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<p>Car payments have morphed from a temporary nuisance into a permanent part of many people's budgets. Whether that's a bad thing depends on what you do with the rest of your money.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>One-third of millennial car buyers chose a lease last year, which helped push auto lease volume to a record of 4.3 million and 31 percent of all new auto purchases, according to market research by Edmunds.com.</p>
<p>"There is a greater percentage of people who view car ownership as a monthly payment like their cell phone or cable or Wi-Fi," says Jessica Caldwell, executive director of strategic analytics at Edmunds.com. "It's just the way we live our lives."</p>
<p>Lease payments are typically lower than monthly loan payments for the same car, and leasing is less expensive than buying new cars every two or three years. But leasing is far from frugal, especially compared with paying off a car within five years and owning it for a few more. People who lease don't get a break from payments or build equity toward the next purchase.</p>
<p>But younger buyers in particular are more likely to view cars as technology that needs to be continually upgraded, Caldwell says.</p>
<p>"It used to be cars didn't change that much in five years. Now they do," she says.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>(Even Consumer Reports , which typically recommends buying over leasing, suggests leasing electric cars because the technology is changing so fast.)</p>
<p>Fear of repair bills contributes to the leasing trend as well. Many people would rather have constant payments and continually drive newer cars than be surprised by repair costs — especially in an era when 46 percent of households don't have $400 in savings to cover an emergency, according to the Federal Reserve .</p>
<p>"Your costs with a lease, while higher, are also more predictable," says Alex Klein, vice president for data science for Autolist, a new and used car search engine.</p>
<p>Younger buyers also are less convinced they'll need a car five years from now, Klein says.</p>
<p>"There's more flexibility about the idea of car ownership," Klein says. "In two or three years, I may get around in an autonomous Uber."</p>
<p>Millennial car owners plan to own their cars for less time than their Generation X predecessors, an Autolist study of 3,383 vehicle owners found. Forty-seven percent of those aged 25 to 39 in 2016 said they'd keep their cars five years or less, compared to 41 percent of those 40 to 54. One-third of the older crowd intended to keep their vehicles for 10 years or more, compared with just one-quarter of millennials.</p>
<p>Leasing certainly can be a better financial choice than some other financing options. Auto loans that stretch six years or more mean buyers often face big repair bills while they're still making payments. Buyers often owe more on the loan than the car is worth for most of the loan term, and interest rates tend to be higher than for shorter loans.</p>
<p>Too many of these buyers wind up trading in their cars before they've paid off their loans, rolling their negative equity into their next vehicle at even higher interest rates. Among car buyers who traded in a vehicle last year, 29.9 percent rolled an average of $5,193.79 in unpaid debt into their new loans, Edmunds.com found. A decade earlier, the comparable figures were 26.4 percent and $3,997.36 of negative equity.</p>
<p>If you're leaning toward leasing, here's what you need to keep in mind:</p>
<p>— Don't overspend. Any car payment, whether on a loan or a lease, needs to fit in with more important financial priorities such as saving for retirement and paying off debt. If your payment pushes your "must-have" expenses — such as shelter, transportation, food, utilities, insurance and other minimum loan payments — to over 50 percent of your after-tax income, you probably can't afford it. Consider buying a less expensive new car or a reliable older model instead.</p>
<p>— Have a cushion. Car repairs are typically covered under warranty when you lease, but you may face extra charges at the end for excessive mileage, bald tires or wear and tear, especially if you are not leasing another vehicle of the same make . If you've modified the vehicle in any way, those alterations have to be removed.</p>
<p>— Negotiate hard . Experts recommend that you negotiate the purchase price of the car as if you plan to buy it, and discuss leasing only after you get a firm price. Down payment, mileage allowance and after-lease purchase price can be haggled, as well.</p>
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<p>This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.</p>
<p>Liz Weston is a certified financial planner and columnist at NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @lizweston.</p> | Liz Weston: The never-ending car payment | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/06/liz-weston-never-ending-car-payment.html | 2017-02-06 | 0 |
<p>Matt Damon apologizes for comments on sexual misconduct; As more actors express regret about working with Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin voices his support; Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunite at Stella McCartney fashion event in Hollywood. (Jan. 17)</p>
<p>Matt Damon apologizes for comments on sexual misconduct; As more actors express regret about working with Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin voices his support; Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunite at Stella McCartney fashion event in Hollywood. (Jan. 17)</p> | ShowBiz Minute: Damon, Baldwin, McCartney | false | https://apnews.com/amp/1f51c260b5fa4214bce7a2826662b52d | 2018-01-17 | 2 |
<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WorldNewsTonight/seniors_guns_csm_040107.html" type="external">The Christian Science Monitor reports:</a></p>
<p>Reversing longstanding patterns in the United States, residents ages 65 and up are now the mostly likely of all citizens to own a gun.</p>
<p>"Personal gun ownership used to be highest among the middle-aged, but in our 2000 and 2002 survey, it was highest among the 65-plus age group. So there is a shift upwards in gun ownership," says Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey, which is part of the <a href="http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/" type="external">National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago</a>.</p>
<p>In Arizona alone, the state's Department of Public Safety reports that more than 31,000 residents between the ages of 50 and 69 — including 6,200 women — have concealed-weapons permits. It's easy to understand why, says (Desert Trails Gun Club owner Richard) Batory. "Just read the papers. Older people are getting tired of being picked on by savages."</p>
<p>&#160;The article also says:</p>
<p>Firearms are also a major safety risk for people struggling with age-related dementia. On the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center website, caregivers of Alzheimer's patients post stories of close calls and tragedies. One woman removed firearms from the home she shares with her Alzheimer's-ridden husband, after a neighbor with AD committed a murder-suicide. Another writes that too many times, caregivers find themselves "trapped in bathrooms with a cell phone."</p>
<p>At the Gun Shop</p>
<p>Those with early Alzheimer's symptoms are sometimes even able to buy guns themselves, says Mark Warner, author of " <a href="http://www.agelessdesign.com/bk-complguide2alzproof.htm" type="external">The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing Your Home</a>." "Often the person behind the counter selling a weapon doesn't have the skills or awareness to detect someone in the early stages of dementia," he says.</p>
<p>But gun-rights advocates fiercely oppose attempts to restrict seniors from purchasing firearms, or screening those who do. Armed seniors "are no more of a safety risk than anyone else," says John Bender, executive director of the (Dallas) Texas-based <a href="http://www.sussa.org/" type="external">Seniors United Supporting the Second Amendment.</a> Instead, he says that guns "make everyone equal" by compensating for physical disabilities seniors may have.</p>
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<p>Al's Morning Meeting reader Jerry Jacobs spotted this story on <a href="http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=1591600" type="external">the WNEP-TV (Scranton) website that said</a>:</p>
<p>Some sport utility vehicle drivers are getting some surprising news. The country's largest "move it yourself" company has stopped renting trailers to Ford Explorer drivers.</p>
<p>A local U-Haul dealer here in the Tampa Bay area told me that the memo came out a couple of weeks ago.</p>
<p>I sent a note to U-Haul and quickly got a memo back from Joanne Fried, U-Haul Public Relations, saying, in part:</p>
<p>Thank you for your request for information on our policy regarding Ford Explorers. This policy is not related to safety issues. U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations.&#160;This is an unusual circumstance for U-Haul.&#160;U-Haul has built its success for over 58 years by saying "yes" to our customers.&#160;U-Haul does not like saying "no" to customers and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.&#160;We are committed to working with our customers to find alternative options to help with their move.</p>
<p>She could/would not tell me how many or where such lawsuits have been filed. The rest of&#160;her note provided moving tips.</p>
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<p>Orkin will be providing approximately a 6-minute feed via satellite (today) Friday 2 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. EST.&#160;The satellite coordinates are on the C-ban, AMC3, Transponder 4.&#160; The downlink frequency is 3780 (v). The common bedbug -- its scientific name is <a href="http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/cimex/c._lectularius$narrative.html" type="external">Cimex lectularius</a> -- is invading the beds of posh hotels and college dormitories, as well as homes and tenements. The return of the pest in the United States has been traced to 1999, said Frank Meek, national technical manager and entomologist at Orkin, which is based in Atlanta.</p>
<p>Several of you asked me which states were among those that have seen the big outbreak of bed bugs.&#160;Orkin says the states are:</p>
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<p>Covering State of State Speeches (Convergence Alert)Lots of your states are facing the toughest budget years they have faced in decades.&#160;You will need to find ways to cover the coming State of the State speeches and legislative sessions that follow. <a href="http://www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=state&amp;sa=showStateOfStateSpeech" type="external">Stateline.org includes the complete texts of every State of the State speech in the country.</a></p>
<p>It is always interesting to compare the speeches and pick up themes, phrases, and issues. You can also see previous year's speeches back to 1999 and a) see what they said they would do last year and did or didn't and b) compare the speech this year to the historic themes over the years. What is new and what is old?</p>
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<p>Out in Topeka and Lawrence, they are not waiting for the speech to begin coverage.&#160;They are publishing a huge package of stories outlying the key issues coming up. Greg Hurd at the Journal-World sent me this note about how they are covering the governor's State of the State speech.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateofthestate" type="external">We're running a series here in Lawrence which includes stories in the Journal-World</a>, on 6News, a simulcast courtesy of KTWU, Channel 11 in Topeka of the address, as well as the Republican response and a live panel discussion of the address immediately following the simulcast.</p>
<p>"State of the State: The Issues" is a 10-day series of Journal-World and 6News stories to help&#160;viewers understand the key issues facing the governor and Legislature. It all leads up to live 6News coverage and analysis of the governor's State of the State address Jan. 12.</p>
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<p>&#160;We are always looking for your great ideas. <a href="" type="internal">Send Al</a> a few sentences and hot links.</p>
<p /> | Friday Edition: Armed and Elderly | false | https://poynter.org/news/friday-edition-armed-and-elderly | 2004-01-08 | 2 |
<p><a href="http://wewinamerica.com" type="external">Joseph Connor</a>, an author and anti-terrorism advocate, spoke to The Daily Wire about how his father was murdered by a Puerto Rican terrorist group, and how former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was directly involved in pardoning them.</p>
<p>On January 24, 1975, Connor and his family were eagerly awaiting for his father, Frank Connor, to arrive home from work to celebrate Joseph Connor's ninth birthday and his brother's 11th birthday. Connor's mother had prepared a special meal for the evening for the family to celebrate. Sadly, his father never came home, as a bomb detonated at Fraunces Tavern in New York, where he was meeting a client for lunch, and stole his life from the Connor family.</p>
<p>"I remember my dad always being there for us, taking us to Met games, playing with us, playing basketball with us, playing..kicking around a soccer ball, doing, you know, just always being there," Connor told The Daily Wire. "He was a young guy, he was only 33. And he loved us, and he gave us a great childhood until that day."</p>
<p>The bomb was planted by the Puerto Rican Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN) terrorist organization, which was responsible for 138 bombings between 1974 and 1983.</p>
<p>"Their stated purpose was to free Puerto Rico from U.S. imperialism, but of course that wasn't true," Connor said. "They were a Marxist group, and they were really looking to enslave Puerto Rican people under another Cuba-type Marxist country."</p>
<p>In fact, the FALN were trained by Cuban intelligence and were deadly at their craft–the FBI didn't know about them for years.</p>
<p>The FALN had targeted the Fraunces Tavern because it is a historic landmark where George Washington gave a farewell to his Revolutionary War officers and was also a hangout for Sons of the American Revolution. It is still a place where people on Wall Street hang out.</p>
<p>"Not only could they attack the seeds of the American Revolution, but also the reactionary corporate executives they so wanted to kill," Connor said.</p>
<p>The FALN were truly ruthless and vicious, as Ron Kolb in <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/bill_hillary_and_the_faln.html" type="external">RealClearPolitics</a> highlights their courtroom behavior when they were eventually sentenced for their bombings:</p>
<p>FALN member Carmen Valentine taunted the judge: "You are lucky we that we cannot take you right now". She then called the judge a terrorist, and said that her shackles kept her from killing him.</p>
<p>FALN member Dylcia Pagan addressed the court: "All of you, I would advise you to watch your backs". FALN member Ricardo Jimenez told the Judge, "You can give me the death penalty, you can kill me now."</p>
<p>"You say we have no remorse. You're right," FALN member Ida Rodriguez told the judge. "Your jails and your long sentences will not frighten us."</p>
<p>Judge McMillen agreed that the defendants showed no remorse. "I'm convinced you're going to continue (terrorism) as long as you live. If there was a death penalty, I'd impose the penalty on you without hesitation."</p>
<p>The terrorists were never tried for the Fraunces Tavern bombing, but that was only because the FBI didn't want to charge them in New York when they were already sentenced for life for their bombings in Chicago. Only William Morales, the FALN's chief bombmaker, escaped the law by fleeing to Cuba and living as a guest under the Castro regime. Connor thought that he and his family would never have to deal with the FALN again.</p>
<p>But that all changed when the Clintons put politics above justice in 1999.</p>
<p>"When Hillary Clinton was looking to run for senator of New York, she had no connection to New York at all. She was from Chicago to Arkansas," Connor said. "And she got approached by various pro-terrorist politicians."</p>
<p>These included Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and New York city councilman Jose Rivera, who according to Kolb, gave Clinton "a packet on clemency" and requested that she "speak to the president and ask him to consider executive clemency" for the FALN. A couple of weeks later, clemency was granted to the terrorists and Clinton's Senate campaign expressed support for the move so long as the terrorists renounced violence.</p>
<p>"She was up to her ears in this," Connor said.</p>
<p>The terrorists didn't immediately accept the clemencies because they were hesitant to renounce violence, and then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder allowed the terrorists to have conference calls with each other–which isn't typically done in clemency cases–and ignored input from the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.</p>
<p>Three weeks into the terrorists' refusal to renounce violence, Clinton flipped and opposed her husband's decision to grant clemency due to the public backlash against it, only to flip yet again in favor of the clemencies when 14 out of the 16 terrorists agreed to renounce violence.</p>
<p>"It's so typical," Connor said. "The political winds shifted whichever way, and she went with it."</p>
<p>Congress attempted to investigate the pardons further, but the president claimed executive privilege, effectively stonewalling the investigation.</p>
<p>There is a growing movement for a second clemency to be granted to Oscar López Rivera, who is one of the FALN founders and didn't accept clemency because clemency wasn't offered to one of the terrorists in prison.</p>
<p>Connor attended López Rivera's parole hearing and was hoping to hear a contrite, sincere apology from López Rivera about his role in the bombings and his father's murder. Instead, all López Rivera gave was "lies" and "obfuscations" and refused to acknowledge the evil acts of violence he committed.</p>
<p>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has <a href="https://nypost.com/2016/05/16/sanders-wants-to-let-a-convicted-terrorist-out-of-prison-scot-free/" type="external">called</a> for President Barack Obama to pardon López Rivera because he is "a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded a Bronze Star" and has served in prison longer than Nelson Mandela, conveniently ignoring López Rivera's involvement in terror attacks after Vietnam.</p>
<p>It particularly irks Connor when López Rivera's sympathizers clamor for his release just because he hasn't been able to watch his children and grandchildren grow up.</p>
<p>"I didn't get to spend time with my father. My father didn't get to meet his grandkids, and whose fault is that?" Connor said.</p>
<p>Connor hopes to see Clinton grilled at some point in the campaign on if she'll grant a second clemency to López Rivera, given her role in the FALN's clemencies in 1999. He would love to see those clemencies become a campaign issue, because the most important thing is justice, which to him would involve not only bringing Morales and cop-killer Assata Shakur, originally known as Joanne Chesimard, back to the U.S. to serve out their sentences, but also an acknowledgement from the Clintons and Holder that granting clemency to the terrorists that murdered his father was wrong and done for political purposes.</p>
<p>But in all likelihood, Clinton will simply say in response, "What difference does it make?"</p>
<p>"They let these guys go and all for politics, and it hurts," Connor said.</p> | EXCLUSIVE: FALN Victim's Son Says Hillary Was A Key Figure In Pardoning The Terror Group | true | https://dailywire.com/news/6396/exclusive-faln-victims-son-says-hillary-was-key-aaron-bandler | 2016-06-07 | 0 |
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<p>“We have a staff of 60 people onsite throughout the year and an additional two dozen college students who help us in the summer,” says Linda Seebantz, marketing and communications director. “Our busy season is from around mid-June through the second week of August. At the height of the season, we can sleep 350 guests a night.”</p>
<p>Most guests come to take one of the many course offerings. There are workshops on the literary and visual arts, the environment, health and spirituality. Some workshops involve field trips to ancient petroglyphs. Others take participants fly fishing in nearby streams. A few programs are faithbased, such as the Ghost Ranch pastoral continuing education program. Many of the one-week workshops cost between $350 and $400. Workshops that last three weeks can cost several thousand dollars.</p>
<p>“The majority of Ghost Ranch’s guests are part of Presbyterian groups from New Mexico or are families from New Mexico, but we also get families from around the Southwest and the East Coast as well,” says Seebantz.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Debra Hepler, executive director of Ghost Ranch since 2008, takes time to talk with many of the guests who come to the property.</p>
<p>“We’ve had lots of families coming to Ghost Ranch for decades,” she says. “There are people who came years ago when they first got married. Then they started bringing their kids with them. Now, they’re grandparents who bring their grandchildren.”</p>
<p>While workshops are the main draw, Ghost Ranch attracts guests for other reasons as well.</p>
<p>“It’s a place for making time for family, for getting out of one’s normal routine and getting away from distractions,” Hepler adds. “Our guests also like to go horseback riding, which we offer year-round. In the summer we have kayaking and canoeing.”</p>
<p>Lodging can be a simple tent or a luxurious suite with a living room, bedroom and private bathroom. Guest rooms have no clocks, radios, televisions or Internet capabilities. Wi-fi is available in the dining room and library. Overnight lodging rates include a cafeteria-style breakfast in the Ghost Ranch dining room, but other meals require the purchase of a meal ticket.</p>
<p>For guests interested in some serious time alone, Ghost Ranch has the Casa del Sol experience. Three rooms have been designated as hermitages for anyone seeking an individual retreat. These rooms are located two miles from the main Ghost Ranch campus.</p>
<p>Ghost Ranch hasn’t always been a retreat center. In 1931 owner Carol Stanley gave the property its name, constructed Ghost Ranch’s first buildings and turned it into a dude ranch. Businessman Arthur Pack bought the property in 1935 and he and his wife, Phoebe, gave it to the Presbyterian Church in 1955 after they decided they were too old to maintain a dude ranch.</p>
<p>Artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s connection with Ghost Ranch began in 1934 during a visit to New Mexico from her home in New York. She intended to spend one night at the dude ranch and ended up spending the entire summer there.</p>
<p>O’Keeffe established a pattern of coming to Ghost Ranch every summer after 1934. She bought Pack’s residence and seven acres of land around it in 1940.</p>
<p>O’Keeffe also purchased an adobe home with three acres in Abiquiu in 1945. After her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, died in 1949, she left New York to spend summers at Ghost Ranch and winters in her Abiquiu home. During the last few years of her life, she was unable to come to Ghost Ranch.</p>
<p>For close to 50 years, O’Keeffe painted Ghost Ranch and its vistas. Two of the ranch’s course offerings explore the O’Keeffe connection.</p>
<p>“We have van landscape tours and horseback riding tours of the areas where Georgia O’Keeffe painted,” says Seebantz. “While her residence is down a private road where we don’t take guests, we do take them to the actual places that O’Keeffe painted.”</p>
<p>For information, visit <a href="http://ghostranch.org" type="external">ghostranch.org</a>.</p> | Many are drawn to Ghost Ranch for pristine beauty, enrichment | false | https://abqjournal.com/247246/many-are-drawn-to-ghost-ranch-for-pristine-beauty-enrichment.html | 2013-10-01 | 2 |
<p>Chalkboard: &lt;a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Einstein_blackboard.jpg"&gt;decltype&lt;/a&gt;/Wikimedia Commons; Man is mask: Shutterstock</p>
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<p>$23.4 billion Estimated cost of meth epidemic, from child protection to law enforcement</p>
<p>$32 million Cost of injury and death from meth labs</p>
<p>$29 million Cost of environmental cleanup of meth labs</p>
<p>21,000 Estimated number of children affected by meth labs, 2002-11</p>
<p>4,154 Incarcerations for murder/manslaughter in state prisons attributable to meth</p>
<p>10.6% Portion of car theft offenses attributable to meth</p>
<p>$605 million Estimated value of pseudoephedrine sales</p>
<p>25 States that have considered prescription legislation</p>
<p>2 States that have passed it &#160;</p>
<p>96% Decline in meth lab incidents after prescription legislation took effect in 2006</p>
<p>0 Children removed from houses with active meth labs since law took effect</p>
<p>$580,000 Cost of meth lab cleanup, 2005</p>
<p>$43,000 Cost of meth lab cleanup, 2011 &#160;</p>
<p>MISSISSIPPI</p>
<p>99.5% Drop in pseudoephedrine sold after prescription law went into effect in 2010</p>
<p>74% Decline in meth lab incidents</p>
<p>81% Decline in drug-endangered children</p>
<p>$600,000 Drop in spending on meth lab cleanup costs &#160;</p>
<p>$30 million Cost of meth labs to the state (including incarceration), 2009</p>
<p>34,496 Number of police hours spent on lab cleanup, 2010</p>
<p>73% Increase in labs, 2008-09</p>
<p>115% Increase in crimes associated with meth, 2008-09</p>
<p>25% Share of hospital burn patients who were injured in meth labs</p>
<p>$229,000 Average hospital cost for meth lab burn victims</p>
<p>$75,000 Average for other burn patients</p>
<p>20% Death rate among meth lab burn victims</p>
<p>13% Rate among other burn victims</p>
<p>0-4 Most frequent ages of meth lab victims, 2010</p>
<p /> | Crystal Math: The Price of Big Pharma’s Pseudoephedrine Addiction | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/big-pharma-pseudoephedrine-meth-statistics/ | 2018-07-01 | 4 |
<p>Natasha Panda Desai remembers watching the 1993 Bollywood film King Uncle when she was six years old and falling for Shah Rukh Khan.</p>
<p>“I love him from his old-school mullet days,” she says, though she’s seen every one of his more than 80 films since then. “He played the lead actor’s younger brother, and there was a musical number where he and his girlfriend were riding on his bicycle. He was wearing a white shirt, brown leather jacket, and 1987 jeans that were way too high, and I was like, ‘I want to be that girl! He’s so handsome and dreamy!’”</p>
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<p>Desai is a New York-based instructor for Doonya, a Bollywood-inspired dance fitness workout. From Tennessee, she spent parts of her childhood in India and London and remembers watching Hindi films with her Indian babysitter while her physician parents were working night shifts at the hospital.</p>
<p>While some Americans are primed for the return of Star Wars, for Desai, tonight is opening night for Dilwale ("The Brave-Hearted"). Though Dilwale&#160;is not technically a sequel, the title invokes Khan’s popular film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (“The Brave-Hearted Will Take The Bride,” also known as DDLJ), which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year to much fanfare. But to call it popular is, perhaps, underselling it.&#160;One theater in Mumbai&#160; <a href="http://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/dilwale-dulhania-le-jayenge-the-record-breaking-bollywood-rom-com-celebrating-1000-weeks-in-cinemas" type="external">showed the film for almost 20 years continuously</a>.&#160;By <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/ddlj-is-bollywood-s-second-highest-grosser-of-all-time-114121600110_1.html" type="external">some estimates</a>, DDLJ box office earnings are $45 million.&#160;But <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31543626" type="external">$2 million came from outside India</a>, from fans like Desai.</p>
<p>And 20 years later, enthusiasm for the 90s romance endures. Dilwale reunites Khan with DDLJ actress Kajol. The pair are often referred to as India’s most beloved onscreen couple, though Khan has successfully wooed almost every single Bollywood leading lady single.</p>
<p>Let’s just say, he’s got a lot of charm on screen. And his personal life just adds to the folklore. Born in a Muslim middle-class family in New Delhi, Khan met his Punjabi Hindu wife Gauri when they were teenagers. In a storyline that mirrors the intensity of the&#160;DDLJ story, he had to fight for her parents’ approval.&#160;Their long-standing marriage has become&#160;a symbol of Khan’s ability to bring different worlds together. If you look at the most successful Indian films based on revenue made internationally, Shah Rukh Khan stars in 11 of the top 25, according to a&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SRK-Global-Bollywood-Rajinder-Dudrah/dp/0199460477" type="external">new book about his global appeal</a>.</p>
<p>“He works hard to perfect his craft, but his craft involves more than just being an actor,” says Desai. “His craft is being a superstar. It’s his appeal to the masses that makes him legendary.”</p>
<p>When President Barack Obama visited India in January, he quoted a DDLJ line in broken Hindi to the surprise and delight of Indians around the world. It was a gesture to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, when visiting New York in 2014, ended his speech with the Star Wars line, “May the Force be with you.”</p>
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<p>Coincidentally, Desai owns a T-shirt featuring the same DDLJ&#160;line. She ordered it while she was in college. When she got married — she's now in her mid-20s —&#160;her fellow Doonya instructors gave her custom mugs that depicted one of DDLJ’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7NVIwO8_pI" type="external">most iconic scenes</a>. One mug features Khan, his arms outstretched, and the other features Kajol, just before she runs through a field of yellow flowers and into his tight embrace.</p>
<p>Brian Hu remembers seeing Khan onscreen for the first time at a film festival as a college movie critic. He was a fan of classic black-and-white Hollywood musicals and felt that Bollywood filled a void that was missing in contemporary American film.</p>
<p>“I remember feeling so emotionally overwhelmed by the end,” he says. “Shah Rukh Khan’s films really show how he can be star of every single genre in one movie. He’s a comedian, he’s a romantic hero, he’s an action star, he’s the center of a family drama, and he can switch back and forth and pull it all off.”</p>
<p>Ten years later, he now includes Bollywood films in the <a href="http://pacarts.org/san-diego-asian-film-festival/" type="external">San Diego Asian Film Festival</a>, where he is the artistic director, and often screens DDLJ when he teaches media classes at the University of San Diego.</p>
<p>Jeannie Baumann, who also teaches Doonya in Washington, DC, first came across Bollywood music at her Indian American friends’ weddings.</p>
<p>“People sometimes ask me, ‘Do you have to be South Asian to teach Doonya?’” Baumann says, which confuses her because she is Korean American. “The passion and love for the music is universal, and the more you learn, the more you appreciate it.”</p>
<p>To Baumann, it’s all about celebration. “Sometimes there’s so much tragedy, and Bollywood can provide an escapism with the color, music, and uplifting beats,” she says. “It’s about being in the moment, imagining you’re in a beautiful, dancing world where everyone ends up with their dream boy or girl and your parents are happy. And it’s so much fun.”</p>
<p>Want to go down the Shah Rukh Khan rabbit hole? Here are some good places to start.</p>
<p>“Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna” from DDLJ (1995)</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“Chaiyya Chaiyya” from Dil Se (1998)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOYN9qNXmAw" type="external" /></p>
<p />
<p>“Maahi Ve” from Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“Dhoom Taana” from Om Shanti Om &#160;(2007)</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“Janam Janam” from Dilwale (2015)</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>A previous version of this story misstated where&#160;Jeannie&#160;Baumann works and where&#160;Natasha Desai is from.</p> | Is Shah Rukh Khan the gateway drug to Bollywood addiction? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-12-18/shah-rukh-khan-gateway-drug-bollywood-addiction | 2015-12-18 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A former UFC fighter who has had trouble with the law has been arrested again.</p>
<p>Court records show Cody East was arrested Sunday in Albuquerque before 4 a.m. on counts of false imprisonment and aggravated battery against a household member. He also faces charges of aggravated assault against a household member.</p>
<p>Details of the arrest are unclear. A spokesman for the Bernalillo Country’s Sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to an email.</p>
<p>East signed with the UFC earlier this year despite being sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 after pleading no contest to three child abuse charges.</p>
<p>He was released by UFC in October after losing two fights.</p>
<p>The 28-year-old was ordered held on a $30,000 cash surety bond. It was not known if East had an attorney.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Former UFC fighter arrest for aggravated assault, battery | false | https://abqjournal.com/912029/former-ufc-fighter-arrest-for-aggravated-assault-battery.html | 2 |
|
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in his presidency, Barack Obama will stand before a Republican-led Congress to deliver his State of the Union address and try to convince lawmakers newly empowered to block his agenda that they should instead join with him on education, cyberprotection and national security proposals.</p>
<p>With Obama firmly in the legacy-building phase, his address is expected to be as much about selling a story of U.S. economic revival as it is about outlining initiatives. The approach reflects the White House’s belief that it has been too cautious in promoting economic gains out of fear of looking tone deaf to the continued struggles of many Americans.</p>
<p>White House advisers have suggested that their restraint hindered Democrats in the November elections and helped Republicans take full control of Congress for the first time in eight years. But with hiring up and unemployment down, the president has been more assertive about the improving state of the economy in the new year and his prime-time address Tuesday will be his most high-profile platform for making that case.</p>
<p>“America’s resurgence is real, and we’re better positioned than any country on Earth to succeed in the 21st century,” Obama said Wednesday in Iowa, one of several trips he has made this month to preview the speech.</p>
<p>Tuesday is the second-to-last time Obama will take part in the pageantry of the annual presidential address to Congress and a televised audience of millions. By the time he stands before lawmakers next year, Americans will have begun voting in the primary campaigns that will determine his successor.</p>
<p>Mindful of Obama’s fading share of the spotlight, the White House has tried to build momentum for his address by rolling out, in advance, many of the proposals he will outline. Among them: making community college free for many students; ensuring paid sick leave for many workers; cutting the cost of mortgage insurance premiums for some home buyers; pressing for cybersecurity legislation in the wake of the hacking on Sony Pictures Entertainment, which the U.S. has blamed on North Korea.</p>
<p>Some proposals are retreads. Most stand a slim chance of getting congressional approval.</p>
<p>The real battle lines between Obama and the Republican-led Congress will be on matters long fought over.</p>
<p>Buoyed by their new majority, Republicans are moving forward on bills to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, change Obama’s health care law and dismantle his executive orders on immigration. The White House has threatened vetoes.</p>
<p>Republicans say that’s a sign of a president who didn’t get the message from voters trying to relegate his party to minority status in the November election. New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the president still has a chance to change his tone.</p>
<p>“Tuesday can be a new day,” McConnell said. “This can be the moment the president pivots to a positive posture, this can be a day when he promotes serious realistic reforms that focus on economic growth and don’t just spend more money we don’t have. We’re eager for him to do so.”</p>
<p>Obama isn’t expected to make any major foreign policy announcements. He is likely to urge lawmakers to stop the pursuit of new penalties against Iran while the U.S. and others are in the midst of nuclear negotiations with Tehran. In a news conference Friday, Obama said legislation threatening additional penalties could upend the delicate diplomacy.</p>
<p>“Congress should be aware that if this diplomatic solution fails, then the risks and likelihood that this ends up being at some point a military confrontation is heightened — and Congress will have to own that as well,” he said.</p>
<p>The president also is expected to cite his recent decision to normalize relations with Cuba, as well as defend the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to stop Russia’s provocations in Ukraine and conduct air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Julie Pace at <a href="http://twitter.com/jpaceDC" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/jpaceDC" type="external">http://twitter.com/jpaceDC</a></p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in his presidency, Barack Obama will stand before a Republican-led Congress to deliver his State of the Union address and try to convince lawmakers newly empowered to block his agenda that they should instead join with him on education, cyberprotection and national security proposals.</p>
<p>With Obama firmly in the legacy-building phase, his address is expected to be as much about selling a story of U.S. economic revival as it is about outlining initiatives. The approach reflects the White House’s belief that it has been too cautious in promoting economic gains out of fear of looking tone deaf to the continued struggles of many Americans.</p>
<p>White House advisers have suggested that their restraint hindered Democrats in the November elections and helped Republicans take full control of Congress for the first time in eight years. But with hiring up and unemployment down, the president has been more assertive about the improving state of the economy in the new year and his prime-time address Tuesday will be his most high-profile platform for making that case.</p>
<p>“America’s resurgence is real, and we’re better positioned than any country on Earth to succeed in the 21st century,” Obama said Wednesday in Iowa, one of several trips he has made this month to preview the speech.</p>
<p>Tuesday is the second-to-last time Obama will take part in the pageantry of the annual presidential address to Congress and a televised audience of millions. By the time he stands before lawmakers next year, Americans will have begun voting in the primary campaigns that will determine his successor.</p>
<p>Mindful of Obama’s fading share of the spotlight, the White House has tried to build momentum for his address by rolling out, in advance, many of the proposals he will outline. Among them: making community college free for many students; ensuring paid sick leave for many workers; cutting the cost of mortgage insurance premiums for some home buyers; pressing for cybersecurity legislation in the wake of the hacking on Sony Pictures Entertainment, which the U.S. has blamed on North Korea.</p>
<p>Some proposals are retreads. Most stand a slim chance of getting congressional approval.</p>
<p>The real battle lines between Obama and the Republican-led Congress will be on matters long fought over.</p>
<p>Buoyed by their new majority, Republicans are moving forward on bills to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, change Obama’s health care law and dismantle his executive orders on immigration. The White House has threatened vetoes.</p>
<p>Republicans say that’s a sign of a president who didn’t get the message from voters trying to relegate his party to minority status in the November election. New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the president still has a chance to change his tone.</p>
<p>“Tuesday can be a new day,” McConnell said. “This can be the moment the president pivots to a positive posture, this can be a day when he promotes serious realistic reforms that focus on economic growth and don’t just spend more money we don’t have. We’re eager for him to do so.”</p>
<p>Obama isn’t expected to make any major foreign policy announcements. He is likely to urge lawmakers to stop the pursuit of new penalties against Iran while the U.S. and others are in the midst of nuclear negotiations with Tehran. In a news conference Friday, Obama said legislation threatening additional penalties could upend the delicate diplomacy.</p>
<p>“Congress should be aware that if this diplomatic solution fails, then the risks and likelihood that this ends up being at some point a military confrontation is heightened — and Congress will have to own that as well,” he said.</p>
<p>The president also is expected to cite his recent decision to normalize relations with Cuba, as well as defend the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to stop Russia’s provocations in Ukraine and conduct air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Julie Pace at <a href="http://twitter.com/jpaceDC" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/jpaceDC" type="external">http://twitter.com/jpaceDC</a></p> | For State of Union, Obama faces GOP Congress for first time | false | https://apnews.com/f4c0c7d3393c42f79190c5564655b4a1 | 2015-01-17 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />DE C. 1, 2010</p>
<p>By ANTHONY PIGNATARO</p>
<p>In one of the many examples of inefficiency surrounding the proposed <a href="http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/" type="external">California High-Speed Rail</a> system, there are currently two active lawsuits, largely consisting of the same parties and many of the same issues, arrayed against the project authority. According to Stuart Flashman, the Oakland attorney who represents the plaintiffs – namely, the cities of Atherton, Menlo Park and Palo Alto, along with numerous nonprofit groups and activists – the goal of the suits is the same: “Get the High-Speed Rail Authority to do things right.”</p>
<p>Indeed, the more recent of the two suits, filed Oct. 4, alleges that the rail authority did not provide “legally adequate review under the California Environmental Quality Act,” approved an environmental impact report that “did not have an adequate project description, did not give adequate consideration to the Project’s impacts on the environment, failed to propose adequate mitigation measures” and “failed to provide a fair and adequate consideration of feasible alternatives.”</p>
<p>Specifically, these cities and residents are motivated by the rail authority’s desire for the so-called <a href="http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=31549" type="external">Pacheco Pass alignment</a>, which would travel from San Jose to San Francisco in all likelihood will carve a pretty wide swath through the plaintiff neighborhoods. In 2008, they sued the rail authority, alleging pretty much the above. In November 2009, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny ruled that the authority had to go back and redo some of its EIR. The authority did that, but in the meantime Flashman and his clients discovered that the ridership model used in the EIR was apparently way off base. When the rail board approved the final EIR on Sept. 2 of this year without making any changes to the ridership model, Flashman and his clients filed the second lawsuit.</p>
<p>“Since they’re mostly the same plaintiffs and same issues, we say deal with the lawsuits together,” said Flashman. “But the rail authority says no, deal with the first suit, get that done. Then, if there are still issues, deal with the second one.”</p>
<p>Rachel Wall, the high-speed rail authority’s spokesperson, declined to comment on the pending litigation. In any case, the high-speed rail board will take up the two lawsuits in closed session during their upcoming <a href="http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/monthly_brdmtg.aspx" type="external">Dec. 2 hearing</a>.</p>
<p>The ridership models used by the high-speed rail authority are at the heart of the lawsuits. Where the tracks will go, what kind of trains to buy, which cities will face impacts, and to what extent – all these questions hinge on just how many people end up using the 800-mile bullet train network, which will cost something between $43 billion and $90 billion.</p>
<p>“We think that’s an enormous problem,” Flashman said. “The <a href="http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/07/01_high_speed_rail.shtml" type="external">UC [Berkeley] study</a> says the ridership numbers aren’t accurate and shouldn’t be trusted. They didn’t see evidence of a conscious bias, but still, it said it shouldn’t be trusted. All the issues need to have good ridership modeling. But what they’re trying to do is the equivalent of flipping a coin and that’s not how you make a $50 billion decision.”</p>
<p>The high-speed rail authority says that by 2030, 117 million people will be riding the bullet train rails between Los Angeles and San Francisco. That comes out to about 25 million trips a year.</p>
<p>Basically, Flashman alleges, the high-speed rail authority used two models to predict these numbers.The first, which appeared in the environmental impact report and was critiqued by an outside review panel, proved to be unsatisfying to the authority. There is no current domestic bullet train network that they can compare their ridership numbers to, but they can run comparisons with regular train and air travel rates. When its model didn’t mirror this reality, the rail authority apparently made some new assumptions, plugged in some new numbers, and then began using a different ridership model – one that wasn’t reviewed by an outside panel or published.</p>
<p>“They say this is normal part of validation,” Flashman said. “And that there was no reason to go back to the panel. But they made dramatic changes to coefficients – some, by a factor of five.”</p>
<p>The lawsuit includes a number of analyses written by consultants looking at the ridership models. One of them, “Gamed Traffic Date Endangers High-Speed Rail Project,” was written Feb. 26 of this year by <a href="http://www.calrailfoundation.org/Home.html" type="external">California Rail Foundation</a> (CRF) president Richard F. Tolmach (CRF is a party to the lawsuits).</p>
<p>“Ridership claims of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) have strained the credulity of transportation industry observers for the past decade,” Tolmach wrote. “However, until recently the public was unaware of any substantial problem with the data because supporting detail was largely hidden in technical supplements. Massive total figures were cited by the Authority, but breakdowns were not readily forthcoming. This changed recently because legislative demands that the HSRA planning process become more transparent.”</p>
<p>Flashman says Elizabeth Alexis, an economist with the Palo Alto-based <a href="http://www.calhsr.com/" type="external">Californians Advocating for Responsible Rail Design</a> (CARRD, which is not a party to the lawsuit), also played a key role in discovering that the authority was using two ridership numbers.</p>
<p>“I have to give her tremendous credit,” Flashman said. “They tried to brush her off. It was really kind of disgusting, frankly. But she wanted to see the model. She was puzzled, looked at the ridership model, and said it didn’t smell right. She said it was garbage, and passed it on to us.”</p>
<p>Flashman and the plaintiffs handed the new, previously unknown ridership model to a Vermont-based consultant named <a href="http://www.smartmobility.com/staff/01marshall.html" type="external">Norm Marshall</a>. His report, dated Aug. 30, 2010, is uncompromising, and at various times says the authority’s modeling program is “invalid,” “incoherent” and “contains many errors.” Marshall took special umbrage at the authority’s insistence in its official response to EIR comments that the new ridership model “has been publicly available,” even if it wasn’t published as part of the EIR process.</p>
<p>“Documenting one model and applying a fundamentally different model violates the most basic standards of professional practice,” Marshall wrote. “The implication in the response document that the burden is on the public to discover a discrepancy between published documentation and the model applied is ludicrous.”</p>
<p>The upshot of all this is made pretty clear in the most recent lawsuit filed against the rail authority. “If CHSRA is not enjoined from moving forward to implement the Project and from undertaking acts in furtherance thereof, and specifically releasing one or more program-level Draft EIRs, PETITIONERS will suffer irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law in that CHSRA will move towards constructing a high speed train system including the Pacheco Pass Alignment, with attendant significant environmental impacts, without having first conducted adequate environmental review, which might have avoided or mitigated some or all of those impacts.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, Judge Kenny will decide whether to consolidate the two lawsuits on Jan. 14, 2011.</p> | Fast Rail's Iffy Ridership Claims | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2010/12/01/fast-rails-iffy-ridership-claims/ | 2018-12-20 | 3 |
<p>You can count on Cuban artist Tania Bruguera to stir things up when she heads back to Cuba in the coming weeks.&#160;</p>
<p>Bruguera is imagining a new future, even as her homeland officially mourns the death of revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.</p>
<p>"We need somebody in power that is able to create an image of the country that attracts the people who've thought (Cuba) was a failed project," she says. "Right now, though, I think the most important thing is that everybody has the right to feel what they feel, and the lesson is to know how to accept everybody's feelings without judging."</p>
<p>Bruguera, a performance and installation artist, is well-known for pushing the boundaries of acceptable speech in Cuba. Authorities there have arrested her three times in recent years in connection with her avant-garde theater.</p>
<p>Change, she cautions, won't come quickly. And although Cuban Americans in Miami backed Donald Trump for president, this Cuban dissident says the real estate mogul's victory is a setback for democracy.&#160;</p>
<p>"I don't think only in Cuba, but I think everybody in the world is horrified," she says. "Obama had a policy that really excited people in the island because for the first time the enemy was eliminated. Now we have with Trump a very strong enemy. &#160;And while I have to say that Obama should have been a little more strong on defending human rights in the island before he gave so much, I think his policy was correct." &#160;</p>
<p>President Barack Obama used executive authority to relax many trade and travel restrictions with Cuba after the two Cold War enemies reopened their embassies in 2014.&#160;</p>
<p>Bruguera says a copy of the video of Obama speaking to the Cuban people during his 2016 visit was "the most subversive thing you could have in Havana.</p>
<p>"The government didn't want anybody to hear it because Obama didn't speak to Cubans as a president, he spoke to Cubans as a community organizer," she says. "He actually made a lot of Cubans excited for the first time in a long time. He actually made people think, 'Yeah I can make a change, small, medium, whatever, but I can make one change.'"</p>
<p>As for Trump's loyalty to the struggle for freedom in Cuba, Bruguera is pessimistic.&#160;</p>
<p>"As soon as he sees a business opportunity, he will betray everybody, including the Cuban Americans," she says.&#160;</p> | Cuba's most controversial artist sketches the island's post-Fidel future | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-11-29/cubas-most-controversial-artist-sketches-islands-post-fidel-future | 2016-11-29 | 3 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Vanessa Beeley <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>“Harrowing footage published by the White Helmets volunteer rescue group&#160;showed a street littered with corpses and body parts,&#160;after civilians fleeing eastern Aleppo were reportedly hit by (regime) artillery fire. Shoes, clothing, suitcases and bags could be seen among puddles of blood and flesh.” ~ Lizzie Dearden for the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/aleppo-rebels-government-advance-syrian-war-russia-one-giant-graveyard-un-security-council-civilian-a7448906.html" type="external">Independent</a></p>
<p>This version of the news in the Independent regarding an alleged “Syrian regime massacre” in one district of East Aleppo, during November 2016, was repeated almost verbatim by NATO-aligned media outlets worldwide. Reports that saturated corporate media in the west, however, fell far short of the harrowing reality as recounted to me by residents of this East Aleppo district in July of this year. A reality that shattered the saccharine White Helmet “hero” narrative being promulgated by western media.</p>
<p>“The bodies of the dead and dying were left unattended for ten hours in the street after the Nusra Front rocket attack that killed 15 civilians. The White Helmets did not help them, they stole their belongings.” ~ Salaheddin Azazi, resident of Jibb Al Qubeh and eyewitness to events on 30/11/2016</p>
<p>On November 30th 2016, the clashes for the final liberation of East Aleppo, from a five year Nusra Front-dominated occupation and brutal siege of Syrian civilians, raged across the battle-scarred landscape of the eastern districts of Aleppo. Throughout this US coalition-armed and funded extremist campaign to steal Aleppo’s resources &amp; industry and to gradually occupy the entire second capital city of Syria, the media propaganda campaigns had run in lock-step and parallel intensity.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Omran Daqneesh now a happy, well-adjusted child still living in East Aleppo with his family. July 2017.(Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>First there was Omran Daqneesh, the dusty, bloodied and bewildered little boy, whose image went viral within hours and was described by the majority of NATO aligned media &amp; NGOs (including the UN) as the child “whose bloodied and dusty image gave a&#160;face&#160;to the&#160;suffering&#160;of Aleppo’s civilians in last year’s siege”. Omran’s story has more <a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/mintpress-meets-father-iconic-aleppo-boy-says-media-lied-son/228722/" type="external">recently been exposed</a> as a cynical publicity campaign for a “Bomb Free Zone”, set up by the UK FO constructed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfDdcWcRI_Q" type="external">White Helmets</a> and their child-beheading, <a href="" type="internal">Nour al Din Zinki, associates</a>.</p>
<p>During the ground battles to liberate East Aleppo, the Nusra Front affiliated White Helmets produced many of the varied and imaginative narratives to demonize the Syrian Arab Army as it fought to cleanse civilian areas of the extremist brigades that had universally converted schools and hospitals into prisons, Sharia courts, torture chambers, military centres and bomb making factories.</p>
<p>On the 30th November 2016, in Jibb al Qubeh, East Aleppo – the White Helmets appeared in one of their most theatrically “poignant” and iconic story lines, complete with “heartrending” testimony from “survivors”. This production was brought to the western corporate media by none other than French Foreign Office funded <a href="" type="internal">Aleppo Media Centre</a>. This version was shared by Middle East Eye.&#160;Watch:</p>
<p>The Corporate Media Scrum&#160;</p>
<p>The “copy paste” corporate media sprang into action. Despite the absence of journalists on the ground in Aleppo, within hours, the story had gone viral based entirely upon the testimony and video footage from an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBkn78q_t_Q&amp;t=167s" type="external">Al Qaeda affiliate</a>, the White Helmets. Syrian media, civilian testimony and reports from officials on the ground in East Aleppo contradicted this White Helmet narrative but to no avail. The NATO-aligned media simply buried such bones of contention under the rubble of their crumbling propaganda edifice in their rush to halt the Syrian Arab Army advance by eliciting outrage from the international community over another fabricated “massacre by the evil regime forces“.</p>
<p>High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, issued the following <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55789#.WZ04YVGg9PY" type="external">plea</a> to the international community:</p>
<p>“… heed the cries” of the women, men and children being terrorized and slaughtered in Aleppo and to take urgent steps to ensure that the tens of thousands of people who have fled, surrendered or been captured are treated in line with international law.</p>
<p>“The crushing of Aleppo, the immeasurably terrifying toll on its people, the bloodshed, the wanton slaughter of men, women and children, the destruction – and we are nowhere near the end of this cruel conflict,”</p>
<p>UN Secretary <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55789#.WZ04YVGg9PY" type="external">General, Ban Ki Moon</a> talked once again about how history would judge the international community if they did not “act”:</p>
