text
stringlengths 0
127k
| title
stringlengths 0
777
| hyperpartisan
bool 2
classes | url
stringlengths 26
278
| published_at
stringlengths 0
10
| bias
int64 0
4
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<p>The White House proposed $10-a-barrel tax on oil to pay for infrastructure "is not going to be a disruptive factor in terms of the economy" because gas prices should be low for quite some time, President Barack Obama said Friday. In brief remarks in the White House press room, Obama defended the proposal, saying it balances with the federal government's recent decision to allow oil companies to export petroleum. He said the tax would help wean the economy off dirty fuels. "It is right to do it now when gas prices are really low," he said.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Obama Says Proposal To Tax Oil Sector Won't Disrupt Economy | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/05/obama-says-proposal-to-tax-oil-sector-wont-disrupt-economy.html | 2016-02-05 | 0 |
<p>As Gov. Pat Quinn ponders requests for pardons in his final days in office, he should pay attention to an&#160; <a href="http://www.freehowardmorgan.com/" type="external">online petition calling for freedom for Howard Morgan</a>, which has been signed by more than 42,000 people.</p>
<p>Morgan, a former Chicago police officer who is African-American, was convicted of attempted murder in a second trial in 2012 and sentenced to 40 years in prison following a 2005 incident in which three white officers received minor bullet wounds and Morgan was shot 28 times, nearly killed and permanently disabled.</p>
<p>His attorneys challenged the second trial under the doctrine of double jeopardy, since Morgan was acquitted of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm in a 2007 trial.&#160; They argued that the first jury believed Morgan’s testimony that he never fired his gun, and an eyewitness who testified that she never saw Morgan with a gun.</p>
<p>Judge Clayton Crane declared a mistrial in 2007 after two jurors became ill.&#160; According to Morgan’s wife, the defense and remaining jurors asked that deliberations continue — ten jurors being enough to reach a verdict — but the judge acceded to a prosecution motion when it appeared Morgan could win full acquittal.</p>
<p>She’s outraged at the retrial on related charges, which was upheld in a convoluted appeals court ruling.&#160; “Does the Constitution mean anything for black Americans?” Rosalind Morgan asked.&#160; “Does it only apply to white Americans?”</p>
<p>There are a lot of curious aspects to the case.</p>
<p>Morgan was 53 in 2005 and had been a police officer for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad since 1992.&#160; Before that he had received numerous commendations as a Chicago police officer for eight years.&#160; He was married, a father or two (he’s now a grandfather of three) and a deacon in his church.</p>
<p>It was 12:45 a.m. when his van was pulled over as he neared a family home he was remodeling.&#160; Two officers said they pulled him over for going the wrong way on a one-way street and driving without headlights.&#160; Another police car pulled up as the stop was in progress.</p>
<p>Morgan says he was “snatched” out of the van and attempted to identify himself as a police officer; the officers who’d stopped him started shooting after one of them saw the service revolver in his waistband and shouted “gun!” Morgan says he never drew his weapon and lost consciousness after the first three or four bullets hit him.</p>
<p>The police account is frankly hard to credit.&#160; They said that during a patdown search, Morgan became angry, pulled out his gun and started shooting, “spraying” bullets at the four officers on the scene.&#160; They took cover behind their vehicles and returned fire, stopping only when Morgan stopped, after he emptied his revolver.</p>
<p>One officer testified that Morgan continued firing after taking a direct shot to his back, and then was struck by several bullets and knocked to the ground, only to get back up and continue firing.</p>
<p>“Twenty-eight bullets,” Rosalind Morgan muses.&#160; “Twenty-one in the back — the neck, the back, the ribs, the buttocks, the lower legs.&#160; Seven in the front&#160;—&#160;kidney, colon, liver.&#160; Only God let it not hit his spine or heart — which is what they were aiming for.”</p>
<p>And still Morgan kept shooting?&#160; “I didn’t know I was married to Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and the Bionic Man, all in one,” she said. “These are false statements concocted to fit their story. It’s ludicrous.”</p>
<p>There are other troubling anomalies.&#160; Morgan’s hands were never tested for gunshot residue, despite being suspected of attempted murder of police officers.&#160; Of the 28 bullets that entered his body, only three were recovered — making it impossible to refute the defense theory that Morgan was shot with his own gun after it was taken from him.&#160;(The defense maintained that the arresting officer’s wounds came from “friendly fire.”) His bullet-ridden van, which could have yielded evidence about bullet trajectories and whether officers opened the door and pulled Morgan out, was destroyed.&#160; The vest of an officer who said he was shot in the chest was lost.</p>
<p>The single independent eyewitness said the second police car had three officers, and one officer’s battery report said there were three assisting officers, though he later testified that that was an error.&#160; Morgan supporters think a fifth officer’s gun could have produced ballistic evidence that might be pinned on Morgan.</p>
<p>Then there are trial irregularities, along with the double jeopardy issue.&#160; Morgan’s attorneys weren’t allowed to mention that he had been acquitted of shooting a gun in a previous trial.&#160; They were prevented from exploring evidence showing that the Morgan’s van’s lights were on at the time of the incident, contradicting the pretext for the stop.</p>
<p>They weren’t allowed to mention the&#160; <a href="http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-64183694/" type="external">conviction of one of the officers</a>&#160;testifying against Morgan for falsifying an arrest report and giving false testimony in a case involving the notorious Special Operations Squad.</p>
<p>Morgan is preparing a post-conviction petition citing what his supporters say are numerous trial errors.&#160; They say Judge Crane consistently ruled for the prosecution in pretrial motions.&#160; The prosecution, meanwhile, used its pre-emptory challenges to ensure that unlike the first jury, the second jury was overwhelmingly white.</p>
<p>The wheels of justice grind slow, but Howard Morgan is in his 60s.&#160; In his case, Gov. Quinn, justice delayed could well be justice denied.</p> | Ex-officer shot 28 times deserves justice | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/ex-officer-shot-28-times-deserves-justice/ | 2014-12-31 | 3 |
<p>Dividend stocks yielding more than 3% are coveted among income investors. Why? Well, for starters, that easily beats the current 1.8% yield of the S&amp;P 500. And although higher yields are often a hallmark of higher risk, there's a sweet spot of dividend stocks yielding between about 2% and 5% that are among the most stable and mature businesses you can invest in.</p>
<p>If above-average dividend yields and stable payouts sound good to you, then you should consider taking a closer look at French energy giant Total SA (NYSE: TOT), North American pipeline leader Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI), and dividend champion ONEOK (NYSE: OKE). Here's why they're three dividend stocks to buy right now.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Total is one of the largest producers of crude oil and natural gas in the world, but it's definitely tuned in to the possibility that fossil fuel consumption may soon peak. Coal is expected to be among the first casualties thanks to shifting demands in global electricity markets, while almost every supermajor concedes that crude oil consumption could peak in the next decade or two as electric vehicles encroach on the turf of the internal combustion engine. Natural gas may prove stickier, but also figures to play a central role in meeting climate goals.</p>
<p>The company is preparing by building profitable renewable energy companies (solar energy, energy storage, and the like) and investing generously in technologies that require more long-term thinking (next-gen biotech platforms for creating jet fuel).</p>
<p>Total is also betting big on the largest opportunity in natural gas: the quickly growing <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/18/5-things-royal-dutch-shell-wants-you-to-know-about.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) Opens a New Window.</a>. The company will be the second-largest LNG trader in the world by 2020. That alone is expected to generate $3 billion in operating cash flow per year.</p>
<p>Of course, while focusing on the future should be important for investors, it's not as if Total wields a lackluster portfolio in more traditional energy markets -- by far its bread and butter now and for years to come. Good stewardship of shareholder capital and a focus on safe and efficient operations over the years resulted in a <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/08/total-sa-records-a-blowout-quarter-and-initiates-s.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">solid 2017 Opens a New Window.</a>. It generated copious amounts of cash, sported the lowest debt-to-capital ratio of the supermajors, and pledged to increase its dividend 10% by 2020 while repurchasing $5 billion in shares.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Considering the current dividend yield is 5.1%, investors could feel almost spoiled over the next three years if dividends rise further.</p>
<p>Kinder Morgan is a large and mature business, but the stock hasn't exactly been a poster child of stability in recent years. That's because the company's structure dictates that it maintain a relatively high level of debt, which got it into trouble when energy prices collapsed a few years ago. The fee-based business has proved resilient, although management was forced to redirect cash flow from the dividend to debt repayments.</p>
<p>In 2018, investors are looking to reap the rewards from difficult decisions made in the last three years. Compared to 2017, Kinder Morgan is increasing its per-share dividend 60% this year and 150% by 2020. In other words, the 3.2% yield is about to grow substantially, which makes it an <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/16/better-buy-enterprise-products-partners-lp-vs-kind.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">attractive energy stock and dividend stock Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The massive dividend increase should be sustainable, too. Kinder Morgan is expecting to generate an additional $1.6 billion in earnings from growth projects coming online in the near future. Considering the company is the largest pipeline operator in North America -- which is <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/31/the-long-term-trend-that-makes-kinder-morgan-inc-a.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">nearing energy independence Opens a New Window.</a> -- fee-based businesses that serve as the conduit for major energy producing and exporting regions figure to be pretty solid investments for investors over the long term.</p>
<p>ONEOK is another pipeline company, but one that has taken a slightly different route than Kinder Morgan in recent years. It merged with its former <a href="https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-a-master-limited-partnership.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">MLP Opens a New Window.</a> to save money, maintains a relatively high coverage ratio, and still manages to pay out a 5.2% dividend yield. While that's pretty impressive, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/05/5-reasons-oneok-incs-management-team-thinks-its-54.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">management has plans Opens a New Window.</a> to increase the payout 9% to 11% annually through 2021 while maintaining a coverage ratio of at least 1.2.</p>
<p>ONEOK has multiple expansion projects coming online by early 2020 that bode well for its ability to deliver on its targets. Meanwhile, management seems to be considering the potential to expand on or around those projects beyond 2021, which could come at a more capital-efficient price tag than greenfield construction -- something that could greatly benefit shareholders.</p>
<p>So, although ONEOK has an aggressive plan in place to grow the business, increase the dividend, and continue deleveraging the balance sheet, it looks as if management is poised to deliver on its lofty goals.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Kinder MorganWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=d6b1cb8d-0e54-4956-9a5e-15e4bde553db&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Kinder Morgan wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=d6b1cb8d-0e54-4956-9a5e-15e4bde553db&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of March 5, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBlacknGold/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Maxx Chatsko Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan and ONEOK. 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;referring_guid=b1a8359d-2305-4538-a60e-10694f40e197&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Stocks to Buy With Dividends Yielding More Than 3% | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/30/3-stocks-to-buy-with-dividends-yielding-more-than-3.html | 2018-03-27 | 0 |
<p><a href="//videos/37/62464" type="external" /></p>
<p>RUSH: So where are we with all the other things that are happening? Well, we’ve explored a little bit of Ebola today, but then there’s another thing that’s happening, and it’s probably related in somewhat, but not exclusively related. Other factors are making it reveled. It’s in no less than the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/us/politics/in-this-election-obamas-party-benches-him.html" type="external">New York Times, by Jonathan Martin</a> who used to be at The Politico. The headline of the story: “In This Election, Obama’s Party Benches Him.”</p>
<p>This is stunning.</p>
<p>The New York Times has a story about how Democrat candidates for the Senate don’t want Obama anywhere near their states. They don’t want him coming in fundraising. They don’t want him coming in doing campaign appearances. Imagine if you are a dutiful, loyal New York City liberal, and the New York Times is your gospel, and you awaken today, and you go grab your cup of coffee and your croissant, and you sit down to digest your daily lesson.</p>
<p>Imagine the shock of seeing the headline: “…Obama’s Party Benches Him.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/us/politics/in-this-election-obamas-party-benches-him.html" type="external" />Obama benched? The coach, the GM, the owner?</p>
<p>It turns out that Barack Obama’s become the problem.</p>
<p>Barack Obama is the problem, with Obama driving the Democrat Party bus to the far-left side of the road. “Every campaign…” This is a pull quote from the piece. “Every campaign has got to figure out — and this is true in this election, and it’s going to be true for every election going forward for Democrats for as far as the eye can see — is which Democrats are only going to be able to win if they turn out enough of the Obama coalition, whether weÂ’re in a midterm or a presidential.” That’s Dan Pfeiffer.</p>
<p>“So for candidates to distance themselves from the president, or even disparage him, is to ignore a potential path to victory.” This is an inconvenient truth for Democrats. So, for Democrats, candidates to distance themselves from the president is to ignore a potential path to victory. The New York Times is chiding Democrats for not wanting their young president nearby in their campaigns. How dare they do this to him! But it’s their business to get elected.</p>
<p>Again, a pull quote from the story. “But for now [Obama] has been reduced to something else: an isolated political figure who is viewed as a liability to Democrats in the very states where voters by the thousands had once stood to cheer him.”</p>
<p>And then from <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/220008-poll-most-americans-see-obama-as-a-failure" type="external">TheHill.com</a>: “Most See Obama As a Failure — A clear majority of Americans describe President Obama’s tenure as a ‘failure’ according to a new poll released Monday. The survey from IBD/TIPP indicates that 53 percent of adults in the United States now characterize Obama’s presidency as a ‘failure,’ while 41 percent chalk it up as a success. Half of the people who live in states won by Obama see his tenure negatively, as do 59 percent of those aged 25-44 years old.”</p>
<p>Now, the real question is, is Obama a failure? Does all of this constitute failure? I contend that in Obama’s world none of this is a failure. There may be one aspect of it that’s a failure. I really think that in his desire to transform the country, I think he really hoped that he would bring a majority of Americans along with him cheering this transformation. That’s not happening. That’s why, in the people who fail to see Obama’s vision, the people that fail to want to tag along on this, they see Obama as a failure, but it isn’t a failure. He’s doing exactly what he set out to do.</p>
<p>The people that voted for Obama who now claim he’s failed don’t realize that Obama wanted to fundamentally transform America with his presidency, and who can deny that he’s done that even beyond his wildest dreams? I would say that in Obama’s world, when he and Michelle are up there in the residence quietly reflecting, I think that they look at what they’ve done as a resounding success. I think they have exceeded their wildest dreams in terms of what they wanted to accomplish. They’ve accomplished it.</p>
<p>Everybody else thinks he’s an incompetent failure, and he’s maybe incompetent in the traditional way we view the presidency, i.e., qualifications. Does he know what he’s doing? Does he have the same values in terms of foreign policy, defending and protecting the country, and all of that. He doesn’t. The United States isn’t special, and it’s not the solution. The United States is the problem, and it always has been the problem. Time to pay the piper now. Is there any way that you can measure and conclude the country is stronger today after six years of Obama? Nope. Therefore, job done. Obama, job done. Mission accomplished.</p>
<p>The country is not stronger today in any way than it was six years ago when he presumed office. So that’s failure to the blind voters who blindly supported him. To him, it’s rock on. And there’s still two years, and I don’t think it really matters to him who wins the Senate. I mean, it would help if the Democrats kept it, but he can make a lot of hay with the Republicans there. He knows he’s got a media that is gonna join him in blaming the Republicans for whatever he needs to do in order to overcome them.</p>
<p>I mean, if the Republicans do not help, if they don’t cooperate, if they don’t pass his agenda, that’s made to order for Obama and the media to rip into them and to praise Obama for taking whatever executive steps necessary to accomplish his objectives, even with an obstructionist Republican Congress. And make no mistake, the media can’t wait to report that story. The media can’t wait to report the story that the Republicans are standing in the way, refusing to cooperate, throwing and casting aside bipartisanship in exchange for selfishness and just motivated exclusively by stopping Obama.</p>
<p>And, as such, the Republicans will be blamed for excessive partisanship and playing politics with every issue while the president will be portrayed as decent and wonderful and simply trying to do the best for the country with the mean, rascally Republicans standing in the way. So that’s how he can play the Republicans winning the Senate. The Democrats win the Senate, he’s got a rubber stamp for whatever he wants to do. Even if the Republicans win it’s not gonna stop him doing amnesty ’cause half of them are on board for it anyway. Ebola might be the biggest obstacle he’s got to amnesty now. And in that case, pay special attention to the way the Regime deals with that.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: Jason in Ellisville, Missouri, you’re next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hello.</p>
<p>CALLER: Thanks for having me.</p>
<p>RUSH: You bet, sir.</p>
<p>CALLER: And, by the way, my apologies to Mr. Snerdley, but I just wanted to tell you that I’ve already pre-ordered the next iterance of your book series. My daughter’s gonna flip out when she sees it arrive.</p>
<p>RUSH: Well, thank you, sir, very much. Why are you apologizing to Snerdley?</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, he told me to get to the point, so I just —</p>
<p>RUSH: Well, that’s the point, that’s the point. You don’t have to apologize for that.</p>
<p>CALLER: Okey-dokey. Well, my major point was, well, based off of Drudge’s brilliant headline on his site, and your talks about anybody talking about isolating Liberia and those countries and being racist. Well, why is the Democrat Party not also being judged as racist for isolating Obama?</p>
<p>RUSH: You know, if only the same treatment would descend on them that they pass out. I mean, I get your point, it’s right on the money. So here we have our first African-American president, and Democrat candidates are saying, “Stay away, buddy, stay away. We don’t want you anywhere near our campaign. Do not even come to the state.” Why isn’t that racist?</p>
<p>You know, if any Republican disagrees with any Obama policy, it’s always chalked up to racism and bigotry. And now here are these pompous, arrogant Democrat candidates out telling the world there’s no way they can win if the first African-American president shows up to help ’em. I mean, it sounds like racism to me. The same kind of racism they pass out all day. Does it not, Mr. Snerdley? I mean, it does. The guy’s got a great point here. Where are the accusations that these Democrat incumbents are racists and bigots?</p>
<p>Can you imagine having the New York Times report that you, a Democrat, do not want the help of the first African-American president in your reelection effort? Why not? Is it because he’s black? Is that why people aren’t gonna like it, hmm? How would that feel? You know, it’s kind of like that <a href="" type="internal">Ben Affleck and Bill Maher uproar.</a> I wonder how Bill Maher feels when Ben Affleck calls him a racist and a bigot.</p>
<p>You know, they throw it around us all the time. And of course they never even consider it would even be possible for anyone to think of them in the same way. And here’s old Ben Affleck out there accusing them of it. Racism, bigotry, and whatever else he accused them of being because they are mean to Muslims. (interruption) Do people on the left think that Affleck is smart? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, my. Absolutely. But not because of this. Because of Good Will Hunting. Affleck — and what’s the other guy? Yeah, Matt Damon. They’re still living off of that. That’s the real Affleck, and that’s the real Damon.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, there’s a lot of people that think Affleck, on the left — especially after this, after the dustup with Maher, absolutely. That’s why I’m saying, I wonder how Maher feels, being on his own show, by a fellow leftist being tagged as a racist and a bigot. We’ll never know, but it’s just something worth asking.</p> | Democrats Shun the First Black President | true | http://rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/10/08/democrats_shun_the_first_black_president | 2014-10-08 | 0 |
<p>DETROIT (AP) _ These Michigan lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>08-09-31-43-45, Lucky Ball: 6</p>
<p>(eight, nine, thirty-one, forty-three, forty-five; Lucky Ball: six)</p>
<p>Poker Lotto</p>
<p>JC-2C-9C-10H-10S</p>
<p>(JC, 2C, 9C, 10H, 10S)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 3</p>
<p>1-0-2</p>
<p>(one, zero, two)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 4</p>
<p>5-1-0-7</p>
<p>(five, one, zero, seven)</p>
<p>Daily 3</p>
<p>9-4-0</p>
<p>(nine, four, zero)</p>
<p>Daily 4</p>
<p>1-0-5-0</p>
<p>(one, zero, five, zero)</p>
<p>Fantasy 5</p>
<p>05-11-17-18-25</p>
<p>(five, eleven, seventeen, eighteen, twenty-five)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $110,000</p>
<p>Keno</p>
<p>04-05-08-09-11-14-23-26-27-37-46-50-51-54-61-63-64-68-71-76-77-79</p>
<p>(four, five, eight, nine, eleven, fourteen, twenty-three, twenty-six, twenty-seven, thirty-seven, forty-six, fifty, fifty-one, fifty-four, sixty-one, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-eight, seventy-one, seventy-six, seventy-seven, seventy-nine)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $76 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $112 million</p>
<p>DETROIT (AP) _ These Michigan lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>08-09-31-43-45, Lucky Ball: 6</p>
<p>(eight, nine, thirty-one, forty-three, forty-five; Lucky Ball: six)</p>
<p>Poker Lotto</p>
<p>JC-2C-9C-10H-10S</p>
<p>(JC, 2C, 9C, 10H, 10S)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 3</p>
<p>1-0-2</p>
<p>(one, zero, two)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 4</p>
<p>5-1-0-7</p>
<p>(five, one, zero, seven)</p>
<p>Daily 3</p>
<p>9-4-0</p>
<p>(nine, four, zero)</p>
<p>Daily 4</p>
<p>1-0-5-0</p>
<p>(one, zero, five, zero)</p>
<p>Fantasy 5</p>
<p>05-11-17-18-25</p>
<p>(five, eleven, seventeen, eighteen, twenty-five)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $110,000</p>
<p>Keno</p>
<p>04-05-08-09-11-14-23-26-27-37-46-50-51-54-61-63-64-68-71-76-77-79</p>
<p>(four, five, eight, nine, eleven, fourteen, twenty-three, twenty-six, twenty-seven, thirty-seven, forty-six, fifty, fifty-one, fifty-four, sixty-one, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-eight, seventy-one, seventy-six, seventy-seven, seventy-nine)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $76 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $112 million</p> | MI Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/4436008b8bba4d8f9fcec57d432c45a4 | 2018-01-26 | 2 |
<p>HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on bitterly cold weather that's gripped Texas (all times local):</p>
<p>1:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Sheriff's officials say an 82-year-old woman with dementia who walked away from her home near Houston likely died from exposure after being found in a wooded area a short distance away.</p>
<p>The Harris County sheriff's office said in a statement that deputies searched the area Wednesday morning after receiving a missing person report.</p>
<p>Family members told deputies that the woman could not be found after they stopped at the home to check on her.</p>
<p>Authorities say the unidentified woman "succumbed to the cold."</p>
<p>It's not clear when she walked away from the home. The temperature in Houston on Wednesday morning was about 20 degrees (-7 Celsius).</p>
<p>Meanwhile, officials in Houston say a homeless man found dead Tuesday behind a trash bin apparently died of exposure. It's unclear exactly how long the man had been dead.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:15 a.m.</p>
<p>Bitter cold continues to grip parts of Texas as Houston-area authorities urge people to stay off icy roads and a state electricity supplier says a new record was set for power use as people reach for the thermostat.</p>
<p>The cold front that brought snow to some regions of Texas had moved eastward by Wednesday but areas of the state were still plagued by slick roads. Authorities urged people in the Houston area to stay indoors.</p>
<p>Public safety officials directed the homeless to warming shelters and some schools that were closed Tuesday continued to be shuttered or have delayed openings a day later.</p>
<p>The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which manages the flow of electricity, says a record of more than 65,700 megawatts of power was consumed early Wednesday amid temperatures in the teens.</p>
<p>HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on bitterly cold weather that's gripped Texas (all times local):</p>
<p>1:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Sheriff's officials say an 82-year-old woman with dementia who walked away from her home near Houston likely died from exposure after being found in a wooded area a short distance away.</p>
<p>The Harris County sheriff's office said in a statement that deputies searched the area Wednesday morning after receiving a missing person report.</p>
<p>Family members told deputies that the woman could not be found after they stopped at the home to check on her.</p>
<p>Authorities say the unidentified woman "succumbed to the cold."</p>
<p>It's not clear when she walked away from the home. The temperature in Houston on Wednesday morning was about 20 degrees (-7 Celsius).</p>
<p>Meanwhile, officials in Houston say a homeless man found dead Tuesday behind a trash bin apparently died of exposure. It's unclear exactly how long the man had been dead.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:15 a.m.</p>
<p>Bitter cold continues to grip parts of Texas as Houston-area authorities urge people to stay off icy roads and a state electricity supplier says a new record was set for power use as people reach for the thermostat.</p>
<p>The cold front that brought snow to some regions of Texas had moved eastward by Wednesday but areas of the state were still plagued by slick roads. Authorities urged people in the Houston area to stay indoors.</p>
<p>Public safety officials directed the homeless to warming shelters and some schools that were closed Tuesday continued to be shuttered or have delayed openings a day later.</p>
<p>The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which manages the flow of electricity, says a record of more than 65,700 megawatts of power was consumed early Wednesday amid temperatures in the teens.</p> | The Latest: Woman near Houston likely died from exposure | false | https://apnews.com/amp/5382364ab3834e1699e257ecbe8d2f11 | 2018-01-17 | 2 |
<p>Republican presidential candidates are getting ready to enter the ring tonight —&#160;not to box of course, but sometimes it feels that way.</p>
<p>They're gathering for a televised debate.&#160; It's supposed be a civilized political debate. But all bets are off about how civil it will be as the rivals are expected to gang-up on the&#160;front-runner, billionaire Donald Trump, who brings bomb-throwing rhetoric with him.</p>
<p>Some media critics say the televised debates are becoming more about entertainment than political dialogue.</p>
<p>“Well it's certainly been promoted as a boxing match,” says <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/correspondents/anthonyzurcher" type="external">BBC political reporter Anthony Zurcher</a>, pointing to&#160;the CNN television commercials that “make the debate look like the next heavy weight championship bout. The only thing that they're missing right now is an announcer shouting ‘let's get ready to rumble!’”</p>
<p>In addition, the candidates will be moved closer to each other on stage than they were at the last debate, so “they’re infringing on their personal space a bit,” he says.&#160;</p>
<p>Debate moderator&#160;Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent,&#160;will be reading out quotes from the different candidates, slams and insults that they’ve said about each other.&#160;“So everything is being set up to try to encourage as much political brawling as possible,” says Zurcher.</p>
<p>Plus it’s likely the majority of that&#160;combative spirit will be focussed on Trump. It’s as if the leading Republican presidential candidate has a big target on his back.</p>
<p>“I think you’re going to hear a lot more heated attacks than you did the first time around. The candidates now realize that Trump isn’t going to fold on his own. They have to try to bring him down a notch. If you listen to Kentucky Sen.&#160;Rand Paul, he said recently that he's going to try to expose Trump as a fake conservative and that he was going to go after the New Yorker with both barrels.</p>
<p>“So maybe it’s not so much a boxing match we should be talking about here, but an impending gun fight.”</p>
<p>Zurcher predicts “the trend of coarse and over-the-top, political debate is not going to go away anytime soon. Donald Trump has shown that it works. He's a proven master of social media. He’s on Twitter all the time and social media has only increased and amplified the rhetoric as the biggest slams and insults get a kind of resonance. So it seems this is a brave new world for American politics and it’s not going to be for the timid.”</p> | Expect a good old fashioned brawl when the Republican candidates debate | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-09-16/expect-good-old-fashioned-brawl-when-republican-candidates-debate | 2015-09-16 | 3 |
<p />
<p>You may or may not have heard of Medicare Advantage plans, but you would do well to learn more about them. After all, as of last year, more than 17 millionAmericans had enrolled in them, up from about 7 million in 1999. Enrollment in them has been steadily rising for more than a decade and now represents about 30%of the entire Medicare market. Should you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan? You may well want to, once you review their upsides and downsides.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>When you enroll in Medicare -- which you can do at age 65 -- you can choose either the "original" Medicare package of Part A and Part B (covering, respectively, hospital and medical expenses) or a Medicare Advantage plan, sometimes referred to as Part C. Those who opt for original Medicare typically augment it with Part D prescription drug coverage and sometimes a "Medigap" supplemental coverage plan, too.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/11/20/7-facts-about-medicare-advantage-you-didnt-know.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Medicare Advantage plans Opens a New Window.</a> debuted in 1995. Offered by private organizations such as health insurance companies and regulated by the federal government, they are required to offer at least as much coverage as original Medicare (i.e., Part A and Part B benefits).</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>During any Medicare enrollment period, you can choose between original Medicare (Parts A and B) and Medicare Advantage plans. And if you're not happy with your decision, you can make a different choice in the next enrollment period.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images</p>
<p>Here are some reasons to favor Medicare Advantage plans:</p>
<p>Medicare Advantage plans are probably sounding pretty good right now. They're not perfect, though.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images</p>
<p>Here are some downsides:</p>
<p>When it comes to choosing the best health insurance plan in retirement, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Look into all your options and see which makes the most sense for you. Do the math, comparing premiums, copays, deductibles, and so on -- to see which plan is likely to cost you the least and/or offer more coverage.</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>, owns no shares of any company mentioned in this article.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> | Should You Get a Medicare Advantage Plan? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/21/should-get-medicare-advantage-plan.html | 2017-01-15 | 0 |
<p>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman has been convicted of stealing Social Security benefits for years after her grandparents died.</p>
<p>A U.S. Attorney’s Office news release says a jury found 49-year-old Myriam Etienne guilty Wednesday of 90 counts of theft of government funds. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each count at her April sentencing.</p>
<p>Authorities say the Pompano Beach woman began receiving Social Security Supplemental Security Income on behalf of her grandparents in 2004. Trial evidence revealed that Etienne’s grandfather died in Haiti in 2006, and her grandmother died in Haiti in 2009. But Etienne didn’t report the deaths to the government and continued to receive over $130,000 in payments until an audit flagged them as suspicious in 2016.</p>
<p>Etienne was arrested in October.</p>
<p>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman has been convicted of stealing Social Security benefits for years after her grandparents died.</p>
<p>A U.S. Attorney’s Office news release says a jury found 49-year-old Myriam Etienne guilty Wednesday of 90 counts of theft of government funds. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each count at her April sentencing.</p>
<p>Authorities say the Pompano Beach woman began receiving Social Security Supplemental Security Income on behalf of her grandparents in 2004. Trial evidence revealed that Etienne’s grandfather died in Haiti in 2006, and her grandmother died in Haiti in 2009. But Etienne didn’t report the deaths to the government and continued to receive over $130,000 in payments until an audit flagged them as suspicious in 2016.</p>
<p>Etienne was arrested in October.</p> | Woman guilty of stealing dead grandparents’ Social Security | false | https://apnews.com/b1d78849432a4e328bbd077ef74adb4a | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>ATLANTA—A social studies teacher barricaded himself inside a classroom at a Georgia high school on Wednesday and fired a handgun, sending students running outside or hunkering down in darkened gym locker rooms, authorities said.</p>
<p>No Dalton High School students were in the classroom when the teacher fired the weapon, and despite the chaotic lockdown and evacuation, the only injury was a student who hurt her ankle running away.</p>
<p>It wasn’t immediately clear why the teacher, 53-year-old Jesse Randal Davidson, had the gun. Under questioning by detectives, he refused to discuss what led to the shooting.</p>
<p>The gunfire erupted with a nation on edge two weeks after a Florida school shooting left 17 students and faculty dead and ignited a new debate over gun control in America. Within minutes of the Dalton shooting, students there took to social media, calling for restricting gun rights. In the afternoon, President Donald Trump, who has advocated for arming teachers, convened a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House to address gun violence.</p>
<p />
<p>The teacher was taken into custody without incident after a 30- to 45-minute standoff with officers, police spokesman Bruce Frazier said. A teacher since 2004, Davidson also serves as the play-by-play announcer for the high school’s football team.</p>
<p>Police noted that Davidson didn’t appear to want to hurt the students or faculty. He fired the gun at an exterior window when the principal tried to enter the classroom.</p>
<p>“I don’t know whether he was just firing the gun off to let people know to back off or what,” Frazier said.</p>
<p>The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. during Davidson’s planning period. At first, students tried to get into the classroom, but they couldn’t. The students told the principal, who tried to enter.</p>
<p>“I didn’t get the door open very far, but he slammed the door and hollered ‘Go away, don’t come in here.’ He had some nonsensical noises that were made as well,” Principal Steve Bartoo said.</p>
<p>Bartoo returned a short time later and put his key in the door “and again he slammed the door before I could open it and he said, ‘Don’t come in here, I have a gun.'”</p>
<p>That’s when Davidson fired and the school was placed on lockdown, authorities said.</p>
<p>Davidson faces six charges, including aggravated assault involving a gun and terroristic threats and acts, jail records showed. Other charges include carrying a weapon in a school safety zone and reckless conduct. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.</p>
<p>Chondi Chastain told The Associated Press she was supposed to have Davidson’s class at 2:30 p.m.</p>
<p>“My favorite teacher at Dalton high school just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot. We had to run out the back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe,” she tweeted in a post that was retweeted 15,000 times within hours.</p>
<p>She said Davidson himself had commented that arming teachers was a bad idea.</p>
<p>“I feel like there just shouldn’t be guns at school at all,” she said. “It’s our basic student right to feel safe at school and if (teachers were armed), I wouldn’t feel safe.”</p>
<p>Student Emma Jacobs texted her mother while she hid inside a darkened classroom, said her mother, Annmarie Jacobs. Emma, a junior, said in texts that her teacher had turned the lights off and told the students to sit in a corner.</p>
<p>Then, in an act that brought home the danger of the situation, Emma texted her mother, “omg she’s putting desk in front of the door.”</p>
<p>Nathangel Lopez hunkered down with students and teachers in a gym locker room. While there, he tweeted a photo of teens sitting on benches and called for more gun control.</p>
<p>“This shouldn’t happen to us,” he wrote. “I hope a lawmaker somewhere will do something.”</p>
<p>When he found out that a teacher was involved, he shifted his stance on arming educators.</p>
<p>“At first, I was thinking that that might have been a good idea. I am now totally against it,” he said.</p>
<p>Several students said on social media they were outraged that some on Twitter questioned whether the incident was staged.</p>
<p>Davidson was described as laid back and smart. In 2012, he was recognized as the school’s top teacher, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported . He moved to Dalton in 1995 and became sports and news director at WBLJ-AM radio.</p>
<p>“It was always about the students. He really wanted the students to understand the concept,” said 18-year-old senior Rowdy Zeisig.</p>
<p>The principal said Davidson was an “excellent teacher” who was well thought of, and “as far as I know he was fit to be at work.”</p>
<p>Twice in recent years, Dalton police say they encountered the teacher exhibiting odd behavior and wrote in one report that he “may be delusional.”</p>
<p>Davidson had walked into the police department and told a rambling story about thinking a murder had occurred, police wrote in a 2016 report. But police said they investigated and were not able to verify that any of the information was true. Police said that after the interview, Davidson was taken to a hospital “based on him thinking about hurting himself.”</p>
<p>Police said in another report last year that officers found Davidson during a school day sitting on the curb of a street, conscious but unresponsive and being held up by two school staff members. He was again taken to a hospital.</p>
<p>Both police reports were posted late Wednesday by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.</p>
<p>A week ago, police found a “threatening” note on the floor of a classroom at Dalton High, but it wasn’t related to the shooting Wednesday.</p>
<p>Threats have been made at schools across the country in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.</p>
<p>Dalton High has about 2,000 students. The school is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Atlanta.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Hartounian reported from Phoenix. AP writer Jacob Jordan also contributed to this report.</p> | Teacher Barricades Himself in Classroom, Fires a Handgun | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/teacher-barricades-classroom-fires-handgun/ | 2018-02-28 | 4 |
<p />
<p><a href="http://goo.gl/1E3xAs" type="external">Shutterstock</a></p>
<p>Nearly every intelligent witness to the nearly seven decades of Israel’s alliance with the United States and Western Europe now understands that the affair is about to be over.</p>
<p>In 1948 and the years that immediately followed, the alliance was the salvation of Israel and an obligation upon Western Europe. This was because of what had been done to Europe’s Jews during the war, and not only by the Nazis.</p>
<p />
<p>The Arab nations’ attempt to destroy the U.N. creation of a Jewish national home at the expense of the Palestinians was also widely understood, and granted a certain international sympathy, but in 1948 the Arab states carried little political weight against the array of West European states and the United States, at a moment when the Cold War was beginning.</p>
<p>To American politicians and European ones as well, the support of mobilized Jewish national communities was an electoral force of consequence as well. The race between American and Soviet governments to be the first to recognize the new state was won by proclamation by Harry Truman, but Moscow was the first to grant formal diplomatic recognition to the new state of Israel, which it perceived as a possible ally in the Middle East. Popular sympathy for Israel was widest among liberals in the United States and the European Left — which today is no longer the case. Anti-Semitism was still a force of consequence: America before and during the Second World War had done little for Europe’s persecuted Jews.</p>
<p>Today in the United States the endorsement of Israel and financial support from the American Jewish community remain important but diminishing factors in American politics. Liberal sympathies have moved leftward, hostile to Israel, most significantly among younger Jews and the elites of the community, with growing sympathy for the Palestinian cause and the international divestment movement, which is hostile to the advance of Jewish colonization of what is legally Palestinian territory, and now, above all, in reaction to the ruthless methods of the Israeli government in suppressing Palestinian armed resistance in Gaza to the expropriation of Palestinian lands and property, and to demands for civil rights.</p>
<p>Internationally, the all but unlimited support given Israel in its foreign and domestic policies by the United States does growing, if as yet cautiously expressed, harm to the American reputation in Western Europe and virtually everywhere else in the world — the developing world in particular.</p>
<p>This alliance is taken as identifying the United States as an oppressor nation and “imperialist” state, the latter judgment reinforced by American policies nearly everywhere in the non-western world since the war in Vietnam, immensely reinforced by American Middle Eastern interventions and the disastrous invasion of Iraq, with its ruinous consequences for the Islamic world. America’s massive national as well as international clandestine intelligence and electronic interception activities now have given it the reputation of a quasi-totalitarian state.</p>
<p>The alliance of the United States with Israel has become internationally seen as an alliance of international lawbreakers, which literally is true because of the indifference both demonstrate to the established norms and conventions of international justice. The United States facilitates the continuing aggressive and illegal Israeli annexation of territories assigned to the Palestinian people by the 1948 United Nations ruling that established a Jewish National Home in the British mandated colony of Palestine.</p>
<p>For Israel it has become something more sinister, an inducement as well as license to international law-breaking. The war that has just taken place between Hamas-controlled Gaza and Israel began with deliberate provocation on both sides. Hamas activists contested Israel’s domination of Gaza, and invited military repression of a scale and degree of indiscriminate and illegal violence that would discredit Israel, and indirectly its American sponsor and arms supplier.</p>
<p>Israel’s response to this provocation was as Hamas expected, and for which it sacrificed (to date) over 2,000 Palestinian lives, mostly civilian, together with the destruction of a series of United Nations schools, hospitals and other installations, bringing upon Israel — and its American ally — the expected international ignominy Hamas wished to invoke.</p>
<p>It also produced still another blow to the conscience of those individual Israelis and friends of Israel who for more than 60 years have perceived that it has been a posthumous triumph of Nazism to turn the survivors of the Holocaust into persecutors of the Palestinians. It has also turned Americans into their accomplices.</p>
<p>It now is time to terminate the Israeli-American alliance. It has contributed to a profound corruption of both nations that in the end, when it comes to an end — and it will — may turn these allies into enemies, igniting in the United States an unforgiving anger at America’s exploitation, and against those responsible for the exploitation.</p>
