)</p>
<p>That’s enough meth to keep every man, woman and child in California high for a week straight.&#160;An even more frightening fact:&#160;it’s enough to keep all of Florida high for two weeks straight. (In this inadvisable nightmare scenario, every inhabitant gets one pill per day.)</p>
<p>Most meth, meanwhile, never gets seized. One senior UN official offers a “conservative estimate” that, in mainland Southeast Asia, an astonishing <a href="https://twitter.com/jdouglasSEA/status/603503001982996481" type="external">2&#160;billion pills</a> are produced each year. If true, that's nearly enough to keep everyone in the US high for a week.</p>
<p>None of these estimates include crystal meth — the high purity breed of the drug made popular by Breaking Bad — though this is also popular across Asia.</p>
<p>These figures only refer to meth pills, which typically resemble pastel-colored aspirin tablets. On the street, it’s called “ya ba” (which is Thai for “madness medicine”). Pills can be swallowed or crushed up and smoked. Anyone who takes “ya ba” can forget about sleeping for the next 24 hours.</p>
<p>The meth sold is Asia can be potent or pathetically weak</p>
<p>Crystal meth contains far more of the substances, synthesized from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, that bring on speedy euphoria.</p>
<p>Crystal meth with 90 percent purity (or higher) is mass-produced in Mexico and available on American streets. The same is true of crystal meth produced in Myanmar and sold in neighboring countries such as Thailand, where tests reveal crystal meth has purity levels ranging from 40 to 90 percent, according to the United Nations.</p>
<p>But crystal meth is just too expensive for the typical working-class Asian. It's common to pay $100 per gram and, in China, the price-per-gram ranges between $50 and $450.</p>
<p>So the masses typically resort to cheaper "ya ba" meth pills with a typical purity of 10 to 20 percent. In Singapore, a tiny island nation with notoriously unforgiving drug laws, the purity per meth pill can sink as low as 2.5 percent.</p>
<p>But even so-called “meth” pills with scant amounts of methamphetamine will likely keep users awake until dawn. The rest of the tablet is usually padded out with the world’s dominant alertness aid: plain-old caffeine.</p> | Meth is now cheaper than a meal at Burger King in much of Asia | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-06-01/meth-now-cheaper-meal-burger-king-much-asia | 2015-06-01 | 3 |
<p>Iran is seeing its most widespread protest demonstrations since 2009. They are still gaining momentum and some 15 people are reported to have been killed, though the circumstances in which they died remains unclear. The motive for the protests is primarily economic, but many slogans are political and some directly attack clerical rule in Iran which was introduced with the overthrow of the Shah in 1979.</p>
<p>The demonstrations began with one against rising prices a week ago in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city and the site of its most holy shrine, a place which is traditionally seen as a stronghold for clerical hardliners. It may be that these conservatives initiated or tolerated the protests as a way of undermining President Hassan Rouhani, seen as a political moderate, who was re-elected by a landslide last year. If so, the protests have swiftly spiralled out of the control of the conservatives and are erupting all over Iran, strong evidence of a high level of discontent everywhere in the country and possibly a sign of covert organisation by anti-government groups.</p>
<p>Donald Trump threatened last year to support domestic anti-government resistance in Iran, though this does not necessarily mean that his administration has done anything about this as yet. His latest tweets accuses Iran’s leaders of turning the country “into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos”. The US and Saudi Arabia may also be tempted to fund ethnic groups like the Iranian Kurds who are already alienated from the central government.</p>
<p>Belligerent rhetoric like Mr Trump’s will be used to discredit protesters as the pawns of foreign powers.</p>
<p>Iran has been divided politically since the fall of the Shah, but the most immediate cause of unrest over the past five days is economic and social discontent. In many respects, grievances are similar to those in other oil states where there is long-suppressed anger against corruption and inequality.&#160;Youth unemployment was 28.8 per cent last year. The nuclear deal with the US and other major powers in 2015 reduced sanctions, but has not produced the benefits that many expected. A 50 per cent increase in the price of fuel was announced in the budget in December. Egg and poultry prices recently rose by 40 per cent.</p>
<p>It is too early to say how far the protests are a threat to the government and to Iran’s political stability. The size and motivation of demonstrations is murky because of a lack of reliable eyewitness reporting. This is in part because of government restrictions on news coverage by Iranian and foreign news outlets which creates a vacuum of information. In the past, this vacuum has often been filled by exiled opposition groups who become a source of exaggerated or fabricated accounts of protests.</p>
<p>I was in Tehran in early 2011 when there were genuine demonstrations in the north of the city, but they were often of a smaller size than skilfully edited film shown on YouTube. Pictures of protesters tearing down a picture of Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei might indicate a radical anti-regime turn in the protests or might be a one-off that tells one little about the direction of the movement. The same is true of slogans praising the Shah or criticising Iran’s support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.</p>
<p>So far President Rouhani and his administration have reacted in a low-key way to the protests, appealing for calm and saying people have the right to demonstrate, but not to destroy property or engage in violence. The government is clearly hoping that the demonstrations will run out of steam, but so far the opposite seems to be happening. The number of arrests is still low – 200 in Tehran by Sunday – but Mr Rouhani must be under pressure to crack down and not to appear weak.</p>
<p>This he may do eventually, but well-publicised suppression of protests might increase public support for them in Iran and would certainly lead to the US and West Europeans jumping to the defence of human rights in Iran with an enthusiasm they have failed to show in countries such as Yemen where a Saudi-led blockade has brought eight million people to the edge of famine.</p>
<p>Bloody suppression of protests might also push the West Europeans towards Mr Trump’s aggressive posture towards Iran and fatally undermine the nuclear deal. This would, in turn, strengthen the hand of the hardliners who can say that Mr Rouhani’s more accommodating posture to the outside world and more liberal policies at home have failed.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | What’s Driving Iran’s Protests? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/01/05/whats-driving-irans-protests/ | 2018-01-05 | 4 |
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<p>APD officers investigate after police say Michael Bolivar, 30 grabbed the wheel of a car, causing it to crash into another car, drive into a front yard and rupture a gas line in the Northeast Heights on Friday night. (Robert Browman/Journal)</p>
<p>Michael Bolivar, 30 (MDC)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Officers arrested a man Friday night for DWI after police say he yanked the steering wheel of the car he was riding in, causing it to crash into another vehicle, drive into a yard and rupture a gas line in northeast Albuquerque.</p>
<p>According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, 30-year-old Michael Bolivar is in custody and charged with his third DWI, driving with a revoked license, careless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia.</p>
<p>Police say officers responded to a crash in the 8900 block of Spain NE around 9 p.m., where the investigation revealed that Bolivar had caused the crash from the passenger seat.</p>
<p>“Bolivar grabbed the steering wheel causing the vehicle to veer off the roadway, strike a vehicle at the intersection, crash into a residence…and damage a city gas meter,” an officer wrote.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Police say Bolivar, whose license is revoked for prior DWIs, had “bloodshot, watery eyes” and smelled like alcohol.</p>
<p>Bolivar told police he had “two beers and two shots” earlier and grabbed the steering wheel because he “thought he saw glass” in the road and swerved to avoid it.</p>
<p>“Based on these facts, it was determined Bolivar took temporary careless control of the motor vehicle, causing the crash,” an officer wrote in the complaint.</p> | APD: Passenger arrested for DWI after causing crash, gas leak | false | https://abqjournal.com/1101150/apd-passenger-arrested-for-dwi-after-causing-crash-gas-leak.html | 2 |
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<p>Anders Behring Breivik was under the effects of drugs while he carried out a massacre in Norway last year, his trial heard today.</p>
<p>A forensic toxicologist has testified that Breivik had taken a cocktail of stimulants before launching his July 22 attacks in Oslo and on Utoeya island, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18282760" type="external">the BBC reported</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/120529/breivik-cut-contact-with-friends-before-norway-attacks" type="external">Breivik 'cut contact with friends' before Norway attacks</a></p>
<p>"You can say that he was lightly to moderately drugged by a centrally stimulating substance," Professor Joerg Moerland told the court in Oslo.</p>
<p>Breivik told Moerland he had taken a mixture of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECA_stack" type="external">ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin</a> (ECA). <a href="http://www.thelocal.no/page/view/breivik-used-illegal-drug-mix-before-massacre-expert" type="external">According to Agence France Presse</a>, the mix is illegal in Norway, the US and other countries, but is favored by bodybuilders as a stimulant and weight-loss aid.</p>
<p>"I had made it myself with the help of three ingredients and the dosage was about 50 percent stronger than commercial products," the defendant was quoted as saying. He said the drugs were supposed to give "better physical and mental performance."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/120418/norway-killer-anders-breivik-trial-internet-wikipedia-world-of-warcraft" type="external">Is Breivik a product of the internet?</a></p>
<p>Breivik also said he experimented with ECA and anabolic steroids in the months leading up to the attacks.&#160;</p>
<p>It is possible that the substances could have affected Breivik's state of mind during the massacre, Moerland said, noting that steroids can increase aggressiveness while ephedrine can boost self-confidence and risk-taking.</p>
<p>The professor said he believed the effects of the drugs were limited, however, according to AFP.</p>
<p>Breivik's trial will seek to establish whether or not he is sane and can be held criminally responsible for the killings, which will decide whether he goes to prison or a psychiatric facility. Psychiatrists have given <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/120410/norway-killer-anders-behring-breivik-declared-sane" type="external">differing diagnoses</a>.</p> | Anders Behring Breivik 'drugged' throughout Norway massacre | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-05-31/anders-behring-breivik-drugged-throughout-norway-massacre | 2012-05-31 | 3 |
<p>There's scaffolding around the Anne Frank House on the Prinsengracht Canal in Amsterdam, the main thoroughfare in the now-trendy Jordaan section. A brochure you receive upon entering explains that the back annex needs a thorough restoration because of foot traffic from the more than half million annual visitors. When I arrived for a late morning visit on a Sunday last summer, there was already a line winding around the block, with tourists patiently queued up, waiting for forty-five minutes to squeeze into the tiny house and warehouse that hid the Frank family during the Nazi siege of Amsterdam. It was bright and clear, unlike the more typical overcast days of an Amsterdam summer. Yet people were more than willing to forgo the rare summer sunshine for the darkness inside this house.</p>
<p /> | Anne Frank and Bosnia | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/anne-frank-and-bosnia | 2018-10-04 | 4 |
<p>This broad survey of the international scene, which has become traditional in the framework of our annual meeting, has above all highlighted the fact that the very heart of international life in not so much States as man. Here we take note of what is doubtless one of the more significant developments of the law of nations during the twentieth century. The emergence of the individual is the basis of what is called “humanitarian law.” There exist interests which transcend States: they are the interests of the human person, his rights. Today as in the past, despite the more or less compelling documents of international law, man and his needs unfortunately continue to be threatened, to such an extent that in recent months a new concept has emerged, that of “humanitarian intervention.”</p>
<p>This term says much about the precarious state of man and of the societies he has established. I myself have had occasion to speak on this subject of humanitarian assistance, during my visit to the headquarters of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization on 5 December last. Once the possibilities afforded by diplomatic negotiations and the procedures provided for by international agreements and organizations have been put into effect, and yet, nevertheless, populations are succumbing to the attacks of an unjust aggressor. States no longer have a “right to indifference.” It seems clear that their duty is to disarm this aggressor, if all other means have proved ineffective. The principles of the sovereignty of States and of non-interference in their internal affairs—which retain all their value—cannot constitute a screen behind which torture and murder may be carried out. For this is what it means.</p>
<p>Jurists will still of course have to examine this new phenomenon and refine its contours. But, as the Holy See often seeks to remind the international bodies to which it belongs, the organization of society has no meaning unless the human dimension is made the principal concern, in a world made by man and for man.</p>
<p>George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | Humanitarian Law | false | https://eppc.org/publications/humanitarian-law/ | 1 |
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I would like to add my two cents about my John Kerry experience.</p>
<p>During my career as an Air Force pilot, I spent two years flying a small twin-engine prop plane around the Pacific from my base in Okinawa, Japan. On one trip we had to fly Senator Kerry, his congressional aide, and a Navy Captain (Vietnam, A-4 fighter pilot) was also in Kerry’s party to various locations in Vietnam and Cambodia as part of the MIA/POW talks.</p>
<p>When I met him, he was wearing a shirt with a picture of his sailboat on it. I told him I had a small 27 feet sailboat in Okinawa, he remarked ‘Oh I never sail on anything less than 135 feet’.</p>
<p>When we first flew him into Phnom Penh, he went to the back of the airplane and grabbed the pizza that was put aside for the crew and passed it around to his staff. He was never offered any pizza because they were supposed to have lunch with the Cambodian government once we landed. The pizza would have been our only meal that day.</p>
<p>Then when we picked him up in Cambodia, he was an hour late getting to the airport. We could not start the engines and therefore the air conditioning until he arrived. Phnom Penh at that time was over 100 degrees with 95% humidity and we were basically sitting in a greenhouse behind the cockpit windows.</p>
<p>When he finally did arrive, we were wringing out our clothes from the perspiration. He walks out of the air conditioned car, into the airplane and asks us ‘Could you guys get the air conditioning running, I’m a little warm.” The other pilot had to physically restrain me from going back there and picking a fight.</p>
<p>Then we took him into Noi Bai airfield in Hanoi. After we picked him up the next day (he stayed the night in Vietnam, we stayed in Bangkok) we taxied out, ran up the engines for takeoff, and noticed that our prop rpm was vibrating all over the place. We taxied off to the side to look at it, but there was a good possibility that there was an engine malfunction and the engine may fail if we took off with it.</p>
<p>Well, Mr. Senator sticks his head up in the cockpit and says ‘this plane WILL take off, I have a press conference in Bangkok in three hours!” (Maybe this is an indication of how he will run the FAA). We ran the engines again, and did not have the problem, so we took off and made it back.</p>
<p>During the flight, he told everyone how he had taken a Cessna (a small General aviation plane) up with a fighter pilot, and the fighter pilot remarked that Kerry was one of the best pilots he had ever seen. I don’t know about other pilots out there, but it’s hard to imagine a little, single-engine prop plane pilot being able to show the ‘right stuff’.</p>
<p>After Kerry left the plane, the Navy Captain came up to us, apologized and said basically that he knows Kerry is a jerk and that we should be glad we don’t have to deal with him every day….</p>
<p>Or will we?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The John Kerry Experience | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/03/04/the-john-kerry-experience/ | 2004-03-04 | 4 |
<p>A Canadian judge was suspended without pay for wearing a hat with President Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," in court.</p>
<p>The Ontario Judicial Council suspended Justice Bernd Zabel for 30 days and called his conduct an "inexplicable act of judicial misconduct."</p>
<p>Zabel, who had not been assigned cases since January, wore the cap as he walked into court on Nov. 9, 2016 -- the day after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the U.S. election.</p>
<p>He said at his hearing last month that he wore the cap to lighten the mood, but it prompted 81 complaints.</p>
<p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | A Canadian judge was suspended without pay for wearing a 'Make America Great Again' hat | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/09/12/world/bernd-zabel-canadian-judge-suspended-without-pay-for-make-america-great-again-hat | 2017-09-12 | 1 |
<p>AP Photo/Lynne Sladky</p>
<p>A watchdog group is threatening to renew a legal fight against the Trump administration following the White House’s decision Friday to withhold the names of thousands of people who have visited the president’s&#160;exclusive Florida club since January.</p>
<p>Back in July, after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington first filed a lawsuit to obtain the Mar-A-Lago records, the administration seemed surprisingly agreeable, voluntarily&#160;promising to release something&#160;by September 8. That deadline was pushed back at the last minute, but at noon on Friday, the administration turned over its list of visitors: There were just&#160;22 names, all of them members of the Japanese prime minister’s entourage.&#160;CREW and other ethics experts immediately cried foul.</p>
<p>At issue is the fact that the US Secret Service keeps careful track of everyone who enters the Mar-A-Lago club, dubbed the “Winter White House” by the administration.&#160;Trump has stayed there&#160;dozens of nights since he took office, holding court in the public areas, greeting members (who pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in initiation and membership fees), and crashing weddings in the rented-out ballroom. The Secret Service keeps a similar set of records for visitors to the actual White House—a set of names that the Obama administration released regularly, but which the Trump administration so far has not. In January, watchdogs filed a Freedom of Information request for the Secret Service records, and then in April, CREW filed a subsequent lawsuit demanding that the Secret Service respond to the FOIA the way the Obama administration had. In July, the administration agreed that it would, at least, release any records that were&#160;“responsive”&#160;to CREW’s request.</p>
<p>After the agreement was made, the federal judge in the case issued an order requiring the release.&#160;</p>
<p>Under FOIA, some records are exempt from being made public. In this case, it turns out, the administration’s opinion is that all the records are exempt from disclosure except for&#160;the names of the Japanese prime minister’s entourage. Despite the fact that other foreign leaders—as well as&#160;thousands of club members, guests, and event attendees—visited&#160;the club,&#160;no other names were released today.</p>
<p>The list of the 22 names that were released can be read <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/15161409/DOYLE-FOIA-000001-DOYLE-FOIA-000002.pdf" type="external">here</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder on Friday&#160;called the&#160;administration’s earlier promise misleading and said the release was an intentional insult to transparency efforts.</p>
<p>“The government seriously misrepresented their intentions to both us and the court,” Bookbinder said in a statement. “This was spitting in the eye of transparency. We will be fighting this in court.”</p>
<p>CREW will challenge the decision to release only 22 names in further litigation, the group said in a tweet.</p>
<p />
<p>In the first few weeks of Trump’s presidency, Mar-A-Lago became the scene of a string of surreal moments—official business usually restricted to the secure environs of the White House was carried out casually in front of wealthy and less-than-discrete club members in public dining rooms and on patios. The most powerful man in the world <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/02/13/trump-crashes-nashville-socialites-wedding-mar--lago/97871278/" type="external">wandered through well-timed wedding receptions</a>. Club members <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/02/13/nuclear-football-photo-taken-at-trumps-golf-resort-puts-the-pentagon-in-an-awkward-position/" type="external">bragged about their proximity to the nuclear football</a>. The moments shocked security experts and infuriated transparency advocates who pointed out that this extraordinary access to the president was restricted to those who could pony up the $200,000 initiation fee (increased in the wake of Trump’s election in what would appear to be his own company’s naked effort to capitalize on his campaign victory).</p>
<p>Typically, the American president lives in a carefully guarded bubble. His opportunities to mingle freely are minimal, and access is severely limited. While presidents have always taken vacations, they have largely stayed away from the public eye—photos posted by Mar-A-Lago members and guests of Trump’s visits to the club were unprecedented and showed the president literally being mobbed by groups of people who surrounded him, chatting and posing for pictures. And while presidents have also regularly attended closed-door political functions with donors and supporters, those events have never occurred with the frequency of Trump’s Mar-A-Lago visits last winter and spring, nor in such close proximity to sensitive moments, such as&#160;Trump’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-turns-mar-a-lago-club-terrace-into-open-air-situation-room/2017/02/13/c5525096-f20d-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html?utm_term=.f0a4576a1092" type="external">consultation</a> with the Japanese prime minister over news of a North Korean missile test.&#160;</p>
<p>And the ethical quandaries aren’t just limited to Mar-A-Lago—a renovated mansion that has luxurious grounds but no golf course. In CREW’s lawsuit, similar White House logs were sought, as well as logs for visitors to Trump Tower in New York City. So far, only the (extremely limited) Mar-A-Lago records have emerged. A recent <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/06/trump-gets-millions-golf-members-ceos-and-lobbyists-get-access-president/632505001/" type="external">investigation</a> by&#160;USA Today showed that 50 executives who have companies with federal contracts and 21 lobbyists are members of at least one of Trump’s three private golf clubs that he has visited most often since becoming president—and two-thirds of them have played golf on days that Trump was there.</p> | Trump Administration Refuses to Turn Over Mar-A-Lago Records | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/09/trump-administration-refuses-to-turn-over-mar-a-lago-records/ | 2017-09-15 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Under Armour.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The stock market often bounces back from severe setbacks with a one-day pop, and many investors came into Wednesday's session thinking that the previous day's gains would be short-lived. Yet the stock market posted even larger gains on Wednesday, continuing to rebound from Brexit fears amid the belief that European nations will find ways to counteract any negative impact from the U.K. referendum vote and keep promoting economic growth. Major market benchmarks posted gains of 1.5% to 2%, with the Dow climbing more than 275 points. Some stocks did even better, and Under Armour , Tesaro , and Diamond Resorts International were among the best performers on the day.</p>
<p>Under Armour rose 6% as it benefited from favorable news elsewhere in the sector. Rival Nike reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results Tuesday night, and they initially disappointed investors because of sales that fell short of expectations. But solid earnings pointed to the extent to which the athletic apparel giant has overcome currency headwinds and other negative factors to keep its bottom line stable. Under Armour investors took the news as indicating a healthy market, and the upstart company expects to make further inroads into taking market share away from Nike and its other peers and continuing to grow at a faster pace than the industry as a whole.</p>
<p>Tesaro climbed 109% after announcing that its ovarian cancer candidate drug niraparib met its primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial. The oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company's NOVA trial established that niraparib significantly prolonged progression-free survival among patients in multiple groups, including both those who carry what's known as the germline BRCA mutation and those who don't carry the mutation. Given that treatments that use similar methods to fight disease have had mixed results, Tesaro's success wasn't entirely expected, explaining the magnitude of the upward movement. Nevertheless, the trial gives Tesaro momentum toward hopefully getting niraparib approved in the near future.</p>
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<p>Finally, Diamond Resorts International jumped 24%. The vacation resort specialist accepted a buyout offer from Apollo Global Management in a deal worth $2.2 billion, with shareholders in Diamond Resorts receiving $30.25 per share in cash. The bid will take place through a tender offer for shares, and Diamond CEO David Palmer said that the transaction "is an excellent outcome for our shareholders," in part because "Apollo values the culture of hospitality and customer service that is the legacy of our founder and chairman, Stephen J. Cloobeck." Some investors will be disappointed that the buyout comes at a price less than where the stock traded in early 2015, but others will appreciate the premium over current share prices and jump at the chance to cash in.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/29/why-under-armour-tesaro-and-diamond-resorts-intern.aspx" type="external">Why Under Armour, Tesaro, and Diamond Resorts International Jumped Today Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Under Armour (A Shares). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Under Armour, Tesaro, and Diamond Resorts International Jumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/29/why-under-armour-tesaro-and-diamond-resorts-international-jumped-today.html | 2016-06-29 | 0 |
<p>DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — With the strain of a costly loss showing, Miami Dolphins coaches said they have a good relationship with their players, even the one who yelled at Joe Philbin on the sideline during the defeat.</p>
<p>Defensive tackle Jared Odrick "kind of snapped" when he angrily confronted Philbin in the closing minutes of the Dolphins' loss to the Baltimore Ravens, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said Monday. But Coyle said the outburst didn't signal an underlying problem between Odrick and the coaching staff.</p>
<p>"I think it's a good relationship, as it is with every guy on this team," Coyle said. "I feel very strongly about that. I think that's one of the strengths of this program."</p>
<p>Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor agreed.</p>
<p>"It's a reflection on Joe Philbin, the kind of professional atmosphere we have," Lazor said. "I'm very comfortable with how our players are on game day, even when they get excited, whether it be because they want the ball more or whatever reason. We've got players here that I feel can talk to me, and that I can speak with. It's a very professional atmosphere."</p>
<p>Camaraderie will be tested in the wake of Sunday's 28-13 loss to Baltimore, which could keep the Dolphins (7-6) out of the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. Any finish short of the postseason would leave Philbin's job in jeopardy after three seasons as Miami's head coach.</p>
<p>The Dolphins went into last weekend with an edge in the race for the final AFC wild-card berth, but now they might be left out even if they win their final three games. Ravens coach John Harbaugh predicted such a sweep.</p>
<p>"This is a very good football team that we played," Harbaugh said. "This team will probably win out."</p>
<p>Philbin will like the sound of that, and he acknowledged there's no more margin for error, beginning Sunday at AFC East leader New England.</p>
<p>But Philbin expects his team to bounce back from the latest loss.</p>
<p>"I have a lot of faith and confidence in these guys," he said. "We've got a huge challenge this week going up to New England. I told them in the locker room, we're going to find out a lot this week."</p>
<p>Injuries are taking a toll, with safety Louis Delmas joining the list when he suffered a season-ending knee injury Sunday. The Ravens feasted on replacements, including R.J. Stanford at cornerback and Dallas Thomas at right tackle.</p>
<p>The defense has allowed 661 yards rushing over the past three games while twice blowing double-digit leads. The offense has scored one touchdown each of the past two weeks, and with pass protection shaky, Ryan Tannehill has stopped trying to throw downfield.</p>
<p>But Philbin said he's confident his players still have faith in the coaching staff and game plan because of "the way they conduct themselves every single day, the way they've gone out and competed every single week. I absolutely believe that."</p>
<p>Odrick attributed his outburst to the emotions of the moment. Coyle agreed, but didn't endorse his lineman's behavior.</p>
<p>"There is a fine line," Coyle said. "Football is an emotional game. You want guys that play with passion. But I think there is a professionalism that everybody has to have, players and coaches alike. You try to keep your composure, because outbreaks of emotion generally don't tend to benefit the team. It can be a distraction. So I think that's something everybody needs to be careful of."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine" type="external">http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine</a></p>
<p>DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — With the strain of a costly loss showing, Miami Dolphins coaches said they have a good relationship with their players, even the one who yelled at Joe Philbin on the sideline during the defeat.</p>
<p>Defensive tackle Jared Odrick "kind of snapped" when he angrily confronted Philbin in the closing minutes of the Dolphins' loss to the Baltimore Ravens, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said Monday. But Coyle said the outburst didn't signal an underlying problem between Odrick and the coaching staff.</p>
<p>"I think it's a good relationship, as it is with every guy on this team," Coyle said. "I feel very strongly about that. I think that's one of the strengths of this program."</p>
<p>Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor agreed.</p>
<p>"It's a reflection on Joe Philbin, the kind of professional atmosphere we have," Lazor said. "I'm very comfortable with how our players are on game day, even when they get excited, whether it be because they want the ball more or whatever reason. We've got players here that I feel can talk to me, and that I can speak with. It's a very professional atmosphere."</p>
<p>Camaraderie will be tested in the wake of Sunday's 28-13 loss to Baltimore, which could keep the Dolphins (7-6) out of the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. Any finish short of the postseason would leave Philbin's job in jeopardy after three seasons as Miami's head coach.</p>
<p>The Dolphins went into last weekend with an edge in the race for the final AFC wild-card berth, but now they might be left out even if they win their final three games. Ravens coach John Harbaugh predicted such a sweep.</p>
<p>"This is a very good football team that we played," Harbaugh said. "This team will probably win out."</p>
<p>Philbin will like the sound of that, and he acknowledged there's no more margin for error, beginning Sunday at AFC East leader New England.</p>
<p>But Philbin expects his team to bounce back from the latest loss.</p>
<p>"I have a lot of faith and confidence in these guys," he said. "We've got a huge challenge this week going up to New England. I told them in the locker room, we're going to find out a lot this week."</p>
<p>Injuries are taking a toll, with safety Louis Delmas joining the list when he suffered a season-ending knee injury Sunday. The Ravens feasted on replacements, including R.J. Stanford at cornerback and Dallas Thomas at right tackle.</p>
<p>The defense has allowed 661 yards rushing over the past three games while twice blowing double-digit leads. The offense has scored one touchdown each of the past two weeks, and with pass protection shaky, Ryan Tannehill has stopped trying to throw downfield.</p>
<p>But Philbin said he's confident his players still have faith in the coaching staff and game plan because of "the way they conduct themselves every single day, the way they've gone out and competed every single week. I absolutely believe that."</p>
<p>Odrick attributed his outburst to the emotions of the moment. Coyle agreed, but didn't endorse his lineman's behavior.</p>
<p>"There is a fine line," Coyle said. "Football is an emotional game. You want guys that play with passion. But I think there is a professionalism that everybody has to have, players and coaches alike. You try to keep your composure, because outbreaks of emotion generally don't tend to benefit the team. It can be a distraction. So I think that's something everybody needs to be careful of."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine" type="external">http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine</a></p> | Dolphins coaches defend relationship with players | false | https://apnews.com/amp/21dd7148e564428f89ee3afd412fbb41 | 2014-12-08 | 2 |
<p>Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday answered questions in a live forum hosted by the Spanish-language Univision network.&#160;</p>
<p>Student supporters in the audience at the University of Miami cheered as Romney responded in English to Spanish-language questions about immigration, education, health care, jobs and the economy. And while the audience appeared supportive of the Republican candidate, many of Romney's comments regarding hot-button issues, as well as his <a href="http://gawker.com/5944931/mitt-romney-dyed-his-face-brown-to-appeal-to-latino-voters" type="external">conveniently bronze appearence</a>, triggered a not-so-calm social media storm in the wake of the forum.</p>
<p>The event, which was co-hosted by Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, was co-sponsored by Facebook and&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/univision" type="external">broadcast live online</a> in Spanish and English in the evening and <a href="http://www.univision.com/" type="external">aired on Univision</a> later Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Ramos and Salinas asked the tough questions, Romney answered them, and below, viewers and voters reacted:</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120920/univision-hosts-second-presidential-forum-barack" type="external">Latino TV grills Obama for failed immigration reform</a></p>
<p>[ <a href="http://storify.com/globalpost/univision-presidential-forum-mitt-romney" type="external">View the story "Univision Presidential Forum: Mitt Romney" on Storify</a>]Univision Presidential Forum: Mitt Romney</p>
<p>Storified by GlobalPost - Thu, Sep 20 2012 13:22:06</p> | Romney's Univision interview triggers social media storm | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-09-21/romneys-univision-interview-triggers-social-media-storm | 2012-09-21 | 3 |
<p>The Islamic State group purportedly claims to have “trained soldiers” in 15 states.</p>
<p>“Out of the 71 trained soldiers, 23 have signed up for missions like Sunday, we are increasing in number. […] Of the 15 states, 5 we will name… Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, California and Michigan,” an American terrorist known as Abu Ibrahim Al Ameriki said on a file-sharing website, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/06/purported-isis-warning-claims-terror-cells-in-place-in-15-states/" type="external">reported</a> Wednesday. The authenticity of the claims could not be verified.</p>
<p>The announcement of terror cells within the U.S. came in conjunction with calls of praise for the men who died while trying to attack a “Draw the Prophet” contest in Garland, Texas, on Sunday.</p>
<p><a href="/news/2015/may/6/gunmans-hashtag-hinted-at-texas-plot/" type="external">SEE ALSO: Gunman’s Twitter hashtag hinted at Texas plot</a></p>
<p>Elton Simpson, 31, and Nadir Soofi, 34, died in a shootout with security before reaching attendees at the American Freedom Defense Initiative event. The winning drawing of the Islamic prophet won $10,000.</p>
<p>“The attack by the Islamic State in America is only the beginning of our efforts to establish a wiliyah [province] in the heart of our enemy,” a statement by the Islamic State group said, Fox reported.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2015/may/6/islamic-state-claims-terror-cells-15-states-report/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Islamic State claims terror cells in 15 states: report | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/6/islamic-state-claims-terror-cells-15-states-report/ | 2015-05-06 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>The IRS has extended until March 2 the deadline for employers and insurers to provide 2017 health insurance information forms to employees. The forms, which have the numbers 1095-B and 1095-C, detail the coverage provided to each employee during the year. The forms were originally due to be in employees’ hands by Jan. 31.</p>
<p>Individual taxpayers can use the information on the forms to determine whether they qualify for tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>While employers and insurers have more time to send the forms to employees, the due dates for getting the forms to the IRS have not changed. If the forms are being sent on paper, they are due Feb. 28, and if they’re being filed electronically, the due date is April 2.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>You can find more information on the IRS website, <a href="http://www.irs.gov." type="external">www.irs.gov.</a></p>
<p>ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS</p>
<p>Small business advocates are split over the Trump administration’s plan to allow what are called association health plans, or group insurance plans that would permit small companies to buy insurance in states where they’re not located. The plan, a proposed regulation released last week by the Labor Department, would make it easier for groups, or associations, to sponsor health plans that don’t meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>Under current law, large companies are generally exempt from state insurance regulations, allowing them to provide the same insurance coverage to all their employees, but small businesses are limited to policies that meet the standards of their home states. The Labor Department says the proposal could benefit up to 11 million people who are self-employed or work for small businesses but don’t have employer coverage. The regulation could give businesses more options.</p>
<p>The administration’s proposal would “fix current restrictions and barriers that prevent small businesses and entrepreneurs from using their market power and membership in associations to negotiate and access affordable health coverage,” said Karen Kerrigan, CEO of the Small Business &amp; Entrepreneurship Council.</p>
<p>Critics of the proposal, including some small business advocates as well as insurance industry groups, said that while it would benefit some companies, others could find their insurance costs rising sharply.</p>
<p>The proposal would “create parallel insurance markets for small businesses, leading to major spikes in premiums for small firms that remain in the small-group market,” said Small Business Majority CEO John Arensmeyer. He also said association plans would offer less protection to some employees if a multistate policy would reduce protection against rate increases and poor coverage that some states offer consumers.</p>
<p>The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed regulation, which can found on the Federal Register website at <a href="http://bit.ly/2CKkGs9" type="external">http://bit.ly/2CKkGs9</a> .</p>
<p>GETTING BIGGER CONTRACTS AND FEES</p>
<p>Many small business owners are willing to take lower fees and smaller contracts when they’re first starting out, and want to make the leap to the customers with deeper pockets. SCORE, which offers free counseling to small companies, is sponsoring an online seminar on how to get high-paying clients. It will be held Thursday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. Eastern time. You can learn more and register at <a href="http://bit.ly/2lGbKIS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2lGbKIS</a> .</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Follow Joyce Rosenberg at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg" type="external">www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg</a> . Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com/search/joyce%20rosenberg</p> | Get Started: More time to send health care forms to staffers | false | https://abqjournal.com/1116356/get-started-more-time-to-send-health-care-forms-to-staffers.html | 2 |
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<p>Jan. 31, 2013</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p>A new study just released by the <a href="http://www.hjta.org/press-releases/pr-reason-foundation-howard-jarvis-taxpayers-foundation-joint-study-reveals-harmful-e" type="external">Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation</a> and the&#160; <a href="http://reason.org/blog/show/new-reason-study-ca-tax-reform" type="external">Reason Foundation</a> found many California tax breaks given to corporations constitute corporate welfare, shows how they actually impede economic growth, and contribute to the state’s nasty political environment.</p>
<p>“The study examined numerous corporate tax, sales and use tax credits, tax deductions and exemptions in order to evaluate whether California tax breaks serve their intended purpose,” the press release said.</p>
<p>“The study reveals that while tax breaks may be intended to serve as an economic engine, they often become wasteful corporate handouts with the government attempting to pick winners and losers, often at a steep price tag to other businesses in the marketplace or ultimately, taxpayers,” the <a href="http://www.hjta.org/press-releases/pr-reason-foundation-howard-jarvis-taxpayers-foundation-joint-study-reveals-harmful-e" type="external">HJTA website said</a>.</p>
<p>“Our study reveals what we have long suspected,” said Jon Coupal, Chairman of the <a href="http://www.hjta.org/press-releases/pr-reason-foundation-howard-jarvis-taxpayers-foundation-joint-study-reveals-harmful-e" type="external">Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation</a>.&#160; “Special interests in Sacramento get special favors in the form of tax loopholes, usually at the expense of citizen taxpayers, small businesses and working class Californians.&#160; Many of these corporate rent seekers are the same ones who finance initiatives and support legislation imposing broad-based tax hikes on everyone as long as they get to preserve their special tax treatment.”</p>
<p>“There are many ways to turn around the California’s fiscal and economic fortunes—cutting spending, eliminating burdensome regulations, privatizing government services, ditching boondoggles like the California high-speed rail plan, implementing real pension reform,” Adam Summers of the <a href="http://reason.org/blog/show/new-reason-study-ca-tax-reform" type="external">Reason Foundation reported.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.hjta.org/pdf/ps412_tax_credits_in_california_1-26-13-study.pdf" type="external">Download the study</a>. CalWatchdog will follow up on this very interesting study.</p> | Study finds corporate tax breaks are ‘corporate welfare’ | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/01/31/study-finds-corporate-tax-breaks-are-corporate-welfare/ | 2018-01-20 | 3 |
<p>Glow Images via AP Images</p>
<p />
<p>The Supreme Court on Monday <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-940_ed9g.pdf" type="external">ruled against a challenge</a> to Texas’ redistricting methods in a case that could have dramatically tilted elections nationwide in favor of Republican candidates.</p>
<p>In Evenwel v. Abbott, Sue Evenwel and Ed Pfenninger had sued the state of Texas over its 2010 redistricting map, contending that it diluted their votes—i.e., those of largely white, rural residents—by basing legislative districts on total population as opposed to eligible voters. Such a method of drawing districts, they argued, meant that urban areas with large numbers of illegal immigrants or felons would have more representation in the state legislature than rural areas with fewer people but a higher percentage of eligible voters. They wanted the court to force a uniform national standard on states requiring them to draw districts based on eligible voters. This would have diminished the electoral clout of America’s cities, which tend to vote Democratic, and given an edge to the Republican Party by empowering the rural enclaves where the party has a large base of support.</p>
<p>Virtually every state calculates legislative districts based on total population. If Evenwel and Pfenninger had prevailed, states would have seen their legislative maps thrown into chaos. But the court ruled unanimously that total population was a reasonable way for states to design legislative districts.</p>
<p>Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penned the majority opinion, noting that because of the “infirmity of the appellants’ claims,” the court didn’t need to address the question of whether it might be permissible for states to base legislative districts on eligible voters.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Liberal groups, who have been watching this case closely, cheered the ruling. Caroline Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society, said in a statement, “As states across the country implement new voting restrictions at breakneck speed, it is vital to reaffirm our commitment to equal representation for all people. We still have a long way to go to ensure that all Americans have a voice in our government, and today’s decision is an important start.”</p>
<p>The plaintiffs in Evenwel were recruited by <a href="" type="internal">Edward Blum</a>, a man who’s made a career out of trying to kill off affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act by way of the Supreme Court through his organization, Project on Fair Representation. (Blum is also behind another case before the court this term, Fisher v. University of Texas, which challenges the university’s use of race in admissions decisions.)</p>
<p>Evenwel is a tea party and GOP activist in Titus County, Texas. As Mother Jones <a href="" type="internal">reported in December</a>:</p>
<p>In 2012, the Evenwel-led Titus County GOP hosted a screening of Dreams From My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception, the docudrama that suggests Obama’s real father was Frank Marshall Davis, a man the film’s promotional material describe as a “Communist Party USA propagandist who likely shaped Obama’s world view during his formative years.” On her Facebook page, Evenwel has also approvingly touted a story from the conservative website WorldNetDaily questioning whether Obama was really born in America.</p>
<p>Evenwel is an outspoken critic of illegal immigrants, and she has claimed on the Titus County GOP’s website that the state’s present legislative boundary-drawing process has the primary objective of giving “equal representation to a block of undocumented people who are not eligible or registered to vote.” Evenwel has also lashed out at Muslims, warning in an op-ed that showing tolerance to them means that Shariah law could “usurp the US Constitution.” And she has claimed that all money donated to mosques funds jihad.</p>
<p>Pfenninger, her co-plaintiff, also has a colorful background. Mother Jones reported last year that Pfenninger held religious views far outside the mainstream and rejected modern scientific principles, including the basic notion that the Earth revolves around the sun:</p>
<p>A Christian fundamentalist who works as a security guard in Porter, Texas, Pfenninger operates a YouTube channel where he’s posted hours of videos of himself expounding on his beliefs. For instance, he’s described the Catholic Church as “the Mother of Harlots.” He’s also said that Jews are “enemies of the cross,” and that God created Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust because he “wanted the Jews back into the Land.” Pfenninger also cites the Bible to justify his belief that women with short hair are somehow shameful. In response to a commenter on one of his videos, he wrote:</p>
<p>Pfenninger has scorned science and claimed that “geocentricity”—the medieval belief that the Earth is the center of the universe—”is a Bible fact. It its not theory…the earth is standing still in the middle of the universe.” The notion that the Earth revolves around the sun, according to Pfenninger, “is part of the Copernican revolution, which is anti-Biblical, and in fact led to the acceptance of evolution. Christians will fight against evolution but you’ve got to go a little further back and fight against the root of evolution, which is the heliocentric movement.”</p>
<p>And then there’s the unicorn, which appears repeatedly in Pfenninger’s online posts. Arguing with a commenter to one of his YouTube videos, Pfenninger wrote in 2013 that the “unicorn was a real creature known for it’s [sic] great strength, and is also referred to in ancient literature.” Pfenninger did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p>
<p>Blum issued a statement criticizing the Supreme Court’s ruling. “We are disappointed that the justices were unwilling to reestablish the original principle of one-person, one vote for the citizens of Texas and elsewhere,” he said. “The issue of voter equality in the United States is not going to go away. Some Supreme Court cases grow in importance over time and Evenwel v. Abbott may likely be one of those cases.”</p>
<p /> | Supreme Court Rejects a Major Voting Rights Challenge | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/supreme-court-rejects-major-voting-rights-challenge-evenwel-abbott/ | 2016-04-04 | 4 |
<p>DETROIT (Reuters) – Sales of new vehicles in the United States should decline in 2018 as high prices and competition from nearly-new, off-lease vehicles will weigh on consumers, a dealer lobby group said on Friday.</p>
<p>The National Automobile Dealers Association said it sees U.S. new vehicle sales at 16.7 million units in 2018, down from the 17.1 million units it expects for 2017. Last year major automakers posted record sales of 17.55 million units.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | NADA sees U.S. new vehicle sales at 16.7 million units in 2018 | false | https://newsline.com/nada-sees-u-s-new-vehicle-sales-at-16-7-million-units-in-2018/ | 2017-12-01 | 1 |
<p>Troy Hunt has collected a trove of 4.8 billion stolen identity records pulled from the darkest corners of the internet — but he isn't a hacker.</p>
<p>Instead, he uses that repository to help ordinary people navigate the growing scourge of the corporate data breach. All that personal information was originally taken from brand-name services such as LinkedIn, Kickstarter, Dropbox, MySpace and the cheating website Ashley Madison, and later assembled by Hunt.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Working barefoot and in beachwear from his home office on Australia's Gold Coast, the amiable security researcher set up his irreverent website, "Have I Been Pwned?" (POHND), in 2013. Millions of people have since used the free service to see if hackers have liberated their personal details from unwary companies and posted them online.</p>
<p>Along the way, Hunt has become a close student of data breaches and the slipshod security that makes many companies easy prey for attackers. He's exposed several such thefts himself, in some cases identifying them before the companies themselves did.</p>
<p>AN EPIDEMIC OF PWNAGE</p>
<p>"Pwned" — a deliberate misspelling of "owned" — is slang used by gamers to mean "utterly defeated." It's an apt description of what it's like to have criminals use your Social Security number, birthdate and other personal details to commit fraud in your name.</p>
<p>Hunt was invited to appear before Congress in late November to help lawmakers wrestle with this growing crisis of consumer data theft. In just the past two years, attackers have stolen sensitive information about hundreds of millions of people from the credit bureau Equifax, popular online services such as Uber and too many other companies to count.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Much of that stolen data flows directly into the black market. "Data breaches are another commodity, like heroin," Hunt testified Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.</p>
<p>UNLIKELY MESSENGER</p>
<p>Hunt's unlikely path from Queensland's Surfers Paradise Beach to what he describes as "fancy government things" on Capitol Hill has been a running joke since his invitation to testify was announced. Virginia Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith, introducing Hunt to lawmakers, noted that he "put on a suit and tie for us when he normally wears jeans and a black T-shirt."</p>
<p>Hunt said he splurged on the brand-new Hugo Boss suit and Australian outback-style boots because he didn't have anything else to wear. He also downloaded an app that instructed him on how to tie his necktie.</p>
<p>"Doing my best 'no really, I'm a professional' impersonation," he tweeted from the U.S. Capitol steps shortly before the hearing. "Did it work?"</p>
<p>ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH</p>
<p>Of course, this "new normal" of massive data breaches is no joke. So much personal data has been publicly exposed through both theft and voluntary sharing on social media that it's eroded traditional methods for verifying identity, such as usernames, passwords or knowledge-based questions about birthdays or family history.</p>
<p>In late November, Hunt helped discover a 2014 breach of the photo-sharing website Imgur after analyzing data from the hack passed along by one of his sources. Unlike Uber, which hid a recently-disclosed breach of more than 57 million stolen passenger and driver records for a year, Imgur took just 25 hours to go public after Hunt emailed the San Francisco company on Thanksgiving Day.</p>
<p>"Troy Hunt was extremely helpful in bringing the data breach to our attention and ensuring the sensitive data was passed to us in a secure manner," Roy Sehgal, Imgur's chief operating officer, said in an email.</p>
<p>PWN ALL THE THINGS</p>
<p>Hunt originally launched his site "as a bit of a curiosity," he said. At the time, he was a software architect at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer; a few years later, he quit to work as an independent information security consultant and instructor.</p>
<p>The researcher was analyzing data breaches floating around the web and noticed that many people were turning up in multiple data breaches. "It struck me that this was something they probably didn't know," Hunt said in a phone interview.</p>
<p>People using his site can search on their email address to see whether and where their records have been exposed. Roughly 1.7 million people also subscribe to alerts that sound when their details pop up in newly discovered breaches. The website's user base has grown rapidly as bigger data breaches — some many years old — get attention.</p>
<p>WEARING THE WHITE HAT</p>
<p>Hunt "has credibility and integrity," said U.K.-based security researcher Ian Thornton-Trump, who has used Hunt's site to build a system that keeps customer credentials safe from attacks that re-use previously disclosed passwords. "He's resisted urges, and probably significant financial value, to sell out."</p>
<p>Thornton-Trump and other supporters say Hunt's usefulness has grown as more people confidentially share publicly exposed data with him, drawn by his reputation as an ethical gatekeeper of sensitive information.</p>
<p>"I hope they get a bit of a sense of doing the right thing," Hunt said. "I hope there's a sense of social good. They certainly don't get any money out of it."</p>
<p>Hunt warned Congress on Thursday that there's now a "perfect storm of data exposure" thanks to the growth in online services that are collecting more information than they really need. He also slipped in a suggestion that that the U.S. government, like some of its counterparts elsewhere, should do more to penalize companies that don't disclose their breaches properly.</p> | Have you been 'pwned' in a data breach? Troy Hunt can tell | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/12/05/have-been-pwned-in-data-breach-troy-hunt-can-tell.html | 2017-12-05 | 0 |
<p>Dear George:</p>
<p>Happy New Year. And, I know it is for you, because you (and when I say “you,” I mean Dick, Karl and the Carlyle Group) now have control of both houses of Congress. You must be sitting on top of the world, your oyster.</p>
<p>You declared that the mid-term elections were a mandate from the American people. The People, you claim, speak with one voice. George, you can bang The Majority Has Spoken drum all you want, but here are the facts: a meager 33% of all Americans voted. And of that 33%, some 15% voted Democrat, 17% voted Republican and 1.1% voted Green, Libertarian, Independent, etc.</p>
<p>I know school, in general, was not your best subject, so let me help: 17% of the vote, only two percentage points more than the Democrats, DOES NOT A MANDATE MAKE. Perhaps if you print that sentence out and tape it on your desk at the Oval Office to remind you, it might help. (Then again, as you take more vacations and spend less time there than any other President in history, maybe not.)</p>
<p>Capturing only the minority of votes in the 2000 Election, yet still winning the presidency, might make the term “majority” a bit confusing for you. (Let’s not even bother with all that extra stuff about the Electoral College and the Supreme Court. It’ll just confuse you more.) Here are some examples that might help you with the concept:</p>
<p>– Between 60 and 75% of ALL non-organic supermarket food tests positive for the presence of genetically engineered ingredients, unbeknownst to the consumer. Either number, George, constitutes a majority. There is no legislation requiring GE foods to be labeled as such, despite an estimate that between 80-95% of the people want this labeling (most want the labeling so they can avoid GE foods). Again, 80-95% is a healthy majority, George.</p>
<p>– Some 75% of all military recruitment centers are in low-income areas and the “projects.” 75%. Another solid majority. The military must know that poverty, despair and almost no hope for a viable future make wonderful recruiting agents.</p>
<p>– Last September, radio’s Democracy Now! surveyed 70 Republican and Democratic Senate Offices, asking about constituents who had contacted them about a possible war against Iraq. Aides for both Republicans and Democrats reported an “overwhelming” majority of people calling, faxing and emailing against the war. In some cases, the calls, etc. were running 200:1 in opposition of war. Now this might get confusing because we are talking ratios, not percentages. But this ratio of 200:1 represents a huge majority of people who don’t to go to war, don’t you think?</p>
<p>And finally, 99% of your new tax cut proposal benefits the rich. Almost 100%. Now, that’s a real face-slapping majority.</p>
<p>Are you getting the hang of it now, George?</p>
<p>Actually, come to think of it, you’re right: the majority – the whopping 83% that didn’t vote with your party – HAS spoken. And it said: I’m too disgusted with U.S. politics to vote for any of you; or corporations control everything anyway, so what’s the point; or you’re alright, I guess, but I don’t want to miss the 16 hours of reality shows I taped to go vote; or I’m uniformed and the media won’t cover the real issues that affect me that would certainly motivate me to vote; or I think you are the most shameless special interest lackey the Oval Office has ever seen and I wouldn’t vote for you if Charlton Heston had one in his arsenal of guns pointed at my head.</p>
<p>So, let’s be clear. The People did not say: “I, the singularly-voiced American People, housed from sea to shining sea, bequeath to thee a mandate to continue on thine path – to further thine special interest, neo-conservative agenda. With haste, Anointed One, go.”</p>
<p>Your agenda is being furthered by default, George.</p>
<p>But, kudos to you and yours for trying to convince the American people otherwise; that the majority thinks the way you do and everyone is 100% behind you. It’s certainly shaping up to be a public relations victory, much like the made-up story about Iraqi soldiers removing babies from incubators. That was powerful stuff, that lie. There was an absolute outcry from the American people. That rumor really helped drum up public support for your daddy’s Gulf War. Much of the credit goes to the PR firm Hill &amp; Knowlton for that one. What a good job they did, coaching the “source” for the story, the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S.</p>
<p>Interestingly, despite knowing scenes in it are patently false, HBO is still rebroadcasting “Tales from Baghdad,” which includes, among others, the false incubator story. Yes, yes, they do have a little disclaimer tucked away in the end credits, saying the facts are “unsubstantiated.” But we know that very few, except for those credited, sit and read the end credits. And people are so very willing to believe what they see on TV, later quoting it as fact. I wonder why HBO would continue to circulate that tall tale? I don’t know, but it certainly does help demonize and dehumanize Iraqis all over again and will probably drum up support for your very own Gulf War, don’t you think, George?</p>
<p>And then there are those “opinion” polls people believe; the polls whose job it really is to influence opinion – not collect, quantify and report it. (The same goes for the bulk of the mainstream media who are loathe to report the truth, lest they be branded “unpatriotic.”) “Oh,” say the people who hear polling results, read the papers and watch TV, “I guess most people agree with the President. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m the only one who feels the way I do.”</p>
<p>And your popularity rating is really just a media-generated, five-scary-Arab-men-on-the-loose,-we-heard-from-some-guy-and -have-absolutely-no-proof,-but-will-report-it-nationally-any way,-so-for-chrissakes,-protect-us,-Mr.-President,-protect-u s fear rating. People don’t love you, George, remotely as much as you would have us believe. They are mostly just afraid. It is the well-known psychological Rally ‘Round the Flag phenomenon that your strategists exploit spectacularly.</p>
<p>It must give you a moment’s pause, though, to think that if the Democrats could only find a way to use the veritable cornucopia of potential campaign issues spoon-fed to them by the Republicans, they would only need to kick their percentage points up a few notches to win future elections. I bet you’re keeping your fingers crossed Nancy doesn’t figure that one out.</p>
<p>You once said it would be easier if you were a dictator. I imagine, then, you are finding things pretty easy, as you are almost unfettered while you dictate the wishes of your industry friends. But, again, just be clear that you aren’t implementing the majority’s wishes and mandates. Here is what the majority of the people want. Here are just a few of our mandates, to get you started:</p>
<p>Mandate #1: Give us – all of us – quality, affordable health care. We get sick. We choke on pretzels. We need access to health care, George. Very few of us can afford to pay out of pocket medical expenses. Those of us who do have medical coverage want our friends and neighbors to have it, too. We are the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t guarantee health care to all its citizens (and non-citizens). I know you’re mad at him, but maybe you should call Fidel. With all his faults, he has created a very successful national health care system and has even extended free medical services to the never-ending supply of victims of Chernobyl. He might be able to give you some pointers.</p>