<p>“History will not easily absolve us, but this failure compels us to do even more to offer the people of Aleppo our solidarity at this moment,”</p>
<p>[It must be noted that during my time in Jebrin Registration centre in December 2016, an estimated 100,000 liberated civilians were pouring in from Eastern Aleppo districts and were receiving humanitarian aid and assistance from the Syrian Arab Army, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, various Syrian civil society organisations and volunteers. The Russian military were distributing food and water and Russian medical teams had set up treatment tents that were receiving over 150 civilians per day, suffering from the effects of starvation, appalling, festering injuries &amp; chronic illnesses that had been left untreated by the “moderate rebels” during the 5 year Nusra Front-led occupation. The UN organisation was nowhere to be seen during this crucial time of release and recovery for these traumatized people. ]</p>
<p>Channel 4 grabs the ball and runs with it..</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Who else should step in to score a home try for the Syrian “opposition” but Channel 4.</p>
<p>Jon Snow (winner of 21st Century Wire’s <a href="" type="internal">#FakeNews</a> poll) stepped up to the plate and performed perhaps one of the landmark Goebbelesque propaganda interviews of the Syrian conflict, with Fares Shehabi. Shehabi is an independent Aleppo MP and head of the Aleppo Chamber of Commerce. Unlike many of his colleagues, Shehabi remained in Aleppo throughout the five-year East Aleppo occupation, by US coalition armed &amp; funded extremist brigades.</p>
<p>Snows pugnacious questioning of Shehabi revealed absolutely no objectivity nor did it leave room for doubt. In Snow’s mind “the Syrian army did it” and no amount of logical reasoning, from Shehabi in Aleppo, was going to derail his propaganda train. Unfortunately for Snow, at some point that train was destined to hit the brick wall of truth from the mouths of the very civilians that Snow claimed to be advocating for.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Meme produced by <a href="https://me.me/t/assad?since=1486788215%2C9750543" type="external">page</a> supporting NATO state intervention in Syria.&#160;</p>
<p>In his eagerness to discredit the Syrian government and the Syrian Arab Army, Snow got a bit confused over his facts. Initially endorsing the “barrel bomb” narrative, he then deftly switched to “Syrian artillery” fire. Nowhere in his repertoire did he include the analysis that the neighborhood of Jib Al Qubbeh would be a mountain of rubble, had it been double whammied by the <a href="" type="internal">7-9-richter-scale-barrel-bombs</a> and Syrian artillery. Why should a little reality get in the way of producing news-desk-fantasy after all, especially when UK foreign policy interests are at stake.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Fares Shehabi told me after the interview that Channel 4 had edited many of his responses to better comply with their narrative. To watch Jon Snow’s stellar performance in its entirety (plus edits), <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/aleppo-syrian-mp-fares-shehabi" type="external">it is linked here</a>.</p>
<p>So the official, NATO-aligned narrative was that the Syrian Arab Army, its allies, the Russian &amp; Syrian airforces had all combined to obliterate Syrian civilians fleeing East Aleppo for the humanitarian corridors set up by the Syrian government &amp; their Russian allies to enable these civilians to escape the fighting and reach the sanctity of the Syrian government protected West Aleppo. Not a single question was raised among the corporate media elite about the blatantly irrational logic behind this distorted chronicling of events.</p>
<p>The Inevitable Requests for a No Fly Zone</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Less than a week after this tragedy was aired by western media, Abdulrahman Al Mawwas a White Helmet representative was given a platform to speak in front of the foreign affairs committee of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EPinIreland/videos/10154607838122324/" type="external">European Parliament in Ireland</a>. Images taken from the White Helmet/AMC Jibb Al Qubeh production were used to reinforce demands for the creation of humanitarian corridors and planes to drop aid to civilians affected by war and of course, last but not least, a No Fly Zone. Mawwas stuck to the familiar script but the disturbing images from Jibb al Qubeh gave new impetus to his recital.</p>
<p>The Truth of Jibb Al Qubeh as Revealed by its Residents</p>
<p>In July/August 2017 I returned to the districts of East Aleppo that I had seen during liberation in December 2016 and again in April/May 2017. In July it was heartening to see that so many civilians had returned to their homes and were trying to recreate the life they had before the violent disruption of their peaceful existence, by US coalition-manufactured, armed, extremist groups.</p>
<p>I went with Aleppo journalist, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/khalediskef?ref=br_rs" type="external">Khaled Iskef</a>, to the Jib Al Qubbeh neighborhood and I spoke with civilians. We sat outside their houses and drank coffee whilst around them, life returned to a semblance of “normal”. The recall of these civilians, many of whom witnessed events on that day in November 2016, differed wildly from the mass-produced narrative of NATO-aligned media outlets.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Discussing the November 2016 events in Jibb al Qubeh with residents and Khaled Iskef. July 2017. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>During my time in this district I spoke with&#160;Salaheddin Azazi and Ammar Al Bakr (in above photo) and a number of other named witnesses who testified to the truth of the killing of civilians who were fleeing East Aleppo to the safety of West Aleppo as the Syrian Arab Army was advancing on the ground and cleansing East Aleppo of Nusra Front and associated militant factions.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> The street in Jibb Al Qubbeh where the White Helmets filmed their footage of massacred civilians. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)&#160;</p>
<p>Initially we toured (on foot) around the actual street that was the scene of the White Helmet/AMC video. Here we found the usual configuration of Nusra Front headquartes, Aleppo Council and White Helmet centres all within easy walking distance from each other. This same layout was found in every district of East Aleppo where these three entities were operating, also combining with the UK Foreign Office funded, <a href="" type="internal">Free Syrian Police</a>in many of the same districts.</p>
<p>The above video, taken in the area, walks you through the Aleppo Council building and demonstrates the proximity of Nusra Front and the White Helmet centre at the end of the street. Graffiti on the garage door opposite the Aleppo Council is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant_Front" type="external">Kataeb Abu Amara</a>, a Turkish funded militant brigade closely associated with Nusra Front that was also operating in this district of East Aleppo.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Khateab Abu Amara Graffiti on garage door opposite Aleppo Council, Jibb Al Qubeh, East Aleppo. July 2017. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>In this district the Nusra Front headquarters were just behind the Aleppo Council on the main through-road that runs parallel to Bryyah Al Maslakh street. This was another school that had been occupied by the terrorist group and converted into a military centre and Sharia Court, the Ruba school in Jibb Al Qubeh.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Nusra Front headquarters in Jib Al Qubbeh, another converted school. This building was less than 200m from the Aleppo Council and the White Helmet centre in this area. July 2017. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>Nusra Front aka Al Qaeda were the dominant force in Jib Al Qubbeh according to residents. A number of other, affiliated, extremist brigades were also operating, including Ahrar Souria (a version of the FSA strongly linked to Nusra Front and who shared their ideology), Ahrar Al Sham an extremist group responsible for many of the <a href="https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/al-zara-massacre-2/" type="external">sectarian massacres</a> in Syria yet still not designated a <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/523" type="external">terrorist group by the US</a>coalition and lastly the aforementioned Abu Amara brigade.</p>
<p>The leader of Ahrar Souria in Jib Al Qubeh was an individual by the name of Mahmoud Afash who came from Anadan. He was known as the terrorist tank “taxi driver”. He provided tanks for the terrorist front lines and battles. Talking to civilians a picture was formed of the dense network of terrorist entities that worked alongside one another including the White Helmets:</p>
<p>“The White Helmets worked ten hour shifts. Ten hours as White Helmets and then ten hours as Nusra Front fighters” Salaheddin Azazi told us.</p>
<p>The manager of the Jib Al Qubeh (JAQ) Aleppo council was Hassan Nairobani Hassoun, a pediatrician from the area who was working in Zahzour hospital during the Nusra Front-led five year occupation. Hassoun worked with Nusra Front, some residents told us of “large sums of money that he had tucked away in Turkish banks”. Azazi told us that Hassoun was tasked by Nusra Front to recquisition houses that had a basement for Nusra Front military use, during the almost 5 year occupation. Basements gave some protection from the aerial bombing by Syrian and Russian airforces. When Azazi heard of this project he deliberately broke his own sewage pipes and flooded his basement so Hassoun would reject it as a Nusra Front venue.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Syria Charity front page on its website, advertising Syrian children for “sponsorship”&#160;</p>
<p>We were also told that Aleppo Council was equipped and maintained by the <a href="https://www.syriacharity.org/" type="external">Syria Charity</a>, a French government linked organisation that also “took care of the training of the White Helmets in Jib Al Qubeh”. <a href="" type="internal">Pierre Le Corf</a>, an independent, French humanitarian worker based in Aleppo said this about Syria Charity in his <a href="" type="internal">open letter</a> to former President of France, Francois Hollande:</p>
<p>“Our government also finances associations such as&#160;‘Syria Charity’&#160;that has as an emblem the three star flag, and that was originally called the “League for a Free Syria.” This association, even if providing humanitarian aid, has crossed the thin red line by taking part in an opinion war to justify the overthrowing of the government by hiding the reality on the field and their proximity with belligerent groups and by providing constant medical relief to terrorist forces (their presence is carefully erased from all available videos).</p>
<p>Numerous French and international associations or humanitarian organisations intervening in « rebel » zones have done more harm than good through the weaponization of the suffering of the local populations and the public opinion in the name of an oriented cause, and through wrongfully directed donations. They are also responsible for taking civilians as hostages of this war, and enabling the conflict to continue by&#160;legitimizing it&#160;in a dishonest manner, enabling the fightings to continue and death to stay a daily preoccupation.”</p>
<p>How Events Unfolded on 30th November 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> The street in Jib Al Qubbeh that was the scene of the White Helmet footage in November 2016. July 2017 (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>Below is the image taken from the White Helmet/AMC footage that was widely shared by corporate media, in this case, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3985714/More-50-000-people-flee-Aleppo-families-scramble-rebel-held-areas-city-Syrian-government-siege.html" type="external">Daily Mail</a> who ran the unambiguous headline:</p>
<p>Bodies lie scattered in the streets of Aleppo after Syrian forces bombard rebel-held region, slaughtering at least 45 people&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>All residents we spoke to including Azazi and Al Bakr were adamant that two terrorist home-made rockets were fired from the Eye Hospital to the east of the district of Sha’ar. At that time the Eye Hospital and the Childrens Hospital combined compound <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/syria-war-diary-what-life-is-like-under-moderate-rebel-rule/231201/" type="external">was still occupied</a> by Nusra Front and the Jabhat Al Shamiya brigade. This hospital complex was only liberated by the Syrian Arab Army on the <a href="https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/map-update-syrian-army-captures-60-rebel-held-aleppo-space-week/" type="external">4th December</a>, so four days after the tragedy occurred in Jibb Al Qubeh.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Diagram showing (estimated) placement of Syrian Arab Army and Nusra Front in relation to Jib Al Qubeh on 30/11/2016&#160;</p>
<p>On the 30th November, the closest Syrian Arab Army artillery position was in the Castle in the Old Citadel. They did also have artillery further away, to the north east of Jib Al Qubbeh in Hanano. The missiles had landed on the west side of the street targeting the Aleppo Council and adjacent building, the holes in the masonry were still visible. The Citadel was to the south west of the street and well over 1km away, therefore logic dictates that the missiles must have been fired from due east, which is where the terrorist occupied Eye Hospital is located.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>First missile strike hit the wall of the Aleppo Council on the western side of the road. July 2017 (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Second missile/rocket strike hit further along the street towards the White Helmet centre but still on western side. July 2017 (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)&#160;</p>
<p>Both Azazi and Al Bakr told me:</p>
<p>“We have lived through four years of occupation and we are very experienced when it comes to determining from how far away the mortars or rockets have been fired. From the sound of launch to the number of seconds before impact we can tell you almost exactly the distance to the rocket launcher and direction. These rockets were fired from the Eye Hospital to the east.”</p>
<p>So, through a pretty simple deduction and elimination process, the entire White Helmet/AMC, corporate media narrative has already started to fall apart at the seams. Certainly the Syrian air strike or seismic scale&#160;barrel bomb narrative does not fit as the street is largely untouched by aerial bombing, most of the structural damage is clearly from artillery mortar fire and there are additional signs of close quarter gun fights with bullet holes in the walls on both sides of the street.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Remaining buildings in the street, even those inbetween the two mortar strikes are structurally intact. July 2017 (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>Everyone interviewed told us, the attack happened at around 7am. Over 2000 civilians had been trying to escape the terrorist reprisals as the Syrian Arab Army advanced and these civilians were heading for the crossing points or SAA humanitarian collection points that would eventually give them safe access to West Aleppo. Azazi told me:</p>
<p>“They came from all areas, Jaloum, Salhiyeh, Midan, Bab al Nairab, Soukhari. They took this road to Farouj Al Sharq (one of the SAA collection points) instead of the main road, past the Nusra Front headquarters, to avoid being attacked by the terrorists…Nusra Front and Ahrar al Sham”.&#160;</p>
<p>Azazi went on to describe the confusion that preceded the terrorist targeting of these civilians. I have paraphrased his description which I also videoed:</p>
<p>On that day, these 2000 civilians had been told that the safe point of Farouj AlSharq had been opened, by the SAA, to the north-east of Jibb Al Qubeh. They had collected their belongings and left their homes to escape the terrorists who were killing civilians rather than see them leave for the Syrian government held areas. (See my collection of testimonies from East Aleppo during liberation, December 2016 – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SAJm4VRaXA&amp;t=67s" type="external">here</a>)</p>
<p>“As these civilians approached the end of the street, they saw that the way forward was blocked by Nusra Front terrorists. The terrorists told them to go back to Boustan Al Qasr, an area to the south-west of Jibb al Qubeh which was on the frontline between Nusra Front and the Syrian Arab Army.” said Azazi</p>
<p>Azazi clarified who was in charge of the Nusra Front terrorists at this point:</p>
<p>“The leader of Nusra Front in this area stopped them, he shot at them to turn them back. His nickname was Khattab Al Shishani&#160;his real name was Khaled Ktay. He is Syrian and from this area, we knew him”&#160;</p>
<p>As they turned and fled back towards Boustan Al Qasr, they realised that this road was now also closed to them by the terrorist forces.</p>
<p>The crowds of civilians were effectively kettled into the narrow street at 7am when the rockets targeted them. Corporate media reports claimed 45 dead, residents told us 15 were killed in the attack. Those who managed to escape the rocket fire, were then pushed out of the street into the surrounding areas.</p>
<p>“Bodies were left in the street for ten hours, until 3 or 4pm” said Al Bakr.</p>
<p>“We watched the White Helmets steal the belongings of the victims,. They didnt help them at all” Azazi repeated, and this eyewitness testimony was reiterated by a man who had come to join the discussion and who had a shop in the street…</p>
<p>“Yes, they stole all belongings from the dead bodies, they stole everything” he said. This man’s shop (in photo below) had been taken over by the Abu Amara brigade and used as a general store for their weapons and equipment.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Screenshot from video in Jibb Al Qubeh while residents explained events on 30/11/2016. July 2017. (Video: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>“The White Helmets and Nusra Front would not allow relatives or people from the area into the street to help the injured or even to collect the bodies” added Azazi</p>
<p>“At around 4pm the White Helmets finally brought the orange body bags and started filming” said Al Bakr and Azazi</p>
<p>All three men confirmed that relatives were still prevented entry into the street to collect the bodies, until after the filming session. It is also very important to note that everyone we spoke to in East Aleppo, told us that filming or photography was only permissable if Nusra Front gave the green light. Nusra Front controlled all video footage and still photos in areas they governed, which was pretty much all of East Aleppo prior to liberation. This means that any footage being produced by the White Helmets, AMC, SMART, <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/waad-al-kateab-is-an-award-winning-film-maker-and-she-is-in-grave-danger" type="external">Channel 4 prize winning camerawoman</a> Waad Al Khateab etc was enabled, almost exclusively by the express permission of Al Qaeda in East Aleppo. It also means that the footage and imagery that western corporate media based their narrative upon came with the blessings of Al Qaeda.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Above is a screenshot from the WhiteHelmet/AMC video. There is one White Helmet in full uniform on the left “checking” the body. The guy in the centre is unarmed but certainly looks more like a fighter than a first responder and the guy on the right is still wearing what could be identified as a militant headdress while sporting a White Helmet jacket. At this point, according to witness testimony, these bodies had already been picked clean of their valuables and belongings before these faux humanitarians starred in another of their cameo roles as rescue workers.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Walking back from the scene of the civilian massacre carried out by Nusra Front and “mopped up” by the NATO &amp; Gulf state funded White Helmets. July 2017 with Khaled Iskef. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)</p>
<p>Conclusions</p>
<p>We walked back past the remnants of war and the ghosts of the lives lost on that day in November 2016, the July heat swirled around us and the sun cast long shadows on the street beneath our feet. I felt profoundly sad that these civilians, bewildered and terrified, had been trapped in this corridor of death on a bitterly cold November day in 2016 by the terrorists and their white-helmeted cohorts, before being mown down by the Nusra Front missiles. &#160;I tried to imagine the panic, the fear and then the severe trauma for relatives who had to watch their children, their family members, dead or dying for over ten hours, unable to reach them or to prevent their meagre belongings being stolen from them.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the western corporate media had not pondered on any aspect of this incident before launching their “Syria &amp; Russia did it” campaign. A campaign based upon the evidence of the White Helmets who hours before had left the bodies unattended in the street while they sifted through their remains and robbed the dead and dying of the few items of value these families had managed to gather together as they fled to what they hoped would be refuge from a life of oppression under Nusra Front rule.</p>
<p>Finally those desecrated bodies became propaganda props in another White Helmet movie, destined to evoke sympathy among the misinformed in the west and to feed the “regime change” narratives of the NATO-aligned media and NGOs who rely almost exclusively upon Al Qaeda affiliated testimony to produce their bullish pro-“moderate”, no-fly-zone lobby reports.</p>
<p>I leave you with another “immortal” quote from the Jon Snow interview….&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Syrians are going home Jon Snow</a>, ‘you know nothing.’</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>***</p>
<p>SEE MORE SYRIA NEWS AT:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Syria Files</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT 21WIRE –&#160;SUBSCRIBE &amp; BECOME A MEMBER @&#160; <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">21WIRE.TV &#160;</a></p> | WHITE HELMETS: The Jib-Al-Qubeh War Crime in Aleppo, Denied by Channel 4 | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/09/01/white-helmets-the-jib-al-qubeh-war-crime-in-aleppo-denied-by-channel-4/ | 2017-09-01 | 4 |
<p>In this political season, a fear, masked by a sometimes openly raging anger directed toward an array of minorities, is the fear of a white majority that is thoroughly panicked by the awareness that it is on a slow but inevitable march from a majority to a minority status in American society.</p> | White Americans, this is what it feels like to be a minority | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/white-americans-this-is-what-it-feels-like-to-be-a-minority/ | 3 |
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<p>View the full <a href="http://homicide.igarape.org.br/" type="external">Homicide Monitor here</a>.</p>
<p>LIMA, Peru — It’s the ultimate crime: the taking of a person's life.&#160;</p>
<p>It’s no wonder that people obsess over&#160;homicides.&#160;Or that politicians and others often accuse the media of giving skewed perceptions of criminal reality, encouraging the public to live in fear, even in relatively safe societies.</p>
<p>Here’s a tool&#160;to help put that debate to rest. <a href="http://homicide.igarape.org.br/" type="external">This new interactive map</a> shows recent homicide data by country, just one&#160;click-on-the-globe away.</p>
<p>It's the handiwork of the&#160;Igarape Institute, a security&#160;think tank in Brazil. The stats are primarily United Nations numbers. But to get into specifics, like weapons and demographics,&#160;the researchers mined data from other sources, including police and local agencies. (And for the geek in you, the tool uses <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebGL" type="external">WebGL</a> technology.)</p>
<p>Clicking on the globe reveals some interesting, sometimes startling, facts:</p> | This spinning globe tells you the chances of getting murdered in each country | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-05-15/spinning-globe-tells-you-chances-getting-murdered-each-country | 2015-05-15 | 3 |
<p>The City University of New York's Center for Urban Research released a study Friday showing that when it comes to Wall Street, white men still rule.</p>
<p>The study, entitled "The Progress and Pitfalls of Diversity on Wall Street," reported that white men earned double the amount of money annually compared to other ethnic groups. According to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204012004577072751740866044.html" type="external">The Wall Street Journal</a>, "Their median earnings shot up 15 percent, to about $154,500, between the 2000 federal Census and the 2005 to 2009 American Communities Survey, the report said.</p>
<p>Income generally increased across all other races and genders. But their rate of change was a far cry from the increased earnings of white men, who on average earned about $100,000 annually between 2005 and 2009. African American men on the other hand earned about $90,000, and African American women earned $60,770.</p>
<p>Latinos were shown to make higher gains within their incomes compared to those in the African American community.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the report found that not only did the amount of Asian men in Wall Street double, but also that "Asians account for the majority of the diversification of Wall Street, going from 5 percent of older workers in 2000 to 19 percent of younger ones in 2005-09."</p>
<p>From 2000 and on, women make up about 25 percent of the workforce ages 45 and up and about a third of the youngest workers.</p>
<p>Richard Alba, who co-authored the report and is a professor of sociology at the Graduate Center of CUNY, told The Wall Street Journal that the statistics regarding women in the workforce were particular surprising.</p>
<p>"We know women now outperform men in the educational system," said Alba. "They have higher rates of getting [bachelor's of arts degrees] and post-graduate degrees and that they still lag so much behind in terms of their position on Wall Street I find really remarkable."</p>
<p>Read more from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111108/wall-street-workers-bonuses-decrease-update" type="external">Wall Street workers' bonuses to decrease</a></p> | Report finds that white men still dominate Wall Street | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-12-02/report-finds-white-men-still-dominate-wall-street | 2011-12-02 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — It sounds like the plot line to a movie: He’s a former LA cop on a violent, rage-filled rampage who will stop at nothing for revenge.</p>
<p>Instead, police say, it is the latest real-life crime story to grip Southern California, a place where fiction frequently blurs with reality and pop culture often plays larger than the truth. Christopher Dorner’s alleged killing spree hasn’t just terrorized a section of the country — it has captured people’s imagination and attention.</p>
<p>As of Monday, the triple-murder suspect had more than 70 Facebook fan pages, some of them with thousands of likes. Many people were going on those pages to call him an American hero, a man of true conviction who is fighting for his beliefs. Others praised him for attempting to fight injustice and racism “by any means necessary,” quoting the expression popularized by Malcom X during the 1960s Black Power movement.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Even Charlie Sheen asked the missing suspect to give him a call.</p>
<p>“Let’s figure out together how to end this thing,” the star of the TV series “Anger Management” says in a 17-second video posted on the website TMZ.com in which he also thanks Dorner for praising him as an actor.</p>
<p>Dorner’s shoutout to Sheen, “You’re effin awesome,” came in a long, rambling manifesto the former cop allegedly posted online in which he accused the Los Angeles Police Department of wrongly firing him, railed against racism and other abuses, and weighed in on his favorite movies and celebrities.</p>
<p>He also vowed vengeance against the police officers he believes wronged him and ruined his reputation. So far, authorities say, he has carried out that threat, killing a Riverside police officer, attempting to kill three other police officers and killing the daughter of a former LA police captain and her fiance.</p>
<p>And then, just like a scene out of a movie, he vanished Rambo-like, presumably into the deep snow of a sprawling national forest 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Authorities found his burned-out car with weapons inside last week but, so far, no trace of him despite a search coordinated by the FBI, LAPD and other police agencies.</p>
<p>“My first thought was this is the stuff movies are made of,” said Karen North, a social media expert at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School. But then her second thought, North said, was that unlike the anti-heroes played to such great effect by Sylvester Stallone in the “Rambo” movies and Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Running Man,” Dorner has no redeeming qualities.</p>
<p>“He’s killed people who are real people with real families and real friends, and he’s terrorized entire communities,” she said.</p>
<p>His ability to so far elude one of the largest manhunts in memory, however, has quickly elevated Dorner to folk-hero status among some.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“People, especially Americans, like to identify with anti-heroes and underdogs, and if you take away the fact that he has killed innocent people, people identify with his messages,” North said of Dorner’s online rants against racism, injustice and police brutality.</p>
<p>In that way, she said, some will identify him with popular outlaws of the past like Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.</p>
<p>“But when we do this, we often forget that these people are creating heartbreak for the individuals’ lives they affect,” North continued.</p>
<p>Dorner’s manifesto rambles on for more than 10,000 words, spending much of the first half accusing Los Angeles police of wrongly firing him, destroying his reputation and leaving him with no choice but to kill people to bring those actions to the public’s attention and restore his name. He also tells of enduring racist taunts during much of his school years, when he says he was often the only black student in his classes.</p>
<p>In the second half, the ex-cop addresses numerous celebrities, including Sheen.</p>
<p>Dorner, who has said he expects to die in a violent confrontation with police, laments that he likely won’t live to see the third “”Hangover” movie. He also advises director Todd Phillips to end the franchise after that film and not cheapen it by milking it for more sequels. He sides with Larry David’s character in an episode of the TV comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which David’s black friends tell him white people keep their homes too cold at night.</p>
<p>He also heaps praise on Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Cosby.</p>
<p>Except for Sheen, the celebrities have chosen to ignore him.</p>
<p>However Dorner’s saga ends, North speculated, society will eventually do the same.</p>
<p>“We will look back on this not as somebody with a great cause who called attention to it in a bad way,” she said. “This is somebody who created terrible heartbreak.”</p> | Vengeful ex-cop saga sounds like a movie | false | https://abqjournal.com/168109/vengeful-ex-cop-saga-sounds-like-a-movie.html | 2013-02-12 | 2 |
<p>Incoming! Incoming!</p>
<p>Uh . . . pardon me while I interrupt this false alarm to quote Martin Luther King:</p>
<p>“Science investigates,” he says in The Strength To Love, “religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals.”</p>
<p>These words stopped me in my tracks on MLK Day. They seemed to fill a hole in the breaking news, which never quite manages to balance power with wisdom, or even acknowledge the distinction.</p>
<p>Our relationship to power is unquestioned, e.g.: “In the United States itself, there are around [nuclear] 4,500 warheads, of which approximately 1,740 are deployed,” Karthika Sasikumar writes at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “Even more worrying, around 900 of these are on hair-trigger alert, which means that they could be launched within 10 minutes of receiving a warning (which could turn out to be a false alarm). . . .</p>
<p>“The threat to the United States is very real, but fattening the nuclear arsenal is not a rational response. The United States already has 100 times as many warheads as North Korea. . . .”</p>
<p>The U.S. has enormous power, but so what? Such data is almost never addressed in the mainstream media — certainly not in the context of . . . disarmament. That concept is sealed shut, barred from the consciousness of generals and news anchors. Certainly it didn’t come up in the coverage of what happened last Saturday in Hawaii, when an employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency hit the wrong link on his computer screen during a shift change and an incoming-missile alert went statewide, throwing residents and tourists into 38 minutes of panic: “Children going down manholes, stores closing their doors to those seeking shelter and cars driving at high speeds . . .”</p>
<p>Nor did it come up three days later, when a false missile alert went off in Japan, a country with a few memories of the real thing: “Within 10 seconds the fire that wiped out the city came after us at full speed. Everyone was naked. Bodies were swelling up. Some people were so deformed I couldn’t tell if they were male or female. People died screaming, ‘Please give me water!’”</p>
<p>So said Emiko Okada, who was a little girl living with her family on the outskirts of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Her older sister, who had just left for school, disappeared that morning and was never seen again. Emiko tells her story in the remarkable 2010 documentary Atomic Mom.</p>
<p>In a column I wrote about the movie at the time, I asked: “What if schoolchildren stood facing not the American flag every morning before class started but a photograph of a devastated Hiroshima, shortly after it was obliterated by our atomic bomb, and pledged their allegiance to the idea that such a thing will never happen again?”</p>
<p>What, I wondered, if we started facing our fears instead of living in fear? To do so, we have to find wisdom in the maw of power.</p>
<p>What we find instead is a president who shook up the whole planet when he called Haiti and the countries of Africa shithole nations — managing, as far as I can tell, to make the word “shithole” far more acceptable to utter in public than “disarmament.”</p>
<p>But the monstrousness of the word isn’t that it used to be obscene, but rather that it does what so many other words do: renders a segment of humanity soulless: the enemy, and therefore expendable. Japan is now our ally, but when we nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki, its people were Japs or Nips and without value.</p>
<p>Is not the first step toward wisdom when it comes to a world still preposterously armed with weapons of mass destruction a national and international commitment never to dehumanize a living soul? With such a commitment in place, the obvious next step is committing never to launch a nuclear weapon, and therefore agreeing to get rid of the ones we have and, of course, refraining from developing new, more “usable” generations of nukes.</p>
<p>To put it another way, mutually assured destruction is not wisdom. It’s playing with global holocaust, an outcome that may be beyond the ability of anyone, at least anyone who is not a hibakusha — an atomic bomb survivor — to imagine. Free of such paralyzing awareness, national leaders postulate how they would retaliate if attacked, as though a counterattack, killing millions more people, is in any way a sane response to a nuclear attack (or apparent attack).</p>
<p>The Atlantic, in an article about the Hawaii false alarm, quoted one scholar’s tweet of a possible scenario: “POTUS sees alert on his phone about an incoming toward Hawaii, pulls out the biscuit, turns to his military aide with the football and issues a valid and authentic order to launch nuclear weapons at North Korea. Think it can’t happen?”</p>
<p>Come on. With this president?</p>
<p>I think it’s time to free MLK from his day of honor and put him back at the center of the national news.</p> | The Wisdom of Mass Salvation | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/01/19/the-wisdom-of-mass-salvation/ | 2018-01-19 | 4 |
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers gaveled in Tuesday for a legislative session colored by the year's upcoming elections, and the conversation in the Republican-led House turned into a spat over health care.</p>
<p>House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh was the first of several Democrats to call for the revival of a 2015 Medicaid expansion proposal under former President Barack Obama's health care law that failed in the legislature, despite Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's backing. The governor has no plan to revive the proposal, said Haslam spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals.</p>
<p>Republicans were quick to call the speeches a political stunt. Legislative leaders and Haslam say opioid abuse will be the main focus of the monthslong session as the pressing issue has broad support heading into state elections for governor. All 99 House seats and 17 of 33 Senate seats will be up for grabs in November.</p>
<p>As pro-Medicaid expansion demonstrators crammed into the Capitol lobby, Democrats pointed to the planned closure of the Decatur County Hospital, where the county commission has said Medicaid expansion would mean hospitals would lose less money because there would be fewer uninsured patients who can't pay their own way.</p>
<p>"Our governor has proposed Insure Tennessee, and for political reasons, it did not move very far. But those political reasons are gone now," said Fitzhugh, a Ripley Democrat who is running for governor.</p>
<p>House Majority Leader Glen Casada, a Franklin Republican, said Fitzhugh sounded like he was on the campaign trail. He said Republicans were proud to vote down the measure in 2015 because expanding the government program isn't the answer. Lower patient populations have been the main driver of rural hospital closures, Casada added.</p>
<p>"I appreciate the gubernatorial speech you gave. It is greatly appreciated," Casada told Fitzhugh. "And if I was a Democrat, I would vote for you. But I'm not."</p>
<p>Fitzhugh is joined in the gubernatorial race by House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville in a field of five major Republicans and two Democrats looking to succeed Haslam, who is term-limited.</p>
<p>Haslam hasn't release his slate of bills yet. But Casada said one of the governor's bills seeks to offer some type of incentive or reward for community colleges, technical schools, and four-year institutions that graduate students at a higher percentage rate.</p>
<p>The legislation is part of Haslam's 'Drive to 55' initiative, which aims to boost the rate of higher education degrees or certificates among Tennesseans from the current 38 percent to 55 percent by 2025.</p>
<p>The Senate opened more amicably Monday, as Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, was sworn into office after a narrow special election win.</p>
<p>Election-minded lawmakers can't raise campaign funds during the session, so they have incentive to finish quickly. The candidate filing deadline is April 5 and the primary is Aug. 2.</p>
<p>During a caucus meeting before floor sessions began Tuesday, House Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan Williams told his party peers of a branding plan with a new logo, videos and others components. The Cookeville Republican said he is using his campaign funds to hire a firm for the effort.</p>
<p>Williams noted the room for improvement after he cited the party's recent high-profile losses in Alabama and Virginia.</p>
<p>"As the House Republican Caucus, one of the things that I think we have not done a very good job of sometimes is touting the accomplishments that Republicans have done in some kind of statewide branding role that we all use," Williams said.</p>
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers gaveled in Tuesday for a legislative session colored by the year's upcoming elections, and the conversation in the Republican-led House turned into a spat over health care.</p>
<p>House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh was the first of several Democrats to call for the revival of a 2015 Medicaid expansion proposal under former President Barack Obama's health care law that failed in the legislature, despite Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's backing. The governor has no plan to revive the proposal, said Haslam spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals.</p>
<p>Republicans were quick to call the speeches a political stunt. Legislative leaders and Haslam say opioid abuse will be the main focus of the monthslong session as the pressing issue has broad support heading into state elections for governor. All 99 House seats and 17 of 33 Senate seats will be up for grabs in November.</p>
<p>As pro-Medicaid expansion demonstrators crammed into the Capitol lobby, Democrats pointed to the planned closure of the Decatur County Hospital, where the county commission has said Medicaid expansion would mean hospitals would lose less money because there would be fewer uninsured patients who can't pay their own way.</p>
<p>"Our governor has proposed Insure Tennessee, and for political reasons, it did not move very far. But those political reasons are gone now," said Fitzhugh, a Ripley Democrat who is running for governor.</p>
<p>House Majority Leader Glen Casada, a Franklin Republican, said Fitzhugh sounded like he was on the campaign trail. He said Republicans were proud to vote down the measure in 2015 because expanding the government program isn't the answer. Lower patient populations have been the main driver of rural hospital closures, Casada added.</p>
<p>"I appreciate the gubernatorial speech you gave. It is greatly appreciated," Casada told Fitzhugh. "And if I was a Democrat, I would vote for you. But I'm not."</p>
<p>Fitzhugh is joined in the gubernatorial race by House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville in a field of five major Republicans and two Democrats looking to succeed Haslam, who is term-limited.</p>
<p>Haslam hasn't release his slate of bills yet. But Casada said one of the governor's bills seeks to offer some type of incentive or reward for community colleges, technical schools, and four-year institutions that graduate students at a higher percentage rate.</p>
<p>The legislation is part of Haslam's 'Drive to 55' initiative, which aims to boost the rate of higher education degrees or certificates among Tennesseans from the current 38 percent to 55 percent by 2025.</p>
<p>The Senate opened more amicably Monday, as Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, was sworn into office after a narrow special election win.</p>
<p>Election-minded lawmakers can't raise campaign funds during the session, so they have incentive to finish quickly. The candidate filing deadline is April 5 and the primary is Aug. 2.</p>
<p>During a caucus meeting before floor sessions began Tuesday, House Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan Williams told his party peers of a branding plan with a new logo, videos and others components. The Cookeville Republican said he is using his campaign funds to hire a firm for the effort.</p>
<p>Williams noted the room for improvement after he cited the party's recent high-profile losses in Alabama and Virginia.</p>
<p>"As the House Republican Caucus, one of the things that I think we have not done a very good job of sometimes is touting the accomplishments that Republicans have done in some kind of statewide branding role that we all use," Williams said.</p> | Tennessee lawmakers kick into election-year session | false | https://apnews.com/amp/29608bdc09dd4938a6bb6d1444e3d42e | 2018-01-09 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>3 a.m.</p>
<p>Grigor Dimitrov had his first win on the main court at Melbourne Park, so he didn’t mind that the match started two minutes before midnight. “We had matches in the past finishing 4, 5 in the morning. Whatever it is, it’s in the game,” he said. “I just had to deal with whatever was in front of me.”</p>
<p>The No. 15-seeded Dimitrov beat No. 18 Richard Gasquet in straight sets and finished the third-round match at precisely 2 a.m. Then there was a list of things to do, including a news conference, more stretching and exercising, and he was aiming to get to bed by 5 a.m.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He said he’d been having trouble sleeping, anyway, so the late start/finish didn’t hurt too much.</p>
<p>“It was my first win on Rod Laver,” he said. “I’m going to remember that for sure. Those moments for me count a lot.”</p>
<p>Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals in Australia and the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2014, but hasn’t been beyond the fourth round at a major since.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>2 a.m.</p>
<p>Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet may have had the latest start to a match at the Australian Open — organizers couldn’t confirm — but fell well short of the record for the latest finish.</p>
<p>The third-round match started at 11:58 p.m. local time. After grinding through four games in 24 minutes, No. 15-seeded Dimitrov picked up pace and finished off 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at 2 a.m. — well short of the latest-finishing match in Grand Slam history.</p>
<p>In 2008, Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis started a match here at 11:47 p.m. and ended at 4:34 a.m. For the record, Hewitt won 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>12:10 a.m.</p>
<p>Richard Gasquet and Grigor Dimitrov have started the final match of the day at Rod Laver Arena at 11:58 p.m.</p>
<p>The night session was delayed by more than two hours due to two lengthy matches during the day session, including a 4-hour, 6-minute encounter between Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev.</p>
<p>After the first night match between Daria Gavrilova and Timea Bacsinszky went three sets, Gasquet and Dimitrov didn’t take the court for warm-ups until 11:48 p.m.</p>
<p>The latest finishing match at the Australian Open happened in 2008 between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis.</p>
<p>The players didn’t take the court in that 2008 match until 11:47 p.m. and ended up finishing their five-setter at 4:34 a.m., with Hewitt winning 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:40 p.m.</p>
<p>U.S. Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to beat Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-0, 10-8 and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time.</p>
<p>Ostapenko twice served for the match and twice she was broken, winning only one point in each game.</p>
<p>She saved a match point before holding in the 12th game, prolonging the match for another six games until fifth-seeded Pliskova finally broke serve again.</p>
<p>Pliskova hadn’t advanced beyond the third round at any major before she reached the final of the last U.S. Open, where she beat Venus and Serena Williams before losing to Angelique Kerber.</p>
<p>In another late women’s match on the adjoining Rod Laver Arena, No. 22 Daria Gavrilova beat 12th-seeed Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Third-seeded Milos Raonic has advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open following a 6-2, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 win over Gilles Simon. Raonic, who reached the semifinals here last year before losing to Andy Murray, reached the fourth round for the fifth year in a row.</p>
<p>It was the big-serving Canadian’s fourth win in five matches against Simon.</p>
<p>Raonic will next play Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat David Ferrer 7-5, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4.</p>
<p>In another third-round match, Simon’s French Davis Cup teammate Gael Monfils, the U.S. Open semifinalist, beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-4.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:15 p.m.</p>
<p>The secret to Denis Istomin’s winning streak in five-setters at the Australian Open?</p>
<p>Plenty of sleep and avocado sandwiches.</p>
<p>Istomin, a wild-card entry from Uzbekistan, backed up his shocking upset win over six-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round with another five-set victory on over 30th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta.</p>
<p>He said he tried to put his win over Djokovic — the biggest of his career — out of his mind so he could concentrate on his next match against Carreno Busta. That meant getting a good night’s sleep and not spending much time on Facebook responding to all the congratulatory messages he received from friends back home.</p>
<p>“I have no time to answer everyone, so I just (said), ‘Thanks to everyone. Sorry, but it takes one month to answer to everyone, I need to prepare for the next match.’ And everybody was happy.”</p>
<p>He also stuck to his regular breakfast.</p>
<p>“It was a sandwich with avocados and tomatoes,” he said. “I like avocados.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:15 p.m.</p>
<p>Rafael Nadal has overcome a spirited challenge from 19-year-old Alexander Zverev, beating the German teenager 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open.</p>
<p>Nadal broke Zverev’s serve in the opening game of the final set, lost his own serve, and then broke back in the fifth game to advance to a Round of 16 match against the winner of a later match between Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gael Monfils.</p>
<p>The match started ominously for Nadal when he lost his serve in the opening game. Zverev hit a deft drop shot while stretched out completely on break point.</p>
<p>But Nadal, who had two lengthy injury spells last year, settled into the match and dominated after losing the third-set tiebreaker. At the end of the 4 hour, 6-minute match, Nadal pumped both arms toward the court in celebration.</p>
<p>Zverev was attempting to join his older brother Mischa, who plays Andy Murray on Sunday, in the fourth round.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Denis Istomin has followed his upset win over defending champion Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Pablo Carreno Busta, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Istoman, a wild-card entry from Uzbekistan, became the lowest-ranked player — at 117 — to beat a second-seeded player at the Australian Open.</p>
<p>Istoman beat Djokovic on the main Rod Laver Arena, but his match Saturday was on the much lower-profile Show Court 2.</p>
<p>Istomin will next play the winner of a night match between Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>6:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Martina Hingis and CoCo Vandeweghe have been beaten 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of women’s doubles by the Australian wild-card pair of Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty.</p>
<p>Hingis won the Australian Open singles title three straight years from 1997 and then lost the next three before taking an extended break from the game.</p>
<p>She has won five Australian Open doubles titles — the first in 1997 and the latest coming last year.</p>
<p>Hingis won five Grand Slam doubles titles after returning as a full-time doubles player in 2013, including three in row from Wimbledon 2015 to last year’s Australian Open with Sania Mirza.</p>
<p>She has 55 career tour-level doubles titles.</p>
<p>Hingis and Vandeweghe were seeded fifth in Australia, where Vandeweghe has reached the fourth round in singles for the first time.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:05 p.m.</p>
<p>Johanna Konta has moved into the fourth round at Melbourne Park with a 6-3, 6-1 win over former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at Margaret Court Arena.</p>
<p>Konta, who made a surprise run to the semifinals at Melbourne Park last year, broke Wozniacki in the final game of the opening set.</p>
<p>Wozniacki then made life difficult for herself by double-faulting on break point to give Konta a 2-0 lead in the second.</p>
<p>Although Konta double-faulted on her first match point, she clinched it two points later when Wozniacki hit a backhand wide.</p>
<p>Wozniacki had come into the match in strong form, failing to drop a set in her first two matches and losing only seven games.</p>
<p>Konta will next face Ekaterina Makarova in the Round of 16.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Serena Williams’ 17th appearance at the Australian Open remains on track — the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion beat fellow American Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena.</p>
<p>The 23-year-old Gibbs, making her 12th appearance overall at any major, had two game points at 1-1 in the second set, but allowed Williams to come back and break her serve.</p>
<p>Williams was broken at 5-2 while serving for the match, but did the same to Gibbs in the next game to complete the win in 63 minutes.</p>
<p>The six-time Australian Open champion advanced to the fourth round for the sixth year in a row since not playing here in 2011 due to a foot injury.</p>
<p>Aiming for a record 23rd Grand Slam singles title, Williams will next play Barbora Strycova, who beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>2:15 p.m.</p>
<p>Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has continued her unlikely run at the Australian Open with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Maria Sakkari of Greece to advance to the Round of 16.</p>
<p>Before this week, the 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni hadn’t won a match at Melbourne Park since her debut at the tournament in 1998. The 19-year gap in between match wins at a Grand Slam tournament broke the record set by Kimiko Date-Krumm, who went 17 years between match wins at Wimbledon.</p>
<p>Lucic-Baroni was a former tennis prodigy who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1999 as a 17-year-old and captured the Australian Open doubles title a year before that with Martina Hingis.</p>
<p>She next plays American Jennifer Brady, a qualifier ranked No. 116, for a chance to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since her run at the All England Club 17 years ago.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>2:10 p.m.</p>
<p>Ekaterina Makarova didn’t make it easy on herself, blowing a one-set, 4-0 lead over Dominika Cibulkova, but the Russian player advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win. After taking a medical timeout for an injured right elbow in the third set, the 2015 Australian Open semifinalist broke Cibulkova’s serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead, then held to win the match in 2 hours, 54 minutes.</p>
<p>Makarova won the last two games of the first set and the first four of the second. But Cibulkova, who had never lost to Makarova in three previous matches, won five games in a row to change the momentum of the game.</p>
<p>“An amazing fight. I got, to be honest, a bit tight at 4-0 in the second set,” Makarova said. “I want to enjoy my win today. It’s my first over Dominika, and she’s a great player.”</p>
<p>Makarova will play either 2016 semifinalist Johanna Konta or former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>12:55 p.m.</p>
<p>U.S. qualifier Jennifer Brady has advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over 14th-seeded Elena Vesnina.</p>
<p>It is the 21-year-old Brady’s first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament after she qualified in her first attempt at Melbourne Park. She had failed in previous attempts to qualify for the U.S. Open (three times) and Wimbledon and the French Open last year.</p>
<p>Brady will next play either Maria Sakkari or Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the Round of 16.</p>
<p>No. 16-seeded Barbora Strycova beat No. 21 Caroline Garcia 6-2, 7-5 to reach the fourth round, where she’ll meet either Serena Williams or Nicole Gibbs.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11 a.m.</p>
<p>Serena Williams continues her quest for a 23rd Grand Slam singles title while Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic also attempt to advance to the fourth round on Saturday at the Australian Open.</p>
<p>Under sunny skies and temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), Ekaterina Makarova and Dominika Cibulkova opened play at Rod Laver Arena. Williams’ match was set to follow on the same court, with Nadal taking on Alexander Zverev in the last match of the afternoon there.</p>
<p>Raonic was scheduled to play Gilles Simon at Hisense Arena.</p>
<p>Nadal and Raonic are both in the same half of the draw as the beaten Novak Djokovic, who lost in the second round. The man who defeated him, Denis Istomin, was set to play his third-round match on Show Court 2.</p> | The Latest: You snooze, you lose: Dimitrov OK with timing | false | https://abqjournal.com/932957/the-latest-you-snooze-you-lose-dimitrov-ok-with-timing.html | 2017-01-21 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The enemies of progress (real progress) always lash out when bested. They fear the market. They fear the free flow of prices and the competition it brings.</p>