<p>A former Israeli diplomat, Alon Pinkas, has recently written of the alliance that “there is some confusion in Israel borne of an exaggerated sense of self-importance.’ The strategic asset in this equation is the U.S. for Israel, not the other way around. Since the fall of the Soviet Union there has been no struggle of superpowers in the Middle East.</p>
<p>He goes on: “As of today the U.S. is in the midst of redefining its regional interests, taking a clear — if slow — direction towards disengagement. The reasons relate to energy independence, a disappointment with the Arab world, a public opinion hostile to America’s over-involvement in the world, and its attention and energy shifting to other corners of the globe. All of these have led the U.S. to reexamine its position, its role, and its interests in the Middle East.”</p>
<p>The time has arrived when the United States, in this administration (the better choice, since it has the freedom to act of a departing government) or the next, can and should say to Israel that the time is overdue for it to conclude with the Palestinians a two-state settlement, on the terms that have been long negotiated, and are well known to both parties and the international community.</p>
<p>Washington should say to Israel’s leaders that Israel has a limited time to accomplish this settlement. If it is not done, within that period, the United States will terminate its military and political alliance with Israel.</p>
<p>It will end its financial and material aid, and terminate the cooperation of its military services with Israel. It will no longer support Israel in the United Nations other than on occasions when that support is clearly merited.</p>
<p>Israel’s formal and informal agencies of influence and political action inside the United States will be allowed to function only if they are properly registered as the agencies of foreign governments, and their conduct made fully transparent. This should preclude illusions harbored by such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, who on several recent occasions has threatened the White House that he can make Congress override the presidency because he controls Congress, thus calling into question the patriotism of America’s legislators.</p>
<p>Visit William Pfaff’s website for more on his latest book, “The Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America’s Foreign Policy” (Walker &amp; Co., $25), at <a href="http://www.williampfaff.com" type="external">www.williampfaff.com</a>.</p>
<p>© 2014 Tribune Media Services, Inc.</p> | Israel and the United States Are Headed for a Breakup | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/israel-and-the-united-states-are-headed-for-a-breakup/ | 2014-08-20 | 4 |
<p>Arkansas Sen. John Boozman is recovering well after undergoing heart surgery on Tuesday, his office says.</p>
<p>Boozman, 63, was taken to the hospital early Tuesday morning after suffering pain in his chest and shoulder. “After running several tests, doctors diagnosed Boozman with an acute aortic dissection and he was admitted for immediate surgery. The surgeons who performed the operation, which lasted several hours, said that Boozman responded well to the procedure,” the Republican lawmaker's office said in a statement Wednesday.</p>
<p>Boozman remains hospitalized but is “awake and responsive, and doctors are pleased with the progress he has made,” according to the statement.</p>
<p>His family thanked supporters for the well-wishes and said their top priority is ensuring the senator makes a full recovery.</p>
<p>“We know that if John had it his way he would be right back on the road in Arkansas, so the difficult part will be making sure he gets the rest he needs to get better," the Boozman family said in a statement.</p>
<p>Boozman was elected to the Senate in 2010. He previously served in the US House.</p>
<p>Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Boozman a "fantastic senator" and a "tireless advocate" for his constituents following news of his hospitalization.</p>
<p>"We're glad to hear that John is doing well and we all look forward to having him back at work," he said.</p>
<p>NBC's Kelly O'Donnell contributed to this report.</p> | Arkansas Sen. Boozman Recovering Well After Heart Surgery | false | http://nbcnews.com/politics/congress/arkansas-sen-boozman-recovering-well-after-heart-surgery-n86801 | 2014-04-23 | 3 |
<p />
<p>&#160; &#160; Gen. David Petraeus in Afghanistan in 2010. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" type="external">CC BY 2.0</a>)</p>
<p>Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other “Left, Right &amp; Center” panelists discuss whether the unintended killing of two hostages in a U.S. drone strike was a mistake inherent to war. Also, former general and CIA director David Petraeus is sentenced to two years’ probation and fined $100,000 for sharing classified information, and the Clinton Foundation is under fire for its financial dealings.</p>
<p>Scheer is joined by Josh Barro of The New York Times moderating from the center, Rich Lowry of the National Review on the right, and Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security, as a special guest.</p>
<p />
<p>Listen <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/left-right-center/drone-strikes-david-petraeus-clinton-money-troubles" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p> | 'Left, Right & Center': Drone Strikes, David Petraeus, Clinton Trouble | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/left-right-center-drone-strikes-david-petraeus-clinton-trouble/ | 2015-04-25 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Source: T-Mobile.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>T-Mobile's CEO John Legere has a history of spouting his opinions. Some of his outspokenness has <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/02/t-mobiles-ceo-is-making-good-on-this-promise.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">proved beneficial Opens a New Window.</a>, and other times it has seemed a tad immature.</p>
<p>But just last week Legere's words sounded flat out false, at least according to Verizonand AT&amp;T . Legere said in a video that its rivals' Netflix streamingquality is inferior to T-Mobile's, even when using its Binge On service.</p>
<p>Binge On let's T-Mobile customers switch over to a lower-resolution video stream (480p) in exchange for streaming that doesn't eat into their monthly data allowance. The service works with 50 popular video and music sources, including Netflix, ESPN and Spotify..</p>
<p>Specifically, Legere said, "And the duopoly is actually delivering your Netflix content at 360p. I'll bet you didn't know that. Go check; it's true."</p>
<p>Them's fightin' wordsLegere claims that its competition is intentionally downgrading customers' Netflix streams (presumably to save on bandwidth), but the two carriers say this just isn't true.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"We do not reduce the resolution of any video on our network -- in fact, our customers on 4G LTE can get much higher resolution than T-Mobile's optimized 480p limit," AT&amp;T <a href="http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-att-flatly-deny-legeres-claims-they-provide-lower-resolution-netfli/2016-03-18?utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_source=feedly&amp;utm_campaign=rss%20" type="external">told FierceWireless Opens a New Window.</a> in an email.</p>
<p>And Verizon Wireless' director of corporate communications, Chuck Hamby, said that the carrier doesn't set any speeds for playback, responding, "It's just a dopey claim and has no basis in fact at all."</p>
<p>Why this matters for T-MobileFirst of all, it's a bit surprising Legere would make this claim to begin with. You can believe that if AT&amp;T and Verizon customers were watching Netflix in 360p you'd hear quite a bit about. That would be some poor quality video indeed.</p>
<p>Secondly, it's a bad time for Legere and T-Mobile to throw some fuel on the fire that has ignited around Binge On. The feature has taken a few PR hits since it launched in November, mainly do to opt-in issues and net neutrality questions.</p>
<p>The original issue was that T-Mobile didn't make it clear to users how they could switch on Binge On, nor how to opt out of it. T-Mobile has fixed that, making it easy for users to opt in, and to turn the feature off when they choose to. But more importantly, the service has raised questions about whether or not the carrier is skirting net neutrality rules by allowing some content to count against a users' monthy data allotments while other content doesn't.</p>
<p>It's worth nothing that when Binge On was first introduced, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler describe the service as "highly innovative and highly competitive." That's important, because the FCC is the governing body that determines whether or not Binge On is actually going against net neutrality.</p>
<p>Additionally, YouTube -- which formerly criticized Binge On for its 480p quality video -- just signed up as an official partner. YouTube climbed on the bandwagon after T-Mobile said it would allow Binge On partners to optimize their video streams. It's a huge deal for T-Mobile that YouTube is now on board, considering that the video streaming service accounts for 21% of peak downstream traffic on mobile devices.</p>
<p>In short, Legere picked a poor time to stir up its competitors -- just as it's starting to settle the issues with Binge On that critics were bringing up.</p>
<p>But at the end of day, Binge On lets T-Mobile customers opt into a feature that can save them gobs of data every month. Legere may have spokenincorrectly about Verizon and AT&amp;T, but the service itself will likely continue to propel T-Mobile's explosive customer growth. The company's Uncarrier events, of which Binge On is a part of, have helped T-Mobile bring in more than 1 million net customers each quarter for the past 11 consecutive quarters.</p>
<p>Legere's claims about the AT&amp;T and Verizon's Netflix streams may be untrue, but this event is unlikely to hurt the carrier's growth. And that's probably what Verizon and AT&amp;T are really the most unhappy about.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/23/verizon-t-mobile-ceo-is-dopey-to-say-were-streamin.aspx" type="external">Verizon: T-Mobile CEO Is Dopey to Say Were Streaming Low-Res Video Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFNewsie/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Chris Neiger Opens a New Window.</a>is a T-Mobile customer, but has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. 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> | Verizon: T-Mobile CEO Is Dopey to Say Were Streaming Low-Res Video | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/23/verizon-t-mobile-ceo-is-dopey-to-say-were-streaming-low-res-video.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p />
<p>US Army Staff Sgt. Mark Lynas (left), squad leader, and Sgt. Mark Record, team leader, both attached to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul, secure a school and clear insurgent threats in a village in Shah Joy, Afghanistan, November 22, 2011. PRT Zabul’s mission is to conduct civil-military operations in Zabul Province to extend the reach and legitimacy of the Government of Afghanistan. Both sergeants are deployed from Charlie Company, 182nd Infantry Regiment, Massachusetts National Guard. (US Air Force <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/6389528193/in/photostream" type="external">photo</a>/Senior Airman Grovert Fuentes-Contreras)</p>
<p /> | We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for November 29, 2011 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/were-still-war-photo-day-november-29-2011/ | 2011-11-29 | 4 |
<p>Shares of AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ: AMCX) jumped 19.7% in July according to data provided by <a href="http://marketintelligence.spglobal.com/" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence</a>&#160;after a new product offering and a bond sale were announced.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Part of the bullishness was due to a $5 per month commercial-free subscription offer made initially to Comcast customers. This would be through the on-demand options from Comcast, but would move a <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/03/instant-analysis-amc-and-comcast-team-up-to-offer.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=687e367e-77b8-11e7-8822-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">step toward a stand-alone subscription offer</a>. Long-term, management said the company will add more premier options for customers outside of Comcast, beginning with the pay TV channel. But a streaming service may not be far behind.</p>
<p>The company also priced $800 million in senior notes due in 2025 with a 4.75% interest rate late in the month. This will allow the company to pay off $450 million of loans under a term loan facility and was an increase in a proposed $500 million offering. The fact that investors were willing to fund that much debt may allow the company to pay for more content going forward.</p>
<p>Improving distribution options and adding cash to the balance sheet will likely help AMC in the near term. But in reality it may be a buyout that traders are betting on.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Content companies are hot right now as everyone from Comcast to Verizon tries to figure out how they're going to claim a piece of the future of video distribution. AMC has some popular content, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/06/amc-networks-inc-cant-please-every-walking-dead-fa.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=687e367e-77b8-11e7-8822-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">highlighted by the</a> Walking Dead franchise, and that could be valuable for telecommunications companies looking for buyout options. At the end of the day, that may be more valuable than any of the short-term moves AMC makes in distribution or offering debt.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than AMC NetworksWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=2233e916-ccd7-4992-886b-4a5f071781c6&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=687e367e-77b8-11e7-8822-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and AMC Networks wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=2233e916-ccd7-4992-886b-4a5f071781c6&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=687e367e-77b8-11e7-8822-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=687e367e-77b8-11e7-8822-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Travis Hoium</a> owns shares of Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AMC Networks and Verizon Communications. 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;uuid=687e367e-77b8-11e7-8822-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Why AMC Networks Inc's Shares Jumped 20% in July | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/03/why-amc-networks-incs-shares-jumped-20-in-july.html | 2017-08-03 | 0 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>What, I’d like to know, was the Democratic Party, which has demonstrated an uncanny ability to lose elections it should be able to win handily here in America, doing spending $40 million in U.S. taxpayers’ dollars “helping” people and organizations in other countries to compete in elections to overturn incumbent governments overseas?</p>
<p>It turns out that even as it was blowing the presidential election in the U.S., an arm of the Democratic Party, the so called National Democratic Institute, was busy over the last year spending tens of millions of dollars prov ided by the State Department to help the opposition in the Ukraine to challenge the government party in that former Soviet state. (A similar Republican Party organization, the Republican International Institute, was doing the same thing with more State Department money. ) Some of that help was itself of questionable legality, which is why it was all done covertly.</p>
<p>Does anyone else see the huge irony and hypocrisy here?</p>
<p>The opposition party in the U.S. was actually working hand in glove with the government (and with the Republican Party!) in a subversive foreign policy effort of the Bush administration even as its chosen presidential candidate and nominal party leader, John Kerry, was campaigning against the foreign policy and foreign policy establishment of the Bush administration as inept and untrustworthy.</p>
<p>It takes nothing away from the students and workers of the Ukraine who took to the streets and overturned the results of a corrupt election to say that citizens in America, and especially people who call themselves members of the Democratic Party, should be outraged that they and their party, the victims of fraud and voter abuse at home, were engaged in some of the same kinds of subterfuges overseas that GOP operatives and Republican-led election bureaucracies were using against them here at home.</p>
<p>Imagine, for a moment, the scandal that would ensue if it were to come out that a political party from a foreign country, say the British Labour Party or the Taiwanese Democratic Progressive Party, had secretly given $20 million to the Republicans or the Democrats during the last campaign!</p>
<p>Bad enough that the U.S. government is interfering with foreign countries’ elections. But our political parties have no business getting involved in this way in foreign affairs. In fact, the U.S. Constitution itself strictly forbids this, declaring all international relations matters to be the sole responsibility of the federal government.</p>
<p>America’s reputation as a democratic model is cheapened and destroyed if it furtively tries to undermine elections in other nations. While there was clear evidence of corruption and fraud in the Ukrainian election, the improprieties were not limited to the ruling party and the states it controlled, and American outrage and condemnation of the results will not be taken seriously either in the Ukraine or in other newly democratic nations, given America’s own role in bankrolling the opposition.</p>
<p>Indeed, disclosure of the U.S. government’s large-scale covert backing of the opposition, more than anything else, could even lead to increased support for the governing party and end up costing the opposition victory in the Dec. 26 rematch, if the vote is close.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we are left to wonder why the Democrats, so skilled at helping to organize mass demonstrations against election theft in the Ukraine, have proved so submissive and nonconfrontational in the face of election theft in places like Florida and Ohio.</p>
<p>December 11 / 12, 2004</p>
<p>Alexander Cockburn <a href="" type="internal">Running an Empire on the Cheap</a></p>
<p>Ron Jacobs <a href="" type="internal">The Drugs of War: Getting High in the Green Zone?</a></p>
<p>Saul Landau <a href="" type="internal">Listening and Talking to God About Invading Other Countries</a></p>
<p>Gary Leupp <a href="" type="internal">Bush’s Capital</a></p>
<p>Sharon Smith <a href="" type="internal">The Horrible Toll on US Troops</a></p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF <a href="" type="internal">Deja Vu All Over Again: 5,000 Desertions and Counting</a></p>
<p>Uri Avnery <a href="" type="internal">The Boss Has Gone Crazy</a></p>
<p>Jude Wanniski <a href="" type="internal">The Neo-Con Smear on Kofi Annan: What Food-for-Oil Scandal?</a></p>
<p>Heather Gray <a href="" type="internal">How the South Became Republican: an Interview with John Egerton</a></p>
<p>Patrick Cockburn / Ken Sengupta <a href="" type="internal">Fallujah: the Homecoming and the Homeless</a></p>
<p>John Pilger <a href="" type="internal">Return to Kosovo: Calling the Humanitarian Bombers to Account</a></p>
<p>Joshua Frank <a href="" type="internal">All the Rage: Mr. Solomon, Say You’re Sorry</a></p>
<p>Ben Tripp <a href="" type="internal">O Canada!: the Truth About the Election of 2004</a></p>
<p>John Stanton <a href="" type="internal">God Speaks!</a></p>
<p>Laura Nathan <a href="" type="internal">Porn Stars are People, Too: a Talk with Christi Lake</a></p>
<p>Poets’ Basement <a href="" type="internal">Capaccio, Davies, Louise, Ford and Albert</a></p>
<p>Website of the Day <a href="http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&amp;page=1" type="external">Fallujah Photos: Killed in Their Beds</a> DAVE LINDORFF</p> | DNC Meddling in the Ukraine Elections | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/12/14/dnc-meddling-in-the-ukraine-elections/ | 2004-12-14 | 4 |
<p>In a packed room on Broadway in the heart of Manhattan on Super Bowl Sunday, Jane Fonda—actress, activist and compère for the night—brought together some big names of comedy and others to raise laughs and awareness for gender equality.</p>
<p>Joined for “A Night of Comedy with Jane Fonda” at the Carolines on Broadway comedy club by feminist icon Gloria Steinem, comedians Rosie O’Donnell, Judah Friedlander, Sasheer Zamata, Wyatt Cenac and others, Fonda was promoting the passage of the <a href="http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/history.htm" type="external">Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)</a>. The ERA is a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would expressly prohibit discrimination against girls and women on the basis of sex.</p>
<p>Contrary to what many might believe, the U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that does not have a constitutional provision guaranteeing equal rights for women under the law, except for the right to vote. In fact, “[Eighty] percent of Americans think women already have equal rights under the law; 95 percent of all Americans think we should, but the fact is that we don’t,” said Jessica Neuwirth, president and director of the evening’s host organization, ERA Coalition/Fund for Women’s Equality.</p>
<p>READ: <a href="" type="internal">Meryl Streep Decries Income Inequality in Hollywood, Obliquely Identifies as a Feminist</a></p>
<p />
<p>“I think the ERA is a very important issue,” Fonda told me. “You become a feminist based on issues you really feel in your gut. It can be saying what you really mean to your lover, or your boyfriend. It can mean asking for a raise. … It can mean not caring so much about how you look. It depends on your particular context, but in the political arena, having a woman president is important, just as it’s important [to have] women [movie] directors. When women are telling the story, or running the company, or running the country, it’s just different, and it’s important because [the ERA] would help young women especially, but also older women, know that they matter and they’re not second-class citizens.”</p>
<p>Setting up the night ahead, Fonda told the audience, “When you’re laughing, your guard is down and things that you may have been scared of or have … censored will rise up in you.”</p>
<p>Fonda, 78, said she embraced feminism as a late bloomer. Although she had considered herself a feminist for years, things shifted for her as she was watching Eve Ensler’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vagina_Monologues" type="external">“The Vagina Monologues”</a> when she was 62 years old.</p>
<p>“I could feel it happening in my body,” Fonda recalled, “and I know it was during the laughter part when my guard was down that my feminism dropped from my head and metabolized in my body, and I’ve never gone back.”</p>
<p>Before that, she said, “I couldn’t be an embodied feminist in my blood and bones till I left behind my inauthentic relationships with men. My father, my husbands, my lovers. How can one be an embodied feminist if, behind closed doors, you’re leaving the authentic part of yourself behind in order to please, in order to be a good girl?”</p>
<p>READ: <a href="" type="internal">Dear Hillary, Madeleine and Gloria: Feminism Demands We Say No to America’s Deadly Imperial Wars</a></p>
<p>Steinem—who just hours before the show issued a Facebook apology under public pressure for having commented on Bill Maher’s cable program that young women who back Bernie Sanders for president are <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/06/politics/gloria-steinem-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-boys/" type="external">just doing it to meet “boys”</a>—leveled her ire Sunday night at the GOP’s misogynistic presidential front-runner. “It is hard for any of us to surpass Donald Trump trying to be funny … and I hope there will soon be a group of rich people to explain that he’s disgracing the name of rich people. He’s not really a successful businessman. He’s a successful con artist,” she said during her presentation. “Can you surpass that for surrealism and humor? It’s very, very difficult.”</p>
<p>During his set, Friedlander offered a novel way of dealing with Trump. “I think we should build a wall—around Donald Trump,” he joked. “Put mirrors on the inside. That way he’s happy, and I think when Mexico hears about this, they’ll be like, ‘We’d like to pay for this.’&#160;“</p>
<p>Trump jokes aside, the event’s message couldn’t have been more significant: Passage of the ERA would put women in the Constitution once and for all.</p>
<p>Watch a conversation on the ERA with activists Agunda Okeyo, Gloria Steinem, Carol Robles Román, Ai-jen Poo, Jennifer Pozner, Jamia Wilson and Elizabeth Deutsch:</p> | Jane Fonda Shines a Spotlight on the Equal Rights Amendment | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/jane-fonda-shines-a-spotlight-on-the-equal-rights-amendment/ | 2016-02-10 | 4 |
<p>Outerwall Inc. announced Monday a deal to be acquired by funds managed by Apollo Global Management in a deal valued at $1.6 billion. Under terms of the deal, Apollo will pay $52 a share in cash for each Outerwall share outstanding, which represents an 11% premium to Friday's closing price of $46.91. The shopping kiosks company expects the deal to close during the third quarter of 2016. The stock was halted for news. It has run up 36% through Friday since March 14, just before the company said it was exploring strategic alternatives. The S&amp;P 500 had gained 7.7% over the same time. Apollo's stock has lost 2.5% since March 14.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Outerwall Agrees To Be Bought Out By Apollo Global In a Deal Valued At $1.6 Billion | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/25/outerwall-agrees-to-be-bought-out-by-apollo-global-in-deal-valued-at-16-billion.html | 2016-07-25 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON — Americans boosted retail spending 1.1 percent in February compared with January. About half the jump reflected higher gas prices, but even excluding gas purchases, retail sales rose 0.6 percent.</p>
<p>The report Wednesday from the Commerce Department is the government’s first look each month at consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic activity.</p>
<p>Core retail sales, which exclude the volatile categories of gas, autos and building supply stores, rose 0.4 percent in February compared with January.</p>
<p>Economists were encouraged by the stronger-than-expected gain in retail sales. Some said the increase means the economy may be growing faster in the January-March quarter than they had forecast.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Auto sales rose 1.1 percent after a 0.4 percent January increase. The February gain was the biggest since December. Sales at gas stations surged 5 percent, the biggest advance since a 6 percent rise in August.</p>
<p>Sales at general merchandise stores, a category that includes major department stores such as Macy’s and big discount stores such as Wal-Mart and Target, rose 0.5 percent in February. But the department store category as a whole fell 1 percent.</p>
<p>The solid increase in retail sales showed that Americans kept spending despite a payroll tax increase that has lowered take-home pay this year for most workers. Consumers may be able to absorb higher taxes if employers continue hiring and increasing wages. — This article appeared on page B1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Retail spending picks up in Feb. | false | https://abqjournal.com/177966/retail-spending-picks-up-in-feb.html | 2 |
|
<p>In 1899, railroad tycoon Edward Harriman put together an expedition of naturalists, scientists, painters and fellow robberbarons to explore the coast of southeast Alaska. The shrewd Harriman, head of the Union Pacific, even rented the services of John Muir, the father of environmentalism and founder of the Sierra Club, thus striking a bond between corporate villains and mainstream greens that thrives to this day.</p>
<p>The object of the two-month foray, which was heralded as the largest survey of its time, was to size-up Alaska’s riches (timber, gold, furs, oil) under the guise of scientific exploration. Karl Grove Albert, the famed geologist, picked at rocks. Bernard Fernow, the dean of the American forestry, cruised timber, calculating the number of board feet per acre. Edward Curtis lined up Haida and Tlingits for romantic mugshots and the painter Louis Agassiz Fuertes, taking Audubon’s tradition to a new level of barbarity, shot thousands of animals in order to render them in his sketchbook.</p>
<p>Muir mused with the poet John Burroughs (pal of Walt Whitman) and imparted his transcendental thoughts about glaciers and grizzlies, while he dined with some of the high priests of Mammon-men he had previously excoriated as the defilers of the God’s Temple.</p>
<p>Along the way Harriman and his gang engaged in a good bit of plunder of native villages from Ketchikan to Wrangell. When they arrived at the Tlingit village of Gaash on Cape Fox, they encountered one of the most dazzling sites in North America: dozens of intricately-carved totem poles and the great grizzly bear house, exquisitely carved and painted.</p>
<p>The great Grizzly House of Gaash ranks as one of the most accomplished artworks produced in America during the 19th Century, and rivals most 20th century art as well. It was certainly far beyond the talents of any of the artists mustered up by Harriman, although the paintings and (especially) the maps of Edward Dellenbach, who had also traveled down the Grand Canyon with John Wesley Powell, are works of great beauty.</p>
<p>At the time Harriman arrived, most of the Tlingit villagers were away on a fishing expedition. Later the tycoon would claim that he thought the village was abandoned. This is almost certainly a lie. Harriman, known as the “Broker’s Boy” by the trust-busters, is one of the most extravagent liars in American history and an apex capitalist, who not only created one of the great monopolies but also developed many of the tricks modern finance and accounting. Ken Lay is a piker next to the mighty Edward Harriman.</p>
<p>The totem poles at Gaash village were relatively new, many only a few years old. The lodges were tidy and clean. There were probably even elders still in the villages. This was not Mesa Verde or Keet Seel, but a living community, whose history was carved on cedar: if anyone had taken the time to read it. The giant welcoming men, arms raised to the sky, the towering clan poles, where wolves chased frogs and ravens laughed at beavers and orca, and the austere grave poles that held the cremated remains of dead chiefs.</p>
<p>In any event, the team wasted little time documenting the site. Instead, Harriman ordered the totem poles cut down and removed the carved house posts and painted panels. The loot was packed up and shipped back to Seattle.</p>
<p>Harriman saw himself as a top tier philanthropist. He kept much of the plunder for his own enjoyment, of course, but donated a housepost from Gaash to the Burke Museum of Anthropology at the University of Washington in Seattle.</p>
<p>The house post depicts a grizzly bear cradling a human figure in its mouth. This represents the story of Kaats, who married a grizzly. “Come here you bear, the highest bear of all bears,” says the Tlingit story that goes with the posts.</p>
<p>The mate of this post went to the museum at the University of Michigan, but it was later acquired by the Burke Museum, where they were displayed together until last year when, after a 70-year long struggle, the Tlingit finally prevailed on the museum to return them.</p>
<p>Now the Burke is offering an exhibit on totem poles called Out of the Silence: the Enduring Power of Totem Poles. The exhibit includes numerous sculptures, panels and carvings, as well as a series of haunting photos by Adelaide de Meuil, who shot nearly 20,000 images of decaying totem pole sites in the 1960s. Naturally, this hardly makes up for the crime of housing stolen property for a century, but it’s a compelling overview none-the-less that serves as an introduction to the powerful art of the Northwest tribes and tries to grapple with the unflattering, if not criminal, role played by collectors and anthropologists in robbing the tribes of their treasures.</p>
<p>Of course even at this late date, the Burke has not seen fit to return all of its ill-acquired pieces. They charge a hefty $9 to see the carvings. None of that money is going back to the tribes who produced the work. In fact, one of the masterpieces of the collection is a black 12-foot-long carved sea-lion that once perched on the ridgetop of a chief’s lodge in the Tlingit village of Tongass, which gave its name to the magnificant rainforest of Southeast Alaska.</p>
<p>The sea-lion was stolen by a group of Seattle tycoons sent to southeast Alaska by the city’s chamber of commerce with the express purpose of coming back with native art that could be displayed as “totems” for the Emerald City. Along with the sea-lion, the group sawed down Chief Kinninook’s tall, elaborately-carved pole which told the story of the Chief-of-All-Women. It was one of the few Tlingit poles dedicated to a woman. Of course, it’s not clear if the men from Seattle had any idea what the pole represented and it wouldn’t have deterred them anyway. The pole was shipped back to Seattle, where it was erected as the “Seattle Totem Pole” in Pioneer Square, It stood ther from 1900 to 1939, when it was burned down by an arsonist.</p>
<p>But the businessmen, who claimed the village of Tongass had been deserted when they raided it, had been seen by a Tlingit elder, who complained to federal officials. A grand jury was convened and indictments for theft were handed down against the thieves. Before the trial began, the businessmen invited the federal judge presiding over the case out for a night of carousing at an elite club in Seattle. The next morning the judge saw fit to dismiss all the charges. Ultimately, the Chamber of Commerce agreed to send the tribe $500 as recompense. But the money was mistakenly sent to the Tsimshian village at Metlakatla. The people of the Tongass never got a dime.</p>
<p>It could have been different. Instead of clinging on to these stolen fragments, the Burke Museum could have returned them to the tribes and hired tribal carvers to make replicas for the museum. This approach could have preserved the artworks and allowed the tribes to control their heritage, while giving work to a new generation of carvers.</p>
<p>Still the Burke’s show at least provides hints at the remarkable range of the art-form and the prowess of the artists: the carvings are powerful, haunting, funny, menacing and some as inscrutible as the strangest creations of Mir?.</p>
<p>Human faces pop up in the carvings like gargoyles on cathedrals: on the tail of a beaver, in the blowhole of a humpback whale, on the wings of a raven and, more ominously, in the belly of a wolf, its tongue hanging out of a mouth studded with grinning teeth.</p>
<p>Some of the crests represent mythical figures from the time when the world was created. It’s easy to imagine a Haida storyteller spinning tales to children in front of a beach fire, using a pole to bring the legends to life. There’s Sisiutl, the double-headed sea dragon, who transforms himself into a speeding war-canoe; Fog Woman who brought the salmon to earth; Huxwhukw, the monster bird, with a long beak, sharp as a loggerhead shrike, which it uses to crack open the skulls of men and slurp out their brains; and mightiest of all the Thunderbird, which swoops down from the sky to snatch killer whales in its talons and carry them back to its mountain eyrie.</p>
<p>The poles and panels are almost always carved from a single western red cedar tree, an old-growth specimen with straight grain, few convolutions and knots and standing close to a river or cove so that the pole can be towed by canoe to the erection site. The art of tree selection is almost as demanding and nuanced as the carving itself. Imagine Michelangelo prowling the marble quarries of Carrera.</p>
<p>The felling of the tree is a complex undertaking. The Tlingit and Haida didn’t have saws, never mind chainsaws. The technique for felling the large cedars, some 12-feet in diameter, was ingenious and certainly dangerous. First the carver ringed the bark of the tree with an adze, then he would would chisel out a hole in the trunk, place glowing hot rocks inside and wait for them to burn out the core of the tree so that it could be pulled down.</p>
<p>It’s tough to build totem poles when all the old-growth cedar has been logged off by big timber companies operating on lands that once belonged to the tribes of the Northwest. That’s the predicament facing today’s carvers. Joe David is one of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth’s greatest young carvers, a man of astounding ability. He lives near the village of Tofino, on heavily clearcut Vancouver Island. He says he finds it almost impossible to find trees tall enough for poles or thick enough for beamposts. Instead, he spends much of his time hiking the beaches looking for logs washed up by the tides. “We’re down to sifting through loggers’ litter now,” he says.</p>
<p>Generally, the chief, like any picky patron, decides what goes on the pole. It is afterall a symbol of his power, klan history, wealth and esteem. But he usually leaves it up to the artist to design the figures, which are first drawn on the pole with charcoal, then carved and painted, often in striking combinations of black, white and red.</p>
<p>The poles are raised to mark important events in the life of the village or the chief: to inaugurate a new house, hail a marriage, celebrate a birth, commemorate a death. Other poles had more down-to-earth purposes. One Tlingit pole shows an unflattering figure of a Russian, looking remarkably like a squat version of Drosselmeyer’s nutcracker, who had seized chucks of tribal land without paying for it. It’s a mockery pole and a wanted poster all in one. Another pole from a Nuu-Chah-Nulth village on Vancouver Island served as a kind of collection notice. This pole depicts Dzunuk’wa, the wild woman of the woods, a kind of tribal banshee, with outstretched arms, drowsy eyes, a howling mouth and pendulous breasts. The chief of the village placed this mocking monument in front of the lodge of his in-laws, who had failed to pay off their marriage debt.</p>
<p>The culture of the Northwest tribes revolved around the potlatch, the big party where debts and feuds were settled, alliances formed, marriages planned and history relived. Most of the totem poles were erected before or during potlatches. In 1884, the Canadian government, seeking to crush native customs and move the tribes off their lands, banned the potlatch. The exhibit deals cautiously with this attempted act of cultural genocide. It’s unfortunate, because this more than any other factor brought to a close the great age of totem pole building.</p>
<p>The repression went far beyond that of course. The government and their Christian emissaries seized the tribes’ ceremonial gear-dresses, masks, puppets, feast dishes, and ladles-and carted them off to museums or hacked them apart in front of aghast tribal members. Children were abducted and sent off to government schools and fed Christian doctrine, a deft and proven way to kill off an oral culture.</p>
<p>It wasn’t just the Canadian tribes who suffered. The Haida and Tlingit also saw their religious customs assaulted and their populations decimated by disease and forced eviction. A Forest Service survey of the Tongass region in 1900 tallied more than 800 totem poles. Thirty years later few than 200 remained and most of those were “harvested” by the agency for museums in Washington, New York and Chicago.</p>
<p>The potlatches didn’t die out completely. They went underground in remote coastal villages, mainly in lands of the Kwakiutl south of the Skeena River. But for the most part the pole raisings had to be abandoned, as they would be a dead-giveaway to the persistence of the potlatch. It wasn’t until 1951 that the bans were lifted and the old ways could be practiced openly again.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the Canadian government wasted no time in looting the remains of the cultures while they had a chance. In the early 1920s, government agents cut down hundreds of poles in Tsimshian villages and re-erected them miles away along the Canadian-Pacific Railway. The Jasper-to-Prince Rupert run offered a popular “Totem Pole Excursion.”</p>
<p>Thus in one stroke the Canadian government moved to extinguish Tsimshian culture and give birth to entho-tourism. Harriman would have been proud.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Totem Thieves | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/11/13/the-totem-thieves/ | 2002-11-13 | 4 |
<p>HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Gun Runner got one last win over rival Arrogate.</p>
<p>The soon-to-be-retired 5-year-old was a convincing pick as Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night, the official capper to a year where he won four Grade 1 races including the Breeders’ Cup Classic — and made it look easy every time.</p>
<p>Arrogate, Gun Runner’s top rival for much of 2017 as well as the leading money-winner in North American thoroughbred racing history, and World Approval were the other Horse of the Year finalists.</p>
<p>“He stepped up when called upon and just met the challenge and, you know, how do you say, got it done,” trainer Steve Asmussen said when asked to sum up Gun Runner’s 2017 achievements. “He’s truly a special horse mentally and physically. And we’ve, you know, been on a tremendous run with him.”</p>
<p>The run ends Saturday, when Gun Runner races for the final time. He’ll be the favorite in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational.</p>
<p>“Just to be in his presence, to be around him, to have the privilege to train him as well as run him, you know, it’s a dream come true,” Asmussen said.</p>
<p>Gun Runner also picked up the Eclipse as the top Older Dirt Horse in 2017.</p>
<p>Chad Brown won the Eclipse Award as being the sport’s top trainer for the second consecutive year, and became the ninth trainer ever to go back-to-back in that category. Jose Ortiz — the leading purse winner in the sport last year — won his first Eclipse in the jockey category, ending the four-year run of Javier Castellano as the best rider.</p>
<p>Brown paid tribute to the other finalists, Asmussen and Bob Baffert.</p>
<p>“I’m always learning from people,” Brown said. “Those are two guys I’m always learning from.”</p>
<p>Juddmonte Farms was picked as top owner for the fourth time, and Clearsky Farms got its first Eclipse as top breeder.</p>
<p>The closest race was in 2-year-old male division, where Good Magic — who broke his maiden by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile — edged Bolt d’Oro by a mere 18 votes out of 250 cast. Other close votes were in the steeplechase division, where Scorpiancer got the nod over All the Way Jose, and in the Female Sprinter class where Unique Bella prevailed over Paulassilverlining.</p>
<p>Most of the other votes were one-sided. Caledonia Road (top juvenile filly), West Coast (3-year-old male), Abel Tasman (3-year-old female), Forever Unbridled (older dirt female), Roy H (male sprinter), World Approval (male turf horse), Lady Eli (female turf horse) and Evin Roman (top apprentice) were all convincing winners.</p>
<p>HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Gun Runner got one last win over rival Arrogate.</p>
<p>The soon-to-be-retired 5-year-old was a convincing pick as Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night, the official capper to a year where he won four Grade 1 races including the Breeders’ Cup Classic — and made it look easy every time.</p>
<p>Arrogate, Gun Runner’s top rival for much of 2017 as well as the leading money-winner in North American thoroughbred racing history, and World Approval were the other Horse of the Year finalists.</p>
<p>“He stepped up when called upon and just met the challenge and, you know, how do you say, got it done,” trainer Steve Asmussen said when asked to sum up Gun Runner’s 2017 achievements. “He’s truly a special horse mentally and physically. And we’ve, you know, been on a tremendous run with him.”</p>
<p>The run ends Saturday, when Gun Runner races for the final time. He’ll be the favorite in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational.</p>
<p>“Just to be in his presence, to be around him, to have the privilege to train him as well as run him, you know, it’s a dream come true,” Asmussen said.</p>
<p>Gun Runner also picked up the Eclipse as the top Older Dirt Horse in 2017.</p>
<p>Chad Brown won the Eclipse Award as being the sport’s top trainer for the second consecutive year, and became the ninth trainer ever to go back-to-back in that category. Jose Ortiz — the leading purse winner in the sport last year — won his first Eclipse in the jockey category, ending the four-year run of Javier Castellano as the best rider.</p>
<p>Brown paid tribute to the other finalists, Asmussen and Bob Baffert.</p>
<p>“I’m always learning from people,” Brown said. “Those are two guys I’m always learning from.”</p>
<p>Juddmonte Farms was picked as top owner for the fourth time, and Clearsky Farms got its first Eclipse as top breeder.</p>
<p>The closest race was in 2-year-old male division, where Good Magic — who broke his maiden by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile — edged Bolt d’Oro by a mere 18 votes out of 250 cast. Other close votes were in the steeplechase division, where Scorpiancer got the nod over All the Way Jose, and in the Female Sprinter class where Unique Bella prevailed over Paulassilverlining.</p>
<p>Most of the other votes were one-sided. Caledonia Road (top juvenile filly), West Coast (3-year-old male), Abel Tasman (3-year-old female), Forever Unbridled (older dirt female), Roy H (male sprinter), World Approval (male turf horse), Lady Eli (female turf horse) and Evin Roman (top apprentice) were all convincing winners.</p> | Gun Runner wins Horse of the Year at Eclipse Awards | false | https://apnews.com/6ebd5f6a2b204389933e481bba8f54b7 | 2018-01-26 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>LAS CRUCES, N.M. — An Ohio man accused in the 2016 slaying of a police officer in New Mexico has rejected a plea agreement, clearing the way for a trial later this year.</p>
<p>Jesse Denver Hanes appeared Wednesday in federal court in Las Cruces. He told the judge he couldn’t plead guilty to something he didn’t do.</p>
<p>The Las Cruces Sun-News reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2omg2FS)" type="external">http://bit.ly/2omg2FS)</a> that the proposed agreement called for Hanes to plead guilty to 14 charges in pending cases out of New Mexico and Ohio.</p>
<p>The victims — Hatch Police Officer José Chavez and Theodore Timmons of Ross County, Ohio — were shot and killed just weeks apart last summer.</p>
<p>Had Hanes accepted the offer, prosecutors say he would have been spared a possible death sentence in Ohio. New Mexico does not have the death penalty.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">http://www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Man accused in officer’s slaying rejects plea deal | false | https://abqjournal.com/979573/man-accused-in-officers-slaying-rejects-plea-deal.html | 2 |
|
<p>Actress Stacey Dash has been repeatedly condemned by the left after she called out the " <a href="" type="internal">double standard</a>" of racial activists decrying supposedly segregated institutions like Hollywood while promoting black-only entities and events. The most recent attack on Dash involves a bunch of little African-American kids who were enlisted to mock her for criticizing Black History Month.</p>
<p>"I think it’s ludicrous," Dash <a href="" type="internal">said</a> on "Fox and Friends" last month in response to the outrage over the "all white" Oscars. "We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration. If we don’t want segregation then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the [NAACP] Image Awards where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around, we’d be up in arms. It's a double standard. Just like there shouldn’t be a Black History Month. We’re Americans, period."</p>
<p>When anchor Steve Doocy asked if she was saying "there shouldn’t be a Black History Month because there isn’t a white history month?” she replied, "Exactly, exactly."</p>