<p>Mandate #2: Please stop saying in your rehearsed I-would-if-I-could voice that there is simply not a penny to spare to fix our decaying education system as you work to reallocate literally trillions of dollars to develop a weapons defense system that even Rumsfeld admits has produced “failure after failure after failure.” This system will not protect us from box cutters and an angry world, full of injustice. Only justice will do that.</p>
<p>But you, as the book says, are the Fortunate Son. Most of us are far less fortunate, in the material sense. Most of us don’t get to where we are because of our name. So, even though you had elite schooling, the fact that quality, accessible education is the major vehicle to a viable future for most of us might be hard for you to conceptualize.</p>
<p>If all we focus on is trying to get our kids to eke out passable standardized test scores amidst a teacher shortage with untrained people stepping in to fill the void, crumbling schools, outdated textbooks, rising class sizes and declining quality, to show how well our failing school system is doing, then all we’re going to get is uneducated kids who can memorize answers for standardized tests.</p>
<p>We want to produce creative thinkers, George; kids who have a curiosity about how things and people work; kids who know how to ask questions, whose natural inclination to learn and explore is nurtured; kids who can engage in authentic dialogue, who can see beyond themselves to create a sense of connectedness and, hence, justice. That’s a big piece of what will keep this country going and what will make the rest of the world and us safe – not the promise of preemptive strikes and defective missile shields and the ability to choose the correct multiple choice letter.</p>
<p>Mandate #3: Enough already with pretending your proposed tax cut will help all Americans. We know you are just paying back your friends. We know it doesn’t help us, the other 99%. Some 74% of your proposed tax cut goes to Americans making one million dollars per year or more, 25% goes to those making $100,000 or more, an equitable 1% goes to those making $25,000 to $99,000 a year, and finally an impressive 0% goes to those making less than $25,000 a year because God knows those of us scrambling to put food on the table certainly couldn’t use a little break.</p>
<p>While the so-called trickle down “theory” was, in fact, ingenious, it was not borne from the sophisticated economic theory of erudite, impartial scholars. It was a vehicle, during the Reagan years, to pay back special interests, veiled as a solution to help the economy. Some say he was a good actor, so maybe Reagan actually convinced himself it would really help everyone. I don’t know. But, while I feel sure your economic stimulus package is stimulating, if not downright arousing, to many of your friends, those of us down here who have been waiting all these years for that little trickle to slake our parched wallets have not tasted a drop, George, not a drop. Personally, however, I have been nearly drowned by the reality of two job layoffs and a deflated 401K. I guess that’s something.</p>
<p>Mandate #4: Never use the phrase “Axis of Evil” again. I mean it. Never. The phrase originates from a speechwriter, meant to appeal to our basic “you bad, me good” fear instinct, and was reworked by some of your handlers. But, some of your other advisors, perhaps a bit more sophisticated in international diplomacy, told you this was really not a good thing to say. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but listen to them George. Such immature emotional reasoning is painfully embarrassing to hear coming from a president – even an appointed one. The phrase conjures up scenes from a schoolyard. Every time you say it, I hear: “Axis of Bullypants.”</p>
<p>Mandate #5: Give us the same amount of vacation/daily exercise time you get, Georgie. Playing puppet is no doubt singularly taxing, but our health and well-being is just as important as yours, isn’t it? Well, it is, isn’t it?? We are the little cogs that make this country run. If we all got as much R&amp;R and time for daily exercise as you do, maybe we wouldn’t need all those prescription drugs we can’t afford. (Maybe you better not tell your pals at Eli Lilly I said that.)</p>
<p>Mandate #6: Do us a favor and just call it like it is. Stop insulting the intelligence of the American people. As you so eloquently put it: don’t misunderestimate us. I, for one, would breath easier amidst the winds of honestly. Just give us the “State of the Special Interests” Address, and tell us what you and your industry friends are doing, and dispense with all this “by the people, for the people” crap.</p>
<p>We may be poor or struggling financially; we may be frozen in our tracks, afraid that this war is going to make all hell break loose all over the world, leaving us infinitely less safe; we may be dying of industry-caused diseases, lacking adequate, affordable health care to minister to us; we may find ourselves without affordable housing; we may no longer have the financial promise of a carefree retirement; and we may not have gone to the elite, private schools you and yours went to – but, honestly, George, we aren’t stupid.</p>
<p>Best to Laura, Jenna and the other one,</p>
<p>CAROL NORRIS (A member of the vast majority who is wondering if after 480 days, in your quiet moments at the ranch, you still sometimes remember your fervent vow to get Osama bin Laden “dead or alive.”)</p>
<p>CAROL NORRIS is a freelance writer and psychotherapist. She can be contacted at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Dear George, Your 17% Does Not Make a Mandate | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/01/11/dear-george-your-17-does-not-make-a-mandate/ | 2003-01-11 | 4 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Drivers in New Mexico and across the country should expect to see a “modest further increase” in gasoline prices as refinery outages cut supply and plants begin making more expensive summer-grade fuels.</p>
<p>Retail gasoline, already at a record level for this time of year, hasn’t yet caught up with a steep rise in wholesale prices in 2013, the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, said on its website.</p>
<p>Gasoline at the pump has climbed 45 cents a gallon since the beginning of the year, the agency said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The national average price was $3.78 a gallon on Friday, a 14-cent increase from last week, AAA said.</p>
<p>New Mexico gas prices have seen double-digit jumps in the past week as have nine out of 10 cities measured in the AAA Weekend Gas Watch.</p>
<p>Albuquerque’s average price rose 14 cents to $3.34 this week. Las Cruces’ average price rose 17 cents to $3.50 and Santa Fe saw prices bounce 13 cents to $3.34 a gallon, AAA New Mexico reported.</p>
<p>“The latest price hike means a New Mexico driver with a car that has a typical 14-gallon size fuel tank, is paying about two more dollars to fill up that tank this week compared to last week,” said AAA New Mexico representative Doug Shupe.</p>
<p>Reasons why the gas prices have climbed in the past few weeks, according to AAA, include:</p>
<p>⋄&#160; U.S. refineries are performing seasonal maintenance and making the switch-over to summer-blend gasoline production earlier in the year.</p>
<p>⋄&#160; This earlier schedule is the choice of refiners and has not come in response to any change to the deadline to complete the transition to summer-blend fuels.</p>
<p>⋄&#160; As refineries go offline during the short-term maintenance period, they work at a temporarily reduced capacity and regional supplies can decrease.</p>
<p>Bloomberg contributed to this report.</p> | Price for gas aims higher | false | https://abqjournal.com/171746/price-for-gas-aims-higher.html | 2 |
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<p>Suffice it to say there are at least two women who support Donald Trump for president.</p>
<p>A duo of black women — hosting a YouTube “show” called “The Viewers View” — eviscerated Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly for her questions related to Trump’s statements on Twitter concerning women.</p>
<p>Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson produced, “Megyn Kelly and that Damn Debate,” today:</p>
<p />
<p>“Okay, so it’s a day after the debates and you all know I am mad as hell,” Hardaway began. “Somebody already tried to come for Donald, so I’ve got to come for them.”</p>
<p>Hardaway objected to Kelly’s opening question to Trump, asking him to respond to comments he made on Twitter towards Rosie O’Donnell.</p>
<p>“Here’s the damn deal, Megyn Kelly, or Kelly Megyn, whatever your name is: Rosie O’Donnell started that whole foolishness! She was on The View and she was the one who spoke out against Donald and Donald had to come back on her!</p>
<p>RELATED: <a href="" type="internal">Fox gives Trump, er Fox, most speaking time during first debate</a></p>
<p>“So I don’t know why you’re gonna make this here a part of your forum last night. You know, perhaps you don’t need to be hosting debates! Perhaps — maybe it’s time for us to file Kelly and make her go back to reporting news at the local news! Try Sesame Street! Maybe you should go back and report news for Sesame Street and have a debate with them.”</p>
<p>Hardaway wasn’t finished.</p>
<p>“You hit below the belt, Kelly. You hit below the belt, girl. But blow on this: leave my man, Donald Trump, the hell alone! If you’ve got something you’re going to tell him, run it by us first! Run it by me first and I’ll let you know if you have permission to come for him!” she said.</p>
<p>“He’s gonna be the next president of the United States when you like it or not, Megyn Kelly or Kelly Megyn or whatever your name is, or not.”</p>
<p>Hardaway and Richardson appeared on The Hard Line on Newsmax TV earlier this week after they produced another pro-Trump video.</p>
<p />
<p>Host Ed Berliner asked the duo how they fell out of line with the traditional black female supporters of the Democratic Party and Hardaway said, “Well, listen, we have our own minds and we can no longer be spoon-fed. We can pick up our own forks and eat for ourselves. We have our own minds to think for ourselves. Stop believing everything those Democrats tell you.</p>
<p>If our man Donald Trump gets this, we going Republican, baby!”</p>
<p>They called Trump a “breath of fresh air” during the interview.</p>
<p>“It’s like now we have a leader. We have someone that can lead us, secure that border, bring jobs back to America so people can not only survive, but they can also thrive in this country.”</p>
<p>Tea Party activist Katrina Pierson posted the duo’s video on Facebook, saying, “People don’t know how much support the Donald has with black Americans. (they may not want to know).”</p>
<p>To see more of “The Viewers View” videos, visit their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/theviewersview" type="external">Facebook page</a>.</p> | VIDEO: Women warn Megyn Kelly: Back off Trump! | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/video-black-women-defend-donald-trump-shred-megyn-kelly/ | 2015-08-07 | 0 |
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<p>Giovanni Guzman wants to be a doctor, but first she needs to pick the right college.</p>
<p>A soon-to-be senior at Las Cruces’ Mayfield High School, Guzman has a working short list that includes University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and a small Catholic school in Ohio.</p>
<p>UNM has the edge at the moment. Guzman said Albuquerque’s crime rate gives her pause, but the school’s BA/MD degree program appeals to her.</p>
<p>University of New Mexico students Monica Munoz, right, and Kaitlyn Seubert, second from right, lead prospective students on a tour of campus last week. UNM, like universities around the country, has experienced falling enrollment after big recession gains. Total postsecondary enrollment at New Mexico institutions has fallen nearly 14 percent since 2010, though UNM’s drops have been more modest. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>“They have more opportunities here,” Guzman said as she, her mom, aunt and cousins prepared to explore UNM as part of an organized campus family tour last week.</p>
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<p>Case Newberry is considering UNM, too. The Class of 2018 teen from Dallas also visited the Albuquerque campus last week. Heading into the tour, he ranked UNM lower than many of his home-state options, including University of Texas and Baylor. But the aspiring dentist’s afternoon stroll through UNM’s Zimmerman Library and past the campus duck pond might have helped bump it up.</p>
<p>“It’s a lot prettier than I thought it would be because of all of the trees,” he said, adding that he liked how “accommodating” UNM seemed to be for its students.</p>
<p>UNM needs about 3,300 Giovannis and Cases to commit every year to build its typical freshman class.</p>
<p>But the state’s largest university actually needs a total 9,000-student infusion – from freshmen through graduate level – annually to replace those who graduated or dropped out.</p>
<p>It doesn’t come easily.</p>
<p>The number of full-time equivalent students has dipped 3 percent at UNM since its late-recession peak, while total head count slipped 7 percent.</p>
<p>“This operation is so complicated; it’s not one population, one answer (to maintaining enrollment),” said UNM interim President Chaouki Abdallah. “There are so many different things that have to come together in order to get (students) in, in order to keep them in.”</p>
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<p>Total enrollment at New Mexico’s public postsecondary institutions has fallen each of the past six years, dropping nearly 14 percent in that span, according to state Higher Education Department data. The number of full-time equivalent students – considered by enrollment officials as the more important measure – has decreased for five straight years.</p>
<p>In this, at least, New Mexico is not alone.</p>
<p>Postsecondary enrollment surged nationally during the recession as people rushed campuses with the hopes of improving their job prospects. The gains were not sustained; U.S. undergraduate enrollment slid 6 percent between 2010 and 2015, federal data show.</p>
<p>But the line might soon start moving upward again. The National Center for Education Statistics’ latest forecast predicts 14 percent enrollment growth from 2015 to 2026.</p>
<p>Just how New Mexico will compare remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Lottery downturn</p>
<p>The plummeting value of the state’s Legislative Lottery Scholarship will impact thousands of New Mexicans who attend in-state institutions. The scholarship will cover just 60 percent of tuition in 2017-18, down from 90 percent last year. Approximately 26,000 students benefit from the program annually, including about one-third of undergraduate students at UNM and NMSU.</p>
<p>UNM officials anticipate enrollment declining 2 to 2.5 percent this year, with the lottery accounting for about half the loss.</p>
<p>But school leaders point to something else as their chief concern: a constricting student pipeline.</p>
<p>“Our demographics are not good in New Mexico,” said Garrey Carruthers, NMSU chancellor and former state governor.</p>
<p>New Mexico has experienced population stagnation unlike any time in its history, growing just 1.1 percent between 2010 and 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. About 38,000 more people left the state than moved here.</p>
<p>Despite a rising graduation rate, the state’s public high schools produced nearly 4 percent fewer graduates in 2016 than in 2008, according to Public Education Department data. And having one of the nation’s lowest graduation rates of 71 percent doesn’t help grow the pipeline.</p>
<p>Those are serious problems since the universities generally get most students from within a 200-mile radius, according to Terry Babbitt, UNM’s associate vice president in charge of enrollment.</p>
<p>“Demographics are the No. 1 driver of our enrollment. … And our demographics are stuck in the water,” he said.</p>
<p>Fewer students means less tuition money at a time tuition has become an increasingly important revenue source.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s budget crisis has meant fewer dollars for higher education, with appropriations to colleges and universities falling by 8 percent in the past two years.</p>
<p>At UNM, tuition now funds about 43 percent of the academic enterprise, while the state appropriation covers 57 percent. A decade ago, tuition covered 31 percent compared with 69 percent from the state.</p>
<p>With declining funding and students, many New Mexico institutions have used tuition hikes to cover the shortfalls, which are made worse by the rising cost of doing business.</p>
<p>“Our expenses keep going up,” Abdallah said, “so enrollment, or something, has to keep going up.”</p>
<p>UNM’s base tuition for in-state students has increased by $460 since the school’s 2012-13 population peak, according to university figures. Tuition and fees for a resident full-time student will cost an estimated $7,146 this year.</p>
<p>If schools cannot find revenue to match the rising expenses, Abdallah said they start to cut. It’s an often painful and emotional process, he added, citing the uproar that accompanied UNM’s recent decision to cut its ski team. (Private contributions have since prompted the school to keep the team around for at least one more year.)</p>
<p>Reforms begun</p>
<p>New Mexico Higher Education Department Secretary Barbara Damron has funneled much of her energy into a series of reforms intended to improve student outcomes, like common course numbering across all institutions to help aid the transfer process. And she said those measures could ultimately help flatten out what has been a downward-moving enrollment line.</p>
<p>“We have to be attractive enough to get them in the door,” she said.</p>
<p>Carruthers said he considers boosting enrollment his chief priority.</p>
<p>“For us to do our business, we need students, so it will always be No. 1,” he said, expressing optimism about this fall. He said early signs – including attendance at new student orientations – indicate the upcoming freshman class will be larger than 2016’s. And that one was bigger than in 2015.</p>
<p>NMSU has significantly bolstered its marketing budget and now dedicates about $1.5 million annually, spreading its message around New Mexico but also in Arizona, Texas and Southern California.</p>
<p>UNM last year initiated a $1 million advertising blitz to establish the school’s brand and aid enrollment. UNM also spends about $250,000 annually on special web-based recruiting technology.</p>
<p>NMSU has turned increasing attention to the Mexico market. Its new “Descubre” program specifically will target students south of the border by allowing Mexicans to attend at just 1½ times in-state tuition rates. The first participants will arrive this fall, and Carruthers said he sees NMSU as a natural fit for Mexican students.</p>
<p>At UNM, Babbitt said nontraditional adult students are the only real growth opportunity.</p>
<p>New Mexico State and UNM have both increased their online courses. NMSU now offers about 30 programs on a distance basis. UNM has several of its own and this fall will launch an internet-based degree in psychology, its most popular major. Offered in eight-week formats, the program targets part-time adult students.</p>
<p>“We’re not trying to replace face-to-face,” Abdallah said. “We’re trying to (create) a safety net of ‘x’ thousands of credit hours, so we can grow.”</p>
<p>UNM has about 2,000 online-only students already.</p>
<p>The school is also working to attract more veterans plus people who started college but never finished.</p>
<p>About 15 percent of working-age New Mexicans (25-64) have some college but never earned a degree or certificate, according to the Lumina Foundation. That equates to about 157,000 people, according to U.S. Census population estimates.</p>
<p>Older students</p>
<p>At Santa Fe Community College, students age 18-24 represent the largest demographic group, but the 55-plus set is a very close second. And President Randy Grissom noted that older students’ interests aren’t dramatically different than their younger counterparts.</p>
<p>“They’re coming back for lifelong learning, but (also) for careering,” he said.</p>
<p>SFCC’s headcount has slipped since its peak about seven years ago but has seemingly reset at a level higher than the recession. Budget tightening has forced the school to eliminate some programs, but SFCC also has added others intended to address specific community employment needs.</p>
<p>That includes a 2-year-old automotive program that helped fill the void for such education in Northern New Mexico. The program boasts 80 students, students who might not otherwise have been attracted to SFCC, Grissom said.</p>
<p>It also has responded to growing demand for information technology know-how, allowing even students who don’t pursue degrees to emerge with the certifications that employers value. In response to the smashing success of Santa Fe-based arts collective Meow Wolf, the school is now working to offer business-related courses to aid artists.</p>
<p>“We’ve taken a lot of pride in being able to make changes to meet the needs of the future,” Grissom said.</p>
<p>Central New Mexico Community College also is seeking new ways to capture students, like its information technology apprenticeship program and noncredit coding boot camps. The latter do not count toward enrollment numbers but they do generate some revenue.</p>
<p>CNM sustained a 15 percent drop in students between 2011 and 2016, but President Kathie Winograd said in a written statement that enrollment challenges have given CNM “the opportunity to adapt our education and business models while remaining steadfast to CNM’s mission: creating the skilled workforce of the future.”</p>
<p>Retention is key</p>
<p>School leaders say that keeping students on campus is as important as wooing new ones. They look for avenues to improve retention, whether it’s boosting the adviser ranks or doing advanced data analysis to identify which students might be struggling.</p>
<p>UNM also allocates about $1 million in grants annually to students whose only barrier to staying in school might be an outstanding campus balance of a few hundred dollars, Babbitt said.</p>
<p>Freshman retention has been climbing at both UNM and NMSU.</p>
<p>“Once we get the students into the university,” Abdallah said, “it’s so much more efficient to keep them.”</p>
<p />
<p>University presidents, legislative leaders and New Mexico’s higher education chief will gather for a special Town Hall discussion to address that question and others. The forum will be Wednesday, July 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Albuquerque Journal. It will be hosted by the Journal, the New Mexico Council of University Presidents and KANW-FM. The forum will be broadcast live on KANW-FM (89.1). The moderator will be Journal senior editor Kent Walz. The panel will consist of Higher Education Secretary Barbara Damron, UNM Interim President Chaouki Abdallah, NMSU President Garrey Carruthers, CNM President Kathie Winograd, Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard and NMSU Faculty President Chris Brown. Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, and Rep. Larry Larrañaga, R- Albuquerque will participate via conference call.</p>
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<p /> | Wanted: Students to fill NM’s colleges | false | https://abqjournal.com/1030448/enrollment-dropped-14-percent-in-6-years-as-schools-compete-for-limited-pool-of-hs-graduates.html | 2 |
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<p>(Repeats story. No change to text)</p>
<p>* UK palladium shipments to Hong Kong rise in Jan-Nov 2017</p>
<p>* Exports to Hong Kong coincide with physical fund outflows</p>
<p>* Palladium price already at record highs on autos demand</p>
<p>By Jan Harvey and Sethuraman N R</p>
<p>LONDON/BENGALURU, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Flows of palladium out of UK stocks to Hong Kong are picking up as demand from Asian industry grows, pointing to a tightening market that could keep record-high prices on the boil.</p>
<p>Shipments from Britain to Hong Kong rose more than 10 percent from 2016 levels in the first 11 months of 2017, UK customs data shows.</p>
<p>Physically-backed investment funds in London, which hold large stocks of palladium, saw large outflows at the same time, potentially feeding users of the metal, such as carmakers, in Asia.</p>
<p>ETF Securities, which operates the biggest palladium funds listed in New York and London, saw outflows of nearly 7,000 kg last year from holdings vaulted in Britain.</p>
<p>“There is a premium over London or Zurich which makes it profitable to ship metal to China or Hong Kong,” Philip Klapwijk, managing director of Hong Kong-based metals consultancy Precious Metals Insights, said.</p>
<p>“The largest single physical market for palladium is China, and it has to import almost all it requires. Its needs have been growing very rapidly as car output has increased and emissions control legislation has got tighter,” he said. “On top of that you’ve had some degree of speculation and stock building.”</p>
<p>Higher demand from the automotive sector - which uses palladium in catalytic converters, particularly in the gasoline-fuelled cars favoured in China - helped drive palladium prices up more than 50 percent last year, to a record $1,138 an ounce in January.</p>
<p>Premiums in Hong Kong jumped from the third quarter, traders in the region said, hitting $12-$15 an ounce before easing back to $5-$6 currently. Lease rates for the metal, currently low single to double digit, reached as high as 25 percent.</p>
<p>Dealers in Hong Kong said that, with investment demand for palladium weak in the territory, metal was being bought for industrial use.</p>
<p>“As the markets realised that people were buying (to meet) demand for gasoline cars, more metal was shipped to Hong Kong,” one trader based there said. “As prices rose people took deliveries and shipped it. The lease rates and interest rates in Hong Kong for palladium went up.”</p>
<p>“The fact is that there is a shortage of the metal and people hoarded and keep hoarding palladium.”</p>
<p>Metal moving east to Hong Kong is unlikely to be seen in the market for a long time, the trading source said. “The benefit of Hong Kong is that there is a lot of storage space here and it is out of the market,” he said. “Once it comes here it can be stored at a low cost for a very long period of time, and that’s what people are doing.”</p>
<p>Fund outflows have helped plug a physical deficit seen in palladium over the last decade, helping cut 2016’s near 1.5 million ounce physical deficit in half.</p>
<p>However, those stocks are running low. Global palladium ETF holdings tracked by Reuters have more than halved since the end of 2014, and now account for just over six weeks’ worth of demand. Further depletion could have big price implications.</p>
<p>“If that source of metal starts to dry up, whether because ETF stocks are getting low or because investors are holding onto the metal tighter, you need to find other routes for it to come into the market, and that typically occurs through higher prices,” ICBC Standard Bank analyst Tom Kendall said.</p>
<p>“That incentivises scrap flow, maybe causes demand destruction, and over the longer term incentivises producers to get more out of the ground. The issue then is the time lag between prices rising and supply responding - you can have extended periods of quite high prices.”</p>
<p>Higher prices destroy demand by pricing some buyers out of the market.</p>
<p>As palladium-backed ETFs were liquidated last year, net long positioning in Nymex palladium futures rose to a record as investors used the contracts to bet on higher prices. At the same time, Nymex palladium stocks slid to their lowest since 2003.</p>
<p>While this is unlikely to cause a crisis, as few Nymex palladium holders take delivery of physical metal, it does flag up broader tightness.</p>
<p>“Stocks falling and prices going up say to me you have a physical shortage,” Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner said. “ETF holdings coming down was the most bullish thing I saw all last year.”</p>
<p>ETF holdings and futures long positioning have gone in opposite directions because futures investors tend to have a shorter outlook than ETF buyers, who may have been holding the metal for longer and therefore have been better positioned to take profits, analysts said.</p>
<p>The backwardation in the palladium market also creates a positive ‘roll yield’ from investors selling a short-dated contract and buying a longer-dated one.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jan Harvey in London and Nallur Sethuramen in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Polling stations closed in an Easter Sunday runoff election in Costa Rica where voters could choose conservative Protestant singer Fabricio Alvarado Munoz as their president, representing a potential sharp turn from the country’s embrace of gay rights.</p>
<p>Polls closed at 6 p.m. (0000 GMT), and preliminary results were expected starting at 8:15 p.m. (0215 GMT Monday).</p>
<p>Best known for religious dance songs and ballads, Alvarado Munoz, a 43-year-old former TV journalist, faces the center-left ruling party candidate, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, 38, in a tight race that was roiled by a court ruling ordering the country to allow same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>The election exposed deep divisions in the Central American tourist destination known for its laid-back beach culture and rainforest stewardship, but whose rural communities remain socially conservative.</p>
<p>Shortly after Alvarado Munoz cast his vote at a school in the capital, San Jose, the Pentecostal singer pledged to lead a government free of bias.</p>
<p>“We’re going to work for everyone and we won’t discriminate against anyone. We will protect all groups that have felt vulnerable ... people with disabilities, people with different sexual orientations,” he told reporters.</p>
<p>At another polling place across town in the western Pavas barrio, Alvarado Quesada, a minister until recently in the outgoing government and published novelist, voted and spoke briefly to a crowd of supporters.</p>
<p>“Costa Rica is an amazing country and we want to not only preserve its great democracy, its peaceful nature, its respect for the environment and human rights, but we also want to move Costa Rica forward,” he said.</p>
<p>Across the city, cars filled with flag-waving supporters from both sides of the contest honked their horns and shouted slogans.</p>
<p>The two Alvarados, who are not related, took opposing positions on a January decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, an influential regional body based in San Jose.</p>
<p>Fabricio, as supporters call Alvarado Munoz, called it an affront to traditional values and sovereignty. Threatening to remove the country from the court’s jurisdiction, he shot from the margins to win the first round of voting in February.</p>
<p>Alvarado Quesada backed the court’s ruling. In the campaign’s final debate, he called his opponent’s comments homophobic.</p> DOMINANT ISSUE
<p>Since 2017, the government of President Luis Guillermo Solis has grown increasingly unpopular, weighed down by a corruption scandal.</p>
<p>In 2014, Solis ordered the gay pride flag raised alongside the Costa Rican colors atop his offices to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the first time any head of state had done so in the Americas.</p>
<p>The symbolic act generated headlines across the globe.</p> An activist dressed in a costume from The Handmaid's Tale series prepares to cast a ballot during the presidential election, at a polling station in San Jose, Costa Rica, April 1, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate
<p>On the campaign trail, Alvarado Munoz lamented the international attention the flag-raising brought, saying he would have favored “more positive news, like Costa Rica beating Mexico 3-0” at soccer.</p>
<p>The fight over same-sex marriage has overshadowed other issues in the race, like a widening budget deficit that has triggered four credit downgrades over the past five years.</p>
<p>Former President Laura Chinchilla urged the country on Sunday to accept the result whichever way it goes.</p>
<p>“I hope the Costa Rican family will be able to unite behind whoever wins,” she said.</p>
<p>The election fell on Easter by chance, and while some voters thought that could help Alvarado Munoz, others suggested turnout appeared to be down as many Costa Ricans spent the holiday at the beach.</p>
<p>Sonia Ramirez, a 59-year-old government administrator, said after voting that she believed the government must consult the public over weighty issues like same-sex marriage and faulted the outgoing government for not doing so.</p> Slideshow (17 Images)
<p>Asked which candidate she favored, she smiled and said: “I voted for Alvarado.”</p>
<p>Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Enrique Andres Pretel; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Peter Cooney</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks began the new quarter on Monday with mild gains following a strong performance by global equities last week, while the dollar held steady ahead of key economic indicators.</p> FILE PHOTO: A man looks at an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
<p>MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent.</p>
<p>South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.6 percent and Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.55 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.25 percent and Shanghai was up 0.4 percent.</p>
<p>Wall Street surged last Thursday as technology stocks rebounded, ending a tumultuous first quarter on a high note. Many major financial centers were closed for the Good Friday Easter holiday.</p>
<p>MSCI’s world equity index ended up 1.2 percent last week. But it lost about 1.5 percent in the first quarter, pushed away from record highs as tensions over global trade escalated, turmoil in the White House deepened and market-leading technology firms wobbled on fears of regulation and other issues.</p>
<p>“We expect strong and broad-based growth to continue globally,” wrote strategists at Barclays.</p>
<p>But they warned that there were looming risks: “Trade protectionism, U.S. economic policy uncertainty, concerns about higher cross-market volatility and risk premium in core rates markets call for a more tactical approach to risk assets.”</p>
<p>While fears of an all-out global trade war that gripped the financial markets last month have abated somewhat, tensions between the United States and China over tit-for-tat tariffs kept investors on edge.</p>
<p>China on Monday imposed extra tariffs on U.S. products including frozen pork, wine and certain fruits and nuts in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel.</p>
<p>In currencies, the dollar was steady at 106.340 yen, while the euro was almost unchanged at $1.2327.</p>
<p>The greenback had gained about 0.6 percent against a basket of six major currencies last week helped by a combination of factors including perceived progress on North Korea issues.</p>
<p>The dollar index still lost more than 2 percent last quarter, marking its fifth straight quarter of declines.</p>
<p>“A list of important indicators will be released this week, which could help steady market sentiment even though U.S.-China trade concerns and other geopolitical risks continue to linger in the background,” said Koji Fukaya, president at FPG Securities in Tokyo.</p>
<p>U.S. data due this week include Monday’s Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index, Wednesday’s ISM non-manufacturing index and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday.</p>
<p>Crude oil prices extended gains, lifted by a drop in U.S. drilling activity as well as by expectations that the United States could re-introduce sanctions against Iran.</p>
<p>U.S. drillers cut seven oil rigs in the week to March 29, bringing the total count down to 797. It was the first time in three weeks that the rig-count fell.</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures rose 0.4 percent to $65.21 a barrel and Brent advanced 0.55 percent to $69.73 a barrel.</p>
<p>“Investors took their cue from falling U.S drilling counts,” Wang Xiao, head of crude oil research with Guotai Junan Futures said.</p>
<p>“But increasing trade friction between China and U.S. is likely to rock global markets and tarnish bullish sentiment in crude oil markets.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Eric Meijer &amp; Shri Navaratnam</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>AMMAN (Reuters) - The group in control of the last rebel bastion near Damascus appeared on Sunday to have agreed a deal for its fighters to make peace with the government or quit the eastern Ghouta enclave, Syrian state media said.</p>
<p>Jaish al Islam, most of whose members are drawn from the area, has been defending the city of Douma against a months-long onslaught by government forces.</p>
<p>If confirmed, its surrender or departure for rebel-held areas in northwest Syria would herald an end to large-scale conflict in the enclave.</p>
<p>State television and Syrian newspapers said information indicated that, under the deal, the group would hand over heavy and mid-sized weapons and acknowledge the restoration of state sovereignty over Douma.</p>
<p>A Hezbollah run-media unit said on Sunday an agreement had been reached after several days of negotiations to spare bloodshed in Douma.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-ghouta-evacuation/deal-sealed-to-evacuate-douma-rebels-to-northern-syria-hezbollah-media-unit-idUSKCN1H819H" type="external">Deal sealed to evacuate Douma rebels to northern Syria: Hezbollah media unit</a>
<p>The unit of the powerful Lebanese Shi’ite militia that has been fighting with the Syrian army said among the terms of the deal was setting up a Syrian government-approved local council to run the city’s affairs after rebels withdraw.</p>
<p>It also said a Russian-led committee with representatives from Turkey, Iran and Russia, the three guarantors of the Astana peace talks who set up “de-escalation” zones across Syria, would be responsible for handing over prisoners of war jailed by the rebels.</p>
<p>Jaish al Islam had no immediate comment on the reports but responded to earlier claims by the Syrian government that it was negotiating a deal to stay and not to pull out of the city.</p>
<p>The government lost control of Douma, the largest urban center in the eastern suburbs of Damascus in insurgent hands, in the early phase of Syria’s civil war, now in its eighth year.</p>
<p>If confirmed, the agreement with Jaish al Islam would mirror others reached by insurgents following heavy bombing of areas under their control by government forces and Russian jets that has killed hundreds of civilians.</p>
<p>Late on Saturday, negotiators reached a deal to evacuate wounded Jaish al Islam civilians and fighters to Idlib in the northwest.</p>
<p>A group of stranded fighters from another insurgent group, Failaq al Rahman, who had fled to Douma from advancing army troops at the start of the latest campaign, left the city on Sunday, state media said.</p>
<p>Syria’s state news agency SANA said 24 buses carrying around 1,200 fighters from Failaq al Rahman and their families left Douma on Sunday in the first such pullout of fighters.</p>
<p>On Saturday the rebel group concluded a week-long evacuation of thousands of its fighters from areas it had controlled in other parts of the enclave.</p> SEEKING A WAY OUT
<p>A political official in Jaish al Islam denied they had agreed to evacuate Douma and said the government-inspired reports were stepped up psychological warfare aimed at forcing them to capitulate.</p>
<p>“Jaish al Islam has taken the decision to remain steadfast and the idea of leaving is not on the table,” said the official.</p>
<p>Opposition sources say Jaish al Islam officials have been desperately trying to strike a deal that would bring Russian military police into Douma, and let the group keep a role in maintaining internal security but under the state’s overall jurisdiction.</p> Rebels are seen in a bus as they are evacuated from the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria April 1, 2018. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
<p>Russian military officers negotiating with Jaish al Islam told the group it accepted such an arrangement but the Syrian government remained against it, a senior opposition source familiar with the talks said.</p>
<p>Russia, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, was behind the main battle plan, directing elite forces and militias on the ground and calling in air strikes from Syrian and Russian warplanes, two Western intelligence sources based in the region told Reuters this week.</p>
<p>The Syrian army last week warned the insurgents to surrender or face a military assault to drive them out.</p>
<p>The Syrian army command said on Saturday it had regained most of the towns and villages in eastern Ghouta and was pressing its military operations in Douma.</p>
<p>The city’s fall would seal the rebels’ worst defeat since 2016.</p> Slideshow (5 Images)
<p>The once bustling commercial hub on the outskirts of the capital was the main center of street protests in the Damascus suburbs against Assad’s one party rule that ignited the conflict more than seven years ago.</p>
<p>A resident reached by phone described a sense of foreboding among those still in the besieged city.</p>
<p>“The fear is of the unknown and not bombardment or hunger ... what the coming days will bring we cannot predict,” said the resident, Bilal Bwaidani.</p>
<p>Defense analysts say a major goal of the government’s campaign was to complete a security belt around the capital, where for years rebels dug into a network of tunnels and well-fortified positions resisted countless offensives to seize the enclave.</p>
<p>Many of the predominantly Sunni Muslim inhabitants of eastern Ghouta say they fear their displacement was part of a deliberate attempt to bring demographic changes in strategic areas that dilutes their presence in favor of Assad’s Alawite sect and other minorities.</p>
<p>Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Daniel Wallis</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s Tiangong-1 space station re-entered the earth’s atmosphere and burnt up over the middle of the South Pacific on Monday, the Chinese space authority said.</p> FILE PHOTO: A model of the Tiangong-1 space lab module (L), the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft (R) and three Chinese astronauts is displayed during a news conference at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in Gansu province, China June 15, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
<p>(graphic: <a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/2JbkC4i" type="external">tmsnrt.rs/2JbkC4i</a>)</p>
<p>The craft re-entered the atmosphere around 8:15 a.m. Beijing time (0015GMT/ 8.15 p.m ET) and the “vast majority” of it had burnt up upon re-entry, the authority said in a brief statement on its website.</p>
<p>It had said shortly before that it was expected to re-enter off the Brazilian coast in the South Atlantic near the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.</p>
<p>The United States Air Force 18th Space Control Squadron, which tracks and detects all artificial objects in earth’s orbit, said they had also tracked the Tiangong-1 as it re-entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific.</p>
<p>It said in a statement they had confirmed re-entry in coordination with counterparts in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Britain.</p>
<p>Beijing said on Friday it was unlikely any large pieces would reach the ground.</p>
<p>The 10.4-metre-long (34.1-foot) Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace 1”, was launched in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China’s ambitious space program, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023.</p>
<p>It was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but its mission was repeatedly extended.</p>
<p>China had said its re-entry would occur in late 2017 but that process was delayed, leading some experts to suggest the space laboratory was out of control.</p>
<p>The Chinese tabloid Global Times said on Monday worldwide media hype about the re-entry reflected overseas “envy” of China’s space industry.</p>
<p>“It’s normal for spacecraft to re-enter the atmosphere, yet Tiangong-1 received so much attention partly because some Western countries are trying to hype and sling mud at China’s fast-growing aerospace industry,” it said.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Stanway and Wang Jing; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | RPT-GRAPHIC-Palladium flows from west to east to meet industry demand Polling stations close in Costa Rica runoff fought over gay rights Asia stocks start new quarter on front foot, dollar steady Last eastern Ghouta rebels poised to surrender: Syrian state media China says space station burns up over South Pacific | false | https://reuters.com/article/palladium-flows/rpt-graphic-palladium-flows-from-west-to-east-to-meet-industry-demand-idUSL8N1PE4DV | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Bryson Scott scored 26 points and John Konchar had 13 rebounds and nine assists and Fort Wayne beat Omaha 82-78 on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Omaha pulled within 74-72 during Fort Wayne’s almost four-minute scoring drought when Matt Pile made 1 of 2 free throws, Daniel Norl had a layup and Zach Jackson a jumper with 3:09 left.</p>
<p>Jax Levitch made a 3 for a five-point lead, Scott added a layup and Fort Wayne (13-8, 2-2 Summit League) made 3 of 4 free throws to secure the win. Konchar made 1 of 2 free throws with 13:16 to go for a 57-56 lead and the Mastodons never trailed again.</p>
<p>Kason Harrell scored 13 for Fort Wayne and Levitch and Matt Weir each scored 10. The Mastodons were 13-of-32 (41 percent) shooting from 3-point range.</p>
<p>Jackson led Omaha (6-14, 1-3) with 21 points, Norl scored 14 and Lamar Wofford-Humphrey, JT Gibson and KJ Robinson each scored 10.</p>
<p>FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Bryson Scott scored 26 points and John Konchar had 13 rebounds and nine assists and Fort Wayne beat Omaha 82-78 on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Omaha pulled within 74-72 during Fort Wayne’s almost four-minute scoring drought when Matt Pile made 1 of 2 free throws, Daniel Norl had a layup and Zach Jackson a jumper with 3:09 left.</p>
<p>Jax Levitch made a 3 for a five-point lead, Scott added a layup and Fort Wayne (13-8, 2-2 Summit League) made 3 of 4 free throws to secure the win. Konchar made 1 of 2 free throws with 13:16 to go for a 57-56 lead and the Mastodons never trailed again.</p>
<p>Kason Harrell scored 13 for Fort Wayne and Levitch and Matt Weir each scored 10. The Mastodons were 13-of-32 (41 percent) shooting from 3-point range.</p>
<p>Jackson led Omaha (6-14, 1-3) with 21 points, Norl scored 14 and Lamar Wofford-Humphrey, JT Gibson and KJ Robinson each scored 10.</p> | Scott leads way in Fort Wayne’s 82-78 win over Omaha | false | https://apnews.com/fa614041e2d147ca9a73e6b84597ee2f | 2018-01-14 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Looks like there might be something to this <a href="/news/featurex/2005/05/world_burns.html" type="external">global warming</a> stuff after all. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-canada14mar14,1,1757065.story" type="external">Here’s AP</a>:</p>
<p />
<p>TORONTO — The winter of 2005-06 has been Canada’s warmest on record and the federal agency Environment Canada said Monday that it was investigating whether it was a sign of global warming.</p>
<p>From December through February, which is considered meteorological winter, the country was 3.9 degrees above normal — the warmest winter season since temperatures were first recorded here in 1948.</p>
<p>Environment Canada climatologist Bob Whitewood said it smashed the previous record set in 1987 by 0.9 degrees.</p>
<p>….Whitewood said the last 10 winters had been warmer than normal and along with this winter reflect a trend that could be explained as global warming.</p>
<p>Hmm, yes, I can see how he might infer that.</p>
<p>Hockey-playing Canadians are said to be “disappointed” about thinner ice. No comment from the thousands of pregnant seals “forced to give birth on shore by unusually mild weather that has prevented the Gulf of St. Lawrence from freezing.”</p>
<p>Apropos, it’s been at least a day since we last drew attention to <a href="/news/feature/2006/03/on_thin_ice.html" type="external">this Mother Jones story</a> about the plight of adorable polar bears doomed to (probable) extinction thanks to pollution and global warming. (Their Arctic home is literally melting beneath their feet.)</p>
<p>In other climate change news, NASA <a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11745704/" type="external">has roused itself long enough</a> to tout a survey it says confirms “climate warming is changing how much water remains locked in Earth’s largest storehouses of ice and snow.” The story has an agency researcher noting an “internal NASA change…to allow scientists greater freedom.” Which, if true–and don’t count on it–will be quite the cultural shift.</p>
<p /> | Canada has its warmest winter ever, and other global warming news | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/03/canada-has-its-warmest-winter-ever-and-other-global-warming-news/ | 2006-03-14 | 4 |
<p>WINONA, Minn. (AP) — Some people lead colorful lives by virtue of their career. Some people lead colorful and busy lives by getting heavily involved in a community. Some people lead colorful lives as an artist.</p>
<p>For Winona resident Sarah Johnson, her life and world is shaped by an affinity for colors — her career as a counselor, her musical endeavors, her community involvement, and her passion for creating artwork.</p>
<p>"I could exist without people, but not color," she told <a href="http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/winona-artist-counselor-and-musician-says-she-could-exist-without/article_9816c0d4-21e6-5b2a-b934-36f758b89ac3.html" type="external">Winona Daily News</a> .</p>
<p>She makes it her goal to "see how many rainbows" she can eat in a day. Her breakfast the other morning consisted of orange and yellow carrots, red cabbage, green cauliflower and celery. Her hair is always a different color, and her outfits almost always contain a splash of this and that.</p>
<p>After moving to Winona from La Crosse, Wisconsin 15 years ago to get her master's degree from Winona State in counseling, Johnson didn't have any plans after she finished school. But she loved the community here and ended up staying.</p>
<p>She bought a "project house" near Holzinger Lodge, and recently just finished the last project. Her house, too, is full of colors. Johnson's art studio is in her basement, and the tiled floor features an assortment of colors. The walls are green and orange. The lampshade on her desk is pink.</p>
<p>"All of them," she said when asked to name her favorite color. "Although there is a certain frequency of blue that kills me."</p>
<p>For Johnson, all the components of her life are intermingled. She said it's difficult for her to separate art from the other parts of her life because it's so ingrained in her way of living. Some of her earliest childhood memories involve creating art.</p>
<p>Whether it's her job working as a counselor at the YMCA in La Crosse, standing on stage and singing with her band The Old Fashioneds, painting, making her own jewelry, or leading a workshop on self-discovery, Johnson's life revolves around color and art.</p>
<p>"I can't paint every day," Johnson said. "But I can find color and beauty and art every day regardless."</p>
<p>It's her way of communicating with others and also understanding others. Everyone has their own perspective, and Johnson loves engaging with other's perspective through art.</p>
<p>Life is a process to Johnson, much like the creation of art, and she believes having different ways to interact with people's perspectives helps highlight that process and digest difficult issues.</p>
<p>"There's so many ways people can interpret something," she said. "We all go through difficult things and it can be hard to put words to those experiences; art can be a way to understand those feelings."</p>
<p>One of her most recent art shows centered on the death of her mother, and Johnson was enthralled with the feedback she received from the show.</p>
<p>After the presentation, which featured some of her photography and paintings, she said a number of people came up to her and relayed how the show made them think about the death of a loved one close to them.</p>
<p>Another art show she did revolved around a difficult break up.</p>
<p>"It was silly, sarcastic, genuine, deep, painful," Johnson said. "I was making fun of myself while gaining a sense of perspective (on the situation) at the same time."</p>
<p>When it comes to identifying herself as an artist, Johnson hesitates because she doesn't like to create art "just for art's sake." It needs to signify meaning in some way and allow for others to relate to the work or piece.</p>
<p>She has become more comfortable with the term over time, but she prefers to focus on creating her own vision as an artist through her curiosity, playfulness, and connection with people in the outside world.</p>
<p>"Life is hard and we need to be able to play. ... A lot of my art is really playful," Johnson said. "We do some of our best problem solving and make connections when we're at play."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Winona Daily News, <a href="http://www.winonadailynews.com" type="external">http://www.winonadailynews.com</a></p>
<p>WINONA, Minn. (AP) — Some people lead colorful lives by virtue of their career. Some people lead colorful and busy lives by getting heavily involved in a community. Some people lead colorful lives as an artist.</p>
<p>For Winona resident Sarah Johnson, her life and world is shaped by an affinity for colors — her career as a counselor, her musical endeavors, her community involvement, and her passion for creating artwork.</p>
<p>"I could exist without people, but not color," she told <a href="http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/winona-artist-counselor-and-musician-says-she-could-exist-without/article_9816c0d4-21e6-5b2a-b934-36f758b89ac3.html" type="external">Winona Daily News</a> .</p>
<p>She makes it her goal to "see how many rainbows" she can eat in a day. Her breakfast the other morning consisted of orange and yellow carrots, red cabbage, green cauliflower and celery. Her hair is always a different color, and her outfits almost always contain a splash of this and that.</p>
<p>After moving to Winona from La Crosse, Wisconsin 15 years ago to get her master's degree from Winona State in counseling, Johnson didn't have any plans after she finished school. But she loved the community here and ended up staying.</p>
<p>She bought a "project house" near Holzinger Lodge, and recently just finished the last project. Her house, too, is full of colors. Johnson's art studio is in her basement, and the tiled floor features an assortment of colors. The walls are green and orange. The lampshade on her desk is pink.</p>
<p>"All of them," she said when asked to name her favorite color. "Although there is a certain frequency of blue that kills me."</p>
<p>For Johnson, all the components of her life are intermingled. She said it's difficult for her to separate art from the other parts of her life because it's so ingrained in her way of living. Some of her earliest childhood memories involve creating art.</p>
<p>Whether it's her job working as a counselor at the YMCA in La Crosse, standing on stage and singing with her band The Old Fashioneds, painting, making her own jewelry, or leading a workshop on self-discovery, Johnson's life revolves around color and art.</p>
<p>"I can't paint every day," Johnson said. "But I can find color and beauty and art every day regardless."</p>
<p>It's her way of communicating with others and also understanding others. Everyone has their own perspective, and Johnson loves engaging with other's perspective through art.</p>
<p>Life is a process to Johnson, much like the creation of art, and she believes having different ways to interact with people's perspectives helps highlight that process and digest difficult issues.</p>
<p>"There's so many ways people can interpret something," she said. "We all go through difficult things and it can be hard to put words to those experiences; art can be a way to understand those feelings."</p>
<p>One of her most recent art shows centered on the death of her mother, and Johnson was enthralled with the feedback she received from the show.</p>
<p>After the presentation, which featured some of her photography and paintings, she said a number of people came up to her and relayed how the show made them think about the death of a loved one close to them.</p>
<p>Another art show she did revolved around a difficult break up.</p>
<p>"It was silly, sarcastic, genuine, deep, painful," Johnson said. "I was making fun of myself while gaining a sense of perspective (on the situation) at the same time."</p>
<p>When it comes to identifying herself as an artist, Johnson hesitates because she doesn't like to create art "just for art's sake." It needs to signify meaning in some way and allow for others to relate to the work or piece.</p>
<p>She has become more comfortable with the term over time, but she prefers to focus on creating her own vision as an artist through her curiosity, playfulness, and connection with people in the outside world.</p>
<p>"Life is hard and we need to be able to play. ... A lot of my art is really playful," Johnson said. "We do some of our best problem solving and make connections when we're at play."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Winona Daily News, <a href="http://www.winonadailynews.com" type="external">http://www.winonadailynews.com</a></p> | Minnesota woman finds joy in colors | false | https://apnews.com/amp/13cba8be2e1c4f309a2eb61050811787 | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p>Los Angeles-based street artist Sabo's latest politically-charged installation gives embattled Democratic Sen. Al Franken the starring role in 20th Century Fox's new film " <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4" type="external">The Greatest Showman</a>."</p>
<p>In a large billboard that originally only featured a female trapeze artist (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3918035/" type="external">Zendaya</a>) soaring through the air, Franken now appears to be reaching for her in his infamous "groping" pose.</p>
<p>"When I heard Franken rehashed Bill Clinton's, 'I have to get back to work for the American people' speech, I knew I had to take a punch at Gropey Al," Sabo told The Daily Wire on Thursday. "Why is it the Left never steps down, but always insists when Republicans are caught in scandals they do just that? The hypocrisy is staggering. I hope these latest accusations cause him to step down."</p>
<p>Images courtesy sabo@unsavoryagents and <a href="http://unsavoryagents.com/" type="external">unsavoryagents.com</a>:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/street-artist-targets-al-franken-altered-greatest-showman-billboard-1062925" type="external">The Hollywood Reporter</a> notes that the billboard is "just off the 405 freeway near the National Blvd. exit, a couple of miles away from the Fox studios." Sabo told THR that he was careful to make the alteration temporary because he does not need "that kind of hell raining down on me." So far, no comment from Fox.</p>
<p>The image of Franken is taken from the notorious "breast-groping" photograph that helped break the dam on the allegations against Franken. The image was taken on a USO tour in 2006, during which radio host Leeann Tweeden says that Franken kissed her and groped her breasts. While Tweeden was asleep, Franken posed for this photo:</p>
<p>Shortly after she made her accusations against Franken, Tweeden <a href="" type="internal">spoke to the press</a>. "This is happening to women who have no power and no way to speak up," she said. "I think the tide is turning, and what about all the women who don't have microphones and a voice and can say something and it's all over the news?" Video below:</p>
<p>Since Tweeden's claims against Franken, other accusers have come forward with similar allegations, including an elected official in New England.</p>
<p>This week, a fifth accuser came forward, alleging that Franken groped her breast while on another USO tour. Daily Wire's Joseph Curl <a href="" type="internal">reports</a>:</p>
<p>A fifth woman, an Army veteran who served during the Iraq war, says Sen. Al Franken groped her in December 2003 while she was deployed in Kuwait. Stephanie Kemplin, 41, of Maineville, Ohio, said the Minnesota Democrat cupped her breast during a photo shoot there. ...</p>
<p>"When he put his arm around me, he groped my right breast. He kept his hand all the way over on my breast," Kemplin said in an interview with CNN. "I've never had a man put their arm around me and then cup my breast. So he was holding my breast on the side."</p>
<p>"I remember clenching up and how you just feel yourself flushed," she said. "And I remember thinking — is he going to move his hand? Was it an accident? Was he going to move his hand? He never moved his hand. It was long enough that he should have known if it was an accident. I'm very confident saying that."</p>
<p>While Franken has apologized for his behavior, he refuses to step down amid mounting pressure to do so, insisting instead, as Sabo notes, of wanting to "get back to work" for the American people.</p>
<p>If you haven't yet seen trailers for " <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4" type="external">The Greatest Showman</a>," which stars Zac Effron and Hugh Jackman, here's the latest one:</p> | Sabo Strikes Again: Street Artist Gives 'Gropey Al' Franken Lead Role In 'Greatest Showman' Billboard | true | https://dailywire.com/news/24159/sabo-strikes-again-street-artist-gives-gropey-al-james-barrett | 2017-11-30 | 0 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Finally, just when the world cries out for some sort of clarity --&#160;maybe even a divine epiphany --&#160;on the&#160;Duck Dynasty debacle, in comes Charlie Sheen to save the day.</p>
<p>Yes, the exemplary family man (sure, he'll sleep with two porn actresses at the same time, but three? For shame! Never!) decided to post a lengthy (and often illiterate) diatribe blasting DD star Phil Robertson, who set off a firestorm when he gave his faith-based opinion on homosexuality.</p>
<p>Sheen starts off with a typo -- in the very first sentence (so you know he worked hard on the statement).&#160;</p>
<p>"Hey Mallard brained Phil Robertso!" he wrote. Oh, so this is going to be one of those high-brow dissertations on the flaws of Robertson's thesis, a careful point-by-point rebuttal.</p>
<p>"Your statements were and are abhorrently and mendaciously unforgivable," he wrote (yes, mendaciously unforgivable. Sheen is master not only of truth, but forgiveness -- and the English language).</p>
<p>The aptly-cast star of FX's "Anger Management," who pleaded guilty to beating his wife and whose career went up in a puff of coke smoke, claimed to speak for all those "who DO NOT have the voice or the outreach that I do."&#160;</p>
<p>"So, just when your desperately sub evolved ass thought the pressure was off, you are now in the crosshairs of a MaSheen style media beat down." (See what he did there? MaSheen? Clever.)</p>
<p>The brilliance of the cokehead&#160;just explodes off the page.</p>
<p>"The idea that you have a job outside of dirt-clod stacking is a miracle." Ooooh, burn!</p>
<p>And he keeps it timely for the young readers. "The only ‘Dynasty’ you are attached to might be the re-runs of that dated show." That line would've killed -- in 1983.</p>
<p>He clearly spent hours crafting this perfect example of his steel-trap mind: "The only thing you should ever be in charge of building is a hole in the ground the exact size of your head. Perhaps your beard would fit as well if you plucked out the&#160;army of scabies and bull weevils sequestered deep in it’s sarcophagus of dander and weasel pelts."</p>
<p>So, in the end, the God-like Sheen hands down his verdict.</p>
<p>"On the eight day when I was whittling my cosmic banjo, I’m pretty sure YOU were the scattered dross I then used to light a fire and locate the nearest Andy Gump."</p>
<p>Yes, Sheen goes there! Citing a popular comic strip that debuted in 1917! A strip which, according to Wikipedia, was about "the domestic lives of ordinary people and their ordinary activities would appeal to the average American newspaper reader."</p>
<p>As Sheen says: "For shame." So thank God the drug-addled wife-beater has arrived to deliver moral clarity on the mess.</p>
<p>Here's Sheen's entire message:&#160;</p>
<p>hey Mallard brained Phil Robertso! you have offended and hurt so many dear friends of mine, who DO NOT have the voice or the outreach that I do. well news flash shower-dodger, I will speak loudly and clearly for ALL of them. so, just when your desperately sub evolved ass thought the pressure was off, you are now in the crosshairs of a MaSheen style media beat down. (I’ll try to keep the big words to a minimum as not to confuse you) your statements were and are abhorrently and mendaciously unforgivable. the idea that you have a job outside of dirt-clod stacking is a miracle. the only ‘Dynasty’ you are attached to might be the re-runs of that dated show. the only thing you should ever be in charge of building is a hole in the ground the exact size of your head. perhaps your beard would fit as well if you plucked out the army of scabies and bull weevils sequestered deep in it’s sarcophagus of dander and weasel pelts. shame on you. you’re the only surviving</p> | Rage of the MaSheen! Actor Blasts Duck Dynasty Star | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/rage-masheen-actor-blasts-duck-dynasty-star | 2018-10-07 | 0 |
<p>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Filipino woman arrested last year in Kansas has been sentenced to prison for stealing nearly $100,000 from a U.S. Naval base in Japan.</p>
<p>Federal prosecutors say 60-year-old Cynthia Lopez Creseni was sentenced Friday to two years in prison. She will be returned to the Philippines after her incarceration.</p>
<p>Creseni pleaded guilty in August to theft of public money. She took money from a safe at the Morale Welfare and Recreation Center on the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, where she was a cashier of the game/slot room.</p>
<p>She spent the money on plane tickets, a home in Japan, and her family in the Philippines.</p>
<p>Creseni fled Japan in 2015 after being interviewed by federal investigators. She was arrested in January 2017 in Overland Park, Kansas, for overstaying her visa.</p>
