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<p>By <a href="" type="internal">Juan Cole</a> / <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2016/09/despite-questions-humanitarian.html" type="external">Informed Comment</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=597100%20" type="external">The London pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi</a> reports that the truce that began Monday night held during its first twenty-four hours, in the areas designated for a cease-fire by Russia and the United States. The boom of artillery fire faded away at nightfall on Monday. It coincided with the beginning of the Muslim holy day, Eid al-Adha. The Syrian Observatory also confirmed that the main battlefields in Aleppo, Damascus and Idlib had fallen quiet.</p>
<p>Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned that this cease-fire might be Syria’s last chance to remain together as a single country.</p>
<p>(Juan says that you can’t really tell about these things. The Lebanese fought for 15 years, then made peace. All 15 years people were saying it would split up into cantons, but it didn’t. Then South Sudan fought a separatist insurgency for years and finally did secede, breaking up Sudan; but that didn’t bring peace to South Sudan, where the factions no longer even have Khartoum to mediate between them. This fixation on breaking up countries is hard for me to understand).</p>
<p />
<p>One of the big changes the truce brought is an end to the intensive bombing of rebel-held areas by the Syrian Air Force. In the village of Talbisa on the outskirts of the city of Homs, rebel fighter Hassan Abu Nuh told AFP that the bombing had been keeping them up all night every night, but last night they were able to sleep.</p>
<p>Many Syrians in the countryside are skeptical that the truce will hold past the three days of the Eid.</p>
<p>The next step foreseen, if it becomes safe enough, is for humanitarian aid to begin being delivered to populations that had been under siege or whose supply routes had been cut by the fighting.</p>
<p>There was little sign of political compromise, however, which is a bad sign for the future. Regime strongman Bashar al-Assad gave a creepy speech in which he pledged to recover control of the entire country (and since he runs secret police that specialize in torturing political prisoners, he does mean control). Al-Assad also said that <a href="http://www.nrttv.com/AR/Detail.aspx?Jimare=28829%20" type="external">Turkey was not welcome</a> to bring in humanitarian aid into Syrian territory unless Ankara cleared the shipments with Damascus first. Fat chance.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the remnants of the Free Syrian Army rebels (mostly Muslim Brotherhood) issued a communique outlining their discontents with the truce agreement, though they did not reject it. If the ceasefire holds in disputed areas for 48 hours, it will be renewed for another 48, and so on in hopes that it will become long-lasting.</p>
<p>The Freemen of Syria, a major hard line Salafi Jihadi group, did reject the ceasefire, as, of course, the Fateh al-Sham (formerly the Nusra Front) or Army of Syrian Conquest (whose leader is pledged to al-Qaeda).</p>
<p>On Monday, Russia asked the US and its air coalition to begin bombing Fateh al-Sham positions, on the grounds that they are terrorists.</p>
<p>The ceasefire does not cover either Fateh al-Sham or Daesh (ISIS, ISIL).</p>
<p>The US hit a Daesh facility on Monday that it believes has been used to produce chemical weapons.</p> | Syria Truce Holds, Offering Hopes for Delivery of Humanitarian Aid | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/syria-truce-holds-offering-hopes-for-delivery-of-humanitarian-aid/ | 2016-09-14 | 4 |
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday evening’s drawing of the North Carolina Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>11-12-13-24-33</p>
<p>(eleven, twelve, thirteen, twenty-four, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $87,000</p>
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday evening’s drawing of the North Carolina Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>11-12-13-24-33</p>
<p>(eleven, twelve, thirteen, twenty-four, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $87,000</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Cash 5’ game | false | https://apnews.com/ae2bbd3d8b3c4035ad4ab831afc27b41 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
<p>Stassa Edwards, a new mother of a baby boy, has a really great piece on rape culture and <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/2013/01/18/thinking-about-the-steubenville-rape-and-raising-a-son/" type="external">how we teach our sons about consent</a>. She notes that after reading about the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/sports/high-school-football-rape-case-unfolds-online-and-divides-steubenville-ohio.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">Steubenville case</a>, she asked herself for the first time, “How do I prevent my son from becoming a rapist?” And decided the answer is not as simple as we hope.</p>
<p>Like Stassa, when I watched that <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/01/03/anonymous_leaks_video_of_steubenville_high_schoolers_joking_about_gang_rape/" type="external">horrible video</a> leaked by Anonymous of&#160;former Steubenville athlete Michael Nodianos joking about the assault, I was struck by the lone voice of a guy off-screen who repeatedly tries to make his peers recognize that they are talking about&#160;rape, and that rape is wrong. It is heartbreaking to hear him keep naming the action, emphasizing the word each time, expecting that will be enough to end the laughter. It is very telling that it isn’t. Nodianos doesn’t deny that it was rape; that’s the punchline of every joke–a dozen minutes worth of them.</p>
<p>It’s similarly revealing that invoking female family members doesn’t work either. <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/2013/01/18/thinking-about-the-steubenville-rape-and-raising-a-son/" type="external">Stassa writes</a>:</p>
<p>At one point, former Steubenville baseball player Michael Nodianos says, “It isn’t really rape because you don’t know if she wanted to or not.” At another point an unidentified boy asks “What if that was your daughter?” Nodianos responds, “But she isn’t.”</p>
<p>Nodianos’s words are telling, because for too long we’ve been teaching our sons to think of the consequences of rape within a familial context (i.e. “Imagine if it were your wife/daughter/mother”) and it’s clear that this method of education is a complete and total failure. Boys shouldn’t be taught that only women to whom they are genetically bound are worthy of being treated as human beings because, in part, that implies those who are not family are subhuman and therefore deserving of their own victimization. Nodianos’s justifications (akin to “she never said no”) and answers might be chilling, but they’re also relatively rational responses to the phrases we repeat to boys and consider enough education. No, of course, means no, but such language implies that the absence of a firm and loud “no” is the presence of “yes.” One has to look no farther than the recent onslaught of “ <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/?mobile=nc" type="external">forcible rape</a>” legislation to see the pernicious failure of the oft-repeated phrase.</p>
<p>“Imagine if it were your wife/daughter/mother.” Yes, this phrase is almost reflexively brought up when discussing rape, other forms of gendered violence, abortion–really, anything that affects primarily women. But try to picture a woman being call upon to do the inverse: “Imagine if it were your husband/son/father.” It rarely happens. The idea that a woman would need a reminder on how to empathize with someone–as well as way of mentally replacing the object of empathy with someone else who is more personally valued to them–seems slightly ludicrous.&#160;</p>
<p>The empathy gender gap is controversial. While many studies find women are generally more empathetic than men, <a href="http://pages.uoregon.edu/hodgeslab/files/Download/Klein%20Hodges_2001.pdf" type="external">the</a> <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2000.tb00006.x/abstract" type="external">research</a> <a href="http://dsclab.uchicago.edu/Publications_files/Michalska,%20Kinzler,%20Decety%20(2013).pdf" type="external">suggests</a> <a href="http://pages.uoregon.edu/hodgeslab/files/Download/Laurent%20Hodges_in%20press.pdf" type="external">this difference</a> is not innate–and may, acutally, be largely the result of motivation rather than ability.&#160;In other words, women know they’re “supposed” to be empathetic, and so they are.</p>
<p>And I’d bet that empathizing with the opposite gender, specifically, is even more strongly influenced by gender roles sexism. ( <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/03/hunger-games-and-trayvon-martin.html" type="external">Similar deal</a>&#160; <a href="" type="internal">with racism</a>, btw.) To some extent, women are socialized to do this simply because it’s kinda required to live in a male-dominated culture. As&#160; <a href="" type="internal">I’ve written</a>&#160;before, if&#160;you don’t learn to identify with the men who populate the movies you watch, the books you read, the media you consume, well, this is a pretty alienating world, to say the least. Men, on the other hand, are taught the opposite. As <a href="" type="internal">Jackson Katz wrote</a> recently,&#160;“We socialize empathy out of boys all the time.”&#160;And identifying with a girl? Well, that’s, like, actually the worst thing you could ever do.</p>
<p>Guys actively resist this pressure, of course, because we are all naturally empathetic beings, but it’s there. And it’s reinforced each time we set the bar so absurdly low. When we wonder if guys will possibly be <a href="" type="internal">willing to see a movie</a> with a female lead. Or when we suggest that putting themselves in the shoes of the actual rape victim in front of them is too much of a herculean effort to expect.&#160;</p>
<p>As one of my favorite books on masculinity shows–and the science backs up– <a href="" type="internal">these myths can be self-fulfilling</a>. A wise fictional character named <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1467481/quotes?qt=qt1773427" type="external">Jeff Winger once said</a>, “People can connect with anything. We can sympathize with a pencil.” Let’s start acting like that includes men too.</p> | Gender and empathy: Men shouldn’t need to “imagine if it were your wife/daughter/mother” | true | http://feministing.com/2013/01/23/gender-and-empathy-men-shouldnt-need-to-imagine-if-it-were-your-wifedaughtermother/ | 4 |
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<p>RICHMOND — A recently-adopted bylaw change by the Religious Herald's board of trustees will give the newspaper representation from outside of Virginia, the paper has announced.</p>
<p>The trustees, who elect their own successors, voted to reduce the number of annual nominations from the Baptist General Association of Virginia for trustee positions from six to five. The sixth nominee each year will be offered by the board's own nominations committee.</p>
<p>Editor Jim White said the Herald has looked at offering its ministry to readers in other states, and the trustees thought that opening the board to representation from outside Virginia would facilitate that goal.</p>
<p>A total of 24 trustees, each serving four-year terms, sit on the Herald's board. Six trustees are elected or reelected each year. The new policy, which will go into effect next year when the nomination process for terms beginning in 2009 is initiated, will eventually result in four of the 24 trustees having been nominated by the board. The other 20 trustees will continue to be nominated by the BGAV.</p> | Herald trustees to include non-Virginians | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/heraldtrusteestoincludenon-virginians/ | 3 |
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<p>No matter what you might think about Donald Trump, it’s undeniable that he’s been one of the <a href="" type="internal">most controversial political figures</a> in modern U.S. political history. Being that he’s been such a divisive figure, there’s been no shortage of finding people with their own unique opinions of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.</p>
<p>For instance, renowned documentarian Ken Burns <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/03/ken-burns-trump-lusts-after-his-own-daughter.html" type="external">who did an interview</a> with&#160;The Daily Beast&#160;where he offered one of the bust summations of the disgusting nature of Donald Trump I’ve seen yet&#160;from anyone.</p>
<p>While discussing his documentary concerning five African-American teens who were wrongly accused of assaulting a white female in New York, Burns talked about how, at the time this was all happening, Trump took out a full-page ad calling for reinstating the death penalty for these five individuals.</p>
<p>“He shamefully took out a full-page ad in all of the New York dailies asking for a restoration of the death penalty for two 14-year-old, two 15-year-old, and one 16-year-old innocent children,” Burns stated. “While New York State laws would not have permitted their execution, just the fact that there was a rush to judgment ought to be complete evidence of how temperamentally unsuited he is for the office he now seeks.”</p>
<p>Think about that for a moment. Donald Trump took out a full-page ad calling for these five to be executed — and they ultimately turned out to be innocent. But this is someone who has the nerve to attack the judgment of others?</p>
<p>Naturally, Burns believes (and rightfully so) that Trump’s stance on these individuals <a href="" type="internal">was completely racially motivated</a>.</p>
<p>“Of course it was [racially motivated]. I found no outrage at the ‘preppie killer,'” he added. “The problem was that the initial idea of the crime was that there were these ‘wilding’ black youths—a wolf pack—that attacked this innocent blond woman, and that’s always been the primal fear of Americans as they tolerated slavery and then tolerated Jim Crow. You had newspapers in a progressive northern city sounding like a southern racist newspaper from the 1880s gleefully reporting on a lynching.”</p>
<p>Later during&#160;the interview the filmmaker really lit into Trump for being the true “super-predator.”</p>
<p>“I find Donald Trump more of a super-predator,” Burns said. “This idea that he can attack and attack and attack whole groups of people, and that we live in a media culture where that’s permitted to be tolerated—it’s the spectacle and not the truth of it,” he said. “An amoral internet permits a lie to travel around the world three times before the truth can get started, and we live in a place where lying is OK—where a lassitude develops where it doesn’t matter what the truth is—and that’s how it’s possible for someone like him to be advanced who is so clearly temperamentally unsuited and has no idea about governing.”</p>
<p>Ken Burns is&#160;absolutely right. No matter what your opinion of Trump might be, you can’t deny that he has been a <a href="" type="internal">master at pushing propaganda</a>, while using the media and social media to boost his status among Republican voters. Plus a huge part of his campaign has been predicated on attacking and slandering various people or groups of individuals.&#160;He thrives off trying to vilify others for his own personal benefit — which is very “predator-like.”</p>
<p>He also ripped into the GOP and the hypocrisy of evangelicals who claim to be some sort of super-Christians, yet overwhelmingly support a bottom-feeder like Trump.</p>
<p>“The Republican Party has been extraordinarily successful at getting many groups of people to vote against their self-interest,” he continued. “Evangelicals are voting for Donald Trump. What part of Donald Trump reminds you of Jesus Christ? Trump lusts after his own daughter on national radio, talks about women’s bodies and breasts in such a disparaging way, and mocks them. How is this in any way Christian? When you make the ‘other’ the enemy, how is that Christian?”</p>
<p>Exactly.</p>
<p>Ken Burns basically said the exact <a href="" type="internal">same thing I wrote about</a> a couple of weeks back about how it’s absurd to call Donald Trump a “Christian” because there’s almost nothing Christ-like about him. He’s an arrogant, fear-mongering, greedy, racist, bigoted, sexist blowhard who represents values that are essentially the opposite&#160;of what Jesus Christ represents.</p>
<p>And don’t even get me started on Trump’s creepy comments about his daughter that he’s made on several different occasions — that’s just gross.</p>
<p>Many people have discussed the current state of the GOP and Donald Trump’s rise to prominence among Republicans, but Ken Burns’ comments resonated with me as some of the best I’ve heard from anyone. From the way he brought up Trump’s despicable behavior regarding the five African-Americans he said should be put to death, only to be later proclaimed innocent, to the way he tore into the hypocrisy of evangelicals for supporting someone who’s as terrible as Donald Trump, his take on the all of this ridiculousness was absolutely brilliant.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Latest Move by Koch Brothers Proves What Spineless Cowards the Billionaires Really Are</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Former CNN Host Destroys Network for Helping Trump 'Normalize White Supremacy' (Video)</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">In Brilliant Letter, Lifelong Republican Resigns From Position After Donald Trump Nomination</a></p>
<p>1 Facebook comments</p> | Here’s One of the Best of Summaries of Donald Trump’s Disgusting Ignorance I’ve Seen Yet | true | http://forwardprogressives.com/best-summaries-donald-trumps-disgusting-ignorance-yet/ | 2016-07-05 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Just when you thought the rumored deal between Johnson &amp; Johnson(NYSE: JNJ) and Swiss-based drugmaker Actelion (NASDAQOTH: ALIOF) couldn't get any worse, it did.</p>
<p>Back in November, it was confirmed that healthcare conglomerate Johnson &amp; Johnson and Actelion were in discussions, with J&amp;J on the hunt for a new acquisition. Johnson &amp; Johnson reportedly offered Actelion, which has long strived to remain independent, $26 billion in order to gain hold of its leading portfolio of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) drugs. PAH is a disease characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries between the heart and lungs. The prize of Actelion's portfolio are Opsumit and Uptravi, which are both capable of more than $2 billion in peak annual sales.</p>
<p>Johnson &amp; Johnson has a treasure trove of extra capital (more than $40 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of the latest quarter), which could make it easier for the healthcare giant to facilitate a deal. But, more importantly, its leading drug, the anti-inflammatory medicine Remicade, is facing <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-a-biosimilar.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">biosimilar Opens a New Window.</a> competition from Inflectra, which was developed by Celltrion and licensed to Pfizer. Inflectra is selling at a 15% discount to Remicade, and it's expected to begin eating into J&amp;J's revenue stream in 2017. Adding Actelion's PAH portfolio would immediately help stem sales weakness in J&amp;J's drug, which generates $6 billion-plus per year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Following a bid rejection, J&amp;J reportedly upped its offer to about $27 billion before backing away from negotiations and allowing rival Sanofia crack. Discussions between Sanofi and Actelion were also unsuccessful. This once again opened the door for Johnson &amp; Johnson.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>In mid-December, Wells Fargo Securities noted that a deal for Actelion could wind up fetching as much as $32 billion, which was around the figure that Actelion was rumored to be looking for when negotiations began. On Friday, Dec. 29, new details emerged about a possible tie-up.</p>
<p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-j-j-discussing-breaking-160034070.html" type="external">According to Reuters Opens a New Window.</a>, J&amp;J's latest offer isn't much higher than its last offer before it walked away (roughly $260 a share, or $27.2 billion), but it would include some sizable concessions to Actelion's shareholders and a leery Actelion CEO, Jean-Paul Clozel, who's a bit gun-shy about selling his company to a larger competitor.</p>
<p>The reported deal structure would allow J&amp;J to break Actelion up into two separate companies. One company would bear Actelion's commercial PAH portfolio, while the other publicly traded entity would hold all of its pipeline products. This second company would allow shareholders in Actelion to benefit from the company's pipeline. Additionally, the deal appears to be an entirely cash offer and could be announced by the end of this month, according to sources familiar with the matter. There's also the usual mention that talks could still break down, as they have in the past, resulting in no deal.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>It's no secret that this Fool <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/23/its-official-johnson-johnsons-management-has-lost.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">isn't a fan of this proposed deal Opens a New Window.</a> at any of the prices J&amp;J has offered. My two biggest issues with paying a large premium for Actelion revolve around the company's current lead drug, Tracleer, and its pipeline.</p>
<p>Tracleer, despite generating more than $1 billion annually, is facing the entrance of generic competition in 2017, and as such could wind up quickly losing about half of its annual revenue, if not more. This means the drug that's responsible for nearly half of Actelion's current sales is about to lose its relevance right as J&amp;J aims to pay a hefty premium for the company.</p>
<p>The other issue is that many of Actelion's pipeline products are years away from hitting pharmacy shelves and being relevant, if they even succeed in phase 3 trials. For example, it's probably going to take more than just meeting its primary endpoint for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) drug ponesimod to be relevant. Gilenya, the leading drug in the relapsing MS space, likely isn't going to relinquish market share to another therapy that may work just as well. I believe J&amp;J is taking on a huge risk by paying such a hefty premium for an unproven pipeline.</p>
<p>But, as noted earlier, things got even worse for Johnson &amp; Johnson. By suggesting that Actelion be broken up into two separate companies, Reuters is implying that beyond the $27.2 billion cash offer, Actelion shareholders would retain a percentage of ownership in the secondary company. In other words, $27.2 billion wouldn't even buy all of Actelion, since J&amp;J would only have a yet-undetermined stake in the secondary company filled with Actelion's pipeline products. This proposed deal just keeps getting more and more expensive for J&amp;J and its shareholders, and the chance of a return on this major investment continues to dwindle in my eyes.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Now for a ray of sunshine: Regardless of whether J&amp;J acquires Actelion or not, the company should still be one of the safest bets for conservative long-term investors.</p>
<p>Johnson &amp; Johnson has a vast drug portfolio that extends beyond Remicade. For instance, its partial ownership in blood cancer drug Imbruvica should help investors cope with lost revenue from Remicade. It's also a leader in medical devices, which should come in handy as the U.S. population continues to age and a growing number of seniors require maintenance procedures on their hips, knees, and spines to keep active. Last, J&amp;J has a leading portfolio of brand-name consumer health products that are primarily inelastic.</p>
<p>You also can't overlook the unique way Johnson &amp; Johnson is set up. Instead of being one massive company, J&amp;J is actually composed of more than 250 subsidiaries, so it's veritably impossible for one malfunctioning cog to bring down the entire ship.</p>
<p>Personally, I believe J&amp;J's management is foolish, with a small "'f," if they pony up $27.2 billion for a majority stake in Actelion with Tracleer coming off patent and the company's pipeline mostly unproven outside of PAH. If J&amp;J were to wait a year, it could probably nab Actelion for a lower price -- but that's just one Fool's opinion.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Johnson and Johnson When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool recommends Johnson and Johnson. 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> | New Details Emerge in Johnson & Johnson's Pursuit of Actelion | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/03/new-details-emerge-in-johnson-johnson-pursuit-actelion.html | 2017-01-03 | 0 |
<p>You've Missed The Rapture Of The Church, Now What? Millions Missing, Here's What You Need To Do Next</p>
<p>"And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe." <a href="javascript;;" type="external">John 14: 29</a> Well, we told you it was coming. Perhaps you were a casual reader of this site, but never got really involved, "too many religious nuts" you said. Maybe you had a family member who would plead with you night after night to "get right" with Jesus before His return. "Nah, never happen", you said, "people been saying that for ever. Nonsense!". But, it wasn't nonsense, was it? Turns out the religious nuts were right after all. The Rapture of the Church actually happened. Now we are gone, and you remain. Left behind. I can only imagine the shock - terror - panic - and questions that must be running through your head right now. My heart breaks for you, and that's why I made this page, to get you through what the Bible calls the time of Jacob's Trouble, the Great Tribulation, and it's moments away from starting. Are YOU ready? Let's begin at the beginning... <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Here's what just happened. It was the hope of every Jesus-follower, prior to the Rapture, that one day He would return and "catch away" those who loved and believed in Him. Why did we think this was going to occur? Because the Bible said so, listen - "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18</a> And that's exactly what just happened, and where we have now gone. Oh, knowing the media as I do, I am sure that there are many attempts to explain it - UFO's, alien abductions, a harmonic convergence, a government program, FEMA camps, cosmic shift, worm holes, and the list goes on and on. But none of those explainations really satisfy you, do they? I mean, it's hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people, right? Could any one government, no matter how corrupt, really process that many people in the "blink of an eye". No, they could not. You know better than that.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> In the Book of the Revelation, what happened to John in chapter 4, verses 1 &amp; 2, is what has now happened to all of us who are gone. "After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Revelation 4</a> Wild, isn't it? We all heard the "sound of a trumpet", and were pulled up in to the clouds to be with the Lord Jesus, Yeshua Ha'Maschiac Himself. Look at the photo above, and reread 1 Thessalonians 4 again to yourself. That is what has happen, and that is where we are. With Jesus. Take a little moment and let that really, truly, actually, wonderfully sink into your mind. What God has declared will be so, will be so.</p>
<p>Why you and not me?? Now I know your next question, and you are wondering why, why...why that you got left behind and others did not. "It's not fair!", you exclaim. Maybe you were a church goer, maybe you are a "good, moral person" who likes to do good deeds. Maybe you were a Deacon in your church. All these things are good, but unfortunately, not nearly good enough. This is how God sees you, me, all of us humans here on this earth - "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Isaiah 53: 6</a> The Bible says that man, of and by himself, can never be and will never be "good enough" to get into the Father's presence in Heaven. We have all sinned against a just and holy, sinless God. So why, you ask again, if it's true that all of us are in this condition, did we go up and you stay behind? We are gone now because we put our trust and faith in the the One, the only One who has the true power to forgive sin, and that is Yeshua Ha'Maschiach - Jesus the Messiah - who shed His blood once and for all for the forgiveness of sins. What can wash away your sin? Nothing, nothing , nothing but the blood of Jesus. <a href="" type="internal" /> The road to Heaven starts at the old, rugged, bloody cross..."And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: Jhn 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 5: 8-10</a> And that's why we are gone and you remain. We were not better than you in any way. You and I had equal sin that needed cleansing and forgiving. But the difference is that we repented, turned from our sins, and turned to the living Lord whose death and resurrection from the dead paid the sin debt we owed. You were left behind because your debt is still unpaid, but there is good news yet for you. Right now, right in front of the computer screen you are reading this on, you can have the debt for all your sins paid in full. Ready?</p>
<p>You Can Be Saved--Right Now. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 10: 9-10</a> Pray and ask the Lord, "Lord Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner, and save me. I now, with a repentant heart, receive you as my personal Saviour". "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 10:13</a> If you meant it, if you were sincere, if you now know your desperate need for a Saviour and have called upon Him to pay your sin debt, according to the Scripture, then the Bible declares that your sin debt is now paid in full. Just remember that repentence is always the starting poiint. If you were doing things and living in a way that the Bible forbids, turn from those sins and be cleansed in His shed blood.</p>
<p>Word Of Warning: There is a verse that says because people rejected the truth of the gospel when it was offered them, that God would "send them a strong delusion" that they might "believe a lie."</p>
<p>"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.&#160;And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=2Th&amp;c=2&amp;t=KJV" type="external">2 Thessalonians 2:10-12</a></p>
<p>Since we are no longer here, we have no idea how to adivse you other than to say this. God is very merciful to all those who call upon Him. David in <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&amp;c=51&amp;t=KJV" type="external">Psalm 51 recieved forgiveness</a> when he did not deserve it because he threw himself on God's mercy.</p>
<p>We would advise you to do the same thing. <a href="../freeGIFT.htm" type="external">Click here to read more</a> on having your sins paid for in full by the shed blood of Jesus the Messiah Now you know what has happend to us, here is what you can expect to happen on earth during the next 7 years...and it's not going to be pretty, so be prepared. But if you just received payment for your sins, you can take comfort that no matter how bad things get, your eternal destiny is now secure.</p>
<p>The Judgements of God are about to be poured out on all the earth Now read this exerpt by Dr. David Reagan on what you can expect to happen during your time left on earth for the rest of the 7 year Tribulation. "Amid all the chaos from the Rapture, the Bible teaches that the world will turn to a dynamic leader to bring order and peace ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%206.1-2" type="external">Revelation 6:1-2</a>). He will succeed where no other person has been able in establishing a peace treaty for Israel ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Daniel%209.27" type="external">Daniel 9:27</a>). That treaty marks the official beginning of the 7 years that the Tribulation will last.</p>
<p>But, the world leader, known to believers in Jesus as the Antichrist, is anything but peaceful. He will plunge the planet into nuclear world war, resulting in terrible famines, pestilence and mass death. Violence, disease and starvation will be a way of life. A quarter of the world population - almost 2 billion people - will die from this war (Revelation 6).</p>
<p>In Jerusalem, two men will appear and preach there for 3 1/2 years that Jesus is the Messiah the Jews have been looking for ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%2011.3" type="external">Revelation 11:3</a>). 144,000 Jews will call Jesus their Messiah and also preach about Him throughout the whole world. Millions will accept Jesus as their Savior - hopefully you will be one of them. But, many of those millions of believers will be killed by the Antichrist for not pledging their loyalty to him by receiving his mark on either their right hand or forehead. The persecution of believers in Jesus will be awful in the Tribulation ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Daniel%207.22" type="external">Daniel 7:22</a>; Revelation 7). <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Next, the greatest earthquake the world has yet experienced will devastate the planet ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%206.12-14" type="external">Revelation 6:12-14</a>). Something falling from space will then burn up a third of all the world's vegetation. A second item from space, probably a meteor, will crash into the ocean and annihilate a third of the world's marine life and ships. A third object from space will taint the world's water supply, poisoning millions ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%208.7-11" type="external">Revelation 8:7-11</a>).</p>
<p>The devastation to the atmosphere will block out most of the sun and moonlight so that the days appear shorter ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%208.12" type="external">Revelation 8:12</a>).</p>
<p>Next, some supernatural "woes" will befall mankind. First, the holding place for a demonic hoard is opened and millions of locust-looking demons pour out and sting people like scorpions. The pain will last 5 whole months. Second, 200 million riders on horse-creatures will burn and impale, wiping out a remaining third of the people ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%209.1-19" type="external">Revelation 9:1-19</a>).</p>
<p>Three and a half years into the Tribulation will see the 2 men witnessing in Jerusalem killed, but 3 1/2 days later come back to life ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%2011.7-12" type="external">Revelation 11:7-12</a>). It will also see the Antichrist supposedly killed and appear to come back to life as well ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%2013.3" type="external">Revelation 13:3</a>).</p>
<p>And that's just the first half of the Tribulation. As bad as the first half of the seven years is, the next half is even worse (Revelation 16).</p>
