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<p>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-42615 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/muslimradiostation.jpg" alt="muslim radio station" width="1200" height="627" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/muslimradiostation.jpg 1200w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/muslimradiostation-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/muslimradiostation-768x401.jpg 768w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/muslimradiostation-1024x535.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /&gt;</p>
<p>Muslims are constantly trying to convince the rest of us their religion runs the franchise on peace. Gullible leftists are perfectly content to back them up. Unfortunately for both groups, a monkey wrench was thrown in their program. A Muslim radio station in the UK got <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/iman-fc-muslim-radio-station-sheffield-al-qaeda-anwar-al-awlaki-charlie-hebdo-hate-speech-jihadi-a7830256.html" type="external">caught “accidentally” airing a 25-hour marathon of sermons by a leader of Al Qaeda</a>.&#160;For realsies.</p>
<p>Iman FM played a series of lectures by Anwar Al-Awlaki, an influential cleric called “the Bin Laden of the internet” before he was killed by a US missile drone strike in Yemen in 2011.</p>
<p>The hate preacher, who is said to have inspired terrorist atrocities such as the Charlie Hebdo massacre, could be heard calling for “holy war” on the Sheffield-based radio station on 14 June.</p>
<p>Ofcom suspended Iman FM’s licence after receiving a complaint and concluding that Al-Awlaki’s speeches “amounted to a direct call to action to members of the Muslim community to prepare for and carry out violent action against non-Muslim people”.</p>
<p>So, broadcasting the ramblings of a high-profile radical Islamist for 25-hours straight is an accident?</p>
<p>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-42618 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ian-mckellan-bollocks.gif" alt="ian mckellan bollocks" width="450" height="252" /&gt;</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t think anyone is going to be falling for that one. People might have bought one hour. But 25 hours isn’t an anomaly, That’s a pattern and, unfortunately,&#160;not the only pattern present in Islam. There’s also mass murder, <a href="" type="internal">butchered genitals</a>, and a <a href="" type="internal">crap ton of rape</a>. But, I suppose all those things are “accidental” as well.</p>
<p>How&#160;anyone could surprised by the revelation that Muslims tend toward radicalism is beyond me. Every week, the airwaves get polluted with recaps of the latest Islamic act of “peace.” <a href="" type="internal">London</a>. <a href="" type="internal">San Bernardino</a>. <a href="" type="internal">Orlando</a>. <a href="" type="internal">Paris</a>. Take your pick. You’ll find a pile of corpses&#160;in each city. All examples of Islamic “handiwork.” Yet, Muslims and leftists will still try to tell you with a straight face,&#160;“this is not Islam. Islam is peace.”</p>
<p>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-42619 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/oh-please.gif" alt="full house michelle please" width="291" height="217" /&gt;</p>
<p>Actually, this is Islam. The only accident in this case is that someone listened to their craptastic station long enough to hear the parts about slaughtering infidels. Islamists have no problem proclaiming their gospel of their backwards murder cult.&#160;The only reason they’ve gotten away with it?&#160;A&#160;thin veneer of peace-lovingness&#160;and <a href="" type="internal">protection from the left</a>.</p>
<p>Don’t be fooled by their hollow apologies and “aw shucks” attitude toward this kerfuffle. Make no mistake, they want you dead.</p>
<p>We’ve been told as much,&#160;firsthand…</p>
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<p>NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST?&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/louder-with-crowder/id929121341?mt=2" type="external">FIX THAT</a>! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/louder-with-crowder/id929121341?mt=2" type="external">ITUNES&#160;HERE</a>&#160;AND&#160; <a href="https://soundcloud.com/louderwithcrowder" type="external">SOUNDCLOUD&#160;HERE</a>.</p>
<p /> | LOL! Muslim Radio Station ‘Accidentally’ Airs Marathon Of Al Qaeda Sermons | true | https://louderwithcrowder.com/muslim-radio-station-marathon-al-qaeda/ | 2017-07-10 | 0 |
<p>Just a few weeks ago, the majority of British people voted for <a href="" type="internal">Brexit</a> – exiting the European Union. Absorbing the shock, the Guardian’s editor Katharine Viner delivered an impressive analysis of the media and Brexit, focused on “technology’s disruptions ( <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/weekly" type="external">Guardian Weekly</a> 22.07.2016). But there might be a little bit more to the story. The story of media capitalism is inextricably linked to democracy and what the German philosopher Habermas calls the “public sphere”. Historically it all starts with the French philosopher Rousseau’s volonté générale (the public will) and the French Revolution in which, for the first time in human history, it wasn’t us who got starved, killed, brutalised, beheaded, and tortured.</p>
<p>Instead, it was the French ruling elite that experienced Robespierre’s guillotine, quite literally chopping the head off feudalism. Deeply traumatised by this experience, the European elite still calls it “the reign of terror”. Yet what they themselves had done for centuries and continued to do for decades throughout Europe (mass poverty, starvation, killing striking workers, preventing women from voting, etc.) was never labelled in the same way.</p>
<p>The European elite also learned three things form the aftermath of the French Revolution. For one, Rousseau’s volonté générale constituted a clear and present danger for the “ <a href="https://www.marxists.org/subject/humanism/mills-c-wright/power-elite.htm" type="external">power elite</a>” (Mills) or bourgeois (Marx). Soon, the European elite spent the better part of the 19th century eliminating democracy. But towards the end of the century it realised that it could not prevent the expression of the public will in the form of democracy forever. It learned how to use democracy to maintain power when it realised that it could shape the public will rather successfully through mass media, propaganda, and mass deception.</p>
<p>Perhaps one of the first to recognise this was the German philosopher pair Adorno and Horkheimer in their “ <a href="" type="internal">Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception</a>” (1944). But it was also American linguist Chomsky and his “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583225366/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Media Control – The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda</a>” (1991) who highlighted the power of propaganda. Perhaps the prime example of “mass deception” and the “spectacular achievements of propaganda” remains signified in the person of Rupert Murdoch. Virtually every recent British prime minister got on her (Thatcher) and his (John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron) knees asking for his media support. Through the control of the media, democracy was no longer a threat but a vehicle of the elite.</p>
<p>In historic terms, once Rousseau’s volonté générale was controlled by the media, democracy was rolled out in Europe as it helped to gain and maintain power. The elite has always seen democracy as not much more than just “one” way to power – purely a means, or a tool. Meanwhile, progressives tend to see democracy as a virtue “in-itself” (Kant). As a consequence, the ideological start-up prime minister of neo-liberalism (Maggie Thatcher) used the media rather skilfully to gain and maintain power when she installed her deeply ideological neo-liberal programme.</p>
<p>As the social cost of neo-liberalism became increasingly strenuous to British society, scapegoats needed to be found. The British elite and its compliant media capitalism found two: migrants (racism) and an anti-Europe stance (British nationalism). Both enabled the elite to shift the blame of the increasingly destructive costs of neo-liberalism onto others. To blame was the migrant (the Paki corner shop) or the distant European monster bureaucracy. This also enabled the elite to continue installing neo-liberalism and winning elections – even though in a slightly modified version under Thatcher’s greatest success: Tony Blair.</p>
<p>Being aware of the power of blaming and relying on the assistance of media capitalism, the prime instigator of Brexit – David Cameron – combined racism and nationalism for years to shift the blame onto others while getting elected and re-elected. Britain’s Daily Mail, Sun and tabloid-TV were always there building up both – migrants and Europe – as the prime threat to Englishness. After years of blame shifting, the media only had to intensify its propaganda during the Brexit campaign and the “ <a href="http://catalog.sevenstories.com/products/media-control" type="external">spectacular success of propaganda</a>” ( <a href="https://chomsky.info/" type="external">Chomsky</a>) was virtually assured. Even though one of the world’s smartest intellectuals – <a href="http://www.hawking.org.uk/" type="external">Stephen Hawking</a> – recently noted, “I believe it would be wrong to leave the EU” and instead of rational analysis and the better argument, propaganda carried the day.</p>
<p>In the end, Brexit has very clear winners. While David Cameron personally lost his job (a collateral damage), Theresa May – with Boris Johnson (the clown) as foreign secretary – continues to be in power which, after all, is the only game in town. But having shaped public opinion on Europe and migration for decades, David Cameron was able to claim that the British people have spoken and that we (the Torries) carry out the democratic volonté générale of the British people. For many, it was the Torries that defended Britain against the foreign take-over through migrants and European rule. Now post-Brexit British neo-liberalism is even freer from the EU’s regulatory regime. It can further de-regulate the few remnants of the once British welfare state. And it can better prevent European regulation of tax havens impacting on British capitalism – a small but not insignificant win for David Cameron’s personal monetary affairs.</p>
<p>But perhaps there is also a second Brexit winner: the US-citizen and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Viewed from his adopted home – the USA – taking out Britain via Brexit weakens Europe and thereby strengthens the USA. It also strengthens the rule of the conservatives in Britain and thereby furthers Rupert Murdoch’s ideological agenda. This may be the “ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eichmann_in_Jerusalem" type="external">banality of evil</a>” (Arendt) but it surely helps Murdoch.</p>
<p>In conclusion, Brexit resulted from an interplay of several factors – Cameron’s blame game conducted for years prior to Brexit, Murdoch’s media power, the hyping up of Englishness, and decades of the cultivation of nationalism and racism. All of these managed to out-manoeuvre the enlightened sections of the British money elite that favour internationalisation and globalisation. In the end, conservatism and nationalism won. But the British people will have to live with the consequences, as always.</p>
<p><a href="https://klikauer.wordpress.com/" type="external">Thomas Kilkauer</a> teaches in the School of Business at Western Sydney University, Australia.</p> | Brexiting Through the Media | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/08/11/brexiting-through-the-media/ | 2016-08-11 | 4 |
<p>Washingtonian "The [media] beat keeps changing, and I keep reinventing it in ways that keep it fresh and interesting for me," says the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz. "I see myself as just an old-fashioned beat reporter who works the phones, calls up sources, and digs around for everything from breaking news to profiles to reported columns to behind-the-scenes reconstructions." Former Post managing editor Steve Coll on Kurtz: “Howard works more efficiently and energetically than any other reporter I’ve ever worked with. It’s almost weird. What he demonstrates is that all of the rest of us, without ever being aware of it, waste a lot of time over the course of the day." &gt; <a href="http://www.cq.com/public/media.html" type="external">Earlier: Without caffeine, Kurtz had 419 bylines in 2004 (CQ)</a></p> | I didn't expect to stay on one beat for so long, says Kurtz | false | https://poynter.org/news/i-didnt-expect-stay-one-beat-so-long-says-kurtz | 2005-06-28 | 2 |
<p>The music of the 18th-century is marked by its optimism—sunny major keys, buoyant melodies with predictable turns of phrase. Contemporaries called it galant, like a refined courtier. Above all this highly mannered music was to seem easy and unconstrained. In contrast to what was seen as the artful and overworked counterpoint of previous generations, this new style would be elegant, accessible, and above all “natural,” as galant apologists liked to put it.</p>
<p>The engine of the galant style was Naples, along with London and Paris, one of the biggest cities in Europe in the 18th century, its population numbering nearly half-a-million. It was in Naples that the new “natural” music was drummed into thousands of children in a system of forced labor meant to produce musicians not only to fill posts at the city’s court and ecclesiastical institutions, but also for export across Europe, from London to St. Petersburg.</p>
<p>The city was teeming with orphans, many of them sired by the sailors from the many ships docking at port. By the 17th century, the Neapolitan orphanages, called conservatories, began emphasizing music as a way of providing male orphans a skill that would sustain them without any supporting family resources. As Daniel Heartz shows in his magisterial book <a href="" type="internal">Music in European Capitals: the Galant Style, 1720-1780</a> , the results were impressive, even if the system that produced them was often cruel. There was huge international demand for the fashionable Neapolitan style, and the conservatories fed it.</p>
<p>Students were typically admitted to one of the four conservatories at the age of eight, and indentured for eight years. The musical traveler and diarist, Charles Burney, who visited Naples in 1770, described the “terrific Babel” of the famous Conservatorio of St. Onofrio, with its nearly 200 inmates jammed into rooms, practicing their instruments all at the same time. Like Pakistani child rug-makers chained to their looms, the Neapolitan boys used their beds as seats, practicing their instruments where they had slept—harpsichords in one room, violins in another, and woodwinds in still another.&#160; The trumpets and horns were, as Burney put it, “obliged to fag … on the stairs.”&#160; No two students seemed to be playing the same music at the same time, but instead pursued their own practice into the teeth of the din.</p>
<p>As for the potentially most valuable residents of these institutions, the castrati, these would-be superstars of the European stage, who in the fewest of cases (Farinelli and many other famed singers were products of St. Onofrio) rose to great celebrity and fortune: “these lye upstairs, by themselves, in warmer apartments … for fear of colds, which might not only render their delicate voices unfit for exercise but hazard the entire loss of them for ever.” These mutilated children were long-time investments worth protecting and pampering.</p>
<p>For eight to ten years the musical orphans worked relentlessly till they had mastered their craft. Burney described their schedule: “The only vacation in these schools in the whole year, is in autumn, and that for a few days only; during the winter, the boys rise two hours before it is light, from which time they continue their exercise, an hour and a half at dinner excepted, till eight o’clock at night.”</p>
<p>Burney had himself once been an indentured musical apprentice to the ill-tempered boozer—and fine composer—Thomas Arne in London. But Burney had never had to endure such intense toil, and he was probably disgusted at the ruthless regimen faced by these children even if, as a devotee of the galant style, he could sometimes admire the result. His biggest criticism was that the orphans’ performances lacked polish, this roughness a product of having to practice a minimum of ten hours a day over the mighty ruckus of the conservatory dormitories. Hearing oneself at all over that sonic tumult demanded power not nuance.</p>
<p>In the later 18th-century many of the conservatories faced financial difficulties, not least because of labor unrest among the students, and dissension between the orphans and other students, whose families paid tuition. The orphans had to perform at funerals, parades and other civic functions from which the paying students were exempted. As for board, Heartz reports that the paying students at one of the conservatories got a loaf of bread and a carafe of wine each day; the orphans had to make due with six rolls and no wine. By the early 19th century the conservatories had been disbanded or amalgamated, until the last of them was made into an all-professional music school, the Real Collegio di Musica, by the decree of Joseph Bonaparte.</p>
<p>At the height of their productive capacity these music mills stamped out extremely well-trained performers (in spite of Burney’s reservations) and composers capable of supplying courts, theaters, and churches with music whose “naturalness” belied the inexorable regime of study, discipline, and punishment that lay behind it.</p>
<p>What were the wheels and cogs in this factory?&#160; In 2007, Robert Gjerdingen published a fascinating and hugely useful study that lays bare the pedagogical approach of the Neapolitan conservatory masters, entitled <a href="" type="internal">Music in the Galant Style</a>. Gjerdingen demonstrates that the natural style was built on formulae, drummed into these youngsters through the many long hours and years. Gjerdingen’s book, in effect an analytical and practical companion to Heartz’s cultural and aesthetic history of this repertoire, isolates these stock harmonic progressions and melodic figures, and shows how so many pieces of 18th-century music amount to a catalog of these elements, learned by rote.&#160; The training taught these children how to connect the schemata stored in their brains and fingers, and then to decorate them, to treat them with fluency and, in the best cases, to be enlivened by the individual’s spontaneous wit.</p>
<p>Stacks of these Neapolitans exercises, called Partimenti, survive in archives and libraries, and Gjerdingen has set about editing hundreds of these pages and making them accessible on-line. If you have some time on your hands and a good internet connection, you can shut yourself in your basement with Gjerdingen’s book, your computer, and a keyboard and transform yourself in the short space of a decade into a master of the Neapolitan-style.</p>
<p>Gjerdingen, a professor of music at Northwestern, was recently in Ithaca to give a hugely entertaining and illuminating lecture, one that wore its erudition as lightly as did the galants hommes of the 18th-century, even while he spoke with the down-to-earth diction of his native region, what he called “the muddy farm-fields of Minnesota.”</p>
<p>One of the most useful, and therefore most common, of the formulae, by no means specific to the Neapolitans, is what Gjerdingen calls the Romanesca; the first chapter of his book is dedicated to this chord sequence, now most famously heard in the Pachelbel canon. So great is its utility that countless are the number of retreads of its basic harmonic progression. To demonstrate that utility, Gjerdingen showed his audience a popular YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM" type="external">clip</a> in which the guitar-playing comedian Rob Paravonian grafts together a vast array of songs elaborating this scheme. Pachelbel himself had taken it off the rack and kitted it out with interlocking strings moving in elegant imitation of one another over the repeating pattern in the bass. Gjerdingen then segued from this to Salieri’s rapture over the genius of Mozart on his first encounter with his music in the movie Amadeus. What Salieri hears when he picks up the score off of a music stand is the 3rd movement of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxgZcMGmkkI)." type="external">Gran Partita</a>. The opening of the Adagio of this serenade that so captivates Salieri and fills him with envy, &#160;is in fact hardly genius, in the sense of being an expression of an original idea, but is simply an elaboration of the tried-and-true Romanesca pattern, inculcated into Mozart as it had been to thousands of Neapolitan orphans, all of whom used it countless times themselves.</p>
<p>The conservatory tuition made it possible for Neapolitan composers to crank out sonatas, masses, operas in short order, letting their memory and imagination mingle as they artfully deployed their schemata and elaborated them with their native ingenuity trained in the endless possibilities of the formulae and their combinations. Visited by Mozart in 1770, Naples didn’t produce anyone of his caliber, but it churned out Pergolesi, Sacchini, Paisiello, Cimarosa, and so many others—all excellent composers.</p>
<p>Gjerdingen provided a slightly surreal reenactment of this musical past, again courtesy of the eye of YouTube.&#160; A Swiss couple named Deutscher read Gjerdingen’s book and decided to begin to teach their young daughter Alma some of these Neapolitan scheme.&#160; One doubts that they put her on-task ten hours a day, but then again, the rabid dedication of some home-schoolers and Suzuki-parents might in some cases rival that of the taskmasters of the Neapolitan conservatories of yore. The results of the Deutscher experiment are fascinating, as we see in a <a href="" type="internal">joint improvisation</a> between the fine keyboard&#160; player, Tobias Cramm, schooled in Partimenti and the young girl. ) Cramm plays a galant musical phrase, which could have been taken directly from the Neapolitan partimenti, and then listens as young Alma comes up, sometimes haltingly (she’s only four in the video), with her response. One could be looking back into a lesson in the Mozart household, but for the décor, the costumes and crappy electric keyboard. Armed with the galant formulae and her native musical talent, Alma is composing galant music, one of the songs sung by her proud and eager mother on another clip.&#160; Like the young Mozart she also improvises on the violin above partimenti bass-lines. While Alma is hardly a Mozart, she seems to be well on her way to being at least an elegant purveyor of galant music. The music training she’s getting seems superior to what our present conservatories provide in music theory classes. As Gjerdingen put it, probably not one of the 600 current students at Northwestern’s School of Music could do what this four-year-old can. “Give me 10,000 kids and plenty of time, and I’ll produce you another Mozart,” said Gjerdingen with an ironically diabolical twinkle in his eye.</p>
<p>As I listened to Gjerdingen describe the culture and methods of the galant style, I contemplated the dialectic of musical enlightenment: on one side of the split screen was the musical workhouse of the poor orphans, on the other, the courtly chamber filled by the most elegant music played by bewigged and fully-trained instrumentalists. Control and exploitation had created the music of lightness and supposed naturalness.</p>
<p>And how was it that the love of music had not been drubbed out of these orphans? Perhaps students suffered from a form of Stockholm syndrome; or maybe the power of music is so inextinguishable that it can remain intact even after the bedlam of the Neapolitan conservatory.</p>
<p>I imagined another scene: after five or six years of training a Neapolitan orphan is taken for a day from the madness of the conservatory room and is sat down at an organ in an empty church. He improvises, spinning out one elegant phrase after the next.&#160; A new sonata—built from the modular musical elements now hardwired into his mind and hands—is born and vanishes into the echo of the church. Is the kid transported by the music he makes, or does he feel nothing, having been re-purposed from human into musical robot?</p>
<p>DAVID YEARSLEY teaches at Cornell University. He is author of <a href="" type="internal">Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint</a>His latest CD, “All Your Cares Beguile: Songs and Sonatas from Baroque London”, has just been released by <a href="http://www.musicaomnia.org/index2.htm" type="external">Musica Omnia</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | The Dark Side of Musical Enlightenment | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/10/08/the-dark-side-of-musical-enlightenment/ | 2010-10-08 | 4 |
<p>With the rise of Germany’s new right-wing populist party, the <a href="" type="internal">Alternative for Germany</a> or AFD [mocked as “A F**** Disgrace”], a <a href="" type="internal">heated debate</a> is taking place. The debate is about whether one should call the AFD Fascist or the German equivalent <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-nazis/german-foreign-minister-equates-far-right-afd-party-with-nazis-idUSKCN1BM1L4" type="external">Nazi</a>. Mainstream academics and media label the AFD right-wing, right extremism, <a href="" type="internal">populists</a>, etc. One of the very few who call a spade a spade is none other than Germany’s Foreign Minister <a href="" type="internal">Sigmar Gabriel</a> who has openly labelled AFD leaders “ <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/german-vice-chancellor-sigmar-gabriel-says-nti-immigrant-and-anti-muslim-afd-party-resembles-nazis/" type="external">real Nazis</a>”. Perhaps, one way to assess whether Germany’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cyHxfzKDM&amp;bpctr=1516152256" type="external">AFD is a Nazi party</a> or truly fascistic is to measure it against what became known as <a href="" type="internal">Ur-Fascism</a>. The AFG might fulfill the classical criteria of <a href="https://kottke.org/16/11/the-14-features-of-eternal-fascism" type="external">Ur-Fascism</a> laid out by none other than Italian philosopher and creator of “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-yYJgpQ-CE" type="external">In the Name of the Rose</a>”, <a href="" type="internal">Umberto Eco</a>.</p>
<p>Umberto Eco identified fourteen elements that make up Fascism. The cult of tradition is the first item on Eco’s 14-point list. The AFD fancies The Cult of Germanic-Mythical Traditions (1) glorifying Germany’s Nazi past in particular. The party wants to return to traditions such as a racially purified and a deeply <a href="" type="internal">Anti-Semitic society</a> – the so-called <a href="https://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Holocaust/stone.pdf" type="external">Volksgemeinschaft</a>. The AFD seeks to revive honoring the <a href="" type="internal">Nazi-Army’s soldiers</a> that went on a murderous killing spree throughout Europe torturing and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhYi3iYrwMY" type="external">slaughtering millions</a> of people. This became known as <a href="" type="internal">Crimes of the Wehrmacht</a>. The AFD’s cult of tradition is less directed towards the mythical and elusive Germanic-Aryan race and more towards Germany’s recent Nazi period (1933-1945).</p>
<p>Secondly, the AFD rejects modernism (2) hating modern liberal society, its art and culture, same-sex marriage, <a href="" type="internal">homosexuality</a>, feminism, trade unions, post-1789 democracy, progressive political parties, and most, if not all, international institutions and global NGOs. It longs for a romantic past that was never really romantic. Instead, the romantic nostalgia for the past often mirrored what British philosopher <a href="" type="internal">Hobbes</a> once called “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. Like the real Nazis, the hatred of modernity has never prevented Nazis from using modern means, from applying scientific management to the Holocaust. The modern right-wing uses modern means like Facebook and Twitter.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The AFD’s Cult of Action for Action’s Sake (3) is expressed in many ways. All too often the AFD is “action-guided” rather than “thinking-guided”. Favoring actions over thinking often come with a rejection of intellectual discourse and rationality. Perhaps in reminiscence of Hitler’s “ <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43159-challenging-trumps-language-of-fascism" type="external">deep fear of the thinking man and [his] hatred of the intellect</a>”, the AFD too espouses rampant anti-intellectualism. This is, at least partly, signified in the stupidity of some of its leaders. Their acronym (AFD) might actually stand for “ <a href="" type="internal">Alternative for the Dumb</a>”. Virtually, the same can be seen in the AfG’s street fighters called <a href="" type="internal">Peglia</a> and the <a href="" type="internal">violence</a> expressed by the so-called (and well armed) 15.600 <a href="" type="internal">Reichsbürger</a> – <a href="" type="internal">sovereign petit-bourgeois</a>.</p>
<p>There might be a link between the rise of the AFD, its language of hate, and the rise of Nazi and <a href="" type="internal">racially motivated violence</a> in Germany such as for example, the assassination attempt of Cologne mayor <a href="" type="internal">Henriette Reker in 2015</a> and a <a href="" type="internal">2016 Munich mass shooting</a>. Aligned to the even more violent and truly Neo-Nazis, it creates a political culture which supports the establishment of Anti-Semitic and racially cleansed “No-Go” areas (no Muslims, no Jews, etc.) recently extending to the East-Germany city of <a href="http://www.taz.de/Streit-zwischen-Syrern-und-Deutschen/!5478619/" type="external">Cottbus</a>.</p>
<p>Many inside Germany’s <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategorie:Neonazistische_Organisation" type="external">current pre-fascistic orbit</a> – AFD, Pegida, Reichbürger, Neo-Nazis, Homeland Defense, Aryan Race, White Power, <a href="" type="internal">Freie Kameradschaft Dresden</a>, etc. – believe that present day Germany is governed by the USA. They also fancy the annihilation of today’s Federal Republic of Germany in favor of a mythical Reich – a reactionary and militaristic Germanic empire. This is a &#160;quintessentially reactionary, fascistic or “fascistoid” idea. Here, the German language distinguishes between being outright fascistic and “ <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faschistoid" type="external">fascistoid</a>”. Fascistoid means showing fascistic tendencies, being similar to fascism and carrying elements of fascism without having yet reached the level of full fascism. Fascistoid denotes a pre-fascistic state.</p>
<p>For many fascists as for the AFD, Disagreement is Treason (4). This is found in the belief of extreme party loyalty – “them-vs-us”. Violate this and you are gone. This was most famously shown in the short-lived rise and demise of the AFD’s <a href="" type="internal">semi-Führer Petry</a>. The party is plagued by in-fighting. Too many want to be the next Führer below Gauland. These changes come on the basis that one is getting the axe the moment one is slightly off the current party line. Worst of all, once you have betrayed the AFD’s true Il Duce – <a href="https://www.politico.eu/person/alexander-gauland/" type="external">Alexander Gauland</a> – you are history.&#160; Next to strict party loyalty, the AFD calls everything critical about the AFG ‘ <a href="" type="internal">fake news</a>’. Much of this is mixed with a revival of an old <a href="" type="internal">Nazis idea</a> of Joseph Goebbles’ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYfA4ea3lI8" type="external">Lügenpresse</a> [ <a href="" type="internal">lying press</a>].</p>
<p>The xenophobic Fear of Difference (5) is standard repertoire of the AFD. Racial intolerance can almost daily be seen in the many xenophobic claims made by the AFD. Among the countless cases, recent instances are AFD-deputy and MP Jens Maier calling the son of tennis star Boris Becker “Halb-Neger” meaning <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42597842" type="external">half-negro</a> or, more likely, “ <a href="" type="internal">half-nigger</a>”. Another case is AFD-boss Gauland’s personal assistant Shirley Borchardt’s “not so” personal <a href="" type="internal">racism</a>. <a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p1246" type="external">Hate speech</a> remains a <a href="" type="internal">punishable crime</a> in Germany. Many of these include not just the hallucination of an Anti-Semitic pure German race but also the demand to shoot and kill refugees at Germany’s borders. Much of this is linked to the aforementioned Volksgemeinschaft based on racial hatred of anyone looking not Aryan enough. The AFD is an active proponent of a planned return to the <a href="" type="internal">Volksgemeinschaft</a>.</p>
<p>Sixth, the AFD does indeed Appeal to Social Frustration skillfully converting the negative impacts of neoliberalism’s cut of welfare provisions into <a href="" type="internal">racism</a>. It re-directs these frustrations away from state and capitalism and against everyone foreign looking. Traditionally, fascism has always sought to overlay the vertical capital-vs.-labor conflict with the horizontal nation-vs.-nation conflict. The latter supports capitalism – the former challenges capitalism. Instead of exposing capital-labor contradictions, AFD racism sets worker against worker often German worker against non-German worker. As a consequence of the exploitation of social frustration, the <a href="" type="internal">AFD does well in disadvantaged geographical areas</a>. It cleverly harnesses social frustration with capitalism and its adjacent political regimes currently expressed in a conservative-social-democracy coalition government.</p>
<p>The AFD also has a strong Obsession with a Plot (7). This comes largely through the right-wing and Neo-Nazi internet websites functioning as echo-chambers that mirror delusion about <a href="" type="internal">Islamic</a> <a href="" type="internal">conspiracies</a> seeking to infiltrate and destroy Germany. Never far away is the <a href="" type="internal">Jewish World Conspiracy</a>. Inside the AFD, as one of its own members recently testified, there is a strong belief in the conspiracy of the Jewish banking family <a href="" type="internal">Rothschild and the Jew George Soros</a>. Linked to such hallucinations is the idea that The Enemy is both Strong and Weak (8). This is found in the phantasm of a flood of Muslim refugees. They are accused of taking over Germany and eventually Europe.</p>
<p>In reality, Europe’s Muslims population numbers just <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religionen_in_Deutschland" type="external">5.4% to 5.7%</a> of Europe’s roughly 740 million people. Still, the AFD believes “Europe is full”. Many of these non-European and non-German people are presented as the enemy. Fascism thinks in strict friend and foe terms. The foe is to be exterminated. It is for them when AFD-sympathizers want to build a new railway from Berlin to <a href="https://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/afd-in-jena--auftritt-alice-weidel---rechtsextreme-skandieren-u-bahn-nach-auschwitz-7618552.html" type="external">Auschwitz</a>. This sort of thinking is linked to the hallucination that Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy (9). AFD militarism strongly rejects pacifism. This particular fantasy feeds the media’s quest for the spectacle under the heading “when it thinks, its stinks – when it bleeds, it leads”. The AFD’s “ <a href="" type="internal">Politics of Fear</a>” focuses on the fear of Muslim terrorism. To defend Germans against that, a strong army is needed. The new enemy is Muslim terrorism of which virtually anyone non-German is accused. In some cases, 1950s anti-communist speeches can be re-delivered by simply swapping the word “communist” with the word “terrorist”.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, AFD verbal militarism includes a call to arms to defend Aryan Germany and white Europe. Such calls have led to ‘ <a href="" type="internal">racist murders</a> as well as arson attacks against asylum seekers’. This is much in line with a Nietzsche-like Contempt for the Weak (10). Those considered weak range from women, to refugees, handicapped people, <a href="" type="internal">LGBTQ</a> and to those deemed surplus labor. In short everyone fitting the description of the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/deruntermensch.html" type="external">Untermensch</a> – the <a href="" type="internal">sub-human</a>. Much of the defaming of the weak is geared towards <a href="" type="internal">de-humanization</a> – a vital step towards <a href="" type="internal">Auschwitz</a> as British philosopher Bauman has shown in his seminal masterpiece “ <a href="" type="internal">Holocaust and Modernity</a>”.</p>
<p>On the other side of current AFD ideology is the strong. The strong range from the sexually <a href="" type="internal">omnipotent African man</a> (raping our blond women, in AFD mythology) to hero glorification (Wehrmacht soldiers and SS). For the AFD, this means Everybody is…to become a hero (11). Traditionally, such heroes are the Wehrmacht soldiers of Nazi Germany once engaged in a devastating race war in Eastern Europe. There is also an AFD call for a new <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/deutschland-die-sehnsucht-nach-einem-fuehrer-m-w-kolumne-a-1181769.html" type="external">Führer</a> signified in the AFD’s very own demagogue <a href="" type="internal">Björn Höcke</a> – the prominent AFD’s “would-like-to-be-Führer”. Like real fascism, the AFD links much of this to its own version of Machismo and weaponry (12). This can be seen, for example, in the AFD’s call for <a href="" type="internal">manliness</a>. AFD-leader Höcke demands <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvFJiPv93gc" type="external">masculinity</a>.</p>
<p>For the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cyHxfzKDM" type="external">AFD masculinity leads to chauvinism</a> and to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cyHxfzKDM" type="external">Wehrhaftigkeit</a> – a “ <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43159-challenging-trumps-language-of-fascism" type="external">culture of cruelty</a>” spiced with violence and brutality and what Umberto Eco calls “ <a href="" type="internal">weaponry</a>”. Much of this is part of rampant AFD <a href="" type="internal">populism</a> (13) with simple slogans for the simple minded. Fascism, Nazis and even the AFD features populism. The AFD is not an elite organization. Instead, it is based on what French sociologist LeBon calls “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOfsWTDhdNU" type="external">the crowd, the mass</a>” or in Nietzsche’s terms ‘ <a href="http://documents.routledge-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/9781138793934/A2/Nietzsche/NietzscheHerdMorality.pdf" type="external">the herd</a>’. The AFD fulfills the classical definition of populism as it promotes an ideology that claims to support the rights of ordinary people in their struggle against a privileged elite – the establishment. Its populism seeks to disrupt the existing social order by solidifying and mobilizing the bitterness of the common people against elites and the establishment. The AFD often portrays both bourgeois capitalists and socialist organizers as unfairly dominating the political landscape. As a consequence, the AFD claims to <a href="" type="internal">free Germany and the Germans from the rule of the elite</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak (14). Some of the AFD’s more educated leaders skillfully merge reactionary terminology with present political vocabularies. Most AFD language, however, simply signifies a return to semi-fascist and crypto-Nazi language. It is not exactly Orwellian Newspeak as the AFD has not –yet– invented a new language. AFD language is basically racist vocabulary, standard Anti-Semitism, nationalism and the like. Instead of creating new words and an entire new language as in Orwell’s “ <a href="" type="internal">1984</a>”, the AFD sticks to classic crypto-fascist language.</p>
<p>It regularly gets extremely close to what would qualify as “ <a href="" type="internal">hate speech</a>” – a punishable offence according to Germany’s criminal code. Hate speech is known in Germany as Volksverhetzung. While mostly avoiding outright hate speech, AFD language creates a pro-Nazi atmosphere in which talk of “ <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/oesterreich-herbert-kickl-will-fluechtlinge-an-einem-ort-konzentrieren-a-1187354.html" type="external">concentrating refugees in camps</a>” as a “ <a href="http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/manfred-weber-csu-finale-loesung-der-fluechtlingsfrage-15376426.html" type="external">final solution</a>” for refugees have increasingly become mainstream. It is “mainstreaming fascism” as Canadian philosopher <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/challenging-trumps-language-fascism/" type="external">Henry Giroux</a> calls it. AFD leader <a href="" type="internal">Jeanette Ihme</a> is, for example, among those AFD personalities already convicted of such an offence. According to a leading weekly “Die Zeit” (2nd January 2018) there are more than <a href="" type="internal">100 lawsuits</a> against the AFD on grounds of hate speech.</p>
<p>Given these rather preliminary investigations into the AFD measured against <a href="" type="internal">Umberto Eco’s Ur-Fascism</a>, it is hard to avoid the impression that Germany’s new right-wing party AFD has indeed a fascistic ideology. It has very strong fascist tendencies. It is a fascistoid or pre-fascistic party. Despite all this, what the AFD is still lacking is a violent and brutish paramilitary street fighting organization like Italy’s blackshirts, Hungary’s Arrow-Cross, or Germany’s SA, HJ and later SS. These were running secret – and often not so secret – torture chambers between the 1920s and 1945. In many cases, this included rounding up, beating, and killing trade unionists, perceived non-Aryans, homosexuals, democrats, progressives, pacifists, liberals, communists, anarchists, Jewish people, gypsies, etc. Much of this was once so pointedly expressed in the magnificent words of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_..." type="external">Martin Niemöller</a>:</p>
<p>First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.</p>
<p>Secondly, the AFD has not managed – so far – to convince Germany’s conservatives to appoint one of its own as the new Führer of Germany. In 1933, Adolf Hitler as the Nazi Reichskanzler came to power through a right-wing coalition government furnished by Germany’s conservatives. The Nazi Party simply never had the <a href="" type="internal">majority of German voters</a>. Thirdly, and this is despite Gauland (the AFD’s ‘behind the scenes’ leader), the shiny front-women Alice Weidel, and semi-Nazi demagogue Björn Höcke, the AFD has not yet found a Hitler-style leader. Despite the many similarities to Fascism and Nazism, mainstream Germany refrains from calling Nazis Nazis preferring instead “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h65sPukkFFc" type="external">right-wing populism</a>”, “right extremism”, “nationalism”, “nationalistic right”, “far right”, “extreme right”, etc.</p>
<p>Beyond &#160;that, Germany’s powerful right-wing Springer press has decided to become somewhat &#160;the “semi-official” mouthpiece spreading AFD ideology. Its main outlet is, albeit declining but still with 1.8 million sold newspapers daily, the “Bild” tabloid. More often than not it broadcasts racism parroting AFD propaganda. Bild still has an extremely large readership. Next to the massive support of the right-wing corporate press, AFD leaders are frequently invited to still very popular TV talk-shows where prominent TV-hosts such as Maischberger, Plasberg, and Lanz provide a mass broadcasting outlet for Nazi ideology.</p>
<p>The ideological goal of Germany’s version of Rupert Murdoch – Axel Cäsar Springer (1912-1985) and current bedfellows – is the normalization of the extreme right. This is despite the fact that <a href="" type="internal">after Auschwitz</a> there can be no political and cultural “normality” in Germany, as the eminent philosopher Adorno once said. This applies to Germany and <a href="" type="internal">the Germans</a>. The historical uniqueness of Auschwitz –factory style genocide– had two ingredients: <a href="" type="internal">Anti-Semitism</a> and Germans. Even with the AFD’s very own court certified <a href="" type="internal">Holocaust denier</a>, it is very clear by now that the AFD is not much more than a bunch of racists and Anti-Semitists. Many have already been called Offspring-Nazis [Nachwuchsnazis]. Certainly after the AFD’s latest party convention in 2017, the party has moved even more towards its racist and Anti-Semitic “völkische” side with the goal of an ethnically cleansed Germany based on a mythical Aryan race. Despite all this, there are at least five reasons why mainstream Germany avoids calling Germany’s new Nazis Nazis preferring instead to engage in “ <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43159-challenging-trumps-language-of-fascism" type="external">mainstreaming fascism</a>”.</p>
<p>The first reason for not calling Germany’s new Nazis Nazis has something to do with the fact that Germany’s international image might be damaged by admitting that a new breed of Nazis has indeed <a href="" type="internal">entered Germany’s Parliament in 2017</a>. Watching their eerie speeches in the legislature on YouTube is truly mind numbing. On election night, AFD Führer Gauland announced the AFD will “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZjHtwrklr4" type="external">hunt Merkel</a>”. These aren’t the positive images Germany’s industry (and its politicians) like to portray to the world. Much more than in 1933, today’s export oriented industry depends on a positive international image often presented as a clean, modern, scientific and technologically advanced. In 2016, German industry exports ranking just behind the USA and China. Any damage to this by telling the truth is to be avoided.</p>
<p>Unlike the days when Hitler was made Reichskanzler (30th January 1933), the majority of German industry today wants to avoid any damage to its carefully crafted image of simply being a machine-, pharmaceutical- and car exporting country. Corporations like Krupp, Porsche, BMWs, Mercedes, Volkswagens, Allianz, Deutsche Bank, SS-uniform-maker Hugo Boss, etc. although once <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/surprising-companies-that-had-ties-to-the-nazis/chris-abraham" type="external">heavily involved with Nazism</a>, want to be seen to be distant to the newly rising image of Germanic Nazism. Instead, German corporations and Germany’s establishment pride themselves to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports" type="external">world champion of exports</a> [Exportweltmeister]. Nazism might damage the pretense of a clean, modern, technology-driven and democratic Germany that has truly ended its recent Nazi past. As a consequence, mainstream Germany prefers populism under the propagandistic ideology “we are just like any other country” – even though it is the only country that has created Auschwitz.</p>
<p>Secondly, Germany’s establishment does not want to be reminded of its Nazi past, it also does not want to be reminded of what it did during the immediate post-Nazi years, namely the seamless integration of high-ranking – and not so high-ranking – Nazis into the legal ( <a href="https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Publikationen/DE/Akte_Rosenburg_EN.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&amp;v=6" type="external">with 90 of the 170 top-bureaucrats being exNazis</a>), political and economic apparatus of post-Nazi Germany. Even though the Allied Forces pushed the denazification of Germany between 1945 and 1949, it was soon wound down with the exception of a few high profile court cases carried through to make the world believe that Germany had broken with Nazism.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Germany’s post-Nazi system was filled up with exNazis. <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_ehemaliger_NSDAP-Mitglieder,_die_nach_Mai_1945_politisch_t%C3%A4tig_waren" type="external">Many of their names</a> are listed in the seminal source: the <a href="https://archive.org/stream/braunbuchBRD/braunbuch_djvu.txt" type="external">Braunbuch</a>. Still, there are some noteworthy Nazis: Waffen-SS Untersturmführer Hanns Martin Schleyer (later CDU and President of two powerful commercial organizations, the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations and the Federation of German Industries); SA Obersturmführer Theodor Oberländer (later: CDU and Minister); NSDAP member Karl Carstens and later President of Germany (CDU); Hans Globke’s extraordinary efforts in drafting the Nazi law for Anti-Semitism called “Protection of the German Blood” under Hitler, was later appointed undersecretary in Adenauer’s Chancellery. There are many more.</p>
<p>These exNazis in politics, economy, law, education, culture, banking, sports, police, army, universities, the press, etc. were busy camouflaging Nazi crimes from the consciousness of Germans. At the same time, Germany’s film and TV industry assured that the past vanished into thin air. Nazi crimes and those responsible simply never appeared on German cinema and TV screens. Noteworthy exceptions are, for example, Hildegard Knef’s <a href="" type="internal">Murderers Among Us</a> (1948 released in Sweden!), East-Germany’s <a href="https://ecommerce.umass.edu/defa/film/3573" type="external">Naked Among Wolves</a> (1963) and Günter Grass’ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubEQsfePGq8" type="external">The Tin Drum</a> (1979). Not surprisingly almost all Holocaust films eventually shown (after most Nazis had died a peaceful death) in a few selected cinemas and in mid-night TV were foreign. These were mostly “foreign” movies like Spencer Tracy’s US classic “ <a href="" type="internal">The Seventh Cross</a>”.</p>
<p>The first time German mass audience (including me) who saw a little bit of Nazi history on German TV was when the US mini-series called “ <a href="" type="internal">Holocaust</a>” (with Meryl Streep) was shown on German television in 1978. Half a decade later, an Australian written (Thomas Keneally) and US-made film called <a href="" type="internal">Schindler’s List</a> (Steven Spielberg) was shown. It was as foreign as Claude Lanzman’s seminal masterpiece <a href="" type="internal">Shoah</a> (France), Roman Polansky’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_jE7-6Uv7E" type="external">The Pianist</a> (France, UK, Germany, Poland), Italy’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqAVwCK4r2Q" type="external">Life Is Beautiful</a>, and Brad Pitt’s wishful <a href="" type="internal">Inglourious Basterds</a> (USA). In other words, having successfully diminished Germany’s recent Nazi past in film and television, Germany’s establishment still seeks to avoid highlighting the “Germany-Nazi” link as much as possible. It simply carries on a long post-war tradition. The mainstream’s treatment of the AFD fits into the tradition of de-emphasizing Nazism.</p>