<p>Things change. Buggy whip companies go bust. So do cab companies. Sorry, my suggestion is that you learn how to do a better job than the Uber drivers.</p>
<p>Most of us over the age of 35 have seen massive changes to our livelihoods. I certainly have. This is the nature of the economy. Thankfully a changing economy is also an economy which is full of new opportunities.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Cabbies (likely cabbies) go berserk in Mexico City, attacking Uber drivers (Video) | true | http://againstcronycapitalism.org/2015/08/cabbies-likely-cabbies-go-berserk-in-mexico-city-attacking-uber-drivers-video/ | 2015-08-01 | 4 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So, just how does Impeach Bush play out on Main Street, USA?</p>
<p>One indication was the now famous 21st Annual July 4th Boom Box Parade along Main Street in Willimantic, CT. The 20,000 people of this former mill town in northeastern Connecticut town are a gritty, hardscrabble if economically depressed bunch, but they’re also proud, resourceful and open-minded. The Boom Box Parade was born of necessity and civic pride when marching bands were cancelled for budget reasons, forcing an embarrassing postponement of a big parade. The community’s creative response: put together a tape of parade music, play it on the local radio station and have marchers and audience bring their radios tuned to the station. Open enrollment–no pre-registration–just show up and march. It became a wonderful, all-American hodgepodge of scout and church groups, hopeful politicians, families looking for something fun to do before a barbecue, immigrant groups, historical groups, local businesses, political groups with a message and anyone with a desire to drive an antique car, tractor or lawn mower down Main Street with thousands cheering.</p>
<p>This year, about 20 of us marched behind a banner proclaiming “SAVE THE CONSTITUTION–IMPEACH BUSH,” while carrying signs with specifics about Bush the terrorist, the liar, the shredder of habeas corpus, the promoter of fear and hate, etc. etc. Although we also announced that “Peace is Patriotic,” we were anxious about our reception on this day, the granddaddy of Red, White and Blue holidays.</p>
<p>We needn’t have worried. People in this blue-collar town don’t like Bush. We got enthusiastic cheers from old and young, white, black and brown, flag wavers, bikers, students, hippies–Americans, all. Certainly, there were some thumbs down and boos, but far fewer than we expected. Passing by some of the more crowded areas, such as the Town Hall lawn, the ovations and cheers just grew as we passed. Informational flyers were willingly accepted, not just by those cheering, but by others who wanted more information about impeachment, which is making sense to more and more people.</p>
<p>Judging by our Main Street experience, it looks like the people are ready to take this step–they are fed up with lies, the arrogance of power, incompetence and manipulation by corporate interests. We just need the politicians who have the guts to get it rolling.</p>
<p>Ed Adelman is a special education teacher in Lebanon, CT. He lives in the town of Hampton, CT. More Boos for Lieberman, Cheers for Lamont</p>
<p>Addendum by Dave Lindorff</p>
<p>There was also plenty of booing along the July 4 parade route in Willimantic, CT. as the state’s embattled senior senator, Joe Lieberman, marched past. The New York Times, which reported on the event on page one of its Metro section on July 5, said that while there were a few people who hugged Lieberman or offered to sign his petition to run as an independent candidate in November if he fails to win his party’s nomination, most people were booing him, calling him a “traitor” for even contemplating an independent campaign.</p>
<p>Overwhelmingly, the cheering was reportedly reserved for Lieberman’s challenger, political novice Ned Lamont, who also attended the parade, accompanied by a float that depicted Lieberman being kissed by President Bush (a reference to an event that took place at the president’s last State of the Union address, and which Lamont has made good use of in his ad campaign for the Aug. 8 Democratic Primary.</p>
<p>Lamont, who is focusing his campaign on Lieberman’s strong support for Bush’s Iraq invasion and for continuing war, is increasingly being considered a possible winner of the state’s Democratic primary, which would be a remarkable upset of a senior senator who only six years ago was his party’s vice presidential candidate.</p>
<p>Dave Lindorff is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512283/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal</a>. His new book of CounterPunch columns titled “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512984/counterpunchmaga" type="external">This Can’t be Happening!</a>” is published by Common Courage Press. Lindorff’s new book is “ <a href="" type="internal">The Case for Impeachment</a>“, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Impeachment Comes to Main Street, USA | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/07/06/impeachment-comes-to-main-street-usa/ | 2006-07-06 | 4 |
<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Cam Newton has plenty of reasons to celebrate these days — the Carolina Panthers are unbeaten and the offense is rolling.</p>
<p>And while some opponents may not be particularly fond of the fifth-year quarterback’s touchdown celebrations, Newton doesn’t particular seem to care.</p>
<p>“I’m a firm believer if you don’t like me to do it then don’t let me in” the end zone, Newton said after his touchdown dance Sunday in Carolina’s 27-10 win over the Tennessee Titans.</p>
<p>That’s been a problem for defenses this season.</p>
<p>The Panthers (9-0) have scored at least 27 points in seven straight games — and at least 20 points in all nine games.</p>
<p>Carolina has won 13 straight regular season games dating back to last season and holds a two-game lead in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC entering Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins.</p>
<p>Panthers coach Ron Rivera attributes some of the offense’s success to how coordinator Mike Shula has used the fifth-year quarterback since the latter part of last season, including running more of the no-huddle offense.</p>
<p>Rivera said Shula has allowed Newton to use his abilities and the players in the offense.</p>
<p>Newton has six TDs rushing this season.</p>
<p>He celebrated his latest score by doing a dance called “the dab,” which drew the ire of some Tennessee defenders, including linebacker Avery Williamson. When Williamson came walking toward Newton in the end zone, the quarterback danced some more.</p>
<p>Rivera said he doesn’t mind Newton dancing “as long as it’s not overly outlandish and there is a respect for manners. As long as he’s not taunting them. I think he’s doing it for our fans.”</p>
<p>Said Newton: “I try to make my game kid-like so people will see that I’m enjoying what I do. ... I’m not doing it to be disrespectful to nobody, more so just doing it just to shine light and get people a smile and having fun doing what I do.”</p>
<p>There is plenty to celebrate in Carolina, for sure.</p>
<p>While Newton’s quarterback rating is 31st in the league — three spots behind Johnny Manziel — he has the Panthers offense on a roll.</p>
<p>Carolina is averaging 28.3 points per game — fourth-best in the NFL — and is third in the league in rushing behind Jonathan Stewart and Newton, who has run for 366 yards and six TDs.</p>
<p>Shula said Monday he’s pleased with Newton’s growth as a game manager, noting that the team has “given more freedom” in terms of changing up plays at the line of scrimmage.</p>
<p>During the week and on the nights before games Newton is adding more input into team meetings, regularly suggesting plays he believes might work against the opposition’s defense.</p>
<p>“He’s given some good thoughts that you can tell he has put a lot into in regard to any little tweaks,” Shula said. “It’s like, ‘If we do this, and they have this play called, can we do that?’ Sometimes things that we don’t think about as a staff.”</p>
<p>The result has been a more productive offense, particularly in the red zone.</p>
<p>The Panthers have scored touchdowns on 60 percent of their trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, up from 48.1 percent last season.</p>
<p>“We’re scoring touchdowns instead of field goals,” Shula said.</p>
<p>And celebrating along the way.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Cam Newton has plenty of reasons to celebrate these days — the Carolina Panthers are unbeaten and the offense is rolling.</p>
<p>And while some opponents may not be particularly fond of the fifth-year quarterback’s touchdown celebrations, Newton doesn’t particular seem to care.</p>
<p>“I’m a firm believer if you don’t like me to do it then don’t let me in” the end zone, Newton said after his touchdown dance Sunday in Carolina’s 27-10 win over the Tennessee Titans.</p>
<p>That’s been a problem for defenses this season.</p>
<p>The Panthers (9-0) have scored at least 27 points in seven straight games — and at least 20 points in all nine games.</p>
<p>Carolina has won 13 straight regular season games dating back to last season and holds a two-game lead in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC entering Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins.</p>
<p>Panthers coach Ron Rivera attributes some of the offense’s success to how coordinator Mike Shula has used the fifth-year quarterback since the latter part of last season, including running more of the no-huddle offense.</p>
<p>Rivera said Shula has allowed Newton to use his abilities and the players in the offense.</p>
<p>Newton has six TDs rushing this season.</p>
<p>He celebrated his latest score by doing a dance called “the dab,” which drew the ire of some Tennessee defenders, including linebacker Avery Williamson. When Williamson came walking toward Newton in the end zone, the quarterback danced some more.</p>
<p>Rivera said he doesn’t mind Newton dancing “as long as it’s not overly outlandish and there is a respect for manners. As long as he’s not taunting them. I think he’s doing it for our fans.”</p>
<p>Said Newton: “I try to make my game kid-like so people will see that I’m enjoying what I do. ... I’m not doing it to be disrespectful to nobody, more so just doing it just to shine light and get people a smile and having fun doing what I do.”</p>
<p>There is plenty to celebrate in Carolina, for sure.</p>
<p>While Newton’s quarterback rating is 31st in the league — three spots behind Johnny Manziel — he has the Panthers offense on a roll.</p>
<p>Carolina is averaging 28.3 points per game — fourth-best in the NFL — and is third in the league in rushing behind Jonathan Stewart and Newton, who has run for 366 yards and six TDs.</p>
<p>Shula said Monday he’s pleased with Newton’s growth as a game manager, noting that the team has “given more freedom” in terms of changing up plays at the line of scrimmage.</p>
<p>During the week and on the nights before games Newton is adding more input into team meetings, regularly suggesting plays he believes might work against the opposition’s defense.</p>
<p>“He’s given some good thoughts that you can tell he has put a lot into in regard to any little tweaks,” Shula said. “It’s like, ‘If we do this, and they have this play called, can we do that?’ Sometimes things that we don’t think about as a staff.”</p>
<p>The result has been a more productive offense, particularly in the red zone.</p>
<p>The Panthers have scored touchdowns on 60 percent of their trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, up from 48.1 percent last season.</p>
<p>“We’re scoring touchdowns instead of field goals,” Shula said.</p>
<p>And celebrating along the way.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p> | Newton, Panthers offense rolling, celebrating 9-0 start | false | https://apnews.com/069e6bdbbcbe4a529554c38dbe9b3a2a | 2015-11-16 | 2 |
<p>Photo Credit: Screenshot / Raw Story</p>
<p>Paul Manafort — the embattled former campaign chairman to President Donald Trump — conspired along with his business partners to mislead a bankruptcy court with regards to four California real estate deals worth millions of dollars, said&#160;USA Today&#160;on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Manafort’s estranged son-in-law Jeffrey Yohal said in Sep. 28 court declaration that Manafort and other parties involved in the case “have all conspired to mislead this court…as to their true intentions and motivations.”</p>
<p>Manafort’s daughter Jessica filed for divorce from Yohal in March, in the midst of a family business deal gone sour. Yohal is a real estate developer who has worked in New York and California and the bankruptcy case centers around high-end properties in Los Angeles that Yohal purchased with the intention of “marketing and reselling the properties to luxury buyers,” said&#160;USA Today‘s Kevin McCoy and Brad Heath.</p>
<p>Four of the properties are currently in bankruptcy proceedings which are scheduled to convene on Wednesday before Judge Catherine Bauer in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for California’s central district.</p>
<p>Yohal reportedly received a loan of $4.2 million from his wife and her mother Kathleen Manafort.</p>
<p>Paul Manafort has come under intense scrutiny from Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The former campaign chairman’s home was&#160; <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/busted-trump-campaign-chairman-paul-manaforts-home-targeted-in-predawn-fbi-raid/" type="external">raided in the early morning hours</a>&#160;during the last week of July.</p>
<p>In recent weeks,&#160; <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/new-emails-show-how-manafort-hoped-trump-campaign-work-would-impress-russian-oligarch/" type="external">emails between Manafort and Kremlin-associated operative Konstantin Kilimnik</a>&#160;in Russia have revealed that Manafort — who&#160; <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/revealed-paul-manafort-received-17-million-acting-as-an-agent-for-ukraine-group-before-2014/" type="external">worked for</a>&#160;Russia-aligned Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych — was deeply in debt to Russian oligarch Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska and hoped to leverage his position in the Trump campaign to offset his obligations.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Manafort Accused of Lying to Bankruptcy Court—by His Own Son-In-Law | true | https://alternet.org/news-amp-politics/manafort-accused-lying-son | 2017-10-04 | 4 |
<p>FCC Chair Ajit PaiJacquelyn Martin/AP</p>
<p>The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to repeal net neutrality Thursday, in a long-contested debate over whether internet service providers should treat all online content the same, or be allowed to give preference to certain websites or companies.&#160;</p>
<p>The commission voted along party lines to repeal the Obama-era regulation, with three Republicans voting for repeal and two Democrats&#160;dissenting.&#160;“What is the FCC doing today? We are restoring the light-touch framework that has governed the internet for most of its existence,”&#160; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/latest-clyburn-blasts-fcc-net-neutrality-repeal-51792629" type="external">said</a> Ajit Pai, chair of the FCC. “The sky is not falling, consumers will remain protected and the internet will continue to thrive.”</p>
<p>Net neutrality,&#160;which the FCC implemented in 2015,&#160;was intended to keep the internet open and fair. The&#160;regulations barred internet service providers, or ISPs, from purposefully slowing down or increasing speeds for specific websites&#160;and&#160;prohibited ISPs from&#160;charging consumers for a “fast lane” to certain websites.</p>
<p>Supporters of net neutrality say that repealing the rule will lead to higher costs for consumers and give ISPs freedom to charge consumers more for accessing certain sites, or block consumers from accessing certain sites altogether. ISPs would also be able to charge companies more to ensure that their websites get the same speed as others—a move that would hurt smaller companies with fewer resources to compete with larger corporations.&#160;</p>
<p>During the hearing, the Republican&#160;commissioners argued that repealing net neutrality would end an era of overregulation from the government, and that it would restore internet freedoms and increase innovation.&#160;“This will not break the internet,” said&#160;Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, who supported the repeal.&#160;</p>
<p>Two commissioners <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/14/16776712/fcc-commissioners-democrat-statements-net-neutrality" type="external">strongly disagreed</a>. “I dissent, because I am among the millions who is outraged,” Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a statement, arguing that the decision hurts businesses and consumers.&#160;The decision “puts the Federal Communications Commission on the wrong side of history,” said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, “the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American public.”&#160;</p>
<p>New York Attorney General&#160;Eric Schneiderman has <a href="https://twitter.com/i/web/status/941370862976012288" type="external">already</a>&#160; <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/technology/364933-new-york-ag-to-sue-fcc-over-net-neutrality-repeal" type="external">announced</a> he would sue the FCC over the decision, tweeting, “New Yorkers and all Americans deserve a free and open internet.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Trump’s FCC Just Killed Net Neutrality, But Legal Challenges Are Already Coming | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/trumps-fcc-just-killed-net-neutrality-but-the-first-legal-challenges-are-already-coming/ | 2017-12-14 | 4 |
<p />
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: NINTENDO.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Early demand for Nintendo's (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY) new game console is looking very strong. Major retailers sold out of preorder stock within hours of the console going on sale in the early morning of Jan. 13. Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon certainly did his part to create buzz when he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TJ7IUNWGl4" type="external">debuted the Nintendo Switch Opens a New Window.</a> on the show in December with fanatical enthusiasm.</p>
<p>Research firm DFC Intelligence has already forecast the Nintendo Switch to sell 40 million units through 2020. This would put Switch on pace with sales performance of Nintendo's Wii console, which sold over 40 million units from its launch in 2006 through March 2009.</p>
<p>It appears that gamers are being won over to Switch for the same reason gamers were won over with Wii -- it offers innovative ways for players to enjoy gaming. Nintendo is continuing its innovative streak with Switch's ability to behave as both a traditional gaming console and a mobile gaming device. The Switch's Joy-Con controllers can be attached to the console's built-in HD display for portable gaming. The appeal of this feature is that players can switch to portable gaming in real time while in the middle of game play, and if they wish, back again to the TV.</p>
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<p>However, Nintendo will need to do more than simply introduce innovative new features if it wants to avoid the same financial disaster that started for the company in 2009:</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/NTDOY" type="external">NTDOY Opens a New Window.</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Poor planning on the part of management led to the bottom falling out of Nintendo stock as the Wii's sales dramatically slowed after its first few years on the market. The Wii appealed to gamers for its innovative motion-enabled controllers and its sleek design, but the game library didn't feature enough quality games to keep players coming back.</p>
<p>Nintendo answered in 2012 with Wii U, which was received poorly thanks to problems like those plaguing Wii, but without the novelty of a new, innovative technology to impress Nintendo fans. As a consequence, Wii U has only sold about 14 million units since its launch in 2012.</p>
<p>For a console to sell tens of millions and attract a mass audience it has to have two things: 1) developer-friendly hardware, and 2) a consistent flow of high-quality games throughout the year.</p>
<p>Wii U had neither of these. It appears Nintendo management has finally addressed these two critical factors for the Switch. Here's what Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime had to say about the issue:</p>
<p>And third-party developers seem to be on board. In addition to dozens of small developers, every major developer is supporting the Switch, including Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Bethesda Softworks, Take-Two Interactive Software, and Electronic Arts.</p>
<p>It's important to keep a few things in mind. Announced support doesn't mean those developers will actually make games for a new console. And if those developers do release a game, it doesn't mean those developers will continue to make games. That depends on the size of the opportunity presented by the installed base.</p>
<p>There are also a few other hurdles Nintendo must overcome in the short term to create momentum for the Switch. More gamers are shifting toward downloading full games directly to their consoles, and with only a very small 32GB of hard-drive space, the Switch doesn't appear to offer these gamers enough storage capacity.</p>
<p>Another problem, as fellow Fool writer <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/22/what-investors-need-to-know-about-nintendos-switch.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Noonan explained Opens a New Window.</a>, is the lack of quality games at launch. Given Reggie Fils-Aime's quote above, Nintendo should be better prepared this time around, and will have some announcements within months after the Switch launches. Nintendo will have a great opportunity at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June to address this concern, and make some big announcements with respect to new-game development.</p>
<p>The Nintendo Switch launches March 3, so it will be several months before we know whether Switch is on pace to repeat the early success of Wii, or it's doomed to be another Wii U. Reggie Fils-Aime has said there will be 2 million units available through March. Selling through 2 million units during one of the slowest months of the year for the video game industry would be a great start for Nintendo. It would give the company good sales momentum for the spring and summer, and buy it some time to release quality titles in the fall.</p>
<p>The Switch definitely offers a new dynamic for players to engage with the console, and it seems to promise quality third-party support -- the essentials for a successful sales cycle. The early signs are pointing to a strong year for Nintendo, and depending on future game announcements, Nintendo Switch should correct the mistakes of the past and return momentum to Nintendo's business.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Nintendo 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=e47fb338-603a-443b-b97b-80f587684651&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 Nintendo 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=e47fb338-603a-443b-b97b-80f587684651&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/TMFRazorback/info.aspx" type="external">John Ballard Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Activision Blizzard. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive. The Motley Fool recommends Electronic Arts. 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> | Will Nintendo Switch Be a Hit? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/31/will-nintendo-switch-be-hit.html | 2017-01-31 | 0 |
<p>Gold futures settled higher on Thursday as the U.S. dollar fell a day after the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged and stepped back from its forecast for four interest-rate hikes to two this year. Gold benefits from a weak dollar as it makes the metal, which is denominated in the U.S currency, more attractive price-wise. April gold rose $35.20, or $2.9%, to settle at $1,265.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Gold Ends Sharply Higher As Dollar Continues Fed-inspired Retreat | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/17/gold-ends-sharply-higher-as-dollar-continues-fed-inspired-retreat.html | 2016-03-17 | 0 |
<p>This article was originally reported by PRI's The World. For more, listen to the audio above.</p>
<p>The ATM was conceived shortly after John Shepherd-Barron showed up late to his bank. The bank had closed and Shepherd-Barron was unable to retrieve his money. Frustrated, he took a bath, and it was there where had an idea that <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6230194.stm" type="external">changed the banking industry</a>. He told the BBC:</p>
<p>It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash.</p>
<p>He pitched the idea to Barclays, and the bank <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8691747.stm" type="external">quickly installed six machines</a>. BBC reports that the design originally called for checks coded with a mildly radioactive material, instead of credit cards. Responding to health concerns, Shepherd-Barron told BBC, "I later worked out you would have to eat 136,000 such cheques for it to have any effect on you."</p>
<p>At that point, the machines would dispense a maximum of £10 a time. "But," he said, "that was regarded then as quite enough for a wild weekend."</p>
<p>There are now more than 1.6 million cash machines around the world. Shepherd-Barron believed that his invention would soon lead to a future without physical money. In 2007, he forecasted, "Money costs money to transport. I am therefore predicting the demise of cash within three to five years."</p>
<p>His prediction may not have come true yet, but his influence over the world economy remains.</p>
<p>PRI's "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. <a href="http://www.theworld.org/" type="external">More "The World."</a></p> | In memoriam: Inventor of the automatic cash machine | false | https://pri.org/stories/2010-06-03/memoriam-inventor-automatic-cash-machine | 2010-06-03 | 3 |
<p>Nativo López is president of the California-based Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and a longtime advocate for immigrant rights. He spoke to SHAUN HARKIN of Chicago’s March 10 Coalition immigrant rights group about what’s at stake for the movement as this year’s May Day protests approach.</p>
<p>Harkin: One year after the mega-marches for immigrant rights of last spring, there are two new proposals in Washington–the Bush White House’s draft immigration proposal and the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy (STRIVE) Act, recently introduced by Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.). Can you explain why you oppose both laws?</p>
<p>López:: The Mexican American Political Association and the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana–two of the oldest national Latino organizations in the U.S., and which are not subsidized by U.S. corporations or private foundations–oppose both immigration proposals.</p>
<p>This is due to their onerous enforcement measures, which preface any type of legalization program, and which will lead to deteriorating civil liberties and civil rights for immigrants in particular, and working people in general.</p>
<p>The STRIVE Act is enforcement-heavy and legalization-light. The Bush proposals are 10 steps to the right of Gutiérrez-Flake, but they operate out of the same framework–i.e., that enforcement must come first and must demonstrate success in stemming the flow of undocumented migration before any legalization provisions are triggered.</p>
<p>Harkin: Supporters of the STRIVE Act say it contains a way for the undocumented to become legal and we can amend the proposal to make it better. Gutiérrez has said that raids and deportations will intensify if his proposal isn’t passed. Is this true?</p>
<p>López:: This is a false premise from the start, because this legislation specifically states that the enforcement provisions come first–the government must certify that such measures are successful in preventing undocumented migration before any legalization is triggered.</p>
<p>Congressman Gutiérrez made strategic concessions related to enforcement, penalties against employers, invasive government intervention in the workplace, codified cooperation between local police and immigration authorities and others to obtain in exchange a very tortuous, expensive and difficult-to-qualify-for legalization program.</p>
<p>In other words, it is a bad framework to start legislative negotiations. The Republicans will fight any attempt to make them give back the political terrain that Gutiérrez ceded legislatively. A terribly bad chess move on his part.</p>
<p>Lastly, the raids will continue whether his legislation is approved or not. In fact, they will be worse, due to the fact that his legislation codifies enforcement measures to circumscribe certain civil liberties and rights, criminalize those who enter without inspection, like Sensenbrenner–and therefore make it more difficult to defend our class brothers and sisters.</p>
<p>This is Gutiérrez’s way of intimidating the immigrant communities into accepting his retrograde proposals as the supposed lesser of two evils. They are both evil.</p>
<p>Harkin: Why do you think Gutiérrez made these concessions?</p>
<p>López:: Congressman gutiérrez has worked on immigration legislation for a good number of years without any apparent success. Two things happened that preceded the STRIVE ACT.</p>
<p>One, when the Democrats took back the Congress, Gutiérrez was not favored by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to head the House Subcommittee on Immigration, and therefore, his influence on immigration matters would continue, but not be paramount.</p>
<p>Second, he has already announced that he will retire his seat at the end of this term. Third, he has curried favor with the Washington, D.C.-based groups that seek to impose their corporate-sponsored options of immigration reform–the National Council of La Raza, National Immigration Forum and others.</p>
<p>These are the only groups nationally, predominantly subsidized by Corporate America, that advocate in favor of a massive guest-worker program and have conceded that enforcement measures are inevitable in exchange for their vague “path to citizenship.”</p>
<p>The framework for his legislation has a precedent with the proposal by Sens. Chuck Hagel and Mel Martinez of last year–he supported that “compromise.”</p>
<p>Harkin: There has been widespread condemnation of George Bush’s proposal for a new guest-worker program. However, the STRIVE ACT proposes a “new worker” program, which Gutiérrez says is not a new bracero program.</p>
<p>López:: Again, the Bush proposal operates out of the same framework as the Gutiérrez legislation, but 10 steps to the right. I am convinced that this was floated to make the Gutiérrez-Flake Bill look reasonable and centrist, when in fact, it is a retrograde proposal when viewed from the standpoint of civil liberties, civil rights and worker rights.</p>
<p>The Gutiérrez initiative calls for a six-year temporary visa for those undocumented already in the country, after which they could presumably qualify for permanent legal status upon returning to their country of origin (and waiving legal rights in the process by submitting to such a voluntary departure), and waiting at the back of the visa line.</p>
<p>Doesn’t this six-year period look something like the Bush plan? These workers would be just as vulnerable as before, maybe even more so. I characterize this clause of his legislation as the first stage guest-worker program. The second stage guest-worker program is his 400,000-plus “new worker visa” for future entrants.</p>
<p>Both programs are an absolute assault on the prevailing wage and codify a second-class worker status for immigrants.</p>
<p>A better approach would be closer to the 1986 amnesty program, which allowed the undocumented to adjust their status to permanent legal resident within 18 months, and remain in the U.S. when doing so. The most reasonable, fair and humane approach to addressing future flows of migrants would be to raise the cap of available visas for permanent residence, based on a family relative or employment, corresponding to the current and changing demand.</p>
<p>If both Bush and Gutiérrez recognize that there exists an ever-growing demand for labor in the U.S., why create a second-tier worker category with such temporary visas, instead of a permanent visa, which would more easily provide the legal basis to protect the worker’s rights and the domestic prevailing wage.</p>
<p>Harkin: Is a “compromise” between the Bush proposal and the STRIVE Act possible?</p>
<p>López:: I don’t think that such a compromise would be good for workers or for immigrants. Both represent an internal NAFTA-type option to guarantee an available supply of vulnerable laborers to and for Corporate America.</p>
<p>Our role as class-conscious workers and organizers is to fight for the class interest of both particular sectors of the class and the total class, and within the context of the immigrants’ rights movement, we are called upon to strengthen the weakest link in the chain.</p>
<p>We are called upon to make the immigrant whole in America, legally and socially. Making the immigrant whole means unconditional legalization and an enjoyment of all the constitutional rights and their derivative protections and privileges–parity with all other workers.</p>
<p>This is the surest way to secure the rights and standards enjoyed by all workers (domestic) and strengthen the legal foundation to extend such rights and share in the profits they produce.</p>
<p>Let me be very emphatic about one thing. We are not called upon to support compromises, but to fight to extend the rights of immigrants to the fullest within the context and limitations of the current system.</p>
<p>Harkin: You’re organizing a protest at the state convention of the California Democratic Party on April 28. What do you hope to achieve there?</p>
<p>López:: First and foremost, we intend to denounce the Gutiérrez-Flake plan as a betrayal to all immigrants and demand, one, that the Democratic Party not even consider it as a serious starting point in their legislative negotiations, and two, that the leadership of the party craft legislation that accords with the real and immediate interests of the immigrants and all workers.</p>
<p>This means immediate legalization for all, no border wall, no militarization of the border, no employer sanctions, no police-Immigration and Customs Enforcement cooperation, an end to the raids and deportations, protection of civil liberties, civil rights and worker rights–and absolutely no bracero-type programs disguised in benign-sounding names such as guest, temporary and new worker.</p>
<p>We will accept nothing less, and we demand it from this party, because it is now the party in power. The immigrant workers and families that we represent should accept and expect nothing less from us. This is both a moral and political imperative.</p>
<p>Harkin: What impact will marching for immigrant rights on May 1 have?</p>
<p>López:: Political action by immigrant workers, families and their allies is the way that social change occurs and history is made.</p>
<p>This is the lesson that we impress upon our members–and that only when they lose their fear to engage in such activities will they begin to realize their true power and change the social equation in their favor. They become the masters of their own destiny. They shed their object status and become subjects of history.</p>
<p>Too many times, we look at one action and ask if it will affect the change we seek, and too many times, we aspire that such change be immediate.</p>
<p>Marching on May Day has both tactical and strategic value if viewed from the perspective of building workers’ power by edifying worker organization and worker leadership. If we don’t have this perspective, the May Day marches can have tactical effect and considerations, but limited strategic projection. My preference is to score goals on both fronts.</p>
<p>SHAUN HARKIN works with Chicago’s March 10 Coalition immigrant rights group and writes for the <a href="http://www.socialistworker.org/" type="external">Socialist Worker</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Immigration Bills: "Enforcement Heavy and Legalization Light" | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/04/30/immigration-bills-quot-enforcement-heavy-and-legalization-light-quot/ | 2007-04-30 | 4 |
<p>MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes has expressed his frustration on social media about 2015, what he describes as “the worst year of his life.”</p>
<p>Barnes, who is serving a two-game suspension for what the NBA has described as a “physical altercation” with New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher, posted on Instagram: “Thank God For 2016!”</p>
<p>Barnes, 35, posted the message “Success happens when you survive all of your mistakes” on his account and wrote about how a former teammate “went behind my back, messed w/ my ex, got caught, got dealt w/ for being a snake, then ran &amp; told the Police &amp; NBA.”</p>
<p>Barnes wrote on the post that he had to walk away from the only thing he’s ever wanted, “MY OWN FAMILY.” He noted that, “They call that karma.” Barnes, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, also said he was traded from a city and team that he loved, writing, “They call that the business.”</p>
<p>Grizzlies spokesman Jason Wallace declined comment on Barnes’ post. Goodwin Sports Management, which represents Barnes, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.</p>
<p>A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press in October an incident between Barnes and Fisher occurred while the Knicks coach attended a gathering at the home of Barnes’ estranged wife, Gloria Govan. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no details were publicly released.</p>
<p>Fisher said he had no thoughts at all about Barnes’ Instagram post when asked about it at New York’s morning shootaround on Friday.</p>
<p>Redondo Beach police responded to an incident Oct. 3 but disclosed no information on the location or who was involved after finding no basis for criminal charges.</p>
<p>The 6-foot-7 Barnes’ will conclude his suspension by sitting out Saturday night’s game at Utah. He missed the team’s 99-90 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Grizzlies traded for Barnes on draft day in June. Barnes has played 33 games with the Grizzlies (18-16) and is averaging 8.6 points and five rebounds per game.</p>
<p>Fisher, 41, is in his second season with the Knicks after spending most of his playing career in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP Sports Writers Steve Megargee in Memphis, Tennessee, and Brian Mahoney in New York contributed to this report.</p>
<p>MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes has expressed his frustration on social media about 2015, what he describes as “the worst year of his life.”</p>
<p>Barnes, who is serving a two-game suspension for what the NBA has described as a “physical altercation” with New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher, posted on Instagram: “Thank God For 2016!”</p>
<p>Barnes, 35, posted the message “Success happens when you survive all of your mistakes” on his account and wrote about how a former teammate “went behind my back, messed w/ my ex, got caught, got dealt w/ for being a snake, then ran &amp; told the Police &amp; NBA.”</p>
<p>Barnes wrote on the post that he had to walk away from the only thing he’s ever wanted, “MY OWN FAMILY.” He noted that, “They call that karma.” Barnes, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, also said he was traded from a city and team that he loved, writing, “They call that the business.”</p>
<p>Grizzlies spokesman Jason Wallace declined comment on Barnes’ post. Goodwin Sports Management, which represents Barnes, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.</p>
<p>A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press in October an incident between Barnes and Fisher occurred while the Knicks coach attended a gathering at the home of Barnes’ estranged wife, Gloria Govan. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no details were publicly released.</p>
<p>Fisher said he had no thoughts at all about Barnes’ Instagram post when asked about it at New York’s morning shootaround on Friday.</p>
<p>Redondo Beach police responded to an incident Oct. 3 but disclosed no information on the location or who was involved after finding no basis for criminal charges.</p>
<p>The 6-foot-7 Barnes’ will conclude his suspension by sitting out Saturday night’s game at Utah. He missed the team’s 99-90 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Grizzlies traded for Barnes on draft day in June. Barnes has played 33 games with the Grizzlies (18-16) and is averaging 8.6 points and five rebounds per game.</p>
<p>Fisher, 41, is in his second season with the Knicks after spending most of his playing career in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP Sports Writers Steve Megargee in Memphis, Tennessee, and Brian Mahoney in New York contributed to this report.</p> | Grizzlies’ Barnes expresses frustrations about tough 2015 | false | https://apnews.com/390e106161034d948ce12e56c3d528ee | 2016-01-01 | 2 |
<p>Authorities called the DarkMarket website a one-stop shop for the online criminal. But not just anyone could access DarkMarket, it was a member's only online forum. This official says to work into the forum, you'd have to be nominated by a member. One member arrested today had gotten access to nearly 20 million dollars worth of credit. DarkMarket had been up and running for three years and authorities said they had penetrated the site for two of them. Nobody offered many details, but this CIA official says authorities learned a lot about how criminals used the internet; for example, think about how a group of bank robbers operate: there's someone for each line of the operation. In the same way, he says, DarkMarket members had particular skillsets. DarkMarket might only be the tip of the iceberg. This analyst says this really points out the global nature of this crime. Earlier this week the FBI announced malicious online activity has become much more prevalent in the past year.</p> | Cybercrime bust | false | https://pri.org/stories/2008-10-17/cybercrime-bust | 2008-10-17 | 3 |
<p>LEAKED WHITE HOUSE TRANSCRIPT, February, 2003</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: Let’s get going, Gentlemen. I don’t like what’s going on.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Calm down, George. Things are under control.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I don’t think so. What’s with that damn United Nations? China. France. Germany. Who the hell do they think they are?</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Don’t worry, sir. We’ve got answers for all of them.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: Just nuke ’em, dammit. I want a war. God tells me we have to have a war. And they’re standing in the way. The economy’s tanking. Gas is going up. And Armageddon is long overdue.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Well, I’m not sure Colin’s speech really did the trick. Polls here went up, of course. But he kindof laid an egg in the rest of the world.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: The homeland comes first, Karl. I love how not a single talk show or TV commentator raised the least question about anything Colin said. And, of course, the polls fell right in line, even Oprah’s. I was mighty impressed.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: We’ve got every one of those networks in our pocket now. And thanks to Colin’s boy Michael promoting the free market over at the FCC, it’s going to stay that way for a long long time. This nonsense about diversity in the media, it’s over. Every media outlet in the US will soon be owned by one of our corporations, and we’re getting the polls pretty well rigged now, too.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: What about that Phil Donahue guy? How come his hair is white? I hear he’s raising some questions.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Not for long, Mr. President. We’ve sabotaged his ratings. And he’s wimped out anyway. Nobody can stay awake watching him. Why these liberals still believe in balance is beyond me. Now he’s just another liberal snooze.</p>
<p>SECRETARY RIDGE: That’s what I love about Rush. Nasty sells. Then he says he’s just a showman. And now you got Spielberg and Tom Cruise lapping it up. Let’s invite them to the White House.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: OOOh. Maybe they’ll make a picture about me. I love those Star Wars movies.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: It was a master stroke setting up Colin for the UN, Karl. Nothing like a darkie to confuse the liberals. I think we better have Harry Belafonte rubbed out, though. He’s been pretty rough on Colin, and for some reason they keep giving him air time.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: They all just want him to sing “Day-O” one more time. I suppose we could do a Wellstone on him. Tom, will you check his flight schedule?</p>
<p>SECRETARY RIDGE: Yes, sir. But I’m afraid he’s not alone. These peace marches have been getting pretty big.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Well, you don’t see anybody covering them, do you? I can tell you they had 500,000 in DC and 250 in San Francisco. But the newspapers said 50,000 or less and gave them no coverage. Not even the New York Times. NPR devoted more time to the Queen’s pants.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY-GENERAL ASHCROFT: National Public Radio is a nest of terrorists.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: You can use that as your operative phrase, John, and arrest them all whenever you want. But NPR is a bunch of gutless wimps. Britt Hume, Fox, Russert, those are the attack dogs we love.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: You even got Bob Woodward licking George’s feet, Karl. Damn I gotta love you for that. What’d you do, give him some deep throat?</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH, VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY, KARL ROVE: Loud, prolonged laughter.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: And that was a nice job you did at the astronauts’ funeral, George. Your graveside manner has really improved.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: Well I’ve got you to thank for that, Karl. Showing me those tapes of President Reagan and the Challenger was a really good idea.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Yes, although that one didn’t really work out as we had initially planned. The idea was to have the Challenger up in space while Ronnie gave the State of the Union. He was going to talk to them directly from the floor of the Congress. But the damn thing blew up.</p>
<p>SECRETARY RIDGE: Yes sir. The weather in Florida was too cold for the launch. The administration was warned there could be problems with the O-rings that could lead to an explosion. Then all those experts testified and it made the administration look really bad.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Who cares? The Challenger killings didn’t hurt us at all. It might’ve been better if it hadn’t exploded. And we probably shouldn’t have pushed so hard to get it up that morning. But when you control the media, these things can be turned into a plus.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: I remember it very well. Ronnie looked very stately and concerned. Shed some tears with the families. Gave a speech. All the pundits soiled themselves about how presidential and compassionate he looked. If Carter or Clinton had blown up the damned thing we would have crucified them. But when you’ve got the press core in your pocket you can get away with anything.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Right, Dick. Same with the Columbia. We knew sooner or later one of those shuttles was gonna blow. That design is 30 years old and those crates are like rickety old school buses. The Boeing boys are holding them together with bailing twine. But who cares? One blows on our watch, George gets to furrow his brow and look heart stricken. But if it’d been Gore we’d’ve ripped his throat out.</p>
<p>SECRETARY RIDGE: But now the experts are all talking about how they warned this was going to happen and how they testified in Congress and wrote letters to the president.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: I never saw any letters about the shuttle blowing up.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Not to worry. Nobody’ll remember. And if they do, we’ll blame it on Clinton.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: I don’t think we should blow up any more shuttles, though. It doesn’t exactly enhance the image of our crack high-tech war machine.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY-GENERAL ASHCROFT: Criticizing the Administration’s performance in space is an act of terrorism.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: They don’t notice here, Karl. But overseas they’re saying if we can’t bring a shuttle home how can we precision-bomb Baghdad?</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: What the hell do the French or the Chinese have to say about what we do? We’re going to invade and that’s the end of it. Now what’s the hold-up, Karl?</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Well, sir, right now the only substantial ally we have is Great Britain, and Tony’s approval ratings are in the toilet. If Blair goes all we’ve got is a few of the east Europe commie leftovers, and even they haven’t come cheap.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: Well none of them vote here, dammit. And none of them will be saved when the Heavenly Fire comes down and cleanses us all, starting in Babylon.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Lets remember to keep that to ourselves, George. We all share your deep faith and we’re all certainly eager for the Final Battle to begin. But perhaps we shouldn’t be too public about that aspect of our strategic thinking. Let our sky pilots handle that for us.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: I jog. I lift weights. I wear blue jeans. I am God’s messenger.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: And that folksy Texas accent works too, Mr. President. But we need the public to believe they still live in a democracy, or we can’t pull this off. They need to think we care about democracy in Iraq.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: I’m all for a dictatorship, as long as I can be dictator. And that’s the problem with Iraq. Saddam Hussein is dictator there, and I’m not. There’s just too much damn freedom.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: I couldn’t agree with you more, George. And we’re nearly there. The voting machines are almost all computerized, and we’ve got the codes and the corporate control. No more exit polling, no ballots, no paper trail. We can win any election in any state at any time with five or six keystrokes. Look at Florida. Look at Georgia. It’s over.</p>
<p>SECRETARY RIDGE: But don’t you think there should be a little discretion, sir. I just don’t believe it’s wise for Senator Hagel to retain direct ownership in the voting machine company that arranged his re-election. Some of those numbers in the black and native American communities were way over the line.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: But that’s Nebraska, Tom. Nobody cares about Nebraska. And you don’t see the story on the networks, do you? Our voting machine coup is just about as well known as our intercepts of the meetings between the Iraqis and the Al Queda when they stopped yapping and learned to really hate each other.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Too bad that got out at all, Karl. Saddam’s people have always hated Osama’s. But to Americans, they’re all just towelheads. And when you’ve got the media, the judiciary, the Congress and the voting machines all lined up, you can start talking a thousand years.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY-GENERAL ASHCROFT: Wearing a towelhead is an act of terrorism.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: I’m afraid we may need some real fireworks to get this war going. We can’t pull this off without the Brits and they’re about to kick Blair into the sea. We need to arrange a few terror bombs over there. Maybe the Parliament. Or a couple of schools. Blair needs some face time with some dead bodies. Just make sure they don’t think it’s the IRA again.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: What’s this got to do with my tax cuts?</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: I’m sure we can get Rummy to set that up. Can’t trust the CIA these days, but I’m sure the NSA can blast a few of the right places.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: I’m afraid we’re going to need some of that here, too. A school, a bridge, maybe a nuclear plant. Definitely some kids. Run a hit or two simultaneous with some blasts in England so George and Tony can go tandem on the satellite. Give Fox the scoop, as usual. That should move the polls where we need them.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY-GENERAL ASHCROFT: Terrorism is the health of the state.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: Meanwhile, John, you keep those idiot liberals busy. Jack up the death penalty. Keep busting the medical marijuana people. Throw the enviros in the clink. Lock up some liberal commentators. Dust off the concentration camps. Scare the pants off those do-gooder creeps.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY-GENERAL ASHCROFT: The Bill of Rights is an Act of Terrorism. Free speech is an act of terrorism. States rights is an act of terrorism. Smoking marijuana is an act of terrorism.</p>
<p>SECRETARY RIDGE: But sir, they’re starting to compare us to the Nazis.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: My grampa made great money bankrolling the Nazis. They had some good ideas and they paid their bills right on time.</p>
<p>KARL ROVE: We need the usual suspects to play the Church card now. Get Billy Graham back out there on the war path. Rev up Falwell and Robertson. Get Rush on the prayer circuit.</p>
<p>PRESIDENT BUSH: Revelations and Ezekial are the only UN resolutions we need. That’s our oil and that’s our Armageddon. I am the anointed, chosen to bring down God’s holy judgment, starting in Babylon.</p>
<p>VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Right, George. Let the games begin.</p>
<p>LEE WATERS writes for the Columbus Free Press .</p>
<p>Copyright 2003 by LEE WATERS.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Armageddon is Long Overdue! | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/02/11/armageddon-is-long-overdue/ | 2003-02-11 | 4 |
<p>Philip Morris International, Inc. (PM) will report its next earnings on Feb 01 BMO. The company reported the earnings of $1.27/Share in the last quarter where the estimated EPS by analysts was $1.38/share. The difference between the expected and actual EPS was $-0.11/share, which represents an Earnings surprise of -8%. Many analysts are providing their […]</p> | Analysts Showing Optimistic Trends For Philip Morris International, Inc. (PM) | false | https://newsline.com/analysts-showing-optimistic-trends-for-philip-morris-international-inc-pm/ | 2018-01-04 | 1 |
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<p>State Auditor Tim Keller</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The city of Albuquerque was bilked out of about $420,000 in March after falling for a scam in which payments meant for a vendor were sent to the scammer via wire transfers.</p>
<p>“We have vendors that we make electronic payments to, and basically, those payments were compromised through electronic wire transfers,” said Rob Perry, the city’s chief administrative officer. “We’re working with the Albuquerque Police Department and FBI cybercrimes unit to conduct a preliminary investigation into this matter.”</p>
<p>The fraudulent transfers were made in mid-March, and the city discovered that it had fallen victim to the scam about a week and a half ago, Perry said. He said the APD, the FBI and the city’s inspector general were notified promptly, and the Office of the State Auditor was notified Thursday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Perry said he is looking into whether the $420,000 loss will be covered by insurance. Although the city is self-insured, he said, it does have third-party cybercrime coverage that may cover the loss.</p>
<p>No other vendor payments appear to have been compromised.</p>
<p>“We’ve conducted (an) extensive search of other potential vulnerabilities in payments, and we haven’t discovered anything that indicates it goes any further than this particular fraud,” Perry said.</p>
<p>He said he couldn’t go into specifics about how the fraud was perpetrated, but the Office of the State Auditor said in a news release that the city had complied with a fraudulent request to change vendor payment information that diverted the public funds to the scammer.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, the city of Albuquerque was hit by a scam that cost it over $400,000 in taxpayer dollars,” state Auditor Tim Keller said in the release. “This is now the second entity in New Mexico that we are aware of that was tricked into diverting money to imposters posing as legitimate businesses.”</p>
<p>An almost identical scam resulted in the loss of more than $200,000 in construction funds for a project at San Antonio Elementary School in Socorro, the Auditor’s Office said in its release.</p>
<p>That incident prompted Keller to issue an alert earlier this week, urging government employees to use best practices his office has previously outlined to prevent this type of fraud.</p>