<p>Those who take the Antichrist's loyalty mark on their hand or forehead will suffer from painful boils. Those who don't take the mark will be cut off from commerce and hunted down, but the Bible assures ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Revelation%2020.4-6" type="external">Revelation 20:4-6</a>) that those who take the mark have made a decision that will last forever - eternal damnation - so don't take it!</p>
<p>The oceans and everything in them are totally destroyed, as well as all the fresh water. The heat from the sun will become scorching. The Antichrist's kingdom will fall into pitch darkness." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">source - Dr. David Reagan</a></p>
<p>What now? Study the Bible every day, many times per day. PRAY to God, who gives wisdom liberally. Share the Gospel with as many as you can. Make sure no one you know, saved or unsaved, takes the Mark of the Beast. They will be doomed forever to Hell if they do. We are watching you from the balcony now, and just know that we are praying for you always during the time of the Great Tribulation. This verse speaks of us, the redeemed in Heaven, cheering you on during this time. May the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you all the Home. We will be waiting for you to arrive. In Jesus precious Name, amen...and amen.</p>
<p>"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hbr 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Hebrews 12: 1,2</a></p>
<p>Eternity</p>
<p>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 It's a gift...it's free...take it and live! Come Home soon...we're waiting for you upstairs.</p> Well, we told you it was coming Here's what just happened. You Can Be Saved--Right Now. Pray and ask the Lord Living for the Lord, Dying for the Truth Do NOT take the Mark of the Beast The Judgements of God are about to be poured out on all the earth What now? | You've Missed The Rapture Of The Church, Now What? Millions Missing, Here's What You Need To Do Next | true | http://nowtheendbegins.com/pages/rapture/you-missed-the-rapture-now-what.htm | 0 |
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<p>Updated April 22, 2008–The city’s biggest charter school operator is gearing up to enter the school turnaround game, and the district is taking the first steps to coax more private managers into the mix.</p>
<p>Chicago International Charter Schools has partnered with the NewSchools Venture Fund, based in San Francisco, to form a new nonprofit subsidiary to handle turnarounds. Dubbed ChicagoRise, the subsidiary plans to take over at least one elementary school by September 2009.</p>
<p>Elizabeth Purvis, executive director of CICS, says the district and her organization discussed the idea for years before moving forward, since stepping into an established but struggling school and making sweeping changes over the summer poses high hurdles. “It’s the right thing to do, but it’s hard,” Purvis says.</p>
<p>CPS recently issued a special call for turnaround projects with its annual request for Renaissance 2010 proposals—a move that prompted an initial rebuke from a spokesman for the Chicago Teachers Union, which opposes the firing of teachers under the turnaround approach and wants the district to turn over more schools to the union-run Fresh Start program. (See graphic.) The union’s rocky relationship with charter operators adds yet another combustible element.</p>
<p>The new Office of School Turnarounds has met with charter operators in California—including the well-known Green Dot—to discuss the turnaround strategy. Another prospective deal appears to be in the works with Victory Schools, which operates several East Coast charter schools and already runs two charters in Chicago under the CICS flag.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the head of one group notes that CPS must do more to pave the way for prospective operators by addressing community concerns about the turnaround strategy. Invited to the fast track?</p>
<p>In November, CPS invited Victory, CICS, American Quality Schools and the Academy for Urban School Leadership—all management groups with Renaissance 2010 schools in their portfolios—to pilot the turnaround application process. Two months later, AUSL was selected to take over Orr High (which houses three small schools) and Morton and Howe elementary schools this fall.</p>
<p>The invitation suggests these organizations are on the fast track to win turnaround contracts for 2009. The new schools office, however, says each proposal—solicited and unsolicited alike—will be considered carefully and equally.</p>
<p>Michael Bakalis, president and CEO for American Quality Schools, says it’s premature for any organization to consider its bid a shoo-in. It’s also premature for the district to assume his group will reapply, he notes.</p>
<p>Under the pilot process, AQS submitted a plan to turn around an unspecified elementary school in the Austin neighborhood that would feed into the group’s new Renaissance high school, Austin Business and Entrepreneurship Academy. Bakalis says he may very well submit an updated proposal this spring, but only if the district has a well-formed plan to address community concerns.</p>
<p>“This is as much political as it is educational,” Bakalis says. “The first step is that the community has to believe that the schools they have are not serving their kids well.” Even if schools are low-performing, he adds, “sometimes, people are very attached to their neighborhood schools.”</p>
<p>Alan Anderson, who heads the CPS turnarounds office, says the district is “trying to work very much in sync” with CICS and other potential operators. “We try to meet frequently around some of the challenges with regard to how to create a school, how to deal with issues of climate and so forth.”</p>
<p>Margaret Harrington, Victory’s chief operating officer, says she needed little coaxing to consider getting into Chicago’s market, where financial and organizational help for new school operators abounds. Victory is well-schooled in the turnaround game, she contends, having launched six turnaround efforts in Philadelphia six years ago.</p>
<p>Victory’s nonprofit spin-off, Chicago Schools Performance Group, appears poised to jump into the game. Harrington says district officials have all but assured her that the group will take over at least one elementary school in 2009. Also under consideration, she says, are turnarounds at a high school and another elementary.</p>
<p>The ChicagoRise school, if it wins its bid, will operate as a contract school. The NewSchools Venture Fund—which has already committed nearly $150,000 to find the right senior leadership for ChicagoRise—will chip in another $200,000 once a deal is inked with CPS and other milestones are reached.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>CICS, like Victory, is a charter operator, and getting it into the business of running a contract school that operates outside its charter could stir up trouble with the teachers union. The union has long opposed lifting the cap on the number of charters allowed to operate in the city. Legislative proposals are in the works in Springfield to bring more charters to Chicago.</p>
<p>John Ostenburg, chief of staff to union president Marilyn Stewart, says the CTU will wait for more details before attacking district plans to further expand the turnaround initiative. But the union’s opposition seems assured.</p>
<p>“Even principals tell us that the board is just gung-ho on the idea of contracting out [school operations],” he says. “Chicago International is a good example of the public education system being turned over to a private system. The only thing that is public about them is they’re using public dollars.”</p>
<p>The CTU recently filed a grievance with the district over turnaround schools, arguing that the district violated the union contract by failing to engage a joint union-board committee to negotiate over turnaround expansion.</p>
<p>Says Ostenburg: “We want to have legitimate input.”</p>
<p>Under CEO Arne Duncan, the district has warmed up considerably to the turnaround approach. Rather than closing schools outright—and sparking community anger—the district has used the turnaround approach.&#160; New school leaders are brought in to hand-pick new staff and overhaul the curriculum over the summer, creating a radically different learning environment for kids the following school year.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>To date, the district has tried the strategy only with AUSL, which specializes in developing new teachers and their skills. Under that group’s watch, test scores have increased faster than citywide rates at Sherman and Dodge elementary schools.</p>
<p>In January, CPS announced a major expansion of turnarounds, with AUSL’s takeover at Orr and two of its feeders and the district’s own turnaround of Harper High and two of its feeder schools.</p>
<p>The new Office of School Turnarounds will manage the Harper initiative, but it’s also charged with drumming up more management groups for future turnarounds. Having several operators fits neatly into the district’s overall strategy to create competition at every level of school governance, says Anderson.</p>
<p>“[Duncan] is a big competition guy,” notes Anderson. “He wants to be able to say, ‘Hey look, here’s a model that’s shown successes in this regard, and here’s another model that can show success in this other regard.’ ”</p>
<p>One of the first jobs that Anderson assigned to his staff: Visit Green Dot and St. Hope, both California-based charters with burgeoning reputations, to begin a dialog.</p>
<p>“The point is, they’ve gone out to just identify all the potential folks who may want to be looking to do this in future years,” says Anderson. “If there were 30 providers that were ready and basically positioned to actually do the work, we’d probably be using [them].”</p>
<p>To contact John Myers, call (312) 673-3874 or send an e-mail to&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p> | Anyone want a turnaround? | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/anyone-want-turnaround/ | 2008-05-30 | 3 |
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<p>Although New Mexico students were taught curriculum in line with the new Common Core Standards this year, the standardized tests they take next month are mostly based on the old educational standards.</p>
<p>And that has some teachers and school officials worried about how students will fare on those tests, known as the Standards Based Assessment.</p>
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<p>"They're going to open their test books, and they're going to face a lot of stuff they haven't seen before," said Lynda Witz, a fifth-grade teacher at Arroyo Del Oso Elementary School. Witz added that she generally likes the Common Core, which requires greater focus on some material and is not as broad as the old standards.</p>
<p>The state Public Education Department, however, does not expect students to struggle with the tests, said Leighann Lenti, the PED's deputy secretary for policy and programs.</p>
<p>"We don't anticipate any drop in the scores on the SBA," Lenti said.</p>
<p>She contends that Common Core sets a higher standard, and students are learning more. So they should fare well on the old tests.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, teachers are also worried about testing next year, when the new standardized test is unveiled. It is known as "PARCC," the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam. It will test students on the Common Core Standards, but it will be very different from the tests students are used to taking and will be given online.</p>
<p>In addition, the move to a new test will make it more complex to compare student performance from this year to the next, data that are key in teacher evaluations and A-F school grades.</p>
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<p>Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera said her department will make the transition go smoothly.</p>
<p>She said this year's SBA - to be taken by students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11 - is a modified version that will be a "bridge" to the new test.</p>
<p>It will incorporate some test questions aligned with Common Core, Skandera said. While those questions won't count toward test scores, they will give teachers and students an idea of what next year's test will be like, she said.</p>
<p>And some of the regular SBA questions will match both the old standards and the Common Core, Skandera said.</p>
<p>The "bridge" test has not eased teachers' concerns, said Charles Boyer, executive director of the National Education Association New Mexico.</p>
<p>"Essentially, we're going to have three test regimes in three years," he said, referring to the SBA, the "bridge" version of the SBA and the PARCC test.</p>
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<p>New test</p>
<p>PARCC has a greater focus on writing and critical-thinking skills than the SBA and asks students to do more complex problem-solving, according to the company website.</p>
<p>Skandera said it is a "21st-century test" that "raises the bar" and will be more challenging to students. It will do a better job than its predecessor of gauging whether students are prepared to enter college or the workforce, she said.</p>
<p>It will, though, pose a new challenge to the PED's ability to track student achievement.</p>
<p>PED uses three years of test data to measure a student's academic growth. That information is used to evaluate teachers and helps determine a school's grade.</p>
<p>That means the department must find a way to equate a score on the SBA with a score on the new test, or it won't be able to track student achievement between this year and next.</p>
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<p>Skandera said the PED will be able to "crosswalk" the scores between the two tests so student scores can be compared.</p>
<p>"It will be a non-issue," Skandera said.</p>
<p>School union officials are skeptical.</p>
<p>It's hard to understand how it is possible to compare the old and new test scores, said Ellen Bernstein, Albuquerque teachers union president.</p>
<p>"PARCC says it's a whole new generation of testing that's not even comparable to the kind of standardized tests we've known," she said. "How can you say the scores can be comparable if the tests are supposedly not?"</p>
<p>The debate over whether scores from differing tests can be meaningfully compared extends outside of New Mexico.</p>
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<p>David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for PARCC Inc., said it is possible to compare scores between the two tests.</p>
<p>"It's hard," he said. "It's complex. But it's possible."</p>
<p>That would be easier to believe if an independent organization reviewed PED's methods for equating the tests to ensure accuracy, said Robert Schaeffer, spokesman for The National Center for Fair &amp; Open Testing, an advocacy group that is critical of standardized testing.</p>
<p>Boyer said the move to the new test is a reason teacher evaluations should be delayed.</p>
<p>"I think the better part of valor would be to start over with PARCC" and wait until there are three years of consistent test data, Boyer said.</p>
<p>Skandera has rejected calls to delay the evaluations, which were started this school year. Skandera said New Mexico needed to move forward with initiatives, like evaluations, in order to improve education in the state, which ranks near the bottom in student achievement scores.</p>
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<p /> | Students face old tests, new curriculum | false | https://abqjournal.com/360616/new-tests-with-old-curriculum.html | 2 |
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<p>If there was ever a week in British politics which demanded the utmost tact, a delicate combination of steel and charm, then this was it.</p>
<p><a href="/content/dailybeast/cheats/2017/01/17/british-pm-announces-hardline-brexit.html" type="external">Theresa May</a>, the British Prime Minister, made what will undoubtedly be one of the most significant statements of public policy in recent British history, as she took to a stage before a cast of international diplomats and media at one of Britain’s former royal palaces, Lancaster House, to announce that as part of Brexit, the UK would be leaving the European single market, in order to <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/06/24/oh-britain-what-have-you-done-the-brexit-nightmare-unfolds.html" type="external">end free movement of people across its borders</a>.</p>
<p>Concluding with a warning that any attempt to ‘punish’ Britain for leaving would be an act of ‘calamitous self-harm’ on the European Union’s part, it was, many felt, a well-calibrated address.</p>
<p>Even some Remainers, who never wanted the future that Mrs May is promising, felt that as Brexit is happening anyway, this was at least the right way to do it.</p>
<p>The delicate meniscus of European co-operation was just about holding, with Britain’s European counterparts welcoming some clarity from May on the issue. All was going as well as could possibly be expected under the circumstances.</p>
<p>Until Boris Johnson, Britain’s characterful Foreign Secretary, got stuck in.</p>
<p>Johnson went on Indian TV—he was in India on a trade mission—and, disgracefully, compared the French to prison guards in a World War II movie administering punishment beatings.</p>
<p>Johnson said, in <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/07/14/did-britain-just-get-a-racist-foreign-minister-in-boris-johnson.html" type="external">unscripted remarks during a TV interview</a>, “If Mr. Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who seeks to escape the EU, in the manner of some World War Two movie, I don’t think that is the way forward, and it’s not in the interests of our friends and partners.</p>
<p>“It seems absolutely incredible to me that in the 21st century member states of the EU should be seriously contemplating the reintroduction of tariffs or whatever to administer punishment to the UK.”</p>
<p>Johnson’s remarks went down like a bag of sick in Europe, instantly destroying whatever positive reception there had initially been to May’s speech.</p>
<p>The EU parliament’s chief negotiator Guy Verhofstadt was a typical representative of European opinion when he described the comments as “abhorrent”.</p>
<p>As incredible as it may seem, this is not the first time Johnson has sought to draw a parallel between the EU and Nazi Germany. During the referendum campaign, Johnson compared the EU’s ambitions to those of Adolf Hitler.</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>Indeed, Johnson has long thrived off making outrageous and offensive comments. Hard as it may be to believe, Britain’s foreign minister, the UK’s chief diplomat, is a man who once described, in print, Africans as having “watermelon smiles.”</p>
<p>Boris began his working life as a newspaper reporter covering the EU for the highly Eurosceptic Daily Telegraph before becoming Mayor of London. He then knifed his old Bullingdon club chum David Cameron by backing Brexit—his intervention is credited with tipping the Leave campaign into victory—before being politically assassinated himself by his erstwhile Brexit ally Michael Gove in the leadership contest which took place after Cameron, <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/06/24/david-cameron-quits-after-brexit-humiliation-enter-boris-johnson.html" type="external">humiliated by the referendum result</a>, stood down.</p>
<p>Boris’s private life is even more fascinating than his public life. When he was editor of the British political weekly Spectator it was dubbed the Sextator by wags as he and many of his other staff embarked on a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1476560/Howard-sacks-devastated-Boris-Johnson-over-affair.html" type="external">series of well-publicized affairs</a>. Boris allegedly got the columnist Petronella Wyatt pregnant, and paid for her to have an abortion.</p>
<p>He is married (to a senior lawyer, Marina Wheeler) and has four extravagantly named children—Milo, Theodore Apollo, Lara Lettice, and Cassia Peaches—with her.</p>
<p>He has another child as the result of another affair, details of which he sought—in vain—to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/21/boris-johnson-fathered-child-affair" type="external">prevent being published in the British media</a>.</p>
<p>Johnson has over the years tried—and succeeded—in laughing off his offensive comments, which have seen him apologize to whole cities (Liverpool) and even countries (Papua New Guinea).</p>
<p>He’s had to apologize for running articles that claimed <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/boris-says-sorry-over-blacks-have-lower-iqs-article-in-the-spectator-6630340.html" type="external">black people had lower IQs</a> and that African-American NBA players had “arms hanging below their knees and tongues sticking out,” he attacked Obama as a “ <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/04/22/london-mayor-boris-johnson-slams-obama-as-part-kenyan-hypocrite.html" type="external">part-Kenyan president</a>” and accused Donald Trump of “stupefying ignorance.”</p>
<p>In truth he has more in common with Trump than he may care to admit. Johnson previously got away with a lot of this owing to his clubbable manner, and his disarming habit of using terribly British expressions of enthusiasm, such as “Crumbs,” “By Jove,” and “Golly” to illuminate his policy viewpoints.</p>
<p>His disheveled appearance—crumpled suits and chaotic hair— has become an unlikely trademark, communicating, one assumes he hopes, authenticity as opposed to saccharine spin.</p>
<p>Remarkably, Johnson has not merely survived this latest self-induced disaster, but actually emerged from it emboldened.</p>
<p>The Prime Minister let it be known she had “full confidence” in him, and her spokeswoman said Johnson was merely, “making a theatrical comparison to movies” with his offensive words.</p>
<p>Disturbingly, if not surprisingly, the Daily Express newspaper opined the <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/756518/Boris-Johnson-right-European-Union-leaders-PoW-camp-guards-Brexit" type="external">Europeans are acting like wartime prison camp guards</a>.</p>
<p>The Brexiteers argument was encapsulated by Johnson when he told an Italian minister that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/16/european-ministers-boris-johnson-prosecco-claim-brexit" type="external">the EU ought to let free trade between the EU and the UK continue</a> or they would “sell less prosecco.”</p>
<p>Johnson and his cheerleaders seem to delight in wilfully missing the point that the EU is primarily a political project, not a financial one.</p>
<p>As Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta, a country which is essentially friendly to the UK and currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency said after May’s speech: “We want a fair deal for the UK, but that deal needs to be inferior to membership. This should not come as a surprise. Thinking it can come otherwise indicates a detachment from reality.”</p>
<p>Detachment from reality is exactly where the UK government is, where the Brexiteers are and why bumptious Johnson is the perfect Foreign Secretary for the new Little England.</p> | Why Boris Johnson Isn’t Helping Brexit | true | https://thedailybeast.com/why-boris-johnson-isnt-helping-brexit | 2018-10-07 | 4 |
<p>Sen. Rand Paul (R-TN) says President Trump is thinking about taking executive action to fix the flagging U.S. health care system.</p>
<p>Democrats rejoiced last week when Republicans failed to get enough votes to revamp Obamacare, but behind the scenes party leaders know fixes must be made. But so far, no lawmaker has come forward with a plan, leaving Trump stuck with the problem.</p>
<p>In a phone call with Trump, Paul said the president told him he might go it alone. "Paul said he told Trump he thought he had the authority to create associations that would allow organizations — such as the AARP that represents retirees, or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — to offer group health insurance plans," Reuters reported.</p>
<p>While the Republican plan to overhaul Obamacare has been put on hold, Trump has targeted health care insurers, threatening to cut federal subsidies that help poorer people afford the plans. "If ObamaCare is hurting people, &amp; it is, why shouldn't it hurt the insurance companies &amp; why should Congress not be paying what public pays?" the president wrote on Twitter.</p>
<p>During the 2016 campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare immediately if elected. But intra-party fighting among Republicans has nixed that promise. "There's just too much animosity and we're too divided on healthcare," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) told Reuters.</p>
<p>But if the federal government simply stopped making the subsidy payments, the health care system set up by former president Barack Obama would be on shaky ground, to say the least. Hatch, though, said he thinks Congress would have to approve such a change to the Obamacare law.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Bloomberg News also wrote that Trump is moving toward taking unilateral action. In a story headlined "Now Trump May Try to Kill Obamacare Slowly," the news agency wrote:</p>
<p>One of the first steps the president could take would be to stop the monthly payments to insurers known as cost-sharing-reduction subsidies. The administration last made a payment about a week ago for the previous 30 days, but hasn’t made a long-term commitment. Trump has called the subsidies a “bailout” for insurance companies in the past.</p>
<p>“We are still considering our options,” Ninio Fetalvo, a spokesman for Trump, said in an e-mail. ...</p>
<p>Another way Trump could hamper the ACA is to instruct [Health and Human Resources Secretary Tom] Price’s department to direct little or no support to open enrollment when people sign up for Obamacare plans near the end of the year. It could include ignoring website upkeep, not advertising the enrollment period and offering little help for people who have difficulty signing up.</p>
<p>As for the individual mandate, the least popular part of the ACA, the Trump administration could choose not to enforce the penalties for uninsured people or broaden exemptions to the law that currently excuse those who show a hardship prevented them from having coverage. The Internal Revenue Service, which enforces the penalty, said in January it would no longer reject filings if taxpayers didn’t indicate whether they had insurance. Unless the IRS follows up with each silent filing, this could let some uninsured people dodge the penalty.</p> | Rand Paul: Trump Mulling Unilateral Executive Action On Health Care | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19200/rand-paul-trump-mulling-unilateral-executive-joseph-curl | 2017-08-01 | 0 |
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<p>The journal Democracy has put together a package of short essays for its latest issue about the likely face of American politics in 2024. Most of the contributors focused on one or two big trends and how they’re likely to play out over the next dozen years, but I took a different tack. <a href="http://www.democracyjournal.org/25/the-coming-resource-wars.php" type="external">Instead I identified six big trends:&#160;</a></p>
<p>What does all this mean? Probably nothing good, but a bleak outcome isn’t inevitable. <a href="http://www.democracyjournal.org/25/the-coming-resource-wars.php" type="external">Click the link</a> to read my guesses.</p>
<p /> | My Crystal Ball for Politics in 2024 | true | https://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/06/my-crystal-ball-politics-2024/ | 2012-06-12 | 4 |
<p />
<p>I’m watching a House of Representatives hearing on climate change legislation on <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx" type="external">c-span.org</a> — it is the most recent in a <a href="" type="internal">long string of such hearings</a> that has incorporated the entire week. Former vice president Al Gore and former senator John Warner, a Republican who urges action on climate change, have just delivered extraordinary statements. Gore listed study after study that are already finding real, concrete effects of climate change. He supplied the assembled lawmakers with as much science as they could possibly want. The much older Warner spoke of growing up during the Great Depression and WWII, and the courage and inspiration that were required to meet the challenges of that time. He argued that fighting back climate change requires the same qualities today. Listening to these two men makes it’s hard not to think a cultural shift has occurred and we’re finally on our way to a real solution.</p>
<p>And then you stumble on something like the video below, and you realize why a solution has been and will continue to be so immensely difficult. Below is a man who does not care about Gore’s science or Warner’s call to duty. Below is a man who has found text in the Old Testament that says God, not man, will determine the end of the world, and because that text is infallible in his view all this business about global warming is a bunch of hokum.</p>
<p>That’s Rep. John Shimkus. And in case it’s not clear how he feels about global warming from the video, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/23/shimkus-co2-assault/" type="external">he said earlier this week</a>, “I think [climate change legislation] is the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country that I’ve ever experienced. I’ve lived through some tough times in Congress — impeachment, two wars, terrorist attacks. I fear this more than all of the above activities that have happened.” That’s not just kind of nutty. It’s dangerous.</p>
<p /> | Video: Why Fighting Climate Change Is So God-Dang Hard | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/video-why-fighting-climate-change-so-god-dang-hard/ | 2009-04-24 | 4 |
<p>Brendan Mcdermid/Zuma</p>
<p />
<p>Fox News doesn’t—or didn’t—have a Bill O’Reilly problem. It has a Fox News problem.</p>
<p>For years, it was clear that O’Reilly was a lying lout who exploited his position, power, and profits-generating status at the network to harass women, bully critics, and hurl a variety of false accusations. Yet Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes (until last July, when he was forced out as CEO of the network as a result of his own sexual harassment conduct) allowed O’Reilly to run wild and free. As the king of the hill at Fox News, O’Reilly survived numerous scandals that would have knocked out hosts at other networks. The reason was obvious: With his top-rated show, he brought piles of cash into the network. His personal behavior at the workplace didn’t matter. Nor did his penchant for public self-aggrandizing prevarication. Nor did his cavalier use of violent rhetoric, including, on at least one occasion, a death threat of sorts. (More on that later.)</p>
<p>O’Reilly’s ugly private conduct first drew public attention in 2004, when the Fox News star host was accused of harassment—and bizarre behavior—in a <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/oreilly/bill-oreilly-falafel-lawsuit-turns-ten-897562" type="external">lawsuit</a> filed by Andrea Mackris, an associate producer who worked with him at the network. Her case appeared to be based on secret recordings she had made of conversations with O’Reilly, and her filing was full of direct quotes from him. He supposedly spoke to her about vibrators, masturbation, and his penis, trying to engage her in phone sex, and brought himself to climax during these calls. Mackris’ initial legal complaint included a long passage in which O’Reilly fantasized aloud about taking her to the Caribbean, where he would “quickly” get two glasses of wine into her and then steer her into a shower and rub her “pussy” with “the falafel thing.” (He meant a loofah.)</p>
<p>The Mackris suit settled within two weeks, under confidential terms, with Mackris reportedly being <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/19/choking-harassing-and-loofahs-women-s-allegations-against-bill-o-reilly-piled-up-for-years-before-his-demise.html" type="external">paid $9 million</a>. And thus was the pattern established. Earlier this month, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/business/media/bill-oreilly-sexual-harassment-fox-news.html" type="external">reported</a> that in the subsequent years, O’Reilly “faced a series of allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior” and that four other women had received payouts from either him or Fox News. (Reportedly, the Justice Department has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/business/media/fox-news-sexual-harassment-payments.html" type="external">investigating</a> Fox News for violating securities law in relation to these payments.) O’Reilly also was <a href="http://gawker.com/court-transcripts-bill-o-reilly-s-daughter-saw-him-ch-1704717356" type="external">accused</a> of domestic abuse in 2014 during a custody battle.</p>
<p>Throughout all of this, Fox News was O’Reilly’s enabler. Murdoch, Ailes, and others also protected O’Reilly when he lied and threatened anyone who questioned his primacy (or integrity). And I have a personal stake in this part of the O’Reilly saga, because once I was the target of his violent rhetoric.</p>
<p>Two years ago, Daniel Schulman and I <a href="" type="internal">reported</a> that O’Reilly had repeatedly mischaracterized his limited wartime reporting experience. Over the years, he had said he had witnessed combat while serving as a war correspondent for CBS News during the 1982 Falklands war between Argentina and the United Kingdom. He had also claimed that in this “war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands,” his cameraman had been injured and O’Reilly had saved the man. None of this was true. Numerous colleagues of O’Reilly noted that no American reporters reached the Falkland Islands during the fighting and that the US correspondents covered the war from Buenos Aries, about 1,200 miles away. The <a href="" type="internal">cameraman</a> said no such incident had happened. O’Reilly, like other American journalists there, had never been in the war zone.</p>
<p>O’Reilly also had bragged in the past that while in Buenos Aires, he had covered a riot at the war’s end, which he characterized as a combat situation, with troops gunning down and slaughtering demonstrators. News reports from the time and eyewitness accounts noted there had been no killing. And O’Reilly’s own reports from the time contradicted his boastful account. There was no massacre. Schulman and I also reported that O’Reilly had exaggerated his account of an assignment covering the civil war in El Salvador in the early 1980s.</p>