<p>Thirdly, the rise of the AFD, the upswing of its street fighters Pegida (the racist “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West”), the AFD’s entering of Germany’s federal <a href="" type="internal">parliament</a> and its mass media engineered widespread support and appeal might have convinced mainstream media that both – AFD and Pegida – are just too big to be called Nazis. Even though this should be even more of a reason to call both Nazis as its danger grows the moment the AFD infiltrates Germany’s political institutions.</p>
<p>Not just institutions but also size matters. Nazism, militarism, dictatorship, and fascism always needed massive support to take over democracy to destroy it – one of the unspoken goals of the AFD when seeking its racist Volksgemeinschaft. Currently, the AFD is boasting that a renewed conservative-social-democratic coalition government would mean that the AFD is Germany’s largest opposition party. The AFD talks pride in this. It means more institutional power, more self-importance, and more opportunities to broadcasts its hate speeches.</p>
<p>Fourthly, the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/potsdam-conf" type="external">Potsdam Agreement</a> of 30th April 1946, the Proclamation Number Two of 20th September 1945, and a subsequent law (10th October 1945) clearly state that the intention of the Allied Forces is “to prevent the revival or reorganization of German militarism and Nazism”. The objective of the Allied Forces was “to destroy the National Socialist Party and its affiliated and supervised organizations, to dissolve all Nazi institutions, to ensure that they are not revived in any form, and to prevent all Nazi and militarist activity or propaganda”. Violation of these provisions is a punishable offence.</p>
<p>These are the things Germany and the Germans do not want to be reminded of. Furthermore, article 21(2) of <a href="" type="internal">Germany’s constitution</a> notes that “parties that, by reason of their aims or the behavior of their adherents, seek to undermine or abolish the free democratic basic order or to endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be unconstitutional”. Despite having clear legal and constitutional provisions, mainstream Germany still shies away from a possible court case against the AFD. Calling Nazis Nazis would inevitably be a first step towards such as legal case as it makes clear what the AFD actually is. One of the real dangers of Nazism is not seeing it as a danger.</p>
<p>Fifthly, calling Nazis Nazis may conjure up renewed calls to declare the <a href="" type="internal">AFD illegal</a> as its political goals will lead to the destruction of Germany and its democratic constitution. In AFD politics, current democratic institutions are to be replaced with an authoritarian Volksgemeinschaft. Previous supreme court cases against the AFD’s smaller frontrunner, the <a href="" type="internal">NPD failed in 2001-2003</a> under the social-democratic Chancellor Schröder. Contemplating a second attempt for a renewed anti-NPD court case in 2013-2017 was also abandoned. The second attempt occurred in the wake of the neo-Nazi <a href="" type="internal">NSU killings – the National-Socialist Underground</a>. It was never followed through. In the NSU case, young Neo-Nazis received generous support from Germany’s <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/german-secret-service-implicated-in-fascist-murders/5396262" type="external">secret service</a> financing and arming NSU killings. Ten people including a female police officer between 2000 and 2007 died.</p>
<p>Despite rampant racism and Anti-Semitism with violent attacks and killings, German officials shy away from a legal showdown with a party that holds parliamentary seats and has a large support base throughout Germany. Historically and with the exception of the immediate post-war <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sozialistische_Reichspartei" type="external">SRP</a>, taking on Nazis has never been the intention of the German state. All this might explain why German mainstream avoids calling Nazis Nazis.</p> | Umberto Eco and Germany’s New Fascism | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/02/23/umberto-eco-and-germanys-new-fascism/ | 2018-02-23 | 4 |
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<p>The results were found in research on nearly 200,000 Swedish teens. School grades were only marginally lower in kids who’d had one or more common surgeries with anesthesia before age 4, compared with those who’d had no anesthesia during those early years.</p>
<p>Whether the results apply to sicker children who have riskier surgeries with anesthesia is not known. But the researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and doctors elsewhere called the new results reassuring, given experiments in young animals linking anesthesia drugs with brain damage.</p>
<p>Previous studies of children have been relatively small, with conflicting results. The new findings, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics , don’t provide a definitive answer and other research is ongoing.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The study authors and other doctors say the harms from postponing surgery must be considered when evaluating any potential risks from anesthesia in young children.</p>
<p>The most common procedures in the study were hernia repairs; ear, nose or throat surgeries; and abdominal operations. The researchers say the operations likely lasted an hour or less. The study did not include children with other serious health problems and those who had more complex or risky operations, including brain, heart and cancer surgeries.</p>
<p>The research involved about 33,500 teens who’d had surgery before age 4 and nearly 160,000 who did not.</p>
<p>School grades at age 16 were less than half a percent lower on average in teens who’d had one childhood surgery with anesthesia versus the no-surgery group. Average grades were less than 2 percent lower among teens who’d had two or more surgeries with anesthesia.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked at IQ tests given to Swedish boys at age 18 upon joining the military. Scores were about the same for those with one early surgery and the non-surgery group; scores were less than 3 percent lower in boys with three or more early surgeries.</p>
<p>The researchers, led by Karolinska’s Dr. Pia Glatz, noted that factors other than anesthesia appeared to have a much greater impact on academics and intelligence measures, including mothers’ education level.</p>
<p>A journal editorial says the results mean it is unlikely that early anesthesia poses a long-term risk. The study is “reassuring for children, parents and caregivers and puts the issue of anesthetic-related neurotoxicity and the developing brain into perspective,” the editorial says.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>FDA anesthesia information: <a href="http://bit.ly/2efrt0F" type="external">http://bit.ly/2efrt0F</a></p> | Young brains & anesthesia: Big study suggests minimal risks | false | https://abqjournal.com/884205/young-brains-anesthesia-big-study-suggests-minimal-risks.html | 2 |
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<p>YADKINVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say a North Carolina man who’s accused of trying to set an occupied mobile home on fire with a “Molotov Cocktail” has been arrested.</p>
<p>News outlets report that 41-year-old Matthew Franklin Ward and an accomplice drove to Yadkinville after a family dispute escalated.</p>
<p>A Yadkinville police news release says Ward used an improvised incendiary device that was made with a bottle and combustible liquid to set the outside of the residence on fire.</p>
<p>Ward’s step-father and three other people were inside the home. Police say the step-father and the other occupants ran from the home and fought the flames until the fire department arrived.</p>
<p>Ward was charged with several offenses, including first-degree arson and attempted first-degree murder. It’s unclear if Ward has a lawyer.</p>
<p>YADKINVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say a North Carolina man who’s accused of trying to set an occupied mobile home on fire with a “Molotov Cocktail” has been arrested.</p>
<p>News outlets report that 41-year-old Matthew Franklin Ward and an accomplice drove to Yadkinville after a family dispute escalated.</p>
<p>A Yadkinville police news release says Ward used an improvised incendiary device that was made with a bottle and combustible liquid to set the outside of the residence on fire.</p>
<p>Ward’s step-father and three other people were inside the home. Police say the step-father and the other occupants ran from the home and fought the flames until the fire department arrived.</p>
<p>Ward was charged with several offenses, including first-degree arson and attempted first-degree murder. It’s unclear if Ward has a lawyer.</p> | Police: Man sets home on fire with others inside | false | https://apnews.com/4bfe7e7ca10f4ec1b31b960e99dddee4 | 2018-01-09 | 2 |
<p>Small-cap stocks are usually prized for growth possibilities, not income-generating potential. However, more and more smaller stocks are rewarding shareholders with dividends and that theme is accessible via several exchange traded funds, including the ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (NYSEArca: <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/etf-resume.php?quote=smdv" type="external">SMDV Opens a New Window.</a>).</p>
<p>The ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF tracks the Russell 2000 Dividend Growth Index. The underlying index includes small-cap firms with dividend increase streaks of at least a decade. The Russell 2000 Dividend Growers Index includes quality, dividend-growing small-cap companies that delivered higher return on equity compared to other small-caps, and these quality dividend payers did so without sacrificing earnings per share growth.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/05/these-etf-options-buck-success-in-small-cap-space/" type="external">These ETF Options Buck Success in Small-Cap Space Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>The dividend growth strategy can also be applied to targeted small- and mid-cap asset categories, which may help investors gain exposure to the potential growth potential of smaller companies while mitigating some of the risk with a more conservative dividend play. Consequently, investors are able to focus on higher quality companies in these smaller capitalization segments without giving up on growth.</p>
<p>A Fed rate hike would also help support the U.S. dollar, which would make U.S. exports more expensive overseas and diminish revenue for larger companies with a bigger international footprint. In contrast, small-cap stocks are focused on domestic markets.</p>
<p>SMDV “allocates its roughly $115 million in total assets among a minimum of 40 different names (it currently has positions in about 60 names). The fund starts by applying liquidity and tradeability screens prior to identifying stocks with the necessary dividend history. It equal weights all names that it qualifies for the portfolio making sure that no individual sector comprises more than 30% of total assets,” according to a Seeking Alpha analysis of the ETF.</p>
<p>SEE MORE: <a href="https://www.etftrends.com/2016/06/dividend-growth-etfs-could-continue-to-outperform/" type="external">Dividend Growth ETFs Could Continue to Outperform Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>As the broad equities market pushes toward new highs, riskier assets like small-caps have been able to rally back much quicker. When the economy is doing well and the markets rally, we see sentiment for more nimble smaller companies improve and outperform those of their more languorous, larger peers.</p>
<p>“While small caps in general are risky, the focus on long-term dividend payers takes a significant amount of risk out of the portfolio. By targeting long-term dividend growth names, the valuation metrics of the portfolio look fairly similar to those of their large cap counterparts,” notes Seeking Alpha regarding SMDV.</p>
<p>ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF</p>
<p>The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/10/a-dividend-advantage-with-a-small-cap-etf/" type="external">This article Opens a New Window.</a> was provided by our partners at ETFTrends.</p> | A Dividend Advantage With a Small-Cap ETF | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/05/dividend-advantage-with-small-cap-etf.html | 2016-10-05 | 0 |
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<p>Nearly 100 companies are now operating in New Mexico, most in Bernalillo County, according to the New Mexico Optics Association, which released its first comprehensive study of the local industry in February.</p>
<p>By and large, small companies with fewer than 10 employees and less than $10 million in revenue dominate the landscape, offering specialty components and products for larger system integrators. Many machining and welding shops also provide products and services.</p>
<p>But the industry includes a broad mix of midsized firms with between $10 million and $100 million in revenue, and anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of employees. And, with the exception of a few national behemoths, such as Boeing and Raytheon, most of those midsized firms were launched and grown by New Mexicans.</p>
<p>Tom Tichy works in a lab at Applied Technology Associates. The Albuquerque company now has 220 employees.</p>
<p>Applied Technology Associates, for example, grew from a small firm with about $5 million in annual revenue in the 1990s to $45 million today and 220 employees, thanks largely to contracts with the Air Force Research Laboratory, which accounts for about 60 percent of ATA’s work. The Albuquerque company makes precision measurement, sensing and control technology for things like laser communications and satellite imaging systems.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In recent years, ATA has diversified its customer base to include more federal agencies, such as NASA, which is using ATA’s custom-made platform stabilization tools to enable near- and deep-space laser communications, said Jim McNally, ATA director of strategic development and chair of the NM Optics Association. NASA uses the platform to precisely point and stabilize laser beams to reduce interference and increase the quality of space-based communications.</p>
<p>“A radio beam from the moon to Earth would be bigger than the state of New Mexico when it reached Earth,” McNally said. “With our laser beam technology, we’ve stabilized that down to three football fields.”</p>
<p>A number of homegrown New Mexico companies have also been purchased by national firms in some of the state’s biggest acquisition deals to date. In 2011, IDEX Corp. of Illinois closed on a $400 million acquisition of CVI Melles Griot, an Albuquerque-based firm that started from scratch in the 1970s to make components and systems for lasers and other optics tools. It grew into an international supplier with $200 million in revenue and sales in 30 nations before the IDEX acquisition.</p>
<p>That same year, Raytheon bought Ktech Corp. for an undisclosed price. Ktech, located at the Sandia Science and Technology Park, specializes in directed energy and pulsed power for microwave and laser defense systems. It reached $63 million in revenue and more than 300 employees before the Raytheon acquisition.</p>
<p>Last year, a New York-based private equity firm paid $150 million for the solar space division of Emcore Corp., which makes semiconductor-based components and subsystems for both fiber optics and solar markets. In 2012, Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations USA also bought a subdivision of Emcore’s fiber optics business for $17 million.</p>
<p>And, in early 2014, a Swedish firm paid more than $60 million to acquire Lumidigm Inc., which used technology from the University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories to develop a biometric identification device that uses a flash of light to create three dimensional fingerprints.</p>
<p>All of those companies continue to operate in Albuquerque under their new owners.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, since 2010, Boeing has centered all of its company-wide directed energy work in Albuquerque, where it’s helping to develop laser defense systems and optics tools for space vehicles. As of year-end 2013, Boeing’s locally based Directed Energy Systems division employed 320 people, said Boeing spokeswoman Queena Jones.</p>
<p /> | NM companies find robust niche in photonics | false | https://abqjournal.com/551889/nm-companies-find-robust-niche-in-photonics.html | 2 |
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<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ These Wisconsin lotteries were drawn Saturday:</p>
<p>5 Card Cash</p>
<p>QC-AD-QH-8H-4S</p>
<p>(QC, AD, QH, 8H, 4S)</p>
<p>Megabucks</p>
<p>01-12-16-27-32-33</p>
<p>(one, twelve, sixteen, twenty-seven, thirty-two, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $1 million</p>
<p>SuperCash</p>
<p>04-07-15-22-30-35, Doubler: Y</p>
<p>(four, seven, fifteen, twenty-two, thirty, thirty-five; Doubler: Y)</p>
<p>Badger 5</p>
<p>01-12-18-23-28</p>
<p>(one, twelve, eighteen, twenty-three, twenty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $10,000</p>
<p>Daily Pick 3</p>
<p>0-4-2</p>
<p>(zero, four, two)</p>
<p>Daily Pick 4</p>
<p>5-0-1-5</p>
<p>(five, zero, one, five)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $40 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>12-29-30-33-61, Powerball: 26, Power Play: 3</p>
<p>(twelve, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-three, sixty-one; Powerball: twenty-six; Power Play: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $570 million</p>
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ These Wisconsin lotteries were drawn Saturday:</p>
<p>5 Card Cash</p>
<p>QC-AD-QH-8H-4S</p>
<p>(QC, AD, QH, 8H, 4S)</p>
<p>Megabucks</p>
<p>01-12-16-27-32-33</p>
<p>(one, twelve, sixteen, twenty-seven, thirty-two, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $1 million</p>
<p>SuperCash</p>
<p>04-07-15-22-30-35, Doubler: Y</p>
<p>(four, seven, fifteen, twenty-two, thirty, thirty-five; Doubler: Y)</p>
<p>Badger 5</p>
<p>01-12-18-23-28</p>
<p>(one, twelve, eighteen, twenty-three, twenty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $10,000</p>
<p>Daily Pick 3</p>
<p>0-4-2</p>
<p>(zero, four, two)</p>
<p>Daily Pick 4</p>
<p>5-0-1-5</p>
<p>(five, zero, one, five)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $40 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>12-29-30-33-61, Powerball: 26, Power Play: 3</p>
<p>(twelve, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-three, sixty-one; Powerball: twenty-six; Power Play: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $570 million</p> | WI Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d87de36344b94e20affdab76e8c50b44 | 2018-01-07 | 2 |
<p>NEW YORK — With little disagreement that the global youth jobs crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time, problem solvers have begun developing and implementing coordinated solutions.</p>
<p>These range from renewed focus on affordable education to public-private partnerships aimed at closing the "skills gap" to entrepreneurship programs — and combinations of all of the above. Will it be enough to put hundreds of millions of young people to work?</p>
<p>"There's not a solution to this problem," Allen Blue, vice president and co-founder of LinkedIn said during a panel at " <a href="http://www.ihouse-nyc.org/s/707/internal-subs-no-buttons.aspx?sid=707&amp;gid=1&amp;pgid=2482" type="external">Generation Jobless</a>," a solutions-focused conference on youth unemployment held Oct. 24-25 at <a href="http://www.ihouse-nyc.org/s/707/start.aspx?sid=707&amp;gid=1&amp;pgid=254" type="external">International House</a>&#160;in New York City. "There's a hundred things we can do."</p>
<p>As a reporting fellow at <a href="http://thegroundtruthproject.org" type="external">The GroundTruth Project</a> working on an international series on youth unemployment and a millennial myself, I’ve seen friends slave away for multiple degrees, only to end up working outside their chosen fields to pay off the debts they racked up.</p>
<p>Higher education has long been considered essential to a successful career. And&#160; <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/" type="external">the Pew Research Center</a>&#160;confirms that a college degree still weighs heavily on the likelihood of finding work, the job type and the wages earned.</p>
<p>At the same time, college is no longer an assurance of employment. In the United States, more than 80 percent of the class of 2014 had no jobs lined up for after graduation, though almost 75 percent of them were actively searching, according to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mo-more-than-4-in-5-college-seniors-dont-have-jobs-lined-up-20140507-story.html" type="external">a poll by AfterCollege</a>, a San Francisco-based career network.</p>
<p>As a friend of mine once put it, “We didn’t work this hard to have to work this hard to find jobs.”</p>
<p>This disparity between what you learn and how you earn is why some advocates for youth employment say apprenticeships and vocational education – arming young people with skills the market actually needs – are the way to go.</p>
<p>“There’s people without jobs and jobs without people,” said Nicholas Wyman, CEO of Skilling Australia Foundation, a nonprofit whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth transition to the work force. The key, he said, is to develop a system that bridges the gap between what students learn in school and what companies need from their employees.</p>
<p>As an example Wyman cited Switzerland, where, <a href="" type="external">as Quartz reported last year</a>, a “dual system” of higher education combines traditional academics with on-the-job training. The result is a consistently low youth unemployment rate, which today stands at <a href="" type="external">just over 3 percent</a>, as well as satisfied employers.</p>
<p>“Companies benefit financially from the work of apprentices, value the privilege of employing young people they already know, and see training the next generation as part of their mission,” according to the report.</p>
<p>The same is true for Germany, where the training of young people is viewed as vital to the business community, not a philanthropic gesture.</p>
<p>“This has nothing to do with corporate social responsibility,” a human resources manager at Deutsche Bank <a href="" type="external">told a Quartz reporter</a>. “I do this because I need talent.”</p>
<p>The US has begun to show interest in similar methods. Through the Department of Labor, the Obama administration is investing <a href="" type="external">$100 million in apprenticeship grants</a> to support new programs in emerging fields such as information technology, health care and manufacturing. <a href="" type="external">ConnectED: The California Center for College and Career</a> is one of a number of efforts around the country to provide students with technical training and critical thinking skills that better reflect the demands of the job market.</p>
<p>Survival mode</p>
<p>Apprenticeships and vocational education systems have potential in places where jobs exist but young people lack the skills to work them. “But in environments where there are no jobs,” Skilling Australia’s Wyman said, “what is going to create jobs?”</p>
<p>For a growing number of millennials, the answer is innovation. Startups are becoming the lifeblood of this generation as more young people rely on their own initiative to survive. Almost every conversation I have with anyone remotely my age (I’m 25) will touch on his new idea, her novel business plan or that latest bit of technology that could potentially lead to an income.</p>
<p>Startups play a lead role even among the stories our reporters put together for the GroundTruth series, which we’ve named “Generation TBD” — to be determined.</p>
<p>In <a href="" type="external">Nigeria</a>, 23-year-old Tayo Olufuwa is running an online jobs listing service for unemployed professionals. In <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/140604/generation-tbd-startups-entrepreneurs-revolution" type="external">Egypt</a>, Ahmed Hamdy, 25, found his first-ever job at the startup Karm Solar, which offers an alternative energy option for Egyptians who live off the electrical grid. In <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/philippines/140916/filipino-youth-outsourcing-industry" type="external">the Philippines</a>, Patrick Dulay helps others help themselves through his company, The Spark Project, which allows local businesses to engage in crowdfunding.</p>
<p>These businesses provide young people not only a means of livelihood but also a meaningful way of life, giving them a critical part in the struggle toward a sustainable future, Wyman said.</p>
<p>“Wealth is not just money,” he said. “Wealth is finding something rewarding and satisfying.”&#160;</p>
<p>Joining forces</p>
<p>None of the above – apprenticeships, new methods of education, startups – would be possible without collaborations among different sectors, groups and individuals.</p>
<p>“If we don’t have a coordinated effort to address this, we’re going to have a generation of young people whose future is really not so bright,” said Calvin Sims, president and CEO of International House, a youth-centered nonprofit based in New York City.</p>
<p>The International House hosted "Generation Jobless" in partnership with The GroundTruth Project and other major media partners. At the conference, representatives from corporations, government, foundations and the education sector, discussed the value of collaborating with one another and with the youth in a variety of ways.&#160;</p>
<p>"You can't separate K-12 education from the work force," Dane Linn, vice president of Business Roundtable, an association of US executives working to promote sound public policy, pointed out during a panel at the conference.</p>
<p>Blair Taylor, chief community officer and president of the Starbucks Foundation Board of Directors, added that the new paradigm for corporate America is "a win-win-win situation" for society, individuals and companies&#160;– a&#160;situation that can only be achieved through inter-sector cooperation.&#160;</p>
<p>Another example of that kind of coordination is <a href="" type="external">The Global Center on Youth Employment</a>, which again brings together partners from academia, the donor community, the private sector and nonprofit organizations to find solutions to the youth employment crisis. The goal is to use the partners’ varied resources and expertise and to serve as a platform for connecting separate initiatives.</p>
<p>“No one sector can do it alone,” said Cristina McGlew Castro, regional manager for Latin America and the Caribbean for Cisco Systems.</p>
<p>In looking at ways that reform the system, governments and organizations are moving away from pumping money into short-term programs toward developing long-term solutions, Wyman said. Overcoming old stigmas about how things are done, he said, can only push those efforts forward.</p>
<p>“Sometimes [young people] just need a hand up,” Wyman said, “not a handout.” &#160;</p> | International collaboration emerges as key to youth unemployment crisis | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-10-26/international-collaboration-emerges-key-youth-unemployment-crisis | 2014-10-26 | 3 |
<p>Blues legend B.B. King's body has been examined by a Nevada coroner following allegations of foul play in his death two weeks ago, officials revealed Monday.</p>
<p>"At this point, we don't have evidence that these allegations of foul play will be substantiated," said Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg. "However, we are taking them very seriously and will be conducting a thorough investigation. We are coordinating our investigative efforts with the Homicide Division of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. I expect the investigation will take a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks."</p>
<p>The Coroner's Office conducted an autopsy of King's body Sunday and returned it to the mortuary the same day, the statement said, noting that the investigation would not delay the funeral services from being held.</p>
<p>Sergeant John Sheahan, with the Las Vegas Metro Police, told NBC News that they are not yet pursuing an investigation and will not "until such time as the Clark County Coroner determines Mr. King's death to be from other than natural causes."</p>
<p>Two of B.B. King's daughters, Karen Williams and Patty King, have alleged that two of the late musician's closest aides sped up his death by poisoning him, according to a report from the Associated Press on Monday.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Las Vegas Public Viewing of B.B. King Draws Hundreds</a></p>
<p>The heirs reportedly say that family was kept away from King in his final days while personal assistant Myron Johnson and business manager LaVerne Toney administered poison to him.</p>
<p>"I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances," say affidavits from both daughters, obtained by the AP from the daughters' lawyer Larissa Drohobyczer.</p>
<p>"I believe my father was murdered," they go on.</p>
<p>King died May 14 in hospice care at the age of 89. Johnson was present, though no family members were.</p>
<p>Toney has worked with King for 39 years and is named in King's will as executor of a large estate. Toney on Saturday said that she has had King's best interests in mind and that she would not immediately respond to the daughters' allegations.</p>
<p>King is set to be buried on Saturday, May 30 on the grounds of a museum dedicated to his life in Indianola, a small Mississippi Delta town where his career began.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">B.B. King: 7 Things You Didn't Know About the Late Blues Icon</a></p>
<p>A public viewing will be held on Friday, May 29 at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola. The funeral service will be held at the nearby Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church, followed by a private burial on the grounds of the museum that evening.</p>
<p>The 15-time Grammy winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was born Riley B. King to sharecroppers about 20 miles from Indianola in the tiny Delta community of Berclair, Mississippi, on Sept. 16, 1925.</p> | Coroner Examining B. B. King’s Body Following Allegations of Foul Play | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coroner-examining-b-b-kings-body-after-allegations-foul-play-n364351 | 2015-05-26 | 3 |
<p>By Marius Zaharia</p>
<p>HONG KONG (Reuters) – Tighter monetary policy is coming to Asia next year. Yet it will lag the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes as Asian central banks balance an exports-led revival in growth with a slowdown in regional locomotive China.</p>
<p>That will mark a shift from a few months ago when most economists expected Asian policy makers to hold their ground or even ease further, but the trade windfall behind a synchronized uptick in global growth is seen lasting longer.</p>
<p>Last week South Korea took advantage of the trade boom to normalize policy, lifting rates for the first time in more than six years, and analysts expect Malaysia and Philippines – where growth has also benefited from a surge in public investment – to hike in the first quarter.</p>
<p>With the benefit of hindsight when the Fed in 2013 signaled it was time to exit ultra-low rates and sparked a taper tantrum, regional central banks should be more confident of looking at the strength of their own economies rather than that of the United States.</p>
<p>“The last couple of years has shown us that monetary policy in this region can decouple from the U.S,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.</p>
<p>“Obviously they are cognizant of what the Fed does and capital flows … (but) this is not a case of central banks being forced to act just because the Fed is looking to tighten further.”</p>
<p>That de-coupling has been on show in the past two years as Asia shrugged off four U.S. rate hikes, and some countries even cut rates over that period.</p>
<p>South Korea was the first major Asian economy to lift rates since Indonesia’s November 2014 move, which was reversed three months later as markets eventually took the view that a U.S. lift-off won’t necessarily derail global growth.</p>
<p>CHINA FACTOR</p>
<p>Of course, the Fed cannot be totally ignored as it is expected to hike again next week and two to three more times in 2018. Korea and Malaysia have some of the lowest real interest rates relative to the United States since the global financial crisis and were responsible for most of the net bond market outflows in Asia in October.</p>
<p>Australia and New Zealand could hike later next year, China might raise its short-term policy rates, while some analysts expect even India and Indonesia, which have been cutting recently, to reverse their moves.</p>
<p>China is emerging as a key driver of Asia’s policy track next year, with growth in the world’s second-biggest economy set to lose momentum as authorities there extend a year-long crackdown on financial risks.</p>
<p>The numbers show Asia is less dependent on American growth than in the past.</p>
<p>While emerging Asia’s trade with the United States has gone up by 40 percent since the global financial crisis, its trade with China has risen 120 percent, according to Reuters calculations based on IMF data. Emerging Asia now trades 70 percent more with China than it does with the United States.</p>
<p>That means monetary tightening in the region will lag the Fed, as long as any capital outflows driven by the narrower rate differentials do not lead to significantly weaker currencies. Stubbornly low inflation and elevated household debt may also slow rate hikes in some countries.</p>
<p>“We have a picture where the average Asian central bank hikes less than the U.S.,” said Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics.</p>
<p>“We can argue they can do that without putting pressure on their real economy or financial sector because first, in some countries like India or Indonesia rates start from a higher level than in the United States and they have a buffer and secondly, the dollar would not strengthen a lot.”</p>
<p>The good news is that during synchronized global growth the dollar historically tends to be stable or weaker, suggesting that Asian currencies will likely avoid a sharp shakeout.</p>
<p>Kuijs expects the 4-8 percent strengthening in Asian currencies this year to come to a halt in 2018, when some might weaken slightly, but by less than 4 percent. BofA Merrill Lynch sees most currencies flat in 2018.</p>
<p>FLAT CURVES</p>
<p>The other element mitigating the risk of capital outflows is that while short-term bond yields are rising in the U.S. and Asia in anticipation of higher rates, long-term yields have remained stable as markets are yet to be convinced of any global inflationary pressures.</p>
<p>While U.S. two-year yields () rose from 1.2 to 1.8 percent this year, 10-year yields () dipped 6 basis points to 2.39 percent, still below South Korean yields ().</p>
<p>“We’re pretty comfortable with the monetary policy outlook for Asia,” said Bryan Collins, portfolio manager, fixed income, at Fidelity International, who sees opportunities in long-dated Asian debt.</p> | Breaking slow: Asia set to raise rates next year, but still lag Fed | false | https://newsline.com/breaking-slow-asia-set-to-raise-rates-next-year-but-still-lag-fed/ | 2017-12-07 | 1 |
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<p>In this Thursday, March 17, 2016, photo, Mark Holmes, who has a two-bedroom apartment for rent on Main Street in downtown Grand Junction, Colo., is shown. Holmes will not rent to anyone who supports Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. One caller accused Holmes of discrimination, but excluding renters based on their political affiliation isn't prohibited by federal law like barring them based on sex or race. (Gretel Daugherty/Grand Junction Sentinel via AP)</p>
<p>GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - A Colorado landlord will let dogs with good references live in the apartment he rents, but not anyone who backs Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Mark Holmes warned Trump voters not to call in an ad he placed last week for the two-bedroom apartment that's part of his home in Grand Junction.</p>
<p>The 62-year-old told The Daily Sentinel ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1VvjxWz" type="external">http://bit.ly/1VvjxWz</a> ) that he doesn't know what to do anymore about the possibility of the GOP front-runner getting elected but that he doesn't want to live upstairs from someone who backs Trump.</p>
<p>One caller accused Holmes of discrimination, but excluding renters based on their political affiliation isn't prohibited by federal law like barring them based on sex or race.</p>
<p>Holmes' voicemail box was understandably full Monday and he couldn't be reached for further comment.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Colorado landlord: Trump supporters need not apply | false | https://abqjournal.com/743905/colorado-landlord-trump-supporters-need-not-apply.html | 2 |
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<p>With a relatively unpopular Democratic presidential candidate and an even more unlikable Republican one, the narrative surrounding Vice President Joe Biden this year has been that he’s kicking himself for deciding not to run.</p>
<p>“I’m a fan, so go easy on me,” Biden said when he sat down with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Thursday night. That was not going to be a problem. After <a href="" type="internal">ruffling Donald Trump’s hair</a> and <a href="" type="internal">handing literal softballs to Hillary Clinton</a>, Fallon sent Biden off with matching aviator sunglasses and ice cream cones.</p>
<p>Fallon estimated that he’s probably made 347 jokes about Biden, who seemed like an easy target for late-night comedians until Donald Trump came along. The Trump phenomenon has given Biden a chance to rise above the fray, as he demonstrated by reciting an Irish poem by Seamus Heaney to Fallon from memory.</p>
<p>“There’s a stanza in this poem that I think describes where we are now, if we’re smart,” Biden said. “He says, ‘History teaches us not to hope on this side of the grave, but then once in a lifetime, that longed-for tidal wave of justice rises up and hope and history rhyme.’ I really think we’re at that place in American history, if we just have the nerve to seize the moment.”</p>
<p>Without mentioning Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan directly, Biden said, “I wish we would stop talking about what trouble we’re in. We are in a better position than any country in the world to own the 21st century, we really are.”</p>
<p>When Fallon brought up this past week’s presidential debate, Biden crossed himself and said, “Bless me Father, for I’m about to sin.”</p>
<p>“For a while there I thought, I’ve never quite seen anything like that,” Biden said. “I’ve never seen anybody who knew as few facts,” he added, and this is coming from a man who debated Sarah Palin in 2008. As Fallon continued to joke around with the vice president, Biden said, “I’ll be serious for just a second here and maybe that’s dangerous to do on this show.”</p>
<p>“What amazes me about Donald Trump—and he’s probably a decent guy—but it’s his lack of sensibilities,” Biden said. On Trump’s assertion that he was rooting for the housing market to fail, he said, “That’s not business, that’s callous.” On Trump’s admission that paying no taxes makes him “smart,” he said, “What does that make the rest of us? Suckers?”</p>
<p>“Can you think of any president, any president you’ve studied, read about, or knew who would say anything like that?” Biden asked the audience. “Name me one president who would do that. It angers me quite frankly.” He added later, “I mean, just pay your fair share, for God’s sake!”</p>
<p>The vice president said it doesn’t “surprise” him that some people are taking so long to make up their minds on who to vote for, but it does surprise him that Trump got this far in the first place. “I’ve never known of a candidate who knows as little about the world as this man does,” he said. “I don’t even think he understands how much damage he does, by what he’s already said,” Biden added, noting that he has had to travel abroad to assure our allies that NATO will remain intact.</p>
<p>“It’s almost like the guy didn’t really intend to do this,” Biden said, exasperated. “He thought that maybe this was a lark and it will go somewhere and my God, here we go, guys.”</p>
<p>But Biden reserved perhaps his strongest burn for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who this week <a href="" type="internal">struggled to name even one world leader</a>. “He thought Aleppo was a dog food or something,” Biden joked.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>All of this, naturally, brought Biden back to Clinton. “Hillary is one of the brightest people I’ve ever known, has an incredible amount of experience, and I think she’s going to win and I think we’ll be in good hands,” he said. “Look, nobody’s perfect. Everybody, you know, wants the ideal candidate.”</p>
<p>“By the way, I learned how to become the ideal candidate,” Biden added. “Announce you’re not running for president.”</p> | Joe Biden Roasts Trump Over His Taxes on Fallon: ‘Just Pay Your Fair Share’ | true | https://thedailybeast.com/joe-biden-roasts-trump-over-his-taxes-on-fallon-just-pay-your-fair-share | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p>The U.K. government letter formally starting the Brexit process has been received by Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, kicking off two years of negotiations. The letter, which invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, formally states the U.K.'s intention to withdraw from the European Union. It was handed over at lunchtime Wednesday in Brussels after being signed by British Prime Minister Theresa May the day before. "After nine months, the U.K. has delivered," Tusk said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/eucopresident/status/847047933405093892" type="external">post to Twitter Opens a New Window.</a>. Speaking to lawmakers in the House of Commons, May said, "This is a historic moment, and there's no turning back." The pound nudged higher to $1.2468 after the letter's delivery, after dropping to $1.2456 late Tuesday. U.K. stocks stayed 0.3% lower for the session, with the FTSE 100 at 7,332.69.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | EU Receives U.K. Letter Officially Kicking Off Brexit Talks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/29/eu-receives-uk-letter-officially-kicking-off-brexit-talks.html | 2017-03-29 | 0 |
<p>A Norwegian company thinks it can squeeze enough electricity out of the natural phenomenon of osmosis to power China. Right now the company’s plant can barely heat a tea kettle, but officials hope to power a village in a few years, and a lot more after that.</p>
<p>It works by separating seawater and freshwater with a membrane through which only the freshwater can move. The salty water pulls freshwater through, creating enough pressure to turn a turbine.</p>
<p>There’s a lot working against this. Did we mention it can barely heat a tea kettle at the moment? But if someone can figure it out, the technology is very promising in terms of environmental friendliness. It’s clean and renewable without the weather dependencies of wind and solar power.</p>
<p>And the Earth is just lousy with seawater — although one wonders where all this fresh water is supposed to come from. That’s been a major <a href="" type="internal">obstacle</a> for other renewable energy plants. — PZS</p>
<p />
<p>Press release and video <a href="http://www.statkraft.com/energy-sources/osmotic-power/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>BBC via <a href="http://www.engadget.com/" type="external">Engadget</a>:</p>
<p>At first it will produce a minuscule 4 kilowatts – enough to heat a large electric kettle.</p>
<p>But by 2015 the target is 25 megawatts – the same as a small wind farm.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8377186.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | New Kind of Power Plant Gets Energy From Salt Water | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/new-kind-of-power-plant-gets-energy-from-salt-water/ | 2009-11-26 | 4 |
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<p>A strange-looking bird with dark plumage showed up at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge this month to join the tens of thousands of cranes and geese that spend the winter in the Rio Grande Valley.</p>
<p>The problem: No one knows exactly what kind of bird it is.</p>
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<p>The debate has spread from the refuge’s fields and wetlands onto Facebook, where guesses have ranged from some kind of mutant to a Thanksgiving turkey disguised as a crane for self-preservation. Birding experts from New York to California continued studying photographs of the bird Thursday, spurring even more theories.</p>
<p>The refuge posted a photograph of the bird on its Facebook page this week, sparking dozens of comments. Aside from the disguised turkey and oil-slicked bird theories, some suggested it could be a hybrid between a crane and an emu or a trumpeter.</p>
<p>It could be a sandhill crane that has come down with a feather-staining fungal infection.</p>
<p>Or maybe he — or she — has a genetic disorder that results in too much melanin production.</p>
<p>“It’s different. It’s got to be a hybrid-cross more than likely, but what, we don’t know,” Refuge Manager Aaron Mize said in a phone interview.</p>
<p>Members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Team Sapsucker — known as some of the best birders anywhere, they hold the U.S. record for finding the most bird species in 24 hours — say it’s a sandhill crane.</p>
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<p>“We can’t say why it’s colored so differently, but we can be certain about species anyway,” said Pat Leonard, a spokesman for the Cornell lab.</p>
<p>Other bird-watchers have reported seeing birds with similar coloring in wintering areas in California and along the Platte River in Nebraska. Some experts have said breeding birds have been known to preen mud into their feathers, resulting in the unusual colors.</p>
<p>The refuge said Thursday a closer look at the bird through a spotting scope called into question at least one theory — that it had a case of feather-munching mites.</p>
<p>The only way to determine with certainty is to capture it so blood, tissue and feather samples can be taken and DNA tests runs. But managers at Bosque del Apache say it’s not worth stressing out the bird for the sake of answering what amounts to a trivia question.</p>
<p>“Whatever it is, it’s doing what a bird does. It looks healthy and happy, so we’ll leave it alone,” Mize said. “We probably won’t ever know, but it’s fun to speculate. It gets people excited. It’s interesting. It’s a curiosity, and that’s how we’ll treat it.”</p>
<p>The bird showed up about a week before the refuge’s annual crane festival, which draws thousands of bird-watchers from across the country. It stood out against the sea of gray sandhill cranes and white snow geese.</p>
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<p>The bird is both shorter and skinnier than a lesser sandhill crane. The muscle structure of its legs appears to be different and so does its body shape, but Mize said its bill is crane-like.</p>
<p>When cranes fold their wings, their feathers drape over their rear ends in that classic crane-like flow. Not so much with this mystery bird.</p>
<p>“He’s goofy-looking,” Mize said.</p>
<p>The cranes that spend the winter at Bosque del Apache come from as far away as the western coastline of Alaska. Mize said that doesn’t mean some rare bird can’t hop a thermal and find its way to the refuge.</p>
<p>“Birds from all over the world can — and they do — show up in weird places, because it’s the nature of birds. They can fly,” Mize said. “This one is just a little different.”</p> | Mystery Bird at the Bosque | false | https://abqjournal.com/150050/mystery-bird-at-the-bosque.html | 2012-11-29 | 2 |
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<p>In 1982, after graduating from Harvard with a degree in native economic development, Winona LaDuke packed her bags and moved to White Earth, the ancestral lands of the Anishinabeg (Ojibwe) people, located in a poor rural county of northern Minnesota. “The thing about being an Indian person,” explains LaDuke, who grew up on the West Coast with her Anishinabekwe father and Jewish mother, “is that you feel most at home with your own people.”</p>
<p>LaDuke took a job as principal of the local reservation high school, but quickly found herself involved with a lawsuit to recover lands promised to the Anishinabeg people by an 1867 federal treaty. When the case was dismissed four years later, she founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project to continue efforts to regain lost lands. Over 90 percent of the original 837,000 acres are in the hands of non-Indians. Using grants and a $20,000 human rights prize from Reebok, the group so far has bought back 1,000 acres and hopes to acquire 30,000 more in the next 15 years.</p>
<p>Still, LaDuke, 36, has encountered local resistance. When people from the Land Recovery Project recently blockaded a lumber truck used in clear-cutting, the tribal council let the driver use reservation roads to get out.</p>
<p>Although the tribal chairman and two other tribal officials are now facing 44 separate federal indictments for election fraud, mail fraud, embezzlement, and bribery, LaDuke doesn’t ignore them. “I need to deal with them because it affects other people where I live.” It’s the same with the power structure in any community, she says. “You’ve got to take them on and change them. You’ve also got to build an alternative to show people.”</p>
<p>What keeps her going, in part, is the intergenerational nature of Native American organizing. “We tell our stories to the children. It’s incumbent on us to offer oral history because no one else will,” says LaDuke, the mother of two. “We make sure the kids are part of everything. In most of America, it seems you don’t matter if you’re not between 25 and 50.”</p>