<p>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Filipino woman arrested last year in Kansas has been sentenced to prison for stealing nearly $100,000 from a U.S. Naval base in Japan.</p>
<p>Federal prosecutors say 60-year-old Cynthia Lopez Creseni was sentenced Friday to two years in prison. She will be returned to the Philippines after her incarceration.</p>
<p>Creseni pleaded guilty in August to theft of public money. She took money from a safe at the Morale Welfare and Recreation Center on the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, where she was a cashier of the game/slot room.</p>
<p>She spent the money on plane tickets, a home in Japan, and her family in the Philippines.</p>
<p>Creseni fled Japan in 2015 after being interviewed by federal investigators. She was arrested in January 2017 in Overland Park, Kansas, for overstaying her visa.</p> | Filipino woman arrested in Kansas sentenced for theft | false | https://apnews.com/d5bf358896da40a9aa50990121eace46 | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
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<p>FILE – This undated file photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows death row inmate Ronald Phillips, convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in Akron, Ohio. Ohio moved a step closer to resuming executions as the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled in the state’s favor Wednesday, June 28, 2017, reversing a judge’s order that delayed three executions after he declared the state’s lethal injection process unconstitutional. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP, File)</p>
<p>CINCINNATI — Ohio moved a step closer to resuming executions as a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in the state’s favor in a case over its lethal injection process.</p>
<p>In an 8-6 vote, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed a judge’s order that delayed three executions after he declared Ohio’s lethal injection process unconstitutional. The three-drug method includes midazolam, a sedative involved in problematic executions in Arizona, Arkansas and Ohio.</p>
<p>The 6th Circuit ruling clears the way for the state to move forward with the three executions but isn’t a decisive ruling on the constitutionality of the three-drug method, said Allen Bohnert, a public defender representing death row inmates. He said they plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.</p>
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<p>JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for Ohio’s prisons agency, said the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction “remains committed to carrying out court-ordered executions in a lawful, humane and dignified manner.”</p>
<p>At issue was whether midazolam is powerful enough to put inmates into a deep state of unconsciousness before two subsequent drugs paralyze them and stop their hearts.</p>
<p>The judges, who had a rare hearing June 15 involving the entire court, concluded Wednesday that the inmates demonstrated the execution protocol might cause pain in some people, but said that wasn’t enough.</p>
<p>“Different people may have different moral intuitions as to whether — taking into account all the relevant circumstances — the potential risk of pain here is acceptable. But the relevant legal standard, as it comes to us, requires the plaintiffs to show that Ohio’s protocol is ‘sure or very likely’ to cause serious pain,” and they fell short, the court said.</p>
<p>The dissenting opinion, by Judge Karen Nelson Moore, said the court made the wrong decision about whether the inmates deserved a trial on their claim that the injection process is a cruel and unusual punishment.</p>
<p>“Plaintiffs should not be executed before a trial on the constitutionality of Ohio’s execution method,” she wrote.</p>
<p>A related issue is whether Ohio has a realistic chance of finding an alternative drug — a barbiturate called pentobarbital — that once was widely used in executions but has become difficult or, in Ohio’s case, impossible to obtain.</p>
<p>Ohio executions have been on hold since January 2014 when inmate Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die under a never-before-tried two-drug method that began with midazolam. The same drug was involved in a problematic execution later that year in Arizona and earlier this year in Arkansas.</p>
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<p>Ohio hopes to execute condemned child killer Ronald Phillips on July 26.</p>
<p>Ohio announced its three-drug method in October and said it had enough for at least four executions, though records obtained by The Associated Press indicated the supply could cover dozens of procedures.</p>
<p>The prison system used 10 milligrams of midazolam on McGuire. The new system calls for 500 milligrams. The state said there’s plenty of evidence proving the larger amount will keep inmates from feeling pain.</p>
<p>Ohio also said the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam in 2015 in a case out of Oklahoma.</p>
<p>Objections to the use of midazolam rely on witness accounts of unusual movement by inmates being executed, something that by itself doesn’t mean the inmate isn’t unconscious, attorneys for the state told the appeals court in a May filing.</p>
<p>A “very likely” risk of pain isn’t proved by inmates who “coughed, heaved, flailed their arms, and/or clinched their fists at some point during the execution,” State Solicitor Eric Murphy wrote in the May 10 filing.</p>
<p>Attorneys for death row inmates disagree and say lower courts got it right when they said midazolam poses a substantial risk of him to inmates.</p>
<p>In years past, Ohio executed inmates with a single dose of pentobarbital without difficulty. By adding two other drugs to its new method — which paralyze inmates and stop their hearts — the state is “tacitly acknowledging that midazolam simply does not shut down brain function as barbiturates do,” attorneys challenging the three-drug method said in a May 25 court filing.</p>
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<p>Franko reported from Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press reporter Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus contributed to this report.</p> | Appeals court ruling opens door to Ohio resuming executions | false | https://abqjournal.com/1025009/appeals-court-ruling-opens-door-to-ohio-resuming-executions.html | 2017-06-28 | 2 |
<p>Alaska Air Group Inc has won U.S. antitrust approval for its $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America Inc on condition that it scale back its code-sharing with American Airlines Group Inc, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Under the settlement, Alaska and American would be banned from code-sharing on routes where Virgin and American now compete, among others, the department said.</p>
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<p>Alaska said in a statement that it was pleased with the approval and plans to close the purchase "in the very near future."</p>
<p>Alaska, which paid a premium of about 86 percent for Virgin, pursued the deal to better compete against Delta Air Lines Inc and American, the company has said.</p>
<p>The merged company would be the fifth largest U.S. carrier after American, Delta, United Airlines Inc and Southwest Airlines Co.</p>
<p>The big four control more than 80 percent of the U.S. travel market, and the Justice Department is hoping that a stronger Alaska Air will compete with the giants.</p>
<p>"Today's settlement ensures that Alaska has the incentive to take the fight to American and use Virgin's assets to grow its network in ways that benefit competition and consumers," Renata Hesse, the acting head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, said in a statement.</p>
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<p>Alaska in April announced its $2.6 billion cash deal for Virgin America, which will make it the top carrier on the U.S. West Coast. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)</p> | Alaska wins antitrust approval for Virgin deal with condition | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/12/06/alaska-wins-antitrust-approval-for-virgin-deal-with-condition.html | 2016-12-06 | 0 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images</p>
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<p>Teach your kids how to save and invest when they're young, and that financial literacy could one day help them achieve financial security -- or even great wealth. Unfortunately, too many Americans think money management is an adults-only subject -- and of course, money is not at the top of the average kid's fanciful mind (when was the last time your little ones compared the per-ounce price of their favorite cereals?).</p>
<p>Yet instilling financial literacy in your children does not have to be difficult or painful. Here are some simple steps you can take to set them on the path to financial security.</p>
<p>First off, don't wait until your kids are teenagers before you start teaching them some financial principles. It's rarely too early to teach some simple lessons on business or money when teachable moments present themselves, like when you're debating whether to buy or lease a car or reviewing a credit card offer you got in the mail.</p>
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<p>A recent <a href="http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/13-064_c7b52fa0-1242-4420-b9b6-73d32c639826.pdf" type="external">study Opens a New Window.</a>by Harvard Business Schoolpointed to one particularly useful subject to school your kids in: math. Indeed, it found that more math instruction had a stronger positive effect on students' money management skills than financial literacy courses. Keep this in mind when you're selecting courses for your young ones, or when opportunities arise for extra math instruction, such as math camps or coding classes. If your child has trouble with math, then don't shrug it off, as math skills are more important than you likely realized.</p>
<p>One key math concept to make sure they understand is the power of <a href="http://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/thirteen-steps/step-1-change-your-life-with-one-calculation.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">compound interest Opens a New Window.</a>, which will help them seehow much wealth they can amass if they're disciplined and patient. Thanks to compound interest, as your savings grow, they grow faster.</p>
<p>The following table can be particularly eye-opening, showing what will happen to a single $1,000 investment made at the age of 15 that grows by 10% annually:</p>
<p>If your kids become numbers-savvy from an early age, they'll understand better than most how to build wealth over their lifetime. You might even get your kids a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Motley-Fool-Investment-Guide-Teens-ebook/dp/B01FODAULQ/" type="external">The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens Opens a New Window.</a>. It goes into much more detail about investing for beginners, all in a kid-friendly, easy-to-read style.</p>
<p>It's funny how adults hesitate to discuss personal financial matters with each other; the subject is somewhat taboo. But it shouldn't be, especially within a family. Let your kids in on the family's financial goals (such as saving for college, retirement, and vacations) and challenges (such as credit card debt or medical bills). It can be an instructive and even exciting family project to work together toward a goal and see progress being made.</p>
<p>For example, if the whole family agrees to save for a summer vacation, then the parents might save money to pay for the hotel and transportation costs, while the kids might save money to pay for special activities such as zip-lining or buying souvenirs. You might buy a little whiteboard and update the family's saving progress on it, keeping it on display in the kitchen or family room. Parents might show how they're saving some of each paycheck and/or cutting some expenses, while kids might run a lemonade stand, wash cars, babysit, or mow lawns in order to come up with their contributions.</p>
<p>It's important to bring up the subject of money regularly in family discussions. The occasional money lecture won't have nearly the same effect as the ongoing, real-life example of your personal financial management.</p>
<p>Image source: Flickr user <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31403417@N00/5928728030/" type="external">Kizzzbeth Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Let your children see you managing money responsibly. Let them see the bills that come in and see you paying them. If you review bills together, they can learn a lot. For example, they might see how utility bills go up or down depending on the season -- due to air conditioners or heating. Showing them the cable, Internet, or phone bill can help them appreciate how much certain pleasures cost. You can also take them along to the supermarket and make it a fun challenge to keep each week's spending under an agreed-upon goal -- by using coupons, favoring store brands, and hunting for the best deals in the store.</p>
<p>Image source: Flickr user <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/5437898348/" type="external">Steven Depolo Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Investing is one of the most exciting aspects of money management. You can start by having your kids build mock portfolios, filled with the companies that interest them most. (Examples might include Apple, Disney, Netflix, Starbucks, Nike, Hasbro, and Under Armour.) Watch the progress of their stocks together, discussing what the companies are doing right and wrong, and what their challenges and risks are. Research companies together, too, at their websites and perhaps via research you can access through your online brokerage.</p>
<p>At some point, you might let your kids actually invest, perhaps via a custodial brokerage account you open with them. Alternatively, you might informally "sell" some of your own shares to your child. For example, if you own 100 shares of Under Armour (which was recently selling for about $40 per share), you can sell two shares to your child for $80. Or, if you're about to buy 100 shares of Nike and your child wants to buy a share or two herself, you can just place the order together -- and order 101 or 102 shares through your broker. Once your child turns 18, she can open her own account at a brokerage and you can transfer her shares to it.</p>
<p>Lastly, be sure to make your financial literacy lessons and money management activities as fun as you can. You might have family stock-picking contests, for example, or savings contests, to see who can reach a goal first. At the supermarket, you might make it a challenge to see how much you can save, via coupons or on-sale items.</p>
<p>There are fewer gifts you can give your children that are as valuable and powerful as financial literacy and sound money management skills.</p>
<p>The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Longtime Fool specialist <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSelena/info.aspx" type="external">Selena Maranjian Opens a New Window.</a>, whom you can <a href="http://twitter.com/SelenaMaranjian" type="external">follow on Twitter Opens a New Window.</a>, ownsshares of Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix, Starbucks, and Walt Disney.Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSelena/info.aspx" type="external">Selena Maranjian</a>owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix, Starbucks, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon.com, Apple, Hasbro, Netflix, Nike, Starbucks, Under Armour (A Shares), and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a>makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Teaching Kids About Money: A 5-Step Guide | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/23/teaching-kids-about-money-5-step-guide.html | 2016-08-23 | 0 |
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<p>Donald&#160;Trump&#160;and Hillary Clinton opened a final two-month sprint to the Nov. 8 election on Monday with the Republican presidential nominee suddenly looking stronger as he and his Democratic rival took their bitter fight to Ohio.</p>
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<p>Both&#160;Trump&#160;and Clinton made overtures to a news media that each candidate sees as often hostile to them, talking to reporters on their private planes. Clinton's session with reporters was her first news conference since last December.</p>
<p>After eating a gyro at a diner in the Cleveland area,&#160;Trump&#160;rallied thousands of cheering supporters at a county fair in Canfield, and Clinton visited a brewery in Cleveland. For a time, their planes were parked about 200 yards apart at the Cleveland airport, a sign of Ohio's importance in the election.</p>
<p>Ohio is considered one of four swing states - those that are not clearly in the Democratic or Republican camp - that could prove decisive in the Electoral College vote that will ultimately determine the winner. The other swing states are Florida, Pennsylvania and Virginia.</p>
<p>Trump&#160;was buoyed by more polls showing him in a competitive position. The latest Reuters-Ipsos poll showed&#160;Trump&#160;with 40 percent support vs 39 percent for Clinton, effectively ending Clinton's bump up in the polls after the Democratic nominating convention. Other polls showed Clinton's lead had shrunk.</p>
<p>"I think we've had a great month,"&#160;Trump&#160;said.</p>
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<p>Clinton remained in a strong position to win the White House race, but&#160;Trump&#160;and his team cited his growing strength in opinion polls nationally and in several states where the election is likely to be decided to argue that his message is breaking through to voters.</p>
<p>Clinton, who emerged into the public eye after days of raising money from wealthy donors behind closed doors, said she always knew the race would be close.</p>
<p>"We’re just going as hard and fast as we possibly can to be organized for turning out the vote, because we’ve always thought this was going to be hard, and that’s why, you know, I’m not worried, I’m just working," she said.</p>
<p>Trump, shaking his fist triumphantly, plunged into a crowd at the Mahoning County Fair where supporters had built a replica of the wall that the Republican nominee has pledged to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.</p>
<p>"This has been an unbelievable reception!"&#160;Trump&#160;said after maneuvering through a crowd of people who shouted his name, against a backdrop of food stands offering fare ranging from chicken on a stick to Italian sausages, fudge and fresh corn.</p>
<p>Inviting reporters onto his plane for the first time since accepting the Republican presidential nomination,&#160;Trump&#160;said his focus going forward will be on how to create jobs for middle-class Americans.</p>
<p>He has spent most of the past two weeks trying to clarify his position on illegal immigration, first flirting with a softening, then reinforcing his hardline approach, and then, on his plane, saying undocumented people might ultimately get on a path to a legal status once border enforcement steps are taken.</p>
<p>"I'm all about the jobs now," he said, saying his position on the immigration issue was now well known.</p>
<p>He also pledged to participate in all three televised presidential debates, ending speculation that he might sit out one or more if he was not happy with the format. His first face-off with Clinton is at Hofstra University in New York state on Sept. 26.</p>
<p>Clinton made her stop at a brewery in Cleveland before heading to a nearby Labor Day parade and rally, where she tested a new jab at her opponent: "Friends don't let friends vote forTrump."</p>
<p>The Labor Day holiday traditionally kicks off the last stretch of campaigning ahead of the November election.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters on her new campaign plane, she took credit for&#160;Trump's overture to the news media. Clinton, buffeted by controversy over her use of a private email server as U.S. secretary of state, has been criticized by Republicans and the news media for months for failing to hold a news conference.</p>
<p>"I heard now that we’ve got this great plane, that Donald&#160;Trump&#160;actually invited his press on his plane where I’m told he even answered a few questions," said Clinton.</p>
<p>TRUMP’S REBOUND</p>
<p>Trump’s rebound from a series of self-inflicted wounds follows the hiring of a new campaign management team, and the Republican nominee is showing more discipline on the stump.</p>
<p>Trump&#160;has been helped by what his campaign said was a positive week last week, highlighted by a quick trip to Mexico, appearing side by side with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, and a visit to a black church in Detroit.</p>
<p>But an immigration speech that&#160;Trump&#160;gave following his trip to Mexico drew criticism from some of his Hispanic supporters, and several backers advising him on the issue decided to part ways with his campaign.</p>
<p>Trump&#160;aide Jason Miller said rising poll numbers showed that the campaign was moving in the right direction.</p>
<p>“The trend lines are the important thing to point to," Miller told Reuters. "The problem that Clinton has is there is no positive information flow for her campaign."</p>
<p>Clinton, who was President Barack Obama's first-term secretary of state, appeared at few public campaign events during the latter half of August, instead raising funds at high-dollar events in the East Coast vacation spots of Martha’s Vineyard and the Hamptons, and with celebrities in Los Angeles and high-tech leaders in Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>Clinton’s campaign announced that it had raised $143 million in August for her presidential bid and the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>Clinton is again on the defensive over her use of a private email server and possible conflicts of interest with her family foundation while secretary of state, which have caused unease for some voters. But experts still see the Democratic nominee as the odds-on favorite to win the presidency.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland in Ohio; Additional reporting and writing by Amanda Becker in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)</p> | Trump, Clinton Visit Ohio as White House Race Enters Final 2 Months | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/06/trump-clinton-visit-ohio-as-white-house-race-enters-final-2-months.html | 2016-09-06 | 0 |
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<p>Coming off its best quarter in years,McDonald'sCorporation is looking as strong as it ever has. The fast-food chain posted comparable sales growth of 5% in the fourth quarter, sending the stock to all-time highs, and it seems to be making all the right moves under new CEO Steve Easterbrook.</p>
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<p>McDonald's recent all-day breakfast rollout was so successful that it stole a significant number of customers from rivals including Dunkin' Donuts and Jack in the Box. In addition, the companyis taking steps to improve its food quality by pledging to use only antibiotic-free chicken and cage-free eggs. New offers like the buttermilk crispy chicken sandwich and the McPick deal also seem to be resonating with customers, and its plan to refranchise stores should help boost profits.</p>
<p>But with a P/E of 24.5, the upside to the stock may be limited as McDonald's still remains a mature, low-growth company. Income investors may be content with a 3% yield and modest growth, but growth investors looking to leverage McDonald's comeback may want to considerArcos Dorados.</p>
<p>Mickey D's goes south of the borderArcos Dorados is McDonald's biggest franchisee, operating more than 2,100 restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its stock debuted in 2011 amid excitement over a brand set to capitalize on the growing middle class in Brazil, where nearly half of its restaurants are located.Instead, commodity prices crumbled, taking the Brazilian economy with it, and troubles in Venezuela further soured the stock. Shares now trade at a fraction of the IPO price.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/ARCO" type="external">ARCO</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Currency woes have caused sales to plunge, and the company is now operating at a loss. However, just as the brand it represents has come back, there are reasons to think Arcos Dorados could do the same.</p>
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<p>As of its most recent quarter, the company was still in retreat. Same-store sales gained 9.4% in the most recent quarter; however, that number is misleading, as that increase was fueled by inflation -- customer transactions actually declined by low single digits. That's a sign that, beyond currency concerns, Arcos' operating performance continues to worsen, as overall revenues fell 16.6% to $753.7 million in the third quarter.</p>
<p>However, the company is taking steps to turn around its business. Over the summer, it named Sergio Alonso as its new CEO, and soon after the company announced plans to shore up its finances by selling or refranchising 200 restaurants in Mexico and spinning off another 20 locations in Brazil, raising an expected total of $250 million.Alonso also outlined a strategy to reduce G&amp;A costs by 10%, and those two initiatives combined could save the company $40 million annually, enough to push it back into profitability.</p>
<p>While macroeconomic problems in the region have not shown much sign of ebbing, other restaurant chains are investing in the region. Bloomin Brands, the parent of Outback Steakhouse, plans to open a dozen restaurants in Brazil on top of the 64 it already operates there. Papa John's, meanwhile,is among those looking to gain a foothold in Latin America's biggest economy as the pizza chain is currently recruiting franchisees for its launch.</p>
<p>Oil prices, currency valuations, and the other macroeconomic woes ailing Arcos Dorados are cyclical problems. The Brazilian economy is bound to bounce back, and other restaurants are betting on such a reemergence, taking advantage of deflated real estate prices and an ample labor pool.</p>
<p>Considering Arcos' problems are mostly cyclical, its valuation is exceptionally low at just 0.16 on a price/sales basis. By comparison, Carrols Restaurant Group, the largest Burger King franchisee, trades at a P/S of 0.54, and it too is struggling to turn a profit. On a per-restaurant basis, Arcos looks even cheaper as each of its restaurants is valued at just $254,000. Even factoring in the company's debt would change the valuation to $586,000, which is much less than the $3 million per restaurant that McDonald's is valued at, and that is without owning most of its locations. McDonald's is one of the best known brands in the world, and the disparity between those valuations is a market inefficiency that should ultimately be corrected.</p>
<p>It won't happen overnight, but Arcos Dorados should eventually emerge from its current doldrums. If some of McDonald's turnaround magic can extend to Latin America and the Brazilian economy begins to recover, the stock could easily double from here.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/01/the-high-growth-way-to-play-mcdonalds-turnaround.aspx" type="external">The High-Growth Way to Play McDonald's Turnaround Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Arcos Dorados and Papa John's International. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | The High-Growth Way to Play McDonald's Turnaround | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/01/high-growth-way-to-play-mcdonald-turnaround.html | 2016-03-27 | 0 |
<p>Francisco Reynoso, with his wife Silvia and daughter Evelyn in the background.Photo by J. Emilio Flores for ProPublica</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/grieving-father-struggles-to-pay-dead-sons-student-loans" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.propublica.org/" type="external">ProPublica website</a>.</p>
<p>A few months after he buried his son, Francisco Reynoso began getting notices in the mail. Then the debt collectors came calling.</p>
<p>“They would say, ‘We don’t care what happened with your son, you have to pay us,'” recalled Reynoso, a gardener from Palmdale, Calif.</p>
<p>Reynoso’s son, Freddy, had been the pride of his family and the first to go to college. In 2005, after Freddy was accepted to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, his father co-signed on his hefty private student loans, making him fully liable should Freddy be unwilling or unable to repay them. It was no small decision for a man who made just over $21,000 in 2011, according to his tax returns.</p>
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<p>“As a father, you’ll do anything for your child,” Reynoso, an American citizen originally from Mexico, said through a translator.</p>
<p>Now, he’s suffering a Kafkaesque ordeal in which he’s hounded to repay loans that funded an education his son will never get to use—loans that he has little hope of ever paying off. While Reynoso’s wife, Sylvia, is studying to be a beautician, his gardening is currently the sole source of income for the family, which includes his 18-year-old daughter Evelyn.</p>
<p>And the loans are maddeningly opaque. Despite the help of a lawyer, Reynoso has not been able to determine exactly how much he owes, or even what company holds his loans. Just as happened with home mortgages in the boom years before the 2008 financial crash, his son’s student loans have been sold and resold, and at least one was likely bundled into a complex Wall Street security. But the trail of those transactions ends at a wall of corporate silence from companies that include two household names: banking giant UBS and Xerox, which owns the loan servicer handling the bulk of his loans. Left without answers is a bereaved father.</p>
<p>The risk of cosigning on Freddy’s loans seemed to have been worth it when he graduated in May 2008 and began looking for a job in the music industry. He was on the way back from a job interview on the evening of Sept. 4 when he lost control of his car and it rolled over. Freddy’s family learned of his death the next morning.</p>
<p>The grief was relentless; the debt collectors, ruthless. <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm" type="external">By law</a>, debt collectors must go through a debtor’s attorney if one has been hired, but even after Reynoso hired an attorney, he said they continued to call him every day, several times a day, for about a year and a half: “I would tell them to call the lawyer. And they would still say, ‘The lawyer doesn’t owe us. You’re the one who owes us. You’re the one who has to pay us.'”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Reynoso was still reeling: “I was crying for him every day,” he said.</p>
<p>The question of to whom Reynoso’s debts are actually owed—and who has the authority to forgive them—is a mystery that thus far neither Reynoso nor his lawyer has been able to solve.</p>
<p>One of Freddy’s student loans was <a href="http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/discharges.jsp" type="external">cancelled after his death</a> without a problem: his federal loan. That’s because the government <a href="http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/discharges.jsp" type="external">cancels student loans if a student dies</a>.</p>
<p>But the bulk of Freddy’s loans were private student loans, which typically offer less favorable interest rates and fewer consumer protections. Only <a href="http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/2141-death-and-disability-may-now-get-you-out-of-paying-loans" type="external">a few</a> <a href="https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/2010/20101217_EFS" type="external">private student lenders</a> offer debt discharges in the event of the borrower’s death, though public outcry over specific cases has swayed lenders to grant occasional death discharges.</p>
<p>But for the Reynosos, just figuring out whom to appeal to has been an exercise in futility. Working with a law firm, Francisco Reynoso sent copies of Freddy’s death certificate to any company that sent paperwork about the loans. He remembers being told by at least one company that they’d call him to work out a solution. But no one ever did, he said, and the bills kept coming—each time larger than the last with more interest, more late fees.</p>
<p>“We sent out death certificates to all of them,” said Dolores Orozco-Serrano, a legal administrator with Borowitz &amp; Clark, the bankruptcy law firm handling the Reynosos’ case. Only the federal loan was discharged. “Everyone else was not cooperative at all.”</p>
<p>Freddy Reynoso’s private loans were originated by two companies—Bank of America and Education Finance Partners. Neither company still holds onto them. ProPublica tried to find out who did.</p>
<p>First, the Bank of America loan: Almost as soon as Bank of America originated it, the loan was sold to a Boston-based company called <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=FMD%20Interactive#symbol=fmd;range=5y;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;" type="external">First Marblehead</a>, once one of the biggest securitizers of student loans. But nowhere in the paperwork sent to the Reynosos and reviewed by ProPublica does the name First Marblehead appear. Instead, the Reynosos have received paperwork emblazoned with the logo of <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111221005984/en/Fitch-Affirms-Ratings-National-Collegiate-Trust-2007-A" type="external">National Collegiate Trust</a>. That’s the name First Marblehead gave to bundles of loans that it turned into Wall Street securities and sold to investors. Was Freddy’s loan bundled into a security? And if so, who owns it now? First Marblehead has not returned repeated requests for comment.</p>
<p>Freddy Reynoso’s other loans followed an even more complicated path—and one tainted by scandal. Education Finance Partners, the private student loan company that originated the largest portion of Freddy’s student debts, reached a <a href="http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/attorney-general-cuomo-announces-settlement-education-finance-partners-over-its" type="external">$2.5 million settlement agreement</a> with the New York Attorney General’s Office in 2007 to settle charges that it had paid colleges across the country to steer students toward its high-interest loans. And Berklee College of Music, Freddy’s alma mater, <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/05/10/colleges_ties_with_lenders_probed/" type="external">was one of the schools singled out</a> in that investigation for accepting the improper payments. Berklee College of Music spokesman Allen Bush acknowledged in a statement to ProPublica that the school accepted a total of $23,000 from Education Finance Partners between 2005 and 2007, but said that “all of these funds were deposited into a financial aid account and disbursed through a need-based grant system to current Berklee students.”</p>
<p>Education Finance Partners, Freddy’s lender, never admitted any wrongdoing. A year after the settlement, the company declared bankruptcy.</p>
<p>But who holds Freddy’s loans now remains a mystery. The company’s archives—now kept by a company called Loan Science—show that his loans were scooped up by the Swiss bank UBS in October 2008. But the entire portfolio changed hands again in 2009. “That 2009 sale was private, it was bound by a confidentiality agreement and, therefore, we’re not in a position to disclose the identity of the purchaser,” wrote a UBS spokesman in an email.</p>
<p>One possibility: Freddy’s loan may have been among those acquired by the Swiss National Bank, Switzerland’s equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve, when it bailed out UBS. (See <a href="http://www.propublica.org/special/timeline-how-one-college-students-private-loans-landed-in-a-swiss-bank" type="external">our sidebar</a>.)</p>
<p>Reynoso and his lawyer don’t even know exactly how much he now owes, but it appears to be well into the six figures. The loan that Bank of America originated is clear: At the end of March, the balance was around $7,400, according to Mike Reiber, a spokesman for PHEAA, a company that once serviced that loan. (With the loan in default, it now resides with First Marblehead, Reiber said.) But the other, much larger portion of Reynoso’s debt remains murky. A 2009 lending disclosure document indicates that through Education Finance Partners, UBS extended nearly $160,000 in credit to Freddy Reynoso, and projected that if he made all payments as scheduled, the loan for his music education would end up costing him $279,000.</p>
<p>Seemingly the only party who knows—and is obligated to tell Reynoso—about this debt is the servicer, ACS Education Services.</p>
<p>Citing privacy reasons, ACS declined to disclose any specifics about the loans to ProPublica, even with Reynoso’s full consent. Three weeks ago, Francisco Reynoso himself sent a letter to ACS asking who currently holds the loans, but he has received no response.</p>
<p>ACS is a subsidiary of Xerox, so ProPublica put in several calls there. Given more than a full week to respond, Xerox’s corporate communications team has yet to provide a response to queries about when Reynoso can expect basic information about his son’s loans, including the amount he owes and the name of the company that now owns the debt.</p>
<p>Even with the help of a lawyer, Reynoso’s options are limited. Unlike most kinds of debt, private student loans are not dischargeable through bankruptcy, though Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is leading an <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-20/durbin-urges-private-student-loans-be-discharged-in-bankruptcy" type="external">effort to change that</a>. So for the time being, Reynoso’s hope hinges on a narrow provision in the bankruptcy code called a <a href="http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/bankruptcy/" type="external">hardship discharge</a>. The bar for proving “undue hardship” is high, but Reynoso still hopes for the best as he waits for a ruling from the bankruptcy judge. As he puts it: “I’m in the hands of God.”</p> | Grieving Father Struggles to Pay Dead Son’s Student Loans | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/grieving-father-dead-son-student-loans/ | 2012-06-18 | 4 |
<p>George Weigel is one of the pre-eminent commentators on Catholicism today, and author of, among others, a bestselling <a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Beginning-II---Victory-Freedom/dp/0385524803/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1362760769&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=george+weigel" type="external">biography of Pope John Paul II</a>. Weigel recently published <a href="" type="internal">Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st Century</a>.</p>
<p>Weigel discusses the future of the church and the challenges facing a new pope with author, journalist, commentator and Catholic scholar Michael Novak, author of more than 25 books, including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Open-Church-Michael-Novak/dp/0765807726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1362769655&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=michael+novak+open+church" type="external">The Open Church</a>.</p>
<p>MICHAEL NOVAK: George, your new book could not have come at a better time–these days it is being quoted daily in television interviews with cardinals who are streaming into Rome. I like its implicit image that the church through its long history seems to live in a cocoon for a century or so, and then break forth like a newly resplendent butterfly, reborn and fresh for new challenges. You show how long this new rebirth has been generating in the church, some 150 years. Pope John Paul II invited you into his friendship as you interviewed him for his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Beginning-II---Victory-Freedom/dp/0385524803/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1362673791&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=george+weigel" type="external">biography</a>&#160;over many months–and you know now much he cherished the Second Vatican Council (1961-65) and wanted to rescue its main lessons from systematic distortion. Now you have found new words to get to the heart of this long-gestating rebirth.</p>
<p>And one other thing I notice: From so many quarters today we hear a super-aggressive hatred for the Catholic church, not least for its Pope. Yet here many of the major media so often contemptuous of the Pope are utterly fascinated by yet another conclave, summoned in an orderly way to choose a new Pope. What do you think your book is saying to the bitter critics of the church, first of all?</p>
<p>GEORGE WEIGEL: I hope it’s saying that the church is alive, that the liveliest parts of the church are those parts that have embraced the symphony of Catholic truth in full–and I even cherish the hope that some who are caught in the postmodern sandbox of self-absorption faintly recognize in Catholicism the possibility of a nobler, more humanly fulfilling path than living according to the mantra of “me, myself, and I.”</p>
<p>Evangelical Catholicism is aborning for two reasons: the internal dynamics you described, which touch the church’s understanding that she must always be purified so that the Gospel she preaches is mirrored in her own life, and the external environment, which is now so hostile to biblical religion throughout the Western world that only an affirmative orthodoxy, lived in mission, can meet its challenge–and perhaps invite secularists to think again about the possibility of friendship with Jesus Christ.</p>
<p>Here in Rome, the basic division is between those who get this–who understand with Vatican II, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI that the Church is a communion of disciples in mission and that everything and everyone in the Church must be measured by mission-effectiveness–and those who want to retreat into institutional-maintenance Catholicism (in either its starboard or portside variants). If my books helps put all of this in a broader historical context, so that we aren’t going through one more tedious round in the Vatican II Wars, then I’ll be gratified.</p>
<p>NOVAK:&#160;On your side is that Catholics now number 1.2 billion human beings on earth–one out of six–and are growing rapidly, faster than Muslims.The atheist part of the earth is shrinking, as more and more persons lose meaning, purpose, and even the heart to defend themselves–and fewer couples have children. But your central point is how Evangelical Catholicism will change the people in the pews, say, in America.</p>
<p>Do you expect that, quietly and one by one, more and more Catholics will seek opportunities to speak openly about the love and might of the Son of God within them? And during their lifetimes bring into our growing communion, say, three or four converts? In a generation that might mean 100 million new U.S. Catholics.</p>
<p>WEIGEL: Evangelical Catholic pastors, like my friend Father Scott Newman in Greenville, South Carolina (to whom, with Russ Hittinger, Evangelical Catholicism is dedicated), give their people a new conviction about their baptismal dignity, a conviction that leads them into a richer experience of the sacraments and a more intense, daily encounter with the Bible. And the results are remarkable: at every Easter Vigil, 30, 40, or 50 new Catholics are either baptized as adults or received into the full communion of the church. They’ve often been invited to consider Catholicism by their neighbors, the parishioners of St. Mary’s; they’ve been well-instructed by the parish’s permanent deacons and Father Newman; and when they come into the community of St. Mary’s, Greenville, they know that they, too, are taking on an evangelical, or missionary obligation. It takes years to build up this sort of momentum, but once it reaches what you might call ecclesial critical mass, it snowballs. And it has staying power, because the conversions involved are not merely emotional, but have real content.</p>
<p>This pattern replicates itself throughout the liveliest sectors of the church: among youth groups like FOCUS (which work on campuses); among the growing communities of religious women; in various renewal movements and new forms of Catholic community. There’s a hunger in the West for something more substantial than the thin gruel of solipsism. That hunger can be met by Catholic clergy and laity who have been deeply formed by the Gospel, are transparent to the love of Jesus Christ at work in their own lives, and understand that inviting others into the fellowship of faith, and who, with John Paul II, know that the paradox of faith is that it increases the more it is given to others.</p>
<p>NOVAK: Our mutual friend Mary Eberstadt has written in her upcoming book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-West-Really-Lost-Secularization/dp/1599473798/ref=la_B001JRXK4Q_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1362770205&amp;sr=1-3" type="external">How the West Lost God</a>, that family life is the natural language in which Christian life is first learned and comes alive. So I liked what you said about the “family church” as the living cell of faith. And I’m grateful for what you write about in “The Reform of Catholic Marriage.” It’s past due. The distortions that have arisen since the false readings of Vatican II have been ugly.</p>
<p>WEIGEL: The marriage crisis throughout the western world seems to me both an impediment to the New Evangelization and a spur to it. The terrible social effects of the sexual revolution and the reduction of sexual love to just another contact sport have now become undeniable: women who can’t find husbands; spouses who look on children as a lifestyle accessory; men who’ve been told by culture and society that sexual predation is a kind of right; internet pornography addiction wreaking havoc in young and old lives alike.</p>
<p>In the face of all this ugliness and unhappiness, the Catholic sexual ethic begins to look, not like some dreary laundry list of “No’s,” but as a very great “Yes” to human dignity, fidelity, promise-making and promise-keeping, and a badly-needed reaffirmation of the built-into-the-human-condition linkage between sexual love and procreation.</p>
<p>In an Evangelical Catholic context, these truths are often best conveyed by married couples who see their marriages as instruments for the evangelization of other married couples, especially those who may be struggling with the afterburn of the marriage culture breakdown. Marriage preparation programs in parishes–again, often best conducted by married couples with assistance from priests and deacons–are a great opportunity to invite engaged couples into a more integral and intense practice of Catholicism and the embrace of a robust faith that is an enormous help in navigating the rocks and shoals of postmodern culture, where solipsism is one of the biggest challenges to happy and fruitful marriages.</p>
<p>NOVAK:&#160;Looks like we’ve run out of space, George. A lot more I’d like to ask you. Can’t wait to be able to talk to you in person, when you get back from Rome. Enjoy a good pasta for me at our regular haunts. Give my best to our friends.</p>
<p>George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | Get Ready for Catholicism 2.0 | false | https://eppc.org/publications/get-ready-for-catholicism-2-0/ | 1 |
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<p>Pallbearers carry the casket bearing the body of Mesa County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Derek Geer on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at Canyon View Vineyard Church in Grand Junction, Colo. Geer was shot after responding to a report that a suspicious person carrying a gun and wearing a bandada over his face had been spotted near two schools in Grand Junction last week. (Christopher Tomlinson/Grand Junction Sentinel via AP)</p>
<p>GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - A homeless teenager charged with killing a Colorado sheriff's deputy told investigators he tried but failed to shoot himself before turning the gun on the officer, according to court documents released Tuesday.</p>
<p>An arrest warrant affidavit said 17-year-old Austin Patrick Holzer told police he had been in jail before and didn't want to return when Mesa County Deputy Derek Geer tried to arrest him on a parole violation, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported ( <a href="http://tinyurl.com/hlhyeye)." type="external">http://tinyurl.com/hlhyeye).</a></p>
<p>Holzer tried to shoot himself as he and Geer struggled, but the gun didn't fire, the affidavit quotes Holzer as saying. He then pointed the gun at Geer and fired, the document says.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Holzer is charged with murder and other counts in the Feb. 8 shooting death of Geer, a married father of two.</p>
<p>Holzer was originally charged as a juvenile, but the district attorney's office refiled the charges to prosecute him as an adult, the Sentinel reported.</p>
<p>Geer was trying to arrest Holzer on charges of violating probation in a sex-assault case.</p>
<p>Geer, who was buried Monday, was praised as a man committed to his family, job and community. So many people wanted to attend his church funeral that it was live-streamed at six other locations.</p>
<p>At a ceremony in the state Capitol in Denver on Tuesday, Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said she was impressed by the outpouring of support for Geer and other officers.</p>
<p>"I saw all the emotion and family grief at the funeral of this law enforcement officer. But I also saw the immense sense of pride in what he did and all officers do," she said. "There's a small number who have shown they don't respect law enforcement. But the people from other cities, the handmade signs, the honor and respect - that is how the vast majority of people feel for what law enforcement does."</p>
<p>Holzer was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in Geer's slaying.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Daily Sentinel, <a href="http://www.gjsentinel.com" type="external">http://www.gjsentinel.com</a></p> | Affidavit: Colorado teen tried shooting self before deputy | false | https://abqjournal.com/724788/affidavit-colorado-teen-tried-shooting-self-before-deputy.html | 2 |
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<p>PUEBLO, Colo. — Police say a Colorado woman threw rocks at a local jail in an attempt to get the attention of her love interest on Valentine’s Day.</p>
<p>The Pueblo Chieftain reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2lbSCBL" type="external">http://bit.ly/2lbSCBL</a> ) that Pueblo County deputies say they responded to a report of suspicious activity at the county detention center just before midnight and found that a window on the second floor had been broken.</p>
<p>Deputies say surveillance video showed someone throwing rocks at the building and deputies later learned that the person has a relationship with a jail inmate.</p>
<p>An arrest warrant for criminal mischief has been issued for a 38-year-old woman. The investigation is ongoing.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain, <a href="http://www.chieftain.com" type="external">http://www.chieftain.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Woman wanted for throwing rocks at jail to attract Valentine | false | https://abqjournal.com/951369/woman-wanted-for-throwing-rocks-at-jail-to-attract-valentine.html | 2 |
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<p>The Seth Rich murder conspiracy is a long and winding one. The as-of-yet unsolved murder case has been warped into something out of a spy thriller by conspiracy theorists who claim that Rich disseminated leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks, and was murdered for it.</p>
<p>Rod Wheeler is a private investigator who was retained by the Rich family to investigate Seth’s death. Wealth manager and Fox News contributor, Ed Butowsky, allegedly bankrolled Wheeler’s hire.</p>
<p>Butowsky was working with investigative journalist Malia Zimmerman, who, in May of 2017, published a piece in which she allegedly falsely quoted Wheeler. Now, the private investigator has filed suit against Butowsky, Zimmerman, 21st Century Fox, and Fox News.</p>
<p>It must be strongly noted that these are all unverified allegations, and they should be treated as such.</p>
<p>Here are the ten most interesting portions of the lawsuit documents (any supplementary text from myself will appear in bold, or be clearly noted):</p>
<p>1. False Quotes</p>
<p>“My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” said Wheeler.</p>
<p>“My investigation shows someone within the DC government, Democratic National Committee or Clinton team is blocking the murder investigation from going forward,” Wheeler said. “That is unfortunate. Seth Rich's murder is unsolved as a result of that.”</p>
<p>2. Alleged Presidential Involvement</p>
<p>Alleged text from Butowsky to Wheeler: “Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article. He wants the article out immediately. It's now all up to you. But don't feel the pressure.”</p>
<p>Alleged voicemail from Butowsky to Wheeler: “A couple minutes ago I got a note that we have the full, uh, attention of the White House, on this. And, tomorrow, let's close this deal, whatever we've got to do. But you can feel free to say that the White House is on to this now.”</p>
<p>Very shortly after the article was published, Mr. Wheeler called Butowsky and demanded an explanation for the false statements about him in Zimmerman's article. Butowsky stated that the quotes were included because that is the way the president wanted the article, referring to President Donald Trump. A few days later, Butowsky wrote to Zimmerman, "I didn't tell you yet but the federal government is involved at this moment, behind the scenes and believe your story."</p>
<p>3. Agenda</p>
<p>As it turned out, Butowsky and Zimmerman were not simply Good Samaritans attempting to solve a murder. Rather, they were interested in advancing a political agenda for the Trump Administration. Specifically, it was their aim to have Mr. Wheeler confirm that: (i) Seth Rich was responsible for the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks; and (ii) Seth Rich was murdered by a Democrat operative because he leaked the emails to WikiLeaks.</p>
<p>Statement allegedly made by Butowsky: "The most important thing is this. Everyone, there’s so many people throughout Trump’s four years and maybe eight years are always going to fall back on the idea that he is not legitimate and the Russians got him elected. This information [about Seth Rich providing emails to WikiLeaks] changes all of that."</p>
<p>Butowsky and Zimmerman were not in this alone. Rather, in the weeks and months leading up to the publication of Zimmerman’s May 16, 2017, article, Butowsky kept in regular contact with Trump Administration officials — including Mr. Spicer, Mr. Bannon and Director of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice, Sarah Flores — regarding his efforts relating to Seth Rich. As noted above, Butowsky informed Mr. Wheeler two days before Zimmerman's article came out that President Trump had read it and wanted it published "immediately."</p>
<p>Prior to that, Butowsky and Mr. Wheeler met with Mr. Spicer and provided him with a copy of Mr. Wheeler's investigative notes. Mr. Spicer asked to be kept abreast of developments and, upon information and belief, Butowsky did keep Mr. Spicer abreast of developments.</p>
<p>4. Trump Denies</p>
<p>The following isn't in the court documents, but is pertinent to the story. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders <a href="https://deadline.com/2017/08/donald-trump-white-house-briefing-sarah-huckabee-sanders-seth-rich-fox-news-lawsuit-1202140114/" type="external">denied</a> any administration involvement in this lawsuit:</p>
<p>"The president had no knowledge of the story and it is completely untrue that there was White House involvement in the story. ... Beyond that, this is ongoing litigation and I refer you to the actual parties involved, which aren't the White House."</p>
<p>5. Missing Quotes</p>
<p>On May 11, 2017, Zimmerman sent Mr. Wheeler a draft of her story regarding the Seth Rich murder. The draft did not contain any quotes from Mr. Wheeler to the effect that Seth Rich had sent any emails to WikiLeaks, nor did the draft quote Mr. Wheeler as saying that the DNC, Democratic Party or Clintons were engaged in a cover-up.</p>
<p>Less than 24 hours later, on May 15, 2017, Zimmerman informed Mr. Wheeler that she would be publishing her story immediately. The story was published the following morning with the false quotations from Mr. Wheeler that were clearly fabricated to lend support to the claim that Seth Rich, and not the Russians, was the source for the DNC emails released on WikiLeaks.</p>
<p>6. Fox Retracts</p>
<p>On May 16, 2017, Mr. Wheeler called Zimmerman and confronted her about the use of false statements. Zimmerman told Mr. Wheeler that she would have the statements removed from the article. However they were not removed and, later that day, Zimmerman told Mr. Wheeler that she had been instructed by her bosses at Fox News to leave the false quotes in the story.</p>
<p>On May 23, 2017, Fox finally retracted Zimmerman's article and issued the following statement, "The May 16 story was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed," the statement said. "We will continue to investigate this story and will provide updates as warranted." However, Fox did not clear Mr. Wheeler's name and never admitted that Zimmerman had misquoted him.</p>
<p>7. Anxiety</p>
<p>Throughout March 2017, Butowsky exhibited a great deal of anxiety with Jack Burkman, a Republican lobbyist who claimed to have evidence that Seth Rich was killed by Russian operatives after Seth Rich discovered that the Russians had hacked the DNC. Obviously this narrative would contradict the story Butowsky wanted to write, and on March 2, 2017, Butowsky asked Zimmerman for Mr. Berkman's contact information and stated, "I need to shut him up."</p>
<p>8. Detective</p>
<p>Mr. Wheeler was able to secure an interview with detective Della-Camera, with the Washington D.C. Metro Police Department on April 24th, 2017. Detective Della-Camera is the lead homicide detective on the Seth Rich case. The night before the interview, Mr. Wheeler received an email from Butowsky that stated: "Della-Camera is either helping us or we will go after him as being part of the cover-up." Mr. Wheeler eventually met with detective Della-Camera on April 25, 2017. Detective Della-Camera confirmed that he still believed that Seth Rich's murder was the result of a robbery gone bad. Detective Della-Camera also stated that he had nothing to say or to show that the shooting was related to emails or anything other than a street robbery.</p>
<p>9. Admitting</p>
<p>Mr. Wheeler confronted Zimmerman again about her false statements, as well as her false claim to Joel Rich that "much of the information" from her article came from Mr. Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler stated: "I kinda came across a response that you had to Joel ... the thing that I'm a little concerned about is that it says 'as you know, much of our information came from a private investigator, Rod Wheeler, who we understand was working on behalf of you.'"</p>
<p>Zimmerman responded, "that's the email that Fox asked me to send him. They wrote it for me and they told me to send it to him." Mr. Wheeler challenged her: "But that's not accurate though because much, much of the information did not come from me." In response, Zimmerman admitted: "Umm, well not not not ... Not the part about the emails. Not the part about, I mean about the connection to WikiLeaks, but the rest of the quotes in the story did. A lot of the quotes in the story did."</p>
<p>Later in the same conversation, Butowsky also conceded that the quotes were not made by Mr. Wheeler: "One day you're going to win an award for having said those things you didn't say."</p>
<p>10. Fox Won’t Apologize</p>
<p>Fox did not clear Mr. Wheeler's name and never admitted that Zimmerman had misquoted him. As such, Mr. Wheeler requested and attended a meeting with Ms. Brandi and Jay Wallace, Fox News' Executive Vice President of News and Editorial. Mr. Wheeler explained to Ms. Brandi and Mr. Wallace that he had not provided Zimmerman with the quotations she used in her article. He also informed Ms. Brandi and Mr. Wallace that Zimmerman had admitted that Mr. Wheeler had not provided her the information regarding WikiLeaks that she attributed to him in the article. Nevertheless, to this day Fox has not issued any statement admitting that the quotes attributed to Mr. Wheeler were not made by him.</p>
<p>Multiple parties, including Butowsky, claim the allegations made in Wheeler's lawsuit are patently false. The entire court document can be read <a href="https://twitter.com/anhaiphung/status/892376645931196416" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Lawsuit: Fox News, White House Collaborated To Push Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19241/ten-most-interesting-portions-seth-rich-conspiracy-frank-camp | 2017-08-01 | 0 |
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<p>While Bitcoin is still not widely accepted as an official currency, it is still the relatively new form of currency and it's not free from the risk of old-fashioned fraud. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Thursday that it is suing a New York man and the company he owns over what they claim is a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. It is the first fraud suit in the agency's history involving bitcoin.</p>
<p>The CFTC is an independent agency that is responsible for monitoring U.S. derivatives markets and they claim Nicholas Gelfman from Brooklyn, New York ran a fund called Gelfman Blueprint Inc., which was used to primarily invest in bitcoin and "fraudulently solicited more than $600,000 from approximately 80 persons."</p>
<p>The CEO of Gelfman, and head trader at Gelfman Blueprint is said to have told investors that he ran a fund that "employed a high-frequency, algorithmic trading strategy," that never actually existed according to the CFTC.</p>
<p>The CFTC claims, "The purported performance reports were false, and - as in all Ponzi schemes - payouts of supposed profits - actuality consisted of other customers' misappropriated funds." The government also claims that Gelfman faked a computer hack in order to hide what was actually going on. Federal prosecutors say that because of Gelfman's scheme, investors ended up losing "most if not all of their invested funds."</p>
<p>The CFTC's director of enforcement, James McDonald, said: "The Defendants here preyed on customers interested in virtual currency, promising them the opportunity to invest in Bitcoin when in reality they only bought into the Defendants' Ponzi scheme."</p>
<p>Gelfman did not respond or comment on the whole situation, but the case comes on the heels of a crackdown on bitcoin in China that shut down two of the country's largest bitcoin exchanges.</p>
<p>On Twitter:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction" type="external">@ErvinProduction</a></p>
<p>Tips? Info? Send me a message!</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.erienewsnow.com/story/36424665/us-government-sues-over-alleged-bitcoin-ponzi-scheme" type="external">erienewsnow.com/story/36424665/us-government-sues-over-alleged-bitcoin-ponzi-scheme</a></p> | U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Sues New York Company Owner Over Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/8453-U-S-Commodity-Futures-Trading-Commission-Sues-New-York-Company-Owner-Over-Bitcoin-Ponzi-Scheme | 2017-09-21 | 0 |
<p>Rep. Paul Ryan revises history when he says his Medicare plan is "in keeping with the Bill Clinton bipartisan committee" proposal in 1999. Contrary to the impression left by Ryan, the commission's final report failed largely along partisan lines. Clinton opposed it, and all four of his appointees voted against it.&#160;</p>
<p>It's true, though, that both proposals recommended providing a government subsidy for seniors to buy insurance — that's one of the issues that caused the plan to fail to win final approval.</p>
<p>Not Clinton's Committee</p>
<p>On " <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43093952/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/t/meet-press-transcript-may/" type="external">Meet the Press</a>," Ryan called his Medicare plan "sensible" and compared it to the work of a "Bill Clinton bipartisan commission" — referring to a 1999 final draft report issued by the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.</p>
<p>Ryan, May 22: And the way in which we propose reforming for the next generation, it's in keeping with the Bill Clinton bipartisan commission that — to reform Medicare, it's an idea that's been around for a long time called premium support: guaranteed coverage options for Medicare where the government subsidizes the poor and the sick a whole lot more than the wealthy, and people get to choose.</p>
<p>He's right that both plans recommended "premium support payments" — or government subsidies — to help seniors buy insurance. Under Ryan's plan, future beneficiaries (those currently younger than 55) would use the subsidies to buy private insurance. Under the 1999 plan, seniors would have been able to apply the subsidies toward the traditional government-run Medicare program or buy private insurance. So, to that extent, his plan indeed is in keeping with the 1999 proposal.</p>
<p>But any attempt to cast the 1999 report as bipartisan or suggest it was Clinton's commission is misleading.</p>
<p>The commission was <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/usr_doc/altman_bipartisan_353.pdf" type="external">created</a> by Congress as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/17/us/medicare-panel-sharply-divided-submits-no-plan.html?pagewanted=2&amp;src=pm" type="external">reported</a> that Clinton appointed just four of the 17 commission members, and all four of them voted against the report. Clinton himself opposed the final draft report. He issued a <a href="http://clinton6.nara.gov/1999/03/1999-03-16-remarks-by-the-president-upon-departure-on-medicare.html" type="external">statement</a> on the day of the vote that criticized the plan for, among other things, potentially increasing premiums for seniors who remain in the traditional government-run Medicare plan. Why? Clinton and other Democrats feared the subsidies would not keep pace with inflation.&#160;</p>