<p>Our story was followed by other media reports chronicling instances when O’Reilly had fibbed about his derring-do. The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/26/bill-oreilly-former-colleagues-la-riots-bombardment" type="external">noted</a> that six of O’Reilly’s colleagues from Inside Edition disputed his account of having been attacked by protesters while he reported on the Los Angeles riots in 1992. The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/is-bill-oreilly-making-things-up-or-just-bloviating/2015/02/27/bd5e7f66-bea4-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html?utm_term=.6260a0238084" type="external">questioned</a> a passage in an O’Reilly book in which he asserted he had “seen” Irish terrorists “kill and maim their fellow citizens in Belfast with bombs.” O’Reilly’s response: He saw photos of bombings. Media Matters, a liberal advocacy group, <a href="https://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/25/another-fabrication-oreilly-never-witnessed-the/202667" type="external">caught O’Reilly</a> in a similar lie. He had claimed he had seen nuns gunned down in El Salvador. But nope—just photos. And CNN <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/01/media/bill-oreilly-jfk-recordings/?iid=EL" type="external">blew apart</a> another boastful O’Reilly story: He had been present when a mysterious witness in the John Kennedy assassination case committed suicide.</p>
<p>This was a boatload of credibility-destroying stories. Fox News, though, stood by their man. And it did so as he attempted to lie and bully his way through this series of imbroglios—with me as his No. 1 target. O’Reilly refused to acknowledge the contradictions between his tall (and false) tales and reality. Instead, he went ballistic with invective. He called me a “liar,” “dumb,” a “left-wing assassin,” and a “despicable <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guttersnipe" type="external">guttersnipe</a>.” He <a href="http://nation.foxnews.com/2015/02/20/bill-oreillys-talking-points-memo-22015-airing-tonight-8pm-et" type="external">denounced</a> Mother Jones as “the bottom rung of journalism in America.” And he got violent and said that I deserve <a href="http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/bill-oreilly-shoots-down-mother-jones-war-report-a-giant-piece-of-defamation/256393" type="external">“to be in the kill zone.”</a></p>
<p>It was no shocker that Fox News let O’Reilly get away with this fusillade. But it was a bit unsettling that the fair-and-balanced network did not compel O’Reilly to apologize for and retract the “kill zone” remark. After all, who knows how an unhinged O’Reilly fan might take such a comment. O’Reilly had spent years referring to Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas physician who provided abortions, as <a href="http://addictinginfo.org/2015/12/01/watch-bill-oreilly-accidentally-admit-his-violent-rhetoric-got-an-abortion-doctor-killed-video/" type="external">“Tiller the Baby Killer.”</a> In 2009, Tiller was shot dead while serving as an usher in his church by an anti-abortion extremist.</p>
<p>Fox News just didn’t care that O’Reilly was engaging in reckless rhetoric or that he had been caught in multiple lies. There was no internal investigation. (At NBC News, Brian Williams was investigated and lost his anchor’s chair for having told false war stories.) There was no punishment. Journalistic principles, the rules of polite society—they didn’t apply. You don’t kill the cash cow. And while O’Reilly faced criticism for being a serial fabricator, his ratings improved. His audience rallied around him, as he claimed he was under unfair assault by the liberal media for having the guts to tell the truth. O’Reilly used all these stories as proof he was a courageous no-spin journalist, and folks within his echo chamber lapped it up. (A few Fox News journalists privately congratulated me on our stories, often with such comments as, “If you only knew.” The brass saw it differently.)</p>
<p>Why would Fox News intervene? Now even more O’Reilly bucks were pouring in. Yet with Ailes’ recent downfall and more revelations of O’Reilly’s misconduct, the network finally reached the conclusion that their pugnacious host had to be de-Factored. But keep this in mind: None of the recent yucky news about O’Reilly was a secret to the Murdochs and other execs. Since at least 2004, they had covered up for and defended their No. 1 bloviator. The issue at this time is not one man’s wrongdoing. It reaches beyond a single lewd and pompous egotist. The entire Fox News regime—which seeks to boost corporate profits by appealing to an audience supposedly in favor of conservative family values—remains tainted.</p>
<p>O’Reilly may be gone. But that taint remains. And the guttersnipes who dared to report on O’Reilly’s misdeeds and mis-facts know that O’Reilly was for too long the rule, not the exception, at Fox News.</p>
<p /> | Fox News Owns Bill O’Reilly’s Ugly Legacy | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/fox-owns-oreilly-legacy-david-corn/ | 2017-04-20 | 4 |
<p>Some yard sale shoppers like to browse in peace was one seller’s theory.</p>
<p>Shelly Serra/MCSO</p>
<p>Shelly Serra apparently disagreed.</p>
<p>The Mesa County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office <a href="http://www.mcsonews.com/2015/09/weekend-arrests-recapped.html" type="external">reports</a> two neighbors were having a joint yard sale in Clifton when the pair began “drinking heavily and eventually they began to physically fight.”</p>
<p>The altercation happened after Serra “was starting to get out of hand by turning up the radio and being loud,” according to the Grand Junction <a href="http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/one-injured-in-yard-sale-fight" type="external">Daily Sentinel</a>.</p>
<p>Serra’s neighbor told her to turn the music down because it was “scaring away customers,” and instead of letting the shoppers peruse in peace, Serra allegedly slapped the neighbor and “swiped at her table of wares, sending some of the items crashing to the ground and breaking.”</p>
<p>According to the police report, the neighbor asked Serra to stop, but instead, Serra “started punching her in the head,” and Serra “struck her in the head with a glass object and she felt it break on her head.”</p>
<p>The police say Serra continued to strike her fellow seller with the piece of broken glass.</p>
<p>The victim’s husband arrived at the sale and “beat Serra back with his walking cane.” According to the affidavit, Serra left the premises and returned to her house across the street.</p>
<p>The paper reports Serra told sheriff’s deputies the fight was between the other seller and her husband, adding she was hit in the head with the cane “on accident” when the husband was allegedly striking his wife with it.</p>
<p>Deputies determined Serra’s story was false and she was arrested. Evidence included the “large amount of broken glass on the ground.”</p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.mcsonews.com/2015/09/weekend-arrests-recapped.html" type="external">Mesa County Sheriff’s Office</a>, Shelly was arrested on “second degree assault with injury and using a deadly weapon, and criminal mischief.”</p> | Drunken neighbors hosting yard sale come to blows over loud music | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/neighbors-hosting-yard-sale-brawl-over-loud-music-scaring-away-customers/ | 2015-10-03 | 0 |
<p>MILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut woman says she recently discovered an etching her late father grabbed from a Yale University dumpster close to 20 years ago is a valuable piece of art.</p>
<p>Cheryl Conroy Warren <a href="http://www.nhregister.com/metro/article/Antiques-Roadshow-Yale-University-dumpster-find-12516173.php" type="external">tells</a> the New Haven Register on Tuesday she learned from an appraiser with the television show “Antiques Roadshow” the etching is an original work by Chinese artist Zao Wou-Ki. Its estimated value is between $10,000 and $15,000.</p>
<p>The appraiser told her the piece is titled “Flora and Fauna” and it’s No. 190 of the 200 the artist made.</p>
<p>Warren says her father, Arnold Conroy, had a habit of picking up items from worksites while he worked construction.</p>
<p>Warren says she plans to sell the piece and give the money to her mother.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that Cheryl Conroy Warren is a resident of Connecticut, not New Hampshire.</p>
<p>MILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut woman says she recently discovered an etching her late father grabbed from a Yale University dumpster close to 20 years ago is a valuable piece of art.</p>
<p>Cheryl Conroy Warren <a href="http://www.nhregister.com/metro/article/Antiques-Roadshow-Yale-University-dumpster-find-12516173.php" type="external">tells</a> the New Haven Register on Tuesday she learned from an appraiser with the television show “Antiques Roadshow” the etching is an original work by Chinese artist Zao Wou-Ki. Its estimated value is between $10,000 and $15,000.</p>
<p>The appraiser told her the piece is titled “Flora and Fauna” and it’s No. 190 of the 200 the artist made.</p>
<p>Warren says her father, Arnold Conroy, had a habit of picking up items from worksites while he worked construction.</p>
<p>Warren says she plans to sell the piece and give the money to her mother.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that Cheryl Conroy Warren is a resident of Connecticut, not New Hampshire.</p> | Woman says dumpster find is valuable piece of art | false | https://apnews.com/d5843d4d84534b0184396ad3312e47e8 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
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<p>Nelson Franklin, left, and Melissa Ordway star in the film “Ghost Phone: Phone Calls from the Dead.” The director of the film is giving away five acres in Taos to one person who buys a ticket to the film.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jeffrey F. Jackson was on a mission to finish his film. Four years later, he’s ready to release it to the world.</p>
<p>“This has really been an incredibly long time coming,” he says. “It’s been a complicated process and we’re finally done with it.”</p>
<p>Jackson used to be involved with the defunct Taos Talking Film Festival, which gave a land grant prize to the winner of the festival.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>When the festival was running, the filmmaker with the top film was given five acres of land in Taos. Winners included Santa Fe University of Art and Design’s film school chair Chris Eyre for his film “Smoke Signals” and Gary Walkow. Walkow was the first land-grant winner and is the writer of “Ghost Phone: Phone Calls from the Dead.”</p>
<p>The film follows William Pierce, played by Nelson Franklin, who has a direct hotline to the afterworld: his dead fiancée’s cellphone. Here’s the problem – the dead only talk to him.</p>
<p>In this dark romantic comedy, Pierce straddles this world and the next, jumping through hurdles to appease those who have crossed over, in an attempt to exonerate himself from a murder charge, prove his sanity and find closure with his fiancée. Yes, she’s dead, but she’ll go to any lengths to make their relationship work, including asking Will to do the unthinkable: join her on the other side.</p>
<p>“It’s been a thrill to work on this project,” Jackson says. “We have a lot of incredible talent in the cast.”</p>
<p>Starring alongside Franklin is Melissa Ordway, Alex Kingston and Katie Lowes.</p>
<p>Franklin is currently in the CBS show, “The Millers,” while Ordway is a veteran of the soap opera “Young and the Restless.” Kingston was on “ER” for numerous seasons and Lowes is currently appearing in ABC’s “Scandal.”</p>
<p>While the movie was filmed in Los Angeles, the entire post-production process took place in Taos at Taos Land and Film Company.</p>
<p>Jackson says the entire cast has experience, yet it’s difficult to find some footing because the project is still an independent film.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>This is why Jackson has come up with a plan.</p>
<p>From left, Emile Hirsch, who plays Clyde Barrow, and Lane Garrison, who plays Buck Barrow star in the miniseries, “Bonnie &amp; Clyde.” (Courtesy of A&amp;E/Adam Taylor)</p>
<p>He’s released the film into Mitchell Theatres in northern New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma. The local theaters are Dreamcatcher 10 in Española, Starlight 8 in Los Lunas and Storyteller Cinema 7 in Taos. To get some people in the seats, he is going to have one lucky winner get five acres of land in Taos.</p>
<p>“This is beginning of a plan to resurrect the Taos Talking Film Festival,” he says. “We’re making the land prize the star of this show. It’s what helped the film festival become a coveted festival back in the day.”</p>
<p>Jackson says the contest is simple, buy a ticket to see “Ghost Phone” at a participating theater from Dec. 6-19 and hold on to your ticket stub. On Dec. 23, the winner will be announced.</p>
<p>“We’ve had to think outside of the box on this one and I think people will enjoy this film,” he says. “It’s important for us to give this a try and see what happens.”</p>
<p>Star-studded ‘Bonnie &amp; Clyde’ : Former Santa Fe resident Emile Hirsch is getting some big time on the TV screen today and Monday. Hirsch stars in the TV miniseries “Bonnie and Clyde,” which airs on Lifetime, A&amp;E and History channels beginning at 7 tonight and then at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9. Also starring with Hirsch is actor Lane Garrison, who plays Clyde’s brother, Buck Barrow. To read more on Garrison and his role in the miniseries, visit <a href="" type="internal">ABQjournal.com/reelnm</a>.</p>
<p>LANSDALE: Filmed “Christmas with the Dead”</p>
<p>Grab a book, see a movie: Author Joe R. Lansdale will be reading and signing at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 at op.cit. books, 500 Montezuma in Santa Fe. The accomplished writer will then head to the Jean Cocteau Cinema for a screening of his film, “Christmas with the Dead.” For more on Lansdale, visit <a href="" type="internal">ABQjournal.com/reelnm</a>.</p>
<p>SEND ME YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie filming in the state, or are curious about one, email <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>. Follow me on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/agomezArt" type="external">@agomezART</a>.</p>
<p /> | ‘Ghost Phone’ moviegoers can become land owners | false | https://abqjournal.com/316163/ghost-phone-is-ticket-to-taos-land.html | 2 |
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<p>A same-sex kiss started as an act of counter-protest near an Evangelical Christian rally in São Sebastião, Brazil. But the arrest of the couple kissing has stirred up a long-standing debate in Brazil over the influence of the Catholic Church over politics in the nation.</p>
<p>Public Radio International, reports that two women attended a “gospel festival” and were arrested after kissing each other at the event last week.&#160;Brazilian congressman Pastor Marco Feliciano found himself “forced” to stop his speech to the nearly 70,000 in attendance to issue a stark condemnation of the women.</p>
<p>Feliciano is also the president of the nation’s House Commission for Human Rights and Minorities. During the condemnation, he ordered police to immediately arrest the couple, saying, “Those two girls have to leave here handcuffed. No use trying to run, guards are headed there now. This here isn’t palace where anything goes, it’s the house of God.”</p>
<p>Indeed, the two women, 18 and 20 year olds&#160;Joana Palhares and Yunka Mihura,&#160;found themselves under arrest almost immediately.</p>
<p>Supporters of the pastor, and Feliciano himself says that the women had “disturbed a ceremony of religious worship” and thus deserved to be arrested, even though this was in public space and was an event funded by tax-payer money.</p>
<p>But if the charge sticks, that is punishable by a year and one month in prison.</p>
<p>SPREAD THE WORD! Put international pressure on the&#160;São Sebastião police, government and the government of Brazil. Let them know that this blatant persecution of homosexuals will not be tolerated!</p>
<p /> | Lesbian Kiss Leads to Arrest At Public Rally | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/lesbian-kiss-leads-to-arrest-at-public-rally/ | 2013-09-30 | 4 |
<p>Janet Reno died yesterday. As the nation’s first female Attorney General, Reno gave the order to incinerate the women and children at the Waco compound, a massacre which energized the militia movement in the United State. (See Michael Leon’s excellent piece, <a href="" type="internal">Clinton, Reno and Waco: the Real Story</a>.) But Waco was merely a grim symptom of the erosion of constitutional liberties during the Clinton era, from the drug war to the militarization of the border, from the suppression to public protests to mass surveillance. This essay originally appeared in the May 2000 edition of the print edition of CounterPunch.</p>
<p>Maybe Elian Gonzalez will have achieved a miracle after all, alerting mainstream America to the fact that the Bill of Rights has disappeared, restrictions on the role of the military in domestic affairs have been thrown overboard, and all the appurtenances of a fully-fledged police state in place. Twenty-five years after the war ended in Vietnam we see what happened when that war came home. We lost abroad. And at home we’ve lost too.</p>
<p>For blacks and Hispanics the reactions to that famous photograph of the Elian snatch by the INS team have been comic in a macabre sort of way. After all, they’ve been putting up with these no-knock forcible entries by heavily armed cops or INS agents for decades. As Illinois rep Jesse Jackson Jr put it, “I see them [i.e., law enforcement] knocking down doors every day. I’ve never seen African-American people more excited about a raid.”</p>
<p>On the religious Right, fears about the onrush of tyranny hardened into certainty back at the time of Waco, in the dawn of the Clinton era. The intervening years have done nothing to lessen such fears and in a way the Elian raid has come a kind of welcome reminder of the evil of Clinton and Reno. Listen to Steve Myers, who publishes the right-wing DC e-mail/fax journal Exegesis.</p>
<p>“History will record that, on April 22, 2000, at 2319 NW Second Street in Miami, the home of Lazaro Gonzalez, Bill Clinton had his Krystallnacht [sic]. At 5:15 am, his foul-mouthed storm troopers ensured that fascism was no longer merely knocking on America’s door: it didn’t knock at all. Rather, it burst right through the door during the night, using a battering ram, tear gas, pepper spray and submachine guns, to abduct a child from freedom to slavery, shattering their windows, damaging their home, and smashing a statue of the Blessed Mother as they went.</p>
<p>“In the photograph we shall never forget, notwithstanding the media’s best efforts, you saw the thugs of Fuhrer Clinton’s authoritarian police state, the obscenity-spewing, armed government thugs, servants of the nation, whose salary you pay, in the process of spending three quarters of a million dollars of your money by attacking and invading the private home of honest, law-abiding, unarmed civilians in the middle of the night, without a search warrant, for the sole purpose of destroying Elian Gonzalez’s deceased mother’s cherished dream for her son to grow up in freedom.”</p>
<p>So much for the Right. Until recently the liberal-Left had been relatively complaisant about the modern police state, preferring to watch re-runs of the McCarthy hearings of the l950s, while remaining tranquil about Waco or Ruby Ridge. The rampages of special prosecutor Kenneth Starr did perturb them, but mostly because Starr was chasing a Democratic president. But the week before the Elian raid, the left experienced its own evocation of Kristallnacht, in the week of demonstrations in Washington DC against the World Bank and the WTO, where there were reports that the police had shoot-to-kill orders.</p>
<p>Here’s how Sam Smith, longtime Washington reporter and editor of The Progressive Review evoked the events unfolding in the capital:</p>
<p>“Illegal sweep arrests. Print shops intimidated into closing by police. Universities canceling public forums under pressure from officials. Homes of opposition leaders broken into and ransacked. Headquarters of the opposition raided and closed by police. These were the sort of things by which we defined the evil of the old Soviet Union. These were some of the reasons we said we had to bomb Yugoslavia. And now they have become characteristics of the federal government’s handling of the current protests.”</p>
<p>What happened in Washington was a replay of similar cop mayhem in Seattle last December. It’s now emerged that a big factor in cop violence was the US Army’s Delta Force –whose presence in Seattle during the WTO protests was a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, forbidding the US military any role in domestic law enforcement. This ban is increasingly a dead letter. The Delta Force was at Waco and came to Seattle under the pretext that there might be terrorist bio-chem assaults.</p>
<p>As the Seattle Weekly reported,</p>
<p>“Using high tech equipment, the Force mapped out potential problem areas as well as identified possible violent demonstrators. Some Deltas wore lapel cameras, continuously transmitting pictures of rioters and other demonstrators to a master video unit in the motel command center, which could be used by law enforcement agencies to identify track suspects.” The Weekly’s Rick Anderson quotes a former Special Forces Ranger as saying, “These guys are the army hotshots, the cowboys. They were wigged out about security here. They thought something drastic had to be done. I’d say they got heard.”</p>
<p>In other words, a secret Army unit spied on US citizens on US soil and dictated police tactics to an intimidated local police force which promptly declared the civilian equivalent of martial law in downtown Seattle, suspending civil liberties.</p>
<p>It should be added that both in Seattle and Washington, the treatment of arrested people (some of them delegates swept up in the cop rampage) makes for hair-raising reading, with random beatings, denials of food and water for 24 hours, racial abuse, threats of rape, refusals to allow consultations with attorneys. As in the 1960s white middle class demonstrators (and their parents) are learning what happens to poor people all the time.</p>
<p>There’s no sign that mainstream politicians were a whit perturbed by police conduct in Seattle or Washington DC. The picture of the Elian snatch did elicit some reaction. Illinois <a href="https://store.counterpunch.org/product/bernie-the-sandernistas/" type="external" />rep and House Speaker Dennis Hastert proclaimed sternly that “Our government has invaded the home of American citizens who deserve the protection of our laws and a certain respect for their rights.” That puissant legislator from Texas, House majority whip Tom DeLay bemoaned the fact that Elian Gonzalez had not been read his Miranda rights. That the hated word “Miranda” passed the lips of DeLay shows the transformative powers of which Janet Reno is capable. “You bet there’ll be congressional hearings,” DeLay fumed on the House floor. “I think both branches, the legislative branch and the judiciary branch, should look into this in depth, because this is a frightening event, that American citizens can expect that the executive branch on their own can decide to raid a home.”</p>
<p>Will Congress take a serious look at the rise and rise of our jackboot state? On the evidence of the last thirty years, No. Both parties have eagerly conjoined in militarizing the police, extending police powers and carving away basic rights. Very often the Democrats have been worse. It was Republican Rep Henry Hyde of Illinois who led the recent and partially successful charge against asset seizure. It was Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York who was the errand boy of the US Justice Department in trying to head off Hyde and his coalition.</p>
<p>After the Elian raid, Hardball’s Chris Matthews bleated in his syndicated column, apropos the Elian photo, “That’s not a good picture. It says that the way to measure and display legitimate authority is by having the biggest gun capable of shooting the most bullets the fastest.” Back in the mid-1980s Matthews was a top aide to then House speaker Tip O’Neill as the Massachusetts Democrat orchestrated the most repressive drug laws passed by Congress since the days of Harry Anslinger, prompting many raids of the sort Matthews now laments.</p>
<p>The insane drug war has been a bipartisan affair. Its consequences are etched into the fabric of our lives. Just think of drug testing, now a virtually mandatory condition of employment, even though it’s an outrageous violation of personal sovereignty, as well as being thoroughly unreliable. Last year about 700,000 were arrested for marijuana offenses, about 87 per cent for possession. This is more than double the equivalent number in the early 1990s. Of the federal prison population of 150,000, about 60 per cent are in for drug law violations, the largest proportion for marijuana.</p>
<p>Drug offenders comprise about a quarter of the 1.2 million in state prisons and of the 500,000 in local jails. In the state pens most of these are in for heroin or cocaine-related offenses. In the era when America has been led by two self-confessed pot smokers– Clinton and Gore– the number of people held for drug crimes in federal prisons has increased by 64 per cent.</p>
<p>Gone is “probable cause”. The snitch– prime bacterium of the police state–is paramount. Here are some cases described by James Bovard, author of the excellent Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty.</p>
<p>“On August 25, 1992, officials from the U.S. Customs Service and the DEA, along with local police, raided the San Diego home of businessman Donald Carlson, setting off a bomb in his backyard (to disorient Carlson), smashing through his front door and shooting him three times after he tried to defend himself with a gun. Police even shot Carlson in the back after he had given up his gun and was lying wounded on his bedroom floor. Amazingly, Carlson survived the raid. The Customs Service mistakenly believed that there were four machine guns and a cache of narcotics in Carlson’s home.</p>
<p>“Carlson related in congressional testimony in 1993 that even after agents failed to find any drugs, ‘No one offered me medical assistance while I lay on the floor of my bedroom. Eventually, paramedics arrived and took me to the hospital. I was shackled and kept in custody under armed guard for several days at the hospital. During that time, I was aware of the hospital personnel referring to me as a criminal and of police officers and agents coming into my room.’</p>
<p>“The raid was based on a tip from a paid informant named Ron, who later told the Los Angeles Times, that he had never formally identified a specific house to be searched. Customs officials had Carlson’s house under surveillance for many hours before they launched the raid. The agents could easily have arrested Carlson when he arrived home at ten P.M. but instead watched and waited to attack until after midnight, when Carlson was asleep, in order to maximize the surprise. Although they had a search warrant based on the house being a drug storehouse, agents carried out the raid even after it became obvious that Carlson was living a normal life there.</p>
<p>“The government finally admitted limited liability for Carlson’s medical costs in March 1994, but the chief federal prosecutor, Alan Bersin, simultaneously hailed the ‘courageous law enforcement efforts in the area of drug interdiction’ involved in the case. ‘The tragedy for everyone involved is that no one acted other than in good faith,’ Bersin asserted. ‘We were deceived by our informant and must accept responsibility for that.’ Bersin’s statement implies that when federal agents launch a raid on someone’s home based solely on an allegation by a government informant, a ‘tragedy’ occurs only when the informant deceives the agents. The Justice Department indicated that no federal agents will be prosecuted for their actions before, during or after the raid.”</p>
<p>Bovard notes that unfortunately no-knock raids are becoming more common as federal, state and local politicians and law enforcement agencies decide that the war on drugs justified nullifying the Fourth Amendment.</p>
<p>“As Charles Patrick Garcia noted in a 1993 Columbia Law Review article, ‘Seven states, favoring strong law enforcement, have chosen a `blanket approach’, which holds that once police have established probably cause to search a home for drugs, they are not required to follow the constitutional knock-and-announce requirement.’</p>
<p>“The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in February that police could forcibly enter a home without knocking in any case in which there was ‘evidence of drug dealing.’ Unfortunately, ‘evidence of drug dealing’ can be the uncorroborated assertion of a single anonymous paid government informant. The Wisconsin court said that the ‘possiblity for violence’ can be minimized by allowing police to rely on ‘unannounced, dynamic entry’ — though it’s a good bet that the judges don’t expect police to carry out such raids in the judges’ neighborhoods.”</p>
<p>Even in states where search warrants require a knock on the door before entry, police routinely disregard that formality. In a 1991 corruption trial, a former Los Angeles policeman testified that the accused officers falsely reported that they had complied with the knock-and-announce rule. In reality they violated the rule in 97 per cent of the search warrants they executed. No knock raids in response to alleged narcotics violations presume that the government should have practically unlimited power to endanger some people’s lives in order to control what others ingest. “The right to batter down a door apparently includes the right to kill any citizen who tries to stop the police from forcibly entering his or her home.”</p>
<p>As a result of both federal and local actions, America is moving towards the normalization of paramilitary forces in law enforcement. There’s a useful summary by David Kopel and Paul Blackman in the Akron Law Review for 1997. For example, the police in Fresno, California, have taken the next step towards militarization of local law enforcement. The Fresno SWAT team, in full battle gear, now deploys a full-time patrol unit in the city. Deeming the SWAT patrol an “unqualified success,” the Fresno police department “is encouraging other police agencies to follow suit.”</p>
<p>About twenty percent of police departments in cities over 50,000 have already put their own paramilitary units into street police work. In many cases, funding for street deployment of paramilitary units is funded by “community policing” grants from the federal government. The majority of police departments use their paramilitary units to serve “dynamic entry” search warrants. SWAT teams also get deployed in missions very foreign to ordinary police work. The SWAT Team in Chapel Hill, NC conducted a large-scale crack raid of an entire block in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. The raid, termed “Operation Redi-Rock,” resulted in the detention and search of up to 100 people, all of whom were African-Americans. (Whites were allowed to leave the area.) No one was ever prosecuted for a crime.</p>
<p>The major cause of the militarization of American law enforcement has been the “drug war.” In 1981 and 1988, Congress created huge exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, to allow use of the armed services, including the National Guard, in drug law enforcement. Because of drug war exceptions created in the Posse Comitatus Act, every region of the United States now has a Joint Task Force staff in charge of coordinating military involvement in domestic law enforcement.</p>
<p>In Region Six, the JTF’s Operational Support Planning Guide, in the edition current in 1993, enthused, accurately, that “Innovative approaches to providing new and more effective support to law enforcement agencies are constantly sought, and legal and policy barriers to the application of military capabilities are gradually being eliminated.” Consistent with the trend noted by the JTF, the 1995 session of Congress saw a proposal to create a 2,500 member federal Rapid Deployment Force for the Attorney General to deploy at her discretion to assist local law enforcement.</p>
<p>There are signs of popular unrest and mutiny. Bovard reports that “The ACLU and the National Rifle Association have jointly called for President Clinton to appoint a commission to investigate ‘Lawlessness in law enforcement.’ Congress should establish explicit rules to limit the arbitrary and violent behavior of federal agents carrying out searches and raids, and state legislatures should repeal their laws granting unlimited no-knock-search powers to police in their jurisdictions.”</p>
<p>States with democratic processes such as ballot initiatives have seen brave efforts to curb the war on drugs. California has a medical marijuana law and Hawai’i’s legislature just passed one. Oregon and Arizona have also moved to decriminalize personal use. The feds’ reaction has been to attack these states by threatening to withhold highway funds, the usual mode of persuasion.</p>
<p>Let’s see what those legislators indignant about the subversion of liberty do next. Right now the swelling police state is an expression of the War on Drugs. No politician that does not call for a cease fire and a rollback in that cruel, futile war–our domestic Vietnam–has any standing to bewail the loss of our freedoms.</p> | The Neoliberal Jackboot State: Bill Clinton, Janet Reno and the Miracle of Elian Gonzalez | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/11/08/the-neoliberal-jackboot-state-bill-clinton-janet-reno-and-the-miracle-of-elian-gonzalez/ | 2016-11-08 | 4 |
<p>TAIPEI, Taiwan - Calls from a former US district attorney and a ruling party heavyweight to release jailed former President Chen Shui-bian on medical parole have sparked a fresh round of debate about Taiwan's antiquated judicial system.</p>
<p>Chen, who is serving a 17-year prison sentence for graft, has been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome and heart problems. However, a team of doctors sent by the Justice Ministry found him fit to serve the remainder of his sentence.</p>
<p>The case, much like his contentious rule over the young democracy from 2000-2008, has polarized his enemies and supporters, many of whom say it was politically motivated by a system that has long been skewed in favor of the ruling nationalist Kuomintang party (KMT).</p>
<p>"We have been somewhat successful in winning political independence from the judiciary but the next step is reforming prosecutors, who can investigate in secret without oversight," said Kao Jung-chih, director of Taiwan's Judicial Reform Foundation.</p>
<p>"The real problem is with them. They have to listen to their bosses, who direct cases. The attorney general appoints the top persecutors and he is appointed by the president. There is a special investigations team in charge of Chen's case, and they have been roundly criticized for prosecuting more green-camp cases than KMT cases."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120607/taiwan-politics-gangsters-politicians" type="external">Taiwanese politics, gangsters' paradise?</a></p>
<p>In Taiwan's fractured political landscape, the green camp refers to the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which Chen led when he broke the KMT, or blue camp's, five-decade hold on power.</p>
<p>Chen's supporters got a boost from Ramsey Clark's visit, where the 84-year-old human rights activist urged President Ma Ying-jeou's administration to act or risk being "seen as his murderer" if Chen dies in prison. Ramsey's public rebuke of the government was soon followed by Taipei mayor, and KMT presidential nominee frontrunner Hau Lung-bin, breaking ranks by also calling for Chen to be released.</p>