<p>Traditional Anishinabekwe religion is LaDuke’s other source of power and sustenance. “Spirituality is the foundation of all my political work. In many of the progressive movements in this country, religion carries a lot of baggage. But I think that’s changing. You can’t dismiss the significance of Eastern religions, earth-based religions, and Western religions on political work today. What we all need to do is find the wellspring that keeps us going, that gives us the strength and patience to keep up this struggle for a long time.”</p>
<p /> | Celebrating Hellraisers: Winona LaDuke | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/1996/01/celebrating-hellraisers-winona-laduke/ | 2018-01-01 | 4 |
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<p>Giulio Regeni</p>
<p>Giulio Regeni, an Italian who completed the international baccalaureate school’s two-year program in 2007, was murdered in Egypt about 16 months ago. His body was found in a ditch on Feb. 2, 2016, nine days after he had disappeared. Regeni was a doctoral student at Cambridge University in England and was in Cairo for academic research on trade unions since the fall of former strongman president Hosni Mubarak.</p>
<p>The body showed evidence of torture – broken ribs, burns and cuts. The Italian interior minister said last year that an Italian autopsy indicated that Regeni, 28, suffered “inhuman, animal-like, unacceptable violence” before he died.</p>
<p>The murder and the Egyptian government’s continued failure to bring anybody to justice in the case – and suggestions that the government had a role in Regeni’s death or a cover-up – has become a cause célèbre, not only in Italy, but also around the world, straining relations between Italy and Egypt.</p>
<p>Mourners attend a vigil for slain Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, in front of the Italian embassy in Cairo, Egypt. (Amr Nabil/Associated Press)</p>
<p>The case made international headlines again just last month when Regeni’s parents called on Pope Francis to seek information about the killing of their son from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during a papal visit to Cairo.</p>
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<p>Apparently, the pope did as requested, telling reporters during his flight back to Rome: “… From the Holy See, I have looked into this situation, also because Giulio’s parents asked me to do so. The Holy See has taken some steps. I will not say how or where, but we have taken some steps.”</p>
<p>The UWC-USA in Montezuma, founded in 1982 by industrialist and philanthropist Armand Hammer and part of a global system of schools in 17 countries, is now doing its part for the campaign that Amnesty International launched under the banner “Veritá per Giulio Regeni” – Truth for Giulio Regeni.</p>
<p>In his honor, UWC-USA has created The Giulio Regeni Alumni Award.</p>
<p>Jose-Pablo Salas Rojas, the college’s associate director of alumni relations, said the award is intended to recognize alumni who have displayed “their power to make a difference through the same kind of commitment and humanity” demonstrated by Regeni, and “whose accomplishments, affiliations and professional career honor the UCW mission.”</p>
<p>The Montezuma Castle of the United World College is about five miles outside Las Vegas, New Mexico. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>That mission includes bringing together students from around the world to use education as “a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.” UWC-USA has about 250 students and its incoming class represents 99 nationalities.</p>
<p>Salas Rojas, from Costa Rica, is a 2006 graduate of UCW-USA, a year ahead of Regeni, whom he got to know as a student. After his own graduation, Salas Rojas visited Regeni in his northern Italy home town of Fiumicello.</p>
<p>“He was a very lively person,” Salas Rojas told me. “He was very curious to learn about people.” Giulio was also enthusiastic about languages and knew Arabic. “He loved Egypt and took many trips there to do his Ph.D.,” said Salas Rojas.</p>
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<p>Regeni had a clownish side, loved cooking and “was an extremely loving human being,” he said. The Italian “was no extrovert, but he would really put himself on the line for anybody.”</p>
<p>“You could rely on him,” Salas Rojas said</p>
<p>“And he really did embody our mission … he took it on himself to carry out education as a force for change.”</p>
<p>Murder mystery</p>
<p>The questions about Regeni’s death start with the date of his disappearance after a routine text to his girlfriend – Jan. 25, 2016, the fifth anniversary of the commemorative date for the Egyptian revolution that brought huge crowds to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and led to Mubarak’s downfall.</p>
<p>Critics say the current Sisi government has cracked down on past anniversary gatherings and that police had been conducting raids to intimidate anyone planning to demonstrate in 2016. And unions – the topic of Regeni’s research – had helped spur the 2011 revolution.</p>
<p>Also, Regeni had written an article about a public trade union meeting in which he called the Sisi government “repressive” and said that “the fact that there are popular and spontaneous initiatives that break the wall of fear is significant and represent in and of themselves an important push for change, ” according to the British newspaper The Guardian.</p>
<p>Reuters has reported that, when he disappeared, Regeni was picked up by police, then taken to a Homeland Security compound, which the Egyptian government denies. The news service’s Cairo bureau chief had to leave the country after being threatened with prosecution. The New York Times quoted a witness who described seeing Regeni taken away by security officers and an official who said, “They figured he was a spy. After all, who comes to Egypt to study trade unions?”</p>
<p>Press accounts indicate that various murder theories floated by Egyptian officials – that Regeni was killed in a road accident, by a kidnapping gang or during a drug deal or a crime of passion – have fallen apart, and note that his case fits in with numerous instances of people disappearing while in custody of the Egyptian authorities. His murder has also been characterized internationally as an attack on academic freedom.</p>
<p>Recent developments</p>
<p>There has been no let up in debate over the case as the Italian government continues to press for more information. About a month ago, the office of Egypt’s prosecutor-general announced that it had handed over files and records in the case requested in March by a Rome prosecutor.</p>
<p>There’s even a new report in which an Egyptian tycoon suggests some other country interested in isolating Egypt is behind the murder. One quote from the interview: “Do you know what it means to have half a million Italian tourists disappear?” But Salas Rojas said, “It’s a clear human rights case at many levels.”</p>
<p>Giulio Regeni hugs Yolisa Nalule-Forster, from Uganda, when they were students at United World College in Montezuma, N.M. (Courtesy of UWC)</p>
<p>The first Giulio Regeni Alumni Award was given out at May’s graduation ceremony in Montezuma to alumnus Bhushan Tuladhar of Nepal, a leader in his country’s environmental movement and chief technical advisor for South Asia for UN-Habitat’s Urban Basic Services Branch, a United Nations program.</p>
<p>Salas Rojas said naming the award after Regeni is “a very small contribution to keep the spotlight on his case.”</p>
<p>“It’s the simplest thing we can do to keep the campaign alive.”</p>
<p /> | UWC-USA graduate’s death still a mystery | false | https://abqjournal.com/1018646/united-world-college-grads-murder-in-egypt-spurs-global-campaign.html | 2017-06-16 | 2 |
<p>SLIDELL, La. (AP) — Police in Louisiana are looking for a man accused of stealing a personal truck belonging to a firefighter.</p>
<p>Slidell police identified the man who stole the fireman's truck as 30-year-old Zarius Brown.</p>
<p>Nola.com/The Times-Picayune <a href="http://www.nola.com/northshore/index.ssf/2018/01/police_seek_suspect_in_theft_o.html" type="external">reports</a> that police say the firefighter discovered the truck had been stolen after returning to the station in Slidell following a service call on Nov. 8.</p>
<p>Police say Brown was later found to be selling parts of the stolen truck on social media sites.</p>
<p>The truck has not been recovered and is believed to have been broken down into several different parts and pieces.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Times-Picayune, <a href="http://www.nola.com" type="external">http://www.nola.com</a></p>
<p>SLIDELL, La. (AP) — Police in Louisiana are looking for a man accused of stealing a personal truck belonging to a firefighter.</p>
<p>Slidell police identified the man who stole the fireman's truck as 30-year-old Zarius Brown.</p>
<p>Nola.com/The Times-Picayune <a href="http://www.nola.com/northshore/index.ssf/2018/01/police_seek_suspect_in_theft_o.html" type="external">reports</a> that police say the firefighter discovered the truck had been stolen after returning to the station in Slidell following a service call on Nov. 8.</p>
<p>Police say Brown was later found to be selling parts of the stolen truck on social media sites.</p>
<p>The truck has not been recovered and is believed to have been broken down into several different parts and pieces.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Times-Picayune, <a href="http://www.nola.com" type="external">http://www.nola.com</a></p> | Police ID man in theft of firefighter's personal truck | false | https://apnews.com/amp/1fed396a8ed841b0bbc7d590d6b085d1 | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>New <a href="http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/02/03/gallup_obama_clinton_statistically_tied_in_national_poll.html" type="external">polls</a> show Barack Obama closing in on Hillary Clinton’s lead, nationally, in California and among women voters, which may be why either the Clinton campaign or some ally is engaging in that unsavory campaign tactic, the <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/breaking-news-p.html" type="external">push poll</a>.</p>
<p>The idea is to phone potential voters pretending to be a pollster, but to use the questions as a form of propaganda to push the voter toward your preferred candidate.</p>
<p>John McCain’s 2000 campaign was famously <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Push_poll" type="external">sunk</a> in South Carolina when mysterious “pollsters” asked voters if they would be “more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?”</p>
<p>If the appearance of Karl Rove politics in the campaign is eventually traced back to Clinton headquarters, it may not shock political observers. Both Clinton’s campaign manager and her husband are said to have <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/08/14/hillary_the_rove_candidate_of.html" type="external">admired</a> Rove’s strategies in the past.</p>
<p />
<p>Los Angeles Times:</p>
<p>But a few minutes into the conversation Ed [one of those who received a push-poll telephone call] says he noticed a strange pattern developing to the questions. First of all, the “pollster” was only asking about four candidates, three Democrats — Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, who was still in the race at the time — and one Republican — John McCain.</p>
<p>Also, every question about Clinton was curiously positive, Coghlan recalls. The caller said things like, if you knew that Sen. Clinton believed the country had a serious home mortgage problem and had made proposals to freeze mortgage rates and save families from foreclosure, would you be more likely or less likely to vote for her?</p>
<p>Ed said, of course, more likely.</p>
<p>Every question about the other candidates was negative. If Ed knew, for instance, that as a state senator Obama had voted “present” 43 times instead of taking a yes or no stand “for what he believed,” would Ed be more or less likely to vote for him?</p>
<p>“That’s when I caught on,” said Coghlan. He realized then that he was being push-polled. That malicious political virus that is designed not to elicit answers but to spread positive information about one candidate and negative information about all others under the guise of an honest poll had arrived in Southern California within days of the important election.</p>
<p><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/breaking-news-p.html" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 'Push Polling' Taints Campaign in California | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/push-polling-taints-campaign-in-california/ | 2008-02-04 | 4 |
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<p>Baby boomers are entering retirement in record numbers and 44 percent of them have concerns about their level of debt, according to a 2014 report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). While concern and responsibility with debt are warranted, one expert argues eliminating all debt is actually a mistake that has led too many retirees to lose the opportunity for what could have been a secure financial future.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Most financial planners agree that carrying debt into retirement is a very dangerous move, one that can risk your financial future and drain your retirement savings. Contrary to this belief, Tom Anderson, author of, “ <a href="http://www.thevalueofdebtinretirement.com" type="external">The Value of Debt in Retirement Opens a New Window.</a>,” says anyone can use debt strategically to add value to their financial goals -- like many of the nation’s most successful companies and ultra-high-net-worth individuals do every day.</p>
<p>“Debt is such a huge piece of the economy and our lives but we don't study or talk about it, so what happens is there are many people who tend to have way too much debt or they’re completely debt-averse and they don't have any debt at all,” says Anderson.&#160; “I think very few people are in the optimal middle target zone and being strategic about it.”</p>
<p>Anderson, a wealth management advisor, discussed with me how the right kind of debt can help complement one’s assets. His book offers a bold point-of-view on debt as being a strategic asset in the management of individual and family wealth.</p>
<p>Boomer:&#160; What kinds of assets should one have in order to make debt work to his or her advantage?</p>
<p>Anderson:&#160; Eighty percent of America does not have $100,000 in liquid, investible assets – stocks, bonds, things you can buy and sell quickly and easily. Something has to be wrong with our education and our system if we’re one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but eighty percent of America doesn’t have liquidity.</p>
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<p>When you get a paycheck the government takes out taxes, Medicare, Social Security, and then you save into your retirement plan and you’re left with cash. Cash is the most precious money for you in your life and in many cases people use it to pay down the wrong debt, putting it into things that aren’t liquid. Taking that money and building up a liquid investment account will give you survivability in bad times especially if you don’t position it in a high risk way.</p>
<p>But you need to have a conservative, diversified account. In my opinion, people should consider a world-neutral approach to asset allocation. History has proven unkind to those who overemphasize their home country. Debt only magnifies your asset allocation strategy. Everything else being equal, a lower-volatility portfolio with debt is better than a high-volatility portfolio with no debt.</p>
<p>Boomer:&#160; Why might rushing to pay off a mortgage before retirement be financially unsound?</p>
<p>Anderson:&#160; My story isn’t that I think debt is good. My story is that I think liquidity is very valuable. It’s flexible. Liquidity will protect you in tough times. A lack of liquidity is what drives you to bankruptcy. I would suggest to you that if you don’t have enough money to pay off all of your house, you might not want to pay off any of it.</p>
<p>Let’s say you’re in a $400,000 home and you have $100,000. You put down the $100,000 on that house and then two months later, you lose your job. You can’t refinance that house because you don’t have a job anymore. You don’t have the liquidity. You actually could find yourself in a situation where you end up going bankrupt. If you keep that $100,000, you still have interest payments on that house. But you also have cash to ride out almost any storm that could come your way. And you can use that cash to start building up your asset pile, all the while, reducing your risk.</p>
<p>Boomer:&#160; How can utilizing a proper debt strategy potentially help to nearly eliminate one’s taxes?</p>
<p>Anderson:&#160; Most people spend more time deciding what TV they’re going to buy than they do trying to figure out our tax code. It’s understandable because our tax code is highly complex. But there are many ultra-high net worth individuals taking advantage of the tax code every year. I simply want to level the playing field and share these same strategies with everyone else.</p>
<p>Think about all the times you’ve had someone prepare your taxes. They take the information you give them and prepare a return based on that information. Rarely do people give you proactive advice on how to reduce your taxes. In most cases, things like mortgage interest are right off the top deductions, not subject to the alternative minimum tax, up to a million dollars. It’s an incredibly powerful tax tool.</p>
<p>Mortgage interest is just one type of debt deduction. Increasing your charitable giving before you’re retired and early in retirement can also have its advantages. And securities based loans have advantages as well. When you take out money from your taxable investments, like stocks and bonds, as millions of Americans do in retirement, you have to pay capital gains tax. But if you choose instead to borrow from that portfolio, you do not have to pay taxes on what you borrow. I recommend that you do not borrow more than 25% of your portfolio, so that should the market drop dramatically you don’t end up in a maintenance call being forced to deposit additional collateral, cash or sell securities held as collateral to bring the account back in to good standing.&#160; I strongly recommend you make these decisions with the help of a financial professional. If you don’t already have a sizable taxable portfolio, you may to consider putting some money into those taxable accounts in addition to your tax-deferred accounts like an IRA or 401(k). Finding the right combination can help you reach the most efficient solution to lower your taxes.</p>
<p>Boomer:&#160; How can one determine his or her optimal debt ratio, or debt “sweet spot”?</p>
<p>Anderson:&#160; This is where I encourage people to think like companies. We’ve all heard the phrase it takes money to make money.&#160; It takes time for companies to profit, but they’re able to do that in large part because they increase the amount of debt that they have over time. As their assets grow, so does their debt. Companies are maximizing value with their optimal debt ratio. People have the ability to do the same thing!</p>
<p>I take the ideas used by companies and make them more conservative for individuals. I’ve found that an optimal debt ratio is typically between 15 and 35%. To calculate your debt ratio is simple – divide your total debt by your total assets.</p>
<p>Take John, a 35-year old doctor who has still has a mountain of student loan debt. But he also has a healthy investment portfolio. He can borrow from that portfolio and pay off the entirety of his student loans.&#160; He still has to pay back what he borrowed, but it’s less than what he was paying before. And he has no required minimum monthly payment. Less money out is more money in. I call it capturing the spread. If you can make more money on the money you borrow than that money costs you, you may be able to be like John and increase your return. He is simply taking the ideas successful companies use every day and making them more conservative for the individual. John is choosing to maintain some debt in order maximize the growth of his assets. As with any strategy, there are risks and you should talk to your financial advisor to help determine what will best suit your specific circumstances.</p>
<p>Boomer:&#160; Other financial advisors advise the exact opposite on a lot of these points —why would you say you are right and your critics are wrong on the value of debt in retirement?</p>
<p>Anderson:&#160; Some of the best ideas have arisen by challenging conventional wisdom. In my twenty years in the industry, I have found it astounding how little information is available about debt for individuals and especially how it relates to retirement.</p>
<p>The mainstream advice is generally geared to people that have a low net worth and/or lack the responsibility to handle debt. I understand that these strategies may not be for everyone, but I think people deserve the opportunity to learn about these ideas and then determine if utilizing a debt strategy might be right for them. I want to empower people to make their own decisions because if used in the right way, debt can be an incredibly powerful tool.</p> | Strategic Debt Can Help in Retirement | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/03/26/strategic-debt-can-help-in-retirement.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>A Democratic state lawmaker on Friday dropped his effort to allow people who are in the country illegally to buy private insurance through the state's health insurance marketplace.</p>
<p>Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, removed language seeking a federal waiver that would allow immigrants to purchase unsubsidized coverage through Covered California.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>His bill, SB4, now would only offer health coverage for immigrant children from low-income families. Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders extended state funding to cover children under 19 in Medi-Cal, the state's health care program for the poor, regardless of their legal status.</p>
<p>California is projected to spend $40 million to begin covering children from low-income families who are in the country illegally. The cost to taxpayers is estimated to increase to $132 million annually once fully implemented.</p>
<p>"For the first time, starting in May 2016, California will provide full-scope Medi-Cal coverage to all kids regardless of their immigration status," Lara said in a statement. "This major victory for the immigrant community is a down payment on achieving true health for all."</p>
<p>Lara said he will continue to push legislation next year to extend coverage to all immigrants regardless of status. California has an estimated 2.5 million residents who are in the country illegally.</p>
<p>The lawmaker plans to do so through another bill, SB10, which seeks to extend Medi-Cal coverage to low-income adults who are in the country illegally. That legislation, to be considered by lawmakers next year, will be amended to include the proposal seeking a waiver for Covered California, according to Lara's office.</p>
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<p>Californians increasingly support extending public health care services to immigrants who are in the country illegally.</p>
<p>According to a survey released by the Field Poll last month, 58 percent of registered California voters supported extending Medi-Cal services to immigrants not currently eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, while 39 percent were opposed.</p>
<p>Immigrants who are in the country illegally are not eligible to buy coverage in exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, even if it's unsubsidized. They are, however, able to buy private health insurance outside the exchanges. Health advocates suggest that changing this would allow families of mixed status to be on one plan.</p> | State senator says he'll continue pushing California health care for all immigrants next year | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/09/04/state-senator-says-hell-continue-pushing-california-health-care-for-all.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
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<p>PENNSAUKEN, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey high school student who hopes to become a funeral director has surprised her classmates by arriving at her prom in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJJTmMWdlg0" type="external">open prop coffin</a> .</p>
<p>Megan Flaherty says she mainly wanted to have fun while attending Pennsauken High School's junior prom Saturday. The 17-year-old says she checked with her date to make sure he had no reservations about her plans.</p>
<p>Flaherty's open coffin slid out of the back a hearse. She then stepped out of the coffin on the hand of her date and smiled as other prom goers looked on in amazement.</p>
<p>Photos and video of Flaherty's entrance have become an online topic.</p>
<p>Many commenters seem to like the entrance, with some joking Flaherty was “drop dead gorgeous.” But others say her actions were insensitive and tasteless.</p>
<p><a href="#3b8d4cd5-4b48-420b-a086-040cdf595416" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Drop dead gorgeous teenage girl shows up for prom in coffin | false | https://abqjournal.com/1000489/drop-dead-gorgeous-teenage-girl-shows-up-for-prom-in-coffin.html | 2017-05-08 | 2 |
<p>Even with all the talk of diversity/inclusion, Hollywood still overlooks people with disabilities, but 2017 offers reasons for hope — both on the awards front and at the box office.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://variety.com/t/oscar/" type="external">Oscar</a> race are such films as “Downsizing,” “Logan,” “The Shape of Water” and “Wonderstruck” as well as “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/wonder/" type="external">Wonder</a>,” starring <a href="http://variety.com/t/julia-roberts/" type="external">Julia Roberts</a>, and “Stronger” with Jake Gyllenhaal. All feature strong depictions of people with disabilities, or PWDs.</p>
<p>The latter two contenders were produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of <a href="http://variety.com/t/mandeville-films/" type="external">Mandeville Films</a>. Last month, “ <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/news/box-office-coco-justice-league-wonder-2-1202629084/" type="external">Wonder</a>” surpassed B.O. expectations with a $27.5 million opening weekend and it has now passed $100 million. The Lionsgate release centers on a boy with facial differences (Jacob Tremblay); “Stronger” is about the real-life adjustments of Jeff Bauman after the Boston Marathon bombings.</p>
<p>Lieberman and Hoberman say it wasn’t a game plan to release three films about outsiders in one year — they also produced the year’s biggest earner, “Beauty and the Beast” — but they learned a lot while making those films.</p>
<p>They also were touched by attending the Media Access Awards on Nov. 17 (the day “Wonder” opened), when they were presented with the key Producers Guild of America award for their work.</p>
<p>The Media Access Awards, a joint effort of various Hollywood guilds, salute companies and individuals for Hollywood’s (rare) positive work. Lieberman says the awards were “really emotional and inspiring.”</p>
<p>Hoberman adds, “Getting that award was very powerful for Todd and me. We’ve had our eyes opened.” The two vow to use PWDs in future works, both behind the camera or in front of it. They also are inspired to help raise awareness within the industry: “This reflects life and the world as it is,” says Hoberman.</p>
<p>Since it launched in 1995, Mandeville has produced varied film and TV works, from “The Fighter” to the Sandra Bullock’s “The Proposal.” Getting a movie made is never easy, but Lieberman says “Stronger” and “Wonder” were a special challenge.</p>
<p>“There was resistance to both of those movies; they’re not conventional studio fare,” they say. But the talent involved helped both films get made. And the positive reaction to both, and the B.O. for “Wonder,” offer proof that there is an audience (and possibly <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/news/december-movies-overcrowding-box-office-oscar-1202626589/" type="external">Oscar</a> attention) for these topics.</p>
<p>The producers agree that Hollywood is not building a wall to shut out PWDs; as Lieberman says, “People aren’t adverse — they just don’t think about it.”</p>
<p>The U.S. Census says 12.6% (39.9 million people) are living “with an apparent disability.” Some estimates put the total as high as 20%. Numbers vary because the term disabilities covers a broad spectrum of physical and mental conditions. It’s complicated because there are degrees in each: The public is beginning to understand “autism spectrum,” but there are also spectrums for deafness and blindness, for example.</p>
<p>Representation in films and TV is pathetically low. According to GLAAD, the number of regular characters with disabilities last year on TV series was 1.7%. Movie representation is even worse.</p>
<p>At the Media Access Awards, Haben Girma, the first deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law School, stressed the importance of Hollywood’s depiction of PWDs, “which show us as we are, and how people perceive us.”</p>
<p>Are you listening, Hollywood?</p> | Mandeville Films Immersed in a World of ‘Wonder’ | false | https://newsline.com/mandeville-films-immersed-in-a-world-of-wonder/ | 2017-12-06 | 1 |
<p>FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank supervisor Daniele Nouy defended a plan to require banks to hold bigger provisions against new non-performing loans but highlighted the ECB’s flexibility in enforcing the controversial proposal.</p>
<p>The ECB has come under fire in recent weeks, particularly in Italy, for setting blanket rules on how much money banks should set aside for new unpaid loans.</p>
<p>Hoping the defuse the tension, Nouy has already said the proposal may be refined and delayed, although she argued that the move is still seen as necessary.</p>
<p>“We have firm expectations on this, which we have now spelled out,” Nouy told a conference in Frankfurt. “But to be clear: what I am talking about here are supervisory expectations.”</p>
<p>European lawmakers have criticized the plan because its sets blanket rules for institutions, which they argued was outside the supervisor’s power.</p>
<p>But Nouy said the provisioning rules are not binding and that the ECB would exercise case-by-case flexibility, and thus it was within its powers.</p>
<p>“There are no automatic actions attached to them,” she said. “Our guidance provides the basis for a structured dialogue with each individual bank,” Nouy said.</p>
<p>“Some banks need to do more to address their non performing loan problem,” she said. “We need to assess it on a case-by-case basis and find the appropriate solution for each bank.”</p>
<p>The guidelines, published as an “addendum” to previous documents, give banks seven years to provide for credit backed by collateral and two years for unsecured debt.</p>
<p>The ECB is also due to draft guidelines by March for existing soured credit, a much bigger issue at about 800 billion euros.</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> | ECB's Nouy highlights flexibility in soured loan plan | false | https://newsline.com/ecb039s-nouy-highlights-flexibility-in-soured-loan-plan/ | 2017-11-24 | 1 |
<p>This week, NBC News will launch a special series "Forgotten? Syria's Children of War." The live documentary will unfold on Tuesday and Wednesday, following the lives of Syrian children over 48 hours on <a href="" type="internal">NBCNews.com</a>, TODAY, and Nightly News.</p>
<p>Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman is filing a daily report from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, sharing the stories of the innocent casualties of Syria's civil war:</p>
<p>We woke early on our first day in Lebanon, driving east from Beirut into the Bekaa Valley to the refugee camp where we would meet the children of Syria. The small city of tents is made of plastic and concrete and kept as neat as possible, but on a rainy day like today, nothing can stop the mud from coursing through the concrete channels of the camp and sticking to every shoe and pant leg.</p>
<p>Mud isn't the worst of it. Another huge problem is waste disposal. Without a formal way to deal with trash, it ends up thrown into pits — potentially attracting flies or other vermin.</p>
<p>This is a way of life for these Syrian refugees and their children. There are over 5 million Syrian children affected by the conflict in their home country and nearly 500,000 of those children now live as refugees in Lebanon. This particular camp, Fadya 1, houses 550 people in 80 tents.</p>
<p>When we arrived, we were shown around the camp by workers who staff the clinic and help manage the camp. As soon as we stepped into the medical clinic, Khadija, a 10-year-old girl with streaks of blond in her braid, was led into clinic. Her problem? Her blood sugar was reportedly off the charts at 400. [A normal blood sugar reading two hours after eating is less than 140 mg/dl.]</p>
<p>Once the medical staff addressed her problem, she shyly confided that she knew what she wanted to be when she grew up: a doctor. Beyond dealing with medical complaints like this one, the medical clinic is also responsible for providing care to pregnant women and distributing vaccines.</p>
<p>We were able to see this program in action as several children were given their third dose of polio vaccine. The vaccine is given as drops and fed right into the child's mouth. To keep track of these doses, the children's thumbs are smeared with black ink after they get their vaccines as a way to mark who has already received the latest dose.</p>
<p>And so far, the program appears to be working. According to Tarek, the worker from UNICEF who dispensed the vaccines, there have been no cases of polio so far in the camp. Why is there such concern? Polio, a disease that has been mostly eradicated in most of the world, returned in Syria in October of 2013. Overall, vaccination coverage rates across Syria have fallen from 91 percent in 2010 to just 68 percent in 2012 — and the number today is likely to be even lower.</p>
<p>First in line for his dose of polio vaccine was 4-year-old Yusef. Small for his age but with a quick smile, Yusef pulled up his sleeve to reveal horrific burn scars.</p>
<p>Leaving the camp, we were flanked with children young and old eager for a chance to show off their English phrases. "Good afterNOON" they chorused again and again, pushing a shoving each other good-naturedly.</p>
<p>But despite their smiles, many of these children had chilling stories to tell. Of family members killed in the conflict, of being pulled out of school, of leaving the only home they have ever known to live in a city of tents. The conflict has had devastating consequences for the health and well being of Syria's children both at home and those forced to live as refugees.</p>
<p>We will chronicle these remarkable children and bring you their stories for the next three days.</p>
<p>Stanford/NBC News Global Health Media Fellow Hayley Goldbach contributed to this dispatch. Follow the "Forgotten? Syria's Children of War" series with the hashtag #SyriasChildren.</p> | Dr. Nancy Snyderman: Smiles Amid Tragedy in Refugee Camp | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/syrias-children/dr-nancy-snyderman-smiles-amid-tragedy-refugee-camp-n48581 | 2014-03-10 | 3 |
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<p>ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico State Police sergeant has been released from the hospital after being treated, and a suspect is dead following a shootout along a highway in southeastern New Mexico.</p>
<p>State police spokesman Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez says the shooting happened Monday following a four-mile chase along U.S. 285 south of Roswell.</p>
<p>Gutierrez says the suspect began shooting at officers and Chaves County deputies after his vehicle was stopped by spike strips.</p>
<p>Gutierrez says the state police sergeant who was shot is being evaluated at a local hospital. At about 5:45 p.m. Monday, Gutierrez reported that the officer had been released from the hospital.</p>
<p>The suspect was struck during the shootout and has died from his injuries.</p>
<p>Gutierrez says the pursuit began after a state police sergeant spotted a woman along the highway. The woman said her significant other was up the road. When the sergeant came upon the man and activated her emergency lights, he drove away.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | State Police sergeant injured in shootout with suspect | false | https://abqjournal.com/285734/nm-officer-injured-in-shootout-with-suspect.html | 2013-10-21 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>The Detroit automaker will make the announcement Tuesday morning. The investment is part of the normal process of equipping factories to build new models, and it’s been planned for months, the person told The Associated Press. The person didn’t want to be identified because the announcement hasn’t been made yet.</p>
<p>Multiple factories will get part of the money, but GM does not plan to state where the new jobs will go, according to the person. The company plans to use the announcement to tout both blue-collar and white-collar U.S. jobs it has created in recent years, the person said.</p>
<p>The announcement comes after President-elect Donald Trump has attacked GM and other automakers for building vehicles in Mexico and shipping them to the U.S.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Trump threatened on Twitter to tax GM for importing the compact Chevrolet Cruze. While GM builds hatchback Cruzes in Mexico, most Cruze sales are Ohio-built sedans.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On the eve of the Detroit auto show press days last week, GM CEO Mary Barra said the company has no plans to change where it produces small cars due to Trump’s threats.</p>
<p>Barra said the auto business has long lead times for where it produces vehicles, with decisions are made two to four years ahead.</p>
<p>Barra, who is part of a Trump economic advisory group, said it’s too early to talk about a possible tariff. She said the company has more in common with Trump’s goals on trade and jobs than differences.</p> | AP Source: GM to announce $1B factory investment, new jobs | false | https://abqjournal.com/929117/ap-source-gm-to-announce-1b-factory-investment-new-jobs.html | 2017-01-17 | 2 |
<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials plan to crack down on thousands of “dead” drivers.</p>
<p>A new law taking effect Monday will require the Department of Motor Vehicles to increase its oversight of the disabled placard program, including searching the Social Security Administration’s “death file” and canceling placards issued to drivers who are now deceased, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article191868394.html" type="external">The Sacramento Bee reported</a> .</p>
<p>The blue placards let drivers park for free at on-street parking meters or in spots designated with blue signs conveniently located near building entrances.</p>
<p>A state audit last year found more than 26,000 Californians over age 100 had disabled placards. But there are only about 8,000 centenarians in California and most no longer drive.</p>
<p>State officials say many of those cards are now used by family members or friends of the original holders. Other cards have been purchased illegally.</p>
<p>“This is depriving legitimate disabled people from using the spaces, and to some extent people build animosity toward the disabled community when they see that,” Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill of San Mateo told the newspaper.</p>
<p>The new law requires placard holders to renew them every six years and provide proof of their name and date of birth by submitting documents approved by the DMV. That replaces automatic two-year renewal.</p>
<p>Auditors estimated that several hundred thousand of the state’s 3 million placards are likely being used improperly.</p>
<p>The DMV has tripled its placard abuse citations in the past three years, from 526 in 2013-14 to 1,625 citations in 2016-17.</p>
<p>Pat McConahey, spokeswoman for Disability Rights California, called the placards “a crucial right” for those with disabilities, including some that may not be obvious.</p>
<p>“It allows people with disabilities to move around the community like everyone else,” she said of the placards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Sacramento Bee, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external">http://www.sacbee.com</a></p>
<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials plan to crack down on thousands of “dead” drivers.</p>
<p>A new law taking effect Monday will require the Department of Motor Vehicles to increase its oversight of the disabled placard program, including searching the Social Security Administration’s “death file” and canceling placards issued to drivers who are now deceased, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article191868394.html" type="external">The Sacramento Bee reported</a> .</p>
<p>The blue placards let drivers park for free at on-street parking meters or in spots designated with blue signs conveniently located near building entrances.</p>
<p>A state audit last year found more than 26,000 Californians over age 100 had disabled placards. But there are only about 8,000 centenarians in California and most no longer drive.</p>
<p>State officials say many of those cards are now used by family members or friends of the original holders. Other cards have been purchased illegally.</p>
<p>“This is depriving legitimate disabled people from using the spaces, and to some extent people build animosity toward the disabled community when they see that,” Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill of San Mateo told the newspaper.</p>
<p>The new law requires placard holders to renew them every six years and provide proof of their name and date of birth by submitting documents approved by the DMV. That replaces automatic two-year renewal.</p>
<p>Auditors estimated that several hundred thousand of the state’s 3 million placards are likely being used improperly.</p>
<p>The DMV has tripled its placard abuse citations in the past three years, from 526 in 2013-14 to 1,625 citations in 2016-17.</p>
<p>Pat McConahey, spokeswoman for Disability Rights California, called the placards “a crucial right” for those with disabilities, including some that may not be obvious.</p>
<p>“It allows people with disabilities to move around the community like everyone else,” she said of the placards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Sacramento Bee, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external">http://www.sacbee.com</a></p> | California cracks down on improper use of disabled placards | false | https://apnews.com/bdf3998a9ca2480dbd222401576e9bac | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>Marco Rubio knew he was on center stage with all eyes upon him searching for any potential gotchas. Then near two thirds of his speech he did it. He created a Twitter/Facebook moment. Could it have been contrived to ensure a gullible media concentrated on a manufactured “gaffe” instead of an old and tired repetitive speech of ideas rejected by the voting citizens three months ago? One can never know for sure. Given the Jindal experience it is rather likely.</p>
<p>If one bases the rebuttal of the President’s speech on a false premise that is diametrically opposed to what the speech was about, it makes the rebuttal at best disingenuous if not outright false.</p>
<p>Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity.</p>
<p>But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems. That the economic downturn happened because our government didn’t tax enough, spend enough and control enough. And, therefore, as you heard tonight, his solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.</p>
<p>This idea – that our problems were caused by a government that was too small – it’s just not true. In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies.</p>
<p>And the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers – that’s an old idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried.</p>
<p>His entire speech is encapsulated in the above multitude of lies. The president has never spoken about government being too small. He has spoken about right sizing government for the job and not right sizing to ensure the hoarding of capital by the real takers in our society, those that manipulate capital without a real day’s work.</p>
<p>It is ludicrous to assert that the economy was brought down by reckless government policies as opposed to a deficit in government regulations, that allowed the bankers to decimate the world’s economies for the gain of a few. It was the bankers, the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/finance/financialmarkets/41942872.pdf" type="external">private sector that created financial instruments like CDS and CDOs to get around government regulations</a>. Many of these unregulated instruments (derivatives) had no assets backing them and when one collapsed, the world economy fell like a house of cards.</p>
<p>To imply that more taxes on the wealthy from the current low rates and spending on programs to enhance education, research, and the like do not help the middle class is to forget that the past is prologue. He should remember programs like the GI Bill, Social Security, `and other programs that provably were the catalyst to moving many into the middle class. Maybe Rubio should read <a href="" type="internal">Roosevelt’s 2nd bill of rights</a>, an unrealized hope that America’s middle class should force politicians to effect.</p>
<p>Rubio said Obamacare was a failure. Maybe he should ask all those that had pre-existing conditions that now have insurance. Maybe he should ask those who are waiting for October 1st to jump into a healthcare exchange where their application cannot be denied. Maybe he should talk to those who were on the verge of bankruptcy because of either rescissions of their policies or reaching the cap on their policies. Maybe he should remember that for all the years his party was in control, they had no major legislation on healthcare except for an unpaid budget busting drug program in an attempt to win the vote of the elderly.</p>
<p>Rubio was supportive of immigration in this speech. Votes are what are important in politics. When <a href="http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/theres-a-benedict-arnold-feeling-latinos-say-of-senator-rubios-no-vote/7834/" type="external">he had the opportunity to vote for the Dream Act, he voted NO</a>; family values anyone?</p>
<p>Rubio continued to pound by stating that if one disagreed with the president he accused them of wanting to protect the rich. If the policies that one supports protects one class the, the rich, at the detriment of the other, the poor and middle class, then facts and outcomes are probative.</p>
<p>Rubio in his speech, and Republicans in general, have been continuously pushing the tenet of growing out of deficits and lowering taxes will enhance growth. Unfortunately Bush’s very low taxes did not improve our economy. Reagan’s low taxes occurred with exploding deficits and large military expenditures, a Keynesian boost to the economy. George HW Bush/Bill Clinton tax increases did return both economic growth and fiscal sanity. There are specific reasons for this beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that the marginal propensity to consume of the masses is larger than on the wealthy, and taxing the wealthy to prevent taxing the middle class more increases overall economic activity with a government that does less borrowing.</p>
<p>There was nothing else of material value in Rubio’s speech other than boilerplate cliché’s that have no basis in fact or act. The speech rebutted a speech President Obama did not give. His speech presented generalities without real world implementations. His bottle water moment was necessary to deflect examination of his speech that was nothing more than the rehash of an ideology that has never worked, an ideology that has been systematically killing the middle class.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/EgbertoWilliescom/181893712536" type="external">LIKE My Facebook Page</a></p> | Marco Rubio’s Speech: Forget The Water Bottle. It’s The Middle Class Killing Policies | true | http://egbertowillies.com/2013/02/13/marco-rubios-speech-forget-the-water-bottle-its-the-middle-class-killing-policies/?fb_source%3Dpubv1 | 2013-02-13 | 4 |
<p>When I started investing, I made some pretty serious mistakes, and I lost almost all the money I had put in the stock market.That painful loss broke down my preconceived notions about how Wall Street experts invest and instead left me open to a powerful lesson about the simplicity of investing.Peter Lynch once famously said: "Invest in what you know." And while it's not quite as easy as looking at your sneakers and buyingNike, the fact is that each of us has an area (or possibly many areas!) of expertise -- and we can leverage those to make great investments in fantastic companies.</p>
<p>Here's how.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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<p>Michael Douglass: A lot of people think that investing is really complicated and that it's basically almost impossible to do unless you have some special degree in it. As a result, they never invest. I was one of these people for a very long time. Actually, my very first investment was in a dry bulk shipper, which, if you don't know what that is -- I still don't know what that is. It was not a good investment. It's down about 95% from when I originally bought it. But I am so lucky in a lot of ways. That was my first investment because it taught me a really important lesson. A lesson that legendary investor Peter Lynch has long said, which is that you should invest in what you know. What that means in this case is, it's not that you can just walk into a store, order a coffee, love the coffee, buy the stock, make a million bucks.</p>
<p>What it does mean, though, is that everyone's an expert in something. You may not know everything about the tech space. You may not know anything about dry bulk shippers. You may not know anything about oil companies. But you're a customer of a lot of companies. What's more, you also work in an industry. Because you're a customer or because you work in that industry, you know something about that industry. About who's winning and who's losing. Who you're choosing to put your time and your money toward and who you aren't. Who's doing the best practices and who isn't. That is a very powerful thing that you can apply to make sure that you're investing smart and that you're growing your portfolio over time. That's something we really believe in here at The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>Here at The Motley Fool, we love answering questions. If you have any, send us an email at <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>. Thanks, and Fool on.</p>
<p>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> | The Best Investing Advice I've Ever Heard | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/24/best-investing-advice-ive-ever-heard.html | 2017-03-24 | 0 |