<p>Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and commission member, voted against the report and criticized it in words that echo today's partisan criticism of Ryan's plan: "The proposal before us would convert Medicare from a universal guarantee to a Government voucher for private insurance."</p>
<p>The commission <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/medicare/finalvote.html" type="external">failed</a> to get the 11 votes it needed to approve the final report. All eight Republican appointees and only two centrist Democrats, chairman John Breaux of Louisiana and Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, voted for it. The report failed by a 10-7 vote.&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>'Mediscare': A True Bipartisan Plan</p>
<p>Ryan is correct, though, when he blames both parties for engaging in what he called "Mediscare" — which we <a href="" type="internal">documented</a> as recently as May 19 in the special House election in New York's 26th congressional district.&#160;</p>
<p>Ryan, May 22: Look, of course people are scared of entitlement reform because every time you put entitlement reform out there, the other party uses it as a political weapon against you. Look, both parties have done this to each other.</p>
<p>He proved his point when he engaged in, well, a bit of Mediscare himself.</p>
<p>Ryan repeated a false claim that the Independent Payment Advisory Board created by the new federal health care law will "ration" Medicare to cut costs.</p>
<p>Ryan, May 22: The alternative to this, David, is a rationing scheme, are the 15 bureaucrats the president's going to appoint next year on his panel to ration Medicare spending.&#160; We don't think we should give the government the power to ration spending to seniors.</p>
<p>As we have <a href="" type="internal">written</a> before, the health care law specifically states that the advisory board “shall not include any recommendation to ration health care.” And the voting board members are doctors, economists and other outside experts, not Washington bureaucrats.</p> | Ryan Revises History on Medicare Reform | false | https://factcheck.org/2011/05/ryan-revises-history-on-medicare-reform/ | 2011-05-23 | 2 |
<p>Some ideas take on a character akin to sacred texts whose validity is rarely questioned.&#160; One such belief is that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the biggest threat to the Middle East and the United States.&#160; The threat narrative has become required foreign policy catechism in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>Menacing stereotypes and bellicose rhetoric are the standards by which Iran has come to be judged.&#160;&#160; It has continually been in the crosshairs of American administrations since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.&#160;&#160; The process by which a country is determined to be a terrorist state is highly subjective and politicized.&#160; The United States has assumed the singular role of terrorism arbiter.</p>
<p>After only weeks in office, the Trump administration “officially put Iran on notice” for a ballistic missile test, and imposed new sanctions.&#160; It was only a matter of time before the Trump administration would resurrect the “Iran the terrorist state” mantra to deflect attention from its internal chaos.</p>
<p>The unpredictability of the Trump White House and volatility of the Middle East make it vital to understand the nature of Washington’s anti-Iran bias, how and why Iran has come to be cast as an international sponsor of terrorism, and most importantly, examine why the characterization is false.</p>
<p>The 1979 revolution and overthrow of the shah freed the country from its obsequious relationship to Washington.&#160;&#160; Iran’s regional influence spread not in terms of conquered territory; instead, its revolutionary ideology gave voice to Shi’ites living in oppressive Sunni majority-ruled countries.</p>
<p>The Islamic Republic presented a dilemma for Washington, accustomed to dealing with the ruling families and autocrats of the Middle East.&#160; To curtail the revolution’s influence, Washington manufactured a narrative depicting Iran’s leaders as irrational religious fanatics in charge of a dangerous state that acted contrary to traditional state behavior.&#160; America’s attitude&#160;was hardened with the takeover of the U.S. embassy in 1979, shaping the negative lens through which Iran’s policies and actions would be viewed thereafter.</p>
<p>The trauma inflicted by the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) deepened Iran’s distrust of Washington.&#160; From Tehran’s perspective, America’s support for Saddam’s aggression&#160;was Washington’s attempt to restore the monarchy and to destabilize the government.&#160; The post-revolution 1980s were filled with uncertainties and excesses as Tehran struggled to survive its war with Iraq—a war largely subsidized by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, Iran’s foreign policy shifted toward integrating into the international community and shedding its hard-line image.&#160; Tehran attempted to develop closer relations with Saudi Arabia and build constructive ties to the West.&#160; Although Iran opposed the 2001 U.S. attack on Afghanistan, the goal of fighting terrorism and toppling the Taliban regime—-driven from power in November 2001—united the two countries in perhaps the most constructive period of U.S.-Iranian diplomacy.</p>
<p>At a December 2001 meeting in Bonn, Germany, Secretary of State Colin Powell credited Iran with being particularly helpful in establishing an interim Afghan government, following the American invasion.&#160;&#160; It was Javad Zarif, then Iran’s U.N. ambassador and current foreign minister, who mediated a compromise over the composition of Afghanistan’s post-Taliban government, ultimately leading to an agreement.&#160;&#160; And it was Iran that insisted that the agreement include a commitment to hold democratic elections in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>A burst of diplomatic talks between Iranian and American officials took place from 2001 through May 2003.&#160; Topics included cooperative activities against their mutual enemies:&#160; Saddam, the Taliban and al-Qaeda.&#160; Meetings resumed even after President George W. Bush listed Iran among the “axis of evil” countries in his 2002 State of the Union address.</p>
<p>Tehran’s final attempt to normalize relations came in May of 2003 in what became known as the “grand bargain.”&#160;&#160; Calling for broad dialogue “in mutual respect,” Iran suggested that everything was on the table, including full cooperation on Iran’s nuclear program, ending material support to Palestinian opposition groups and assistance in helping stabilize Iraq.</p>
<p>Convinced that the Iranian government was on the brink of collapse, and emboldened by its perceived victory in Iraq in March 2003, Bush administration officials belittled the initiative.&#160; The administration’s imperious posture and failure to build on Iran’s cooperation in Afghanistan, led senior officials in Tehran to conclude that Washington’s goal was regime change.</p>
<p>Bush strategists had another objective in ousting Saddam—-to isolate and increase the military and political pressure on Iran, and to a lesser extent, on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.&#160;&#160; Repeated often by administration officials was the refrain, “Today Baghdad, tomorrow Damascus, and then on to Tehran.”</p>
<p>To curb Tehran’s growing influence in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, Bush launched an unprecedented financial war against Iran.&#160;&#160; A list of strategies developed in 2006 by Stuart Levy—-the first under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department—-were implemented to drive Iran out of the global economy.</p>
<p>Where Washington sees terrorism, the Iranian government sees itself combating a power structure in the Middle East that benefits the United States, Israel and Sunni Arab regimes.</p>
<p>Congress defines an international sponsor of terrorism as a country whose government supports acts of international terrorism.&#160; Tehran does not support “international” terrorism, but it does provide material support to regional movements that it calls the oppressed, whose battle is directed toward the state of Israel—Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the&#160;Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.&#160; These groups have used violence against Israel to end the brutal occupation of their land.</p>
<p>Tehran regards as legitimate its support for national liberation movements that fight against Israeli occupation and aggression, insisting it is not terrorism.&#160; Iran’s leaders believe that Israel’s long-term goal is to weaken the Islamic world, eliminating all resistance, in order to carry out its expansionist designs.</p>
<p>From the perspective of the people of the region, Israel has a long history of occupation, invasion and state terrorism.&#160;&#160; Interestingly, the Arab media has accused Washington of sponsoring terrorism because of its support for Israel.</p>
<p>The Israeli government has relentlessly pushed the perception that Iran, specifically a nuclear-armed Iran, is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the region and world, and&#160;has successfully sold this provocative idea in the United States.&#160;&#160; Senior Israeli security officials have refuted the assertion that an Iranian nuclear weapon would threaten Israel.&#160; Their claims are poignant considering the fact that Israel enjoys a huge military and technical advantage in the region, and possesses an arsenal capable of deterring any nuclear aggression.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motives for vilifying Iran are many, but&#160;primarily it serves to distract international attention as Israel continues settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and Syrian Golan Heights.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia, like Israel, is doing everything in its power to make sure the United States remains engaged in the Middle East.&#160; Riyadh relies on Washington to do its heavy lifting, and anti-Iran propaganda helps in its campaign.&#160;&#160; Saudi rulers believe that the Assad&#160;government is pivotal to Iranian influence in the region, and have been encouraging Washington to get rid of him for years.&#160; They were buoyed by Trump’s missile attack on Syria and recent&#160;state visit as a sign that Washington is pivoting away from Obama’s policy of rapprochement with Iran, and renewing its ties to the kingdom.</p>
<p>The intense focus on Iran as a menace does not correspond to its capabilities, intent or danger.&#160;&#160; A 2017 Congressional Research Service report stated that Iran’s national security policy involves protecting itself from American or others’ efforts to intimidate or change the regime.&#160;&#160; According to the 2014 U.S. Defense Department Annual Review of Iran, “Iran’s military doctrine is defensive.&#160; It is designed to deter an attack….”</p>
<p>Forty-five U.S. military bases encircle Iran, with over 125,000 troops in close proximity.&#160; The Congressional Research Service asserted that Tehran allocates about 3 percent of GDP to military spending, far less than what its Persian Gulf neighbors spend.</p>
<p>Iran’s nuclear program has cultivated scientific innovation and national pride.&#160;&#160; It required pragmatic leadership to accept the constraints of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.&#160; The agreement subjects Iran to greater restrictions and more intrusive monitoring than any state with nuclear programs, while its neighbors possess unlimited nuclear programs and, in the case of Pakistan and Israel, nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>Intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency agree that Iran has not been attempting to develop nuclear weapons.&#160; According to the IAEA and the U.S. State Department, Iran has been fulfilling its obligations under the JCPOA.</p>
<p>Toughness on Iran has become a litmus test for American politicians to demonstrate their support for Israel.&#160; Congress overwhelmingly passed a ten-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act, which was set to expire on December 31, 2016.&#160; The renewal makes it easier for the Trump administration to reimpose sanctions that Obama lifted under the JCPOA.</p>
<p>Unlike other countries in the Middle East that have integrated missiles into their conventional armed forces, Iran has been singled out for the same behavior.&#160;&#160; Iran’s recent&#160;missile test did not violate the JCPOA.&#160;&#160; It has no long-range missiles, no nuclear warheads for its missiles, and has not threatened their use.&#160; Without nuclear weapons, missiles are of negligible importance.&#160; Unlike the Saudis and Israelis, Iran does not have a large or modern air force.</p>
<p>A February 26, 2015, report by the director of national intelligence, titled “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Communities,” stated that Iran is not the chief sponsor of terrorism, and removed Iran and Hezbollah from its list of terrorism threats.&#160; The report asserted Tehran’s intentions are to “dampen sectarianism, build responsive partners and deescalate tensions with Saudi Arabia…, and combat Sunni extremists, including the Islamic State.”</p>
<p>Yet there are countless examples of aggression against Iran.</p>
<p>The Saudi government has sought for decades to motivate Sunnis to fear and resist Iran.&#160; To that end, it has spent billions on a campaign to expand Salafism (an ultra-conservative, austere form of Islam) as a major counterforce in the Muslim world.</p>
<p>In 2007, Congress agreed to a Bush administration request of $400 million to escalate covert operations to destabilize Iran’s government, with regime change the ultimate goal.&#160; The funding request came at the same time that a National Intelligence Estimate—-the collective work of America’s sixteen spy agencies—concluded that Iran had ceased its efforts to develop nuclear weapons in 2003.</p>
<p>Both the Bush and Obama administrations employed some of the most draconian financial methods ever used against a state, including crippling sanctions on Iran’s entire banking, transportation and energy sectors.</p>
<p>The first known use of cyber warfare against a sovereign state was launched against Iran by the United States and Israel in 2009.&#160; The Stuxnet virus crippled Iranian centrifuges used to produce nuclear fuel.</p>
<p>Beginning in 2008, four of Iran’s nuclear scientists were assassinated on the streets of Tehran; the evidence pointed to Israeli agents.&#160; In 2011, a military arms depot was blown up, killing 17 people.&#160; The incident was similar to a blast in October 2010 at an Iranian</p>
<p>Revolutionary Guard Corps missile base in Khorrambad.&#160; Both acts of sabotage were attributed to Israel.</p>
<p>American organizations such as the jingoistic United Against a Nuclear Iran, chaired by former Senator Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., have called for attacks on Iranian ships in the</p>
<p>Persian Gulf and on Iranian military forces fighting the Islamic State in Syria, and are pressuring the Trump administration to increase sanctions and to cancel the JCPOA.&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>These acts of aggression are justified in Washington and elsewhere by the standard rhetoric of the Iranian terrorism myth, but there is scant intelligence to support the claim.&#160; In a 2011 poll conducted in twelve Arab countries by The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (based on face-to-face interviews of 16,731 individuals), 73 percent of those surveyed saw Israel and the United States as the most threatening countries, with 5 percent seeing Iran as such.</p>
<p>Most U.S. officials quietly acknowledge that Saudi Arabia and the Sunni-ruled Gulf monarchies are the major supporters of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, not Shi’ite Iran.&#160; Vice President Joseph Biden concluded just that during a foreign policy speech at Harvard in October of 2014.&#160;&#160; A recently released classified State Department cable dated December 30, 2009, stated, “…donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.”</p>
<p>It is Iran that is helping to fight the Islamic State in Iraq.&#160;&#160; Its offensive in the Syrian war was at the request of the country’s sovereign government.&#160; Iran lives in the neighborhood and relies on regional allies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Assad in Syria, to bolster its security if attacked.&#160;&#160; Syria was the only country to support Iran during the Iraq war.&#160; Tehran is keenly aware that the outcome of the Syrian war may have major consequences for the region’s Shi’ites, and could reshape the Middle East.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia and Israel have made Iran their major regional adversary, and to that end&#160;have built a formidable alliance.&#160;&#160; Syria has become the theater for competing regional interests.&#160; Both the Saudis and Israelis are aiding al-Qaeda affiliated forces in Syria.&#160;&#160; Washington has partnered with Saudi Arabia in the war to achieve its long-established goal of regime change, while Riyadh seeks to end what the Saudis see as the power emerging from the Shi’ite Crescent—Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.</p>
<p>Israel, for example, has been pressuring the United States and Russia to restrict and ultimately expel Iranian-backed militias from Syria, and has continued to attack pro-Iranian forces in southern Syria.&#160;&#160; From Israel’s perspective, Syria—ally of Iran and supporter of Hezbollah—has been one of the few remaining Arab states capable of standing in the way of its regional ambitions.&#160; Israel would like to see Syria fractured into small, sectarian enclaves, so weakened as to be no threat.</p>
<p>Israel has partnered with al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra (also called the al-Nusra Front).&#160;&#160;&#160; Al-Nusra’s goal, like the Islamic State, is to overthrow Assad’s secular government and establish a radical Salafist regime.&#160; United Nations observers have documented the delivery of material aid and ongoing coordination between Israeli military personnel and al-Nusra armed groups.&#160;&#160;&#160; Al-Nusra terrorists are being cared for in Israeli hospitals.</p>
<p>By supporting al-Nusra, Israel has effectively sided with America’s enemy and has, therefore, emerged as a state sponsor of terrorism.</p>
<p>In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, President Bush, in his September 20, 2001, speech to Congress declared, “Every nation now has a decision to make.&#160; Either you are with us, or you&#160;are with the terrorists….From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”</p>
<p>Iran has been fighting terrorism since 9-11.&#160;&#160; Its national security depends on stable borders and a stable region.&#160; To that end, it is fighting in Syria and aiding the Iraqi government to recapture territories held by the Islamic State, at great cost to its military.</p>
<p>Iranians know all too well the egregious effects of terrorism.&#160; For decades, U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies have covertly financed, equipped and trained opposition groups that have fomented and carried out terrorist attacks inside Iran.&#160; Thousands of civilians and political figures, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, have suffered injury at the hands of terrorists.&#160; U.S. intelligence agencies have supported the acts of violence committed by the Mujahedin-e Khalq—listed by the State Department as a terrorist group (now delisted) that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic—as well as the Baluchi militant Salafi group Jundullah.&#160;&#160; An Iranian ethnic minority, Jundullah is a Sunni group aligned with the thinking of al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>Terrorism is a cudgel used to engender fear.&#160;&#160; And fear, grounded in erroneous information, can result in destructive government policies, and in the worst case, war.&#160; This is especially true of the U.S.-Iran relationship.&#160; After almost four decades, Iran and the Middle East have substantially changed, while American policy has not.&#160; Iran’s evolving and nuanced political system does not fit into Washington’s outdated, hegemonic good guy-bad guy worldview.</p>
<p>American, Israeli and Saudi regional objectives depend on the existence of an enemy; and to that aim, Iran’s terrorism designation has proven a potent rhetorical weapon.</p>
<p>Washington’s hardline rhetoric and policies toward Iran merely strengthens the power of the country’s hardliners .&#160; Given the circumstances, Tehran will continue its defensive, cautious&#160;strategy, cooperating with the West on issues such as the fight against the Islamic State, while asserting what it sees as its historical role in the region.</p>
<p>M. Reza Behnam, Ph.D., of Eugene is a political scientist specializing in the governments and&#160;politics of the Middle East, and American foreign policy in the region.</p> | Rethinking Iran’s Terrorism Designation | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/05/26/rethinking-irans-terrorism-designation/ | 2017-05-26 | 4 |
<p>(Reuters) – Walter Becker, co-founder of the influential jazz-rock band Steely Dan, died on Sunday at age 67, according to his website, which did not disclose the cause of death.</p>
<p>Becker, who played lead guitar, formed Steely Dan with Donald Fagen, its keyboardist and lead vocalist. In its heyday in the 1970s, the band scored hits with “Reelin’ in the Years,” “Do It Again,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and “Deacon Blues.”</p>
<p>Born in New York City in 1950, Becker grew up revering the jazz giants Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. He and Fagen would bond over their love of this music after meeting as students at Bard College in New York in 1967.</p>
<p>“We started writing nutty little tunes on an upright piano in a small sitting room in the lobby of Ward Manor, a moldering old mansion on the Hudson River that the college used as a dorm,” Fagen said in a statement on Sunday published by Variety.</p>
<p>After working as touring musicians they moved to Los Angeles, releasing the first Steely Dan album in 1972, “Can’t Buy a Thrill.” The band took their name from a fanciful dildo that appears in the beat novelist William S. Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch.”</p>
<p>The band was inducted into the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 2001, where their official biography describes their 1970s albums as “wry, nuanced and hyper-literate” that are “highly regarded by connoisseurs of pop hooks, jazz harmony and desiccating wit.”</p>
<p>Fagen described his bandmate on Sunday as “cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny.”</p>
<p>“Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art,” Fagen’s statement said.</p>
<p>After a long hiatus, the band reunited in the late 1990s to record its first studio album in 20 years, according to the Steely Dan website. That album, “Two Against Nature,” would go on to win Album of the Year in 2000 at the Grammy Awards.</p>
<p>Becker missed concerts earlier in the year as he recovered from an unspecified medical procedure, Fagen told Billboard.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Walter Becker, Steely Dan's jazz-loving co-founder, dead at 67 | false | https://newsline.com/walter-becker-steely-dan039s-jazz-loving-co-founder-dead-at-67/ | 2017-09-03 | 1 |
<p>Is Earth the largest garbage dump in the Universe? I don’t know. But it’s a safe bet that Earth would be a contender were such a competition to be held. Let me explain why.</p>
<p>To start, just listing the types of rubbish generated by humans or the locations into which each of these is dumped is a staggering task beyond the scope of one article. Nevertheless, I will give you a reasonably comprehensive summary of the types of garbage being generated (focusing particularly on those that are less well known), the locations into which the garbage is being dumped and some indication of what is being done about it and what you can do too.</p>
<p>But before doing so, it is worth highlighting just why this is such a problem, prompting the United Nations Environment Programme to publish this recent report: <a href="" type="internal">‘Towards a pollution-free planet’</a>.</p>
<p>As noted by Baher Kamal in his commentary on this study: ‘Though some forms of pollution have been reduced as technologies and management strategies have advanced, approximately 19 million premature deaths are estimated to occur annually as a result of the way societies use natural resources and impact the environment to support production and consumption.’ See <a href="" type="internal">‘Desperate Need to Halt “World’s Largest Killer” – Pollution’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Once Upon a Time a Planet… First part. Pollution, the world’s largest killer’</a>.</p>
<p>And that is just the cost in human lives.</p>
<p>So what are the main types of pollution and where do they end up?</p>
<p>Atmospheric Pollution</p>
<p>The garbage, otherwise labelled ‘pollution’, that we dump into our atmosphere obviously includes the waste products from our burning of fossil fuels and our farming of animals. Primarily this means carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide generated by driving motor vehicles and burning coal, oil and gas to generate electricity, and agriculture based on the exploitation of animals. This is having a devastating impact on Earth’s climate and environment with a vast array of manifestations adversely impacting all life on Earth. See, for example, <a href="" type="internal">‘The World Is Burning’</a> and <a href="https://inhabitat.com/infographic-the-true-environmental-cost-of-eating-meat/" type="external">‘The True Environmental Cost of Eating Meat’</a>.</p>
<p>But these well-known pollutants are not the only garbage we dump into the atmosphere. Airline fuel pollutants from both civil and military aircraft have a shocking impact too, with significant adverse public health outcomes. Jet emissions, particularly the highly carcinogenic benzpyrene, can cause various cancers, lymphoma, leukemia, asthma, and birth defects. Jet emissions affect a 25 mile area around an airport; this means that adults, children, animals and plants are ‘crop dusted’ by toxic jet emissions for 12 miles from a runway end. ‘A typical commercial airport spews hundreds of tons of toxic pollutants into our atmosphere every day. These drift over heavily populated areas and settle onto water bodies and crops.’ Despite efforts to inform relevant authorities of the dangers in the USA, for example, they ‘continue to ignore the problem and allow aviation emissions to remain unregulated, uncontrolled and unreported’. See <a href="https://aviationjustice.org/impact/aviation-and-air-pollution/" type="external">Aviation Justice</a>. It is no better in other countries.</p>
<p>Another category of atmospheric pollutants of which you might not be aware is the particulate aerosol emitted into the atmosphere by the progressive wear of vehicle parts, especially synthetic rubber tyres, during their service life. Separately from this, however, there are also heavier pollutants from wearing vehicle tyres and parts, as well as from the wearing away of road surfaces, that accumulate temporarily on roads before being washed off into waterways where they accumulate.</p>
<p>While this substantial pollution and health problem has attracted little research attention, some researchers in a variety of countries have been investigating the problem.</p>
<p>In the USA as early as 1974, ‘tire industry scientists estimated that 600,000 metric tonnes of tire dust were released by tire wear in the U.S., or about 3 kilograms of dust released from each tire each year’. In 1994, careful measurement of air near roadways with moderate traffic ‘revealed the presence of 3800 to 6900 individual tire fragments in each cubic meter of air’ with more than 58.5% of them in the fully-breathable size range and shown to produce allergic reactions. See <a href="http://www.ejnet.org/rachel/rehw439.htm" type="external">‘Tire Dust’</a>.</p>
<p>A study in Japan reported similar adverse environmental and health impacts. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Dust Resulting from Tire Wear and the Risk of Health Hazards’</a>.</p>
<p>Even worse, a study conducted in Moscow reported that the core pollutant of city air (up to 60% of hazardous matter) was the rubber of automobile tyres worn off and emitted as a small dust. The study found that the average car tyre discarded 1.6 kilograms of fine tyre dust as an aerosol during its service life while the tyre from a commercial vehicle discarded about 15 kilograms. Interestingly, passenger tyre dust emissions during the tyre’s service life significantly exceeded (by 6-7 times) emissions of particulate matters with vehicle exhaust gases. The research also determined that ‘tyre wear dust contains more than 140 different chemicals with different toxicity but the biggest threat to human health is poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile carcinogens’. The study concluded that, in the European Union: ‘Despite tightening the requirements for vehicle tyres in terms of noise emission, wet grip and rolling resistance stipulated by the UN Regulation No. 117, the problem of reduction of tyre dust and its carcinogenic substance emissions due to tyre wear remains unaddressed.’ See <a href="" type="internal">‘Particulate Matter Emissions by Tyres’</a>.</p>
<p>As one toxicologist has concluded: ‘Tire rubber pollution is just one of many environmental problems in which the research is lagging far behind the damage we may have done.’ See <a href="http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/road-rubber/" type="external">‘Road Rubber’</a>.</p>
<p>Another pollution problem low on the public radar results from environmental modification techniques involving geoengineering particulates being secretly dumped into the atmosphere by the US military for more than half a century, based on research beginning in the 1940s. This geoengineering has been used to wage war on the climate, environment and ultimately ourselves. See, for example, <a href="http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/engineered-climate-cataclysm-hurricane-harvey/" type="external">‘Engineered Climate Cataclysm: Hurricane Harvey’</a>, <a href="" type="internal">‘Planetary Weapons and Military Weather Modification: Chemtrails, Atmospheric Geoengineering and Environmental Warfare’</a>, <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/chemtrails-aerosol-and-electromagnetic-weapons-in-the-age-of-nuclear-war-4/5617879" type="external">‘Chemtrails: Aerosol and Electromagnetic Weapons in the Age of Nuclear War’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction: “Owning the Weather” for Military Use’</a>.</p>
<p>With ongoing official denials about the practice, it has fallen to the ongoing campaigning of committed groups such as <a href="http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/" type="external">GeoEngineering Watch</a> to draw attention to and work to end this problem.</p>
<p>Despite the enormous and accelerating problems already being generated by the above atmospheric pollutants, it is worth pausing briefly to highlight the potentially catastrophic nature of the methane discharges now being released by the warming that has already taken place and is still taking place. A recent scientific study published by the prestigious journal Palaeoworld noted that ‘Global warming triggered by the massive release of carbon dioxide may be catastrophic, but the release of methane from hydrate may be apocalyptic.’ This refers to the methane stored in permafrost and shelf sediment. Warning of the staggering risk, the study highlights the fact that the most significant variable in the Permian Mass Extinction event, which occurred 250 million years ago and annihilated 90 percent of all the species on Earth, was methane hydrate. See <a href="" type="internal">‘</a> <a href="" type="internal">Methane Hydrate: Killer cause of Earth’s greatest mass extinction’</a> and <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39957-release-of-arctic-methane-may-be-apocalyptic-study-warns" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39957-release-of-arctic-methane-may-be-apocalyptic-study-warns" type="external">Release of Arctic Methane “May Be Apocalyptic,” Study Warns’</a>.</p>
<p>How long have we got? Not long, with a recent Russian study identifying <a href="" type="internal">‘</a> <a href="" type="internal">7,000 underground</a> <a href="" type="internal">[methane]</a> <a href="" type="internal">gas bubbles poised to “explode” in Arctic’</a>.</p>
<p>Is much being done about this atmospheric pollution including the ongoing apocalyptic release of methane? Well, there is considerable ‘push’ to switch to renewable (solar, wind, wave, geothermal) energy in some places and to produce electric cars in others. But these worthwhile initiatives aside, and if you ignore the mountain of tokenistic measures that are sometimes officially promised, the answer is ‘not really’ with many issues that critically impact this problem (including rainforest destruction, vehicle emissions, geoengineering, jet aircraft emissions and methane releases from animal agriculture) still being largely ignored.</p>
<p>If you want to make a difference on this biosphere-threatening issue of atmospheric pollution, you have three obvious choices to consider. Do not travel by air, do not travel by car and do not eat meat (and perhaps other animal products). This will no doubt require considerable commitment on your part. But without your commitment in these regards, there is no realistic hope of averting near-term human extinction. So your choices are critical.</p>
<p>Ocean Garbage</p>
<p>Many people will have heard of the problem of plastic rubbish being dumped into the ocean. Few people, however, have any idea of the vast scale of the problem, the virtual impossibility of cleaning it up and the monumental ongoing cost of it, whether measured in terms of (nonhuman) lives lost, ecological services or financially. And, unfortunately, plastic is not the worst pollutant we are dumping into the ocean but I will discuss it first.</p>
<p>In a major scientific study involving 24 expeditions conducted between 2007 and 2013, which was designed to estimate ‘the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world’s oceans’ the team of scientists estimated that there was ‘a minimum of 5.25 trillion particles weighing 268,940 tons’. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Full scale of plastic in the world’s oceans revealed for first time’</a>.</p>
<p>Since then, of course, the problem has become progressively worse. See <a href="" type="internal">‘</a> <a href="" type="internal">Plastic Garbage Patch Bigger Than Mexico Found in Pacific’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Plastic Chokes the Seas’</a>.</p>
<p>‘Does it matter?’ you might ask. According to this report, it matters a great deal. See <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55724#.WEdCk1yYrIV" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55724#.WEdCk1yYrIV" type="external">New UN report finds marine debris harming more than 800 species, costing countries millions’</a>.</p>
<p>Can we remove the plastic to clean up the ocean? Not easily. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration has calculated that ‘if you tried to clean up less than one percent of the North Pacific Ocean it would take 67 ships one year’. See <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june14/mw126-garbagepatch.html" type="external">‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’</a>. Nevertheless, and despite the monumental nature of the problem – see <a href="" type="internal">‘“Great Pacific garbage patch” far bigger than imagined, aerial survey shows’</a> – organizations like the <a href="http://www.algalita.org/" type="external">Algalita Research Foundation</a>, <a href="https://www.theoceancleanup.com/" type="external">Ocean Cleanup</a> and <a href="https://pcfml.org.au/" type="external">Positive Change for Marine Life</a> have programs in place to investigate the nature and extent of the problem and remove some of the rubbish, while emphasizing that preventing plastic from entering the ocean is the key.</p>
<p>In addition, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity outlined a series of measures to tackle the problem in its 2016 report <a href="https://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-83-en.pdf" type="external">‘Marine Debris Understanding, Preventing and Mitigating the Significant Adverse Impacts on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity’</a>. In February 2017, the UN launched its Clean Seas Campaign inviting governments, corporations, NGOs and individuals to sign the pledge to reduce their plastic consumption. See <a href="http://www.cleanseas.org/take-action" type="external">#CleanSeas Campaign</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘World Campaign to Clean Torrents of Plastic Dumped in the Oceans’</a>.</p>
<p>Sadly, of course, it is not just plastic that is destroying the oceans. They absorb carbon dioxide as one manifestation of the climate catastrophe and, among other outcomes, this accelerates ocean acidification, adversely impacting coral reefs and the species that depend on these reefs.</p>
<p>In addition, a vast runoff of agricultural poisons, fossil fuels and other wastes is discharged into the ocean, adversely impacting life at all ocean depths – see <a href="" type="internal">‘</a> <a href="" type="internal">Staggering level of toxic chemicals found in creatures at the bottom of the sea, scientists say’</a> – and generating ocean ‘dead zones’: regions that have too little oxygen to support marine organisms. See <a href="" type="internal">‘</a> <a href="" type="internal">Our Planet Is Exploding With Marine “Dead Zones”’</a>.</p>
<p>Since the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in 2011, and despite the ongoing official coverup, vast quantities of radioactive materials are being ongoingly discharged into the Pacific Ocean, irradiating everything within its path. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Fukushima: A Nuclear War without a War: The Unspoken Crisis of Worldwide Nuclear Radiation’</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, you may not be aware that there are up to 70 ‘still functional’ nuclear weapons as well as nine nuclear reactors lying on the ocean floor as a result of accidents involving nuclear warships and submarines. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Naval Nuclear Accidents: The Secret Story’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘A Nuclear Needle in a Haystack The Cold War’s Missing Atom Bombs’</a>.</p>
<p>Virtually nothing is being done to stem the toxic discharges, contain the Fukushima radiation releases or find the nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors on the ocean floor.</p>
<p>Waterways and Groundwater Contamination</p>
<p>Many people would be familiar with the contaminants that find their way into Earth’s wetlands, rivers, creeks and lakes. Given corporate negligence, this includes all of the chemical poisons and heavy metals used in corporate farming and mining operations, as well as, in many cases around the world where rubbish removal is poorly organised, the sewage and all other forms of ‘domestic’ waste discharged from households. Contamination of the world’s creeks, rivers, lakes and wetlands is now so advanced that many are no longer able to fully support marine life. For brief summaries of the problem, see <a href="https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/pollution-in-our-waterways-is-harming-people-and-animals/" type="external">‘Pollution in Our Waterways is Harming People and Animals – How Can You Stop This!’</a>, <a href="https://environmentamerica.org/reports/ame/wasting-our-waterways-toxic-industrial-pollution-and-unfulfilled-promise-clean-water-act" type="external">‘Wasting Our Waterways: Toxic Industrial Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘China’s new weapon against water pollution: its people’</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond this, however, Earth’s groundwater supplies (located in many underground acquifers such as the Ogallala Aquifer in the United States) are also being progressively contaminated by gasoline, oil and chemicals from leaking storage tanks; bacteria, viruses and household chemicals from faulty septic systems; hazardous wastes from abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites (of which there are over 20,000 in the USA alone); leaks from landfill items such as car battery acid, paint and household cleaners; and the pesticides, herbicides and other poisons used on farms and home gardens. See <a href="http://www.groundwater.org/get-informed/groundwater/contamination.html" type="external">‘Groundwater contamination’</a>.</p>
<p>However, while notably absent from the list above, these contaminants also include radioactive waste from nuclear tests – see <a href="" type="internal">‘Groundwater drunk by BILLIONS of people may be contaminated by radioactive material spread across the world by nuclear testing in the 1950s’</a> – and the chemical contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in search of shale gas, for which about 750 chemicals and components, some extremely toxic and carcinogenic like lead and benzene, have been used. See <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fracking_chemicals" type="external">‘Fracking chemicals’</a>.</p>
<p>There are local campaigns to clean up rivers, creeks, lakes and wetlands in many places around the world, focusing on the primary problems – ranging from campaigning to end poison runoffs from mines and farms to physically removing plastic and other trash – in that area. But a great deal more needs to be done and they could use your help.</p>
<p>Soil Contamination</p>
<p>Our unsustainable commercial farming and soil management practices are depleting the soil of nutrients and poisoning it with synthetic fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides and antibiotics (the latter contained in animal manure) at such a prodigious rate that even if there were no other adverse impacts on the soil, it will be unable to sustain farming within 60 years. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues’</a>.</p>
<p>But not content to simply destroy the soil through farming, we also contaminate it with heavy metal wastes from industrial activity, as well as sewer mismanagement – see <a href="" type="internal">‘“</a> <a href="" type="internal">Black Soils”</a> <a href="" type="internal">–</a> <a href="" type="internal">Excessive Use of Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Mercury…’</a> – the waste discharges from corporate mining – see, for example, <a href="" type="internal">‘The $100bn gold mine and the West Papuans who say they are counting the cost’</a> – and the radioactive and many other toxic wastes from military violence, discussed below.</p>
<p>We also lose vast quantities of soil by extensive clearfelling of pristine forests to plant commercially valuable but ecologically inappropriate ‘garbage species’ (such as palm oil trees – see <a href="" type="internal">‘The Great Palm Oil Scandal’</a> – soya beans – see <a href="" type="internal">‘Soy Changes Map of Brazil, Set to Become World’s Leading Producer’</a> – and biofuel crops). This leaves the soil vulnerable to rainfall which carries it into local creeks and rivers and deposits it downstream or into the ocean.</p>
<p>Staggering though it may sound, we are losing tens of billions of tonnes of soil each year, much of it irreversibly.</p>
<p>Is anything being done? A little. In response to the decades-long push by some visionary individuals and community organizations to convert all farming to organic, biodynamic and/or permaculture principles, some impact is being made in some places to halt the damage caused by commercial farming. You can support these efforts by buying organically or biodynamically-certified food (that is, food that hasn’t been poisoned) or creating a permaculture garden in your own backyard. Any of these initiatives will also benefit your own health.</p>
<p>Of course, there is still a long way to go with the big agricultural corporations such as Monsanto more interested in profits than your health. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Killing Us Softly – Glyphosate Herbicide or Genocide?’</a>, <a href="http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/poisons-legacy-Monsanto.php" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/poisons-legacy-Monsanto.php" type="external">Top 10 Poisons that are the legacy of Monsanto’</a> and <a href="http://naturalsociety.com/monsanto-has-knowingly-been-poisoning-people-for-at-least-35-years/" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://naturalsociety.com/monsanto-has-knowingly-been-poisoning-people-for-at-least-35-years/" type="external">Monsanto Has Knowingly Been Poisoning People for (at Least) 35 Years’</a>.</p>
<p>One other noteworthy progressive change occurred in 2017 when the UN finally adopted the Minimata Convention, to curb mercury use. See <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57365#.WZd-VdFLfIV" type="external">‘Landmark UN-backed treaty on mercury takes effect’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Minamata Convention, Curbing Mercury Use, is Now Legally Binding’</a>.</p>
<p>As for the other issues mentioned above, there is nothing to celebrate with mining and logging corporations committed to their profits at the expense of the local environments of indigenous peoples all over the world and governments showing little effective interest in curbing this or taking more than token interest in cleaning up toxic military waste sites. As always, local indigenous and activist groups often work on these issues against enormous odds. See, for example, <a href="https://ecuadorendangered.com/learn-more/" type="external">‘Ecuador Endangered’</a>.</p>
<p>Apart from supporting the work of the many activist groups that work on these issues, one thing that each of us can do is to put aside the food scraps left during meal preparation (or after our meal) and compost them. Food scraps and waste are an invaluable resource: nature composts this material to create soil and your simple arrangement to compost your food scraps will help to generate more of that invaluable soil we are losing.</p>
<p>Antibiotic Waste</p>
<p>One form of garbage we have been producing, ‘under the radar’, in vast quantities for decades is antiobiotic and antifungal drug residue. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Environmental pollution with antimicrobial agents from bulk drug manufacturing industries… associated with dissemination of… pathogens’</a>.</p>
<p>However, given that the bulk of this waste is secretly discharged untreated into waterways by the big pharmaceutical companies – see <a href="" type="internal">‘Big Pharma fails to disclose antibiotic waste leaked from factories’</a> – the microbes are able to ‘build up resistance to the ingredients in the medicines that are supposed to kill them’ thus ‘fueling the creation of deadly superbugs’. Moreover, because the resistant microbes travel easily and have multiplied in huge numbers all over the world, they have created ‘a grave public health emergency that is already thought to kill hundreds of thousands of people a year.’</p>
<p>Are governments acting to end this practice? According to the recent and most comprehensive study of the problem ‘international regulators are allowing dirty drug production methods to continue unchecked’. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Big Pharma’s pollution is creating deadly superbugs while the world looks the other way’</a>.</p>
<p>Given the enormous power of the pharmaceutical industry, which effectively controls the medical industry in many countries, the most effective response we can make as individuals is to join the rush to natural health practitioners (such as practitioners of homeopathy, ostepathy, naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, herbal medicine and Chinese medicine) which do not prescribe pharmaceutical drugs. For further ideas, see <a href="http://old.warisacrime.org/content/defeating-violence-our-food-and-medicine" type="external">‘Defeating the Violence in Our Food and Medicine’</a>.</p>
<p>Genetic Engineering and Gene Drives</p>
<p>Perhaps the most frightening pollutant that we now risk releasing into the environment goes beyond the genetic mutilation of organisms (GMOs) which has been widely practiced by some corporations, such as Monsanto, for several decades. See, for example, <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/gm-food-crops-illegally-growing-in-india-the-criminal-plan-to-change-the-genetic-core-of-the-nations-food-system/5617473" type="external">‘GM Food Crops Illegally Growing in India: The Criminal Plan to Change the Genetic Core of the Nation’s Food System’</a>.</p>
<p>Given that genetic engineering’s catastrophic outcomes are well documented – see, for example, <a href="" type="internal">‘10 Reasons to Oppose Genetic Engineering’</a> – what are gene drives? ‘Imagine that by releasing a single fly into the wild you could genetically alter all the flies on the planet – causing them all to turn yellow, carry a toxin, or go extinct. This is the terrifyingly powerful premise behind gene drives: a new and controversial genetic engineering technology that can permanently alter an entire species by releasing one bioengineered individual.’</p>
<p>How effective are they? ‘Gene drives can entirely re-engineer ecosystems, create fast spreading extinctions, and intervene in living systems at a scale far beyond anything ever imagined.’ For example, if gene drives are engineered into a fast-reproducing species ‘they could alter their populations within short timeframes, from months to a few years, and rapidly cause extinction.’ This radical new technology, also called a ‘mutagenic chain reaction’, combines the extreme genetic engineering of synthetic biology and new gene editing techniques with the idea ‘that humans can and should use such powerful unlimited tools to control nature. Gene drives will change the fundamental relationship between humanity and the natural world forever.’</p>
<p>The implications for the environment, food security, peace, and even social stability are breathtaking, particularly given that existing ‘government regulations for the use of genetic engineering in agriculture have allowed widespread genetic contamination of the food supply and the environment.’ See <a href="" type="internal">‘Reckless Driving: Gene drives and the end of nature’</a>.</p>
<p>Consistent with their track records of sponsoring, promoting and using hi-tech atrocities against life, the recently released (27 October 2017) ‘Gene Drive Files’ reveal that the US military and individuals such as Bill Gates have been heavily involved in financing research, development and promotion of this grotesque technology. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Military Revealed as Top Funder of Gene Drives; Gates Foundation paid $1.6 million to influence UN on gene drives’</a> and the <a href="http://genedrivefiles.synbiowatch.org/" type="external">‘Gene Drive Files’</a>.</p>
<p>‘Why would the US military be interested?’ you might ask. Well, imagine what could be done to an ‘enemy’ race with an extinction gene drive.</p>
<p>As always, while genuinely life-enhancing grassroots initiatives struggle for funding, any project that offers the prospect of huge profits – usually at enormous cost to life – gets all the funding it needs. If you haven’t realised yet that the global elite is insane, it might be worth pondering it now. See <a href="" type="internal">‘The Global Elite is Insane’</a>.</p>
<p>Is anything being done about these life-destroying technologies? A number of groups campaign against genetic engineering and <a href="http://www.synbiowatch.org/" type="external">SynBioWatch</a> works to raise awareness of gene drives, to carefully explain the range of possible uses for them and to expose the extraordinary risks and dangers of the technology. You are welcome to participate in their efforts too.</p>
<p>Nanowaste</p>
<p>A nanoparticle is a microscopic particle whose size is measured in nanometers. One nanometer is one billionth of a meter. In simple English: Nanoparticles are extraordinarily tiny.</p>
<p>Nanoparticles are already being widely used including during the manufacture of cosmetics, pharmacology products, scratchproof eyeglasses, crack- resistant paints, anti-graffiti coatings for walls, transparent sunscreens, stain-repellent fabrics, self-cleaning windows and ceramic coatings for solar cells. ‘Nanoparticles can contribute to stronger, lighter, cleaner and “smarter” surfaces and systems.’ See <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/en/nanotechnologies/l-3/5-nanoparticles-consumer-products.htm" type="external">‘What are the uses of nanoparticles in consumer products?’</a></p>
<p>Some researchers are so enamored with nanoparticles that they cannot even conceal their own delusions. According to one recent report: ‘Researchers want to achieve a microscopic autonomous robot that measures no more than six nanometers across and can be controlled by remote. Swarms of these nanobots could clean your house, and since they’re invisible to the naked eye, their effects would appear to be magical. They could also swim easily and harmlessly through your bloodstream, which is what medical scientists find exciting.’ See <a href="http://nanogloss.com/nanoparticles/what-are-nanoparticles/#axzz57csSzxep" type="external">‘What are Nanoparticles?’</a></p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, nanoparticle contamination of medicines is already well documented. See <a href="" type="internal">‘New Quality-Control Investigations on Vaccines: Micro- and Nanocontamination’</a>.</p>
<p>Another report indicates that ‘Some nanomaterials may also induce cytotoxic or genotoxic responses’. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Toxicity of particulate matter from incineration of nanowaste’</a>. What does this mean? Well ‘cytotoxic’ means that something is toxic to the cells and ‘genotoxic’ describes the property of chemical agents that damage the genetic information within a cell, thus causing mutations which may lead to cancer.</p>
<p>Beyond the toxic problems with the nanoparticles themselves, those taking a wider view report the extraordinary difficulties of managing nanowaste. In fact, according to one recent report prepared for the UN: ‘Nanowaste is notoriously difficult to contain and monitor; due to its small size, it can spread in water systems or become airborne, causing harm to human health and the environment.’ Moreover ‘Nanotechnology is growing at an exponential rate, but it is clear that issues related to the disposal and recycling of nanowaste will grow at an even faster rate if left unchecked.’ See <a href="" type="internal">‘Nanotechnology, Nanowaste and Their Effects on Ecosystems: A Need for Efficient Monitoring, Disposal and Recycling’</a>.</p>
<p>Despite this apparent nonchanlance about the health impacts of nanowaste, one recent report reiterates that ‘Studies on the toxicity of nanoparticles… are abundant in the literature’. See <a href="" type="internal">‘Toxicity of particulate matter from incineration of nanowaste’</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, in January, European Union agencies published three documents concerning government oversight of nanotechnology and new genetic engineering techniques. ‘Together, the documents put in doubt the scientific capacity and political will of the European Commission to provide any effective oversight of the consumer, agricultural and industrial products derived from these emerging technologies’. See <a href="https://www.iatp.org/europes-retreat-science-based-regulation" type="external">‘European Commission: Following the Trump Administration’s Retreat from Science-Based Regulation?’</a></p>
<p>So, as these recent reports makes clear, little is being done to monitor, measure or control these technologies or monitor, measure and control the harmful effects of discharging nanowaste.</p>
<p>Fortunately, with the usual absence of government interest in acting genuinely on our behalf, activist groups such as the <a href="https://www.iatp.org/about" type="external">Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy</a> and the <a href="https://www.organicconsumers.org/" type="external">Organic Consumers Association</a> campaign against nanotechnology as part of their briefs. Needless to say, however, a lot more needs to be done.</p>
<p>Space Junk</p>
<p>Not content to dump our garbage in, on or under the Earth, we also dump our junk in Space too.</p>
<p>‘How do we do this?’ you may well ask. Quite simply, in fact. We routinely launch a variety of spacecraft into Space to either orbit the Earth (especially satellites designed to perform military functions such as spying, target identification and detection of missile launches but also satellites to perform some civilian functions such as weather monitoring, navigation and communication) or we send spacecraft into Space on exploratory missions (such as the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity).</p>
<p>However, getting spacecraft into Space requires the expenditure of vast amounts of energy (which adds to pollution of the atmosphere) and the progressive discarding of rocket propulsion sections of the launch craft. Some of these fall back to Earth as junk but much of it ends up orbiting the Earth as junk. So what form does this junk take? It includes inactive satellites, the upper stages of launch vehicles, discarded bits left over from separation, frozen clouds of water and tiny flecks of paint. All orbiting high above Earth’s atmosphere. With Space junk now a significant problem, the impact of junk on satellites is regularly causing damage and generating even more junk.</p>
<p>Is it much of a problem? Yes, indeed. The problem is so big, in fact, that NASA in the USA keeps track of the bigger items, which travel at speeds of up to 17,500 mph, which is ‘fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft’. How many pieces does it track? By 2013, it was tracking 500,000 pieces of space junk as they orbited the Earth. See <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html" type="external">‘Space Debris and Human Spacecraft’</a>. Of course, these items are big enough to track. But not all junk is that big.</p>
<p>In fact, a recent estimate indicates that the number of Space junk items could be in excess of 100 trillion. See <a href="https://www.space.com/16518-space-junk.html" type="external">‘Space Junk: Tracking &amp; Removing Orbital Debris’</a>.</p>
<p>Is anything being done about Space junk? No government involved in Space is really interested: It’s too expensive for that to be seriously considered.</p>
<p>But given the ongoing government and military interest in weaponizing Space, as again reflected in the recent US <a href="" type="internal">‘Nuclear Posture Review 2018’</a>, which would add a particularly dangerous type of junk to Space, the <a href="http://www.space4peace.org/mission.htm" type="external">Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space</a> has been conducting an effective worldwide campaign since 1992 to mobilize resistance to weapons and nuclear power being deployed and used in Space.</p>
<p>Military Waste</p>
<p>The carnage and waste produced by preparation for and the conduct of military violence is so vast that it almost defies description and calculation. In its most basic sense, every single item produced to perform a military function – from part of a uniform to a weapon – is garbage: an item that has no functional purpose (unless you believe that killing people is functional). To barely touch on it here then, military violence generates a vast amount of pollution, which contaminates the atmosphere, oceans, all fresh water sources, and the soil with everything from the waste generated by producing military uniforms to the radioactive waste which contaminates environments indefinitely.</p>
<p>For just a taste of this pollution, see the <a href="http://www.toxicremnantsofwar.info/" type="external">Toxic Remnants of War Project</a>, the film <a href="http://www.scarredlandsfilm.com/" type="external">‘Scarred Lands &amp; Wounded Lives’</a>, <a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/u-s-military-is-worlds-largest-polluter-hundreds-of-bases-gravely-contaminated/227776/" type="external">‘U.S. Military World’s Largest Polluter – Hundreds of Bases Gravely Contaminated’</a>, <a href="" type="internal">‘Depleted Uranium and Radioactive Contamination in Iraq: An Overview’</a> and <a href="http://worldbeyondwar.org/long-history-wars-environmental-costs/" type="external">‘The Long History of War’s Environmental Costs’</a>.</p>
<p>Many individuals, groups and networks around the world campaign to end war. See, for example, <a href="https://www.wri-irg.org/en" type="external">War Resisters’ International</a>, the <a href="http://www.ipb.org/" type="external">International Peace Bureau</a> and <a href="http://worldbeyondwar.org/" type="external">World Beyond War</a>.</p>
<p>You can participate in these efforts.</p>
<p>Nuclear Waste</p>
<p>Partly related to military violence but also a product of using nuclear power, humans generate vast amounts of waste from exploitation of the nuclear fuel cycle. This ranges from the pollution generated by mining uranium to the radioactive waste generated by producing nuclear power or using a nuclear weapon. But it also includes the nuclear waste generated by accidents such as that at Chernobyl and Fukushima.</p>
<p>Again, for just a taste of the monumental nature of this problem, see <a href="" type="internal">‘</a> <a href="" type="internal">Emergency Declared at Nuclear Waste Site in Washington State</a> <a href="" type="internal">’</a>, <a href="" type="internal">‘Disposing of Nuclear Waste is a Challenge for Humanity’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Three Years Since the Kitty Litter Disaster at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’</a>.</p>
<p>While the London Dumping Convention permanently bans the dumping of radioactive and industrial waste at sea (which means nothing in the face of the out-of-control discharges from Fukushima, of course) – see <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/archive-international/en/about/history/Victories-timeline/radioactive-dumping/" type="external">‘1993 – Dumping of radioactive waste at sea gets banned’</a> – groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace continue to campaign against the nuclear industry (including radioactive waste dumping) and to promote renewable energy.</p>
<p>They would be happy to have your involvement.</p>
<p>Our Bodies</p>
<p>Some of the garbage that ends up being dumped is done via our bodies. Apart from the junk food produced at direct cost to the environment, the cost of these poisoned, processed and nutritionally depleted food-like substances also manifests as ill-health in our bodies and discharges of contaminated waste. Rather than eating food that is organically or biodynamically grown and healthily prepared, most of us eat processed food-like substances that are poisoned (that is, grown with large doses of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides that also destroy the soil and kill vast numbers of insects – see <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/death-and-extinction-of-the-bees/5375684" type="external">‘Death and Extinction of the Bees’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Insectageddon: farming is more catastrophic than climate breakdown’</a> – and then cook this food in rancid oils and perhaps even irradiate (microwave) it before eating. Although microwave ovens were outlawed in the Soviet Union in 1976, they remain legal elsewhere. See <a href="https://www.health-science.com/microwave-hazards/" type="external">‘The Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking’</a>, <a href="" type="internal">‘How Your Microwave Oven Damages Your Health In Multiple Ways’</a> and <a href="http://www.relfe.com/wp/health/microwave-cooking-killing-people/" type="external">‘Microwave Cooking is Killing People’</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, considerable official effort still goes into developing new ways to nuclearize (contaminate) our food – see <a href="" type="internal">‘Seven examples of nuclear technology improving food and agriculture’</a> – despite long-established natural practices that are effective and have no damaging side effects or polluting outcomes.</p>
<p>But apart from poisoned, processed and unhealthily prepared food, we also inject our bodies with contaminated vaccines – see <a href="" type="internal">‘New Quality-Control Investigations on Vaccines: Micro- and Nanocontamination’</a>, <a href="http://info.cmsri.org/the-driven-researcher-blog/dirty-vaccines-new-study-reveals-prevalence-of-contaminants" type="external">‘Dirty Vaccines: New Study Reveals Prevalence of Contaminants’</a> and <a href="" type="internal">‘Aluminum, Autoimmunity, Autism and Alzheimer’s’</a> – consume medically-prescribed antibiotics (see section above) and other drugs – see <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-spoils-of-war-afghanistan-s-multibillion-dollar-heroin-trade/91" type="external">‘The Spoils of War: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade. Washington’s Hidden Agenda: Restore the Drug Trade’</a> – and leave the environment to deal with the contaminated waste generated by their production and the discharges from our body.</p>
<p>Many individuals and organizations all over the world work to draw attention to these and related issues, including the ‘death-dealing’ of doctors, but the onslaught of corporate media promotion and scare campaigns means that much of this effort is suppressed. Maintaining an unhealthy and medically-dependent human population is just too profitable.</p>
<p>If you want to genuinely care for your health and spare the environment the toxic junk dumped though your body, the ideas above in relation to growing and eating organic/biodynamic food and consulting natural health practitioners are a good place to start.</p>
<p>‘Ordinary’ Rubbish</p>
<p>For many people, of course, dealing with their daily garbage requires nothing more than putting it into a rubbish bin. But does this solve the problem?</p>
<p>Well, for a start, even recycled rubbish is not always recycled, and even when it is, the environmental cost is usually high.</p>
<p>In fact, the various costs of dealing with rubbish is now so severe that China, a long-time recipient of waste from various parts of the world, no longer wants it. See <a href="" type="internal">‘China No Longer Wants Your Trash. Here’s Why That’s Potentially Disastrous’</a>.</p>