<p>Those best practices include verifying the legitimacy of any request to change payment or banking information before processing the change. The Auditor’s Office recommends that vendors be contacted directly through a phone number or contact person obtained through a known source, such as their public website. The agency said government employees shouldn’t use phone numbers included in emails requesting the change to verify the legitimacy of the request.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He said an investigation is underway into whether city policies and procedures were followed in this matter.</p>
<p>“There’s nothing thus far in the investigation to indicate that there was any wrongdoing by city employees,” Perry said. “We’ve put heightened security measures in place regarding all electronic payments.”</p>
<p>Asked whether he’s confident that the new measures will prevent this type of thing from happening again, he said, “I’d like to say I’m confident, but I live in a world where hackers are able to get into CIA computers, all the national banks, and a lot of other governments.</p>
<p>“It just seems to me that when we talk about computer crime and cyberfraud, we’re constantly evaluating our security procedures and protocols, and they’re always challenged, and there’s always attempts to compromise them.”</p>
<p>Albuquerque and the Socorro school district aren’t the only government agencies to fall victim to scammers.</p>
<p>In May, San Miguel County in northern New Mexico was bilked out of $38,000. A county employee fell for a fraudulent email purporting to be from the county manager directing her to transfer those funds to an outside account.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Albuquerque loses $420K in electronic wire fraud | false | https://abqjournal.com/983990/city-of-abq-conned-out-of-00000.html | 2017-04-06 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>The woman was refused entry into the country and she, her husband and the cat were forced to catch the next flight home, Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman Craig Hughes said Thursday. He called the woman’s actions “reckless and dangerous.”</p>
<p>New Zealand has strict regulations for importing pets. Cats and dogs from most approved countries must have an implanted microchip and be quarantined for a minimum of 10 days after arrival.</p>
<p>Hughes said the couple, both in their mid- to late-20s, managed to conceal the cat from the flight crew and other passengers during the 7,000-mile (11,300-kilometer) flight from Vancouver to Auckland.</p>
<p>“Apparently it was a very quiet cat. Very docile,” Hughes said, adding that it may have been drugged to make it drowsy.</p>
<p>He said the traveling couple said they had nothing to declare upon arrival but border agents then determined their muddy boots needed inspecting. Agents then moved the couple’s bags to an X-ray machine.</p>
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<p>Hughes said the woman was “very reluctant” to have her small handbag X-rayed and insisted it had already been checked. She finally admitted there was a cat inside, Hughes said, but then said she’d told a ticketing agent about Bella when she purchased her ticket.</p>
<p>Hughes said even if the woman’s story were true, which he doubted, it was still unacceptable to bring a cat across the border without declaring it. He said foreign cats could bring with them ticks and diseases that aren’t present in New Zealand.</p>
<p>He said the woman got upset about being sent back home.</p>
<p>“She had plans to have a nice holiday with her husband in New Zealand,” Hughes said. “And her cat.”</p> | Canadians sent home for trying to sneak cat into New Zealand | false | https://abqjournal.com/914129/canadians-sent-home-for-trying-to-sneak-cat-into-new-zealand-2.html | 2016-12-22 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Legislation passed by voice vote in the House on Wednesday would crack down on computer software used by some ticket brokers to snap up tickets. The so-called “bots” rapidly purchase as many tickets as possible for resale at significant markups, and are one of the reasons why tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert or “Hamilton” performance can sell out in just a few minutes.</p>
<p>The bill would make using the software an “unfair and deceptive practice” under the Federal Trade Commission Act and allow the FTC to pursue those cases. The Senate passed the bill last month.</p>
<p>“Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller testified at a Senate hearing in September. He said the bots invade the Ticketmaster system the moment tickets go on sale and electronically purchase almost all the available inventory — one of the reasons tickets to the hit musical about the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton have sold for $1,000 or more.</p>
<p>Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, the Republican sponsor of the bill, said the legislation will “level the playing field” for people buying tickets.</p>
<p>“The need to end this growing practice is reflected in the bill’s widespread support,” Moran said.</p>
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<p>In a report earlier this year, investigators in New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office cited a single broker who bought 1,012 tickets within one minute to a U2 concert at Madison Square Garden when they went on sale on Dec. 8, 2014, despite the vendor’s claim of a four-ticket limit. By day’s end, that broker and one other had 15,000 tickets to U2’s North American shows.</p>
<p>The report said third-party brokers resell tickets on sites like StubHub and TicketsNow at average margins of 49 percent above face value and sometimes more than 10 times the price.</p>
<p>New York’s review also found that, on average, 16 percent of tickets are reserved for various industry insiders like the venue employees, artists and promoters, while 38 percent are reserved for presales to certain groups like holders of a particular credit card.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/MCJalonick" type="external">http://twitter.com/MCJalonick</a></p> | Congress cracks down on ‘bots’ that snap up concert tickets | false | https://abqjournal.com/904532/congress-cracks-down-on-bots-that-snap-up-concert-tickets.html | 2016-12-07 | 2 |
<p>Debt collectors often have a difficult time getting a response from the person they’re trying to reach. Letters go unanswered. Calls are not returned.</p>
<p>A text message can cut through the clutter.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with trying to make contact via text, as long as the collection agency follows all the rules. And according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), some do not.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago, federal courts in New York and Georgia temporarily shut down three debt collection agencies <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/05/ftc-halts-three-debt-collection-operations-allegedly-threatened" type="external">accused by the FTC</a> of sending deceptive and threatening text messages, among other things.</p>
<p>Those deceptive texts, the FTC complaint alleges, were used to trick people into calling them back.</p>
<p>The texts from one collection agency included false statements such as:</p>
<p>“YOUR PAYMENT DECLINED WITH CARD ****-****-****-5463 . . . CALL 866.256.2117 IMMEDIATELY.”</p>
<p>“YOUR PAYMENT FOR $[AMOUNT] IS SCHEDULED FOR [DATE]. CALL 866.257.2117 WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.”</p>
<p>“YOUR PAYMENT OF $[AMOUNT] IS SCHEDULED FOR [DATE]. CALL 866.257.2117 IF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR PAYMENT EARLY.”</p>
<p>“That’s how they lured people into talking to them,” said Chris Koegel, assistant director of the FTC’s Division of Financial Practices. “People think there’s a problem with their credit card or that they’re about to get charged for something that didn’t make sense and they called. And when they did, the collectors would launch into their deceptive debt collecting by threatening arrest and lawsuits and things like that.”</p>
<p>Bruce McClary, vice president of public relations for the <a href="https://www.nfcc.org/" type="external">National Foundation for Credit Counseling</a> called the use of these bogus text messages a “despicable” way to do business.</p>
<p>“Debt collectors are required to clearly identify themselves and clearly explain the intent of their communication, each and every time. That’s the law,” McClary told NBC News.</p>
<p>The Federal Trade Commission first saw deceptive text messages used by dishonest debt collectors a few years ago. Koegel tells NBC News he believes this is “a growing trend” and he cautions people to be wary of strange text messages.</p>
<p>Legitimate debt collectors know the rules and follow them: They cannot threaten, harass or lie to you.</p>
<p>They must send you a written “validation notice” within five days of contacting you. This letter must tell you how much money you owe, the name of the creditor and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.</p>
<p>Never respond to a debt collector in any way or provide any personal information before you get that validation notice.</p>
<p>If you get tricked into calling a debt collector – hang up – and <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/submit-consumer-complaint-ftc" type="external">file a complaint</a>. Learn more about <a href="http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection" type="external">dealing with debt collectors</a> on the FTC website.</p>
<p>Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Consumerman" type="external">Facebook</a>and <a href="https://twitter.com/TheConsumerman" type="external">Twitter</a> or visit <a href="http://www.consumerman.com/" type="external">The ConsumerMan</a>website.</p> | FTC Cracks Down on Deceptive Debt Collection Texts | false | http://nbcnews.com/business/consumer/ftc-cracks-down-deceptive-debt-collection-texts-n374341 | 2015-06-12 | 3 |
<p>Sarah Jane Maher (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>Sarah Jane Maher admits her theatrical experience is slim, but says she was approached by playwright and director Jeff Reiser to be in his show “Free Range” because of her experience in improv comedy, which she started about four years ago.</p>
<p>Maher is a member of the improv troupe Remote Possibilities. “Free Range,” presented by Avoidance Theater Group, explores whether educated, upper-middle class couples are legally obligated to be both hyper-vigilant and overly permissive in their parenting efforts. One character thinks she has a better way and attempts to recruit others to her movement. Whimsy and hilarity ensue.</p>
<p>The show will be performed on Friday, July 8 at 8:15 p.m.; Sunday, July 10 at 1 p.m.; Sunday, July 17 at 4:30 p.m.; Wednesday, July 20 at 6 p.m.; and Saturday, July 23 at 4:30 p.m. at the Upstairs Theatre, Logan Fringe Arts Space (1358 Florida Ave., N.E.). Details at <a href="http://capitalfringe.org/" type="external">capitalfringe.org</a>.</p>
<p>Maher is a graduate student studying social work. The 42-year-old Clifton, N.J., native came to Washington 23 years ago as a musician stationed at the Marine Barracks. She’s married and lives in Laurel, Md. She enjoys improv comedy, theater, volunteering and music in her free time.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?</p>
<p>I have been out as transgender for a little over a year. I’ve been out as a lesbian for about a minute less, basically the amount of time it took for people to “do the math.” The hardest person to come out to was my mother. Coming out to her at 41 years old was not an easy thing to do, but she has given me nothing but love and support.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>Who’s your LGBT hero?</p>
<p>Transgender punk musician Laura Jane Grace. She defines her own existence as a transgender woman and to me, embodies the strength and courage that transgender and gender non-conforming people need to survive in this world.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?&#160;</p>
<p>I’m partial to the Black Cat since I love live music.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>Describe your dream wedding.</p>
<p>A quiet affair with only close friends and family.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?</p>
<p>I feel a lot more can be done to fight homelessness, especially among my fellow veterans.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What historical outcome would you change?</p>
<p>I would prefer not to. I feel that if we change events from the past we can unintentionally affect the future in negative ways. I would hate to cause the end of the world as we know it. Or maybe I’ve just seen “Back to the Future” too many times.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?</p>
<p>The first MTV broadcast.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>On what do you insist?</p>
<p>Being treated fairly and with respect.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?</p>
<p>A quiz telling me which “Gilligan’s Island”&#160;castaway I am. (I’m Mary Ann)</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>If your life were a book, what would the title be?</p>
<p>“Never Too Late”</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?</p>
<p>I would ask why scientific research was not being applied to more&#160;important issues.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What do you believe in beyond the physical world?&#160;</p>
<p>Nothing, but I am more than willing to be surprised.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?</p>
<p>Be inclusive and respect intersectionality.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What would you walk across hot coals for?</p>
<p>To help any of my close friends and family.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?</p>
<p>The notion that we are all the same. We are a very diverse group, yet most people feel that we can be pigeonholed into a handful of archetypes.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What’s your favorite LGBT movie?</p>
<p>“Boy Meets Girl”</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What’s the most overrated social custom?</p>
<p>Using gendered language (Sir, Ma’am, etc.) in greeting people and answering the phone.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What trophy or prize do you most covet?</p>
<p>I’d be OK with an Emmy for comedy writing.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>What do you wish you’d known at 18?</p>
<p>I wish I knew that although it is not an easy path, it is possible for a transgender person to find love and success.</p>
<p>&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>Why Washington?</p>
<p>I love the friends I have made over the last 20-plus years of my life in the D.C. area. Although my initial move to the area was technically not my choice, staying here long after my initial military obligation has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Avoidance Theater Group</a> <a href="" type="internal">Capital Fringe Festival</a> <a href="" type="internal">Free Range</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jeff Reiser</a> <a href="" type="internal">Logan Fringe Arts Space</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sarah Jane Maher</a> <a href="" type="internal">Upstairs Theatre</a></p> | QUEERY: Sarah Jane Maher | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/07/06/queery-sarah-jane-maher/ | 3 |
|
<p>BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Despite cameras everywhere, not every superstar moment makes the broadcast of the Golden Globes.</p>
<p>Here’s a look at the happenings inside the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom that you didn’t see on TV.</p>
<p>COMMERCIAL SOCIALIZING: The ballroom isn’t as big as it appears on TV, and most of the A-listers are crammed into a small space right in front of the stage. That makes it easy for stars to schmooze during commercial breaks.</p>
<p>Frances McDormand introduced Steven Spielberg to “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” writer-director Martin McDonagh. Barbra Streisand kibitzed with Oprah Winfrey cohorts Gayle King and Stedman Graham.</p>
<p>Nicole Kidman said, “Shirley, I love you!” as she brought husband Keith Urban over to say hi to Shirley MacLaine. Sharon Stone introduced her son to Debra Messing. Denzel Washington caught up with Mary J. Blige. Jason Bateman greeted Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Christian Slater congratulated Sam Rockwell.</p>
<p>“The Handmaid’s Tale” actress Samira Wiley stopped “Lady Bird” star Saoirse Ronan to say, “I don’t know you, but I love your work.” Wiley also said Ronan’s dress was one of her favorites of the night.</p>
<p>Helen Mirren took in the scene with her husband, director Taylor Hackford, who sat at a corner table with his arm around her shoulders.</p>
<p>BATHROOM BANTER: Stars are just like us — when it comes to waiting in line for the restroom. There’s no way around it, even at the Golden Globes. Meryl Streep stood behind “black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross.</p>
<p>Actress Emma Watson considered ducking into the kitchen to avoid the bathroom queue, but eventually resigned herself to the inevitable.</p>
<p>Geena Davis held onto her dress as she waited.</p>
<p>“I keep stepping on my fringe,” she said.</p>
<p>Once inside, Davis chatted with actress Michelle Williams.</p>
<p>Actress Pamela Adlon posed for a selfie with a fan in the ladies’ room.</p>
<p>“Thank you so much for watching,” Adlon said as she left.</p>
<p>Kerry Washington used the space to make a quick phone call. And actress Sarah Paulson used it to declare her love to “The Crown” star Claire Foy. After gushing to Foy directly, Paulson declared to anyone within earshot: “Ladies and gentlemen, Claire Foy is here and nothing else matters. We don’t have to pretend we don’t all feel the same way.”</p>
<p>HUNGER GAMES: Only very early arrivals to the Golden Globes get dinner. Plates are whisked away 30 minutes before the telecast begins, while most stars are still winding their way down the red carpet, leaving only magnums of Champagne on the tables.</p>
<p>An alcove adjacent to the ballroom is the only place with food during the three-hour show, and stars flocked to its offerings of finger sandwiches, fruit and crudites.</p>
<p>Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal nibbled a chocolate-covered strawberry as she assembled a plate of veggies. “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot dug into a package of Lindt chocolates.</p>
<p>Natalie Portman was jubilant after securing a full plate of snacks.</p>
<p>“I finally got food!” she said, sharing her plate with table-mate America Ferrera.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For full coverage of awards season, visit: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/AwardsSeason</a></p>
<p>BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Despite cameras everywhere, not every superstar moment makes the broadcast of the Golden Globes.</p>
<p>Here’s a look at the happenings inside the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom that you didn’t see on TV.</p>
<p>COMMERCIAL SOCIALIZING: The ballroom isn’t as big as it appears on TV, and most of the A-listers are crammed into a small space right in front of the stage. That makes it easy for stars to schmooze during commercial breaks.</p>
<p>Frances McDormand introduced Steven Spielberg to “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” writer-director Martin McDonagh. Barbra Streisand kibitzed with Oprah Winfrey cohorts Gayle King and Stedman Graham.</p>
<p>Nicole Kidman said, “Shirley, I love you!” as she brought husband Keith Urban over to say hi to Shirley MacLaine. Sharon Stone introduced her son to Debra Messing. Denzel Washington caught up with Mary J. Blige. Jason Bateman greeted Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Christian Slater congratulated Sam Rockwell.</p>
<p>“The Handmaid’s Tale” actress Samira Wiley stopped “Lady Bird” star Saoirse Ronan to say, “I don’t know you, but I love your work.” Wiley also said Ronan’s dress was one of her favorites of the night.</p>
<p>Helen Mirren took in the scene with her husband, director Taylor Hackford, who sat at a corner table with his arm around her shoulders.</p>
<p>BATHROOM BANTER: Stars are just like us — when it comes to waiting in line for the restroom. There’s no way around it, even at the Golden Globes. Meryl Streep stood behind “black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross.</p>
<p>Actress Emma Watson considered ducking into the kitchen to avoid the bathroom queue, but eventually resigned herself to the inevitable.</p>
<p>Geena Davis held onto her dress as she waited.</p>
<p>“I keep stepping on my fringe,” she said.</p>
<p>Once inside, Davis chatted with actress Michelle Williams.</p>
<p>Actress Pamela Adlon posed for a selfie with a fan in the ladies’ room.</p>
<p>“Thank you so much for watching,” Adlon said as she left.</p>
<p>Kerry Washington used the space to make a quick phone call. And actress Sarah Paulson used it to declare her love to “The Crown” star Claire Foy. After gushing to Foy directly, Paulson declared to anyone within earshot: “Ladies and gentlemen, Claire Foy is here and nothing else matters. We don’t have to pretend we don’t all feel the same way.”</p>
<p>HUNGER GAMES: Only very early arrivals to the Golden Globes get dinner. Plates are whisked away 30 minutes before the telecast begins, while most stars are still winding their way down the red carpet, leaving only magnums of Champagne on the tables.</p>
<p>An alcove adjacent to the ballroom is the only place with food during the three-hour show, and stars flocked to its offerings of finger sandwiches, fruit and crudites.</p>
<p>Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal nibbled a chocolate-covered strawberry as she assembled a plate of veggies. “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot dug into a package of Lindt chocolates.</p>
<p>Natalie Portman was jubilant after securing a full plate of snacks.</p>
<p>“I finally got food!” she said, sharing her plate with table-mate America Ferrera.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For full coverage of awards season, visit: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/AwardsSeason</a></p> | Behind the scenes at the Golden Globes: schmoozing, snacking | false | https://apnews.com/3e5bfc0ae92c4255a7e1234c34f46dbe | 2018-01-08 | 2 |
<p>July 19 (UPI) — A herd of bison escaped from its enclosure in New Hampshire and stampeded through the area, halting traffic on major roadways and trampling front yards.</p>
<p>Armand Buldoc, owner of Buldoc Farm in Gilford, said his 25 bison <a href="http://wgme.com/news/local/new-hampshire-police-urge-caution-as-bison-continue-to-roam-free" type="external">broke through a fence</a> on his 340-acre property Tuesday and ran wild through three towns.</p>
<p>Courtney Schwatzkopf, who lives two doors down from the farm, said her family recorded video of the bison stampeding down the street.</p>
<p>“And then I just screamed for [my son] to stop because I thought they were going to run right across, and then they just kept coming,” Schwatzkopf <a href="http://www.wmur.com/article/gilford-police-warn-drivers-about-herd-of-bison-on-loose-in-area/10324671" type="external">told WMUR-TV</a>.</p>
<p>Police and animal control officers <a href="http://www.wmtw.com/article/police-in-new-hampshire-warn-drivers-about-herd-of-bison-on-loose-in-gilford-area/10325181" type="external">attempted without success</a> to corral the bison.</p>
<p>“They can go up to 45 miles an hour, so trying to herd them was very difficult,” said Robert Bolduc, the animals’ owner’s brother.</p>
<p>The bison eventually wandered back toward home and were safely back on the farm Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Robert Buldoc said the animals apparently escaped after being spooked by noises from nearby road work.</p>
<p>Armand Buldoc said he knows which of the bison is the ringleader and he is taking measures to ensure they don’t escape again.</p> | Bison herd escapes in New Hampshire, stampedes through road | false | https://newsline.com/bison-herd-escapes-in-new-hampshire-stampedes-through-road/ | 2017-07-19 | 1 |
<p>Billy Tauzin | <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_tauzin.jpg" type="external">Wikimedia Commons</a>Jon Walker of FireDogLake <a href="http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/15/democrats-who-once-railed-against-medicare-part-d-now-insist-members-must-vote-for-strikingly-similar-senate-health-care-bill/" type="external">thinks</a> the health care bill and Medicare Part D (the Bush administration’s 2003 budget-busting prescription drug benefit) “could be twins.” He doesn’t mean that as a compliment. There are a number of flaws with Walker’s comparison, but his focus on pharmaceutical lobbyist/former GOP Rep.* Billy Tauzin’s role in writing both bills is especially problematic. It’s true that the pharmaceutical lobby was originally in the White House’s corner on health care reform. But the lobby has switched sides, and pharmaceutical companies have <a href="/mojo/2010/02/single-tear-billy-tauzin" type="external">pushed Tauzin out</a> for negotiating what they now think is a raw deal.</p>
<p>Getting powerful interest groups to give up anything at all is a heavy lift. Part D didn’t require any sacrifices at all: it was something (drug coverage for seniors, profits for pharmaceutical companies) for nothing (it wasn’t paid for). The pharmaceutical lobby supported Part D in part because it really was the corporate handout that Walker thinks health care reform is. It was an easy call.</p>
<p>Health care reform was tougher. The pharmaceutical companies were apparently willing to support health care reform if it was a sure thing and they could limit their losses.&#160;They wanted “a seat at the table.” Still, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/internal-memo-confirms-bi_n_258285.html" type="external">the secret deal</a> Tauzin and the pharmaceutical companies struck with the White House required the industry to give up some $80 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. And limiting losses to $80 billion seemed like a good idea when health care reform seemed like a sure thing.</p>
<p>But as soon as the pharmaceutical companies realized they might be able to avoid any losses at all, they switched sides. Suddenly, supporting something that required the industry to give up eighty billion dollars seemed like a really bad plan. So Tauzin lost his job.</p>
<p>The broader point is that if it passes, health care reform will mandate sacrifices by a lot of groups—insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, people with high-cost health plans, the rich, healthy young people who don’t want to buy insurance, and so on. Passing something like that in today’s political climate would be a minor miracle.</p>
<p>Walker’s comparison is useful in one sense. He’s basically right that “the cheapest, most direct way” to provide the prescription drug benefit or cover the uninsured would be for “Medicare just provide these groups with what they need.” But that would require massive sacrifices by more, and more powerful, groups than the ones that oppose the current plan. Does anyone think hospitals and doctors would hold their fire if they were faced with the prospect of covering the uninsured at Medicare rates? If passing even this bill is such a heavy lift, imagine what that would take.</p>
<p>UPDATE:&#160;Well, <a href="http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0310/PhRMA_plans_6_million_proreform_ad_buy_in_38_House_districts__Kucinich_announcing_vote_decision_at_1.html" type="external">I owe Jon an apology</a>.</p>
<p>*Added per comments.</p> | Health Care Reform’s Twin? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/medicare-part-d-health-care-reform/ | 2010-03-15 | 4 |
<p />
<p>American adults still prefer communicating by voice over sending and receiving text messages according to a recent survey conducted by The Pew Research Center.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fox-Business-Technology/190436904308381" type="external">Keep up with the latest technology news on the FOX Business Technology Facebook page. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Pew surveyed 2,277 Americans ages 18 and older between April 26th and May 22nd of this year, and found that nearly three-quarters of them send and receive text messages.</p>
<p>Despite the increased popularity of text messaging among adults in the U.S., however, only 31% prefer messaging to voice calls. More than half 53% said voice calling was their preferred means of communications rather than SMS, and 14% said their preference would depend on the situation.</p>
<p>Pew also notes that young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are by far the most active users of text messaging, with the average user in that age range exchanging more than 100 messages each day.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/09/20/pew-adults-still-prefer-voice-calls-to-text-messages/" type="external">This content was originally published on BGR.com Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>An Iranian-designed bomb on a route south of Baghdad shattered <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Patrick Hanley</a>’s arm, skull and life on March 29, 2008, sending the Army soldier to shifting addresses on a grueling tour of military hospitals and mental health centers that strive to make service members whole again.</p>
<p>Miraculously, four years later he walked into a new job as a civilian — with an unfilled left jacket sleeve affixed to a wool suit, his brain seeping fluid via a shunt to his spinal column and stomach. <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> had been repaired as best the military could do.</p>
<p>Officially a wounded warrior, he took a seat as a safety official at <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">Environmental Protection Agency</a> headquarters in Washington.</p>
<p><a href="/news/2016/oct/1/former-president-bush-hosts-annual-ride-for-milita/" type="external">SEE ALSO: George W. Bush hosts annual Warrior 100K bike ride for military veterans</a></p>
<p>He soon found out it was not the place for a hero’s welcome.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>, now 40 and honorably discharged on 100 percent disability, said the office’s millennials resented his war resume and the special access to federal jobs the U.S. provides returning war veterans.</p>
<p>He learned their nickname for him was “Lefty,” for his missing arm. Another office clique called him “Mr. PTSD,” for post-traumatic stress disorder — a mental syndrome that haunts thousands of combatants.</p>
<p>“I was ostracized,” he said. “People made up stories about me being unstable.”</p>
<p>He said managers disregarded his complaints. Then more trouble arrived. An office worker complained to his supervisor that, when <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> responded to a malfunctioning elevator and possible injury, he did not address a wheelchair-bound employee in the proper way.</p>
<p>“When I learned of this,” he said, “I protested to my supervisor, saying I was unaware of a special protocol for speaking with people in wheelchairs and pointed out that I had some experience with people in wheelchairs since I had been wheelchair-bound for months myself and had spent the previous four-plus years surrounded by wounded soldiers in wheelchairs.”</p>
<p>Adding to his nonwelcome: He later did research into personnel policy and discovered he was unfairly denied a promotion and pay raise.</p>
<p>Veterans advocates say <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> is not alone in facing a sometimes-hostile workplace in the federal government.</p>
<p>As one of his first acts as commander in chief, President Obama signed an order making it a top priority for the federal government to hire ex-warriors. The preference has caused some resentment.</p>
<p>Last spring, a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs panel held a hearing on hiring preferences, where Richard Weidman, executive director for policy for Vietnam Veterans of America, said this: “We hear from some who were hired and quit after a year or so because they were ‘bored’ or ‘did not fit in.’ It seems clear to us that those who come straight from the military into the [federal government] need a mentor, perhaps an older veteran, to start learning to negotiate the corporate culture and procedures at that agency, as well as being able to understand the feelings and attitudes of the newer veteran.”</p>
<p>Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he has heard anecdotes like <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>‘s.</p>
<p>“Ignorance and disrespect have no place in any workplace anywhere,” Mr. Davis said. “It’s just unfortunate that the military’s attitude adjustment procedures aren’t followed in the public and private sectors.”</p>
<p>Unbroken</p>
<p><a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>’s re-entry to civilian life included exchanging his residence at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a condo in Arlington, Virginia. The unit later included a rescued mix-breed Labrador named Sable. Friendly and affectionate, Sable helped him assimilate with the canine-happy population that rides Metro’s Orange Line and frequents the neighborhood’s trendy bars and restaurants.</p>
<p>He is truly back home, having grown up in Northern Virginia as part of a family of Democrats. His mother, Katherine Hanley, chaired the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and worked in former Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration.</p>
<p>He traveled a jagged road back to Virginia. His story is one vignette in America’s long war to oust Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and put down an insurgency at a cost of more than 4,400 U.S. service members’ lives. His struggle is a testament to the human spirit and to the U.S. military’s commitment to put back together a damaged body and mind.</p>
<p>After college and various civilian jobs, he joined the Army in September 2005 at the relatively old age of 29 and went off to Fort Benning, Gerogia, to learn the infantryman’s trade.</p>
<p>“I truly believed we were at war after 9/11, and Saddam, having been an enemy before, was aiding al Qaeda,” <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> said. “But now, after having been in the Army and working for the federal government, I see how easy it is for people to lie and manipulate the system to get what they want.”</p>
<p>Fort Riley, Kansas, and the 1st Infantry Division were next. Then the famous Iraq troop surge. His unit — the 16th Infantry Regiment “Rangers,” 4th Brigade Combat Team — found itself in February 2007 patrolling Baghdad’s meanest streets, where al Qaeda and Iranian-backed Shiites were aiming to kill Americans.</p>
<p>Iran provided explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), which today the Pentagon estimates killed nearly 200 U.S. service members. <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> stands as one of the 861 they wounded.</p>
<p>On March 29, 2008, Mr. Hanley’s two-vehicle convoy had a choice of two routes. A lieutenant chose “Route Florida,” according to a narration in the book “The Good Soldiers,” by Washington Post reporter David Finkel. The reasoning: They had come in on the second possible exit. Florida would be unexpected.</p>
<p>Mr. Finkel wrote: “‘All right,’ replied <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Hanley</a>, who was about to give his entire left arm to the cause of freedom, as well as part of the left temporal lobe of his brain, which would leave him unconscious and nearly dead for five weeks, and with long-term memory loss and dizziness so severe that for the next eight months, he would throw up whenever he moved his head, and weight loss that would take him from 203 pounds down to 128. ‘Let’s do it.’”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> sat in the front seat as the men approached a light post that just happened to hide the EFP. The explosion killed two soldiers and tore into <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> and one other soldier.</p>
<p>“Yeah. You could tell right away that it was severe head trauma because of the way his eyes were rolled back in his head, and he was foaming at the mouth,” the lieutenant said of <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>’s grave wounds.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> provided a post-blast chronology to The Washington Times. He credits a doctor assigned to special operations troops with removing parts of his skull to let a traumatized brain expand and not rupture. He eventually would be able to think and calculate again thanks to that surgeon.</p>
<p>His medical notes read like a tour of military medical posts: emergency craniotomy and amputation, Balad, Iraq; treated for cerebral meningitis, Bethesda National Naval Medical Center; regained consciousness, May 2008; emergency flight back to Bethesda from rehabbing in Boston to install a shunt, fall 2008; titanium shell installed to close skull, spring 2009; sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for physical rehabilitation, 2010; transferred to Defense-VA Brain Injury Center for cognitive therapy; a medical board deemed him unfit for duty due to psychological and physical limitations.</p>
<p>As <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> neared discharge in 2011, the medial board dispassionately listed the physical effects of the Iraq War, the ones he would carry to the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a>. The board noted with an X in a box that all the damage was post-recruitment: “Traumatic brain injury, severe, with residual cognitive deficits of attention”; “High transhumeral amputation”; “vertigo, fatigue, light and sound sensitivities”; “visual impairment with hemianoptic defect right eye”; “seizure disorder.”</p>
<p>The Army awarded him a Purple Heart and a Combat Infantryman Badge, among other medals. He is especially proud of the Valorous Unit Award — the unit equivalent of an individual Silver Star — to the 16th Infantry Regiment for “extraordinary heroism,” as the citation reads.</p>
<p>He was officially discharged in July 2102. His DD Form 214 reads that he was medically retired with the rank of staff sergeant and “disability, permanent (enhanced).”</p>
<p>‘Inaction’</p>
<p>That same month he showed up at a location starkly different from six years of battlefields and hospitals — the complex of concrete and glass offices known as the Federal Triangle, a place the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> calls its “campus.”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>’s mother, Katherine Hanley, attributes her son’s remarkable recovery to “ <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Patrick</a>’s fierce determination, as well as his stubborn persistence in fighting to overcome his injuries.”</p>
<p>“It has been truly amazing,” <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mrs. Hanley</a> said. “It’s been just incredible. And in doing that, he has refused to accept ‘can’t’ either from himself or from anybody else. He just decided he was going to do these things. He was going to do adjustments and recovery and not let anything stand in [his] way.”</p>
<p>At one point <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> turned to family friends and fellow Democrats and Virginians: Mr. Kaine, now running as the party’s vice presidential nominee, and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly. Both offices wrote letters to the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> over <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>’s withheld career promotions.</p>
<p>In an Aug. 4 email, a Connolly aide expressed frustration that the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">agency</a> was not forthcoming.</p>
<p>“As I’ve conveyed to you in the past, we continue to believe this case could have been handled more delicately given <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>’s status as a service disabled veteran with limited experience with the complex human resources policies of the federal government,” the aide wrote in one of numerous communications. “Further, as you know well, the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> and the federal government are actively recruiting wounded warriors into civilian service, and those efforts are undermined when veterans experience situations like <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a>‘s.”</p>
<p>The aide said the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> should have converted <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> to permanent employment status in the summer of 2014, but the switch never came “due to what appears to be inaction by management.”</p>
<p>After <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> raised his first concerns about promotions, he suddenly learned he was bumped up to GS 12. But no one had officially told him. He filed a grievance to win back pay and what he believes is his right to a GS 13 career ladder. That action is going to arbitration. The American Federation of Government Employees has provided him a lawyer.</p>
<p>“While it is good that my attorney and the union agree that I have a winning legal case, it seems terribly unfair that I must spend my money and suffer delays lasting months, or even years if <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> chooses to contest my claim, to obtain the promotions and pay that <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> policy says I have earned through my performance,” <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> told The Times.</p>
<p>The Times asked the <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> to respond.</p>
<p>“ <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> cannot comment on any pending matters affecting any specific individuals,” spokeswoman Enesta Jones said. “ <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> is committed to creating a diverse workforce and is supportive of OPM’s (Office of Personnel Management) programs. Information is available for veterans about careers and other opportunities at [a special <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">EPA</a> website]. The <a href="/topics/environmental-protection-agency/" type="external">Agency</a> strongly supports all efforts to ensure a workplace free from discrimination while also promoting and embracing diversity and inclusion.”</p>
<p>Mr. Obama’s executive order has produced a boost in federal government hiring of veterans. The percentage of new hires grew from 24 percent in 2009 to 33 percent in 2014, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The total number of vets is 612,000, about one-third of the 1.99 million federal work force.</p>
<p>Added to the executive order are federal laws that provide a point-system preference. A Purple Heart recipient such as <a href="/topics/patrick-hanley/" type="external">Mr. Hanley</a> receives the highest points.</p>
<p>A vet application can be passed over if managers determine he or she cannot do the job, but they must document such a decision or face disciplinary action.</p>
<p>“The intentional failure by a government official to comply with veterans’ preference requirements is treated as a prohibited personnel practice, which can be reported to the Office of Special Counsel for investigation and is grounds for disciplinary action,” OPM official Mark D. Reinhold told Congress.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2016/oct/2/veterans-facing-hostility-in-federal-workplace/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Veterans facing hostility in federal workplace | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/2/veterans-facing-hostility-in-federal-workplace/ | 2016-10-02 | 0 |
<p />
<p>The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, issues its index of non-manufacturing activity for December. The report will be released Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>SLOWER GROWTH LIKELY: Economists forecast that U.S. services firms grew at a slower but still healthy pace last month. They expect the index to fall to 58, from 59.3 in November. Any reading above 50 signals growth.</p>
<p>A decline is unlikely to cause much concern because the index is riding so high. November's reading was near the eight-year high of 59.6 reached in August.</p>
<p>The ISM is a trade group of purchasing managers. Its survey of services firms covers businesses that employ 90 percent of the American workforce, including retail, construction, health care and financial services companies.</p>
<p>SOLID ECONOMY: The index averaged 56 in 2014, which was consistent with the strong growth the economy enjoyed after harsh winter weather caused a contraction in the first three months of last year.</p>
<p>The economy rebounded over the spring and summer, expanding in the six months from April to September at the fastest pace since 2003.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Employers have stepped up hiring as well, adding an average of 241,000 jobs a month through November of last year. That's the strongest pace for job gains since 1999.</p>
<p>The December jobs report, to be released Friday, is expected to show a similar pace. Economists are forecasting a gain of 240,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate is predicted to remain 5.8 percent, according to FactSet.</p>
<p>Each additional jobs means that there are more Americans with paychecks and incomes to spend shopping, eating out and traveling, all of which benefit services companies.</p>
<p>On Friday, the ISM said that a separate index tracking manufacturing slipped in December to 55.5 from 58.7 in November. Falling orders and production dragged down the index. Still, a measure of hiring rose, a good sign for Friday's jobs report.</p> | US services firms likely grew at slower, though still healthy, pace in December | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/01/06/us-services-firms-likely-grew-at-slower-though-still-healthy-pace-in-december.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
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<p>My vindication came courtesy of a new paper to be published in the Summer 2017 issue of Education Next, a policy research journal. The paper focuses on all the reasons that “academic redshirting” – delaying a child’s entry into kindergarten in order to derive benefit from an extra year of physical growth and social-emotional maturity – can potentially do more harm than good.</p>
<p>“Redshirting is generally not worth it,” write authors Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, a professor of education and social policy at Northwestern University, and Stephanie Howard Larson, the director of a Montessori school in Wilmette, Ill.</p>
<p>In fact, they write, “The benefit of being older at the start of kindergarten declines sharply as children move through the school grades.” And, notably, “For the older students [who were redshirted] … the positive impacts of being more mature are offset by the negative effects of attending class with younger students.”</p>
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<p>This was music to my ears.</p>
<p>My youngest son’s childhood nickname was “The Wiggler” because even in the womb he was in perpetual motion. He was that toddler who could not sit still and eventually became a troublesome preschooler who irritated his teachers.</p>
<p>There was seemingly no end to the phone calls and notes home to discuss behavioral issues: refusal to sleep at nap time, tugging on peers’ hair or clothes, reluctance to participate in quiet activities.</p>
<p>His birthday is in early August, close to our state’s September 1 cutoff, and we agonized over whether to let him proceed to kindergarten. And then, for the next 10 years, we agonized over whether we failed him by not keeping him out an extra year.</p>
<p>Today, as a sophomore in high school, The Wiggler is still one of the youngest in his class. Until recently he was always one of the smallest boys in his class. And also the most annoying to his teachers who, over the years, continued to send notes home begging us to keep him from tapping his pencils, making silly noises and, yes, wiggling himself practically out of his seat.</p>
<p>But, according to Schanzenbach and Larson, “The research on relative age indicates that being among the youngest in the class has benefits, in both the short and long term. Why? Because older classmates tend to be higher achieving and better behaved. They model positive behavior, and the younger students achieve greater academic gains from learning and competing with older ones. [Two studies reviewed] find that, with age held constant, learning with older classmates boosts students’ test scores.”</p>
<p>Not only are students who are held back for a year not more likely to be accepted in gifted and talented programs, but the authors conclude that, “Both research and experience suggest that the gains that accrue from being an older student are likely to be short-lived. Because of the important role of classroom peer effects, redshirted children can be educationally and socially harmed by being with others who are performing and behaving at lower developmental levels.”</p>
<p>Whew! So I didn’t ruin my kid’s life after all.</p>
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<p>Schanzenbach hit upon the idea of investigating the veracity of redshirting while chatting with Larson about whether Schanzenbach’s daughter’s development would adequately prepare her to be successful in kindergarten this coming fall.</p>
<p>“This is one of the hottest topics on the playground! Parents often struggle with this decision, and want to know what the advice from experts is, and what the research says,” Schanzenbach told me via email. “I just asked [Larson] what she advises parents. And she immediately started describing the potential for mismatch between a student and his/her peers if he is redshirted, which of course is consistent with my own academic research study that documents the importance of peers, and that having slightly older peers has a positive impact.”</p>
<p>This is really the most comforting thing we can hear. So much of what parents do revolves around making the best choices for their kids, and we always worry that we haven’t chosen well enough.</p>
<p>On any given day we must just do our best with the information we have and hope that the scholarly research eventually pats us on the back for not messing up too badly.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Decision on kindergarten vindicated | false | https://abqjournal.com/988395/decision-on-kindergarten-vindicated.html | 2 |
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<p>Jesus Velazquez got caught at school with a marijuana pipe in his backpack. What happened next is exactly what shouldn’t take place if a school district’s goal—or, from a larger perspective, a community’s goal—is to get kids who make dumb mistakes back on track.&#160;</p>
<p>Jesus was suspended for 10 days. While out of school, he got behind in his classes and struggled to catch up when he returned. Nine months later, Jesus got an unexpected letter stating that he had to show up for an expulsion hearing. He accepted an offer to go to a diversion program instead of being expelled, but it took three months for him to land a spot. Jesus ended up failing most of his sophomore classes and is now facing a fifth year in high school.&#160;</p>
<p>Obviously, schools cannot let students carry around drug paraphernalia or drugs without taking some swift action. Teenagers must be steered quickly away from substance abuse, even in this day and age, when recreational use of pot is legal in two states and being caught with an ounce or less warrants only a ticket and a fine in more than a dozen states. Even Jesus, who told his story to Deputy Editor Sarah Karp for this issue of Catalyst In Depth, admits that he was wrong. But no one was hurt in the incident. Jesus wasn’t accused of selling drugs. He didn’t have a gun or other weapon. Take him at his word that he is basically a good kid and was shocked to be threatened with expulsion months after the fact.</p>
<p>Surely this was a case in which a non-punitive response—mandatory drug education or participation in community service—made better sense. Too many students who have committed non-violent drug offenses end up like Jesus, the target of a heavy-handed approach that kicks them out of school—the very place that, with the right resources, could steer them in the right direction. Most often, students of color are the target. Schools with significant white enrollment, including those in the suburbs, are less likely to expel or arrest students for drug violations.&#160;</p>
<p>We’re not talking about offenses involving heroin or cocaine or meth, hard drugs with more serious health risks than marijuana and that warrant felony charges outside schools. The majority of these incidents involve 30 grams (about an ounce) or less of marijuana.&#160;</p>
<p>Under a 2012 Chicago decriminalization ordinance, Jesus, if he were older, might have gotten only a slap on the wrist. The ordinance allows police to issue tickets and fines to adults carrying small amounts of pot. But harsher penalties are still in place for juveniles: Offenders younger than 17 still face arrest in such cases.</p>
<p>These arrests help fuel the sky-high arrest rate in Chicago Public Schools, which dwarfs the rates for New York City and Los Angeles public schools, even though both districts are far larger.&#160;</p>
<p>It’s appropriate to take a tough stand against drugs with teens. A ticket and a fine aren’t enough. Arrests and expulsions are too much. What’s needed is education and teaching.</p>
<p>One suburban principal put it best: “We backed off of kicking kids out. We want to help the kids. We want to get them on the right track.”&#160;</p>
<p>This issue of Catalyst In Depth was written as part of a project headed by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. The Social Justice News Nexus at Medill is wrapping up its inaugural fellowship cycle, with reporting fellows—Sarah Karp among them—and Medill graduate students completing reporting projects on drug policy and the impact of drugs on Chicago. Stories will be published on the Social Justice News Nexus website at sjnnchicago.org as well as by the project’s media partners, which include Catalyst and our sister publication, The Chicago Reporter. The stories will be showcased in a multi-media Pop-Up Magazine event scheduled for October. &#160;A new fellowship cycle will also be announced in the fall, focusing on mental health care in the city. That’s a topic Catalyst covered in our award-winning summer 2012 issue of Catalyst In Depth on mental health trauma in schools. You can find the issue on catalyst-chicago.org.</p> | Drug policy should focus on teaching, not punishment | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/drug-policy-should-focus-teaching-not-punishment/ | 2014-07-28 | 3 |
<p>“From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.”</p>
<p>White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card in 2003, explaining why “Project Stampede America Into Iraq War II” was introduced in September.</p>
<p>MEMO FROM: KARL ROVE</p>
<p>TO: ALL CONCERNED (EYES ONLY, BURN BAG)</p>
<p>RE: NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH</p>
<p>First of all, GREAT JOB, PEOPLE! Our dynamic Iraq War Product is just about ready to go! Think of what we’ve achieved in less than a year! We’ve managed to:</p>
<p>*Demonize Democrats as “objectively pro-Saddam, terrorist-loving traitors” when they’ve dared oppose us!</p>
<p>*Take America’s Mind Off the Crappy Economy!</p>
<p>*Find A Great Reason To Stop Mentioning Bin Laden!</p>
<p>*Rally Our Wingnut Base!</p>
<p>*Keep Our Defense Contractor Campaign Contributors In Ecstasy!</p>
<p>*Trash NATO, AND the UN!</p>
<p>Of course, the man who deserves the most credit is President Bush, who has provided the focus, the passion, and the commitment to put our War Product across! If you don’t think he’s focused, just listen to this exchange from his most recent press conference!</p>
<p>Q: Mr. President, your fly is open. Do you plan on zipping up any time soon?</p>
<p>A: I believe that Saddam Hussein is a threat to the American people.</p>
<p>Q: Following up on that, Sir, what does that have to do with zipping your fly?</p>
<p>A: A threat to our people–that’s what Saddam is. A threat. To the American people. Who are threatened. By Saddam. Who doesn’t pray daily, like I do. Daily. To God. Because he’s too busy threatening the American people to pray. Like I do. Daily.</p>
<p>See, people? Now that’s focus!</p>
<p>Okay, people, the War Product is ready for roll-out. You know what they say–“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” Our dream is a second term for our beloved President, and the War Product is a vital part of meeting that deadline! Let’s keep our focus as “laser-sharp” as our President’s! Here’s what needs to be done during our March 17-18 launch window, and afterwards:</p>
<p>*LINE UP WINGNUT BLOVIATORS–Rush, O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity, etc.–to push line that “once war starts, anyone who criticizes government is a traitor, subject to arrest, blah blah.” Get the true believers foaming at the mouth.</p>
<p>*MAKE SURE ALL SMART BOMB POV CAMERAS ARE ON LINE for nice, clear “Shock and Awe” hits on FOX, CNN, etc. We need that big opening night “Main Street Electrical Parade” effect.</p>
<p>*GET WINGNUT THINK-TANKERS ON ALL THE NEWS SHOWS talking about what an astonishing success we’re achieving, how it’s the vision of our glorious President, how Democracy is breaking out all over the Middle East, etc. etc.</p>
<p>*MAKE SURE RIDGE DELIVERS “ORANGE ALERT” WARNING of possible terror attacks during initial attack phase. Use the usual, vague stuff about “increased cyber-chatter” and “Arabic voices saying the glorious day has almost come1 blah blah blah etc. etc.</p>
<p>*GET ASHCROFT ON BOARD to announce the arrest of a “dark-skinned male in his late “0’s planning dirty bomb attack in major city” to give people the jitters. Once we arrest the poor sucker, put him in a Navy brig somewhere.</p>
<p>*MOST IMPORTANTLY–RUMMY AND COLIN, READY FOR YOUR CLOSE-UPS! We need you on every news channel and front page telling the American public that now our brave boys and girls are at war, ABSOLUTELY NO CRITICISM WILL BE TOLERATED. Against the war? Go become a human shield, Osama!</p>