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<p>A team of doctors quickly gathered around his cot. “What happened to you?” one of the men asked.</p>
<p>“I have no idea. I was bleeding on one side,” the boy said. He didn’t make another sound, lying motionless as a doctor put an IV into his arm. His eyes were wide and pupils dilated.</p>
<p>Oday was hit in the side of his head with a stray bullet as he was waiting in line to gather water from a well in eastern Mosul. Two other young men waiting with him were also shot. Dr. Ahmed Hussam methodically tended to Oday’s wounds. “He’s in shock,” he explained.</p>
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<p>While Iraqi forces announce daily advances, the city’s civilians continue to be killed and maimed by indirect fire, clashes and counterattacks.</p>
<p>The Mosul front line in the city’s east is being pushed forward in two columns: one led by the Iraqi army’s 9th Division and the other by the special forces. In some places, Iraqi forces are just over two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Tigris River that splits the city. But along the main highway that cuts through the center of Mosul’s eastern half, Iraqi forces have made hardly any advances at all.</p>
<p>The jagged edge leaves troops vulnerable to counterattacks, but also thousands of civilians exposed to ongoing clashes as the operation slowly grinds forward.</p>
<p>Oday was shot in al-Zahra, a neighborhood declared liberated nearly a month ago. Since then, Iraqi forces have captured nearly half a dozen other neighborhoods and districts, but have not managed to completely secure al-Zahra so that aid groups and supply trucks can access the hundreds of civilians still living there.</p>
<p>“This is nothing,” whispered one of the nurses in the emergency room where Oday was being treated. “We have people who come in here without any arms or legs,” she said, asking to only be identified by her first name, Malkiya, out of concern for her safety.</p>
<p>Doctors in the small clinic in eastern Mosul say that since the operation to retake the city began nearly two months ago, they’ve only received intermittent deliveries of supplies. Nurses say they’re running out of basic items like clean bandages. In a hallway that’s been converted into an emergency room, doctors say all they have are bottles of saline solution, gauze and iodine. Like nearly all of Mosul, the clinic also lacks running water.</p>
<p>Hundreds of other patients also filled the dim hallways waiting for antibiotics, cough syrup, allergy medicine or insulin. A woman and her three daughters said they walked 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) across a front line to reach the clinic to obtain antibiotics. Since the operation to retake Mosul began, temperatures have dropped and, without electricity or fuel, her children have all gotten sick.</p>
<p>The women spoke on condition of anonymity as they were still living in a Mosul neighborhood controlled by IS. “We have no protection,” the mother said, walking inside the examination room and lifting the black veil she wore to travel to the clinic. He youngest daughter screamed as the nurse gave her an immunization shot.</p>
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<p>During the first few battles of the Mosul operation, IS fighters largely fled the villages around the city, giving Iraqi and coalition commanders hope they would do the same inside the city. But as the battle reached the city’s edge, intense resistance has repeatedly stalled advances and at times forced Iraqi forces to retreat.</p>
<p>Unlike in past fights where civilians were moved out of the way of front-line clashes, in Mosul, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has asked civilians to stay in their homes. The move prevents massive displacement — Mosul is still home to an estimated one million people — but it also leaves thousands in harm’s way and thousands more out of reach of aid organizations wary of operating close to the front.</p>
<p>The clinic inside Mosul estimates it has treated at least 800 severely wounded civilians since Iraqi forces first pushed into the city in early November.</p>
<p>“All we can do is work as a stabilization unit,” said Dr. Muhammad Hassan Ali, explaining that without the ability to perform surgery, most of the emergency cases he receives need to be transferred to a hospital in Irbil more than an hour’s drive away across bad roads and through half a dozen checkpoints.</p>
<p>Oday, the young boy, lost his left eye, but the doctors at the clinic were able to bandage his wound and slow the bleeding. As quickly as he was rushed into the building, he was carried out into an ambulance bound for Irbil.</p>
<p>“He’ll live,” said Hussam, the doctor who treated him. “He’s very lucky.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Manu Brabo and Bram Janssen in Mosul, Iraq, contributed to this report.</p> | Mosul doctors struggle to save civilians on Iraq front line | false | https://abqjournal.com/906821/mosul-doctors-struggle-to-save-civilians-on-iraq-front-line.html | 2016-12-11 | 2 |
<p>Another glaring example of the&#160;dumbing down of America's universities.&#160;Now, students enrolled at&#160;the University of Kentucky are able to garner core curriculum credit&#160;by taking a course on "taco literacy."</p>
<p>Yet again we must clarify that this is not content&#160;from the satirical "news" site The Onion nor is it sketch material from the latest Saturday Night Live.&#160;</p>
<p>This is what passes for university education in the West.&#160;</p>
<p>"Taco Literacy: Public Advocacy and Mexican Food in the U.S. South" is an actual course. And it uses textbooks like Tacopedia&#160;and Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food&#160;as&#160;students&#160;"explore the history and networks of Mexican and Mexican American food in the United States."&#160;</p>
<p>The CollegeFix&#160; <a href="http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/26140/" type="external">reports</a>​&#160;that students enrolled in this&#160;"writing course" are expected to focus solely&#160;on Mexican food. Through the course students will meet their "Community, Culture and Citizenship in the USA"&#160;core curriculum&#160;requirement. According to the Fix, which took information directly from&#160;the university's website and course syllabus, required-reading and textbooks include:&#160;Tacopedia,&#160;Tortillas: A Cultural History,&#160;Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food, and&#160;Taco USA.</p>
<p>Of course school administrators are defensive about the course, claiming it is serious curriculum:</p>
<p>"I don’t have anything to add to what already has been written about this class, except to say that headlines about a ‘taco class’ have completely mischaracterized this class,” Jay Blanton, executive director for public relations and marketing at the University of Kentucky, said in an email to&#160;The College Fix.</p>
<p>“It is clear that this is a writing and narrative class that explores Mexican culture, food-ways and other issues by examining, among other things, food. It’s a writing and rhetoric class,” Blanton added.</p>
<p>Why is that clear, Blanton? It is a fair guess to assume that the last thing on anyone's mind after viewing the cover of "Planet Taco" would be: "Ah-ha, this is a book for an&#160;intensive&#160;writing and rhetoric class."</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the university is pushing the narrative that this course is far more substantive than it is:&#160;</p>
<p>According to Vice News’&#160;Munchies, the class stems from a growing Latino population in the United States, especially in the south, noting Kentucky has one of the largest growing populations of Hispanics in the United States, based on statistics gathered by the Pew Research Center in 2014.</p>
<p>“We’re examining transnational community food literacies and how these connect the stories of people and food across borders,” says Steven Alvarez, the instructor of the course, to&#160;Munchies.&#160;Alvarez is an associate professor in the University of Kentucky’s Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies department.</p>
<p>“We explore the history of networks of Mexican and Mexican-American food in Kentucky by writing about recipes and rhetorics that deal with things such as authenticity, local variations and preparations, and how food literacies situate different spaces, identity, and forms of knowledge,” Alvarez further stated.</p>
<p>“I make my students post on Instagram and use hashtags as a form of archiving. I also make them watch MUNCHIES episodes. I make my students read their restaurant reviews out loud, too,” Alvarez stated, adding such assignments are “storytelling” genres.</p>
<p>A liberal arts education at one of the nation's institutions of higher learning used to mean something. The classics were embraced, (true) history was taught with fervor, literacy was paramount. In&#160;today's day and age, however,&#160;Hamlet has been replaced by Tacopedia&#160;as universities seek to find new&#160;ways of pushing their political agendas while retaining the attention of ADD-addled students.&#160;</p> | Higher Learning: University Offers For-Credit Course on 'Taco-Literacy' | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/higher-learning-university-offers-credit-course-taco-literacy | 2018-10-06 | 0 |
<p>President Obama&#160; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-bans-solitary-confinement-for-juveniles-in-federal-prisons/2016/01/25/056e14b2-c3a2-11e5-9693-933a4d31bcc8_story.html?tid=sm_tw" type="external">banned solitary confinement for minors</a> in federal prisons.</p>
<p>Undocumented immigrants in Flint say they’ve been <a href="http://fusion.net/story/258628/undocumented-immigrants-flint-water/" type="external">denied free water</a> and are scared to get help.</p>
<p>An 11-year-old in New Jersey wanted to see more diverse books in her school, so <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/this-11-year-old-girl-started-a-project-to-get-more-diverse#.ko8LnVy5w" type="external">she started a book drive to collect 1,000 books</a> that center on Black girls.</p>
<p>At least 31 female immigrant detainees have alleged that <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2016/01/26/3742501/strip-searches-santa-ana-city-jail/?utm_source=feedly&amp;utm_medium=webfeeds" type="external">they were unlawfully strip searched</a> at a California detention center contracted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.</p> | Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet | true | http://feministing.com/2016/01/26/daily-feminist-cheat-sheet-737/ | 4 |
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<p>By George Obulutsa</p>
<p>NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan police fired teargas and shots in the air on Monday as hundreds of demonstrators marched through the capital Nairobi to protest against proposed legal changes that would make it harder for the Supreme Court to annul an election.</p>
<p>Reuters television footage showed a sport utility vehicle ploughing into some of the protesters, severely injuring three, but it was not immediately clear who was responsible and the police made no immediate comment on the incident.</p>
<p>Kenya is due on Oct. 26 to repeat a presidential election after the Supreme Court nullified an Aug. 8 vote due to procedural irregularities. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who won the August election, will face opposition leader Raila Odinga.</p>
<p>Uncertainty over the coming election has created turmoil in the East African nation, which is a regional trade hub and staunch Western ally.</p>
<p>As the demonstrators marched toward the election board in Nairobi, a Reuters journalist saw men in plain clothes near security forces fire shots in the air. Police on horseback set up blockades to prevent protesters from accessing some roads.</p>
<p>Police also used teargas in the western city of Kisumu, Odinga’s stronghold, to disperse protesters, though another demonstration in the coastal city of Mombasa passed peacefully.</p>
<p>Odinga’s opposition alliance is threatening to boycott the October vote unless the electoral board changes some personnel – a stance he declined on Monday to clarify, in comments that suggested he was keeping his options open for now.</p>
<p>“This is a democratic society we live in. If I choose not to participate in the pre-rigged election process, it is my democratic right. No court can order me to do so,” Odinga said in comments broadcast on Kenyan TV stations, without elaborating further.</p>
<p>“DECLARING WAR”</p>
<p>The protesters want to warn ruling party lawmakers not to pass an amendment to the election law that would limit the circumstances in which the Supreme Court could void an election on procedural grounds, opposition lawmaker James Orengo said.</p>
<p>“If parliament passes the law tomorrow, it will be like declaring war on the Kenyan people,” he said.</p>
<p>Justin Muturi, speaker of the National Assembly, said the amendment could be debated when parliament reconvenes on Tuesday if lawmakers were keen to push it forward.</p>
<p>He said the key part of the proposed law stipulates that if a candidate boycotts an election whose date has already been set, the remaining candidate would win the contest without formal polls being held.</p>
<p>The government is keen to avoid a constitutional crisis if Odinga pulls out at the last minute, frustrating the court’s order to hold elections within 60 days, Muturi said.</p>
<p>“We are trying to prevent a crisis should there be no elections,” he told Reuters by phone.</p>
<p>The government-backed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said on Monday in a report that at least 37 people had been killed in a police crackdown on protests that immediately followed the August vote – the highest death toll given so far.</p>
<p>The report attributed some deaths to “police using live bullets and a few from police bludgeoning using clubs”. It named a 6-month-old baby girl, a&#160;7-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl as being among the victims.</p>
<p>(Addtional reporting by Katharine Houreld, John Ndiso, Humphrey Malalo and Baz Ratner in Nairobi and Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Aaron Maasho and Gareth Jones)</p> | Kenya police use teargas, shoot in air during opposition march | false | https://newsline.com/kenya-police-use-teargas-shoot-in-air-during-opposition-march/ | 2017-10-09 | 1 |
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<p>PITTSBURGH - Two ninja-clad teens armed with a machete and expecting an easy robbery at a Pittsburgh convenience store got quite a shock when a cashier pulled out a sword and started chasing them.</p>
<p>Surveillance video shows the teens entering Perry Market on Friday night. One goes behind the counter with his machete and demands money.</p>
<p>But cashier Jewad Hayih was prepared, pulling out a sword to knock the smaller weapon out of one teen's hand. A customer grabbed the second suspect, but he broke free and both teens ran away.</p>
<p>The suspects remained at large Tuesday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Robbers with machete run when store cashier pulls out sword | false | https://abqjournal.com/630206/robbers-with-machete-run-when-store-owner-pulls-out-sword.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Today a leader in its industry with a market cap of more than $6 billion and well over 100 million users, just a few years ago, in 2006, the very same company had to turn off the fridge to keep the lights on.</p>
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<p>"It was a complete surprise," said Stan Humphries, as he recalled the early days before and immediately after launching Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) and (NASDAQ:ZG). The company, however, was not in financial straits.</p>
<p>"We had computers on two ping pong tables with extension cords everywhere," recalled the Zillow executive. Humphries, and about two dozen friends and colleagues were testing the site when the electricity went out.</p>
<p>At first nobody could figure out what had happened. Was the site so powerful it caused an electrical surge? "We knew we broke a circuit breaker," Humphries said, but not much more.</p>
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<p>As it turned out, the ping-pong room was also the company kitchen and someone had started the dishwasher, while the refrigerator was humming too. The power drain was too much. "We had to turn off the appliances," otherwise the small office just couldn't handle what was happening inside.</p>
<p>What was happening inside? Zillow.</p>
<p>Launched in 2006, by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, former Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) executives, the website was started to provide people with information that had otherwise been difficult to access. The intention was to help anyone with an interest in home buying make informed real estate decisions.</p>
<p>"Data was locked up in industry databases," explained CEO Spencer Rascoff. "We wanted to make it accessible."</p>
<p>Rascoff, who was also part of the launch team, but not yet the company's chief, remembers the early days vividly. "I was filled with excitement and at the same time filled with dread."</p>
<p>Amy Bohutinsky wasn’t sure what to think. She left everything behind to join Zillow, moving from San Francisco to Seattle. Now the chief operating officer, Bohutinsky even left her boyfriend for the start-up. “I told him the opportunity was just too exciting. It was a feeling.”</p>
<p>Instinctively Bohutinsky, Rascoff and the rest of team sensed they were onto something.</p>
<p>A few days after that power failure, the site went live. "We had something like a million hits in the first 24 hours," Rascoff said. "I think Pokemom Go is the only launch that's attracted more hits than we did in such a short period of time."</p>
<p>Unfortunately, with the hits came a few bruises too. "The site crashed. That was stressful."</p>
<p>"Everyone wants to know what's my home worth," Rascoff said reflecting on those early days. And through proprietary software called Zestimate, Zillow was able to tell the public not only what their homes were worth - but what their neighbor's homes were worth too.</p>
<p>The website caught on like wildfire.</p>
<p>Stan Humphries, a data science engineer, was largely behind Zestimate. He had honed his skills in the private sector at companies including Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) as well as at NASA. In about six months, Humphries created the site's signature maps and color coded dots.</p>
<p>Humphries expected heavy traffic, but, as he remembers it, the site received two million hits in just a handful of days. Given the immediate interest, "We knew this was the ground floor of something big," Bohutinsky recalled.</p>
<p>Ultimately the team made the necessary tweaks and improvements to handle the traffic and Zillow never looked back.</p>
<p>In less than a decade, Zillow has grown from a few dozen employees working in one room to over 2,500 people at offices located on both coasts, with headquarters in Seattle.</p>
<p>Humphries, Rascoff and Bohutinsky all say Zillow's decision to put consumer preferences ahead of everything else was a critical part of the site's success. And they stayed true to that belief even when it involved difficult decisions. "When we decided to put real estate agent reviews on our website, that was a real milestone," Humphries said in retrospect, largely because the real estate industry was cautious.</p>
<p>Skeptics argued the reviews could be biased, or based on emotion or even written by people with an axe to grind.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Zillow felt agent reviews reflected its mission - to make the home buying process more transparent - so they went forward. "That was a real inflection point," Humphries said. "And we were right. Today agent reviews are among the most accessed pieces of information that we make available, and agents value the feedback."</p>
<p>Zillow also provides other services, such as information on lenders, foreclosures, rentals as well as video walkthroughs, tips for sellers and much more.</p>
<p>Since 2006 Zillow has made nearly a half dozen acquisitions including Trulia in 2015. More than 156 million people visit one of the sites owned by Zillow Group in any given month.</p>
<p>Looking back at the success, Rascoff believes Zillow went from 0 to 156 million in under 10 years by staying nimble. "That's one of our key values and it's written on the walls of every conference room," he explained. Along with other core values, Rascoff believes business people can learn a lot from Zillow's early years, "Move fast, think and don't be afraid to make a decision."</p>
<p>And trust your instincts even if it involves sacrifice. Remember, that boyfriend Amy Bohutinsky left behind in San Francisco? Today they’re happily married with two kids.</p>
<p>"Take it from us,” Rascoff said. “We've learned in a lot, in a very short time."</p>
<p>Lee Brodie is a freelance writer who has been covering finance, consumer and business news for more than 20 years. A graduate of Monmouth University, he's also a playwright and script writer of documentaries.</p>
<p>Updated 8/19:*Zillow's employee total was updated to 2,500 from 500.&#160;</p> | Zillow: The Untold Power Struggle, Literally! | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/08/22/zillow-untold-power-struggle-literally.html | 2016-08-19 | 0 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>Shares of Nielsen Holdings (NYSE: NLSN) dropping today, down 14% as of 11:40 a.m. EDT, after the company reported third-quarter earnings that came in shy of the market's expectations.</p>
<p>Revenue in the third quarter grew a modest 2.5% to $1.57 billion, which was a hair shy of the $1.59 billion in sales that analysts were modeling for. Adjusted earnings per share was $0.74, also below the forecasts of $0.76 per share. The company said that profitability was hurt by higher restructuring charges associated with exiting non-core services, while also acknowledging a challenging market environment. Management was also disappointed with its performance in developed markets, particularly the U.S.</p>
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<p>Nielsen remains highly leveraged, with $446 million in cash on the balance sheet compared to nearly $8 billion in debt. Earlier this month, the company amended its credit agreement to increase its borrowing capacity, and refinanced some existing debt. That isn't stopping the company from repurchasing stock, though, buying back $90 million worth of shares during the quarter. Guidance also left a little to be desired, updating full-year outlook of 3.5% to 4% growth in revenue on a constant currency basis. Adjusted earnings per share should be $2.73 to $2.79, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFNewCow/info.aspx" type="external">Evan Niu, CFA Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Nielsen Holdings Shares Got Crushed Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/25/why-nielsen-holdings-shares-got-crushed-today.html | 2016-10-25 | 0 |
<p>Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham called out her newest Republican opponent Ron DeSantis for going to bat for oil drilling off Florida’s coast.</p>
<p>Her Jan. 4 tweet came as the White House prepared to announce a new offshore drilling plan that originally included Florida among states that would see expanded drilling. (The White House later walked it back to exempt Florida at the <a href="" type="internal">urging of Gov. Rick Scott</a>.)</p>
<p>When DeSantis had the opportunity to keep drilling out of Florida, Graham said, he went against it.</p>
<p>"In Congress, @RonDeSantisFL was the DECIDING vote AGAINST our state's right to protect Florida waters from drilling," Graham tweeted. "Will Congressman DeSantis stand up for Florida or is he too scared of losing @realDoanldTramp's endorsement?"</p>
<p>The tweet included a link to a close vote on a 2013 <a href="https://www.congress.gov/amendment/113th-congress/house-amendment/243?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr+2231%22%5D%7D" type="external">amendment</a>to the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act ( <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/2231" type="external">HR 2231</a>), which never became law.</p>
<p>Was DeSantis, whose district includes several east coast beaches, really "the deciding vote" on an effort to keep drilling out of the state?</p>
<p>The short answer: It’s hard to say there is ever such a thing as "the deciding vote" with close calls in Congress.&#160;</p>
<p>DeSantis’ specific position on drilling is squishy. Most recently, DeSantis&#160; <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/01/04/desantis-putnam-oppose-trump-drilling-proposal/" type="external">embraced</a>&#160;Scott's opposition to Trump's plan.</p>
<p>"In Florida our coastline is so important to our economy, it’s important to property values, it’s important to tourism," DeSantis said on Fox &amp; Friends.&#160;"And we need to protect our coastline."</p>
<p>Other actions speak to support for the coast, including a December 2015 <a href="https://sanford.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/sanford-leads-effort-to-halt-seismic-testing-in-the-atlantic" type="external">letter</a> to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management against seismic airgun exploration and a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4347324-OCS-letter.html" type="external">letter</a> in opposition to the 2017 Interior Department executive order that advanced offshore oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. &#160;</p>
<p>There’s also his vote in favor of a failed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/amendment/114th-congress/house-amendment/1337?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Patrick+Murphy%22%5D%7D" type="external">amendment</a> that would have banned seismic testing in areas bordering Florida. He was one of 24 Republicans to vote for the testing ban. He also&#160;voted for a Graham&#160; <a href="http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/ron-desantis" type="external">amendement</a> that would have restricted funds being used for the research, investigation, or study of offshore drilling.&#160;</p>
<p>But that's not to say that DeSantis has always voted against drilling.&#160;</p>
<p>The 210-209 vote in Graham's tweet happened years earlier.</p>
<p>In the summer of 2013, then-U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, proposed an <a href="https://www.congress.gov/amendment/113th-congress/house-amendment/243/actions" type="external">amendment</a> to the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act pushed by House Republicans. The larger bill aimed to expand U.S. offshore energy production by directing the U.S. Interior Department secretary to implement a five-year oil and gas leasing program off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.</p>
<p>Grayson’s amendment would have ensured the ability of Florida or any state to prohibit the use of drilling within its boundaries. At the time, Grayson said the amendment would have avoided the possibility of the federal government overriding states' rights to decide.</p>
<p>When it came to a vote, Grayson’s amendment failed by one vote, and DeSantis voted against the amendment. The larger bill passed the House but did move past the Democratic-controlled Senate.</p>
<p>Does that mean he was the "deciding vote?"</p>
<p>There’s no doubt that DeSantis’ vote was crucial. But as we <a href="" type="internal">have concluded</a> in fact-checks of similar attacks, the "deciding vote" label could just as easily be applied to any other lawmaker who voted on his side — making the term a bit meaningless. (Many Democrats were attacked as being the deciding vote on the <a href="" type="internal">narrowly passed</a> Affordable Care Act, for example.)</p>
<p>That’s the general rule. We wondered if DeSantis did anything to justify being singled out, such as holding his support until the last moment.</p>
<p>We couldn’t spot from <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?313531-1/house-session&amp;start=2345" type="external">C-SPAN footage</a> whether DeSantis was one of the members who changed his mind at the literal last minute. Even if he were, however, he would not have been the only lawmaker to do so.</p>
<p>Graham spokesman Matt Harringer argued it is noteworthy that DeSantis was in the <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll301.xml" type="external">minority of Florida Republicans</a> who voted against this amendment. Seven Florida Republicans, including DeSantis, voted against the amendment, while nine Republicans voted for the amendment.</p>
<p>DeSantis’ team didn’t argue his vote, but they did take issue with Graham’s framing of the measure as a vote "against our state’s right to protect Florida waters from drilling."</p>
<p>Many Republicans didn’t see it that way, arguing Grayson’s measure would not have actually changed Florida’s control of its coast.</p>
<p>"Since the underlying bill did nothing to alter the existing relationship between the federal and state governments, the amendment itself contained no substantive policy that would have changed the ability of Florida to prevent development of waters within its jurisdiction," said DeSantis spokeswoman Elizabeth Fusick.</p>
<p>Fusick said the balance of power between the federal and state government was already determined by the Submerged Lands Act (which sets federal government ownership of submerged lands after the first three miles from the state’s coast) and the <a href="https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Outer-Continental-Shelf/Lands-Act-History/OCSLA-HIstory.aspx" type="external">Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act</a> (which also applies to land beyond three miles offshore), which were both enacted in 1953.</p>
<p>Holly Parker, the Florida regional manager for the Surfrider Foundation, said that if Grayson’s amendment only applied to state waters, then it would seem to be a duplication of an existing right. However, she said it’s possible that the broader failed legislation would have changed that. &#160;</p>
<p>"Now, if the underlying legislation somehow impeded those state rights and this amendment was an attempt to clarify or delineate the rights of a state to regulate those submerged (lands), that would be different," Parker said.</p>
<p>Athan Manuel, the director of the Sierra Club’s Land’s Protection Program, said he thinks it's possible that the bill could have changed the separation of powers. Regardless, he said, the point of Grayson’s amendment was to be "extra clear" that Florida had a say in what happened.</p>
<p>"Maybe it wasn’t as necessary, but it's important to send the right message," Manuel said. "If he wanted to vote against drilling, he should have voted for the Grayson amendment."</p>
<p>Graham said DeSantis casted the "deciding vote against" the state's right to protect Florida waters from drilling.</p>
<p>There’s no question that DeSantis’ vote on an amendment to the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act was crucial, but saying DeSantis was the deciding vote goes too far. Technically, any of the 209 other people who voted against the bill could be considered the "deciding vote."</p>
<p>Furthermore, the significance of Grayson’s amendment is a subject of debate. Democrats saw it as securing Florida’s right to protect Florida waters, whereas Republicans say the amendment wouldn’t have changed the powers of the state.</p>
<p>With everything considered, we rate this claim Half True.</p> | Was Ron DeSantis the 'deciding' vote against the state's right to protect Florida's coast? | false | http://politifact.com/florida/statements/2018/jan/12/gwen-graham/did-ron-desantis-cast-deciding-vote-against-legisl/ | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s troubled youth prison that Gov. Scott Walker wants to convert to an adult facility has a new superintendent, its fourth leader in just over two years.</p>
<p>The state Department of Corrections announced Thursday that 24-year agency veteran Jason Benzel was hired to run the Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake prisons for boys and girls in Irma, about 30 miles north of Wausau. He will begin Jan. 22.</p>
<p>The post had been vacant since the previous superintendent, Wendy Peterson, resigned in August to take a lower-paying job as education director. Benzel will be paid $101,000 a year, the same as Peterson when she was superintendent.</p>
<p>The prison is the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging inmate abuse and a federal investigation has been ongoing for three years. Walker announced earlier this month that he wants to move juveniles out of it in 2019, but he would be open to moving faster. Walker’s plan calls for creating smaller, regional juvenile prisons.</p>
<p>Democrats have been critical of Walker moving so slowly to enact changes at the embattled prison, saying he’s only proposing something now as a political move in advance of the November election.</p>
<p>Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday the wants long-term solutions for Lincoln Hills, but he’s in no rush to move juveniles out of it because judges could send them to county facilities instead.</p>
<p>“I would like to do it in a way that allows us to get the right answer as quickly as we can but I don’t want to rush to judgment until we’ve had time to really study it and understand all the possibilities,” he said.</p>
<p>Benzel began his career as a guard and has held a number of positions within the adult prison system, most recently deputy warden at the Prairie du Chien adult prison. He’s also worked as a juvenile review and release specialist.</p>
<p>“I have full confidence in Jason in his new role ... and look forward to working closely with him as we continue to make further enhancements and begin work to transition towards a regional juvenile correctional model,” Corrections Secretary Jon Litscher said in a prepared statement.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.</p>
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s troubled youth prison that Gov. Scott Walker wants to convert to an adult facility has a new superintendent, its fourth leader in just over two years.</p>
<p>The state Department of Corrections announced Thursday that 24-year agency veteran Jason Benzel was hired to run the Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake prisons for boys and girls in Irma, about 30 miles north of Wausau. He will begin Jan. 22.</p>
<p>The post had been vacant since the previous superintendent, Wendy Peterson, resigned in August to take a lower-paying job as education director. Benzel will be paid $101,000 a year, the same as Peterson when she was superintendent.</p>
<p>The prison is the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging inmate abuse and a federal investigation has been ongoing for three years. Walker announced earlier this month that he wants to move juveniles out of it in 2019, but he would be open to moving faster. Walker’s plan calls for creating smaller, regional juvenile prisons.</p>
<p>Democrats have been critical of Walker moving so slowly to enact changes at the embattled prison, saying he’s only proposing something now as a political move in advance of the November election.</p>
<p>Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday the wants long-term solutions for Lincoln Hills, but he’s in no rush to move juveniles out of it because judges could send them to county facilities instead.</p>
<p>“I would like to do it in a way that allows us to get the right answer as quickly as we can but I don’t want to rush to judgment until we’ve had time to really study it and understand all the possibilities,” he said.</p>
<p>Benzel began his career as a guard and has held a number of positions within the adult prison system, most recently deputy warden at the Prairie du Chien adult prison. He’s also worked as a juvenile review and release specialist.</p>
<p>“I have full confidence in Jason in his new role ... and look forward to working closely with him as we continue to make further enhancements and begin work to transition towards a regional juvenile correctional model,” Corrections Secretary Jon Litscher said in a prepared statement.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.</p> | New superintendent at Wisconsin youth prison hired | false | https://apnews.com/898d5cb893b84b118f281ec0c5a91f59 | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
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<p>The report comes as the ACLU of Texas filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the southeast Texas city of Santa Fe, accusing it of running a modern-day debtors’ prison and “prioritizing raising revenue for the city over administering justice fairly.”</p>
<p>Officials with the Texas Judicial Council and the Texas Municipal Courts Association said they’re aware of problems associated with poor defendants not being able to pay fines and court costs and are hoping to work with lawmakers during next year’s legislative session to tackle some of these issues.</p>
<p>Of 766 municipal courts in Texas the ACLU reviewed that individually settled or resolved at least 100 cases in the past year, the median rate at which these courts allowed people to perform community service was 0.2 percent. The report also said more than half of the municipal courts declined to waive any amount of fines and fees associated with these cases for people living in poverty.</p>
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<p>“Most or nearly all courts across the state are jailing people without doing a serious inquiry into the ability to pay (fines), as required by law,” said Trisha Trigilio, an ACLU staff attorney</p>
<p>The report also found that during a four-month period in 2015 and 2016, 48.9 percent of the people the Houston municipal court system jailed were black; the city’s black population is about 24 percent. In nearby Texas City, the study found that during an unspecified six-month period, 60 percent of the people its municipal court system jailed were black. In Texas City, blacks make up about one-third of its population.</p>
<p>Trigilio said while the study found no evidence of implicit racial bias in the municipal court systems in Houston and Texas City, the disproportionate numbers of blacks jailed was indicative of what the organization believes is racial disparity within the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>Trigilio said it is unclear how many people across Texas are jailed for not being able to pay fines and court costs because courts are not required to keep such statistics.</p>
<p>In its lawsuit against Santa Fe, which is about 35 miles southeast of Houston, the ACLU alleges the city authorizes its police officers to go out and arrest anyone who misses a payment and put them in jail until the officers decide they have stayed there long enough to pay off their fines.</p>
<p>“That is a pretty egregious practice,” Trigilio said.</p>
<p>Santa Fe City Manager Joe Dickson declined to comment Friday.</p>
<p>The lawsuit is similar to others that have been filed across the country by the ACLU and other groups that allege this is part of a nationwide problem, brought to the forefront in 2014 after the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri.</p>
<p>“I have evolved in terms of looking at the issue. But I’ve always had a sense that as a municipal court judge, these are fine-only cases and jail is the worst punishment of all and the least effective punishment,” said Edward Spillane, the presiding judge of the municipal courts in College Station and the past president of the Texas Municipal Courts Association.</p>
<p>The Texas Judicial Council last month approved a resolution with 16 recommendations it plans to make to the Legislature. Some recommendations include clarifying that judges are required to assess a defendant’s ability to pay fines and court costs prior to the assessment of such fees and repealing or amending any additional fees imposed on individuals due to their inability to pay fines and court costs.</p>
<p>“We’re hopeful the Legislature … will look at this issue and take action,” said David Slayton, administrative director of the Office of Court Administration, which works with the judicial council.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/juanlozano70" type="external">www.twitter.com/juanlozano70</a></p> | Report: Texas courts jailing poor who can’t pay fines | false | https://abqjournal.com/882914/report-texas-courts-jailing-poor-who-cant-pay-fines.html | 2 |
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<p>National Public Radio wrapped up its presidential campaign coverage in November with a piece on the Clinton waffle, that is, the candidate's habit of slipping from side to side on disputed issues. Listeners heard journalist Sam Donaldson ask Clinton if he supported federal legislation to prohibit right-to-work laws at the state level. "I support the existing law," Clinton replied, "but if Congress sends me new legislation, I'll sign it." Said Donaldson, "That's not what I asked. Do you support such legislation?" Said Clinton, "I'll sign it." Donaldson: "I asked if you support it!" "I'll sign it!" "Do you support it?!" And so on.</p>
<p>"When the report ended, I speculated on how most leftists would have reacted to it. They"d have said, I believe, what they were saying during the entire presidential campaign: Bill Clinton is not a liberal, and he's no friend of labor's. There's certainly truth in this declaration, but it's a partial and, more important, a superficial truth. The more relevant conclusion to draw from the interview clip is that we now have a president who will sign labor law reforms. Whether or not that legislation ends up on his desk depends in some measure on the labor movement and the left.</p>
<p /> | Clinton and the Left | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/clinton-and-the-left | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Frontier Communications closed on its $10.54 billion acquisition of wireline systems from Verizon in April and the market has cautiously lauded the move.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company's shares, which opened the year at $4.60, rose 10.6% to close at $5.09 on June 22, according to data provided by <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/home.aspx" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Image source: <a href="https://ycharts.com/" type="external">YCharts.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>What: Frontier doubled its size by purchasing systems in California, Texas, and Florida from Verizon. The deal gave the company approximately 3.3 million new voice connections, 2.1 million added broadband connections, and 1.2 million additional FiOS video subscribers.</p>
<p>"This is a transformative acquisition for Frontier that delivers first-rate assets and important new opportunities given our dramatically expanded scale," said CEO Daniel J. McCarthy in a <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160401005508/en/Frontier-Communications-Completes-Acquisition-Verizon-Wireline-Operations" type="external">press release Opens a New Window.</a>. "It significantly expands our presence in three high-growth, high-density states, and improves our revenue mix by increasing the percentage of our revenues coming from segments with the most promising growth potential."</p>
<p>So what: Buying these customers gives Frontier the ability to better compete in a consolidating industry. It can spend more money developing its technology in order to keep up with the bigger players in the space by having a greater number of users to spread costs over.</p>
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<p>This was a risky move for Frontier, but it was a needed one. Staying small meant the only strategy was to get purchased. By contrast, getting bigger makes the company a more attractive acquisition target while also letting it operate on its own more successfully.</p>
<p>Now what: Frontier has had trouble serving its newest customers. That was to be expected, as handing off millions of users is not a simple process and the issues have lessened as we move farther away from the Apr. 1 handover date.</p>
<p>Still, because Frontier operates in markets as an alternative to more-established players, it has to deliver on more than price. The company faces competition in all its markets in both broadband and cable. To make this major bet pay off, then, it not only has to keep its customers, it has to grow it base, especially in broadband.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/24/heres-why-frontier-communications-has-gained-10-in.aspx" type="external">Here's Why Frontier Communications Has Gained 10% in 2016 Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Dankline/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Daniel Kline Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. He does not want to hear any of Prince's unreleased songs. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Verizon Communications. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Here's Why Frontier Communications Has Gained 10% in 2016 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/24/here-why-frontier-communications-has-gained-10-in-2016.html | 2016-06-24 | 0 |
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<p>PELOSI: Energy, drive keep her in power (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)</p>
<p>This wound-licking after Congress convenes Jan. 6 won’t be limited to the Nancy Pelosi-led conference for 188 returning and new House Democrats Jan. 28-30. The following week, a subgroup of about 60 members called the Congressional Progressive Caucus will return to Philadelphia for another retreat, where Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is invited to speak.</p>
<p>“We’ve got to get ready for an alley fight” with House Republicans, said Rep. Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat and progressive caucus co-chairman with Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota.</p>
<p>The question is what agenda House Democrats will push heading toward the 2016 presidential election year after losing 13 seats in the Nov. 4 election. The 247-188 House majority won by Republicans will be their largest since the Congress elected in 1928. Democrats lost the majority to Republicans in 2010.</p>
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<p>House Republicans, also buoyed by their party’s takeover of the Senate, plan a joint getaway with Senate Republicans on Jan. 15-16 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to plot legislative and political strategies.</p>
<p>Party soul-searching</p>
<p>Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said the Democratic retreats may turn out to be therapeutic party soul-searching with a dash of hopeful cheerleading. He predicted little of substance will emerge.</p>
<p>“In any organization other than the House Democratic caucus, an election result as dismal as the one in November would have been cause for a wholesale turnover in leadership, but that didn’t happen,” said Baker.</p>
<p>At the top remains Pelosi, 74, a Californian who served for four years as the first female speaker of the House, surrendering the gavel to current Speaker John Boehner after the 2010 election. She has taken exception to suggestions it may be time for her to step aside and was re-elected by her colleagues last month to lead the minority party again.</p>
<p>Much of the reason why Pelosi holds on to power is that she remains the party’s rainmaker. Her energy and drive, including raising more than $80 million in the just-completed two-year election cycle, isn’t letting up.</p>
<p>Pelosi has said there are sexist overtones to the notion that she should move along. She questioned how many times reporters asked that of incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 72, as his party had previously failed to capture the Senate majority over three elections.</p>
<p>“As a woman, it’s like, is there a message here?” asked Pelosi at a Nov. 13 news conference.</p>
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<p>Criticism for Obama</p>
<p>While Republicans held no House seats in the six New England states in the past two years, in November they picked up two Democratic seats in Maine and New Hampshire, as well as several districts in New York state and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Some Democrats have complained that President Barack Obama didn’t take a more aggressive lead on an economic message and in touting Democrats’ achievements for working-class families.</p>
<p>Baker, the Rutgers professor, said House Democrats have a lot to decide about how to position themselves in the next session, on the economy as well as their basic constituencies and values.</p>
<p>The diminished minority party status threatens to leave Democrats as even more of an afterthought, and the reality is that Obama must work with Republican leaders of the House and Senate to get things accomplished.</p>
<p>Aides to Pelosi and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of California so far aren’t saying what agenda topics, strategies and discussions will be considered at the party retreat next month at the Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill Hotel.</p>
<p>A longer views</p>
<p>Even before the 2014 midterm election results were in, Pelosi was softening the blow by emphasizing to rank-and-file members a longer political view that the 2016 elections will bring a turnaround.</p>
<p>According to this view, having Hillary Clinton atop the Democratic presidential ticket will boost party fundraising and drive turnout of women, minorities and other Democrats to the polls – benefiting the party up and down the ticket. And that could propel the party back into the House majority.</p>
<p>This would depend on Clinton seeking and winning the presidency and Democrats recapturing the seats they lost in 2014, plus many more.</p>
<p>Baker said that while a presidential election year might bring optimism for gains, he sees no election math that could add up to a Democratic return to the House majority in two years.</p>
<p>“They should be meeting in Columbus or Jefferson City or St. Paul where the state legislatures meet and draw up the congressional district maps. In that way they can find salvation,” said Baker.</p>
<p>Daniel Herrera, a Democratic caucus spokesman, wouldn’t say whether Clinton has been asked to appear at the House Democratic retreat next month. Some rank and file House Democrats say they are looking toward a deeper discussion about their own legislative roles in the next congressional session.</p>
<p>Fissures forming</p>
<p>Ideological fissures already appear to be developing, as 57 House Democrats joined 162 Republicans earlier this month in passing a $1.1 trillion spending bill. Boehner, faced with a shortfall of Republican support, had to rely on Obama’s last-minute pleas to Democrats to help pass the measure.</p>
<p>That came over the opposition of Pelosi and other Democrats to provisions raising the maximum amount of money campaign donors can give to party committees, and amending the Dodd-Frank bank regulation law to allow banks once again to trade derivatives with government-insured funds.</p>