<p>In response, activist group <a href="http://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/" type="external">Because of Them We Can</a> has decided to promote the "no negativity" event of Black History Month by having children read scripted lines ridiculing Dash.</p>
<p>After showing a clip of Dash's comments to "Fox and Friends," the ad cuts to several children deriding Dash and then arguing for the importance of Black History Month.</p>
<p>"What?" says one child. "Excuse me?" says another. "What did she just say?"</p>
<p>"Is that even legal?" asks a little boy. "Uh, that don't make any sense," says another kid.</p>
<p>The kids then begin to explain why Black History Month is important, emphasizing that it is a positive celebration and does not focus only on slavery.</p>
<p>"Black history is our time ... to acknowledge our strength ... our accomplishments ... and our beauty," say the children.</p>
<p>"It forces us to talk about our amazing history ... and it didn't begin with slavery," they say. "No negativity, no stereotypes... all excellence .. because that's who we are."</p>
<p>"We're not canceling anything," declares one little girl.</p>
<p>H/t <a href="http://cnsnews.com/blog/mark-judge/video-group-kids-enlisted-criticize-stacey-dash-over-black-history-month" type="external">CNS News</a>.</p> | WATCH: Activists Roll Out Little Kids To Mock Stacey Dash For Black History Month Comment | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3111/watch-actvist-group-rolls-out-little-kids-denounce-james-barrett | 2016-02-03 | 0 |
<p />
<p><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SEXUAL_ASSAULT_FACEBOOK?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-03-21-10-16-59" type="external">I think there is</a> a gate to hell in Chicago that we’ve overlooked. Five or six men or boys raped a 15 year-old girl live on Facebook in Chicago with an audience of approximately 40 viewers. None of whom notified the police. The only way they found out is the girl’s mother reported her missing after seeing the horrific footage. She gave it to police Superintendent Eddie Johnson late yesterday. It made him sick to his stomach. They did find the girl alive and reunited her with her mother. That was a miracle all by its lonesome.</p>
<p>Facebook has since taken down the video. There is so much evil in Chicago now and elsewhere that this is somehow entertainment to these freaks. This is the second time in months that the department has investigated an apparent attack that was streamed live on Facebook. In January, four people were arrested after a cellphone footage showed them allegedly taunting and beating a mentally disabled man. That was another horrific incident and now this. What the hell (literally) is going on in Chicago? Death everywhere and violent torture and rape seem to be the norm there these days.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>From the AP:</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — A 15-year-old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Police only learned of the attack when the girl’s mother approached police Superintendent Eddie Johnson late Monday afternoon as he was leaving a department in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. She told him her daughter had been missing since Sunday and showed him screen grab photos of the alleged assault.</p>
<p>He said Johnson immediately ordered detectives to investigate and the department asked Facebook to take down the video, which it did.</p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p>Guglielmi tweeted Tuesday that detectives found the girl and reunited her with her family, and that they’re conducting interviews.</p>
<p>He said Johnson was “visibly upset” after he watched the video, both by its contents and the fact that there were “40 or so live viewers and no one thought to call authorities.”</p>
<p>How long do people let this go on in Chicago before something concrete is done? Children are being murdered there every day. Now, the rape of young girls is being livestreamed to a select audience. Wonder how much they paid for that? This is the kind of bored, apathetic, sick mentality that led to the gladiators and the arenas. “What’s even more disturbing, more than the fact that they did this, there were so many people that saw this and they didn’t pick up the phone and dial 911,” Johnson told Chicago news station WGN. “That’s just not right and (we’re) working on it and try to bring it to a successful resolution.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/21/chicago-gang-rape-teen-streamed-facebook-live/99447884/" type="external">This was a gang rape.</a> The girl had been missing since Sunday. With the emergence of Facebook Live as well as Twitter’s live-streaming platform Periscope, it’s become more common for violent incidents to be streamed to the world in real-time. <a href="https://pjmedia.com/parenting/2017/03/21/chicago-police-investigating-facebook-live-gang-rape-of-15-year-old-girl/" type="external">The people that do this</a> in my book, need to be hunted down and dealt with. They are nothing more than vicious, sub-human scum.</p>
<p>LOCATED: Deahvion Austin was found by 10th district officers. She is now at the Area with her mother &amp; detectives are conducting interviews. <a href="https://t.co/1UEAiL0JYn" type="external">https://t.co/1UEAiL0JYn</a></p>
<p>— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AJGuglielmi/status/844187490034597889" type="external">March 21, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at <a href="http://www.noisyroom.net/blog/" type="external">NoisyRoom.net</a>. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - <a href="http://www.trevorloudon.com/" type="external">trevorloudon.com</a>. She also does research at <a href="http://www.keywiki.org" type="external">KeyWiki.org</a>. You can <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">email Terresa here</a>. NoisyRoom can be found on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/noisyroom.net" type="external">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/terresamonroe" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | Young Girl GANG RAPED by Mob of Chicago Thugs on Facebook Live | true | http://rightwingnews.com/crime/young-girl-gang-raped-mob-chicago-thugs-facebook-live/ | 2018-03-20 | 0 |
<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Friday the crisis over the resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is part of an “attempt to create chaos in the region”, local television stations reported.</p>
<p>Speaking in Moscow, Bassil also said Lebanon has the “full powers” to respond, but hoped this would not be necessary.</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> | Lebanon FM says Hariri crisis part of attempt to create regional chaos | false | https://newsline.com/lebanon-fm-says-hariri-crisis-part-of-attempt-to-create-regional-chaos/ | 2017-11-17 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Amid intense security and with throngs rivaling those that followed the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, the city became “the capital of the world” for a day, on a planet increasingly vulnerable to such cruelty.</p>
<p>More than 40 world leaders headed the somber procession – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov – setting aside their differences with a common rallying cry: We stand together against barbarity, and we are all Charlie.</p>
<p>At least 1.2 million to 1.6 million people streamed slowly through the streets behind them and across France to mourn the victims of deadly attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher supermarket and police officers – violence that tore deep into the nation's sense of security in a way some compared to Sept. 11 in the United States.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Our entire country will rise up toward something better,” French President Francois Hollande said.</p>
<p>Details of the attacks continued to emerge, with new video showing one of the gunmen pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and detailing how the attacks were going to unfold. That gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, was also linked to a new shooting, two days after he and the brothers behind the Charlie Hebdo massacre were killed in nearly simultaneous police raids.</p>
<p>The attacks tested France's proud commitment to its liberties, which authorities may now curtail to ensure greater security. Marchers recognized this as a watershed moment.</p>
<p>“It's a different world today,” said Michel Thiebault, 70.</p>
<p>Illustrating his point, there were cheers Sunday for police vans that wove through the crowds – a rare sight at the many demonstrations that the French have staged throughout their rebellious history, when protesters and police are often at odds.</p>
<p>Many shed the aloof attitude Parisians are famous for, helping strangers with directions, cheering and crying together. Sad and angry but fiercely defending their freedom of expression, the marchers honored the dead and brandished pens or flags of other nations.</p>
<p>Giant rallies were held throughout France and major cities around the world, including London, Madrid and New York – all attacked by al-Qaida-linked extremists – as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere.</p>
<p>In Paris, the Interior Ministry said “the size of this unprecedented demonstration makes it impossible to provide a specific count,” noting that the crowds were too big to fit on the official march route and spread to other streets.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Later, the ministry said 3.7 million marched throughout France, including roughly between 1.2 million and 1.6 million in Paris – but added that a precise count is impossible given the enormity of the turnout.</p>
<p>“I hope that at the end of the day everyone is united. Everyone – Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists,” said marcher Zakaria Moumni. “We are humans first of all, and nobody deserves to be murdered like that. Nobody.”</p>
<p>On Republic Square, deafening applause rang out as the world leaders walked past, amid tight security and an atmosphere of togetherness amid adversity. Families of the victims, holding each other for support, marched in the front along with the leaders and with journalists working for the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. Several wept openly.</p>
<p>“Je Suis Charlie” – “I Am Charlie,” read legions of posters and banners. Many waved editorial cartoons, the French tricolor and other national flags.</p>
<p>As night fell on the unusually unified city, some lit candles.</p>
<p>“It's important to be here for freedom for tolerance and for all the victims. It's sad we had to get to this point for people to react against intolerance, racism and fascism,” said Caroline Van Ruymbeke, 32.</p>
<p>The French president joined Netanyahu in a visit to a synagogue Sunday night as authorities sought to reassure the Jewish population – Europe's largest – that it is safe to stay in France. About 7,000 of France's half-million Jews emigrated to Israel last year amid concerns for their safety and the economy.</p>
<p>“The entire world is under attack” from radical Islam, Netanyahu said, citing attacks in cities from Madrid to Mumbai. He said these aren't isolated incidents but part of a “network of hatred” by radical groups.</p>
<p>At the synagogue, 17 candles were lit in tribute to the victims of the attacks. One was lit by a hostage at the kosher grocery store. The last was lit by two women whose sons were killed by Mohamed Merah, a radical Islamic gunman who attacked a Jewish school and paratroopers in southern France in 2012.</p>
<p>The U.S. was represented at the Paris rally by Ambassador Jane Hartley. At an international conference in India, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the world stood with the people of France “not just in anger and in outrage, but in solidarity and commitment to the cause of confronting extremism and in the cause that extremists fear so much and that has always united our countries: freedom.”</p>
<p>The three days of terror began Wednesday when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi stormed the Charlie Hebdo newsroom, killing 12 people, including two police officers. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen said it directed the attack to avenge the honor of the Prophet Muhammad, a frequent target of the weekly's barbs. Charlie Hebdo assailed Christianity, Judaism as well as officialdom of all stripes with its brand of sometimes crude satire.</p>
<p>On Thursday, police said Coulibaly killed a policewoman. The next day, he seized hostages at the kosher market while the Kouachi brothers were holed up at a printing plant near Charles de Gaulle airport. It ended at dusk Friday with raids that left all three gunmen dead. Four hostages at the market were also killed.</p>
<p>Five people held in connection with the attacks were freed late Saturday, leaving no one in custody, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. Coulibaly's widow, last seen near the Turkish-Syrian border, is still being sought.</p>
<p>France remains on high alert while investigators determine whether the attackers were part of a larger extremist network. More than 5,500 police and soldiers were deployed Sunday across France, guarding marches, synagogues, mosques, schools and other sites.</p>
<p>“The terrorists want two things: they want to scare us and they want to divide us,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told TV channel iTele. “We must do the opposite: We must stand up and we must stay united.”</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Elaine Ganley, Sylvie Corbet, Trung Latieule, Oleg Cetinic, John Leicester and Elaine Ganley contributed from Paris. Aron Heller contributed from Jerusalem.</p>
<p><a href="#da365536-7baa-4bfd-964d-5bb8559f71e4" type="external">© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p> | Millions rally for unity against terrorism in France | false | https://abqjournal.com/524743/millions-rally-in-france-for-unity-against-terrorism.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (NYSE: ASX) reported fourth-quarter results in the very early hours of last Thursday. The Taiwan-based maker of semiconductor testing and packaging tools, better known as ASE or the ASE Group, delivered solid revenue growth and stronger profit margins across the board.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here's how ASE's fourth quarter played out.</p>
<p>Data source: <a href="http://ir.aseglobal.com/attachment/201701261625361775469528_en.pdf" type="external">ASE Opens a New Window.</a> (PDF), using currency exchange rates for each period as presented by the company. One American depositary share represents five shares of the underlying ASE stock on the Taiwan exchange.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>ASE's order mix is moving in a more profitable direction.</p>
<p>Management provided the following outlook for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017:</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>ASE is working up a less capital-intensive method for packaging chips, which could unlock further margin improvements this year.</p>
<p>"In 2017, we believe we will be able to make significant inroads into developing the next generation of cost-effective packaging," said ASE's CFO, Joseph Tung, on the fourth-quarter <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/4039594-advanced-semiconductor-engineering-asx-q4-2016-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single" type="external">earnings call Opens a New Window.</a> with analysts. "We will also continue to follow through with the successes of writing our <a href="http://www.aseglobal.com/en/Products/4-1-6-3.asp" type="external">system-in-package Opens a New Window.</a> business model. We believe our technology and our capability to scale provides material value in differentiation to our customer's products."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/26/why-siliconware-precision-industries-and-advanced.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ASE's pending merger Opens a New Window.</a> with rival Siliconware Precision Industries (NASDAQ: SPIL) is still chugging its way through regulatory reviews in China and America. The companies are still planning to close the deal by the end of 2017, but had no new information about a more specific timeline at this point.</p>
<p>As a reminder, if and when the deal closes, Siliconware investors will be given a cash payment of approximately $8.70 per ADS while ASE shareholders take full ownership of the combined entity. Both businesses would continue to operate as before, using their existing brand names and assets, until further notice.</p>
<p>The merger is an attempt to achieve tighter pricing controls and greater economies of scale for both of the proposed partners. Until the agreement receives its final John Hancocks of regulatory approval, the larger ASE remains an interesting and value-priced play on a healthy semiconductor sector at large, while Siliconware investors must weigh the risks of failing the regulatory process against a 13% return if it is completed.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Advanced Semiconductor Engineering When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=8189d650-7724-45dc-a714-2f4664247851&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=8189d650-7724-45dc-a714-2f4664247851&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>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFZahrim/info.aspx" type="external">Anders Bylund Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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> | Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Is Pumping Up Profits | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/31/advanced-semiconductor-engineering-is-pumping-up-profits.html | 2017-01-31 | 0 |
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title on Sunday after a sensational back nine to clinch the win.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old Englishman, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, started the final round two shots behind overnight leaders Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters, and an indifferent front nine saw him make the turn five shots behind Fisher as gusty winds hit the National course of Abu Dhabi Golf Club</p>
<p>But Fleetwood birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes for a seven-under par 65 round to finish on 22-under 267.</p>
<p>Fisher, 37, got off to a fast start when he made an eagle from 45 feet on the par-5 second hole and added two more birdies in his front nine. A bogey on the par-5 10th, which could have easily turned into a double if not for a 25-feet bogey putt, stalled his progress.</p>
<p>Playing two groups ahead of him, Fleetwood had birdied the 10th and 12th holes, but he saved his best golf for the next four holes. On the 13th, he was stymied behind a tree but hit his second shot from the desert to six feet.</p>
<p>The top-ranked European then rolled in a 25-feet putt on the par-3 15th to join Fisher at 20-under, before moving ahead with a 50-feet birdie putt on the 16th hole. He then picked up another shot on the 18th, which proved to be a luxury cushion when Fisher failed to make birdies on the 17th and 18th.</p>
<p>"I feel a lot more emotional, actually, than last year. I don't know why. I just really wanted to win this one," said Fleetwood, who is expected to advance from 18th to 11th in the rankings on Monday.</p>
<p>"I had the year of my life last year. I know everybody has been talking about it, and just backing it up is the next big thing, really. It's a weird feeling coming to defend a trophy because it's yours and you don't want to give it away."</p>
<p>Fleetwood added that the tough conditions made it easier for him to focus.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't have known I shot 30 on the back nine when I came in. I was playing really well. I was hitting really good shots in. It was just a case of scoring being tough, and we had to keep going. It was sort of shot after shot.</p>
<p>"When the conditions are that tough and that windy, it actually helps you focus on each shot because there's never any easy shots. Two days before, with flat calm conditions, it was way easier to look ahead."</p>
<p>A disappointed Fisher, who was runner-up twice late in 2017 and is winless since the Tshwane Open in March 2014, praised Fleetwood's perfomance.</p>
<p>"Hats off to Tommy. I don't feel like I've lost a tournament. He's gone out there and shot 65 and he's won it, so all credit to him," said Fisher.</p>
<p>McIlroy finished inside the top-five once again — his eighth top-five in nine Abu Dhabi starts — but he was happy with the result this time.</p>
<p>"It just felt great to get another tournament under my belt. It's a great start to the year. I have no complaints. My body held up really well. My game was probably better than I expected it to be. So I'm really happy with the week," said McIlroy who started well with two birdies in his first four holes, but could not get going on the back nine.</p>
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title on Sunday after a sensational back nine to clinch the win.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old Englishman, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, started the final round two shots behind overnight leaders Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters, and an indifferent front nine saw him make the turn five shots behind Fisher as gusty winds hit the National course of Abu Dhabi Golf Club</p>
<p>But Fleetwood birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes for a seven-under par 65 round to finish on 22-under 267.</p>
<p>Fisher, 37, got off to a fast start when he made an eagle from 45 feet on the par-5 second hole and added two more birdies in his front nine. A bogey on the par-5 10th, which could have easily turned into a double if not for a 25-feet bogey putt, stalled his progress.</p>
<p>Playing two groups ahead of him, Fleetwood had birdied the 10th and 12th holes, but he saved his best golf for the next four holes. On the 13th, he was stymied behind a tree but hit his second shot from the desert to six feet.</p>
<p>The top-ranked European then rolled in a 25-feet putt on the par-3 15th to join Fisher at 20-under, before moving ahead with a 50-feet birdie putt on the 16th hole. He then picked up another shot on the 18th, which proved to be a luxury cushion when Fisher failed to make birdies on the 17th and 18th.</p>
<p>"I feel a lot more emotional, actually, than last year. I don't know why. I just really wanted to win this one," said Fleetwood, who is expected to advance from 18th to 11th in the rankings on Monday.</p>
<p>"I had the year of my life last year. I know everybody has been talking about it, and just backing it up is the next big thing, really. It's a weird feeling coming to defend a trophy because it's yours and you don't want to give it away."</p>
<p>Fleetwood added that the tough conditions made it easier for him to focus.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't have known I shot 30 on the back nine when I came in. I was playing really well. I was hitting really good shots in. It was just a case of scoring being tough, and we had to keep going. It was sort of shot after shot.</p>
<p>"When the conditions are that tough and that windy, it actually helps you focus on each shot because there's never any easy shots. Two days before, with flat calm conditions, it was way easier to look ahead."</p>
<p>A disappointed Fisher, who was runner-up twice late in 2017 and is winless since the Tshwane Open in March 2014, praised Fleetwood's perfomance.</p>
<p>"Hats off to Tommy. I don't feel like I've lost a tournament. He's gone out there and shot 65 and he's won it, so all credit to him," said Fisher.</p>
<p>McIlroy finished inside the top-five once again — his eighth top-five in nine Abu Dhabi starts — but he was happy with the result this time.</p>
<p>"It just felt great to get another tournament under my belt. It's a great start to the year. I have no complaints. My body held up really well. My game was probably better than I expected it to be. So I'm really happy with the week," said McIlroy who started well with two birdies in his first four holes, but could not get going on the back nine.</p> | Fleetwood retains Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title | false | https://apnews.com/amp/fa850c740d3f4f4fbd5d821de70f67ee | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
<p>On Tuesday evening, the Ohio Senate passed a major piece of pro-life legislation dubbed the "heartbeat bill," <a href="http://nbc4i.com/2016/12/06/ohio-senate-passes-heartbeat-bill/" type="external">reports</a> the Associated Press. The legislation would ban abortions on babies with a beating heart, which can be detected as early as six weeks.</p>
<p>Though critics of the bill are predicting it will be overturned, Republican senators are more optimistic in light of the stunning win of Republican Donald Trump.</p>
<p>"State Senate President Keith Faber, a Republican, said the twice-defeated bill came back up again because of Donald Trump’s presidential victory and the expectation he will fill Supreme Court vacancies with justices who are more likely to uphold stricter abortion bans," notes the AP.</p>
<p>"I think it has a better chance than it did before," stated Faber.</p>
<p>Pro-lifers, while cautious that the bill may be overturned, are thrilled with the news.</p>
<p>"Cincinnati Right to Life, the entire statewide Ohio pro-life coalition, and all else who have supported the Unborn Heartbeat Protection bill the past several years thanks and congratulates the Ohio Senate on this momentous vote," <a href="http://liveactionnews.org/157896-2/" type="external">applauded</a> Paula Westwood, executive director of the Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati. "We look forward to passage of H.B. 493 with Heartbeat protection amendment in the Ohio House, and Governor Kasich’s immediate support."</p>
<p>Abortion advocates are predictably outraged of the news that babies with beating hearts might not be allowed to be terminated.</p>
<p>"This bill would effectively outlaw abortion and criminalize physicians that provide this care to their patients," whined Kellie Copeland, the NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio executive director. (And by "provide care," Copeland means <a href="" type="internal">taking the life of a baby with a beating heart</a>.)</p>
<p>The bill will have an exception for the <a href="" type="internal">extremely rare</a> case of a mother's life being in danger.</p> | Pro-Life Win: Ohio Senate Passes 'Heartbeat Bill' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11403/pro-life-progress-ohio-senate-passes-heartbeat-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-12-07 | 0 |
<p>Investing in a high-yield stock isn't worth it if the dividend winds up getting cut. The fat yield, in that case, was little more than an illusion. The energy industry has been plagued by this phenomenon in recent years, as exemplified by&#160;Kinder Morgan's&#160;75% 2016 dividend cut or ENI's&#160;nearly 30% cut in 2015. But there are no magic tricks taking place at 6.4%-yielding Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) or 3.8%-yielding ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM). They are two of the safest high-yield dividends stocks in the energy space backed by long, and still intact, annual dividend growth streaks. &#160;</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Enterprise, an oil and natural gas midstream limited partnership, sports the higher yield of this pair. That's not surprising since the partnership structure is specifically designed to pass income through to unitholders. But it's worth noting that the 6.4% yield is backed by 20 consecutive years' worth of distribution increases, with an average annual increase of about 5%. So it has both an impressive yield and an impressive record of slow and steady distribution growth. &#160;</p>
<p>Enterprise is one of the largest and most diversified midstream players. It is continuing to invest for the future, with roughly $9 billion in growth investments in the works right now. That will help the partnership keep increasing the distribution in the years ahead. And Enterprise is conservatively run, with distribution coverage of 1.2 times providing a nice margin of safety for yield seekers. &#160;</p>
<p>But one of the most exciting pieces of data here is that, even during the worst of the oil downturn that started in mid-2014, Enterprise's core distributable cash flow continued to head slowly higher. In other words, it was able to keep growing its largely fee-based business right through an energy industry rough patch while rewarding unitholders with distribution increases and solid distribution coverage of at least 1.2 times. If you're looking for a high and safe yield, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/10/why-enterprise-products-partners-lp-is-a-retirees.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">you need to put Enterprise on your list</a> -- even if you aren't focused on the energy patch. &#160;</p>
<p>Another energy company you should be looking at for a safe high yield is integrated energy major ExxonMobil. The company has increased its dividend for an incredible 35 years despite operating in a commodity business prone to volatile price swings. The average annualized increase over the past decade was nearly 9%, around three times the historical rate of <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/30/why-inflation-may-be-the-biggest-threat-to-your-re.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">inflation</a> growth. &#160;</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>That said, it didn't sail through the recent oil downturn nearly as well as Enterprise. But that's actually one of the reasons to like Exxon more than its integrated energy peers, most of which have higher leverage ratios.</p>
<p>When oil prices started to collapse in mid-2014, Exxon's top and bottom lines took a big hit. But it continued to invest in its business and increase the dividend anyway. It did that by cutting costs and adding leverage to its balance sheet (cost-cutting and increasing debt was the basic tactic for all the energy majors). But here's the interesting thing: Despite long-term debt increasing from roughly $7 billion in 2013 to nearly $29 billion in 2016, Exxon is still one of the least-leveraged oil majors. &#160;</p>
<p>Basically it , sed its strong balance sheet to power through the energy downturn, which is exactly what you want to see. The key, however, is that even after all that additional leverage, long-term debt still only makes up about 12% of the capital structure -- an industry-leading metric. &#160;</p>
<p>The improving energy market, meanwhile, has allowed Exxon <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/31/exxonmobil-posts-improved-earnings-despite-product.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">to again cover its dividend and capital spending plans</a>, and given it enough breathing room to pay down $4 billion in long-term debt through the first half of the year. There are integrated oil majors with higher yields, but none stacks up to Exxon's financial strength and dividend history.</p>
<p>You can find energy companies with yields higher than Enterprise or Exxon relatively easily. But the mix of dividend safety and high yield that each of these industry giants offers is a lot harder to come by. Both have proven their mettle and commitment to investors through long, uninterrupted streaks of annual dividend increases and their astute management through the recent, and deep, oil downturn. And with Enterprise and Exxon both offering relatively high yields today, these stocks could be prime portfolio candidates if you're looking for safe, high-yield dividend investments.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than ExxonMobilWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=a339571f-0a5f-4055-b7dd-bd96994b2a6f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and ExxonMobil wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=a339571f-0a5f-4055-b7dd-bd96994b2a6f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFReubenGBrewer/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Reuben Gregg Brewer</a> owns shares of ExxonMobil. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. 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;uuid=c70376bc-9d35-11e7-aba5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | The 2 Safest High-Yield Dividend Stocks in Energy | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/23/2-safest-high-yield-dividend-stocks-in-energy.html | 2017-09-23 | 0 |
<p>By Kush Desai, <a href="http://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2017/10/06/fact-check-did-the-las-vegas-shooter-have-better-rifles-than-the-marines-do/" type="external">DCNF</a></p>
<p>The Daily Beast claimed that the Las Vegas mass shooter used guns more powerful than the Marines in a Tuesday article.</p>
<p>“Stephen Paddock used guns that are more powerful and accurate than what Marine infantry carry—and they’re totally legal to buy,” the subhead and tweet read. Verdict: False</p>
<p>The Daily Beast article relies on comparing the Vegas shooter’s assault rifles that were specially equipped and modified for increased accuracy to the U.S. Marine Corps’ standard issue rifle. This comparison does not account for the full suite of rifles and equipment that Marine infantry use.</p>
<p>Fact Check:</p>
<p>The Daily Beast’s article makes note of how law enforcement officials uncovered, among almost two dozen firearms, some “AR-15-style rifles.” The author characterized these AR-15-style rifles as “the equivalent of the U.S. military’s standard service rifle.”</p>
<p>The author goes on to describe how released photographs taken of the crime scene indicate the guns were equipped with accuracy-improving features like a “free floating barrel” and an advanced optical sight.</p>
<p>The standard service rifle of the U.S. Marine Corps – the “equivalent of” the AR-15-style rifles found at the hotel – is the M4 assault rifle.</p>
<p>The M4, a variant of the M16 rifle that was first introduced in the 1960s, has a caliber of 5.56 millimeters (mm). Its effective range for single point targets – as opposed to more spread out area targets – is 500 meters, and it shoots at a rate between 700 and 900 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 2970 feet per second.</p>
<p>This is the standard rifle issued to all Marines – whether in active duty combat situations or working in administrative functions. The M4, however, is not the only or the most powerful weapon used by Marines.</p>
<p>The M240 Bravo (or M240B), for instance, is a machine gun used by U.S. Marines. It has a caliber of 7.62 mm and fires up to 950 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 2,970 feet per second. The firearm also has an effective range of around up to 1.1 kilometers – its firepower far exceeds the M4’s on almost every metric.</p>
<p>The U.S. Marine Corps issues numerous other rifles with superior firepower than the M4 – such as more specialized firearms like Barrett’s M82 sniper rifle – and other, non-accuracy-related attachments on rifles like grenade launchers. This is in addition to other firepower equipment issued to Marine Infantry that the Vegas shooter did not have, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles.</p>
<p>The Daily Beast article’s claim that the Las Vegas legally acquired rifles that are “better” than those used by the U.S. Marine Corps – a claimed substantiated by evidence of the shooter’s use of standard issue rifle “equivalent” guns with accuracy-improving equipment – does not reflect the reality of the firepower of U.S. Marine Corps.</p>
<p>Follow Kush on <a href="https://twitter.com/k_sdesai" type="external">Twitter</a></p>
<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p> | FACT CHECK: Did the Las Vegas shooter have better rifles than the US Marines do? | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2017/10/07/fact-check-las-vegas-shooter-better-rifles-us-marines-545449 | 2017-10-07 | 0 |
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus injected himself Monday in the Republican primary for Wisconsin’s Senate seat, casting doubt on Kevin Nicholson’s conversion to the GOP after previously serving as national president of the College Democrats.</p>
<p>“I just find this all too convenient, all too contrived and I just don’t buy it,” Priebus said in an interview on WISN-AM in Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Priebus, who led the state party in Wisconsin before serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee, instead endorsed state Sen. Leah Vukmir in the GOP Senate primary. Vukmir has strong backing among Wisconsin Republicans, while Nicholson’s supporters include the national Club for Growth and Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist who worked alongside Priebus under President Donald Trump last year before they both departed.</p>
<p>The winner of the Aug. 14 Republican Senate primary will advance to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November.</p>
<p>Nicholson responded to Priebus endorsing Vukmir by likening his candidacy to others with little to no political experience when they first ran for office, including Trump and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.</p>
<p>“I know it rocks the boat a bit when someone from outside the comfortable, established political universe stands up and wants to serve,” Nicholson said on WTMJ-AM. “I don’t remember Reince Priebus or others launching similar criticisms at Donald Trump when he stood up to serve. ... It obviously has a lot of people on the inside nervous, and that’s OK because I look forward to working with them all in the general election to beat Tammy Baldwin.”</p>
<p>Priebus worked with Vukmir during his time as state party chairman, a post he held from 2007 until 2011 when he became head of the RNC. Priebus said Vukmir, a state lawmaker since 2002, has a long conservative record supporting Walker’s agenda, gun rights and other issues.</p>
<p>“This is not some moderate Republican we’re talking about,” Priebus said of Vukmir. “We’re talking about a Republican who is constantly pushing a conservative agenda.”</p>
<p>Priebus contrasted his own experience working up through the ranks of the Wisconsin Republican Party with Nicholson, who was national president of the College Democrats in 2000 and said he converted to being a Republican by 2008 after serving in the Marines and working in the private sector.</p>
<p>“You may say ‘I had a conversion,’ OK great,” Priebus said. “Welcome to the Republican Party, I have no problem with that.”</p>
<p>Priebus said Nicholson should have some “in between time” from being the College Democrats national president to the U.S. Senate. Priebus suggested he first raise money for House Speaker Paul Ryan or other Republicans or volunteers for Johnson to “show us this conversion is actually real.”</p>
<p>Nicholson’s campaign spokesman Brandon Moody fired back, saying Nicholson’s “in between time” consisted of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>“Reince must have hit his head pretty hard when Trump kicked him to the curb,” Moody said.</p>
<p>Despite his harsh words for Nicholson, Priebus said he believed Republicans need to come together behind whoever wins the primary because “2018 is going to be a tough year.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/sbauerAP" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/sbauerAP" type="external">https://twitter.com/sbauerAP</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Sign up for the AP’s weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from Texas and the Midwest at <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external" /> <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external">http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv</a></p>
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus injected himself Monday in the Republican primary for Wisconsin’s Senate seat, casting doubt on Kevin Nicholson’s conversion to the GOP after previously serving as national president of the College Democrats.</p>
<p>“I just find this all too convenient, all too contrived and I just don’t buy it,” Priebus said in an interview on WISN-AM in Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Priebus, who led the state party in Wisconsin before serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee, instead endorsed state Sen. Leah Vukmir in the GOP Senate primary. Vukmir has strong backing among Wisconsin Republicans, while Nicholson’s supporters include the national Club for Growth and Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist who worked alongside Priebus under President Donald Trump last year before they both departed.</p>
<p>The winner of the Aug. 14 Republican Senate primary will advance to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November.</p>
<p>Nicholson responded to Priebus endorsing Vukmir by likening his candidacy to others with little to no political experience when they first ran for office, including Trump and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.</p>
<p>“I know it rocks the boat a bit when someone from outside the comfortable, established political universe stands up and wants to serve,” Nicholson said on WTMJ-AM. “I don’t remember Reince Priebus or others launching similar criticisms at Donald Trump when he stood up to serve. ... It obviously has a lot of people on the inside nervous, and that’s OK because I look forward to working with them all in the general election to beat Tammy Baldwin.”</p>
<p>Priebus worked with Vukmir during his time as state party chairman, a post he held from 2007 until 2011 when he became head of the RNC. Priebus said Vukmir, a state lawmaker since 2002, has a long conservative record supporting Walker’s agenda, gun rights and other issues.</p>
<p>“This is not some moderate Republican we’re talking about,” Priebus said of Vukmir. “We’re talking about a Republican who is constantly pushing a conservative agenda.”</p>
<p>Priebus contrasted his own experience working up through the ranks of the Wisconsin Republican Party with Nicholson, who was national president of the College Democrats in 2000 and said he converted to being a Republican by 2008 after serving in the Marines and working in the private sector.</p>
<p>“You may say ‘I had a conversion,’ OK great,” Priebus said. “Welcome to the Republican Party, I have no problem with that.”</p>
<p>Priebus said Nicholson should have some “in between time” from being the College Democrats national president to the U.S. Senate. Priebus suggested he first raise money for House Speaker Paul Ryan or other Republicans or volunteers for Johnson to “show us this conversion is actually real.”</p>
<p>Nicholson’s campaign spokesman Brandon Moody fired back, saying Nicholson’s “in between time” consisted of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>“Reince must have hit his head pretty hard when Trump kicked him to the curb,” Moody said.</p>
<p>Despite his harsh words for Nicholson, Priebus said he believed Republicans need to come together behind whoever wins the primary because “2018 is going to be a tough year.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/sbauerAP" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/sbauerAP" type="external">https://twitter.com/sbauerAP</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Sign up for the AP’s weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from Texas and the Midwest at <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external" /> <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external">http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv</a></p> | Ex-White House chief endorses Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate | false | https://apnews.com/97570965d2ff4626a165d986bd6a4ea5 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>Collaboration is touted as the latest solution to pubic land conflicts.&#160; Senator Crapo (R-ID) recently announced a new “collaborative” had been formed to address public land issues in Idaho’s Clearwater Basin.&#160; Ironically, this public announcement came a few months after the collaborative group had formed, largely out of the public eye.</p>
<p>The public lands in the Clearwater Basin–centered mainly on the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests–form the northern half of the largest intact wildland ecosystem left in the lower 48.&#160; Salmon and steelhead spawn in the Selway and Lochsa Rivers.&#160; Lower elevation habitat with ancient cedar groves and other mesic plants makes the area a unique blend of the Rockies and coastal forests.&#160; Wolves, fishers, wolverines, and a few grizz call this area home.&#160; A study done for World Wildlife Fund Canada by three prominent biologists found that the Clearwater Basin was the most important area in the entire Rockies for large carnivores.</p>
<p>Serious questions surround collaboratives. They may effectively replace the legitimate public process.&#160; For example, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that federal agencies objectively evaluate a range of options and seek public input on those options before making a decision.&#160; Collaborative processes make decisions couched as “recommendations” before this analysis occurs.&#160; As such, NEPA becomes a pro forma exercise.&#160; An excerpt from an article about Crapo’s new Clearwater collaborative, written by The Lewiston Morning Tribune’s&#160; Eric Barker on May 30 2008, makes this clear:</p>
<p>Tom Tidwell, regional forester in charge of national forests in northern Idaho and western Montana, pledged to work to implement whatever the groups come up with. He said anything done on Forest Service land will still have to go through the agency’s public process. But he said having broad agreement up front will make the process smoother. “What ever comes out of this effort we are going to be supportive of it,” he said.</p>
<p>This is a tacit admission there won’t be an objective analysis of alternatives before a decision is made as required by NEPA.</p>
<p>It also isn’t clear whether this process is currently open to citizens or closed with no more room.&#160; While someone from Rhode Island can participate in the normal public processes, it is almost certain such a person couldn’t participate in a series of meetings in Idaho to decide the fate of land that belong to all Americans.</p>
<p>There seem to be preconditions as well.&#160; The Lewiston Morning Tribune quoted Senator Crapo as saying, “Each participant must be as committed to helping others reach their goals and objectives as that participant is committed to advancing their own interests.”&#160; At best, this is a vague and meaningless statement, at worst it could be used as a club to bully participants who hold a minority view to acquiesce by accusing them of operating in bad faith.</p>
<p>It also isn’t clear whether this group will limit itself to “recommendations” for the Forest Service. Conservation groups involved in the collaborative, including the Idaho Conservation League and the Wilderness Society,&#160; want to push for wilderness legislation.&#160; The problem is other interests could ask the environmentalists to agree to weaken and amend existing environmental laws in exchange for an agreement to designate some wilderness.&#160; Indeed, “quid pro quo” legislation is a recent trend.&#160; Public land disposal, weakening amendments to the Wilderness Act, and other precedential efforts reneging on past commitments have been folded into so-called wilderness legislation in the past few years.</p>
<p>Collaboratives are often proposed to circumvent compliance with environmental laws.&#160; Special interests and the government want to overturn court decisions where citizens prevailed in convincing the judiciary to force the federal agencies to follow environmental laws governing how or whether commercial logging, mining,&#160; livestock grazing, or developed recreation takes place.</p>
<p>The Clearwater collaborative may be related to a past effort to wrest control of public land from US citizens. The State of Idaho formed a federal land task force a few years ago which produced a recomemdnation for a local collaborative to make decisions on the Nez Perce and Clearwater National Forests.&#160; This dove-tailed with Bush’s plan to turn over national forests to local entities on a pilot basis, the first step to privatization. Environmental groups and other citizens successfully opposed this effort, a fact apparently forgotten by the environmental groups who are now backing Crapo’s collaborative.</p>
<p>Furthermore, some time ago special interests came up with a ploy to increase logging and log roadless areas ostensibly to create more forage for elk herds which had declined in the Clearwater after the severe winter of 95-96.&#160; Two separate “elk” collaborative efforts ensued; the second came from Senator Crapo.&#160; Interestingly, this second collaborative resulted in a general agreement to focus logging on roaded areas and mainly use fire in roadless areas.&#160; Whether this current collaborative will reverse this recommendation is not known.</p>