<p>It makes me laugh out loud when I hear all these hang-wringing liberal lightweights whimpering that the “war better go well, or President Bush is going to be in political trouble.” BWAA HAA HAA! Our War Product will power us through the full election cycle, so we can frame whatever Democratic patsy gets nominated as “encouraging Saddam” and “giving aid and comfort to the enemy, selling out our brave boys and girls overseas” every time he dare open his mouth against the glorious war to bring democracy to the Middle East.</p>
<p>Okay, Team, it’s SHOWTIME! I want to see you all tomorrow morning at the Prayer Meeting, praying for GREAT SMART BOMB VIDEO, SURGICAL MISSILE HITS, and some COOL FIGHTER PLANE GUN CAMERA FOOTAGE OF IRAQIS FLEEING IN TERROR.</p>
<p>Love you. Mean it.</p>
<p>Karl</p>
<p>RICH PROCTER is a cranky, disaffected Democrat whose work often appears in CounterPunch and <a href="http://WWW.SmirkingChimp.com/" type="external">SmirkingChimp.com</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | New GOP Product Launch | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/03/14/new-gop-product-launch/ | 2003-03-14 | 4 |
<p>ABOARD AIR FORCE TWO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence plans to use his attendance at the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month to try to counter what he sees as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s effort to “hijack” the games with a propaganda campaign, a White House official said on Tuesday.</p> U.S. Vice President Mike Pence seen during a visit to the Knesset, Israeli Parliament, in Jerusalem January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Ariel Schalit/Pool
<p>Pence will be present at the games not just for ceremonial purposes but to try to offset the “charade” he expects the North Koreans to put on when they send a team and also march in the opening ceremony with their South Korean counterparts, according to the official traveling with the vice president and speaking on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>“He has grave concerns that Kim will hijack the messaging around the Olympics,” the official told reporters aboard Pence’s plane as he returned to the United States from a trip to the Middle East. “The North Koreans have been master manipulators in the past. It’s a murderous state.”</p>
<p>Pence will conduct media interviews during his visit to South Korea, the official said.</p>
<p>“He’s going to root on our Olympians, and he’s excited about that. He’s going to ensure that from a messaging standpoint that it isn’t turned into two weeks of propaganda,” the official said.</p>
<p>The South Korean government earlier on Tuesday rejected criticism that the games had been hijacked by North Korea, saying the event will help defuse tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile program.</p>
<p>Following recent North-South talks that led to an agreement for North Korea to send a delegation to the Olympics, some opposition politicians and conservatives have criticized Pyongyang’s participation in the games in the South Korean alpine resort town of Pyeongchang.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump and top advisers have publicly welcomed the recent talks between the Koreas, but U.S. officials have said privately that Pyongyang might be trying to drive a wedge between allies Washington and Seoul.</p>
<p>Tensions between North Korea and the United States have run high over Pyongyang’s efforts to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.</p>
<p>Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>PARIS (Reuters) - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy went on prime time television on Thursday to reject accusations of illicit Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign and said they were making his life “hell”.</p>
<p>The 63-year-old, who held power from 2007 to 2012, was told by investigators on Wednesday after two days of questioning in police custody that he was formally suspected of passive corruption, an offence that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in jail.</p>
<p>At issue is a murky affair of Libyan spies, arms dealers and allegations that late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi provided Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases - allegations Sarkozy has always denied.</p>
<p>“There’s not even the smallest inkling of proof,” Sarkozy, visibly upset, said in a 25-minute evening news interview.</p>
<p>“Do you want to know the figure the police who questioned me calculated regarding the sum believed to have circulated during my 2007 campaign? Thirty-eight thousand euros - which for a campaign that cost 21 million euros represents 0.0018 percent: This is a very far cry from the crazy amounts of 50 million euros,” he said.</p>
<p>Sarkozy, who came under fire for giving Gaddafi a red-carpet reception in Paris in late 2007, said his problems began in March 2011 after he hosted Libyan rebels and went on to become one of the main advocates of a NATO-led campaign that resulted in the dictator’s overthrow and killing by rebels in 2011.</p>
<p>He also denounced what he described as lies from one of his main accusers, a Franco-Lebanese businessman who has described himself among other things as a “middleman in the shadows” on liaison between Paris and Libyan secret service chiefs.</p>
<p>Le Figaro newspaper published a lengthy account of what it said was a verbatim declaration by Sarkozy to magistrates.</p> FILE PHOTO: Nicolas Sarkozy, former head of the Les Republicains political party, attends a Les Republicains (LR) public meeting in Les Sables d'Olonne, France, October 1, 2016. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo
<p>“This calumny has made my life a living hell since March 11, 2011,” Sarkozy states, according to the newspaper.</p>
<p>“I’ve paid a heavy price for this affair. Put it this way: I lost the presidential election of 2012 by 1.5 percentage points. The controversy initiated by Gaddafi and his henchmen cost me that 1.5 percent”.</p>
<p>Sarkozy tried to stage a comeback in 2016 in the Republican presidential primary but there is no sign that he would attempt another return to politics.</p> Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the judiciary police offices in Nanterre, near Paris, France, March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe ACCUSATIONS
<p>The accusations prompted the opening of a judicial inquiry in 2013 which snowballed this week when Sarkozy was called in for interrogation and, on Wednesday evening, formally placed under investigation as a suspect in the affair.</p>
<p>In France, being “placed under investigation” is a step that judicial investigators can take if they have serious grounds for suspecting an offence. It often but not always leads to trial.</p>
<p>Sarkozy, who was called “president bling bling” by many due to his flashy style, has been dogged for years by accusations of wrongdoing. He is challenging an order to stand trial on charges of illicit spending overruns during his failed 2012 campaign.</p>
<p>One of the many factors that played in 40-year-old Emmanuel Macron’s presidential election win in May 2017 was a promise of a clean break with traditional French politics, often marred by accusations of corruption.</p>
<p>Sarkozy’s immediate predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was tried and convicted in 2011 of misusing public funds to keep political friends in phantom jobs - making him the first French head of state to be convicted of a crime since Nazi collaborator Marshall Philippe Petain in 1945.</p>
<p>Reporting by Brian Love and Emmanuel Jarry, Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SEOUL (Reuters) - Once rejected by North Korea as “human scum,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest pick for national security adviser has called for regime change in North Korea, prompting worries in Asia ahead of a historic summit between Washington and Pyongyang.</p>
<p>Trump announced in a tweet he was replacing H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has advocated the use of military force against North Korea and Iran and has previously been rejected as a negotiating partner by Pyongyang.</p>
<p>“This is worrisome news,” said Kim Hack-yong, conservative lawmaker and head of the national defense committee of South Korea’s parliament. “North Korea and the United States need to have dialogue but this only fuels worries over whether the talks will ever happen.”</p>
<p>At Seoul’s presidential Blue House, which has been forced to navigate between the unpredictable personalities of leaders in both Pyongyang and Washington, officials were circumspect.</p>
<p>“Our stance is that if a new road opens, we have to go that path,” a senior Blue House official told reporters. “Bolton has much knowledge on the issues regarding the Korean peninsula and most of all, we know him to be one of the U.S. president’s aides who is trusted.”</p>
<p>He said Chung Eui-yong, South Korea’s National Security Office head, had not yet spoken with Bolton and that Chung’s reaction to McMaster’s dismissal was “not bad”.</p>
<p>Another administrative official in Seoul expressed regret over the loss of camaraderie McMaster had built with his South Korean counterpart as they had tackled North Korea’s nuclear issue together.</p>
<p>Both officials requested not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.</p> “A ROCKY PATH”
<p>Bolton had described Trump’s plan to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “diplomatic shock and awe” and said it would be an opportunity to deliver a threat of military action.</p>
<p>“I think this session between the two leaders could well be a fairly brief session where Trump says, ‘Tell me you have begun total denuclearization, because we’re not going to have protracted negotiations. You can tell me right now or we’ll start thinking of something else’”, he told Washington’s WMAL radio station.</p>
<p>Former South Korean intelligence official Nam Sung-wook said Trump may not even get the opportunity to deliver that message.</p>
<p>“Bolton being tapped for this position makes for a very difficult situation where the U.S.-North Korea summit may not even happen,” he said. “It’s going to be a rocky path even before the summit.”</p> FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S. February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
<p>The meeting is supposed to happen by the end of May, but an exact time and place have yet to be settled on.</p>
<p>Pyongyang had no immediate comment about Bolton, whose</p>
<p>criticism of then-North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Pyongyang’s human rights record in 2003 spurred state media to call him “human scum and bloodsucker.”</p>
<p>North Korean officials would not recognize him as a representative of the U.S. government or talk with him because of his “political vulgarity and psychopathological condition”, state media said at the time.</p> HOPES AND WORRIES IN ASIA
<p>Bolton’s appointment came 10 days after Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, another moderating influence, replacing him with CIA director Mike Pompeo.</p>
<p>His appointment will further diminish hope for China and the United States to see eye-to-eye on security issues, according to Shi Yinhong, an expert on China-U.S. relations at Renmin University in Beijing.</p>
<p>“What security cooperation with China can there be? Nuclear weapons, North Korea, Taiwan, South China Sea, cyberspace … Where is there hope for cooperation?” Shi said.</p>
<p>“Trump and Xi Jinping have spoken in public of the logic of cooperation, but with the negative direction of trade and security cooperation, these words seem more and more empty.”</p>
<p>Zhao Tong, an expert on North Korea and nuclear disarmament at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing, said Bolton’s previous calls for China to pursue regime change in North Korea, as well as for a reunification of the peninsula under the South Korean government, was “very unrealistic”.</p>
<p>“His views on strategic security issues will reinforce the Chinese convictions that it needs to build up its hard power,” Zhao said.</p>
<p>Tokyo expressed hopes communication with Washington would go on as normal, with one Japanese government official saying he was “very optimistic” Japan would be able to get along with Bolton as he has many friends inside the Japanese government.</p>
<p>Narushige Michishita, a professor at Tokyo’s Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said Bolton’s toughness could present a hurdle in dealing with Pyongyang.</p>
<p>“The problem is that he doesn’t have any flexibility. That’s a negative concern that I have,” Michishita said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Christine Kim; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang and Josh Smith in SEOUL, Christian Shepherd in BEIJING and Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Editing by Bill Tarrant</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a “freedom of navigation” operation on Friday, coming within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built by China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials told Reuters, a move likely to anger Beijing.</p> FILE PHOTO: The warship USS Mustin sails near the port in Sihanoukville, 223 km (139 miles) west of Phnom Penh, October 11, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer
<p>Friday’s operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters.</p>
<p>The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS Mustin traveled close to Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands and carried out maneuvering operations. China has territorial disputes with its neighbors over the area.</p>
<p>Neither China’s Foreign nor Defence Ministries immediately responded to a request for comment.</p>
<p>In the past, Beijing has reacted angrily to such moves, saying they are provocative.</p>
<p>The U.S. military has a longstanding position that its operations are carried out throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and they are separate from political considerations.</p>
<p>However, the latest operation, the first since January, comes just a day after U.S. President Donald Trump lit a slow-burning fuse when he signed a presidential memorandum that will target up to $60 billion in Chinese goods with tariffs, but only after a 30-day consultation period that starts once a list is published.</p>
<p>The United States has criticized China’s construction of islands and build-up of military facilities in the sea, and is concerned they could be used to restrict free nautical movement.</p>
<p>China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The U.S. military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy recently unveiled.</p>
<p>China’s navy will carry out combat drills in the South China Sea, the military’s official newspaper said on Friday, describing the move as part of regular annual exercises.</p>
<p>Taiwan’s defense ministry said this week it had shadowed a Chinese aircraft carrier group traversing the Taiwan Strait in a southwesterly direction - meaning into the disputed South China Sea - in what Taiwan judged to be a drill.</p>
<p>The United States has been pushing allies to carry out freedom of navigation operations as well.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, Britain said one of its warships would pass through the South China Sea to assert freedom-of-navigation rights.</p>
<p>Reporting by Idrees Ali; Additional reporting to Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Larry King and Alison Williams</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday Britain and the European Union had made significant progress in Brexit talks and that she was looking forward to talks on their future economic partnership.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
<p>At a summit in Brussels, May also welcomed a move by the United States to exempt the EU from steel tariffs and said she would work with the other 27 leaders to make the exemptions permanent.</p>
<p>“We’ve made good progress on withdrawal agreement but also I’m looking for a new dynamic in the next stage of the negotiations so that we can ensure that we do develop, that we work together to develop, a strong future economic and security partnership which I believe is in the interest of the UK and the European Union,” she told reporters.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, writing by Elizabeth Piper</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Pence aims to counter North Korea 'propaganda' at Olympics: White House Sarkozy denies wrongdoing, says Libya lies make his life 'hell' 'Human scum and bloodsucker': Bolton's White House appointment fans worries over hawkish record in Asia Exclusive: U.S. warship sails near disputed islands in South China Sea, officials say Britain, EU make significant progress in Brexit talks: May | false | https://reuters.com/article/olympics-2018-northkorea-pence/pence-aims-to-counter-nkorea-propaganda-at-olympics-whouse-idUSL2N1PI2CK | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>The uprising in Egypt, although united around the nearly universal desire to rid the country of the military dictator Hosni Mubarak, also presages the inevitable shift within the Arab world away from secular regimes toward an embrace of Islamic rule. Don’t be fooled by the glib sloganeering about democracy or the facile reporting by Western reporters — few of whom speak Arabic or have experience in the region. Egyptians are not Americans. They have their own culture, their own sets of grievances and their own history. And it is not ours. They want, as we do, to have a say in their own governance, but that say will include widespread support — especially among Egypt’s poor, who make up more than half the country and live on about two dollars a day — for the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic parties. Any real opening of the political system in the Arab world’s most populated nation will see an empowering of these Islamic movements. And any attempt to close the system further — say a replacement of Mubarak with another military dictator — will ensure a deeper radicalization in Egypt and the wider Arab world.</p>
<p>The only way opposition to the U.S.-backed regime of Mubarak could be expressed for the past three decades was through Islamic movements, from the Muslim Brotherhood to more radical Islamic groups, some of which embrace violence. And any replacement of Mubarak (which now seems almost certain) while it may initially be dominated by moderate, secular leaders will, once elections are held and popular will is expressed, have an Islamic coloring. A new government, to maintain credibility with the Egyptian population, will have to more actively defy demands from Washington and be more openly antagonistic to Israel. What is happening in Egypt, like what happened in Tunisia, tightens the noose that will — unless Israel and Washington radically change their policies toward the Palestinians and the Muslim world — threaten to strangle the Jewish state as well as dramatically curtail American influence in the Middle East.</p>
<p>The failure of the United States to halt the slow-motion ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel has consequences. The failure to acknowledge the collective humiliation and anger felt by most Arabs because of the presence of U.S. troops on Muslim soil, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but in the staging bases set up in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, has consequences. The failure to denounce the repression, including the widespread use of torture, censorship and rigged elections, wielded by our allies against their citizens in the Middle East has consequences. We are soaked with the stench of these regimes. Mubarak, who reportedly is suffering from cancer, is seen as our puppet, a man who betrayed his own people and the Palestinians for money and power.</p>
<p>The Muslim world does not see us as we see ourselves. Muslims are aware, while we are not, that we have murdered tens of thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have terrorized families, villages and nations. We enable and defend the Israeli war crimes carried out against Palestinians and the Lebanese — indeed we give the Israelis the weapons and military aid to carry out the slaughter. We dismiss the thousands of dead as “collateral damage.” And when those who are fighting against occupation kill us or Israelis we condemn them, regardless of context, as terrorists. Our hypocrisy is recognized on the Arab street. Most Arabs see bloody and disturbing images every day from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, images that are censored on our television screens. They have grown sick of us. They have grown sick of the Arab regimes that pay lip service to the suffering of Palestinians but do nothing to intervene. They have grown sick of being ruled by tyrants who are funded and supported by Washington. Arabs understand that we, like the Israelis, primarily speak to the Muslim world in the crude language of power and violence. And because of our entrancement with our own power and ability to project force, we are woefully out of touch. Israeli and American intelligence services did not foresee the popular uprising in Tunisia or Egypt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Israel’s new intelligence chief, told Knesset members last Tuesday that “there is no concern at the moment about the stability of the Egyptian government.” Tuesday, it turned out, was the day hundreds of thousands of Egyptians poured into the streets to begin their nationwide protests.</p>
<p />
<p>What is happening in Egypt will damage and perhaps unravel the fragile peace treaty between Egypt and Jordan with Israel. It is likely to end Washington’s alliance with these Arab intelligence services, including the use of prisons to torture those we have disappeared into our vast network of black sites. The economic ties between Israel and these Arab countries will suffer. The current antagonism between Cairo and the Hamas government in Gaza will be replaced by more overt cooperation. The Egyptian government’s collaboration with Israel, which includes demolishing tunnels into Gaza, the sharing of intelligence and the passage of Israeli warship and submarines through the Suez Canal, will be in serious jeopardy. Any government — even a transition government that is headed by a pro-Western secularist such as Mohamed ElBaradei — will have to make these changes in the relationship with Israel and Washington if it wants to have any credibility and support. We are seeing the rise of a new Middle East, one that will not be as pliable to Washington or as cowed by Israel.The secular Arab regimes, backed by the United States, are discredited and moribund. The lofty promise of a pan-Arab union, championed by the Egyptian leader Gamal Abd-al-Nasser and the original Baathists, has become a farce. Nasser’s defiance of Washington and the Western powers has been replaced by client states. The secular Arab regimes from Morocco to Yemen, for all their ties with the West, have not provided freedom, dignity, opportunity or prosperity for their people. They have failed as spectacularly as the secular Palestinian resistance movement led by Yasser Arafat. And Arabs, frustrated and enduring mounting poverty, are ready for something new. Radical Islamist groups such as the Palestinian Hamas, the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon and the jihadists fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are the new heroes, especially for the young who make up most of the Arab world. And many of those who admire these radicals are not observant Muslims. They support the Islamists because they fight back. Communism as an ideological force never took root in the Muslim world because it clashed with the tenets of Islam. The championing of the free market in countries such as Egypt has done nothing to ameliorate crushing poverty. Its only visible result has been to enrich the elite, including Mubarak’s son and designated heir, Gamal. Islamic revolutionary movements, because of these failures, are very attractive. And this is why Mubarak forbids the use of the slogan “Islam is the solution” and bans the Muslim Brotherhood. These secular Arab regimes hate and fear Hamas and the Islamic radicals as deeply as the Israelis do. And this hatred only adds to their luster.</p>
<p>The decision to withdraw the police from Egyptian cities and turn security over to the army means that Mubarak and his handlers in Washington face a grim choice. Either the army, as in Tunisia, refuses to interfere with the protests, meaning the removal of Mubarak, or it tries to quell the protests with force, a move that would leave hundreds if not thousands dead and wounded. The fraternization between the soldiers and the crowds, along with the presence of tanks adorned with graffiti such as “Mubarak will fall,” does not bode well for Washington, Israel and the Egyptian regime. The army has not been immune to the creeping Islamization of Egypt — where bars, nightclubs and even belly dancing have been banished to the hotels catering to Western tourists. I attended a reception for middle-ranking army officers in Cairo in the 1990s when I was based there for The New York Times and every one of the officers’ wives had a head covering. Mubarak will soon become history. So, I expect, will neighboring secular Arab regimes. The rise of powerful Islamic parties appears inevitable. It appears inevitable not because of the Quran or a backward tradition, but because we and Israel believed we could bend the aspirations of the Arab world to our will through corruption and force.</p>
<p>Chris Hedges, who speaks Arabic and spent seven years in the Middle East, was the Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times. He is a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and a regular columnist for Truthdig. His newest book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Liberal-Class-Chris-Hedges/dp/1568586442%3FSubscriptionId%3D1XWTFJ60BR6QZ1PW9FR2%26tag%3Dtruthdig20-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1568586442" type="external">“Death of the Liberal Class.”</a></p> | What Corruption and Force Have Wrought in Egypt | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/what-corruption-and-force-have-wrought-in-egypt/ | 2011-01-31 | 4 |
<p>BRASILIA (Reuters) – A Congressional committee led by Evangelical Christians has voted to ban abortion in Brazil in all situations, including cases of rape and where the mother’s life is in danger.</p>
<p>The decision was voted 18-1 late on Wednesday by a special committee considering a constitutional amendment to extend maternity leave for mothers of premature babies.</p>
<p>The single vote against the ban was cast by the only woman present during the session, Erika Kokay of the Workers Party, who called the decision a maneuver by the committee’s pro-life Evangelical majority.</p>
<p>Abortion is illegal in predominantly Catholic Brazil except when the pregnancy is the result of a rape or puts the mother’s life at risk. In 2012, the Supreme Court authorized the abortion on fetuses with anencephaly.</p>
<p>More than one million abortions are carried out at clandestine clinics each year in Brazil and thousands of women end up in hospital as a result of botched procedures, according to government estimates.</p>
<p>But even the limited circumstances where abortions are legal have been targeted by a growing Evangelical caucus in Congress that has led to a conservative trend in lawmaking on social issues.</p>
<p>“To defend abortion, like it or not, is a Satanic, diabolical and destructive act,” Evangelical Congressman Pastor Eurico told the committee, brandishing a replica of a 12-week-old fetus.</p>
<p>The move to criminalize all cases of abortion would require supermajorities, or two-thirds of the votes in both chambers of Congress, as it is part of a constitutional amendment.</p>
<p>The measure could clear those hurdles as part of a trade-off for other legislation the governing coalition seeks to pass, such as pension reform needed to plug a gaping budget deficit.</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> | Brazilian Congressional committee votes to ban all abortions | false | https://newsline.com/brazilian-congressional-committee-votes-to-ban-all-abortions/ | 2017-11-09 | 1 |
<p>NEW YORK — The Trump family is launching a new hotel chain in a bold expansion of a company that critics say is already too big and opaque for an enterprise whose owner sits in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>The chain, called Scion, will feature the first Trump-run hotels not to bear the family’s gilded name. The hotels will feature modern, sleek interiors and communal areas, and offer rooms at $200 to $300 a night, about half what it costs at some hotels in Trump’s luxury chain.</p>
<p>And they’ll be dozens of them, possibly a hundred, opening across the country in just three years. Or at least that’s the plan.</p>
<p>“It’s full steam ahead. It’s in our DNA. It’s in the Trump boys’ DNA,” said Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger. The “boys” are Eric and Donald Jr., who are running their father’s company while he is president.</p>
<p>The bold expansion plan raises some thorny ethical questions.</p>
<p>The Trump family won’t be putting up any money to build the hotels. Instead, their company, the Trump Organization, plans to get local real estate developers and their investors to foot the bill, as do most major hotel chains.</p>
<p>One of the first going up could be in Dallas. A development company there originally planned to raise money from unnamed investors in Kazakhstan, Turkey and Qatar, but recently told the Dallas Morning News that it now will tap only the company’s U.S. partners.</p>
<p>Ethics concerns</p>
<p>Government ethics experts say turning to outside money, whether foreign or American, raises the specter of people trying to use their investment to gain favor with the new administration — like contributing to a political campaign, but with no dollar limits or public disclosure.</p>
<p>“This is the new version of pay-to-play, ‘Get in there and do business with the Trump Organization,’” said Richard Painter, who was the chief White House ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush.</p>
<p>The Trump family will have to overcome some political obstacles, too. Already, politicians in a few cities mentioned as possible sites have vowed to fight the first family, raising the prospect of a struggle to get zoning and other permits to start building.</p>
<p>The son of German and Polish refugees from World War II, CEO Danziger is no stranger to long odds. He never went to college, instead taking a job as a bellman at a San Francisco hotel at 17. He worked himself up over the decades to CEO spots at several major hospitality companies.</p>
<p>When Danziger led Starwood Hotels and Resorts in the 1990s, he expanded the number of hotels from 20 to nearly 600.</p>
<p>The 62-year-old executive has similar ambitions for the Trump family. He said he hopes to open 50 to 100 Scions in three years, and already has letters of intent with more than 20 developers, the last three signed in just one week earlier this month. He said he also is planning to add to Trump’s existing line of luxury hotels.</p>
<p>Danziger took over Trump’s hotel business in August 2015 with hopes of adding to the company’s string of properties abroad. A review of trademark databases by The Associated Press shows the Trump family has applied for rights to use the Scion name in several countries, including China, Indonesia, Canada and 28 nations in Europe. An application for trademark rights in the Dominican Republic was approved as late as December.</p>
<p>Then President Trump held a news conference the next month and basically killed the international plans. A week before he took office, he pledged that his company would strike “no new foreign deals” while he was president to allay concerns that foreigners might try to influence U.S. policy by helping his business abroad.</p>
<p>Projects get new life</p>
<p>Critics note that hasn’t stopped his company from expanding one of its Scottish resorts, pursuing two Indonesian projects that are largely unbuilt and looking to revive an old deal for a beachfront Dominican Republic resort that appeared dead years ago. The company has said these were already in the works, so they don’t fall under the president’s pledge.</p>
<p>At a panel discussion at a recent hotel industry conference, Danziger said the U.S. offers plenty of opportunity for expansion. As possible cities for new hotels, he mentioned Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and Dallas.</p>
<p>That didn’t go down well with some local power brokers.</p>
<p>Mark Farrell, a San Francisco supervisor who heads the land use committee, scoffed at the idea of a Trump hotel getting permission to build in his city, telling a CBS affiliate “Good luck with that.”</p>
<p>In Seattle, councilmember Rob Johnson told the AP he’d be “shocked” if any Trump hotels got built, calling his city “ground zero” for Trump resisters. In January, thousands took to the streets there to protest the president’s first attempt at a travel ban and the city council passed a unanimous resolution denouncing it.</p>
<p>St. Louis, another possible Scion target, may prove a tough sell, too. A few days after the presidential election, protesters marched in front of a building that had been rumored as the site of a new Trump hotel as they chanted “No to Trump Tower.”</p>
<p>The developer of the St. Louis project, Alterra Worldwide, is also the company behind the possible Scion hotel in Dallas. It announced soon after the St. Louis protest that it would use the building there to open a hotel under the Marriott name.</p>
<p>Despite the St. Louis trouble, Alterra President Mukemmel “Mike” Sarimsakci said, he expects no trouble with his Dallas project.</p>
<p>For starters, he appears to have much of the local approval needed to move forward. Both Sarimsakci and a Dallas city hall spokeswoman said Alterra is not seeking rezoning or tax incentives, which will avoid any need for a vote of the city council to approve the hotel.</p>
<p>Sarimsakci doesn’t think anti-Trump sentiment will hurt the Scion chain.</p>
<p>“I think it’s passed. I think people had really strong feelings prior to the election,” he said. “I don’t see that as being an issue moving forward.”</p>
<p>Sarimsakci spoke to the AP last month. He did not respond to requests to confirm that he no longer plans to use foreign investors.</p>
<p>The lure of tax revenue, jobs</p>
<p>Danziger also shrugs off the danger from anti-Trump folks. Stopping a Scion from opening would hurt a city, he said, just as surely as it would hurt the Trumps.</p>
<p>“Why would a city because of political views, a city councilman’s views, prohibit tax revenue from coming to the city and employment to the people?” Danziger said. “It doesn’t make sense.”</p>
<p>He also expressed confidence Scion will avoid ethical trouble. He said any new investors in Scion go through an “exhaustive, thorough” review to make sure, for instance, they’re not offering sweetheart deals to the Trump family to curry favor with the president.</p>
<p>Before Trump took office, he hired an outside lawyer to vet his deals for conflicts. Critics say his company shouldn’t be striking any new deals at all and that he should follow the precedent of modern presidents by selling his interest in the company. He has refused to do so.</p>
<p>Politics aside, Trump’s new chain faces stiff business challenges.</p>
<p>The U.S. president is a tiny hotel operator, with just 14 properties that he either owns or licenses his name to or manages for others, according to his company’s website. This puts it at a disadvantage compared with, say, Marriott International, which has more than 6,000 hotels and can get deeper discounts when purchasing insurance and food and linens. The bigger companies have powerful loyalty programs to lure travelers, too.</p>
<p>“Why do people stay at Marriotts all the time?” said Bjorn Hanson, professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University. “They’re earning points.”</p>
<p>Trump’s Scion chain also faces a fight for customers against an array of new chic “lifestyle” chains from Marriott, Hilton and other rivals. Furniture retailers West Elm and Restoration Hardware are opening hotels to appeal to young travelers. Even the gym chain Equinox recently announced plans to enter the crowded field.</p>
<p>Danziger said he’s not worried. “Every industry on the planet is crowded.”</p>
<p>He won’t name the developers with whom he has letters of intent, or where they hope to build, noting that they’re tentative deals that could easily fall though. Pressed, though, he rattled off a long series of cities seemingly at random, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Louisville, Kentucky.</p>
<p>“The list of places Scion can go,” he said, “is virtually limitless.”</p> | Trumps plan big hotel expansion, but political problems loom | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/trumps-plan-big-hotel-expansion-but-political-problems-loom/ | 2017-03-24 | 1 |
<p>When Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) reported earnings last quarter, it delivered -- as usual -- a revenue beat. That, along with strong guidance, helped push its stock up 8% after the announcement on Monday. Another norm for Palo Alto was that its initial gain was quickly cut to 5% as profit takers jumped in.</p>
<p>That contrasts with the story for FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE), share of which have dipped 15% since it reported solid earnings, but muted guidance Nov. 1. FireEye shareholders are still in the black for the year, but Palo Alto has the momentum. All in all, the question of which is the better buy isn't as cut-and-dried as it seems.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Investors were pleasantly surprised -- but shouldn't have been -- when Palo Alto reported revenue and EPS (excluding one-time items) above guidance. CEO Mark McLaughlin routinely under-promises and over-delivers, and companies record $505.5 million in revenue and adjusted EPS of $0.74 a share were just the latest examples of that.</p>
<p>The company <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2017/11/21/palo-alto-networks-inc-panw-q1-2018-earnings-confe.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=088c7ca4-cfa0-11e7-8383-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">forecast the next quarter will be strong as well, Opens a New Window.</a> with sales between $518 million to $528 million, equal to revenue growth of 23% to 25%. In other words, based on the pattern of under-promising, another quarter of 26% to 27% growth should be expected.</p>
<p>In its fiscal 2018 first quarter, the well-paid sales team inked deals with over 2,500 new customers, lifting its total above 45,000. Deferred revenue was another positive metric: It shot up 37% to $1.9 billion. New CFO Kathy Bonnano will stay busy with so many deals done, but not&#160;yet included as revenue.</p>
<p>I recognize that Palo Alto is in growth mode, and given its relatively small size -- its market capitalization is $14 billion -- spending now to gain market share in a burgeoning market is logical. That said, at what point will enough be enough?</p>
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<p>Palo Alto's operating expenses jumped 21% last quarter to $418.4 million: Cost of revenue also soared 40% to $141.1 million. Spending on sales increased 17% to $258.5 million, equal to 51% of total revenue. The result of that open-checkbook policy was yet another loss, this time of $0.70 a share, 11% worse than the $0.61 a share loss it took a year earlier.</p>
<p>It's been a year and half since FireEye named Kevin Mandia CEO, and he knew there were big chores ahead. Expenses were out of control, and FireEye was relying on one-time product sales to drive growth. Mandia's objectives were to drastically cut overhead and shift to <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/24/1-reason-to-buy-fireeye-stock-and-1-reason-to-stay.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=088c7ca4-cfa0-11e7-8383-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">cloud-based subscription software sales Opens a New Window.</a> of its Helix platform to drive recurring revenue.</p>
<p>Despite last quarter's "disappointing" guidance, the FireEye of today is in a dramatically improved position compared to a year ago. FireEye&#160;reported revenue of $189.6 million, up 2% and above analyst estimates. With a guidance range of $190 million to $196 million in revenue for the current quarter, the midpoint of the range falls below the consensus analysts estimate of $195.8 million. FireEye's billings expectations for this quarter of $230 million on the high-end also missed the consensus $237.1 million pundits were expecting.</p>
<p>For the recently ended quarter, the adjusted EPS loss of $0.04 was drastically improved compared to last year's loss of $0.18 a share. The improvements to FireEye's bottom line are directly related to its expense management efforts. Though still high, with each passing quarter FireEye is taking giant steps in the right direction.</p>
<p>Cost of revenue eased 1% to $68.2 million, but FireEye&#160;slashed operating expenses again. It cut overhead 20% to $183 million, including 20% from its sales and marketing costs to $88.9 million. Again, still awfully high, but nothing like what FireEye was spending a year ago.</p>
<p>The $0.41 a share it lost including all expenses may not impress, but compared to the $0.75 a share in the red it was a year ago, it's become a question of when, not if, FireEye becomes profitable.</p>
<p>Palo Alto offers investors an opportunity for near-term growth due to its swelling top line and favorable momentum. It's also a Wall Street darling, with 70% of analysts rating it a buy or overweight.</p>
<p>As Palo Alto shareholders have seen so often, though, it likely won't be long before the excitement fades. FireEye, on the other hand, is worth considering for long-term investors in search of growth. And FireEye's recent sell-off limits its downside risk. For those reasons, and due to the incredible progress it has made in such a short period of time, FireEye gets the nod.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Palo Alto 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=1879dceb-c150-4ccc-9dab-8f08764ced32&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=088c7ca4-cfa0-11e7-8383-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Palo Alto 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=1879dceb-c150-4ccc-9dab-8f08764ced32&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=088c7ca4-cfa0-11e7-8383-0050569d4be0&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 November 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/timbrugger/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=088c7ca4-cfa0-11e7-8383-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Tim Brugger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends FireEye and Palo Alto Networks. 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=088c7ca4-cfa0-11e7-8383-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Better Buy: Palo Alto Networks Inc. vs. FireEye | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/24/better-buy-palo-alto-networks-inc-vs-fireeye.html | 2017-11-24 | 0 |
<p>Dimitrios Georgas, with a broad smile, standing in the middle of his family’s 20 acres of vineyards, asks if you want to see some dolphins.</p>
<p>In any other circumstance, it might be a surreal question for a vintner to ask you. But not here. A&#160;loudspeaker blast from the Attica Park Zoo, which you can see beyond the vines, has just announced its next dolphin show.</p>
<p>Georgas’ fields are only about 20 miles from downtown Athens, and only a couple of miles from the airport. With disdain, he points out a hollow shell that will be a multiplex cinema, if they ever get it built.&#160;This used to be “the countryside,” but now the city is spreading out, growing along the new roads built to connect the airport to the city for the 2004 Summer Olympics.</p>
<p>“When you flew in, you landed on what used to be some of my fields,” Georgas said.</p>
<p>He was forced to sell some of his family’s land to the airport authority when the new facility was built. He says he’s under pressure to sell more land to developers. He's resisting, to a point.</p>
<p>Georgas’ family has been growing grapes and making wine here for generations. He remembers how, back in the old days, which really weren’t so long ago, his grandfather and father would sell wine and retsina (that special Greek white wine laced with pine resin) by the barrel to small taverns in Athens.</p>
<p>He helped out around the winery when he was a kid, then went away to university never planning to come back and be a wine-maker. But he did come back, eventually. He expects his kids will follow a similar pattern.</p>
<p>The operation here isn’t big, and Georgas likes it that way. He said after a morning at the computer, he takes great pleasure in getting out into the fields and tending the vines. He doesn’t want to grow too big, he said, because then he’d be forced to spend more time in front of that computer, and less time in the fields.</p>
<p>Georgas grows a few different grape varieties, and bottles a combination of reds, whites, and retsina. He also makes all natural juices and concentrates. He has chosen quality, and uniqueness, over quantity. The winery produces about 50,000 bottles worth of products a year. All of his wines, juices and concentrates are certified organic.</p>
<p>He said a professional soccer team in Athens uses his juices after practice as an energy booster.</p>
<p>Georgas does a few exports, but less than ten percent of his total production. He sends some of his products to Austria, and some to France. He knows his target audience, and he likes to sell to them as directly as possible, through farmers markets and organic food stores and the like.</p>
<p>But he’s looking to export his grape juice concentrate — you can cut it with water and make juice, or even use it like syrup on pancakes — to New York.</p>
<p>“There’s no use trying to sell a cabernet in New York,” he said. “I think they have enough of those already.”</p>
<p>As for the economic crisis, Georgas shrugs. Unlike other Greek wineries, he said, he is not burdened by debt. That’s one of the reasons he kept the operation small. He does have very modern equipment, some of which was paid for by European Union money.</p>
<p>But it was a good investment, he said. You need good technology to produce a certified organic product and being organic he can charge a bit more for his wines and other goods. He vows he will never add sugars or other additives just to get his wine to a certain price.</p>
<p>But his family is doing OK.</p>
<p>“Look, we don’t drive Porsches or Mercedes. We have what we have, and that’s enough," he explained.</p>
<p>He picks up his glass of rich red wine, and points to it with his other hand.</p>
<p>“There is no crisis here.”</p> | At Greek winery, signs of economic crisis are few and far between | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-03-09/greek-winery-signs-economic-crisis-are-few-and-far-between | 2012-03-09 | 3 |
<p>With all the worries about corporate colonization of the Internet and the specter of online censorship getting spookier all the time, it’s important to acknowledge the ways in which the Web can still be used for the greater good. That’s why we salute as our Truthdiggers of the Week all those who quickly mobilized, both online and in the analog world, to protest against and ultimately help reverse a policy of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation that would have denied funding to Planned Parenthood.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://ww5.komen.org/" type="external">breast cancer charity</a> released a <a href="http://ww5.komen.org/KomenNewsArticle.aspx?id=19327354148" type="external">statement</a> Friday in an effort to do some serious backpedaling after making the poorly received choice, revealed earlier in the week, to block funding to Planned Parenthood outposts based on a rationale that just happened to dovetail nicely with an anti-abortion agenda. Here’s a quick sum-up of that inciting incident.</p>
<p>Los Angeles Times:</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood revealed that 19 of its affiliates would no longer receive grants from the Komen foundation for breast health programs because of revamped criteria barring new grants to groups under local, state or federal investigations. Planned Parenthood is under congressional investigation by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who is looking into whether it used federal funding for abortion services, which is not permitted.</p>
<p />
<p>Under Komen’s new rules, organizations under investigation can’t receive new funds until the matter is resolved.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-komen-backlash-20120203,0,693195.story" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>That decision registered broadly as politically charged, and the opposition began organizing on- and offline. Facebook and the Twitterverse <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/susan-g-komen-foundation-planned-parenthood-tweets_n_1251062.html" type="external">lit up</a>, and critics in the media added force to the growing public outcry. On Thursday, The New York Times’ editorial team let fly with a scathing indictment of Komen’s decision under the headline “A Painful Betrayal.”</p>
<p>The New York Times:</p>
<p>With its roster of corporate sponsors and the pink ribbons that lend a halo to almost any kind of product you can think of, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has a longstanding reputation as a staunch protector of women’s health. That reputation suffered a grievous, perhaps mortal, wound this week from the news that Komen, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, decided to betray that mission. It threw itself into the middle of one of America’s nastiest political battles, on the side of hard-right forces working to demonize Planned Parenthood and undermine women’s health and freedom.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/opinion/a-painful-betrayal.html" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that the Times editors pointedly remarked about how the foundation’s politicized stance could impact its branding and corporate sponsorship: “In addition to harming women,” they wrote Thursday, “the foundation has also tarnished, perhaps permanently, its brand, symbolized by the pink ribbon that adorns yogurt cups and running shoes and tote bags and Federal Premium Ammunition’s pink shotgun shells. Companies like Ford Motor, Dell and Yoplait may not find the same value in identifying themselves with the foundation after its sharp departure from political neutrality.”</p>
<p>By Friday, the message had clearly been <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/03/susan-g-komen-uturn-planned-parenthood" type="external">received</a> by higher-ups at Susan G. Komen for the Cure (and indeed their ranks had <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/susan-g-komen_n_1250651.html" type="external">thinned</a> a bit by then). Here’s the gist of Friday’s apology:</p>
<p>The Susan G. Komen Foundation:</p>
<p>We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives. The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.</p>
<p>Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.</p>
<p><a href="http://ww5.komen.org/KomenNewsArticle.aspx?id=19327354148" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>Planned Parenthood appreciated the widespread support, President Cecile Richards said in <a href="http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/statement-cecile-richards-planned-parenthood-federation-america-regarding-todays-komen-announce-38686.htm" type="external">a written statement</a> Friday. “The outpouring of support for women in need of lifesaving breast cancer screening this week has been astonishing and is a testament to our nation’s compassion and sincerity,” said Richards. By then, the celebration was well under way online, where much of the protest had taken hold.</p> | Truthdiggers of the Week: Planned Parenthood Supporters | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/truthdiggers-of-the-week-planned-parenthood-supporters/ | 2012-02-03 | 4 |
<p>Honda is recalling 1.2 million Accord midsize cars in the U.S. because a battery sensor can short out and potentially cause a fire.</p>
<p>The recall covers cars from the 2013 through 2016 model years. Honda says it has four reports of engine compartment fires due to the problem but no injuries. All the fires were in states where salt is used to clear roads in the winter.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company says the sensors on the negative terminal of the battery aren't properly sealed from moisture. Road salt can get in and cause corrosion and an electrical short. A shorted sensor can heat up and possibly catch fire.</p>
<p>Dealers will inspect the sensors. Faulty ones will be replaced. Those without problems will get an adhesive sealant and will be replaced when parts are available.</p> | Honda recalls 1.2M Accords; battery sensors can catch fire | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/13/honda-recalls-1-2m-accords-battery-sensors-can-catch-fire.html | 2017-07-13 | 0 |
<p>San Francisco will retroactively apply California’s new marijuana legalization laws to thousands of past criminal cases. At a news conference Wednesday, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-will-wipe-thousands-of-marijuana-convictions-12540550.php" type="external">announced</a> that the city will clear misdemeanor marijuana convictions from the records of nearly 3,000 people, and will re-sentence defendants in more than 4,000 marijuana-related felony cases.</p>
<p>The decision is a result of California’s 2016 vote to legalize marijuana for recreational use. One aspect of the law, which was called Proposition 64 on the ballot, is that people convicted of marijuana-related crimes while the drug was illegal can petition the courts to have their convictions cleared under current law. San Francisco’s decision to wipe out convictions essentially removes&#160;from the individual the burden of petitioning the court. The city will be clearing convictions dating back to 1975, according to Gascón, who added, “Instead of waiting for people to petition—for the community to come out—we have decided that we will do so ourselves. We believe it is the right thing to do. We believe it is the just thing to do.”</p>
<p>Advocates for poor and minority communities have long cited the disproportionate number of arrests of people of color for drug possession. In 2013, an <a href="https://www.aclu.org/report/report-war-marijuana-black-and-white?redirect=criminal-law-reform/war-marijuana-black-and-white" type="external">American Civil Liberties Union report</a> found that a disproportionately high number of the 8 million marijuana-related arrests in the U.S. from 2001 to 2010 involved black Americans. While both black people and white people were found to use marijuana at approximately the same rate, black people were 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for possession. The ACLU also found that 52 percent of all drug-related arrests in 2010 were for marijuana, and that more than 700 out of every 100,000 black Americans were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/04/the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/?utm_term=.de721033b11f" type="external">arrested for marijuana possession</a>.</p>
<p>The Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, who also spoke at the news conference, said, “This is a giant step for justice. And it is a step toward setting black people free to live in the community, to have jobs, to have health care, to have a decent education, and we just need to keep this good thing a-rollin’. ”</p>
<p />
<p>Gascón said he hopes the San Francisco decision will prompt other elected officials to follow suit. The city of <a href="https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/958837630296141824" type="external">San Diego</a> has since announced that it will apply legalization laws to forgive old marijuana convictions, and Los Angeles has already introduced a marijuana <a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2017/12/06/la-legalizes-the-cannabis-industry-offers-priority-to-angelenos-affected-by-war-on-drugs/" type="external">”social equity”</a> program that gives marijuana business licensing priority to those in communities that were especially affected by the “war on drugs.”</p>
<p>The L.A. Daily News reports:</p>
<p>Under this program, cannabis business operators that meet the “social equity” criteria would be moved to the front of the line for license applications. Such businesses would need to meet criteria such as have low income status, a cannabis-related conviction or being located in an area that has had a high number of cannabis-related arrests.</p>
<p>For retail cannabis licenses, the city would process the applications of two social equity operators for each general operator. With non-retail operators like cultivators and manufacturers, the ratio is one for one.</p>
<p>“Our social-equity program—and I say this without fear of contradiction—is the most aggressive and the most progressive and the most just program that anyone anywhere in the United States have here in America,” Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said.</p>
<p>“It is 84 years and one day since the United States instituted prohibition on alcohol, cannabis and a host of other drugs,” he said. “The express purpose of those policies was to control unruly Negro men in the South.”</p>
<p>“In 1970, Richard Nixon expanded and instituted what we referred to as the War on Drugs to control the Black Panther party, activists, blacks and anti-war hippies,” he said. “And cities and states across the country have been doing that, carrying out that policy, sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly.”</p>
<p>Los Angeles Councilman Herb Wesson added that the program is an attempt to make reparations. “Social equity is about trying to correct a wrong,” he said.</p> | ‘The Just Thing to Do’: San Francisco to Erase Marijuana Convictions | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/just-thing-san-francisco-erase-marijuana-convictions/ | 2018-02-02 | 4 |