<p>Of course there are also special events that encourage us to dump extra rubbish into the Earth’s biosphere. Ever thought about what happens following special celebrations like Christmas – see <a href="" type="internal">‘The Environmental Christmas Hangover’</a> – or the waste discharged from cruise ships? See <a href="https://www.destinationtips.com/cruises/16-things-cruise-lines-never-tell-you/?listview=all" type="external">‘16 Things Cruise Lines Never Tell You’</a>.</p>
<p>Does all this pollution really matter? Well, as mentioned at the beginning, we pay an enormous cost for it both in terms of human life but in other ways too. See <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/commissions/pollution-and-health" type="external">‘The</a> <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/commissions/pollution-and-health" type="external">Lancet</a> <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/commissions/pollution-and-health" type="external">Commission on pollution and health’</a>.</p>
<p>Junk information</p>
<p>One category of junk, which is easily overlooked and on which I will not elaborate, is the endless stream of junk information with which we are bombarded. Whether it is corporate ‘news’ (devoid of important news about our world and any truthful analysis of what is causing it) on television, the radio or in newspapers, letterbox advertising, telephone marketing or spam emails, our attention is endlessly distracted from what matters leaving most humans ill-informed and too disempowered to resist the onslaught that is destroying our world.</p>
<p>So what can we do about all of the junk identified above?</p>
<p>Well, unless you want to continue deluding yourself that some token measures taken by you, governments, international organizations (such as the United Nations) or industry are going to fix all of this, I encourage you to consider taking personal action that involves making a serious commitment.</p>
<p>This is because, at the most fundamental level, it is individuals who consume and then discharge the waste products of their consumption. And if you choose what you consume with greater care and consume less, no one is going to produce what you don’t buy or discharge the waste products of that production on your behalf.</p>
<p>Remember Gandhi? He was not just the great Indian independence leader. His personal possessions at his death numbered his few items of self-made clothing and his spectacles. We can’t all be like Gandhi but he can be a symbol to remind us that our possessions and our consumption are not the measure of our value. To ourselves or anyone else.</p>
<p>If the many itemized suggestions made above sound daunting, how does this option sound?</p>
<p>Do you think that you could reduce your consumption by 10% this year? And, ideally, do it in each of seven categories: water, household energy, vehicle fuel, paper, plastic, metals and meat? Could you do it progressively, reducing your consumption by 10% each year for 15 consecutive years? See <a href="http://tinyurl.com/flametree" type="external">‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life on Earth’</a>.</p>
<p>I am well aware of the emotional void that makes many people use ‘shopping therapy’ to feel better or to otherwise consume, perhaps by traveling, to distract themselves. If you are in this category, then perhaps you could tackle this problem at its source by <a href="https://feelingsfirstblog.wordpress.com/putting-feelings-first/" type="external">‘Putting Feelings First’</a>.</p>
<p>No consumer item or material event can ever fill the void in your Selfhood. But you can fill this void by traveling the journey to become the powerful individual that evolution gave you the potential to be. If you want to understand how you lost your Selfhood, see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/whyviolence" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/whyviolence" type="external">Why Violence?’</a> and <a href="http://anitamckone.wordpress.com/articles-2/fearless-and-fearful-psychology/" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://anitamckone.wordpress.com/articles-2/fearless-and-fearful-psychology/" type="external">Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice</a> <a href="http://anitamckone.wordpress.com/articles-2/fearless-and-fearful-psychology/" type="external">’</a>.</p>
<p>You might also help ensure that children do not acquire the consumption/pollution addiction by making <a href="https://feelingsfirstblog.wordpress.com/my-promise-to-children/" type="external">‘My Promise to Children’</a>.</p>
<p>If you want to campaign against one of the issues threatening human survival discussed briefly above, consider planning a <a href="https://nonviolentstrategy.wordpress.com/" type="external">Nonviolent Campaign Strategy</a>.</p>
<p>And if you wish to commit to resisting violence of all kinds, you can do so by signing the online pledge of <a href="http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com/" type="external">‘</a> <a href="http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com/" type="external">The People</a> <a href="http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com/" type="external">’</a> <a href="http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com/" type="external">s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World</a> <a href="http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com/" type="external">’</a>.</p>
<p>In the final analysis, each of us has a choice. We can contribute to the ongoing creation of Earth as the planet of junk. Or we can use our conscience, intelligence and determination to guide us in resisting the destruction of our world.</p> | Junk Planet: Is Earth the Largest Garbage Dump in the Universe? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/02/26/junk-planet-is-earth-the-largest-garbage-dump-in-the-universe/ | 2018-02-26 | 4 |
<p>Pete Marovich/ZUMAPressuschools/iStock</p>
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<p>Less than a week after <a href="" type="internal">three people were killed and nine others injured</a> at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, the Senate on Thursday <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/261988-gop-blocks-dems-on-planned-parenthood-push" type="external">came</a> one step closer to blocking all federal funding to the nation’s largest women’s health care organization.</p>
<p>The move is part of the GOP’s latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Following the series of widely debunked videos showing Planned Parenthood staff talk about fetal tissue donation, Congress included language to defund&#160;the organization in their bill to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health law.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, centrist Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Susan Collins (Maine) introduced an amendment to remove the Planned Parenthood defunding provision from the bill. But that amendment was blocked today in a 48-52 vote. Obama has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/wp-content/uploads/omb/legislative/sap/114/saphr3134-3504r_20150916.pdf" type="external">said</a> he will veto the bill if it gets to his desk.</p>
<p>“While politicians are right back at it attacking women’s health, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims who were killed or injured last week,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement before the vote. “We’re focused on providing high-quality, compassionate health care to people all across this country, and we won’t be deterred by violence, smear campaigns, or cynical political attacks like this.”</p>
<p>Though Congress’ argument to strip funding from Planned Parenthood centers on the organization’s abortion services, federal funding is already prohibited from paying for abortions.&#160;Instead funding goes <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/planned-parenthood-at-a-glance" type="external">toward</a> pregnancy prevention, STI testing and treatment, pap smears, and breast exams. Planned Parenthood provides services to 2.7 million people each year.</p>
<p /> | The Senate Just Voted to Defund Planned Parenthood | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/senate-votes-defund-planned-parenthood/ | 2015-12-03 | 4 |
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<p>Julian Jacquez, who lived in Rio Rancho at the time of the alleged crime, is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor. The charges were filed in Sandoval County District Court in January 2013, and Jacquez had a pretrial hearing scheduled for Jan. 6 of this year.</p>
<p>The case was continued with no new date scheduled yet, said 13th Judicial District Attorney Lemuel Martinez.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>According to a Rio Rancho Police report, Rio Rancho Police handled the investigation beginning in July 2012 because the alleged crime occurred in Rio Rancho, although all parties lived in Albuquerque by the time the accusations were brought forward.</p>
<p>An Albuquerque man told police his sons, both under age 10, told him Jacquez had molested them, according to the report.</p>
<p>When interviewed separately, the boys told investigators Jacquez had repeatedly performed sexual acts on them and had them perform sexual acts on him, according to the report. The detective wrote that the children corroborated details in each other's stories.</p>
<p>In his interview, according to the report, Jacquez adamantly denied allegations that he had done anything inappropriate with the younger boys and said he didn't understand why they would make such allegations. He said he believed the younger boys' father was behind the allegations because he always hated Jacquez.</p>
<p>The detective wrote that she questioned Jacquez about an incident that had been reported in 2010 in which Jacquez was accused of inappropriately touching one of the boys. According to the report, Jacquez broke eye contact several times before saying the incident was a joke, and mumbling "yeah" when the detective asked if the action was sexual penetration.</p>
<p>The detective wrote that she explained to Jacquez that her experience and training indicates that the perpetrator in child-on-child sex crimes has usually learned the behavior from being sexually abused. She asked Jacquez multiple times if he had been sexually abused, but he denied it, according to the report.</p>
<p>Later, according to the report, Jacquez's mother defended her son. She told the detective that, contrary to the younger boys' statements that Jacquez locked the door before abusing them, his door couldn't be lock and she believed the younger boys' father was maliciously accusing Jacquez to manipulate a situation in his favor.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Teen faces court case on charges of child molestation | false | https://abqjournal.com/341113/teen-faces-court-case-on-charges-of-child-molestation.html | 2 |
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<p>On Thursday, lawyers on behalf of two Christian owners of a calligraphy art studio, Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka, preemptively filed a <a href="http://www.adfmedia.org/files/BrushNibComplaint.pdf" type="external">lawsuit</a> against the city of Phoenix over its so-called LGBT non-discrimination ordinance to ensure their rights guaranteed to them by the First Amendment.</p>
<p>The owners of Brush &amp; Nib Studio fear that such an ordinance would force them into creating art for ceremonies which violate their religious precepts. Additionally, attorneys argue that, because the studio creates art, their transactions “should be considered free speech that cannot be censored or compelled by government,” <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/15/phoenix-is-the-latest-lgbt-battleground-no-one-is-talking-about/" type="external">reports</a> The Daily Caller.</p>
<p>Brush &amp; Nib Studio <a href="http://www.brushandnib.com/" type="external">specializes</a> “in hand-painting, hand-lettering, and calligraphy for weddings” and other special events.</p>
<p>An attorney from <a href="http://www.adflegal.org/" type="external">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> representing the studio, Jon Scruggs explained, “We fully expect to have a hearing in the next few weeks on our motion for preliminary injunction and to have the Arizona superior court grant our motion and vindicate the free speech and religious liberty rights of our clients.” He added, “In reality, the case is pretty simple when you boil it down: no American, including artists, should have the government force them to create art against their artistic and religious beliefs.”</p>
<p>"In reality, the case is pretty simple when you boil it down: no American, including artists, should have the government force them to create art against their artistic and religious beliefs.”</p>
<p>-Jon Scruggs, Attorney for Brush &amp; Nib Studio</p>
<p>The lawsuit is preemptive. In other words, no legal action has been taken against the studio for violating the ordinance up to this point; it’s being filed in fear that they will run into problems soon, considering the climate of <a href="" type="internal">big government style overreach</a> in the guise of "non-discrimination" measures across the nation.</p>
<p>Turns out, Koski and Duka were correct. The city is vehemently fighting back, completely disregarding the studio’s First Amendment rights.</p>
<p>“The Phoenix non-discrimination ordinance protects fundamental civil rights for everyone, and we will defend it aggressively,” said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.</p>
<p>Of course, big money penalties lie in the wake of violating the Left. If the studio loses the lawsuit and thus is forced to service ceremonies which violate their religious beliefs, they will face fines up to $2,500 and six months of jail time if they do not comply.</p>
<p>H/T <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/15/phoenix-is-the-latest-lgbt-battleground-no-one-is-talking-about/" type="external">The Daily Caller</a></p> | Now Phoenix Is Cracking Down on Christians Who Don’t Want to Participate in Same-Sex Weddings | true | https://dailywire.com/news/5782/now-phoenix-cracking-down-christians-who-dont-want-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-05-17 | 0 |
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<p>Recently, investors in General Electric Company(NYSE:GE)saw their stock register one of its' biggest single day increases in years after announcing a plan to dispose of GE Capital. The deal involves selling most of its assets in GE Capital Real Estate to Blackstone, with Wells Fargo &amp; Co. (NYSE:WFC) intending to acquire a portion of the business' performing loans.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>At the time of writing, the stock is outperforming the S&amp;P 500 on a yearly basis, and this move very well may be just the beginning, as management's restructuring plan is just taking hold. Let's take a closer look at the investment thesis and why it makes GE an attractive stock to buy.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/GE" type="external">GE Opens a New Window.</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>The game planThere are three key drivers behind GE's stock price in the future, and all involve internal execution rather than a pure reliance on end markets. Of course, an industrial bellwether like GE is never going to fully escape the orbit of the economy.. In fact, I would argue that a lot of GE's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/03/17/can-general-electric-company-ge-really-increase-it.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">difficulties in the past decade Opens a New Window.</a> are down to how its end markets performed--something beyond GE's control..</p>
<p>However, times change and many of GE's key end markets (aviation, health care, power) all have bright futures ahead. In addition,, there are three reasons why GE has an opportunity to start to outperform its peer group, and they aren't particularly dependent on the economy.</p>
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<p>If GE executes on these three initiatives, then the next 10 years might prove a lot more profitable for investors than the last decade was.</p>
<p>More industrial business, less GE CapitalThe Blackstone/Wells Fargo deal with GE Capital Real Estate is part of the plan to divest assets in GE Capital. The overarching aim is to refocus the company on its core industrial businesses, while at the same time divesting non-core industrial assets -- such as the sale of GE Appliances to Electrolux AB for $3.3 billion.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, GE has already engaged in an IPO for its retail finance arm, Synchrony Financial, and when GE shareholders take up their right to exchange GE stock for shares in Synchrony, GE's share count will be reduced.</p>
<p>Quoting from the press release relating to the Blackstone/Wells Fargo deal, GE's management noted that it expects "...by 2018 more than 90 percent of [its] earnings will be generated by its high-return industrial businesses, up from 58% in 2014." Furthermore, growth in its industrial businesses is a lot stronger than the headline EPS number (which includes GE Capital) suggests.</p>
<p>Turbines are a core activity for GE. Source: General Electric Company.</p>
<p>The Future In 2015, GE's industrial businesses remain on track for operating earnings per share of $1.10-$1.20, up by solid double digits, and in line with expectations. In its first-quarter earnings presentation last Friday, management affirmed that it was on track to meet this target.</p>
<p>The purchase of Alstom's energy assets should give GE the opportunity to consolidate an industry in which it's already a leader. The deal is more about generating growth through buying a complimentary business and generating cost synergies, rather than purely going for top-line growth. Indeed, GE expects to generate $1.2 billion in cost synergies by the fifth-year of the deal. The Alstom deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.</p>
<p>Industrial InternetThe third driver of GE's stock price going forward is harder to grasp, but arguably it's the most powerful. Much has been made of the industrial internet, but many investors are left wondering how exactly it translates into increased profitability.</p>
<p>The industrial Internet simply means the marrying of hardware to Internet-enabled software. The benefit being in the interaction of sensors, software, and big data analytics to better manage the performance of hardware.</p>
<p>One of the benefits of the greater interoperability that the industrial Internet brings is that GE's services revenue should get a boost. For example, sensors on a GE industrial turbine could alert the customer about the need to service the machine. It may not be widely known among investors, but GE makes the bulk of its <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/04/07/why-general-electric-companys-industrial-services.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">industrial profit from services Opens a New Window.</a> rather than actual hardware sales.</p>
<p>The takeawayIn conclusion, the investment thesis behind GE largely lies in the idea that if management executes with the three strategic initiativesI've outlined, the company can outperform its peers. It may seem ironic to make this argument, given the company's turbulent decade dealing with difficult end markets, but long-term investment decisions are best judged on where the company is headed in 10 years' time, rather than where it's been.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/05/why-general-electric-company-a-special-investment.aspx" type="external">Why General Electric Company Is a Special Investment Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSaintGermain/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Lee Samaha Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2015 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why General Electric Company Is a Special Investment | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/05/05/why-general-electric-company-is-special-investment.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>Los Angeles Times One anchor told viewers: "In their desire to subdue Iraq, the U.S. goes so far as to fight against children." Another Channel One anchor said: "There is utter mess and confusion at the front now. The situation is so grave that U.S. troops opened friendly fire on their own people again. Dozens of Marines were wounded." NOTED: "The official anti-American tone is seen by many analysts as a populist drive by the Kremlin in the lead-up to next year's presidential election."</p> | Russian TV news anchors slap U.S. for alleged war misdeeds | false | https://poynter.org/news/russian-tv-news-anchors-slap-us-alleged-war-misdeeds | 2003-04-03 | 2 |
<p>According to a large number of faculty at American University's Washington College of Law, the most racist and hateful thing anyone could ever utter is "all lives matter." In fact, it would make someone a white supremacist if they believed it.</p>
<p>A message reading "All Lives Matter" was part of a flyer that was taped to the door of a faculty member known "for doing important work on issues of racial justice in the criminal justice system," according to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/04/04/law-school-professors-say-posting-all-lives-matter-flier-was-an-incident-of-intolerance/" type="external">Washington Post</a> report. The staff was appalled at finding this flyer "act of intolerance" and decided to inform students what happened while they were away on spring break.</p>
<p>When students returned, they received letters informing them of this "very disturbing incident." One was from&#160;Law Dean Claudio Grossman, who wrote:</p>
<p>Although the phrase "All Lives Matter"&#160;may sound benign, it sometimes has been used as a rallying cry by some groups who oppose the Black Lives Matter Movement and seek to silence it.</p>
<p>Other faculty&#160;joined in the letter writing repeating much of the same and emphasizing the message's "overt racism" and its "ideas of white supremacy" in trying to "intimidate an opposing viewpoint."</p>
<p>Luckily two members from the United States Commission on Civil Rights, one an attorney and the other a law professor, wrote a letter to Dean Grossman asking, "What is wrong with your faculty and staff members?" Gail Heriot's and Peter Kirsanow's&#160;letter exposed the school to its own intimidation of opposing viewpoints.&#160;To be fully appreciated, their letter is below in its entirety:</p>
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<p>H/T <a href="http://eagnews.org/profs-all-lives-matter-flyer-an-act-of-intolerance/" type="external">EAGnews.org</a></p> | American U Law Profs Flip Out Over 'White Supremacist' Message 'All Lives Matter' | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/american-u-law-profs-flip-out-over-white-supremacist-message-all-lives-matter | 2018-10-04 | 0 |
<p>BEIJING (AP) — China’s trade growth cooled in December in a possible sign of weaker global and domestic demand, but last year’s total exports rose 7.9 percent over 2016 while imports were up 15.9 percent.</p>
<p>December exports rose 10.9 percent over a year earlier to $231.7 billion, down from the previous month’s 12.3 percent growth, customs data showed Friday. Imports expanded 4.5 percent to $177.1 billion, down from November’s 17.7 percent gain.</p>
<p>The politically volatile global trade surplus stood at $422.5 billion, down from $486 billion in 2016.</p>
<p>Beijing faces mounting pressure from Washington and Europe over complaints over trade barriers and that Chinese exports of unfairly low-priced steel and some other goods are threatening jobs abroad.</p>
<p>French President Emmanuel Macron warned this week during a visit to Beijing that Chinese leaders must open their markets wider or face the risk other nations might close theirs.</p>
<p>For its part, the government of U.S. President Donald Trump is investigating whether Beijing improperly pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Results are expected to be announced this month.</p>
<p>“Downside risks remain, in particular from more forceful U.S. trade restrictions on Chinese exports,” Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics said in a report. Strength in Chinese exports “is bound to add to U.S.-China trade tensions,” he said.</p>
<p>Chinese imports grew more slowly than exports for the first time since mid-2016, “reflecting the diverging prospects for growth in China and the rest of the world,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report. They are “a sign that domestic demand may have weakened at the end of last year,” he said.</p>
<p>Chinese trade has been unexpectedly strong, contrary to forecasts that economic growth will cool as Beijing tightens controls on credit to slow a rise in debt.</p>
<p>The International Monetary Fund is forecasting 2017 economic growth, due to be reported next week, at just under 6.8 percent. It expects that to decline to 6.5 percent this year, though that still will be among the strongest of any major country.</p>
<p>For the full year, exports rose to nearly $2.3 trillion while imports expanded to $1.8 trillion yuan.</p>
<p>The import slowdown is a blow to China’s Asian neighbors, for which it is the biggest market, and countries such as Australia and Brazil that supply it iron ore, oil and other raw materials.</p>
<p>“We have since long expected China’s domestic demand and imports to slow in 2018 on gradually tighter monetary and financial policies and slower real estate activity,” Kuijs said.</p>
<p>China’s trade surplus in December with the 28-nation European Union, its biggest trading partner, stood at $14.6 billion. For the full year, it was $127.2 billion.</p>
<p>The monthly surplus with the United States was $25.6 billion. For the year, it was $275.8 billion.</p>
<p>Data reported by the U.S. government often show a bigger gap with China because Beijing’s figures reflect only the initial destination, such as Hong Kong or another port, for exports bound for the United States and other foreign markets.</p>
<p>BEIJING (AP) — China’s trade growth cooled in December in a possible sign of weaker global and domestic demand, but last year’s total exports rose 7.9 percent over 2016 while imports were up 15.9 percent.</p>
<p>December exports rose 10.9 percent over a year earlier to $231.7 billion, down from the previous month’s 12.3 percent growth, customs data showed Friday. Imports expanded 4.5 percent to $177.1 billion, down from November’s 17.7 percent gain.</p>
<p>The politically volatile global trade surplus stood at $422.5 billion, down from $486 billion in 2016.</p>
<p>Beijing faces mounting pressure from Washington and Europe over complaints over trade barriers and that Chinese exports of unfairly low-priced steel and some other goods are threatening jobs abroad.</p>
<p>French President Emmanuel Macron warned this week during a visit to Beijing that Chinese leaders must open their markets wider or face the risk other nations might close theirs.</p>
<p>For its part, the government of U.S. President Donald Trump is investigating whether Beijing improperly pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Results are expected to be announced this month.</p>
<p>“Downside risks remain, in particular from more forceful U.S. trade restrictions on Chinese exports,” Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics said in a report. Strength in Chinese exports “is bound to add to U.S.-China trade tensions,” he said.</p>
<p>Chinese imports grew more slowly than exports for the first time since mid-2016, “reflecting the diverging prospects for growth in China and the rest of the world,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report. They are “a sign that domestic demand may have weakened at the end of last year,” he said.</p>
<p>Chinese trade has been unexpectedly strong, contrary to forecasts that economic growth will cool as Beijing tightens controls on credit to slow a rise in debt.</p>
<p>The International Monetary Fund is forecasting 2017 economic growth, due to be reported next week, at just under 6.8 percent. It expects that to decline to 6.5 percent this year, though that still will be among the strongest of any major country.</p>
<p>For the full year, exports rose to nearly $2.3 trillion while imports expanded to $1.8 trillion yuan.</p>
<p>The import slowdown is a blow to China’s Asian neighbors, for which it is the biggest market, and countries such as Australia and Brazil that supply it iron ore, oil and other raw materials.</p>
<p>“We have since long expected China’s domestic demand and imports to slow in 2018 on gradually tighter monetary and financial policies and slower real estate activity,” Kuijs said.</p>
<p>China’s trade surplus in December with the 28-nation European Union, its biggest trading partner, stood at $14.6 billion. For the full year, it was $127.2 billion.</p>
<p>The monthly surplus with the United States was $25.6 billion. For the year, it was $275.8 billion.</p>
<p>Data reported by the U.S. government often show a bigger gap with China because Beijing’s figures reflect only the initial destination, such as Hong Kong or another port, for exports bound for the United States and other foreign markets.</p> | China’s trade growth cools in December | false | https://apnews.com/e13bcc49cdea478f85471ae375ad87a8 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
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<p>Article created by the <a href="http://www.tcf.org" type="external">The Century Foundation</a>.</p>
<p>Since 9/11 and the global war on terror, the world is a much more dangerous place. Right?</p>
<p>Dead wrong, according to a recent in-depth study, which found that virtually every trend in global security in the past dozen years has been positive, and dramatically so.</p>
<p>The world is today a safer place, according to the Human Security Report, a project funded by five nations and published by Oxford University Press. The study, which is the culmination of three years of research, offers a comprehensive look at the data on political violence from 1988–2005, and reaches some arresting <a href="http://www.humansecurityreport.info/HSR2005/Overview.pdf" type="external">conclusions:</a></p>
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<p>(See the figures <a href="http://www.humansecurityreport.info/index.php?option=content&amp;task=view&amp;id=31&amp;Itemid=66" type="external">here</a> .)</p>
<p>It seems the past decade’s global security sea change has gone virtually unnoticed outside of political science departments. The dominant narrative in America—echoed by the media, politicians, and the security establishment—is that we today live in a more dangerous world with endemic conflict, clashing civilizations, and new threats.</p>
<p>There is, of course, some truth nested within these beliefs, especially with regard to the threat posed by nuclear proliferation and catastrophic terrorism. But they hardly paint a complete picture or explain why the myth of a more dangerous world has become so widespread.</p>
<p>One possible explanation is that no one hears the good news because no one benefits from telling it. The media, driven by a profit-centric climate and the 24-hour news cycle, has cut airtime for international news and fed us gripping visual snippets of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679463038/qid=1067111347/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/104-0758539-3679931?n=507846&amp;v=glance" type="external">conflicts</a> with no explanation of their causes.</p>
<p>Our leaders also have few incentives to present a positive picture. Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum have found the myth of a more dangerous world useful: Conservative politicians were drumming up dangers to justify higher military spending even before September 11, while liberals have warned of neglected dangers to take aim at Bush administration failures in Iraq and North Korea, homeland security, and non-capture of Osama bin Laden.</p>
<p>Non-governmental organizations also contribute to these distortions: the very advocacy efforts intended to raise money and awareness can contribute to a climate of perpetual crisis that numbs the public to real and remarkable progress.</p>
<p>A second explanation is that Americans have not appreciated international trends because their national trends have been more negative. September 11 created a sense of vulnerability within a nation that had heretofore been spared an attack on its soil. The war in Iraq has since inundated us with a steady stream of violent and gloomy news, the likes of which we have not seen since Vietnam. Yet even in the face of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the war on terror, aren’t we demonstrably more safe than when we faced nuclear annihilation at the hands of the Soviet Union?</p>
<p>Assuming we accept the report’s premise that deadly conflict has declined in the past decades, what observations and policy prescriptions do these findings suggest?</p>
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<p>More time has elapsed from September 11 to today than from Pearl Harbor to Japan’s surrender. We are entering a new phase in our national history, and the decisions we make about the future of American foreign policy will depend on how we remember the recent past. That memory is too important to leave to the dictates of conventional wisdom.</p>
<p /> | A More Dangerous World? Think Again | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/05/more-dangerous-world-think-again/ | 2006-05-15 | 4 |
<p>The Washington Post failed to mention that the Socialists’ declining fortunes are the result of anti-worker austerity programs.</p>
<p>Both the Washington Post ( <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-left-stands-little-chance-to-win-in-france-a-former-stronghold/2017/01/22/8732ab17-262d-4717-9c72-c315c70a689f_story.html?utm_term=.dcf13d324569" type="external">1/22/17</a>) and New York Times ( <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/world/europe/france-left-socialist-primary.html" type="external">1/22/17</a>) had pieces about declining support for the left in France and the rise of a nationalist right in both Italy and France. Both pieces attributed the rise in support for the right to people losing from globalization, implying that this is some impersonal process that is causing these people to be losers.</p>
<p>In fact, the losers are suffering because of the insistence of the European Union that its members pursue <a href="http://cepr.net/publications/op-eds-columns/brexit-austerity-and-the-future-of-the-european-union" type="external">austerity policies</a>. These policies have led to almost a <a href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=36&amp;pr.y=15&amp;sy=2006&amp;ey=2016&amp;scsm=1&amp;ssd=1&amp;sort=country&amp;ds=.&amp;br=1&amp;c=132%2C136&amp;s=NGDPRPC%2CPCPIEPCH%2CLE&amp;grp=0&amp;a=" type="external">full decade</a> of near-zero per capita GDP growth in France and a drop of more than 10 percent in per capita GDP in Italy. There is nothing inevitable about these policies; they are conscious choices of the political leaders in Europe.</p>
<p>It is incredible that both the Post and Times would neglect to mention the role of austerity in hurting workers. The disgust with elites is understandable.</p>
<p>Economist Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. A version of this post originally appeared on CEPR’s blog Beat the Press ( <a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/it-s-austerity-not-globalization-that-is-making-workers-in-france-and-italy-unhappy" type="external">1/23/17</a>).</p>
<p>You can send a message to the New York Times at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, or write to public editor Liz Spayd at&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>&#160;(Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes" type="external">@NYTimes</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/spaydl" type="external">@SpaydL</a>).&#160; Messages can be sent to the Washington Post at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, or via Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost" type="external">@washingtonpost</a>. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.</p> | It’s Austerity, Not Globalization, That Pulls European Workers to the Right | true | http://fair.org/home/its-austerity-not-globalization-that-pulls-european-workers-to-the-right/ | 2017-01-23 | 4 |
<p>While the sudden death of a Republican senator Thursday morning seemingly gives Senate Democrats a two-thirds majority in the chamber, the state’s Constitution prevents it from having any effect, a Senate Rules Committee spokesman confirmed.</p>
<p>Sen. Sharon Runner died Thursday morning, ending a longtime battle with scleroderma — a condition that forced the Lancaster Republican from office in 2012 and required a&#160;double lung transplant <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-state-sen-sharon-runner-longtime-1468514420-htmlstory.html" type="external">that same year</a>.&#160;Voters sent Runner back&#160;to the Senate in 2015 in a special election, but she decided not to run again in 2016.</p>
<p>Senate&#160;Democrats are one seat away from&#160;being in a supermajority — a two-thirds majority&#160;that would allow them to approve tax increases, gubernatorial veto overrides and constitutional amendments without Republican votes.</p>
<p>But staff of Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, who also chairs the Rules Committee, confirmed that the threshold is a fixed number of votes (27) based on the number of seats (40), not the number of sitting senators (39). There are currently 26 Democratic senators.</p>
<p>The governor has 14 days to call an election to fill a vacancy, and the <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=elec&amp;group=01001-02000&amp;file=1400-1415" type="external">Elections Code</a>&#160;allows for the special election to be scheduled at the same time as the next regularly scheduled election if it’s within 180 days, which the Nov. 8 general election is.&#160;</p>
<p>Since Runner had already decided to step down, there’s an election underway for the seat.&#160;Republican Assemblyman Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita and Democrat&#160;Johnathon Levar Ervin, an engineer and Air Force reservist advanced from the primary as the top two.</p>
<p>Because of Democrats’ closeness to a supermajority, this seat is seen as a must hold for Republicans.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Legislators</a> and experts have long called for some type of reform to the costly and cumbersome <a href="" type="internal">special election process</a>. Runner <a href="file:///C:/Users/mattf/Downloads/201520160SB49_Assembly%20Floor%20Analysis-.pdf" type="external">championed a measure</a> this session that would mitigate the cost of special elections by allowing the governor to declare a winner if there was only one candidate on the ballot.</p>
<p>The bill is sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk awaiting a decision.</p> | Sudden death of GOP Senator has no bearing on supermajority | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2016/07/14/sudden-death-gop-senator-no-bearing-supermajority/ | 2018-07-20 | 3 |
<p>New York officials say an Illinois-based school bus company has returned nearly $292,000 in wages to 462 employees across the upstate region who were underpaid.</p>
<p>Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that state Labor Department investigators determined Warrenville, Illinois-based Durham School Services underpaid the workers the minimum wage they were owned.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The investigation started when officials with Service Employees International Union Local 200 notified the agency of possible violations at the Durham location in Syracuse.</p>
<p>The probe determined the company underpaid 462 workers at the company's operations from Rochester to the Hudson Valley.</p>
<p>The company said the underpayment was a mistake caused by missing a change in New York state's minimum wage rate when rose on Dec. 31, 2013, from $7.25 to $8.</p>
<p>Durham's website says it provides bus services to school districts in 32 states.</p> | Illinois-based bus services contractor repays $292K in wages to 462 workers across upstate NY | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/06/16/illinois-based-bus-services-contractor-repays-22k-in-wages-to-462-workers.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
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<p>Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, both New Mexico Democrats, said the budget deal, while not ideal, represented a compromise that would put the state on firmer footing.</p>
<p>“It does two very important things for New Mexico,” said Udall, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “It rolls back sequestration’s harmful cuts to national defense, the national labs, public land agencies, and many other federal installations that are critical to New Mexico’s economy. It also lays out federal budgets for the next two years, providing a level of certainty that New Mexico’s federal installations have said is desperately needed.”</p>
<p>The measure won Senate passage 64-36. The bill passed the House last week by a bipartisan 332-94 vote.</p>
<p>The bill preserves a 2 percent fee charged by the government on royalties from energy companies that buy oil and gas leases on federal land. The fee is expected to cost New Mexico about $10 million per year in federal revenues. Udall, who successfully fought the Interior Department’s move to subject the revenues to the budget sequester this year, vowed to fight the federal surcharge.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Heinrich said the deal will give congressional appropriators, including Udall, more power to adjust federal spending to meet current needs.</p>
<p>“It isn’t perfect, but this budget agreement means we now have a bipartisan blueprint for how much to spend over the next two years,” Heinrich said. “This will help avoid another government shutdown and give families and businesses the certainty they need to spend and invest in ways that will help boost the economy.”</p>
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<p /> | Senators tout budget deal benefits for NM | false | https://abqjournal.com/322987/heinrich-udall-tout-benefits-to-nm.html | 2 |
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<p>When in trouble, head for Auschwitz, preferably in the company of Elie Wiesel. It’s as foolproof a character reference as is available today, at least within the Judeo-Christian sphere of moral influence. One can easily see why Oprah Winfrey and her advisers saw an Auschwitz excursion in the company of Wiesel as a sure-fire antidote to salve the wounds sustained by Oprah’s Book Club when it turned out that James Frey had faked significant slabs of his own supposedly autobiographical saga of moral regeneration, A Million Little Pieces.</p>
<p>Published in 2003, Frey’s irksome book swiftly became a cult classic. (The present author was offered it in the summer of 2004 by a young relative, presumably to assist in his moral regeneration, but after glancing through a few pages returned it, on the grounds that it wasn’t his kind of thing.) Winfrey picked it for her Book Club in September 2005, and it rocketed to the top of the bestseller lists.</p>
<p>For Frey the sky fell in when, on January 7, 2006, the Smoking Gun website published documents showing that Frey had fabricated many facts about himself, including a criminal record. There were later charges of plagiarism. Frey ran through a benign gauntlet of trial-by-Larry King on January 11, and Oprah called in to stand by her Pick of the Month. She said that what mattered was not whether Frey’s book was true (the Fundamentalist claim for the Holy Bible) but its value as a therapeutic tool (the modern Anglican position on the Good Book).</p>
<p>But by now every columnist and books page editor in America was wrestling the truth-or-fiction issue to the ground. Oprah turned on Frey. On her show on January 26, he clung to the ropes, offering the excuse that the “demons” that had driven him to drink and drugs had also driven him into claiming that everything he wrote about himself was true. Publishers including Random House, which has made millions off him, had rejected the book when he’d initially offered it as a “fiction novel”. Oprah brushed this aside.</p>
<p>“Say it’s all true” is what demons often whisper in an author’s ear. Ask T.E. Lawrence. Did the Bey of Deraa really rape him? Lawrence suggests it in the Seven Pillars of Wisdom in paragraphs of fervent masochistic reminiscence. This and other adventures in Lawrence’s account of British scheming in Mesopotamia against the Ottomans met with the ecstatic admiration of the Oxford-based equivalent of Oprah’s Book Club back in the early 1920s, after Lawrence had the 350,000-word “memoir” privately printed and circulated. He’d written an earlier version in 1919 but claimed this had been stolen while he was changing trains in Reading, on the way to Oxford from London. (Reading has surely been the site of more supposed thefts and losses of “completed manuscripts” and PhD dissertations — “I didn’t make a copy!” — than any railway station in the world.)</p>
<p>Half a century later it occurred to Colin Simpson and Phillip Knightley of the London Sunday Times to ask the supposed rapist for his side of the story. They hurried off to Turkey and tracked down the town to which the Bey had retired, arriving at his home only to learn he’d died not long before. Relatives told the British reporters that the Bey would not have found Lawrence appetizing prey. The Turk was a noted womanizer, and when in Mesopotamia was always getting the clap from consorting with whores on his excursions to Damascus.</p>
<p>It’s fun to think of Oprah grilling Lawrence about his claims, freshly exposed on Smoking Gun, telling him she felt “really duped” but that, “more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of Orientalizing masochists who believed you”.</p>
<p>But hardly had Frey been cast down from the eminence of Amazon.com’s top bestseller before he was replaced at number one by the new pick of Oprah’s Book Club, Elie Wiesel’s Night, which had the good fortune to see republication at this fraught moment in Oprah’s literary affairs. Simultaneous with the Night selection came news that Oprah Winfrey and Elie Wiesel would shortly be visiting Auschwitz together, from which vantage point Oprah, with the lugubrious Wiesel at her side, could emphasize for her ABC-TV audience that there is truth and there is fiction, that Auschwitz is historical truth at its bleakest and most terrifying, that Night is a truthful account and that Wiesel is the human embodiment of truthful witness.</p>
<p>The trouble here is that in its central, most crucial scene, Night isn’t historically true, and at least two other important episodes are almost certainly fiction. Below, I cite views, vigorously expressed to me in recent weeks by a concentration camp survivor, Eli Pfefferkorn, who worked with Wiesel for many years; also by Raul Hilberg. Hilberg is the world’s leading authority on the Nazi Holocaust. An expanded version of his classic three-volume study, The Destruction of the European Jews, was recently reissued by Yale University Press. Wiesel personally enlisted Hilberg to be the historical expert on the United States Holocaust Commission.</p>
<p>If absolute truth to history is the standard, Pfefferkorn says, then Night doesn’t make the grade. Wiesel made things up, in a way that his many subsequent detractors could identify as not untypical of his modus operandi: grasping with deft assurance what people important to his future would want to hear and, by the same token, would not want to hear.</p>
<p>The book that became Night was originally a much longer account, published in Yiddish in 1956, under the title Un di Velt Hot Geshvign (And the World Remained Silent). Wiesel was living in Paris at the time. By 1958 he had translated his book from Yiddish into French, publishing it in that year under the title La Nuit. Wiesel says it was severely cut down in length by Jerome Lindon, the chief editor at Editions de Minuit. In 1960 came the English translation, Night, published by Hill &amp; Wang. The 2006 edition of Night is translated from the 1958 French version by Wiesel’s wife, Marion, and in the introduction Wiesel says he has “been able to correct and revise a number of important details”.</p>
<p>In the New York Times for January 17, Michiko Kakutani wrote in her usual plodding prose, with her usual aversion to any unconventional thought, that “Mr. Frey’s embellishments of the truth, his cavalier assertion that the ‘writer of a memoir is retailing a subjective story,’ his casual attitude about how people remember the past — all stand in shocking contrast to the apprehension of memory as a sacred act that is embodied in Oprah Winfrey’s new selection for her book club, announced yesterday: Night, Elie Wiesel’s devastating 1960 account of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald.”</p>
<p>Amazon.com got the message quickly enough. The site had been categorizing the new edition of Night under “fiction and literature” but, under the categorical imperative of Kakutani’s “memory as a sacred act” or a phone call from Wiesel’s publisher, hastily switched it to “biography and memoir”. Within hours it had reached number 3 on Amazon’s bestseller list. That same evening, January 17, Night topped both the “biography” and “fiction” bestseller lists on BarnesandNoble.com.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, over the next few days there were articles in the Jewish Forward and in the New York Times, also a piece on NPR, saying that Night should not be taken as unvarnished documentary. In the Forward article, published January 20, challengingly titled “Six Million Little Pieces?”, Joshua Cohen reminded Forward readers that in 1996, Naomi Seidman, a Jewish Studies professor at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, had compared the original 1956 Yiddish version of the book with the subsequent, drastically edited translation.</p>
<p>“According to Seidman’s account, published in the scholarly journal Jewish Social Studies”, Cohen wrote, “Wiesel substantially rewrote the work between editions — suggesting that the strident and vengeful tone of the Yiddish original was converted into a continental, angst-ridden existentialism more fitting to Wiesel’s emerging role as an ambassador of culture and conscience. Most important, Seidman wrote that Wiesel altered several facts in the later edition, in some cases offering accounts of pivotal moments that conflicted with the earlier version. (For example, in the French, the young Wiesel, having been liberated from Buchenwald, is recuperating in a hospital; he looks into a mirror and writes that he saw a corpse staring back at him. In the earlier Yiddish, Wiesel holds that upon seeing his reflection he smashed the mirror and then passed out, after which ‘my health began to improve.’)”</p>
<p>That said, Cohen emphasized that whereas “Frey, for one, seems to have falsified the facts of his life in order to satisfy ego and the demands of the market, Wiesel’s liberties seem more like reconsiderations, his process less revision than interpretation. Reading Night, one encounters the birth of thought about the Holocaust – the future of history, concomitant with its study. In both versions, the book’s intent is to engage not the undeniability of the Holocaust, but the man who has undeniably emerged from its horror.”</p>
<p>This reverent tone about Wiesel and his work is customary. People mostly write about him and his work with the muted awe of British tourists reading guidebooks to each other in a French cathedral. In The Jewish Press for February 1, Andrew Silow Carroll was a bit friskier. He cited Wiesel as declaring to the New York Times that Night “is not a novel at all. All the people I describe were with me there. I object angrily if someone mentions it as a novel.” And yet, Silow Carroll went on, “in the past, Wiesel hasn’t helped matters in this regard. In 1972, Hill &amp; Wang packaged Night with two other books, Dawn and The Accident, which Wiesel clearly identified as novels. The set’s cover refers to the works as ‘Three Tales by Elie Wiesel.’ In a later edition of the same volume, Wiesel refers to all three books as ‘narratives,’ although he calls Night a ‘testimony,’ and the other two ‘commentaries.'”</p>
<p>There are some rather comical instances of Wiesel’s relaxed attitude to autobiographical truth, as excavated in Norman Finkelstein’s book, The Goldhagen Thesis and Historical Truth. Wiesel was one of Goldhagen’s main supporters. In his 1995 memoir, All Rivers Run to the Sea Wiesel writes that at the age of 18, recently liberated from Auschwitz, “I read The Critique of Pure Reason ­ don’t laugh! ­ in Yiddish.” Finkelstein comments, “Leaving aside Wiesel’s acknowledgement that at the time ‘I was wholly ignorant of Yiddish grammar’ The Critique of Pure Reason was never translated into Yiddish.” Imagine the lacerations Frey would have endured for making that sort of empty boast.</p>
<p>Though sales have now soared, I’m not sure how many people will read Night now, beyond buying the new edition as a gesture of solidarity with Oprah and survivors of the Holocaust. It doesn’t take a background in literary criticism to see that Night is artfully fashioned as a kind of symbolic narrative about the relationship between sons and fathers (there are four such portraits in the short book) and, crucially, between the Christian God (the Father) and his Son. The style seems influenced by Albert Camus, particularly L’Etranger. Camus won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957, one of the youngest recipients ever. This was the time during which Wiesel was reworking his Yiddish narrative into the far more terse, Camusian work, with its Camusian title.</p>
<p>As a piece of historical witness to the experience of the inmates, the doomed and those who survived inside Auschwitz and Buchenwald, there are books far superior to Night, starting with Primo Levi’s writings, or the late Ella Lingens-Reiner’s extraordinary memoir of Auschwitz, Prisoners of Fear, published in 1948. Night’s focus is extremely narrow, primarily on the main character, Eliezer, and his father. One learns with a certain surprise that though Wiesel’s sister Tzipora died in the camps, two other sisters survived. In the new edition, Wiesel doesn’t mention them.</p>
<p>Night certainly contains none of the context offered by Levi or Lingens-Reiner, or much more recently, by Kenneth Waltzer, professor of Jewish Studies at Michigan State University, who is writing a book called The Rescue of Children at Buchenwald and whose interesting letter was published in Forward at the end of February:</p>
<p>“The January 20 article on Oprah Winfrey’s selection of Elie Wiesel’s Night for her Book Club was on the mark (‘Six Million Little Pieces?’). Any memoir is a reconstruction shaped by purpose and audience rather than a direct statement of memory — and even Wiesel’s Night is not an exception.</p>
<p>“Night focuses primarily on the relation of father and son in Auschwitz and in Buchenwald. When Wiesel loses his father in January 1945 at Buchenwald, he drifts into a listlessness and fog from which he emerged only after liberation. He recalls in Night only the terrible final days of the camp, in April 1945, when the Nazis sought to evacuate Jewish prisoners and then all prisoners.</p>
<p>“Wiesel writes of his relation with his father, the presence of God, and his own survival and its meaning. He does not describe the social context in which he existed during the final months. The barracks, his place in the camp, his relation to others — other prisoners, Jews, boys — remain murky.</p>
<p>“What is omitted in Night is that the 16-year-old was placed in a special barracks created by the clandestine underground as part of a strategy of saving youth. Block 66 was located in the deepest part of the disease-infested little camp and beyond the normal Nazi S.S. gaze. It was overseen by Czech Communist Antonin Kalina and by his deputy, Gustav Schiller, a Polish Jewish Communist.</p>
<p>“Schiller, who appears briefly in Night, was a rough father figure and mentor, especially for the Polish-Jewish boys and many Czech-Jewish boys; but he was less liked, and even feared, by Hungarian- and Romanian-Jewish boys, especially religious boys, including Wiesel. He appears in Night as a distant figure, armed with a truncheon.</p>
<p>“After January 1945, the underground concentrated all children and youth that could be fit into this windowless barracks — more than 600 in total. Younger children were protected elsewhere. When the U.S. Third Army arrived April 11, 1945, more than 900 children and youth were found among 21,000 remaining prisoners.</p>
<p>“Wiesel since has acknowledged the role played by the clandestine underground but did not attend to it in Night. Fellow barracks members recall being protected from work and getting extra food. They recall efforts by their mentors to raise their horizons. They also recall heroic intervention by Kalina or by Schiller during the final days to protect them.</p>
<p>“Even then, many boys were lined up at the gate, to be led out April 10. However, American planes flew overhead, sirens sounded, the guards ran and Kalina, who was with them, ordered the boys back to the barracks. They were still in the barracks the next day when units of the U.S. Third Army broke through the barbed-wire fences.</p>
<p>“Wiesel’s Night is about becoming alone. But Wiesel was also among hundreds of children and youth aided by a purposeful effort at rescue inside a concentration camp.”</p>
<p>Forward slightly trimmed Waltzer’s contribution, from an article to a letter. In the fuller version, which he has kindly supplied, Professor Waltzer wrote his last paragraph as follows:</p>
<p>“In Night, Wiesel writes about viewing himself in the mirror after liberation and seeing a corpse gazing back at him. But another picture taken after liberation shows Wiesel marching out of the camp, fourth on the left, among a phalanx of youth, moving together, heads high, a group guided by prisoners who had helped save them.”</p>
<p>A photograph accompanying Waltzer’s text, credited to Jack Werber, of Great Neck, New York, shows exactly that. The young Wiesel’s head is high, like the others’. But this parable of a triumph for human solidarity was absolutely contrary to the parable Wiesel was set on rewriting in French from the Yiddish volume. In the late 1950s a man with instincts as finely tuned as Wiesel’s to useful frequencies on the political dial probably would not have thought it advantageous to dwell on the heroic role of Communists in the death camps. All the more is this true in recent years, when Wiesel’s most celebrated moments have come when hunkering down for sessions of amiable moral counsel with Ronald Reagan (who wanted to pretend that the SS should be retrospectively forgiven because, after all, they weren’t Communists and fought the Great Satan) and George Bush, on whom Wiesel urged the war on Iraq as a necessary moral act, declaring that “the world faced a moral crisis similar to 1938” and “the choice is simple”.</p>
<p>This is not the first time bombing has elicited a positive endorsement from the great moral standard-bearer. In 1999, as NATO’s bombs descended on Yugoslavia, blowing up civilians on train and bus, as well as journalists in their broadcasting studio, Wiesel was questioned by Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s Larry King Live. Declared one government toady to another: “I think it [the bombing] had to be done, because all the other options had been explored.” This balderdash put Wiesel, morally speaking, on a par with Cardinal Spellman, blessing the B-52s as they set off to drop napalm on children in the Vietnam era.</p>
<p>(For a decidedly irreverent assessment of Night’s merits On February 10, 2006, Candian tv viewers were able, in February, to watch and hear the former editor of Harper’s magazine, Lewis Lapham, delivering a lecture at the University of Ottawa, on the invitation of the university’s Graduate Students Association. Lapham’s lecture, entitled “The Politicization of Research,” was carried on C-PAC, Canada’s parliamentary TV channel, several times in the days that followed. In the Q and A session after the lecture, in response to an enquiry about the decline in the quality of education, Lapham replied:</p>
<p>“I have had three children. My youngest is now 25, my eldest is 32. They all went through a very high-end American education, both secondary schools and colleges. The syllabus of books that they were given in the English courses was terrible. I mean, the books were all tracts</p>
<p>“There was a big fuss about Oprah Winfrey and the James Frey book, and she’s now going to put on [her TV show] Elie Wiesel’s Night. This is really one of the worst books I have ever read, and I’ve had to read it three times to my three children; and it’s junk. But it’s the kind of junk that has become very de rigeur in American universities. It’s a propaganda poster. With the kind of books the kids are given to read, I mean, it would turn them off books forever. No wonder! Because they are being given tracts. And, the big subject of course is victimology.”)</p>
<p>One of the perennially fascinating things about Wiesel is the preternatural sensitivity of his antennae for the opportune audience, his sense of what will, so to speak, “play” usefully for him. This brings us, by way of Eli Pfefferkorn, to Francois Mauriac.</p>
<p>These days Eli Pfefferkorn, age 77, lives in Toronto. A man, on the evidence of several phone conversations, of alert intelligence and charm, he too is a concentration camp survivor. Originally from Poland, he spent seven weeks in Maidanek, then in three labor camps, then in Buchenwald, then in Rehmsdorf. Near the end of the war he endured a death march to Theresienstadt in Moravia, where the surviving inmates were liberated by the Red Army on May 8, 1945. Pfefferkorn’s parents perished in other camps, and he tells me he owes his life to his mother, who shook his hand loose from hers when the family was about to be deported, and told the 13-year-old boy to scram.</p>
<p>Pfefferkorn eventually came to the United States, taught, and spent some time working with Wiesel on the conceptual design of the Holocaust museum. Once an uncritical admirer, his present estimate of Wiesel is not favorable, and he sets his views forth at length in a fascinating manuscript he is preparing to submit to publishers. He was kind enough to send me some chapters. By no means short-changing Wiesel on what he regards as his genuine achievements, Pfefferkorn can be unsparing: “He’s become a eulogist of the dead but he doesn’t raise his mellifluous voice against the wrong done to survivors, 35 per cent of them below the poverty line in the US.”</p>
<p>There are piercing passages in Pfefferkorn’s memoir concerning Wiesel’s opportunism and betrayals in the murky battles over the design of the Holocaust Museum, and above all in his artful pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize, which he was awarded in 1986. “Would Wiesel, Pfefferkorn asks, “ever have received this prize for his work as a journalist?” Pfefferkorn answers his question, “It’s hard to imagine. No. Wiesel got the prize because he elevated himself as the spokesman for the survivors. His mostly absurd pretensions to be a ‘peace missionary’, had nothing to do with it.”</p>
<p>Then, once he had the prize he so fiercely pursued, Wiesel gradually, but consistently ­ so Pfefferkorn stresses ­ “alienated himself from the survivors”.</p>
<p>In Night, Pfefferkorn isolates a number of episodes in which he makes a convincing case that Wiesel dumped truth in favor of fiction. The two I cite here involve a boy playing a violin amidst a death march, and the second is one of Night’s most famous scenes, the hanging of three inmates.</p>
<p>Of the first episode, Pfefferkorn writes:</p>
<p>“The story of the ‘violin episode’ takes place during the death march from Auschwitz to Buchenwald with a short gap at Gleiwitz in January of 1945. Mercilessly driven by the SS guards, stragglers were shot at and shoved to the side road. The columns of inmates arrived in Gleiwitz, after having dragged themselves through the snow-swept roads in freezing temperatures for about fifty kilometers. Immediately upon arrival, they were herded into barns. Drained, they dropped to the floor — the dead, the dying and the partially living piled one on the other.</p>
<p>“Under this heap of crushed humanity laid Juliek, cradling a violin, which he has carried all the way from Auschwitz to Gleiwitz. Eliezer, somehow, stumbles on Juliek, “…the boy from Warsaw who played in the band at Buna… ‘How do you feel, Juliek?’ I asked, less to know the answer than to hear that he could speak, that he was alive. ‘All right, Eliezer … I’m getting on all right … hardly any air … worn out. My feet are swollen. It’s good to rest, but my violin…’</p>
<p>“Eliezer — the inmate — wonders, ‘What use was the violin here?’ Wiesel — the memoirist — does not find it necessary to give an answer to the question. Such an answer, I assume, should be of interest to the reader for if Wiesel were to provide an answer, the veracity of the story would dissolve like the morning mist in the Sinai desert. Maintaining hold on a violin as one marched the March of Death is highly improbable. However, a violin in the midst of human debris strains the imagination and questions memory. How did Juliek hold on to the violin on the death journey? Deprived of food and drink, when each step stubbornly refused to follow the next one, how did Juliek manage to clutch the violin in his numb fingers, let alone play Beethoven on it? Would the SS escorts have let him keep it? (Also, as an Irish reader of a draft of this article remarked to me: “as a professional musician, who has played a wide variety of string instruments for 40 years, including fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, I immediately thought, How did the violin strings survive the severely cold temperatures and the long march? It’s a minor point perhaps, but very improbable, especially since it was 1945 and they were not modern strings.”)</p>
<p>Pfefferkorn continues: “And from this anus mundi, suddenly the melody of a Beethoven concerto is heard, wafting through the corpses, the groans of the dying, the stench of the dead. Eliezer had never heard sounds so pure. ‘In such a silence. It was pitch dark. I could only hear the violin, it was as though Juliek’s soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole life was gliding on his strings — his lost hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again.’ This powerful and emotionally moving scene, celebrating the triumph of the human spirit over the grinding SS machinery is the very stuff that heroic fiction is made of. But is it a memoir factually recorded? Obviously, Wiesel’s putative memoir, written while on a boat to Brazil, is but a recollection of experiences seen through the eye of his creative imagination. And yet, the melancholy melodies that came out of Juliek’s violin were the first strains of a myth orchestrated by Wiesel and his disciples, over a period of thirty years.”</p>