<p>The Clearwater collaborative could pose problems for the integrity of Clearwater wildlands.&#160; Groups like the local Friends of the Clearwater have led the charge for keeping the public lands in the Clearwater Basin wild.&#160; That organization has also pushed the visionary Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, the science-based ecosystem bill developed by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.&#160; This bill has been moving through the House and is the best way to ensure long-term viability of rare species in the region.&#160; The Clearwater collaborative could undercut congressional support for that legislation.</p>
<p>The dilemma is those who can’t or won’t participate may have their concerns ignored.&#160;&#160; Those who do participate risk undercutting the public interest and existing legitimate processes.&#160; Collaborative processes are touted as democratic and open yet only a few can participate. They are also bare-knuckle political affairs with winners and losers which have more to do with coercion and less with real consensus.&#160; Though touted to end controversy, they are controversial themselves and deserve much more scrutiny.</p>
<p>Gary Macfarlane is the Ecosystem Defense Director for Friends of the Clearwater and board president for the <a href="http://www.wildrockiesalliance.org" type="external">Alliance for the Wild Rockies</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Your Ad Here</a> &#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Collaboration on the Clearwater | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/06/10/collaboration-on-the-clearwater/ | 2008-06-10 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>It was a stretch where St. Michael’s dropped three of five contests – including losses to Hope Christian, Sandia Prep and St. Pius.</p>
<p>It was also a time when she felt she wasn’t filling her role on the team. “Everyone has a job on this team,” she said. “I’m a striker and my job is to score. So when I wasn’t able to do that, it got real frustrating.</p>
<p>“I’m just glad that I’m back into my groove.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>And how DeLeon-Dowd got her groove back was by ending her five-game, no-goal streak with four scores in the past two contests, including a pair during in a 3-2 win over Class 4A Del Norte (5-6) in non-district play on Wednesday at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex.</p>
<p>After the Lady Horsemen (7-3) gave up an early score to the Knights’ Leslie Ruiz, who took a Jenna Thurman pass at the top left half of the box and fired a shot inside the near post in the 9th minute, it took St. Mike’s nearly the entire rest of the half to get things going.</p>
<p>“We just started a little slow,” said St. Mike’s coach Ed Velie, whose squad was out-shot 5-1 until the final 10 minutes before halftime. “I’m not sure what it was because we played really well the rest of the game. It just took us a while to get going.”</p>
<p>DeLeon-Dowd ended the St. Mike’s offensive drought in the 37th minute, netting the equalizer on a penalty kick after St. Mike’s eighth-grader Nique Enloe was tackled from behind inside the Knights’ penalty box. But Del Norte would retake the lead in the 50th minute when Thurman took a drop pass from Talia Portillo near the top right corner of the box, split two Lady Horsemen defenders and beat St. Mike’s goal keeper Alex Groenewold to the far post for the score.</p>
<p>“I wasn’t too concerned at that point, because there was a lot of time left and I knew (Del Norte) couldn’t handle the speed of our forwards,” Velie said.</p>
<p>DeLeon-Dowd then added her second goal of the game in the 58th minute, evening the contest at 2-2. The St. Mike’s senior took a pass from Isabel Chavez along the left sideline deep on the Del Norte end, cut towards the middle of the field, splitting two Knight defenders, and drilling her shot inside the far post for her ninth goal of the season.</p>
<p>Enloe followed with a pair of failed breakaway opportunities, sending her first attempt wide while firing her second straight at the Knights goal keeper. But in the 69th minute, Enloe would finally get her goal.</p>
<p>“The two I missed were from great passes, so I felt bad that I messed up – I wasn’t sure what to do and didn’t handle the pressure very well in those instances,” she said. “But (on the free kick) I knew I just had to get in front of their goalie to distract her because she didn’t have great hands. (Viola Pecos) just made a great kick right to her.”</p>
<p>But after Pecos’ shot from near midfield caromed off the Del Norte keeper, bouncing in front of the empty net, Enloe didn’t hesitate.</p>
<p>“It was all instinct,” she said. “When I saw her drop it, I just went for it.”</p>
<p>The goal was Enloe’s eighth of the season. Groenewold finished with eight saves.</p> | DeLeon-Dowd Scores Twice To Lead St. Mike’s | false | https://abqjournal.com/133625/deleondowd-scores-twice-to-lead-st-mikes.html | 2012-09-27 | 2 |
<p>MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday displayed a pair of drones that it said were captured following attacks on two Russian military bases in Syria, saying the attack required know-how indicating it was carried out with outside assistance.</p>
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin accused outside powers he wouldn’t name of staging the attack to derail a deal between Russia, Turkey and Iran that is intended to reduce hostilities in Syria.</p>
<p>The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday’s raid on the Hemeimeem air base in the province of Lattakia and Russia’s naval facility in the port of Tartus involved 13 drones. It said seven were downed by air defense systems and the remaining six were forced to land by Russian electronic warfare units.</p>
<p>Of the latter, three exploded when they hit the ground and three more were captured intact, the ministry said.</p>
<p>The Defense Ministry presented two primitive-looking drones at a briefing, arguing that they featured state-of-the art electronics that are less prone to jamming and allow precision strikes.</p>
<p>Maj. Gen. Alexander Novikov, who heads the ministry’s drone department, said the drones used in the weekend’s raid on the Russian bases differed from the rudimentary craft earlier used by rebels in Syria. The attack required satellite navigation data that aren’t available on the internet, complex engineering works and elaborate tests, Novikov said.</p>
<p>“The creation of drones of such class is impossible in makeshift conditions,” Novikov said. “Their development and use requires the involvement of experts with special training in the countries that manufacture and use drones.”</p>
<p>Novikov didn’t blame any specific country, but the Defense Ministry earlier referred to the “strange coincidence” of a U.S. military intelligence plane allegedly barraging over the Mediterranean near the Russian bases when the attack took place.</p>
<p>The Pentagon strongly denied any involvement.</p>
<p>The Defense Ministry said the drones were launched from al-Mouazzara in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, over 50 kilometers (more than 30 miles) away from the Russian bases.</p>
<p>The attack heightened tensions between Russia and Turkey, which wields significant influence with some rebel groups in Idlib. The province has become the main rallying point for various rebel factions after Syrian government forces won control over large swathes of territory thanks to Russian support.</p>
<p>Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad and Ankara has supported his foes, but they struck a deal last year to set up de-escalation zones. The agreement has helped reduce fighting and warm ties between Russia and Turkey. It also involved Iran, another Assad backer,</p>
<p>Following the drone attack, the Russian Defense Ministry sent letters to Turkey’s military leaders, asking them to deploy military observers to help prevent further attacks from Idlib on Russian assets.</p>
<p>Putin said Moscow knows who helped stage the attack on the Russian bases, but he didn’t identify the country allegedly involved, saying only that it wasn’t Turkey.</p>
<p>He added that he discussed the raid with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier Thursday, voicing confidence that Turkey’s Turkish leadership and military had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>“There were provocateurs, but they weren’t the Turks,” he said at a televised meeting with Russian newspaper editors Thursday. “We know who they were and how much they paid for that provocation.”</p>
<p>Putin said the drones looked primitive but contained high-tech elements allowing precision satellite guidance and release of munitions.</p>
<p>He added that those behind the attack were aiming to thwart the Russia-Turkey-Iran agreement on de-escalation zones. “These were provocations aimed at thwarting earlier agreements,” Putin said.</p>
<p>The drone raid on Russian bases came just weeks after Putin declared a victory in Syria and ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from the country.</p>
<p>The attack occurred a few days after mortar and rocket shelling of the Hemeimeem air base. The incursions have raised doubts about the sustainability of the Assad government’s recent victories and Moscow’s ability to protect its gains in Syria.</p>
<p>MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday displayed a pair of drones that it said were captured following attacks on two Russian military bases in Syria, saying the attack required know-how indicating it was carried out with outside assistance.</p>
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin accused outside powers he wouldn’t name of staging the attack to derail a deal between Russia, Turkey and Iran that is intended to reduce hostilities in Syria.</p>
<p>The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday’s raid on the Hemeimeem air base in the province of Lattakia and Russia’s naval facility in the port of Tartus involved 13 drones. It said seven were downed by air defense systems and the remaining six were forced to land by Russian electronic warfare units.</p>
<p>Of the latter, three exploded when they hit the ground and three more were captured intact, the ministry said.</p>
<p>The Defense Ministry presented two primitive-looking drones at a briefing, arguing that they featured state-of-the art electronics that are less prone to jamming and allow precision strikes.</p>
<p>Maj. Gen. Alexander Novikov, who heads the ministry’s drone department, said the drones used in the weekend’s raid on the Russian bases differed from the rudimentary craft earlier used by rebels in Syria. The attack required satellite navigation data that aren’t available on the internet, complex engineering works and elaborate tests, Novikov said.</p>
<p>“The creation of drones of such class is impossible in makeshift conditions,” Novikov said. “Their development and use requires the involvement of experts with special training in the countries that manufacture and use drones.”</p>
<p>Novikov didn’t blame any specific country, but the Defense Ministry earlier referred to the “strange coincidence” of a U.S. military intelligence plane allegedly barraging over the Mediterranean near the Russian bases when the attack took place.</p>
<p>The Pentagon strongly denied any involvement.</p>
<p>The Defense Ministry said the drones were launched from al-Mouazzara in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, over 50 kilometers (more than 30 miles) away from the Russian bases.</p>
<p>The attack heightened tensions between Russia and Turkey, which wields significant influence with some rebel groups in Idlib. The province has become the main rallying point for various rebel factions after Syrian government forces won control over large swathes of territory thanks to Russian support.</p>
<p>Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad and Ankara has supported his foes, but they struck a deal last year to set up de-escalation zones. The agreement has helped reduce fighting and warm ties between Russia and Turkey. It also involved Iran, another Assad backer,</p>
<p>Following the drone attack, the Russian Defense Ministry sent letters to Turkey’s military leaders, asking them to deploy military observers to help prevent further attacks from Idlib on Russian assets.</p>
<p>Putin said Moscow knows who helped stage the attack on the Russian bases, but he didn’t identify the country allegedly involved, saying only that it wasn’t Turkey.</p>
<p>He added that he discussed the raid with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier Thursday, voicing confidence that Turkey’s Turkish leadership and military had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>“There were provocateurs, but they weren’t the Turks,” he said at a televised meeting with Russian newspaper editors Thursday. “We know who they were and how much they paid for that provocation.”</p>
<p>Putin said the drones looked primitive but contained high-tech elements allowing precision satellite guidance and release of munitions.</p>
<p>He added that those behind the attack were aiming to thwart the Russia-Turkey-Iran agreement on de-escalation zones. “These were provocations aimed at thwarting earlier agreements,” Putin said.</p>
<p>The drone raid on Russian bases came just weeks after Putin declared a victory in Syria and ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from the country.</p>
<p>The attack occurred a few days after mortar and rocket shelling of the Hemeimeem air base. The incursions have raised doubts about the sustainability of the Assad government’s recent victories and Moscow’s ability to protect its gains in Syria.</p> | Russian military shows drones it says came from Syria raid | false | https://apnews.com/78148846cdf64e02a2b06e972f14a74d | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The black bear named Archie had been in failing health for months and wasn't expected to live through hibernation, said owners Jeffrey and Debra Gillium.</p>
<p>He was euthanized by a veterinarian Friday after the Gilliums gave him a big breakfast of dog food mixed with tapioca pudding and a doughnut.</p>
<p>"He usually doesn't get stuff like that, but today was a special day and he loves his sweets," Debra Gillium told the Medina Gazette. "He licked the tapioca off my fingers."</p>
<p>The Gilliums had fought to keep Archie despite failing to get a permit when Ohio tightened rules for keeping dangerous animals.</p>
<p>They argued that the bear was old and unlikely to escape his fenced enclosure near Lodi, roughly 40 miles southwest of Cleveland. They said that moving or tranquilizing him could threaten his life and that denying their permit wouldn't serve the public interest.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But the Ohio Department of Agriculture said it couldn't grant a permit because the application was submitted long after the deadline.</p>
<p>The Gilliums said they had cared for the bear since 1981 and had proper permits and licenses until the law changed and their last permit expired in 2013. They argued that they weren't adequately notified about the changes when the Department of Agriculture took over enforcement on such matters and they believed they were grandfathered into the new permit system.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Sweet end for sick bear in dispute | false | https://abqjournal.com/693991/sweet-end-for-sick-bear-in-dispute.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — Friend of Russia and foe of sanctions in his corporate life, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is an unorthodox choice. He may feel at home in Trump’s iconoclastic administration.</p>
<p>Tillerson is a break in a longstanding tradition of secretaries of state with extensive military, legislative, political or diplomatic experience. Yet his supporters say the oil man’s career at a mammoth multinational is proof he has the skills to succeed as America’s top diplomat.</p>
<p>Democrats and traditional GOP hawks are expected to zero in on Tillerson’s role in orchestrating business deals with Russia and Exxon and its subsidiaries’ activities in Iran and Iraq. And his environmental views are also likely to be covered, as are suspicions Tillerson will be driven by corporate interests.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Russia friend and sanctions foe, Tillerson gets his hearing | false | https://abqjournal.com/925304/russia-friend-and-sanctions-foe-tillerson-gets-his-hearing.html | 2017-01-11 | 2 |
<p>Florida pastor Terry Jones backed away from his plan to burn a pile of Qurans on Sept. 11, but anger in the Muslim world persists. Two people were killed in eastern Afghanistan when soldiers opened fire on a crowd during protests against the planned burning. –JCL</p>
<p>Associated Press:</p>
<p>Two protesters died and four were injured as Afghans protested for a third day Sunday against a plan by an American pastor to burn copies of the Islamic holy book, despite his decision to call off the action.</p>
<p>Mohammad Rahim Amin, chief of the Baraki Barak district in eastern Logar province, said the deaths and injuries occurred when Afghan soldiers opened fire on hundreds of protesters who were trying to storm the local government headquarters.</p>
<p />
<p>During recent protests against the Quran burning, Afghans have regularly targeted the pro-Western government.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9I6FATO0" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 2 Afghans Die in Protest of Quran Burning Plan | true | http://truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/two_dead_in_anti-quran_burning_protests_20100912/ | 2010-09-12 | 4 |
<p>June 27 marked the long overdue re-issue of the out-of-print Taylor Hackford masterpiece film, <a href="" type="internal">Chuck Berry: Hail Hail, Rock ‘N’ Roll</a>. Having been present in St. Louis for the two legendary concerts that were held to generate footage for the film, being that I was covering the ensuing events for a magazine, to now see the film reissued twenty years later, and looking back on it now, it feels no more, nor no less, musically historic than it did back then. I was keenly aware of what I was witnessing in 1986, with its karmic depth on many levels, and what the film would come to represent as far as paying dues and paying musical debts.</p>
<p>The object of making of the film, was not only to pay tribute to Chuck Berry as an artist, but to also try to decipher the enigma behind the music. The resulting work is not just about the singer, but also about the songs, and the music that would drive both of these. The raw honesty and no holds barred approach of the newly revamped film directed by Hackford, enhanced in this four-disc set, with its added special features, flawlessly punctuates the meaningful relevance the film has, and that it will continue to have long into the future. The documentary is deeply woven by its many subtexts, one of which includes the musical and karmic mission accomplished by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Chuck Berry’s status arguably includes being the most copied guitarist in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Part of the collective unconscious of rock, his songs have been covered by countless artists, most notably the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, David Bowie, AC/DC, the MC5, and scads more, including punkers such as the Ramones and the Sex Pistols have also paid homage to him. Berry’s double string licks and bends have become anthemic symbols of power, which have been passed on for fifty years of rock. Hackford attempts to find their source and inspiration, and the result is this film.</p>
<p>Re-released by Image Entertainment, the film is now seen in widescreen High Definition with remastered DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, along with the original Dolby Stereo theatrical mix. A two-disc version is being released, as well as a special four-disc collectors item set. Also new to the DVD version is close to an hour of never-before-seen concert rehearsals, and an unedited version of the footage that was gleaned when Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry all met together for the first time, reminiscing about the history of rock and roll, to engage in a revealing conversation about racism, economics and the music business. Additional interview footage includes Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Willie Dixon, Roy Orbison and other major figures in rock ‘n’ roll. The rehearsal footage seen in the original version of the movie, as well as that found in the extra features, is also quite remarkable in many ways, owing to the tension between battle-ready Richards and Berry. Sparks fly, while the rest of the band, and others in the room, watch vigilantly, as flames shoot out of Keith’s nose during rehearsals.</p>
<p>On October 16, 1986, the evening of Berry’s sixtieth birthday, two concerts were held at the Fox Theater in St. Louis, which are seen in the documentary. On stage, Berry and Richards exchanged their trademark licks and rhythms that ultimately changed and directed the course of rock ‘n’ roll, while a slew of special guests appeared on stage. Among them, John Lennon’s son, Julian, sang “Johnny B. Goode,” sporting his hair dyed black in a fifties ‘do. Even Berry could not help but remark how much he looked and sounded like his late father, who had earlier often remarked about how Berry was a guitar hero of his, and how much he respected the intelligence of his innovative lyrics.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Also part of the enduring legacy of the concert is footage of Etta James’ standout version of “Rock And Roll Music.” Clapton and Richards set off a riveting blues jam, bleeding chunky guitar riffs that oozed from the stage like a tantalizing potion pouring sheer magic. Steve Jordan’s extraordinary drumming was yet another high point of the musical moments of the film. As part of the set’s new features, Jordan is interviewed about how he was chosen as the band’s drummer, and he candidly addresses some of his professional experiences. Other must-see compelling interview footage in the film, itself, includes Bruce Springsteen, always a captivating storyteller, talking about the night he backed up Chuck Berry in New Jersey.</p>
<p>Another section included in this four-disc extravaganza features Robbie Robertson interviewing Berry about his historic scrapbook.</p>
<p>Arguably, among the deepest parts of the film are those surrounding the late piano player, Johnny Johnson, one of the primal influences on rock music, not only for keyboardists, but for guitarists, as well. When Berry first had started performing live, it was in Johnny’s band, which, as the film explains, Berry would later take over. When Richards ultimately came upon the keyboardist many years later, Johnson was no longer performing, he was driving a bus. The Stones guitarist enlisted Johnson into the house band for the film, and years later, he would induct him into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and there would be other forms of tribute. Hackford describes Johnson as the “direct tie to the original sound” of rock ‘n’ roll.</p>
<p>Despite Berry’s self-inflicted isolation, Hackford does a fine job trailing the guitarist’s life from his humble beginnings, through his days at the Cosmo Club, to where he virtually lived on the road in 1986. Other subplots unravel, as the film’s producer, Stephanie Bennett, tries to decipher the reasons behind the dysfunctional manner in which Berry interacted with people on the set, keying the audience into some of the difficulties working with Berry while filming the movie. Much detail is given surrounding the fact that despite his having signed a contractual agreement prior to the film going into production, Berry continuously and arbitrarily insisted on changing the terms of the contract, literally rewriting his contract every day. Those who view the film will wince more than once while listening to a few of the many tales about Berry, warts and all.</p>
<p>The controversies are somehow become easily forgotten, however, while watching rare footage of Berry playing ballads. The movie is captivating viewing throughout, even as Berry’s dirty and empty guitar-shaped swimming pool plays like a bizarre metaphor at the end of the film.</p>
<p>PHYLLIS POLLACK lives in Los Angeles where she is a publicist and music journalist. She can be reached through <a href="http://www.electricearl.com/phyllis" type="external">her blog</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Roll Over Beethoven | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/07/01/roll-over-beethoven/ | 2006-07-01 | 4 |
<p>Last month, the New York Times editorial board ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/opinion/opting-out-of-standardized-tests-isnt-the-answer.html?_r=0" type="external">8/14/15</a>) weighed in on “opting out”—the growing movement of parents refusing the state standardized tests administered every year to students in grades 3 through 8. Five days later, the editorial board of another major paper, USA Today ( <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/19/standardized-test-opt-outs-common-core-editorials-debates/31932115/" type="external">8/19/15</a>), also voiced its disapproval of opting out, joining the editorial stance of the Washington Post ( <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-opting-out-is-shortsighted/2015/05/16/e4c2da7a-f4fa-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html" type="external">5/16/15</a>), which criticized the movement back in May.</p>
<p>All three papers offered arguments that closely align with the rhetoric of corporate education reform, focusing on the plight of low-income students of color while ignoring the realities of how testing affects such populations.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />The Times ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/opinion/opting-out-of-standardized-tests-isnt-the-answer.html?_r=0" type="external">8/14/15</a>) began with a familiar criticism of the opt-out movement, &#160;that it is driven by families who “were white and in wealthy or middle-class communities”—adding that, in New York City, “less than 2 percent opted out.” It’s a criticism that hearkens to the “outside agitator” narrative of delegitimizing the message of a protest based on those who are protesting.</p>
<p>But based on the Times’ own reporting from earlier in the spring ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/nyregion/opt-out-movement-against-common-core-testing-grows-in-new-york-state.html" type="external">5/20/15</a>), the state’s poorer districts—those with 60-80 percent of students qualifying for subsidized lunch—had an opt out rate between 5 and 10 percent. For those with 30-60 percent of students in poverty, the opt outs were around 15 to 20 percent.</p>
<p>And as Lisa Eggert Litvin, co-chair of the New York Suburban Consortium for Public Education, noted in a letter to the editor ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/21/opinion/defending-the-opt-out-movement.html" type="external">8/21/15</a>), the Times omitted the multitude of factors explaining why New York City students opted out in lower numbers:</p>
<p>Unlike in the rest of the state, these test scores factor into decisions regarding promotion, admission to public middle schools and high schools, and placement in gifted and talented programs in grades 4 and 5.</p>
<p>And while the Times argued that those opting out “could hurt efforts to document and close the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and more privileged students,” they failed to mention the unique learning needs of students in poverty or the inequality of resources between districts that inform that so-called “achievement gap.”</p>
<p>Again, according to the Times’ own reporting earlier this year ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/17/us/school-poverty-study-southern-education-foundation.html?_r=0" type="external">1/16/15</a>), roughly half of New York students come from families living in poverty:</p>
<p>Students from such families tend to arrive at school with different needs from those from middle-class and affluent families. They may have more medical problems or behavioral issues and need extra academic help. Unlike their wealthier peers, they do not have the benefit of music lessons, private sports leagues, tutoring or trips to cultural events, and their schools are left to fill in the gaps.</p>
<p>The Times’ defense of standardized tests emphasizes the need to “document and close” the gaps between poor and wealthy students, but that gap and its root cause—namely, inequality—is long documented. In fact, the “achievement gap” remains largely unchanged since the introduction of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Like the Times, the Washington Post editorial board ( <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-opting-out-is-shortsighted/2015/05/16/e4c2da7a-f4fa-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html" type="external">5/16/15</a>) criticized the opt-out movement by arguing that “annual tests are a powerful tool in forcing fairness,” and that “sitting out tests that have proven essential in lifting the achievement of at-risk students is shortsighted, if not selfish.”</p>
<p>But as documented in the Post’s own education blog two months earlier ( <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/10/no-child-left-behind-what-standardized-test-scores-reveal-about-its-legacy/" type="external">3/10/15</a>), the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that progress toward educational equality has actually slowed since NCLB. “Score gaps in 2012 were no narrower and often wider than they were in 1998 and 1990.” In some cases, the gap got bigger: “In three of four grades/tests, scores for students with disabilities flattened or declined, while gaps with whites remained unchanged or widened.”</p>
<p>Neither the Post nor the Times mentioned that marginalized populations like students with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELLs) are more likely to get low scores on the tests. ELLs, who are <a href="http://www.advocatesforchildren.org/sites/default/files/library/promotion_policy_for_ells_k-8.pdf?pt=1" type="external">expected</a> to take the exams after one year in a US school, <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/states-and-districts-highest-number-and-share-english-language-learners" type="external">make up</a> about 14 percent of the student population in New York City and 9 percent of the student population statewide. Only <a href="http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/2015800/documents/20153-8TestResultsCommunicationsDeck.pdf" type="external">4 percent</a> of them ranked “proficient” on the English Language Arts (ELA) test this year. Among students with disabilities, who make up about <a href="http://eddataexpress.ed.gov/data-element-explorer.cfm/tab/data/deid/5/" type="external">16 percent</a> of the state’s student population, only 6 percent ranked proficient on the ELA test this year.</p>
<p>However, “proficient” rankings are a misleading benchmark for success and failure, according to education historian and former NAEP board member Diane Ravitch. “‘Proficient’ doesn’t mean ‘passing’ or ‘grade level.’ It represents a very high level of academic performance,” Ravitch explains (DianeRavitch.net, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2015/08/12/new-york-state-scores-released-lowest-scores-for-students-with-disabilities-ells/" type="external">8/12/15</a>). She says the national average is 35-40 percent “proficient,” which is comparable to New York students’ overall scores of 31 percent proficiency in ELA and 38 percent proficiency in math.</p>
<p>The Times acknowledges that the standards in New York are “some of the most stringent testing standards in the country—equal to or higher” than the NAEP, but cites new policies that reduce the role of the tests as a factor in a student’s promotion to the next grade. They also acknowledge that the tests shouldn’t be the primary factor in evaluating teachers.</p>
<p>Of course, those protections for students and teachers are directly thanks to the “outcry” (New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/nyregion/new-york-city-reducing-role-of-tests-in-advancing-students-to-next-grade.html" type="external">4/9/14</a>) from parents and teachers organizing against the tests. Under New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the tests were a primary factor in grade promotion, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent much of last year pushing for the tests to be weighted as high as 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation. That proposal was stopped when “unions, teachers and parents took to the sidewalks, waving picket signs” (New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/nyregion/cuomo-gets-deals-on-tenure-and-evaluations-of-teachers.html" type="external">3/31/15</a>). The very safeguards that the Times editorial praised in its justification of the tests came from the same resistance efforts of parents and teachers it criticises.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />For its part, the USA Today editorial board ( <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/19/standardized-test-opt-outs-common-core-editorials-debates/31932115/" type="external">8/19/15</a>) leaned heavily on criticizing both teachers—“Do teachers really want to return to the days when many teacher evaluation systems were shams and even the worst teachers were seldom fired?”—and, more confusingly, parents. “What will these parents do when their child is afraid to go to the dentist? Or take a different test? Or write a class report?” asks USA Today.</p>
<p>Earlier in the editorial, they admit that “a focus on test-prep has shortchanged more effective ways of teaching,” under which, of course, a “class report” or a “different test” might fall. The paper simultaneously concludes that parents “who don’t like the public education system have options: They can home-school their children or send them to private schools,” and if they choose public education, “they can work within the system to improve testing or change the law.” Given that the opt-out movement is driven by public school parents, USA Today’s disdain for both parents and public schools is noteworthy and alarming.</p>
<p>The establishment media’s editorial backlash to the opt-out movement exists alongside the same papers’ coverage of the issues the movement seeks to address—issues that have reached crisis levels in New York and across the country. Although these newspapers suggest that high-stakes tests are needed in order for something to finally be done about inequality and student achievement, the data from these tests has been used for the last decade and a half to justify closing schools, firing teachers and holding back students with the most unique learning needs.</p>
<p>Many parents feel that opting out is one of the few mechanisms to disrupt this pattern—and the talking points put forward by education reformers and editorial boards alike don’t stand up to the scrutiny of those who have been paying attention.</p>
<p>Molly Knefel is a journalist and co-host of the daily political podcast Radio Dispatch. She is also an elementary and middle school teacher at a public school in the Bronx.</p>
<p>Subscribe: <a href="" type="internal">Android</a> | <a href="" type="internal">RSS</a></p> | Major Papers Reject the Opt-Out Option | true | http://fair.org/home/major-papers-reject-the-opt-out-option/ | 2015-09-16 | 4 |
<p>LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May’s deputy urged Conservative lawmakers late on Saturday to back the government’s EU repeal bill, warning them not to help the opposition Labour Party, which is planning to seek several changes to the legislation.</p>
<p>On Thursday, British lawmakers will hold their first full parliamentary debate on legislation dubbed the Great Repeal Bill, which will sever the country’s ties with the European Union with the chance to table amendments at a later stage.</p>
<p>“Starting the new parliamentary session with the Withdrawal Bill shows that it is now the job of all MPs, including my former colleagues on the Stronger In campaign, to respect the will of the people and get the best possible deal for Britain,” Damian Green was quoted as saying by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.</p>
<p>“No Conservative wants a bad Brexit deal, or to do anything that increases the threat of a Corbyn government.”</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> | UK PM's deputy urges Conservatives to back EU repeal bill: The Sunday Telegraph | false | https://newsline.com/uk-pm039s-deputy-urges-conservatives-to-back-eu-repeal-bill-the-sunday-telegraph/ | 2017-09-02 | 1 |
<p />
<p />
<p>I though for one second, is there an Albania, Texas or Albania, New Mexico, or Albania, Arizona? Of course not. This is for Albania, as in, well, Albania. Because that’s where our tax dollars should be spent. On border security for foreign country not even on our continent.</p>
<p>And this on the same day Obama announces he’s really concerned about a nuke going off in New York. Well, maybe it wasn’t concern. Maybe it was excitement. I can never tell with him. Not that New York could use $50G for terrorism prevention. Nah…</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>The State Department purchased two Mitsubishi pick-ups for $50,000 to be used by the border police in Albania.</p>
<p>The U.S. government has already bought six L200 Double Cab Mitsubishis for the Albanian Border Police (ABP), and said the two additional vehicles will “fulfill the ABP’s needs.”</p>
<p>“The vehicles will be provided to the Albanian Border Police (ABP) under a U.S. Government funded nonproliferation assistance program,” the contract said. “The ABP will deploy the vehicles to the Regional Border Police Directorates in Albania for patrolling, monitoring and controlling its land borders, and to interdict illicit trafficking across those borders.”</p>
<p>The two new Mitsubishis will be black, seat five, and have a 4-cylinder turbo-diesel engine. They will also have a 6-speed manual transmission, 16-inch steel rims, and “standard upholstery.” The cost is $50,284. All eight vehicles have cost the United States approximately $201,136.</p>
<p>The State Department gave specific instructions for the canopies on the back of the trucks. The minimum specifications included “reinforced glass fibre, and in black colour same like the pickup,” and “smoke coloured” side and rear windows.</p> | true | http://tammybruce.com/2014/03/state-dept-spends-over-50g-on-trucks-for-border-patrol-in-albania.html | 0 |
||
<p>Everyday working-class hero <a href="" type="internal">Mike Rowe</a> has reportedly been restricted by YouTube. The video sharing site apparently determined a speech on passion for one’s job and work was “inappropriate.”</p>
<p />
<p>Rowe updated his fans in a social media post that began with the simple declaration, “Holy Bleep! I’ve Been Restricted!”</p>
<p />
<p>Seemingly dumbfounded by the decision, Rowe explains that a commencement speech he gave to the virtual Prager University was what triggered the restrictions.</p>
<p />
<p>The video of that speech can be seen below …</p>
<p>Rowe explained that after reviewing the video again, he could find “nothing violent, harmful, or dangerous,” nor anything “vulgar, disturbing, or objectionable.”</p>
<p />
<p>“I was surprised to learn that my video could be interpreted as anything but the G-rated message I believe it to be,” he said.</p>
<p />
<p>What Rowe did learn, however, is that YouTube has a fine print disclaimer that would essentially allow them to restrict any content they desire.</p>
<p />
<p>“Some videos don’t violate our policies, but may not be appropriate for all audiences,” that little tidbit, buried in the terms of service message reads. “In these cases, our review team may place an age restriction when we’re notified of the content.”</p>
<p />
<p>Did YouTube, then, restrict a video because a message of passion and trade work were too much for delicate young ears to hear?</p>
<p />
<p>“Is it possible that YouTube has determined that the IDEAS expressed in my speech are inappropriate for people under 18 – The precise audience that most needs to hear this message?” Rowe asks. “The answer appears to be yes.”</p>
<p />
<p>Outrageous.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Or could this just be yet another example of YouTube restricting content from right-leaning entities?</p>
<p />
<p>This past summer, the video streaming site announced they would be cracking down and removing advertisements on video channels they felt were in violation of their terms of service.</p>
<p />
<p>As a result, “ <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/technology/353213-right-fumes-after-youtube-ad-crackdown" type="external">Diamond and Silk</a>,” two prominent supporters of President Trump best known for their viral videos on YouTube, had their channel demonetized.</p>
<p />
<p>Lauren Southern, a conservative internet&#160;personality, said “I think it would be insane to suggest there’s not an active effort to censor conservative and independent views.”</p>
<p />
<p>Now that effort appears to have ensnared Mike Rowe.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>What do you think – Is Mike Rowe being restricted for his right-leaning views? Share your thoughts below!</p>
<p /> | Mike Rowe Gets ‘Restricted’ by YouTube | true | http://thepoliticalinsider.com/mike-rowe-youtube-restricted/ | 2017-10-06 | 0 |
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Adam Kredo</a> February 21, 2012 5:00 am</p>
<p>A prominent Obama administration trade advisor is one of the central players in a series of scandals and ethical rows that have reportedly placed him in cahoots with corrupt Congolese warlords and other questionable figures.</p>
<p>Kase Lawal, an oil mogul with longstanding ties to the Clinton family, was <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/15/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts-0" type="external">appointed</a>in 2010 as a member of Obama’s <a href="http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/intergovernmental-affairs/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-trade-policy-and-negotiati" type="external">Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations</a>.</p>
<p>Since his selection to the trade board, Lawal has become enmeshed in a pact to purchase large quantities of illegal gold from a violent Congolese warlord, according to a <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2011/738" type="external">U.N. investigation</a> and various <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-02-17-texas-oilman-is-at-it-again--now-its-with-zuma/" type="external">reports</a>.</p>
<p>The crooked gold deal—as well as several other past scandals—raise concerns that the Nigerian-born Lawal is unfit to advise the White House about an issue as sensitive as global trade.</p>
<p>Lawal—founder of the oil and gas conglomerate CAMAC International—stands accused of transferring millions of dollars to Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, a rebel commander who has been linked by the International Criminal Court to a series of ethnic massacres and rapes. The deal, if verified, violates a U.N. ban on doing business with rogue Congolese warlords.</p>
<p>Originally <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/blog/_/name/assael_shaun/id/7498747" type="external">brokered</a> by the former NBA All Star Dikembe Mutombo, the deal commenced just months after Lawal was appointed the trade board, Stefaans Brummer <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-02-17-texas-oilman-is-at-it-again--now-its-with-zuma/" type="external">reports</a> in the Mail &amp; Guardian.</p>
<p>The arrangement began innocently enough.</p>
<p>Mutombo approached Lawal in 2010 with an offer to purchase a lump of Kenyan gold valued at nearly $10 million. It soon became apparent that the true owner of the gold was the warlord Ntaganda.</p>
<p>The U.N. <a href="" type="internal">obtained a copy</a> of the Powerpoint presentation that Lawal associates used to tout the deal.</p>
<p>"We will play the role of buyer initially in partnership with lead contact," one presentation slide states. "Using the highest discretion and confidentiality is a priority."</p>
<p>A series of <a href="" type="internal">text messages</a> between Lawal and his confidant Carlos St. Mary, who played a principal role in the deal, reveal that Lawal was well aware that the gold originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.</p>
<p>Lawal wasn’t deterred by that striking revelation.</p>
<p>After being informed by business associates "about [Ntaganda’s] ownership … Lawal was concerned only to the extent that this presented another twist in the already convoluted deal," the U.N. reports, adding that he "also appeared relieved to finally be engaging directly with the true owner of the gold."</p>
<p>Lawal soon sent his half-brother and CAMAC co-worker, Mukaila Lawal, to seal the deal in a lawless region of eastern Congo, the report states. The U.N report includes <a href="" type="internal">pictures</a> of the CAMAC-owned jet that flew from the Nigerian capital of Abuja to the Congolese city of Goma, where CAMAC representatives were to meet with Ntaganda.</p>
<p>Once the cash was counted and the gold loaded onto a CAMAC jet, Congolese authorities descended on the group. The individuals involved were charged with money laundering and other crimes.</p>
<p>For its part, CAMAC denies any wrongdoing, referring to itself as a "law-abiding company" in a statement recently issued to the <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/U-N-report-says-Houston-exec-organized-illicit-2439644.php" type="external">Houston Chronicle</a>.</p>
<p>Lawal is regarded as a longtime supporter of the Democratic party and has opened up his wallet to the party on numerous occasions in the past.</p>
<p>In 1998, he escorted then-President Bill Clinton on a trip to Africa; nearly a year later, he was <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/04/03/32613/another-clinton-fundraiser-has.html" type="external">appointed</a> to a presidential advisory committee on Africa. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Lawal was celebrated for being one of 250 "Hillraisers," or those who help to collect $100,000 or more in donations.</p>
<p>Even then, Lawal’s shady business dealings were well documented.</p>
<p>At the time, he had been accused of <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/04/03/32613/another-clinton-fundraiser-has.html" type="external">swindling</a> the Nigerian government out of its own oil profits.</p>
<p>Between 1999 and 2000, a Nigerian company affiliated with CAMAC allegedly pumped more than 10 million barrels of crude oil, pocketing an estimated $1.9 million that rightfully belonged to the Nigerians.</p>
<p>Just a few years later, Lawal brokered another deal to supply the South African government with oil. Instead, he <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/04/03/32613/another-clinton-fundraiser-has.html" type="external">reportedly</a> siphoned the crude to a CAMAC-affiliated shell company based in the Cayman Islands.</p>
<p>McClatchy <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/04/03/32613/another-clinton-fundraiser-has.html" type="external">reported</a> on the incident:</p>
<p>Neither of two companies that CAMAC set up ever provided any oil to South Africa, however. Instead, the oil went to one of them in the Cayman Islands that was 75 percent owned by CAMAC, the [Mail &amp; Guardian newspaper] said. Its minority owners remain secret.</p>
<p>The other firm, which apparently got no oil, was the South Africa Oil Co., established in Pretoria. CAMAC owned 49 percent of its shares. The remaining shareholders were a "who's who" of relatives of leaders of the country's ruling African National Congress, the newspaper said.</p>
<p>Each of these cases remains either stalled or unresolved. Lawal has kept a relatively low profile, either declining to comment on the cases or categorically proclaiming his innocence.</p> | Democratic Bundler in Bed with Congolese Warlord | true | http://freebeacon.com/democratic-bundler-in-bed-with-congolese-warlord/ | 2012-02-21 | 0 |
<p>With California set to become the largest legal pot economy in the country next year, small operators are becoming increasingly worried legalization will bring investment banks and corporate-sized interests that will push them out of the market. (Dec. 20)</p>