<p>San Francisco Chronicle "If HBO, Showtime and the big three networks offer formal dining with a reservation, then <a href="http://www.current.tv/" type="external">Current</a> is a drop-by-any-time tapas bar," writes Peter Hartlaub. The shows on what some call the Al Gore Network will be no longer than five minutes. Current TV execs appear to be aiming for two parts studiousness and one part levity, says Hartlaub. "Think National Public Radio, if Napoleon Dynamite were the vice president in charge of programming." Current launches today on cable. &gt; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/31/AR2005073101081.html" type="external">Gore's new cable channel aims to turns traditional TV on its head (WP)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1088722-1,00.html" type="external">Many wonder if Current will be able to break out of the pack (Time)</a></p> | Current is hard to describe because there's nothing like it | false | https://poynter.org/news/current-hard-describe-because-theres-nothing-it | 2005-08-01 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Leatherman Made For Kids</p>
<p>Little ones are not overlooked by Leatherman, which this year made a multi-tool with a removable knife blade. It’s built for kid-size hands and marketed as a “training tool” that’s also cool enough to inspire confidence and pride. A parent can add the knife blade when a kid is ready. Mean time, the Leap performs a dozen tasks with its pliers, wire-cutter, screwdrivers, small saw, tweezers and soda bottle opener.</p>
<p>‘Glow Tent’ Line</p>
<p>A string of lights in your tent that power on with the flick of a switch. It’s a pretty simple concept, but one that Big Agnes nailed right on the head with the MtnGlo series. The company added the lights to several tents across categories from lightweight hiking to car camping. The thin, LED strings add little weight and can barely be felt through the fabric of the tent wall.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Twin Gate Carabiner</p>
<p>Two independent gates on these climbing carabiners from Grivel add safety and eliminate a need for a locking mechanism. Grivel calls them the safest carabiners ever made. A rope clips easily through the double gates, which snap in different directions, but a rope cannot unclip itself when twisted, a rare but present danger with traditional carabiners.</p>
<p>‘Dual Chamber’ Sleeping Pads</p>
<p>Two inflation chambers and an extra comfortable new kind of design that mimics an at-home cushy spring mattress makes these pads from Sea To Summit stand out. One benefit of two inflation chambers? The top and bottom of some pads in the line can be inflated to different pressures, with a hard bottom to cover rocks and roots, and a soft top for comfort.</p>
<p>Zip-In-Half Dry Suit</p>
<p>Equipped with gaskets at the neck and wrists, a dry suit is about as confining as apparel can come. Kokatat adds some relief with its zip-in-two Idol dry suit, which has a zipper around the middle. It sounds like a simple innovation. But the feature should be well received by boaters who want more comfort and versatility in their cold-water suits.</p>
<p>‘Speed Mountaineering’ Boots</p>
<p>Made for professional mountaineers, the S-Lab X Alp Carbon GTX from Salomon is a new kind of mountain boot. A waterproof upper, lightweight build, and a flexible (and patented) carbon-fiber chassis that adds lateral stability make these modern-day mountaineering boots unique. An integrated gaiter keeps out the snow and ice. You can add crampons when the terrain gets steep.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | Best picks for the outdoorsy | false | https://abqjournal.com/449612/best-picks-for-the-outdoorsy.html | 2014-08-21 | 2 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in October&#160; <a href="http://cbfportal.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/celebrating-newly-approved-field-personnel/#more-7273" type="external">announced its six newest field personnel</a>. In June, they’ll be commissioned and most will leave for their assignments in the fall.</p>
<p>But all of them are already intensely working to raise the money needed to finance those assignments in locations from Asia to Illinois.</p>
<p>“It takes a big commitment – they have to see raising support as a ministry, not only an obligation,” said <a href="http://www.thefellowship.info/About-Us/News/Archive/8220" type="external">Jim Smith, interim coordinator</a> of global missions for the Atlanta-based CBF.</p>
<p />
<p>That means building fundraising web sites and Facebook pages, preaching at churches and anything else to convince individuals and congregations to support their mission work, Smith said.</p>
<p>CBF once fully supported all its roughly 130 field personnel worldwide, he said. But that changed about seven years ago due to declines in giving. Nowadays, new missionaries arrive expecting to raise their own money – before and after they leave for their mission field.</p>
<p>“Technology helps,” he said. “Through social media they can keep a constant stream of communication and interaction about what’s being done and the struggles being encountered.”</p>
<p>Most of the six new field personnel have plans to leave for their assignments in the fall. ABPnews interviewed most of them about their assignments and the callings that&#160;led them there.</p>
<p>Jeanne Cross. Assignment: Panang, Malaysia</p>
<p>Jeanne Cross is a native of Moulton, Ala., who doesn’t deny having some apprehensions about her upcoming assignment. That’s not only because she’ll be working in the realm of&#160; <a href="http://lifeinmalaysia.org/" type="external">human trafficking</a>, but because she’ll miss the church fellowship she’s enjoyed all her life.</p>
<p>“I have been fortunate to have a strong Christian community up to this point, and I am going be very mindful of the spiritual and emotional support I have here,” she said.</p>
<p>Cross, 25, studied psychology and sociology at Samford University, and is nearing completion of a dual master’s program in divinity and social work at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She felt that first tug toward missions when a junior in high school.</p>
<p>“But I was really conflicted by that calling because I really desired to stay local, close to friends and family,” she said. “Then my sophomore year (in college) I visited India…and I fell in love with the people and the culture. That’s when I felt God had aligned my calling with my interests.”</p>
<p>The CBF field personnel model felt right because of her affinity for the Fellowship’s theology and interest in ministering to those most unreached, Cross said.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang" type="external">In Panang</a>, she’ll oversee anti human trafficking efforts and coordinate the development of a shelter for trafficking victims. Cross will also lead advocacy and prevention efforts. She acknowledged that will make her unpopular in some quarters there.</p>
<p>“The danger level will likely be fairly high with the work I’ll be doing, but I feel far safer than the people I will be working among.”</p>
<p>Carson and Laura Foushee. Assignment: Kanazawa, Japan</p>
<p>The Foushees are North Carolina natives who met as students at McAfee School of Theology and married in June 2011. They describe their relationship as a merger of dual – though not identical – callings as CBF field personnel.</p>
<p />
<p>Laura said she discerned her call early in college and decided to pursue theological education with the idea of serving a local church. “I have always been passionate about working with ways to make congregations healthier,” she said.</p>
<p>For Carson, the call came during his senior year at Elon Univesrity, where he was majoring in leisure and sports management. The call also came just as he was pursuing an internship with the Carolina Panthers football team. “I felt God reminding me of the experiences I had during high school and college through local and international mission opportunities,” he said.</p>
<p>He then spent September 2007 through early February 2008 doing missions work in China. When the Panthers later turned him down, that was all Carson Foushee needed to send him down the path to theological education.</p>
<p>The couple chose <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/thefousheesinjapan/" type="external">CBF and an assignment in Japan</a> because it gives them both what they’re seeking in missions work.</p>
<p>In 2009, the Japan Baptist Convention signed a partnership with CBF to bring missionaries to Japan. Local churches cooperated to&#160;create a position for the partnership, and the Foushees will be the first full-time, long-term personnel there. “It fits our two callings,” Laura said. “We will be working in local congregations, and for Carson that will be in a global context.”</p>
<p>Bill and Noy Peeler. Assignment: Cambodia</p>
<p>The Peelers have already spent years sharing the gospel and serving others in Cambodia as missionaries with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. When that arrangement ended, they connected with CBF to continue the work they feel God calls them to, Bill Peeler said.</p>
<p>“Noy and I love Cambodia and its people, especially those who struggle as farmers and laborers to make it one day at a time,” he said via e-mail. “Since I first started working in a refugee camp in 1979, I have had unbroken contact with the Khmer people. It’s a no-brainer that God planned it that way.”</p>
<p>Bill Peeler heard that call while serving in the Army in Vietnam during the war. For his wife, the discernment came while living in a refugee camp.</p>
<p>“I knew right away that my people needed to hear this good news, too,” she said. “Cambodia has suffered so much.”</p>
<p>The couple will work in that nation as <a href="https://www.thefellowship.info/GiveNow" type="external">&#160;church planters</a>, while also training others to plant churches.</p>
<p />
<p>Noy Peeler was Baptized by a Baptist missionary in 1980. It became clear to her then she must do the same for others. “Jesus didn’t have me to keep quiet but to tell my people that Jesus can save them, too,” she said.</p>
<p>Drew Phillips. Assignment: East St. Louis, Ill.</p>
<p>Drew Phillips won’t have far to go when he officially becomes one of CBF’s field personnel this summer. Currently the chaplain at the <a href="http://www.cacesl.org/" type="external">Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis, Mo</a>., Phillips new venture will have him working in the same location doing many of the same duties.</p>
<p />
<p>Phillips, 33, said it’s work he loves: Running the spiritual programs at the center, which also provides recreation and other activities. His job will continue to survey parents and legal guardians, supervise visiting youth and mission groups and work one-on-one with children.</p>
<p>“I’m the guy that’s the presence at the basketball game and funerals and wherever there is an emergency,” he said.</p>
<p>Phillips grew up in Missouri, the son of a pastor, and majored in psychology at Missouri Western State University. Participating in urban missions caused a light to come on after his junior year.</p>
<p>“I said, ‘I think that’s what I want to do with my life,’” he recalled. “I realized my life has been full of conversion experiences all pointing to being with and loving on people who tend to be forgotten.”</p>
<p>CBF’s field personnel program was the right fit for him because of the fellowship’s mutual desire to serve where the need is greatest, Phillips said.</p>
<p>“What keeps me going, what I look forward to most, is the children,” he added. “Every day is new and exciting and brings challenges and wonderful things to celebrate.</p>
<p>But there can also be heartbreak in a city known for its poverty and crime.</p>
<p>“To love is to risk,” Phillips said. “And working with a transient population in a violent community, there is great tragedy.”</p> | New lives for CBF missionaries | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/new-lives-for-cbf-missionaries/ | 3 |
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<p>USA Today "I viewed the blogs as pure opinion, no reporting," says "Inside Politics" anchor Judy Woodruff. "But I've come to see the [blogs segment on her show] as a tool for getting at a new, unpredictable and increasingly influential place on the political landscape." She tells Peter Johnson: "The one thing I'd like to see us do more of is explain who the bloggers are. We could tell more about who they are and where they get their information. The only thing stopping us from doing that now is time."</p> | CNN's Woodruff was initially skeptical of segment on blogs | false | https://poynter.org/news/cnns-woodruff-was-initially-skeptical-segment-blogs | 2005-03-21 | 2 |
<p>"When yet another hand clamped over her mouth, Jackie bit it, and the hand became a fist that punched her in the face. 'Grab its motherf---ing leg,' she heard a voice say. And that's when Jackie knew she was going to be raped."</p>
<p>Thus started a 9,000-word article in Rolling Stone magazine about the supposed rash of campus rapes across America. The writer, Sabrina Erdely, began with the horrifying story of Jackie, a college girl who found herself raped by seven men at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia while two other men, including her date, "gave instruction and encouragement."</p>
<p>The University of Virginia banned Phi Kappa Psi from campus. People vandalized the frat house, hurling rocks through windows and covering the premises with graffiti. Commentators and politicians all over the nation bloviated gravely about the deep problem of sexual brutality on campus. Those who questioned Jackie's story were accused of not taking rape seriously enough; to demand facts equated to shaming a rape victim.</p>
<p>There was only one problem with Erdely's story: It was false. Jackie had lied. And Rolling Stone had no evidence to back up Jackie's story in the first place. This week, Rolling Stone apologized for the story but did not fire Erdely or any of its editors; Erdely apologized not to the fraternity or its members but to virtually everyone else. She added, "In writing each of these stories I must weigh my compassion against my journalistic duty to find the truth."</p>
<p>Herein lies the problem. Journalism does not require sympathy for human beings. It requires sympathy for readers, who deserve truth. But for the left, truth represents a secondary value. It is far more important to forward a particular political narrative than it is to simply state the facts. And that narrative can only be forwarded if there is controversy over the facts. If, for example, everyone agreed that Jackie had been gang raped, there would be no controversy over sending her rapists to prison or prosecuting all those who looked the other way. But the leftist narrative requires an opposition, a group of evil haters who take rape less than seriously. That is how society can be blamed for the alleged rape of one woman by seven men.</p>
<p>So the left specifically chooses to feature situations in which facts are under dispute. Then leftists claim that no one could reasonably dispute the facts; the only people who would dispute facts about the occurrence of an evil are those who sympathize with the evil. Leftists craft Americans who require evidence into victimizers, simply so they can portray themselves as heroes. If you wanted evidence of racism with regard to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, you were a fan of Bull Connor-style police brutality. If you wanted evidence with regard to Lena Dunham's rape accusations, you stood with rapists. Leftists don't require any evidence; they will take any allegations that support the narratives they desire at face value because that's how seriously they take rape, racism, etc.</p>
<p>The left's mythmaking will continue. And there will never be consequences for that mythmaking because like Sabrina Erdely, their failures spring from caring, no matter who gets hurt.</p> | Why the Left Lies | true | http://truthrevolt.org/commentary/why-left-lies | 2018-10-03 | 0 |
<p>On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, USA Today, in an epic piece of clickbait trollery, ran a column by Oliver Thomas titled, “Whites killed MLK. Now we honor him.” The piece itself is a virtue signaling litany of self-flagellation, designed to make the white author seem generous of spirit in his own racial humility. He writes:</p>
<p>Seems like every time Dr. King showed up somewhere, things got torn up or burned up. So we killed him. Not me, of course. I’m not a racist. But who thinks he is? So we tried to fix it. Made his birthday a national holiday. Put him on a pedestal. Where we can honor him. And he can’t poke us in the eye.</p>
<p>This, of course, neglects the fact that white Americans marched alongside Dr. King and passed legislation that Dr. King supported. Look at the faces in the Selma march: a spectrum of color. It was King’s recognition that color was secondary to decency that made him a great man, and made his quest successful. Dr. King was far from the first black civil rights icon. He was successful not merely because he was a gifted orator and a profound thinker on racial matters, but because he had the foresight to reach out to the non-black community to build alliances.</p>
<p>But today’s civil rights leaders seek to drive wedges rather than build bridges, and the media celebrate them. The notion behind the modern civil rights movement seems to be that racial gaps can never be bridged – the best whites can do is acknowledge their “white privilege,” and then go silent with regard to all matters racial. And Thomas is happy to do that:</p>
<p>I’ll let Ta-Nehisi Coates boil it down for you. White society was not achieved through “wine tastings and ice cream socials, but rather through the pillaging of life, liberty, labor and land.” In short, through three centuries of kidnapping, torture, murder and rape….We built an entire society on these bruised and broken backs. That and countless Native Americans driven off their land….I have been asked to speak at a Martin Luther King Day event. Me, a white preacher, speaking to a predominantly black audience filled with gifted preachers. Well, here’s the message. No white person understands the black experience.</p>
<p>This is precisely the wrong message.</p>
<p>First of all, it’s not true. We should obviously lament and remember the absolute evil of slavery, the horror of Jim Crow. But to suggest that American power was built on the back of slavery is both economically illiterate and morally obtuse. America got more powerful in spite of slavery, not because of it. America became more wealthy in spite of Jim Crow, not because of it. The Constitution is great because it sought to abolish slavery gradually rather than enshrine it permanently. The Declaration of Independence is great, as Frederick Douglass stated, because it is universal, not because it is particular.</p>
<p>And Thomas’ message is absolutely contrary to everything King stood for. King appealed to our common humanity – the fact that we could understand the black experience, even if we could never fully experience it. That common understanding allows us to make society better. If we are all divided into our own cubicles of race, why and how could we ever escape the tribalism inherent to the human soul? What would drive us to care about the horrors of the past? If, as Thomas argues, prosperity can be bought at the price of someone else’s unknowable suffering, why bother alleviating that suffering?</p>
<p>Martin Luther King Jr. stood for the proposition that individual decency trumped group grievance. Whites didn’t kill him. A white man killed him. And it is incumbent on every person, both black and white, to recognize the power and necessity of individual agency in fighting racism, rather than blaming broad swaths of society for sins they did not commit.</p> | USA Today: 'White People Shot MLK.' White People: WTF? | true | https://dailywire.com/news/12445/usa-today-white-people-shot-mlk-white-people-wtf-ben-shapiro | 2017-01-16 | 0 |
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<p>In fact, Egyptian history has given us many beauty cues, including many of the cosmetics we enjoy today.</p>
<p>However, as great as it looked on the Queen of Egypt, can we please leave the pharaoh look in history where it belongs?</p>
<p>Thick, winged eyeliner may seem like a dramatic and sexy way to highlight the eyes, but these days, “pharaoh makeup” is a no-no. Some people think they can pull off this eyeliner no-no by calling it “cat eyes.”</p>
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<p>However, instead of a chic and beautiful sultry cat, thick and winged eyeliner is more reminiscent of a fashion look gone terribly, terribly wrong! It’s over-the-top and yes, more than a little outdated. So how do you make those peepers pop without referencing ancient history?</p>
<p>Let’s talk eyeliner.</p>
<p>1. Depending on the look you are going for, here a few simple rules:</p>
<p>♦ If you want your eyes to appear farther apart, limit eyeliner application to the outer corners of eye. This will also help if you would like your eyes to appear more almond shaped.</p>
<p>♦ Lining the top and bottom of your lids will make your eyes appear smaller.</p>
<p>♦ A lot of people fear wearing eyeliner because they feel that it will appear too heavy. If that is the case for you, be choosy about where you apply the eyeliner. Maybe you only want to wear it on the top lid rather than the bottom one, or vice versa. Play with it!</p>
<p>♦ Choose an eyeliner color that accents the color of your eyes. Navy and browns make baby blues pop. Deep plums look stunning on both brown and green eyes, and for hazel eyes you may choose any of the aforementioned colors to make each speck sparkle!</p>
<p>♦ Apply a fun color to the bottom lid to transition your day look to a night look in a snap.</p>
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<p>♦ White eyeliner placed very closely on the eyelash line, will help the eyes appear brighter and wider.</p>
<p>♦ Line the inner tear duct of your eye with a shimmery color to help the eyes look more awake and bright.</p>
<p>Once you have an understanding on the look you want to achieve with your eyeliner, it’s important to get the right tools and master application in a way that suits you best.</p>
<p>First decide whether you prefer gel, liquid or kohl eyeliner. I prefer liquid because I am very fond of sharp, angular lines, but if you prefer a more smudged, smoky eye look, gel eyeliner is tops! It is very malleable and easy to blend.</p>
<p>Then of course there is kohl pencil eyeliner. I really recommend kohl to beginner eyeliner users, especially if you want to eventually wear liquid eyeliner. Mastering a steady hand is key to achieving an optimal look.</p>
<p>I also use pencil eyeliner as a base for my liquid eyeliner. I not only use it as a guide, but also as a way to set my eye makeup for the most durability!</p>
<p>Eyeliner is fun, beautiful way to polish your look and an easy addition to your makeup routine.</p>
<p>Makeup artist Danielle Bridges is owner of Passion Beauty Eternal Cosmetics in Albuquerque. You may ask her a question here, in the comments box below, or directly to her email at [email protected]. She may also be reached at 505-363-2882.</p>
<p>Ask the Expert</p>
<p>Makeup artist Danielle Bridges is owner of Passion Beauty Eternal Cosmetics in Albuquerque. You may ask her a question here, in the comments box below, or directly to her email at [email protected]. She may also be reached at 505-363-2882.</p> | Better than Cleopatra: Eyeliner tips from Ask the Experts' Danielle Bridges | false | https://abqjournal.com/510875/better-than-cleopatra-eyeliner-tips-from-ask-the-experts-danielle-bridges.html | 2 |
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<p>This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 16, 2017).</p>
<p>A federal jury found in favor of policyholders in a closely watched case that challenged the leeway life insurers have when raising rates on old policies.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The eight-person jury in Los Angeles awarded $5.6 million in damages to an investment group, DCD Partners LLC, that alleged Aegon NV's Transamerica Life Insurance Co. impermissibly used race-based data when it raised rates by 50%. The jury found that Transamerica breached its insurance-policy contract and an obligation to deal fairly and in good faith, according to the verdict form filed Wednesday.</p>
<p>The investors affected by the increases teamed with Praises of Zion Baptist Church, founded by Rev. J. Benjamin Hardwick, in south Los Angeles in 2004 to take out policies for 2,400 churchgoers in the area, most of whom couldn't otherwise afford them. The investors receive $225,000 of each $275,000 death benefit, while church-related social-service programs and beneficiaries of the insured mostly African-American congregants split the remaining $50,000.</p>
<p>"We were surprised and disappointed by the verdict in the DCD lawsuit," a Transamerica spokesman said.</p>
<p>The firm said its decision to increase rates on the policies in 2013 "was permissible under the terms of the policies" and the insurer "did not raise rates on the policies due to the race of those insured, nor would we ever increase rates based on racial considerations." The insurer "will continue to pursue all available legal avenues to defend that decision."</p>
<p>The company declined to comment further.</p>
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<p>"The verdict reaffirms what our clients believed all along -- Transamerica improperly raised the rates on these policies," said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys &amp; Counselors, and counsel for the plaintiffs. "Beyond the benefits to the local community, we believe this outcome underscores the rights and responsibilities of parties to these types of contracts."</p>
<p>Higher charges on older policies have become more frequent as life insurers look to overcome nearly a decade of ultralow interest rates. Insurers earn part of their profit from investing premiums until claims come due, typically in bonds.</p>
<p>At least a half-dozen prominent insurers have bumped up prices over the past several years, according to ITM TwentyFirst, a firm that manages policies for trustees and institutions.</p>
<p>Nationwide, these various insurers' rate increases have applied to at least tens of thousands of people and ranged from mid-single-digit percentages to more than 200%.</p>
<p>The increases apply to "universal life" policies, which are combination life-insurance and savings products intended to be in place until the insured person dies.</p>
<p>Cost increases are permissible under many policies, though the circumstances under which this is allowed vary by contract. Numerous other lawsuits on this subject are winding their way through federal courts.</p>
<p>The DCD policies were purchased during the peak in "investor-owned" life insurance, an arrangement whereby investors pay the premiums on policies for people who aren't their relatives.</p>
<p>DCD said in court filings that the rate increases had added $100 million in costs and made the program unsustainable.</p>
<p>Write to Leslie Scism at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 16, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)</p> | Court Rules Against Insurer's Rates Practices -- WSJ | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/16/court-rules-against-insurers-rates-practices-wsj.html | 2017-09-16 | 0 |
<p>IRELANDRTE NewsMarch 8, 2003 (17:48) A group representing victims of child abuse has criticised the Taoiseach and has called for the disbandment of the Commission set up by the government to inquire into the abuse.More than 200 members of Irish Survivors of Child Abuse voted at a meeting in Dublin to withdraw co-operation from the Leffoy Commission.</p> | Abuse victims' group criticise Taoiseach | false | https://poynter.org/news/abuse-victims-group-criticise-taoiseach | 2003-03-08 | 2 |
<p>The Latest on Venezuela's political and economic crisis (all times local):</p>
<p>8:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A new "truth commission" created by Venezuela's all-powerful constitutional assembly has initiated an investigation to determine who is responsible for encouraging U.S. economic sanctions.</p>
<p>Constitutional assembly president Delcy Rodriguez said on Twitter that the "unpatriotic right" has pushed for U.S. military intervention and economic sanctions and "will respond before the people."</p>
<p>The remarks come after President Nicolas Maduro vowed to prosecute for treason opponents he believes are behind the sanctions. He singled out the president of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress.</p>
<p>The constitutional assembly passed a decree installing the "truth commission" shortly after taking office in early August.</p>
<p>The commission wields unusual authority to subpoena and prosecute anyone officials suspect of wrongdoing.</p>
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<p>___</p>
<p>6:30 p.m.</p>
<p>President Nicolas Maduro wants his opponents investigated for treason for allegedly plotting with the Trump administration to sanction Venezuela.</p>
<p>Maduro singled out for criticism congress President Julio Borges, calling him the "mastermind" of the sanctions that would cause "great damage" to the Venezuelan economy.</p>
<p>"You've got to be a big traitor to your country to ask for sanctions against Venezuela," Maduro said in a televised appearance.</p>
<p>As Maduro has gone down an increasingly authoritarian path, the opposition led by Borges has stepped up its international campaign to isolate Maduro. In recent months he and other leaders have made frequent trips to Washington and regional capitals to push for more international pressure on Maduro as well as sent letters to several Wall Street banks warning them of the financial and reputational risk of lending money to the socialist government.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:10 p.m.</p>
<p>President Nicolas Maduro is promising to respond with "strength and dignity" to financial sanctions announced by the Trump administration that he said are bound to inflict hardships on the already-struggling economy.</p>
<p>Maduro in a short video shot from a meeting with top aides at the presidential palace said he would announce measures to combat the "blockade" in a televised appearance later Friday.</p>
<p>But he warned that "sacrifices" will be required to free Venezuela from the "blackmail" of the dollar and American financial system that he said are out of step with the U.S.' diminishing role in the world economy.</p>
<p>"We'll have to endure sacrifices but we must safeguard the country and sovereign motherland in order to break the blockade," he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:00 p.m.</p>
<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says sweeping new sanctions against Venezuela are aimed at turning up the heat on embattled President Nicolas Maduro while sparing the Venezuelan people from further harm.</p>
<p>Mnuchin said Friday that President Trump's executive order barring U.S. banks from providing new money to the Venezuelan government or state oil company will ensure Maduro can no longer utilize the U.S. financial system to "facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy."</p>
<p>He said the sanctions were crafted to strike a balance between targeted efforts aimed at cutting Maduro's ability to raise new money while also allowing some exceptions to ensure ordinary Venezuelans are not afflicted.</p>
<p>The sanctions are nonetheless another blow to Venezuela's economy. Venezuelans are struggling with triple-digit inflation, food and medical shortages.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>2:15 p.m.</p>
<p>Venezuela's foreign minister is calling new U.S. financial sanctions "the worst aggressions to Venezuela in the last 200 years, maybe."</p>
<p>Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza spoke at the United Nations Friday, hours after the Trump administration announced the new measures.</p>
<p>Arreaza asks whether Americans "want to starve the Venezuelan people." He says his government won't let the U.S. "create a humanitarian crisis."</p>
<p>Venezuela has already been wracked by widespread shortages and triple-digit inflation as its oil-dependent economy has faltered.</p>
<p>The White House said in a statement that the sanctions allow for humanitarian assistance.</p>
<p>The White House says Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is leading a dictatorship. Arreaza says it's a democracy that has been misportrayed by Washington and the media.</p>
<p>He says Maduro plans to send Trump a letter in response.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:45 a.m.</p>
<p>The Trump administration has slapped sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new financial deals with the government or state-run oil giant PDVSA.</p>
<p>The sanctions Trump signed by executive order Friday are bound to dramatically escalate tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. and exacerbate the country's economic crisis.</p>
<p>The White House says in a statement that the measures "are carefully calibrated to deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule, protect the United States financial system from complicity in Venezuela's corruption and in the impoverishment of the Venezuelan people, and allow for humanitarian assistance."</p>
<p>The new actions prohibit dealings in new debt and equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its state oil company. It also prohibits dealings in certain existing bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector, as well as dividend payments to the government of Venezuela.</p> | The Latest: Venezuelan 'truth commission' initiates probe | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/25/latest-us-imposes-tough-economic-sanctions-on-venezuela.html | 2017-08-25 | 0 |
<p>The losses from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are staggering, but there is plenty of capital in the insurance industry and there is not going to be an insolvency issue, former AIG Chairman Hank Greenberg said on Sunday.</p>
<p>Talking to host John Catsimatidis on his radio show <a href="https://soundcloud.com/the-answer-hosts/9-17-17-hank-greenberg" type="external">“The Cats Roundtable”</a> on AM 970 in New York, Greenberg said that “These are the largest hurricanes in the history of the United States in many, many years,” and there are currently thousands of claims&#160;from all the people who suffered damage to their property.</p>
<p>Greenberg said the exact numbers are still not known, because “it depends on the language of [each policy] to determine if someone is covered or not.”</p>
<p>However, he stressed that the industry is well capitalized.</p>
<p>When asked what advice he would give to the public for the future, Greenberg said, “Don’t live near a shore unless you can afford it. And by afford it I mean that you can either have the proper insurance or assume the loss.</p>
<p>Related stories:</p> | Insurance Expert Says There Won't Be Insolvency Issue Due to Harvey, Irma | false | https://newsline.com/insurance-expert-says-there-wont-be-insolvency-issue-due-to-harvey-irma/ | 2017-09-17 | 1 |
<p>We think McCain’s immediate response to Trump is just to <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/03/12/mccain-trump-retract-wiretap-claim-provide-information/" type="external">say the exact opposite at all times</a>. Trump could say the world is round and we would have McCain screaming, ‘Don’t listen to him. The world is&#160;flat!’ Do you agree?</p>
<p>By Pam Key</p>
<p>Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said President Donald Trump has to provide evidence or retract his tweet last week claiming that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower</p>
<p /> | Trump’s Sworn Enemy – McCain – Says the President ‘Needs To Retract’ Wiretapping Claim or Else… [WATCH] | true | http://girlsjustwannahaveguns.com/trumps-sworn-enemy-mccain-says-president-needs-retract-wiretapping-claim-else-watch/ | 0 |
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<p>In this image taken from video, police investigate the scene of a shooting, Tuesday, July 7, 2015, in Baltimore. Baltimore police say four people have been shot, three fatally, near the University of Maryland, Baltimore, campus. (WMAR via AP)</p>
<p>BALTIMORE - Gunmen got out of two vans and began firing at a group gathered on a corner Tuesday night, fatally shooting three people, police said.</p>
<p>The two gunmen shot a total of four people - one who was in stable condition - a few blocks from the urban campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, according to police.</p>
<p>With the three deaths and a separate fatal stabbing overnight, Baltimore's homicide total so far this year is now 155, according to police. That's a 48 percent increase compared to the same time last year. Shootings have increased 86 percent. The city has seen a spike in violence since the April death of Freddie Gray after he was injured in police custody. The incident received widespread national attention and sparked unrest across Baltimore.</p>
<p>On Tuesday night, the two light-colored vans pulled to the side of the road and one person got out of each van and began firing, campus police said in a statement on the school's website.</p>
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<p>Officers responded about 10:30 p.m. to the shooting, in a residential neighborhood in West Baltimore a few blocks from the campus, Detective Rashawn Strong said in a statement early Wednesday. They found three people with gunshot wounds. One male was pronounced dead at the scene, and another male and a female were taken to a hospital, where they died. The fourth victim sought treatment at a hospital for a gunshot wound to the buttocks.</p>
<p>There's no indication students were involved, said Alex Likowski, spokesman for the school, which focuses on graduate and professional education and enrolls about 6,000 students.</p>
<p>It was the second shooting in the block in a week, according to campus police. On Thursday, a passenger was injured when the rear window of a moving vehicle was shot.</p> | Police: Gunmen from 2 vans fatally shoot 3 in Baltimore | false | https://abqjournal.com/609461/police-gunmen-from-2-vans-fatally-shoot-3-in-baltimore.html | 2 |
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<p>Image source: iStock/Thinkstock.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Given that Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) stock has outperformed its closest competitors and reached a new 52-week high this month, there's a growing sense that investors should try to call the top and sell its shares.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/BAC" type="external">BAC</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Consider this recent headline from Barron's: <a href="http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2016/11/15/bank-of-america-three-reasons-its-time-to-bail/" type="external">Bank of America: Three Reasons It's Time to Bail Opens a New Window.</a>.To be fair, despite the headline, the article doesn't say that investors should sell their Bank of America shares. It instead quotes a report from Guggenheim's Eric Wasserstrom and Jeff Cantwell that downgrades the bank from buy to hold.</p>
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<p>The rationale in the report is threefold.</p>
<p>All of these things may be true, but given the headline of the piece it'd still be easy for shareholders to conclude that the article by Barron's, a respected and storied media company, is urging Bank of America's shareholder to shed their stakes. As a shareholder myself, I think this is bad advice.</p>
<p>While Donald Trump's victory in last week's presidential election isn't without controversy, it's become clear that banks may be some of the biggest beneficiaries given Trump's promise to spur economic growth and roll back significant provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.</p>
<p>Most importantly, if Trump's administration adopts the approach recommended by Republican Representative Jeb Hensarling, who was purportedly being considered by Trump for Treasury Secretary, then it's almost certain that banks' earnings will dramatically improve.</p>
<p>This follows from Hensarling's proposal to free well-capitalized banks from the suffocating capital and liquidity standards that have been enacted by financial regulators over the past few years. This would allow Bank of America to redirect potentially hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of its assets from low-yielding government bonds into higher-yielding loans. This alone would materially improve Bank of America's earnings.</p>
<p>On top of this, if Trump is able to stimulate the economy through lower taxes and increased spending on infrastructure, as he says he's focused on doing, then Bank of America would benefit in two ways. A healthier economy would increase loan demand, and it'd also likely translate into higher inflation, which would free the Federal Reserve up to raise interest rates.</p>
<p>Just how much might this help Bank of America? In its latest quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70858/000007085816000222/bac-930201610xq.htm" type="external">its 10-Q Opens a New Window.</a>, the bank forecasts that a 100-basis-point increase in short- and long-term rates would translate into an additional $5.3 billion in net interest income. To put that in perspective, Bank of America currently earns only around $5 billion a quarter in net income.</p>
<p>And the benefits don't end there, as Trump has also promised to dismantle major portions of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. One such change could be to take away the Federal Reserve's ability to veto big bank capital plans -- namely, dividend and share buybacks. Working in concert with higher earnings flowing from an improved economy and higher interest rates, this would almost certainly translate into a substantial increase in Bank of America's quarterly dividend.</p>
<p>Indeed, even after the North Carolina-based bank <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/29/bank-of-america-passes-the-stress-test-and-boosts.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">raised its dividend by 50% Opens a New Window.</a>earlierthis year, to $0.075 per share, it could still double it from here while maintaining a dividend payout ratio in line with its closest competitors, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. It's those kind of things that lead to a rapid increase in value over time.</p>
<p>Thus, while there's no getting around the fact that Bank of America's shares aren't as attractive today as they were at the beginning of November, it would be silly for shareholders to interpret this as a signal to sell their stakes in the nation's second biggest bank by assets. The best days are still ahead for Bank of America and its stock.</p>
<p>Forget the 2016 Election: 10 stocks we like better than Bank of America Donald Trump was just elected president, and volatility is up. But here's why you should ignore the election:</p>
<p>Investing geniuses Tom and David Gardner have spent a long time beating the market no matter who's in the White House. In fact, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/JohnMaxfield37/info.aspx" type="external">John Maxfield Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of America. 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 It Time to Bail on Bank of America? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/18/is-it-time-to-bail-on-bank-america.html | 2016-11-18 | 0 |
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<p>Social Security overpaid nearly half the people receiving disability benefits over the past decade, according to a government watchdog, raising questions about the management of the cash-strapped program.</p>
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<p>In all, Social Security overpaid beneficiaries by nearly $17 billion, according to a 10-year study by the agency's inspector general.</p>
<p>Many payments went to people who earned too much money to qualify for benefits, or to those no longer disabled. Payments also went to people who had died or were in prison.</p>
<p>Social Security was able to recoup about $8.1 billion, but it often took years to get the money back, the study said.</p>
<p>"Every dollar that goes to overpayments doesn't help someone in need," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "Given the present financial situation of the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund, the program cannot sustain billions of dollars lost to waste."</p>
<p>The trust fund that supports Social Security's disability program is projected to run out of money late next year, triggering automatic benefit cuts, unless Congress acts. The looming deadline has lawmakers feuding over a solution that may have to come in the heat of a presidential election.</p>
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<p>The program's financial problems go beyond the issue of overpayments - Social Security disability has paid out more in benefits than it has collected in payroll taxes every year for the past decade. But concerns about waste, fraud and abuse are complicating the debate in Congress over how to address the program's larger financial problems.</p>
<p>"Overpayments are bad for everyone - they are bad for the beneficiary and they are bad for the taxpayer," said Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security. "With the disability program going broke next year, it is especially troubling that Social Security is failing to protect precious taxpayer dollars."</p>
<p>A spokesman for the Social Security Administration said the agency has a high accuracy rate for its payments and a comprehensive debt collection program for overpayments.</p>
<p>"Social Security provides services to over 48 million retirement and survivors beneficiaries and about 15 million disability beneficiaries," Social Security spokesman Mark Hinkle said in an email. "The agency will issue nearly $1 trillion in payments this year. For fiscal year 2013 - the last year for which we have complete data - approximately 99.8 percent of all Social Security payments were free of overpayment, and nearly 99.9 percent were free of underpayment."</p>
<p>"That same year, we also achieved high levels of payment accuracy in the (Supplemental Security Income) program despite the inherent complexities in calculating monthly payments due to beneficiaries' income and resource fluctuations and changes in living arrangements," he said.</p>
<p>The inspector general's office examined a randomly selected sample of 1,532 people who were receiving either Social Security disability or Supplemental Security Income in October 2003. SSI is a separately funded disability program for the poor.</p>
<p>Auditors followed the group for 10 years, until February 2014. They determined that 45 percent of the beneficiaries were overpaid at some point during that period. The overpayments totaled $2.9 million, the study said.</p>
<p>They used the results to estimate that Social Security made a total of $16.8 billion in overpayments during the 10-year period.</p>
<p>The study concluded that "the agency could do more to prevent the most common overpayments."</p>
<p>Social Security paid out $142 billion in disability benefits last year. Unless Congress acts, the trust fund that supports the disability program will run dry sometime during the final three months of 2016, according to projections by the trustees who oversee Social Security. At that point, the program will collect only enough payroll taxes to pay 81 percent of benefits.</p>
<p>That would trigger an automatic 19 percent cut in benefit payments. The average monthly payment for a disabled worker is $1,165, or about $14,000 a year.</p>
<p>An easy fix is available. Congress could redirect payroll tax revenue from Social Security's much larger retirement program, as lawmakers have done before. But Republicans in Congress are balking, saying they want to address the program's long-term finances.</p>
<p>About 11 million disabled workers, children and spouses currently receive Social Security disability benefits. About 8.3 million people receive Supplemental Security Income, which is funded separately, through the government's general revenues.</p>
<p>SSI paid out about $54 billion in benefits last year.</p> | Social Security Overpaid Nearly Half on Disability | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2015/06/08/social-security-overpaid-nearly-half-on-disability.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p>If the facts revealed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/09/gun-ownership-used-to-be-bipartisan-not-anymore/?wpisrc=nl_politics&amp;wpmm=1" type="external">a report</a> from two University of Kansas political science professors play out, and for some reason the country descends into utter chaos, there’s one piece of good news: gun ownership, which used to be evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, is now heavily weighted toward Republicans.</p>
<p>Mark Joslyn and Don Haider-Markel studied the “gun gap” in America, analyzing the number of people of each party affiliation who actually own guns and how they’ve voted.</p>
<p>As the professors wrote in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/09/gun-ownership-used-to-be-bipartisan-not-anymore/?utm_term=.ab8a0d91da32&amp;wpisrc=nl_politics&amp;wpmm=1" type="external">The Washington Post</a>:</p>
<p>In 1976, 50 percent of Republicans, 48 percent of independents, and 45 percent of Democrats owned a gun. That changed in the 1980s and 1990s. By 2000, 30 percent of independents and only 27 percent of Democrats reported having a gun in the home. That drop continued among Democrats; by 2016, only 23 percent owned guns. Meanwhile, Republican gun ownership has stayed fairly constant. In 2012, 54 percent of Republicans owned guns. That’s nearly the same figure reported in 1973.</p>
<p>So there’s an obvious answer to the question as to why leftists want to reduce gun rights: they simply want everyone to be as vulnerable to the government as they are.</p>
<p>As our founders warned:</p>
<p>George Washington: "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."</p>
<p>Patrick Henry: "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."</p>
<p>James Madison: “It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ... to forget it.”</p> | Study: Republicans Have WAY More Guns Than Democrats | true | https://dailywire.com/news/16244/study-republicans-have-way-more-guns-democrats-hank-berrien | 2017-05-09 | 0 |
<p>By Arno Schuetze and Maria Sheahan</p>
<p>FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Vonovia (DE:), Germany’s biggest residential property company, has agreed to buy Austrian counterpart Buwog (VI:) in a cash deal valuing the latter at 5.2 billion euros ($6.12 billion), the two companies said on Monday.</p>
<p>The deal will increase the size of Vonovia’s portfolio to almost 400,000 flats from around 350,000 now and increase sharply its capacity for building new housing.</p>
<p>Buwog’s share price was up 17.2 percent at 28.84 euros by 1008 GMT, slightly below the offer price of 29.05 euros per share.</p>
<p>Shares in Vonovia were flat, having risen 40 percent over the last year on increasing demand for housing in Europe’s largest economy.</p>
<p>Housing prices in Germany – relatively cheap compared with other European countries in the past – have spiked in recent years, prompting the Bundesbank to warn about the risk of a dangerous bubble developing earlier this year.</p>
<p>Average real estate prices in cities including Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt have increased by more than 60 percent since 2010, the Bundesbank estimates, reflecting solid growth, low unemployment and low borrowing costs.</p>
<p>The housing shortage had played a role in the run-up to Germany’s parliamentary election in September.</p>
<p>“Politicians have voiced the legitimate request that we build more apartments,” Vonovia Chief Executive Rolf Buch said.</p>
<p>The deal will help Vonovia intensify its construction activities, building on Buwog’s extensive expertise in property development, he said, adding that the company will double its target of newly built apartments to 4,000 annually.</p>
<p>Buwog CEO Daniel Riedl said that Buwog owns land on which 10,000 flats can be built, two thirds of which would likely be sold on after completion.</p>
<p>Buwog shareholders are to be offered 29.05 euros per share under the offer, an 18.1 percent premium to Friday’s closing price, which Vonovia plans to finance with debt.</p>
<p>Buch said that the valuation was in line with that of comparable deals such as Unibail-Rodamco’s (AS:) acquisition of shopping mall operator Westfield (AX:) and Vonovia’s own past deals.</p>
<p>Analysts at brokerage Baader said that the offer price was reasonable, adding that the move was not completely surprising as Buwog has been seen as a takeover target for some time.</p>
<p>The deal reverses Vonovia’s strategy in Austria, where it had initially planned to sell its operations. While 55 percent of Buwog’s property is located in German cities including Berlin and Hamburg, the rest is in Austria in cities such as Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt.</p>
<p>Buch said that the companies did not expect major antitrust concerns as the market is still fragmented with Vonovia having a market share of only 2 percent.</p>
<p>Vonovia said it expected joint management of the two companies’ flats following the deal would lead to cost savings of around 30 million euros a year, a substantial part of which is to be realized by the end of 2019.</p>
<p>The deal will also have a positive effect on Vonovia’s underlying earnings per share and adjusted net asset value per share, Vonovia said.</p>
<p>Buwog will remain as a separate brand within Vonovia and keep its stock market listing.</p>
<p>Further details of the offer are to be announced in February, when the bid will be officially launched.</p>
<p>JP Morgan (N:), Kempen, Victoria Partners and Freshfields advised Vonovia on the deal, while Buwog worked with Goldman Sachs (N:) and Schoenherr.</p> | German Vonovia climbs property ladder with $6.1 billion Buwog deal | false | https://newsline.com/german-vonovia-climbs-property-ladder-with-6-1-billion-buwog-deal/ | 2017-12-18 | 1 |
<p>Nintendo Co Ltd sold more than 400,000 "Wii U" video game consoles in the United States in the first week of its release, the games maker said on Monday.</p>
<p>Nintendo, which has gradually ceded ground to Microsoft Corp's industry-leading Xbox 360, needs the Wii U, which comes with a touchscreen controller, to be a hit to turn around years of losses.</p>
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<p>But the video game industry is also under threat now from a burgeoning smartphone and tablet gaming market. The Wii U hit stores in North America on Nov. 18.</p> | Nintendo: More Than 400K 'Wii U' Consoles Sold in 1 Week | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/11/26/nintendo-more-than-400k-wii-u-consoles-sold-in-1-week.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
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<p>Small Business Spotlight: BodyBrite, @BodyBriteUSAWho: Chris HardyWhat: Luxury beauty services at affordable pricesWhere: Minneapolis, MNWhen: 2011How: BodyBrite CEO Chris Hardy launched the pilot location of his beauty-service salon in New York City’s Upper West Side neighborhood. “Basically, our goal is to provide luxury beauty services at affordable prices for the masses,” says Hardy, including permanent hair removal, skin rejuvenation and teeth whitening. Today, the company has 11 locations across the U.S., and Hardy says four more are currently in development, and should be open by the end of October. Biggest challenge: “Like any franchise company, what I say is that the easy part of our business is when the client walks in the door, because we have a simple business model that’s very effective,” says Hardy. “But to get to that point, there’s tremendous heavy lifting.”One moment in time: Hardy is proudest of seeing his business model work, and helping franchise owners build successful businesses.Best business advice: “You have to support your franchisees and be a partner to them. Communicate with them, and you have to allow them a direct line of communication,” says Hardy.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | 2-Year-Old Franchise Company Plans Rapid Expansion | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/09/17/2-year-old-franchise-company-plans-rapid-expansion.html | 2016-03-22 | 0 |
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<p>Anglo American's diamond specialist De Beers has bought the 50 percent stake held by French luxury goods group LVMH in De Beers Diamond Jewellers for an undisclosed sum, taking full ownership of the retail operation.</p>
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<p>Analysts said the joint venture no longer fitted LVMH's strategy, while Anglo American, which has long dominated global rough diamond sales, has been developing its presence on the high-margin diamond retail market.</p>
<p>LVMH had no comment. De Beers said in a statement that fully integrating De Beers Diamond Jewellers would enable the group to enhance value.</p>
<p>Anglo American, which along with other mining companies has largely recovered from a deep commodities downturn in 2015, has put diamonds, along with copper and platinum, at the heart of its portfolio.</p>
<p>One of the advantages of diamonds is that they are a counter-cyclical luxury product that can generate profits even when bulk industrial commodities are in a downturn.</p>
<p>De Beers Diamond Jewellers' retail network comprises 32 stores in 17 countries. This includes a growing business in greater China, an established presence in London and Paris, and a new flagship location in New York.</p>
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<p>In addition, De Beers' Forevermark high-end diamond brand has expanded into 2,000 outlets globally and it says it expects the growth to continue this year.</p>
<p>Analysts said LVMH had finally ended a joint venture that dated back to when the group did not have any branded jewelry of its own.</p>
<p>"The situation is very different today, as they own one of the megabrands in this space: Bulgari," Luca Solca, analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said.</p>
<p>"It seems appropriate therefore to turn the page on this and relegate it to the 'experiments that didn't work' pile."</p>