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<p>A major scene in Night, one that contributed hugely to the book’s success in the West, and its impact on many Christians starting with Francois Mauriac, was the execution of three inmates in the Buna work camp. As Pfefferkorn writes, “The fascination of Christian theologians with the Wiesel phenomenon must be traced back to a hanging that the 16-year-old Eliezer witnessed in Auschwitz.”</p>
<p>In the incident, two adults and a little boy are being led to the gallows. The little boy refused to betray fellow inmates who have been involved in an act of sabotage; to protect his fellow inmates, the boy is willing to pay with his life. Each one climbs to his chair and his neck is slipped into the rope’s noose. The scene continues as follows in the 1960 English version of Night:</p>
<p>“The three victims mounted together onto the chairs. The three necks were placed at the same moment within the nooses. ‘Long live Liberty!’ cried the adults. But the child was silent.</p>
<p>“‘Where is God? Where is He?’ someone behind me asked. At a sign from the head of the camp, the three chairs tipped over. Total silence throughout the camp. On the horizon, the sun was setting.</p>
<p>“‘Bare your heads!’ yelled the head of the camp. His voice was raucous. We were weeping. ‘Cover your heads!’ Then the march past began. The two adults were no longer alive. Their tongues hung swollen, blue tinged. But the third rope was still moving; being so light, the child was still alive…. For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet glazed. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: ‘Where is God now?’ And I heard a voice within me answer him: ‘Where is He? Here He is — He is hanging here on this gallows'”</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the graphically described hanging scene has been etched into the imagination of the Christian theologians because of the numerous parallels to the Crucifixion of Jesus.</p>
<p>Now, while he was working on the memoir, La Nuit, Wiesel had cause, on behalf of an Israeli newspaper, to visit and interview Francois Mauriac, the Catholic writer and Nobel Laureate in literature. They got on well. Then Wiesel gave him the manuscript of La Nuit. Mauriac found in it an answer to his own anguish at descriptions of the mass slaughters in the death camps, particularly of children.</p>
<p>Mauriac fastened instantly on, in Pfefferkorn’s words, “a resemblance between the crucifixion and Wiesel’s description of the young boy’s hanging. In response to Wiesel’s questioning of God’s benevolence and man’s humanness, Mauriac writes the following in his Foreword to Night: ‘And I, who believe that God is love, what answer could I give my young questioner, whose dark eyes still held the reflection of that angelic sadness which had appeared one day upon the face of the hanged child? What did I say to him? Did I speak of that other Israeli, his brother, who may have resembled him — the Crucified, whose Cross has conquered the world?'”</p>
<p>Pfefferkorn continues:</p>
<p>“The hanged child dangling on the rope is reflected in Eliezer’s eyes, whose image resembles that of the crucified Jesus. Thus in one stroke, Mauriac has drawn a triptych reminiscent of the medieval paintings, making young Eliezer the link connecting the two watershed events in the history of Western civilization, namely the Crucifixion and the Holocaust. Mauriac leaves no doubt as to his Christological interpretation of the Auschwitz hanging. In the year 1960, he published a biography of Christ entitled The Son of Man dedicated to ‘E.W. who was a crucified Jewish child, who stands for many others.’</p>
<p>“Mauriac explains what it was in his interview with Wiesel that drew him so powerfully to the young Israeli: ‘That look, as if a Lazarus risen from the dead, yet still a prisoner within the grim confines where he had strayed, stumbling among the shameful corpses.’ Wiesel’s painfully gaunt demeanor set against the backdrop of the concentration camps’ corpses have inspired a generation of Christian theologians to view Wiesel as a latter day Lazarus.</p>
<p>“It is highly speculative to suggest that from the very inception of his writing, Wiesel consciously laboured to present himself to the Christian world as a composite of a Christ Lazarus figure. However, once the seeds of the myth were sown in Paris at Mauriac’s instigation, and took roots in the soil of Christian America, Wiesel has done his share to encourage the ‘Lazarus risen from the dead parallel.’ But Wiesel has done so more by gesture than act, silence than utterance, indirection than direct statement. The unspoken, the mute, the covert are his metier; albeit an ambiguity laced through with shrewd intelligence that would make many a professional diplomat envious.”</p>
<p>In a letter to David Hirsch dated October 6, 1994, Alfred Kazin writes that at the beginning of their friendship, “I liked him [Wiesel] enormously, and I was in awe of him because of his suffering in Auschwitz.” But at the same time “… it was impossible, when he expanded at length about his experiences under the Nazis, it was impossible to miss the fact that he was a mystifier”.</p>
<p>One who says he directly observed the hanging scene described by Wiesel was Zygfryd Halbereich, who testified at the Auschwitz State Museum on October 19, 1973. Halbereich’s testimony was matter-of-fact, clear and direct. He was acquainted with the three inmates and knew about their escape plans.</p>
<p>“On the whole,” Pfefferkorn writes, “Halbereich’s testimony is in agreement with Wiesel’s narrative, and differs only in one minor detail. But this is an inconsequential disagreement that does not change the substance of the hanging story. What does affect it, however, is the age of one of the condemned, as given by Wiesel. And the age of the condemned is the crux of the matter.</p>
<p>“In the original Yiddish Un di Velt Hot Geshvign and in the French and the English translations, one of the three condemned is frequently referred to as a child or a young boy. Halbereich is silent about the ages of the condemned, and this omission is surprising. For in Wiesel’s painfully elaborate description of the hanging, the young boy’s execution stirred up deep emotions among the inmates standing on the roll call. The Kapo who was assigned to administer the hanging ‘ excused himself from serving as a hangman. He did not want to hang a child.’ A Kapo’s refusal to obey an SS order was tantamount to a death sentence. His extraordinary behaviour would have certainly registered with Halbereich, whose testimony is meticulously detailed. Halbereich’s silence on the Kappo’s courage calls into question Wiesel’s account of the hanging. One of the skeptics is the known Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg, who is, in his own words, a seeker of truth.</p>
<p>“Cautious by temperament and scholarly discipline, Hilberg gingerly raises the issue related to the hanging scene. In a review written for the Boston Globe about Wiesel’s autobiographical book All Rivers Run to the Sea, Hilberg makes mention of the three hangings. ‘Describing the incident in his [Wiesel’s] book Night,’ Hilberg notes, ‘he recalled someone behind him asking: Where is God? At that moment Wiesel believed that one of the three was a boy, and in his mind identified the child with God.’ Citing Kazin’s contention that the entire event is fiction, Hilberg concludes, ‘To be sure, the doubters may claim a concession.'”</p>
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<p>Pfefferkorn’s considered judgement is harsh on Wiesel’s claims for the absolute truth to life of Night:</p>
<p>“If the hanging scene turns out contrary to Wiesel’s description in his purported memoir Night, a fictionalized episode as Kazin claimed and surmised from Halbereich’s testimony, then Wiesel’s entire moral and theological edifice collapses, bringing down with it the ‘Suffering Servant’ theology, which first gave him recognition and eventually led him to fame.</p>
<p>“Though it is virtually impossible to verify the exact ages of the condemned, it must be noted, as Hilberg observed, that in Wiesel’s recent autobiography ‘the suffering body is no longer that of a boy.'”</p>
<p>Quite aside from the theological questions, part of the impact of the scene derives from Wiesel’s description of this boy whose weight was too insubstantial for the noose to swiftly strangle him. Does this, in the last analysis, really matter? It does if you are disobligingly contrasting Frey to Wiesel’s “apprehension of memory as a sacred act”. All the same, I don’t suppose Smoking Gun would ever gleefully feature the third victim’s birth certificate.</p>
<p>After talking to Eli Pfferkorn and reading chapters from his memoir, I called Raul Hilberg, now 80, at his home in Burlington, Vermont.</p>
<p>“From a purely academic viewpoint”, Hilberg began, “it would be interesting to have a scholarly edition, comparing the Yiddish version with subsequent translations and editions, with appropriate footnotes, Wiesel’s comments etc. He was addressing two entirely different audiences, the first being the Yiddish-speaking Jews, members of the world of his youth whom he addressed in nineteenth-century terms. There’s more detail, more comment. I made that suggestion to Wiesel and he didn’t react favorably.”</p>
<p>Hilberg turned to the crucial scene: “I have a version of the hanging from an old survivor with the names of all three adults.” That survivor had said that there was no boy among the three. Hilberg mentioned this in a review of Night, in which, he told me, “I made no secret of our differences. But whereas it [the age of the central figure in the hanging] may seem somewhat small, it makes a very big difference to Christians, particularly Catholics, because it’s very clear that mystics are intensely interested in the scene because it seems to replicate the crucifixion. It made a considerable impact. So the fact that this figure may not have been a boy at all is disturbing.”</p>
<p>“It would appear”, Hilberg went on, “from the record I have, that some witnesses have questioned whether this scene took place at all. I have a long statement by an older man, a man whom I judge to be quite trustworthy, though one must always remember that things are sometimes observed or heard about later. I talked recently to a survivor of that section of the camp who said it [the hanging of the three] didn’t take place, but maybe it took place earlier. I don’t know. Dating these tings is hard for survivors. Some have doubted this would have taken place. Buna was a work camp, so this other survivor, a PhD in history and a very intelligent man, didn’t believe it. I said to him, ‘How do you know this didn’t happen?’ I consider it not only a possibility but plausible. But age is a big issue to some people. That’s something he did not discuss in the new edition of the book.”</p>
<p>“Wiesel’s is the most read of all Auschwitz memoirs”, Hilberg remarked, “not only because of its brevity but because it has something mystic, surrealistic in it.” He mentioned the episode of the little boy playing the violin, and said how it evoked images from the Russian-Jewish mystic painter Chagall, also of Fiddler on the Roof.</p>
<p>“Wiesel comes from Sighet, a city in Romania. In Sighet there were many religious Jews, also Ukrainians. Much of Sighet was rather primitive at the time Wiesel was growing up. Most roads were not paved. It was shtetl life. However an assimilated group of Jews was emerging. I went there when I was 11, in 1937, and spent the summer. There was a tennis court, very middle-class. My aunt and her husband, a Sigheti, manufactured violins in Sighet where there was a major tradition of violin playing. I heard quartets in our garden. Wiesel’s parents had a store. So in some respects Sighet was very nineteenth century, and in others there were all the earmarks of a group of Jews emerging into the twentieth century who were evidently wide awake to modern civilization. So was the violin scene realistic, or was it a fantasy? Certainly, for Jews the violin was the instrument of choice. It was portable.</p>
<p>“So I would not say that the violin scene is impossible, even though I know someone from the death march who said it was utterly impossible. He was in Auschwitz, also Wiesel’s age. But that still doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Nothing is inconceivable.</p>
<p>“The model of all survivor accounts is of an idyllic childhood, then the hell of the Holocaust, then since they survived they underline the fact that it was only by luck they survived. With Wiesel, his original title was And the World Was Silent. It’s accusatory. Night is more surreal and mystic. It goes back to Middle Ages. Wiesel fits right into that style. It’s not a novel, but what it does have is the imprint of someone who wants to leave behind the impression that if you weren’t there, you cannot know what it was like, but then that dooms trying to write what it was like.”</p>
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<p>I asked Hilberg what accounts of the death camps and the Holocaust did he admire most. “That really depends on the reader. I don’t have that kind of favorite. For my purposes, obviously they have to be correct. There’s an account by Filip Mueller, who was on the gas chamber detail in Auschwitz in 1942, written in collaboration with two people: Eyewitness Auschwitz. It has to be read with care. Another book is Rudolf Vrba’s I Cannot Forgive, written with Alan Bestic. Vrba escaped from Auschwitz. He became professor of pharmacology at the University of British Columbia. This is the most remarkable of survivors, a man of absolutely incredible energy and abilities. In sheer ability to cope with the situation, this man is beyond belief.”</p>
<p>I didn’t press the point, but Hilberg, who stressed to me that he admires Wiesel, did not include Night in this little list. A clue to this omission may be found in Hilberg’s often acrid memoir, The Politics of Memory, published in 1996. In the chapter “Questionable Practices”, notable for a devastating account of underhanded behavior by Hannah Arendt, Hilberg discusses “areas of inappropriateness or illegitimacy”. “I try to nod wisely when poets or novelists step forward with their art, which in its very nature is much less disguised than mine. Nor am I disturbed when popularizers of history excavate the monographs of the footnote writers [among whom Hilberg included himself] and, distilling the contents, highlight story and drama for a large reading public.There are, however, limits. Among the practices that give me discomfort is the creation of a story in which historical facts are altered deliberately for the sake of plot and adventure.”</p>
<p>Then a page later Hilberg continues, “If counterfactual stories are frequent enough, kitsch is truly rampant The philistines in my field are truly everywhere. I am surrounded by the commonplace, platitudes, and clichés.The first German publisher of a small volume, containing my introduction and documents about the railroads [viz. their role in the destruction of the Jews] inserted a poem for which, he said, he had paid good money, describing human beings in freight cars including children whose eyes glowed like coal . The manipulation of history is a kind of spoilage and kitsch is debasement.”</p>
<p>Reading those lines, my mind did go at once to some of the scenes in Night ­ Juliek playing his violin on the death march for example ­ which hover on the edge of kitsch or, to take a less forgiving view, plunge into it.</p>
<p>“In 1981”, Pfefferkorn remembers, “Wiesel invited me to give a talk to his seminar students at Boston University. In the course of my talk, I discussed the relationship between memory and imagination in a number of literary works. I then pointed out the literary devices he used in Night, devices, I stressed, that make the memoir a compelling read. Wiesel’s reaction to my comments were swift as lightning. I had never seen him as angry before or since. In the presence of John Silber, the then President of Boston University, and my own Brown University students whom I invited, he lost his composure, lashing out at me for daring to question the literalness of the memoir. In Wiesel’s eyes, as in the eyes of his disciples, Night assumed a level of sacrosanctity, next in importance to the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. In terms of veracity, it is a factually recorded work, virtually meeting Leopold von Ranke’s benchmark of historical accounts: Wie es eigentlich gewessen, how it really was.”</p>
<p>As he roosts on his pile of gold amid the abuse of Oprah and the literary world, Frey can comfort himself with the thought that to making Night is not how “it really was”, and that even though there is a vast gulf between what Wiesel actually endured and Frey’s lies about his own life, when it comes to making literature he and Wiesel were both in the business of artistic and emotional manipulation, of dressing fiction up as truth.</p>
<p>As Pfefferkorn stresses, you didn’t survive in the death camps just by luck. “Securing a spot in a desirable labor detail, for instance, involved shoving to the head of the line, seen as a risk worth taking. Upon encountering opposition, however, one had to know when to retreat into the chameleon-pyjama-like background of the concentration camp. This was also true about lining up for soup. Finding the right spot in the line could mean a thicker bowl of soup -which may add a week’s longevity, but this entailed rough elbowing, as well as timing.”</p>
<p>Pfefferkorn says now that one of the greatest disappointments of his life was Wiesel’s “betrayal” ­ Pfefferkorn’s word” of the survivors. Looking at the man’s career overall, I’d say that as a moral fabulist, Wiesel has far more than Frey to answer for. Should not Oprah ask him about the millions he could have helped with the moral stature won by the Nobel peace prize he so unrelentingly campaigned for with his rough elbows, but whom he has betrayed for reasons of base political calculation?</p>
<p>Although the Nobel committee extolled him as a “messenger to mankind” it is difficult to find examples of Wiesel sending any message on behalf of those victimized by the policies of the United States, and virtually impossible when it comes to victims of Israel.</p>
<p>Wiesel’s pusillanimity was well illustrated in an interview with The National Jewish Post &amp; Opinion for November 19, 1982. Asked about the massacre of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila, he said he felt “sad”. Lest anyone leap to the conclusion that Wiesel was at last expressing sadness for the victims of Israel’s invasion — he remained silent throughout the bombing of Beirut — Wiesel added that this sadness was “with Israel, and not against Israel”. As he put it, “After all, the Israeli soldiers did not kill”. In 1985, Wiesel was asked by a reporter from Ha’aretz about Israel’s aid to the military junta in Guatemala. By way of response Wiesel remarked that he had received a letter from a Nobel laureate (Salvador Luria of M.I.T. had written to him on this subject a month earlier) documenting Israel’s contributions to mass murder in Guatemala and urging Wiesel to act privately to pressure Israel. Wiesel “sighed”, the Ha’aretz reporter wrote, and said, “I usually answer at once, but what can I answer him.”</p>
<p>Wiesel could, I suppose, argue that a sigh constitutes a technical breach of silence, but why did he not go further?</p>
<p>In an interview published in the second volume of Against Silence, Wiesel says that, as a Diaspora Jew, the “price I chose to pay for not living in Israel . . . is not to criticize Israel from outside its borders.” In another interview, published in the London Jewish Chronicle for September 10, 1982, he lamented criticism of Israel during the Lebanon invasion and asked these rhetorical questions:</p>
<p>“Was it necessary to criticize the Israeli government, notwithstanding the spate of lies disseminated in the press? Or would it not have been better to have offered Israel unreserved support, regardless of the suffering endured by the population of Beirut? In the face of hatred, our love for Israel ought to have deepened, become more whole-hearted, and our faith in Israel more compelling, more true.”</p>
<p>It’s unclear how many times, if any, Wiesel has ventured criticism inside Israel’s borders. Wiesel himself mentions one occasion on which he exerted what is usually called quiet pressure.</p>
<p>Commentary on Wiesel in the Hebrew-language press in Israel following the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 was more robust than the statutory honorifics printed in the United States. In Davar, for example, a reporter named Miri Paz discussed the troubled course of a conference on holocaust and genocide held in Israel in the summer of 1982. Responding to the urgings of the Turkish government, the Israeli Foreign Ministry demanded the removal of six items on the agenda concerning the Armenian genocide. Several people on the conference’s organizing committee, including its chair, Professor Israel Charny, refused to bend to such interference. But Wiesel, who headed the conference, did weaken. He pulled out of the conference, explaining, in Paz’s words, that “as a Jew he cannot act against the government of Israel”.</p>
<p>In Koteret Rashit, a liberal weekly, the Israeli journalist Tom Segev wrote of Wiesel:</p>
<p>“He is always careful not to criticize his nation. . . . What does he have to say about the situation in the territories? When people from Peace Now asked him to criticize the Lebanese War he evaded the request. He’s never been in the habit of standing up seriously against Israeli leaders. . . . What in fact has he done to realize his fine intentions? Bob Geldof has done more. . . . How nice it would have been if they had divided the prize among those truly good people of the world, those still alive, those people who endangered their lives at the time of the Holocaust in order to save Jews.</p>
<p>“Who symbolizes the lesson of the Holocaust as they do?</p>
<p>“Who is as worthy of the respect of the world as they are?”</p>
<p>Footnote: an earlier version of this essay ran in CounterPunch newsletter for February, 2006, #3/4.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Truth and Fiction in Elie Wiesel’s Night: Is Frey or Wiesel the Bigger Moral Poseur? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/04/01/truth-and-fiction-in-elie-wiesel-s-night-is-frey-or-wiesel-the-bigger-moral-poseur/ | 2006-04-01 | 4 |
<p>By Dominique Vidalon</p>
<p>PARIS (Reuters) – A partnership between French retailer Auchan [AUCH.UL] and internet giant Alibaba (NYSE:) risks pushing Carrefour (PA:) further behind in China and could persuade its new boss to sell out of the country.</p>
<p>Alexandre Bompard took the helm at Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer behind Wal-Mart (NYSE:), in July and on Jan. 23 will unveil his turnaround plan for the French company, which issued a profit warning in August.</p>
<p>Bompard has to decide whether to stay or go in China, where Carrefour has spent years trying to fix a business whose sales still fell 5.4 percent in the third quarter amid fierce competition from local players and a buoyant online market.</p>
<p>Asked whether he had made a decision on China, the CEO told Reuters on the sidelines of an investment conference in Paris on Tuesday: “I will speak about it very soon.” Asked if this would be in the January presentation, he said: “Yes.”</p>
<p>“Until now, the only Western retailers to have successfully established themselves in this country have done so via partnerships with local retailers, like Auchan with Sun Art Retail,” Bryan Garnier analysts said in a research note.</p>
<p>“A combination of offline and online is also an option, as seen with the recent agreements between Wal-Mart and JD.com … and Auchan and Alibaba … Failing the rapid conclusion of such a partnership, a decision could be taken at Carrefour to sell assets in China,” they added.</p>
<p>On Monday, Alibaba announced a HK$22.4 billion ($2.9 billion) investment in a stake in Sun Art, China’s top hypermarket operator, in which Auchan also has the biggest stake.</p>
<p>Carrefour has been trying to reposition in China, where it makes 5 percent of group sales, having been too focused on large hypermarkets there. It has been expanding into e-commerce and convenience stores and opening logistics centers to cut costs.</p>
<p>Former CEO Georges Plassat repeatedly said Carrefour would stay in China and did not rule out a deal with a local partner, although nothing materialized.</p>
<p>RIVALS HAVE CHANGED TACTICS</p>
<p>Meanwhile, rivals have taken action.</p>
<p>In 2013, Britain’s Tesco (LON:) gave up on cracking China alone, folding its unprofitable business there into a state run company as a minority partner.</p>
<p>In 2016, Wal-Mart sold its Chinese online grocery store in return for a stake in JD.com, China’s No. 2 e-commerce firm,</p>
<p>Auchan’s partnership with Alibaba risks further relegating Carrefour to the sidelines in China, analysts said.</p>
<p>“Sun Art is the largest grocery retailer in China and often considered as the one with the best operations and the best integration within the local culture,” said Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne.</p>
<p>“After a deal with Sun Art, there seems to be little incremental value in doing a deal with Carrefour for Alibaba. Potentially there is JD.com but they already have a deal with Wal-Mart,” he added.</p> | Auchan/Alibaba deal turns up the heat on Carrefour in China | false | https://newsline.com/auchanalibaba-deal-turns-up-the-heat-on-carrefour-in-china/ | 2017-11-21 | 1 |
<p>New Orleans .</p>
<p>Bernice Mosely is 82 and lives alone in New Orleans in a shotgun double. On August 29, 2005, as Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the levees constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers failed in five places and New Orleans filled with water.</p>
<p>One year ago Ms. Mosely was on the second floor of her neighborhood church. Days later, she was helicoptered out. She was so dehydrated she spent eight days in a hospital. Her next door neighbor, 89 years old, stayed behind to care for his dog. He drowned in the eight feet of floodwaters that covered their neighborhood.</p>
<p>Ms. Mosely now lives in her half-gutted house. She has no stove, no refrigerator, and no air-conditioning. The bottom half of her walls have been stripped of sheetrock and are bare wooden slats from the floor halfway up the wall. Her food is stored in a styrofoam cooler. Two small fans push the hot air around.</p>
<p>Two plaster Madonnas are in her tiny well-kept front yard. On a blazing hot summer day, Ms. Mosely used her crutches to gingerly come down off her porch to open the padlock on her fence. She has had hip and knee replacement surgery. Ms. Mosely worked in a New Orleans factory for over thirty years sewing uniforms. When she retired she was making less than $4 an hour. “Retirement benefits?” she laughs. She lives off social security. Her house had never flooded before. Because of her tight budget tight, Ms. Mosely did not have flood insurance.</p>
<p>Thousands of people like Ms. Mosely are back in their houses on the Gulf Coast. They are living in houses that most people would consider, at best, still under construction, or, at worst, uninhabitable. Like Ms. Mosely, they are trying to make their damaged houses into homes.</p>
<p>New Orleans is still in intensive care. If you have seen recent television footage of New Orleans, you probably have a picture of how bad our housing situation is. What you cannot see is that the rest of our institutions, our water, our electricity, our healthcare, our jobs, our educational system, our criminal justice systems – are all just as broken as our housing. We remain in serious trouble. Like us, you probably wonder where has the promised money gone?</p>
<p>Ms. Mosely, who lives in the upper ninth ward, does not feel sorry for herself at all. “Lots of people have it worse,” she says. “You should see those people in the Lower Ninth and in St. Bernard and in the East. I am one of the lucky ones.”</p>
<p>Housing</p>
<p>Hard as it is to believe, Ms. Mosely is right. Lots of people do have it worse. Hundreds of thousands of people from the Gulf Coast remain displaced. In New Orleans alone over two hundred thousand people have not been able to make it home.</p>
<p>Homeowners in Louisiana, like Ms. Mosely, have not yet received a single dollar of federal housing rebuilding assistance to rebuild their severely damaged houses back into homes.</p>
<p>Over 100,000 homeowners in Louisiana are on a waiting list for billions in federal rebuilding assistance through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. So far, no money has been distributed.</p>
<p>Renters, who comprised most of the people of New Orleans before Katrina, are much worse off than homeowners. New Orleans lost more than 43,000 rental units to the storm. Rents have skyrocketed in the undamaged parts of the area, pricing regular working people out of the market. The official rate of increase in rents is 39%. In lower income neighborhoods, working people and the elderly report rents are up much higher than that. Amy Liu of the Brookings Institute said “Even people who are working temporarily for the rebuilding effort are having trouble finding housing.”</p>
<p>Renters in Louisiana are not even scheduled to receive assistance through the Louisiana CDBG program. Some developers will receive assistance at some point, and when they do, some apartments will be made available, but that is years away.</p>
<p>In the face of the worst affordable housing shortage since the end of the Civil War, the federal government announced that it refused to allow thousands of families to return to their public housing units and was going to bulldoze 5000 apartments. Before Katrina, over 5000 families lived in public housing – 88 percent women-headed households, nearly all African American.</p>
<p>These policies end up with hundreds of thousands of people still displaced from their homes. Though all ages, incomes and races are displaced, some groups are impacted much more than others. The working poor, renters, moms with kids, African-Americans, the elderly and disabled – all are suffering disproportionately from displacement. Race, poverty, age and physical ability are great indicators of who has and who has made it home.</p>
<p>The statistics tell some of the story. The City of New Orleans says it is half its pre-Katrina size – around 225,000 people. But the U.S. Post Office estimates that only about 170,000 people have returned to the city and 400,000 people have not returned to the metropolitan area. The local electricity company reports only about 80,000 of its previous 190,000 customers have returned.</p>
<p>Texas also tells part of the story. It is difficult to understand the impact of Katrina without understanding the role of Texas – home to many of our displaced. Houston officials say their city is still home to about 150,000 storm evacuees – 90,000 in FEMA assisted housing. Texas recently surveyed the displaced and reported that over 250,000 displaced people live in the state and 41 percent of these households report income of less than $500 per month. Eighty-one percent are black, 59 percent are still jobless, most have at least one child at home, and many have serious health issues.</p>
<p>Another 100,000 people displaced by Katrina are in Georgia, more than 80,000 in metro Atlanta – most of whom also need long-term housing and mental health services.</p>
<p>In Louisiana, there are 73,000 families in FEMA trailers. Most of these trailers are 240 square feet of living space. More than 1600 families are still waiting for trailers in St. Bernard Parish. FEMA trailers did not arrive in the lower ninth ward until June – while the displaced waited for water and electricity to resume. Aloyd Edinburgh, 75, lives in the lower ninth ward and just moved into a FEMA trailer. His home flooded as did the homes of all five of his children. “Everybody lost their homes,” he told the Times-Picayune, “They just got trailers. All are rebuilding. They all have mortgages. What else are they going to do?”</p>
<p>Until challenged, FEMA barred reporters from talking with people in FEMA trailer parks without prior permission – forcing a reporter out of a trailer in one park and residents back into their trailer in another in order to stop interviews.</p>
<p>One person displaced into a FEMA village in Baton Rouge has been organizing with her new neighbors. Air conditioners in two trailers for the elderly have been out for over two weeks, yet no one will fix them. The contractor who ran the village has been terminated and another one is coming – no one knows who. She tells me, “My neighbors are dismayed that no one in the city has stepped forward to speak for us. We are “gone.” Who will speak for us? Does anyone care?”</p>
<p>Trailers are visible signs of the displaced. Tens of thousands of other displaced families are living in apartments across the country month to month under continuous threats of FEMA cutoffs.</p>
<p>Numbers say something. But please remember behind every number, there is a Ms. Mosely. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people each with a personal story like Ms. Mosely are struggling to return, trying to make it home.</p>
<p>Water and Electricity</p>
<p>New Orleans continues to lose more water than it uses. The Times-Picayune discovered that the local water system has to pump over 130 million gallons a day so that 50 million gallons will come out. The rest runs away in thousands of leaks in broken water lines, costing the water system $2000,000 a day. The lack of water pressure, half that of other cities, creates significant problems in consumption, sanitation, air-conditioning, and fire prevention. In the lower 9th ward, the water has still not been certified as safe to drink – one year later.</p>
<p>Only half the homes in New Orleans have electricity. Power outages are common as hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs have not been made because Entergy New Orleans is in bankruptcy. Entergy is asking for a 25 percent increase in rates to help it become solvent. Yet Entergy New Orleans’ parent company, Entergy Corporation reported earnings of $282 million last year on revenue of $2.6 billion.</p>
<p>Health and Healthcare</p>
<p>Early this month, on August 1, 2006, another Katrina victim was found in her home in New Orleans, buried under debris. The woman was the 28th person found dead since March 2006. A total of 1577 died in Louisiana as a result of Katrina.</p>
<p>A friend of mine, a lawyer with health insurance and a family physician, went for an appointment recently at 11am. The office was so crowded he had to sit out in the hall on the floor to wait his turn for a seat in the waiting room. Three hours later he met his doctor. The doctor thought might have a gall stone. The doctor tried to set up an ultrasound. None were available. He ordered my friend to the emergency room for an ultrasound. At 4pm my friend went to the hospital emergency room, which was jammed with people: stroke victims, young kids with injuries, people brought in by the police. At 5am the next morning, my friend finished his ultrasound and went home. If it takes a lawyer with health insurance that long to get medical attention, consider what poor people without health insurance are up against.</p>
<p>Half the hospitals open before Katrina are still closed. The state’s biggest public healthcare provider, Charity Hospital, remains closed and there are no current plans to reopen it anytime soon. Healthcare could actually get worse. Dr. Mark Peters, board chair of the Metropolitan Hospital Council of New Orleans said within the next two to three months, “all the hospitals” will be looking seriously at cutbacks. Why? Doctors and healthcare workers have left and there is surging demand from the uninsured who before Katrina went through now non-existent public healthcare. There is a shortage of nurses. Blue Cross Blue Shield officials reported “About three-quarters of the physicians who had been practicing in New Orleans are no longer submitting claims.”</p>
<p>There is no hospital at all in the city for psychiatric patients. While the metropolitan area had about 450 psychiatric beds before the storm, 80 are now available. The police are the first to encounter those with mental illness. One recent Friday afternoon, police dealt with two mental patients – one was throwing bricks through a bar window, the other was found wandering naked on the interstate.</p>
<p>The elderly are particularly vulnerable. Over 70 percent of the deaths from Katrina were people over 60 years old. No one knows how many seniors have not made it back home. Esther Bass, 69, told the New York Times, after months of searching for a place to come home to New Orleans, “If there are apartments, I can’t afford them. And they say there will be senior centers, but they’re still being built. They can’t even tell you what year they’ll be finished.” As of late July 2006, most nursing homes in the 12 parish Gulf Coast area of Louisiana are still not fully prepared to evacuate residents in the face of a hurricane.</p>
<p>The healthcare community has been rocked by the arrest of a doctor and two nurses after the Louisiana Attorney General accused them of intentionally ending the lives of four patients trapped in a now-closed local hospital. The accusations now go before a local grand jury which is not expected to make a decision on charges for several more months. The case is complicated for several reasons. Most important is that the doctor and nurses are regarded as some of the most patient-oriented and caring people of the entire hospital staff. It is undisputed that they worked day and night to save hundreds of patients from the hospital during the days it was without water, electricity or food. Others say that entire hospital and many others were abandoned by the government and that is what the attorney general should be investigating. The gravity of the charges, though, is giving everyone in the community pause. This, like so much else, will go on for years before there is any resolution. Jobs</p>
<p>Before Katrina, there were over 630,000 workers in the metropolitan New Orleans area – now there are slightly over 400,000. Over 18,000 businesses suffered “catastrophic” damage in Louisiana. Nearly one in four of the displaced workers is still unemployed. Education and healthcare have lost the most employees. Most cannot return because there is little affordable housing, child care, public transportation and public health care.</p>
<p>Women workers, especially African American women workers, continue to bear the heaviest burden of harm from the storm. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research reports that the percentage of women in the New Orleans workforce has dropped. The number of single mother families in New Orleans has dropped from 51,000 to 17,000. Low-income women remain displaced because of the lack of affordable housing and traditional discrimination against women in the construction industry.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of migrant workers, roughly half undocumented, have come to the Gulf Coast to work in the recovery. Many were recruited. Most workers tell of being promised good wages and working conditions and plenty of work. Some paid money up front for the chance to come to the area to work. Most of these promises were broken. A tour of the area reveals many Latino workers live in houses without electricity, other live out of cars. At various places in the city whole families are living in tents. Two recently released human rights reports document the problems of these workers.</p>
<p>Immigrant workers are doing the dirtiest, most dangerous work, in the worst working conditions. Toxic mold, lead paint, fiberglass, and who knows what other chemicals are part of daily work. Safety equipment is not always provided. Day laborers, a new category of workers in New Orleans, are harassed by the police and periodic immigration raids. Wage theft is widespread as employers often do not pay living wages, and sometimes do not pay at all. Some of the powers try to pit local workers against new arrivals – despite the fact that our broken Gulf Coast clearly needs all the workers we can get.</p>
<p>Public transportation to and from low-wage jobs is more difficult. Over 200 more public transit employees have been terminated – cutting employment from over 1300 people pre-Katrina to about 700 now.</p>
<p>Single working parents seeking childcare are in trouble. Before Katrina, New Orleans had 266 licensed day care centers. Mississippi State University surveyed the city in July 2006 and found 80 percent of the day care centers and over 75 percent of the 1912 day care spots are gone. Only one-third of the Head Start centers that were open pre-Katrina survived.</p>
<p>Public Education</p>
<p>Before Katrina, 56,000 students were enrolled in over 100 public schools in New Orleans. At the end of the school year there were only 12,500. Right after the storm, the local school board gave many of the best public schools to charter groups. The State took over almost all the rest. By the end of the school year, four schools were operated by the pre-Katrina school board, three by the State, and eighteen were new charter schools.</p>
<p>After thirty-two years of collective bargaining, the union contract with the New Orleans public school teachers elapsed and was not renewed and 7500 employees were terminated.</p>
<p>For this academic year, no one knows for certain how many students will enroll in New Orleans public schools. Official estimates vary between a low of 22,000 and a high of 34,000.</p>
<p>There will be five traditional locally supervised public schools, eighteen schools operated by the State, and thirty-four charter schools. As of July 1, not a single teacher had been hired for fifteen of the state-run schools. As of August 9, 2006, the Times-Picayune reported there are no staff at all identified to educate students with discipline problems or other educational issues that require special attention.</p>
<p>Whatever the enrollment in the new public school system is in the fall, it will not give an accurate indication of how many children have returned. Why? Many students in the public charter schools were in private schools before the hurricane.</p>
<p>Criminal Legal System</p>
<p>Consider also our criminal legal system. Chaka Davis was arrested on misdemeanor charges in October 2005 and jailed at the Greyhound station in New Orleans in October of 2005.</p>
<p>Under Louisiana law, he was required to be formally charged within 30 days of arrest or released from custody. Because of a filing error he was lost in the system. He was never charged, never went to court, and never saw a lawyer in over 8 months – even though the maximum penalty for conviction for one of his misdemeanors was only 6 months. His mother found him in an out of town jail and brought his situation to the attention of the public defenders. He was released the next day.</p>
<p>Crime is increasingly a problem. In July, New Orleans lost almost as many people to murder as in July of 2005, with only 40 percent of the population back. There are many young people back in town while their parents have not returned. State and local officials called in the National Guard to patrol lightly populated areas so local police could concentrate on high-crime, low-income neighborhoods. Arrests have soared, but the number of murders remain high. Unfortunately, several of the National Guard have been arrested for criminal behavior as well – two for looting liquor from a home, two others for armed robbery at a traffic stop.</p>
<p>Criminal Court District Judge Arthur Hunter has declared the current criminal justice system shameful and unconstitutional and promises to start releasing inmates awaiting trial on recognizance bonds on the one year anniversary of Katrina. The system is nearly paralyzed by a backlog of over 6000 cases. There are serious evidence problems because of resigned police officers, displaced victims, displaced witnesses, and flooded evidence rooms. The public defender system, which was down to 4 trial attorneys for months, is starting to rebuild.</p>
<p>“After 11 months of waiting, 11 months of meetings, 11 months of idle talk, 11 months without a sensible recovery plan and 11 months tolerating those who have the authority to solve, correct and fix the problem but either refuse, fail or are just inept, then necessary action must be taken to protect the constitutional rights of people,’ said Hunter.</p>
<p>In the suburbs across the lake, Sheriff Jack Strain told the media on TV that he was going to protect his jurisdiction from “thugs” and “trash” migrating from closed public housing projects in New Orleans. He went on to promise that every person who wore “dreadlocks or che-wee hairstyles” could expect to be stopped by law enforcement. The NAACP and the ACLU called in the U.S. Justice Department and held a revival-like rally at a small church just down the road from the jail. Though the area is over 80 percent white, the small group promised to continue to challenge injustice no matter how powerful the person committing the injustice. Recently, the same law enforcement people set up a roadblock and were stopping only Latino people to check IDs and insurance. I guess to prove they were not only harassing black people?</p>
<p>Finally, a grand jury has started looking into actions by other suburban police officers who blocked a group of people, mostly black, from escaping the floodwaters of New Orleans by walking across the Mississippi River bridge. The suburban police forced the crowd to flee back across the two mile bridge by firing weapons into the air.</p>
<p>This is the criminal legal system in the New Orleans area in 2006. None dare call it criminal justice.</p>
<p>International Human Rights</p>
<p>The Gulf Coast has gained new respect for international human rights because they provide a more appropriate way to look at what should be happening. The fact that there is an international human right of internally displaced people to return to their homes and a responsibility on government to help is heartening even though yet unfulfilled.</p>
<p>The United Nations has blasted the poor U.S. response to Katrina. The UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva accepted a report from Special Reporter Arjun Sengupta who visited New Orleans in fall of 2005 and concluded: “The Committee…remains concerned about information that poor people, and in particular African-Americans, were disadvantaged by the rescue and evacuation plans implemented when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States of America, and continue to be disadvantaged under the reconstruction plans.”</p>
<p>Asian tsunami relief workers who visited New Orleans over the summer were shocked at the lack of recovery. Somsook Boonyabancha, director of the Community Organisations Development Institute in Thailand, told Reuters she was shocked at the lack of progress in New Orleans. “I’m surprised to see why the reconstruction work is so slow, because this is supposed to be one of the most rich and efficient countries in the world. It is starting at such a slow speed, incredibly slow speed.”</p>
<p>Warnings to the Displaced</p>
<p>Local United Way officials see the lack of housing, healthcare and jobs and conclude that low-income people should seriously consider not returning to New Orleans anytime soon. United Way wrote: “Most of these people want to come home, but if they do not have a recovery plan they need to stay where they are. Some of these evacuees think that they can come back and stay with families and in a few weeks have a place of their own. But the reality is that they may end up living with those relatives for years. Sending people back without a realistic plan may have serious consequences: the crowding of families into small apartments/homes/FEMA trailers is causing mental health problems – stress, abuse, violence, and even death – and this problem is going to get worse, not better. Also, when the elderly (and others) are those returning and living in these conditions, their health is impacted and then the lack of medical facilities and hospital beds is a problem. Again the result may be death….Basically if an evacuee says they have a place to stay – like with relatives – those communities will give them bus fare back or pay for U-hauls. If an evacuee was a renter here and they want to return they should be told to plan on returning in 3-7 years, and in the meantime stay there, get a job, and be much better off.”</p>
<p>FEMA officials in Austin are also warning people about returning to New Orleans. They wrote: “Before you return….New Orleans is a changing place…you should consider the conditions you may be returning to. Many neighborhood schools will not be open by August. Your children may have to travel some distance to get to school…Grocery and supermarkets have been slow to return to many neighborhoods. Sometimes there aren’t enough residents back in your neighborhood for a store to open and be profitable. You may have to travel a large distance to groceries. Walking to the store might not be an option…If you or your family members require regular medical attention, or if you are pregnant or nursing, the services you received before the storm may be scattered and in very different and distant locations. Depending on your medical needs, you may have to drive across the river or even as far away as Baton Rouge…If you or your family members have allergies, remember that there is lots of dust and mold still in the city. While you may have suffered from allergies before the storm, please consider that being in the city will only worsen your allergies. If you have asthma, other respiratory or cardiac conditions, or immune system problems, you would be safer staying out of flooded areas due to the mold, particles and dust in the air. If you must return to the city, wear an approved respirator when working in moldy or dusty areas. …Additionally, police, fire and emergency personnel are stretched to their limits…If you own a car, gas and service stations are limited in many areas. You may need to purchase a gas can in the event you cannot get gas near your home…Public transportation (busses) are also limited and do not operate in all areas….Available and affordable housing is extremely rare. Waiting lists for apartments are as large as 300 on the list, depending on how many bedrooms you need. Living inside your home could be dangerous if mold has set in of if your utilities are not in top working condition…Living in New Orleans may be easier said than done until we have fully recovered from the storm.”</p>
<p>This is New Orleans, one year after Katrina.</p>
<p>Where Did the Money Go?</p>
<p>Everyone who visits New Orleans asks the same question that locals ask – where is the money? Congress reportedly appropriated over $100 billion to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Over $50 billion was allocated to temporary and long-term housing. Just under $30 billion was for emergency response and Department of Defense spending. Over $18 billion was for State and local response and the rebuilding of infrastructure. $3.6 billion was for health, social services and job training and $3.2 for non-housing cash assistance. $1.9 billion was allocated for education and $1.2 billion for agriculture.</p>
<p>One hour in New Orleans shows the check must still be in the mail.</p>
<p>Not a single dollar in federal housing rehab money has made it into a hand in Louisiana. Though Congress has allocated nearly $10 billion in Community Development Block Grants, the State of Louisiana is still testing the program and has not yet distributed dollar number one.</p>
<p>A lot of media attention has gone to the prosecution of people who wrongfully claimed benefits of $2000 or more after the storm. Their fraud is despicable. It harms those who are still waiting for assistance from FEMA.</p>
<p>But, be clear – these little $2000 thieves are minnows swimming on the surface. There are many big savage sharks below. Congress and the national media have so far been frustrated in their quest to get real answers to where the millions and billions went. How much was actually spent on FEMA trailers? How much did the big contractors take off the top and then subcontract out the work? Who were the subcontractors for the multi-million dollar debris removal and reconstruction contracts?</p>
<p>As Corpwatch says in their recent report, “Many of the same ‘disaster profiteers’ and government agencies that mishandled the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq are responsible for the failure of ‘reconstruction’ of the Gulf Coast region. The Army Corps, Bechtel and Halliburton are using the very same ‘contract vehicles’ in the Gulf Coast as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. These are ‘indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity’ open-ended ‘contingency’ contracts that are being abused by the contractors on the Gulf Coast to squeeze out local companies. These are also ‘cost-plus’ contracts that allow them to collect a profit on everything they spend, which is an incentive to overspend.”</p>
<p>We do know billions of dollars in no-bid FEMA contracts went to Bechtel Corporation, the Shaw Group, CH2M Hill, and Fluor immediately after Katrina hit. Riley Bechtel, CEO of Bechtel Corporation, served on President Bush’s Export Council during 2003-2004. A lobbyist for the Shaw Group, Joe Allbaugh, is a former FEMA Director and friend of President Bush. The President and Group Chief Executive of the International Group at CH2MHill is Robert Card, appointed by President Bush as undersecretary to the US Department of Energy until 2004. Card also worked at CH2M Hill before signing up with President Bush. Fluor, whose work in Iraq was slowing down, is one of the big winners of FEMA work and its stock is up 65 percent since it started Katrina work.</p>
<p>Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota has raised many protests and questions over inflated prices. “It is hard to overstate the incompetence involved in all of these contracts – we have repeatedly asked them for information and you get nothing.” Republican U.S. Representative Charles Bustany, who represents an area heavily damaged by Hurricane Rita, asked FEMA for reasons why the decision was made to stop funding 100 percent of the cost of debris removal in his district. FEMA refused to tell him. He then filed a Freedom of Information request to get the information, and was again refused. When he asked to appeal their denial, he was told that there were many appeals ahead of his and he would have to wait.</p>
<p>If a US Senator and a local U.S. Republican Representative cannot get answers from FEMA, how much accountability can the people of the Gulf Coast expect? There are many other examples of fraud, waste and patronage.</p>
<p>How did a company that did not own a truck get a contract for debris removal worth hundreds of millions of dollars? The Miami Herald reported that the single biggest receiver of early Katrina federal contracts was Ashbritt, Inc. of Pompano Beach, FL, which received over $579 million in contracts for debris removal in Mississippi from Army Corps of Engineers.</p>
<p>The paper reported that the company does not own a single dumptruck! All they do is subcontract out the work. Ashbritt, however, had recently dumped $40,000 into the lobbying firm of Barbour, Griffith &amp; Rogers, which had been run by Mississippi Governor and former National GOP Chair Haley Barbour. The owners of Ashbritt also trucked $50,000 over to the Republican National Committee in 2004.</p>
<p>How did a company that filed for bankruptcy the year before and was not licensed to build trailers get a $200 million contract for trailers? Circle B Enterprises of Georgia was awarded $287 million in contracts by FEMA for temporary housing. At the time, that was the seventh highest award of Katrina money in the country. According to the Washington Post, Circle B was not even being licensed to build homes in its own state of Georgia and filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The company does not even have a website.</p>
<p>FEMA spent $7 million to build a park for 198 trailers in Morgan City Louisiana – almost 2 hours away from New Orleans.</p>
<p>Construction was completed in April. Three months later only 20 of the trailers were occupied. One displaced New Orleans resident who lives there has to walk three miles to the nearest grocery.</p>
<p>Hurricanes are now a booming billion dollar business. No wonder there is a National Hurricane Conference for private companies to show off their wares – from RVs to portable cell phone towers to port-a-potties. One long time provider was quoted by the Miami Herald at the conference that there are all kinds of new people in the field – ‘Some folks here said, `Man, this is huge business; this is my new business. I’m not in the landscaping business anymore, I’m going to be a hurricane debris contractor.’ ”</p>
<p>On the local level, we are not any better.</p>
<p>One year after Katrina the City of New Orleans still does not have a comprehensive rebuilding plan. The first plan by advisors to the Mayor was shelved before the election. A city council plan was then started and the state and federal government mandated yet another process that may or may not include some of the recommendations of the prior two processes. One of the early advisors from the Urban Land Institute, John McIlwain, blasted the delays in late July. “It’s virtually a city with a city administration and its worse than ever…You need a politician, a leader that is willing to make tough decisions and articulate to people why these decisions are made, which means everyone is not going to be happy.” Without major changes at City Hall the City will have miles of neglected neighborhoods for decades. “We’re talking Dresden after World War II.”</p>
<p>Signs of Hope</p>
<p>Despite the tragedies that continue to plague our Gulf Coast, there is hope. Between the rocks of hardship, green life continues to sprout defiantly.</p>
<p>Fifteen feet of water washed through Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School for Science and Technology in the lower 9th Ward. When people were finally able to get into the building, the bodies of fish were found on the second floor. Parents and over 90% of the teachers organized a grass-roots effort to put their school back together. Their first attempts to gut and repair the school by locals and volunteers from Common Ground were temporarily stopped by local school officials and the police. Even after the gutting was allowed to resume, the community was told that the school could not reopen due to insufficient water pressure in the neighborhood.</p>
<p>But the teachers and parents are pressing ahead anyway in a temporary location until they can get back in their school. Assistant Principal Joseph Recasner told the Times-Picayune: “Rebuilding our school says this is a very special community, tied together by more than location, but by spirituality, by bloodlines, and by a desire to come back.”</p>
<p>New Orleans is fortunate to have a working newspaper again. The Times-Picayune won a well-deserved Pulitzer for its Katrina coverage. Its staff continues to provide quality documentation of the Gulf Coast region’s efforts to repair and rebuild.</p>
<p>The New Orleans Vietnamese people continue to inspire us. They were among the very first group back and they have joined forces to care for their elders, rebuild their community church, and work together in a most cooperative manner to resurrect their community. Recently they took legal and direct action to successfully stop the placement of a gigantic landfill right next to their community. Their determination and sense of community-building is a good model for us all.</p>
<p>The only Republican running for Congress in New Orleans is blasting President Bush over failed Katrina promises. Joe Lavigne is running radio ads saying, “Sadly, George Bush has forgotten us. He’s spending too much time and money on Iraq and not enough living up to his promise to rebuild New Orleans. His priorities are wrong. I’m running for Congress to hold President Bush accountable.” Maybe other Republicans will join in.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of volunteers from every walk of life have joined with the people of the Gulf Coast to help repair and rebuild. Lawyers are giving free help to Katrina victims who need legal help to rebuild their homes. Medical personnel staff free clinics. Thousands of college, high school and even some grade school students have traveled to the area to help families gut their devastated homes. Churches, temples, and mosques from across the world have joined with sisters and brothers in New Orleans to repair and rebuild.</p>
<p>Despite open attempts to divide them, black and brown and white and yellow workers have started to talk to each other. Small groups have started to work together to fight for living wages and safe jobs for all workers. Thousands came together for a rally for respectful treatment for Latino and immigrant workers. Seasoned civil rights activists welcomed the new movement and pledged to work together.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the people of the Gulf Coast are the greatest sign of hope. Despite setbacks that people in the US rarely suffer, people continue to help each other and fight for their right to return home and the right to live in the city they love.</p>
<p>On Sunday morning, a 70 year old woman told a friend where her children are. “They are all scattered,” she sighed. “One is in Connecticut, one in Rhode Island, one in Austin.” When he asked about her, she said, “Me? I am in Texas right now. I am back here to visit my 93 year old mother and go to the second line of Black Men of Labor on Labor Day. But I’m coming back. Yes indeed. I will return. I’m coming back.”</p>
<p>BILL QUIGLEY is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach him at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>For more information see <a href="http://www.justiceforneworleans.org" type="external">www.justiceforneworleans.org</a></p>
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<p /> | New Orleans a Year After Katrina | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/08/22/new-orleans-a-year-after-katrina/ | 2006-08-22 | 4 |
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<p>The company's founder and chief executive, Elon Musk, said Monday that hundreds of these struts had flown many times before without any problem. But two minutes into the June 28 launch, one of the struts in the second stage of the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket likely broke loose.</p>
<p>The strut was holding down a high-pressure helium bottle in the liquid oxygen tank. If the strut snapped as engineers believe, according to Musk, the bottle would have shot to the top of the tank at high speed, dooming the rocket and its Dragon supply ship for the International Space Station.</p>
<p>It was the third lost shipment for the orbiting lab in eight months. Russia has resumed deliveries, while SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp., NASA's contracted suppliers, remain grounded.</p>
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<p>Musk stressed at a news conference that these are preliminary results. He also noted that the Dragon could have saved itself, via parachutes, if the right software had been on board.</p>
<p>He declined to say when the California-based company might attempt another launch, noting the strut issue should push out the flights by maybe just a few months.</p>
<p>"But we want to make sure that we've turned over every piece of data," Musk said, and make certain that nothing else is lurking out there.</p>
<p>"To some degree, I think the company as a whole became maybe a little bit complacent over the course of seven years and - essentially 20 successes in a row," he told reporters.</p>
<p>Preflight photos showed all of the struts to be fine. But after the failed launch, a few struts on the ground were found to be weak, and that's the basis for SpaceX's initial assessment of the accident, Musk told reporters.</p>
<p>The findings tend to jive with the over-pressurization of the second stage detected in the immediate aftermath of the accident. The rocket's first stage still was operating fine and had yet to separate.</p>
<p>The struts are 2 feet long and about an inch thick at its thickest. SpaceX does not make the struts, a supplier does. From now on, each one will be individually checked, Musk said, and the design and material may be altered for added strength.</p>
<p>The struts are designed to handle 10,000 pounds of force at liftoff; at the time of the accident, they would have been seeing only 2,000 pounds of force. A failure at such a low threshold is "pretty crazy," Musk said. The strut most likely failed at its attachment point, he added.</p>
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<p>Another change: Beginning with its next launch, each Dragon cargo carrier will be equipped with software for deploying its parachutes. The Dragon destroyed last month, along with an estimated $110 million worth of NASA equipment and supplies, would have survived if the parachutes normally used for descent at mission's end could have been activated, Musk said.</p>
<p>Future Dragon crew capsules, still a couple years away from launching with astronauts, already have a means for emergency escape.</p>
<p>Musk pointed out that his company had about 500 employees at the time of the last SpaceX rocket failure seven years ago; now it has 4,000. Most employees consequently had only seen success - until June 28 - which means they might not have feared failure quite as much, he said.</p>
<p>Musk, who also runs the Tesla electric car company, said before every launch, he would send out a companywide email encouraging workers to let him know if there is any possible reason for delaying the flight. He realizes some thought he was being paranoid. Indeed, there was "an extreme level of paranoia in the whole team" during the early days of SpaceX's rocket building with the Falcon 1, he said.</p>
<p>"But I think now everyone at the company appreciates just how difficult it is to get rockets to orbit successfully," he said, "and I think we'll be stronger for it."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>SpaceX: <a href="http://www.spacex.com/" type="external">http://www.spacex.com/</a></p> | SpaceX says 2-foot strut snapped, brought down rocket | false | https://abqjournal.com/615536/spacex-says-2-foot-strut-snapped-brought-down-rocket.html | 2 |