<p>Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said he doesn’t dispute that a huge turnout in a presidential election year could turn things around for House Democrats. “I believe anything can happen,” he said. Democrats already have the right message in calling for spreading economic prosperity to all Americans, he said.</p>
<p>“I really do think it would be a mistake to rebrand ourselves,” McGovern said. “But I think before the next election, at least for the next few months, we need to think about our own message and to think strategically about it, to be as effective legislatively as we can.”</p>
<p>That also reflects the sentiment from Grijalva, co-chairman of the progressive caucus that will hold its own retreat Feb. 6-7 at the Sonesta Philadelphia hotel. Former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has been invited to speak, along with Warren, who hasn’t yet said she will be there.</p>
<p>The progressive caucus represents a more liberal group than the full Democratic House membership. Grijalva said a main emphasis will be that Democrats must draw sharper policy contrasts between themselves and Republicans, and can no longer wait for someone else to lead on economic, environmental and other issues.</p>
<p>“We are not going to wait on anybody,” said Grijalva.</p>
<p /> | Political wake or wake-up? House Dems mull strategy | false | https://abqjournal.com/520899/political-wake-or-wakeup-house-dems-mull-strategy.html | 2 |
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<p>U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to nominate Kirstjen Nielsen, an aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly, to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a White House official said on Wednesday.</p>
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<p>The announcement was expected later in the day, the official said on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Nielsen, the deputy White House chief of staff, was a top aide to Kelly when he led the department and moved with him to the White House when he became chief of staff.</p>
<p>Nielsen is considered an expert on cyber security, one of the primary issues under the Homeland Security Department's sprawling portfolio.</p>
<p>She previously worked at a cyber think tank at George Washington University and is considered well-versed in some of the more technical missions at DHS, such as sharing cyber threat information with the private sector.</p>
<p>Nielsen is an expert in homeland and national security policy and strategy, with a focus on critical infrastructure protection, according to her biography on GWU's Center for Cyber &amp; Homeland Security.</p>
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<p>Politico first reported the appointment.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Additional reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by James Dalgleish)</p> | Trump expected to nominate Nielsen as Homeland Security secretary: Official | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/10/11/trump-expected-to-nominate-nielsen-as-homeland-security-secretary-official.html | 2017-10-11 | 0 |
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<p>Oil prices fell on Tuesday, dented by worries about the demand outlook and rising supply, while hopes for a deal between OPEC and Russia on output cuts faded.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Brent for April delivery had dropped 53 cents to $33.71 a barrel by 0910 GMT, after settling down $1.75, or 4.9 percent, in the previous session.</p>
<p>The front-month contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 61 cents at $31.01 after falling $2.00, or 5.9 percent, the session before.</p>
<p>Russia's energy minister and Venezuela's oil minister discussed the possibility of holding joint consultations between OPEC and non-OPEC countries in the near future, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Monday.</p>
<p>But Goldman Sachs said it was "highly unlikely" the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would cooperate with Russia to cut output, saying such a move would also be self-defeating as stronger prices would bring previously shelved production back to the market.</p>
<p>"It's hard to see a successful agreement between OPEC and Russia to cut production and people are starting to see that," said Andy Sommer, senior energy analyst at Axpo Trading in Dietikon, Switzerland.</p>
<p>He said there was a good chance that oil could fall back below $30 per barrel this month.</p>
<p>Underlining the well-supplied nature of the market, Russia's oil output rose to 10.88 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, from 10.83 million bpd in December, Energy Ministry data showed on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Stockpiles are still on the rise, leading many to speculate that global storage may be close to capacity, Sommer said.</p>
<p>U.S. commercial crude oil inventories likely rose by 4.7 million barrels last week to a new record of 499.6 million barrels, a Reuters survey taken ahead of industry and official data showed.</p>
<p>The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, releases its weekly inventory report later on Tuesday, while data from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Investors await economic data later in the week, including U.S. nonfarm payroll and unemployment figures and producer prices from the euro zone.</p>
<p>The tumbling crude price has hit oil majors, with BP slumping to its worst annual loss in more than 20 years last year, its results showed on Tuesday, pushing its shares down more than 6 percent. Other oil companies also fell sharply.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Keith Wallis in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Oil Slips as Hopes for Production Cut Fade | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/02/oil-slips-as-hopes-for-production-cut-fade.html | 2016-02-02 | 0 |
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<p>Violent MaeKid Telegraph Recording Company &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Becky Kessler, singer and guitarist for the Connecticut duo Violent Mae—Floyd Kellogg plays the other instruments—has a voice deserving of your undivided attention. Like a more excitable version of The Mynabirds’ Laura Burhenn, with hints of Dusty Springfield’s soul and Bjork’s lunacy, she projects a brooding unease that implies looming storms of emotion, edging ever closer to a full-fledged outburst, yet never losing control. From the bluesy slow-burn of “IOU,” where she proclaims herself a “bad actress,” to the thrilling jitters of “In the Sun,” to the footstomping “Murdered Bird,” the twosome’s second album is a sizzling triumph.</p>
<p /> | Violent Mae’s Second Album Is a Sizzling Triumph | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/violent-maes-second-album-sizzling-success/ | 2015-12-01 | 4 |
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<p>Despite being a traditionally nature-oriented form of poetry developed in pre-modern Japan, the haiku may be the perfect verse form for life in the modern <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/workplace.html" type="external">workplace Opens a New Window.</a>. Think about it: At 17 syllables a pop, these little gems are about the length of your average text message. They're short, sweet, and to the point. In our increasingly time-crunched offices, do we really have the luxury of reading anything longer?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Of course, you're probably wondering by now why we need a verse form for the modern workplace at all. I certainly didn't think we needed one – until I came across <a href="https://www.cashnetusa.com/blog/10-haikus-office-life/" type="external">these 10 haiku Opens a New Window.</a> from online lenders <a href="https://www.cashnetusa.com/" type="external">CashNet Opens a New Window.</a>. Quirky, cute, and even incisive at moments, these short poems will add some much-needed levity (and poignancy!) to your workday:</p> | Office Life Captured in 10 Haiku | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/06/office-life-captured-in-10-haiku.html | 2017-11-11 | 0 |
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<p>A hacker known as The Jester claims to have revealed the identity of a LulzSec member who may be the groups leader.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Thirty-year-old Xavier Kaotico, also known as Xavier de Leon or sabu, has been&#160;outed&#160;as the hacker prankster groups leader, though his role and involvement with LulzSec has not been confirmed. The man allegedly lives or has recently lived in New York City, and is an independant IT consultant specializing in Python programming, Linux development, network security and exploit development.</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>LulzSec, a small group of hackers that has become the focus of the international technology media over the past few weeks, has claimed&#160;responsibility&#160;for carrying out a number of&#160;malicious&#160;breaches. Recent LulzSec targets include Web sites belonging to <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/02/sony-pictures-website-hacked-1-million-accounts-compromised/" type="external">Sony Opens a New Window.</a>, <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/16/citigroup-360000-credit-cards-compromised-in-recent-hack/" type="external">Citigroup Opens a New Window.</a>, the CIA and the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>After a public spat between the two high-profile hacker groups, LulzSec united with Anonymous Operations to <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/20/lulzsec-and-anonymous-unite-to-wage-war-on-u-s-government/" type="external">wage a cyber war against the U.S. government Opens a New Window.</a>, stating, Sitting pretty on cargo bays full of corrupt booty, they think its acceptable to condition and enslave all vessels in sight. Our Lulz Lizard battle fleet is now declaring immediate and unremitting war on the freedom-snatching moderators of 2011.</p>
<p>LulzSec has not directly addressed the allegation that Kaotico is its leader, though it has posted messages to its Twitter account mocking The Jester, who calls himself a Hacktivist for good. Obstructing the lines of communication for terrorists, sympathizers, fixers, facilitators, and other general bad guys.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/24/hacker-claims-to-reveal-identity-of-lulzsec-leader/" type="external">This content was originally published on BGR.com Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.bgr.com/" type="external">Opens a New Window.</a>More news from BGR: - <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/24/ftc-may-subpoena-google-in-anti-trust-investigation/" type="external">FTC may subpoena Google in anti-trust investigation Opens a New Window.</a> - <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/24/apple-files-new-patent-suit-against-samsung/" type="external">Apple files new patent suit against Samsung Opens a New Window.</a> - <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/24/macbook-air-q3-sales-to-double-combined-sales-of-all-macs-last-quarter-report-claims/" type="external">MacBook Air Q3 sales to double combined sales of all Macs last quarter, report claims Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Hacker Claims to Reveal Identity of LulzSec Leader | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/06/24/hacker-claims-to-reveal-identity-lulzsec-leader.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>Looking ahead, the way that big businessmen do, the Pacific coast and the eastern plains are the country’s most promising regions in terms of value and profitability, taking into account the FTA [free trade agreement] and the paramilitaries’ “reinsertion.” Or as the youngsters in Planning [the presidency’s Department of Planning] might say, in the future soybeans, oil palm, corn, and sugarcane should displace the obsolete extensive cattle-ranching, bananas and basic food crops. And this project has been underway for several years now.</p>
<p>The planners and investors have had to overcome three obstacles to make their dreams reality: the poor people who occupy lands and live in these regions, the illegal crops that give these people what the state doesn’t, and the guerrillas, who fish in these turbid waters [profit from the chaos].</p>
<p>Behind the economic project is another, developed by who knows whom, which consists of:</p>
<p>1) Implanting paramilitary groups, carefully protected by the security forces and legitimized by the gamonales [local political bosses, wealthy landowners and businessmen].</p>
<p>2) Fumigating with poisons to displace both the coca crops and the population. The resulting displacement of crops to new areas widens the theater of war to regions that are proposed to be included in the development package, and those displaced are treated as criminals who legally have no right to benefit from the government’s [emergency humanitarian aid] programs.</p>
<p>3) When the hornet’s nest is stirred up, the security forces enter to finish off the plan, and the minister in power solemnly declares that the issue “is very complicated.”</p>
<p>The model is repeated with severe regularity in the zones they have had their eyes on: the eastern plains, from the Arauca River [border with Venezuela] to [the southern department of] Guaviare; and the Pacific, from the Darién hills [on the Panama border] to the Mataje River [border with Ecuador]. It has been decided to fill [the eastern department of] Vichada to the [south-central department of] Meta with African oil palms, while the lands in Casanare and Arauca are prepared for genetically modified sorghum and corn.</p>
<p>On the Pacific coast, in addition to the bananas for Chiquita Brands that extend from Urabá [near the Panama border] to the south, Urapalma [an African oil palm company widely believed to be tied to–or owned by–paramilitaries], with [local paramilitary leader] El Alemán in the lead, has established beachheads on the Juguamiandó and Curvaradó rivers to grow African oil palm and, in the short term, to produce biodiesel. In a few years, the entire Pacific region will look like Tumaco, Puerto Wilches, San Alberto and San Carlos de Guaroa [areas with extensive oil palm plantations] look today.</p>
<p>The playbook has been set into motion right now in El Charco, Nariño [in southwestern Colombia], a forgotten port that was erased from the map by a tsunami in 1906. Everything has been prepared with an astonishing amount of care. Last year, paramilitaries from a group called the New Generation Organization–whose initials are NGO and whose commander has called himself Armando Paz–took over El Charco. The population reacted and forced the “paras” out.</p>
<p>But in June there was a massacre of eleven people in Sanquianga. This provoked a large demonstration of indigenous people, afro-Colombians and mestizos to protest against these acts of violence. The dioceses of Tumaco, Guapi and Buenaventura warned of the danger they faced and issued a call to respect the civilian population.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the plan continued apace: on January 16, 2007, the commanders of the New Generation Organization entered Playa Bazan, in El Charco, now backed by the Black Eagles [the largest of the rapidly growing “new” paramilitary groups]. At the beginning of February the glyphosate bombardment began near the Tapaje river. At the end of that month the Marines entered via the villages of Taija and El Hojal, and rapidly occupied La Tola and Sequihonda after fighting with the FARC.</p>
<p>The forced displacement increased with every armed confrontation, bombardment or operation. Monsignor Girón, of the Tumaco Diocese, denounced the threats made by the “NGO” paramilitaries “against members of social, indigenous, ecclesiastical, and humanitarian organizations defending human rights in Nariño, among them the Pastoral Social [Caritas] of our own diocese.” Days later, Santos, the defense minister, acknowledged that today there are 400 families displaced in El Charco; Bishops Héctor Fabio Henao and Gustavo Girón corrected him: there were more than 1,000.</p>
<p>The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which should know, cried: what is happening in El Charco is also happening in the municipalities of Barbacoas, Cumbitara, Policarpa, Magüí, Linares, La Llanada, Sotomayor, Iscuandé, Samaniego, Ipiales and Cumbal [all in Nariño], and it asked that the entire region be declared a humanitarian crisis zone.</p>
<p>More than “complicated,” Mr. Minister, is what is happening in Nariño, which by the way shares a border with Ecuador.</p>
<p>ALFREDO MOLANO is one of Colombia’s leading scholars and political analysts. He is the author of many books of oral history, two of which, The Dispossessed and Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom, have been translated into English.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | "More Than Complicated" | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/04/14/quot-more-than-complicated-quot/ | 2007-04-14 | 4 |
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<p>The New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau, which had issued a “boil water advisory” for the Socorro Water System on Friday, lifted the advisory on Monday, <a href="http://www.dchieftain.com/dc/index.php/news/1752-boil-water-advisory-lifted.html" type="external">El Defensor Chieftain</a> reported.</p>
<p>The advisory was issued after bacteriological contamination (E. coli) was found in one of the drinking water sources for the Socorro Water System and applied only to the system’s drinking water and did not apply to any of the other surrounding water systems, El Defensor Chieftain said.</p>
<p>While the advisory was in effect, water users were advised to boil water for five minutes before drinking, cooking, dishwashing and bathing, the paper reported.</p>
<p>The Drinking Water Bureau provided the Socorro Water System with technical assistance and determined that adequate disinfection (chlorination) would be provided at a level that mitigates any potential threat to public health, according to El Defensor Chieftain.</p>
<p>The local water system will maintain a regular monitoring schedule to ensure adequate levels of disinfection and continue to test its distribution system for any presence of E. coli, the paper said.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 7:35am — Socorro ‘Boil Water Advisory’ Lifted | false | https://abqjournal.com/8481/735am-socorro-boil-water-advisory-lifted.html | 2 |
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<p>Markku Koskelo, Aquila chief scientist, is shown in front of the company's testing chamber. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/JOURNAL)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Albuquerque-based engineering firm Aquila has won a $25 million contract to deploy nearly 300,000 wrist-worn radiation detection devices to the Army National Guard.The technology, developed by Aquila, will replace aging, Cold War-era radiation detectors that the military still uses, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M, said Monday.</p>
<p>Heinrich, who helped push the contract through the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced the deal Monday at Aquila's 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility near the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum.</p>
<p>"These detectors sit on the wrist like a watch and measure exposure to ionizing radiation," Heinrich said. "Service members can be exposed today in many possible scenarios, not just traditional war theaters. They need protection really anywhere, given the dangers from things like dirty bombs."</p>
<p>The technology includes a small, portable radiation reader for every 100 wrist bands. The bands are wirelessly connected to the reader for real-time monitoring.</p>
<p>"The wrist bands are networked into the monitor so troops immediately know when something is going on and can react quickly," Heinrich said.</p>
<p>Old monitors used by the military can generally detect radiation only at much higher levels than Aquila's technology, said the company's chief scientist, Markku Koskelo. The old readers also typically need recalibration every 30 minutes.</p>
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<p>"This technology can read at very low radiation levels, and it stays in calibration a long time," Koskelo said. "They can also be used in extreme temperature environments."</p>
<p>Aquila developed the technology with funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. It began deploying the wrist bands and readers about four years ago under previous federal contracts, distributing about 400,000 to reserve and regular Army troops.</p>
<p>Under the new contract, Aquila will deliver another 282,000 wrist bands and 2,860 readers to the Army National Guard. It will manufacture and distribute them in partnership with four local companies: Delta Group Electronics, RMB Distributors, Toltec Industrial Service Group and Phoenix West Corp.</p>
<p>The contract will provide stability for Aquila's 45-person workforce, which might have otherwise faced cutbacks, said Aquila President Judy Beckes Talcott. It also provides revenue to continue building and distributing other products, such as a handheld anthrax detector that Aquila licensed from Sandia National Laboratories and now sells commercially.</p>
<p>"Without this contract, we were looking at significant downsizing and consolidation," Talcott said. "This allows us to maintain our industrial base in advanced manufacturing while bootstrapping other technologies."</p> | ABQ company gets $25 million for radiation detection | false | https://abqjournal.com/766960/abq-company-gets-25-million-for-radiation-detection.html | 2 |
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<p>On Thursday, Charles Krauthammer appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, and explained that the removal of Trump from office for anything other than “high crimes” would “cause a rupture in the country.”</p>
<p>CARLSON: He's been in office — 9 months since he got elected. From the very first day, people were saying, "We’re gonna take him out." Now this investigation looks like it has the potential to do that. If that were to happen, some of these voters may conclude that they're not really allowed to pick their own president.</p>
<p>KRAUTHAMMER: Well, that's why I think we are really headed into very choppy and dangerous constitutional waters. We know what the Democrats want to do. They want to get control of the House, and on day one, they're gonna start impeachment. Now, I happen to think — as you now, I opposed the Trump candidacy. I don't think he's very well fit for the presidency. But fitness is not a reason for impeachment and removal. High crimes are. Here we have a prosecutor looking for high crimes. With Watergate, you started with a crime, and then you [tried] to find out how it happened. Here, they're looking for a crime. Perhaps they'll find one, I don't know. As of yet, I haven't heard of one. Collusion is unseemly, but it ain't a crime.</p>
<p>So you've got a political establishment — mostly Democratic, but there are some Republicans who would like to see him taken out of office. I think that would be a catastrophic mistake. It would cause a rupture in the country where people would say, "When we people, the ones who've been abandoned, elect somebody we like, our guy gets taken out? I thought we had a stable democracy." Again, I think he's unfit, but that's not grounds for removal.</p>
<p>If you think a man is unfit, you vote against him — but you don't remove him from office. And that's where I'm afraid we are headed given the forces that are surrounding the president. I just hope that cooler heads prevail.</p> | WATCH: Krauthammer Says Some Republicans Want Trump ‘Taken Out Of Office’ | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19375/watch-krauthammer-says-some-republicans-want-trump-frank-camp | 2017-08-04 | 0 |
<p>History will record—whether ominously or as mild irony remains to be seen—that it was about a half an hour into the dedication of George W. Bush’s library, at this first gathering of our five living presidents in five years, that word moved across the wires that Chuck Hagel had said that we had reason to believe that Syria had used chemical weapons against its own people.</p>
<p>History might remember this coincidence ominously because, of course, Barack Obama has said that Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people would cross a red line. Well, it’s been crossed. Shortly after Hagel’s slightly wiggle-roomish statement, John Kerry confirmed it in more concrete terms. So what do we do now? Talk about crossing red lines almost has to be followed up by some kind of action. I’d be worried if I were you.</p>
<p>And it’s a reminder, if only so far potentially, that a president’s fortunes can change in very unpredictable ways. Seems worth mentioning at this point that Harry Truman was cruising along in pretty good shape in the spring of 1950, somewhere in the ballpark of <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/qx9sey_xme2a7hqsx6t6cq.gif&amp;imgrefurl=http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx&amp;h=324&amp;w=552&amp;sz=12&amp;tbnid=gH-7QJT4WHL2tM:&amp;tbnh=79&amp;tbnw=134&amp;zoom=1&amp;usg=__r7xHZ_jb9x1Ky0sxW0AIBf2yc3w=&amp;docid=NP_IaK2AAy5TOM&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=KVl5UdSXAYPD2QX2yoHgBQ&amp;ved=0CEYQ9QEwAQ&amp;dur=627" type="external">50 percent approval ratings</a>, and then lo and behold, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and Truman was forced, by circumstances and his own previous rhetorical commitments, into war. He left office at about 25 percent, and although his rehabilitation is thorough and nearly universal these days, believe me, it took a long time. Democrats didn’t talk much about Truman when I was young.</p>
<p>If you suspect (or hope!) that this is the point at which I’m going to segue into a “maybe George W. Bush has been underappreciated” column, sorry. At the present moment, and certainly today here in Dallas, Bush is being wildly over-appreciated. The rub here for Dubya is not that Democrats detest him. It’s that Republicans have no use for him. How quickly people forget all that talk from so many Republicans about how “we lost our way” under Bush, the big-spending and bureaucracy-expanding statist. Republicans have almost been harder on him than Democrats have. I expect this era of good feelings to last about another 24 hours.</p>
<p>It’s hard to gauge these things at such events, because the media are kept pretty far away from the important people, so I don’t want to be unfair, but it didn’t seem a very high-energy conclave. Certainly from a press point of view. The media filing center had about 500 chairs. During the entire ceremony, no more than about 20 were ever full. It is true that most reporters were outside, herded into a space from which you couldn’t see anything, but when I was walking around that area before it started, I saw no swarm of journalists.</p>
<p>All the congenial things the three Democratic presidents said are true. He did keep his word to Jimmy Carter and help broker an end to the civil war in Sudan (Carter’s were certainly the most surprising comments, and I think they earned him a lot of goodwill for that inevitable day that they gather again to lay him in his resting place). His AIDS Pepfar program was terrific, and Bill Clinton was probably correct that “no president of my party” could have passed that. Clinton’s remarks, by the way, while soaked in that aw-shucks charm, contained a couple of little digs. Bush “didn’t know a thing” about the German health-care system. All the more effective for being entirely believable.</p>
<p>Obama was extremely gracious—and he isn’t always, remember. Grace is kind of a problem of his at times. But here he did precisely what a president is supposed to do. He mentioned the bullhorn moment; AIDS and malaria; Bush’s “reaching across the aisle” to Teddy Kennedy. And he effectively papered over the section on Bush’s war by just carrying on about how much they all love the military.</p>
<p>They were there, whether they exactly knew it or not, to assist in Bush’s attempted rehabilitation. That’s all this event was about. And even though I don’t think it will ultimately work, I admit that from a p.r. point of view the roll-out has been pretty good. There were those polls showing his approval rating up from the nadir when he left office; Bush’s people surely knew that the media, even on the enemy network MSNBC, could be counted on to remark on these polls as if the findings were interesting or even revelatory, when of course all they really prove is that some degree of nostalgia for a person who’s been out of the public eye for five years—and who presided over a set of crises that were (to some extent, anyway) different from the crises we face now—is inevitable.</p>
<p>The interviews, at least the ones I saw, hit all the talking points just right. The only off note was Barbara <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/04/25/barbara-bush-jeb-shouldnt-run-for-president/" type="external">saying</a> that Jeb shouldn’t run. That one sentence—“there are a lot of great families, and it’s not just four families or whatever”—was surely aimed in part at Hillary, but even so, an odd verdict to render. All in all, though, everyone hit their marks.</p>
<p>Having Condi speak—the only one of that crowd that Americans still like—was smart. Having her acknowledge world leaders was clever. It never occurred to me that any world leaders would be here, and I imagine I’m not alone on that, so that probably surprised and impressed people, and was designed to make us think, “See, he does have respect!” It’s a major disappointment, of course, that Dick Cheney didn’t speak, but obviously that would have been madness from a p.r. perspective. I don’t know if all the war fanatics were there, Wolfowitz and David Addington and so on, but it was well-considered stagecraft not to acknowledge them. Bush could get away with acknowledging Cheney’s “loyalty, principle, strength” (yack) because that was about quieting media chatter of tension, and because it was the sort of Texas-manly thing to do.</p>
<p>Rehabilitation is going to be a reach for Bush because more than most presidents, he made his fate. True, he was in office when 9/11 hit, and in that sense history thrust a heavy burden upon his shoulders. (But one he should have done more about after that August 6 warning? Someday, Americans might yet know the whole story about that.) But in legacy terms, 9/11 was an incredible opportunity. Here was a moment when all the world, almost all the world, was feeling sympathetic toward America. He blew that moment terribly. Very few people beyond the conservative base are going to buy his freedom argument. The lessons of the “freedom agenda” were mostly inadvertent or tragic.</p>
<p>And we can only hope Americans remember them. Obama isn’t Bush, thank goodness, and he’s not surrounded by hegemony-mongers as Bush was, but we are entering a danger zone with this Syria news. I just hope that as Obama ponders his options, he remembers the lessons his predecessor still appears never to have learned.</p> | Bush’s Legacy, Obama’s Choice | true | https://thedailybeast.com/bushs-legacy-obamas-choice | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p>Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has emerged as a leading opponent of a bipartisan Senate bill that would grant a pathway to U.S. citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>For those views, Cruz has often pointed to his father, 74-year-old Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, a Cuban emigrant. “In my opinion, if we allow those who are here illegally to be put on a path to citizenship, that is incredibly unfair to those who follow the rules,” the freshman senator has said.</p>
<p>So it’s interesting to learn that although the elder Cruz says he “came to this country legally,” he also admitted in a recent interview with NPR that he basically bribed his way in.</p>
<p>NPR:</p>
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<p>In an interview near his home outside Dallas, the elder Cruz says that as a teenager, he fought alongside Fidel Castro’s forces to overthrow Cuba’s U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. He was caught by Batista’s forces, he says, and jailed and beaten before being released. It was 1957, and Cruz decided to get out of Cuba by applying to the University of Texas. Upon being admitted, he adds, he got a four-year student visa at the U.S. Consulate in Havana.</p>
<p>“Then the only other thing that I needed was an exit permit from the Batista government,” Cruz recalls. “A friend of the family, a lawyer friend of my father, basically bribed a Batista official to stamp my passport with an exit permit.”</p>
<p>The Rafael Cruz that his son Ted portrays is a kind of Cuban Horatio Alger — arriving in the U.S. with only $100, learning English on his own and washing dishes seven days a week for 50 cents an hour.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/06/20/193585553/how-ted-cruzs-father-shaped-his-views-on-immigration" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p> | Sen. Ted Cruz's Father Bribed His Way Into U.S. | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/sen-ted-cruzs-father-bribed-his-way-into-u-s/ | 2013-06-20 | 4 |
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<p>Photo by Kate Ausburn | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
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<p>Dr. Jeff Halper, a co-founder and director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, was&#160;detained&#160;in the West Bank in the middle of leading a tour of an Israeli “colony” there. Halper, an Israeli, who immigrated to Israel in the early 1970s from the U.S., was allegedly detained for possessing materials from the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS).</p>
<p>Two laws passed by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, one recent, affects the BDS movement. The first allows Israeli companies to sue BDS protesters for compensation. To date, that law has not been used against those who support the BDS movement. The second bans supporters of the BDS movement from entering Israel. There are no such laws that apply to Israelis who distribute BDS materials, or support the BDS movement in Israel, but official sanctions are not always the most effective kind. In Israel, those who oppose the occupation of the Palestinian territories are often harassed and threatened.</p>
<p>With the right-wing Trump administration in power, the right-wing government of Israel has received a green light to continue building settlements. Over the last several years, aid from the U.S. continued to flow into Israel&#160;uninterrupted, even despite the obvious dislike between former President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the end of the Obama administration neared, the U.S. agreed to provide Israel with $38 billion of new military aid over the next decade.</p>
<p>Halper was conducting a tour of the Ma’ale Adumin colony in the West Bank when he was detained. That&#160;settlement&#160;is not small, with 40,000 residents and a substantial infrastructure.&#160;Jerusalem can be seen in the distance from the settlement. He was detained for “incitement,” by simply possessing materials about the BDS movement (“BDS Activist Speaks About His Arrest by Israeli Police,” The&#160;Real News Network, March 17, 2017). In other words, he was being an obvious thorn in the side of consensus politics in Israel and taking part in a movement for justice that most Israelis do not support.</p>
<p>“It was only when Haaretz did a story about it, Haaretz Newspaper that they contacted the police. And the police told them that I was detained for incitement, that’s what it was. It wasn’t so much BDS per se.”</p>
<p>Halper believes that Israelis “don’t know anything when it comes to these kinds of issues… occupation, Palestinians, war, peace, and so on, human rights, are completely non-issues in Israel.” Halper believes that the issue of BDS has “impacted the American Jewish community much more than Israelis” (The Real News Network). He believes the latter is true because of the general nature of liberalism among the Jewish community in the U.S.</p>
<p>The attacks against the civil liberties of BDS supporters in Israel isn’t the only human rights issue that’s pressing there. Recently, Sarah Moody, a young woman studying to become a rabbi, was “knocked to the ground” while attempting to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site. She was attacked by a mob of zealots who yelled taunts of “evil-doers” and “anarchists,” as the bruised rabbinical student got back on her feet (“Banned and barred, Israel’s women stand up to religious hardliners,” The Guardian, March 18, 2017).</p>
<p>“Over the last decade in different parts of Israel, women have been barred from sections of buses, banned from speaking at cemeteries, blocked from pavements, physically attacked for their clothing choices, airbrushed from newspapers and magazines and removed from the airwaves and photos” (The Guardian).</p>
<p>Segments of the ultra-Orthodox community have been behind these assaults against women. Courts in Israel have stood for the rights of women, but the enforcement mechanisms on the streets of Israel are sometimes missing in defense of women’s rights.</p>
<p>Although a comparison is very imperfect, it merits noting that one of the reasons touted by the U.S. in its presence in Afghanistan after the beginning of the war in 2001 was to improve the rights of women. Strange that one of our strongest allies in the Middle East, Israel, has not come to terms in some ways with this most basic of human rights.</p>
<p>In December 2016, the Brookings Institute published a poll that showed 60 percent of Americans favored economic sanctions against Israel for its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The figure of support among those &#160;Republicans polled was 31 percent (“Nearly half of Americans support sanctions on Israel, poll finds,” +972 Magazine, December 3, 2016).&#160; Compare the support for sanctions among those polled in the U.S. with the fact that 22 U.S. states now have legislation “that punishes companies for answering the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel.”</p>
<p>National security states, whether republican democracies or not, can give rise to some destructive and hateful outcomes. The other, or dissident, can easily be cast into the domestic enemy in the service of power.</p> | BDS, Women’s Rights, Human Rights and the Failings of Security States | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/03/23/bds-womens-rights-human-rights-and-the-failings-of-security-states/ | 2017-03-23 | 4 |
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<p>Page Six is quoting excerpts from author Ed Klein’s new book All Out War: The Plot to Destroy Trump, due out October 30. In it, Klein claims that a Clinton family friend revealed that the pair’s relationship has been on the rocks since the election. Bill reportedly chastised Hillary’s campaign strategy, and even told her a month before the election that she was losing. He suggested she campaign in the “rust-belt,” which eventually turned to Trump on Election Day.</p>
<p>Hillary angrily dismissed her husband’s suggestions, believing her advisors that predicted a landslide. After her loss, Bill confronted Hillary on her mistakes, which did not go over well.</p>
<p>Hillary made things even worse after Bill reviewed the manuscript for her book What Happened. He made numerous notes and suggested she change the title, saying that people would mock it as a joke. Hillary never reviewed his notes and refused his advice to not turn the book into a blame game. Bill also suggested delaying the book to do some major rewrites. She refused.</p>
<p>When Bill finally received the finished book, he reportedly threw it in the trash. Klein’s source claims the Clintons now use attorneys and friends to speak with each other.</p>
<p>According to Page Six, the friend said: ‘He told her the book made her look bewildered, angry and confused, and that those were poor qualities in a person who aspired to be a world leader.</p>
<p>He hated the title because calling it “What Happened” would only make people say, “You lost.”</p>
<p>‘He urged her to postpone the pub date and rewrite the book, but she yelled at him and said: “The book is finished and that’s how it’s going to be published”.’</p>
<p>Bill is said to have given Hillary extensive notes on the book, which she refused to read before he threw the tome in the trash.</p>
<p>Since then the pair have been speaking through friends and lawyers, the source said</p>
<p>Bill and Hillary were last pictured together toward the end of August while enjoying a visit to see friends in the Hamptons. The couple have not been seen together since.</p>
<p>Bill was previously reported to have blown up at Hillary after her defeat, despite a public show of affection during her concession speech, accusing her of failing to campaign in rust belt states which eventually voted for Trump.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | REPORT: Bill and Hillary Clinton Haven’t Spoken In Months After Bill ‘Threw Her Book In The Trash’ | true | http://silenceisconsent.net/report-bill-hillary-clinton-havent-spoken-months-bill-threw-book-trash/ | 2018-05-03 | 0 |
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<p><a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/missouri-legislator-files-suit-to-be-exempted-from-contraception-mandate/article_911b75c9-8004-55be-9a76-44c0fa637e02.html" type="external">Rep. Wieland&#160;explains</a>, “I see abortion-inducing drugs as intrinsically evil, and I cannot in good conscience preach one thing to my kids and then just go with the flow on our insurance. This is a moral conundrum for me. Do I just cancel the coverage and put my family at risk? I don’t believe in what the government is doing.”</p>
<p>Wiedland’s “moral&#160;conundrum” seems to be a partially a factual one. Emergency contraception, which is a form of birth control, is covered under the mandate. But “abortion-inducing drugs” are not. (Many private insurance plans do cover abortion services because it’s smart policy–although state legislatures are <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/13/1588121/obamacare-abortion-access/" type="external">doing their damndest to ban coverage of abortion</a>&#160;in their state exchanges.) And, of course, the logical alternative to canceling his coverage and putting his family at risk is to simply refrain from using the birth control that’s now available without a co-pay. Talk about an easy fix. But I’m guessing Wiedland isn’t actually looking for a solution to this conundrum.&#160;</p>
<p>While there’s been tons of legal challenges to the mandate, the Weidlands’ may be the first by individuals seeking exemption from a group plan. But in a previous lawsuit brought by an employer , the judge ruled that the right to religious belief “is not a means to force one’s religious practices upon others.” (Ya don’t say!) So perhaps this case will come down to whether Weidland and his wife have a right to force their beliefs on their three daughters, who are also covered by the plan. Here’s hoping their right to keep themselves safe from unintended pregnancies is protected.</p>
<p><a href="http://jezebel.com/republican-sues-to-keep-wife-daughters-from-accessing-1148313604?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+jezebel%2Ffull+%28Jezebel%29" type="external">&#160;Image via.&#160;</a></p> | Missouri lawmaker sues to personally exempt his family from the contraception mandate | true | http://feministing.com/2013/08/15/missouri-lawmakers-sues-to-personally-exempt-his-family-from-the-contraception-mandate/ | 4 |
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<p>(The Root) - South Africa's president and ruling party have somehow managed to turn a national penis joke into a constitutional challenge that could affect the hard-won freedoms of the country's residents decades after the end of apartheid.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.goodman-gallery.com/exhibitions/265" type="external">provocative exhibit</a> that opened two weeks ago and features works from Brett Murray, a white artist from Cape Town, is anything but subtle in its criticism of the ruling party. Murray accuses the African National Congress of corruption, excess, greed and a general failure to deliver (the latter is captured in a large red metal sculpture that simply reads, "PROMISES PROMISES PROMISES").</p>
<p>The government is used to such criticisms - and a revolving door of related scandals, including the president's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7153378.stm" type="external">own trials for corruption and rape</a>. But when the ANC caught wind of one painting in particular titled "The Spear" - a 6-foot-tall riot of yellows, blacks and reds that depicts a stylized Jacob Zuma, 70, posing as Lenin with his genitals exposed - it prompted them to deliver court papers to the gallery, ordering the removal of the offending piece.</p>
<p>In a press release issued May 17, ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu wrote that the painting, which is part of an exhibit at Johannesburg's Goodman Gallery titled "Hail to the Thief II," is an <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?id=9614" type="external">"abuse of freedom of expression."</a> Zuma himself weighed in a day later, saying in a <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=6070" type="external">statement</a> that the $15,000 painting, which has already sold, "perpetuates a shocking new culture by some sections of the artistic world, of using vulgar methods of communicating about leading figures in the country, in particular the President."</p>
<p>However, the gallery's initial response was to keep the painting up. "We felt to take it down would be censorship," said gallery officer Lara Koseff. The last time the gallery drew this much attention, she said, was with an exhibition called "Art Against Apartheid" in 1985. "I think for this country, it's important to have these conversations and acknowledge our constitution and what our constitution is capable of," she added.</p>
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<p>The painting has divided the country, with some <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/05/south-africa-jacob-zuma-portrait-lawyer-weeps.html" type="external">black South Africans claiming</a> that the imagery is an affront to African culture, which places a premium on respecting its elders. Others have argued that it recalls the strip searches endured by many under apartheid. Then there are the freedom of expression advocates, like Koseff, who claim the ANC's demands have threatened the country's constitutional rights. As the controversy raged, protestors defaced the painting, causing the gallery to temporarily close.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, William Bird, director of <a href="http://www.mediamonitoringafrica.org/" type="external">Media Monitoring Africa</a>, a watchdog organization in Johannesburg that promotes ethical journalism practices, said the government's strong reaction is surprising and probably indicative of the party's insecurity as a major party conference looms later this year. "It's bizarre that the presidency is shocked and disgusted,'' Bird told The Root. "There are so many other issues about which they should be expressing that emotion, not for a picture of the president."</p>
<p>The debate has been featured on the nation's editorial pages, too. City Press editor Ferial Haffajee, whose paper first ran the image of the painting, wrote that though she wouldn't display the painting in her own home, she <a href="http://www.citypress.co.za/Columnists/The-spear-of-the-nation-stays-up-20120518#.T7YVpBs-ZR0.twitter" type="external">questioned the practice of destroying art</a>. She explained: "Our Constitution explicitly protects artistic expression as a subset of free expression, to which its detractors will respond as they have all week: they draw the line at art that impugns presidential dignity." Then she added that Zuma "has done more to impugn his own dignity than any artist ever could."</p>
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<p>Haffajee is referring, as many South Africans know, to the notion that Zuma's privates are not exactly private property. The man has been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7153378.stm" type="external">acquitted of rape</a>. He has admitted to siring a love child in his late 60s. He <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-21/africa/world_africa_south-africa-zuma_1_sizakele-zuma-polygamous-president-position-of-first-lady?_s=PM:AFRICA" type="external">recently married his fourth wife</a> - and yes, he kept the three others. And he is possibly the most fecund modern head of state, with at least <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/31/jacob-zuma-south-africa-child" type="external">20 known offspring</a>.</p>
<p>This isn't the first time Zuma has legally objected to his portrayal. He is also suing South Africa's top political cartoonist for defamation. Jonathan Shapiro, who publishes under the name <a href="http://www.zapiro.com/About/News" type="external">Zapiro</a>, famously <a href="http://www.zapiro.com/Slideshows/Lady-Justice-Jacob-Zuma/" type="external">portrayed Zuma preparing to rape Lady Justice</a> - a criticism of Zuma's abuses of the justice system. He also drew Zuma with a showerhead suspended over him - a reference to his testimony during his rape trial that he protected himself from HIV by showering shortly after having unprotected sex with a woman he knew was HIV-positive.</p>
<p>This recent battle over art has prompted opinion writer <a href="http://www1.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2012-05-18-unchain-my-art" type="external">Alex Eliseev to ask</a>: "Are we witnessing an assassination of Zuma's character or are we seeing the art world holding up a mirror to a man who has never been far from controversy? Would artists have painted Barack Obama with his penis hanging out? Obama has been depicted as a monster by those who disagree with his policies, but it has never been about his private parts. The man commands too much respect for that."</p>
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<p>On Thursday, the Murray painting case was brought before the High Court in Johannesburg, where <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/25/world/africa/zuma-painting-court-case/index.html" type="external">huge pro-ANC crowds gathered outside</a>. Inside, Gcina Malindi, Zuma's lawyer, argued for the painting's removal but in an awkward turn of events, broke down in tears while recalling black South Africans' past struggles for freedom and dignity. When Malindi regained composure, he requested a postponement and court was adjourned. The case will be resumed at later date. And the nation is forced to wait longer for a resolution to the controversy.</p>