<p>Anglo American shares were 1.4 percent higher by 1200 GMT (8 a.m. ET) while LVMH was up 0.6 percent.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Pascale Denis in Paris and Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David Evans)</p> | Diamond group De Beers buys out retail partner LVMH | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/23/diamond-group-de-beers-buys-out-retail-partner-lvmh.html | 2017-03-23 | 0 |
<p>Fifteen people including 13 Indian tourists were killed when an aircraft with 21 people on board crashed at Jomsom airport in north-central Nepal on Monday morning, <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Nepal/13-Indians-among-15-killed-in-Nepal-air-crash/Article1-855394.aspx" type="external">the Hindustan Times reports</a>.</p>
<p>According to initial reports, the Dornier 228 aircraft belonging to Agni Air, a private carrier, on its way from the&#160;tourist town of Pokhara was carrying&#160;16 Indian and two Danish passengers, as well as pilot PS Pathak, co-pilot HD Maharjan and a female flight attendant.</p>
<p>Indian Embassy officials in Kathmandu confirmed that 13 of those killed were Indians, the paper said. The pilot and co-pilot were also reported to have died in the accident.</p>
<p>The six survivors, who included two children, both Danish nationals and the flight attendant were airlifted to Pokhara where they have admitted to the Manipal College of Medical Sciences, the paper said.</p>
<p>This is the second major air disaster involving India tourists in Nepal in less than eight months, the Hindustan Times said.</p>
<p>On September 25 last year, 19 persons including 10 Indians were killed when the Buddha Air Beechcraft 1900D aircraft they were traveling crashed on the outskirts of Kathmandu.&#160;</p>
<p>Notably, neither of these crashes involved the notorious Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, the jumping off point for Everest Base Camp, which is widely regarded as the world's most dangerous airport.</p> | Small plane crash in Nepal kills 15 people, including 13 Indians | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-05-14/small-plane-crash-nepal-kills-15-people-including-13-indians | 2012-05-14 | 3 |
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<p>Americans are saddled with more than $1.2 trillion in student loan debt – the most ever. <a href="https://studentloanhero.com/" type="external">Student Loan Hero Opens a New Window.</a> says the average 2016 graduate owes more than $37,000.</p>
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<p>That’s only part of the problem. The <a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2016/08/which-households-have-negative-wealth.html#.V6EbTvkrKmx" type="external">New York Federal Reserve Opens a New Window.</a> says student debt is the root cause of strapped households where debt trumps assets. Earlier this week it cited the most negative wealth cases are characterized by their relatively large shares of student debt, 47 percent, and mortgage debt, 22 percent.</p>
<p>Additionally, 17% of these millennial borrowers are defaulting on their loans, according to 2015 data from the <a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2015/02/payback_time_measuring_progress_on_student_debt_repayment.html#.V6EUdvkrKmy" type="external">New York Federal Reserve Opens a New Window.</a> and only 37% are making regular payments. Thus these balances are not coming down.</p>
<p>These debt laden voters are hoping our next President can find a solution to this epidemic. The Pew Research Center says more than 69 million millennials are of voting age - almost matching Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the U.S. electorate.</p>
<p>Nate Matherson is one of those voters. The 22-year-old CEO/Co-founder of <a href="https://lendedu.com/" type="external">LendEDU Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;graduated from the University of Delaware this year with $57,000 in student loan debt.</p>
<p>"Both Trump and Clinton have interesting, and very different approaches to solving the student loan crisis," says Matherson. "I hope that both sides can agree that we need to invest in personal finance education at the high school level.&#160; We shouldn't be sending college freshman into student debt when they haven't learned basic personal finance skills."</p>
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<p>Hillary Clinton's platform includes a promise to eliminate 4-year college/university tuition for every student from a family making $85,000 or less. The threshold would climb up to $125,000 by 2021.</p>
<p>"The Secretary has adopted several of the platforms Senator Bernie Sanders was proposing," says David Levy, Editor at Edvisors. "We think that was done in&#160; an attempt to attract several of his supporters."</p>
<p>Clinton also indicates she will take an immediate executive action to offer a three month moratorium on student loan payments to all federal borrowers, streamline enrollment in income-based repayment plans, give borrowers the ability to refinance student loans at current rates, push to get employers to contribute to student debt relief, offer an entrepreneurs incentive and a reward for public service.</p>
<p>"The devil is always in the details," says Andrew Josuweit, CEO of Student Loan Hero. "Who's going to end up paying for this stuff? Is it just marketing for the Clinton campaign or are they going to be able to execute?"</p>
<p>At a press conference on July 27, Donald Trump said he plans to release a position on the student loan crisis within the next four weeks. He also added that his ideas may not "fit beautifully within the Republican framework." The GOP 2016 platform calls for the Federal government to get out of the business of originating student loans. Trump campaign co-chair Sam Clovis' interview with the trade journal Inside Higher Ed in May indicated that Trump supports that proposal. In the article, Clovis said other ideas being considered include requiring colleges to share in the risk of loans and discouraging borrowing by liberal arts majors. Emails by FOXBusiness.com to the Trump campaign for comment were not returned at the time of publication.</p>
<p>"This is the first time we've seen such an interest in higher education by both parties," said David Levy, Editor at Edvisors. "I think there will be some initiatives proposed with regards to refinancing and interest rates regardless of who's elected. But the outcome will all depend on the composition of Congress."</p>
<p>Linda Bell joined FOX Business Network (FBN) in September 2014 as an Assignment Editor after more than a decade at Bloomberg News. She is an award-winning journalist/writer of personal finance content. You can follow her on Twitter @lindanbell.</p> | Millennials Drowning in Student Loans Play Key Election Role | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/08/03/millennials-drowning-in-student-loans-play-key-election-role.html | 2016-08-03 | 0 |
<p>BLUEFIELD, Va. — Three hundred thirty-three youth from 12 churches across Virginia stormed the Bluefield College campus Jan. 14-16 for the school’s three-day extreme winter worship adventure known as Winter Blast.</p>
<p>With skiing, sledding, tubing and other snow activities on the docket, the weekend was definitely one filled with outdoor adventure, but with equal emphasis on worship and Christian discourse the three-day retreat for youth also turned out to be a venture in spiritual growth.</p>
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<p>“The energy around this time of praise, worship and fellowship was amazing,” said BC president David Olive. “I was thrilled to see so many young people from churches all across Virginia being touched in meaningful ways as they deepened their faith and experienced tremendous fun outdoors and on the BC campus.”</p>
<p>In fact, some 72 teens made professions of faith during Winter Blast, recently dubbed one of the fastest growing youth retreats in the region. The commitments came during the evening sessions with worship leaders Eric Samuel Timm and Andy Kirk and after Christian music concerts with Seabird and B. Reith.</p>
<p>“Eric is a unique worship leader in that he reaches out to people for Christ through the arts,” said Kris Hardy, coordinator of BC’s Winter Blast. “He speaks and paints his message. As he speaks, he captivates the audience with live art creations.”</p>
<p>Kirk, who serves as worship leader for the LifeChurch.tv, joined Timm in leading the worship at Winter Blast. A writer, singer and musician, Kirk shared faith messages from his music CD, Wake Up My Soul.</p>
<p>“Once again, a wonderful time for our youth,” said Robbie Spiers, youth leader from Kilmarnock (Va.) Baptist Church. “The event was super organized, and the worship and concerts were moving, inspirational and relevant to our kids. Plus, the skiing was — all I can say is ‘wow!’ It’s a great event for kids.”</p>
<p>The Winter Blast schedule also included concerts with Seabird and B. Reith. Dozens of local Christian music fans joined the overnight guests for the evening concerts, bringing the Winter Blast crowd to nearly 400 each night. Seabird, an alternative Christian rock band, whose soul-searching music has been featured on television’s Grey’s Anatomy, Numb3rs and Ghost Whisperer, shared messages of hope in songs like ’Til We See the Shore and Rescue. B. Reith, a Christian rapper who speaks the dialect of today’s youth, used his music to address real issues faced by teens.</p>
<p>“My number one passion is to connect with people, to entertain them, to stir up emotion in them, and to challenge them by sharing life from a different perspective,” said B. Reith. “There is something we’re all yearning for. I’m just trying to help direct our attention to it, and music is the most powerful way I know how.”</p>
<p>When not in worship, the Winter Blast guests took part in bonfires, pizza parties, inflatable games and a unique dodgeball tournament. With more than 200 participants, the Winter Blast dodgeball adventure is the largest known dodgeball tournament in the two Virginias.</p>
<p>“Winter Blast is an awesome weekend with great worship, concerts, and a full day of skiing,” said another youth leader. “Bluefield College does it right. Our students love this event.”</p>
<p>Outside, the teens — from Virginia cities such as Roanoke, Richmond, Mechanicsville, Arlington, Charlottesville and Virginia Beach — took part in snowman-making competitions, sledding on BC’s infamous Dome hill and creating their own snow.</p>
<p>“This year, we really wanted to create a unique experience for all the participants,” said Hardy. “So, anytime the kids were on campus the BC Ram [mascot] was walking around with a hot chocolate backpack, serving hot chocolate to everyone. With our own snowmaking machine, we also made a pile of snow over three feet deep. Since most of the groups are from areas of Virginia that don’t see a lot of snow, we wanted them to have lots of snow to play in.”</p>
<p>The guests also spent a day skiing and tubing on the slopes at nearby Winterplace Ski Resort. The entire weekend is one Hardy said requires lots of preparation and even more hands on deck.</p>
<p>“Forty-three people volunteered to help made this event a success,” he said. “There is no way we could ever pull off Winter Blast without the volunteers who gave up their weekend and worked a total of 335 hours before and during the event.”</p>
<p>Chris Shoemaker ( <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>) is director of marketing and public relations at Bluefield College.</p> | BC event features winter adventure, faith decisions | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/bceventfeatureswinteradventurefaithdecisions/ | 3 |
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<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/benedict-cumberbatch/" type="external">Benedict Cumberbatch</a> is ready for his closeup – as a producer as well as actor. His production company, <a href="http://variety.com/t/sunnymarch/" type="external">SunnyMarch</a>, is gearing up for the debut of its first drama, “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-child-in-time/" type="external">The Child in Time</a>,” which airs on the <a href="http://variety.com/t/bbc/" type="external">BBC</a> this coming Sunday. Cumberbatch has the central part in, and produces, the TV movie, an adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan about the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl and the impact it has on her parents.</p>
<p>Playing Stephen, a successful children’s author and the missing girl’s father, was a deliberate shift away from the title role in “Sherlock” that made him a global celebrity. &#160;“It’s a part that’s a million miles away from a lot of stuff I’ve done, especially the more famous one of telly,” Cumberbatch said. “That’s an appeal for me, to always be shaking things up a bit as far as expectations are concerned.”</p>
<p>Cumberbatch said producing added to the challenge of the project, which bows on flagship channel BBC One and will be shown later on PBS’ “Masterpiece” in the U.S. “It’s different when you’ve got a producer’s hat on because you’re there at the inception of the idea – in this case when an already finished script was delivered and talked about and worked on –&#160;and also thinking who would be right to direct it [Julian Farino]. I’ve never been at that stage before, so it’s intriguing.”</p>
<p>The actor said seeing his own performance in its early form was not part of the process he enjoyed. “It’s horrible, and if you’re front and center it’s really hard. I’m excited about the moment where I’m not in something – I can look at that with much more distance,” Cumberbatch said, adding that he is a harsh critic of his own work. “Trust me, the Internet is full of hate, but there’s nothing compared to the self-critic in your head for brutality. I’ve said it all before they have.”</p>
<p>The harrowing nature of the source material in “The Child in Time” presented another challenge for Cumberbatch, himself a father of two. “You have to take care of yourself in a way. It’s a very dark place to go to. When you’re literally breaking down for a whole day, it’s a very strange space to occupy, but that’s what the drama demands, and it’s a very human experience he goes through.”</p>
<p>Studiocanal <a href="http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/studiocanal-cumberbatch-urban-myth-bambu-1201744441/" type="external">bought into SunnyMarch</a> last year and is distributing “The Child in Time,” a 90-minute program. Cumberbatch said he wants his production company to work across TV, cinema, and live events, and to promote diversity. “There’s a lot of other things we want to include at SunnyMarch, which we have got on our slate and fulfill the promise of diversity and giving a bolder place for women both behind and in front of the camera,” he said. “What I’m doing in the immediate future doesn’t reflect that because we’re trying to get it off the ground and do things that are a little more expected in their timber, and with me involved.”</p>
<p>Cumberbatch also leaped to the defense of Jodie Whittaker, who has been cast as the first female Doctor in BBC sci-fi series “Doctor Who.” “It’s an alien. Why can’t it be a woman, why can’t it be any gender? It doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I don’t speak as someone who has the right as a fan to have an incredibly strong opinion. I just speak as someone who wants to see Jodie Whittaker’s performance as the doctor. I think she’s an extraordinary actress and wer’e lucky, culturally, to have got her to agree to do it, let alone any debate ensuing about whether it’s right or wrong.”</p>
<p>Asked whether there could be a female Sherlock, he added: “Why not? I don’t care. ‘Sherlockina’ is coming to you soon!”</p> | Benedict Cumberbatch on His BBC Drama ‘The Child in Time,’ and the Idea of a Female Sherlock | false | https://newsline.com/benedict-cumberbatch-on-his-bbc-drama-the-child-in-time-and-the-idea-of-a-female-sherlock/ | 2017-09-18 | 1 |
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<p />
<p>Renee Villarreal</p>
<p>City Councilor Renee Villarreal is calling for the formation of a task force to determine whether the city should move forward with the establishment of a public bank. Two other councilors, Carmichael Dominguez and Joe Maestas, have signed on to co-sponsor Villarreal’s proposal, and a nonprofit group called WeArePeopleHere! continues to push the public banking idea with support from the likes of state Sen. Peter With and school board member Linda Trujillo, recently elected to the state House of Representatives.</p>
<p>But some outside city government and with experience in the banking industry remain skeptical.</p>
<p>“To me, it’s one of those circumstances that sounds conceptually interesting. People say, ‘Why can’t we do this?’ ” Bryan “Chip” Chippeaux, chairman of the locally owned Century Bank, said in an interview this week. “But I think people underestimate the requirements of what becoming a public bank would entail. Plus, it’s one of those deals where you have to ask, ‘Is that the biggest issue Santa Fe has in front of it right now?’ ”</p>
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<p>James Lodes, a retired loan officer, said he doesn’t want to see the city rush into anything. “It’s gone from the concept stage to ‘OK, how do we do this?’ ” he said. “No one has stopped to say, ‘Do we really want to do this?’ ”</p>
<p>Elaine Sullivan, president of the board of directors for WeArePeopleHere!, said that’s what’s happening now.</p>
<p>“That’s precisely what this resolution is about,” said Sullivan. “It’s to give it serious thought before we go into this,” she said.</p>
<p>Resolution specifics</p>
<p>The resolution calls for the formation of a task force to “define the process, resources, information and timelines” for preparing an application for a New Mexico bank charter and report back to the City Council in six months. It comes after the city spent $50,000 to contract with a consulting and project management firm that determined that starting up such a bank in Santa Fe was feasible.</p>
<p>The study, conducted by El Paso-based Building Solutions, LLC and the New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center, stated that the city could realize a fiscal and economic impact of $24 million in a public bank’s first year of implementation.</p>
<p>Lodes suggested that the feasibility study might have been a way for the city to justify its pursuit of creating a public bank. Lodes said the consulting firm really wasn’t instructed to conduct an objective cost/benefit analysis.</p>
<p>“The feasibility study pointed out things the city could have done to save millions, like paying off loans early and managing the way they drew bond proceeds. Those are the millions in savings the study attributes to a public bank,” he said. “Well, that’s not the bank saving them money, it’s the finance department using the cash more wisely.”</p>
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<p>Mayor Gonzales talked about the possibility of creating a public bank while laying out his economic platform prior to his election in March 2014. Three months after taking office, he hosted a forum on the issue and, three months after that, the city staged a day-long symposium on the concept.</p>
<p>“We’re not going to rush into anything,” Gonzales said then, “but we are going to move forward in learning and understanding how to develop a bank in Santa Fe, and being honest about whether we can truly pull it off or not. That remains to be seen.”</p>
<p>More than two years later, it still does.</p>
<p>“You’d have to raise capital and infrastructure, and then be subject to regular examinations. I just don’t see that happening,” said Chippeaux.</p>
<p>It’s a slow process just to get through the application process for a bank charter.</p>
<p>Lodes said a public bank could be a good thing, but “Santa Fe is too small a community to carry the freight all on its own. Doing it on a statewide level or regional level might make sense, because it spreads out that initial startup cost and what’s estimated to be $1 million in operating costs. You’re starting a bank with no capital, you need to have loan loss reserves, so I don’t know how they could do that alone short of a huge gift.”</p>
<p>Initially, at least, the city would be the bank’s only customer, unless there was a collaboration with other entities.</p>
<p>Public banks in ND, Europe</p>
<p>Public banking is not a new concept. The nation’s only public bank, the Bank of North Dakota, is nearly 100 years old and, as of the second quarter of 2016, had built assets totaling more than $7.3 billion. The state has used some of its profits to fund expansion of child care services, financing for rural mortgages and consolidating student debt.</p>
<p>Most recently, North Dakota has tapped the bank for $10 million to help cover unexpected costs for law enforcement’s response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.</p>
<p>Public banks are more common in Europe, where there are more than 400 savings banks, as they are called there.</p>
<p>Gonzales has said that a public bank in Santa Fe could help build the city’s social infrastructure by financing such things as broadband expansion, early childhood education programs and health care services.</p>
<p>There’s growing interest in public banks across America, Sullivan said. She provided a list of entities in a dozen states that are considering the idea.</p>
<p>The benefits are numerous, she said.</p>
<p>“Forty to 45 percent of city funds go to Wells Fargo Bank. After that, we don’t know how it gets used,” she said. A public bank would keep the money here and the interest on loans would go back into the bank. Interest paid and earned would stay within the local economy, she said.</p>
<p>“If we keep the money local, we’re using it for our purposes and we’ll be able to see what’s happening to it,” she said. “It’s not a silver bullet, but it would be one piece to the solution to our economic challenges.”</p>
<p>Councilor Villarreal was reluctant to say much about the resolution she’s proposing.</p>
<p>“We’re still working on language so the resolution is consistent and we’re still exploring the mechanics,” she said.</p>
<p>But considering the feasibility study indicated a public bank would work in Santa Fe and public banking has worked elsewhere, she believes it’s worth taking a closer look.</p>
<p>“One of the things we’re looking at are other sources that can fund community projects, instead of always relying on bonds,” she said.</p>
<p>The current draft of the resolution charges the task force with determining what would be the most appropriate kind of bank charter, looking into potential sources and methods of capitalization, and recommending two or more governance models to the City Council. It would also be tasked with identifying a source for the $7,500 bank charter application fee and completing a five-year business plan, a requirement for the bank charter application.</p>
<p>The task force would comprise nine members appointed by the mayor and approved by the council. Its make up would include one city councilor who is a member of the council Finance Committee; the city’s finance director or a representative from that department; someone with legal expertise in the banking industry; another person with federal and state regulatory experience in the industry; three people with local financial and/or banking experience with a local community development financial institution, such as a community bank or credit union; and two residents at large “who have expressed a commitment to the goal of establishing a public bank.”</p>
<p>That would seem to suggest the city is looking mostly for people who have already made up their mind about supporting a public bank.</p>
<p>“That’s one of the sections we need to look at,” Villarreal said, adding that the resolution was still being tweaked before it begins the committee process.</p>
<p>One part of the resolution unlikely to change is a section that calls for the task force to hold at least two public meetings to report on its progress and take public comment before coming back the City Council with recommendations within the six-month time frame.</p>
<p /> | Public bank idea returns for more discussion | false | https://abqjournal.com/887062/public-bank-idea-returns-for-more-discussion.html | 2016-11-10 | 2 |
<p>The real-life Sweeney Todd and his partner Mrs. Lovett <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/europe/russia-cannibalism-arrests/index.html" type="external">have been found</a> — in Russia.</p>
<p>Dmitry Baksheev, 35, and his wife Natalia, 42, have been arrested and accused of murdering as many as 30 people since 1999 and eating them, and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/cannibal-couple-sell-human-meat-pies-restaurants-article-1.3525461" type="external">what’s more</a>, attempting to sell "human meat pies" to local restaurants and give "frozen meat pieces" to personnel at a military academy based near their home.</p>
<p>The couple’s horrific actions were discovered when a cell phone was found on a street in Krasnodar. The phone contained images of Baksheev posing with a dismembered female victim; her remains were found in a bag nearby the following day, according to RIA Novosti, which also reported “law enforcement had discovered a glass jar with a canned hand … according to the owner of a cell phone that had been lost before, this is one of those hands with which he made a selfie.”</p>
<p>RIA Novosti reported Baksheev had confessed to only two murders — the female victim and another person in 2012. But other reports state that the couple confessed to abducting and killing at least 30 people.</p>
<p>Investigators <a href="http://www.chron.com/crime/article/Cannibal-couple-of-Russia-suspected-of-eating-30-12237716.php" type="external">believe</a> the Baksheevs lured their victims to their apartment by using online dating sites, drugging them, then murdering them. <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/27/cannibal-couple-sold-human-meat-pies-to-local-cafe-6958927/" type="external">Metro</a> reported that a local cafe owner, Vitaly Yakubenko, told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper of Natalia, "She was very active, asked lots of questions but mainly about where we buy our meat and fish and how fresh it is. I said that we work only with certified suppliers."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/fears-cannibal-couple-sold-human-11243875" type="external">The Mirror</a> reported Natalia allegedly told a local resident "I bake pies," prompting the query as to what she used. She reportedly replied, “Whatever is around.” The Mirror added that a jar with pickled human remains was found in their home, as well as 19 slices of skin.</p> | REAL-LIFE Sweeney Todd: Russian Couple Allegedly Kills 30 People, Ate Them, Sold Human Meat Pies | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21683/real-life-sweeney-todd-russian-couple-allegedly-hank-berrien | 2017-09-28 | 0 |
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<p>PHOENIX — Authorities say a chase involving a stolen work truck from a Gilbert construction site has ended on a freeway about 90 miles north of Phoenix.</p>
<p>The truck reportedly was involved in a rollover crash around State Route 169, which closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 17 near Camp Verde on Tuesday afternoon.</p>
<p>Arizona Department of Public Safety officials didn’t immediately release any information about the suspect driving the stolen truck.</p>
<p>Video from TV news helicopters showed the vehicle apparently missing a tire during the police chase that reached 100 mph at times.</p>
<p>DPS spokesman Quentin Mehr says the driver led authorities on a chase from U.S. 60 to the Loop 101, then to Interstate 17 before the crash.</p>
<p>Mehr says multiple agencies including Gilbert police were involved in the pursuit.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Arizona DPS: Driver of stolen truck leads police on chase | false | https://abqjournal.com/934898/arizona-dps-driver-of-stolen-truck-leads-police-on-chase.html | 2 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s highest court is giving police more leeway to make arrests without a warrant in domestic violence cases.</p>
<p>The state Supreme Court on Monday ruled that police can make a warrantless arrest when it’s reasonably close to the scene of the domestic violence.</p>
<p>State law allows a warrantless arrest at the scene of a domestic disturbance, and the justices broadened that to include a location near the place where the incident happened.</p>
<p>The ruling overturned a state Court of Appeals decision that found Daniel Almanzar had been improperly arrested in 2007 across the street from the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque where he alleged kicked his girlfriend during a quarrel.</p>
<p>The justices said the arrest was lawful, allowing cocaine found during a search of Almanzar to be used as evidence.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Court broadens domestic violence arrest authority | false | https://abqjournal.com/312925/court-broadens-domestic-violence-arrest-authority.html | 2 |
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<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday afternoon’s drawing of the Missouri Lottery’s “Pick 4 Midday” game were:</p>
<p>0-7-4-9</p>
<p>(zero, seven, four, nine)</p>
<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday afternoon’s drawing of the Missouri Lottery’s “Pick 4 Midday” game were:</p>
<p>0-7-4-9</p>
<p>(zero, seven, four, nine)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Pick 4 Midday’ game | false | https://apnews.com/bb6d23e504604ec2bb289fdeecd0eb9b | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>Our partners at 'What's Trending' take a deep dive into the new 'Black Panther' trailer\ and give us some background on the character and the mythical world he inhabits.</p>
<p>So, who is Black Panther? The character debuted in 1966 in a issue of Marvel's "Fantastic Four" and is the first black superhero in comic book history.</p>
<p>The film will be directed by Ryan Coogler, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole. Coogler is the first African-American director to be hired by Marvel to helm one of their superhero films.</p>
<p>If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you remember Black Panther from "Captain America: Civil War," played by Chadwick Boseman. The Black Panther is also known as T'Challa, the King of Wakanda.</p>
<p>Wakanda is a fictional country in Africa that disguises it's technologically-advanced society from the outside world. How are they able to do that? According to Marvel lore, centuries ago, a meteroite crashed into Wakanda. It was filled with the mythical Marvel material "vibranium," which allowed the country's technology to leap ahead.</p>
<p>(FYI, Vibranium is also the material Captain America's shield is made from.)</p>
<p>T'Challa has become the new king after the death of his father, T'Chaka. T'Chaka died trying to keep the secret of Wakanda. He was killed by explorer Ulysses Klaw, played in the film by Andy Serkis. You may remember Klaw working with the evil artificial intelligence Ultron in Avengers 2. And, Klaw isn't the only bad guy in the mix.</p>
<p>Michael B. Jordan returns to the Marvel movie world as Erik Kilmonger, an exile from Wakanda who wants to bring revolutionary change to the small country and the world.</p>
<p>The film also features Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker.</p>
<p>Fans on social media have been super hyped about the trailer, have been counting down to the premiere on February 16, 2018... and, as Twitter user are wont to do, have immediately been making jokes and memes.</p>
<p>Want see &amp; read more movie stories? Click the links below! <a href="" type="internal">The new Star Wars movie about Han Solo now has a title</a> <a href="" type="internal">Here are our favorite horror films of all time</a> <a href="" type="internal">J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars: Episode IX</a></p> | Marvel releases 'Black Panther' trailer, takes us deep into the world of Wakanda | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/10/17/hollywood/black-panther-marvel-releases-new-trailer-and-takes-us-deep-into-the-world-of-wakanda | 2017-10-17 | 1 |
<p>Guest post from Robert Spencer.</p>
<p>“It is too bad,” says Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, that Charlie Hebdo publisher Stephane Charbonnier “didn’t understand the role he played in his tragic death.” In other words, as Donohue argues in an <a href="http://www.catholicleague.org/muslims-right-angry/" type="external">extraordinarily irresponsible article</a>, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists who were murdered by Islamic jihadists yesterday have no one but themselves to blame – and to avoid such incidents in the future, non-Muslims should be careful not to offend Islam.</p>
<p>Donohue bases these grotesque assertions on what he characterizes as Charbonnier’s “narcissistic” statement that “Muhammad isn’t sacred to me.” Charbonnier, says Donohue, should have known better: “Had he not been so narcissistic, he may still be alive. Muhammad isn’t sacred to me, either, but it would never occur to me to deliberately insult Muslims by trashing him.”</p>
<p>That, for Donohue, is the heart of the matter. “What unites Muslims in their anger against Charlie Hebdo,” Donohue asserts, “is the vulgar manner in which Muhammad has been portrayed. What they object to is being intentionally insulted over the course of many years. On this aspect, I am in total agreement with them.”</p>
<p>But what if someone does insult Muhammad? Should he be killed? Islamic law mandates death for blasphemy, as the British jihadist Anjem Choudary explained in <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/01/07/islam-allah-muslims-shariah-anjem-choudary-editorials-debates/21417461/" type="external">Wednesday’s USA Today</a>: “The strict punishment if found guilty of this crime under sharia (Islamic law) is capital punishment implementable by an Islamic State. This is because the Messenger Muhammad said, ‘Whoever insults a Prophet kill him.’”</p>
<p>Donohue doesn’t go that far. He assures us that “killing in response to insult, no matter how gross, must be unequivocally condemned. That is why what happened in Paris cannot be tolerated.” The only remaining option, then, is for non-Muslims to stop insulting Muhammad: “Madison was right when he said, ‘Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power.’”</p>
<p>Liberty may also be endangered by the voluntary abandonment of liberty, and that is what Donohue is calling for. The Sharia death penalty for blasphemy is the heckler’s veto enforced with a Kalashnikov. It encompasses not just the deliberate mockery of Charlie Hebdo, but also far more innocuous and even unintentional insults. The Qur’an says that those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God (that is, essentially all Christians) are under Allah’s curse (9:30); thus to express this basic aspect of the Christian faith is arguably blasphemy by Islamic standards. And indeed, Christians in Muslim lands have more than once been victimized and brutalized simply for affirming this and other elements of the Christian faith.</p>
<p>A Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, is on death row now for the crime of responding to Muslim women who were insulting her and Christianity by <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/08/25/sentenced-to-death-for-a-sip-of-water/" type="external">saying</a>: “I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind?”</p>
<p>For that, she is going to die. Bill Donohue disagrees with her being put to death, but he wants non-Muslims to respond to Muslim claims that they’re insulted by curtailing their own speech. Thus he would have Asia Bibi and other threatened Christians in Pakistan not make the slightest, most innocuous expression of their faith. He might argue that there is a world of difference between Asia Bibi and Stephane Charbonnier, and that is no doubt true, but where and how does one draw the line? How does Bill Donohue propose to distinguish between intentional and non-intentional insults?</p>
<p>Would he would leave this task up to Muslims? Groups like the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), recently designated a terror organization by the United Arab Emirates, have cultivated the politics of insult, and regard as insults to Islam and Muslims virtually every counter-terror measure that has ever been enacted or even just proposed, and every honest examination of how Islamic jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism. They have skillfully wielded the claim of being insulted to shut down the NYPD’s legal and effective surveillance program in Muslim communities, and to foreclose on honest public discussion of the jihad threat by getting speakers canceled and making people afraid to explore these issues for fear of charges of “bigotry” and “Islamophobia.”</p>
<p>To rule Charlie Hebdo’s mockery of Islam (and other religions) out of the realm of acceptable discourse is unavoidably also to rule out any criticism of Islam, jihad, and Sharia oppression at all. The Leftists and Islamic supremacists who for years have consigned all examination of the motives and goals of jihadis to “bigotry” have made it so. Bill Donohue, by calling upon non-Muslims to avoid insulting Muslims, has strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel. If his advice were heeded (and Western media outlets are already hastening to do the jihadis’ bidding by declining to show the Charlie Hebdo Muhammad cartoons), not only would Charlie Hebdo be stopped, but also legitimate counter-terror investigations and expressions of Donohue’s own faith.</p>
<p>As annoying as its manifestations may be, the freedom of speech is the fundamental bulwark of a free society. Without it, a tyrant can work his will unopposed and unimpeded. And in a society in which people of good will differ about what is the ultimate good, the ability to put up with insults patiently and without resorting to violence or threats is key to the peace and stability of the society. Donohue shows that he knows this when he says: “Anti-Catholic artists in this country have provoked me to hold many demonstrations, but never have I counseled violence.” Instead of preaching to non-Muslims a self-censorship that would only enable Sharia oppression and tyranny, he should try to spread among Muslims the idea that one need not, and indeed should not, respond to provocations with violence.</p>
<p />
<p>Robert Spencer is the director of <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/" type="external">Jihad Watch</a> and author of the New York Times bestsellers <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895260131/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=pjmedia-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0895260131" type="external">The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596985283/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=pjmedia-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1596985283" type="external">The Truth About Muhammad</a>. His latest book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1621572048" type="external">Arab Winter Comes to America: The Truth About the War We’re In</a>. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jihadwatchRS" type="external">here</a>. Like him on Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/robertspencerJW?ref=hl" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Bill Donohue: Those Cartoonists Had It Coming | true | http://danaloeschradio.com/bill-donohue-those-cartoonists-had-it-coming | 2015-01-08 | 0 |
<p>Neither British intelligence nor emergency services were at fault in the terrorist attacks on London's public transport system on July 7, 2005 that killed 52 people, an inquest has found.</p>
<p>And while MI5, the British spy service, was rapped for its system of assessing terrorist suspects and its record-keeping after after so-called 7/7 attacks - in which suicide bombers detonated on three subway trains and a bus - intelligence lapses did not contribute to casualties on the day, the coroner reportedly ruled.</p>
<p>The five-month inquiry into terrorist bombings that also wounded more than 700 commuters on London's transit system delivered a verdict of "unlawful killing," which disappointed some victims' families, according to the Associated Press. They had hoped Judge Heather Hallett&#160;would criticize emergency agencies and <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hZ8-bh5-Y0rLCkXuVzMzIciDxwVQ?docId=f0d0652cb98346ec960596ca7df0d9e7" type="external">MI5</a>, which had two of the bombers on its radar but failed to pursue them.</p>
<p>Specifically, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/06/london-bombs-coroner-attacks-mi5-photographs" type="external">MI5&#160;</a>was been criticized by Hallett for providing a key U.S. informant - Mohammed Junaid Babar, who might have been able to identify the one of the bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, before the attack - with a poor quality photograph of Tanweer when it possessed a clearer image, the Guardian reports.</p>
<p>She also questioned MI5's record-keeping and pointed to the weakness of the intelligence and security committee of handpicked MPs and peers and the inaccurate information provided to it by MI5.</p>
<p>However, she said:&#160;"I am not aware of our having left any reasonable stone unturned."</p>
<p>The inquest at London's High Court, which called 309 witnesses, including MI5 officers, examined the attacks - considered &#160;the worst in Britain since the 1988 Pan Am plane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland - in minute and often moving detail, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/world/europe/07london.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss" type="external">New York Times</a> reports.</p>
<p>Hallett's <a href="http://7julyinquests.independent.gov.uk/index.htm" type="external">65-page report</a>&#160;included suggestions that MI5 revise procedures for intelligence sharing and assessing threats, and measures to improve first aid and emergency response in case of a similar incident.</p>
<p>She concluded that "on the balance of probabilities," each of the victims would have died "whatever time the emergency services reached and rescued them," the Times wrote.</p>
<p>MI5 admitted at the inquests that in hindsight "more could have been done," according to the Guardian.&#160;</p>
<p>The inquests heard that MI5 had two clear photographs of two bombers identified as Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique Khan after the attacks. Yet early in 2004, it passed only a poorly cropped image of Tanweer, rendering him unrecognizable, to the U.S. informant Mohammed Junaid Babar, who might have been able to identify the future bomber.</p>
<p>Hallett described badly cropped images of the bombers as "dreadful."</p>
<p>"I think one of my children could have done a better job of cropping out that photograph," Hugo Keith QC, the inquests' counsel, said. MI5 said better quality photographs were sent to Babar later on.</p> | British judge raps MI5 over deadly London "7/7" bombings | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-05-06/british-judge-raps-mi5-over-deadly-london-77-bombings | 2011-05-06 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Instagram is expected to announce on Wednesday that it has reached more than 1 million monthly active advertisers, as the Facebook Inc-owned photo-sharing app tries to become a center of online commerce.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The number of advertisers has grown five-fold from 200,000 a year ago, Instagram's vice president for business, James Quarles, said in a phone interview this week. He called the 1 million number a "milestone."</p>
<p>Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, and initially, the app had limited advertising with only a handful of well-known brands.</p>
<p>Last year, Instagram began pushing businesses that had created standard profiles to adopt business-specific profiles, and 8 million businesses have done so, Quarles said. Instagram is able to use Facebook's ad technology to target specific audiences.</p>
<p>Facebook's apps compete against rivals such as Snap Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter Inc for slices of digital advertising spending.</p>
<p>Quarles declined to give projections for further growth. He said there was "tremendous upside" and added: "This is about getting as many businesses as we can to have pages."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Peter Cooney)</p> | Instagram says advertising base tops 1 million businesses | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/22/instagram-says-advertising-base-tops-1-million-businesses.html | 2017-03-22 | 0 |
<p>In the past 10 years, California doctors have authorized cannabis use by at least 350,000 patients. What have they learned about its adverse effects?</p>
<p>According to a survey of 19 doctors associated with the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, side-effects are relatively rare, mild, and transient. There have been no deaths, no major adverse events attributed to cannabis -with one exception involving a claim by an establishment psychiatrist that cannabis induced and exacerbated psychosis in an 18-year old whom she had on a regimen of Lexapro and Zyprexa.</p>
<p>Comments by the SCC doctors follow.</p>
<p>Frank Lucido, MD: Reported adverse effects are rare, in part because the patient coming to a medical cannabis consultation has already found cannabis to be of benefit. (I have had perhaps 10 patients in 10 years who had never tried cannabis or who hadn’t used it in many years and were uncertain if it would effectively treat their current illness or symptoms.) Two patients have discontinued use in response to decreased productivity. The overwhelming majority report that they are MORE productive when their symptoms are controlled with cannabis.</p>
<p>Robert Sullivan, MD: None common (c. 1%), none “serious.” Weight gain, tolerance, anxiety (related to potential theft from an outdoor garden), dry mouth, short-term memory decrease, anxiety, red eyes. All described in response to my inquiry (not spontaneous). None resulted in stopping cannabis use.</p>
<p>Marian Fry, MD: The most significant negative reactions are due to fear of incarceration and the results of abuse by officers unwilling to honor California law.</p>
<p>William Toy, MD: The most important adverse effects are respiratory problems caused by smoking. Most patients who have respiratory problems use vaporizers or edible forms of cannabis. We go out of our way to get patients on vaporizers and we now have only a small percentage of smokers -mostly people who have been smoking marijuana for 30-40 years. Most in this group use very little, maybe one or two doses a day.</p>
<p>Philip A. Denney, MD: Virtually none reported by patients except contacts with the legal system. Patients are able to stop using easily in order to pass drug tests or when traveling. Overdose from edible cannabis -an unpleasant drowsiness lasting six to eight hours- is rare and transient.</p>
<p>David Bearman, MD: Occasional complaints of cough. Many more complaints about Marinol than cannabis -dysphoria, ineffective, costs too much.</p>
<p>Tom O’Connell, MD: The most common is the “paranoid” reaction, in which, characteristically, a user who is “high” develops the uncomfortable feeling that everyone he/she sees KNOWS they are high and is critical of them for it. It almost always occurs in a situation where the person may be forced to deal unexpectedly with the public. It certainly needs further study. In any event, patients deterred from using pot aren’t lining up for approvals to do so.</p>
<p>William Courtney, MD: A significant number of my middle-aged patients are no longer enamored of the psychoactive effects that previously were the highlight of their cannabis use. For them, what was euphoric has now become dysphoric. Such patients tolerate the anxiogenic properties in order to enjoy the anti-spasmodic or analgesic effects -much as a patient on chemotherapy reluctantly accepts the nausea in exchange for the anti-tumor effects. While a few patients have discovered that there are strains that provide relief without dysphoria, others are excited by the possibility of daytime CBD analgesia or autoimmune modulation without alteration of their sensorium.</p>
<p>Dr. A.: We’ve had several reports of hypotensive reaction -a sudden drop in blood pressure, which results in fainting. It’s very rare and, as reported by my patients, is a one-time thing. It typically happens after a big meal, when the GI tract is opened up and absorbing a lot of blood.</p>
<p>Jeffrey Hergenrather, MD: Is there a downside to the use of cannabis? The sense of intoxication rarely lasts longer than an hour and tends to be more troubling to the novice than to the experienced user. For some people cannabis can induce dry mouth, red eyes, unsteady gait, mild in-coordination, and short-term memory loss, all of which are transient. These effects are reportedly trivial compared to those brought on by pharmaceutical alternatives.</p>
<p>Cannabis use is steadily finding acceptance in society. Still, for many it remains awkward if not totally impractical in the workplace. People whose jobs require multi-tasking such as pilots, drivers, dispatchers, switchboard operators, and many professionals find the intoxicating effects of cannabis inappropriate in the workplace, and therefore reserve their use for after work.</p>
<p>The survey, conducted by your correspondent for the upcoming issue of O’Shaughnessy’s (and previewed exclusively on CounterPunch), does not pretend to be rigorous. It involves the patient population least likely to experience adverse events and a setting in which adverse events might be downplayed (examinations in which the patient is seeking the doctor’s approval to use). As Dr. Lucido and others point out, in the first 10 years of legality created by Prop 215, almost all the patients seeking physician approval to use cannabis had been self-medicating previously with positive results. Truly naïve patients have been rare -and those experiencing unwanted side-effects would be unlikely to return to the doctor for a renewal, i.e., their complaints would go unreported.</p>
<p>The charge that cannabis use caused and then increased the severity of a psychotic break in an 18-year-old was made by a Stanford University psychiatrist, Dr. P., who filed a complaint with the state medical board against the doctor who had approved it. “I believe THC caused his depression to worsen, interferes with antidepressant meds, and clearly caused his psychosis,” Dr. P advised the board. “He is also psychologically and physically dependent on the substance. He refuses to quit. He even admitted to seeking the medical marijuana justification in order to use regularly ‘legally.'”</p>
<p>The assumption that marijuana causes physical dependence is without scientific foundation. Dr. P.’s use of the term “even admitted” reveals a prosecutorial frame of mind. She seems appalled to learn what all cannabis consultants know and what should come as no surprise to any person with common sense: feeling legitimate relieves anxiety! Dr. P.’s treatment of the mutual patient involved anti-marijuana exhortations and the pushing of her preferred corporate drugs. Lexapro is an SSRI antidepressant made by Forest Pharmaceuticals. Like all SSRIs it is slowly but surely being linked to suicide in the medical literature (while the drug companies and their paid researchers in the psychiatric establishment challenge each piece of evidence).</p>
<p>Dr. P.’s allegation that marijuana use precipitated and aggravated the patient’s break with reality can’t be proved or disproved. Some published studies indicate an “association” between marijuana use and schizophrenia, but not necessarily a causal relationship. (A person seeing demons or hearing voices may use cannabis because he finds that it quiets them.) Schizophrenia occurs in about 1% of adult populations in all countries and cultures, regardless of the prevalence of cannabis use. The use of Marinol (synthetic THC) by teenage cancer patients has not resulted in an increased incidence of schizophrenia.</p>
<p>Ironically, the component of the cannabis plant thought to have sedative and anti-psychotic properties -Cannabidiol (CBD)- is present only in trace amounts in the strains available to California patients. As indicated by Dr. Courtney, the SCC doctors are frustrated that they don’t know the cannabinoid contents of the herbs their patients are using. They all wish a high-CBD strain was available. They would have learned a lot in 10 years about how it differs from high-THC cannabis. Prohibition sabotages research.</p>
<p>FRED GARDNER is the editor of <a href="http://www.ccrmg.org/journal/" type="external">O’Shaughnessy’s</a> Journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Adverse Effects of Marijuana | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/11/18/the-adverse-effects-of-marijuana/ | 2006-11-18 | 4 |
<p>By Alastair Macdonald</p>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May is likely to meet European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker before dawn in Brussels, the European Commission said early on Friday, as the two sides seek a deal to open talks on post-Brexit trade.</p>
<p>May would probably meet the European Commission president at 7 a.m. (0600), the Commission said in a statement, with a news conference to follow half an hour to an hour later. It gave no other details.</p>
<p>Earlier, EU and Irish officials had said Britain and Ireland could be hours from agreement on a text outlining how they would run their post-Brexit land border on the island of Ireland, paving the way for a deal that would remove the last obstacle to opening free-trade talks with the European Union.</p>
<p>A carefully choreographed attempt to showcase the progress of Brexit talks collapsed at the last minute on Monday when the Northern Irish party that props up May’s government vetoed a draft deal already agreed with the government in Dublin.</p>
<p>Since then, May has been scrambling to clinch a deal on the new UK-EU land border in Ireland that is acceptable to the European Union, Dublin, her own lawmakers and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which keeps her government in power.</p>
<p>Juncker’s spokesman said late on Thursday: “We are making progress but not yet fully there … Talks are continuing throughout the night. Early morning meeting possible.”</p>
<p>A spokesman for May said late on Thursday Brexit discussions were ongoing, while a senior Irish official said talks were moving swiftly and that a deal was possible within hours.</p>
<p>“It is moving quite quickly at the moment,” the Irish official told a British Irish Chamber of Commerce event in Brussels. “I think we are going to work over the next couple of hours with the UK government to close this off.</p>
<p>“I say hours because I think we are very close.”</p>
<p>COULD YET STUMBLE</p>
<p>Later on Thursday, the political editor of the BBC said the leadership of the DUP in Belfast had not signed off on the border deal, meaning it could yet stumble, but May continued to plan to meet Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk early on Friday in Brussels to finalize the agreement.</p>
<p>The political editor of Sky News, quoting a DUP source, said the party would continue to work on the border issue on Friday.</p>
<p>Tusk has scheduled a media briefing for 7:50 a.m. (0650 GMT). His role in plans for an accord would be to confirm that EU leaders will aim to agree at a summit next Friday to open trade talks in return for May making “sufficient progress” on the outline of a divorce package with the European Union.</p>
<p>Moving to talks about trade and a Brexit transition are crucial for the future of May’s premiership, and to keep trade flowing between the world’s biggest trading bloc and its sixth largest national economy after Britain leaves on March 30, 2019.</p>
<p>But the EU will only move to trade talks if there is enough progress on three key issues: the money Britain must pay to the EU; rights for EU citizens in Britain and British citizens in the EU; and how to avoid a hard border with Ireland.</p>
<p>BREXIT DEAL?</p>
<p>The EU says May has an effective deadline of Sunday night if she wants to seal a deal and hope to have agreement on trade talks in time for the EU summit on Dec. 15.</p>
<p>All sides say they want to avoid a return to a hard border between EU member Ireland and the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland, which might upset the peace established after decades of violence.</p>
<p>The DUP insists that Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, must leave the EU in the same way as the rest of the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>To clinch a deal, though, May must ensure she has the support of the DUP, whose leader told her bluntly on Monday that it would not support her minority government’s legislation unless the Irish border draft deal was changed.</p>
<p>She must also convince her divided Conservative Party that the deal she makes is acceptable.</p>
<p>British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a leader of the Brexit campaign, insisted the whole of the United Kingdom must “take back control” when it left the EU.</p>
<p>“Whatever way we devise for getting onto the body of the (Brexit) talks, it’s got to be consistent with the whole of the United Kingdom taking back control of our laws, of our borders and of our cash,” Johnson told reporters.</p> | May readies dawn call on EU as Brexit deal nears | false | https://newsline.com/may-readies-dawn-call-on-eu-as-brexit-deal-nears/ | 2017-12-08 | 1 |
<p>WASHINGTON —&#160;A decade after the United States’ invasion of Iraq ignited a season of deadly bloodletting between Sunni and Shia Muslims, this ancient divide in Islam is deepening throughout the Middle East, aggravating political and ethnic tensions, inflaming emotions and complicating US policymaking in this strategic, turbulent region.</p>
<p>Syria’s tableau of sanguinary carnage, which has flooded neighboring states with nearly 1 million refugees, is the latest example of how this sectarian conflict can spiral out of control. It also depicts how the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran — at once religious and geo-strategic — is fueling sectarian tensions as both nations exert influence through proxies around the region.</p>