<p>"The issue is not only a judicial problem, but also a social issue that involves the feelings of many pan-green supporters. Granting him a hospital stay would be a significant move to heal scars and bring social reconciliation," Hau said, according to the Taipei Times.</p>
<p>But while the Chen drama has dominated headlines, experts say that more deep-seated and darker problems within the judiciary need to be addressed, particularly judges continuing to sentence defendants to death with scant material evidence, such as fingerprints, DNA, or worse still, confessions through torture by police.</p>
<p>Observers say Taiwanese courts rely mainly on confessions, statements by co-defendants' or evidence from police interrogations that are not recorded, despite a ban on relying on this type of evidence.</p>
<p>"It's part of the culture in Taiwan. Judges presume that all defendants are guilty. You have to prove your innocence. If you can't, then you're guilty," said Kao.</p>
<p>A rash of spotty cases has highlighted the problems. In 1997, a Taiwanese soldier was executed for murdering and raping a 5-year-old girl on the back of a failed lie detector test and a confession. But under pressure from his family, investigators reopened the case in 2010 and found that he had been tortured by investigators. Another man, with a history of sexual crimes has since been indicted.</p>
<p>In another case, a defendant has been detained for 24 years, been retried 11 times and sentenced to death despite two prosecutors and 10 police officers being punished for using torture to obtain confessions.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most egregious of them all relates to the "Hsichih Trio," who were sentenced to death for a brutal robbery and murder of a couple in the outskirts of Taipei in 1991.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china/110114/taiwan-death-penalty-asia-hsichih-three-part-one" type="external">A look at the death penalty in Asia</a></p>
<p>The defendants later recanted their confessions, claiming <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china/110114/taiwan-death-penalty-asia-hsichih-three-part-four" type="external">torture by police</a>, which they say included being hung upside down and water-boarded with urine, being made to sit on blocks of ice, shocked with cattle prods and beaten for hours at a time.</p>
<p>Police have denied the tortures took place.</p>
<p>Taiwanese-American forensic scientist Henry Lee, famous from the O.J. Simpson trial, was brought to Taiwan by the defense to conduct a crime scene reconstruction and appear in court. His report concluded through blood splatter and reconstruction analysis that the three could not have possibly been in the room at the same time as their joint confessions suggested without leaving physical evidence.</p>
<p>During the trio's 13th retrial held in late 2010, the High Court ruled the three were not guilty, in large part due to Lee's testimony.</p>
<p>In a normal world, the case would have ended there. But prosecutors appealed the verdict, and in yet another retrial earlier this year, asked the court to throw out Lee's testimony as he isn't registered with the government-run forensic lab.</p>
<p>"Prosecutors act like civil servants in the way they follow procedures. They are afraid to be criticized for being soft so they continue to appeal and appeal and then appeal again," said Kao.</p>
<p>Ironically, Lee was motivated to leave Taiwan as a police captain and study forensic science in the US because of his dissatisfaction with the number of crimes solved through forced confessions and torture.</p>
<p>More ironic still, was the court's decision to hear testimony from a lead forensic scientist, who also headed up the lab work on the botched investigation into the air force serviceman who was wrongly executed in 1997.</p>
<p>A number of international human rights groups and a former UN special rapporteur on torture have raised serious concerns about Taiwan's use of the death penalty, pointing to instances of torture, long detentions and violations of the right to a fair trial.</p>
<p>However, a new law, which came into effect last year, could bring some relief. The Speedy Verdict Law limits the time a defendant can be held without a final verdict to eight years and the number of times prosecutors may appeal after a defendant has been found not guilty.</p>
<p>"With the Speedy Law, if you have been found not guilty three times by the courts then prosecutors can't appeal. If the Trio is found not guilty, they will not be able to appeal and the case will be closed. It's a much needed step in Taiwan's continued democratization," said Kao.</p>
<p>The Hsichih Trio are expecting a verdict from a Taipei court next week.</p> | Taiwan's judicial ills blunt democratic gains | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-08-29/taiwan-s-judicial-ills-blunt-democratic-gains | 2012-08-29 | 3 |
<p>On Tuesday, a Trump administration official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would not or could not offer details on the desires of President Donald Trump with respect to a legislative measure to afford some form of lawful status to foreigners illegally in the country currently targeted by the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).</p>
<p>Aliens targeted by DACA are referred to as DREAMers as per DACA’s overlap in its targeted cohort of aliens with the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/952/text" type="external">failed</a> and subsequently <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1615/text" type="external">reproposed</a> Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.</p>
<p>DREAMers should be offered permanent residency and a “pathway to citizenship,” said Michael Dougherty, the assistant secretary for border, immigration, and trade policy at DHS.</p>
<p>Dougherty offered no specifics on the Trump administration's preferred framework for legalizing DREAMers when asked to do so by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). Partial transcript below.</p>
<p>KENNEDY: What specifically does the Trump administration think we should do with respect to the so-called DREAMers?</p>
<p>DOUGHERTY: Let me answer the question this way.</p>
<p>KENNEDY: How about just answer it?</p>
<p>DOUGHERTY: Yes, okay. These individuals lack formal status in the United States.</p>
<p>KENNEDY: Should they be allowed to stay?</p>
<p>DOUGHERTY: They would probably be permitted, under a rational bill, these individuals would be allowed to become lawful permanent residents with a pathway to citizenship.</p>
<p>KENNEDY: So the president believes they should be allowed to stay?</p>
<p>DOUGHERTY: As part of a, the secretary, excuse me; the president, yes, would like to work with Congress to get a solution.</p>
<p>KENNEDY: Under what conditions does the president think they should be allowed to stay? The administration? DOUGHERTY: I don’t have those details for you, sir.</p>
<p>Kennedy described his inquiry of Dougherty as an attempt to determine Trump’s desires in order to avoid a presidential veto in the event of congressional passage of legislation extending some form of lawful status.</p>
<p>Watch Kennedy’s questions for Dougherty below.</p>
<p>Watch the entire Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the recission of DACA <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?435059-1/trump-administration-officials-testify-decision-rescind-daca" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>In September, Trump issued a series of tweets signaling support for the passage of legislation resembling DACA:</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | WATCH: DHS Can't Explain What Trump Wants For DREAMers | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21906/watch-dhs-cant-explain-what-trump-wants-dreamers-robert-kraychik | 2017-10-03 | 0 |
<p>At least 17 Maoist rebels have been killed in an overnight gun battle with police in India's central state of Chhattisgarh, officials say.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18639819" type="external">According to BBC</a>, clashes broke out late Thursday night in the district of Bijapur, a hotbed of rebel activity. Six members of the Indian security forces were reported to have died in the fighting in the densely forested area of Basaguda.</p>
<p>Police <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18639819" type="external">told the BBC</a> they had retrieved a large number of weapons from the area, but local villagers have organised a demonstration, claiming that most of those killed by the police were villagers, and not rebels.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gqL3sBmNy7vbYr-L1V1zFV_R1Ckg?docId=CNG.ddc14e434fd73d92a227b0d3eaba8bf6.5c1" type="external">According to the Agence France Presse</a>, Indian police are searching the area for more fighters, following a Maoist ambush on police patrol in Chhattisgarh last month in which six officers and a civilian were shot dead.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120217/pramath-sinha-business-economy" type="external">Old problems plague New India</a></p>
<p>Maoist rebels have a strong presence in many Indian states, and say they are battling for the rights of tribal people and India's poor rural population.</p>
<p>They have been waging an insurgency against national and state authorities for decades in a bid to establish a communist state. The government has described them as India's greatest internal security threat.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120423/india-deport-french-nationals-maoist-ties" type="external">India to deport French nationals 'for Maoist ties'</a></p> | Indian police kill 17 'Maoist rebels' in Chhattisgarh | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-06-29/indian-police-kill-17-maoist-rebels-chhattisgarh | 2012-06-29 | 3 |
<p>CHILI, N.Y. (AP) — Fire officials in western New York are investigating a blaze that destroyed a home.</p>
<p>WHAM-TV <a href="http://13wham.com/news/local/house-fire-on-chili-avenue" type="external">reports</a> crews responded to the Chili home around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say the fire started in the basement of the home before it spread and reached the roof. Officials say cold temperatures and slippery conditions challenged firefighters.</p>
<p>Authorities say the five people who were inside the home at the time of the fire were able to escape unharmed.</p>
<p>The cause of the fire is unclear. An investigation continues.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: WHAM-TV, <a href="http://www.13wham.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.13wham.com" type="external">http://www.13wham.com</a></p>
<p>CHILI, N.Y. (AP) — Fire officials in western New York are investigating a blaze that destroyed a home.</p>
<p>WHAM-TV <a href="http://13wham.com/news/local/house-fire-on-chili-avenue" type="external">reports</a> crews responded to the Chili home around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say the fire started in the basement of the home before it spread and reached the roof. Officials say cold temperatures and slippery conditions challenged firefighters.</p>
<p>Authorities say the five people who were inside the home at the time of the fire were able to escape unharmed.</p>
<p>The cause of the fire is unclear. An investigation continues.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: WHAM-TV, <a href="http://www.13wham.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.13wham.com" type="external">http://www.13wham.com</a></p> | Officials: Fire rips through home overnight | false | https://apnews.com/a1d262d95a0842f18499a250acb7a247 | 2017-12-27 | 2 |
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<p>The 40-piece show is comprised of artwork from Volcano Vista High School students, who have depicted the beauty and fragility of the West Mesa, bosque, Petroglyph National Monument and Sandia foothills.</p>
<p>“We go out to the mesa and look at the habitats and the environment and pollution,” said Volcano Vista art teacher Peggy Trigg, who helped organize the show titled “Trees, Rocks and Dirt.”</p>
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<p>Many of the art students will be attending this afternoon’s opening for the month-long show.</p>
<p>Junior Abdiel Beltran-Lopez is one of the featured artists with his charcoal-on-paper depiction of the West Mesa.</p>
<p>“I was trying to show my appreciation for the beauty of the mesa,” Beltran-Lopez said. “The desert is so beautiful and so many people don’t even appreciate that.”</p>
<p>Although this is the fifth year high school students have had a show at the Open Space Visitor Center, it’s a first for Beltran-Lopez.</p>
<p>Ceramics was one of the media used by Volcano Vista High School students as part of the “Trees, Rocks and Dirt” exhibit at the Open Space Visitor. An opening reception for the exhibit takes place from 3-5 p.m. today.</p>
<p>“I think it’s awesome,” he said. It’s a good way to show to others how you feel about things like nature and the outdoors. It’s a way to show what you’re about.”</p>
<p>Although senior Korie Macias has been featured in this show before she said she still gets a thrill from it.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It’s amazing feeling that you can be good enough to be in a show like this,” she said. “I feel proud that it’s good enough to be with the other people showing their work.”</p>
<p>Her charcoal-on-paper piece had a girl sitting on the mesa drawing.</p>
<p>About 35 Volcano Vista students are involved in the show, Trigg said. Submissions were juried in because “I want the kids to have a real-life experience,” she said. “And this is a wonderful space.”</p>
<p>The judges, who are other Volcano Vista art teachers, looked at quality, creativity and craftsmanship, Twigg said, as well as the message.</p>
<p>“That’s important in a show like this,” she said.</p>
<p>And it makes the students strive to do their best when they know they have a venue like this to showcase their work, Beltran-Lopez said.</p>
<p>“I feel real excited about it,” he said.</p>
<p>— This article appeared on page 12 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Bosque Beauty | false | https://abqjournal.com/159598/bosque-beauty.html | 2013-01-12 | 2 |
<p>SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has expressed confidence in the investigation that ended with no charges against an elk hunter who told police he killed a wolf in self-defense.</p>
<p>More than a dozen conservation groups urged Brown to reopen the investigation into the Oct. 27 shooting west of La Grande.</p>
<p>Brown told the groups in a reply last month that she consulted with the agencies involved in the investigation - Oregon State Police, Oregon Department of Fish &amp; Wildlife and Union County District Attorney's Office - and has confidence in their findings, the <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/Oregon/20180103/oregon-governor-confident-in-wolf-shooting-investigation" type="external">Capital Press newspaper</a> reported Wednesday.</p>
<p>"While Oregon is working toward wolf recovery, any wolf mortality is a serious concern that deserves a full and rigorous investigation," Brown said.</p>
<p>The hunter, Brian Scott, told investigators that he was alone when he saw three animals he believed to be coyotes. One of them charged, forcing him to shoot.</p>
<p>Scott said he returned to camp and told fellow hunters what happened. He said he was unsure if he shot a coyote, so he returned to the scene and discovered it was a wolf. He reported the killing to police.</p>
<p>Investigators determined that the wolf was 27 yards (24 meters) away when the hunter fired.</p>
<p>The conservation groups argue that the bullet passed through the wolf's shoulders, perhaps indicating that it was standing broadside to Scott and not charging. Scott has said he cannot explain the trajectory, and does not know if the wolf veered sideways before he fired.</p>
<p>Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, said the group will continue to pressure the governor and agencies regarding wolf poaching investigations.</p>
<p>"We now have, I think by anyone's standards, an epidemic of wolf poaching around the state," Pedery said. "That's a situation that should be deeply concerning for anyone who cares about wildlife in this state."</p>
<p>Brown pointed out in her letter that it's illegal to kill a wolf for sport in Oregon.</p>
<p>"Too many wolves have been found shot in Oregon where the shooters have not been identified," she wrote.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Capital Press, <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/washington" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/washington" type="external">http://www.capitalpress.com/washington</a></p>
<p>SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has expressed confidence in the investigation that ended with no charges against an elk hunter who told police he killed a wolf in self-defense.</p>
<p>More than a dozen conservation groups urged Brown to reopen the investigation into the Oct. 27 shooting west of La Grande.</p>
<p>Brown told the groups in a reply last month that she consulted with the agencies involved in the investigation - Oregon State Police, Oregon Department of Fish &amp; Wildlife and Union County District Attorney's Office - and has confidence in their findings, the <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/Oregon/20180103/oregon-governor-confident-in-wolf-shooting-investigation" type="external">Capital Press newspaper</a> reported Wednesday.</p>
<p>"While Oregon is working toward wolf recovery, any wolf mortality is a serious concern that deserves a full and rigorous investigation," Brown said.</p>
<p>The hunter, Brian Scott, told investigators that he was alone when he saw three animals he believed to be coyotes. One of them charged, forcing him to shoot.</p>
<p>Scott said he returned to camp and told fellow hunters what happened. He said he was unsure if he shot a coyote, so he returned to the scene and discovered it was a wolf. He reported the killing to police.</p>
<p>Investigators determined that the wolf was 27 yards (24 meters) away when the hunter fired.</p>
<p>The conservation groups argue that the bullet passed through the wolf's shoulders, perhaps indicating that it was standing broadside to Scott and not charging. Scott has said he cannot explain the trajectory, and does not know if the wolf veered sideways before he fired.</p>
<p>Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, said the group will continue to pressure the governor and agencies regarding wolf poaching investigations.</p>
<p>"We now have, I think by anyone's standards, an epidemic of wolf poaching around the state," Pedery said. "That's a situation that should be deeply concerning for anyone who cares about wildlife in this state."</p>
<p>Brown pointed out in her letter that it's illegal to kill a wolf for sport in Oregon.</p>
<p>"Too many wolves have been found shot in Oregon where the shooters have not been identified," she wrote.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Capital Press, <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/washington" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/washington" type="external">http://www.capitalpress.com/washington</a></p> | Oregon governor confident with wolf-killing investigation | false | https://apnews.com/9be2804342784e14bbbc962988f51e10 | 2018-01-03 | 2 |
<p>Take note Leftist mainstream media: When people gather together to burn buildings, trash cars, and seek out innocent civilians of another race to commit acts of violence against, that's not a "protest," that's a violent riot full of opportunistic racists.</p>
<p>On Saturday, police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shot and killed a man with a " <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/milwaukee-cop-cars-smashed-torched-after-police-kill-suspect-n630236" type="external">lengthy arrest record</a>" who when pulled over, ran from police, resisted arrest, and had a stolen gun on him. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/14/us/milwaukee-violence-police-shooting/index.html" type="external">CNN</a>, within their first paragraph called the violent riot a "protest," repeatedly describing the rioters as "protesters" and "demonstrators":</p>
<p>A deadly shooting of an armed man by Milwaukee police has stirred anger, fear and disbelief as authorities restore calm in the city after a night of violent protest.</p>
<p>Protesters burned several stores and threw rocks at police Saturday night on the city's north side, leaving one officer injured and three protesters arrested. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said protesters had been using social media to draw more demonstrators.</p>
<p>In a video posted to Twitter, rioters are shown actively searching for white people to beat up after having just set a few businesses of fellow Milwaukee residents on fire:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Milwaukee?src=hash" type="external">#Milwaukee</a> "They beating up all the white people." "They white, get em." <a href="https://twitter.com/Kereem_C_C" type="external">@Kereem_C_C</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Zach_Haack" type="external">@Zach_Haack</a> <a href="https://t.co/Qw3BnbAFgd" type="external">pic.twitter.com/Qw3BnbAFgd</a></p>
<p>City Alderman Khalif Rainey attempted to redirect the attention of the actions of the rioters to larger "racial problems" in the city, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/14/us/milwaukee-violence-police-shooting/index.html" type="external">telling CNN</a>, "What happened tonight may not have been right and I am not justifying that but no one can deny the fact that there are problems, racial problems in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that need to be rectified. This community of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has become the worst place to live for African Americans in the entire country."</p>
<p>"Saturday's violence was a byproduct of inequities, injustice, unemployment and under-education," he added. "Something has to be done to address these issues," he said. "The black people of Milwaukee are tired, they are tired of living under this oppression, this is their life."</p>
<p>Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett pleaded with the black community,"If you love your son, if you love your daughter, text them, call them, pull them by the ears and get them home. Get them home right now before more damage is done."</p>
<p>In the video below, another rioter films as people raid a BP gas station and then burn it down. He adds his commentary about why it's supposedly justified, while cautioning his friends to beware of the coming explosion:</p> | Video: Milwaukee Rioters Target White People For Beatings | true | https://dailywire.com/news/8354/video-milwaukee-rioters-target-white-people-chase-stephens | 2016-08-14 | 0 |
<p>When Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) announced its $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com in Aug. 2016, Vincent Shen and Motley Fool contributor Daniel Kline took a skeptical view of the deal on&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/podcasts/industry-focus?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=dc9fb95a-8899-11e7-88bd-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Industry Focus Opens a New Window.</a>. Did a young, unprofitable e-commerce start-up really deserve a multi-billion dollar price tag?</p>
<p>One year later, the cast is looking back on that discussion and acknowledging how important the deal has been for the retail giant. In this video,&#160;they discuss how a total change in mindset has helped Wal-Mart move toward a successful omnichannel strategy far faster than many expected.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A full transcript follows the video.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Wal-Mart StoresWhen 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>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017</p>
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<p>This video was recorded on Aug. 22, 2017.</p>
<p>Vincent Shen: Our first one is from one year ago,&#160;last August. That was when we dissected&#160;Wal-Mart's&#160;$3.3 billion&#160;acquisition of Jet.com. Austin, if you could roll the tape please?</p>
<p>(Kline):&#160;We&#160;joked about this before, but one,&#160;I think Wal-Mart is lighting money on fire here. I don't think there's anything they couldn't have duplicated in six months for half a billion dollars. So, they're spending a huge amount of money&#160;to get a guy. And I get it, Marc Lore&#160;has been successful. He's been one of the few that's been able to compete with&#160;Amazon. But I don't see what Wal-Mart is buying.</p>
<p>Vincent Shen: Dan,&#160;I thought we&#160;should run with this clip, because it summed up our&#160;ideas pretty nicely from that episode. To be clear, we were both pretty bearish at the time on&#160;whether Jet.com and Marc Lore&#160;would be able to move the needle for a company as big as Wal-Mart. But we're about a year in and the results so far seem pretty encouraging.</p>
<p>Kline: Here's&#160;the thing -- at the time, I thought they were spending $3.3&#160;billion for a company that was losing money that only had $1 billion in sales. I touched upon it&#160;in some print articles that&#160;what they were really buying was Marc Lore. And&#160;that seemed crazy for $3.3&#160;billion. But the reality is, he came in and brought a whole new&#160;way of thinking. He hasn't just changed how Walmart.com operates,&#160;but he's actually been given a free hand to integrate the stores and the digital operation,&#160;and they've made major changes. They're testing things like&#160;pickup towers in stores, they're&#160;putting tablets in hands of associates in the stores&#160;so they can track orders, they're actually having store associates do deliveries, they're&#160;really operating like a start-up,&#160;which is impressive for a company as big as Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>Shen: Yeah. In&#160;Wal-Mart's last reported quarter,&#160;this company saw growth of 2%. This is in an environment where a lot of other big box stores and department stores that we talked about on the show are&#160;getting hammered pretty hard, and&#160;that growth was&#160;based on progress in their&#160;comparable store sales and also in their store traffic. So it's the kind of progress that investors were hoping to see. Going back to that clip that we just played,&#160;a development that I think has been generating a lot of buzz for Wal-Mart as well as&#160;from the most recent results was 60% growth in online sales. And then, their gross merchandise volume,&#160;which is the&#160;value of all the goods sold across the company's online marketplace, was up&#160;67% year-over-year. So I feel like, if we had an unbiased third-party sitting with us right now,&#160;they kind of turn to us and say, "How 'bout them apples for Wal-Mart?"</p>
<p>Kline:&#160;[laughs] Well, they've done two things. First, Marc and the Jet.com team came in, and they went, "We&#160;can't compete with Amazon Prime." So&#160;they got rid of their $50&#160;Shipping Pass program&#160;and made all orders over $35 free two-day shipping. Now, the problem is they did that without having the infrastructure in place to really support it,&#160;so they threw open the floodgates and basically scotch-taped things together. And&#160;it hasn't been perfect. I bought a TV from Wal-Mart&#160;that arrived smashed, and it took me two and a half weeks to return it and about 17 phone calls. So they're not Amazon yet. But they absolutely have customers convinced that&#160;they're the viable alternative. And&#160;the reality is, just like Amazon has its 200-whatever million Prime&#160;members, Wal-Mart has a huge base of loyal customers, and&#160;maybe they're a little later to the game&#160;than digital, and&#160;Wal-Mart is coming along and giving them a place to go. And clearly it's working.</p>
<p>Shen: Yeah. And&#160;the thing to keep in mind, even with this Jet.com buyout,&#160;which was the company's biggest deal in terms of its e-commerce efforts,&#160;Wal-Mart has been buying up other online-focused&#160;businesses. Some of the smaller ones that I've seen include&#160;Moosejaw, Bonobos, and Shoebuy. So the more companies that they ultimately bring under their umbrella, there's of course some integration risk,&#160;but at the same time, they get a lot of people and products and mindset that they want for this online push that they're making. And&#160;I think that mindset is really what's so important for them to make the progress that investors want to see. Marc Lore, in the&#160;approximately one year since joining the company,&#160;has showed how aggressive he's willing to be and how necessary that is in what is essentially an arms racing right now in e-commerce.</p>
<p>Kline: I saw Marc speak&#160;last year at Shoptalk, and&#160;he talked a lot about how he'd been given a free hand by Doug McMillon, the CEO of Wal-Mart, to bring in digital-first&#160;people, to change how the thinking was. So when you buy some&#160;of these little start-ups, you get people that maybe don't have a traditional retail background, you're injecting this&#160;whole new kind of life. Now,&#160;at a lot of companies, that's going to clash really hard with the old liners, the people who have always done it one way. But at Wal-Mart, it does seem like they're taking it very seriously that they have to become an omni-channel company, and&#160;that really means putting customers first and&#160;getting people products however they want it, if they want to order online and pick-up in store,&#160;if they want it delivered at home, but return it in store,&#160;if they want to&#160;deal with a person or not, however it goes. And it's going to take time, but they're really quickly getting there.</p>
<p>Shen: Yeah. And&#160;I know your personal experience recently,&#160;in terms of shopping online with the company, wasn't as good. But I actually just made a purchase yesterday&#160;for a new fishing rod,&#160;and it was interesting to see all the different options that they have for fulfillment. You can make a smaller purchase and pay&#160;shipping, but as you mentioned, you can spend more than $35 and get free delivery, you can have items shipped to your local store for free pickup. So I remember Lore&#160;said something about how, if 9 out of 10 people in this country live within 10 miles of a Wal-Mart store, an&#160;option like free in-store pickup isn't a bad option,&#160;and the company has seen success in this area before with some of the other efforts that they've instituted,&#160;like curbside pickup for groceries, too.</p>
<p>Kline: Yeah.&#160;I think my problem was a growing pain issue.&#160;I bought a 55-inch television and I had it delivered because it didn't fit in any of my cars. So one of the options to return it was to return it to the store. But&#160;I couldn't return it to the store for the same reason I couldn't pick it up from the store. So it was at a location that I don't live full-time, in our&#160;vacation home, so&#160;there was a huge disconnect in their process. And I think the reality is, Amazon was engineered ground up as an&#160;online delivery company, so their systems are nearly flawless. It's&#160;going to take Wal-Mart time to get there. What I would like to see happen is to&#160;have more of a way for when there is a problem&#160;to expedite that claim, to&#160;bounce it up the chain and have&#160;some dedicated problem solvers. I think, if I had tweeted at them,&#160;I probably would have got a more personal response. Instead, I was just getting the call center script,&#160;and my problem didn't fit the script, so it was very difficult. But I don't use that to fault&#160;their entire delivery system. I think that's probably an example of an anomaly&#160;that they're going to have to figure out.</p>
<p>Shen: Last&#160;couple things I'll touch on is,&#160;in terms of product selection,&#160;the company said it now offers about 67 million SKUs,&#160;those are stock-keeping units,&#160;on its online marketplace. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Amazon, in terms of competition,&#160;offers an estimated 400 million products, from what I could find. So, that's a huge gap still.</p>
<p>Kline: It's not, though.</p>
<p>Shen: There's&#160;still plenty of room for this e-commerce trend to run broadly. It's still&#160;less than 10% of spending. Wal-Mart right now, staking their claim early, is the right move.</p>
<p>Kline: But&#160;do you need 17 kinds of diapers? Or is just four OK?</p>
<p>Shen: Fair. So,&#160;all in all, going back to our original call when we talked about this story,&#160;it might be too soon, I think, to declare that&#160;the Jet.com acquisition was a huge slam dunk with a&#160;positive return on investment and everything. But the initial results are&#160;pretty encouraging, and it does appear that Wal-Mart has been able to&#160;pull someone from outside the company to drive these efforts, and&#160;who has the vision and experience in e-commerce in Marc Lore&#160;to really ramp up growth in this space.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDankline/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=dc9fb95a-8899-11e7-88bd-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Daniel B. Kline Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFJourneyMan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=dc9fb95a-8899-11e7-88bd-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Vincent Shen Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the 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=dc9fb95a-8899-11e7-88bd-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Wal-Mart Proves Us Wrong With the Help of Jet.com and Marc Lore | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/26/wal-mart-proves-us-wrong-with-help-jet-com-and-marc-lore.html | 2017-08-26 | 0 |
<p />
<p>There will inevitably be a gay marriage amendment on the Wisconsin ballot, most likely in the fall of 2006.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>An editorial page editor's dream, right?</p>
<p>The battle lines are drawn. The issues are clear.&#160;The stances stand in stark contrast to one another. And, most importantly, there are looming public policy changes about which editorial pages can inform readers.</p>
<p>So, why this sinking feeling in my gut?</p>
<p>Simple. Religion will likely be involved at some point.</p>
<p>This isn't another way of admitting to cowardice. It isn't about wanting to avoid the possibility of clergy saying nasty things about the newspaper from the pulpit on a given Sunday and having subscriptions canceled as a result.</p>
<p>We've already expressed our opposition editorially&#160;to a constitutional amendment on this topic. But as the electioneering gains steam, the stakes will get higher for all interested parties. And so will the bombast.</p>
<p>No, the trepidation I feel&#160;is about the timidity inspired when the issue is religion, or topics of importance to the faithful. The fear is that because of the lofty position religion holds in U.S. public life for a vocal segment, editorial pages in the state will pull their punches. They will fear appearing disrespectful and will avoid tackling altogether the theological underpinnings of one side of the argument.</p>