<p>A. Hawes has lived and worked in Africa for more than five years and covers a variety of topics and events.</p> | Zuma's Private Parts Cause Art World Stir | true | https://theroot.com/zumas-private-parts-cause-art-world-stir-1790891676 | 2012-05-26 | 4 |
<p><a href="//videos/37/43865" type="external" /></p>
<p>RUSH: Now, as you know, Algore has sold his TV network, Current TV, to Al Jazeera. A couple things about this. Yesterday morning, the staff, the still shell-shocked staff at Current TV, was called to an all-hands staff meeting at their headquarters in San Francisco, and that meeting was teleconferenced to their offices in Los Angeles and New York City, where the staff at Algore’s network could meet their new bosses from Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera sent two of its top guys, Ehab Al Shihabi, the executive director of international operations, and Muftah AlSuwaidan, the general manager of the London bureau of Al Jazeera. Algore was not there. His partner, Joel Hyatt, was. Joel Hyatt, just so you know, is the son-in-law of the late senator from Ohio, Howard Metzenbaum. And the story in the New York Post about this is about how the staffers at Algore’s network were not happy. They’re disillusioned. They can’t believe that Algore would sell the network to Al Jazeera. They can’t believe they’re working for Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera, now, stop and think about this, by the way. Al Jazeera was made possible by oil money. It’s owned by the emir of Qatar. And Qatar has money for one reason — oil — which Algore hates, at least publicly. Algore is almost, from what I’m told, almost a billionaire based simply on his positions on global warming. He has monetized a fraudulent, hoax position on global warming to the tune of nearly a billion dollars. Al Jazeera was purchased for $500 million, and of that $500 million, Algore got $100 million. Al Jazeera has 75,000 viewers. There is no way this network is worth $500 million. There is no way it’s worth a hundred million to Algore, not in the standard ways using multiples, billing, audience, the standard ways that you would measure value of a media property.</p>
<p>There is no way Al Jazeera or anybody else would pay $500 million for a network that nobody watches. And yet they did. And there’s a reason why they did. By the way, at this staff meeting, Jennifer Granholm, who, you know, I wondered the other day if Jennifer Granholm and Joy Behar, who also has a show there, are now gonna be made to wear burqas and what impact that might have on audience ratings. <a href="" type="internal">If Granholm and Behar wear burqas, it might improve ratings</a>. But former Vice President Algore has almost called for terrorism against oil companies. This is no small thing, folks.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Let me tell you the reason that $500 million is not really the audience. It’s the number of homes that the network reaches, it’s the potential audience that might justify $500 million. But even that’s a stretch. Algore succeeded in getting this network on a bunch of Big Cable systems so that theoretically Al Jazeera reaches 80% of the eyeballs in the country, via cable. Not that that many watch it, but that it’s on their cable systems. Now, many of these cable systems took the network simply because of Algore. They’d love to get rid of it. They don’t want to pay anything for it. They don’t want it occupying space, and they’re using this as an opportunity to get rid of the network, which is where Algore comes in and why he was paid $500 million for this.</p>
<p>Look at it this way. Think about it this way. If you were going to sell yourself for millions of dollars to a movement that has as its goal to infiltrate and overcome the United States of America, who better than Algore to partner with? If you’re Algore and you have value, here is a way to demonstrate it. Look at what’s happening, folks, in our country. We’re currently using light bulbs, compact fluorescent light bulbs that are filled with mercury. They have now been found to cause skin cell death and cancer and of course there’s the hazmat danger.</p>
<p>If one of these things breaks in your home you’ve got to call hazmat people to come and have it removed. There’s no reason that we should have compact fluorescents mandated. There’s no reason to ban the incandescent light bulb other than the political pressure brought to bear by the advancement of a hoax issue, i.e. global warming, saving the planet, saving the climate.</p>
<p>Algore has succeeded in profound ways in furthering this hoax.</p>
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<p>He’s got people convinced that driving is bad, all because of the movie that he made that’s filled with things in it that are not true. In fact, you could say (and I will say) that as far as many children are concerned — and susceptible, gullible adults — the fraudulent picture in Gore’s movie, Earth in the Balance, of a polar bear on a small sheet of ice probably has had more impact and more effect and more success in “convincing,” quote, unquote, people that there’s global warming.</p>
<p>That picture of a polar bear on a small sheet of ice conveyed that the ice is melting, that the natural habitat for the polar bear is melting, and it’s melting because of us. It’s melting because of the cars we drive, the light bulbs that we use, the amount of fossil fuels that we use. It’s all there in Gore’s movie. The problem is stuff isn’t melting. The polar bears are not threatened, their population’s exploding, and that picture was fraudulent. Polar bears can swim 60 miles. Polar bears frolic on those little slivers of ice.</p>
<p>But it was portrayed as its home.</p>
<p>That picture’s been everywhere, not just in Algore’s movie, but it was prominently there. So because of that picture, you could say — and all of Algore’s movie and the 20-plus years that make up this hoax — we’ve got light bulbs that are threats. We got light bulbs that are not nearly as effective as the ones they were mandated to replace. Now, if you’re Al Jazeera and you have as an objective to have your chance at influencing the American people to accept your worldview of things, who better than the guy like Algore to buy to do it?</p>
<p>Look at all he succeeded at doing! We have been forced into these crappy light bulbs. We have been forced into a number of lifestyle choices, and there will be more coming. We are forced into manufacturing and buying automobiles nobody wants under the false premise that we’re destroying the planet and these new light bulbs and cars will save the planet. We are being forced into accepting higher <a href="" type="internal">taxes</a>, bigger government.</p>
<p>Because we must pay the price for our extravagant lifestyles which have led to the death of the polar bear and the destruction of the climate. We’re forced into all of these laws by our elected officials, passed after being lobbied by environmentalist wackos. That image of a lost polar bear floating on the last remaining piece of ice on earth, which was the message behind that picture? All of this fraud is based on a made-up hoax, global warming, climate change, and sold to us by Algore who’s become almost a billionaire in the process.</p>
<p>He has been a relentless advocate and promoter of this thoroughly disprovable concept of manmade climate change and global warming. So if you pull yourself away from it, you have to say, in an objective way, he’s done a hell of a job promoting this hoax that he believes in. He’s done one hell of a job making it accepted. He’s done one hell of a job convincing entire governments and populations that his hoax is real.</p>
<p>If he’s that effective for the environmentalist wackos at spreading countless numbers of lies, you gotta think that Al Jazeera has gotta be asking themselves, “What could this guy do for us?” And so, they’re thrilled to pay him $500 million for a network that nobody watches. You might say it’s a brilliant move on their part business-wise. Look who they’ve got as a lobbyist now! Look at how effective he is, and look at the credibility he still has projecting a hoax.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: No, seriously, folks, stop and think of this. Here’s Algore, who has become extremely wealthy perpetuating and personifying a hoax that is in large part based on the dangers of oil. Oil and fossil fuels are destroying the climate. Our use of these fuels is destroying the climate, is creating global warming, and there’s nothing good about that in Algore’s view. Yet who does he accept money from?</p>
<p>He sells his network for $500 million to the grand pooh-bahs of Qatar, which only have that money to give or to buy it with because of oil. You could say, “Well, he’s taken them to the cleaners, Rush! He sold them something that’s not worth anything.” No, no. That’s not what’s happened. That is not what happened. Algore has accepted money from an industry, a nation state and industry that he tells everybody else needs to be shut down. And what did he sell them?</p>
<p>He sold them a propaganda arm!</p>
<p>He sold them a cable network that does reach 70% or 80% of the eyeballs in this country. So he took oil money. Anybody think that that’s not on the up and up? Why would Algore want to have anything to do with Big Oil? He hates ’em. They’re the reason that we are threatened. They are the reason that we’re endangered. They’re the ones that have been lying to us. They’ve been the polluters! I think the reason they bought him is because he’s obviously good at spreading propaganda.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera obviously has a worldview. Al Jazeera, like any other news network, would love to be able to persuade everybody that watches it to agree with their worldview. Their worldview is not one friendly to us as a country rooted in Western Civilization. Al Jazeera doesn’t have much to say about Western Civilization that’s good. And yet they partner with Algore, who supposedly hates oil.</p>
<p>So he gets even richer, gives them a propaganda arm, and remains involved perhaps as a consultant. And then Jennifer Granholm? What’s funny about this staff meeting is Jennifer Granholm asked about severance packages for people like her who are quitting. And Joel Hyatt, Algore’s partner, told her to shut up. “We’re not talking about the at this meeting! Bring it up later.” Total, total, disrespect.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: Palm Coast, Florida, with Alex. Welcome, sir. Nice to have you here with us.</p>
<p>CALLER: Hey, Rush. Listen, I’d like to touch in on this issue about Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>RUSH: Yeah.</p>
<p>CALLER: Okay. First off, I would like to say that I am a Republican. I recently took a trip, my first trip to Europe. The only English channel that I was able to watch was the Al Jazeera network. I had my preconceptions from the United States on the credibility of the network and everything, and I kind of took it with a grain of salt when I started watching, but the more I started watching, the more I started realizing it wasn’t the terrorist network that I think that Americans think that it is. They take a very hands off —</p>
<p>RUSH: Hang on just one brief moment.</p>
<p>CALLER: Okay.</p>
<p>RUSH: You started out by saying that you are a Republican.</p>
<p>CALLER: Right.</p>
<p>RUSH: Now, that’s cool, but why is that important?</p>
<p>CALLER: I think that particularly the Republican Party has these views. I think that the people who are more liberal don’t have as hard a line on the idea that Al Jazeera is a terrorist network. I think that’s kind of pushed more by the Republican side of our country.</p>
<p>RUSH: It is? Okay. Republicans push the idea that Al Jazeera is a terrorist network?</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, particularly conservative people like Bill O’Reilly. I’ve seen his show, you know, pushing the idea that it’s more of a terrorist network and that it can’t be taken seriously.</p>
<p>RUSH: Okay.</p>
<p>CALLER: I haven’t seen so much of that on CNN. But I would like to just touch on the issue that I think that they are a very credible network. I think that they’re more along the lines of BBC World News in the way that they portray news. So the fact that —</p>
<p>RUSH: Uh —</p>
<p>CALLER: — Algore would —</p>
<p>RUSH: BBC?</p>
<p>CALLER: Right.</p>
<p>RUSH: Is as almost admittedly now far left as you can get.</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, far left, I mean, look, there is a conservative and liberal point of view. But at the same time, you know, Algore is a Democrat. He sold it to somebody that he thought was in line with his, you know, beliefs, which is, you know, more of a liberal ideology. But to say it’s anti-American is to say something different than saying that it’s liberal.</p>
<p>RUSH: Wait a minute, who says they’re anti-western? Do you really want to make the case that Al Jazeera is objective, un-opinionated, that they don’t represent a worldview?</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, look, everybody represents a worldview. Every network that you’re gonna watch is gonna represent a worldview. I just think that the way that they portray news, you can be from either side of the aisle, you can be in the United States and you can watch their news and you can judge it fairly. You can watch it like you can watch any other network. I don’t think that it’s anything ridiculous that they are coming to the United States. I think that they do have a worldview, but, you know, viewers can tune in, they can assess, but they’ll —</p>
<p>RUSH: Have you ever heard of a journalist named David Marish?</p>
<p>CALLER: Yes, I have. And I saw him on CNN after — I remember, he was a journalist for the network after he quit.</p>
<p>RUSH: He was. And after he quit, he resigned from his position as the Washington anchor for Al Jazeera English —</p>
<p>CALLER: Right.</p>
<p>RUSH: — in 2008. He cited reflexive, adversarial editorial stances against Americans and anti-American bias as the reason that he resigned.</p>
<p>CALLER: Right. I watched him, too. I remember he went on Fox News, he went on CNN, and he talked about that and, you know, he said a couple things. One thing that he said was that some of — first off, there has been a power shift in the network recently, you know, since the time that he started there and all that, and he said that it wasn’t so much American bias, it’s not like they injected it in the news. He just felt that in the newsroom and, you know, you can still take that, whatever.</p>
<p>RUSH: Now, wait, see, he did say that. You’re taking what he said and you’re telling me that he didn’t say it or that he didn’t mean it, and he did say it. But that’s not my point with this. You said it: Algore shares a worldview, Democrat-Democrat with Al Jazeera, and you’ve called here to make the case it’s no big deal. They’re fairer and better and more balanced than American news. That’s not my point. That was not the point at all. I think it’s fascinating, though, that you wanted call and defend Al Jazeera editorially.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>But that’s not what I was talking about. My whole monologue on this has to do with the fact that Algore has demonstrated himself to be a class AAA propagandist. Al Jazeera has a vested interest in the part of the world they represent triumphing. That is undeniable. They’ve hired a guy, they bought a guy who will now become a lobbyist for them to help expand their footprint or their influence.</p>
<p>Now, here’s Algore, who has made his name post-politics as being anti-oil, anti-fossil fuels, anti-conventional energy who just got in bed with conventional energy. He just got in bed with oil wells. He has gotten rich condemning them, and yet he’s now taking their money to further enhance his own wealth and to help them expand their footprint, whatever their footprint is, whatever it ends up being.</p>
<p>Now, all I’m trying to do is explain, you know, because people said why would they pay $500 million for a network nobody watches? That’s not what they were buying. They were buying distribution of this network. They’re buying an opportunity to program it the way they want, and they’re buying Algore as a means of helping them. So Algore is going to end up, already has, offered considerable assistance to a bunch of people he’s gotten rich condemning, is my only point.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: I’m gonna go back to Al Jazeera for a second because of the call we had. I don’t think the caller that we had on Al Jazeera is a disconnected consumer of news. I think he was calling here to defend Al Jazeera on the merits as a news network, as a news organization. He was calling to defend them. He compared them to BBC. They’re better than CNN and so forth. A number of people agree.</p>
<p>Colin Powell, ladies, the titular head of the GOP, says he watches Al Jazeera. Hillary and Obama have both said they watch Al Jazeera and they praised it. They’ve said that it is great. Hillary said Al Jazeera is the model of news reporting, and that’s exactly what Al Jazeera wants people to think. Now, in addition to the connection that I’ve made between Algore and Al Jazeera — and I think that’s the big story here, not what kind of news network Al Jazeera is.</p>
<p>I’m gonna get into that here, but the real thing that people wonder is, “Why would they pay $500 million?” Literally, folks, they’ve got 64,000 or 65,000 viewers tops. You don’t pay $500 million for that. You do pay $500 million to get a good lobbyist, and that’s what they got with Algore. Look, whatever you think of Algore, objectively we have to say the guy is pretty good at what he does. He has perpetrated a hoax. He’s gotten rich off of it. He has persuaded millions of people that it’s true.</p>
<p>If you are Al Jazeera and you are seeking similar success in having people think that you are what you want them to think, who better than a guy like Gore? He comes already with (to a lot of people) credibility. He does that movie, he does that book, he puts that fraudulent photo of the polar bear up there on a little sheet of ice and little kids all over the country (impression), “Mommy! Mommy! We got to stop killing polar bears!”</p>
<p />
<p>And parents go out and buy cheap little cars and light bulbs, and people start blaming themselves for climate change when there isn’t any manmade climate change. They start blaming themselves for global warming, start accepting big government, accepting tax increases, accepting the notion that they gotta buy things they don’t want in order to save the planet. I mean, it’s really been successfully well done. The irony is, Gore has become what he has become targeting Big Oil!</p>
<p>Big Oil, fossil fuel! It is the number one enemy. It is who Algore has attempted to get everybody to hate. And yet who did he just get in bed with? The important thing is what Gore is going to do for Al Jazeera going forward. Now, about Al Jazeera. To understand Al Jazeera, you have to understand the difference between “Islamist” and “Islamist” terrorist. An Islamist is not “a Muslim.” You must understand this. Terms are specific and they have meaning.</p>
<p>Words mean things. An Islamist is any Muslim person or institution that wants to impose Sharia law. An Islamist terrorist wants to do it via terrorism. An Islamist terrorist will accomplish the objective, or seek to, by pursuing radical objectives through terrorism. Now, Al Jazeera is not Islamist terrorist, but they are openly Islamist. They’re not who they’re not. They’re not an island in the world of Islam that’s not Islamist.</p>
<p>They are who they are.</p>
<p>Now, you may not be comfortable hearing it, you might not want to hear it, but it is what it is. Remember, I’m the mayor of Realville. The most popular show on Al Jazeera is called Sharia and Life. It is hosted by a sheik, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi. And he happens to be the top jurist in the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now running Egypt, who, by the way, Mr. Morrissey has now gone public again with demanding back the blind sheik, Omar Abdel Rahman, who’s in jail here.</p>
<p>That was the first thing that he said when he was elected president, in his campaign. The first thing he was gonna do is demand tax return of the blind sheik. That will happen. Mark my words. We will release the blind sheik, and we’ll do the under the guise, “The poor guy’s diabetic! He can’t see. He’s blind. He’s wasting away.” Just like the Brits gave away the Pan Am bomber, we’ll give away the blind sheik.</p>
<p>“It’s supposedly the last days of his life. So he can live ’em out at home with family and friends,” blah, blah. I know this is gonna happen. But I am wandering off course a bit here. Al Jazeera is openly Islamist. Their most popular show is Sharia and Life, and it’s hosted by Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who’s the top jurist in the Muslim Brotherhood. The network, just like the Muslim Brotherhood, pretends to be opposed to terrorism. But they support Hamas; they support Hezbollah. They do it by rationalizing that these are just resistance and political organizations, not terrorist groups.</p>
<p>Now, I don’t want anybody to think that I have just said that every Muslim is an Islamist. They’re not. It’s why I’m making the point here. The difference here is between “Islamist” and “Islamist terrorist.” Islamists and Islamist terrorists have the same objective. They just go about it different ways. Al Jazeera wouldn’t get on one cable network if they’re openly advocating terrorism to achieve their objectives. So they’re doing it under the guise of news.</p>
<p>You can’t blame them!</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>If you’re part of the Muslim Brotherhood or if you are an oil sheik in the Middle East and you’re looking at ways to spread the word about what you believe in your heart of hearts, and you study the rest of the world and look at people who’ve succeeded, you would eventually find the American mainstream media. And in your study of how to effectively, peacefully — inform, indoctrinate, propagandize, whatever — get people to accept your worldview, you have to admit that studying the way the American mainstream media has done it is pretty effective.</p>
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">lowest-information</a> people in the United States determine who wins elections. That is made to order. “The lowest-information people” is not to say the stupidest. The lowest-information people are the least engaged, those who don’t pay much attention. But when they do, you got ’em. There happen to be more of those than there are of us, folks. You and I being wonks. We live and breathe this stuff. The low-information crowd doesn’t. The low-information crowd, in fact, needs electric cars to make noise so they don’t get run over by ’em.</p>
<p>So if you’re Al Jazeera, you study various places around the world that have been effective in spreading their word, and you would come across the mainstream media in the United States, and you’d have to admire them. Look at what they’re doing here. They got a guy elected president that nobody knew anything about. They got a guy reelected president by literally destroying the character, image, and reputation of his opponent: Mitt Romney.</p>
<p>The mainstream media, if you’re an outsider studying this country, would have to be something you really admire. You’d look at how they did it, and they’ve done it by ostensibly being in the news business. But they’re not any longer. The mainstream media is not in the news business; they’re part of the Democrat Party. But they’re so good at it that as far as the low-information voter is concerned, they’re still in the news business. They’re objective. They’re fair.</p>
<p>The low-information voter really believes Mitt Romney is a felon, really believes Mitt Romney was fine with a guy’s wife dying of cancer, that Mitt Romney really doesn’t like dogs. You might disagree with me here as, “Come on, Rush, they don’t really believe that.” I’m telling you that they did. I’m telling you that when the head of the Chicago teachers gets up and starts talking about the rich and how they took everything from everybody and how they’re never gonna give it up legislatively, we’re going to have take it back from ’em, they believe it. This is what we’re gonna have to admit.</p>
<p />
<p>So Al Jazeera is what it is. That’s who Algore accepted money from, and that’s who Algore is now going to be lobbying for. And I think among all the things I’ve mentioned, the fact that Al Jazeera exists because of oil, which Algore has gotten wealthy despising and making other people despise, I just find it fascinating that nobody is calling Gore a hypocrite, that nobody is questioning whether Gore now has any credibility at all. If oil is rotten to the core, why in the world would you help them? Why would you enrich them? Why would you facilitate whatever it is they’re trying to accomplish? Big Oil is bad whether they’re making gasoline or whether they’re doing news, I would think.</p>
<p>Now, the caller also mentioned that Al Jazeera’s not much different than the BBC. And he’s right. He mentioned the BBC World Service, but it doesn’t matter. The BBC is the BBC, and they are as leftist as any news organization is. But this guy doesn’t think so. And I don’t know how many people that listen to the BBC World Service or watch it on TV, I don’t know how many people think it’s as leftist as it is, but clearly not a majority. It, like the mainstream media in this country, is perceived as news and objective and fair and truthful and all that.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: Here’s Valerie in Richardson, Texas. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hi.</p>
<p>CALLER: Hey. Rush?</p>
<p>RUSH: Yeah.</p>
<p>CALLER: How are you today?</p>
<p>RUSH: Good. Fine. Thank you very much.</p>
<p>CALLER: It’s a wonderful Tuesday here. We’re getting rain.</p>
<p>RUSH: You must need it, then.</p>
<p>CALLER: We must need it very badly. Yes. It’s very nice.</p>
<p>RUSH: Well, I’m glad you’re if we go to it.</p>
<p>CALLER: Yeah, me, too, and we got our kids back at school from Christmas break. That’s wonderful.</p>
<p>RUSH: Ha ha! I can relate to that.</p>
<p>CALLER: Yeah, well, it’s a good thing. You were talking about Al Jazeera and Current TV?</p>
<p>RUSH: Yup..</p>
<p />
<p>CALLER: It hit my mind that we’ve been through this road before with the propaganda from foreign lands. We’ve had that for years. I grew up in Los Angeles, and we watched how the Mexican TV stations took over and how we had two different news organizations that were going on, the English version and the Hispanic version that expanded over to like…</p>
<p>RUSH: Oh, yeah, like Univision.</p>
<p>CALLER: Univision and Telemundo.</p>
<p>RUSH: Yeah, Univision, Telemundo. Like Yasser Arafat. When he would speak to an English audience, he’d say one thing. When he went to speak to an Arabic language audience, it was entirely different, and that’s what you’re saying, right?</p>
<p>CALLER: Oh, absolutely. That’s how you got your propaganda out. We have that when they are trying to do the amnesty. Where do they go first? They go to the Hispanic community. My kids are 14 and 15. I got two boys. And they’re not dodos because we straighten ’em out when they come home from school, and —</p>
<p>RUSH: That’s a never-ending process.</p>
<p>CALLER: It’s hard work!</p>
<p>RUSH: It really is. Look, can you hang on a minute here, Valerie? I gotta take a quick obscene profit break.</p>
<p>CALLER: Sure.</p>
<p>RUSH: We’ll come back and continue with your point after this.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: Back now to Valerie in Richardson, Texas. You were talking about Telemundo and Univision saying different things for different audiences. You know, Obama says different things to different audiences, too.</p>
<p>CALLER: Yes, he does, and it’s hard for people to understand when they’re being propagandized. They’re not able to differentiate anymore.</p>
<p>RUSH: Oh, absolutely right!</p>
<p>CALLER: You used to be able to turn on the news and actually get a news report. You don’t get that anymore. You get what you’re supposed to feel about something.</p>
<p>RUSH: Well, nothing is news anymore. There really isn’t any news. There is a narrative every day that has in it a bunch of agendas that need to be moved forward, be it the debt limit, be it the fiscal cliff deal, be it the presidential election. But in terms of just reporting? You know, journalism is telling people what happened someplace where nobody was. That’s long gone, doesn’t happen. You’re exactly right.</p>
<p>CALLER: No. One of the things that you’re gonna find with this sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera is you aren’t gonna find, you know, the left is gonna go after Algore for his hypocrisy. None!</p>
<p>RUSH: No. No way. No way.</p>
<p>CALLER: They’re just not going to. Because they’re all hook… I was gonna say “hookers.” Is that okay? (chuckles) They’re all prostitutes, all of them. They sell each other out, sell each other to cable.</p>
<p>RUSH: Just —</p>
<p>CALLER: They sell us out.</p>
<p>RUSH: — don’t say “sluts.” Anything but that.</p>
<p>CALLER: Oh. Okay. (laughing)</p>
<p>RUSH: Hee-hee-hee-hee.</p>
<p>CALLER: But it’s true.</p>
<p>RUSH: No.</p>
<p>CALLER: And one of the things that my kids have pointed out is that if you’re gonna have foreign language news reporting, it should have English subtitles underneath it so you can know what’s being said.</p>
<p>RUSH: True. I use subtitles and closed-captioning anyway out of necessity and it is extremely helpful. But that’s a good point, too.</p>
<p>CALLER: Yeah.</p>
<p>RUSH: It really is.</p>
<p>CALLER: It was great talking to you.</p>
<p>RUSH: Same here. I’m glad you got through.</p>
<p>CALLER: Thank you.</p>
<p>RUSH: That really is a good analogy, the Univision and Telemundo, ’cause on the Spanish language versions, they’re advising people. For example, in LA, they’re advising how to get to the emergency room without having to spend any money, how to call an ambulance, how to get around the health care system, how to navigate it. They advise how to do this. The Obama administration actually produced radio commercials for air in Mexico about how to access food stamps once you get to America.</p>
<p>It’s an excellent point. It’s all springing from the fact that we had a caller earlier who wanted to defend Al Jazeera as a just straight-down-the-line news organization that probably was more reliable objectively than CNN, the caller said. So the point here is that Al Jazeera’s what it is. Like I said, you have to know the difference between “Islamist” and “Islamist terrorist” and “Muslim” and the difference in those three terms.</p>
<p>But again I’ll just tell one more time: The real irony here or the hypocrisy is Gore who has literally become almost a billionaire — a multi, multimillionaire — in a crusade against oil and oil companies, and he has just enriched himself hundreds of millions of dollars selling his network to an oil state. Al Jazeera is from Qatar. Al Jazeera gave us the Arab Spring. Look how it turned out. Al Jazeera was the coverage there.</p>
<p>Anyway, Valerie, thanks.</p> | Al Jazeera Buys Algore’s Hoax Machine | true | http://rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/08/al_jazeera_buys_algore_s_hoax_machine | 2013-01-08 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 8 Oct, 2017 14:47Edited time: 8 Oct, 2017 14:54</p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in central Barcelona on Sunday in opposition to any declaration of independence from Spain, waving banners that said “I am Spanish,” “Catalonia is Spain,” and “Together we are stronger.”</p>
<p>Police said around 350,000 people took to the streets of the Spanish capital, though organizers put the figure closer to 930,000.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>The rally, designed to defend the unity of Spain, was organized by the Catalan Civil Society (SCC) group, with the&#160; <a href="http://www.hispantv.com/noticias/espana/355834/protesta-referendum-catalunya-independencia-barcelona" type="external">slogan</a>‘Let’s recover our common sense!’</p>
<p>More than 2.2 million people across Catalonia cast their ballots in last Sunday’s referendum, which saw a 90-percent vote in favor of a split from Spain. The police crackdown on the independence referendum in the affluent Spanish region led to over 800 people being injured and mass protests, with 700,000 people taking to the streets of Barcelona to vent their anger and voice support for the local authorities.</p>
<p>In the wake of the referendum, Catalan regional leader Carles Puigdemont pledged to present the results to the local parliament, despite the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling the referendum illegal. The court subsequently suspended the upcoming Monday session of the Catalan parliament, during which it was expected to address the outcome of the popular vote.</p>
<p>Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy <a href="https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/10/07/actualidad/1507394644_881357.html" type="external">said</a>, in an exclusive interview with El Pais on Saturday, that “Spain is not going to be divided and the nation’s unity will be maintained… We believe that we know what the Spanish people are thinking. And they should know that the government also knows what it has to do.”</p>
<p>“The ideal would be not to have to take drastic measures, but for that to happen there would have to be some rectifications. I would like the threat of a declaration of independence to be withdrawn as quickly as possible,” he <a href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/10/07/inenglish/1507389735_673588.html" type="external">said</a>.</p>
<p>On Monday, the European Commission backed the Spanish government’s stance that the referendum was against the law and called the police crackdown an “internal matter” for Spain.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/405452-vucic-kosovo-catalonia-eu-hypocrisy/" type="external" /></p>
<p>This led to accusations of hypocrisy voiced against the EU, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic saying: “How come that in the case of Catalonia the referendum on independence is not valid, while in the case of Kosovo, secession [from Serbia in 2008] is allowed even without a referendum?”&#160;</p>
<p>The EU sided with Spain’s national government, and failed to explicitly condemn the violent suppression of the vote.</p>
<p>European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans described the baton charges and rubber bullets used against voters and protesters as a “proportionate” use of force that EU states are entitled to deploy to protect the law.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/405704-eu-police-force-catalonia-independence/" type="external">READ MORE:&#160;EU Parliament defends ‘proportionate force’ after brutal Catalan referendum crackdown</a></p>
<p>“It is a duty for any government to uphold the rule of law, and this sometimes requires the proportionate use of force,” Timmermans told the European Parliament in Strasbourg during a debate on Catalonia.</p> | Hundreds of thousands rally against Catalan independence in Barcelona (WATCH LIVE) | false | https://newsline.com/hundreds-of-thousands-rally-against-catalan-independence-in-barcelona-watch-live/ | 2017-10-08 | 1 |
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<p>Laws effected in October 2015 require home buyers&#160;to sign new documents during the&#160;mortgage process. Here’s a look at what has changed, and what you’ll be signing if you buy a home now.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Mortgage disclosure law changes in 2015</p>
<p>Consumers financing homes in the U.S. are protected from fee abuses by two main regulations: the Truth In Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).</p>
<p>Respectively, TILA and RESPA protect you from closing cost abuses and prevent housing service providers (like lenders, real estate agents and title companies) from giving each other referral fees for your business.</p>
<p>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforces TILA and RESPA, and on October 3, 2015, the CFPB combined all previously required mortgage rate and fee disclosures into two simple forms to make it easier for consumers to understand their mortgages. This initiative is called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID).</p>
<p>The Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The two forms TRID created are called the <a href="http://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/loan-estimate/" type="external">Loan Estimate Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;and the <a href="http://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/closing-disclosure/" type="external">Closing Disclosure Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Loan Estimate must be provided to you within three days of applying with a lender, and it replaced the Good Faith Estimate and Truth In Lending disclosures home buyers&#160;used to get prior to October 3, 2015. It details loan terms, projected payments over the life of your mortgage, and line item closing costs.</p>
<p>The Closing Disclosure must be provided to you at least three business days before closing on your mortgage, and it replaced the final settlement statement, which was also known as the HUD or HUD-1. It looks almost exactly like the Loan Estimate, but adds a breakdown of costs paid by buyer versus seller versus third parties. This means you’re reviewing final terms in the same format you saw in the Loan Estimate initially, and you’ve got three days to digest it before you close.</p>
<p>Make sure you read and understand the specific timing rules lenders (and you) must follow with these disclosures when closing a home purchase or refinance, because <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/mortgage-disclosure-form-delay-184050/" type="external">they could affect how long it takes to complete the mortgage process Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>If you agree to go forward with closing after the Closing Disclosure’s three-day waiting period, you’ll also need to sign a full set of loan documents. Among those, the following two are most important.</p>
<p>The promissory note (aka “the note”)</p>
<p>The note is your loan contract, and contains the terms of your loan (such as 30-year fixed or 5-year ARM); specifies the rate, payment intervals and payment changes along the way; and states whether you’ll incur a prepayment penalty if you pay off the loan early.</p>
<p>In the note, you agree that your home is security for the loan, so your lender will have a claim to your property if you don’t repay according to the note’s terms. This note provision will refer to a separate document that’s the “security instrument,” called a mortgage or a deed of trust.</p>
<p>The security instrument (aka “the mortgage” or “the deed of trust”)</p>
<p>Both a mortgage and a deed of trust pledge the property as security for the note. <a href="https://www.fanniemae.com/singlefamily/security-instruments" type="external">Fannie Mae Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;provides a list that specifies which states require mortgages vs. deeds of trust so you know which one you’ll sign along with your note based on where you live.</p>
<p>Depending on the loan you choose, you’ll need to comply with one of these three occupancy provisions contained in all mortgages and deeds of trust:</p>
<p>More from Zillow: <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/mortgage-disclosure-form-delay-184050/" type="external">Will the New Mortgage Disclosure Laws Delay Your Home Purchase? Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/new-mortgage-disclosure-rules-178197/" type="external">New Mortgage Disclosure Rules Arm Home Buyers With Information Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/5-mistakes-delay-mortgage-approval-172810/" type="external">5 Mistakes That Delay Mortgage Approvals (and How to Avoid Them) Opens a New Window.</a></p> | The 4 Most Important Mortgage Documents You'll Sign | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/11/18/4-most-important-mortgage-documents-youll-sign.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
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<p>Some of the nation’s largest food companies have cut some 6.4 trillion calories from their products, according to a new study. The original goal was a cut of 1.5 trillion calories by 2015. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON – Some of the nation’s largest food companies have cut calories in their products by more than 6.4 trillion, according to a new study.</p>
<p>The study sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that between 2007 and 2012 the companies reduced their products’ calories by the equivalent of around 78 calories per person per day. The total is more than four times the amount those companies had pledged to cut by next year.</p>
<p>Seventy-eight calories would be about the same as an average cookie or a medium apple and the federal government estimates an average daily diet at around 2,000 calories. The study said the calories cut averaged out to 78 calories per day for the entire U.S. population.</p>
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<p>The 2010 pledge taken by 16 companies – including General Mills Inc., Campbell Soup Co., ConAgra Foods Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., Kellogg Co., Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Hershey Co. – was to cut 1 trillion calories by 2012 and 1.5 trillion calories by 2015.</p>
<p>The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation signed on to hold the companies accountable and hired researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to painstakingly count the calories in almost every single packaged item in the grocery store. To do that, the UNC researchers used the store-based scanner data of hundreds of thousands of foods, commercial databases and nutrition facts panels to calculate exactly how many calories the companies were selling.</p>
<p>The researchers aren’t yet releasing the entire study, but they said that the companies have exceeded their own goals by a wide margin.</p>
<p>Dr. James Marks, director of the Health Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the group is pleased with the results but the companies “must sustain that reduction, as they’ve pledged to do, and other food companies should follow their lead.”</p>
<p>The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a nonpartisan philanthropic and research organization that works to improve the nation’s health.</p>
<p>Even though the companies that made the commitment represent most of the nation’s best-known food companies, they sold only around a third of all packaged foods and beverages at the beginning of the study. Missing are many off-label brands sold under the names of retailers and it’s unknown whether those products have changed.</p>
<p>It is also unclear how the reduction in calories translates into consumers’ diets. When the companies made the pledge in 2010, they said one way they would try and reduce calories would be to change portion sizes in an attempt to persuade consumers to eat less. The companies also said that they would develop new lower-calorie options and change existing products so they have fewer calories.</p>
<p>Evidence of those efforts are visible on any grocery store shelf. Many products now come in lower calorie versions, are baked instead of fried, or sold in miniature as well as larger versions.</p>
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<p>Marks says he believes that companies’ efforts to package smaller servings – 100 calorie packs of popular snacks, for example – and smaller cans of sugary drinks may have contributed to the reduction in calories. He says the main contributors most likely were the public’s increasing willingness to buy healthier foods and companies responding to those consumers.</p>
<p>The companies involved are all part of an industry coalition of food businesses called the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation that has organized to help reduce obesity. The foundation pledged to reduce the calories as part of an agreement with a group of nonprofit organizations and made the 2010 announcement as part of first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to combat childhood obesity.</p>
<p>Lisa Gable of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation says the study’s findings “exceeded our expectations.”</p>
<p>She said the companies achieved the goal by coming together and also competing to make new lower-calorie foods. Market studies have shown that many of the healthier foods have outperformed other products, she said.</p>
<p>“This is a very significant shift in the marketplace,” Gable said.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Food companies cut 6.4 trillion calories | false | https://abqjournal.com/334257/food-companies-cut-64-trillion-calories.html | 2 |
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<p>Where Americans Are Turning for Flu Facts</p>
<p>by Jodie T. Allen, Senior Editor, Pew Research Center</p>
<p>With swine flu the top topic on the public’s mind last week, local television news stations and cable news networks remained the most frequented sources of information for Americans (cited as a news source on the subject by 69% and 63%, respectively). But the latest Pew Research <a href="../../pubs/1216/swine-flu-internet-information-most-useful" type="external">News Interest Index survey</a> also finds that about half the public (49%) turned to the internet for information about the virus. Moreover, asked which news source had been most useful in this regard, 25% of respondents named the internet, putting it at the top of the list of information sources in terms of utility. Which websites were the most frequented sources?</p>
<p>Health information sites on the internet are numerous and popular. A September 2008 <a href="http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2436" type="external">report</a> by the web-tracking service comScore, Inc. found that the health website category grew by 21% in terms of visits over the preceding year, more than four times as fast as total internet usage. But individual private health sites do not appear to have been the primary recourse of swine flu fact-seekers. When in search of flu facts — or, indeed, of ailment-related information generally — the experts say that most people start with … a search. “Google is the top “health” site on the internet because of the long tail of health questions,” says Susannah Fox, associate director for digital strategy at the Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project. “Our data consistently finds that people start their health inquiry at a general search site.”</p>
<p>This phenomenon is amply illustrated by Google’s own <a href="http://www.google.com/trends" type="external">search trend</a> tracking. Much like Pew Research’s News Interest Index poll, the graph, tracking the volume of Google searches within the United States during the past 30 days, shows a sharp spike in swine flu interest over the last week in April (far steeper than interest in either Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who announced his resignation that week, or in Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy), with a fairly rapid dropoff in interest at the start of May.</p>
<p />
<p>This pattern is also reflected in <a href="http://www.google.com/insights/search/" type="external">Google Insight’s</a> listing of top searches, which show the terms “swine flu symptoms” and “swine flu” topping the list of “rising searches” — first and second respectively — over the last 30 days, beating even Susan Boyle and the Kentucky Derby in their rate of increase The federal CDC (Centers for Disease Control) comes in at fifth place, with the pattern of searches, as shown by Google Insight, closely tracking that for “swine flu” searches generally:</p>
<p />
<p>Web Search Volume: cdc+centers for disease control. United States, Last 30 days.</p>
<p>Having searched, where does the public next turn? According to Bill Tancer, general manager for global research for <a href="http://www.hitwise.com/" type="external">Hitwise</a> (which tracks the daily interactions between 10 million U.S. internet users and more than 1 million websites), the top 10 sites actually visited after searches on “swine flu” (for the four weeks ending 5/2/09) were the following <a href="#en1" type="external">1</a>:</p>
<p>The prominent position of the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/" type="external">CDC</a> on these lists may be owing in substantial part to the government’s earlier recognition of the usefulness of Google search tools in tracking the actual spread of diseases. <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/" type="external">Google’s Flu Trends</a> tracks certain search terms to estimate possible flu activity at a state level – and it does this far more quickly than the CDC’s standard surveillance system can. Google shared its data with the CDC during the 2007-2008 flu season and analysis has shown that the near real-time search data were remarkably accurate in tracking the actual outbreak of cases across the country over the last five years. The website <a href="http://www.ihealthbeat.org/Articles/2008/11/12/Google-Launches-Tool-To-Help-CDC-Track-Influenza-Outbreaks.aspx" type="external">iHealthBeat reports</a> that Google hopes to map other diseases worldwide in the future.</p>
<p>This year, as reported recently in the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/29/AR2009042904439.html" type="external">Washington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=103623937" type="external">National Public Radio</a>, the federal government made explicit use of the internet to disseminate information about the flu virus. According to the Post, CDC’s YouTube video, “Swine Flu,” had been viewed nearly 170,000 times by the end of April. CDC has also posted regular alerts on its Twitter account, CDCemergency, which currently has more than 106,000 followers. <a href="#en3" type="external">3</a></p>
<p>CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services also hosted an hour-long town hall meeting on their respective websites while staff members tracked public reactions on various social networking sites. And Google itself prominently displays an <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/" type="external">advisory</a> telling users to <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/" type="external">consult CDC</a> for the most recent official updates on swine flu, while CDC itself has an informational flu prevention posting in the margin of the Google Flu Trends page.</p>
<p>Goggle Trends show no surge in searches for popular privately run health information websites such as WebMd. But frequent users of such sites are likely to access them directly. And a Hitwise analysis shows that while most of these health-information websites show no clear uptick in visits as concern about the swine flu peaked, WebMd, the most popular of the group, showed a sharp increase in the frequency of visits. Moreover, Tancer’s review of the top search terms sending traffic to WebMd for the week ending May 2, 2009, shows that queries relating to swine flu symptoms are the most common on the list.</p>
<p />