<p>A fount of Islamic civilization, Syria today is ground zero in that rivalry. Iran is giving critical support to the government, dominated by adherents to an offshoot of Shia Islam, while Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations are deeply involved in backing the mostly Sunni rebel fighters.</p>
<p>“Sunnis and Shiites are fighting over control of the Middle East and... Syria is in the middle of that struggle,” said Syria expert Joshua Landis, director of the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Middle East Studies, during a recent public debate in Washington.</p>
<p>Their enmity has sharpened in recent years because of Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states fear that this would give Iran a huge advantage in its ambition to become the region’s dominant Islamic power.</p>
<p>Saudi-Iranian antagonism also was augmented by the unintended consequences of US policies in Iraq. Failing to appreciate the depth of sectarian feelings, the <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130320/us-foreign-policy-Iraq-Afghanistan-Syria" type="external">US-led push for democratic elections</a> facilitated the rise to power of a Shia government and the spread of Iranian influence in this key Arab country.</p>
<p>Pro-invasion policy-makers in Washington “puffed themselves up into believing that religion didn’t matter anymore in the Middle East,” Landis said in an interview. “They really enabled the ‘Shia crescent’ to take shape…[by giving] power to the Shia in [an] Arab country in the Ottoman lands. This was a terrible insult to many Sunnis who had always believed and always identified Arab nationalism with Sunni Islam.”</p>
<p>Iraq illustrates what happens “when we operate in the Middle East based on our own conceptions of what are the issues and who are the players,” said Vali Nasr, an expert on Shia Islam and Dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “Our conceptions become at odds with reality and that proves to be catastrophic. [In Iraq] we thought it’s all going to be about democracy and dictatorship and our entire strategy was upended by another axis of conflict that we were completely taken unawares by.”</p>
<p>Sunni-Shia tensions that go back 1,400 years are more volatile nowadays in part because they coincide with widespread anti-American feelings, and a rise in religious conservatism. In addition, the two sides have access to more lethal weapons than in the past. They also have adopted more sinister methods for indiscriminately murdering civilians, including remotely controlled car bombs and suicide missions.</p>
<p>This lethality is evident in the Shia-Sunni violence in recent months that has scarred the land stretching from Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast to the mountains of inland Pakistan, where Sunni extremist attacks on Shia communities have become endemic. Last month, 84 civilians were killed in the bombing of a vegetable market in Quetta. In Baghdad on February 28, a series of bombings in Shia neighborhoods killed 22. In December, clashes between Sunnis and Alawites, a Shia-related sect dominating the Syrian government, in Lebanon’s seaside city of Tripoli left 17 dead.</p>
<p>Sectarian conflict “is going to get worse regardless of how Syria goes in the next several years,” said a US State Department official in a recent interview. “It is rapidly becoming the axis around which much of Middle Eastern politics is organizing… What’s interesting is that the dynamic is becoming important even in some countries where there aren’t any Shia.”</p>
<p>For example, Egypt’s minuscule Shia population is hardly a threat. But during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent visit there he was treated to a public tongue-lashing from clerics at Al Azhar, the renowned center of Sunni learning, for allegedly trying to spread Shia Islam in Egypt.</p>
<p>US POLICY</p>
<p>US policymakers are keenly aware of the baleful influence of heightened Sunni-Shia tensions. But grappling with the Sunni-Shia rift in policy terms is a conundrum. It is forcing US officials — unaccustomed to discussing religion in policy debates — to be more mindful of religion’s role. It also makes it more difficult for Washington to be seen as neutral in conflicts that participants and governments view through a strictly sectarian lens.</p>
<p>Virulent sectarianism also means that US officials are confronted with a dynamic that runs counter to values meant to guide US statecraft, such as equality, religious tolerance, compromise and non-discrimination. Promoting such values becomes more difficult, even suspect, said Geneive Abdo, a fellow at the Stimson Center’s Middle East program who is examining sectarianism in the wake of the Arab Awakening</p>
<p>Sunni monarchies in the Gulf, she noted, tend to view calls for democracy “as part of a subversive Shia agenda” to bring them down.</p>
<p>In the recent interview, the State Department official said that while the Sunni-Shia fault line’s “growing importance is well understood,” it is more a backdrop to US policymaking than a focus of it. “There isn’t an actual policy towards it nor is our policy discussed in those terms. It’s not the overlay through which we actually decide our policy…[because]...it doesn’t actually provide much of a guide for us...on a daily basis.”</p>
<p>The US experience in Iraq has chastened US policymakers and lowered expectations for being able to manage peaceful political reform in the region, US officials and outside analysts say.</p>
<p>“The lesson we have learned is that the domestic politics of countries like this are incredibly complex, that we can’t hope to master them and control them, and we can’t predict the consequences of disturbing them,” the State Department official said. US leaders, he added, have acquired “a general humility” from Iraq that has “definitely informed the Obama administration policy toward Syria over the last two years. And still does.”</p>
<p>Some outside observers say that despite lessons learned in Iraq, Washington still needs more nuanced polices and greater understanding of the Sunni-Shia divide.</p>
<p>“I think the Americans have a better sense of it after Iraq, but they don’t quite understand the complexities of it and don’t understand it in an adequately sophisticated way...and how it relates to broader regional dynamics in the Middle East,” said Shia expert Nasr, author of The Shia Revival, How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future.</p>
<p>“Sometimes we ignore [sectarian tensions] completely, as we did in Syria at the beginning and in Iraq in the beginning, and sometimes we have a very simplistic black-and-white view of it,” he added. “Given how important this is becoming to the region and how complicated this is, we’re not there yet in terms of our understanding.”</p>
<p>Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, and a leading pollster of Arab public opinion, said that the rising profile of Sunni-Shia tensions sometimes tempts decision makers to see each side in monolithic terms, blinding them to other factors in play.</p>
<p>“To have a coherent policy and a full understanding of who’s trying to do what you have to go beneath the surface, and they don’t go beneath the surface,” he said.</p>
<p>Often “the extent to which [the two sects] move into confrontation is less a function of their theological differences and more a function of the politics around them,” Telhami said. While religious differences are present, it is necessary to see when they are being highlighted “to deflect from real problems.”</p>
<p>In Bahrain, Telhami notes, the Sunni monarchy repeatedly blames Iran for the Shia community’s ongoing protests. “But if you look at the issue of civil and human rights in Bahrain, I don’t think you’d have any independent analyst who wouldn’t say, Iran or no Iran, you got a problem here,” he said.</p>
<p>Despite its best efforts to be neutral, the United States is sometimes seen favoring one sect over the other. Currently, “there is a sense that we have it in for the Shia,” said a State Department official who recently served in the Gulf. This perception stems in part from Washington’s antagonistic relationship with Tehran because “most Shia...still have a lot of sympathy for Iran,” he said. “Even secular ones have some kind of cultural affinity. And the fact that [Iran is] a strategic adversary….doesn’t always play that well.”</p>
<p>Some foreign policy analysts say that reducing that antagonism could help dampen Sunni-Shia tensions. “I don’t think we’re going to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon if it is determined to do so. So I would tone down the rhetoric about that and tone down the demonization of Iran,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and director of the Brookings Institution Intelligence Project. “We’re not going to resolve Sunni-Shia differences, clearly,” Riedel said at a recent seminar. “But we might help to tone down the conflict a little bit.”</p>
<p>SYRIA</p>
<p>As part of the “traditionally Sunni heartland,” says Landis, Syria is “the big plum today” for Sunnis seeking to enfeeble Iran in the region. In the view of some analysts, it may be a long battle.</p>
<p>“The likelihood is an intensification” of the Iranian-Saudi struggle, said Riedel. He noted that Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was recently “made head of Saudi intelligence to get the Iranians. And to get [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad. That’s his job basically. He’s supposed to deliver the head of Bashar al-Assad to the king.”</p>
<p>Iran is assisting Assad’s government with money, weapons, military training and advice, according to US officials. It also has brought in thousands of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon and organized a civilian militia to back up government forces.</p>
<p>In a December press release, the US Treasury Department asserted that since mid-2012, “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hezbollah have provided training, advice, and weapons and equipment” as well as “millions of dollars” to the militia, Jaysh al-Sha'bi, which is “modeled after Iran's own Basij, a paramilitary force” responsible for “serious human rights abuses” in Iran.</p>
<p>“Al Qods force people on the ground...seem to be undertaking activities...roughly analogous to the activities that the US army was undertaking at the beginning of the Vietnam conflict, meaning going in the field...with Syrian regime forces to advise on tactics and weapons usage,” Frederic C. Hof, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and until recently a senior advisor on Syria at the State Department, said in an interview.</p>
<p>Iran’s support is now far more critical than that of Syria’s other main ally, Russia, say US officials and outside analysts. Assad “is utterly dependent on the Iranians,” Hof said. “If, for some reason the Iranians were induced to pull out of Syria, his regime would not last very long.”</p>
<p>On the other side, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf states are supporting Sunni rebel fighters, though exactly which ones is murky. Despite their shared Sunni tradition, big differences separate the rebel groups.</p>
<p>Initially, Salafi groups like Arar-Al-Sham that share Saudi Arabia’s ultraconservative Islamic outlook and want Syria to be an Islamic state were being funded either by the Saudi government or private donors or both, Landis said. “They go and recruit in the Gulf because they share a common ideology, which is that Islam is good...It’s like America supporting democracy; it’s our religion. And the Saudi Gulf religion is Islam...so they see nothing wrong in supporting these people.”</p>
<p>In recent months, however, Riyadh appears to have switched to supporting more moderate, nationalist rebel militias, largely at the urging of Washington, one analyst said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Turkey and Qatar are assisting fighters of Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, which does not have good relations with Riyadh. Wealthy Kuwaiti individuals also are supporting Salafi militias such as Ahrar-Al-Sham, Gulf expert Emile Hokayem told a recent gathering at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.</p>
<p>At the most extreme end of the opposition, the radical jihadi organization, al-Qaeda in Iraq, has set up a branch in Syria under the name of Jabhat al-Nusra, according to the State Department, which has designated al-Nusra a terrorist organization. It noted that since November 2011 al-Nusra had claimed responsibility for nearly 600 attacks, including more than 40 suicide missions. Both groups are said to be funded by private individuals and clerics in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. How much control the Saudi government has — or wants to have — over these private donations is a difficult matter to assess, analysts say.</p>
<p>The United States is also a player and last month announced a small uptick in its involvement. Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed February 28 that the United States would give $60 million to the Syrian Opposition Coalition to help it provide public services such as schools, policing and sanitation to Syrians in rebel-held areas. He also said that Washington would begin providing non-lethal aid —&#160;food rations and medical kits —&#160;to the military wing of the Coalition. Washington supports the supplying of arms to Syrian rebels by other nations, Kerry added, provided the recipients hold moderate views.</p>
<p>Because of the sectarian nature of the conflict, Obama “doesn’t want to get involved in Syria and he’s struggling like mad to come up with reasons not to get involved,” said Landis. “And Washington is circling the wagons around him trying to embarrass him into getting involved.”</p>
<p>Washington’s reluctance may be wise, given Landis’ pessimistic view of Syria’s future. “It’s a failed nation and it’s a sectarian battle,” he said. “And if America gets in the middle of it they’re going to have to become the cops adjudicating how the Sunnis and Shia are going to get along in Syria.... I think that’s what Obama thinks. He just sees a lose, lose, lose situation in Syria.”</p>
<p>Shia expert Nasr adds that however Syria turns out will have regional repercussions. “One scenario is that there will be civil war for a long time to come and in fact if Assad goes, it is arguable that violence and conflict will increase” he said. “It will be more like Lebanon in the 1970s and there won’t be a government in power, which would include more brazen ethnic cleansing, grabs for territory, greater sectarian divisions. And that could spread much more heavily into Lebanon, into Iraq, into the Persian Gulf region.</p>
<p>“In other words,” Nasr said, “if Assad goes, the sectarian dimension doesn’t go away with him. That genie is out of the box. And here is where US policy is not quite attuned to what the dynamic is. We’re operating on the assumption that the problem is Assad. That this is purely a political issue. Assad is a big problem, he is the cause of this. But the problem now is much bigger than that. The problem is that now there is an open wound of sectarian conflict in Syria and that is spreading rapidly in the region. And that’s not going to go away with Assad going.”&#160;</p>
<p>This story is presented by <a href="http://thegroundtruthproject.org/" type="external">The GroundTruth Project.</a>&#160;</p> | US finds Sunni-Shia rift difficult to navigate | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-03-18/us-finds-sunni-shia-rift-difficult-navigate | 2013-03-18 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Improvement in closely watched metrics underscored management's confidence on LinkedIn's full-year 2016 outlook. <a href="https://goo.gl/J4ts9I" type="external">Image source Opens a New Window.</a>: LinkedIn Q1 2016 investor presentation.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Professional networking platform LinkedIn reported first-quarter 2016 results after the markets closed on Thursday, and indications of vigorous growth, along with management's raised guidance, appeared to reassure jittery investors about the company's near-term prospects.</p>
<p>For the quarter, LinkedIn booked revenue of $861 million, a 35% increase over Q1 2015. Net loss for the quarter of $45.8 million was roughly comparable to last year's $42.5 million loss, as higher product development and sales and marketing costs absorbed the increased revenue. Similarly, net loss per diluted share of $0.35 fell within range of last year's net loss of $0.34.</p>
<p>Talent solutions shows renewed potentialLinkedIn's increased top-line performance was led by growth in its largest segment, talent solutions, which expanded revenue by 41% during the quarter, to $558 million. This comprised nearly 65% of total company revenue during the period.</p>
<p>Talent solutions' business depends primarily on the success of its core hiring products, such as LinkedIn Recruiter. LinkedIn launched an updated version of Recruiter toward the end of 2015, and CEO Jeff Weiner's prepared remarks indicated that the product has indeed been reinvigorated. Weiner stated the following: "Currently, the number of candidates viewed per search is up more than 40%, and InMails per search are up more than 30%."</p>
<p>Outside of hiring, talent solutions' other revenue stream, learning &amp; development, contributed $55 million to segment revenue. This business was formed out of the recent acquisition of online learning provider Lynda.com, and it enjoyed growth of roughly 12% from the last sequential quarter (Q4 2015).</p>
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<p>Continued brisk revenue addition in talent solutions provided the critical difference between Thursday's report and the debacle LinkedIn endured last quarter, when it provided a full-year forecast which caught investors unawares. In that forecast, talent solutions was projected to grow during 2016 in only a "mid-20%" range. The aggressive 41% improvement posted in Q1 2016 suggests that full-year growth won't be so middling after all; we'll peek at the company's overall revised forecast below.</p>
<p>Other segments are exhibiting strength as wellTogether, the marketing solutions and premium subscriptions segments split the remainder of LinkedIn's revenue fairly evenly between them, recording sales of $154 million and $149 million, respectively.</p>
<p>Marketing Solutions achieved revenue expansion of 29%, and the big story within this unit was the phenomenal growth of sponsored content revenue, which increased 80% over the prior-year quarter. According to Weiner, sponsored content now represents 56% of marketing solutions revenue. Management indicated that in addition to its "redoubled focus" on content, the company is working on tools which will expand marketers' ability to target customers and increase conversion.</p>
<p>Premium subscriptions' revenue growth rate was the lowest of all three segments, at a still-decent 22% clip over the comparable quarter. Executives lauded the success of the sales solutions product in this segment, which grew 55%, and now comprises 40% of total segment revenue.</p>
<p>Members and engagement are trending higherLinkedIn's continued success can be traced to a handful of metrics which track the growth of its network, and how often and how meaningfully its members use the platform. In the first quarter of 2016, these benchmarks rose by healthy amounts. Cumulative members stood at 433 million, an increase of 19%, which Weiner called the company's "strongest net-add quarter since the beginning of 2014."</p>
<p>Member page views grew 34%, and unique visiting members expanded 9%, to an average of 106 million members per month. More important, LinkedIn reported that "page views per unique visiting member" grew 23%, hitting an all-time high in the first quarter, and thus pointing to the platform's increasing relevance.</p>
<p>The revised outlookHas it only been one business quarter since a muted outlook for 2016 unlinked shares of LinkedIn from the rest of the market, and sent them tumbling? On Thursday, management revised a number of key components of the full-year outlook. Citing the strength of its various initiatives and increasing member engagement, the company notched up its forecast 2016 revenue range of $3.6 billion to $3.65 billion, to a new band of $3.65 billion to $3.70 billion.</p>
<p>Additionally, LinkedIn's new 2016 adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) goal is $985 million to $1.0 billion. This is a significant revision from the $950 million to $975 million range management put forward last quarter.</p>
<p>Finally, for those investors who are still waiting for LinkedIn to be able to forecast positive net income on a consistent basis, and not just positive earnings as seen through the filter of adjusted EBITDA, the company's strong operating cash flow continues to provide reassurance. LinkedIn generated operating cash flow of $252 million in Q1 2016. Not only is this record cash flow for the network, it represents 50% growth over the prior-year quarter. Meaningful cash flow generation coupled with a solid balance sheet indicates that for now, LinkedIn the has appropriate tools at its disposal to keep chasing aggressive revenue growth.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/29/core-business-strength-helps-linkedin-regain-its-f.aspx" type="external">Core Business Strength Helps LinkedIn Regain Its Footing Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFfinosus/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Asit Sharma Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends LinkedIn. 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> | Core Business Strength Helps LinkedIn Regain Its Footing | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/29/core-business-strength-helps-linkedin-regain-its-footing.html | 2016-04-29 | 0 |
<p>A study conducted by the Department of Justice Inspector General discovered that the Drug Enforcement Administration is negligent towards established protocol in dealing with informants <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/jul/29/dea-informants/" type="external">The San Diego Union-Tribune reports</a>.</p>
<p>The study conducted by the Department of Justice Inspector General found that millions of dollars have been gifted away without proper verification of federal disability settlements to informants and their families. The survey was extrapolated on a review of particular case files from a San Diego office that utilized confidential informants.</p>
<p>The account determined sloppy execution of agency’s program in handling informants, who play an imperative role in surveillance and data gathering and arrests. &#160;The agency had 240 long term informants on its payroll, which means those who are used for more than six consecutive years, without conducting sufficient oversight. The analysis also discovered inattentive&#160;monitoring of informants given permission to break the law in order to capture a criminal, a practice labeled as Otherwise Illegal Activity.</p>
<p>The Justice Department oversight said that their auditors received mixed responses regarding specifics on the policies they use to justify illegal actions. The scope of the program’s dysfunction couldn’t be determined because of a general lack of compliance from the DEA. Information requests were delayed and inspection of confidential information was prevented. Thus, reviewers had a limited perspective.</p>
<p>The inspection included case files from the San Diego and Chicago offices, which were targeted at random. The memorandum detailed that between 2013 and 2014, $1,034,000 were paid out in death and disability benefits to 17 informants and their dependents. But the program’s most egregious issue is mismanagement of payments by the DEA and Department of Labor. For instance, the family of an informant that was shot to death has received $1.3 million in receipts since 1989.</p>
<p>Other claims also didn’t have suitable approval. In one example, money was given to an informant that had been killed overseas but no witness was followed up with to&#160;substantiate it.</p>
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<p /> | DEA informants lack oversight according to report | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/07/29/dea-informants-lack-oversight-according-to-report/ | 2015-07-29 | 3 |
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<p>While she was pregnant with Daliyah, her mother would read books to her other young children on a daily basis. When Daliyah was an infant, she would hear her older brother reading chapters of books out loud in their Gainesville, Georgia, home. And by the time she was about 18 months old, she was recognizing the words in the books her mother read her.</p>
<p>“She wanted to take over and do the reading on her own,” her mother, Haleema Arana, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “It kind of took off from there. The more words she learned, the more she wanted to read.”</p>
<p>So it was no surprise when, at 2 years and 11 months – the age that most children barely understand the concept that text carries a message – Daliyah read her first book on her own.</p>
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<p>Now 4 years old, Daliyah has read more than 1,000 books and has managed to read certain college-level texts. And the preschooler’s skilled reading and passion for literature impressed even the leader of the nation’s library, Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress. On Wednesday, Hayden hosted Daliyah at the Library of Congress, giving the 4-year-old a chance to shadow her as “librarian for the day.” Wearing her glasses, pink dress and matching pink bow, Daliyah walked the sprawling hallways of the world’s largest library and sat in on executive roundtable meetings – as any high-profile librarian would do.</p>
<p>Hayden, who made history this year as she became the first woman and the first African American to run the nation’s library, tweeted photos of Daliyah’s visit from the library’s official account. One showed Hayden and Daliyah walking precisely in step, both holding their hands behind their backs, with Daliyah looking up at Hayden with eyes of wonder.</p>
<p>“She just kept saying how the Library of Congress is her most favorite, favorite, favorite library in the whole wide world,” Haleema Arana said.</p>
<p>Of course, the young bookworm is no newcomer to libraries. As she told the Gainesville Times, Daliyah has her own library card, and is a regular at her local library, the Hall County Library in Gainesville.</p>
<p>“I like to check out books every day,” Daliyah said. “And I want to teach other kids to read at an early age, too,” Daliyah told the Gainesville Times.</p>
<p>Through the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program, Haleema Arana got the idea to start counting the number of books Daliyah read. She was about 3 years old at the time, and had likely already read about 1,000 books with the help of her mother. In the year or so since, Daliyah has met the program’s 1,000-book goal, and aims to reach 1,500 by the time she enters kindergarten next fall, when she hopes to “help the teacher teach the other kids how to read,” her mother said.</p>
<p>Her parents have never tested her exact reading level, but Daliyah is capable of reading books that her 10- and 12-year-old siblings bring home from school on her own, seeking help only when she gets stuck on a big word, Haleema Arana said. Her favorite writer is Mo Willems – author of the “Pigeon and Elephant” and “Piggie” series – and she has a special interest in dinosaurs, her mother said. She can spit out numerous facts about dinosaurs and dreams of someday digging up dinosaur fossils as a paleontologist. (Yes, the 4-year-old knows the definition of the word “paleontologist.”)</p>
<p>To give her a challenge – and to cater to her love of books – her mom gave her a college-level text, a speech called “The Pleasure of Books” by William L Phelps. Daliyah learned to read the speech so well, pronouncing words such as “punctiliousness” and phrases like “annihilates formality,” that her mother posted a video of her reading it on YouTube.</p>
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<p>“And there is no doubt that in these books you see these men at their best,” the 4-year-old reads. “They wrote for you. They ‘laid themselves out,’ they did their ultimate best to entertain you, to make a favorable impression. You are necessary to them as an audience is to an actor; only instead of seeing them masked, you look into their innermost heart of hearts.”</p>
<p>Her mother hoped that by posting the video, she could encourage other parents to teach their children how to read at a young age, she said. Exposing her children to books from infancy has made all the difference, Haleema Arana said.</p>
<p>“She’s able to just absorb so much and retain so much so fast,” Haleema Arana said.</p>
<p>Daliyah’s vocabulary and reading comprehension has perhaps also benefited from her bilingual home – her father, Miguel Arana, is Mexican, and often speaks to Daliyah in Spanish. Although the 4-year-old cannot yet speak the language fluently, she can understand many words and hopes to work toward learning how to read in Spanish, her parents said.</p>
<p>The avid reader has already gained recognition in her home town, serving as a “librarian for a day” at the local library and even being asked to recite the famous “I Have a Dream” speech at an upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration.</p>
<p>Her mother decided to reach out to the Library of Congress to see if she could take her daughter’s “librarian” experience to a new level. The library responded, inviting the family to spend the day with Hayden.</p>
<p>As she toured the children’s section of the library Wednesday, Daliyah read books to Hayden and met other members of the library staff. When they asked the 4-year-old librarian for recommendations, an idea immediately came to her mind. She suggested they install whiteboards in the library hallways, so that children like her can practice writing on them.</p>
<p>“They said they would try to make that happen,” her mother said.</p>
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<p /> | Introducing Daliyah, a 4-year-old girl who has read more than 1,000 books | false | https://abqjournal.com/926316/introducing-daliyah-a-4-year-old-girl-who-has-read-more-than-1000-books.html | 2 |
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<p>The media is running lots of stories about how Millennials aren't interested in sex.&#160;</p>
<p>(LANGUAGE WARNING:)</p>
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<p>It's not just a media meme, though; I've met a lot of young men like that.</p>
<p>It's why I started the <a href="" type="internal">ProudBoys</a> and <a href="" type="internal">NoWanks</a> movements.</p>
<p>So do you agree with me about who the culprits are?</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Millennials aren't interested in having sex. Here's whose fault it is. | true | http://therebel.media/millennials_aren_t_interested_in_having_sex | 2016-08-10 | 0 |
<p>TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of taking part in a scheme to smuggle teenagers into the U.S. and force them to work at an egg farm for little pay is in custody after being arrested at the Mexican border, federal prosecutors announced.</p>
<p>The teens from Guatemala were kept as virtual slave laborers, forced to turn over most of their earnings, and had to live in run-down trailers with no heat and little food before they were rescued in 2014, investigators have said.</p>
<p>Six others already have been convicted in the case, which prosecutors said involved luring the boys and young men with promises of enrolling them in school and finding them good jobs.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Pablo Duran Ramirez, 49, was arrested Saturday by border patrol agents while trying to cross the border between Mexico and the U.S.</p>
<p>Duran Ramirez, who is a U.S. citizen, operated a company to provide workers who would clean chicken coops, de-beak chickens and unload crates at the egg farm, according to an indictment unsealed this week.</p>
<p>He also helped and encouraged others to recruit and smuggle young Guatemalans to the egg farm in central Ohio near Marion from 2012 through the end on 2014, court documents said.</p>
<p>Trillium Farms, which produces more than 2 billion eggs per year at various farms around central Ohio, said it was unaware of what was happening at its farm. It hasn't been charged.</p>
<p>The indictment said Trillium Farms paid about $6 million to Duran Ramirez and one other unnamed person.</p>
<p>The charges against Duran Ramirez include forced labor, conspiracy and encouraging illegal entry. He is scheduled to appear in a federal court in McAllen, Texas, on Friday. An attorney for Duran Ramirez declined to comment on the case Thursday.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say the group operating the smuggling ring threatened the victims and their families.</p>
<p>Aroldo Castillo-Serrano, a Guatemalan described as one of the ringleaders, made the victims' families sign over deeds to their property in Guatemala to pay for transporting them, while some were plucked out of custody at the Mexican border, prosecutors said.</p>
<p>He was sentenced in 2016 to just over 15 years in prison.</p>
<p>One of the young men brought to the U.S. said at a court hearing in 216 that Castillo-Serrano threatened to kill his father after the teen complained about being forced to work.</p>
<p>Prosecutors concluded there were about 35 victims in all, many were teens with the youngest being 14.</p>
<p>TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of taking part in a scheme to smuggle teenagers into the U.S. and force them to work at an egg farm for little pay is in custody after being arrested at the Mexican border, federal prosecutors announced.</p>
<p>The teens from Guatemala were kept as virtual slave laborers, forced to turn over most of their earnings, and had to live in run-down trailers with no heat and little food before they were rescued in 2014, investigators have said.</p>
<p>Six others already have been convicted in the case, which prosecutors said involved luring the boys and young men with promises of enrolling them in school and finding them good jobs.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Pablo Duran Ramirez, 49, was arrested Saturday by border patrol agents while trying to cross the border between Mexico and the U.S.</p>
<p>Duran Ramirez, who is a U.S. citizen, operated a company to provide workers who would clean chicken coops, de-beak chickens and unload crates at the egg farm, according to an indictment unsealed this week.</p>
<p>He also helped and encouraged others to recruit and smuggle young Guatemalans to the egg farm in central Ohio near Marion from 2012 through the end on 2014, court documents said.</p>
<p>Trillium Farms, which produces more than 2 billion eggs per year at various farms around central Ohio, said it was unaware of what was happening at its farm. It hasn't been charged.</p>
<p>The indictment said Trillium Farms paid about $6 million to Duran Ramirez and one other unnamed person.</p>
<p>The charges against Duran Ramirez include forced labor, conspiracy and encouraging illegal entry. He is scheduled to appear in a federal court in McAllen, Texas, on Friday. An attorney for Duran Ramirez declined to comment on the case Thursday.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say the group operating the smuggling ring threatened the victims and their families.</p>
<p>Aroldo Castillo-Serrano, a Guatemalan described as one of the ringleaders, made the victims' families sign over deeds to their property in Guatemala to pay for transporting them, while some were plucked out of custody at the Mexican border, prosecutors said.</p>
<p>He was sentenced in 2016 to just over 15 years in prison.</p>
<p>One of the young men brought to the U.S. said at a court hearing in 216 that Castillo-Serrano threatened to kill his father after the teen complained about being forced to work.</p>
<p>Prosecutors concluded there were about 35 victims in all, many were teens with the youngest being 14.</p> | 7th person charged in teen forced labor case at egg farm | false | https://apnews.com/amp/10d99c7b7c2446469adc9793bb21c098 | 2017-12-28 | 2 |
<p>OKLAHOMA CITY — Kyah, a 6-month-old giraffe at the Oklahoma City Zoo, will undergo a risky surgery never before performed on a giraffe this week in a bid to save her life.</p>
<p>A team of more than 12 experts will assist on the surgery on Kyah, who already stands about 9 feet tall and weighs 525 pounds, to try and fix a condition more frequently seen in dogs.</p>
<p>Veterinarians believe Kyah suffers from a persistent right aortic arch. They will try and remove a blood vessel at the base of her heart that has wrapped around her esophagus, cutting off the route to her stomach, a condition that may only worsen as she grows.</p>
<p>The surgery will involve five zoo veterinarians, two small animal specialists, one large animal specialist, a team of endoscopic experts, two radiologists and a cardiologist.</p>
<p>"It's her only chance," Oklahoma City Zoo veterinarian Dr. Jennifer D'Agostino said on Monday, noting the condition had never before been diagnosed in a giraffe.</p>
<p>Dr. Mark Rochet, of the Oklahoma State University Veterinary School, who has completed the procedure on dogs, will perform the surgery on an operating table used for horses at an OSU facility in Stillwater, north of Oklahoma City. A padded trailer rigged with cameras and a baby monitor will serve as the recovery room.</p>
<p>"It's very risky due to the fact that it's very difficult to immobilize giraffes and due to her size and physiology," D'Agostino said.</p>
<p>Although the odds are slim for the success of the surgery, doing nothing will guarantee the young giraffe's death, said Tara Henson, spokesperson for the Oklahoma City Zoo.</p>
<p>"We know the chances may be 50/50," Henson said. "But if we do nothing, her chances are zero."</p> | Oklahoma Zoo Giraffe Faces Risky Surgery as Last Chance | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-zoo-giraffe-faces-risky-surgery-last-chance-n74586 | 2014-04-08 | 3 |
<p>With a teachers strike perhaps only days away, one weapon that CPS could use to end a walkout is a court injunction: A section of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, added to state law during the 1990s, indicates that if a teacher strike “is or has become a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the public” the employer can ask for a legal injunction to stop the strike.</p>
<p>But the law states that “an unfair labor practice or other evidence of lack of clean hands by the educational employer is a defense to such action.” The Chicago Teachers Union, likely looking to strengthen its hand, <a href="http://catalyst-chicago.org/2012/09/cps-makes-new-salary-offer-ctu-calls-it-unacceptable/" type="external">announced Wednesday</a> that it <a href="http://www.ctunet.com/blog/cps-hit-with-unfair-labor-practice-charges-for-unlawfully-imposing-changes-in-working-conditions" type="external">had filed unfair labor practice charges</a> against CPS with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.</p>
<p>It’s a move that had been in the works since Aug. 30, when the CTU House of Delegates set a Sept. 10 strike date. “(The delegates) determined they were striking both over the contract, and over the unfair labor practices,” CTU attorney Robert Bloch says.&#160;</p>
<p>The charges stem from the fact that CPS did not pay teachers step increases this year, implemented a new teacher evaluation system, and stopped the practice of sick-day payouts—all of which were illegal, the CTU argues, without negotiating them in a new contract. The union is also charging that CPS “is refusing to arbitrate grievances (and) give the Union relevant information, and has intimidated teachers who engaged in informational picketing at James Monroe Elementary School.”</p>
<p>As Bloch pointed out Wednesday, employers are prohibited from hiring permanent replacements during unfair labor practice strikes. CPS has said it does not plan to hire teachers to provide any teaching during the strike.</p>
<p>It’s not clear what the standard would be for a dangerous strike—though the city is now experiencing a troubling upsurge in shootings and homicides—or how much of a defense the unfair labor practice charges would be.</p>
<p>“There is no case law on any of it,” Bloch says. “It is total uncharted territory. There is nothing more to go on than what the law says.” Most of the states that allow teachers to strike have similar provisions in their laws, Bloch adds, “where under certain circumstances the employees can be ordered back to work.”</p>
<p>Jonathan Furr, a lawyer who was part of the negotiations over Senate Bill 7 and who is the director of the Office of Educational Systems Innovation at Northern Illinois University, says that “the alleged unfair labor practice would weigh against the potential danger to the public” in a judge’s consideration.</p>
<p>As for whether a judge would stop a strike? “My understanding is that it’s generally a fairly high bar,” Furr says. “That being said, I think there could be a strong case to be made, particularly in Chicago.”</p> | For the Record: Injunction to stop a strike? | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/record-injunction-stop-strike/ | 2012-09-06 | 3 |
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<p>These are the basics: The console will be $300, about $50 pricier than expected, and comes with two motion-sensitive controllers and a detachable 6.2-inch touch screen. It will go on sale March 3 and has a battery life that ranges from 2.5 hours to 6.5 hours depending on the game.</p>
<p>The Switch operates on WiFi. Nintendo didn’t announce cellular connectivity – so no promises of multiplayer on the subway yet. If online, users can play together in the same room, or in online multiplayer matches – but online services will not be free. Nintendo will provide a free trial of its online services until the fall of 2017.</p>
<p>Also, there was no mention of multimedia services, such as Netflix or Hulu, coming to the Switch, so this may really be a gaming-focused tablet. We shall see.</p>
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<p>Those are the basics. But I’ve also compiled a list of things that I found most intriguing about the Switch right off the bat.</p>
<p>– It steals the best features from past consoles. Nintendo has a reputation for picking over its own bones, but it has smartly stolen from itself in this case. Ahead of the announcement, there was a lot of speculation over whether the new console would have motion gaming like Nintendo’s Wii. It does, as well as a souped-up version of haptic feedback (a.k.a., the buzzing in a controller or “rumble pack”), which gives you a sense of speed, distance and force as you move your hands. Nintendo has also retained the touch screen from its failed Wii U, which was one of that console’s best features.</p>
<p>– It wants you to play in big groups. The whole idea of the Switch is that it’s portable, and there’s definitely a push from Nintendo to take it with you to parties for after-dinner (or after-drinks) play, as you might a board game or a deck of cards. When the Wii came out, playing with it became a common activity for family and friends hanging out together. Nintendo seems to want to capture that same energy of same-room multiplayer – something I think the gaming world has been slowly losing with an increased focus on online multiplayer.</p>
<p>Players can join up to eight Switch consoles together on a local network, meaning that Nintendo is definitely encouraging big groups to play together. There are some caveats: extra controllers are a whopping $80 per pair or $50 individually, which is quite steep. And maybe you can’t do gaming picnics in the park since the Switch requires WiFi connection.</p>
<p>The group-gaming aspect seems to solidify that Nintendo’s competitors in this space are not only Sony and Microsoft but also Apple and Google, which have been trying to make group gaming with smartphones a thing through their television accessories. That leaves Nintendo sort of straddling two worlds. If it follows through on the Switch’s promise and applies its gaming chops, it could win both markets.</p>
<p>If.</p>
<p>– But Nintendo doesn’t want you look at it all the time. There was a lot of talk during the presentation about being able to look into the eyes of your opponents, rather than solely at the screen. The two games that Nintendo highlighted while introducing the controllers are both multiplayer games that are meant to be played in a room with another opponent, facing that opponent. The “1,2, Switch” title, which was made just for this console, has you playing Ping-Pong and facing off in gun battles, for instance.</p>
<p>That could sound like a small thing, but it’s essentially the opposite of what we’re seeing happen in almost every other type of gaming. Virtual reality almost always isolates you from anyone else in the room with you. Ditto for games that don’t allow a split-screen, local multiplayer experience. But Nintendo’s trying to put the social back in gaming – and not just through tweets and posts.</p>
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<p>– It seems to be aimed at adults, not kids: Games just aren’t a kids’ thing anymore – at least not solely. The average gamer in the U.S. is 35 years old and has been playing for 13 years. Judging from Nintendo’s promotional images and even the types of games on offer, this is not really a kiddie console – they’re going after young professionals.</p>
<p>Of course, it is very early in the Switch’s life as a product; we may see tons of kids games announced later as Nintendo offers media the chance to play with it. But in the presentation, there was a definite focus on games that appeal to older players. “Skyrim” was one of the big rumored launch titles – now confirmed – and it’s rated “M” for Mature.</p>
<p>That’s not to suggest Nintendo could be abandoning its family-friendly image – there were far too many cartoon characters on show for that – but it is a subtle shift in messaging that could help it shake the image of being a company that’s not appealing to “hardcore” gamers.</p>
<p>– Nintendo is making an effort to show it’s learned from its mistakes. In addition to the slightly older messaging, Nintendo also spent a good chunk of its presentation talking about third-party developers and partnerships – that’s a shift from past generations and an apparently sincere attempt to answer criticism that Nintendo relies too heavily on its own games and characters for its appeal.</p>
<p>Nintendo said it’s working with third-party developers on 80 games. And those names don’t only include the usual, largely Japanese, firms such as Square Enix.</p>
<p>Electronic Arts made an appearance on the presentation stage saying a Switch version of “FIFA,” its most popular game, is on its way. “Skyrim” is made by Bethesda Softworks. Both companies in the past often developed games first for the PlayStation, Xbox and PC markets rather than Nintendo. That sort of attitude from big publishers essentially pushed gamers to look at the Wii U as a second console rather than primary one. If Nintendo can keep up its partnerships and follow through, that would be good for its players and the company.</p>
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<p /> | Five telling things we learned about the Nintendo Switch | false | https://abqjournal.com/927155/five-telling-things-we-learned-about-the-nintendo-switch.html | 2 |
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<p>“The battlefield is a great place for liars,” Stonewall Jackson once said on viewing the aftermath of a battle in the American civil war.</p>
<p>The great general meant that the confusion of battle is such that anybody can claim anything during a war and hope to get away with it. But even by the standards of other conflicts, Iraq has been particularly fertile in lies. Going by the claims of President George Bush, the war should long be over since his infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech on 1 May 2003. In fact most of the 1,600 US dead and 12,000 wounded have become casualties in the following two years.</p>
<p>The ferocious resistance encountered last week by the 1,000-strong US marine task force trying to fight its way into villages around the towns of Qaim and Obeidi in western Iraq shows that the war is far from over. So far nine marines have been killed in the week-long campaign, while another US soldier was killed and four wounded in central Iraq on Friday. Meanwhile, a car bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in central Baghdad yesterday, killing at least five Iraqis and injuring 12.</p>
<p>Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the leader of one of the Kurdish parties, confidently told a meeting in Brasilia last week that there is war in only three or four out of 18 Iraqi provinces. Back in Baghdad Mr Talabani, an experienced guerrilla leader, has deployed no fewer than 3,000 Kurdish soldiers or peshmerga around his residence in case of attack. One visitor was amused to hear the newly elected President interrupt his own relentlessly upbeat account of government achievements to snap orders to his aides on the correct positioning of troops and heavy weapons around his house.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that the US has failed to win the war. Much of Iraq is a bloody no man’s land. The army has not been able to secure the short highway to the airport, though it is the most important road in the country, linking the US civil headquarters in the Green Zone with its military HQ at Camp Victory.</p>
<p>Ironically, the extent of US failure to control Iraq is masked by the fact that it is too dangerous for the foreign media to venture out of central Baghdad. Some have retreated to the supposed safety of the Green Zone. Mr Bush can claim that no news is good news, though in fact the precise opposite is true.</p>
<p>Embedded journalism fosters false optimism. It means reporters are only present where American troops are active, though US forces seldom venture into much of Iraq. Embedded correspondents bravely covered the storming of Fallujah by US marines last November and rightly portrayed it as a US military success. But the outside world remained largely unaware, because no reporters were present with US forces, that at the same moment an insurgent offensive had captured most of Mosul, a city five times larger than Fallujah.</p>
<p>Why has the vastly expensive and heavily equipped US army failed militarily in Iraq? After the crescendo of violence over the past month there should be no doubts that the US has not quashed the insurgents whom for two years American military spokesmen have portrayed as a hunted remnant of Saddam Hussein’s regime assisted by foreign fighters.</p>
<p>The failure was in part political. Immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein polls showed that Iraqis were evenly divided on whether they had been liberated or occupied. Eighteen months later the great majority both of Sunni and Shia said they had been occupied, and they did not like it. Every time I visited a spot where an American soldier had been killed or a US vehicle destroyed there were crowds of young men and children screaming their delight. “I am a poor man but I am going home to cook a chicken to celebrate,” said one man as he stood by the spot marked with the blood of an American soldier who had just been shot to death.</p>
<p>Many of the resistance groups are bigoted Sunni Arab fanatics who see Shia as well as US soldiers as infidels whom it is a religious duty to kill. Others are led by officers from Saddam’s brutal security forces. But Washington never appreciated the fact that the US occupation was so unpopular that even the most unsavoury groups received popular support.</p>
<p>From the start, there was something dysfunctional about the American armed forces. They could not adapt themselves to Iraq. Their massive firepower meant they won any set-piece battle, but it also meant that they accidentally killed so many Iraqi civilians that they were the recruiting sergeants of the resistance. The army denied counting Iraqi civilian dead, which might be helpful in dealing with American public opinion. But Iraqis knew how many of their people were dying.</p>
<p>The US war machine was over-armed. I once saw a unit trying to restore order at a petrol station where there was a fist fight between Iraqi drivers over queue-jumping (given that people sometimes sleep two nights in their cars waiting to fill a tank, tempers were understandably frayed). In one corner was a massive howitzer, its barrel capable of hurling a shell 30km, which the soldiers had brought along for this minor policing exercise.</p>
<p>The US army was designed to fight a high-technology blitzkrieg, but not much else. It required large quantities of supplies and its supply lines were vulnerable to roadside bombs. Combat engineers, essentially sappers, lamented that they had received absolutely no training in doing this. Even conventional mine detectors did not work. Roadsides in Iraq are full of metal because Iraqi drivers normally dispose of soft drink cans out the window. Sappers were reduced to prodding the soil nervously with titanium rods like wizards’ wands. Because of poor intelligence and excessive firepower, American operations all became exercises in collective punishment. At first the US did not realise that all Iraqi men have guns and they considered possession of a weapon a sign of hostile intention towards the occupation. They confiscated as suspicious large quantities of cash in farmers’ houses, not realising that Iraqis often keep the family fortune at home in $100 bills ever since Saddam Hussein closed the banks before the Gulf war and, when they reopened, Iraqi dinar deposits were almost worthless.</p>
<p>The US army was also too thin on the ground. It has 145,000 men in Iraq, but reportedly only half of these are combat troops. During the heavily publicised assault on Fallujah the US forces drained the rest of Iraq of its soldiers. “We discovered the US troops had suddenly abandoned the main road between Kirkuk and Baghdad without telling anybody,” said one indignant observer. “It promptly fell under the control of the insurgents.”</p>
<p>The army acts as a sort of fire brigade, briefly effective in dousing the flames, but always moving on before they are fully extinguished. There are only about 6,000 US soldiers in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital and which has a population of three million. For the election on 30 January, US reserves arriving in Iraq were all sent to Mosul to raise the level to 15,000 to prevent any uprising in the city. They succeeded in doing so but were then promptly withdrawn.</p>
<p>The shortage of US forces has a political explanation. Before the war Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defence, and his neo-conservative allies derided generals who said an occupation force numbering hundreds of thousands would be necessary to hold Iraq. When they were proved wrong they dealt with failure by denying it had taken place.</p>
<p>There is a sense of bitterness among many US National Guardsmen that they have been shanghaied into fighting in a dangerous war. I was leaving the Green Zone one day when one came up to me and said he noticed that I had a limp and kindly offered to show me a quicker way to the main gate. As we walked along he politely asked the cause of my disability. I explained I had had polio many years ago. He sighed and said he too had had his share of bad luck. Since he looked hale and hearty this surprised me. “Yes,” he said bitterly. “My bad luck was that I joined the Washington State National Guard which had not been called up since 1945. Two months later they sent me here where I stand good chance of being killed.”</p>
<p>The solution for the White House has been to build up an Iraqi force to take the place of US soldiers. This has been the policy since the autumn of 2003 and it has repeatedly failed. In April 2004, during the first fight for Fallujah, the Iraqi army battalions either mutinied before going to the city or refused to fight against fellow Iraqis once there. In Mosul in November 2004 the 14,000 police force melted away during the insurgent offensive, abandoning 30 police stations and $40m in equipment. Now the US is trying again. By the end of next year an Iraqi army and police force totalling 300,000 should be trained and ready to fight. Already they are much more evident in the streets of Baghdad and other cities.</p>
<p>The problem is that the troops are often based on militias which have a sectarian or ethnic base. The best troops are Kurdish peshmerga. Shia units are often connected with the Badr Brigade which fought on the side of Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. When 14 Sunni farmers from the Dulaimi tribe were found executed in Baghdad a week ago the Interior Ministry had to deny what was widely believed, that they had been killed by a Shia police unit.</p>
<p>The greatest failure of the US in Iraq is not that mistakes were made but that its political system has proved incapable of redressing them. Neither Mr Rumsfeld nor his lieutenants have been sacked. Paul Wolfowitz, under-secretary of defence and architect of the war, has been promoted to the World Bank.</p>
<p>Almost exactly a century ago the Russian empire fought a war with Japan in the belief that a swift victory would strengthen the powers-that-be in St Petersburg. Instead the Tsar’s armies met defeat. Russian generals, who said that their tactic of charging Japanese machine guns with sabre-wielding cavalry had failed only because their men had attacked with insufficient brio, held their jobs. In Iraq, American generals and their political masters of demonstrable incompetence are not fired. The US is turning out to be much less of a military and political superpower than the rest of the world had supposed.</p>
<p>PATRICK COCKBURN, co-author of the <a href="" type="internal">Out of the Ashes: the Resurrection of Saddam Hussein</a>, is the winner of the 2005 Martha Gellhorn Award for war reporting.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Iraq is a Bloody No Man’s Land | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/05/16/iraq-is-a-bloody-no-man-s-land/ | 2005-05-16 | 4 |
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