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<p>Kaltbaum Capital Management President Gary Kaltbaum on how political and economic uncertainties will impact the market’s outlook.</p>
<p>A jury on Monday found that the father and son team that once managed a high-profile money market mutual fund did not commit fraud as their Reserve Primary Fund “broke the buck” in 2008.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The managers, Bruce Bent Sr. and Bruce Bent II, were charged with misleading investors in a civil case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The two were accused of lying to their investors that efforts would be taken to avoid “breaking the buck,” or falling below the $1-a-share price required by money market funds.</p>
<p>In September 2008, shortly after the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, the $62 billion Reserve Primary Fund, which held a substantial amount of Lehman debt, fell below the $1-a-share price, a virtually unprecedented event in the staid world of money market funds.</p>
<p>Fears that other money market funds would also “break the buck” forced the government to agree to backstop the industry.</p>
<p>The Bents denied the charges. In court testimony the men described efforts they took to shore up the &#160;&#160;&#160;fund’s reserves.</p>
<p>Bent II was found negligent by the jury.</p>
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<p>Bent Sr. is known as the father of the money market mutual fund, founding the Reserve Primary Fund in 1970 as a safe investment vehicle.</p> | "Break the Buck" Fund Managers Not Guilty of Fraud | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2012/11/12/reserve-fund-managers-not-guilty-fraud.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>In an email made public by Wikileaks, DOJ attorney Peter Kadzik used his private gmail account, [email protected], to tip off Clinton campaign chief John Podesta that an HJC oversight hearing would likely focus on State Department emails.</p>
<p>Peter Kadzik used his private gmail account, [email protected], to tip off John Podesta <a href="https://t.co/T2AVbmYJk6" type="external">pic.twitter.com/T2AVbmYJk6</a></p>
<p>Podesta <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/43150" type="external">replied,</a> “Additional chances for mischief.” Podesta forwarded the email to several top <a href="http://observer.com/2016/09/exclusive-hillary-clinton-campaign-systematically-overcharging-poorest-donors/" type="external">Clinton</a> staffers.</p>
<p>Kadzik will <a href="http://freebeacon.com/politics/doj-official-involved-huma-abedin-email-probe-donated-hillary/" type="external">oversee</a> the DOJ probe into Clinton aide Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner’s emails that involve <a href="http://observer.com/2016/09/breaking-guccifer-2-0-releases-more-dnc-docs-exposing-more-corruption/" type="external">Clinton’s</a> private email server. He and Podesta attended Georgetown University law school together in the 1970s.</p>
<p>Kadzik told his son to try to get a job at the Clinton campaign through his Podesta connection. Podesta wrote in 1998 that Kadzik was a “Fantastic lawyer. Kept me out of jail,” after independent counsel Kenneth Starr investigated Podesta with regard to getting Monica Lewinsky a job at the United Nations.</p>
<p><a href="http://observer.com/2016/11/breaking-assistant-attorney-general-tipped-off-clinton-camp-about-doj-investigation/" type="external">Roughly</a> 44,000 out of the 50,000 emails that Wikileaks obtained from John Podesta have been released; the , rest of the emails will be released over the next few days.</p> | DOJ Lawyer Kadzik Privately Tipped Off Podesta | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10437/kadzik-privately-tipped-podesta-hank-berrien | 2016-11-02 | 0 |
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<p>Brett Armijo. Photo/Santa Fe Co. jail.</p>
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<p>Armijo was booked into the Santa Fe County jail just before 6 p.m. Thursday following his arrest just before 12:30 p.m.</p>
<p>——————————————————————————- SANTA FE – A Santa Fe man with a criminal history was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with two in a string of five armed robberies that started Sunday. He is suspected in several others.</p>
<p>Brett Armijo, 21, was arrested by Santa Fe officers without incident with the assistance of a SWAT team just before 12:30 p.m. at his home on Calle Delfino, said police spokeswoman Lt. Andrea Dobyns.</p>
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<p>Police had secured a warrant for his arrest charging him with the robbery of Los Panchitos Mini Mart at 1310 Osage on Sunday and the Subway at 4350 Airport on Monday, she said. The SWAT team assisted “because of the types of crimes he has committed,” Dobyns said.</p>
<p>“We suspect he is linked to several other armed robberies,” said Dobyns.</p>
<p>Armijo: Charged in armed robberies</p>
<p>Those include Tuesday evening holdups when a robber struck at 5:15 p.m. at the Fill ‘er Up at 2631 Cerrillos and at 6:30 p.m. at the Dollar General at 5992 Airport, and the Wednesday night robbery of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream store on Cerrillos Road about 7:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Armijo may also be linked to other crimes, Dobyns said.</p>
<p>Armijo also had an arrest order from state Adult Probation and Parole. Before Thursday, his most recent arrest was July 6 on a failure to pay fines charge and he was released the following day, jail records show.</p>
<p>After his arrest Thursday, detectives were questioning Armijo and his home has been sealed off until a warrant could be obtained to search it, Dobyns said. Officers had received information that tied Armijo to the hold-ups, said Dobyns. “We actually got several tips and our detectives were able to follow up,” she said.</p>
<p>Consistent witness descriptions and the fact that the suspect’s image was captured on the surveillance video systems of several of the businesses that were robbed helped, said Dobyns. “Witnesses positively identified him,” she said.</p>
<p>Armijo was already known to local police, Dobyns said. According to court and jail records, Armijo has been arrested several times on traffic infractions and pleaded guilty in 2013 in Santa Fe District Court to felony possession of a controlled substance.</p>
<p>Another charge of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia was dismissed in 2013, court records indicate.</p>
<p>The robbery investigations had been a priority for police. “It’s concerning because it hasn’t stopped,” Dobyns said on Thursday morning before the arrest. “He does appear to have a gun and it could escalate.”</p>
<p>The serial robber usually displayed a handgun in his waistband. Police believe he left the robbery scenes on foot and then got to a vehicle to make a getaway, although no vehicle has been seen, Dobyns said.</p>
<p /> | Suspect in string of robberies arrested; held on $125,000 bond | false | https://abqjournal.com/530521/suspect-in-string-of-robberies-arrested.html | 2015-01-23 | 2 |
<p>AP Images</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Andrew Stiles</a> April 11, 2012 2:52 pm</p>
<p>Female employees in the Obama White House make considerably less than their male colleagues, records show.</p>
<p>According to the 2011 <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/annual-records/2011" type="external">annual report</a> on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).</p>
<p>Calculating the median salary for each gender required some assumptions to be made based on the employee names. When unclear, every effort was taken to determine the appropriate gender.</p>
<p>The Obama campaign on Wednesday <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-campaign-on-defensive-over-equal-pay-law" type="external">lashed out</a> at presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney for his failure to &#160;immediately&#160;endorse the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, a <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/224904/no-fair/editors" type="external">controversial</a> law enacted in 2009 that made it easier to file discrimination lawsuits.</p>
<p>President Obama has frequently criticized the gender pay gap, such as the one that exists in White House.</p>
<p>"Paycheck discrimination hurts families who lose out on badly needed income," he said in a July 2010 <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-equal-pay" type="external">statement</a>. "And with so many families depending on women's wages, it hurts the American economy as a whole."</p>
<p>It is not known whether any female employees at the White House have filed lawsuits under the Ledbetter Act.</p>
<p>The president and his Democratic allies have accused Republicans of waging a " <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/04/11/truth-about-war-on-women/" type="external">war on women</a>," and have touted themselves as champions of female equality. Obama’s rhetoric, however, has <a href="" type="internal">not always been supported by his actions</a>.</p>
<p>White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters last week that Obama believes it is " <a href="" type="internal">long past the time</a>" for women to be admitted to the traditionally all-male Augusta National Golf Club, site of the Masters golf tournament.</p>
<p>But the president has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/us/politics/25vibe.html?_r=2" type="external">demonstrated</a> a strong preference for all-male foursomes in his frequent golf outings, a bias that extends well beyond the putting green and into the Oval Office.</p>
<p>"Women are Obama’s base, and they don’t seem to have enough people who look like the base inside of their own inner circle," former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/us/politics/25vibe.html?_r=2" type="external">told</a> the New York Times.</p>
<p>In a 2011 article titled " <a href="http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/21/the-white-house-boys-club-president-obama-has-a-woman-problem/" type="external">The White House Boys’ Club: President Obama Has a Woman Problem</a>," TIME magazine’s Amy Sullivan detailed the president’s fondness for male-dominated environments.</p>
<p>"There’s a looseness to Obama when he’s hanging out with the boys club that doesn’t appear in co-ed gatherings," she wrote. "The president blows off steam on the golf course with male colleagues and friends. He takes to the White House basketball court with NBA stars, men’s college players, and male cabinet members and members of Congress."</p>
<p>As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama was <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/09/is-mccains-sena/" type="external">criticized</a> for paying the women on his campaign staff less than the men, and far less than GOP opponent John McCain paid his female staffers.</p> | Hostile Workplace | true | http://freebeacon.com/hostile-workplace/ | 2012-04-11 | 0 |
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<p>You'll be spending more time with loved ones, and less money..</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Lots of people fret about whether they'll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. While some real shortfalls do exist, we normally completely ignore our ability to adapt to our financial situations and find happiness at any spending level.</p>
<p>We also aren't too good at predicting how our spending will change as we age -- by choice or not. Such was the topic for a recent <a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-5/spending-patterns-of-older-americans.htm" type="external">report Opens a New Window.</a> released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In the end, there were three big conclusions that were reached. Find out what they were -- and how to use the information in your own life, below...</p>
<p>Housing remains paramountAmong households of all ages, housing is the largest expense, taking up, on average, one-third of expenses. The BLS paper studied households in three sections, those approaching retirement (age 55-64), those transitioning into retirement (65-74), and those well into retirement (75+).</p>
<p>Source: BLS.</p>
<p>The vast majority have paid off their houses by the time they reach 75. But paying for upkeep and taxes still eats up the same amount of the household's income:</p>
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<p><a href="https://infogr.am/FxYxNuk15ZK4zsRh" type="external">Spending on Housing Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://charts.infogr.am/column-chart?utm_source=embed_bottom&amp;utm_medium=seo&amp;utm_campaign=column_chart" type="external">Create column charts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Why is that?</p>
<p>The answer is that while spending on housing decreases, overall income decreases at an even greater clip. When adults are in their late 50s, they are, on average, just coming off their peak earning years. Once they enter retirement, many don't have the means -- or, perhaps, the desire -- to spend sums equal to their prior income.</p>
<p>The takeaway is simple: Just because you're done paying off your house doesn't mean your housing expenses will disappear. Houses are manufactured goods that require a lot of upkeep. As you get older, you'll probably have to hire out help to do the more strenuous tasks you would normally do yourself. Don't neglect these expenses in your retirement planning.</p>
<p>Spending in two major areas will fall dramaticallyMany people think of retirement as a time to take the worldwide vacations they never had the time to enjoy while they were working. That might lead one to assume that costs for transportation will skyrocket.</p>
<p>In reality, these trips might occur, but they're heavily front-loaded toward the first few years of retirement. And most people severely underestimate how much they'll save simply because they aren't forced to commute. It's a nice surprise for most retired folks!</p>
<p>For the average American household, spending on transportation -- combined with taxes due for Social Security and pensions -- account for a whopping 28% of all expenses. But these expenses drop precipitously once one transitions into retirement:</p>
<p><a href="https://infogr.am/rmbETshxy89tzWH8" type="external">Transportation &amp; Social Security/Pension Costs Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://charts.infogr.am/column-chart?utm_source=embed_bottom&amp;utm_medium=seo&amp;utm_campaign=column_chart" type="external">Create column charts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>This is one of those topics that should make you smile. While there are several other categories (clothing, food, and so on) that also take dips as one transitions into retirement, none are quite so dramatic as these two.</p>
<p>For those on the cusp of retirement, remember to include these projections into your own calculations, as they might give you more breathing room that you once thought you had.</p>
<p>Medical expenses continue growing, but not as quickly as you might thinkIt's no secret that medical expenses -- especially long-term care for those who aren't insured for it -- can be very costly in retirement. In reality, while such expenses do tend to increase somewhat, it's not the absolute increase that causes the real problems; it's that the expenses stay the same while one's income shrinks, progressively taking a bigger piece of a household's pie.</p>
<p><a href="https://infogr.am/i926QMS3pknGOo1v" type="external">Medical Expenses Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://charts.infogr.am/column-chart?utm_source=embed_bottom&amp;utm_medium=seo&amp;utm_campaign=column_chart" type="external">Create column charts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>There are multiple takeaways we can get from this. First, as I mentioned, it's important to consider long-term care insurance. Second, for every healthy habit you establish now (quit smoking, exercise regularly, and so on), the less likely you are to incur crushing charges against you. And third, be sure that you factor in steadily rising expenses against what will probably be a smaller income base later in retirement.</p>
<p>Putting it all togetherThough two of these three categories point toward relatively high costs while transitioning into retirement, the larger picture is still one of reduced costs. When we factor everyone and everything into our equations, spending drops 13% between our pre-retirees and our transitioning retirees. It drops an additional 25% from there once households are well into retirement (75-plus years old).</p>
<p>For those who are behind on retirement savings, that's cause for relief -- though not an excuse to slack off on your savings.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/04/11/heres-how-the-average-americans-spending-changes-i.aspx" type="external">Here's How the Average American's Spending Changes in Retirement Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Here's How the Average American's Spending Changes in Retirement | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/11/here-how-average-american-spending-changes-in-retirement.html | 2016-04-11 | 0 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday afternoon’s drawing of the Dist. of Columbia Lottery’s “DC 4 Midday” game were:</p>
<p>8-8-9-6</p>
<p>(eight, eight, nine, six)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday afternoon’s drawing of the Dist. of Columbia Lottery’s “DC 4 Midday” game were:</p>
<p>8-8-9-6</p>
<p>(eight, eight, nine, six)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘DC 4 Midday’ game | false | https://apnews.com/b38b9472b43a4a87831045cf69c3881d | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>Once more, with feeling: President Barack Obama paid yet another visit to the disaster-stricken Gulf Coast on Tuesday to survey the scene and to do a little damage control of his own. — KA</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>With his visits to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, Mr. Obama was trying to blunt criticism of his administration’s efforts to guard those states from the environmental and economic damage already done to Louisiana.</p>
<p>Residents and officials in all three states have voiced dissatisfaction with the administration’s management of the spill response, and with BP PLC’s handling of damage claims filed by residents and businesses harmed by the disaster.</p>
<p />
<p>Mr. Obama said he has begun “constructive” talks with BP on the creation of an independently operated recovery fund to ensure “legitimate claims are dealt with fairly, justly, promptly.”</p>
<p><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575306291990174942.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Obama Goes Back to the Gulf | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/obama-goes-back-to-the-gulf/ | 2010-06-15 | 4 |
<p>"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rom&amp;c=3" type="external">Romans 3:10</a> "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rom&amp;c=3" type="external">Romans 3:23</a></p>
<p>Our sins have seperated us from a righteous and holy God, but in His Mercy and love towards us He has made a way of escape for all those who seek it. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.</p>
<p>For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;x=0&amp;y=0&amp;b=Rom&amp;c=5&amp;v=1" type="external">Romans 5: 8-10</a></p>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/29296570" type="external">That's My King, Do YOU Know Him?</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user8399607" type="external">Now The End Begins</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com" type="external">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p>The bible says that TODAY is the day of salvation, and the mere fact that you are right now reading this page is proof that God is talking to YOU, and drawing you closer to Him. NTEB asks you to take hold of His free gift to you, and receive an eternal forgiveness for your sins. There may not be a tomorrow, accept Him today. Jesus paid the ultimate price so you wouldn't have to. The Old and New Testaments bear witness to The One that was to come, who would be the Ma'schiac, the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled every, single Old Testament prophecy of Who the Messiah would be. And He is the only One able to pay for your sins. Listen as the prophet Isaiah describes the agony of Jesus on the cross, having the full wrath of God the Father poured out on Him.</p> Eternal Life Through the Blood Of JESUS CHRIST Is A Free Gift There is a penalty for sin--Eternal Death. Jesus Christ is God's Provision for Your Sinful Condition. You Can Be Saved--Right Now. | true | http://nowtheendbegins.com/pages/freeGIFT.htm | 0 |
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<p>When asked for their solution to the mess in Iraq, both of America’s presidential candidates–Tweedledumb and Tweedlephony–advance the same line: “train more Iraqi security forces.” Once enough Iraqis have been trained, they suggest, American troops can be withdrawn and our puppet Iraqi government can stand on its own six legs.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the problem is not training, but loyalty. All the training in the world is worthless if the people being trained have no reason to fight for those who are training them. And a paycheck isn’t much of a reason, especially when the fellow Iraqis they are to battle are fighting for God.</p>
<p>As is so often the case in Fourth Generation war, the most useful way to look at the situation is through the prism of John Boyd’s three levels of war: the physical, the mental and the moral. On the physical level, American-trained Iraqi security forces may have advantages over their Fourth Generation opponents. American training in techniques is often very good. While we are not giving the Iraqis equipment as good as our own (a big mistake on the moral level), it may be better than that of their enemies. With salaries of about $200 per month, our merceneries are among the best paid men in Iraq.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for us, as soon as we consider the mental and moral levels, which Boyd argued are more powerful than the physical level, the advantage shifts. At the mental level, the Fourth Generation elements have already gotten inside the heads of Iraqi police and National Guardsmen. How? By killing them in large numbers. More than 700 have died in the past year, with many more wounded. A story on four recruits for the Iraqi police in the September 27 Washington Post quotes one of them as saying, “We’re walking dead men.”</p>
<p>That fear opens the door to the sort of deal that typifies Arab countries: the police and Guardsmen collect their paychecks, but look the other way when the resistance is up to something. In some cases, the deal can go further and create double agents, men inside the security forces who actually work for one or more of the resistance organizations. The same day’s Post announced the arrest of a “senior commander of the Iraqi National Guard” for, as the U.S. military put it, “having associations with known terrorists, for alleged ties to insurgents.” I suspect that if we arrested all the Iraqi Guardsmen who fit that description, Abu Ghraib would again fill to overflowing.</p>
<p>At the moral level, the position of the Iraqi police and Guardsmen is almost hopeless. They are being paid to fight their own countrymen and fellow Mohammedans on behalf of an occupying foreign power that is also (nominally) Christian. The fig leaf of Mr. Allawi’s “government” deceives no one, especially after last week’s pictures of Allawi holding hands with George Bush, the Islamic world’s Voldemort. Is it any wonder that, all their training notwithstanding, when it comes to fighting alongside American forces the Iraqis usually change sides or go home?</p>
<p>The American authorities in Iraq argue that thousands more Iraqis volunteer to serve in the security forces than we can train or equip. That is true, but the motive is not one that leads to much willingness to fight. As one of the Iraqi police recruits interviewed by the Post said, “Everyone wants jobs, and there really are no jobs but the police.”</p>
<p>Throughout history, armies of hirelings have melted at a touch when faced with people fighting for something they believe in. All the training in the world will make no difference. The core problem is the deepest taproot of Fourth Generation war: the “state” Iraqi security forces are being told to fight for has no legitimacy. When Bush and Kerry argue that we can avoid defeat in Iraq by training more Iraqis to do the fighting for us, they are indulging in a grand illusion.</p>
<p>WILLIAM S. LIND is Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress Foundation</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Iraqi Security Forces: the Grand Illusion | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/10/02/iraqi-security-forces-the-grand-illusion/ | 2004-10-02 | 4 |
<p>Published time: 10 Aug, 2017 17:14</p>
<p>A large helping of vitamin B3 could prevent vast numbers of miscarriages and birth defects in children, according to a groundbreaking new study.</p>
<p>Researchers from the Victor Chang Institute in Sydney, Australia, hailed their breakthrough as “one of the greatest discoveries in pregnancy research.”</p>
<p>“The ramifications are likely to be huge,” <a href="https://www.victorchang.edu.au/pregnancy-breakthrough" type="external">said</a> Professor Dunwoodie, the leader of the study.</p>
<p>“This has the potential to significantly reduce the number of miscarriages and birth defects around the world, and I do not use those words lightly.”</p>
<p>The research, which has been published in the New England Journal of <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1616361?query=featured_home&amp;" type="external">Medicine</a>, began in 2005 when Dunwoodie’s team analysed the genomes of a couple who had a child with serious defects in the heart and backbone. The tests found that the parents carried a mutation in the gene involved in the production of a developmental molecule known as NAD.</p>
<p>After conducting similar tests on 14 other couples, scientists used gene-editing techniques to breed mice with the NAD mutation. The mice then produced pups with severe defects.</p>
<p>However, when the mice were fed vitamin B3 supplements, the litters were born progressively healthier depending on the strength of the dose.</p>
<p>The mice with the strongest dose of vitamin B3 gave birth to the healthiest litters.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/397647-mitalipov-embryo-editing-first/" type="external">READ MORE: DNA of human embryos edited for 1st time in US – report</a></p>
<p>Speaking to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/vitamin-b3-supplements-can-prevent-miscarriage-and-birth-defects/8785566" type="external">ABC Australia</a>, Professor Carol Bower of the Telethon Institute in Perth called the research an “exciting advance” but played down the idea that vitamin B3 could be a panacea.</p>
<p>“It’s not yet clear whether other malformations may be linked to this cause and whether dietary supplementation with niacin [vitamin B3] in humans would prevent this,” Professor Bower said.</p>
<p>According to the US national estimates, roughly 10-20 percent of <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pregnancy-loss-miscarriage/home/ovc-20213664" type="external">pregnancies</a> end in miscarriage. Worldwide, nearly 120,000 babies are born with <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/facts.html" type="external">serious defects</a> each year.</p> | Vitamin B3 dose can ‘prevent miscarriage’ – study | false | https://newsline.com/vitamin-b3-dose-can-prevent-miscarriage-study/ | 2017-08-10 | 1 |
<p>ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Connecticut Lottery’s “Lucky Links Night” game were:</p>
<p>01-06-09-12-17-18-20-22</p>
<p>(one, six, nine, twelve, seventeen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-two)</p>
<p>ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Connecticut Lottery’s “Lucky Links Night” game were:</p>
<p>01-06-09-12-17-18-20-22</p>
<p>(one, six, nine, twelve, seventeen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-two)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Lucky Links Night’ game | false | https://apnews.com/39b1b270957f4f9a9a3da7d9d1e93fba | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Obama announced Carter’s nomination during a ceremony at the White House. A Pentagon veteran who is seen as a centrist, Carter is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate, putting him at the helm of a department moving back into military conflict in the Middle East even as it grapples with budget cuts.</p>
<p>In discussing the Pentagon post with Carter, Obama said he emphasized the need “to make smart choices, precisely because there are so many challenges out there.”</p>
<p>Carter, a widely respected physicist and academic, has won praise from some Republicans, suggesting he’ll face a smooth Senate confirmation. Carter would replace Chuck Hagel, who resigned under pressure last week after a bumpy tenure.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Hagel did not attend Friday’s event. A defense official said the outgoing secretary did not want to distract from Carter’s nomination, though the two men did speak by phone Friday morning.</p>
<p>The leadership shakeup at the Pentagon marks the only major change Obama has made to his national security team during his second term.</p>
<p>While White House officials haven’t fully ruled out other changes, Obama appears highly unlikely to replace national security adviser Susan Rice or White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, who plays a significant role in foreign policy decision-making.</p>
<p>The level of control the White House has exerted over the Pentagon in particular has rankled those who have held the agency’s top job before Carter. Former Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta have both spoken extensively about what they saw as White House micromanagement and meddling in Pentagon affairs.</p>
<p>In brief remarks Friday, Carter signaled that he would not shy from expressing his opinion in his new role.</p>
<p>“If confirmed in this job, I pledge to you my most candid strategic advice,” he said to Obama.</p>
<p>While the White House has denied that it has negatively interfered with the Pentagon, officials made clear this week that Obama had no plans to loosen his reins on the Defense Department.</p>
<p>“The president of the United States is the commander in chief and sits at the top of the chain of command,” Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said. “That means the president bears significant responsibility for what happens at the Pentagon and the Department of Defense.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was among the Republicans who praised Carter’s nomination, while also taking issue with Obama’s national security strategy and decision-making.</p>
<p>Fischer said that while Carter “brings to the position impressive experience,” she remains concerned that “the administration continues to lack a coherent strategy to counter an array of global crises.”</p>
<p>Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a fierce critic of Obama’s foreign policy, also praised Carter, but said he hoped the new nominee “fully understands that, as previous secretaries of defense have strongly attested, he will likely have limited influence over the tight circle around the president, which apparently controls the entire strategic decision-making process.”</p>
<p>Carter has extensive experience in the national security arena. He held the No. 2 job at the Pentagon from October 2011 to December 2013 and also served as the Defense Department’s technology and weapons-buying chief during the opening years of Obama’s presidency.</p>
<p>During the administration of President Bill Clinton, Carter was assistant secretary of defense for international security policy.</p>
<p>Beyond his Pentagon experience, Carter is known for his stellar academic credentials. He has bachelor’s degrees in physics and medieval history from Yale University and received his doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has served on the advisory boards of MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories and the Draper Laboratory. He has extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.</p>
<p>“I like dusty archives, learning to decipher manuscripts in medieval script, and learning all the languages necessary to read the primary and secondary historical literature, especially Latin,” he wrote a 2007 autobiographical sketch published by Harvard University when he was on the faculty of the Kennedy School of Government.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>AP writers Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Follow Julie Pace at <a href="http://twitter.com/jpaceDC" type="external">http://twitter.com/jpaceDC</a></p> | Obama taps Pentagon veteran Carter to lead DOD | false | https://abqjournal.com/506372/obama-taps-pentagon-veteran-carter-to-lead-dod.html | 2014-12-05 | 2 |
<p />
<p>You've mastered your budget, maxed out your employer match on your 401(K), and now you want to start investing on your own terms. If that's the case, opening a Roth or traditional IRA may be a smart move.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But where you <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/ira/index.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">open an IRA Opens a New Window.</a> account matters, as you'll soon see in this comparison of E*Trade and Capital One.</p>
<p>When E*Trade emerged as one of the first online discount brokers, it charged as much as $40 per trade. That's no longer the case, as both brokers now charge less than $9.99 for most types of trades.</p>
<p>Data source: company websites.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Even though each brokers' stated prices are low compared to historical commissions, both brokers offer the opportunity to pay even less. Capital One's ShareBuilder program can be used to make non-time-sensitive trades for just $3.95 each. E*Trade slashes commissions to $7.99 for stocks, ETFs, and options, provided that you make more than 150 trades per quarter.</p>
<p>But you don't have to be very patient, or very active, to get a better deal. Both brokers offer plenty of commission-free funds, and <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/ira/index.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">special offers for IRAs Opens a New Window.</a> promise cash bonuses, free trades, and more, just for opening an account.</p>
<p>When it comes to funds, not all brokers are created equal. Each brokerage maintains its own list of available mutual funds, some of which are free to buy and sell (no loads or transaction fees). The following table shows how Capital One and E*Trade compare on fee-free funds.</p>
<p>Data source: company websites and representatives.</p>
<p>Fee-free mutual funds and ETFs can save investors a fortune over the long haul. With transaction fees that approximate $20 per purchase, routine monthly purchases of just four funds would cost you about $960 per year. Avoid the fees by sticking to no-transaction-fee funds and commission-free ETFs.</p>
<p>It's completely reasonable that new investors would want to start with a broker that doesn't require a high initial deposit. You're in luck. Capital One and E*Trade don't have a minimum initial deposit requirement to open an account. You can start with whatever you deem most appropriate.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, not all brokers IRA accounts are equal. Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>When it comes to international stocks, Capital One and E*Trade don't exactly offer the widest selection. As a general rule, you can invest in foreign stocks that have a domestic ticker, but neither brokerage currently routes trades to international exchanges.</p>
<p>Data source: company websites and representatives.</p>
<p>So what's all this mean for you? Well, if you like investing overseas by way of mutual funds or ETFs, you shouldn't encounter many differences between brokerages. The only difference would be what mutual funds the brokers offer.</p>
<p>Individual stock investors may feel limited, however. Generally speaking, only the very biggest of global companies have an ADR on U.S. markets. Think about companies like oil producerRoyal Dutch Shell, telecommunications company Vodafone, or food and beverage company Nestle. Most small cap foreign stocks do not maintain a U.S. ticker, and would thus be "off limits" to E*Trade or Capital One clients. Truthfully, <a href="http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/e-trade-financial-corporation-history/" type="external">only a handful of brokers Opens a New Window.</a> enable foreign trading anyway, so if international stocks are important to you, you'll have to be a little pickier when shopping brokerages.</p>
<p>Virtually all brokers have mobile apps for trading on the go via cellphone or mobile tablet. Here's how each brokers' users and customers rated their applications, as of Feb. 2, 2017:</p>
<p>Data source: relevant app stores.</p>
<p>Smart consumers know it's wise to keep your eyes open for hidden fees when opening any financial account. When it comes to IRAs, you should be mindful of maintenance and inactivity fees. Maintenance fees are charged just for having an account, most frequently on an annual basis. Inactivity fees are charged for failing to meet a brokers' requirements for trading activity, and can be charged monthly or annually.</p>
<p>Luckily, we don't need to go too far into the weeds with E*Trade and Capital One, since neither charge inactivity or maintenance fees. That said, if you continue on your search for a broker, keep this warning in mind.</p>
<p>One of the best features of having a brokerage account is that you typically receive free access to research services. E*Trade and Capital One offer helpful research and retirement tools to their clients just for having an account.</p>
<p>E*Trade provides access to third-party research and insights from Morningstar, Moody's, S&amp;P Capital IQ, and more. In addition, its proprietary My Virtual Advisor tool can come in handy for evaluating your portfolio and your progress toward your retirement goals. Capital One has a research back-end powered by Morningstar data, plus an in-depth fund screener that can be helpful for finding lower-cost alternatives for your portfolio.</p>
<p>We'd have to write a book to give you a full review of research and retirement planning tools these brokers provide to their clients, but suffice it to say that discount brokers typically have something for everyone.</p>
<p>The truth is that there isn't a perfect choice for every IRA. On one hand, Capital One offers lower commissions, particularly when you use its ShareBuilder service. On the other hand, fund investors may prefer E*Trade for the fact that it has far more fee-free mutual funds, in addition to a long list of commission-free ETFs.</p>
<p>Realistically, what really matters is how a broker's offerings and pricing fit within the needs of your portfolio. To be clear, The Motley Fool does not endorse any particular brokerage, but we can help you find one that is a good fit. Visit <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/ira/index.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Fool.com's IRA Center Opens a New Window.</a>to compare several brokers and see if you qualify for any special offers for opening a new account.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better thanWal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and TomGardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter theyhave run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tomjust revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ten best stocks Opens a New Window.</a>for investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- theythink these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a>to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*StockAdvisor returns as of December 12, 2016The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFValueMagnet/info.aspx" type="external">Jordan Wathen Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Moody's. The Motley Fool recommends Nestle and WisdomTree Investments. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | E*Trade vs. Capital One for IRA Accounts | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/06/etrade-vs-capital-one-for-ira-accounts.html | 2017-02-06 | 0 |
<p>Maron al Ras on the Lebanon border</p>
<p>You can see Akka, Palestine from my favorite Lebanese village, Maron al Ras.On any day, but particularly since September 21 of this year, you can also see beefed up IDF military patrols, assorted electronic listening posts and sundry spy devices, new Raytheon-produced surveillance equipment, two new supposedly camouflaged cinder block one room shacks with Zionist soldiers peering out. They frequently glare from widows heavily screened to keep out stones that tourists on the Lebanon side of the ‘blue line’ regularly throw at them when UNIFIL guys aren’t paying attention or shoo them away.</p>
<p>You can also see land mine fields, wide soft sand swatches along the wire fences to expose trespassing neighbors’ footprints, a couple of orchards, and the edges of three colonial settlements.</p>
<p>The increase in activity along the Blue line, especially near Fatima’s Gate is only partially in preparation for the rumored visit of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in mid- October. He is expected to appear and speak at Maron al Ras, presumably resisting the temptation to cast a few stones in solidarity with the Palestinian intifadas. UNIFIL personnel at the scene reveal that several Israeli military leaders have been visiting the area this past month, including Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.</p>
<p>It is here in this ancient verdant, war-scarred hillside village of Maron al Ras that tradition asserts that Jesus (Issa) from Nazareth, less than a day’s walk to the south, accompanying his mother Mary (Miriam), paused to rest on their trek to a wedding feast at Qana, some 30 km west.At Qana, the site of unspeakable massacres in 1996 and 2006, two of the more than 60 committed by IDF forces over the past six decades, the bearded Palestinian “terrorist”, so-listed by the Sanhedrin judges, performed at his mother’s request his first miracle.</p>
<p>According to a local priest who conducts tours of the Grotto of the Virgin Mary in Qana, where Mary and her son visited the wedding party, “By turning water into wine, Jesus dutifully fulfilled his mother Mary’s request to provide additional refreshment for the larger than expected gathering of nearby villagers.” The priest explains to visitors that the parents of the bride and groom wanted to avoid the acute social embarrassment of running out of refreshments and were concerned for the comfort of last-minute, uninvited guests, who they anticipated would arrive for their children’s wedding as word quickly spread that Jesus and his mother would be attending.</p>
<p>One guest who is receiving invitations even from March 14 pro-Saudi political parties for frank discussions this month and who has already been invited to Qana, but who probably won’t imbibe local the “miracle wine” sold by local entrepreneurs will be Ahmadinejad. He is said to be a devotee of Prophet Issa and Miriam, both venerated in the Koran. Two lovely and politically passionate Qana villagers (one giggling and claiming to be a “Shia-Christian” and her friend interjecting “I’m a Christian-Shia!”), both Muslims who follow the teachings of “Prophet Issa”, explained to me that while many Rabbis disparage Jesus’ miracle in Qana by claiming that it was the Hebrew Moses who was first able to turn water into another substance. They then gleefully counter that “Moses may well have done, but he turned water into blood as a message of harsh judgment and violence, whereas ‘our’ Palestinian Issa turned water into wine as a message of love, generosity and hospitality.” The discussion ended when an American Yeshiva student from Brooklyn appeared and entered the discussion, announcing to the villagers that both Bible stories “suck” and that that when the next war comes Qana may witness itself being miraculously turned into depleted uranium dust.</p>
<p>In both Maron al Ras and Qana, villagers believe it’s just a matter of time before Israel will invade Lebanon and it’s a subject of rare unanimous sectarian consensus in all of Lebanon. For example, in the course of no more than two hours the other day, while running errands around Beirut, this observer was informed, without even bringing up the subject, by (1) my Shia Muslim Hezbollah motorcycle mechanic patching up my bike after a slight mishap (again!) (2) Miss Idriss, the Maronite Christian lady who works at the corner bank and who truly adores “al Hakim” Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces (since 2006, Geagea and the LF has been siphoning off alienated cadres and youth from the ranks of Geagea’s rivals including the Gemayals’ Phalange and Michel Aoun’s Christian pro-Hezbollah Free Patriotic Movement, and (3) my Sunni Muslim greengrocer lady who has absolutely no use for any of the above, that a major war is coming and probably sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Purveyors of Israeli Hasbara propaganda are also keeping busy with predictions of the inevitability of major war in Lebanon given the alleged rapid arming of the national Lebanese resistance led by Hezbollah, and the Israeli-touted collection of yet more new ‘ ultra-tech super weapons’ including robotic insects, new stealth drones, Iron Domes, David Sling I and II missile shields, yet even more improvements to the “impenetrable” Merkava Mark IV tank that took such a beating in 2006 that three countries, including Belgium, cancelled Merkava purchase orders. Israel and its “academic agents” tout more than 20 other spectacular “game changing” technological breakthroughs ‘ just since the 2006 war which, according to Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic &amp; International Studies, likely will not function in real war conditions – despite the largess of the unknowing American taxpayers who pick up the tab for their R &amp; D.</p>
<p>Virtually the whole waterfall of Hasbara studies, many handsomely paid for by various Israel lobby funders, conclude that the next Hezbollah/Israel war will be nothing like the 2006 July War. Hezbollah will supposedly lose to the spruced up, better-equipped and trained Israeli soldiers. Their defeat will not only shatter Hezbollah, but destroy Syria and Iran’s political power base and fundamentally changed the political scene in Beirut. This, they confidently predict, will lead to a pro-American and Israel-tolerant realignment of political parties and even achieve the long sought Lebanon-Israel “peace treaty.”</p>
<p>Some of the Israeli Lobby think-tank predictions may indeed materialize but history suggests that Israel will not fare well in any renewed attack on Lebanon. It is clear that Hezbollah has been studying its enemy.</p>
<p>Scorecard: Four Hezbollah conflicts with Israeli forces</p>
<p>The June 1982 Israeli invasion is not included in this brief survey because Hezbollah was not fully organized and in fact its birth was partially the result of the 1982 “Peace for Galilee” As a PLO replacement Hezbollah quickly became a far stronger and more sophisticated adversary. Many fighters who eventually joined Hezbollah but who fought in 1982 with the PLO or with a variety of affiliated militia inflicted much damage on Israeli forces during numerous mountain battles and at Khaldeh on the coast south of Beirut.</p>
<p>Between 1978 and 1985, Israeli forces occupied approximately one third of Lebanon including 801 towns and villages. The newly formed Hezbollah never stopped its resistance attacks. An important Hezbollah political victory against Israel was achieved on March 5, 1984 with the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ cancellation of the the 1983 U.S.-Israel created agreement that would have yielded significant Lebanese sovereignty and territory to Israel. Another was the expulsion of foreign “peacekeeping forces” that increasingly attacked the civilian population of Lebanon on behalf of Israel and its local allies. During this period Hezbollah and its allies surprised and hit Israeli forces hard all over the mountains and valleys and on January 14, 1985 Israel began withdrawing from 168 villages, being 55 per cent of South Lebanon or 11 per cent of Lebanon including Sidon, Tyre, Nabatieh and parts of the Western Bekaa.</p>
<p>Next came the July 1993 attac with “Operation Accountability”.Israeli Chief of Staff Ehud Barak, told the Lebanese government on July 31, 1993, “Disarm Hezbollah or watch Israeli do it.” Despite, 1,224 bombing attacks, according to UNIFIL data, and firing more than 30,000 artillery shells and rockets, Hezbollah retaliated with what AFP called, “A hell of a shelling last[ing] 10 hours without a pause.” For seven days resistance forces conducted at least 30 operations along the Blue line targeting Zionist forces and their Lebanese surrogates. The US and Israel, shocked at the absurdity of CIA-Mossad intelligence estimates that Hezbollah had only 500 rockets and this supply would be depleted in three days, decided to call for a cease-fire. The “July Accord” duly took effect and Israel withdrew and stood down, failing to achieve any of its objectives.</p>
<p>Next, the April 1996 Aggression, the so-called “Grapes of Wrath”.This started on April 11, 1996 with bombing attacks in Baalbek and down south in Tyre at the Lebanese army base and, for the first time since 1982, attacks on Dahiyeh in South Beirut. Israel bombed a wider area than in 1993, over a period of 16 days.This invasion became known among some in South Lebanon as the “ Four Massacres aggression”: Suhmor on 4/12/96; the bombing of the Al-Mansouri ambulance on 4/13/96; Nabatieh on Day 7; and the Qana massacre on the same day when 118 civilians were slaughter and 127 injured. Hundreds of thousands were displaced with 7,000 homes completely or partially destroyed. Total civilian casualties exceeded 250.</p>
<p>Having studied each preceding war with its enemy, Hezbollah succeeded in anticipating Israeli tactics, paths of entrance into Lebanon and targeting actions. Israel, not being able to find any, failed to target a single resistance fighter or to prevent any rocket pads from launching at will. Until the moment the US-Israel requested ceasefire took hold, having been arranged by US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Hezbollah’s retaliation with Katuysha rockets continued unabated. Israel’s goals were again aborted. Among them was the hope to present Shimon Peres with a military victory to help his election campaign which was backed by President Clinton and staffed with some Clinton campaign staff. On May 29, 1996 Peres lost the election and Hezbollah emerged from “Grapes of Wrath” victorious and widely perceived in Washington and Tel Aviv as having exposed Israeli battle field errors or what the Resistance called “impotence”.</p>
<p>There then ensued the May 24, 2000 withdrawal of Israeli forces and the complete collapse of their surrogate collaborationist Lahdist forces. Israel’s notorious prison at Khiam was liberated by villagers. This resistance victory was perhaps its sweetest to date. A half century after Israel started its inroads into Lebanon, except for some border enclaves like Shebaa, Kfar Kouba and Ghajar that Hezbollah and the Lebanese army aims to recover, it was out.</p>
<p>The July 2006 War, the mis-named “ Second Lebanon War”: the results of the 2006 33-day Israeli attack are well known and documented, with none of Israel’s stated goals.</p>
<p>Preparing for the next war</p>
<p>Hezbollah believes Israel will indeed attack Lebanon soon. Lebanese national resistance allies in and around Parliament are claiming that the US is trying to organize a “northern second front” to help Israel by enticing right wing Christian militias, Al Qaeda mixed-bag “Salafists for lease”, and anyone else willing to fight a back door war against the Resistance while Israel kicks in the front door north of Safad and Nahariyah down south.</p>
<p>This week the Lebanese Forces were accused by Hezbollah’s Sheik Naim Qassim, Deputy to SG Hassan Nasrallah, of running new LF militia training camps with speculation that they are being trained on Russian-made BKC machine guns and the American MAG and small mortars. If so, they are not the only ones participating in an arms acquisition frenzy. A weapons run ignited during the May 8, 2008 violence, cooled down over the past two years flared up again last month with virtually all political parties and many private citizens buying up available stocks of M4’s (with a launcher $12,000) M16’s ($1,500) and AK47 Kalashnikov’s rifles (ranging between $750-$1,000) out of the back of cars or on road sides and alleys. Truck loads have been reported arriving from Iraq hauling US military supplies ‘shrinkage’.Some analysts believe that once the Israeli attack date is imminent, northern Sunni militia being clustered around Tripoli and Akkar and other locations will attack Shia targets diverting Hezbollah units and weakening its southern and eastern (Bekaa) resistance.They expect beefed up Saudi financed “Security-Plus Inc.” type units that were attempted in May of 2008. It may be recalled that effort soon fizzled and was ridiculed in Lebanese media as “Security-Minus Inc.” because when the green recruits got off their buses down in Hamra they quickly defected en masse deciding they did not want to fight Hezbollah “second team” forces after all.</p>
<p>FRANKLIN LAMB is doing research in Lebanon and can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | Bracing for Israel’s Next Attack on Lebanon | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/10/07/bracing-for-israel-s-next-attack-on-lebanon/ | 2010-10-07 | 4 |
<p>It's oil giant BP's turn to call witnesses as it makes its case for a civil penalty lower than the $13.7 billion the federal government is seeking for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.</p>
<p>The second week of a three-week trial is set to begin Monday in New Orleans. Last week, government experts testified about environmental, economic and social damage arising from the spill. BP attorneys disputed much of that testimony, and have argued the recovery of the environment and the Gulf economy has been strong.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Also at issue in the trial is whether a heavy penalty would put too much financial strain on BP Exploration and Production — also known as BPXP. That's the affiliate in the BP corporate group deemed responsible for the spill.</p> | BP set to call expert witnesses in fight to avoid maximum penalty over Gulf oil spill | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/01/26/bp-set-to-call-expert-witnesses-in-fight-to-avoid-maximum-penalty-over-gulf-oil.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>I don't deny that President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey was handled poorly, but it pales in comparison with the Democrats' ongoing partisan witch hunt against President Trump concerning Russia. That should be the story.</p>
<p>Shortly after Trump's dismissal of Comey, Trump defenders had plenty of ammunition. Widely respected and nonpartisan Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had reportedly recommended that Trump fire Comey.</p>
<p>But then the communications from Team Trump on the matter seemed to muddy the waters. Though maintaining that Rosenstein's recommendation was pivotal, Trump spokespeople added other reasons. They claimed that Trump had fired Comey based on his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation and because numerous FBI agents and employees were dispirited by Comey's actions.</p>
<p>Then acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe testified, "The vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep, positive connection to Director Comey." A number of retired FBI officials also apparently showed solidarity with Comey by using his face for their Facebook profile photos. And though Rosenstein has contradicted mainstream media reports that he was contemplating resigning over the narrative that he had recommended Comey's dismissal, he reportedly claims that he did not expressly recommend the firing. Oh, boy.</p>
<p>Trump added more to the mix when he told Lester Holt in an interview that he had decided to fire Comey irrespective of the reported Rosenstein recommendation. Media outlets are having a field day with this alleged contradiction. Trump has thrown his communications team under the bus, they say, because his spokespeople clearly said that Trump's firing was a response to the recommendation. Trump's tweets concerning possible recorded conversations between him and Comey didn't help, either.</p>
<p>What a mess.</p>
<p>Though it doesn't look good that Trump's version arguably varies from that of his spokespeople, I don't see any major inconsistency here. I suspect that Trump was increasingly frustrated with Comey and wanted to fire him and that the recommendation helped justify it. Either way, Trump had the constitutional authority to fire Comey, and it would be scandalous only if he did so to impede a legitimate investigation into his alleged collusion with Russia, which is not the case.</p>
<p>Trump is obviously exasperated that the Democrats are impeding his policy agenda with their obsessive hammering of the bogus charge that he and his team conspired with Russia to interfere with the presidential election.</p>
<p>Despite the incessant media reports and congressional investigations, not a shred of evidence has emerged to substantiate the charge of collusion. We keep saying this, but the media and Democrats keep pretending otherwise. It's unconscionable. Even James Clapper, former President Barack Obama's director of national intelligence, has admitted that there is no evidence of collusion and that he has no reason to suspect it.</p>
<p>The real scandal is not Trump's firing Comey -- even if Trump's supporters are unhappy with the timing and the way it was handled and communicated. The scandal is the liberal establishment's coordinated conspiracy to falsely allege that Trump stole the presidency by colluding with Russia. Liberals absolutely know that it's not true, but they will not quit bearing false witness. How dare they posture indignantly about Trump's supposed dishonesty?</p>
<p>The Democrats know they are fabricating this whole thing, but they figure this is the best way they can thwart Trump's efforts to move the country forward and out of the multiple quagmires Obama landed this country in. Their constant laments about the democratic process are laughably belied by their refusal to accept the results of the presidential election.</p>
<p>It is the Democrats' prerogative to act as the opposition party and to try to impede Trump's agenda. But it is reprehensible that they are doing so through fraudulent means and further dividing the country with their lies about Team Trump and Russia.</p>
<p>Their counterfeit hysteria knows no bounds. Not long ago, Democrats were demanding Comey's head, alleging that his public announcements had sabotaged Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Now they are claiming the firing is a "constitutional crisis" and a "coup." Not only did Trump have the authority to fire Comey but also the termination does not end the investigation.</p>
<p>Author Jon Meacham claimed on "Morning Joe" that Trump had removed someone "in charge of an investigation that could lead to treason." Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the firing may well lead to impeachment hearings. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign.</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton's 2016 running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, said: "We have a deeply insecure president who understands that the noose is tightening because of this Russia investigation. And that's why I believe he has let Jim Comey go."</p>
<p>Kaine knows better. There is no evidence that there is any noose, much less that it's tightening, and the media's claim that Trump fired Comey because he was seeking more funds to investigate him has been expressly denied by acting Director McCabe. CNN's Van Jones said that the only people who are happy about the firing "are sitting in the Kremlin." MSNBC's Chris Matthews claimed that the firing was "a little whiff of fascism." Countless liberal media and political figures are comparing the Comey firing to the Saturday Night Massacre, in which Richard Nixon fired Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox.</p>
<p>The way this firing transpired is unfortunate, but we wouldn't be talking about this if Democrats and the media weren't lying every hour of every day about a nonexistent scandal. This bogus investigation should end forthwith, no matter who is heading it, because it is based on nothing but innuendo and partisanship. You conduct an investigation not because you want something to be true but because you have some evidence suggesting it may be. There is no such evidence here, and they've admitted it. Let's move on.</p>
<p>David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is "The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in the Gospels." Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.</p>
<p>COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM</p> | LIMBAUGH: Past Time to End This Democratic Witch Hunt | true | https://dailywire.com/news/16406/limbaugh-past-time-end-democratic-witch-hunt-david-limbaugh | 2017-05-13 | 0 |
<p>Nov. 24 (UPI) — Longtime <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Dallas-Cowboys/" type="external">Dallas Cowboys</a> owner <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jerry_Jones/" type="external">Jerry Jones</a> recently addressed national anthem protests, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Roger_Goodell/" type="external">Roger Goodell</a> and <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Donald_Trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a>‘s interest in the NFL.</p>
<p>Jones, 75, did the interview Wednesday on CNN. The Los Angeles Chargers throttled his Cowboy’s 28-6 on Thanksgiving at AT&amp;T Stadium.</p>
<p>“Donald Trump is a longtime fan of sport and a longtime fan of <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/John_Walker/" type="external">football</a> and has been involved as owner in professional football,” Jones said.</p>
<p>“So he has some knowledge. I certainly think that the thing that he is addressing is certainly a part of how we want to make our game better. There is no question, because of our visibility, our substantiveness, that we are looked to for social responsibility as well.”</p>
<p>“This is all a part of what I have been talking about, with the commissioner. And certainly I appreciate, not only the President, but I want everybody to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and I want to do everything I can to make them a fan of the Cowboys or the NFL. So I just appreciate the interest.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/New_York_Giants/" type="external">New York Giants</a> battled the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Washington-Redskins/" type="external">Washington Redskins</a> on Thursday night. Before that game, Giants star <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Olivier-Vernon/" type="external">Olivier Vernon</a> was seen taking a knee during the national anthem.</p>
<p>Can you believe that the disrespect for our Country, our Flag, our Anthem continues without penalty to the players. The Commissioner has lost control of the hemorrhaging league. Players are the boss! <a href="https://t.co/udXP5MR8BC" type="external">https://t.co/udXP5MR8BC</a></p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/934026050388013056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">November 24, 2017</a></p>
<p>Trump responded on Friday morning.</p>
<p>“Can you believe that the disrespect for our Country, our Flag, our Anthem continues without penalty to the players,” <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fnfl%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F21536945%2Fpresident-donald-trump-complains-kneeling-says-players-boss-nfl" type="external">Trump tweeted</a>. “The Commissioner has lost control of the hemorrhaging league. Players are the boss!”</p>
<p>In October, <a href="https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/10/08/cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-player-disrespects-flag-allowed-play" type="external">Jones told the Dallas Morning News</a> that his players would not play in games if they did anything disrespectful to the flag.</p>
<p>“If there is anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play,”&#160;Jones said.</p>
<p>“We cannot in the NFL in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag,” Jones said. “I know the vice president [Mike Pence] did leave [a game], because in his opinion the teams were. We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag. Just so we’re clear.”</p>
<p>Jones’ message was heard in Washington, D.C., and met with support from the President.</p>
<p>“A big salute to Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who will BENCH players who disrespect our Flag.’Stand for Anthem or sit for game!'” <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917568245854605313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fadministration%2F354640-trump-praises-dallas-cowboys-owner-for-threat-to-bench-players-who" type="external">Trump tweeted on Oct. 9</a>.</p>
<p>Jones also addressed the renewal of Goodell’s contract.</p>
<p>“Because of the power that we [owners] give the commissioner, the time to get the pot right is when you are hiring or extending,” <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/22/sport/jerry-jones-addresses-goodell-contract-trump/index.html?sr=twCNNp112217jerry-jones-addresses-goodell-contract-trump1034AMStory&amp;CNNPolitics=Tw" type="external">Jones told CNN</a>. “So I’m wanting the owners to get the pot right.”</p>
<p>Trump has mentioned the NFL 23 times in Tweets from his @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account since being elected in 2016.</p> | Dallas Cowboys owner Jones: What Donald Trump is addressing is part of making NFL better | false | https://newsline.com/dallas-cowboys-owner-jones-what-donald-trump-is-addressing-is-part-of-making-nfl-better/ | 2017-11-24 | 1 |
<p>RENO, Nev. (AP) — California authorities have located the body of a man who fell into a conduit pipe that carries water to a treatment plant southwest of Lake Tahoe.</p>
<p>KRNV-TV in Reno <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y7vs727l" type="external">reports</a> police have identified the man as 34-year-old Tory Robert Mayes of Pollock Pines, California.</p>