<p>With California set to become the largest legal pot economy in the country next year, small operators are becoming increasingly worried legalization will bring investment banks and corporate-sized interests that will push them out of the market. (Dec. 20)</p> | Companies Fight for Piece of Calif. Pot Industry | false | https://apnews.com/1331812d2159437382508f6b87f8c41a | 2017-12-20 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>HOUSTON - Houston police say a man driving a stolen pickup truck has died when he jumped into a bayou and tried to swim away but never resurfaced.</p>
<p>Police on Friday did not immediately release the name of the man, whose body was recovered from Sims Bayou. Authorities ordered an autopsy.</p>
<p>Harris County deputy constables were pursuing the suspect on Thursday when he drove the vehicle, which was reported stolen, down an embankment and partly into the water.</p>
<p>The man got out, tried to swim across the bayou and went under. Deputies tried to rescue the fleeing man, but could not immediately find him in the water.</p>
<p>Divers later recovered the body.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Fleeing man driving stolen vehicle dies in Houston bayou | false | https://abqjournal.com/649477/fleeing-man-driving-stolen-vehicle-dies-in-houston-bayou.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>Honda(NYSE: HMC) said on Wednesday that it is "entering into formal discussions" with Waymo, the Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) company formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, about a tie-up that could put Waymo's technology into some Honda vehicles.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The two companies are discussing a collaboration similar to the one that Waymo entered into with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU) earlier this year (when it was still a Google project.)</p>
<p>Under <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/10/why-fiat-chrysler-shareholders-should-watch-the-go.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">that deal Opens a New Window.</a>, Waymo and FCA engineers and technical experts worked together to integrate the Waymo technology into FCA's Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans. One hundred of the Waymo-ized Pacificas will <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/19/why-fiat-chrysler-automobiles-created-100-self-dri.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">join Waymo's on-road test fleet early next year Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids will soon join Waymo's test fleet. Image source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Honda said that its collaboration could "initially" provide Waymo with Honda vehicles modified along similar lines. But Honda's statement hints that the collaboration could go beyond that. After noting that Honda is already developing its own self-driving technology, it said the tie-up "could allow Honda R&amp;D to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market."</p>
<p>It's a little odd for companies to put out a press release announcing that they're beginning discussions about a collaboration. But Honda did, and the announcement clearly had Waymo's blessing. Why?</p>
<p>I think both companies get some benefit from letting the world know that they're in serious talks about a collaboration.</p>
<p>For Honda, the announcement lets investors and other potential technology partners know that the company is serious about incorporating self-driving technology into its products sooner rather than later.Honda has its own self-driving research projectunderway, but a collaboration with Waymo could give it a big boost -- albeit at a cost.</p>
<p>An Acura sedan with a prototype version of the self-driving system that Honda has been developing in-house. Image source: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.</p>
<p>All of the established automakers are under considerable pressure to show that they can keep up with potentially disruptive technology companies entering the automotive space. Honda hasn't had much to show recently; this announcement could put it back in the forefront of some tech-minded investors' minds.</p>
<p>It's also possible that the timing of this announcement is related to Honda's product plans. Honda is expected to reveal an all-new version of its Odyssey minivan at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit in January. Given Waymo's established interest in minivans and apparent intent to start a ride-hailing service, it's very possible that any collaboration will be centered on the new Odyssey.</p>
<p>So why did Waymo play along? Waymo <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/14/alphabet-incs-self-driving-car-project-becomes-a-c.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just last week became a separate company Opens a New Window.</a> under the Alphabet corporate umbrella, andreports have said that it plans to launch a ride-hailing service using semi-autonomous Chrysler minivans late next year. That would be a big step forward for its relationship with FCA, and suggests a deeper tie-up between the two companies, maybe even an exclusive one. (Waymo CEO John Krafcik has made it clear that the company has no intention of building cars on its own.)</p>
<p>I think Waymo might want the world to know that it's not bound to an exclusive relationship with FCA -- or put another way, it's letting other automakers beyond Honda know that it's open for business.</p>
<p>That will presumably depend on how these "formal discussions" pan out. A statement like this is a strong hint that both companies are inclined to do a deal, but that perhaps the specifics and limitations of the deal are still being debated.</p>
<p>We'll have to wait and see, but it seems more likely than not that Honda will soon be working with Waymo in some capacity. We might learn more next month at NAIAS, where the new Odyssey will be revealed -- and where Waymo's Krafcik is scheduled to make an appearance.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Honda When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=580aefcf-a4b2-4034-8309-b21dd1652140&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Honda Motor wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=580aefcf-a4b2-4034-8309-b21dd1652140&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>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMarlowe/info.aspx" type="external">John Rosevear Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). 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://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" 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> | Why Did Honda Announce "Discussions" With Alphabet's Waymo? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/22/why-did-honda-announce-discussions-with-alphabet-waymo.html | 2016-12-22 | 0 |
<p>A user on Twitter has informed the world that if you search the word “brassiere” in the photos app on the iPhone, the photos featuring bras are automatically grouped into a category.</p>
<p>According to The Telegraph, Apple isn’t actually saving the photos in a specific folder, they are only being stored locally on the device.</p>
<p>The feature was actually introduced with the launch of i0S 10 last year, however it seems many iPhone users were unaware it even existed.</p>
<p>By putting images in groupings, it makes searching for specific photos easier for Apple, using facial recognition and machine learning technology to work out the objects in your images.</p>
<p>However, if you search boxers or briefs no category comes up.</p>
<p /> | Is Apple saving pictures of users' bras? | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/11/01/is-apple-saving-pictures-of-users-bras | 2017-11-02 | 1 |
<p>New York Times That's according to editors and art directors from the nation's top magazines. The January 1981 cover photo showed a naked John Lennon curled up in a fetal position around his wife, Yoko Ono. The second best was the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair featuring a naked and pregnant Demi Moore.</p> | Rolling Stone put out the best mag cover of the last 40 years | false | https://poynter.org/news/rolling-stone-put-out-best-mag-cover-last-40-years | 2005-10-18 | 2 |
<p>The Washington Post called her "a gladiator for a new age." JFK's sister was also the mind and spirit behind the Special Olympics, which has allowed millions of disabled athletes to "be brave in the attempt." Her life ended in Boston on Tuesday, but her good works live on.</p>
<p>Washington Post:</p>
<p>So when someone suggested a race for the intellectually disabled children of Chicago, the vision sparked to life: not a one-time race but a biennial Special Olympics, founded on the principle that, as Ms. Shriver later said, "all human beings are created equal in the sense that each has the capacity and a hunger for moral excellence, for courage, for friendship and for love."</p>
<p>Much was given to Ms. Shriver, a Kennedy whose life was destined to occur on the national stage. But she used her influence not to build her own capital or advance her own interests but to help others, to open a world of new possibilities to a population that had been confined to silence and darkness. Under her guidance, the Kennedy Foundation transformed a seemingly impossible vision into an inspiring reality. Where once scarcely a thousand athletes competed, now the Special Olympics encompasses nearly 3 million athletes from 180 countries.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081100917.html?hpid=topnews" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Mother of Special Olympics, Dead at 88 | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/eunice-kennedy-shriver-mother-of-special-olympics-dead-at-88/ | 2009-08-11 | 4 |
<p>I grew up one kilometre from the edge of a brown coal mine and surrounded by many others. I remember staring in awe and fear at this massive hole, scared of getting too close after hearing stories of people buried alive because they walked along the unstable mine walls.</p>
<p>My family lives in the Lausitz region of Germany, once home to 30 brown coal mines. Situated between Berlin and Dresden, the region has been shaped by this industry for over 100 years. It was the German Democratic Republic’s energy powerhouse – its Latrobe Valley – with coal mining the largest source of jobs.</p>
<p>That changed with Germany’s reunification, when the economy restructured to a market approach and most of the mines were closed. The only major industry was gone, leaving the countryside punctured with massive holes, and the community with big questions about how to make the region liveable again.</p>
<p>The Latrobe Valley in Victoria is starting to face similar changes. Hazelwood power station and mine shut down a few months ago and the world is moving away from fossil fuels. People are asking the same questions we did in Germany 15 years ago: how do we transition to a more diverse and sustainable economy, while continuing to provide jobs for local workers? What do we do with the dangerous pits left behind?</p>
<p>The same solutions are put forward too. Engie, the owner of Hazelwood, is proposing to fill all or part of the mine pit to become a lake and recreation area. The inspiration comes from the Lausitz, but some of the key challenges of this solution seem not to be given enough attention.</p>
<p>In my early teens, as I watched these massive mines around our house fill with water, I got excited about the prospect of living in an area renamed ‘Neuseenland’, meaning the land of new lakes. But while I was able to enjoy summer days swimming in some of these flooded mines, the process of filling them with water has been very slow. Many have already been filling up for 10 or 20 years, and are still a long way from being safe.</p>
<p>This is in a region of Germany with plenty of water. The huge pits could be filled with combinations of diverted waterways, groundwater access, rainfall and large amounts of reprocessed mining water, transferred from other nearby operating mines.</p>
<p>These water sources are not available to the same extent in the Latrobe Valley. To give a sense of scale, it would take more water than is in all of Sydney Harbour just to fill one of the brown coal mines. Where will all this come from? What are the downstream impacts of taking this much water? Would a lake be safe for the public to use? The Hazelwood inquiry into mine rehabilitation identified these looming challenges, and the Victorian government has created a rehabilitation commissioner and an advisory committee to start finding answers, but right now we just don’t know.</p>
<p>Then there’s the environmental contamination. In the Lausitz, mining had already polluted the waterways with high amounts of iron hydroxides, calcium and sulphates. Flooding the mine pits spread this pollution even further, degrading local ecosystems. Increasingly salty waterways now threaten drinking water supplies to Berlin and surrounds and make water management more expensive. Mining companies are the biggest users of water but don’t even have to pay for it.</p>
<p>For local communities, other major consequences include rising groundwater flooding basements, cracking building structures and shifting the ground.</p>
<p>Landslides are a real worry. In the Lausitz in 2009, a 350-metre wide strip of land – including buildings, a road and a viewing platform – slid into the adjacent pit lake, burying three people. In 2010, in an area where the former mine surrounding was regarded as very stable and settled, 27 hectares of forests sank into the earth. This will come as no surprise to people of the Latrobe Valley, where the Princes Highway was closed for eight months in 2011 due to landslides related to the adjacent Hazelwood mine.</p>
<p>There have been many more such incidents in the Lausitz, and the risk prevents whole areas from being accessed which were used for farmland, wind farms, industry or forests. Yet when the Lausitz is promoted as the poster child of mine rehabilitation through flooding, many of these challenges aren’t mentioned.</p>
<p>Community consultations on the future of the Hazelwood mine will begin in September. So far, the community has expressed many ideas other than filling the mine pit with water but these remain ignored. Engie is unwilling to release the full list of rehabilitation concepts they considered before settling on the pit lake solution. This makes it difficult for the community to understand the recommendation and weigh it up against alternatives.</p>
<p>Before more planning proceeds on the assumption that a pit lake is the only option, the lessons learned from the experience in the Lausitz should be aired and discussed in the Latrobe Valley. It’s important to avoid the potential negative consequences of flooding mine pits as best as possible from the beginning, and to make sure the mine owners pay for the precious water they are taking, like everybody else does.</p>
<p>Most of all, the community needs to have a bigger say in what happens to retired mine pits. Like me, the children of Morwell, Moe and Traralgon in Victoria will grow up surrounded by massive, dangerous holes in the ground. Their families have the most at stake in what happens, so they should have the loudest voice in shaping the region’s future, not the corporate mine owners who shaped its past.</p>
<p>Anica Niepraschk is a climate campaigner at Environment Victoria. She grew up in the Lausitz region of Germany.</p> | My Coal Childhood: Lessons From Germany’s Mine Pit Lakes | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/08/02/my-coal-childhood-lessons-from-germanys-mine-pit-lakes/ | 2017-08-02 | 4 |
<p>Australian Simon Griffiths, 29, has spent over two days on the toilet, and <a href="http://www.whogivesacrap.org/" type="external">streamed his experience</a> live on the internet.</p>
<p>"Why?" <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/holy-crap-we-interviewed-a-guy-on-a-toilet/story-fncynkc6-1226424152625" type="external">asks the Herald Sun</a>. Because Griffiths, an engineering and economics graduate, wanted to raise $50,000 to fund the first production run of his socially-responsible toilet paper, Who Gives a Crap.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2012/07/simon-griffiths-on-the-loo-and-raising-money.html" type="external">The ABC explains</a>that official data shows 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation, and half of Who Gives a Crap's profits would be donated to WaterAid to build toilets in some of the worst-affected communities in Africa.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120627/india-video-volunteers-film-untouchables" type="external">India - Video volunteers highlight fate of 'Untouchables'</a></p>
<p>"This is borne out of using disgusting toilets myself and being concerned for my own personal hygiene. It's a much, much higher risk for people who live in those circumstances," Griffiths <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/holy-crap-we-interviewed-a-guy-on-a-toilet/story-fndo4eg9-1226424152625" type="external">told News.com.au.</a></p>
<p>''He isn't a hippie or flash in the pan," filmmaker Anna Jeffries, who is making a documentary on the project, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/going-through-the-motions-the-turd-degree-is-quite-a-big-job-20120711-21wfk.html" type="external">told The Age</a>. "He's thought about it properly.''</p>
<p>Griffiths was unable to sleep and had started feeling the pain of continuous sitting after the first day, the newspaper says. &#160; However, he was reportedly buoyed by messages of support left on the website from as far away as Brazil, and a donation of $2500 from a ski lodge in Japan.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/special-reports/healing-the-world" type="external">Healing the World</a></p> | Man spends two days on toilet to show he gives a crap | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-12/man-spends-two-days-toilet-show-he-gives-crap | 2012-07-12 | 3 |
<p>Editor’s Note: This two-part series explores the situation of Syrian women refugees in Lebanon. Part I illuminates the political background that led to the refugee crisis and its particular consequences for women. Part II shows how refugees and the organizations that assist them are playing a leading role in combating all forms of violence against women and creating programs that will give them a future.</p>
<p>Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful. … Pity the nation whose statesman is like a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.</p>
<p>—Khalil Gibran</p>
<p>In 1923, Lebanese poet, philosopher and artist Khalil Gibran wrote “Pity the Nation,” a poem that is particularly meaningful during our current global crises of leaders, nations and nationalism. Renowned journalist Robert Fisk used Gibran’s title, “Pity the Nation,” for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pity-Nation-Abduction-Lebanon-Books/dp/1560254424" type="external">his trenchant history</a> of the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990, a war in which Lebanon’s neighboring country of Syria played a leading role.</p>
<p />
<p>Lebanon is never far from Syria in history and politics. Today, as foxlike statesmen juggle Lebanon and Syria in their regional maneuvers, Gibran’s words are sobering. The unbreakable web trussing these two countries together, while Syria experiences the culmination of its own civil war, could be lamented as “Pity the Nations.”</p>
<p>In October, I was part of a nongovernmental organization visit to the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. We were a team of three from the international Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Italy’s Association IROKO and the American Traprock Center for Peace and Justice. Our goals were to document not only the situation of women in the camps but also to spotlight the significant role that women are playing as political actors, combating all forms of violence against women and creating programs that give them a future.</p>
<p>We traveled from Beirut to a town roughly three miles from the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley. More than <a href="http://www.unocha.org/syrian-arab-republic/syria-crisis-regional-overview/lebanon-country-office/bekaa-and-baalbekhermel-g" type="external">365,000 of Syria’s registered refugees</a> live in this poorest region of Lebanon. We walked through labyrinthine lanes of makeshift shelters housing hundreds of refugees, euphemistically called a camp. In actuality, this “camp” was nothing more than a patchwork of improvised structures that looked like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that never quite fit together.</p>
<p>There are several portable toilets throughout the camp, but the refugees told us they don’t use them because they are filthy. Instead, they create pits outside their tents to dispose of human waste. Those in tents on the edge of the camp dump their waste into shallow gullies where children often play. Many refugees have lived this way since 2011.</p>
<p>Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria, <a href="http://curtisresearch.org/publications/invisible-lives-how-the-international-community-is-failing-syrian-women-refugees/" type="external">1.5 million refugees</a> have fled to Lebanon. Earlier, <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/lebanon" type="external">over 450,000</a> Palestinian refugees also had sought refuge in the country. In contrast to Syria, Lebanon is a small country, with a population of 6 million. This means that refugees make up one-third of the Lebanese population, the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/lebanon-syrian-refugees/3625462.html" type="external">highest concentration of refugees</a> per capita of any country in the world.</p>
<p>It’s important to understand the rabbit hole into which Syrian refugees have fallen in Lebanon. Although the country has not closed its borders, it does not recognize the fleeing Syrians as refugees. There are no official refugee camps in Lebanon, so these people must <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/04/thousands-syrians-face-eviction-lebanon-camps-170415042553730.html" type="external">fend for themselves</a>. Refugees cannot obtain residency or work permits and are often forced to rent land from extortionate landlords. The government provides no tents, no food or water, and no sanitary facilities. Syrian children cannot be educated in Lebanese public schools.</p>
<p>Women and girls make up almost <a href="http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122" type="external">53 percent</a> of the refugees. Before the civil war, Syria had one of the highest rates of educated women in the Middle East. <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002335/233557E.pdf" type="external">UNESCO estimates</a> that since the war, Syrian girls are almost 2.5 times more likely than boys to be kept from attending school in conflict zones.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Since the beginning of the war in 2011, nearly <a href="http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/english/22823_Woman_killed_in_Syria_since_March_2011_en.pdf" type="external">14,000 women and girls</a> have been arbitrarily imprisoned in Syria, where many have been raped and tortured. A <a href="http://wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/WILPF_VAW_HC-2016_WEB-ONEPAGE.pdf" type="external">2016 nongovernmental organization report</a> found the Syrian government guilty of arresting women for purposes of trading them for weapons. Even Syrian rebel groups have captured women in an attempt to use them <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/rights-group-women-children-held-by-syrian-rebels/" type="external">as bargaining chips</a> for their fighters held as hostages.</p>
<p>In Lebanon, landlords have demanded a woman or girl from families that can’t pay the rent. Desperate families have traded women into marriage for various goods and services. Eman Obeid, a refugee now working for the Danish Refugee Council, said, “It’s like the price of a year rental is a young female.”</p>
<p>Syrian women crossing into Lebanon, especially single women, have reported violence and sexual assault at the border and after they enter Lebanon. Hada, one of the refugees we interviewed, shared her own brutal experience: Married in Syria at age 13, she left the country when a sniper injured her 5-year-old son in 2012. At the border crossing, one of the guards heard the boy say, “[Syrian President] Bashar [Assad] is a jackass.” They became violent with her and interrogated her for 12 hours.</p>
<p>When she arrived in Lebanon, she met a group of women who brought her to a large house with many other women. Hada noticed a steady stream of men entering and leaving at all hours, and when she asked the woman running the house what was going on, she said, “You give them favors, they give you favors.”</p>
<p>In the early hours of the morning, Hada fled the house with her son. After walking for many hours, she found a construction site shack where they stayed at night. During the day, she begged on the streets and in the back of restaurants for food. Not wanting to tell us what subsequently happened to her, she gave permission to her nongovernmental organization caseworker to divulge that she had been gang-raped. As author Janine di Giovanni <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OEOAAwAAQBAJ&amp;lpg=PT60&amp;ots=5-RjsDqMcn&amp;dq=It%E2%80%99s%20so%20hard%20to%20remember%20what%20you%20wish%20you%20could%20forget%20janine%20di%20giovanni&amp;pg=PT60#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" type="external">has written</a>, “It’s so hard to remember what you wish you could forget.”</p>
<p>Later, Hada met her second husband, whom she married “mostly for protection” but who battered her. The caseworker added that, in addition to the rape she experienced during her journey into Lebanon, Hada was abused by her father as a child and by her first husband in Syria. She now has serious health problems. “It’s amazing that she’s still alive,” the caseworker said. “She and her young son, who witnessed his mother’s gang-rape, are receiving assistance.”</p>
<p>In 2013, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that <a href="https://www.rescue.org/press-release/syria-displacement-crisis-worsens-protracted-humanitarian-emergency-looms" type="external">reports of mass rape</a> in Syria were “the primary reason … families fled the country.” In Syria, rape has become weaponized, with <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2017/02/01/you-want-freedom-this-is-your-freedom-rape-as-a-tactic-of-the-assad-regime-marie-forestier-32016/" type="external">most reported crimes</a> committed by pro-government forces during regime incursions into opposition areas, interrogations in prisons and at checkpoints.</p>
<p>Many women raped in detention were either political activists against the Assad regime, relatives of activists, residents of opposition strongholds or resistance fighters. In some detention centers, guards distributed contraceptive pills or abortifacients to women. The availability and distribution of these pills attest to planned medical intervention and the fact that widespread rapes were part of a strategic state policy of repression.</p>
<p>Rape is always a primary tactic in war. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartime_sexual_violence#Gender" type="external">Some scholars note</a> that rape in war is more frequently perpetrated on women than on men. And the consequences of what men and women suffer in detention are different. Male detainees are often hailed as heroes for what they have endured in combat and prison. But women detainees are not honored for being raped and often will conceal what has happened to them. They are dishonored if they speak about it and are stigmatized as damaged goods.</p>
<p>Nearly every refugee and organization official we spoke with mentioned the <a href="http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2017/02/new-study-finds-child-marriage-rising-among-vulnerable-syrian-refugees/" type="external">growing incidence</a> of early marriage among Syrian refugee girls. The IRC staff member we interviewed said that since the Syrian conflict, there has been a 23 percent increase in early marriages of girls, especially in the Bekaa Valley. She also noted the “huge gap” in marital ages between the young girls and older men.</p>
<p>Early marriage was a traditional practice in rural Syria even before the war. Many of the refugee women we interviewed had been married in adolescence, some as young as 13. In the camps, where there is little security for those living in tented areas or abandoned houses, many fathers consider early marriage a safeguard for a girl, as well as income for the family.</p>
<p>Child marriage can easily obscure what effectively amounts to coercion, because girls cannot give informed consent to a relationship that is essentially controlled by her father or other relatives, and later by a husband. The girl cannot leave or end the marriage, potentially leading to a lifetime of legal sexual exploitation and/or domestic servitude.</p>
<p>She will have little control over her reproductive life and health, especially if she has children at an early age.</p>
<p>Early marriage increases the confinement of girls in the home, particularly where the cultural expectation is that boys venture out and can take care of themselves, but girls need to be protected. As a result, girls are more likely to be kept inside and become adults who seldom leave their dwellings, and then only with a male family member. The IRC staff member remarked that she has seen entire villages of homes with carpeted windows through which no daylight shines, allegedly so no potential predator will see the women and girls and kidnap them.</p>
<p>Sex traffickers are exploiting women refugees for prostitution. In 2016, Lebanese authorities broke up <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/04/13/lebanon-shocked-over-sex-trafficking-young-syrian-women.html" type="external">a sex trafficking ring</a> of 75 women north of Beirut. Desperate to leave Syria, the women involved had been promised jobs in Lebanese restaurants and hotels. As soon as they crossed the border, all their possessions were taken, and they were locked up in two hotels and held prisoner.</p>
<p>Workers from KAFA (meaning “Enough”), one of the <a href="http://www.kafa.org.lb/" type="external">leading nongovernmental organizations</a> in Lebanon providing services to victims of violence against women, told us that the traffickers tortured, raped and forced the women to have sex with 10 to 20 men per day. Lebanese officials reported that the traffickers garnered $1 million per month. Four women were able to escape and notify Lebanese authorities, who then arrested eight of the guards. After the arrests, the Lebanese Health Ministry <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/30/syrians-forced-sexual-slavery-lebanon" type="external">charged a doctor</a> who had allegedly performed 200 abortions on women in the trafficking ring.</p>
<p>In the Bekaa Valley, we interviewed a Syrian woman I’ll call Rima. Rima had been trafficked into a forced marriage by a man who had offered to help carry her handicapped sister to Lebanon. She discovered he was a pimp when he compelled her to have sex with men he brought to their quarters. Later, she found out he had pimped other women. When we asked if there were women in the camps whose husbands were selling wives or daughters for sexual exploitation, she told us there was “much talk about women who were trying to obtain divorces because husbands had sold them or threatened to sell them.”</p>
<p>Yet media and international organizations continue to describe accounts of trafficking and prostitution as “sex work.” The term is increasingly being <a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/8x5ppg/syrian-refugee-lebanon-sex-work-trafficking" type="external">slipped into reports</a> that quite clearly document the most horrific aspects of women’s sexual exploitation. There is a disconnect between the reality and the language used to describe sex trafficking and prostitution.</p>
<p>In a report funded by the Freedom Foundation titled “ <a href="http://freedomfund.org/wp-content/uploads/Lebanon-Report-FINAL-8April16.pdf" type="external">Struggling to Survive: Slavery and Exploitation of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon</a>,” the author recommends improving anti-trafficking legislation by amending the penal code so that victims of sex trafficking cannot be prosecuted for engaging in “sex work.” Of course, no victim should be prosecuted for her exploitation. However, what we increasingly see in many nongovernmental and U.N. reports on sex trafficking is the term “sex work” applied to prostitution, and the disturbing trend to separate sex trafficking and prostitution in order to institutionalize the distinction that trafficking is forced and prostitution is voluntary.</p>
<p>The continued normalization of prostitution has been stamped with the U.N. imprimatur in the “ <a href="http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/2015_terminology_guidelines_en.pdf" type="external">UNAIDS Terminology Guidelines</a>,” which advises authors to use “sex work” and “sex worker” instead of “prostitution” and “prostituted woman,” allegedly because they are nonjudgmental terms. But “sex work” is filled with judgments about how prostitution should be viewed and legislated as a “sexual service.” Surely the term “sex worker” doesn’t dignify Syrian women refugees, or any woman who has been prostituted. It mainly dignifies the pimps and buyers and renders the harm to prostituted women invisible.</p> | Pity the Nations: Women Refugees in Lebanon | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/pity-nations-female-refugees-lebanon/ | 2017-12-06 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Financial security in retirement doesn’t just happen. It takes years of hard work, savings dedication, planning and discipline. After all, Social Security benefits alone will not support you entirely in your golden years.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Wall Street’s strong performance last year might have helped repair some boomers’ portfolios, but that doesn’t mean they are feeling comfortable about their future. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey, only 13% of workers are “very confident” about having enough money for a comfortable retirement while 38% are “somewhat confident.”</p>
<p>"Though it can be tempting to put off retirement planning, taking steps now will make things easier in the long run," says wealth management advisor Joe Wilson at TIAA-CRE.</p>
<p>Here are five tips from Wilson that can help boomers get their retirement back on track this year:</p>
<p>1) Catch up on Contributions to Your Retirement Account</p>
<p>Starting at age 50, you can contribute more money to your retirement accounts. With an employer-sponsored plan such as a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b), Wilson says you can contribute an additional tax-advantaged $5,500 beyond the normal limits (as of 2014). With an IRA, the extra "catch-up" is $1,000 per year after age 50, for a total of $6,500 a year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>For example, as an employee, your regular 401(k) contribution limit is $17,500 in 2014. By adding the catch-up contribution your total saving can reach $23,000.</p>
<p>2) Learn about Social Security benefits</p>
<p>Retirees have many different options when it comes to withdrawing Social Security benefits and the best option depends on your financial situation.</p>
<p>To find out the best time to start taking your benefits, Wilson advises asking the following questions:</p>
<p>You can claim benefits as early as 62, but it can pay to wait until full retirement age (FRA), which ranges from 65 to 67 depending what year you were born. Every year you wait past your FRA until age 70, the benefits increase, according to Wilson.</p>
<p>3) Create a Plan for Generating Retirement Income</p>
<p>The focus leading up to retirement is all about building savings, but when you enter your golden years, the mindset should shift to maintaining and budgeting.</p>
<p>To help make sure your savings can last you through all of your golden years, Wilson recommends creating a retirement income ‘floor’ which is the bare amount of savings you will need to cover essential expenses such as food, shelter, clothing and health care. To create a lifetime stream of income, Wilson says to consider taking some of the funds from your nest egg and investing them in an immediate fixed annuity when you retire, which will pay you a stream of income for life. The money that you don’t invest in an annuity can remain invested in equities and bonds when you are in early retirement.</p>
<p>4) Supplement a Late Start</p>
<p>If you got a late start on saving for retirement, now’s the time to get serious. If you find your nest egg a little sparse, Wilson recommends getting tight about your budget by taking cost-cutting measures like giving up cable, downsizing to a smaller home or working longer than originally planned.</p>
<p>If you have more time until retirement, Wilson suggests ratcheting up your savings incrementally: As a new year’s resolution, increase your retirement plan contributions by 1% a year. Maybe this year you contribute 1% of your salary, next year go to 2% and so on. In five years, you’ll be saving 5%, and you probably won’t notice the difference in your paycheck because you’ve done it in little increments.</p>
<p>5) Meet with a Financial Advisor</p>
<p>Meeting with a financial advisor regularly will help keep your savings on track. An advisor can help you figure out if you have enough savings to maintain your current lifestyle when you stop working and receiving a steady paycheck.</p>
<p>In addition, your advisor can help review the investments in your retirement portfolio. According to Wilson, if you’re too heavily invested in the stock market, your potential gains could be outweighed by the risk. On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re too conservatively invested, you could lag behind the rate of inflation.</p> | 5 Retirement Moves Boomers Should Make in 2014 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/01/23/5-retirement-moves-boomers-should-make-in-2014.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy likely slowed significantly in the first three months of the year, though economists foresee a sharp rebound in the current April-June quarter on the strength of solid job growth, higher consumer confidence and stock-market records.</p>
<p>The government on Friday will release its first of three estimates of growth for the January-March quarter as measured by the gross domestic product. The expectation is that annualized GDP growth will amount to around 1 percent — less than half the 2.1 percent gain in the previous quarter.</p>
<p>A variety of factors are cited for the expected slowdown, ranging from warmer-than-usual weather that held back utility production to an IRS delay in distributing tax refunds, which possibly dampened consumer spending at the start of 2017.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>There is also the problem the government faces this time of year in accurately applying seasonal adjustments to its calculations of economic growth. This occurs, for example, in taking account of housing construction, which typically slows in the January-March quarter depending on how cold the winter is.</p>
<p>The Bureau of Economic Analysis, which prepares the GDP report, has a three-year program aimed at addressing this problem, which has been particularly problematic in the first quarter. Analysts say that lingering issues in this area may artificially hold down Friday’s initial GDP estimate for the first quarter.</p>
<p>At the same time, most forecasters predict a sizable snapback in growth. Economists at Macroeconomic Advisers expect that a lackluster performance of around 0.5 percent annual growth in the first quarter will be followed by a 3.6 percent gain in the second quarter. Other analysts, while not quite that optimistic, foresee annual growth above 3 percent.</p>
<p>“There are a lot of tailwinds behind consumers going into the spring, including low unemployment, better wage growth, high consumer confidence and record stock prices,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.</p>
<p>Job growth was strong in January and February before slowing in March, and the unemployment rate is at a nearly decade-low of 4.5 percent.</p>
<p>For all of 2017, Zandi forecasts GDP growth of 2.2 percent. That would be up from 1.6 percent in 2016, the slowest expansion in five years.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump noted the weak 2016 GDP performance in a tweet Wednesday and contended that “trade deficits hurt the economy very badly.”</p>
<p>During the campaign, Trump had pointed to the economy’s slow growth, which has averaged just 2.1 percent annually since the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009. Trump said he could double growth to 4 percent, though since then, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the goal is to achieve GDP growth of 3 percent or better with a combination of lower taxes, deregulation and better enforcement of trade agreements.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, the administration released an outline of its tax-cut plan, proposing to cut rates on both individuals and businesses and provide what Mnuchin called “massive tax reform.” But economists expressed doubts that the proposal could move growth above 3 percent. Many said that whatever plan finally survives Congress might raise annual growth to perhaps 2.5 percent.</p>
<p>Part of the problem for the administration is that its efforts to boost the economy are coming after the economic expansion has been under way for nearly eight years. At this point in a recovery, stimulus measures tend to have less impact. The Federal Reserve, in fact, has begun raising interest rates to ensure that the tight job market doesn’t trigger high inflation pressures.</p>
<p>For now, analysts say they think Trump’s stimulus efforts and the Fed’s gradual tightening can co-exist. Yet they also caution that the Fed may eventually raise rates to a point where they will begin to constrain growth, making it harder for Trump to achieve his GDP goals.</p> | US economy likely slowed last quarter, but rebound expected | false | https://abqjournal.com/994829/us-economy-likely-slowed-last-quarter-but-rebound-expected.html | 2017-04-27 | 2 |
<p>Political crusades for raising the minimum wage are back again. Advocates of minimum wage laws often give themselves credit for being more "compassionate" towards "the poor." But they seldom bother to check what are the actual consequences of such laws.</p>
<p>One of the simplest and most fundamental economic principles is that people tend to buy more when the price is lower and less when the price is higher. Yet advocates of minimum wage laws seem to think that the government can raise the price of labor without reducing the amount of labor that will be hired.</p>
<p>When you turn from economic principles to hard facts, the case against minimum wage laws is even stronger. Countries with minimum wage laws almost invariably have higher rates of unemployment than countries without minimum wage laws.</p>
<p />
<p>Most nations today have minimum wage laws, but they have not always had them. Unemployment rates have been very much lower in places and times when there were no minimum wage laws.</p>
<p>Switzerland is one of the few modern nations without a minimum wage law. In 2003, "The Economist" magazine reported: "Switzerland's unemployment neared a five-year high of 3.9 percent in February." In February of this year, Switzerland's unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. A recent issue of "The Economist" showed Switzerland's unemployment rate as 2.1 percent.</p>
<p>Most Americans today have never seen unemployment rates that low. However, there was a time when there was no federal minimum wage law in the United States. The last time was during the Coolidge administration, when the annual unemployment rate got as low as 1.8 percent. When Hong Kong was a British colony, it had no minimum wage law. In 1991 its unemployment rate was under 2 percent.</p>
<p>As for being "compassionate" toward "the poor," this assumes that there is some enduring class of Americans who are poor in some meaningful sense, and that there is something compassionate about reducing their chances of getting a job.</p>
<p>Most Americans living below the government-set poverty line have a washer and/or a dryer, as well as a computer. More than 80 percent have air conditioning. More than 80 percent also have both a landline and a cell phone. Nearly all have television and a refrigerator. Most Americans living below the official poverty line also own a motor vehicle and have more living space than the average European - not Europeans in poverty, the average European.</p>
<p>Why then are they called "poor?" Because government bureaucrats create the official definition of poverty, and they do so in ways that provide a political rationale for the welfare state - and, not incidentally, for the bureaucrats' own jobs.</p>
<p>Most people in the lower income brackets are not an enduring class. Most working people in the bottom 20 percent in income at a given time do not stay there over time. More of them end up in the top 20 percent than remain behind in the bottom 20 percent.</p>
<p>There is nothing mysterious about the fact that most people start off in entry level jobs that pay much less than they will earn after they get some work experience. But, when minimum wage levels are set without regard to their initial productivity, young people are disproportionately unemployed - priced out of jobs.</p>
<p>In European welfare states where minimum wages, and mandated job benefits to be paid for by employers, are more generous than in the United States, unemployment rates for younger workers are often 20 percent or higher, even when there is no recession.</p>
<p>Unemployed young people lose not only the pay they could have earned but, at least equally important, the work experience that would enable them to earn higher rates of pay later on.</p>
<p>Minorities, like young people, can also be priced out of jobs. In the United States, the last year in which the black unemployment rate was lower than the white unemployment rate - 1930 - was also the last year when there was no federal minimum wage law. Inflation in the 1940s raised the pay of even unskilled workers above the minimum wage set in 1938. Economically, it was the same as if there were no minimum wage law by the late 1940s.</p>
<p>In 1948 the unemployment rate of black 16-year-old and 17-year-old males was 9.4 percent. This was a fraction of what it would become in even the most prosperous years from 1958 on, as the minimum wage was raised repeatedly to keep up with inflation.</p>
<p>Some "compassion" for "the poor"!</p>
<p>Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.</p>
<p /> | Minimum wage madness | true | http://humanevents.com/2013/09/17/minimum-wage-madness/ | 2013-09-17 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In a search for high-yielding dividend stocks, many investors might have noticed Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) 5.8% yield. That yield is based on the $0.29-per-share annual dividend that was paid in July, whichincluded an ordinary dividend of 0.10 euros and a special dividend of 0.16 euros per share.</p>
<p>That yield looks tempting, but does it make Nokia a good income play? Let's examine its dividend history, payout ratios, and growth forecasts to find out.</p>
<p>Image source: Nokia.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Nokia has had a very inconsistent track record with raising dividends. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, payments were consistently raised as Nokia dominated the mobile market.</p>
<p>But that heyday ended in 2007, when Apple released the iPhone. Declining sales and earnings resulted in lower dividend payments, although its yield skewed higher for several years as its stock price plummeted.</p>
<p>Data source: <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Nokia didn't pay a dividend in2013, but then paid about $0.51 per share in 2014, afterMicrosoft acquired its ailing handset business for over $7 billion. That payout then dropped to $0.16 per share in 2015 before being raised to $0.29 this year with the aforementioned special dividend.</p>
<p>Since Nokia sets its dividend every year at its annual meeting (usually in May or June) and pays it shortly afterwards, we won't know what the yield will look like until next year. Therefore, income investors looking for reliable dividend hikes year after year should probably avoid Nokia.</p>
<p>The easiest way to tell if a dividend is sustainable is by seeing if a company's dividend payments exceed its free cash flow (FCF). If its FCF payout ratio (the percentage of the FCF spent on dividends) exceeds 100%, then the dividend will likely be cut.</p>
<p>Data source: <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