<p>You can find more about the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/Health.aspx" type="external">interaction of health and the internet at pewinternet.org.</a></p>
<p><a type="external" href="" />1. Searches over the same period for the term “H1N1” — the official name for swine flu — yielded a roughly similar, though slightly more academically-oriented list: 1.www.wikipedia.org; 2. www.cdc.gov; 3.News.google.com; 4.www.fas.org; 5.Jama.ama-assn.org; 6. www.facebook.com; 7. www.yahoo.com; 8. Environment.guardian.co.uk; 9. www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov; 10. www.bloomberg.com.</p>
<p><a type="external" href="" />2. Tancer notes that the frequency of social networking websites may be inflated by noise in the data resulting from the association of search terms with websites based on the sequence of visits, i.e. if a user, in a multi-tab environment, makes a swine flu query, than flips over to a social net site before reviewing the results of the search, the query may be incorrectly associated with the networking site.</p>
<p><a type="external" href="" />3. The current count of followers is considerable higher than the 45,000 reported by the Post as recently as April 30. The website <a href="http://xkcd.com/574/" type="external">XKCD provides additional insight</a> into ways in which Twitter can enable you to watch uninformed panics unfold live.</p> | Search: “Swine Flu” | false | http://pewresearch.org/2009/05/07/search-swine-flu/ | 2009-05-07 | 2 |
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<p>ABILENE, Texas - Police say two people have been arrested in the death of an off-duty Abilene police officer found dead in his West Texas home.</p>
<p>Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge said in a Thursday news conference that a 30-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. They are being held on $500,000 bond each.</p>
<p>Authorities say 27-year-old Officer Don Allen was found dead Monday night at his home near Clyde. Standridge had previously declined to say how the officer died. The results of a preliminary autopsy are pending.</p>
<p>According to authorities, investigators were able to link the suspects to property from Allen's home.</p>
<p>Abilene and Clyde police are being assisted in the investigation by Texas Rangers and the FBI.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Police: 2 people arrested in death of Abilene police officer | false | https://abqjournal.com/639327/police-2-people-arrested-in-death-of-abilene-police-officer.html | 2 |
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<p>ESPN long ago made the terrible business decision to go full Social Justice Warrior, embracing everything hysterical and absurd promoted by that subculture and thus increasingly alienating at least half of its potential viewers. The most recent — and frankly hard to believe it's even real — incident is ESPN's decision to <a href="" type="internal">reassign</a> an Asian-American college football announcer scheduled to announce a game at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville because they feared that his name, Robert Lee, might trigger fans.</p>
<p>After the cartoonishly politically correct decision was revealed Tuesday and the <a href="" type="internal">mockery online</a> began in force, ESPN issued a few statements to explain itself. Those statements are about what you'd expect from "MSNBC With Footballs." The first official statement ESPN released admits that the beyond-parody reports were true and tries to act as if the network really had no choice in the matter, saying, "It's a shame this is even a topic of conversation ..."</p>
<p>We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.</p>
<p>With the mockery building to a point that likely has already-nervous Disney execs even more nervous, an ESPN executive issued a lengthy explanation <a href="" type="internal">to New York Magazine</a> for its decision to pull the non-General Lee. The explanation is both absurd and insulting.</p>
<p>After spending the last year lionizing America-hating, Fidel Castro-loving, racial activist Colin Kaepernick, ESPN asks Americans to believe that reassigning Lee "wasn't about offending anyone" and had nothing whatsoever to do with race or obeying "politically correct" prescripts. Instead, they moved him because they don't trust Americans not to mock him, which the executive claims the derision of ESPN over the incident is hard proof that the assumption was warranted. But ESPN doesn't stop at insulting its potential viewers, it also describes Lee as just an "anonymous play by play guy" and tries to put the burden of the decision on him, despite admitting that the company approached him about changing assignments.</p>
<p>Here's the full text:</p>
<p>This wasn't about offending anyone. It was about the reasonable possibility that because of his name he would be subjected to memes and jokes and who knows what else. Think about it. Robert Lee comes to town to do a game in Charlottesville. The reaction to our switching a young, anonymous play by play guy for a streamed ACC game is off the charts - reasonable proof that the meme/joke possibility was real.</p>
<p>So, when the protests in Charlottesville were happening, we raised with him the notion of switching games. Something we do all the time. We didn't make him. We asked him. Eventually we mutually agreed to switch.</p>
<p>No biggie until someone leaked it to embarrass us and him. They got their way.</p>
<p>That's what happened.</p>
<p>No politically correct efforts. No race issues. Just trying to be supportive of a young guy who felt it best to avoid the potential zoo.</p>
<p>Almost a day hasn't gone by in which at least one ESPN personality hasn't condemned NFL owners for smartly avoiding Kaepernick like the plague and NFL fans for not celebrating him as the champion of all things good and right, yet race and political correctness had nothing to do with pulling Lee... Also, note both the paranoia and the use of Lee as a shield in the line "No biggie until someone leaked it to embarrass us and him." Amazing.</p>
<p>The blowback from the decision has been so bad that even fellow progressive crusader CNN had to <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/23/media/espn-robert-lee-uva-game/index.html" type="external">admit</a>, "By trying to avoid an embarrassing ordeal, ESPN has embarrassed itself." Deadspin puts it <a href="https://deadspin.com/welp-espn-shot-itself-in-the-dick-1798338890" type="external">a little more bluntly</a>. That's gotta hurt.</p>
<p>As The Daily Wire and others have chronicled over the last year, ESPN is in major trouble, bleeding subscribers by the week as more and more Americans cut the cord. It's embrace of an increasingly out-of-touch leftwing political agenda is only accelerating its decline.</p>
<p>More from the Daily Wire on ESPN:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Why The Robert Lee Story May Be The Nail In ESPN's Coffin</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">ESPN Gets Wrecked For Decision To Pull Announcer Named Robert Lee</a></p> | ESPN's Response To 'Robert Lee' Fiasco Is As Ridiculous And Insulting As You'd Expect | true | https://dailywire.com/news/20127/espns-response-robert-lee-fiasco-ridiculous-and-james-barrett | 2017-08-23 | 0 |
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<p>“Excellent, here we go,” any solid fan of the real “Star Wars” movies (certainly not the prequels) will think, settling in for the literary equivalent of an ice cream sundae of the more offbeat flavors.</p>
<p>But Fisher, who accepts that she will be known as Princess Leia until the end of time, lets the reader down. Having waited 40 years to publish what one expects to be a dishy tell-all about the romance behind the iconic movie of a generation (that generation mournfully sandwiched between the baby boomers and millennials), the actress, writer and raconteur only offers a few wisps of the goods.</p>
<p>Fisher blames her hazy recall of the behind-the-scenes affair with Harrison Ford on the potent marijuana they smoked on their lost weekends between scenes. She also decides that “with uncharacteristic reservation and scruples that I quash any details” of their first weekend together. Sex is private, she says.</p>
<p>No problem, but she also draws the curtain over the interesting bits: their chemistry, their conversations, her point-blank impressions of a man poised to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Or maybe we’re supposed to believe, as she insists, that Ford just didn’t talk a lot when they were together. In any case, we are left with a few interesting glimpses wrapped around excerpts of the diaries Fisher says she kept while shooting “Star Wars” and recently discovered. Even the diary bits are not very revealing, being the moody musings, including poetry, of a young woman on the cusp of 20 years old.</p>
<p>It’s clear from the final two chapters of the book, one of them titled “Leia’s Lap Dance,” that Fisher published this book with making money in mind. Her closing meditation on fame leaves Ford and the affair far behind. However, many “Star Wars” fans will read this book anyway or likely did so the instant it appeared.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Book review: Princess Leia’s tell-all doesn’t | false | https://abqjournal.com/911152/tellall-doesnt.html | 2 |
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<p>The mother of a South Carolina police officer <a href="" type="internal">charged with murder</a> in the shooting death of an apparently unarmed black man has been unable to bring herself to watch the shocking video of the encounter - but still believes her son is "a good person."</p>
<p>"I just can't do it right now," Karen Sharpe, the mother of fired North Charleston police officer Michael Slager, said of the shocking video in an interview with NBC News Thursday.</p>
<p>Slager, 33, was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder for allegedly shooting Walter Scott, 50, in the back as he was running away from the officer following a traffic stop on Saturday.</p>
<p>The charges were announced after <a href="" type="internal">video was released</a> that appears to show Slager firing eight times at Scott when Scott had his back turned and was far away from the officer. The footage contradicts Slager's claim that Scott had grabbed his Taser and the officer <a href="" type="internal">feared for his life</a>.</p>
<p>"Michael's a very generous person, a very kind person. I can't imagine ... Michael wasn't raised like that," Sharpe said. "He's a good person."</p>
<p>"He was trained to do what he does and that's his job," Sharpe said. "I just feel he did his job, he did what he was supposed to do, and I can't say anything else about that. That's the way I feel," In to not watching the video, Sharpe said she has tried to avoid reading about the deadly shooting.</p>
<p>Slager, <a href="" type="internal">who was fired Wednesday</a>, was an officer on the North Charleston Police Department for five years and before that served with the Coast Guard. He has two stepchildren and has a baby on the way. The city will continue to provide health insurance for Slager's wife, who is eight months pregnant, until the baby is born.</p>
<p>Sharpe said she has not spoken to her son since the shooting. She said he never discussed with family details about his job - like when he was <a href="" type="internal">accused of excessive force</a> for allegedly using a Taser on a man in a case of mistaken identity. Slager was cleared of wrongdoing in that case.</p>
<p>Sharpe gave her condolences to the Scott family, but said a shooting like Saturday's affects loved ones on both sides.</p>
<p>"I pray for them, just like I pray for us. Nobody ever wants to see their child go before them," she said. "I understand that. And I understand that it's a terrible thing. So as one mother to another mother I can understand this.</p>
<p>"I just want them to know I'm sorry that this happened, and that this has made a change in everybody's life."</p> | Mother of Cop Who Shot Walter Scott Says Her Son Michael Slager Is 'Good Person' | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/walter-scott-shooting/mother-cop-who-shot-walter-scott-says-son-good-person-n338821 | 2015-04-10 | 3 |
<p>Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday:</p>
<p>Target Corp., up $2.44 to $53.31</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The retailer raised its second-quarter forecasts and said sales and customer traffic grew.</p>
<p>Delta Air Lines Inc., down 98 cents to $54.50</p>
<p>The airline reported a smaller profit and less revenue than analysts expected.</p>
<p>Tiffany &amp; Co., up $1.58 to $94.04</p>
<p>The jewelry retailer named Alessandro Bogliolo of Diesel as its new CEO.</p>
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<p>Commerce Bancshares Inc., up $1.98 to $58.22</p>
<p>The bank holding company reported a stronger-than-expected second quarter.</p>
<p>Yandex NV, up $4.35 to $31.68</p>
<p>Uber agreed to merge its ridesharing business in Russia with the Russian search engine.</p>
<p>Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., up $1.10 to $33.19</p>
<p>Israeli media reported that the drugmaker could hire AstraZeneca's CEO.</p>
<p>NRG Energy Inc., up $1.11 to $22.20</p>
<p>Shares kept climbing after the electric utility said it plans to sell $4 billion in assets and cut costs.</p>
<p>Apple Inc., up $2.03 to $147.77</p>
<p>Technology companies, which have slumped since early June, were on track to rise for the fifth day in a row.</p> | Target and Yandex climb while Delta slides | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/13/target-and-yandex-climb-while-delta-slides.html | 2017-07-13 | 0 |
<p>Consumer credit is falling fast. In July, consumer credit plunged by $19 billion, followed by an August drop of $12 billion, a 5.8 percent annual rate. Credit card spending decreased by nearly $10 billion in August, while non-revolving debt, including auto loans, fell by $2 billion. Credit has shrunk for 7 consecutive months, the longest period of decline since 1991. The banks have shrugged off their commitment under the TARP program to increase lending to consumers and businesses. They’ve either deposited their excess reserves with the Fed, where they earn interest, or invested them in the equities markets for better returns. The bottom line: Credit is shrinking and the economy is slipping further into deflation.</p>
<p>From MarketWatch:</p>
<p>U.S. banks are reducing their lending at the fastest rate on record … According to weekly figures provided by the Federal Reserve, total loans at commercial banks have fallen at a 19% annual rate over the past three months, while loans to businesses have dropped at a 28% annualized pace…</p>
<p>… if the decline is mainly due to weak banks unable or unwilling to lend, then a turnaround in credit creation may have to wait until banks’ balance sheets are repaired, a process that could be delayed by further expected defaults in consumer loans, mortgages and commercial real-estate loans. (Rex Nutting, “Banks cutting back on loans to businesses”, Marketwatch)</p>
<p>Unemployment is rising and the pool of creditworthy borrowers is declining. When credit contracts in an economy where salaries have stagnated and joblessness is increasing, demand falls and recession deepens. That is, unless government spending takes up the slack in excess capacity.</p>
<p>There is no organic growth in the economy at present. The so-called recovery is a result of fiscal stimulus and the Fed’s extraordinary liquidity injections into the financial system. True growth and prosperity do not come via the printing press. The Fed’s actions are just putting more and more pressure on the dollar.</p>
<p>From Bloomberg today:</p>
<p>Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two- quarter rout in almost two decades…</p>
<p>Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nations reporting currency breakdowns put 63 percent of the new cash into euros and yen in April, May and June…the highest percentage in any quarter with more than an $80 billion increase.</p>
<p>Global central banks are getting more serious about diversification, whereas in the past they used to just talk about it,” said Steve Englander, a former Federal Reserve researcher who is now the chief U.S. currency strategist at Barclays in New York. “It looks like they are really backing away from the dollar.” (Bloomberg News)</p>
<p>Congress has no say-so. Neither do the American people. The decision to skewer the dollar was made by the big banks and their allies at the Federal Reserve. Everyone else is just along for the ride. The Fed wants a cheaper dollar to increase exports, provide cheap capital for Wall Street, and to lower the true value of household and financial sector debt. But there are many pitfalls to&#160; “inflating one’s way out of debt”. It is a policy which should have been debated by the representatives of the people and not decided by unelected bank-oligarchs pursuing their own self-interests.</p>
<p>The dollar’s share of global reserves is steadily falling. Private industry and central banks are shedding dollars to avoid painful adjustments in the future. Last week,&#160; South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines launched currency market interventions to keep the dollar from plummeting. The situation is grave. The Fed’s monetization and liquidity programs have made dollar-holders jittery. The central banks actions are the first sign of a disorderly unwind. The prospect of a dollar crash is now real.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, there is also a good chance that the dollar will strengthen short-term and that the misinformation about the dollar’s future is being used to achieve the Fed’s objectives. Fed chair Ben Bernanke is already monetizing the debt (via quantitative easing) and has slashed interest rates to zero. What else can he do? The only way to weaken the dollar further is through asymmetrical warfare, a disinformation campaign aimed at triggering a sell-off before the dollar&#160; strengthens when the stock market corrects and credit tightens even more. Is that what Bernanke has in mind?</p>
<p>The Fed has its back to the wall. It will do whatever is necessary to micro-manage the dollar’s decline and retain its stranglehold on the global system.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Dollar Rout or More Bernanke Trickery? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/10/12/a-dollar-rout-or-more-bernanke-trickery/ | 2009-10-12 | 4 |
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<p>And that often can happen in the city’s heart, the Plaza.</p>
<p>On a bright summer day, a stroll can take you by a joyful man playing New Mexican songs on an accordion at one corner, another picking an intricate melody on guitar strings on the opposite corner, a saxophonist wailing a bluesy lament down the street, and the Peruvian strains of a flute and pipes coming from another direction.</p>
<p>You also might see a man twisting balloons into magical shapes for gleeful children, a juggler weaving balls into airborne patterns or break dancers performing daring leaps and spins.</p>
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<p>One of us once handed a dollar to a young man whose hand-scrawled sign promised a backflip in return, just to reward his originality – and the stunt, flawlessly executed.</p>
<p>But now there’s a proposal with City Council to flatline that energetic, vital heartbeat at the city’s core.</p>
<p>Ban buskers from the Plaza, declare these killjoys.</p>
<p>In return, the ordinance proposes setting up nearby “designated protected speech locations.”</p>
<p>Did George Orwell have a hand in writing that? We thought the entire United States was a protected speech location. The First Amendment has made it so.</p>
<p>Those five locations dedicated to buskers offer some decent possibilities, such as the small park area opposite Café Pasqual’s, but others might raise an eyebrow. Do we really want music playing right outside the Downtown Library, where many people retreat in search of quiet and study?</p>
<p>And none of them provide the same level of foot traffic, especially of the leisurely sort, where people might stop for a bit to enjoy a performer, and then offer a financial reward.</p>
<p>But let’s retreat from our grumpy veto of the idea for a minute to acknowledge that a vibrant hum can easily turn into an annoying cacaphony.</p>
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<p>Buskers probably should be licensed – as is already acquired.</p>
<p>Controlling the noise level, which sometimes gets out of hand with amplified instruments, is definitely a good idea, as is setting a reasonable distance between the performers. Some of the regulations already in effect, such as limiting stays to two hours, are good, if difficult to enforce.</p>
<p>As for other concerns, such as aggressive buskers or blocked sidewalks, it seems as if they already could be handled by police officers on patrol under current laws. Besides, it seems those aggressive buskers some people claim to have encountered would be self-defeating – wouldn’t donations flow more freely to pleasant and non-threatening performers?</p>
<p>So chill out. Stop trying to stifle the City Different’s creativity.</p>
<p>After all, we don’t want the Plaza to turn into another gated community.</p>
<p /> | Don’t flatline the heart of Santa Fe | false | https://abqjournal.com/276464/xxy-xyx-y-xy-xy-xy-xy-xy-xy-xy-xy-xy-xyxyx-y-3.html | 2013-10-06 | 2 |
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<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The epic $1 billion patent fight between the world’s top two smartphone makers resumes today in a federal courtroom when Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Corp. again square off over rights to vital technology.</p>
<p>Samsung seeks to overturn an Aug. 24 jury verdict that found the Korean tech titan ripped off Apple Inc.’s designs for its iPhone and iPad. The jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1 billion after finding close to two dozen of its products used technology controlled by Apple.</p>
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<p>Apple in turn is looking to add $500 million more to the award while barring many of the older Samsung products at issue from sale in the United States.</p>
<p>The companies’ lawyers will file into a San Jose federal court armed with a host of legal arguments including allegations that the jury foreman committed misconduct. The case is ultimately expected to land before the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the Washington, D.C.-based court that decides patent disputes, if not the U.S. Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, what U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh decides after today’s hearing will greatly shape the end result.</p>
<p>Samsung has mounted an aggressive post-trial attack on the verdict, raising a number of legal issues that allege the South Korean company was treated unfairly in a federal courtroom a dozen miles from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. Samsung alleges that some of Apple’s patents shouldn’t have been awarded in the first place and that the jury made mistakes in calculating the damage award.</p>
<p>Samsung also accuses jury foreman Velvin Hogan of concealing that his former employer, Seagate Technologies, had a filed a lawsuit against him. Samsung is a large investor in Seagate.</p>
<p>“Mr. Hogan’s failure to disclose the Seagate suit raises issues of bias that Samsung should have been allowed to explore,” Samsung said in its October request for a new trial.</p>
<p>Hogan didn’t return a call placed to his San Jose home Wednesday. In opposing Samsung’s argument, Apple argued that Samsung should have discovered the 1993 lawsuit before Hogan was seated as a juror and made its objection then. Apple said Samsung knew that Hogan declared bankruptcy in 1993 and had it reviewed that case it would have discovered the Seagate lawsuit.</p>
<p>Apple argues it is unfair to raise the Seagate lawsuit now that the jury ruled against Samsung.</p>
<p>Experts monitoring the trial largely side with Apple on the juror misconduct issue specifically and speculate that the judge will keep most of the unanimous verdict intact.</p>
<p>“Samsung is hoping to set aside the verdict entirely, accusing the jury foreman of lying to get on the jury,” said Edward Naughton, a patent attorney who is following the case closely. “This argument isn’t likely to succeed, but Samsung may convince the court to whittle down the jury verdict a bit.”</p> | Tech Titans Renew Smartphone Fight | false | https://abqjournal.com/151417/tech-titans-renew-smartphone-legal-fight.html | 2012-12-06 | 2 |
<p>Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares were up 4.7% in pre-market trade Monday after the company said it was on track to beat an extended deadline for first-quarter earnings results. The company said it would file its 10-Q form on or before June 10, before the July 31 deadline provided for in the company's amended credit agreement. Valeant said information about its conference call discussing first-quarter results would be provided "in due course." It also said results in the second-quarter and on would be filed "on a timely basis under the applicable rules" and reiterated recent revenue and adjusted earnings-per-share guidance for the first-quarter. The company filed a late annual report at the end of April, after accounting errors by the company required an earnings restatement. New chief executive officer Joseph Papa, the former CEO of Perrigo Co. PLC , started at Valeant last week.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Valeant On Track To Beat Earnings Deadline, Company Says | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/09/valeant-on-track-to-beat-earnings-deadline-company-says.html | 2016-05-09 | 0 |
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<p>“My life is insane times 1,000,” he says during a recent phone interview. “My career has gone really well, and I’m basically doing it on my own. You know how Jay-Z has the entourage with him and people handling his business? I do that solo.”</p>
<p>Moore’s profile rose in the early to mid-1990s with his first two albums.</p>
<p>Both were critically acclaimed and turned major attention to the then Austin, Texas-based musician.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A move to Seattle led him to incorporate some psychedelic sounds into this music.</p>
<p>With his latest album, “Strange Days,” which is available digitally, Moore continued to challenge himself.</p>
<p>“(The album) was a different thing,” he says. “Stylistically, it’s an Ian Moore record. But it has more of a hip-hop feel. I worked with a lot of different people. I started in Austin with Adrian Quesada. Then I came home to Seattle and worked on it for a bit. Then I went to Oakland and worked with Jim Greer.”</p>
<p>That’s where the album got a lot of its rock influence.</p>
<p>“I didn’t have a plan for this album,” he says. “The music industry has changed so much. I explored what it means to make a record now.”</p>
<p>So Moore searched through his previous writings to find a group of songs that worked with the vibe of “Strange Days.”</p>
<p>“A lot of the songs are about violence and resistance,” he says. “And when I was putting the finishing touches on them, I just grabbed the words that surround me on a daily basis. It’s a record that takes a stand.”</p>
<p>With 11 albums in his catalog, Moore says picking a set list that is representative of his career is nearly impossible.</p>
<p>He’s also left with “having” to perform his hits.</p>
<p>“Because I had a bit of success early in my career, it’s tricky,” he says. “Some of the newer fans have never heard this music. Right now, I’m all about this record and I want it to get the new songs heard. I’ll play songs people want to hear. The goal is to kill each night on stage. I want to give the best performance each time.”</p>
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<p /> | Singer-songwriter Ian Moore’s new album ‘takes a stand’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/960281/making-a-difference.html | 2 |
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<p>I’m a bibliophile of the first water. I have spent what seems half my life in bookstores all over the world. Some readers praise the creamy texture of a well-bound volume published on good paper. But it is less noted that old books smell — of the places they’ve been, of dust, molds and fungi, of the hand sweat of former owners. Opening one is sort of like lifting the lid on a tantalizing curry still being cooked. But I am making the switch to e-books even so, and they are changing the way I read and even what I read.</p>
<p>For those baby boomers in their 60s, old-style books do have substantial drawbacks. Print books are often big and heavy. I’ve had back problems and find it difficult to sit for hours with a doorstop in my lap. Carrying a tome on an airplane is literally a pain. As you age, your vision declines, and all the bifocals in the world won’t necessarily let you read small type comfortably. And then, the bane of the bibliophile is the bulkiness of the thousands of volumes you accumulate in a lifetime. You run out of room at home, or at least room your spouse will let you dedicate to yet more bookcases. Some collectors may be so obsessive that they carefully catalog their own private libraries at home, but mine is strewn haphazardly across bookshelves purchased over 30 years, and I can’t always find what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>An e-book reader such as an iPad equipped with a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771" type="external">Kindle</a> or <a href="http://books.google.com/help/ebooks/devices.html" type="external">Google Books</a> app resolves many of these problems. It is relatively light and portable. Text size and brightness can be adjusted. (People who complain about iPads being backlit don’t seem to realize there is a “sepia” background and that brightness can be changed.) A couple of thousand books can be accommodated as active files on Kindle and many more can be archived. <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stanza/id284956128?mt=8" type="external">Stanza</a>, Google Books and other applications are virtually infinite in their capaciousness. Books can be stored in the cloud when not in use. On your tablet, books can be listed by author, title or how recently they’ve been read.</p>
<p>But beyond solving the back, eye and space problems of the geriatric set, e-books offer interesting functionalities. You can do keyword searches. Most programs allow bookmarking and margin notes. The Kindle app even allows the collectivity of readers to underline favorite passages together. Some readers attach dictionaries, as with the Kindle app for iPads, and even foreign-language dictionaries. Looking up recondite words may become more common if it is as easy as tapping on them, and this sort of dictionary work is an aid in reading books in other languages.</p>
<p />
<p>The tablet book readers are only a platform. It is content that is important. But the two may work together to effect some interesting changes. Google Books are a potentially major change in our reading lives, and the Google Books app for smartphones and tablets gives the reader access to a wide range of out-of-copyright works for free.</p>
<p>I know many Americans do not read any books once they’re out of school or college. But some do, and what they read has been shaped not only by changing tastes but by availability. The availability consideration is being revolutionized. Moreover, the younger generation is actually made up of voracious readers on the Internet, but they favor short-form writing that is easily accessible, such as blog entries and Op-Eds. Reprints at Web anthology magazines such as <a href="http://zite.com/" type="external">Zite</a> or <a href="http://flipboard.com/" type="external">Flipboard</a> of classic essayists in easily digested excerpts is now increasingly possible, and it might take only a few passages to go viral to provoke more sustained interest in the classics.</p>
<p>I have been rereading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s two-volume “Essays” on my iPad via Google Books. His remarks at the opening of the piece on “Politics” are justly renowned but always worth considering again:</p>
<p>“In dealing with the State, we ought to remember that its institutions are not aboriginal, though they existed before we were born: that they are not superior to the citizen: that every one of them was once the act of a single man: every law and usage was a man’s expedient to meet a particular case: that they all are imitable, all alterable; we may make as good; we may make better. Society is an illusion to the young citizen. It lies before him in rigid repose, with certain names, men, and institutions, rooted like oak-trees to the centre, round which all arrange themselves the best they can. But the old statesman knows that society is fluid; there are no such roots and centres; but any particle may suddenly become the centre of the movement, and compel the system to gyrate round it. … ”</p>
<p>This passage could not be more urgent and relevant in this election season. It should be repeatedly quoted to those young conservatives who are always throwing Ronald Reagan in our faces as if he set immutable, or necessarily wise, precedents. It is also worth contemplating by any who think that the Occupy Wall Street movement is on a fool’s errand in seeking to compel the rotten oak trees of privilege and impunity to gyrate around a demand for justice and a rule of law.</p>
<p>Could I have found the essay at my local bookstore? I am no longer sure. I could have rooted around in used bookstores. Of course, it is likely in my public library, and, being at a university with a research library, I could have always gotten hold of it. Those are not advantages everyone has. In any case, the ease of simply downloading it cannot be beaten.</p>
<p>The combination of tablet book readers and a massive free library of out-of-copyright Google Books raises an interesting possibility. Will there be a revival of interest, among bookworms at least, in pre-20th century authors because of their new accessibility and the low cost of entry? How many still read Emerson beyond the essay on “Self-Reliance” they are assigned in school? But in many ways he is the foundational American thinker, and it can be only a good thing for millions to have him at their fingertips.</p> | Reading in the New Millennium: Forward to the Past? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/reading-in-the-new-millennium-forward-to-the-past/ | 2012-01-03 | 4 |
<p>When the President’s schedule was released for this weekend there was nothing on it. He wasn’t going to Mar-A-Lago, or a campaign rally in coal country, or to visit a bunch of wall prototypes in the California desert. He wasn’t occupied with Little Rocket Man or Russia’s assassinations in the U.K. And having just fired his Secretary of State, he is probably gonna avoid further dismantling his cabinet for a few days so he doesn’t appear to be unstable (too late). But this abundance of leisure time for Donald Trump is never a good sign. Idle tiny hands are the Devil’s plaything.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2077506438930807" type="external" /></p>
<p>As expected, Trump filled the empty morning hours on Saturday with adventures on Twitter. Even after a year it is surprising and disturbing that the leader of the free world can occupy himself so frequently with mini-tantrums on social media. But there he was in the White House residence tweeting away. And the subject that was dominating his infantile thoughts was, as usual, himself.</p>
<p>Trump was clearly obsessed with the reaction to the firing of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Never mind that he likely directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to execute the petty and vindictive termination. The timing was obviously intended to deprive a twenty-year veteran of law enforcement of his rightfully earned pension. But the larger purpose was to discredit McCabe as a witness against Trump in the still unfolding legal melodrama. Unfortunately for Trump, though, his tweets only serve to exacerbate his guilt. For instance:</p>
<p />
<p>In this missive Trump is proving that the firing of McCabe was tied directly to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. A major target of that probe is obstruction of justice partly demonstrated by Trump firing FBI Director James Comey. And if Trump thinks he’s making points by referencing “the hard working men and women of the FBI,” then he’s apparently unaware that those worker greatly admire and support Comey and McCabe, and resent they way they’ve been treated. Which leads us to this:</p>
<p />
<p>Once again Trump is connecting recent events to the Mueller inquiry. However, he falsely asserts that the House Intelligence Committee cleared him when it is only the bitterly partisan Republican members who signed onto the committee’s disinformation report. And Trump’s accusations against the FBI don’t do anything to help his legal cause. Nor does the last of his morning tweets:</p>
<p />
<p>Trump’s moaning about “fake news” is just becoming tedious and a satire of itself. All he’s doing is reminding everyone that the press is reporting what is actually happening and that Trump hates it when they do that. And in this tweet he unwisely asks the questions “How many lies? How many leaks?” Which most people are already asking, but about Trump. But the best part is where Trump notes that “Comey knew it all, and much more!” Indeed he does. And he’s anxious to share what he knows with the American people.</p>
<p />
<p>Trump, on the other hand, is desperate to keep Americans from learning about what he has done, and is doing. That’s why his attorney is calling for an abrupt end to the Mueller investigation. It’s why his other attorney is trying to gag Stormy Daniels. At every turn Trump is focused on keeping his affairs (both sexual and political) secret. That’s what legal professionals call “consciousness of guilt.” And it’s what Trump displays with each new tweet he posts. It’s almost as if he has a legal death wish. He must hate the White House so much that he’s doing everything he can to get out of it. If only he knew how much we would all like to help him do that.</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p>
<p>LATE BREAKING: Trump posted another guilt-dripping tweet Saturday afternoon:</p>
<p />
<p>No matter how many times he says there was no collusion, it doesn’t make it true. There is abundant evidence of collusion and he knows it. That’s why he keeps telling the same already debunked lies. Like that the Steele dossier (of which much was verified) was the basis for the special counsel investigation (it wasn’t). Or that the FISA court was mislead (they weren’t). And if this is a witch hunt, they have already nailed nineteen witches (indictments) with five pleading guilty. And they’ve only just begun.</p> | Saturday Tweetstorm: Is Donald Trump TRYING to Get Himself Impeached? | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D34353 | 4 |
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<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Montana Lottery's "Big Sky Bonus" game were:</p>
<p>06-13-22-24, Bonus: 4</p>
<p>(six, thirteen, twenty-two, twenty-four; Bonus: four)</p>
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Montana Lottery's "Big Sky Bonus" game were:</p>
<p>06-13-22-24, Bonus: 4</p>
<p>(six, thirteen, twenty-two, twenty-four; Bonus: four)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Big Sky Bonus' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/076db0180af247639d4590805824e4c9 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>The Huffington Post <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/homer-simpson-putin-donald-trump_us_5802335de4b0162c043c4635" type="external">recaps</a>:</p>
<p>“The Simpsons” takes aim at GOP nominee Donald Trump’s reportedly cozy relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin in a new web short. Homer Simpson is about to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at the polls when he becomes suspicious of a Red Sox fan in front of him in line.</p>
<p>“Good businessman, never sleeps. Doesn’t pay his taxes…legally,” the Trump supporter says to Homer about his preferred candidate. When the voter then praises “the orange man” for a campaign that promises to “make Russia great again,” Homer rips off his mask to reveal his true identity.</p>
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<p /> | The Simpsons Riffs On Trump/Putin [VIDEO] | true | http://joemygod.com/2016/10/15/simpsons-riffs-trumpputin-video/ | 2016-10-15 | 4 |
<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>An African-American Baptist convention born out of the 1960s struggle for civil rights has denounced the television comedy “Black Jesus” and is mobilizing members to join a petition drive asking network officials to take the program off the air.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://pnbc.org/#/welcome" type="external">Progressive National Baptist Convention</a>, formed in the early 1960s and the denominational home of Martin Luther King, denounced the program that airs on Adult Swim — a Turner Broadcasting System-owned cable network that shares channel space with the Cartoon Network — as “nothing short of blasphemous.”</p>
<p>“’Black Jesus’ undermines the faith of the African-American community when our faith in Jesus is the only consistent source of empowerment that has brought us through centuries of enslavement, dehumanization and depersonalization,” says a <a href="http://pnbc.org/#/news/black-jesus-show-campaign" type="external">description</a> of the Washington-based PNBC’s Cancel Black Jesus Campaign.</p>
<p>“We cannot ignore those indignities that stare us in the face and undermine our faith,” the petition says. “It was only through our faith that we found meaning in life and the strength and courage to face life’s challenges.”</p>
<p>“Black Jesus,” which just completed its first season, features Jesus Christ living in modern-day Compton, Calif., a Los Angeles County slum known for gang violence, sex and drug dealing and home to famous rap artists including <a href="http://www.icecube.com/" type="external">Ice Cube</a> and <a href="http://www.drdre.com/" type="external">Dr. Dre</a>.</p>
<p>As portrayed by actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3834526/" type="external">Gerald “Slink” Johnson</a>, creator Aaron McGruder’s Jesus is on a mission to spread love and kindness to a small group of followers. The show has received generally favorable reviews, but a plot line that includes growing marijuana in a community garden sparked controversy even before the series premiere Aug. 7.</p>
<p>The group One Million Moms <a href="http://www.onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/contact-black-jesus-sponsors-once-again/" type="external">called</a> on sponsors to pull advertising for the program based on bleeped profanity in the series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2295180313/" type="external">trailer</a>. The American Family Association said the show “completely misrepresents Jesus” and is intended to mock Christianity.</p>
<p>“Adult Swim is not ridiculing any other religion and wouldn’t dream of mocking Mohammed or Muslims, but has no problem denigrating Christians,” the group <a href="http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/07/25/christian-group-pushing-cancellation-black-jesus-show-set-air-adult-swim/" type="external">said</a> in July.</p>
<p>After viewing the first episode, Bill Donahue of the Catholic League, surprised pundits with an uncharacteristically moderate <a href="http://www.catholicleague.org/hip-black-jesus-cartoon-airs/" type="external">review</a> describing the Black Jesus character as “a mixed bag.”</p>
<p>“He is irreverent, and can be downright crude, but he also has many redeeming qualities,” said Donahue, who in the past has objected to what he views as anti-Catholic messages in movies and TV shows including Comedy Central’s “South Park.”</p>
<p>Malcolm Harris, a writer based in Brooklyn, <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/10/black-jesus-comedycentraltelevision.html" type="external">praised</a> “Black Jesus” as an antidote to nihilistic world views pervading other popular shows like “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.”</p>
<p>The PNBC, led by President <a href="http://drperkins.pnbc.org/index.html" type="external">James Perkins</a>, pastor of Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit, however, says “there are better and theologically consistent ways to represent Jesus to a contemporary audience without contemporizing Jesus.”</p>
<p>“He is the same yesterday, today, and&#160;tomorrow,” the petition says.</p>
<p>“PNBC is calling upon the Cartoon Network to remove ‘Black Jesus’ from the air,” the petition says. “We are asking PNBC church leaders and members to request the prompt removal of the program.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://pnbc.org/#/news/black-jesus-show-campaign" type="external">campaign</a> urges church leaders and members to contact The Cartoon Network by e-mail, Twitter, Facebook and a telephone comment line requesting the cancellation of “Black Jesus.”</p> | African-American Baptist group protests ‘Black Jesus’ | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/african-american-baptist-group-protests-black-jesus/ | 3 |
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<p>Article created by <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org" type="external">The Center for American Progress</a>.</p>
<p>Remember when candidate George W. Bush promised to “change the tone” in Washington from one of acrimony and accusation to one of mutual respect and cooperation? I know it’s hard to believe, given all that’s happened in the past five years. But it is worth recalling, every so often, to determine just how cynically he is now governing.</p>
<p>The appointment of new White House domestic policy chief Karl Zinsmeister gives us all an opportunity to remember how so many Americans were taken in by Bush’s phony campaign. It’s not only “compassionate conservatism” that went by the wayside. Zinsmeister can be accused of changing a tone for the better only if your standard is Ann Coulter.</p>
<p>Zinsmeister has long been a virulent critic of the American press, which he has described as being composed of little more than <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061201479.html?nav=rss_politics" type="external">“left-wing, cynical, wiseguy Ivy League types, with a high prima donna quotient.”</a> But like so many other “regular guys” who populate the Bush administration, Zinsmeister himself is a pointy-headed Ivy Leaguer who is a product of Yale University, and who, despite his oft-professed hatred of Washington, put in time staffing for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and serving on an Education Department advisory board before taking on the editorship of The American Enterprise magazine.</p>
<p>Zinsmeister does not confine his contempt to Washington reporters. In March 2003, in the midst of the initial Iraq invasion, he took time out from covering the war to bash his fellow reporters, writing that “a significant number [of journalists embedded with the troops] are whiny and appallingly soft … mocking military mores in snide jokes and wise-guy observations … rolling their eyes at each other when ideas like honor, sacrifice, or duty enter the conversation.”</p>
<p>Then he added, “Typical reporters know little about a fighting life. They show scant respect for the fighter’s virtues. Precious few could ever be referred to as fighting men themselves.” Just as Paul Wolfowitz, Laura Ingraham and others did when they accused reporters who take this dangerous assignment of cowardice, he neglected to provide any particulars. No less typically, Zinsmeister has done his fighting exclusively from behind a desk.</p>
<p>But tone is only one problem for Zinsmeister; truth is another. In this regard, he sure found the right administration to cut his paycheck. In its May 24 <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060524.html" type="external">press release</a> announcing his appointment to the Bush team, the White House claimed that “Mr. Zinsmeister is Editor-in-Chief of The American Enterprise magazine, a national publication he founded twelve years ago.” Alas, somebody made this up.</p>
<p>The American Enterprise first rolled off the press in 1990, four years before Zinsmeister came aboard. But it wasn’t until June 5, after The American Prospect’s <a href="http://www.prospect.org/horsesmouth/2006/06/post_75.html#002656" type="external">Greg Sargent called the White House out on this falsehood</a> that he bothered to correct the record. As Sargent noted, “The claim is also echoed on Zinsmeister’s bio page at [the American Enterprise Institute’s] web site, which says that ‘Zinsmeister first formulated The American Enterprise in 1994.’” The fun was just beginning, however. In a 2004 profile appearing in the Syracuse New Times, Zinsmeister was quoted saying, <a href="http://newtimes.rway.com/2004/081804/covera.shtml" type="external">“People in Washington are morally repugnant, cheating, shifty human beings.”</a> Again, there is a problem here, aside from the silliness of the quote. As The New York Sun pointed out, Zinsmeister later changed this and other quotes when he posted them on The American Enterprise Web site.</p>
<p>His version of the quote would read, “I learned in Washington that there is an ‘overclass’ in this country stocked with cheating, shifty human beings that’s just as morally repugnant as our ‘underclass.’” He would later use the excuse that he only changed the quotes because he had been misquoted in the original piece — something that apparently escaped his notice until he decided to post his own version.</p>
<p>For all we know, Zinsmeister might have fooled his superiors as well. Karl Rove had a lot on his mind before being informed by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he would not be indicted for revealing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, and this Bush team does not like to admit its mistakes. But it’s not as if they were picking the fellow for a troop of Boy Scouts.</p>
<p>This Monday, Karl Rove told supporters in New Hampshire that if the Democrats had their way, Iraq would fall to terrorists and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would not have been killed. “When it gets tough, and when it gets difficult, they fall back on that party’s old pattern of cutting and running.” Oddly, Rove — who like Zinsmeister, the president, vice president and their top advisors, never served — was talking about war heroes like John Kerry and John Murtha.</p>
<p>Even odder, perhaps, the Washington press corps reported these comments — as they do Zinsmeister’s as typical political boilerplate — without ever recalling the promise of a “change of tone” when it comes to slandering administration opponents, no matter how ludicrous.</p>
<p /> | Changing the Tone | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/06/changing-tone/ | 2006-06-15 | 4 |