<p>The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office was working Tuesday afternoon to recover his body from the El Dorado Irrigation District’s untreated water conduit in Pollock Pines.</p>
<p>The utility posted a notice on its website Monday evening that said a man fell in near Sly Park Dam south of Pollock Pines.</p>
<p>District General Manager Jim Abercrombie said the district’s thoughts and prayers are with Mayes’ family.</p>
<p>He says there never was an issue with the safety of the drinking water during this incident.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: KRNV-TV, <a href="http://www.mynews4.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.mynews4.com" type="external">http://www.mynews4.com</a></p>
<p>RENO, Nev. (AP) — California authorities have located the body of a man who fell into a conduit pipe that carries water to a treatment plant southwest of Lake Tahoe.</p>
<p>KRNV-TV in Reno <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y7vs727l" type="external">reports</a> police have identified the man as 34-year-old Tory Robert Mayes of Pollock Pines, California.</p>
<p>The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office was working Tuesday afternoon to recover his body from the El Dorado Irrigation District’s untreated water conduit in Pollock Pines.</p>
<p>The utility posted a notice on its website Monday evening that said a man fell in near Sly Park Dam south of Pollock Pines.</p>
<p>District General Manager Jim Abercrombie said the district’s thoughts and prayers are with Mayes’ family.</p>
<p>He says there never was an issue with the safety of the drinking water during this incident.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: KRNV-TV, <a href="http://www.mynews4.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.mynews4.com" type="external">http://www.mynews4.com</a></p> | California man’s body found after falling into water pipe | false | https://apnews.com/27223cfb021a4cb4b24a076b32def1a1 | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>It’s a directive that may prove legally tenuous but is nonetheless creating rich political theater for the White House.</p>
<p>Trump struggled during the campaign in deeply Republican Utah, particularly with its politically potent landowner rights movement. But now the Queens-born president is polishing his bona fides with that crowd by dispatching a rugged Cabinet secretary on a quest that is rankling environmentalists and Native American tribes.</p>
<p>Over four days ending Wednesday, Zinke is surveying two hotly contested monuments: the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears, which President Barack Obama established at the behest of tribes and conservationists in the final weeks of his administration, and the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase Escalante, which has riled developers and energy companies since President Bill Clinton created it in 1996.</p>
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<p>In the hardscrabble communities nearby, these monuments are often derided as a “betrayal” that deprives them of potential jobs from energy extraction and other uses. Utah Sen. Orrin G. Hatch invoked the word again recently on the Senate floor while railing against the Bears Ears designation.</p>
<p>The administration’s campaign against monuments was launched in Utah by design. The state is a hotbed of resistance to federal control of land. It has even passed a law calling on the federal government to cede control of most of its vast holdings to the state.</p>
<p>“They are trying to work with a favorable audience,” said Rep. Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. “Once they leave the confines of Utah and start looking at all those other monuments, the politics dramatically changes.”</p>
<p>Attorneys general in New Mexico and Washington state warned Zinke in recent days that he had no authority to diminish their monuments, and California would not hesitate to engage in a fight should Zinke move on lands within its borders.</p>
<p>Even in Utah, polls show the public is divided on whether the Bears Ears designation should be rescinded. But the state’s political leadership is largely united, and Zinke is getting his fill of “attaboys” on this trip.</p>
<p>“We now have an opportunity to discuss and deliberate like we didn’t even have during the Bush administration,” said Ken Ivory, a Utah legislator who is leading a multistate federal land push that would go much further than Trump’s executive order. Ivory’s crusade, which has a number of allies in Congress, seeks to export nationally the Utah approach of pushing the federal government to transfer its land to state control.</p>
<p>It’s a sensitive political issue for Trump and Zinke, who are aligned with a large coalition of hunters, anglers and outdoor outfitters anxious about what states would do with the federal land. Both men consider themselves outdoorsmen and have made assurances that the administration will not relinquish federal control of the millions of acres at issue. But Ivory is nonetheless encouraged by the move against the monuments. “This will continue the discussion,” he said.</p>
<p>The protected lands Zinke came to survey are at the core of Trump’s order for a review of all monuments created since 1996 that are larger than 100,000 acres, which is expected to end with Zinke suggesting that both areas either get stripped of the monument designation altogether or be downsized substantially. Zinke is in a race to review those and 19 other monuments, including six in California, before producing two lists of suggested eliminations and rollbacks. He will present the first list in mid-June.</p>
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<p>There is ample evidence the exercise could go sideways, as some of Trump’s other executive orders have. Trump’s ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim nations and his bid to punish so-called sanctuary cities are both unraveling in court. The executive order Trump vowed would force builders of the Keystone XL oil pipeline to use American steel actually won’t.</p>
<p>“The review of these monuments is predicated on the idea that the president has this authority that he doesn’t have,” said Kate Kelly, who was an adviser to former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “There is no legal basis for it.”</p>
<p>The last time a president moved to get rid of a monument on his own authority was in 1938, when Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to jettison the Castle Pinckney National Monument in South Carolina. His attorney general looked into options at the time and reported back that FDR couldn’t do that. It would take an act of Congress, which ultimately authorized the federal government to offload the property in the 1950s. The president’s authority to undo monument designations, environmentalists argue, has only shrunk since FDR’s administration, after Congress passed laws solidifying the federal protection.</p>
<p>(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)</p>
<p>Attorneys affiliated with some of the conservative think tanks influential in guiding Trump’s agenda argue that FDR’s administration got it all wrong. They say that not only does the president have explicit authority to scotch monuments, but that many of the monuments created under the century-old Antiquities Act were done so illegally. The act, their argument goes, was never intended to preserve sprawling land masses the size of Delaware.</p>
<p>By this line of reasoning, even Teddy Roosevelt was out of bounds when he designated the Grand Canyon a national monument. (It has since become a national park, and thus untouchable by Trump’s executive order).</p>
<p>“I think the president is in a strong position,” said Todd Gaziano, an attorney at the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group.</p>
<p>(END OPTIONAL TRIM)</p>
<p>While no president has ever successfully eliminated national monuments, several have changed their shapes, and even shrunk them. John F. Kennedy substantially redrew the boundaries of the Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, shaving off nearly 4,000 acres and adding 3,000, saying the borders of what needed to be preserved had evolved. When Olympic National Park in Washington was still a monument, it was reduced in size multiple times to enable timber harvesting, including in 1915 when logs were needed to build Navy ships for World War I.</p>
<p>But there was a big difference between those changes and the ones Trump may be on the verge of trying to make now: The earlier presidential moves to redraw monument boundaries were not contested. The courts have yet to weigh in on whether the president can take such action when stakeholders such as American Indian tribes, environmental groups and lawmakers vehemently object.</p>
<p>Those groups have made clear that they won’t let Trump lift protections off a single acre of monument land without a bitter court fight.</p>
<p>Justin Pidot, a former deputy solicitor general at the Interior Department who now teaches law at the University of Denver, said if he were working for this administration, he would be warning Zinke that the legal arguments are shaky. But, Pidot allowed, that may not be an overriding concern in this case.</p>
<p>“A lot of things this administration does, it does for political theater,” he said. “They can say they have done them, and then they get to rail against the courts for stopping them.”</p>
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<p>©2017 Tribune Co.</p>
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<p>_____</p> | Trump’s national monument plan could easily fail, but he’ll still declare victory | false | https://abqjournal.com/1002999/trumps-national-monument-plan-could-easily-fail-but-hell-still-declare-victory.html | 2 |
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<p>When Paris became a Nazi stronghold in World War II, an Iranian diplomat by the name of Abdol-Hossein Sardari used his influence to help more than 2,000 Iranian Jews by making a creative case for their exemption from racial persecution and by issuing hundreds of passports, according to Fariborz Mokhtari’s new book, “In the Lion’s Shadow.” Sardari’s story is also relevant to our own era of sectarian conflicts, because he himself was a Muslim. Here’s more from the BBC. –KA</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>When Britain and Russia invaded Iran in September 1941, Sardari’s humanitarian task become more perilous.</p>
<p>Iran signed a treaty with the Allies and Sardari was ordered by Tehran to return home as soon as possible.</p>
<p />
<p>Racial purity</p>
<p>But despite being stripped of his diplomatic immunity and status, Sardari resolved to remain in France and carry on helping the Iranian Jews, at considerable risk to his own safety, using money from his inheritance to keep his office going.</p>
<p>The story he spun to the Nazis, in a series of letters and reports, was that the Persian Emperor Cyrus had freed Jewish exiles in Babylon in 538 BC and they had returned to their homes.</p>
<p>However, he told the Nazis, at some later point a small number of Iranians began to find the teachings of the Prophet Moses attractive – and these Mousaique, or Iranian Followers of Moses, which he dubbed “Djuguten,” were not part of the Jewish race.</p>
<p>Using all of his lawyer’s skill, he exploited the internal contradictions and idiocies of the Nazis’ ideology to gain special treatment for the “Djuguten”, as the archive material published in Mr Mokhtari’s new book shows.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16190541" type="external">Read more</a></p> | The Story of the 'Iranian Schindler' | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-story-of-the-iranian-schindler/ | 2011-12-21 | 4 |
<p>Photo from United States Senate | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>Big Brother [speaking in English – of course – with an American accent]: “Are you or have you ever been sympathetic to the old communist experience in Eastern Europe?”</p>
<p>Yanis Varoufakis: “No! Never!”</p>
<p>Big Brother: “And what about Russia today?”</p>
<p>Yanis Varoufakis: “It’s a sinister and good for nothing place!”</p>
<p>What are Europeans allowed to think today? What are the parameters of current European thought? What magic words aid careerism and media exposure in Europe? And what thoughts in the European landscape are simply&#160;verboten?</p>
<p>The razor sharp mind of the former Greek finance minister and the founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), Yanis Varoufakis, is a good indicator of contemporary European thinking. And it’s corrupt shallowness.</p>
<p>Varoufakis declares himself to be a “Europeanist”. Indeed going by his latest book <a href="" type="internal">Adults in the Room</a>&#160;that’s all he thinks about: Europe. Or to be more precise: the European Union and how to prevent it from falling apart. “Democracy, pluralism and unwavering Europeanism” is his solution to the EU’s problems. That and anti-communism.</p>
<p>When face to face with the EU’s most hawkish decision maker – German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble – this is how Varoufakis defines and defends himself and the “radical left” in Greece.</p>
<p>&#160;‘Are you comparing me with a well-meaning DDR [East German Communist] minister….?’ I asked. ‘Let me reassure you, Wolfgang…. I am a committed democract, a determined pluralist and an unwavering Europeanist. And so are my Syriza party colleagues. We have …[nothing]… in common with [East German Communism].’ “</p>
<p>Varoufakis believed that his own credibility and that of his “radical left” party in 2015 hinged upon this clear disavowal of communism.</p>
<p>But Varoufakis doesn’t stop there – he’s desperate to be a good European. In his account of his time in the Eurozone crisis he places other markers around the edges of his thought. Markers which are meant to support his European-ness. And indeed his morality.</p>
<p>And what do these markers look like? They’re almost invisible in the context of 500 dense pages – but they’re strategic pointers that prove Varoufakis is a real “Europeanist”.</p>
<p>On page two Varoufakis quickly frames his understanding of Europe today: “Vladimir Putin must be rubbing his eyes in disbelief at the way the West has been undermining itself so fabulously.” For this truly European author it’s a given that “Putin” is enjoying the fall of the West!</p>
<p>A few lines later our European hero (Varoufakis) says: “there are no ‘goodies’ or ‘baddies’ in this book.” But in the background of course there is one bad “regime” he can’t tolerate.</p>
<p>On page 347 he calmly states: “Putin and his regime had an appalling human rights record: did we, whose only real backers were the progressives of Europe, want to be associated with such a state?”.</p>
<p>So who then do we good Europeans want to associate with? Varoufakis doesn’t explicitly answer this question because the answer is obvious: America. The Butcher of Arabia and The Godfather of Zombie Capitalism – the humanitarian USA – is apparently progressive Europe’s only option.</p>
<p>Varoufakis has no compunction when linking up with the American Deep State. In his struggle to be a good European he openly embraces: Lawrence ‘Larry’ Summers, Jeffrey Sachs, Bernie Saunders and Barack Obama.</p>
<p>In his struggle (his ‘Mein Kampf’) to be a good European Varoufakis is clear: he didn’t want to antagonize America. And so he persuaded Syriza to jettison it’s genuinely radical 2012 plans. Plans that included, for example, the closure of “all foreign bases in Greece and withdrawal from NATO”.</p>
<p>In a 2013 speech, written by Varoufakis, Syriza directly informed the Brookings Institution that US foreign policy was now not a problem. In other words, the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East caused by the US was not an issue for the good European.</p>
<p>And this brings us to the big blank space in Varoufakis’s understanding of Europe today: imperialism. Joseph McCarthy would’ve been proud. Because while emphasizing his anti-communism and his Russophobia this good European – Varoufakis – completely misses the horror which Europe and it’s partner/master (the USA) are responsible for.</p>
<p>NATO’s wars of aggression which are contemporaneous with the Eurozone crisis – and which may explain a large part of that crisis – are absent from Varoufakis’s account of European reality.</p>
<p>But what does Varoufakis know? After all he’s only an economist. Reality is something the academic economist rarely addresses. Another in vogue “left-wing” European economist unconsciously explains the problem well.</p>
<p>In his best selling book <a href="" type="internal">Capital</a> the Frenchman Thomas Piketty declares in his introduction:</p>
<p>“I belong to a generation that turned eighteen in 1989…. I belong to a generation that came of age listening to news of the collapse of the Communist dictatorships and never felt the slightest affection or nostalgia for those regimes or for the Soviet Union. I was vaccinated for life against the conventional but lazy rhetoric of anticapitalism…”</p>
<p>Varoufakis is a bit older than Piketty but he too was obviously “vaccinated for life against …anticapitalism”.</p>
<p>This vaccination however wasn’t just against anti-capitalism: it was also against anti-imperialism. As a result Piketty too doesn’t mention imperialism once in his book on capital.</p>
<p>Such is the emptiness of the “progressive” European mind today that reality passes it and it sees nothing. And Europe is paying the price. Cut off from it’s fellow Europeans (it’s working class and the Russians) and cut off from it’s neighbors (the Asians and Africans) “progressive Europe” is an embarrassing lonely fool.</p>
<p>Only by engaging and adopting the verboten concepts – anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism – does it have a hope. But that demands independence from It’s American Big Brother. And it also demands probably for the first time in the history of Europe: adulthood.</p> | McCarthyism in Europe Today | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/11/28/mccarthyism-in-europe-today/ | 2017-11-28 | 4 |
<p>US democratization offerings to the Muslim world supposedly carry America’s good will and soft power. It is a gesture of peace and friendship. A few Muslims however appreciate the urgency with which they are being wheedled to accept the democracy gift. By all counts, the timing is suspicious. At a time when the Pentagon is pulverizing Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House is threatening action against Syria and Iran, US generals are ridiculing Allah and military guards are desecrating the Quran, and hundreds of Muslims are rotting in secret prisons, the soft talk of democracy comes across as brazenly cynical. Muslims worry that if they accept the US sponsored democratization, soldiers will pop out from the belly of the Trojan horse.</p>
<p>A few days ago, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a pastor’s daughter, speaking at Cairo’s American University, gave a condescending sermon on benefits of democracy, as if over a billion Muslims “seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not.” The Egyptian audience gave no applause to Secretary Rice even though the rhetoric of liberty was well crafted and ably delivered. One Egyptian- American said to me: “What Rice did was ill-mannered. It is like visiting somebody’s house as a guest but demanding that their living room furniture be replaced.”</p>
<p>But even when US officials act suave, their lectures on democracy sound hollow. Look who’s talking, says the audience. The same ruling elites who have mangled civil liberties throwing away the constitution and have waged a senseless war throwing away international law are touting liberties and accountability to the Muslim world. Do they know and do they care about the anger and hatred that flow like molten lava in hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims across the globe? Muslims see US ruling elites as bullies who disdain the rule of law they preach. Since long, Muslims have hated Israel the most. Now, the US is fast earning that dubious distinction.</p>
<p>Even if hatred fades, US elites drumming democracy would face stiff opposition in the Muslim world. They should know that words such as freedom and liberty have negative connotations for traditional Muslims- –just as the phrase “law and order” carries an ominous message for African-Americans. (American criminologists are well aware that white Americans hear the phrase “law and order” as police efforts to prevent crime whereas African Americans associate the same phrase with police brutality and arbitrary stops.) Freedom and liberty mean one thing in America, quite another in Muslim countries. Freedom and liberty are positive concepts for Americans who see in these words assurances for self-expression and self-development. For most Muslims, these words mean sexual promiscuity, disrespect for parents, selfishness, breaking away from social mores, ignoring religion, and pursuing irresponsible lifestyles.</p>
<p>Responsibility and not freedom constitutes the ethos of Muslim cultures. So when Muslims hear that US elites wish to bring freedoms and liberties to their communities, they become instantly apprehensive and defensive. They infer that America is waging a cultural war to undermine their family and religious values. And they see alcoholism, abortion, pornography, high divorce rate, runaway children, and nursing homes where elders rot in grief and sorrow, all this and more that they associate with caricatured views of American life infiltrating and infesting their societies.</p>
<p>Despite their profound concerns about US sponsored freedoms and liberties, Muslims nonetheless aspire to embrace a conception of democracy under which governments are removable and accountable. Corrupt and incompetent governments, many pro-American, rule the Muslim world. And they become abusive when the people challenge their power. Ironically, many Muslim populations blame the United States for supporting, and now installing, sham democracies and puppet rulers.</p>
<p>For example, General Pervez Musharraf’s superimposition over Pakistani democracy might be good for America in the short run but Pakistan would fall precipitously if its top ruler were required to be a White House viceroy. Likewise, American liaisons with Hosni Mubarak, who has single-handedly steered Egypt for decades, going nowhere, have cultivated everything but democracy. Despite shedding tears over supporting dictators, as Secretary Rice did in her Cairo speech, US crocodiles enjoy little goodwill in the Muslim world.</p>
<p>No one disputes that Muslims need democracy. Unfortunately, the American gift of democratization will confuse the process. Rightly or wrongly, most Muslims see the US democracy initiative as part of a larger war against Islam. It would be best for all, therefore, if the democratization carousel stops. Let Muslim nations ride their own fate and build their own democratic structures. But will the US ruling elites accept such a genuine notion of self-quest and self-rule?</p>
<p>Ali Khan is a professor of law at Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas. His book A Theory of Universal Democracy (2003) presents a conception of democracy for Muslim nations. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | US Democratization as Gift to Muslim Nations | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/07/06/us-democratization-as-gift-to-muslim-nations/ | 2005-07-06 | 4 |
<p>Photo Credit: YouTube Screengrab</p>
<p>Faced with a rowdy constituency at a town hall on Wednesday, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) told the crowd White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer “needs to go” after his controversial comparison of Adolf Hitler and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.</p>
<p>Speaking to hundreds at a town hall in Aurora,&#160;Coffman fielded questions for two hours from questioners hoping he’d flex his muscles against President Donald Trump’s agenda.</p>
<p>Coffman was often defiant in the face of the predominantly liberal crowd, the&#160; <a href="//www.denverpost.com/2017/04/12/u-s-rep-mike-coffman-town-hall-2017/" type="external">Denver Post&#160;reports</a>. At one point, when asked if he will oppose the president at every turn, Coffman complained about partisanship to a group of jeering constituents.</p>
<p>“Those of you on the extreme left will never be satisfied,” Coffman lamented.</p>
<p>But he held no bars about calling for Spicer’s dismissal.</p>
<p>Responding to&#160;the White House press secretary’s much-maligned blunder Tuesday—wherein he declared Hitler “didn’t even sink” as low as Assad in using chemical weapons against his own people (a demonstrably false claim Spicer later apologized for)—Coffman suggested Trump should replace Spicer.</p>
<p>“He needs to go,” Coffman said. “He’s not serving the president well.”</p>
<p>Watch the video below, via&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" type="external">Twitter @KyleGriffin1</a>:</p>
<p>Elizabeth Preza is a staff writer for Raw Story. Follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/lizacisms" type="external">@lizacisms</a>.</p> | GOP Congressman Declares Sean Spicer 'Needs to Go' During Raucous Town Hall | true | http://alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop-congressman-declares-sean-spicer-needs-go-during-raucous-town-hall | 2017-04-13 | 4 |
<p>While his increasingly less successful documentaries are largely just leftwing fantasies presented in documentary style, progressive Michael Moore is occasionally good for a sentence or two of cold, hard truth. During the election, Moore crushed his fellow liberals' souls by prophesying correctly that they'd better get used to saying "President Trump." Moore followed up Trump's humiliating upset victory over Hillary Clinton by pushing back (at least partly) against the left's ugly claim that Trump won because of racism.</p>
<p>This week, following another two electoral failures for the Democrats — particularly the special election in Georgia that saw "Trump Slayer" Jon Ossoff slain despite <a href="" type="internal">$30 million</a>(!) being thrown at the campaign — Moore had some harsh words for the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>"If u think the party who's won the vote in 6 [of] last 7 Prez votes but holds ZERO power &amp;is now 0-4 in 2017 votes is going to win next year get a friggin' clue," Moore wrote in a series of tweets. "The DNC&amp;DCCC has NO idea how 2 win cause they have no message, no plan, no leaders, won't fight &amp;hate the resistance."</p>
<p>"I say this to my 7.5 million ppl on social media &amp; the millions who watch my movies &amp; read my books: Are we going 2 sit by &amp;let this happen?" he added.</p>
<p>Moore is certainly not alone in his frustration with the Democratic leadership, or his calls for it to embrace the "resistance" more (i.e., become even more radical). Many on the left have pointed out that the old guard, including Nancy Pelosi, who was used by the Republicans in Georgia to get out the vote for the ultimately victorious Karen Handel, appear to be clueless about how to compete in the Era of Trump and are proving to be political liabilities rather than assets.</p>
<p>The Democrats also lost this week's <a href="" type="internal">special election in South Carolina</a>, a reliably red state but an election that the Democrats, as in Georgia, hoped they might be able to swipe from Republicans and declare a "referendum on Trump." Alas, both efforts failed, to the <a href="" type="internal">outrage and dismay of the political left</a>.</p>
<p>H/T <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/338811-michael-moore-dems-have-no-message-no-plan-no-leaders" type="external">The Hill</a></p> | Michael Moore Smacks Democrats With Some Hard Truths After More Election Losses | true | https://dailywire.com/news/17810/michael-moore-smacks-democrats-some-hard-truths-james-barrett | 2017-06-22 | 0 |
<p>Students and parents at Adams Elementary School in San Diego's&#160;Normal Heights neighborhood&#160;are huddled on the playground around Principal Sylvia McGrade for an early-morning assembly.</p>
<p>"Good morning, Adams Elementary!" McGrade says. The kids shouted&#160;their greeting back in unison. They're especially energetic, despite the hour. The end of the month brings a special announcement.</p>
<p>"Today is our extra recess for kids who had 100 percent perfect attendance for the month of November," McGrade says, before revealing the three classes with the best attendance for the month.</p>
<p>Adams Elementary is in its second year of a joint <a href="http://uwsd.org/files/galleries/Early_Warning_Continuum.pdf" type="external">program with the United Way of San Diego County</a> aimed at improving attendance rates. It places college students majoring in social work on five campuses in the city's&#160;Mid-City area to help address the barriers parents face in getting their kids to school on time.</p>
<p>McGrade says she's seen year-on-year increases each month since the program began. But progress has been&#160;hard-fought. All of her students are eligible for free lunch. Nearly half are English Language Learners&#160;— and for many of their parents, getting their kids to school is easier said than done.</p>
<p>Take a typical morning for the Ortega family.&#160;It's two hours before McGrade's assembly and mom Krystal Ortega is&#160;already in a rush. She has 15 minutes to get herself and her boys cleaned up and to a city bus stop a few blocks away.</p>
<p>"Good morning, sunshine," she says into a pile of blankets. Tiny cries come from beneath, then grow louder from Aaron, her 5-year-old.</p>
<p>Ortega tries to sound cheery, but it's cold in their tiny hitch trailer.&#160;</p>
<p>Adams Elementary is six miles — about a 12-minute drive — from their home, but the maze of bus routes ahead is going to take at least an hour.&#160;"From home, we head onto the bus route No. 3. From No. 3, we catch either the orange line or the blue line to Civic Center, and&#160;then from there we get the 215 bus to 35th Street. From 35th Street, we walk down to Adams," Ortega says.</p>
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<p>The final leg of the trip is familiar — a walk through the neighborhood they used to call home before Ortega split from her husband and had to move farther away from her kids' school, where rent is cheaper.&#160;</p>
<p>Ortega, who works part time doing laundry maintenance, says she has&#160;tried to keep things consistent for her boys, but the instability has had an effect on their attendance.</p>
<p>Aaron missed a few mornings as they learned the bus system. For her older son&#160;Nicholas, the turmoil bled into his grades. Ortega and her ex-husband share custody and she can't always control when Nicholas gets to school.&#160;"He went a little below basic because he has to turn in his homework on Fridays and he wasn't here to turn that in," Ortega says.</p>
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<p>In October, the Ortegas showed up on Kellie Young's caseload. She is&#160;with the United Way's "Every Child, Every Day" program. It's her job to intervene when the district flags students with attendance problems. Young connects families to services that might help.</p>
<p>"Just basic things like lack of food, housing, clean clothes, [health]&#160;insurance, transportation," Young says. "Those can all be barriers for parents bringing their children to school."</p>
<p>When Ortega first met Young, she described the stress she's been under and mentioned she misses her old church. Young offered the address of a church near her new home.</p>
<p>"I just wanted ... peace of mind, and keep myself focused," Ortega says. "It's been a long, long, long stressful time."</p>
<p>Young is now helping Ortega hunt for affordable apartments closer to school so it's easier to get her kids to class on time. She's given Ortega a list of potential rentals to check out while Aaron and Nicholas are in class. She's even made a few calls to landlords on behalf of the Ortegas.</p>
<p>All told, the United Way program in San Diego is&#160;helping 142 families.</p>
<p>"The parents and teachers are doing the best that they can, but they have a job in the classroom and there are&#160;all these things going on outside of the classroom that are preventing kids from being to school on time and being successful," says Shaina Gross, a&#160;senior vice president with United Way in San Diego. "So the interns are able to dig into that a little bit and work directly with the families and find out what's going on."</p>
<p>The program is part of the United Way's national effort to boost graduation rates. It also grew out of conversations with educators, parents and nonprofit providers who began meeting about academic achievement under the name <a href="http://uwsd.org/City-Heights-Partnership-for-Children" type="external">City Heights Partnership for Children</a>.</p>
<p>"We know if kids aren’t in school, they can't learn. And if you're not reading at grade level by third grade, then you are&#160;four times less likely to graduate high school," Gross says. "That told us that we really need to start in these early grades."</p>
<p>Gross doesn't yet know whether the program is improving academic achievement in the five schools where it operates, but she says attendance at those campuses went from 82 to 88 percent this semester. The&#160;goal is to get&#160;to 90 percent.</p>
<p>McGrade says the program has been a huge help for her staff. Smaller schools like hers only have a counselor on site once a week.&#160;"A parent comes to you on Thursday, so you have to say, 'Uh, can you wait 'til Monday to have that crisis?'" McGrade says. "You really can't."</p>
<p>For Krystal&#160;Ortega, the program has given her something to smile about during a difficult time. Standing on the playground for&#160;McGrade's assembly, she whistles and claps after hearing the news that Aaron's class ranked&#160;first&#160;for attendance this month. His reward?&#160;Extra recess.&#160;</p>
<p>Share your thoughts and ideas on Facebook at our&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/globalnation/" type="external">Global Nation Exchange</a>, on Twitter&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/globalnation" type="external">@globalnation</a>, or contact us&#160; <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.</p> | For some parents, getting their kids to school is easier said than done | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-03-11/some-parents-getting-their-kids-school-easier-said-done | 2016-03-11 | 3 |
<p>Kathy Kelly, arrested many times for protesting war, has been a high school and community college teacher in the Chicago area for decades. She is a multiple nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, an anti-nuclear weapons protester and war-tax resister. Kelly is the author of Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison (2005). She is active currently with Voices for Creative Nonviolence and recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Seth Sandronsky: What did you find on your recent trip to Afghanistan in terms of what ordinary people there are coping with?</p>
<p>Kathy Kelly: In late March and early April of 2017, Afghan Peace Volunteers (APV) in Kabul welcomed me to stay at their guest house in a working class neighborhood in Kabul and to visit, each day, at their Borderfree Center. At the guest house, I shared accommodations and meals with young people whom I’ve known since 2010. Their experiences help me understand the severe problems their families and friends face. Ghulamai, a member of the guest house community, sadly told me that he must move in with his mother and four siblings who recently moved to Kabul. His mother, although maimed by a bomb attack that crippled her on her wedding day, mangling her hand, serves as a cleaner and cook for three families. Ghulamai transports her to and from her work place before and after going to his classes at a government school in Kabul. He feels desperate for some means of helping his family. His teachers encourage him to study hard because he is already number one in his class. I’ve visited his mother and siblings in their “yard” where they dwell in a small room with a shared kitchen and latrine. Ghulamai’s father abandoned his family about seven years ago.</p>
<p>Ali’s family continues to mourn the death of Ali’s older brother, Sultan, who was killed while serving with the Afghan National Armed Forces. Bismillah’s family likewise mourns the death of his 28-year-old brother, who had also enlisted to serve in the Afghan armed forces and was killed. Zarghuna and Khamad Jan learned that a neighbor in their home province of Bamiyan had committed suicide. He was destitute and desperate to escape a violent domestic situation. Nawid learned that his young cousin living in a neighboring province runs to hide every time he hears a drone overhead. Barath Khan traveled to his home province of Paktia for the funeral of a cousin killed by an unknown assailant.</p>
<p>People in Kabul cope with contaminated water and air, shortages of food and electricity, and a disastrous sewage and sanitation system. Hakim observes that among the dozens of young volunteers at the Borderfree Center, every single family is dealing with severe traumas.</p>
<p>Yet the arrival of spring heralds special family and community events. On my first full day here, we filled a bus and traveled to a small village where Abid’s and Zahro’s relatives celebrated because the couple had married each other, in Herat province, the week before. The party was Disneyesque! Our group of women from Kabul sat with the village women in a large tent. We could identify Abid’s sisters and cousins by their brightly decorated gowns, fashionable hairdos and cosmetics. Young and not so young women took turns dancing and singing. “Wedding culture” remains quite strong in Kabul and throughout the country, but many families experience severe financial strains trying to meet the expenses involved, often with serious and long-lasting consequences. This morning, Bassierah, a new young friend, told me that she believes weddings bring peace because families learn to live together, sometimes even crossing ethnic boundaries. “And also,” she said, “we love to dance.”</p>
<p>SS: Talk about the recent US dropping of a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, a 22,000-pound bomb, on alleged ISIS forces in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>KK: The MOAB is sometimes called the Mother of All Bombs. It’s wrong to use the term mother in relation to bombs, but greed is truthfully the generator of weapons and weapon systems. I believe that greedy weapon manufacturers, eager to test their bomb in an area where the US has declared war, wanted to push the MOAB out of a plane over Afghanistan. How will this massive explosion affect the water and the arable land in the region? How will Afghans living in Nangahar’s towns and villages cope with trauma and displacement? The US mainstream media moves on to the next crisis, with scant attention to the aftermath of US usage of the largest U.S. non-nuclear bomb it has ever used to attack people who have posed no threat whatsoever to people in the US.</p>
<p>SS: Describe the work that Voices for Creative Nonviolence does in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>KK: In Afghanistan, VCNV listens to and learns from the Afghan Peace Volunteers. Through their efforts to assist destitute people, we gain a glimpse of how US war has affected their country. We accompany them as they survey families, ascertaining how best to organize manufacture and distribution of the heavy blankets that impoverished women manufacture each year. The blankets are delivered, free of charge, to people who have scant protection from harsh winter elements in Kabul. We also observe how they organize the Street Kids School, inviting vulnerable children, most of whom are child laborers, to participate in a program which enables them to attend government schools and compensate their families for the funds they would have earned, working on Kabul streets, while in school. The children gather each Friday at the Borderfree Center for classes in Dari (their language), math, and nonviolence. During my short, ten-day stay in Kabul, the APVs and the Street Kids School participants planted 90 trees at various schools in Kabul and held a “Fly Kites Not Drones” event. My young friend Nematullah, an Afghan Peace Volunteer, invited me to the class he teaches in a refugee camp where we met with several dozen girls eager to study language and math; Nematullah joined me and several other friends to donate blood at the local Emergency Center for Victims of War, founded by Italian medics and activists. I and my companions feel privileged to live with APVs. We marvel at their readiness to extend a hand of friendship to people even needier than they themselves are, always holding open the possibilities for negotiation and dialogue to resolve disputes.</p>
<p>SS: What drove you to begin a fast in early April?</p>
<p>KK: After viewing President Trump and both houses of Congress applauding the widow of the Navy Seal officer who was killed while participating in a Special Operations action, I felt appalled because the country in which this operation occurred was never mentioned. No context was given. My friend, Brian Terrell, later suggested that had the context been given, had people been told that the Special Operations forces attacked a small village in Yemen where, on the same night that Chief Petty Officer Ryan Owens was killed, 29 Yemenis were killed, half of them children, in a country on the brink of famine, it would have been difficult to consider the US actions heroic. The New York Catholic Worker community joined me in wanting to express deep alarm and concern about the conflict-fueled near famine conditions in Yemen and the US-Saudi allied maintenance of a blockade preventing import of desperately needed food and other essentials. We also condemn Saudi airstrikes, including those which have destroyed five cranes that were previously essential for moving food and other goods from ships at the Port of Hodeidah to vehicles that could transport the goods to other parts of Yemen. Likewise, we condemned the US airstrikes. Using conventional weapons to attack civilian populations constitutes a war crime.</p>
<p>SS: How can people get involved with VCNV?</p>
<p>KK: We welcome people to visit <a href="http://www.vcnv.org/" type="external">www.vcnv.org</a>. To learn more about the Afghan Peace Volunteers, please visit <a href="http://ourjourneytosmile.com/" type="external">ourjourneytosmile.com</a>. And do consider joining the APVs Global Days of Listening phone call on the 21st of each month; see <a href="http://globaldaysoflistening.com/" type="external">globaldaysoflistening.com</a></p> | War No More | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/05/19/war-no-more/ | 2017-05-19 | 4 |
<p>As hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees stream over the border into Europe, governments are making&#160;difficult decisions about who is allowed to stay and who needs to go.</p>
<p>In order to be granted asylum, migrants need to prove that they’re facing danger or serious persecution if they return to their homes. Specifically <a href="" type="internal">in Germany</a>, migrants can’t be from a list of ‘safe’ countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia. They’re <a href="" type="internal">not taking any more economic migrants</a>.</p>
<p>The conventional widsom at this point is that&#160;if you’re from Syria, there’s a good chance you’ll be allowed to stay.&#160;Some reports say refugees are&#160; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/migrants-are-disguising-themselves-as-syrians-to-gain-entry-to-europe/2015/09/22/827c6026-5bd8-11e5-8475-781cc9851652_story.html" type="external">trying to pass as Syrians</a> to better their chances.</p>
<p>And so, European governments have come up with a problematic system to identify real&#160;refugees. And it has to do with the way they speak, a maneuver that has deep flaws <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19880967" type="external">and a dark heritage</a>.</p>
<p>Reporter Aamna Mohdin <a href="http://qz.com/508785/these-companies-use-language-to-determine-which-migrants-get-to-stay-in-europe-but-does-it-work/" type="external">wrote for Quartz</a> about these “language analysis” screenings. The basic test has two steps:</p>
<p />
<p>First, a native speaker of the country a migrant claims to be from interviews the asylum seeker. These talks are around 20 minutes each, and are meant to be a time for the native speaker to use their “over-all intuition.”</p>
<p>After that, a trained analyst will compile a report about the complicated aspects of the language. Eventually, the expert comes to a conclusion about whether or not the asylum seeker is truly from where they say they are.</p>
<p>But in such a linguistically complex region, where specific dialects have centuries of historical context, how can these linguists know the intricate differences between these regions?</p>
<p>“They can’t possibly know all of that information. We don’t have all of these linguists on line to come in and know that different parts of Syria say things differently so they’re going to make human error” Mohdin says. “It’s quite a big problem, I think, if you don’t have enough information, you can get someone deported.”</p>
<p>Therein lies another complicating factor.</p>
<p>“Language doesn’t follow manmade borders,” says Mohdin. “It makes absolutely no sense to try and analyze someone’s language to decide they’re from Kenya or Somalia. Linguists disagree with each other a lot about which words actually come from which area. There have been several cases where an asylum seeker will challenge the conclusion of a report and they get a second linguist to analyze it and the second linguist completely disagrees with the first.”</p>
<p />
<p>However, she says this practice doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.</p>
<p>"The problem really is that deporting someone or rejecting someone's asylum is a very political decision to make. I think they're trying to make it as objective as possible and using the language of science through these language analyses to justify the decisions they're making,"&#160;Mohdin says.</p>
<p>And with a seemingly neverending tide of refugees coming in, many without any formal documentation about&#160;their country of origin, she says it's only likely to get more diluted and less regulated.</p>
<p>There are several antecedents for language tests, including the bloody check-in by officials of the Dominican Republic along its border with Haiti in 1937. In what came to be known as the Parsley Massacre, authorities would hold out a sprig of parsley and ask a person to pronounce the word, which in Spanish is perejil.&#160;</p>
<p>Those whose first language was Haitian Creole found it difficult to say it correctly. They were killed for their mistake.&#160;Haitians estimate at least 9,000 Haitians were slain in the Parsley Massacre.</p> | You are what you speak — how Europe is using language analysis to designate refugees | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-10-05/you-are-what-you-speak-how-europe-using-language-analysis-designate-refugees | 2015-10-05 | 3 |
<p />
<p>If you’re traveling this summer and don’t want a TSA agent to see your graphic full-body scan, you might have to opt for a grope. Reports have surfaced that passengers who’ve refused to go through the TSA’s expensive and invasive body scanners have been treated to a more rigerous pat-down. “If anybody ever groped me like that in real life, I would have punched them in their nose,” one male traveler told the Boston Globe. “It was extremely invasive.. actually probing and pushing and seeing if I was concealing something in my genital area.”</p>
<p>The new “enhanced” pat-downs are different in that screeners are using the front of their hands to probe sensitive areas instead of the backs of their hands as they had previously. Another difference is screeners will use a sliding motion to move their hands over passengers’ bodies instead of a patting motion. As one female passenger <a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?&amp;articleid=1276565&amp;format=&amp;page=1&amp;listingType=biz#articleFull" type="external">said</a>, screeners touched her face, hair, and underneath and between her breasts in their search for weapons. These new pat-downs are currently being used at Boston’s Logan airport and Las Vegas’s McCarran airport, but the TSA plans to roll them out nationally. And in case there was any doubt, these touchy-feely pat-downs are just for those who refuse to have their bodies scanned. If you go through a regular metal detector, <a href="http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/tsa-admits-to-punishing-travelers/comment-page-1/" type="external">one source says</a>, you would only get the regular, back-of-hand pat-down.</p>
<p>I can’t say which I’d prefer less:&#160;being personally probed and prodded by a TSA agent, or having my body graphically scanned knowing the image has the <a href="http://epic.org/privacy/airtravel/backscatter/epic_v_dhs.html" type="external">potential to be saved</a>. Despite the TSA blog’s <a href="http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/08/tsa-response-to-feds-admit-storing.html" type="external">bold declaration</a> that “TSA has not, will not and the machines cannot store images of passengers at airports,” a lawsuit turned up evidence from DHS that the machines had indeed stored more than 2,000 images for “test purposes.” The Electronic Privacy Information Center has <a href="http://epic.org/privacy/body_scanners/epic_v_dhs_suspension_of_body.html#links" type="external">filed a motion</a> to immediately halt TSA’s use of scanners pending an investigation, but until then, the agency’s stance is clear: get scanned or face the consequences.</p>
<p /> | TSA’s Frisky New Pat-Downs | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/tsas-new-gropey-pat-downs/ | 2010-08-24 | 4 |
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<p>ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — Federal land managers are drafting a plan that will guide the management of resources and potential energy development in the Otero Mesa, an area of southern New Mexico where environmentalists have sought protections for decades.</p>
<p>The Bureau of Land Management is expected to have a resource management plan for the Otero Mesa area ready for public comment next spring, the Alamogordo Daily News reported .</p>
<p>Oil and gas development on the mesa would potentially lead to the construction of 350 new miles of road over the next 20 years, according to BLM officials. The agency believes development will also bring jobs and income within those industries to Otero County.</p>
<p>Southwest Environmental Center director Kevin Bixby said he worries the mesa would be irrevocably spoiled if industrial uses such as oil and gas drilling or mining were allowed.</p>
<p>“The Otero Mesa is a remote grassland that’s been used thousands of years by ranchers for grazing, hunting and other uses. If it’s changed to an industrial landscape with roads, it can be completely ruined. That’s the big threat,” Bixby said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Otero Mesa has long been seen by residents as a hidden treasure. Nicknamed the “holy grail of rock art sites,” the area contains an estimated 5,000 petroglyphs. The area includes about 600,000 acres (242,811 hectares) of Chihuahuan Desert grassland. It also is on top of the state’s largest untapped freshwater aquifer.</p>
<p>“There are pretty rare habitats, and we’re lucky to have this treasure in southern New Mexico,” Bixby said.</p>
<p>Efforts over the years to secure wilderness or national monument status for the area have been unsuccessful.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Alamogordo Daily News, <a href="http://www.alamogordonews.com" type="external">http://www.alamogordonews.com</a></p> | Land managers drafting plan for New Mexico’s Otero Mesa | false | https://abqjournal.com/1090821/land-managers-drafting-plan-for-new-mexicos-otero-mesa.html | 2017-11-10 | 2 |
<p>Sheriff David A. Clarke visiting Trump Tower in November 2016.nthony Behar/Pool/Sipa via AP</p>
<p />
<p>The Trump-supporting sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, has an unusual plan to crack down on illegal immigration: He wants to prosecute the mayors of so-called sanctuary cities.</p>
<p>Sheriff David A. Clarke, a conservative darling and immigration hard-liner, delivered the proposal Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, DC. During a panel titled “When Did World War III Start: Threats at Home?,” Clarke launched into a speech about the alleged dangers posed by cities, counties, and states that limit the ability of local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents. After claiming that sanctuary cities are filled with immigrants who are violent criminals, Clarke read from a federal statute that says that any person who harbors or conceals undocumented immigrants can be imprisoned for up to 10 years.</p>
<p>“I’m telling you right now folks: You charge one mayor, one governor, one council president…this stuff is going to end right away,” Clarke said to applause.</p>
<p>In the wake of Trump’s executive orders calling for the defunding of sanctuary cities, mayors including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/nyregion/outraged-mayors-vow-to-defy-trumps-immigration-order.html" type="external">Bill de Blasio of New York</a> and <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-wont-be-bullied-will-fight-trumps-order-mayor-says/" type="external">Ed Murray of Seattle</a> pledged to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation. In Milwaukee, <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/2/14/headlines/milwaukee_20_000_march_for_day_without_latinos_immigrants_and_refugees" type="external">20,000 people</a> marched in support of immigrants and refugees following comments Clarke made on Facebook about how he intends to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to crackdown on undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p /> | This Trump-Backing Sheriff Wants to Prosecute the Mayors of Sanctuary Cities | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/02/sheriff-david-clarke-sanctuary-cities/ | 2017-02-23 | 4 |
<p>MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a man robbed a bank in Ohio and used the money to buy his fiancee an engagement ring.</p>
<p>The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News <a href="http://www.journal-news.com/news/crime--law/case-suspect-who-allegedly-robbed-bank-after-buying-engagement-ring/ovnqOesnir2KfRsrHvvnvN/" type="external">reports</a> 36-year-old Dustin Pedersen has been charged with robbing a Fifth Third Bank branch in Trenton on Dec. 16.</p>
<p>Police say records show that Pedersen spent $4,500 on an engagement ring less than an hour after the robbery and presented it the next day.</p>
<p>A Trenton police detective said in court Wednesday the robbery netted $8,800.</p>
<p>Police say Pedersen became a suspect after a man wearing an identical hat robbed a Butler County bank six days later.</p>
<p>Pedersen has denied robbing any banks, but told police that surveillance photos of the robber look like him.</p>
<p>Pedersen's attorney wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: MIDDLETOWN: Hamilton-Middletown Journal News , <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external">http://www.journal-news.com</a></p>
<p>MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a man robbed a bank in Ohio and used the money to buy his fiancee an engagement ring.</p>
<p>The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News <a href="http://www.journal-news.com/news/crime--law/case-suspect-who-allegedly-robbed-bank-after-buying-engagement-ring/ovnqOesnir2KfRsrHvvnvN/" type="external">reports</a> 36-year-old Dustin Pedersen has been charged with robbing a Fifth Third Bank branch in Trenton on Dec. 16.</p>
<p>Police say records show that Pedersen spent $4,500 on an engagement ring less than an hour after the robbery and presented it the next day.</p>
<p>A Trenton police detective said in court Wednesday the robbery netted $8,800.</p>
<p>Police say Pedersen became a suspect after a man wearing an identical hat robbed a Butler County bank six days later.</p>
<p>Pedersen has denied robbing any banks, but told police that surveillance photos of the robber look like him.</p>
<p>Pedersen's attorney wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: MIDDLETOWN: Hamilton-Middletown Journal News , <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external">http://www.journal-news.com</a></p> | Police: Man used bank robbery cash to buy engagement ring | false | https://apnews.com/4ac0f811f39a41b492875c5450f8aed8 | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — National Guard organization to meet in ABQ in September 2006.</p>
<p>The National Guard Association of the United States, a nonpartisan organization representing some 45,000 current and former Army and Air National Guard officers throughout the country will be holding its 128th General Conference in Albuquerque next Sept. 16-18, Mayor Martin Chavez and Gen. Kenny Montoya, commander of the New Mexico National Guard, announced today.</p>
<p>The organization, which lobbies Congress for better equipment, standardized training and a more combat-ready force, recently completed its 127th General Conference in Honolulu and in 2007 will go to Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>The group had originally planned to hold its convention in New Orleans, but relocated after that city suffered extensive damage in Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The convention is expected to draw some 3,000 participants, according to Journal business writer Rosalie Rayburn, who attended today’s announcement.</p>
<p>The association last held its convention in Albuquerque in 1997.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 11:55am — Guard Convention Coming | false | https://abqjournal.com/21854/1155am-guard-convention-coming.html | 2 |
|
<p>Sept. 10 (UPI) — <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Matt_Prater/" type="external">Matt Prater</a> made his 58-yard field goal attempt for the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Detroit-Lions/" type="external">Detroit Lions</a> on Sunday, but the kick also hit a cameraman in the groin.</p>
<p>The Lions kicker lined up for the long attempt with three seconds remaining in the first half against the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Arizona-Cardinals/" type="external">Arizona Cardinals</a> at Ford Field. He booted the kick through the uprights to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 10-9. The ball squeezed just inside the left upright. After clearing the field goal, it hit the cameraman directly in the groin.</p>
<p>The man barely flinched and maintained the shot he was recording.</p>
<p>Detroit won the contest 35-23. After allowing a score to Kerwynn Williams to start the third quarter, the Lions piled on 28 unanswered points to take control of the contest.</p>
<p>Prater was 1-for-1 in field goal attempts and made both of his extra point tries. The two-time Pro Bowl selection had a long field goal of 58 yards last season. His career long is 64 yards. Prater, 33, is in his 11th NFL season. He also has stints with the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Atlanta-Falcons/" type="external">Atlanta Falcons</a> and <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Denver_Broncos/" type="external">Denver Broncos</a>.</p>
<p>Sunday’s unfortunate hit was just the latest installment in a bystander taking a ball to the groin during a game. Last month, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Detroit-Tigers/" type="external">Detroit Tigers</a> pitcher Michael Fulmer hit umpire <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Mike_Everitt/" type="external">Mike Everitt</a> in the groin <a href="https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/MLB/2017/08/30/Detroit-Tigers-pitcher-Michael-Fulmer-drills-umpire-in-groin-with-fastball/9761504103948/" type="external">with a sinker during his warm-up</a> for a game against the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Colorado-Rockies/" type="external">Colorado Rockies</a>.</p>
<p>A photographer <a href="https://www.upi.com/Boston-Red-Sox-Photographer-hit-in-groin-on-ceremonial-first-pitch/6921502998604/" type="external">also took a baseball to the groin last month</a> before a <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Boston-Red-Sox/" type="external">Boston Red Sox</a> game during a ceremonial first pitch.</p> | Cameraman hit in groin with field goal during Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals game | false | https://newsline.com/cameraman-hit-in-groin-with-field-goal-during-detroit-lions-arizona-cardinals-game/ | 2017-09-10 | 1 |
<p>August 1, 2012</p>
<p>Katy Grimes: As part of the campaign against the automobile, California’s air quality management districts are currently advertising that because of the summer heat, the air quality is bad.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Their answer is ‘don’t drive.’</p>
<p>What a great idea.</p>
<p>In the winter, air quality districts advertise that we can’t use our fireplaces.</p>
<p>What’s next–the beloved barbeque?</p>
<p>The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District has been running radio ads encouraging area residents to ‘spare the air’ .</p>
<p>“On September 16, 2011, at the direction of the Obama Administration, U.S. EPA announced it would move forward to implement the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone of 0.075 parts per million (ppm) averaged over 8-hours. This change significantly strengthened the standard by lowering it from the 1997 8-hour standard of 0.08 ppm,”&#160;the Sacramento air district&#160; <a href="http://www.sparetheair.com/airquality101.cfm" type="external">explains</a> on its <a href="http://www.sparetheair.com/airquality101.cfm" type="external">website</a>.</p>
<p>They almost seem giddy about the more severe restrictions–more restrictions always mean more regulations.”The Sacramento region will remain designated as a ‘severe’ nonattainment area for this new federal 8-hour ozone standard.”</p>
<p>The top 10 spare the air tips from the Sacramento air quality people&#160; <a href="http://sparetheair.com/take_action.cfm?page=topten" type="external">include</a>:</p>
<p>1. Drive less–“Cars are the major source of air pollution in the Sacramento region.” SMAQMD asks, “Can you get to your destination by walking, biking or public transit? If you leave your car at home one day a week, you prevent 55 pounds of pollution each year from being emitted into our air.”</p>
<p>2. Take public transit–“Take transit and let someone else deal with the traffic. Treat yourself to a stress-free commute,” the air district says. Obviously no one at SMAQMD rides Sacramento’s light rail.</p>
<p>3. Carpool or vanpool to work a few days, or even one day a week–“Share a ride. Whether you’re driving to work, the gym, a baseball game or the park, find a carpool partner.” Get in, sit down and shut up.</p>
<p>4. Sign up for Air Alert — “your free air quality e-mail.” They encourage you to send air alerts to family and friends.</p>
<p>5. Refuel in the evening and never top off–“Putting gas into your vehicle releases Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the air.”</p>
<p>6. Link your trips–“Cold engines pollute up to five times more than warm ones. Postpone errands on a Spare The Air Day.”</p>
<p>7. Telework–“Why commute at all if you can arrange to work from home? You’ll save commute time and expenses,” SMAQMD suggests. Tell this to the contractors, bus drivers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, fire fighters, cops, shop owners, florists, restauranteurs, and even politicians. Teleworking works best for government employees.</p>
<p>8. Avoid consumer spray products–“These aerosol products include hairspray, furniture polish, cooking sprays, bathroom cleaners, air fresheners, antiperspirants, insecticides, and hobby craft sprays.” And since you’ll be staying home on a spare the air day, you won’t need hairspray.</p>
<p>9. It’s ok to barbecue, but don’t use charcoal lighter fluid–“Use an electric starter or chimney briquette starter instead of charcoal lighter fluid. Better yet, replace your charcoal grill with a propane gas grill.”</p>
<p>10. Do your garden chores gasoline-free–“Avoid gas-powered yard tools such as mowers, blowers, edgers and trimmers — switch to electric-powered tools.” I haven’t seen anyone maintain their own lawn and garden for decades. However, it would be politically incorrect to ask the professional yard maintenance engineers to avoid using power yard tools such as mowers and blowers.</p>
<p>The only option we are left with on a spare the air day is to stay indoors with the air conditioning off, don’t cook, don’t use the washer, dryer, dishwasher, oven, stove, or BBQ, don’t work, don’t drive anywhere, don’t do any gardening, and don’t style your hair with an electric hairdryer or use hairspray.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Don’t even exhale lest you emit carbon dioxide. And please don’t break wind. There are dangerous gasses in flatulence, which may explain why&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulist" type="external">professional farters</a>&#160;are a profession of the past.&#160;I’d be willing to bet that the EPA put them out of business.</p>
<p>The global warming alarmists are even using scare tactics to scare children into complying.</p>
<p>“Poor air quality can affect your health, as well as&#160;your pet’s health,” a spare the air children’s publication states.</p>
<p>Another <a href="http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/index.html" type="external">link</a>&#160;from the Sacramento air quality district website for children leads to the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s global warming for children <a href="" type="external">website</a>. “The Earth is getting warmer because people are adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, mainly by burning fossil fuels,” the EPA <a href="" type="external">states</a>. “The Earth’s climate has changed before, but this time is different. People are causing these changes, which are bigger and happening faster than any climate changes that modern society has ever seen before.”</p>
<p>One headline on the EPA kids website read, “Scorching summers… Melting glaciers… Stronger storms…&#160;The signs of global climate change are all around us.”</p>
<p>Spare me.</p> | Spare the air; don’t breathe | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/08/01/spare-the-air-dont-even-breathe/ | 2018-08-20 | 3 |
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