<p>Witness how we write about abortion.</p>
<p>We very appropriately write about the science, about whether privacy is, or isn't, in the Constitution. We stump about a woman's right to have control over her own body. But we generally skirt religion altogether, unless you count asides about the dreaded "Religious Right."</p>
<p>Yes, not all opposition to abortion stems from religious belief. But it is simply unrealistic to ignore that faith informs much of the opposition here. Yes, anti-gay sentiment is rampant even outside churches. But, even here, religion, I'm convinced, drives the argument for many.</p>
<p>I wonder if this skirting of discussing religion is altogether necessary. I'm not talking about arguing scripture, tit for tat, with readers. That's something to be avoided. But how about writing intelligently about religion's role in a secular society, even when the topic isn't precisely religion?</p>
<p>We do this&#160;-- sort of&#160;-- when the issues of church-state separation come before the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress or our state legislatures. We generally eschew this, however, with other topics driven by religion, though we've come closest to honest comment when writing about intelligent design.</p>
<p>Even here, however, we fall short, in part because we know some people believe fervently in creationism&#160;based on faith in the bible, and we don't want to&#160;judge a&#160;position some&#160;consider&#160;simply loony.</p>
<p>I'm not saying we should feel free to call one another names. But I am saying that we should feel free to say that a bad idea is bad -- even if biblical authority seemingly buttresses it.</p>
<p>Instead, we tiptoe around this.</p>
<p>For instance, I suspect many an editorial board believes gay rights to be a matter of civil rights. And while these boards would have no hesitancy to label as bigotry any measure that would, for instance, say the state could discriminate against someone for their race, ethnicity or gender, there will likely be no such pronouncements in this case.</p>
<p>But is it any less bigotry because religion may be involved? The answer for many editorial boards will be that this is different somehow. But we won't bother to explain why.</p>
<p>I suspect a good many editorial page editors, and editorial writers, out there are saying that avoiding religion is totally appropriate. That it is unnecessary to go there if the arguments can be crafted from purely secular talking points.</p>
<p>Why pick unnecessary fights?</p>
<p>In other words, ignore what is for many the moral authority of their views.</p>
<p>This is indeed tempting. But perhaps there is a way to discuss these religious underpinnings without disrespect. We could, for instance, note that&#160;some who call themselves religious have no problem with gays in their churches, or in their pulpits. And they can cite their own biblical scriptures and interpretations. We could, in other words, more comprehensively cover the fact that the jury in many respects is still out on gays in many churches.</p>
<p>Some will counter, of course, that these believers simply have it wrong. But in giving some attention to this debate, we will in fact be demonstrating that there are a variety of opinions on the topic in religious circles.</p>
<p>Instead, I suspect that many of us will simply cling to familiar turf. Civil unions vs. marriage (what's the difference aside from semantics?). And why, if it's right to disallow discrimination in certain sectors against gays (housing and employment), it is wrong to make it allowable in others? We might note that religion has little role in the debate inasmuch as marriage technically is a civil institution, requiring a marriage license from government.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church recently generated much controversy with a new policy on gay priests. Our news pages were full of the debate. I noticed, however, that our editorial pages were not, with some notable exceptions.</p>
<p>I know that editorial boards reasoned that this is purely an internal argument within a religious institution. And that secular editorial boards had no standing to comment.</p>
<p>Commendably, the Los Angeles Times didn't take that approach.&#160; <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-priest4dec04,0,6828774.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials" type="external">In an editorial on Dec. 4</a>, it demonstrated how such a topic could be respectfully discussed:</p>
<p>If its purpose is to underline the church's stance that homosexuality is immoral, then the Vatican's policy barring many gays from the priesthood counts as a success. But if its aims also are to stem sexual abuse and make priests more effective chaplains, as it implies, then the directive is both illogical and ill-informed.</p>
<p>In other words, the Los Angeles Times recognized that religious arguments often have secular consequences.</p>
<p>I'm not arguing for a secular jihad against public policy motivated by religious belief. But I am calling for an honest discussion when such is the case in the interest of full disclosure.</p>
<p>This can, I'm certain, be done rationally and respectfully. Timidity in the press, as has been demonstrated of late on any number of issues, is simply too unbecoming.</p> | Fearing the Faithful | false | https://poynter.org/news/fearing-faithful | 2005-12-08 | 2 |
<p>Two of <a href="/themes/?Theme=Barack+Obama" type="external">President Obama</a>’s nominees for critical government posts on Tuesday withdrew their names from consideration, forced by bad publicity over tax problems to step aside and hindering the Democrat’s efforts to usher in a new, drama-free political era.</p>
<p><a href="/themes/?Theme=Thomas+Daschle" type="external">Tom Daschle</a> dropped out as health and human services secretary and also will not serve in his powerful appointed role of health care czar, dealing Mr. Obama’s agenda a major blow.</p>
<p>Mr. Obama said during a series of network interviews Tuesday afternoon that it was his own mistake, reversing his vote of confidence in Mr. Daschle the previous day when he had told reporters he “absolutely” stood behind his nominee.</p>
<p>“Did I screw up? Absolutely,” the president told NBC. “I’m willing to take my lumps, that’s part of the job.”</p>
<p>Mr. Obama said it was “an embarrassment for us,” and said he was frustrated with himself and his team, but added it was important his administration “send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules.”</p>
<p>Also Tuesday, amid public scrutiny over Mr. Daschle’s failure to pay taxes, Nancy Killefer removed herself from the nomination to be chief performance officer because of her own, far smaller problems with a tax lien on her home. Mr. Obama had tasked her with finding wasteful spending and inefficiencies in the federal budget as he attempts to pass a $900 billion economic stimulus plan being attacked as filled with nonessential special projects.</p>
<p>Even Senate Republicans were saying Mr. Daschle, the former Democratic leader of the Senate, was uniquely qualified and plugged in to be able to push through broad reforms.</p>
<p>The White House refused to give a timeline for replacement nominees, saying only that the search was ongoing, and standing firm behind the vetting process despite three high-profile withdrawals in less than 30 days.</p>
<p>On CNN, Mr. Obama said he was not worried about more tax mishaps surfacing: “We’re going to make sure we fix it so it doesn’t happen again.”</p>
<p>Mr. Daschle, who had to pay nearly $130,000 in back taxes and interest for failing to report a gift of a private car and driver as income, told MSNBC he read a New York Times editorial calling for him to step aside and decided to withdraw to spare Mr. Obama the embarrassment.</p>
<p>He spoke to Mr. Obama by telephone while the president sat in his private study.</p>
<p>Progressive bloggers had been going after Mr. Daschle as elitist and aloof for several days after ABC News first reported the tax flap, and the Nation magazine joined the Times in calling for him to withdraw.</p>
<p>Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote in his blog Tuesday he viewed the public outrage as a broader issue that included Mr. Daschle’s influence within the health care field and the speaking fees he earned consulting for major players.</p>
<p>“Typical Americans are hurting very badly … [and] resent people who appear to be living high off a system dominated by insiders with the right connections,” he wrote. “They’ve become increasingly suspicious of the conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, and payoffs that seem to pervade not only official Washington but our biggest banks and corporations.”</p>
<p>He said Mr. Daschle would have done a good job, “but the public wants change, real change, big change. There’s no tolerance any longer for the way things used to be done.”</p>
<p>White House press secretary Robert Gibbs defended the president as reporters asked if his change message had been marred by the scandals.</p>
<p>“I think the president would say to you that he didn’t believe that we were going to change the way Washington has worked the past three decades in the first two weeks of this administration,” Mr. Gibbs said.</p>
<p>Jonathan Singer at the liberal blog MyDD said he worries the withdrawal could inhibit the overall push for universal health care.</p>
<p>“If Daschle didn’t feel like he could stand up for a week in this fight, did he really have it in him to lead the fight — against an opposition with tens of millions of dollars, or more, at its disposal to spread misinformation and insinuations — for universal health care,” he wrote.</p>
<p>Sen. John Kerry said it was a bad day for the cause of health care reform.</p>
<p>“I believe that when the smoke clears and the frenzy has ended, no one will believe that this unwitting mistake should have erased 30 years of selfless public service and remarkable legislative skill and expertise on health care,” said the Massachusetts Democrat.</p>
<p>The dual secretary and czar posts would have allowed Mr. Daschle, whose 2008 book “Critical” tackled the health care crisis, to shape policy from within the White House.</p>
<p>Mr. Daschle, who lost his bid for re-election as senator from South Dakota in 2004, said he refused to divert attention from reforming health care.</p>
<p>“If 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction,” he said. “Right now, I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction.”</p>
<p>Mr. Gibbs repeatedly denied the White House had leaned on Mr. Daschle to step aside, and his departure marked the third withdrawal since New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson removed himself from consideration on Jan. 4.</p>
<p>Mr. Richardson was the president’s first choice for the Commerce Department, but he pulled his name because of an ongoing political corruption and ethics investigation.</p>
<p>Ms. Killefer, a management consultant at McKinsey and former assistant secretary of the Treasury, said in a letter to Mr. Obama on Tuesday she had to reluctantly withdraw her name.</p>
<p>“I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your chief performance officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid,” she wrote.</p>
<p>She reportedly had a $900 tax lien placed on her home in 2005 by the District of Columbia.</p>
<p>Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed despite his failing to pay Social Security taxes for several years. His hearings were contentious after the issues surfaced, but Mr. Obama stood by him as the right man for the job.</p>
<p>Sen. Robert F. Bennett, Utah Republican, said Mr. Daschle had the votes to be confirmed, but added that his former colleague “did the right thing” withdrawing his name.</p>
<p>“He could not possibly have functioned effectively with this cloud over him, and the senators who did vote for him would’ve been met with a firestorm of concern from their constituents,” he said.</p>
<p>• Sean Lengell and Richard C. Gross contributed to this report.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2009/feb/4/obama-admits-mistakes-as-two-nominees-bow-out/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Obama admits mistakes with nominees | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/04/obama-admits-mistakes-as-two-nominees-bow-out/ | 2009-02-04 | 0 |
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<p>Yahoo detected evidence that a hacker had broken into its computer network at least 18 months before launching an investigation that discovered personal information had been stolen from about 500 million user accounts.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The timeline outlined in a regulatory filing raises further questions about why it took Yahoo so long to realize the severity of its security breakdown. It also could provide Verizon Communications with reason to revise or terminate its $4.8 billion deal to buy Yahoo's online services.</p>
<p>Yahoo disclosed the size of the breach seven weeks ago. At that time, Yahoo traced its findings to an inquiry opened in late July, around the same time that Verizon announced its agreement to buy Yahoo's email service, digital advertising tools and sections devoted to news, sports, finance and entertainment.</p>
<p>Verizon says it wasn't informed of the hacking attack until a few days before Yahoo told its users in late September.</p>
<p>In its regulatory filing late Wednesday, Yahoo acknowledged the company first became aware of the hack in late 2014. The Sunnyvale, California, company said its board is now investigating how much was known back in 2014.</p>
<p>Verizon declined to comment on Yahoo's latest disclosure. The company's executives have previously said Verizon is re-evaluating its deal with Yahoo because the breach could alienate a large swath of users who may rely on Yahoo's email and other services less frequently in order to protect their privacy. If there is a user backlash, Yahoo's services wouldn't be worth as much to Verizon, which is counting on a large audience to sell more digital advertising.</p>
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<p>Yahoo has sought to reassure its users that the hacker no longer has access to its computers. The company also has prompted users to change their passwords and security questions to protect their accounts.</p>
<p>In its regulatory filing, Yahoo Inc. also revealed that the hacker created computer coding known as "cookies" that would allow someone to view information in user accounts without the need for a password. The company also said it will analyze information turned over by the FBI from a hacker claiming it came from Yahoo accounts.</p> | Yahoo took its time investigating massive security breach | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/11/10/yahoo-took-its-time-investigating-massive-security-breach.html | 2016-11-11 | 0 |
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<p>The United States’ war on Latin American populism has been around for decades, but this time it <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1005/p06s02-woam.html" type="external">is being played out</a> in the last place that the U.S. could have predicted: Costa Rica. This peaceful ( <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3929177.stm" type="external">they don’t have an army</a>) and U.S.-friendly country voted Sunday on whether or not to ratify the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0524/p09s02-usfp.html" type="external">Central American Free Trade Agreement</a>. Costa Rica is the only country in the region that has not done so.</p>
<p>The country is divided. President Oscar Arias won the general election last February based on a platform supporting the referendum, although he doesn’t have much of a mandate; Arias beat his opposition by only <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4683388.stm" type="external">2 percent</a>. Costa Ricans are split almost evenly between those who wish to ratify this neo-liberal agreement and those who side with the rising tide of leftist politics in Latin America. Last weekend, 100,000 Costa Ricans opposed to the agreement marched in the capital of San Jose.</p>
<p>The arguments for each side mirror the ideological arguments surrounding the issue in both North and South America. Supporters, including the president, say that the pact is necessary in order to create jobs and expand its fledgling technology sector. Opponents fear that it will make the rich richer, the poor poorer, and saturate the market with cheap imports from multinationals, hurting local business.</p>
<p>This is an ideological battle on the most general grounds as well, between privatization and nationalization. As part of the Act, the United States is demanding that Costa Rica privatize its nationalized telecommunications and insurance sectors. This might seem like a somewhat innocuous political battle in a tiny country that has little to no influence on the global economy, but symbolically this is an incredibly important decision. Costa Rica is now centrally positioned not only geographically but as a battlefield in the opposing ideologies of North and South America.</p>
<p>—Andre Sternberg</p>
<p /> | Coffee or Microchips? Costa Rica Faces Tough Decision | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/coffee-or-microchips-costa-rica-faces-tough-decision/ | 2007-10-08 | 4 |
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<p>The cruel sting of losing Game 7 hasn’t completely left the Cleveland Indians.</p>
<p>“We all want to hoist that World Series trophy,” team president Chris Antonetti said Friday, “so it hurt when we lost.”</p>
<p>At the same time the Chicago Cubs were parading down Michigan Avenue after winning their first title in 108 years, the Indians — who pushed the NL champions into extra innings in an unforgettable season finale before losing 8-7 — took the first steps toward getting back to the Series in 2017.</p>
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<p>For Antonetti, who has been with the club for 18 years, there is some comfort in what the Indians did this season. But he’ll never be satisfied completely until Cleveland’s title quest is finished.</p>
<p>“We went to Game 7 of the World Series, that in and of itself is an accomplishment,” he said. “Not the ultimate one we’re striving for, but still a great organizational accomplishment.”</p>
<p>With deadlines approaching and no time for pity, the Indians jumped right into the offseason by locking up manager Terry Francona through 2020.</p>
<p>The club exercised its contract options for 2019 and 2020 on the 57-year-old manager, who did a remarkable job in steering the Indians around numerous obstacles to get them to their first Series since 1997.</p>
<p>Cleveland overcame key injuries, suspensions and questions about their legitimacy as title contenders under Francona, who in his fourth season got the Indians within one win of their first title since 1948.</p>
<p>“He did a masterful job,” Antonetti said. “The way in which Tito is constantly thinking about how to place individual players in a position to be successful, to most impact the team, is always extraordinary. He does that first and foremost by building really deep relationships with guys, where they know he cares and he has their best interest in mind, and he’s always going to find a way for them to be the best versions of themselves.</p>
<p>“He’s done that from the day he got here. As high as our expectations were for Tito when we hired him, he’s gone beyond that. We’re really fortunate to have him.”</p>
<p>Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff also praised Francona’s willingness to include everyone in Cleveland’s front office on major decisions.</p>
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<p>“He’s five steps ahead of all of us (on the field),” Chernoff said. “That’s just a small part of it. He’s broken down barriers organizationally for us, whether it’s scouting, player development, that connection people feel internally, and he’s done it on the field with the team and in the clubhouse. And the culture he has helped to build, a lot of the resiliency you see, the grit you saw in this team, is a product of that culture. It’s not any one move that he made.”</p>
<p>The Indians have had four straight winning seasons under Francona, who won two titles with Boston. He’s become wildly popular in Cleveland, where he can be seen riding his motorized scooter to the ballpark and where fans have embraced his everyman persona, enthusiasm and self-deprecating sense of humor.</p>
<p>Along with rewarding Francona, the Indians exercised their $12 million option on slugger Carlos Santana for next season. The move was expected after Santana belted 34 homers while splitting time at first and designated hitter.</p>
<p>Cleveland declined a $13 million option on outfielder Coco Crisp, who gets a $750,000 buyout.</p>
<p>Antonetti also said the club has expressed to first baseman Mike Napoli and outfielder Rajai Davis that they would like to re-sign the potential free agents. The team has until Monday to make qualifying offers to both. Napoli’s is worth $17.2 million.</p>
<p>In his first season with Cleveland, Napoli reached career-highs in homers, plate appearances and RBIs. The 35-year-old struggled in the postseason, but Antonetti said the team will take into account “the balance of the season.”</p>
<p>“Mike did a phenomenal job for us,” he said. “He made a huge impact for us on the field and in the clubhouse, and I think that’s the lens through which we’ll view it.”</p>
<p>Davis, too, helped the Indians to their first AL Central title since 2007. The 35-year-old led the league in stolen bases and helped them offset the loss of All-Star Michael Brantley.</p>
<p>And for a little while, Davis hit the biggest homer in Cleveland history. His two-run shot in the eighth inning of Game 7 off Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman tied the score 6-6 before Chicago scored two in the 10th.</p>
<p>Antonetti and Chernoff were together in a suite and couldn’t contain their emotions.</p>
<p>“I didn’t even try,” Antonetti said.</p>
<p>“I almost fell out of the booth,” Chernoff said.</p>
<p>And next time, they hope to celebrate after the Series.</p> | Moving on: Indians pick up options on Francona, Santana | false | https://abqjournal.com/882310/indians-exercise-options-manager-francona-slugger-santana.html | 2016-11-04 | 2 |
<p>WASHINGTON — Hand-wringing over extreme partisanship has become a popular cause among learned analysts. They operate from Olympian heights and strain for evenhandedness by issuing tut-tuts to all sides, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.</p>
<p>But the evidence of recent days should settle the case: This administration has operated on the basis of a hyperpartisanship not seen in decades. Worse, the destroy-the-opposition, our-team-versus-their-team approach has infected large parts of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. That’s a shame, since there are plenty of good people in both. Still, the tendency to subordinate principles to win short-term victories and cover up for the administration is, alas, rampant on the right.</p>
<p>Take the rush of conservative organs demanding an immediate pardon of “Scooter” Libby after his conviction on four counts related to lying and obstruction of justice. Last I checked, conservatives were deeply committed to the rule of law. They said so frequently during the Clinton impeachment saga.</p>
<p>But the conscientious Libby jury had barely announced its conclusions when The Wall Street Journal editorial page and the National Review, among others, called for a pardon because the case, as the Journal editorial put it, involved “a travesty of justice.”</p>
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<p>In other words, when an impartial judicial system does something that conservatives don’t like, the will of conservatives, not the rule of law, should triumph. Is there any doubt that a Democrat who used executive power to protect a convicted political ally from the consequences of the legal process would be savaged for abusing his authority? (Since you might ask, I pilloried Bill Clinton for the Marc Rich pardon.)</p>
<p>And only the Marx Brothers could have done justice to the manic us-versus-them response of administration lieutenants to angry jottings Vice President Cheney scrawled in the margins of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s Op-Ed piece attacking administration claims about Iraq. Imagine if these guys had spent the energy they put into discrediting an opponent on the work of planning for the war’s aftermath.</p>
<p>A reader once expressed his amazement that Republicans win office by saying government can’t work, and then go about proving it. They don’t take responsibility for their failures, until they have no other choice. Instead, they just keep discrediting government by shifting as much blame as possible to that wonderfully serviceable group of unnamed creatures called “bureaucrats.” We all know that bureaucrats are liberals, right? Besides, the word comes from the French.</p>
<p>More than a week after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Bush was still suggesting that “bureaucratic obstacles” might be “preventing us from achieving our goals.” The president, who took a long time to realize what was happening in New Orleans, made a firm pledge: “In other words, bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people.” Heck of an alibi, Mr. President.</p>
<p>The White House (thanks, perhaps to new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, or to the gruesome facts themselves) responded more quickly to the devastating Washington Post series on the fiasco at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But even in this case, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson couldn’t resist telling NPR’s Melissa Block on Monday that to help veterans get what they deserve, it was necessary “to cut the sometimes just overbearing bureaucracy that can confront these people.” That’s the overbearing bureaucracy Nicholson himself runs.</p>
<p>And anyone who doubts this administration has gone hyperpartisan should take a look at how it pushed out competent, high-performing U.S. attorneys for what in so many cases appear to be political reasons.</p>
<p>Thanks to congressional hearings, we’ll learn whether a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, David C. Iglesias, was let go in part because he was not prosecuting local Democrats fast enough for the tastes of Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, both Republicans. They called Iglesias about this. Election Day was approaching, after all. Another U.S. attorney was bumped out to make way for a White House political aide who withdrew only after the whistle was blown. More than any other scandal, this one threatens to expose just how besmirched by politics this administration’s approach to government has become.</p>
<p>All of which leaves conservatives and Republicans who care about the rule of law with a choice. If they keep going along with this White House’s way of doing business, their own cause will continue to suffer long after the president’s term is over. Principled conservatives should be the first to want to clean up these stables and end the hyperpartisanship.</p>
<p>E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is postchat(at symbol)aol.com.</p>
<p>© 2007, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | Years of Hyperpartisanship | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/years-of-hyperpartisanship/ | 2007-03-09 | 4 |
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<p>Antiesha Brown went off for 28 points and snagged 11 rebounds to help the Lobos come from behind and edge Loyola Marymount 69-65 in the regular-season opener at the Pit.</p>
<p>Brown’s first career double-double was sorely needed as UNM sputtered through a poor first half and trailed by as many as 10 points in the second. Not only did she fill the stat sheet, Brown seemed to provide her team with a needed spark.</p>
<p>“Teesh was an absolute beast,” Lobo coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “Teams are going to double her and try to stop her, but she’s a year older and smarter and really has an overall game. She showed that today.”</p>
<p>Sara Halasz and Ebony Walker added 13 points apiece for the Lobos, and both came up big during a decisive final stretch. The Lions led 60-54 with 4:58 remaining and the 5,439 fans at the Pit were beginning to wonder if LMU might steal a second straight win at the Pit.</p>
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<p>Apparently the Lobos weren’t worried.</p>
<p>“During a timeout our players were saying, `Coach, we’ve got this,'” Sanchez said. “I felt good once I heard that.”</p>
<p>Walker delivered three baskets during an ensuing 11-0 Lobos tear. She converted a three-point play and scored two post baskets as UNM took its first lead since 23-22.</p>
<p>Brown, who went 13-for-17 from the field, followed with a jumper to give the Lobos a 65-60 lead and the crowd roared approval.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount’s Deanna Johnson hit a 3-pointer to make it 65-63 with 29 seconds left, but Deeva Vaughn and Brooke Allemand swished four straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.</p>
<p>Brown conceded the Lobos weren’t satisfied with their overall play but was proud of her team’s late surge.</p>
<p>“We didn’t do a good job setting the pace,” Brown said, “but in the second half it got real and that’s when the heart came out. We’re not losing in the Pit, that’s one of our goals, so we had to turn it up a couple notches.”</p>
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<p>The Lions did an effective job attacking the Lobos with dribble penetration through much of the game, getting 18 points from point guard Hazel Ramirez.</p>
<p>UNM finally turned things around by going to a 2-3 zone that caused LMU to settle for perimeter shots. The Lions did not hit many.</p>
<p>“We haven’t practiced that zone very much,” Sanchez said, “but we did a very good job being active and rebounding out of it. I thought that was key.”</p>
<p>The Lobos also stepped up their shooting in the second half, hitting 46 percent from the field and 12-for-15 from the foul line. UNM was a dismal 4-of-10 at the stripe in the first half and trailed 35-29.</p>
<p>The Lobos were 1-of-12 for the day from 3-point range.</p>
<p>“We didn’t play well in the first half,” Halasz said, “and (the Lions) were playing really well. But we just talked about the first half being over and that we needed to own the second. Once we got pumped up and the crowd got into it, I knew we were OK.”</p>
<p>Freshman Allemand helped UNM rally after starter Bryce Owens struggled. Allemand scored just two points (UNM’s final two), but grabbed four rebounds and provided steady ball-handling during the Lobos’ rally.</p>
<p>“Overall, I’m really proud of our players,” Sanchez said. “A lot of things went wrong, especially in the first half, and we’ve got things to clean up. But Loyola Marymount is a good team that came to play and had us down 10 points. Coming back the way we did, that’s a good first win.”</p>
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<p /> | Lobo women’s team struggles, but beats Loyola Marymount | false | https://abqjournal.com/298091/unm-women-win-with-secondhalf-comeback.html | 2013-11-10 | 2 |
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<p>ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In the Denver Broncos, Vance Joseph saw a championship culture, impressive roster, proven front office, esteemed ownership and fervent fan base, a combination not often seen in an NFL head coach opening.</p>
<p>“It’s not a rebuild, it’s a reboot,” Joseph said Thursday as he was introduced as Gary Kubiak’s successor.</p>
<p>While not broken, the Broncos do need some work after failing to make the playoffs to defend their Super Bowl 50 title.</p>
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<p>In Joseph, Elway saw just the man for the job .</p>
<p>“This team is less than a year removed from a world championship,” Elway said. “So it’s very important to find somebody that can fit the culture that we have” and mix in some fresh ideas. “Vance checks that box. He has that.”</p>
<p>Elway said Joseph has that rare mix of command and charisma, communication and control, and “after the shock of Gary stepping down … I couldn’t be happier with the ability to fill Gary’s shoes with Vance Joseph.”</p>
<p>“He’s the perfect fit for us,” Elway said of the 44-year-old former University of Colorado quarterback who’s built a reputation as one of the bright, young defensive minds in football over his dozen seasons as an NFL assistant.</p>
<p>“I will say this: he’s very smart — he’s an ex-quarterback,” Elway said with only the slightest of smirks. “So, you think he only knows the defensive side, but he’s aware of what we need to do on the offensive side, too. And I think that why the combination is tremendous.”</p>
<p>Joseph called it his dream job, one that’s more of a touch-up than a fixer-up.</p>
<p>“It’s my job to find the small tweaks to make this team a winning team again. That’s my call of duty right now and hopefully we can do that quickly,” he said.</p>
<p>It’s also a pressure cooker that’s driven out the last two coaches with two years left on their contracts.</p>
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<p>Kubiak cited health concerns in stepping down last week. He went 24-11, including a 24-10 win over Carolina in last year’s Super Bowl that came a year after John Fox bolted to the rebuilding Bears following a 49-22 run in Denver.</p>
<p>Joseph said he views that pressure as a positive.</p>
<p>“Absolutely, we have to embrace the culture here,” Joseph said. “I mean, who wants to lose? So, I’d rather get a job where you’re expected to win than a job where winning four or five games is OK.”</p>
<p>Elway was wise not to let Joseph leave town after their interview Tuesday. After dinner at Elway’s signature steakhouse that evening, Joseph canceled his California trip to meet with the Chargers, 49ers and Rams about their head coaching vacancies.</p>
<p>Joseph spent the first half of his NFL coaching career in San Francisco.</p>
<p>“I’m a great friend of (49ers CEO) Jed York’s, so that was intriguing also,” Joseph said. “But again, for a first-time head coach to have a chance to be with a team like the Denver Broncos, that’s a winning football team, that’s not broken, that’s rare. Your first opportunity is usually an opportunity to rebuild.</p>
<p>“It’s very similar to when Mike Tomlin took over in Pittsburgh and they were a year out of winning the big game and Mike took over with two experienced coordinators and they didn’t miss a beat.”</p>
<p>Joseph could do the same in Denver by hiring either Mike McCoy or Bill Musgrave as his offensive coordinator and renewing Wade Phillips’ contract as Denver’s defensive coordinator.</p>
<p>Joseph noted, however, that Phillips is a “free agent, so he’s free to go where he wants to go.”</p>
<p>If Phillips leaves, secondary coach Joe Woods is a strong candidate for promotion.</p>
<p>Whoever gets the gig will be calling the plays on defense.</p>
<p>“I prefer not to call plays — I want to be the head coach here, but if I have to I will,” Joseph said.</p>
<p>As for Joseph’s offense, the Broncos will resemble Fox’s air-it-out style more than Kubiak’s grind-it-out ways.</p>