<p>A comparison between Nokia's FCF and dividend payments over the past 12 months reveals a serious problem -- its FCF payout ratio is a whopping 132%. To make matters worse, its FCF is in decline, indicating that the company will likely propose a much lower dividend next year. By comparison, Nokia's rival Ericssonspent 94% of its FCF on dividends over the past 12 months.</p>
<p>After selling its handset business to Microsoft, wireless infrastructure equipment becameNokia's biggest business, accounting for over 90% of its top line last quarter. To scale up that business, itacquired Alcatel-Lucent for around $17 billion.</p>
<p>That big purchase, which has weighed down its free cash flow, made Nokia the third-largest wireless infrastructure company in the world after Huawei and Ericsson. Nokia also secured <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/17/nokia-corp-adr-scores-a-big-telco-win-in-china.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">big infrastructure Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/17/nokia-corp-adr-scores-a-big-telco-win-in-china.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">deals Opens a New Window.</a> with China Mobile andChina Telecom to widen its moat in China.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the wireless infrastructure market has been a brutal one. Many telcos have been postponing infrastructure upgrades in favor of digital expansion efforts in streaming video and advertising. Enterprise spending remains sluggish, and competition from cheaper rivals like Huawei has been tough on Nokia's top and bottom lines. Last quarter, Nokia Networks' revenue fell 11% annually as its operating profit plunged 39%. That pressure, exacerbated by the costs of integrating Alcatel's businesses, is expected to cause Nokia's earnings to fall50% this year.</p>
<p>Nokia is a textbook example of a dividend trap. It has a well-known brand and a high yield, but it falls apart quickly when we examine its dividend history, payout ratio, and industry headwinds. Therefore, investors who want to invest in a more connected, mobile world with a solid dividend should stick with telecom giants AT&amp;T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) instead.</p>
<p>AT&amp;T and Verizon respectively pay forward yields of 4.9% and 4.6%. AT&amp;T has hiked its dividend for over 30 years and Verizon has done the same for almost a decade. Both companies have wide competitive moats, and aren't as vulnerable to competition or enterprise slowdowns as wireless infrastructure equipment vendors like Nokia.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of AT and T. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft and has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends China Mobile and Verizon Communications. 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://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" 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> | Is Nokia Corporation a Reliable Dividend Play? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/22/is-nokia-corporation-reliable-dividend-play.html | 2016-10-22 | 0 |
<p>Troubled Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which for months has been unsuccessfully searching for a new chief executive, may be forced to open its wallet wide to lure a candidate to help reverse its fortunes.</p>
<p>The world's biggest seller of generic medicines lost a quarter of its market value Thursday as concerns mounted about its future. Teva is laden with $35 billion in debt and is wrestling with a sustained decline in U.S. generic drug prices. The company's second-quarter earnings fell short, it cut its full-year earnings outlook and dividend and warned it may breach debt covenants.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Chairman Sol Barer has said he is searching for a chief with global pharma experience and that finding a new CEO is a priority. "I live, eat and sleep this," he told analysts Thursday. So far, nobody has signed on. Teva Friday declined to comment beyond the chairman's previous statements.</p>
<p>Investors and analysts said Teva will have to significantly increase its compensation package to snatch an executive from a competitor that could help reassure investors.</p>
<p>"They have to pay more than market" now that the scale of the company's problems has become clear, said Eldad Tamir, Tel Aviv-based head of investment house Tamir Fishman, who doesn't hold Teva stock. "If you want a great CEO to save this sinking ship, you need to pay extra."</p>
<p>Erez Vigodman, the prior CEO who abruptly departed in February amid a steady decline in its share price, received $5.3 million in salary and equity shares last year, company filings show.</p>
<p>Heather Bresch, CEO of Teva-rival Mylan, received $13.8 million in total compensation last year, according to company filings. On average, CEOs of S&amp;P 500-listed health care companies received $12.9 million in total pay in 2016, according to analysis by executive compensation and recruitment consultancy Equilar.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Teva is reportedly in talks to hire as CEO Pascal Soriot, head of the U.K.-based pharma giant AstraZeneca PLC. He earned GBP13.4 million ($17.5 million) in compensation last year, more than three times Mr. Vigodman's pay.</p>
<p>AstraZeneca and Teva have refused to confirm or deny reports Dr. Soriot will move.</p>
<p>Teva hasn't commented specifically on whether it will pay more than previous years for a chief executive. Mr. Barer said he was "pleased" with the candidates he is interviewing, but wouldn't say when one would be hired.</p>
<p>The new CEO faces a long list of challenges. At the top is reducing Teva's debt pile that grew after last year's $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan PLC's generics business in 2016. Investors have since said Teva overpaid for the business. The company Thursday warned that if proceeds from divestments or cash flow fall short, the company could breach debt covenants with lenders.</p>
<p>Teva also faces the loss of patent protection for its biggest branded drug, Copaxone, with no clear replacement in sight. Copaxone, which treats multiple sclerosis, generated about $4 billion in annual sales. Investors say the company failed to invest sufficiently in research and development to line up new products to replace Copaxone sales.</p>
<p>"Whoever is appointed will be heavily incentivized to drive that turnaround," said Nathaniel Hook, health care specialist at executive search firm Korn Ferry, which isn't involved in the Teva search.</p>
<p>Teva's status as Israel's largest company by market capitalization, even after losing 64% of its value since the end of 2015, brings with it its own management challenges. The last foreigner to run the company, Jeremy Levin, was hired from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in 2012 but was ousted a year later during a dispute with the board over strategy.</p>
<p>Investors have long debated about whether the chief should be an Israeli, or at least based in Israel. The company hasn't said where the new CEO would be a resident.</p>
<p>Dr. Barer has said the firm will do "whatever it takes" to hire the best candidate but hasn't commented explicitly on whether the chief will be allowed to live outside Israel. He nominated four new directors, three from outside Israel, in June in an effort to address investor concerns that its board lacked international pharmaceutical experience.</p>
<p>"There will be a smaller number of CEO leaders who will be prepared to relocate to Israel," said Korn Ferry's Mr. Hook. "In order to get the very best talent to move, you often do see some compensation or premium."</p>
<p>Write to Rory Jones at [email protected] and Denise Roland at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 04, 2017 10:46 ET (14:46 GMT)</p> | Teva May Need to Pay Up to Lure a CEO Able to Reverse its Fortunes | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/04/teva-may-need-to-pay-up-to-lure-ceo-able-to-reverse-its-fortunes.html | 2017-08-04 | 0 |
<p>If this publishing thing doesn’t work out, newspapers may have a future in real estate.</p>
<p>The owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune said it wasn’t only buying the New York Daily News, but also a stake in&#160;a joint venture that will own a 25-acre (10-hectare) parcel of land on which its printing facility is located and which overlooks the Manhattan skyline.</p>
<p>It wasn’t enough that Tronc Inc. bought a storied New York City tabloid for just $1. A Tronc executive told the Chicago Tribune the land was “an added inducement to this transaction.” With print advertising in a downward spiral ever since the internet became a commercial force, newspapers have seen the value of their once-formidable brands dwindle.</p>
<p>In many recent newspaper deals, including this one, “it is the property that offers calculable value and drives the deal,” newspaper analyst Ken Doctor wrote on TheStreet.com.</p>
<p>It’s not the only example of newspapers exploring the real estate market:</p> | Newspapers Find Their True Value in Real Estate, Not Publishing | false | https://newsline.com/newspapers-find-their-true-value-in-real-estate-not-publishing/ | 2017-09-06 | 1 |
<p>All US troops will be pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year, President Barack Obama has announced.</p>
<p>He ordered a complete withdrawal from the country, nearly nine years after the invasion under President George W Bush.</p>
<p>About 39,000 US troops remain in Iraq, down from a peak of 165,000 in 2008.</p>
<p>The US and Iraq were in "full agreement" on how to move forward, Mr Obama said, adding: "The US will leave Iraq with its head held high."</p>
<p>Before the speech the White House said: "This will allow us to say definitively that the Iraq war is over," and said the US and Iraq would work as two sovereign nations.</p>
<p>Anchor Lisa Mullins discusses the announcement with former New York Times Baghdad bureu chief John Burns.</p> | Obama Announces US Leaving Iraq | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-21/obama-announces-us-leaving-iraq | 2011-10-21 | 3 |
<p>Tax preparation firm H&amp;R Block is estimating that roughly half of the nearly 7 million people who received a subsidy when signing up for Obamacare will have to pay it back.</p>
<p>This will come as a surprise for those who skipped the fine print and simply believed the Affordable Care Act was affordable government health care.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/affordable-care-act-creates-a-trickier-tax-season-1420157063" type="external">reported</a> that the subsidy inaccuracies will create even more confusion at tax time&#160;and result in disappointment to taxpayers.</p>
<p>Because the subsidies are based on past tax returns, many people received too much money when they signed up. The Journal report states that on average, enrollees received a subsidy that was $208 too high and that will have to be paid back. Firms like H&amp;R Block are gearing up for those customers who will undoubtedly be angered when realizing they aren't getting as much back or worse, find out they&#160;owe money.</p>
<p>Add to this the penalties to be leveled at various percentages of taxable income, or set fees (whichever is greater, of course), for not having insurance, and tax season is bound to be even more fun!</p>
<p>One tweet, from actor Adam Baldwin, brilliantly sums up this story: they've been "#Grubered!"</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Grubered?src=hash" type="external">#Grubered</a>! "Half of Obamacare subsidy recipients may owe refunds to the IRS." - <a href="http://t.co/QXoiRUKhtF" type="external">http://t.co/QXoiRUKhtF</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>H/T <a href="http://m.washingtonexaminer.com/half-who-got-obamacare-credit-may-owe-the-irs/article/2558106" type="external">Washington Examiner</a></p> | Surprise! 3.4 Million Obamacare Subscribers Will Have To Pay Back Federal Subsidy | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/surprise-34-million-obamacare-subscribers-will-have-pay-back-federal-subsidy | 2018-10-07 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>For anyone wanting to know more about New Mexico’s earliest inhabitants, the museum makes a great starting point.</p>
<p>“The core exhibition, Here, Now and Always, is a collaboration with many partners and staff that came together to really try to look at all Native communities in the Southwest and display items from their areas,” interim Director Elena Sweeney said. “When you work with the actual Native people, it portrays what they believe is the real stuff and, for an overall experience, it is wonderful.”</p>
<p>Docents guide visitors through the exhibition daily. (When you’re done, you’ll understand what Santa Fe locals mean when they refer to the “human hairnet.”) A child-friendly Discovery Center in the exhibition includes computer interactive and hands-on activities.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Before summer ends, catch the exhibition They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets and its exquisite samples of finely woven blankets that saw actual action on the back of a horse. The exhibition also displays examples of silver and turquoise headstalls created by Diné silversmiths. Some of the pieces date to the 1860s. Together, they reveal the proud history of Diné horsemen (and women).</p>
<p>Through the end of the year, What’s New in New features the museum’s latest acquisitions in the Lloyd Kiva New Gallery. Focused on modern paintings, monotypes, poetry, and sculpture, the exhibition spotlights artists like Samuel Manymules, Marla Allison, David Bradley, Ambrose Atencio, Ross Chaney, and Fritz Scholder.</p>
<p>In June, children and adults can unleash their inner artists at the museum’s Arts Alive! programs, with basketry, weaving, pottery, and Native foods. For details, go to <a href="http://www.indianartsandculture.org" type="external">www.indianartsandculture.org</a>.</p>
<p>From the museum, you can visit two ancestral villages that welcome visitors and encourage them to learn more. Coronado Historic Site in the town of Bernalillo, just north of Albuquerque, combines a story of a pre-Spanish-contact pueblo with a glorious setting. Beneath a grand view of Sandia Peak, rebuilt adobe outlines of the onetime Native village sit atop a sandy plain that dips down to the Rio Grande. Trails wander from the onetime archaeological site into open fields and, drought permitting, offer a chance to wet your tired feet in the river’s lazy water.</p>
<p>Inside a visitors’ center designed by famed architect John Gaw Meem, the site hosts a special exhibition this summer of paintings by Manville Chapman. A Raton native, Chapman was the Federal Artist Project supervisor for northeastern New Mexico during the Great Depression. Besides mentoring WPA artists, he created murals inside Raton’s Shuler Theatre and the paintings in Adobe: A New Mexico Tradition.</p>
<p>Go to <a href="" type="external">www.nmstatemonuments.org/coronado</a> for more.</p>
<p>Coronado was once known as Kuaua, a pueblo that was part of the Tiwa-speaking Tiguex Province in what became the Albuquerque area. When archaeologists first worked the site in the 1930s, they discovered amazing layers of natural-pigment murals on the walls of one of the underground ceremonial kivas. The layers were carefully removed and taken to storage, with some pieces on display in the visitors’ center.</p>
<p>In 1938, Zia Pueblo artist Ma-Pe-Wi (Velino Shije Herrera) reproduced some of the murals inside the kiva and, for the last three years, conservators have been working on a restoration that may hit the finish line this June.</p>
<p>Farther up the road, Jemez Historic Site</p>
<p>gives visitors a rare glimpse into Jemez culture. “The modern-day pueblo really isn’t open to visitors,” site Manager Matthew Barbour said. “We’re the only year-round public area where you can come and take pictures.”</p>
<p>The standout feature of the site are the ruins of the San José de los Jémez Mission Church on what was originally known as Giusewa Pueblo. Built in 1621 by Franciscan friars, the church was abandoned in the 1640s, and parts were reclaimed by the pueblo members who stayed behind.</p>
<p>In mid August the site holds its annual Pueblo Independence Day, with a foot race, Jemez dancers, crafts, panel discussions, and tours of the ruins. Go to <a href="" type="external">www.nmstatemonuments.org/jemez</a>for details.</p>
<p>Year-round, groups of 10 or more can call ahead to arrange a special guided tour that crosses private property through Oak Canyon and climbs to the top of Cat Mesa for a view that Barbour calls “astounding.”</p> | Museum, ancestral villages offer Native American history lesson | false | https://abqjournal.com/247126/museum-ancestral-villages-offer-native-american-history-lesson.html | 2013-10-01 | 2 |
<p>I am writing to express dismay at the article posted to your web site, “ <a href="" type="internal">Coffeen-gate, What is going on at Sierra Foundation?</a>” by David Orr. Orr’s Coffeen missive is peppered through with phrases like “there is a high likelihood”, “insider’s who are knowledgeable about this situation” and “unconfirmed reports”. The whole piece reads like the National Enquirer or The Star, but is far less entertaining and without even that level of journalistic integrity. Orr’s allegations of dark, shadowy conspiracies may help him and the readers of Counterpunch feel they are involved in some shocking scandal, but don’t apply any healthy skepticism to uninformed assertions or you will puncture the illusion of conspiracy.</p>
<p>This article does not accurately reflect what is going on with Coffeen or the Sierra Club Foundation.</p>
<p>For example, Orr wrote: “There have been few verifiable facts released that would confirm the level of assurance or control afforded the Club or the Foundation on future management of the preserve. The Foundation has refused requests from Florida Chapter leaders about the specific terms of the proposed transfer and about the purpose, structure, and goals of the land trust, or any plans for future development or any restrictive covenants that may be attached to the deed.”</p>
<p>Untrue. Three weeks ago three Florida Chapter representatives along with other Sierra Club representatives from throughout the Southeast met in Anniston, Ala., for a Gulf Coast Regional Conservation Committee (GCRCC) meeting designed to organize against the U.S. Army’s plans to poison an already-ill population by incinerating chemical weapons. Our rally on this made national news on NBC. At our regular GCRCC business meeting Sunday June 22 we had a 90-minute presentation about the details of this proposed Coffeen land trust that included “the purpose, structure, and goals of the land trust.”</p>
<p>We heard from former Foundation Trustee Carolyn Carr who personally knew the donor who willed this property to Sierra Club and discussed her intentions while she was alive. Carr gave a detailed history of the property. At the end of this long discussion, about 16 members of the GCRCC voted unanimously to reaffirm an earlier vote delegating authority to two of our representatives to interact with the Sierra Club Foundation to assure the best possible future for Coffeen.</p>
<p>Another error from Orr’s piece: “A majority of the members of the Board of the new land trust are reportedly owners of a number of adjacent residential properties known as the Four Mile Village.”</p>
<p>Everyone involved in this issue has been told repeatedly that this is not true. The truth is that the proposed land trust would include three representatives of Sierra Club, three independent experts not related to the property owners, and three property owners. However, no specific proposal has been accepted.</p>
<p>Orr wrote: “About five years ago the GCRCC, without explanation, asserted itself as the official Club arbiter on issues surrounding disposition of the preserve and on related matters of Club policy. No information has yet been offered to indicate why or when or who among the “powers that be” in upper Club management decided to bypass the chapter and hand over all Club decision-making authority to the GCRCC.”</p>
<p>The fact is that GCRCC was asked to take over from the small Northwest Florida Group to help the Foundation with on-the-ground management of Coffeen in order to provide more regional support for Coffeen, and to have management including representatives from throughout the Southeast. The idea was to broaden the support for Coffeen, and provide more accountability. Previously one volunteer had been chair of the management committee for 20 years, and that volunteer appointed members of the management committee. We felt the management structure needed more diversity.</p>
<p>The GCRCC has been involved with Coffeen since 1978 and has supports conservation of the land in perpetuity. Everyone working on this desires the outcome that protects the resource.</p>
<p>It is not Sierra Club’s intention to be a manager of nature preserves. We are not The Nature Conservancy. Environmental activism is our core mission. Coffeen was an incredible gift, but it didn’t come along with a large enough endowment to pay for proper care. The problem has gotten worse through the years. That is why divestiture to a land trust is being considered. In doing so, the Foundation will do everything necessary to make sure that Coffeen is preserved as was intended.</p>
<p>The major purpose of the Sierra Club Foundation is to support the charitable programs of Sierra Club. So if the Foundation has to spend time and money on Coffeen, that draws away from its mission of raising money for the club to work on environmental justice, forest protection and other issues near and dear to us. I could rebut a number of more wrong assumptions in Orr’s piece regarding the complex issues of management of this 200-acre nature preserve. After all, I have actually been there on numerous occasions. Orr has never visited it. But I don’t see any real reason why readers of Counterpunch would be interested in more of the details.</p>
<p>Coffeen is in good hands. I wish I could say the same for the minority community in Anniston, Alabama, that has already been poisoned by PCBs from Monsanto, and has been named the most toxic town in America. If you really want to get involved in Sierra Club business, how about running something on the chemical weapons of mass destruction the U.S. Army plans on burning in Anniston starting later this month? Sierra activists from throughout the region plan to join local activists for another rally there later this month.</p>
<p>BECKY GILLETTE is conservation chair of the Mississippi Chapter of Sierra Club, and secretary of the GCRCC. She is a free-lance writer based in Ocean Springs, Miss., who has published in about 50 magazines and newspapers nationwide. In 2002 she received the National Conservation Achievement Award for communications from the National Wildlife Federation. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | No Conspiracy at Coffeen Nature Preserve | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/07/15/no-conspiracy-at-coffeen-nature-preserve/ | 2003-07-15 | 4 |
<p>By Scott Hudgins</p>
<p>A recent <a href="" type="internal">column by Brett Younger</a>, an associate professor at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, raises important questions about the changes in theological education, especially the emergence of exclusively online programs that are often described as “new and improved” versions of ministerial training and formation. Ron Crawford, president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, <a href="" type="internal">has responded</a> to Professor Younger’s column with his own convictions about the future of theological education. This is a conversation long needed in Cooperative Baptist Fellowship circles and I appreciate each of their contributions in this column.</p>
<p />
<p>Having read Professor Younger’s comments, I am almost certain that he is not arguing against technology, as President Crawford suggests in his response. The presence of technology in the classroom as a tool for research and learning is present in most graduate programs, including theological schools, and it has contributed to new kinds of research and innovative approaches to teaching. One of the strengths of a university-related school of theology is that technical and pedagogical resources that are part of the larger university and employed by other professional schools and college faculties can provide models for classroom teaching in the theological disciplines.</p>
<p>I think Professor Younger’s critique is aimed at the movement among some theology schools to create exclusively online programs without recognizing the losses inherent in that model for ministerial formation and learning. Evidence exists to suggest that financial demands and a declining student population may be more responsible for the emergence of exclusively online programs than any rationale as to what is actually best for congregations and students.</p>
<p>Dr. Crawford makes some important points. My own sense of the research on learning outcomes in online courses is that they are as effective as the more traditional classroom models, and in some studies more effective. (See Tuan Nguyen’s recent meta-analysis of the research in the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 11, No. 2, June 2015, or the U.S. Department of Education’s 2010 report on Evidence Based Practices in Online Learning.)</p>
<p>The important point here is to recognize that “learning outcomes” are often limited to those quantifiable elements that are much more present in online models. Dr. Crawford touches on one of these in his contention that online learning is more engaging. “Engagement” can be clearly measured in comments, posts and electronic interaction. This is much more difficult to track in a classroom. Dr. Crawford is in my view correct that online learning requires “thoughtful” pedagogy. This is not to say that face-to-face instruction does not. However, this may be a clue as to why learning outcomes are successful in online formats — pedagogy is actually shaped by the medium it employs.</p>
<p>Where I disagree with Dr. Crawford is his use of the worst possible examples of classroom teaching as a means of bolstering online approaches. I am aware of excellent practices in the classroom that are responsive to a wide range of student backgrounds and learning styles. Much more intentionality pervades classroom teaching practices than he suggests. I am also aware of persistent complaints from graduate students about the inadequacy of some online courses. My own seminary education — now 25 years in the past and rooted in the traditional lecture and seminar modes of teaching — was neither boring nor disengaged. I cannot imagine what my own formation and education would have been like divorced from daily worship with classmates and faculty, late night arguments in the dorm lounge or extended lunch conversations in the refectory. Combined with special lectures on campus, artistic and music events, and engagement in a shared neighborhood and space — these intangibles are also important ingredients in learning (I would argue essential), and inescapably framed so much of what I learned in seminary.</p>
<p>Professor Younger’s argument, especially his emphasis on what is lost in the exchange, I find very compelling. We need to be honest about those losses as educators and congregations. Technology can provide us with whole new opportunities for learning and open the doors to some where access was not an option in the past. But it can also delude us into thinking that connectivity is the same as conversation, and the virtual is as good as the real.</p>
<p>Fifty years ago, Marshall McLuhan argued that “the medium is the message.” His challenge should drive us to think deeply and seriously about the media we employ and implications and limits. This is all the more urgent as a prophetic task in a society where technology is a given and in which digital natives will soon outnumber the rest of us.</p> | How seminaries form ministers: a much-needed conversation | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/how-seminaries-form-ministers-a-much-needed-conversation/ | 3 |
|
<p>Shares of some top credit card companies are mixed at 1 p.m.:</p>
<p>American Express Co. rose $.04 or percent, to $95.39.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Capital One Financial Corp. rose $.48 or .6 percent, to $83.50.</p>
<p>Discover Financial Services fell $.07 or .1 percent, to $62.82.</p>
<p>Mastercard rose $.57 or .8 percent, to $76.10.</p>
<p>Visa Inc. rose $.74 or .3 percent, to $214.99.</p> | Credit Card companies shares mixed at 1 p.m. | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/01/21/credit-card-companies-shares-mixed-at-1-pm.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p />
<p>This cartoon requires Macromedia’s Flash Player. If you don’t see the cartoon above, <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="external">download the player here</a>.</p>
<p>Mark Fiore is an editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com" type="external">web site</a> featuring his work.</p>
<p /> | Snuggly the Security Bear | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/05/snuggly-security-bear/ | 2006-05-18 | 4 |
<p>Pink News <a href="http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/if-you-buy-poppers-in-the-uk-after-christmas-you-could-go-to-jail-for-seven-years/" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>Selling poppers in the UK could land you in jail for seven years, according to new legislation being enacted by the Government. Home Office Minister Mike Penning has reportedly said he is insistent that amyl nitrates, widely used in the British LGBTI community, must come under new legislation that bans ‘legal highs’. Lawmakers are banning the drug under a ‘blanket ban’ on the production, distribution, sale and supply of psychoactive substances. This ban will cover many substances including laughing gas, salvia and vanilla sky, but alcohol, nicotine and caffeine are exempt. The penalty for possession with an intent to supply poppers is seven years in prison.</p>
<p>RELATED: Five Brits were hospitalized earlier this year after <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0CB4QFjAAahUKEwjw6bKL-4bJAhUBdCYKHTcYDk0&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fjoemygod.blogspot.com%2F2015%2F06%2Fbritain-five-hospitalized-after.html&amp;usg=AFQjCNEzOU2k00Yyi_gJK8V_Fx5xFL3tfQ&amp;sig2=tghxeu2BMb_KVv9iDRatBQ" type="external">drinking poppers</a> at a rave event where they were presumably mistaken for energy “shots.” Last year poppers use was linked to <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0CCwQFjACahUKEwjw6bKL-4bJAhUBdCYKHTcYDk0&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fjoemygod.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F07%2Fpoppers-linked-to-eye-damage.html&amp;usg=AFQjCNE7Gd7kDHuM_P6QRKPLJfUujcbUOw&amp;sig2=bPBNF1mYCxTFfy0LT-_Lsw" type="external">eye damage</a>.</p> | BRITAIN: Ban On Poppers Sales To Stand | true | http://joemygod.com/2015/11/10/britain-ban-on-poppers-sales-to-stand/ | 2015-11-10 | 4 |
<p>LONDON (Reuters) – British households are feeling the tightest squeeze on their finances in three years and the Bank of England’s signal that it is getting close to raising interest rates is likely to make things worse, a survey showed on Monday.</p>
<p>IHS Markit said its monthly Household Finance Index fell to 42.8 in September from 43.4 in August though above a three-year low of 41.6 seen in July.</p>
<p>Looking at the third quarter as a whole, the index’s average reading is its lowest since 2014.</p>
<p>British households have been pinched by fast-rising inflation since last year’s Brexit vote and weak rises in wages.</p>
<p>Monday’s survey showed the amount of cash available to spend continued to fall at one of the steepest rates seen over the past three years.</p>
<p>“With the Bank of England sounding increasingly eager to start hiking interest rates, the prospect of higher borrowing costs and increased mortgage payments is likely to hit households further,” Tim Moore, a director at IHS Markit, said.</p>
<p>Last week the BoE said it expected to raise interest rates in the coming months if inflation pressure continued to build, surprising many investors.</p>
<p>The IHS Markit survey showed households were also likely to be taken by surprise by the BoE’s change of tone. Only 29 percent of respondents expected a rate rise over the next six months, and just 12 percent before the end of the year, IHS Markit said.</p>
<p>The survey of 1,500 people was conducted between Sept. 6 and 11, before the Sept. 14 announcement by the BoE.</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> | UK households squeezed again, BoE might make it worse: survey | false | https://newsline.com/uk-households-squeezed-again-boe-might-make-it-worse-survey/ | 2017-09-17 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Why Rouhani would assert this is obvious: The sanctions that the United States is imposing on Iran are doing real economic damage. A crippled economy threatens the interests of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and thus the regime’s stability.</p>
<p>We know that the regime isn’t popular among many segments of the Iranian population – witness the brutal crackdown on large- scale protests in 2009 – and that it must make at least some of its citizens happy if it is to survive.</p>
<p>Rouhani hopes to convince the world that Iran’s nuclear intentions are peaceful and that his country is a rational, thoughtful player on the global stage and, therefore, please give us access once again to the international banking system.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Here are some reasons to doubt the sincerity of Iran’s protestations.</p>
<p>1. Rouhani hasn’t indicated Iran is open to reversing course on its nuclear program. He has actually said that the regime will not even talk about suspending uranium enrichment.</p>
<p>2. Compared to the previous president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani is a moderate, likable figure. But this is an example of defining deviancy down. Rouhani obviously looks moderate when compared to a Holocaust-denying lunatic.</p>
<p>3. Having a nuclear arsenal is in the best interests of Iran’s rulers. Put yourself in the shoes of the supreme leader for a moment. You’re surrounded by enemies: Almost the entire Sunni Muslim world despises you. The Jewish state, for which you have a pathological hatred, is trying to undermine your security. And behind them all stands the U.S., the country formerly known as the Great Satan, whose president says he isn’t interested in regime change – but can you actually trust an American president? Of course not.</p>
<p>A nuclear weapon in your hands does two vital things. It protects you from external efforts to overthrow your government, and it allows you to project your power across the Middle East. You’ve seen what happens to Middle Eastern leaders who don’t have nuclear capabilities – Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi – and you don’t want to share their fate.</p>
<p>Getting an atomic weapon is hard, but once Iran crosses the finish line, the world will accept it as a nuclear power and sanctions will dissolve over time.</p>
<p>4. It’s true that the supreme leader has argued that the use of nuclear weapons is un-Islamic. Therefore, the regime would never seek such weapons. I’d only point out that mass murder of innocent people is also prohibited by Islam, but Khamenei’s government engages in this practice through its support for Hezbollah and Bashar Assad in Syria, among others.</p>
<p>5. The supreme leader is, in fact, the nuclear program’s chief backer. Reuel Marc Gerecht, the former Central Intelligence Agency officer and an Iran expert, said that in Khamenei’s eyes, “He would disgrace himself before God and his praetorians, the Revolutionary Guards” if he were to give up his nuclear ambitions in exchange for an easing of sanctions. “He has invested everything in the nuclear program. It is the core of the Islamic Republic’s defense against America. Khamenei would be saying to all that America and the rest of the West had defeated him. He would forfeit the Islamic revolution and quite likely his rule.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>After years of Ahmadinejad’s alienating hijinks, Iran has chosen a different path. It now has a president who is smooth and affable and comparatively moderate. But Rouhani has been invested in his country’s nuclear program for years, and there are no signs that he’s interested in disarming in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.</p>
<p>So what’s the play? Divide and conquer, is my guess. Split the Europeans from the Americans, and the Americans from the Israelis (and the Arabs, who are also fearful of a nuclear Iran). Promise negotiations and make changes at the margins that are suggestive of broad agreement. At the same time, keep the centrifuges spinning and bring the nuclear program to the point where a bomb could be produced in a mere six or eight weeks after the supreme leader decides to cross the threshold.</p>
<p>Does this mean that the U.S. shouldn’t negotiate? Absolutely not. The Obama administration should test Iran immediately. They are, in fact, squeezed by sanctions. Perhaps the squeeze is more damaging than we even think.</p>
<p>But these negotiations should be time-limited, and sanctions shouldn’t be lifted prematurely – the sanctions are what brought the crisis to this point.</p>
<p>One other thing the administration should do: Listen to its former arms control expert, Gary Samore, who, according to Foreign Policy magazine, said this about the regime: “Nobody is fooled by the charm offense; everybody understands the supreme leader is seeking nuclear weapons. No matter how many times Rouhani smiles doesn’t change the basic objective of the program.”</p>
<p>Jeffrey Goldberg is a Bloomberg View columnist.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Iran is only seeking way around US imposed sanctions | false | https://abqjournal.com/271656/iran-only-seeking-way-around-us-imposed-sanctions.html | 2013-09-30 | 2 |
<p>Research Rationale</p>
<p>Ten years ago, three nonprofit organizations were analyzing the Chicago Public Schools’ budget from varying perspectives. Today, there is only one, the Civic Federation, whose main concern is efficiency and keeping taxes down. Meanwhile, equity of funding within school districts has grown as an issue, in part because of the new push for school accountability.</p>
<p>It is against this backdrop that Catalyst Chicago decided to get into the budget analysis business. As a publication whose mission is to shed light on the policies and practices that help or hinder school improvement, we have long wanted to do that, but last year we received funding from The Woods Fund of Chicago for the extra staff and training needed.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, administrators in the Chicago Public Schools have vowed to provide more transparency and ensure equity in the distribution of dollars, prompted in part by its desire to end a 25-year-old desegregation consent decree. For the first time last year, for instance, CPS conducted its own analysis of school level spending by race. Since then, it has embarked on a process to allocate citywide and administrative costs to schools in an effort to figure out how much it costs to educate a child here.</p>
<p>With this report, Catalyst has taken a first crack at doing such an analysis, indicating what the impact of student-based budgeting could be on individual schools and on certain groups or types of schools. Our goal is to explain what the district has undertaken, why it is important and how it may affect schools and their students.</p> | Assessing Inequities in School Funding within Chicago Public Schools | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/assessing-inequities-in-school-funding-within-chicago-public-schools/ | 2005-08-31 | 3 |
<p>Leo Panitch is the Senior Scholar and Emeritus Professor of Political Science at York University. He is the author of many books, the most recent of which include UK Deutscher Memorial Prize winner The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire, In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives, , <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Renewing-Socialism-Democracy-Strategy-Imagination/dp/0813398215" type="external">Renewing Socialism: Democracy, Strategy and Imagination</a> and The End of Parliamentary Socialism: From New Left to New Labour. He is also a co-editor of the Socialist Register, whose 2017 volume, which will be released in time for the Labour Party Conference and launched in London in November, is entitled Rethinking Revolution</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network. Over the weekend in Ireland, thousands of people demonstrated against austerity measures and against bearing the burden of the Irish crisis. Just how did the Irish miracle turn into the Irish nightmare? Now joining us from Toronto is Leo Panitch. He's a distinguished research professor at York University, teaches political science there, and he's the author of the book In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives. Thanks for joining us again, Leo.
<p />
<p />LEO PANITCH, PROF. POLITICAL SCIENCE, YORK UNIVERSITY: Hi, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: So, in your view, how do we get from this miracle economy of Ireland with so low unemployment, and apparently a booming middle class, to bust?
<p />
<p />PANITCH: Well, we got to it via the bust of the financial sector that Ireland certainly didn't cause. It was very much a American-made crisis. But insofar as a good part of the Irish boom involved Irish Banks borrowing short in order to lend long to their property boom, and to some extent to lend to foreign investors who were creating jobs, a lot of them American companies but borrowing from Irish Banks, the result of that when the financial boom ended in the United States was that the knock-on effect meant that Irish banks were virtually bankrupt. And one of the first places on the face of the earth that that was felt apart from Iceland was Ireland, and the Irish government immediately guaranteed all bank deposits. And insofar as they did so, they socialized, took onto the public shoulders the private debt of the banks. And you see the consequences.
<p />
<p />JAY: So people are saying what happened is the banks bet, helped create a real estate bubble in Ireland. They bet on it, they lost the bets, and now the Irish people are being asked to bail them out. Is that a fair [inaudible]
<p />
<p />PANITCH: Yeah. And, you know, Ireland didn't have a large public sector deficit, but it now does by virtue of having taken on the burden of the private sector banking deficit. And the result of that is what you see with the Irish debt, the Irish fiscal debt, the banking sectors, especially in Europe, who provided most of this lending, not being willing to, as I said before, roll over that debt, not being willing to, in other words, lend any more when Irish bonds come due.
<p />
<p />JAY: Paul Krugman wrote a piece recently where he compares what happened in Ireland to Iceland, where he said Iceland took a different approach towards a somewhat similar situation. What do you make of that?
<p />
<p />PANITCH: Yeah. They tried to make the Dutch and the British bear some of the burden and came under a lot of pressure from the Dutch and the British for this and had to compromise somewhat, but they did spread it around a little. But you shouldn't think that the Icelandic people [inaudible] to carry most of that burden they have. Now, I must say, this is now a larger situation. And when the Germans, who always do this, since they never want to take responsibility for this themselves, it always falls more on the American state to organize the bailout. The Germans said that in the future, beginning in 2013, the banks ought to be taking some of the haircut themselves, rather than have the EU states lend--or the IMF for the Americans--lend the Irish state the money, provided they engage in this terrible austerity program. And as soon as the German banks heard that, and not only the German banks, they all the more wouldn't lend money to Ireland, because they didn't want to be caught holding Irish debt if they were going to be the ones who would have to take any of the haircut for this.
<p />
<p />JAY: So first the banks get saved by the Irish state, and then they beat the hell out of the Irish state 'cause they may not be able to pay off the debt the Irish state took on to save them.
<p />
<p />PANITCH: That's the situation, and there's nothing new about this.
<p />
<p />JAY: Brilliant system. So what are Irish people demanding? What do you think they should be? What's the alternative for Ireland?
<p />
<p />PANITCH: You know, the austerity program involves raising the sales tax--the value added tax, as it's called there--to 23 percent (look at the hysteria here in Canada when we have a combined sales tax of 15 percent), that at a time when corporate taxes in Ireland are famously at 12 percent and it is being pledged that they will not be raised. And I might point out that the American corporations that have been the largest investors in Ireland in terms of manufacturing investment and exports from Ireland are threatening they'll pull out unless this 12 percent corporate tax is maintained. So you see the enormous class inequity that's built into this, the enormous demonstrations that have taken place in Ireland. And they're not new. They occurred last year when austerity measures were introduced as well, and being led by a very, very moderate corporatist trade union leadership, which doesn't want to engage in any class mobilization--less radical than the AFL-CIO, but they're being forced into undertaking these demonstrations by virtue of the anger of the people. They're not demanding nearly enough. It's a very, very defensive set of demands they're engaged in. As I've argued before, the only real solution here is for Ireland to lead the way by defaulting on the debt, to do what Argentina did at the beginning of this century. But that will mean, and I hope it will mean, a much more radical set of responses in Europe, not only in Spain and Portugal and Greece, but much more broadly, whereby people are given a lead in terms of not just socializing the private banks' bad debts but actually nationalizing the banking system and turning it into a public utility. It'll mean breaking up the European Union, but reconstructing it on a basis of democratic and cooperative economic planning, where the money, our money that passes through the banking system, the people's money, is actually allocated in a democratic way. That--we have had a banker's Europe, a Europe based on free capital flows. It is inevitably one that was highly volatile, inevitably producing one crisis after another. And Ireland is facing the brunt of it at the moment. Greece faced it a few months ago. Portugal's [inaudible] to face it at all.
<p />
<p />JAY: But what do you make of the argument that the reason these countries are in difficulty is 'cause there's too much entitlement programs, the pension age is too low, unemployment insurance is too high, and so on?
<p />
<p />PANITCH: I think it's ludicrous. This isn't the problem. The problem is not that Irish workers are too well off. The problem is the enormous wealth inequality, and above all inequality in power, and irrational investment that has gone on in these countries. And it will mean, if people are going to try to maintain something like the civilization that we've known, it'll mean redefining what our standard of living is. It will mean that we will not be able to engage in the kind of individual consumption, and have to turn to the kind of collective services that would be so rational and so needed--much more, much more extensive public transit and freer public transit, rather than private transit through automobiles that reproduces the ecological crisis and worsens it. But the answer is not that, you know, the Irish working class (give me a break) is so well off and wealthy, much less the Greek one. Now, it's true that many of these states are corrupt and are indeed the kinds of states that are built on clientalism. The type of democracies we've had there, the types of capitalist democracies we've had there, have involved bribing people, bribing people to--through agreeing to let them not pay as much taxes or any taxes, through giving them kickbacks, etc.
<p />
<p />JAY: And you're using the public sector to make politicians rich.
<p />
<p />PANITCH: Yes, and engaging in the type of relationships between politicians and capitalists that are indeed very, very unsavory, which involve, if not corruption, certainly scratching your back if you scratch mine. So there's no sense pretending that these have been, you know, wonderful democratic societies. And when one's calling for a different kind of economy, one needs to call for a different kind of state.
<p />
<p />JAY: Thanks very much for joining us, Leo.