<p>Rick Santorum.Gage Skidmore/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>At <a href="" type="internal">CNN’s Arizona debate Wednesday night</a>, surging <a href="" type="internal">GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum</a> blasted President Obama and his administration for standing idly by during the 2009 popular uprisings in Iran, better known as the Green Revolution.</p>
<p>Santorum, the former US senator from Pennsylvania, accused Obama of cutting funding for Iranian dissidents and failing to step in to support the revolution, which was sparked by widespread accusations of fraud in Iran’s 2009 presidential election. “We did absolutely nothing to help” the protesters and activists fueling the Green Revolution, Santorum argued. That echoed earlier attacks when Santorum said Obama “turned his back” on Iranian protesters.</p>
<p>Santorum’s off the mark here.</p>
<p>As FactCheck.org <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2012/01/paul-santorum-stretch-truth-on-iran/" type="external">has pointed out</a>, President Obama repeatedly supported the right of Iranians to protest what appeared to be widespread voting irregularities in an election that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claim 62 percent of the vote. “I think it’s important that, moving forward, whatever investigations take place are done in a way that is not resulting in bloodshed and is not resulting in people being stifled in expressing their views,” Obama <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-President-Obama-and-Prime-Minister-Berlusconi-in-press-availability-6-15-09" type="external">said</a> three days after the election.</p>
<p>Days later, Obama <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-from-the-President-on-Iran" type="external">railed against</a> the Iranian government’s “violent and unjust actions against its own people.” The US, he said, “stands with all who…exercise” the “universal rights to assembly and free speech.” And there were more supporting statements like these from the administration.</p>
<p>It’s true that Obama didn’t dive headlong into supporting the Green Revolution as some might have hoped, but for good reason: the president insisted he did not want to give a Ahmadinejad a “tool” to undermine the revolution. Even then, as FactCheck.org puts it, “The fact is Obama treated both cases similarly: condemning the governments’ use of violence against their own citizens and supporting the protesters right to protest.”</p>
<p /> | Rick Santorum Misleads on Obama and Iran’s Green Revolution | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/rick-santorum-obama-iran-green-revolution/ | 2012-02-23 | 4 |
<p>One of President Bush’s closest advisers will celebrate this Independence Day by liberating himself from the White House inner circle. Dan Bartlett, who has served as Bush’s aide since his early political beginnings in Texas, announced on Friday (his 36th birthday) that he will be stepping down around July 4 to seek a new career.</p>
<p>AP via Breitbart.com:</p>
<p>With twin 3-year-old boys and another son born in January, Bartlett said it was time to pursue a new chapter of his life and “reacquaint myself with my family.” His wife, Allyson, had joked that they should name their newborn “Exit Strategy.”</p>
<p>Bartlett said he was open to job opportunities and had retained Washington attorney Bob Barnett to help him in the search.</p>
<p />
<p>It is a point of pride with Bartlett that he is Bush’s longest-serving staffer — longer than even political strategist Karl Rove, another Bush confidant whose tenure was interrupted by work as a political consultant. Before teaming up with Bush, Bartlett worked for Rove’s Austin-based consulting firm.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PG1KPG0&amp;show_article=1" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Top Bush Aide Resigns | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/top-bush-aide-resigns/ | 2007-06-01 | 4 |
<p>Republican messaging maven Frank Luntz wants to get into the movie business, but nobody in Hollywood seems willing to give him his big break.</p>
<p />
<p>At the end of a long piece in <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/the-agony-of-frank-luntz/282766/#comments" type="external">The Atlantic</a> that details Luntz's self-loathing and despair with the American electorate, it's revealed that the man behind some of the GOP's favorite catch phrases aspires to work in "Hollywood as a consultant, but he can't get his calls returned."</p>
<p>He can't figure it out. He thinks it must be a partisan thing. In every other industry, he says, 90 percent of his presentations result in a contract. But in entertainment, he pitches and pitches and pitches (he wouldn't tell me which studios or shows) and things seem to go well, but then there's some excuse. Not this time. Not the right project.</p>
<p>Luntz's dream job, it turns out, is to serve as a consultant on "The Newsroom," Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama that depicts a sort of liberal fantasy of the press.</p>
<p>"I know I'm not supposed to like it, but I love it," Luntz said of the show.</p>
<p>His television preferences aren't the only area where Luntz has broken with his conservative brethren. Luntz <a href="" type="internal">said</a> last year that right-wing talk radio has been "problematic" for Republicans. He's also offered a candid take on GOP dogma, <a href="" type="internal">arguing</a> that the "American people don't care what the size of government is."</p> | Frank Luntz Can't Figure Out Why Nobody In Hollywood Is Returning His Calls | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/frank-luntz-hollywood-consultant-calls | 4 |
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<p>Buffalo News Many people probably said that after reading Stephen Glass' novel, but journalism prof and former Gannett News Service reporter <a href="http://www.gannett.com/go/newswatch/2002/may/hanchette.htm" type="external">John Hanchette</a> tells Anthony Violanti: "We've got to do something to stop journalists from making money off their sins." Media lawyer Floyd Abrams sees a problem (Hanchette admits he does, too) with the idea: "That is unconstitutional because you are focusing solely on journalists."</p> | J-prof says we need a "Son of Sam" law for journalists | false | https://poynter.org/news/j-prof-says-we-need-son-sam-law-journalists | 2003-06-20 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Anglo American Plc , which broke with tradition when it set up a focused commercial unit, sees modest improvements ahead after an early boost to profits, as it gets closer to clients, even offering shelter from volatile markets with fixed-price contracts.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Anglo, like many miners, shied away from directly trading its own material for decades, selling instead largely through intermediaries such as established trading houses.</p>
<p>That changed in 2013 under Chief Executive Mark Cutifani, as Anglo sought a direct connection with customers to get more value from every tonne of material sold, a move which added more than $400 million to underlying operating profit in two years.</p>
<p>The value of sales made to intermediaries - and not direct to end users - fell from 60 percent in 2012 to less than 10 percent of the total in 2015 - roughly the current level, according to Peter Whitcutt, the Anglo veteran who became chief executive of marketing a year ago.</p>
<p>The group is now close to the limit of the extra cash it can squeeze out per tonne sold, Whitcutt said in an interview last week. But it can still get closer to the needs of commodity end-users, particularly in opaque markets like thermal coal, or targeted markets like minor platinum group metals.</p>
<p>"There is more we can do as we improve the resource-to-market connection and make the most of what we have in the ground," he said, speaking at the group's Singapore office, the base for much of its trading activities.</p>
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<p>Demand for fixed-price contracts, for example, has prompted Anglo to develop its capabilities in financial derivatives.</p>
<p>"We sell on a floating price basis, but some customers want a fixed price, so we can put that back to our 'risk neutral' position using financial markets," he said.</p>
<p>Anglo says it will not trade commodities it does not mine and has no plan to invest in warehouses or vessels, though it now has a shipping desk and sees more value to be extracted from better use of those ships.</p>
<p>"We are not expanding into handling third party material or using financial instruments just for the sake of it," Whitcutt said. It does still see some scope to trade material mined by others.</p>
<p>"We have a real capability rooted in Anglo American���s mines and our desire to get full value for our resource."</p>
<p>Anglo is one of several mining companies that have turned to the philosophy of extracting as many marginal gains as possible across operations to improve overall performance at a time of weak prices.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Clara Ferreira Marques and Gavin Maguire; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)</p> | Anglo sees incremental gains as trading unit hits cruising speed | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/01/23/anglo-sees-incremental-gains-as-trading-unit-hits-cruising-speed.html | 2017-01-23 | 0 |
<p>During a Democrat-only <a href="https://democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/nfl-players-speak-up-first-hand-experiences-and-building-trust-between" type="external">hearing</a> on Thursday with NFL players about improving relations with police, Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson accused security personnel at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center of racism.</p>
<p>He said, “The issue of relations between the police and African-Americans is something that we as African-Americans have to live with every day.”</p>
<p>During an opening statement, Johnson recounted an incident he said happened in early March.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Johnson contends he was “going into the gate and I had my suit on, gray hair, rushing for an appointment, looking distinguished and everything as I always do.</p>
<p>“I had a little incident at the gate with a 20 — that guy’s probably about 23 years old. A hot firecracker in terms of how he wanted to talk to me and how he approached me in a threatening way in a threatening voice,” Johnson said.</p>
<p>“If this guy had been a civilian because he was a military MP (police), if he had been a civilian and it had been under other circumstances like it was dark and we were off somewhere by ourselves and he had the gun and I did not, it would have been an explosive situation,” he said.</p>
<p>Speaking in the context of being black, Johnson said “even I as a congressman, you know, going to a military facility, have to deal with.”</p>
<p>Johnson said he’s seeking a resolution to the incident, but has not been successful.</p>
<p>“Same guy was out there last week, same guy in the same location, doing the work that he really is not psychologically equipped to do,” he said.</p>
<p>Johnson concluded, “We have to go extra to make sure that we protect ourselves from these threats that are always looming.”</p>
<p>Sandy B. Dean, Public Affairs Officer for Walter Reed, tells The American Mirror she forward our media request onto “the PAO at Naval Support Activity Bethesda.”</p> | Dem congressman accuses Walter Reed Medical Center of racism | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/dem-congressman-accuses-walter-reed-medical-center-security-racism/ | 2017-03-30 | 0 |
<p>BANGKOK (AP) — After spending more than three decades cooking in an unassuming outdoor kitchen, a wok-wielding, goggles-wearing Thai chef has been propelled to international culinary stardom by having her restaurant awarded a Michelin star.</p>
<p>Supinya Jansuta, better known as "Jay Fai," is among 17 Bangkok-based chefs whose venues received the coveted honor from Michelin in a guidebook released last month — its first foray into the country.</p>
<p>Jay Fai, as her restaurant is also known, is often featured in foreign travel guides but is mostly shunned by Thais for its high prices of what is generally considered cheap local food.</p>
<p>But a closer examination of the 72-year-old chef's dishes reveals an abundance of fresh seafood and prime ingredients.</p>
<p>"The No. 1 thing with Jay Fai is people say it's too expensive," said Oliver Irvine, editor of the English-language weekly BK Magazine, which regularly critiques Bangkok's food scene. "This is an old classic hole-in-the wall place which charges 800-1,000 baht ($24-31) for its famous crab omelet, which is nowhere near street-food prices. But when you cut that thing open, it's literally bursting with the freshest crab in the whole city."</p>
<p>Jay Fai is the only restaurant in the Bangkok guide listed under the "street food" classification to receive a star.</p>
<p>"Jay Fai is a place that both taxi drivers and foodies wax lyrical about and it's easy to see why," the Michelin guidebook says of the restaurant.</p>
<p>Bangkok is renowned for its street food, with cart-wielding vendors selling everything from Thailand's signature noodles to spicy tom yum goong soup.</p>
<p>The stalls, with their metal folding tables and rickety plastic stools, serve as a gastronomic go-to for budget-conscious locals and adventurous tourists alike.</p>
<p>In recent months, however, officials in the military-ruled country who see street food as an illegal nuisance have warned hawkers to clear out of some of the city's neighborhoods.</p>
<p>While Jay Fai is one of 14 Bangkok restaurants to receive a single star, none got three stars, the highest Michelin honor. Three were awarded two stars — the Indian restaurant Gaggan, French venue Le Normandie and European establishment Mezzaluna.</p>
<p>Following the lead of several other Asian nations, Thailand's government earmarked $4.1 million last year to commission five years of Michelin Guides dedicated to the country.</p>
<p>Michelin says the Bangkok guide was "solely, independently and anonymously" produced by its team of critics.</p>
<p>Jay Fai said she was happy about receiving the Michelin honor, but questioned why it came so late in her career.</p>
<p>"I've been cooking for 30 to 40 years, so I don't know why I've only just got it," she said. "I'm happy that they're starting to recognize Thailand and Thai chefs."</p>
<p>"I hope more Thai people will win the award next year, and they don't just give it to Jay Fai again," she said as she expertly flipped and tossed vegetables in a flaming wok.</p>
<p>Since receiving the accolade, Jay Fai's once relatively quiet restaurant has been busier than ever. Her shop is open from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., but many people start queueing up well before opening time. By afternoon on most days, a "full house" sign is hung up, indicating that no further customers can be accommodated.</p>
<p>After waiting in line for over two hours, David Goldman, a tourist from Los Angeles, left the restaurant satisfied.</p>
<p>"The food was really fresh. It was probably the best Thai food I've ever had," Goldman said. "The only advice I have for anyone coming here is bring a book" given the long wait, he added.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press videojournalist Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this report.</p>
<p>BANGKOK (AP) — After spending more than three decades cooking in an unassuming outdoor kitchen, a wok-wielding, goggles-wearing Thai chef has been propelled to international culinary stardom by having her restaurant awarded a Michelin star.</p>
<p>Supinya Jansuta, better known as "Jay Fai," is among 17 Bangkok-based chefs whose venues received the coveted honor from Michelin in a guidebook released last month — its first foray into the country.</p>
<p>Jay Fai, as her restaurant is also known, is often featured in foreign travel guides but is mostly shunned by Thais for its high prices of what is generally considered cheap local food.</p>
<p>But a closer examination of the 72-year-old chef's dishes reveals an abundance of fresh seafood and prime ingredients.</p>
<p>"The No. 1 thing with Jay Fai is people say it's too expensive," said Oliver Irvine, editor of the English-language weekly BK Magazine, which regularly critiques Bangkok's food scene. "This is an old classic hole-in-the wall place which charges 800-1,000 baht ($24-31) for its famous crab omelet, which is nowhere near street-food prices. But when you cut that thing open, it's literally bursting with the freshest crab in the whole city."</p>
<p>Jay Fai is the only restaurant in the Bangkok guide listed under the "street food" classification to receive a star.</p>
<p>"Jay Fai is a place that both taxi drivers and foodies wax lyrical about and it's easy to see why," the Michelin guidebook says of the restaurant.</p>
<p>Bangkok is renowned for its street food, with cart-wielding vendors selling everything from Thailand's signature noodles to spicy tom yum goong soup.</p>
<p>The stalls, with their metal folding tables and rickety plastic stools, serve as a gastronomic go-to for budget-conscious locals and adventurous tourists alike.</p>
<p>In recent months, however, officials in the military-ruled country who see street food as an illegal nuisance have warned hawkers to clear out of some of the city's neighborhoods.</p>
<p>While Jay Fai is one of 14 Bangkok restaurants to receive a single star, none got three stars, the highest Michelin honor. Three were awarded two stars — the Indian restaurant Gaggan, French venue Le Normandie and European establishment Mezzaluna.</p>
<p>Following the lead of several other Asian nations, Thailand's government earmarked $4.1 million last year to commission five years of Michelin Guides dedicated to the country.</p>
<p>Michelin says the Bangkok guide was "solely, independently and anonymously" produced by its team of critics.</p>
<p>Jay Fai said she was happy about receiving the Michelin honor, but questioned why it came so late in her career.</p>
<p>"I've been cooking for 30 to 40 years, so I don't know why I've only just got it," she said. "I'm happy that they're starting to recognize Thailand and Thai chefs."</p>
<p>"I hope more Thai people will win the award next year, and they don't just give it to Jay Fai again," she said as she expertly flipped and tossed vegetables in a flaming wok.</p>
<p>Since receiving the accolade, Jay Fai's once relatively quiet restaurant has been busier than ever. Her shop is open from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., but many people start queueing up well before opening time. By afternoon on most days, a "full house" sign is hung up, indicating that no further customers can be accommodated.</p>
<p>After waiting in line for over two hours, David Goldman, a tourist from Los Angeles, left the restaurant satisfied.</p>
<p>"The food was really fresh. It was probably the best Thai food I've ever had," Goldman said. "The only advice I have for anyone coming here is bring a book" given the long wait, he added.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press videojournalist Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this report.</p> | Michelin star boosts chef at outdoor Thai kitchen to stardom | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d4543d3f4bf24e95867e5a4023248aae | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
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<p>DENVER — Colorado’s attorney general, Cynthia Coffman, has entered the crowded Republican primary race for governor.</p>
<p>Coffman said in her Wednesday announcement that public education, health care and managing energy development and Colorado’s population growth are among her campaign priorities.</p>
<p>Coffman was elected attorney general in 2014. She previously served as chief deputy to Attorney General John Suthers, director of legal affairs at the state Department of Public Health and Environment and chief counsel to former Gov. Bill Owens.</p>
<p>She joins a busy GOP field that includes state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, Aurora theater shooting prosecutor George Brauchler and former state Rep. Victor Mitchell.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Colorado AG Coffman joins GOP gubernatorial race | false | https://abqjournal.com/1089785/colorado-ag-coffman-joins-gop-gubernatorial-race.html | 2 |
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<p>Now, oddsmakers in Las Vegas predict the team will become only the third in almost 40 years to win it a second straight time.</p>
<p>The city’s sports books like the team to win it all, with some making the Cubs a 7-2 favorite. Other favorites are the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.</p>
<p>“It’s a team that wasn’t built for the short run; it was built for the long run, and they have the capability of being a strong contender for years to come,” Jay Kornegay, sports book director at the Westgate Las Vegas, said about the Cubs. “I’m not saying it’s a dynasty, but it’s certainly looking like it could be.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Cubs, who open against the Cardinals in St. Louis on Sunday, are 7-2 favorites at Westgate, followed by the Indians at 5-1 after opening at 12-1.</p>
<p>The American Gaming Association has estimated that $36.5 billion will be wagered on Major League Baseball this year, most of it illegally through offshore websites and bookies.</p>
<p>Sports bettors in Las Vegas have always loved the Cubs. Even when they had no chance to make it to the World Series, people would put money on them.</p>
<p>“Usually, they are 15-20 spots down the list and still have drawn lots of tickets and money, creating big liabilities for sports books over the years,” said Jay Rood, vice president of race and sports books at MGM Resorts International, where the Cubs are a 3-1 favorite to win it all. “The Cubs have nearly twice as many tickets written as the next closest team, which is the Indians.”</p>
<p>The Caesars Palace sports book has written 1,700 tickets on the defending champions and 1,200 on the runner-up Indians. The Dodgers, with their loyal California following, have about 800 tickets.</p>
<p>Director Frank Kunovic said the betting line at the hotel-casino for the number of games the Cubs will win is at 96.5. For the Dodgers, it’s 94 and the Indians 93.5.</p>
<p>At Wynn Las Vegas, the Cubs are projected to win 96 games, the Indians 94 and the Red Sox 92.</p>
<p>“Boston’s got a good team. They were solid before what happened to (David) Price,” Johnny Avello, the Wynn’s longtime oddsmaker and sports book director, said referring to the left-hander’s ailing elbow. “But the Cubs are as good as they were last year, maybe even better. Therefore, there’s no reason not to make them the favorite.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Regina Garcia Cano on Twitter at https://twitter.com/reginagarciakNO / More of her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/ReginaGarciaCano</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball</p> | Las Vegas oddsmakers favor Chicago Cubs to repeat in 2017 | false | https://abqjournal.com/980387/las-vegas-oddsmakers-favor-chicago-cubs-to-repeat-in-2017.html | 2017-03-31 | 2 |
<p>Shares of Bank of the Ozarks (NASDAQ: OZRK) plunged by 12% as of 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, after Dan Thomas notified the company of his intention to resign immediately from his key roles as vice chairman, chief lending officer, and president of the bank's Real Estate Specialties Group.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Changeups in corporate ranks tend to be planned events, designed for a smooth transition rather than an overnight change. The abrupt resignation of one of Bank of the Ozarks' most important bankers raises questions about the company's future growth and the quality of its loan book.</p>
<p>Bank of the Ozarks has long been a popular bank among short sellers, particularly Muddy Waters' chief investment officer, Carson Block. Short theses focus on the bank's robust growth in loans originated by the Thomas-led Real Estate Specialties Group, which specializes in riskier construction, land development, and commercial real estate loans.</p>
<p>Loans classified as "construction/land development loans" grew from $1.5 billion at the end of 2014 to $5.3 billion at the end of 2016, according to its most recent annual report.</p>
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<p>Investors are left only to speculate on why Thomas decided to resign.</p>
<p>On one hand, he may be leaving for greener pastures. Construction and development loans make up roughly 36% of the bank's total loan portfolio, and more than 1.8 times its capital base, far more than the prototypical regional bank. (For perspective, consider that the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/13/what-banks-do-who-the-average-bank-lends-to.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=49c7c4de-73b7-11e7-b140-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">average bank Opens a New Window.</a> has about 12% of its assets tied up in all types of commercial real estate lending.)</p>
<p>Regulators have increasingly warned about loan quality in commercial real estate, and have been rumored to stand in the way of bank mergers that involve banks with concentrated loan books. As an example, see New York Community Bancorp's failed attempt to merge with Astoria Financial.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Thomas' immediate resignation could be the canary in the credit-quality coal mine, a sign that relatively benign construction-loan losses could soon turn for the worse.</p>
<p>In the best case, Bank of the Ozarks lost a key executive who oversaw much of its rapid loan growth in recent years. In the worst case, Thomas' departure could suggest that credit quality at Bank of the Ozarks is deteriorating, and loan losses will follow.</p>
<p>Neither case is good for the bull thesis, which centers around Bank of the Ozarks' rapid balance-sheet expansion and low credit-loss experience.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Bank of the OzarksWhen 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=22b336e9-ea19-46dd-9458-36ffd0164bcf&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=49c7c4de-73b7-11e7-b140-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Bank of the Ozarks wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFValueMagnet/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=49c7c4de-73b7-11e7-b140-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Jordan Wathen Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=49c7c4de-73b7-11e7-b140-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Bank of the Ozarks Dropped 12% on Friday | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/29/why-bank-ozarks-dropped-12-on-friday.html | 2017-07-29 | 0 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. - The Santa Fe River is wet and running again, one of the sure signs of spring.</p>
<p>City officials explained in a news release that water is being released from McClure Reservoir to avoid abnormally high levels for an extended period and to get ready for the spring runoff from the melting mountain snow.</p>
<p>McClure is at 78 percent of capacity and has been at or near 80 percent for one of the longest times since 1926, according to Alex Puglisi, interim source of supply manager. Part of the influx came with a major rainfall last September, which raised levels by 21 percent of the reservoir's total volume.</p>
<p>The current releases, some 8 cubic feet per second, will send some water to treatment and use as drinking water, while some of the flow will be diverted into the Acequia Madre.</p>
<p>Flows are expected to continue through the spring, tapering off in the summer, and the reservoir is slated to be empty by Sept. 1 so the dam can be renovated.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | The river is running through Santa Fe | false | https://abqjournal.com/372381/the-river-is-running-through-santa-fe.html | 2014-03-21 | 2 |
<p>Coffee futures moved higher Tuesday as the market found buyers looking to snatch up supplies over concerns that the harvest in Brazil may not be as large as previous estimates.</p>
<p>Arabica coffee for September rose 0.5% to $1.428 a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, on track for its highest close since April 18.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"The spot offers are still cheap in comparison to procuring Brazilian coffee from exporters, at least for those who do not need higher quality beans from the largest producing country," Rodrigo Costa, director of trading at Comexim USA, said in a note to clients.</p>
<p>As Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, approaches the end of the harvest, Mr. Costa said, yields have been lower than expected, which led one major firm to revise its production estimate downward from 56 million bags to 55 million bags, he said. Producers have reported beans that are smaller than expected.</p>
<p>Still, inventories in consuming countries have been steadily rising and speculators in the coffee market have been reticent to bet on higher coffee prices. As of last Tuesday, hedge funds and other money managers were betting on lower prices, with a net-short position of 14,190 contracts, an improvement for the bulls over the previous week when they were outweighed by 24,208 contracts.</p>
<p>In other markets, raw sugar for October was off 0.7% at 13.77 cents a pound, cocoa for September was down 0.5% at $2,019 a ton, frozen concentrated orange juice for September lost 2.3% at $1.31 a pound, and December cotton rose 0.5% to 70.93 cents a pound.</p>
<p>Write to Julie Wernau at [email protected]</p>
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<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 08, 2017 11:33 ET (15:33 GMT)</p> | Coffee Futures Rise as Beans Disappoint | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/08/coffee-futures-rise-as-beans-disappoint.html | 2017-08-08 | 0 |
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<p>To answer <a href="" type="internal">Kevin’s question</a>, apparently Arlen Specter was not able to reach Chuck Grassley on the phone to admonish him for saying that health care reform means the government decides whether or not to pull the plug on Granny. The two of them are duking it out on <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/septuagenarian-twitter-flame-war-grassley-wwarns-specter-he-never-said-death-boards.php?ref=fpblg" type="external">Twitter</a> instead. (Grassley’s latest: “So change ur last Tweet Arlen.”) I wonder if the increasing numbers of senators on Twitter finally spells the end of the Senate’s famed (and often feigned) comity? You can’t very well be liberally referring to “my friend, the Senator from Pennsylvania” when it uses up a whole 101 characters. &#160;</p>
<p /> | Grumpy Old Senators | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/08/grumpy-old-senators/ | 2009-08-14 | 4 |
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<p>Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom French of the St. Petersburg Times is dedicated to the craft of writing.&#160;Here are some of French's tips for surviving and thriving as a writer.</p>
<p>On finding stories: When French was a younger writer, he thought great stories came from above. "As a high school journalist, I thought the heavens would open up," he said. But he quickly realized there were plenty of great stories right before his eyes. Writers must see the world as potential stories, French said.On conducting interviews: French said the most natural -- and often the most awkward -- approach is best. Be yourself and be honest&#160;about why you want to talk with potential sources. "Don't have assumptions or hidden agendas," he said.On staying on the record: French advised being clear on the terms from the start. Set ground rules that your source understands. Different people mean different things by "off the record," he said. To avoid potential misunderstandings later, French said he tells sources that he likes all comments to be on the record. That way, if they're not comfortable having certain information in print, they know not to say it.</p>
<p>On asking dumb questions: "The worst thing is to pretend to understand that which you don't," he said. You should ask dumb questions because "you learn by admitting what you don't know."</p>
<p>On asking difficult questions: "Ask them tough and straight," he said. For example, if you're interviewing the principal and have to ask whether he or she stole money from a student club, don't dance around the issue. Ask directly.</p>
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<p>On gaining respect: French said you can't control how others view you. Young journalists should take their job seriously and ignore and deflect patronizing attitudes from administrators, teachers, and other students. "They'll learn quickly that you are for real," he said.</p>
<p>On firsthand observations: French said interviewing experts can be helpful, but often there is a simpler way to gain insight&#160;into a subject. For example, if you're writing about cliques, hang out and observe people in the cafeteria before contacting a mental health expert about the sociological structure of cliques. "Are there boundaries? Are there people who cross over from one territory to the next? Find out why people sit where they sit."</p>
<p>On details: "The world is not made up of generalities," French said. "The world runs on details: specific, concrete details." For example, if you're writing about a rock thrown through the principal's window at dinnertime, find out where the principal was sitting. What was he or she eating? To set poignant and vivid scenes, you must explore the details.</p>
<p>On the art of zagging: "When everyone else zigs, you should zag." For example, French said that high school football is often covered "to the ends of the earth." While football is important, he said, so are all the other sports. Instead of always focusing on what's happening on the field, some of the best action occurs in the stands, on the sidelines, and in the locker room.</p>
<p>On starting to write: Many writers, even the most accomplished ones, often find the writing process frightening. French said writers need to "put your terror aside and jump in."</p>
<p>On finding your voice: "The voice is in you," he said. "Your voice is everything that makes you you."</p>
<p>On big words: While French suggested that young journalists should "raise expectations" for readers, don't be a showoff. For example, French would not advise using "he retorted" when you could write "he said." But if a so-called big word fits or is most appropriate word, by all means use it.</p>
<p>On rewriting: French said all writers must rewrite. "A lot of times this is where you learn the most," he said.On monitoring your time: French said how much time you spend on a story is defined by the nature of the story and the deadline. "Some stories deserve an hour or a day, and some a whole year."</p>
<p>On getting more time when it's truly needed: "When you have a story that warrants more time, ask your editor for an extension," French said. "Asking for an extension is like asking your parents to borrow the car for the weekend. Be creative in fighting for more time. Be convincing and use persuasion."</p>
<p>On telling it like it is: French said you need to feel something about the person you're writing about. "Empathy is important," he says. "Your job is not to judge them, it's to understand them. And your job is not to make your high school look good, and it's not to make the high school look bad. It's to report how it is."</p>
<p>On accuracy: French said get the facts right. Then double-check yourself. Then check again. "Be tough and scrupulous on yourself," he said.With thanks to Doug White, who compiled these tips.&#160;White&#160;contributed to&#160;the high school journalism website&#160;for Poynter Online in 2001.</p> | Your World is Your Story | false | https://poynter.org/news/your-world-your-story | 2004-11-08 | 2 |
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<p>On Saturday, ethically challenged former House Speaker Newt Gingrich <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/19/politics/main2828219.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_2828219" type="external">gave the commencement address</a> at <a href="http://www.liberty.edu/" type="external">Liberty University</a>, the school founded by Jerry Falwell. This was the second time the former speaker has delivered the Liberty commencement address. In his speech, Gingrich quoted Bible verses and warned graduates against “the growing culture of radical secularism.”</p>
<p>“A growing culture of radical secularism declares that the nation cannot profess the truths on which it was founded,” Gingrich said. “We are told that our public schools can no longer invoke the creator, nor proclaim the natural law nor profess the God-given quality of human rights.”</p>
<p>Gingrich, who is considering a run for the presidency in 2008, faced 84 ethics charges when he was House Speaker, including tax violations, perjury and reckless disregard of House rules. He was sanctioned, and resigned from Congress. He also gained notoriety for visiting his cancer-recovering first wife in her hospital bed to get her to sign divorce papers. After the divorce, a church organization helped the family financially because Gingrich did not pay any child support. He divorced his second wife because he was having an affair with a young Congressional aide.</p>
<p>According to the late Falwell, Gingrich “genuinely sought forgiveness” for his sins.</p>
<p /> | Gingrich Continues To Ride the Christian Right Bandwagon | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/05/gingrich-continues-ride-christian-right-bandwagon/ | 2007-05-21 | 4 |
<p>When Major Kamal Kalsi wears his Army uniform, it includes what he calls his religious uniform: his untrimmed beard tied neatly under the chin, his unshorn hair wrapped in a turban.</p>
<p>Kalsi is a Sikh, born in India and a fourth generation military man. His father and grandfather both served in the Indian Air Force. Kalsi's great-grandfather served there in the Royal British Army before India gained independence. Like his fathers before him, Major Kalsi observes his religion as he serves his nation.</p>
<p>But Kalsi had to fight for the privilege.</p>
<p>Major Kalsi is one of only three Sikhs granted a religious accommodation by the Department of Defense. It permits him&#160;to serve on active duty while also observing his Sikh tradition, wearing a turban with uncut hair and beard.&#160; (A fourth Sikh, Capt. Simratpal Singh, was granted <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/us/sikh-soldier-allowed-to-keep-beard-in-rare-army-exception.html?_r=0" type="external">a temporary accommodation</a> earlier this month and is waiting to hear whether it will be made permanent.)&#160;</p>
<p>Other Sikhs have been effectively barred from serving since 1981, when the Pentagon&#160;imposed <a href="" type="external">a dress code banning long hair and beards</a>, saying that they interfered with the wearing of a military helmet and&#160;impaired the effectiveness of gas masks in a chemical attack.</p>
<p>Kalsi, who was recruited by the US Army while he was in&#160;medical school, had been&#160;preparing to be deployed&#160;as an Army doctor when he received unexpected news&#160;from his commanding officers. Despite pledges to the contrary, Kalsi&#160;would not be allowed to continue to wear the beard and turban on fulltime active duty.</p>
<p>"They said, 'Look, we support you staying in.&#160;We'll just go up the chain of command.' And therein started a process that took me the better part of a year and a half," Kalsi recalls.</p>
<p>He began a personal&#160;campaign to get a religious accommodation from the Army, the same accorded to observant Jews who wear religious headwear</p>
<p>"We've known for quite some time that the helmet and the gas mask issue is in fact not really an issue," Kalsi says. "If you note, Special Forces and Navy Seals routinely have relaxed grooming standards. You'll see a lot of them with facial hair, beards, long hair. And so we're left asking ourselves 'What's the problem? If Jews can wear the yarmulke or the skullcap, and they can accommodate that - why not the turban?"</p>
<p>Kalsi's effort to obtain&#160;a religious waiver got a big boost from a civil rights group, <a href="http://www.sikhcoalition.org/" type="external">the Sikh Coalition</a>, with legal help from the international law firm McDermott Will &amp; Emery&#160;and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.&#160;The " <a href="http://www.sikhcoalition.org/documents/pdf/RightToServeCommunityToolkit_000.pdf" type="external">Sikh Right to Serve Community Toolkit</a>" galvanized support for a petition&#160;that drew signatures from 15,000 people nationwide, including nearly 50 members of Congress. It called on Robert Gates, the Department of Defense Secretary at the time, to allow Kalsi and a fellow Sikh, Tejdeep Singh&#160;Rattan, to wear a turban and beard while serving the country.</p>
<p>In October, 2009 <a href="http://www.army.mil/mobile/article/?p=49223" type="external">Kalsi got his religious accomodation</a>&#160;and became a fulltime ER doctor for the US Army. (Rattan was granted his in 2010)</p>
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<p>In January 2011, Kamal Kalsi&#160;served in&#160;Afghanistan as Officer-in-Chief of a tented Emergency Room in Helmand province.</p>
<p>Courtesy of&#160;Kamal Kalsi</p>
<p>Today&#160;Kalsi is determined that other Sikhs should not have to go through such an ordeal to join the armed services.</p>
<p>"The U.S. military is this nation's largest employer," Kalsi says.&#160;"They set the tone for the rest of the nation in many ways.&#160;If they deem Sikhs' turbans and beards to be unfit for duty, it has repercussions throughout the rest of our country. In order to push back against job discrimination, bullying and the increasing hate violence we are seeing today targeting Sikhs, we need to be able to serve and serve freely, like we did during the World Wars when 80,000 Sikh soldiers died fighting alongside Allied forces."</p>
<p>The military tradition runs deep for Sikhs.&#160;Like the tradition of wearing unshorn hair, it dates back hundreds of years to the time of the Sikh-Mughal wars.</p>
<p>"Sikhs keep our hair unshorn as a mandatory religious practice set by our 10th prophet, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4hgtEpNXoE" type="external">Guru Gobind Singh Ji</a>," Kalsi notes.&#160;"He wanted his followers to have a distinct identity,&#160;so that we could never hide,&#160;so that people could look for us and to us in times of need.&#160;We are expected to uphold a saint-soldier tradition in which we defend the defenseless and fight for social justice. The Mughal empire had placed a price on each Sikh head. The message our prophets sent the Mughal empire was clear.&#160;You can hunt us, but we will never hide, and we will continue to fight against your oppressive policies that prohibit religious freedom."</p>
<p>The Sikh Coalition, which provided legal and lobbying support to Kalsi, is also now assisting <a href="http://sikhcoalition.org/documents/pdf/Capt_SimritpalSingh_Bio.pdf" type="external">Captain&#160;Simratpal Singh</a> in his effort to receive Pentagon&#160;permission to retain his beard and turban. Harsimran Kaur, Legal Director of the Sikh Coalition believes that including observant Sikhs in the military sends an important message to the public.</p>
<p>"It affirms that Sikhs and other religious ethnic minorities are part of the fabric of this country and have an equal right to participation," she says. "When we have inclusive policies in place we show the world that we practice what we preach, that our democracy upholds the values of freedom, of tolerance, of pluralism. We can't expect other countries to practice or incorporate those principles if we don't practice them ourselves."</p>
<p>In November,&#160;27 retired US generals signed a <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/12/11/retired-generals-ask-carter-to-open-military-to-sikhs.html" type="external">letter to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter</a>&#160;recommending that he&#160;end the dress code that prevents Sikhs from observing their faith while in active service.&#160;</p>
<p>They wrote, "President Harry Truman promised 'that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.'&#160;We urge you to strengthen DoD Instruction 1300.17 and make this promise real for patriotic Sikh Americans who wish to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces."</p>
<p>Kalsi and his fellow Sikhs are still waiting for Secretary Carter's response.</p> | Why should it be so hard for a Sikh to serve in the US military? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-12-17/why-should-it-be-so-hard-sikh-serve-us-military | 2015-12-17 | 3 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The state’s chief insurance regulator insisted Friday that Lovelace Health Plan and ABQ Health Partners will give their customers until year’s end to make new health care arrangements, even though both companies said no such agreement is in place.</p>
<p>Insurance Superintendent John Franchini told the Journal that the health plan and the 184-physician medical practice had a verbal understanding and that they are scheduled to meet at his Santa Fe office on Wednesday to work out a written agreement.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, dozens of confused Lovelace policyholders and patients of doctors at ABQ Health Partners called the Journal to say they were told Friday by the companies’ representatives that the deadline for choosing either a new insurance company or a new medical provider was still Nov. 8.</p>
<p>ABQ Health Partners notified Lovelace in July, in compliance with their five-year-old contract, that the practice would not renew their agreement when it expired Nov. 8 and wanted to negotiate a new contract.</p>
<p>Those negotiations failed, and the companies began informing customers they had until Nov. 8 to decide if they wanted to keep Lovelace insurance and choose a new provider or remain with their ABQ Health Partners physicians and change insurers.</p>
<p>They also said special arrangements would be made so that pregnant women, chronically ill people, patients in the middle of a course of treatment, people scheduled for surgery and other patients could continue receiving care from their doctors.</p>
<p>In addition, ABQ Health Partners spokeswoman Debra Hammer said Friday that the practice “is also going to see patients who need us through Dec. 31 to transition their care or to ensure the continuity of their care should they choose a new health plan that does not become effective until Jan. 1, 2013.</p>
<p>“We have no confirmation from Lovelace Health Plan that we will be compensated for this care, but we are doing this regardless, because it is the right thing to do for our patients,” she said.</p>
<p>Franchini said Friday, “Because of the fact that we don’t have a written agreement, though we had a verbal agreement, both parties are meeting at the Department of Insurance on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. at the request of the superintendent. They are going to be there to finalize in writing this agreement extending the time period until the end of the year.”</p>
<p>“Both parties have agreed that this is what they were willing to do,” Franchini said.</p>
<p>In a statement provided to the Journal, ABQ Health Partners said, “We are willing to sit down with Lovelace Health Plan to do what is best for patients. However, at this time, there is no agreement between Lovelace Health Plan and ABQ Health Partners past Nov. 8, 2012.”</p>
<p>Ron Stern, CEO of Lovelace Health System, which owns the health plan, said Friday, “We appreciate the superintendent’s involvement in this matter. However, there is no verbal or extension agreement with ABQ Health Partners beyond Nov. 8.” — This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Official Insists Patients Will Get More Time | false | https://abqjournal.com/140017/official-insists-patients-will-get-more-time.html | 2012-10-20 | 2 |
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<p>Crude oil prices fell for a fourth day on Wednesday as jittery investors awaited official U.S. stockpile figures later in the day after industry data showed a surprise build in inventories, underlining the market's supply overhang.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The American Petroleum Institute said that crude stockpiles rose by 9.3 million barrels in the week to Oct. 28, more than nine times the amount expected by analysts polled by Reuters. [API/S]</p>
<p>U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 70 cents to $45.97 by 0611 ET and Brent crude was down 69 cents at $47.45. Both contracts were at their lowest since Sept. 28.</p>
<p>Official inventory data from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration will be released later today. [EIA/S]</p>
<p>Rising production from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) also weighed on prices.</p>
<p>"We have increasing production from Libya and Nigeria helping to create more surplus. Also, all OPEC members are producing as much as they can to have a high base line to negotiate from at the OPEC meeting," said SEB chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop.</p>
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<p>Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Tuesday that oil output had recovered to 2.1 million barrels per day.</p>
<p>The West African country's Trans Niger Pipeline, one of two conduits to export Bonny Light crude, reopened on Oct. 28 after a month-long shutdown, a Shell spokeswoman said late on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Libya has doubled its output since mid-September and is currently producing about 590,000 bpd, state-run National Oil Corp said.</p>
<p>OPEC production is likely to set another record high in October at 33.82 million bpd from a revised 33.69 million bpd in September, according to a Reuters survey on Monday.</p>
<p>Prices have slumped in recent days as hopes have faded that oil producers would settle their differences and agree to output cuts when OPEC meets on Nov. 30.</p>
<p>"Those who were hoping for some upside from any sort of production agreement appear to have had their hopes dashed," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "It looks like there are speculative longs quitting the market."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco, the state-owned producer from Saudi Arabia, expects prices to rise in the first half of 2017 as the market returns to balance, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said late on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Nasser also said that preparations for the oil giant's initial public offering are going well and it is still aims to list in 2018.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by David Goodman</p> | Oil Extends Losses on Surprise U.S. Supply Rise | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/02/oil-extends-losses-on-surprise-u-s-supply-rise.html | 2016-11-02 | 0 |
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