<p>“I want an offense that is attacking,” Joseph said. “Being a defensive guy my entire career, only 14 seasons, when you play an offense that is attacking, it makes you be careful of your calls. If an offense was conservative, I loved it because I can be the attacker, but if the offense was attacking, with multiple personnel groups and all types of formations? That is what I want them to look like.”</p>
<p>“Obviously defense wins championships, but you have to score points,” he said. “I want an offense with swagger and I want an offense that’s up-tempo and has a chance to score a lot of points.”</p>
<p>The offensive coordinator will inherit both a QB competition between Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch and a unit that was largely ineffective the last two seasons under Rick Dennison.</p>
<p>The offensive’s propensity to start slow — just two sustained first-quarter TD drives all season — defanged a stellar secondary led by All Pro cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. and a premier pass rush led by linebacker Von Miller.</p>
<p>By season’s end, there were words exchanged between the “No Fly Zone” secondary that led the league in pass defense and the O-linemen who were the main culprit in Denver’s 27th-ranked offense.</p>
<p>A big part of Joseph’s job will be to restore locker room unity .</p>
<p>“The best teams win, not the best offense, defense or special teams,” Joseph said. “That’s going to be the culture.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://www.pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/arniestapleton" type="external">http://twitter.com/arniestapleton</a></p> | New Broncos coach has a tough act to follow | false | https://abqjournal.com/926591/new-broncos-coach-has-a-tough-act-to-follow.html | 2017-01-12 | 2 |
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<p>A Jewish woman and her baby were recently assaulted in France, by an attacker who was shouting anti-Semitic slurs.</p>
<p>The incident occurred Tuesday when the attacker shook the stroller the 27-year-old woman was pushing. Her 6-month-old baby was still inside, according to the Drancy-based National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA). The child’s mother said that the attacker was a woman in her 50s who had a typically European complexion and features, from what she could tell.</p>
<p>The attacker shouted, “Dirty Jewess, enough with your children already, you Jews have too many children, screw you.”</p>
<p>The mother said that the assailant continued to insult her in front of onlookers who did absolutely nothing to intervene as the stroller was violently shaken, amidst a district in central Paris.</p>
<p>Sammy Ghozlan, the founder of the BNVCA said the mother has filed a complaint with police.</p>
<p>“We ask police to make all the efforts necessary to identify and arrest the attacker,” Ghozlan demanded.</p>
<p>“The anti-Semitism which persists despite all the measures taken is causing great distress to many Jewish citizens, who are contemplating their future in our country.”</p>
<p>The SPCJ, the French Jewish community’s watchdog on anti-Semitism, recorded 423 anti-Semitic incidents last year alone. This was a 31% decrease from the number recorded the previous year, but that isn’t saying much since that still made it 8% higher than the number recorded in 2011. These attacks have been on the rise throughout Europe and in France in particular.</p>
<p>(Article by&#160; <a href="http://www.hashlamah.com" type="external">M.B. David</a>)</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Jewish Mother and Baby Attacked in Paris | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/jewish-mother-and-baby-attacked-in-paris/ | 2014-05-18 | 4 |
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<p>In the world of retail, Costco Wholesale is truly in a league of its own. The company's warehouse clubs are wildly popular, with 44.6 million households paying an annual fee to shop at the cavernous stores. While other retailers advertise, sometimes heavily, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/24/the-simple-reason-why-wal-mart-and-costco-are-grea.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Costco eschews traditional advertising Opens a New Window.</a> completely, relying on customer satisfaction to gain and retain members. Costco's business model is a high-volume, low-margin affair, but the stickiness of a Costco membership has allowed the company to produce stunningly consistent results over the past decade.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Costco.</p>
<p>One area where Costco falls short, though, is as a dividend stock. Costco pays a total of $1.60 per share in dividends annually, good for a dividend yield of just about 1%. The dividend has grown at a healthy clip over the past decade, compounding at a roughly 12% annual rate, but such a low yield makes Costco a lackluster stock for dividend investors. The good news is that there are a couple other retailers, specifically Wal-Mart Stores and Best Buy , that are far better dividend stocks than Costco.</p>
<p>Wal-MartWith nearly $500 billion in annual sales, Wal-Mart is a global retail behemoth, more than four times the size of Costco by sales. The company's strategy has always been to offer the lowest prices possible, undercutting essentially all traditional retailers. An efficient supply chain, low employee wages, and a gargantuan scale give Wal-Mart an important edge when it comes to costs.</p>
<p>Image source: Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>At the moment, Wal-Mart is going through a rough patch. The growth of e-commerce has finally caused the company to get serious about its own e-commerce business, and Wal-Mart is making major investments over the next few years in order to drive online sales. Wal-Mart is also investing in its employees by raising wages, improving training, and boosting benefits, all in an effort to reduce turnover, improve productivity, and make its stores more pleasant for customers. These actions will cause earnings to decline both this year and next year, according to the company, before returning to growth.</p>
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<p>This disappointing earnings guidance has caused Wal-Mart shares to tumble over the past year, pushing up the stock's yield to record levels. The current dividend yield, about 3%, isn't quite as high compared to a few months ago, when Wal-Mart stock bottomed out, but it's still triple that of Costco, and well above historical levels. Dividend growth will likely be slow going forward, but Wal-Mart's high yield and significant competitive advantages make it a great dividend stock to own.</p>
<p>Best BuyA few years ago, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy was far from a solid dividend stock. The company was in trouble back in 2012, and the stock plummeted to lows not seen in over a decade. Since then, under CEO Hubert Joly, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/08/31/best-buys-turnaround-is-one-for-the-ages.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">the company has turned itself around Opens a New Window.</a>, cutting more than $1 billion in costs, investing in e-commerce, and improving customer service. While Best Buy still faces plenty of competitive pressures, the company is stronger than it's been in years.</p>
<p>Image source: Best Buy.</p>
<p>Best Buy recently announced a 22% dividend increase, pushing its quarterly payment up to $0.28 per share, good for a forward dividend yield of about 3.3%. Investors of record on March 17 will also be receiving a one-time $0.45 special dividend, similar to the one Best Buy paid in 2015. While these special dividends may not happen every year, they're possible due to Best Buy's vastly improved balance sheet. At the end of fiscal 2016, the company had nearly $3.3 billion of cash and investments, and just $1.7 billion in debt.</p>
<p>Best Buy doesn't have the competitive advantages enjoyed by both Costco and Wal-Mart, but the company's performance has been generally solid, despite industrywide declines in consumer electronics sales, according to NPD. Going forward, a focus on customer service should allow Best Buy to continue to win market share, as it has been doing in recent quarters, and a 3.3% dividend yield will reward investors for sticking with the company.</p>
<p>The bottom lineThere's no argument that Costco is a wonderful company, but as a dividend stock, it just doesn't compare to retailers with higher yields. Part of the problem is Costco's valuation. The stock trades at nearly 29 times last year's earnings, a lofty multiple that drives down the dividend yield. Wal-Mart trades for about 14.5 times earnings, while shares of Best Buy go for just 13.4 times earnings.</p>
<p>Costco is an expensive stock, and regardless of how well the company is run, that high price makes it risky. While both Wal-Mart and Best Buy are facing challenges, far higher dividend yields and far lower valuations make both stocks more suitable for dividend investors than Costco.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/11/forget-costco-wholesale-corporation-here-are-2-bet.aspx" type="external">Forget Costco Wholesale Corporation: Here Are 2 Better Dividend Stocks Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBargainBin/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Timothy Green Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Best Buy. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Costco Wholesale. 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> | Forget Costco Wholesale Corporation: Here Are 2 Better Dividend Stocks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/11/forget-costco-wholesale-corporation-here-are-2-better-dividend-stocks.html | 2016-03-11 | 0 |
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<p>Dan Huss, a mortgage consultant with BNC National Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz., says buyers often call a Realtor first and then the Realtor refers them to a mortgage person.</p>
<p>“The first call really should be to a loan officer,” Huss says. But before you make that first call, sit down and do some hard thinking.</p>
<p>“Establish what you feel you could afford based on your budget,” says Huss. “Once you make that phone call and the loan officer tells you what you qualify for, the temptation to go higher is real.”</p>
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<p>Before diving into the housing market, ask yourself these five questions.</p>
<p>HOW MUCH CAN I AFFORD?</p>
<p>It may be hard to figure out what you can truly afford. “The very best ratio to have is one-fourth of your income going toward house payments,” says Jessica Cecere, formerly president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in Florida.</p>
<p>Cecere says she means net income, or 25 percent of what you earn after taxes — lenders calculate using gross income. “Anywhere between 25 (percent) and 32 (percent) is safe. Anything over 35 (percent) is the danger zone,” she says.</p>
<p>A higher ratio puts you at risk if anything changes, like an increase in insurance costs. “One hurricane in Florida and insurance charges can double,” she says.</p>
<p>Then there is the prospect of job loss. “With 25 percent, even with the loss of one income, you can still keep your home,” Cecere says.</p>
<p>Huss says you should know your financial situation before you approach a lender and borrow accordingly. A 30-year fixed mortgage is preferable. Chart out how high your payments would be at different rates by using Bankrate.com’s mortgage calculator.</p>
<p>Once you know what you can afford to pay on the mortgage, you can figure out your housing price range, Huss says.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>WHAT ARE MY COSTS OUTSIDE THE LOAN?</p>
<p>First-timers tend to miscalculate the total tab for sealing the purchase and the cost of maintaining a home.</p>
<p>“Have a thorough conversation about down payment costs and closing costs,” Huss says. You need to know the total out-of-pocket costs.</p>
<p>Next, make sure you consider all the monthly charges. Online calculators on realty sites don’t always include taxes, homeowners association dues, utilities, and home and mortgage insurance.</p>
<p>They certainly don’t allow for flooring and window treatments, which your landlord covered previously.</p>
<p>If you’re buying a fixer-upper, get several contractor bids so you know what lies ahead.</p>
<p>“You always have to be prepared, new or old, to make any repairs,” Cecere says. If your mortgage is at 25 percent of income, repairs can bring your cost to 30 percent.</p>
<p>“We always say you should have three months of basic living expenses in a very liquid place, and part of that is your house emergency fund,” Cecere says.</p>
<p>Finally, double-check utilities and tax costs to avoid nasty surprises.</p>
<p>WHAT DO I NEED IN A NEIGHBORHOOD?</p>
<p>“I always sit down and say, ‘Give me your wish list,'” says Chris Pagano, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in Chicago. “What are the must-haves?”</p>
<p>Pagano says the way you live is key. He asks buyers, “What do you do when you come home?” That can help buyers determine whether proximity to a gym, park or good restaurants matters.</p>
<p>He urges buyers to consider how they will get from home to other places. Walking three blocks to a bus stop when it’s 10 degrees can be bone-chilling. If you drive, try it before you buy.</p>
<p>Check out potential neighborhoods at different times of day, Realtors emphasize.</p>
<p>“Sure, look at the MLS, see the reports, but walk the neighborhood,” says Michael Friedman, a Realtor with The Grubb Co. in the Oakland-Berkeley-Piedmont area in California.</p>
<p>WILL THIS HOUSE FIT MY LONG-TERM GOALS?</p>
<p>While you have to make a purchasing decision based on your current financial situation, you should imagine your future personal and work life.</p>
<p>Friedman suggests buyers ask themselves, “Are we going to grow our family?” and “How many bedrooms do we need?”</p>
<p>If you think an elderly parent may move in or you’ll need a home office, include that in your decision. Don’t forget about schools. Sometimes, paying more for a house can be cheaper in the long run. A pricier home in a better school district can be cheaper than a lower-priced home plus private school for 13 years.</p>
<p>“This home will let us go for public school and not pay $50,000 for private school,” may be the thinking, Friedman says.</p>
<p>AM I TRULY PREPARED TO BE A HOMEOWNER?</p>
<p>“Whatever your money attitude is, when you have a home, a lot of your money will go (to it),” says Cecere. “A lot of your time will be spent dealing with your home.”</p>
<p>Make sure you understand what’s involved. You should ask yourself before buying if you have good spending habits. If possible, take a homebuyer class in person or online.</p>
<p>If you’re ready and buy responsibly, experts say homebuying can still be a wise financial move.</p>
<p>“Owning a house is still better than renting,” Huss says. “You should absolutely be able to find a great house for what you can afford.”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>ABOUT THE WRITER</p>
<p>Aviya Kushner writes for Bankrate.com. Visit Bankrate online at <a href="http://www.bankrate.com." type="external">http://www.bankrate.com.</a></p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 Bankrate.com</p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
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<p>Topics: t000132490,t000023135,t000002537,t000040342,t000023136,t000023122</p> | Aviya Kushner: 5 questions for the first-time homebuyer | false | https://abqjournal.com/560571/aviya-kushner-5-questions-for-the-first-time-homebuyer.html | 2 |
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<p>Gaza City.</p>
<p>Dr. Atallah Tarazi, a General Surgeon at Gaza City’s Shifaa Hospital, invited us to meet him in his home, in Gaza City, just a few blocks away from the Shifaa Hospital.</p>
<p>Early this morning, he and his family returned to their home after having fled five days earlier when the bombing attacks on Gaza City had become so fierce that they feared for their lives.&#160; “Believe me, when I would drive from the hospital to the place where my family was staying, I prayed all the way,” said Dr. Tarazi, “because the Israelis would shoot anyone on the roads at night.”</p>
<p>Dr. Tarzi has been practicing medicine as a General Surgeon all of his adult life.&#160; Now, at age 61, he says he has never seen such terrible and ugly wounds as he saw during the past three weeks when he and a surgical team tried to help numerous patients with broken limbs, shrapnel wounds, and severe burns.&#160; Neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, orthopedic and general surgeons worked together on patients, as a team, trying to save them, but there were many whose lives they couldn’t save.&#160; He described patients with shrapnel wounds in their eyes, faces, chests, and abdomens, patients whose legs were amputated above the lower limbs. Most, he said, were civilians.</p>
<p>“These are strange ways of destroying the human body,” said Dr. Tarazi. “Please, come tomorrow to the Burn Unit, and you will see patients suffering from the use of white phosphorous.”</p>
<p>Dr. Tarazi said that he began to understand the extent of the trauma and danger by listening to the stories of wounded and injured patients.</p>
<p>“Some were sitting in their houses when a tank bomb hit them.&#160; They didn’t know what&#160; happened to them,” said Dr. Attalah. “Survivors would reach the hospital after many of their relatives had been killed.”</p>
<p>Patients from Beit Lahia told him that in one home, an extended family of 25 people had been attacked while inside their home.&#160; When relatives came to help them, Israeli snipers shot eight of them. Many of the wounded were left to die.&#160; Ambulances and Red Cross relief workers weren’t allowed to enter the area.</p>
<p>At one point, Israel announced a lull in the fighting, but then bombed the Palestine Square, near the municipal offices.&#160; Four people came to the hospital, severely injured.&#160; “We couldn’t save them,” said Dr. Tarazi.&#160; “Seven others were injured, and they survived.”</p>
<p>“In Gaza City, all of the important buildings necessary for maintaining a city have been bombed,” said Dr. Tarazi.&#160; “From ministries to civilian police stations, all have been destroyed.&#160; Some were Hamas buildings, but not all.”</p>
<p>We had just walked through the area where the buildings housing ministries of justice, education, and culture were completely destroyed. &#160;Driving into Gaza City we saw mosques, factories, houses and schools reduced to rubble. We asked Dr. Tarazi to tell us why, in his opinion, the Israelis had attacked Gaza so fiercely.</p>
<p>He believes that the attacks are essentially irrational but that a main cause for the timing and the magnitude of these attacks is that certain Israeli candidates for upcoming elections want to assure the Israeli public that they are willing to use military force to insure security for Israelis.&#160; “Palestinians all the time pay the taxes in blood,” said Dr. Tarazi.</p>
<p>“One of the worst aspects of this war,” says Dr. Tarazi, “is the lack of respect for the UN.&#160; Three United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools were bombed.&#160; In Jabaliyah, more than 45 people were killed at a UN school; F16s bombed UNRWA supplies and stores.”</p>
<p>“In Shifaa Hospital, we saw plumes of smoke for day and night. All Gaza, every day, was covered with smoke and chemicals.&#160; We don’t know how it affects the health.”</p>
<p>“Yes, ‘rocklets’ did go out,” says Dr. Tarazi, referring to Hamas rockets fired into Israeli towns, “and we felt sympathy for any Israelis hurt by the rocklets.&#160; But, if someone hurts you with a pin, you don’t cut off his head.&#160; You ask WHY the person tried to prick you with a pin. Consider that people here are trapped in a prison and there is a shortage of everything.&#160; No one can repair anything.&#160; People wanted borders opened so that goods could come and go.&#160; After six months of closed borders, people are frustrated.&#160; Now, one side declares a cease fire, they say nothing about opening the borders, nothing about withdrawal, and yet they want NATO to help tighten the siege.”</p>
<p>“I hope President Obama will be much better than George Bush concerning these things,” said Dr. Tarazi. &#160;“Human beings that have such a strong army should be civilized and not behave like a terrorist group.&#160; Fanatics can be expected to use terror, but a democratic state shouldn’t use fallacious statements as an excuse for massive killing.&#160; A state which does this should be brought before an International Court of Justice.”</p>
<p>“And yet,” he said, “we must experiment with ways of love. We are trying, with Jewish people…by feelings and actions.&#160; We need to succeed.&#160; We need to live together.&#160; We are trying to be in good relations with all the partners, all the views.”</p>
<p>“The strongest weapon all over the world is love,” says Dr. Tarazi, adding that he has always believed this and has said this to his colleagues, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish, throughout his career.&#160; He recalled declaring this same belief at the Eretz border crossing, shortly after the Israelis launched “Operation Cast Lead.”&#160; He had been among the 200 Christians who were chosen (800 had applied) to cross the border and celebrate the Orthodox Christmas holiday with family members in the West Bank. When the attacks began, he ended his holiday and hurried to the border, knowing he must return to his work and his family.&#160; At the border crossing, he greeted soldiers, “Merry Christmas.”&#160; Soldiers answered, “Do you have weapons?”&#160; “Yes,” Dr. Tarazi replied, “I have the strongest weapon of all, the weapon of love.”</p>
<p>KATHY KELLY is a co-coordinator of <a href="http://www.vcnv.org/" type="external">Voices for Creative Nonviolence</a>. She has refused to pay all forms of federal income tax since 1980. She is the author of <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">Other Lands Have Dreams</a>, published by AK / CounterPunch Press. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | The Strongest Weapon of All | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/01/20/the-strongest-weapon-of-all/ | 2009-01-20 | 4 |
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<p>FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2015, file photo, pedestrians walk past a still-closed Chipotle restaurant in Seattle. An outbreak of E. coli that originated in the Pacific Northwest has spread south and east and has now infected people in six states. New cases have been reported in California, New York and Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)</p>
<p>NEW YORK - An outbreak of E. coli linked to Chipotle that originated in the Pacific Northwest has spread south and east and has now infected people in six states.</p>
<p>New cases have been reported in California, New York and Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The first cases were discovered late last month in Oregon and Washington, and more recently in Minnesota.</p>
<p>Investigators have yet to determine the specific ingredient linked to the illness.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>So far, 45 people have been infected, with 43 of them saying they ate at Chipotle in the week before they became sick. The CDC said it is aware of illnesses starting on dates ranging from Oct. 19 to Nov. 8. The agency said that illnesses that took place after Oct. 31 may not have been reported yet.</p>
<p>Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. closed 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington in late October after health officials discovered most of the people sickened in the outbreak had eaten at its restaurants. The restaurants have since reopened.</p>
<p>"At the moment, we do not believe that it is necessary to close any restaurants," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email. He said the company has taken measures including deep cleaning in restaurants, replacing ingredients and providing supply chain data to investigators.</p>
<p>Chipotle, based in Denver, has more than 1,900 locations and has gained popularity by touting the freshness and quality of its ingredients. Earlier this year, the company ran into trouble after suspending a pork supplier that violated its animal welfare standards. That led to a shortage of carnitas at hundreds of locations around the country, which the company said dampened its sales growth.</p>
<p>On news Friday that the outbreak had spread, shares of Chipotle plunged more than 12 percent to a new low for the year.</p>
<p>Chipotle said affected individuals reported eating at two restaurants in Turlock, California; one in Akron, Ohio; one in Amherst, New York and one in Burnsville, Minnesota. The company said it is not aware of any employees who have become ill.</p>
<p>Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney representing people who have been sickened, said the spread of the outbreak will make it easier to determine the source.</p>
<p>"It helps investigators link up to a perishable item," Marler said. "What they're really focusing on right now is the supply chain. What's the common denominator? Who supplied what product to these stores?"</p>
<p>Of those sickened, two have been in California, two in Minnesota, one in New York, one in Ohio, 13 in Oregon and 26 in Washington, according to the CDC.</p>
<p>Sixteen people have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths, the agency said.</p>
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<p>Follow Candice Choi at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/candicechoi" type="external">www.twitter.com/candicechoi</a></p> | E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle expands to 6 states | false | https://abqjournal.com/679632/e-coli-outbreak-linked-to-chipotle-expands-to-6-states.html | 2 |
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<p>“We are trying to look at how we can save money,” Brown said. “I’ve done my research on this and I am going to be handing it off to a committee.”</p>
<p>That research has indicated that the main thing moving to a four-day a week school schedule will bring is teacher and student attendance. Student and teacher morale is also improved.</p>
<p>“We’ve looked at studies at a national level,” Brown said. “I’ve also talked to several superintendents here in the state of New Mexico.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Brown said he has received some feedback from staff members and all he has seen is positive feedback.</p>
<p>“The majority of staff here at Silver High is for it,” Principal Victor Oaxaca said. “That’s the concession that I am seeing. I can see a positive moral indicator here. I think our staff sees it in a way as to having that extra day to take care of their family and appointments or other business.”</p>
<p>Oaxaca said staff members won’t have to worry about substitutes on those non-school Fridays. There will also be a cost savings which is why Silver is considering the change.</p>
<p>“There is a possible big savings in utilities,” Brown said. “On a personal level, I’m not so sure we’d save too much there. I’ve spoken with other superintendents who are on a similar schedule and they say the biggest area is on substitute teachers. Right now we are spending about 330K to 350K a year on subs. Moving to a four-day schedule would help in that area.”</p>
<p>The district would also improve with its teacher absenteeism rates. Brown said instruction is would also improve.</p>
<p>“My understanding is that one of the major benefits they have seen in the four-day schedule is less teachers being absent and also an improved curricular instructional phase in the classroom,” Brown said.</p>
<p>Oaxaca said the change may turn into a negative. Oaxaca wouldn’t want to see teachers taking more time off. Ditto students who may miss two out of the four-day schedule.</p>
<p>“It could become a negative and something to see,” Oaxaca said. “We would need to make sure that kids aren’t taking too many days off during the week. I know that some schools have put in place a 100 percent attendance for those that want to attend activities Friday and on the weekend.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Some staff members at Silver have said a possible negative could be having that child one day less in their classroom a week and that means less contact with them. There is also a potential loss to pay from other areas that are supported by the school.</p>
<p>“There is a potential loss of pay to bus drivers as well as cafeteria workers,” Brown said. “Being that we contract with our bus drivers and a company, we will try and work something out with them as well as cafeteria personnel. The last thing we want to do is make people suffer with smaller paychecks. We would try to avoid that and work around that.”</p>
<p>Brandon Siqueiros is a teacher as well as a coach at Silver High and he says change is inevitable.</p>
<p>“Society always brings forth change,” Siqueiros said. “Maybe it’s time to do something different. I look at it as motivation for the staff and students. Maybe it will do this.”</p>
<p>Being a coach as well, Siqueiros said he knows the struggles of getting substitute teachers and the lesson plans and everything that has to be done in order to take some days off for tournaments and games during the basketball season. Having an extra day off means that during those tournaments, Fridays won’t have to be prepped for and substitute teachers won’t have to be scheduled. That also means coaches and students won’t miss more time from the classroom.</p>
<p>“Times are changing,” Siqueiros said. “We have to do different things. I know it’s a difficult thing and sometimes people don’t like change, but maybe it’s a good thing for our schools.”</p>
<p>Another major negative was that staff and parents said children would be left alone on Fridays. But, Oaxaca said that some staff members indicated that they could offer daycare on Fridays.</p>
<p>“I am going to hand all of this off to a committee and they can get the ball rolling,” Brown said. “They can conduct their own research if they would like. They can talk to the staff and community members. We are exploring options right now. This will be discussed at the next school board meeting.”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2017 the Silver City Sun-News (Silver City, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Silver City Sun-News (Silver City, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.scsun-news.com" type="external">www.scsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p> | Silver schools consider four-day schedule | false | https://abqjournal.com/982771/silver-schools-consider-four-day-schedule.html | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A sinkhole has shut down traffic on Gun Club SW west of Isleta, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Twitter page.</p>
<p>Lanes are closed in both directions.</p>
<p>A deputy at the scene said the sinkhole was caused by a car hitting a fire hydrant.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | BCSO: All lanes closed on Gun Club near Isleta for sinkhole | false | https://abqjournal.com/907478/bcso-all-lanes-closed-on-gun-club-near-isleta-for-sinkhole.html | 2 |
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Several weeks ago, I joined with Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform in urging state governors to emulate and go beyond the advances in bringing more openness to governmental expenditures put forth by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.</p>
<p>Early in 2005, Governor Daniels issued an executive order which enables Hoosiers to find on the Internet the total number of state contracts entered into each year, the total amount of dollars awarded under state contracts each year, and the number and percentage of Indiana businesses and out-of-state businesses to whom state contracts are awarded each year. In addition the entire text of most contracts covered by the executive order is available online.</p>
<p>Mr. Norquist and I disagree on many other issues, but we strongly share the belief that taxpayers should be able to easily access clear and concise information on how their tax dollars are being spent by governments at all levels.</p>
<p>At the federal level, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act will create a free, publicly searchable website for all federal contracts and grants. Senator Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) and Senator Barack Obama (D. IL) introduced this bill requiring the dollar amounts and recipients of all grants and earmarked contracts be placed in a publicly accessible database.</p>
<p>This important step toward transparency was signed into law by President Bush on September 26, 2006, the law states that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has to ensure the existence of a searchable website is available no later than January 1, 2008. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together and joined forces to move in the right direction. But this is only a first step, since the actual contract language will not be made available.</p>
<p>When he was Director of the OMB in the federal government, Mitch Daniels expressed his support for putting all federal contracts and grants online above a minimum amount and invited public comment. Included in his proposal were defense contracts, prudently redacted, which, of course, means a large area of governmental spending historically off limits to public scrutiny.</p>
<p>Recently Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley enthusiastically supported the idea of amending the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, to include the full text of contracts. Senator Grassley, a champion of the taxpayer and government whistleblowers knows that greater transparency will benefit taxpayers.</p>
<p>There is momentum to require the full text of government contracts be put online. But, don’t underestimate the power of lethargy. I first wrote to President Bill Clinton and asked him to issue an Executive Order setting procedures for every agency of the federal government to place its contracts online back in January of 2000. On February 8, 2000, President Clinton wrote back saying he had forwarded this request to the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. On September 10, 2001, I wrote to Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., then the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, urging him to give taxpayers access to the full text of government contracts. On June 6, 2003, as a result of Mr. Daniels drive on this issue, a Federal Register Notice was issued asking for public comments on a pilot project to put contracts online. His successors at the OMB have not followed up.</p>
<p>We are moving in the right direction with the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, but as we all know the “devil is in the details.” Requiring federal agencies and departments to post online the full text of all federal contracts would be a wonderful next step. The computer age should make it possible to efficiently allow for certain redactions related to legitimate concerns about business confidentiality and national security in contracts before they are posted online in a publicly-available database.</p>