<p />
<p />PANITCH: Good to talk to you, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: Thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<p />End of Transcript
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | Thousands Protest Irish Nightmare Economy | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D5926 | 2010-11-29 | 4 |
<p>Published time: 4 Aug, 2017 13:08</p>
<p>Australian authorities have banned the construction of a synagogue in the Sydney suburbs, citing a potential terrorist attack threat. The step has been labelled “anti-Semitic” and some said it means terrorists “have already won.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/597fbf62e4b058596cba8e75" type="external">appeal</a> against the initial decision to refuse construction of the synagogue was rejected on Wednesday by the New South Wales’ Land and Environment Court.</p>
<p>The Jewish group Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe asked to build the synagogue in Bondi, an eastern suburb of Sydney. The area is near popular tourist destination Bondi Beach.</p>
<p>The court’s decision said that the construction is “unacceptable” because of the “potential risk to users and other members of the general public.”</p>
<p>“General observations are made on terrorist threats and specific reference is made to the threat to synagogues,” the comments added.The court cited a document titled “Chabad Bondi (Wellington St) Synagogue – Preliminary Threat &amp; Risk Analysis February 2016” (PTRA), saying that “Australia faces an ongoing threat of terrorism ‘at home’, carried out by supporters of ISIS [Islamic State/IS].”</p>
<p>The synagogue ban shocked and angered the Jewish community, with some saying it was a “sad day” for Australia.</p>
<p>“It’s a very sad day for Australia if an established community, which needs a house of worship, is refused permission to build it because of fear that others may pose a threat,” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/bondi-synagogue-ban-over-terrorism-risk-leaves-jewish-community-shocked-and-furious/news-story/6ec6252d613583df7797c7cac2b25de4" type="external">told</a> the News.com.au website.&#160;</p>
<p>According to the head of the local Jewish community, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, the court <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/bondi-synagogue-ban-over-terrorism-risk-leaves-jewish-community-shocked-and-furious/news-story/6ec6252d613583df7797c7cac2b25de4" type="external">decision</a> is “rewarding terrorism.” &#160;</p>
<p>“Its implications are enormous. It basically implies that no Jewish organization should be allowed to exist in residential areas. It stands to stifle Jewish existence and activity in Sydney and indeed, by creating a precedent, the whole of Australia, and by extension rewarding terrorism,” he stated.</p>
<p />
<p>In Australia, the terrorists have won: City bars Jews from building synagogue b/c it might become a jihadist target. <a href="https://t.co/vxOIuYP8Gu" type="external">https://t.co/vxOIuYP8Gu</a></p>
<p>— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jeff_Jacoby/status/893250793914208262" type="external">August 3, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p>Social media users slammed the court’s decision as&#160;“anti-Semitic.”</p>
<p>“This is outright anti-Semitism. And so no doubt the Jews of Bondi have had to pay the costs of the synagogue that hasn’t happened, but exists now in a virtual way, as a symbol of oppression,”&#160;one person wrote under a story&#160; <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/jewish-leaders-condemn-bondi-synagogue-ban/news-story/229e6e4d051c2c890c80b45f43b90437" type="external">published&#160;</a>on The Australian website, while another added:&#160;“It seems the Jewish community is being punished for taking responsibility for its own protection.”</p>
<p>“The terrorists have won!” “Australia, wake up!” said the outraged comments.</p>
<p>People on Twitter wondered if Jews were being deliberately targeted by the Australian authorities.</p>
<p />
<p>There are 3 mosques already near Bondi – Surry Hills, Redfern, Zetland. But a synagogue would be a terror threat?</p>
<p>Really?</p>
<p>— Alistair Taylor (@AlistairTaurus) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlistairTaurus/status/893300584308191232" type="external">August 4, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p />
<p>A synagogue won’t go ahead at Bondi because it’s a terrorism risk!No mosques either, then? Or just Jews being targeted?</p>
<p>— Edwinsson (@Edwinsson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Edwinsson/status/893023342403256320" type="external">August 3, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p>Others went as far as comparing Australia to Nazi Germany.</p>
<p />
<p>There will be no Synagogue at Bondi due to terror threat. What? Are we living in Australia or nazi Germany?</p>
<p>— Syed Ahmed (@ahmedsyedbd) <a href="https://twitter.com/ahmedsyedbd/status/893049456756629504" type="external">August 3, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Synagogue in Bondi is knocked back because it would be terrorist target Targeted by people who visit Mosques Terror doesn’t have a religion</p>
<p>— Hugh2aswell (@Hught2aswell) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hught2aswell/status/893014070974005248" type="external">August 3, 2017</a></p>
<p /> | ‘Terrorists have won!’ Outrage after Sydney synagogue banned over ‘extremist threat’ | false | https://newsline.com/terrorists-have-won-outrage-after-sydney-synagogue-banned-over-extremist-threat/ | 2017-08-04 | 1 |
<p>Published time: 5 Oct, 2017 09:26</p>
<p>Over 82 percent of Russians approve of Vladimir Putin’s work as the nation’s president, according to the poll conducted by the state-run VTSIOM agency in late September.</p>
<p>“The approval rate of the president’s work remains extremely high despite an insignificant drop in September – from 85.3 percent to 82.2 percent in mean values by week,” reads the VTSIOM report. The agency added that the proportion of respondents who said they disapprove of the president’s activities increased from 9 percent in early September to 10.6 percent at the end of the month.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/politics/400370-pm-medvedev-closest-to-putin/" type="external" /></p>
<p>The assessment rating of the government’s work was also slightly down in September, according to VTIOM’s poll – from 59.8 percent in the beginning of the month to 58.7 percent in the last week of September. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s personal rating fell from 54.3 percent to 53.6 percent.</p>
<p>The number of Russians who claimed that they approved of the parliament’s work was on the rise, VTSIOM specialists wrote. However, as these parameters were measured only once a month it was impossible to give precise dynamics. The share of Russians who approve of the work of the lower house – the State Duma – was 53.2 percent, while 59.7 percent of respondents claimed they approved of the work of the upper house, the Federation Council.</p>
<p>A public opinion poll conducted by the independent Levada Center in July showed that 66 percent of Russians wanted Putin to remain the leader of the nation after the 2018 presidential election, with 40 and 56 percent of respondents reporting satisfaction with the current course in domestic and international politics respectively.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/politics/395347-two-thirds-of-russians-want/" type="external" /></p>
<p>A similar poll conducted by Levada in early May showed that back then 64 percent of Russians wanted Putin to remain president for another term, while 22 percent wanted him replaced.</p>
<p>Putin has not yet announced his plans concerning the 2018 presidential elections. When he faced the question again at the ‘Direct Line’ annual Q&amp;A session in mid-June this year, he said it was “too early” to discuss the issue.</p>
<p>On Wednesday this week Putin again faced the question if he intended to run for a new term and again his answer was that he had not yet made the decision.</p>
<p>“No, I have not yet decided not only if I want to run against someone in particular, I have not decided if I will run at all,” Putin told the participants of the Russian Energy Week Forum.</p>
<p>“The presidential campaign will be announced in late November or early December. I think that leading candidates will announce their participation and publish their elections programs,” Putin said.</p> | Putin’s approval rating slightly down from early Sept, still over 80% | false | https://newsline.com/putins-approval-rating-slightly-down-from-early-sept-still-over-80/ | 2017-10-05 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>HOBBS, N.M. — Police in Hobbs say they are investigating the death of a man found in a home.</p>
<p>They say officers were on patrol about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when they were directed to a residence in reference to an unresponsive subject.</p>
<p>Upon arrival, police say they discovered 32-year-old Thomas May unresponsive.</p>
<p>Emergency responders attempted life-saving measures, but they were unsuccessful due to the extent of May’s injuries.</p>
<p>Details of the man’s injuries weren’t immediately released.</p>
<p>Detective and crime scene technicians are currently processing the scene and police say it’s an active investigation.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Police in Hobbs investigating death of a man found in a home | false | https://abqjournal.com/875748/police-in-hobbs-investigating-death-of-a-man-found-in-a-home.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Albuquerque police said a woman who was found passed out in the driver’s seat of her car on Friday night tried an interesting trick during her field sobriety test: A series of cartwheels.</p>
<p>The gymnastic maneuvers didn’t convince the police officer of Bryelle Marshall’s sobriety, and she was arrested for aggravated drunken driving and battery charges.</p>
<p>Albuquerque police were called to Zuni and Pennsylvania around 6:45 p.m. and found Marshall, 23, passed out in the car that was parked in the middle of a mobile home’s driveway and sticking out into the bike lane, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.</p>
<p>The officer wrote in the complaint that once outside the vehicle, Marshall had a hard time standing and was swaying from side to side. She also smelled like alcohol and had a hard time balancing.</p>
<p>The officer tired to give her field sobriety tests but she wouldn’t listen to instructions, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>“Bryelle put her hands in the air and completed two cartwheels while I was attempting to demonstrate and instruct the field sobriety test,” the officer wrote.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The officer warned Marshall that if she did another cartwheel, she would be arrested. The officer put her in a position to do the field sobriety test, and Marshall struck a gymnastic pose.</p>
<p>“While facing the wrong direction, as she had done prior, Bryelle again raised her hands up and while I was instructing she again did a cartwheel and fell to the ground,” the officer wrote.</p>
<p>Marshall was arrested and taken to the Prisoner Transport Center in Downtown Albuquerque, where she allegedly tried to kick the officer in the genitals, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>More from ABQJournal.com</p>
<p>Albuquerque police on Tuesday released police lapel camera footage of a sobriety test of a suspect who was arrested after… continue reading »</p> | APD: Woman performs cartwheels during DWI stop | false | https://abqjournal.com/952773/apd-woman-performs-cartwheels-during-dwi-stop.html | 2017-02-18 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Technology titan Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly in advanced discussions about scooping up Israeli flash storage technology maker Anobit for as much as $500 million.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>According to Israeli daily business paper the Calcalist, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company likely wants to acquire Anobit to increase and enhance the memory volume and performance of its devices.</p>
<p>Apple already uses an Anobit chip that enhances flash drive performance through signal processing in its <a href="" type="internal">iPhone</a>, <a href="" type="internal">iPad</a> and <a href="" type="internal">MacBook Air</a>, the publication said.</p>
<p>A takeover of Anobit would likely value the company at $400 million to $500 million and mark Apple’s first acquisition of an Israeli company, the Calcalist said. Anobit is also reportedly in talks over a large round of financing with an unspecified Asian company that is a leading maker of flash memory.</p>
<p>Shares of Apple were recently trading at $395.35, up 0.88% on the day. The stock has rallied just over 21% so far this year.</p>
<p>The report comes as new data from the NPD Group show Apple’s iOS controls about 29% of the U.S. smartphone market through October 2011, compared with 53% for <a href="" type="internal">Google</a>’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android. <a href="" type="internal">Research in Motion</a>’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) operating system shrank to just 11%.</p> | Report: Apple Angles for Acquisition of Israel's Anobit | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/12/13/report-apple-angles-for-acquisition-israels-anobit.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Secretary Kerry to Address UN Resolution on Israel</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the United States of interfering after the U.S. decided to abstain from a United Nations Resolution on Friday that requires Israel to terminate settlements in Palestinian territory. On an interview with Fox News, Israeli Ambassador, Ron Dermer says they have evidence to back up their accusations, which they plan to share with the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Secretary John Kerry will address the UN resolution on Israel, and the Obama Administration’s vision for Middle East peace later today. Don’t miss <a href="" type="internal">Varney &amp; Co. Opens a New Window.</a> to hear the speech live, and for expert insight and analysis.</p>
<p>Dow 20K Watch</p>
<p>Is today the day? The Dow continues to linger near the 20000 historic mark, and <a href="" type="internal">Fox Business Opens a New Window.</a> will have all the latest updates on Wall Street throughout the day!</p>
<p>Hawaiian Restaurant Bans Trump fans</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>A café in Hawaii is refusing to serve Trump supporters, posting a large yellow sign on their front glass door that reads, “If you voted for Trump you cannot eat here! No Nazis.”</p>
<p>Tune in to <a href="" type="internal">The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan</a>, today at 2pm ET for her reaction on the controversial sign!</p>
<p>Crime Fighting Amazon Echo?</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/amazon-echo-and-the-hot-tub-murder?eu=1HJyR6S41hGbiyraV-j7Jw" type="external">Information Opens a New Window.</a>, police are asking “Alexa” to help solve a murder case. Authorities seized an Amazon Echo from the home of the alleged murderer, and are hoping to find recordings on the device.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Lou Dobbs Tonight Opens a New Window.</a> breaks down the implications of this bizarre case, and how “Alexa” is always listening, today at 7pm ET!</p> | What's On Our Radar: December 28, 2016 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/12/28/whats-on-our-radar-december-28-2016.html | 2016-12-28 | 0 |
<p />
<p>It’s the strangest thing… two people were just walking down the street throwing their <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4484886/Man-shoots-woman-90-chicken-bones.html" type="external">chicken bones</a> in people’s yards like it was any other day. I’m trying hard to not say they must be in the ghetto… but seriously sounds like the hood. And of course the guy with the chicken bones proved it when he pulled out his gun…</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>It was reported that 26-yr-old Gerald Gaffney from Baltimore, Maryland shot a man in the leg with a bullet which then ricocheted and grazed an elderly woman’s foot. He was charged with first degree attempted murder and is now being sought by police.</p>
<p>Luckily, both victims suffered only minor injuries and are in good condition. Baltimore police media Chief T.J. Smith said, ‘Just an absolute heinous act of crime.’ But if he didn’t have to behave with his words he might say. ’this is the dumbest kind of crime by the dumbest criminals I’ve ever seen.’</p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p>And THIS is WHY they were such asshat criminals: a few people in the neighborhood were irritated to see Gaffney and a woman dropping their chicken bones on people’s yards while walking on Harlem Avenue. Several residents, who had been cleaning the block, scolded them.</p>
<p>The KFC couple fled the scene but supposedly Gaffney returned, with a gun, and randomly shot at the people in the neighborhood. This included an elderly woman – who was a longtime Baltimore resident- as well as a 56-year-old man.</p>
<p>Local resident, Anthony Lee said, ‘You wouldn’t think that someone is going to get shot over chicken bones. I can’t even begin to understand what was their train of thought. I mean, it’s like the Wild Wild West.’</p>
<p>Everyone in the neighborhood is relieved that no one was seriously injured. The Police are calling on witnesses or anyone who knows the whereabouts of Gaffney. Gaffney is described as a 6-ft-4-inch tall man with brown hair and brown eyes. He’s may be white or black or Hispanic but that’s not a very important descriptive detail, I guess. Good thing a picture has been passed around the internet that narrows down the description. Police say he weighs about 250 pounds and is often in the West Baltimore area.</p>
<p /> | Gunman shoots 90-year-old woman after she scolds him for dropping CHICKEN BONES on the ground | true | http://rightwingnews.com/top-news/gunman-shoots-90-year-old-woman-scolds-dropping-chicken-bones-ground/ | 2018-05-20 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday as concerns over an OPEC oil production cut and Italy’s constitutional referendum cast a pall on the markets.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 3,290.22 and Sydney’s S&amp;P-ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent to 5,482. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was almost flat at 22,838.06, as is Seoul’s Kospi at 1,978.06. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gave up 0.2 percent to 18,322.58 and benchmarks in Philippines and New Zealand also fell.</p>
<p>OPEC WATCH: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets Wednesday to discuss output cuts to boost prices. Iraq’s Oil Minister reaffirmed his intention to work toward a possible agreement boosted oil prices overnight. However, Iran’s minister has warned that “politics may make an OPEC decision harder,” undermining sentiments. The price of the benchmark U.S. oil fell 20 cents to $46.88 a barrel in electronic trading on New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.02 to close at $47.08 a barrel on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, eased 29 cents to $49.92 a barrel in London, from $48.79 on Tuesday.</p>
<p>ITALY VOTE: Italians vote on constitutional changes on Dec. 4 that would limit the power of the upper house and make it easier for governments to pass legislation. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said he will resign in case of a “no” result. New elections, if held, could bring to power the Five Star Movement, which has said it wants to hold a referendum on euro membership.</p>
<p>ANALYST TAKE: Mizuho Bank said the focus is on whether a deal to cut production will be reached at the OPEC meeting. “Oil prices are likely to remain choppy, fluctuating in tandem with news flow,” it said in a report. Worries over Italy’s constitutional referendum also loom. “Apart from political instability, a negative referendum outcome could hurt Italian banks and renew financial stress in the European Union,” DBS Bank in Hong Kong said in a report.</p>
<p>US DATA: U.S. stocks declined Monday as a remarkable rally in November since the upset victory of Donald Trump in the presidential election fizzled out. Investors are waiting for third-quarter economic data later Tuesday that will set the tone for U.S. equities and currency. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.3 percent to 19,097.90 on Monday. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index fell 0.5 percent to 2,201.72 and the Nasdaq composite shed 0.6 percent to 5,368.81.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The euro rose to $1.0592 from $1.0587, while the dollar fell to 112.20 yen from 112.65 yen.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Asian markets mixed amid fears over oil, Italy’s referendum | false | https://abqjournal.com/896921/stocks-fall-after-record-run-as-consumer-companies-slip.html | 2016-11-28 | 2 |
<p>Shares of health-care companies ticked up after an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act looked set to fail. Sen. John McCain said he would not support the latest effort to repeal the 2010 health-care reform act, likely ending the push by Republicans in the upper house of Congress. Mr. McCain's opposition would make a vote to carry the bill almost impossible, given that two other Republican senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine, already have come out against it or have signaled concerns about it. Shares of Versatis plunged after its human-growth hormone product failed to show superiority to an existing treatment in a clinical trial. Shares of Ascendis Pharma, which is developing a rival treatment, rose sharply.</p>
<p>-Rob Curran, [email protected]</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 22, 2017 16:26 ET (20:26 GMT)</p> | Health Care Stocks Up As Latest ACA Repeal Effort Founders | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/22/health-care-stocks-up-as-latest-aca-repeal-effort-founders.html | 2017-09-22 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Synchrony Financial.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Private-label card issuer Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) reported that its customers spent more and carried higher balances in the fourth quarter. However, slightly higher charge-offs and provisions for loan losses somewhat dampened the impact. All in all, earnings grew 5.3% compared to the year-ago period.</p>
<p>Data source: Synchrony investor relations.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In Synchrony's press release, President and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Keane said:</p>
<p>Key items in Synchrony Financial's 2017 guidance are receivables growth of 7% to 9%, and a net charge-off rate of 4.75% to 5%, suggesting a slowdown in receivables growth from 2016 and a continued increase in charge-offs as credit quality "normalizes" in 2017.</p>
<p>Investors should keep an eye on the competition.Fierce competition in general purpose and co-brand credit cards may be spilling over into Synchrony's store card business. After the quarter ended, Amazon.com announced improvements to Chase's Amazon card, which competes with Synchrony's Amazon store card. Chase's card matches the 5% rewards of Synchrony's card, and offers the ability to spend anywhere Visa is accepted. By contrast, Synchrony's card is a store card that can be used only at Amazon.</p>
<p>For its part, Synchrony downplayed the competitive threat, suggesting that the cards compete for different customers. Chase cards are typically geared toward high-spending, high-income customers with excellent credit. Store cards are typically issued to borrowers across the income and credit spectrum.</p>
<p>That said, it's something worth watching, as Synchrony's private-label business has benefited from being relatively isolated from especially competitive corners of the card industry.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Synchrony Financial When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f52039f8-af3a-43c7-8dfb-a5348de258b4&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Synchrony Financial wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f52039f8-af3a-43c7-8dfb-a5348de258b4&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>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</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 Amazon.com and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Synchrony Financial. 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> | Synchrony Financial's Earnings Rise on Higher Spending and Customer Balances | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/23/synchrony-financial-earnings-rise-on-higher-spending-and-customer-balances.html | 2017-01-23 | 0 |
<p>JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi lawmakers are doing their homework as they get ready to write a state budget.</p>
<p>The Legislative Budget Office director, Tony Greer, held a briefing Wednesday at the Capitol to explain the recommendations released in November by top budget committee members in the House and Senate.</p>
<p>The early numbers are likely to change a bit as legislators work toward a deadline in late March to adopt a nearly $6 billion state budget. The upcoming state financial year begins July 1.</p>
<p>The proposed budget would be about 1.3 percent smaller than the budget for the current year. Leaders want to follow an often-ignored rule that says some money should be set aside into cash reserves.</p>
<p>Top lawmakers recommend an increase of $3.8 million for the Department of Public Safety. Most of that would pay to train new state troopers, and some would pay for salary increases that are already promised to officers in the department.</p>
<p>The proposed budget would affect several agencies by eliminating jobs that have been vacant at least six months. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Eugene "Buck" Clarke, a Republican from Hollandale, said that would cut about $40 million in spending during the coming year. He also said, though, that agency directors could retain some jobs if they are close to filling them.</p>
<p>"If you have a fish on the line, we would give that (job) back," Clarke said.</p>
<p>Greer said some agencies are requesting additional money for the current year, which ends June 30. Clarke said one of the bigger requests is expected to come from Medicaid, the government insurance program for the needy. Clarke described the Medicaid request as "a moving target," based on how many people are enrolled and how many services they use.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus" type="external">http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus</a> .</p>
<p>JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi lawmakers are doing their homework as they get ready to write a state budget.</p>
<p>The Legislative Budget Office director, Tony Greer, held a briefing Wednesday at the Capitol to explain the recommendations released in November by top budget committee members in the House and Senate.</p>
<p>The early numbers are likely to change a bit as legislators work toward a deadline in late March to adopt a nearly $6 billion state budget. The upcoming state financial year begins July 1.</p>
<p>The proposed budget would be about 1.3 percent smaller than the budget for the current year. Leaders want to follow an often-ignored rule that says some money should be set aside into cash reserves.</p>
<p>Top lawmakers recommend an increase of $3.8 million for the Department of Public Safety. Most of that would pay to train new state troopers, and some would pay for salary increases that are already promised to officers in the department.</p>
<p>The proposed budget would affect several agencies by eliminating jobs that have been vacant at least six months. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Eugene "Buck" Clarke, a Republican from Hollandale, said that would cut about $40 million in spending during the coming year. He also said, though, that agency directors could retain some jobs if they are close to filling them.</p>
<p>"If you have a fish on the line, we would give that (job) back," Clarke said.</p>
<p>Greer said some agencies are requesting additional money for the current year, which ends June 30. Clarke said one of the bigger requests is expected to come from Medicaid, the government insurance program for the needy. Clarke described the Medicaid request as "a moving target," based on how many people are enrolled and how many services they use.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus" type="external">http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus</a> .</p> | Mississippi lawmakers doing homework for budget process | false | https://apnews.com/934d85497de64ce88c081be2a7d1066b | 2018-01-03 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>O’maury Samuels made two big plays – one on offense and another on defense – as No. 5 seed Los Lunas scored 13 straight third-quarter points to beat No. 4 Belen 16-14 in the Class 5A quarterfinals Friday night.</p>
<p>will face Artesia or Alamogordo in next week’s semifinals.</p>
<p>But the Eagles didn’t have another threat.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Tigers (9-3)Samuels scored on a 7-yard run on the first possession of the third quarter for Los Lunas as the Tigers led 9-7. After the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers forced a Belen fumble that Samuels picked up. He raced 40 yards for the touchdown for a 16-7 lead.</p>
<p>Belen’s Diego Casillas scored on a 1-yard run with 9:08 left in the game to cut the deficit to two points.</p>
<p>– Kenn Rodriguez</p>
<p>Class 6A</p>
<p>No. 2 CLEVELAND 38, No. 10 MAYFIELD 14:</p>
<p>Senior running back Niko Papadopoulos rushed for 173 yards and scored four touchdowns – on second-quarter runs of 2 and 4 yards, and fourth-quarter jaunts of 27 and 37 yards – as the Storm (10-1) advanced to the semifinals.</p>
<p>Senior quarterback Jacob Flores, making his first varsity start in relief of injured Angelo Trujillo, added 116 rushing yards and accounted for the Storm’s other TD, a 21-yard run. Passing, Flores completed three of five for 90 yards, but his two incompletions were Mayfield interceptions.</p>
<p>of his linemen. “I couldn’t do anything without them. I appreciate all the work for me, even if they don’t get the recognition.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>on Friday in the semifinals. Cleveland beat the Bulldawgs 49-42 on Sept. 9.</p>
<p>and limited Wildcats In five postseason meetings with the Trojans (6-6), this was the first time the home team won.</p>
<p>Isaac Vance of Mayfield brought the Trojans to within 21-14 early in the second half. T.J. Pickens of the Storm kicked a 35-yard field goal midway through the period, and Papadopoulos added two late TD runs.</p>
<p>“They open the holes for me,” he saidThe Storm plays host to Las Cruces (10-1) at 7 p.m.</p>
<p>tailback Micah Gray to 36 yards as Las Cruces (10-1) advanced to the semifinals with a win over Clovis (7-4).</p>
<p>Las Cruces QB Payton Ball rushed for 143 yards and three TDs. The Bulldawgs rushed for 297 yards.</p>
<p>Class 4A</p>
<p>No. 6 ST. MICHAEL’S 36, No. 3 MORIARTY 33: In Moriarty, Antonio Gabaldon threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Joey Fernandez, Jr.</p>
<p>with 48 seconds remaining as the Horsemen (9-3) upset the Pintos (9-2).</p>
<p>Moriarty had scored two quick TDs late in the fourth quarter to lead 33-30 with just over 2 minutes to go.</p>
<p /> | Los Lunas holds off Belen, 16-14 | false | https://abqjournal.com/892673/los-lunas-holds-off-belen-1614.html | 2016-11-19 | 2 |
<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://robertreich.org/post/44259531689" type="external">Robert Reich’s Web page</a>.</p>
<p>Imagine a plot to undermine the government of the United States, to destroy much of its capacity to do the public’s business, and to sow distrust among the population.</p>
<p>Imagine further that the plotters infiltrate Congress and state governments, reshape their districts to give them disproportionate influence in Washington, and use the media to spread big lies about the government.</p>
<p>Finally, imagine they not only paralyze the government but are on the verge of dismantling pieces of it.</p>
<p />
<p>Far-fetched? Perhaps. But take a look at what’s been happening in Washington and many state capitals since Tea Party fanatics gained effective control of the Republican Party, and you’d be forgiven if you see parallels.</p>
<p>Tea Party Republicans are crowing about the “sequestration” cuts that began Friday. “This will be the first significant tea party victory in that we got what we set out to do in changing Washington,” says Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kan.), a Tea Partier who was first elected in 2010.</p>
<p>Sequestration is only the start. What they set out to do was not simply change Washington but eviscerate the U.S. government — “drown it in the bathtub,” in the words of their guru Grover Norquist – slashing Social Security and Medicare, ending worker protections we’ve had since the 1930s, eroding civil rights and voting rights, terminating programs that have helped the poor for generations, and making it impossible for the government to invest in our future.</p>
<p>Sequestration grew out of a strategy hatched soon after they took over the House in 2011, to achieve their goals by holding hostage the full faith and credit of the United States – notwithstanding the Constitution’s instruction that the public debt of the United States “not be questioned.”</p>
<p>To avoid default on the public debt, the White House and House Republicans agreed to harsh and arbitrary “sequestered” spending cuts if they couldn’t come up with a more reasonable deal in the interim. But the Tea Partiers had no intention of agreeing to anything more reasonable. They knew the only way to dismember the federal government was through large spending cuts without tax increases.</p>
<p>Nor do they seem to mind the higher unemployment their strategy will almost certainly bring about. Sequestration combined with January’s fiscal cliff deal is expected to slow economic growth by 1.5 percentage points this year – dangerous for an economy now crawling at about 2 percent. It will be even worse if the Tea Partiers refuse to extend the government’s spending authority, which expires March 27.</p>
<p>A conspiracy theorist might think they welcome more joblessness because they want Americans to be even more fearful and angry. Tea Partiers use fear and anger in their war against the government – blaming the anemic recovery on government deficits and the government’s size, and selling a poisonous snake-oil of austerity economics and trickle-down economics as the remedy.</p>
<p>They likewise use the disruption and paralysis they’ve sown in Washington to persuade Americans government is necessarily dysfunctional, and politics inherently bad. Their continuing showdowns and standoffs are, in this sense, part of the plot.</p>
<p>What is the President’s response? He still wants a so-called “grand bargain” of “balanced” spending cuts (including cuts in the projected growth of Social Security and Medicare) combined with tax increases on the wealthy. So far, though, he has agreed to a gross imbalance — $1.5 trillion in cuts to Republicans’ $600 billion in tax increases on the rich.</p>
<p>The President apparently believes Republicans are serious about deficit reduction, when in fact the Tea Partiers now running the GOP are serious only about dismembering the government.</p>
<p>And he seems to accept that the budget deficit is the largest economic problem facing the nation, when in reality the largest problem is continuing high unemployment (some 20 million Americans unemployed or under-employed), declining real wages, and widening inequality. Deficit reduction now or in the near-term will only make these worse.</p>
<p>Besides, the deficit is now down to about 5 percent of GDP – where it was when Bill Clinton took office. It is projected to mushroom in later years mainly because healthcare costs are expected to rise faster than the economy is expected to grow, and the American population is aging. These trends have little or nothing to do with government programs. In fact, Medicare is far more efficient than private health insurance.</p>
<p>I suggest the President forget about a “grand bargain.” In fact, he should stop talking about the budget deficit and start talking about jobs and wages, and widening inequality – as he did in the campaign. And he should give up all hope of making a deal with the Tea Partiers who now run the Republican Party.</p>
<p>Instead, the President should let the public see the Tea Partiers for who they are — a small, radical minority intent on dismantling the government of the United States. As long as they are allowed to dictate the terms of public debate they will continue to hold the rest of us hostage to their extremism.</p>
<p>Robert B. Reich, chancellor’s professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective Cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including the best-sellers “Aftershock” and “The Work of Nations.” His latest, <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780345804372?aff=Truthdig" type="external">“Beyond Outrage,”</a> is now out in paperback. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.</p>
<p /> | The Sequester and the Tea Party Plot | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-sequester-and-the-tea-party-plot/ | 2013-03-03 | 4 |
<p>Earlier this year, chip giant Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) refreshed its mainstream desktop personal-computer chip lineup with a new family of chips based on its Kaby Lake architecture.</p>
<p>The Kaby Lake chips, which are now formally marketed as seventh-generation Core processors, offered modest improvements to the prior-generation Skylake processors, marketed as sixth-generation Core.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The basic chip architecture was the same, but Intel made improvements in the manufacturing technology used to build the chips. The company also probably improved the circuit-level implementation of the chips to take full advantage of the gains delivered by the enhanced manufacturing technology.</p>
<p>The net result was that, at least in the desktop personal-computer market, Intel bumped performance up by roughly 10% generation over generation.</p>
<p>More performance is always better, but for some segments of the market, such as enthusiast gaming, a 10% performance improvement isn't the sort of thing that gets people amped up.</p>
<p>In what is seemingly a response to renewed <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/15/intel-is-feeling-the-heat-from-amd.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=397e9740-762f-11e7-841c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">competitive pressures</a> in the enthusiast and gaming desktop market, Intel has pulled in its follow-on to the Kaby Lake-based desktop processors, known as <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/17/report-intel-corporation-preps-six-core-coffee-lak.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=397e9740-762f-11e7-841c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Coffee Lake</a>.</p>
<p>Coffee Lake is, again, based on the same basic architecture as the Skylake and Kaby Lake parts, but it benefits from yet another manufacturing technology refinement. In addition, while the Kaby Lake parts topped out at just four CPU cores, Coffee Lake is expected to include six.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>A new leak on the <a href="https://hardforum.com/threads/coffee-lake-lga-1151-6c-12t-launching-in-august-specifications-out.1930226/page-17#post-1043134146" type="external">HardOCP forums</a>&#160;reveals the specifications of the top gaming-oriented Coffee Lake part, known as the Core i7 8700K.</p>
<p>In addition to sporting two more CPU cores than the prior-generation Core i7-7700K -- Intel's current best gaming processor -- Intel has also apparently improved the one- and two-core turbo boost frequencies of the 8700K relative to its predecessor.</p>
<p>Out of the box, the Core i7 7700K could run a single core at 4.5GHz and two to four cores at 4.4GHz. Certainly, these are respectable frequencies that allowed the 7700K to deliver a good performance boost over its predecessor, the 6700K, and to make it arguably the best processor for gaming on the market today.</p>
<p>The 8700K, also out of the box, appears to run a single core at 4.7GHz, a 4.4% increase; two cores at 4.6GHz, a 4.5% increase; four cores at 4.4GHz, same as the 7700K; and six cores at 4.3GHz.</p>
<p>In addition, the 8700K includes 12 megabytes of last-level cache memory, up from 8 megabytes on the 7700K, which could further boost performance.</p>
<p>Based on these specifications, the 8700K should deliver slightly better performance than the current 7700K in applications that can't use more than four cores, while delivering substantially better performance in tasks that can use more than four cores, as it has 50% more cores.</p>
<p>Pricing hasn't yet been revealed for this part, but if the part really is marketed as the Core i7-8700K, that would suggest that it really is a direct successor to the Core i7-7700K. Intel typically doesn't change prices too much from one generation to the next, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the 8700K come in at about the same price as the current 7700K.</p>
<p>Priced right, the 8700K should be quite a compelling part for the gaming and enthusiast desktop community.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than IntelWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=fc3cd1f0-ed04-4c69-8866-d0edace2dd8d&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=397e9740-762f-11e7-841c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Intel wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=fc3cd1f0-ed04-4c69-8866-d0edace2dd8d&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=397e9740-762f-11e7-841c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/aeassa/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=397e9740-762f-11e7-841c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Ashraf Eassa</a> owns shares of Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. 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;uuid=397e9740-762f-11e7-841c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Intel Corporation's Core i7-8700K Specs Leaked | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/31/intel-corporations-core-i7-8700k-specs-leaked.html | 2017-07-31 | 0 |
<p>Rep. Paul Ryan’s claim that Medicare will be "bankrupt in nine years" goes too far. The trust fund that primarily supports one part of Medicare is projected to be exhausted come 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees said it might not actually happen until 2029. That still doesn’t mean the system will be "bankrupt," though.</p>
<p>The House Budget Committee chairman was making the case for his 2012 budget proposal, when he <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/FTN_041711.pdf" type="external">told "Face the Nation"</a> host Bob Schieffer:</p>
<p>Ryan, April 17: The problem is Medicare goes bankrupt in nine years unless we do something to save it. It won’t be there for future generations like my generation.</p>
<p>This is a claim <a href="" type="internal">we’ve heard before</a>, when it was used in a conservative group’s ad during the debate over the health care law. (The claim was eight years then.) We said it left a false impression that Medicare was going out of business. The same is true for Ryan’s claim.</p>
<p>A spokesman for Ryan said he was referring to the <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/budget/factsheets/2011b/medicare.pdf" type="external">CBO’s "Medicare Baseline" projections</a> from March 18. A footnote in that report (on page 4) said that the "Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to become exhausted in 2020." Medicare Part A is mainly paid for by payroll taxes that are held by the HI trust fund. Part A covers inpatient hospital services and hospice care.</p>
<p>But Medicare has <a href="http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7305-05.pdf" type="external">three other parts</a>: Part B (which covers physician services and medical supplies not paid for by Part A); Part C (Medicare Advantage, which provides benefits through a private insurance company); and Part D (which is the prescription drug benefit). Medicare Parts B and D are financed through the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, or SMI, which is supported mostly by general revenues and premiums paid by beneficiaries. Part C includes Part A and Part B, but is coverage offered through private plans rather than traditional Medicare.</p>
<p>CBO’s projections for Medicare didn’t say that the SMI trust fund was in danger of exhaustion. In fact, in <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html" type="external">its 2010 report</a>, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees said that Parts B and D were "both projected to remain adequately financed into the indefinite future because current law automatically provides financing each year to meet the next year’s expected costs." And it projected that the HI trust fund would be exhausted in 2029. That was under its " <a href="https://www.cms.gov/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2010.pdf" type="external">intermediate assumptions</a>," which are the "Trustees’ best estimates of likely future economic and demographic conditions," according to the report. At that time, dedicated revenues, which include payroll taxes and beneficiary premiums, would be enough to cover 85 percent of HI costs, the report said. The fund’s exhaustion date was 2017 under a "high-cost," or more pessimistic scenario.</p>
<p>This is hardly the first time government projections have said the HI trust fund would be exhausted. The Congressional Research Service <a href="http://www.aging.senate.gov/crs/medicare14.pdf" type="external">reported</a> that "almost from its inception, the HI trust fund has faced a projected shortfall." For example, in 1970, the Trustees report said the fund would be insolvent in 1972, and in 1980 the fund was expected to be depleted in 1994. Politicians keep finding ways to postpone any insolvency.</p>
<p>We don’t mean to downplay Medicare’s financial challenges, but the whole system isn’t going "bankrupt,"&#160;as Ryan’s claim suggests.</p>
<p>More on Medicare</p>
<p>Ryan also went too far in claiming that <a href="http://budget.house.gov/UploadedFiles/PathToProsperityFY2012.pdf" type="external">his proposal</a> to change Medicare would give future beneficiaries a system that "works just like the one that I have as a member of Congress." (Our colleagues at PolitiFact <a href="http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/apr/13/mike-pence/mike-pence-said-republican-medicare-proposal-will-/" type="external">wrote</a> about a similar claim by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana.) Ryan’s plan would affect those who are 54 or younger this year. His statement is true in the sense that those future beneficiaries would choose a private insurance plan from an exchange, or marketplace, the way <a href="" type="internal">members of Congress</a> currently choose their insurance from a list of plans offered to federal employees. Medicare exchange plans would have to offer a certain level of benefits and cover anyone who wanted insurance, under his plan. But there is at least one major difference between what members of Congress have and what Ryan has proposed for beneficiaries down the road.</p>
<p>On average, the government currently pays about 72 percent of premiums for members of Congress, and other federal employees, through a formula known as "Fair Share," which keeps a "consistent level of Government contributions, as a percentage of total program costs, regardless of which health plan enrollees elect," <a href="http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/reference/handbook/fehb03.asp" type="external">according to the</a> Office of Personnel Management. The maximum government contribution is 75 percent, depending on the plan chosen.</p>
<p>Ryan’s proposal would change Medicare so that beneficiaries would get a so-called "premium-support payment” to help purchase private insurance, instead of being on the current fee-for-service system. In 2022, the average payment would be $8,000 for those age 65. The payment amount would increase based on the age of the recipient and the consumer price index for urban consumers, or CPI-U. But the "premium-support payments" wouldn’t keep pace with growing health care costs, <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12128/04-05-Ryan_Letter.pdf" type="external">according to the</a> Congressional Budget Office, meaning that many Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay a larger percentage of their coverage as costs increase. CBO projected that under Ryan’s plan, the government would pay 39 percent of the cost of a private insurance plan in 2022 and 32 percent in 2030.</p>
<p>So, while the government’s contribution for insurance for members of Congress stays basically the same, proportionally, the contribution would actually decline over time for future Medicare beneficiaries. And the percentage the government would pay for seniors is also much lower than what the government pays for federal employees.</p> | Ryan’s Muddy Medicare Claims | false | https://factcheck.org/2011/04/ryans-muddy-medicare-claims/ | 2011-04-19 | 2 |
<p>Canada's unemployment rate fell in July to its lowest level in nearly nine years as the economy added jobs for an eighth straight month, although at a slower pace compared to recent months.</p>
<p>The Canadian economy added a net 10,900 jobs in July, Statistics Canada said Friday. This was largely in line with market expectations, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada. This marks a slowdown from the previous two months, when the economy churned out 100,000 new jobs. For the May-to-July period, Canada added an average 36,900 jobs a month.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>On a year-over-year basis, Canadian employment increased 387,600, or 2.1%. Over 90% of the new jobs created over the past 12 months were full-time positions, which tend to offer higher pay and steady benefits.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% in July, or the lowest level since October, 2008, or just before the onset of the financial crisis. When using U.S. Labor Department methodology, Canada's jobless rate in July was 5.3%.</p>
<p>Friday's positive jobs report was marred, though, by Canadian trade figures for June. The trade report indicated the trade deficit ballooned to 3.60 billion Canadian dollars ($2.86 billion), or the fourth-largest on record, due to a steep 4.3% drop in exports.</p>
<p>This marks a rare, but significant, setback for the Canadian economy in some time, as growth has accelerated in the past year to a point where the Bank of Canada believed it was appropriate to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in seven years. Canada's gross domestic product rose at a 3.7% annualized rate in the first quarter, making Canada the best-performing economy among Group of Seven countries in early 2017, and economists expect second-quarter growth to hit or exceed 3%.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for July, released at the same time as Canadian data, indicated hiring continued on a solid pace. The U.S. Labor Department said Friday nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 209,000, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%, matching a 16-year low.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>All of the 35,100 net new Canadian jobs created in July were full time, while part-time employment fell 24,300. However, the report also indicates all of the new jobs were among the ranks of the self-employed, who tend to be independent contractors that aren't necessarily paid on a regular schedule. Private-sector firms shed 3,200 workers, while Canada's public sector added 800 people to their payrolls.</p>