<p>A large coalition from across the political spectrum has been pushing for increased transparency in government, which is good for a more competitive procurement process, the taxpayer and our democracy.</p>
<p>Contracting out what the state and federal government do and contracting to obtain what governments need is a large part of our economy. The former includes letting corporations perform government functions and the latter includes buying supplies like fuel, paper, food, medicines and vehicles. Taken together, they amount to spending trillions of dollars over the past decade – our tax dollars.</p>
<p>Putting the full text of these contracts online will: could give taxpayers both savings and better value; let the media focus more incisively on this vast area of government disbursements to inform the wider public; encourage constructive comments and alarms from the citizenry; and stimulate legal and economic research by scholars interested in structural topics related to government procurement, transfers, subsidies and giveaways.</p>
<p>Congress should amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.</p>
<p>And, Governors should work expeditiously to make the full text of all state contracts, ranging from procurement of goods and services to grants, leaseholds and labor contracts, available to the public on the Internet in a clear and searchable format.</p>
<p>Transparency is one of the core principles of representative democracy. Another way of putting it is that “information is the currency of democracy.”</p>
<p>RALPH NADER is the author of <a href="" type="internal">The Seventeen Traditions</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | What Do They Have to Hide? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/08/25/what-do-they-have-to-hide/ | 2007-08-25 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Image Source: Hillary Clinton Campaign.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>After over a year of campaigning, we'll finally have a new president next week.</p>
<p>The market's moves after each debate have made it clear that Wall Street is closely watching the election, and the sharp sell-off following the Brexit decision earlier this year shows that political events can have an outsized impact on the stock market. The day after President Obama's 2012 reelection saw especially high trading volume with theS&amp;P 500 down more than 2%, though that slide may have been motivated in part by other factors, including the looming fiscal cliff and concerns about growth in Europe.</p>
<p>However, the reaction of specific sectors seemed to be directly caused by Obama's reelection. Coal stocks and for-profit educators tumbled as his administration had been tough on those sectors, while stocks in healthcare jumped as his administration was seen as favorable to that sector. Gun manufacturers' stocks also surged as investors bet that potential new gun control laws could motivate a buying spree.</p>
<p>With four days to go, the outcome of the election is still to be determined, but poll aggregators and prediction markets are favoring Clinton over Trump. Prediction market Predictit.org gives Hillary Clinton a 73% chance of winning,whileThe New York Times poll aggregator gives the former Secretary of State an 84% chance of winning and the blog FiveThirtyEight, which correctly predicted 99 of 100 winners by state in the past two elections, gives her a 66% chance of winning.</p>
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<p>If Hillary wins, here are three stocks that could skyrocket next week.</p>
<p>Gun manufacturers have surged during the Obama administration, buoyed by record gun sales due to fears about potential gun control legislation and a crackdown on gun ownership. Those fears about increased legislation never materialized, but that mindset has persisted.</p>
<p>Both Smith &amp; Wesson and peerSturm, Ruger(NYSE: RGR) jumped by more than 10% the week Obama was reelected, and based on the recent the rise of armed militia groups like the 3 percenters, the reaction to a Clinton presidency among gun advocates could be even stronger. Smith &amp; Wesson shares are up nearly 1,000% over the last five years, riding a wave of gun-buying.</p>
<p>The National Rifle Association has been running ads in swing states saying that Clinton would confiscate guns if she was elected president, stoking fear among gun owners of a Clinton presidency. If she does win the election, gun sales are likely to surge, and Smith &amp; Wesson should pop during election week again.</p>
<p>Among the two candidates' many differences is on energy policy. Donald Trump has promised to bring back coal and put coal miners back to work, while Clinton would make a push toward renewable energy. Clinton has set a goal of installing 500 million solar panels in the country in her first term, which would lead to a nearly 700% increase in U.S. solar capacity,and she has promised to extend subsidies for solar energy put into place during the Obama administration.</p>
<p>Rooftop solar-panel installer Vivint Solar had not yet gone public at the time of the last election, but a number of solar stocks have benefited from Obama's policies, especially the extension of the investment tax credit that helps subsidize solar installations, which sent many solar stocks up by double digits. A win by Clinton could give a big lift to Vivint, the #2 solar installer, which has struggled since a failed takeover by SunEdison, as well as others in the renewable business.</p>
<p>Health care is yet another area where the two candidates disagree. Donald Trump has threatened to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, while Hillary Clinton wants to build on it and enhance it. By giving more Americans health insurance and expanding benefits for those who already have it, Obama's signature healthcare act has been a boon for hospital administrators like HCA Holdings. During the last election, the stock shot up nearly 10% the day after Obama was reelected.</p>
<p>The company operates hospitals in 20 states, but currently only five of them have ACA state exchanges, meaning there is a significant opportunity for the company to expand into new markets as more Americans get insured. If Clinton wins the election, the stock could spike next week and gain over the long term if she is able to accomplish her healthcare policy goals.</p>
<p>The outcome is still to be decided, but the markets should get shaken up no matter who wins. If Hillary Clinton is the victor, these stocks should be among the big winners.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2667&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx" type="external">Jeremy Bowman 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> | 3 Stocks That Could Skyrocket Next Week | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/06/3-stocks-that-could-skyrocket-next-week.html | 2016-11-06 | 0 |
<p>CNN, Arnett only Americans in BaghdadVarietyPosted: Wed., Mar. 19, 2003, 8:08pm PT</p>
<p>By Pamela McClintock</p>
<p>WASHINGTON -- The commencement of war against Iraq Wednesday night demonstrated that no single news net is going to get the exclusive story as CNN did during the opening shots of the Persian Gulf War.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>The weeks of planning and the massive deployment of resources paid off for TV news when, somewhere around 6:35 PDT, NBC broke in to say that the U.S. was launching missiles. Moments later, Fox and CNN came on with the same report.</p>
<p>CNN was the only U.S. news net still to have a team in Baghdad early Thursday morning, but the other nets have struck deals giving them access to reports provided by freelancers still in the city. The nets have agreed to share footage from Baghdad for the first 24 hours, and all of the nets were using shots from stationary cameras placed on buildings.</p>
<p>MSNBC's Peter Arnett managed a phone report soon after the attack began. A former CNN correspondent, Arnett is on assignment for National Geographic, which has an ongoing partnership with MSNBC.</p>
<p>The timing of the attack may have come as something of a surprise, as network sources said the Pentagon had earlier indicated the assault would not begin so soon. ABC appeared to be caught off guard. The network stuck with "The Bachelor" even after the other nets had come on the air with war reports and anchor Peter Jennings made his first appearance just moments before the President's speech at 7:15 p.m.</p> | News nets mobilize | false | https://poynter.org/news/news-nets-mobilize | 2003-03-20 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Cho was the 2014 winner at the International Violin Competition in Indianapolis. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she moved to Cleveland at 14 to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Today she teaches at both the Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute.</p>
<p>“She’s an amazing player,” conductor Guillermo Figueroa said. “I worked with her last summer in Durango (Colo.), and she was just fantastic. You don’t get to win that kind of prize without being very, very special.”</p>
<p>The Glazunov Violin Concerto is “fiendishly difficult,” he said.</p>
<p>“He’s one of the great Russian romantic composers; he’s right up there under Tchaikovsky,” Figueroa continued.</p>
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<p>“Technically, it’s incredibly challenging,” he said. “You have to be a very, very solid player. It’s so full of lyricism; you have to be able to project a sense of singing and line. And it requires some stamina because you don’t stop playing from beginning to end.”</p>
<p>The musicians will close the program with Mahler’s romantic Symphony No. 5, a 90-minute tour de force.</p>
<p>“The Fifth is famous for its slow movement, which has been used in movies and commercials,” Figueroa said, “most famously in ‘Death in Venice.’ ”</p>
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<p /> | ‘Amazing’ violinist at SF Symphony | false | https://abqjournal.com/966816/amazing-violinist-at-sf-symphony.html | 2 |
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<p>IN THE MATTER OF THE ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS</p>
<p>BETWEEN</p>
<p>ELIZABETH ELIZONDO, Petitioner,</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>WILLIAM F. FINKL ACADEMY LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCIL, Respondent.</p>
<p>HEARING OFFICER’S DECISION AAA 51 160-00507 99</p>
<p>Involving the Nonretention of Elizabeth Elizondo</p>
<p>Hearing Officer: Jay E. Grenig</p>
<p>Appearances:</p>
<p>For the Petitioner:</p>
<p>William J. Quinlan, Attorney at Law, Chicago Principals &amp; Administrators</p>
<p>For the Respondent:</p>
<p>Elaine K. Siegel, Attorney at Law, Hager &amp; Siegel</p>
<p>I. BACKGROUND</p>
<p>This matter was brought for hearing before Arbitrator Jay E. Grenig on January 28, February 2, 11, 14, 21, 23, March 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12, 2000. A prehearing conference was held on January 20, 2000. The parties were given full opportunity to present all relevant evidence and arguments. The hearing was transcribed by a court reporter resulting in over 3,000 pages of testimony. More than 100 exhibits were admitted in evidence. Upon receipt of the parties’ briefs, the hearing was declared closed on March 13, 2000.</p>
<p>II. ISSUES</p>
<p>The issues before the Hearing Officer are as follows:</p>
<p>1. Is the case arbitrable?</p>
<p>2. Was the Respondent’s nonretention of the Petitioner arbitrary and capricious?</p>
<p>III. PERTINENT STATUTORY PROVISIONS</p>
<p>S.H.A. 105 ILCS 5/34-2.2</p>
<p>§ 34-2.2 Local school councils—Manner of operation.</p>
<p>. . . . (c) A majority of the full membership of the local school council shall constitute a quorum and whenever a vote is taken on any measure before the local school council, a quorum being present, the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes of the full membership then serving on the local school council shall determine the outcome thereof . . . .</p>
<p>S.H.A. 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3</p>
<p>§ 34-2.3 Local school councils—Powers and Duties. Each local school council shall have and exercise, consistent with the provisions of this Article and the powers and duties of this Article and the powers and duties of the board of education, the following powers and duties:</p>
<p>1. (A) To annually evaluate the performance of the principal of the attendance center using a Board approved principal evaluation form, which shall include the evaluation of (i) student academic improvement, as defined by the school improvement plan, (ii) student absenteeism rates at the school, (iii) instructional leadership, (iv) the effective implementation of programs, policies or strategies to improve academic achievement; (v) school management, and (vi) any other factors deemed relevant by the local school council, including without limitation, the principal’s communication skills and ability to create and maintain a student-centered learning environment to develop opportunities for professional development, and to encourage parental involvement and community partnerships to achieve school improvement.</p>
<p>(B) to determine in the manner provided by subsection (c) of Section 34-2.2 whether performance contract of the principal shall be renewed:</p>
<p>(C) . . . . A Council shall be required, if requested by the principal to provide in writing the reasons for the council’s not renewing the principal’s contract.</p>
<p>1.5 The local school council’s determination of whether to renew the principal’s contract shall be based on an evaluation to assess the educational and administrative progress made at the school during the principal’s current performance-based contract. The local school council shall base its evaluation on (i) student academic improvement, as defined by the school improvement plan, (ii) student absenteeism rates at the school, (iii) instructional leadership, (iv) the effective implementation of programs, policies or strategies to improve academic achievement; (v) school management, and (vi) any other factors deemed relevant by the local school council, including without limitation, the principal’s communication skills and ability to create and maintain a student-centered learning environment to develop opportunities for professional development, and to encourage parental involvement and community partnerships to achieve school improvement. If a local school council fails to renew the performance contract of a principal rated by the general superintendent, or his or her designee, in the previous years’ evaluations as meeting or exceeding expectations, the principal within 15 days after the local school council’s decision not to renew the contract may request a review of the local school council’s principal non-retention decision by a hearing officer appointed by the American Arbitration Association. A local school council member or members or the general superintendent may support the principal’s request for review. . . . . All requests to review the retention or non-retention of a principal shall be submitted to the general superintendent, who shall, in turn, forward such requests within 14 days of receipt to the American Arbitration Association. . . . . If the local school council does not retain the principal and the principal requests a review of the retention decision, the local school council and the parties shall be considered adversarial parties and a hearing officer shall be chosen between those 2 parties in the manner described in Section 34-85 of this Code. The hearing shall begin within 45 days after the initial request for review. The hearing officer shall render a decision within 45 days after the hearing begins. The Board shall contract with the American Arbitration Association for all of the hearing officer’s reasonable and necessary costs. In addition, the Board shall pay any reasonable costs incurred by a local school council for representation before a hearing officer.</p>
<p>1.10 The hearing officer shall conduct a hearing, which shall include (i) a review of the principal’s performance, evaluations, and other evidence of the principal’s service at the school, (ii) reasons provided by the local school council for its decision, and (iii) documentation evidencing views of interested persons, including, without limitation, students, parents, local school council members, school faculty and staff, the principal, the general superintendent or his or her designee, and members of the community. The hearing officer shall set the local school council decision aside if that decision, in light of the record developed at the hearing, is arbitrary and capricious. The decision of the hearing officer may not be appealed to the Board or the State Board of Education. If the hearing officer decides that the principal shall be retained, the retention period shall not exceed 2 years.</p>
<p>IV. FACTS</p>
<p>A. INTRODUCTION</p>
<p>Elizabeth Elizondo (“Petitioner” or “Principal”) was selected by the Local School Council (“Respondent” or “LSC”) as the principal for Finkl Academy (“Academy”), an elementary school in the Chicago Public Schools, under a four-year “Uniform Principal Performance Contract” dated March 21, 1996, for the period April 1, 1996, to March 31, 2000. The contract provided that it “shall expire at the end of its stated term and shall not grant or create any contractual rights or other expectancy of continued employment beyond the term of this Agreement.” The Petitioner has been the Academy’s principal since the Academy opened.</p>
<p>The Academy is located between the Pilsen and Little Village communities on the southwest side of Chicago and serves over 750 students in grades prekindergarten through the eighth grade. The student population is nearly 90 percent Hispanic and 10 percent African-American. The school has been on remediation status since October 1996 because of student scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). The school has developed community partnerships with the Finkl Steel Company, Flex-Mat Company, and Alivio Health Clinic.</p>
<p>B. THE NONRETENTION DECISION</p>
<p>Members of the LSC met on October 27, 28, and 29, 1999, to consider the renewal of the Petitioner’s contract. As part of the process, the Respondent surveyed teachers and other employees at the Academy. Seventeen of the surveys were returned indicating the person who completed the survey thought the Petitioner’s contract should not be renewed. These surveys included comments briefly indicating the reason for this opinion. Three others indicated they did not want her contract renewed but did not include comments. One response did not indicate any opinion, stating that the responding person had not been at the school long enough, but that the person believed the school has a lot of problems stemming from the inefficiency of the administration. Thirty-two responses indicated the LSC should renew the Petitioner’s contract.</p>
<p>On October 28, the Respondent met and considered a number of documents including past evaluations of the Petitioner by the LSC, the School Improvement Plans, the staff surveys, and the Regional Educational Officer’s most recent evaluation of the Petitioner. LSC member Miller did not attend the meeting because of another commitment. He testified that he talked to LSC members about the October 28 meeting later the afternoon of October 28.</p>
<p>On October 29, the Respondent voted not to retain the Petitioner as principal of the Academy. LSC members voting in favor of not renewing the Petitioner’s contract were Mrs. Ortiz, Mr. Miller, Mrs. Garcia, Mr. Steiner, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Balderas. Mr. Vargas abstained and Mrs. Manrique voted against the motion. On November 1, 1999, the Petitioner wrote the respondent requesting a statement of reasons for her nonretention.</p>
<p>On November 12, 1999, the Respondent met with Ms. Siegel to discuss Ms. Siegel representing the Respondent in this matter. On November 23, 1999, the Respondent met with Ms. Siegel to discuss responding to the Petitioner’s request for the reasons for her nonretention. The Respondent sent the Petitioner a statement of its reasons in a letter dated November 24, 1999. A copy of that letter is attached as Exhibit A.</p>
<p>C. APPEAL OF THE NONRETENTION DECISION</p>
<p>On November 1, 1999, the Petitioner notified Paul Vallas, the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the Chicago Board of Education (“Board”) that she was appealing the Respondent’s nonretention decision. Thereafter on November 10, 1999, the Board’s General Counsel wrote the American Arbitration Association indicating that it was “desirous of entering into a contractual relationship with AAA for establishment of a program for the review by AAA arbitrators of local school councils’ principal retention decisions.” In that letter, the General Counsel indicated that the CEO had received a request from the Petitioner for a review of the Respondent’s nonretention decision. The letter also indicated that the hearing must begin within 45 days of the date of receipt of the request for review.</p>
<p>On November 22, 1999, the CEO wrote the AAA expressing his support for the Petitioner’s request for review of the Respondent’s nonretention decision. In that letter, the CEO stated that he believed “that decision to be arbitrary and capricious.” He also reminded the AAA that the hearing had to begin within 45 days of the Petitioner’s November 1, 1999, request.</p>
<p>On November 29, 1999, Ms. Siegel notified the Board that she had been retained to represent the Respondent in this matter. Ms. Siegel followed up that letter with another letter dated December 3, 1999, to the Board’s Legal Department asking for an update on the scheduling of the hearing on the Petitioner’s appeal. On December 6, 1999, the AAA wrote the Board’s General Counsel stating that it was necessary to meet with the General Counsel to work out details of the new program before the AAA could proceed.</p>
<p>On December 7, 1999, the AAA sent a letter to the Petitioner, the Board’s General Counsel, and the CEO acknowledging receipt of the November 19, 1999, demand for arbitration. The letter included a list of potential hearing officers, but the list did not satisfy the Reform Act’s criteria for hearing officer selection. A copy of the letter was not sent to the Petitioner’s attorney although the General Counsel’s office was aware that Petitioner was represented by counsel.</p>
<p>The Board’s General Counsel did not forward the letter of December 7 to the Petitioner’s counsel and it did not respond to the AAA letter itself. On December 13, 1999, the General Counsel notified the AAA that the CEO was “hereby withdrawing as an active participant in the above-referenced matter.” On January 5, 2000, Mr.Quinlan notified the AAA that he was representing the Petitioner in this matter. In that letter, Mr. Quinlan explained the statutory procedures for selecting a hearing officer. He also asked the AAA to immediately proceed to convene this statutory arbitration.</p>
<p>Following negotiations between the Board and the AAA regarding terms of the program, the AAA sent a letter to the Petitioner and Respondent on January 12, 2000 enclosing a list of five names from which the parties were to select a hearing officer.</p>
<p>D. EVALUATIONS</p>
<p>The Petitioner’s 1996-97 evaluation by the Respondent showed a total score of 61. (A score between 50-110 was defined as “Meets Expectations” and a score between 111 and 140 was defined as “Exceeds Expectations.”) The Petitioner’s 1997-98 evaluation resulted in a score of 17. (A score between 0 and 19 was defined as does not meet expectations. She received ratings of “does not meet expectations” in areas of school leadership and in communication of the school curriculum and student achievement. The evaluation indicated that the Petitioner needed to provide the Respondent with satisfactory explanation of internal accounts, have LSC members present during staffing decisions, maintain a professional and equitable environment towards staff and parents, and insure that forms that effect availability services and benefits to students are filed in a timely manner.</p>
<p>The Respondent’s 1998-99 annual evaluation of the Petitioner resulted in a cumulative score of 20. (A score between 20-26 is defined as “Meets Expectations.” A score between 0-19 is defined as “Does not Meet Expectations.”) The evaluation showed “Does Not Meet” ratings for interpersonal relations with parents and community. Only in the area of student attendance did the Petitioner receive a “Exceeds Expectations” rating.</p>
<p>In 1997, the Board’s Regional Executive Officer (“REO”) evaluated the Petitioner and gave her a cumulative score of 24. (A score of 33-20 was defined as “Meets Expectations.”) She received “Does Not Meet” ratings in Elementary Student Assessment (Reading). In 1998 the REO gave the Petitioner a rating of 26. (A score of 20-26 was defined as “Meets Expectations.” She did not receive a “Does Not Meet” rating from the REO in any criterion that year.</p>
<p>In 1999 the REO gave the Petitioner a score of 25. (A score of 20-26 being defined as “Meets Expectations.”) She received a “Does Not Meet” with respect to Elementary Student Assessment (Reading).</p>
<p>E. TEST SCORES</p>
<p>The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (Reading Comprehension Results for Grades 3 through 8 Combined) shows 67.0 percent of students in Quartile 1 in 1996 and 41.5 percent in that quartile in 1999. In 1996, 24.6 percent of the students taking the test were ranked in Quartile 2 and 40.4 percent were ranked in that quartile in 1999. In 1996, 8.1 percent of the students ranked in Quartile 3 and 16.7 percent in 1999. In 1996, 0.4 percent of the students taking the test were ranked in Quartile 1, 2.5 percent in 1998, and 1.5 percent in 1999. In 1996 9.5 percent of the students were ranked at or above the national average and 19.6 percent in 1999.</p>
<p>With respect to “Math Total” for the same grades, 68.4 percent of the students raked in Quartile 1 in 1996 and 34.7 percent ranked in that quartile in 1999. In 1996, 22.1 percent were ranked in Quartile 2 and 39.1 percent in 1999.</p>
<p>F. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS</p>
<p>The 1996-1997 School Improvement Plan (SIP) recognized that certain aspects of the attendance program were working but suggested that work was needed on such matters as improved communication with parents and increased incentives. The plan indicated certain aspects of discipline were working but that parent involvement and staff development needed work. The SIP also suggested there needed to be work on a stronger uniform policy. With respect to safety, the SIP indicated that parent patrol, a security guard, and security cameras were working, but such things as gang and drug prevention needed work. The 1996-97 SIP indicated that there needed to be work on better communication with teachers, parents, and students. The SIP indicated that such staff development issues as team building, individual professional development, curriculum development, and strategies for test preparations needed work.</p>
<p>The 1997-1998 SIP acknowledged that the spring of 1996 was the first opportunity to test the student body. While the majority of scores were still below grade level, the SIP noted that there was an overall increase in students’ scores. The SIP recognized accomplishments for 1996-1997 as including incentives for honor roll students and for perfect attendance students, parents’ read aloud, and small classrooms. Listed as items needing work were attendance recognition every marking period, communication with parents and teachers, increasing parental involvement, increasing parental support, gang prevention, wiring for computers, better communication with parents, increased home visits, increase teacher-to-teacher communication at all grade levels, grade books and lesson plan books monitored regularly, increase teacher participation in staff development, increase math and reading staff development, use of technology, school-wide bilingual curriculum and policies.</p>
<p>The 1997-1998 SIP established priority goals and identified the responsible person. The Petitioner was responsible for developing a remediation plan, implement daily read aloud and independent reading by July 1997, develop an after school remediation program for under-achieving students. The section on alignment of budget allocations listed improving student achievement, insuring all students are secure, and increasing parental involvement as priorities.</p>
<p>The 1998-1999 SIP listed of accomplishments for 1997-98 included parents’ read aloud, extended day, year-round school schedule, incentives for honor roll students and perfect attendance students, and small classrooms. Among the items listed as needing work were more community outreach, communication with parents and teachers regarding discipline, increased parental involvement with respect to discipline, increased parental support, gang and drug prevention, lack of wiring for computers between classrooms and between computer lab and classrooms, and lobbying the Board for help in installing computer networking, teacher-to-teacher communication, review of job responsibilities, increased student participation in staff development, school-wide bilingual curriculum and policies, and primary reading curriculum.</p>
<p>Among the priority items for curriculum were developing continuity with a curriculum calendar and giving a weekly reading test. The priority goals under alignment of budget allocations listed improving student achievement and increasing parental involvement. The Petitioner was responsible for implementing a daily read aloud and independent reading as well as maintaining reduced student teacher ratios and for the SIP Monitoring Committee’s submitting monthly reports to the Respondent. The Petitioner was also responsible for integrating computer use into instruction, providing staff development on increased use of technology and on leadership skills, increasing communication about school progress, and monitoring the Bridge Program and Lighthouse Program.</p>
<p>The 1999-2000 SIP showed a number of accomplishments. It indicated that what needed work included the read aloud program, parent involvement in discipline matters, increasing parental support, installing wiring for computers, creating a comprehensive staff development schedule, increasing math and reading staff development, networking with community businesses,</p>
<p>G. STAFF SURVEYS</p>
<p>Past staff surveys showed divergent views regarding the Petitioner’s performance. There were numerous surveys highly supportive of the Petitioner. Negative comments related to parent/community involvement, providing training, dealing fairly with everyone, and providing instructional leadership. There are a number of petitions and letters from students and parents supporting the renewal of the Petitioner’s contract.</p>
<p>H. REPORTS</p>
<p>In April 1997, the CPS Director of Intervention, Office of Accountability sent the Petitioner and Respondent a report indicating various weaknesses in the Academy, including grade brooks and lesson plans not monitored regularly, professional development not meeting staffs’ needs, bilingual program not clearly received, no evidence of remediation program for low achieving students, and unavailability of after school program. The report recommended that lesson plans be reviewed regularly, a comprehensive review of the bilingual program be conducted, and a comprehensive staff development plan be implemented. In 1997, the CPS Department of Language and Cultural Education found that the Academy’s bilingual program was not in compliance with respect to individual entry assessment and updating the student on line roster and other specified items.</p>
<p>For most of its existence the Academy has been on remediation or probation status. While test scores have improved in many areas during this time, this probationary status continues. There is evidence that there is a high turnover in the student population and a large number of students who do not speak English or for whom English is a second language.</p>
<p>V. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES</p>
<p>A. THE PETITIONER</p>
<p>1. Timeliness</p>
<p>The Petitioner argues that these proceedings are not time-barred. The Petitioner asserts that the failure of the AAA and the Board to act strictly within the timelines of Section 34-2 does not justify stripping the principal’s statutory right to a hearing on the merits. The Petitioner says it is absurd to contend in an employment dispute that the failure of the employer to negotiate a contract with a statutorily designated neutral can strip the employee of a statutory entitlement.</p>
<p>2. Merits</p>
<p>According to the Petitioner, the Respondent has the burden of proof in establishing that it properly acquitted its responsibilities in evaluating the principal in the manner mandated by the legislature. The Petitioner argues that a written evaluation of the Petitioner is required and that the evaluation was conducted improperly. She also contends that the vote on October 29 is invalid because two of the LSC members who voted on October 29 were not present for deliberations on October 28. It is the Petitioner’s position that the evidence fails to establish any rational justification for the Respondent’s decision and it is therefore arbitrary and capricious.</p>
<p>B. THE RESPONDENT</p>
<p>1. Timeliness</p>
<p>The Respondent argues that the requirement that the hearing begin within 45 days after the initial request for review is mandatory and jurisdictional. The Respondent claims that had the Petitioner responded diligently to the efforts of the AAA to initiate proceedings, the arbitration could have begun in a timely manner. Because she did not, the Respondent asserts that the case must be dismissed.</p>
<p>2. Merits</p>
<p>The Respondent contends that the Petitioner has failed to carry her burden of demonstrating that the non-renewal of her contract by the Respondent was “arbitrary and capricious.” The Respondent asserts that it acted properly under the Reform Act and that its decision not to renew the Petitioner’s contract should be sustained.</p>
<p>VI. DISCUSSION</p>
<p>A. TIMELINESS</p>
<p>The 1989 Chicago School Reform Act transferred governmental authority from the Board to newly created entities called “Local School Councils.” One LSC was established for each attendance center operated by the Chicago Board of Education. The LSCs have limited government authority as specified in 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3.</p>
<p>Under the Reform Act, LSCs have the authority to select the principal but they have no authority to contract or employ; only the Board is authorized to do so. 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3; 5/34-18; 5/34-8.1; 5/34-21.3. Both the LSC and the Board are signatories to the contract; the Board is the employer and the LSC acts as an agent of the Board. However, an LSC has the authority to determine whether the performance contract of a principal for its attendance center shall be renewed. 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3(2).</p>
<p>Under the Reform Act, principals have a property right in their position for the duration of their performance contract. See Fummarollo v. Chicago Board of Educ., 142 Ill.2d 54, 153 Ill.Dec. 177 (1991). During the term of the contract, the principal may be removed only for cause. Principals have no expectation or entitlement to contract renewal.</p>