<p>Average hourly pay rose 1.3% from a year ago in July, data showed. The central bank has expressed concern about the tepid pace of wage gains.</p>
<p>On a sectoral basis, the goods-producing component of the economy added 1,900 positions, as a big gain in manufacturing was offset by declines in construction and agriculture. The services sector, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of Canadian economic output, added 9,000 positions, with wholesale and retail trade doing the heavy lifting.</p>
<p>Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected]</p>
<p>OTTAWA -- Canada's unemployment rate fell in July to its lowest level in nearly nine years as the economy added jobs for an eighth straight month, although at a slower pace compared to recent months.</p>
<p>The Canadian economy added a net 10,900 jobs in July, Statistics Canada said Friday. This was largely in line with market expectations, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada. This marks a slowdown from the previous two months, when the economy churned out 100,000 new jobs. For the May-to-July period, Canada added an average 36,900 jobs a month.</p>
<p>On a year-over-year basis, Canadian employment increased 387,600, or 2.1%. Over 90% of the new jobs created over the past 12 months were full-time positions, which tend to offer higher pay and steady benefits.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% in July, or the lowest level since October, 2008, or just before the onset of the financial crisis. When using U.S. Labor Department methodology, Canada's jobless rate in July was 5.3%.</p>
<p>Friday's positive jobs report was marred, though, by Canadian trade figures for June. The trade report indicated the trade deficit ballooned to 3.60 billion Canadian dollars ($2.86 billion), or the fourth-largest on record, due to a steep 4.3% drop in exports. This marks a rare, but significant, setback for the Canadian economy in some time, as growth has accelerated in the past year to a point where the Bank of Canada believed it was appropriate to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in seven years. Canada's gross domestic product rose at a 3.7% annualized rate in the first quarter, making Canada the best-performing economy among Group of Seven countries in early 2017, and economists expect second-quarter growth to hit or exceed 3%.</p>
<p>Josh Nye, economist at Royal Bank of Canada, said the surprise drop in Canada's unemployment rate to a postcrisis low "supports the Bank of Canada's expectation that slack in the economy will be absorbed later this year. That should keep the central bank in tightening mode."</p>
<p>He said he expects the central bank to raise its benchmark rate again in October, but developments on inflation cloud the outlook.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for July, released at the same time as Canadian data, indicated hiring continued on a solid pace. The U.S. Labor Department said Friday nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 209,000, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%, matching a 16-year low.</p>
<p>All of the 35,100 net new Canadian jobs created in July were full time, while part-time employment fell 24,300. However, the report also indicates all of the new jobs were among the ranks of the self-employed, who tend to be independent contractors that aren't necessarily paid on a regular schedule. Private-sector firms shed 3,200 workers, while Canada's public sector added 800 people to their payrolls.</p>
<p>Average hourly pay rose 1.3% from a year ago in July, data showed. The central bank has expressed concern about the tepid pace of wage gains.</p>
<p>On a sectoral basis, the goods-producing component of the economy added 1,900 positions, as a big gain in manufacturing was offset by declines in construction and agriculture. The services sector, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of Canadian economic output, added 9,000 positions, with wholesale and retail trade doing the heavy lifting.</p>
<p>Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 04, 2017 09:50 ET (13:50 GMT)</p> | Canada's Jobless Rate Hits Near Nine-Year Low in July -- 2nd Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/04/canadas-jobless-rate-hits-near-nine-year-low-in-july-update.html | 2017-08-04 | 0 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>” … my father protested, ‘ALL Democratic candidates are unintelligent and corrupt. Do you want the Republicans to win?’ He meant to say that intelligent voters favored the party that best represented their economic interests and sociological perspective … He never doubted that there were good men among Republicans. He merely understood that they did not speak for his class.”</p>
<p>Neil Postman, <a href="" type="internal">Amusing Ourselves to Death</a>, 1984</p>
<p>On October 3, White House Occupant (WHO?) Bush vetoed a Democratic bill that would have somewhat expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). He told the GOP-friendly Lancaster (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system.” Over five years the extra $35 billion proposed would have covered an additional 4 million children. Economist Dean Baker recently noted that the rather tiny funding increase required (0.2 percent of projected federal spending—-$23 per person/per year) was dwarfed by Mr. Bush’s 2008 Iraq incineration project. There, the WHO proposes to spend $190 billion or $630 per person. Baker observes dryly that the extra $7 billion in SCHIP funding per year would be “approximately equal to what … Bush will spend on the war in Iraq in two weeks.”</p>
<p>Baker’s point about the relative size of federal expenditures is an important one. But of course there’s more to questions of public finance than the size of various allocations. The central question of politics is always, “Who benefits and who pays?” And in the case of the now vetoed SCHIP expansion the Democrats, cloaked in their bipartisan finery proposed that the poor and the addicted should pay. Currently cigarette smokers cough up 39 cents to the feds per pack. That would have been increased to $1.00 if the SCHIP bill passed.</p>
<p>In a rare burst of (Bush-inspired) economic analysis, the AP reported on October 1st that, “Congressional Democrats have chosen an unlikely source to pay for the bulk of their proposed $35 billion increase in children’s health coverage: people with little money and education.” The AP continued, “Low-income people smoke more heavily than do wealthier people … making cigarette taxes a regressive form of revenue.” Since “both political parties seem inclined” to stick it to the poor and uneducated this was a natural of course. Here in Maine, we’ve seen the same tendency for “New” Democrats to punish their base with so-called “sin taxes” rather than increase levies on the rich and the corporate.</p>
<p>The standard line is that raising taxes on smokers will maybe “help” people quit. Of course, the pols are somewhat less inclined to “help” Humvee hostages kick their planet-strangling/coastal-flooding habit by raising fuel taxes. Neither are they eager to economically “burden” the corporations that shut down US-based production and roam the third world seeking ever cheaper and more powerless workers to exploit. No, that behavior is rewarded, and the CEOs who do it get the taxes forgiven on their ballooning incomes.</p>
<p>Wall Street loves class war. The speculators dote on every downsizing, off-shoring, union-busting rollback. If stock prices are to rise, then the power-lunchers want to see “cost-cutting.” That generally means that a bunch of ordinary people have to get screwed. “Creative destruction” they call it. Others might see it as wagering and profiting from the pain of others. Whatever you call it, the political class is in no mood to therapeutically “help” the Wall Street crowd clean up their act.</p>
<p>Back in the 1970s economist James Tobin modestly proposed a small tax on short-term currency speculation. Inspired by Richard Nixon’s 1971 decision to end the gold-standard/dollar-based Bretton Woods system, the Nobel Prize winner suggested a small tax (0,1 to 0.25 percent) be placed on short-term speculation to promote “stability” in national currencies. Given the power of these well-connected gamblers, the idea was not immediately embraced. But because of the vast sums (in the trillions of dollars) that such a progressive tax on the wealthy would raise, the idea has never quite been killed. In 1999, for instance, Canada’s House of Commons resolved to “enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community.”</p>
<p>But then Bush was selected, 9/11 “changed everything,” and the US Democratic party devoted itself full-time to organized murder and sucking up to rich people. One might think that, if the US political system wasn’t so whored-out, and with the dollar threatening to set off on a thrill and spill-packed roller coaster ride, the old Tobin Tax idea would be new again.</p>
<p>The 1990s Labor Party organizing drive featured a Single-Payer universal health care plan that included a Tobin Tax-inspired levy on the Wall Street Big Casino Crowd to help pay for a civilized medical insurance system. Theirs was a well crafted and rational plan but sadly, it benefitted the “wrong” people and was to be paid for largely by “The Right People.” It was doomed.</p>
<p>Now comes the Conyers bill, HR 676, the latest single-payer plan, currently languishing in a theoretically Democrat-controlled congress. This modest proposal would end the pitiless reign of private insurers and cruel cost-shifters over the population’s health. It would cover everyone, for most everything, for less. HR 676 is no SCHIP-style baby-step toward civilization.</p>
<p>Best of all, most of the funding is a throwback to a simpler time when it was not heresy to propose imposing taxes on the rich. Among the suggested revenue streams Conyers projects raising $251 billion annually from a reversal of the 01-02 Bush tax cuts, $200 billion from a 5 percent surcharge on the wealthiest 5 percent, and 10 percent on the richest 1 percent —-in other words—Bush’s base. He proposes to lightly trim a few corporate subsidies to raise $100 billion. There’s also a proposed “Stock Transfer Tax” in the mix (“0.25 percent on buyer and seller”) which raises $150 billion.</p>
<p>There was a time when the Ds might have ridden 676 to super-majority status. Sadly, that time has apparently passed.</p>
<p>RICHARD RHAMES is a dirt-farmer in Biddeford, Maine whose place is just north of the Kennebunkport town line. Since 1990, Rhames has been the chair of the Biddeford Democratic City Committee, an organization charged with “promoting the ideals of the Party.” He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Democrat’s Lament | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/10/08/a-democrat-s-lament/ | 2007-10-08 | 4 |
<p />
<p>The latest issue of the British Medical Journal has an excellent <a href="http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/extract/331/7522/958" type="external">article</a> on American drug companies. To put this in context, recall that of late, the pharmaceutical industry has been lobbying the U.S. government to sign “free” trade deals with other countries that would: raise prices on patented drugs; extend patent protection to delay the introduction of generics; and block “re-importation” to the United States. Why would they do such a thing? Because, says Big Pharma, the rest of the world hasn’t been paying its “fair share” of research expenditures, and it’s time for them to stop free-riding. Which brings us to the BMJ article, which basically screams “Liar!”</p>
<p>The United States government is engaged in a campaign to characterise other industrialised countries as free riding on high US pharmaceutical prices and innovation in new drugs…</p>
<p>The campaign, strongly backed by the pharmaceutical industry, seems to have started in the late 1990s as a response to a grass roots movement started by senior citizens against the high prices of essential prescription drugs. This issue was the most prominent one for both parties in the 2000 elections and has since been fuelled by a series of independent reports documenting that US drug prices are much higher than those in other affluent countries…</p>
<p>We can find no convincing evidence to support the view that the lower prices in affluent countries outside the United States do not pay for research and development costs. The latest report from the UK Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme documents that drug companies in the United Kingdom invest proportionately more of their revenues from domestic sales in research and development than do companies in the US.</p>
<p>Prices in the UK are much lower than those in the US yet profits remain robust. Companies in other countries also fully recover their research and development costs, maintain high profits, and sell drugs at substantially lower prices than in the US.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry’s claim that European countries “free ride” seems to be based primarily on a 2004 <a href="http://www.bain.com/bainweb/publications/publications_detail.asp?id=14643&amp;menu_url=publications_results.asp" type="external">report</a> produced by Bain &amp; Company, a consulting group in Boston. (The AARP passed it widely around.) But that report doesn’t provide any evidence for its claim that “innovative drugs” are somehow less available in Europe as a result of overly-low prices. Perhaps American pharmaceutical companies aren’t marketing their absolute latest and flashiest patented drugs in Europe, true. But considering how many of these are <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17244" type="external">“me-too” drugs</a> with little to no significant medical benefit, perhaps it’s no surprise that Europeans aren’t suffering much for the loss.</p> | The Truth About Free-Riders | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2005/11/truth-about-free-riders/ | 2005-11-08 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>In the Albuquerque metro area, such as this Rio Rancho neighborhood, the number of homes with negative equity is declining. (Journal File)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The gradual housing recovery in the Albuquerque metro area has been slowly erasing one of the hallmarks of the housing crisis, homes with negative equity, according to a new report from CoreLogic.</p>
<p>More than 10,000 homeowners in the metro saw their previously “underwater” mortgages turn positive from the first quarter of this year to the third, the Irvine, Calif.-based property information and services provider reported.</p>
<p>Negative equity, often referred to as being underwater, means borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. The drop in homes with negative equity in Albuquerque reflects a national trend.</p>
<p>“We should see a further rebound in consumer confidence and economic growth in 2014 as more homeowners escape the negative equity trap,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.</p>
<p>As of the third quarter in the metro, 11.3 percent of all homes with mortgages had negative equity, down from 13.7 percent in the preceding second quarter and more than 17 percent in the first quarter. Nationwide, 13 percent of mortgaged homes had negative equity in the third quarter.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Statewide, 10.3 percent of all homes with mortgages had negative equity, down from 11.9 percent in the preceding quarter, CoreLogic reported.</p>
<p>Another sign of improvement in the residential real estate market is a corresponding drop in the average loan-to-value ratio, or how much of the average home’s value is financed by a mortgage.</p>
<p>In New Mexico, the loan-to-value ratio dropped from 67 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 65.2 percent in the third quarter of this year. Nationwide, the ratio dropped from 69.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 61.4 percent in this year’s third quarter.</p>
<p>Nationwide, and likely in New Mexico as well, the bulk of home equity for mortgaged properties is concentrated at the high end of the housing market. For example, 92 percent of homes valued at greater than $200,000 have positive equity, compared with 82 percent of homes valued at less than $200,000.</p> | Number of ‘underwater’ homes in NM dropping sharply | false | https://abqjournal.com/322466/number-of-8220underwater8221-homes-in-nm-dropping-sharply.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>If you thought public relations professionals existed purely to sing the praises of the companies they work for, think again. A new study of senior public relations professionals found that, while it can often be difficult for them to disagree with company decisions, these employees often do.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The study by researchers at Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin drew on on in-depth interviews with senior PR professionals who had all held top positions at corporations, nonprofits or government entities.</p>
<p>Study author Marlene S. Neill, Ph.D., of Baylor University said that, despite feeling pressure to support the organization that employed them, many participants considered themselves an “independent voice” within their organization, not “mired by its perspectives or politics.”</p>
<p>But being the voice of dissention wasn’t easy for those interviewed. Many of the 30 participants reported finding themselves in “kill the messenger” predicaments. This made it difficult both to share criticism with higher-ranking people at the company and persuade such leadership to agree with conflicting perspectives, Neill said.</p>
<p>And a number of those interviewed said they had been fired or demoted because they refused to go along with a company decision they deemed unethical. Two participants reported resigning when their advice was rejected, including one who refused to include false information in a press release.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Many of the study’s participants reported that senior executives see a public relations department as nothing but a marketing tool. This view limits a PR person’s ability to offer meaningful counsel or help solve problems, the study showed.</p>
<p>But some participants reported working for organizations that were on board with their PR team’s role as devil’s advocate.</p>
<p>"The 'yes man' has no value in PR," said one of the study's participants.</p>
<p>Another public relations veteran said that she had developed a good relationship with her company's CEO because he could often count on her to disagree with him.</p>
<p>Participants said that a truly useful PR team works closely with a company's legal counsels and key decision makers to control and avert negative situations.</p>
<p>PR professionals cited a number of ways they've helped management make smart choices and avoid company crises, including mock news conferences and "headline testing," in which managers are asked to imagine a good headline and a bad headline that could result from their decisions.</p>
<p>Follow BusinessNewsDaily on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/BNDarticles" type="external">BNDarticles</a>. We're also on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BusinessNewsDaily" type="external">Facebook</a> &amp; <a href="https://plus.google.com/113390396142026041164/posts" type="external">Google+</a>.</p> | PR Pros Don't Always Toe the Company Line | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/02/14/pr-pros-dont-always-toe-company-line.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Atlanta voters woke up to deja vu Wednesday in the racially polarized contest to choose the city’s next mayor, with one candidate laying claim to City Hall while the other vowed to seek a recount over a margin of just 759 votes.</p>
<p>The Tuesday runoff between Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is black, and Mary Norwood, who is white, split Atlanta practically in half after a vitriolic campaign punctuated by political grudges and allegations of corruption. Unofficial results showed Bottoms leading with 46,464 votes, or 50.41 percent, to Norwood’s 45,705 votes, or 49.59 percent.</p>
<p>Election officials say a recount could happen next week if Norwood formally requests one. Results could be certified as soon as Saturday. Norwood would then have 48 hours to request the recount, which could take about three hours to complete.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For Norwood, the outcome virtually mirrored her 2009 loss to current Mayor Kasim Reed by a mere 714 votes. Norwood requested a recount, which ultimately produced only one additional vote. On Wednesday, Norwood wasn’t seen at any public events and her campaign declined an Associated Press request for comment on the race.</p>
<p>Bottoms told WSB-TV in an interview Wednesday that she has not spoken with Norwood but is confident a recount would not change the results.</p>
<p>“I’m not surprised that she’s asking for a recount, but I do think that our vote tally will hold, and I think if anything, our vote tally will go up,” Bottoms said.</p>
<p>A win for Norwood, 65, would give Atlanta its first-ever white female mayor, and end the Democratic Party’s hold on an office it has held without interruption since 1879.</p>
<p>If Bottoms wins, she would become Atlanta’s sixth consecutive African-American mayor, a trend that began with Maynard Jackson in 1973 and cultivated the balance between black political clout and white business interests that have come to define the city.</p>
<p>“This was a story of turnout,” Emory University political scientist Andra Gillespie said. “(Bottoms) is going to have to figure out how to bridge the divide across communities who say they want the same thing, but had different strategies for achieving these goals.”</p>
<p>That dynamic is now threatened by an influx of newcomers, said Andrew Young, who served as mayor from 1982 to 1990 and endorsed Bottoms in the runoff. Now 85, Young said the elders who worked hard to make Atlanta the “City Too Busy to Hate” are moving off the scene, and “the new people coming in don’t realize how hard we worked.”</p>
<p>“It’s not black mayors — it’s the best mayor,” Young said. “Until a more qualified white person decides to run, this will be the case.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The runoff was seen as a test of the staying power of the city’s long-dominant black political machine and how it would respond to demographic and economic changes. Atlanta’s last white mayor, Sam Massell, left office in 1974 and was succeeded over the next four decades by Jackson, Young, Bill Campbell, Shirley Franklin and Reed.</p>
<p>Although Atlanta’s population is less black than it was in 2009 — 53 percent, compared with 56 percent then — black Atlantans still constitute a majority of registered voters and overall turnout. Tuesday’s race saw 92,169 votes cast, less than 20 percent of the city’s roughly 500,000 residents.</p>
<p>Votes tracked along racial lines in north-side and south-side neighborhoods; both candidates won votes in the political battleground of east Atlanta.</p>
<p>Bottoms’ strategists clearly borrowed tactics from Reed’s 2009 playbook, capturing national attention with last-minute appearances by Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California.</p>
<p>Though the race has yet to be officially called, Bottoms claimed victory early Wednesday at an Atlanta hotel flanked by her family and Reed, telling supporters: “For all the little girls out there who need somebody to believe that you are better than your circumstances, I want you all to remember that black girl magic is real.”</p>
<p>Observers say black women were likely key in giving Bottoms’ her unofficial lead. Bottoms was the only black woman on the ballot and the top vote-getter in the Nov. 7 general election. In the runoff, she was boosted by Harris, who has been touted as a potential 2020 presidential candidate.</p>
<p>“Everybody in our culture looked at what was going on in Atlanta,” said Reed, who is leaving office after two terms.</p>
<p>Reed loomed large over the race in his dual roles as a chief strategist for Bottoms and a polarizing figure whose battles with his political enemies threatened to overshadow her campaign. He said whether Bottoms is the last black mayor will be up to voters.</p>
<p>“I totally believe that right now, a white person could be mayor of Atlanta,” Reed said. “But it’s about talent, merit, and who you put up.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Jeff Martin and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.</p> | Black political machine tested again in Atlanta mayor race | false | https://abqjournal.com/1102636/recount-looms-in-too-close-to-call-atlanta-mayors-race.html | 2017-12-06 | 2 |
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Muhtar Kent</a>, the CEO of All-American corporate giant <a href="" type="internal">Coca-Cola</a> (NYSE:KO), knocked Washington over its handling of taxes and the level of political rancor and said he prefers investing in faster-growing countries like <a href="" type="internal">China</a>, Russia and Brazil.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The critical comments from Kent, who has been CEO since July 2008, underscore growing discontent in Corporate America over political gridlock in Washington, a tougher regulatory environment and corporate tax levels.</p>
<p>In the west, were forgetting what really worked 20 years ago, Kent said in an interview with the <a href="" type="internal">Financial Times</a>. In China and other markets around the world, you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment.</p>
<p>Kent compared the U.S. business environment with the ones in <a href="" type="internal">emerging markets</a>, including communist China, which has seen its economy explode in recent years.</p>
<p>In many respects, Kent told the paper, it is easier to do business with China, which he compared with a well-managed company. You have a one-stop shop in terms of the Chinese foreign investment agency and local governments are fighting for investment with each other, he said.</p>
<p>Likewise, Kent pointed to fast-growing Brazil as an attractive place for investment today.</p>
<p>Theyre learning very fast, these countries, Kent told the FT.</p>
<p>While many have lauded these nations for their strong economic growth, others worry they are in the midst of a series of bubbles that may eventually burst. Brazil, in particular, has seen its real-estate market explode, thanks in part to enormous foreign investment.</p>
<p>China has been repeatedly criticized for restricting political freedoms, undervaluing its currency, intellectual property theft and blocking foreign investment.</p>
<p>Still, Coke has benefited from the emerging economies, selling more than a billion cases of products in China in the first half of the year. The companys global organic volumes jumped 5% in the second quarter.</p>
<p>In fact, China accounts for about 6% of the Atlanta-based companys annual operating profits, compared with 19% in the U.S., Bernstein Research estimates.</p>
<p>Kent was critical about the tax structure in the U.S., which he believes needs to be revamped.</p>
<p>If you talk about an American company doing business in the world today with its Chinese, Russian, European or Japanese counterparts, of course were disadvantaged, Kent told the FT. A Chinese or Swiss company can do whatever it wants with those funds [earned overseas]. When we want to bring them back, we are faced with a very large tax burden.</p>
<p>The comments came hours after Coke and a bottling partner unveiled plans to invest $3 billion over the next five years in Russia in an effort to expand operations there.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Coke CEO Blasts U.S., Praises China, Russia | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/09/27/coke-ceo-blasts-us-praises-china-russia.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Trader Robert Hannan works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Stocks fell sharply in early trading Friday, as investors fretted over disappointing earnings from companies like Amazon.com and more trouble in overseas markets. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)</p>
<p>NEW YORK - Stock investors were hit from all sides in January.</p>
<p>Concerns about the global economy and U.S. company earnings, as well as turmoil in emerging markets, led major indexes to their worst month in two years. However, many investors remain hopeful that the problems in January will not spill over into the rest of 2014.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>They even see this month's downturn as healthy, given the U.S. market's torrid 30 percent rise last year.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.3 percent in January, the worst start to a year since 2009. The Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index fell 3.6 percent this month and the Nasdaq composite fell 2 percent.</p>
<p>Investors entered the year with some degree of skepticism and nervousness. The stock market went basically straight up in 2013. The S&amp;P 500 index ended 2013 with a gain of nearly 30 percent, its best year since 1997.</p>
<p>"No amount of negative news could derail the market last year," said Jonathan Corpina, a floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange with Meridan Equity Partners.</p>
<p>But no stock market can go straight up forever.</p>
<p>Many investors expected 2014 to be a more muddled and volatile for the market. Market strategists late last year were looking for the S&amp;P 500 index to notch a modest gain of 4 percent to 6 percent, ending in the range of 1,850 to 1,900.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Investors were also looking for more pullbacks this year and possibly a correction, the technical term for when a stock market index like the S&amp;P 500 falls 10 percent or more. Three months ago, analysts at Goldman Sachs said there was roughly a 60 percent chance that a correction would happen this year.</p>
<p>"People did look at these stock market valuations at the beginning of the year with a degree of nervousness," said David Kelly, chief market strategist with J.P. Morgan Funds. "A correction would probably be healthy for the market."</p>
<p>But many investors were surprised by January's turbulence. With one exception, the Dow had triple-digit moves every trading day in January.</p>
<p>Still, with the broader S&amp;P 500 index down just 3.6 percent from its January 15 peak, the downturn is hardly severe.</p>
<p>"There's been some negative news out there - the economic data, corporate earnings and what's now going on in emerging markets - but I'm not convinced the headlines are bad enough to be a catalyst to push us into a correction," Corpina said.</p>
<p>Investors point to the December jobs report, released on Jan. 10, as when the troubles began. The U.S. government said employers created only 74,000 jobs in December, the worst month for job creation in since 2011 and far below expectations.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Up until then, weeks of data showed that the U.S. economic recovery was accelerating. U.S. companies were selling record levels of goods overseas; layoffs had dwindled; and the Federal Reserve was pulling back on its economic stimulus program, citing an improving economy.</p>
<p>Many investors called the December jobs report as a statistical fluke. But the report has weighed on stocks all month, investors say.</p>
<p>"It set a negative tone for the market," Kelly said.</p>
<p>Other economic reports also painted a picture of U.S. economic growth possibly flattening out instead of accelerating.</p>
<p>Investors combined these economic worries with mixed signals from U.S. companies.</p>
<p>Wall Street is in the middle of earnings season, when the country's major corporations report results for the final three months of the year. Half of the members of the S&amp;P 500 have reported, and the results have been mixed. While fourth-quarter corporate earnings are up a respectable 7.9 percent from a year earlier, companies have been cutting their full-year outlooks and reporting weaker sales, according to data provider FactSet.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, said Friday that earnings may come in at the low end or below its prior forecasts. It also expects sales at stores open at least a year to be flat. The company previously forecast that sales would be modestly higher.</p>
<p>Wal-Mart's forecast echo the comments from Macy's, Target, Best Buy and other retailers.</p>
<p>Of the companies who have reported so far, 44 companies have cut their full-year profit outlooks while 10 have increased their outlooks, according to data from FactSet.</p>
<p>Adding to concerns about the U.S. economy and earnings were problems in overseas markets.</p>
<p>The bad overseas news started with China. A recent report showed that manufacturing activity in the world's second-largest economy unexpectedly contracted in January. The report added to other recent signs that the Chinese economy was slowing down after years of massive growth.</p>
<p>Then came currency troubles in smaller emerging markets, particularly Turkey, South Africa and Argentina.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>All three saw their currencies fall sharply against the dollar, as investors began to pull out of emerging markets and return their money to less-risky parts of the globe.</p>
<p>"These governments were financing themselves with (foreign investor money), and now that these investors are looking to go home, there's no source of money to replace them," said Krishna Memani, chief investment officer at Oppenheimer Funds.</p>
<p>On Friday, the U.S. stock market closed out January on yet another down note. The Dow fell 149.70 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,698.91. The S&amp;P 500 dropped 11.61 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,782.57 and the Nasdaq lost 19.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,103.88.</p>
<p>Investors shouldn't panic yet, money managers say.</p>
<p>They will get the January jobs report next week. Also, another 93 members of the S&amp;P 500 are scheduled to report earnings.</p>
<p>"A 5 percent decline in equities is not an earthshattering event by any measure, particularly after last year," Memani said. "It's still way too early to give up on equities."</p>
<p>""</p>
<p>AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report from Los Angeles.</p> | US stocks end tough January with another decline | false | https://abqjournal.com/345887/us-stocks-end-tough-january-with-another-decline.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — WisePies Pizza &amp; Salad is seeking nonprofit beneficiaries for its 2017 WiseInitiative Supporting Community fundraiser.</p>
<p>The pizza chain is accepting applications from nonprofits in the three markets where it has restaurants — Albuquerque, Gallup and Tempe, Ariz. — for the campaign scheduled to launch Feb. 1. The company’s charitable mission “is to support organizations that provide food, clothing, shelter and/or services to the youth and their families in our communities,” according to a news release.</p>
<p>WisePies restaurants will ask customers to donate $1 or more. The restaurant will give those who contribute a $1 voucher for use on a future visit. Nonprofits can apply at www.wisepiespizza.com/wiseinitiative until Nov. 23.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | WisePies sets up nonprofit mission | false | https://abqjournal.com/879202/wisepies-sets-up-nonprofit-mission.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The number of U.S. children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder continues to rise but may be leveling off a bit, a new survey shows.</p>
<p>More than 1 in 10 children has been diagnosed with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which surveyed more than 95,000 parents in 2011.</p>
<p>ADHD diagnoses have been rising since at least 1997, according to CDC data. Experts think that’s because more doctors are looking for ADHD, and more parents know about it.</p>
<p>The condition makes it hard for kids to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. It’s often treated with drugs, behavioral therapy, or both.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The latest survey found about 11 percent of children ages 4 through 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD. That translates to nearly 6.5 million children. Half of children are diagnosed by age 6, the study found.</p>
<p>A 2007 survey put ADHD diagnoses at 9.5 percent of kids.</p>
<p>The CDC survey asked parents if a health care provider told them their child had ADHD. It’s not known how thorough the assessment was to reach that conclusion.</p> | New survey: 1 in 10 kids has ADHD | false | https://abqjournal.com/309005/new-survey-1-in-10-kids-has-adhd.html | 2013-11-25 | 2 |
<p>On the day that Scooter Libby’s prison sentence was lifted by President Bush, Mordechai Vanunu was sentenced to prison, again, in Israel. In both cases, the underlying offense was the same: speaking to journalists. In each case, the nominal charges were otherwise. For Libby, lying under oath about the circumstances, thereby obstructing justice. For Vanunu, it was breaking a restriction laid upon him when he emerged from prison three years ago, after serving an earlier full sentence of eighteen years, also for speaking to journalists: he was ordered not to speak, at all, to journalists or foreigners. Like a free man, he did both, openly and repeatedly.</p>
<p>But whereas Libby had passed classified information, and Vanunu had served his earlier sentence for doing the same, in this instance Vanunu was not charged with revealing any secrets. The transcripts or published accounts of his conversations being available, it was open knowledge that what he had mainly talked about was the truth of his personal convictions about nuclear weapons: that they should universally be abolished, Israel’s among them.</p>
<p>Perjury, with the intent and effect of obstructing justice (successfully, as it happens, in Libby’s case) is an ancient, established crime under virtually any system of justice. Vanunu’s act of speaking his mind freely is not, under existing international human rights law. Nor is it a domestic crime in other democratic societies. These were not conditions of parole, as frequently misstated. Vanunu was not paroled from prison for his earlier conviction, but served his full sentence of eighteen years, eleven and a half of them in solitary confinement. Therefore, under most systems of criminal justice, he should have been subject to no further restrictions or requirements.</p>
<p>What, then, was the legal status of the restrictions which he has now been sentenced for violating? The answer is that the Israeli law under which his speech and movement are restricted is an unmodified relic of the British Mandate period in Palestine, i.e. a colonial regulation. Nothing like it exists in any other democracy in the world. It is as if the young United States had reenacted the British oppressions and restrictions that lead to the revolution, and that were condemned in the Declaration of Independence and banned in the Bill of Rights. Vanunu mordantly reflected on hearing his new sentence that perhaps his appeal should be to the Queen of England.</p>
<p>There are other differences between the two cases. The clear purpose of Lewis Libby’s conversations with journalists was to discredit someone, Joseph Wilson, who had publicly told truth that contradicted Administration lies. Some of the classified information he had revealed-at the direction of his boss, Vice President Richard Cheney-was itself deliberately misleading about the basis on which the country had been led to war in Iraq. The passage he revealed from a secret National Intelligence Estimate was selectively lifted from a context that included warnings that the estimate in it was uncertain and controversial within the intelligence community. It was, in fact, mistaken. And by the time Libby was authorized to release it by the Vice President (whose authority to do so is very much in question), both Cheney and Libby knew this, that the estimate being shown was false.</p>
<p>The other piece of classified information Libby revealed was the name and job of Joseph Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, a clandestine CIA operative whose work was to discover patterns of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Full disclosure: I do not consider all classified information sacrosanct or properly kept secret, and I myself was put on trial for deliberately copying and revealing classified information, the Pentagon Papers. But I would not have revealed Valerie Plame’s name or clandestine status. She was doing work that unquestionably served the national security interests of the United States and for her to do it obviously required and deserved secrecy.</p>
<p>Moreover, that particular secret (unlike anything in the Pentagon Papers) was protected by a law passed by Congress, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, criminalizing knowing revelation of the identities of covert operatives. (Whether Libby knew her clandestine status remains unknown and unproveable, thanks to his lapses of memory, or perhaps, lies). I don’t object to that narrowly-defined act, whereas I would oppose strongly a general Official Secrets Act such as Britain’s, criminalizing any and all revelations of classified information, which has so far been precluded from passage by our First Amendment.</p>
<p>There is no question that the information Vanunu revealed to the press in 1986-primarily, that Israel, which has never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty nor opened its nuclear operations to any international inspection, had been for some time a nuclear weapons state, with an arsenal larger than that of Britain and perhaps larger than France-was regarded as secret in Israel and his revelation as illegal. On the other hand, no other nuclear weapons state had kept this status secret from its own people and the world: again, with the exception of South Africa, which revealed its earlier secret arsenal at the same time as disbanding it along with apartheid. Moreover, by 1986 this program (aside from the scale Vanunu revealed, which was a surprise even to CIA) was a secret almost exclusively from those Israelis and others (including, officially, the American Government) that chose to believe Israel’s ambiguous and deliberately deceptive denials.</p>
<p>In any case, it was information that Vanunu’s fellow citizens deserved urgently to have had long before, in time to reach an informed, democratic judgment and influence on their country’s policy. In my opinion, Mordechai Vanunu did what he should have with the information he acquired. I hope that I would have done the same in his position. His readiness to accept the personal risk that his truth-telling actually entailed–that he would suffer a long prison sentence (and the longest time in solitary confinement known to Amnesty International, which defined it as a human rights violation)–is deserving of worldwide admiration, and, I hope, emulation. His continued restriction and persecution after serving his sentence, his new return to prison for six months on a pretence of preserving twenty-five-year-old secrets that he has yet to reveal (and which the restrictions do not protect), are illegal and outrageous.</p>
<p>As for Libby, I have no strong opinion on whether his sentence of thirty months in prison was, as President Bush judged in commuting it, excessive. As Bush undoubtedly knows in more detail than we do, Libby was only carrying out, routinely, the wishes and orders-manifestly illegal as they were-of his bosses. If this were confirmed by the Congressional investigation that should be forthcoming on the deceptions and violations of law and the Constitution that led us into war (and may do so again in Iran), it should lead to impeachment and then to criminal prosecution of Richard Cheney and/or George Bush. But a damper on such an effort is the now-certainty that conviction of either Cheney or his superior would be nullified by presidential pardon. It may not be true, as Richard Nixon declared, that “If the president does it, it is not illegal.” But whatever “it” is, if done or ordered by the president or vice president, it appears to be unpunishable. As in Israel, rules suited to an older imperial system, not a republic, are in force.</p>
<p>DANIEL ELLSBERG made history when as a top Pentagon official, he released the Pentagon Papers, the secret history of the Vietnam War, which exposed government lies going back 20 years. His act of resistance helped galvanize opposition to the war and triggered the events leading to Watergate and the downfall of Richard Nixon.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Scooter Libby and Mordechai Vanunu | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/07/06/scooter-libby-and-mordechai-vanunu/ | 2007-07-06 | 4 |
<p />
<p>On December 8, St. Louis County Prosecutor&#160;Robert McCulloch released additional details about the grand jury documents his office made public last month after no charges were brought against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. As a result, more details have come to light showing that the testimony of one particular grand jury witness was a sham—testimony that was repeatedly touted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity and other pundits who defended Wilson and the grand jury’s decision.</p>
<p>The Smoking Gun <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/unmasking-Ferguson-witness-40-496236" type="external">reported this week</a> that after it pieced together the identity of “Witness 40” using the latest information from McCulloch’s office, 45-year-old St. Louis resident Sandra McElroy confirmed that she was indeed that witness. Her role in the grand jury proceedings had already gained notoriety in part for her <a href="" type="internal">journal entry recounting</a> Wilson’s confrontation with Brown, which was submitted as evidence and included some bizarre and racially charged comments.</p>
<p>TSG‘s report added to a picture of <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/12/16/witness_40_michael_brown_football_player_witness_unreliability_history_of.html" type="external">inconsistencies</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inconsistency-the-only-constant-with-evidence-in-michael-brown-case/2014/11/25/6e3bc702-7450-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html" type="external">with</a> McElroy’s testimony, such as why she had been in Ferguson that day. (An explanation that started out as her visiting an old friend <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1370820-grand-jury-volume-18.html" type="external">later changed</a> to her taking “a random drive to&#160;Florisant” because she needed to “understand the Black race better.”) And while her account to investigators about the violence that occurred on August 9 hewed closely to <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/source-darren-wilson-says-michael-brown-kept-charging-at-him/article_d2cf8b20-c517-592b-96ba-77d8a5f46fef.html" type="external">Wilson’s version</a> of events, during her testimony prosecutors <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1382811-grand-jury-volume-15-witness-40-testimony.html#document/p182/a194160" type="external">noted that</a> details from video footage and maps of the area didn’t jibe with her claims. Moreover, TSG dug up documents detailing McElroy’s involvement in a&#160;2007 kidnapping case in St. Louis County, in which she gave testimony that police later determined was “ <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/ferguson-witness-40?page=11" type="external">a complete fabrication</a>.”</p>
<p>While it’s unclear to what degree McElroy’s unreliable story influenced the grand jurors—she was one of 62&#160;witnesses they heard from in an unusually exhaustive three-month-long process—her testimony&#160;has loomed large among pundits who’ve backed Wilson. Hannity, for example, took many opportunities to flog McElroy’s description of Brown allegedly charging at Wilson “like a football player with his head down” right before Wilson fatally shot him. In various broadcasts during the two weeks following the grand jury decision, Hannity—who mistakenly identified McElroy as black—referenced the football player description at least 21 times while trying to discredit Brown’s parents, Ferguson protestors, and others.</p>
<p>In a December 2 segment, responding to the notion that Brown had his hands up in surrender when Wilson shot him, Hannity said: “But didn’t the evidence show something entirely different, that you have black eyewitnesses from Ferguson that corroborated the cop’s story” and that Brown charged Wilson “like a football player with his head down.'” Other Fox News commentators, including Trace Gallagher, David Webb, and Judge Alex Ferrer, echoed that same description on other shows.</p>
<p>Here are two instances where Hannity references the “football player” testimony, at 2:46 and 3:26:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | How Fox News Ran With Bogus Testimony Given to the Ferguson Grand Jury | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/ferguson-grand-jury-witness-40-fox-news/ | 2014-12-18 | 4 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks had a muddled session on Tuesday, as investors worked through a large batch of corporate earnings from a range of companies including Gilead Sciences, McDonald’s and Texas Instruments.</p>
<p>On Tuesday:</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 19.31 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,473.75.</p>
<p>The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index rose 0.7 of a point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,169.18.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq composite added 12.42 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 5,110.05.</p>
<p>This week:</p>
<p>The Dow is down 97.10 points, or 0.5 percent.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 is down 5.85 points, or 0.3 percent.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq composite is up 9.89 points, or 0.2 percent.</p>
<p>For the year:</p>
<p>The Dow is up 1,048.72 points, or 6 percent.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 is up 125.24 points, or 6.1 percent.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq is up 102.64 points, or 2.1 percent.</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks had a muddled session on Tuesday, as investors worked through a large batch of corporate earnings from a range of companies including Gilead Sciences, McDonald’s and Texas Instruments.</p>
<p>On Tuesday:</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 19.31 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,473.75.</p>
<p>The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index rose 0.7 of a point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,169.18.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq composite added 12.42 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 5,110.05.</p>
<p>This week:</p>
<p>The Dow is down 97.10 points, or 0.5 percent.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 is down 5.85 points, or 0.3 percent.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq composite is up 9.89 points, or 0.2 percent.</p>
<p>For the year:</p>
<p>The Dow is up 1,048.72 points, or 6 percent.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 is up 125.24 points, or 6.1 percent.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq is up 102.64 points, or 2.1 percent.</p> | How the Dow Jones industrial average fared on Tuesday | false | https://apnews.com/07262f6585564ae6be7879ad75dd5846 | 2016-07-26 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.