<p>The Academy’s LSC voted not to renew the Petitioner’s contract and the Petitioner then requested a review of that decision by a hearing officer within the time period specified by statute. See 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3(1)(B). See Hamilton v. Chrysler Corp., 281 Ill.App.3d 284, 666 N.E.2d 758, 760 (1st Dist.1996) (duty of complainant to establish compliance with limitations period). Cf. Carver v. Nall, 166 Ill.2d 554, 714 N.E.2d 496, 498 (1999) (party seeking judicial review of an administrative decision must strictly adhere to Act’s procedures.) At that point the Petitioner had done all she was required to do by the statute in order to commence the review process.</p>
<p>Once the Petitioner requested review of the LSC’s nonrenewal decision, the statute places the obligation of notifying the AAA and making arrangements for a hearing on a third party, specifically the “general superintendent” (i.e. the CEO). Neither the Petitioner nor the Respondent has the statutory authority or power either to contract with the AAA regarding the hearing procedure or to contact the AAA in order to commence the proceeding. Nonetheless, the representatives of both the Petitioner and the Respondent both made numerous attempts, contacting both the General Counsel’s office and the AAA. For example, an attorney in the General Counsel’s office testified that the Petitioner’s attorney contacted him approximately 15 times during November and December in an attempt to move the process and create rules governing the process.</p>
<p>Following receipt of the Petitioner’s request for review, the CEO, through the Board’s General Counsel then notified the AAA of the Petitioner’s request for review within the time specified by statute. In that letter, the General Counsel recognized that no contract or other arrangements had been made, including agreeing on which arbitration rules were applicable to the proceedings, the selection procedures for the hearing officer, and the hearing officer’s compensation. See 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3(2) (“The Board shall contract with the American Arbitration Association for all of the hearing officer’s reasonable and necessary costs.”).</p>
<p>While this was going on, the CEO wrote a letter to the AAA on November 22, 1999, expressing his support for the Petitioner’s request for review of the Respondent’s nonretention decision and stating that he believed “that decision to be arbitrary and capricious.” An Associate Attorney from the General Counsel’s office testified that during this time the he was representing the Petitioner. The Associate Counsel testified that he told the Respondent’s president that because he would be representing the Petitioner it would not be appropriate for him to talk to the president about the matter.</p>
<p>Nearly a month later, the Board still had not worked out an agreement with the AAA. The AAA’s Regional Vice President wrote the General Counsel on December 6, 1999, stating that it was necessary to meet with the General Counsel to work out details of the new program before the AAA could proceed. The AAA letter of December 7, 1999, did not include a list of hearing officers in compliance with the requirements of the Reform Act. Furthermore, a copy of the letter was not sent to Petitioner’s attorney although the General Counsel was aware that Petitioner was represented by counsel.</p>
<p>Following negotiations between the Board and the AAA regarding terms of the program, the AAA sent a letter to the Petitioner and Respondent on January 12, 2000 enclosing a list of five names from which the parties were to select a hearing officer. Neither the Petitioner nor the Respondent was in a position to compel the hearing proceedings to go forward until the AAA and the Board reached an agreement on the terms on or about January 12, 2000.</p>
<p>Despite having aligned himself with the Petitioner, less than a month later, the Board’s General Counsel notified the AAA that the CEO was “hereby withdrawing as an active participant in the above-referenced matter.” The Associate Counsel testified that at some point he then advised the Petitioner’s attorney that the General Counsel’s office would not be representing the Petitioner.</p>
<p>As summarized above, the facts of this case differ from those in the cases cited by Respondent, including Jones v. General Superintendent of Schools of City of Chicago, 58 Ill.App.3d 504, 374 N.E.2d 834 (1st Dist. 1978) (board of education had no authority to dismiss or remove principal where board did not hold hearing on case within specified time limit), Carter v. State Board of Educ., 90 Ill.App.3d 1042, 414 N.E.2d 153 (1st Dist. 1980) (teacher himself caused delay attendant upon instituting proceedings); and McReynolds v. Civil Service Comm’n, 18 Ill.Ap.3d 1062, 311 N.E.2d 308 (1st Dist. 1974) (Civil Service Commission responsible for delay in commencing hearing). Unlike the situation here, in none of these cases, did a third-person control access to the administrative hearing process.</p>
<p>Certainly, the Legislature did not intend that the 45-day provision relating to commencement of the hearing to be construed in a manner that a third-party’s action or inaction would result in the forfeiture of the rights of either the Petitioner or the Respondent, both to a hearing on the merits, where the third-party was the only one empowered under the Act to come to terms with the AAA regarding a hearing. See Kaplan v. Tabb Associates, Inc., 276 Ill.App.3d 320, 657 N.E.2d 1065 (1st Dist. 1995) (“shall” should be considered permissive only if it is evident from the context of the statute or the clear intent of the drafters that it is permissive). This conclusion was particularly compelling here where the CEO acted in a variety of capacities. At times, the CEO, on behalf of the Board, has acted together with the LSC as the employer. Following the Petitioner’s request for a hearing, the CEO aligned himself with the Petitioner and the General Counsel’s office acted as counsel for the Petitioner. Just days before the 45-day period expired, the CEO unilaterally withdrew his support for and representation of the Petitioner. However, there was no formal substitution of attorney and correspondence from the AAA and the Respondent apparently was not forwarded to Petitioner’s counsel in a timely manner.</p>
<p>Finally, it is unclear as to which party would be prejudiced by a determination that these proceedings are time-bound. For example, in Jones v. General Superintendent of Schools of City of Chicago, 58 Ill.App.3d 504, 374 N.E.2d 834 (1st Dist. 1978), it was held that the board of education had no authority to dismiss or remove a principal when the board did not commence the hearing proceedings in a timely manner. See also McReynolds v. Civil Service Comm’n, 18 Ill.Ap.3d 1062, 311 N.E.2d 308 (1st Dist. 1974) (where Civil Service Commission did not commence hearing in a timely manner, employee’s discharge was set aside) Under these circumstances, it would be unconscionable to permit the CEO’s action or inaction to deprive either party of the right to a hearing as contemplated by the Reform Act. Cf. Jones v. Municipal Officers Electoral Bd., 112 Ill.App.3d 926, 446 N.E.2d 256 (1st Dist. 1983) (where interpretation is required, we will select constructions that leads to a logical result, considering object to be attained). Accordingly, it is concluded that these proceedings are not time-barred and are arbitrable.</p>
<p>B. MERITS</p>
<p>1. Introduction</p>
<p>The hearing officer may set aside the Respondent’s decision only if, in light of the record developed at the hearing, it is determined that the decision is “arbitrary and capricious.” The Respondent’s action is arbitrary and capricious if it (1) relies on factors the legislature did not intend for it to consider, (2) entirely fails to consider an important aspect of the problem, or (3) offers an explanation for its decision that runs counter to the evidence before it or that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view. Waste Management of Illinois, Inc. v. Pollution Control Bd., 231 Ill.App.3d 278, 284-85 (1st Dist. 1992), citing Greer v. Illinois Housing Development Authority, 122 Ill.2d 462 (1988). The Respondent has no burden to support its conclusions with a given quantum of evidence. 231 Ill.App.3d at 284.</p>
<p>In determining whether or not to retain the Petitioner, the Respondent was acting in a quasi-legislative function. Cf. Tyska v. Board of Educ. v. Township High School Dist 214, 117 Ill.App.3d 917, 927, 453 N.E.2d 1344, 1353 (1st Dist.1983) (decision to close school and to reassign students to other attendance zones is exercise of discretionary powers granted to board and is quasi-legislative in nature). The Reform Act did not require the LSC to conduct any sort of hearings, receive evidence or testimony, or make determinations based on the evidence or testimony in making its decision to renew or not renew the Petitioner’s contract. Thus, the Respondent was not acting as a quasi-adjudicative body. See 5 ILCS 120/2(d) (Illinois Open Meetings Act) (a “quasi-adjudicative body” is an administrative body charged by law or ordinance with responsibility to conduct hearings, receive evidence or testimony and make determinations based thereon). Compare Jay Grenig, Alternative Dispute Resolution § 5.40 (2d ed. 1990) (where there is an adjudicative hearing, the hearing must be conducted by all arbitrators). It is significant that the Reform Act does not give a principal the right to appear at a meeting where a local school council is considering the renewal of the principal’s contract to present evidence and testimony and to cross-examine witnesses and challenge evidence presented by those opposing renewal of the contract.</p>
<p>2. Inadequate Student Academic Improvement</p>
<p>a. “At Risk” Status of the Academy</p>
<p>The Academy was placed on remediation in the fall of 1996 because of student academic performance. In 1997, CPS placed the Academy on probation because of low test scores. The Academy is still on probation.</p>
<p>b. Test Results</p>
<p>During the Petitioner’s service at the Academy, its students have made gains in their test scores. In 1999, 19.6 percent of the students tested in grades 3 through 8 were at or above the national average compared with 9.5 percent in 1996. In that same year, 1.5 percent were in the fourth quartile compared with 2.5 percent in 1998 and 0.4 percent in 1996.</p>
<p>With respect to math, 28.8 percent were at above the national average in 1999, compared with 29.5 percent in 1998, and 10.5 percent in 1996. In 1999, 6.6 percent were in the quartile 4 compared with 8.9 percent in 1998 and 0.7 percent in 1996.</p>
<p>While there has been improvement in many areas with respect to these test scores, the Respondent’s judgment that the scores remain deficient is not arbitrary and capricious. It is not irrational for the Respondent to desire even better test performance. The Respondent’s dissatisfaction with the test scores is reflected to some degree in the Board’s placing the Academy on probation.</p>
<p>3. Instructional Leadership</p>
<p>a. Generally</p>
<p>The Respondent is the instructional leader at the Academy. The Respondent is of the opinion that there are persistent problems with the Academy curriculum, including inadequate bilingual education and a pattern of inconsistency throughout the curriculum.</p>
<p>b. Deficiencies in General Curriculum</p>
<p>The School Improvement Plan has identified improvement of reading as the school’s number one priority. While witnesses disagreed as to whether there was an effective reading program, there is some credible evidence that there has not been an acceptable follow-through on the reading objectives of the SIP. Even the REO’s 1999 evaluation indicated the Petitioner did not meet expectations with respect to elementary student assessment—reading.</p>
<p>A number of the witnesses recognized the importance of the read aloud program. The Petitioner had the responsibility of maintaining the program despite the problems of finding a person to conduct it. The failure of a parent volunteer to conduct the program as promised does not excuse the Petitioner from making reasonable efforts to find another staff member or volunteer to conduct this important program.</p>
<p>It is unclear, however, whether the Petitioner or the Respondent is responsible for the failure to maintain a full-day kindergarten. Accordingly, the Petitioner’s nonrenewal is not supported by the claim that she failed to maintain a full-day kindergarten. Likewise, the Petitioner cannot be faulted for the failure of the Board to hardwire the Academy for computers when it was built or adequately to fund the computer program. The evidence shows that she has made reasonable attempts to obtain donations of computers and to seek volunteers to install the computers.</p>
<p>c. Inadequate Program of Bilingual Education</p>
<p>While there is conflicting evidence on the issue, there is still evidence of reports from various agencies criticizing the bilingual program at the Academy. Most of the criticism of the bilingual program from outside agencies occurred in 1997. The November 1999 report on the bilingual program is lacking in detail and is not persuasive. While some were not happy with various aspects of the program, the evidence does not establish that the bilingual curriculum was unacceptable or that the Petitioner was deficient in this area.</p>
<p>4. Ineffective Implementation of Programs and Strategies</p>
<p>The evidence is insufficient to establish that the Petitioner had a pattern or practice of missing or canceling meetings or relegating her duties to others. Further, the evidence does not demonstrate the Petitioner had a pattern of failing to implement the School Improvement Plans.</p>
<p>5. Inadequate School Management and Administration</p>
<p>a. Staffing Problems</p>
<p>The record discloses that the Respondent was very interested in becoming involved in Academy staffing matters. While the Respondent may not have had the legal authority to hire staff, there is no showing that it was inappropriate for the Respondent to be kept informed of staffing matters and to be given an opportunity to express its views on staffing matters. The Respondent’s determination that the Petitioner did not give the Respondent a satisfactory role in staffing is not arbitrary and capricious.</p>
<p>With respect to the security guard allegedly smelling of alcohol while in the parking lot after school, the Petitioner was not in anyway derelict in her duties. The one incident was reported to the assistant principal who reported it to the guard’s supervisor. The Petitioner did not have supervisory responsibility for the guard and the evidence does not show that the matter was reported to her or that she could have done anything more than the assistant principal did. Further, the evidence discloses only the one incident and there is no evidence of any repeat of the alleged misconduct.</p>
<p>b. Attrition</p>
<p>While there is a high rate of faculty turnover, the evidence is insufficient to establish that the Petitioner is responsible for the turnover or could do anything to correct the problem. The record shows that a large number of the teachers who left during the four years left because of family situations, including pregnancy, or left Chicago. The anecdotal evidence that some teachers may have left because of disagreements with the Petitioner is unpersuasive.</p>
<p>c. Lack of Professional Development Opportunities</p>
<p>The evidence fails to demonstrate any inadequacy with respect to professional development opportunities for faculty. There is credible testimony that faculty were given many opportunities for professional development and that their requests to participate in development activities were routinely granted.</p>
<p>d. Disorganization</p>
<p>The evidence does not support the claim that the Petitioner failed to prepare for foreseeable absences or that there was a lack of understanding of lines of authority.</p>
<p>e. Lighthouse Program</p>
<p>The evidence of a “chaotic transition” at the Lighthouse Program involved the first day of the program. There is insufficient evidence to show that the Petitioner’s actions with respect to this program were inadequate or unsatisfactory.</p>
<p>f. Loss of School Lunch Funding</p>
<p>There is insufficient evidence with respect to this issue to show any fault on the part of the Petitioner regarding loss of school lunch funding.</p>
<p>g. Financial Problems</p>
<p>The evidence is insufficient to show that the Petitioner engaged in improper accounting procedures. There is nothing in the record with respect to how internal accounts are to be maintained and how contributions from community partners are to be treated.</p>
<p>h. Failure to Cooperate with Respondent</p>
<p>Likewise, the evidence does not show that the Petitioner transferred funds without first obtaining LSC authorization or that she has been unresponsive to the Respondent’s requests for financial information.</p>
<p>6. School Leadership Concerns</p>
<p>a. Poor Communication and Negative Relationships</p>
<p>It appears from the evidence that the Petitioner got along very well with some faculty and parents and had poor relationships with others. The evidence is insufficient to show poor communication with faculty or parents.</p>
<p>b. Absenteeism</p>
<p>This reason for nonrenewal is arbitrary and capricious. There is no showing that the LSC ever communicated its desires with respect to the Petitioner taking vacation days to which she is entitled under her contract. Nor is there any evidence that the Petitioner violated any school rules, policies, or procedures in the scheduling of her vacations. When she did take vacations, she designated who was to act in her place.</p>
<p>7. Misuse of Community Partnership</p>
<p>There is no credible evidence to support this reason. While the Petitioner may have indicated that if she left certain community partners would probably leave with her, the evidence fails to show that she threatened to encourage these partners to leave or that she attempted to pressure any partner to cease working with the academy.</p>
<p>8. October 1999 Evaluation Process</p>
<p>The record shows that the Respondent conducted an evaluation to assess the educational and administrative progress made at the school during the Petitioner’s current performance-based contract. Cf. Miller v. City of Tacoma, 979 P.2d 429, 434 (Wash.1999) (evaluation involved discussing and considering worth, quality and significance of applicants’ qualifications). The Respondent based its evaluation on those items listed in the Act. There is credible evidence in the record that the LSC members examined past LSC evaluations of the principal as well as an evaluation by the Regional Executive Officer as well as other documents relating to the Petitioner’s performance.</p>
<p>Nothing in the Act suggests that the evaluation had to be in writing. See Kurr v. Town of Cicero, 235 Ill.App.3d 528, 601 N.E.2d 1233, 1237 (1st Dist. 1992) (ordinance requiring “detailed report” of building code violations held not to require a written report); Tyska v. Board of Educ. Township High Sch. Dist. 214, 117 Ill.App.3d 917, 928, 453 N.E.2d 1344, 1354 (1st Dist. 1983) (in absence of statute or rule requiring school board to make detailed findings, none are required).</p>
<p>The evaluation in October differs from the annual evaluation the Respondent is required to perform. 105 ILCS 5/34-34-2.3.1(A). That statute expressly requires the LSC to use an approved evaluation form. Testimony that “Lesson 6” prepared by the Board requiring a written annual evaluation is not persuasive here. A careful reading of Lesson 6 discloses that the timelines and the various requirements are applicable only to the annual evaluations of the principal. There is no contention here that the Respondent failed to conduct the annual evaluations properly.</p>
<p>Where the legislature has desired a written evaluation, it has expressly so provided. Id. (“evaluate the performance of the principal of the attendance center using a Board approved principal evaluation form”). Furthermore, had the legislature intended to require the evaluation to be in writing, it would not have been necessary to provide that an LSC provide written reasons for the nonrenewal “if requested by the principal.” 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3.1(C).</p>
<p>Based on the foregoing, it is determined that the Respondent satisfied the statutory requirement that its decision not to renew the Petitioner’s contract be based on an evaluation of the Petitioner.</p>
<p>9. Open Meetings Law</p>
<p>Any violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Law is waived if an action is not brought within 60 days of its occurrence. 5 ILCS 120/3. Thus, any claim of violation of the Open Meetings Law presented in this proceeding is not timely. The Petitioner does not cite any specific statute or case that would support its position that the Open Meetings Law was violated.</p>
<p>Moreover, the vote not to renew the Petitioner’s contract was taken at an open meeting on October 29. While some members may not have been present during the deliberations on October 28, there is no evidence that any member voted on October 29 who was not present when the vote was taken. There was no absentee voting and no one voted on behalf of another member. While Section 34-2.2 may prohibit proxy votes,, it does not require that a board member who votes be present for any or all of the deliberations preceding the vote.</p>
<p>CONCLUSION</p>
<p>If the Petitioner had been removed during the term of her contract, then that action would have been reviewed to determine whether there was “cause” for removal. The evidence in this case would fall short of satisfying the “cause” standard for removal during the term of a contract. However, this case involves a determination not to renew the Petitioner’s four-year contract at the expiration of the contract. By statute, the hearing officer is limited to determining only whether the nonrenewal decision was arbitrary and capricious in light of the record. See Legislative History of P.A. 91-622 (An arbitrator “would be empowered only to overturn a principal retention decision by the local school council, if that decision were arbitrary and capricious. What that essentially means, is that we can expect very few if any, council decisions to be overturned. But this provides a safety valve, in the event that a school council is indeed out of control, is making decisions based on whether the principal’s willing to sign a contract to hire the brother-in-law of a council member or inflate the grades of the child of a local school council member.”).</p>
<p>The evidence does not establish that the Respondent acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it decided not to renew the Petitioner’s contract. First, the Respondent did not rely on any factors that the legislature did not intend for it to consider. The Respondent is expressly authorized to consider “any other factors deemed relevant by the local school council.” 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3 (1.5). The record discloses that the LSC members did not entirely fail to consider an important aspect of the matter. The LSC members considered the student academic improvement as defined by the school improvement plans, student absenteeism rates, instructional leadership, the effective implementation of programs, policies or strategies to improve academic achievement, school management, and any other factors deemed relevant by the Respondent. The two prior evaluations of the Petitioner’s performance were considered and each of these evaluations included the above criteria.</p>
<p>The Respondent is charged by statute with making the determination whether to renew the Petitioner’s contract. The Respondent took into consideration the results of a surveys of faculty and staff but it is not bound by those surveys; the Respondent is charged with the responsibility of exercising its discretion and judgment to determine whether the Petitioner’s contract should be renewed.</p>
<p>Since the Respondent is primarily responsible for fulfilling this statutory mandate, it is not for the hearing officer to determine whether or not the board’s decisions was wise or expedient or to interfere with the exercise of the powers by the members of the LSC in matters confided to their discretion. The hearing officer cannot question the wisdom of the final action. Right or wrong, it is the decision of the Respondent adopted as a quasi-legislative function within its powers. For the Respondent’s decision to be upheld, only one or more of its reasons must withstand scrutiny.</p>
<p>In this case the Respondent’s determination that the improvement in student test scores and the continued placement on probation were grounds for nonrenewal is not arbitrary and capricious. While reasonable persons may disagree as to whether this was a wise or expedient decision, the decision was the Respondent’s to make. There is credible evidence showing that the Academy has been on probation since 1997 and that, while there has been improvement, a substantial number of Academy students score below the national norms on tests. It is not arbitrary and capricious for the Respondent to look for new leadership in hopes of improving academic performance at the Academy.</p>
<p />
<p>VII. DECISION</p>
<p>Having considered all the relevant evidence and the arguments of the parties, it is concluded that:</p>
<p>1. The case is arbitrable.</p>
<p>2. The Respondent’s nonretention of the Petitioner was not arbitrary and capricious.</p>
<p>Accordingly, the decision of the Respondent is sustained.</p>
<p>The Administrative fees and expenses of the American Arbitration association totaling two thousand seven hundred fifty dollars ($2,750.00) shall be borne by the Board of Education of the City of Chicago. Therefore, the Board of Education of the City of Chicago shall pay to the American Arbitration Association the sum of two thousand seven hundred fifty dollars ($2,750.00).</p>
<p>In accordance with S.H.A. 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3 (1.5), the reasonable and necessary costs of the hearing officer totaling sixteen thousand five hundred dollars ($16,500) shall be borne by the Board of Education of the City of Chicago. Therefore, the Board of Education of the City of Chicago shall pay to the American Arbitration Association the sum of sixteen thousand five hundred dollars ($16,500).</p>
<p>The reasonable and necessary costs of the hearing officer also include the preparation of a verbatim transcript by court reporters. Because of the statutory mandate that the hearing officer render a decision within 45 days after the hearing begins, it was necessary to expedite delivery and preparation of the transcript as well as to hold hearings on Saturdays, Sundays, and evenings. In accordance with S.H.A. 105 ILCS 5/34-2.3(1.5), the Board of Education of the City of Chicago shall pay to Esquire Deposition Services the reasonable and necessary costs of the court reporter services in providing transcription services.</p>
<p>Executed this thirteenth day of March 2000.</p>
<p>____________________________________</p>
<p>Jay E. Grenig, Hearing Officer</p> | Full text of Arbitrator’s decision in Finkl principal-retention hearing | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/full-text-arbitrators-decision-in-finkl-principal-retention-hearing/ | 2005-07-27 | 3 |
<p>By Elizabeth Piper and Julia Fioretti</p>
<p>TALLINN (Reuters) – Only “miracles” can move Brexit talks far enough forward to fulfill Britain’s hopes of launching discussions next month on its future ties with the European Union, the head of the European Commission said on Friday.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Theresa May has been hoping to use an informal EU meeting in the Estonian capital Tallinn to harness what she describes as renewed goodwill over Brexit to push the talks beyond the terms of the divorce, now just 18 months away.</p>
<p>Britain had aimed to make a breakthrough at a summit in Brussels on Oct. 19-20. Two years have been set aside for the Brexit talks and Britain risks crashing out of the 28-state bloc without a deal on future trade terms come March 30, 2019.</p>
<p>But Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU executive and long a bogeyman for Britain’s vocally eurosceptic press, said the first stage of talks on the rights of expatriates, the border with EU member Ireland and the financial settlement when Britain leaves had not gone far enough.</p>
<p>“By the end of October, we will not have sufficient progress,” Juncker told reporters in Tallinn, a day after his chief negotiator ended the last round of Brexit talks.</p>
<p>“At the end of this week, I am saying that there will be no sufficient progress from now until October unless miracles will happen.”</p>
<p>His words were echoed by other leaders, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also saying both sides would need “a small miracle” to move on. Ireland’s Leo Varadkar said it was “still very evident that there’s more work to be done”.</p>
<p>Their words will be a blow for May, who wants to move quickly on to discussion of the future trade relationship and a transitional arrangement – part of the deal Britain says is needed before any kind of financial settlement can be agreed.</p>
<p>NEW TONE</p>
<p>After three months of talks which have become bogged down in a spat over the divorce bill, the British prime minister tried to reset the tone with a speech a week ago in Florence.</p>
<p>She had hoped to speak directly to EU leaders and reassure them Britain was not picking unnecessary fights, going as far as to make concessions on the future role of the European court and on the Brexit bill.</p>
<p>In Tallinn on Friday, May sidestepped questions over whether she was confident of the October deadline.</p>
<p>She met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the summit to speak about Brexit, Iran and North Korea on Friday, a British government source said.</p>
<p>In an early morning visit to Estonia’s Tapa military base, where 800 British troops are deployed as part of NATO’s move to defend against a newly assertive Russia, May said Britain was “unconditionally committed” to protecting Europe after Brexit.</p>
<p>By focusing on defense, May wants to show that Britain has something to offer its European neighbors. She will say she is ready to share British expertise – including through the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – to help EU nations build up their own cybersecurity capability.</p>
<p>That, she hopes, could bolster her argument on the Brexit talks, and coax the EU into making concessions.</p>
<p>“A week ago I gave a speech in Florence which set out how we have made good progress so far, I thought we could make further progress and moving on to looking at the future deep and special relationship and partnership that we want to build with the European Union when the UK has left the EU,” she told Reuters after meeting the British troops.</p>
<p>“I set out what I thought was the future deep and special partnership we can build with the EU and I look for the speech that I set out for that being reciprocated in proposals that the EU will come forward with.”</p> | Only 'miracles' can move Brexit talks forward by October, EU tells Britain | false | https://newsline.com/only-039miracles039-can-move-brexit-talks-forward-by-october-eu-tells-britain/ | 2017-09-29 | 1 |
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<p>Jennifer Wertz is a mother of three young children. &#160;She works at a Circle K gas station in order to support her family. &#160;And when a man came in and threatened her life, and by extension the lives of her three children, she did what any sensible woman would have done…she shot him in the chest.</p>
<p>Wertz had gotten her gun exactly for this reason, being a woman working at a gas station during the night is not exactly the safest occupation and she didn’t feel like her employer was doing enough to ensure her safety.</p>
<p>“Robberies have been going on like this for the past few weeks. They have done nothing to protect me. And I felt the need to protect myself.”</p>
<p>That need became a reality when 23 year old Ferron Mendez and his accomplice came in armed with a gun and wearing masks. &#160;When Mendez point his gun at Wertz, that is when she acted by pulling her gun and shooting him in the stomach.</p>
<p>Mendez fell to the ground, got up and staggered away, being found by police a nearby parking lot. &#160;Apparently honor among thieves is a foreign concept to his accomplice who fled the minute Wertz opened fire, leaving Mendez behind.</p>
<p>Unfortunately Mendez is expected to survive. &#160;Here’s a photo of him from the hospital:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>The detective investigating the crime wrote the following in his report:</p>
<p>“She told me she thought she would be shot and killed and never see her kids again. Because she was in immediate fear of losing her life she pulled out her 9 mm Ruger handgun, ran the slide to chamber a round, she then pulled the trigger one time discharging the firearm.”</p>
<p>Mendez faces the following charges:&#160;aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempt to commit armed robbery, conspiracy and other crimes.</p>
<p>Obviously Wertz is not facing any charges for her actions.</p>
<p>One would think that this story wrapped up nicely and had a happy ending as the mother of three can go home to her children while the bad guy is in the hospital before going to jail.</p>
<p>Nope.</p>
<p>Circle K, it all it’s BS glory decided to FIRE Jennifer Wertz for not allowing herself to be raped and murdered.</p>
<p>Wertz summed up the Circle K policy thus:</p>
<p>&#160;‘We are not to chase. We are not to provoke. We are not to do anything we just stand there and give them what they want and they leave.’</p>
<p>That sounds eerily similar to gun control groups telling rape victims that they should just lay back and take it because that’s better than shooting a rapist. &#160;No seriously, that is the Brady Campaigns actual stance as evidenced by this facebook screenshot I grabbed before they took it down:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>So apparently Circle K agrees that women deserved to be raped so long as the criminals are allowed to do it safely.</p>
<p>This is the kind of ass backwards logic that keeps predators walking upright to prey on the unarmed.</p>
<p>Well, Jennifer Wertz was NOT going to be a victim.</p>
<p>‘What if he would have come in and just shot me just because I wasn’t behind the counter?&#160;</p>
<p>‘I’m sick and tired of being a sitting duck.’&#160;</p>
<p>This is a photo of Jennifer Wertz NOT in the hospital because she exercised her right to keep and bear arms:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>And Circle K fired her.</p>
<p>While that is unfortunate, the good people around the country have chipped in after Wertz’s mom started a gofundme page to help fight against this injustice. &#160;Seeking only $20,000 to help Wertz and her children get by until she found work again, at the time of this articles publication the page has raised $73,000.</p>
<p>If you want to take a look at the page feel free to go here:&#160; <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/gas-station-robbed-mom-of-3-fired" type="external">https://www.gofundme.com/gas-station-robbed-mom-of-3-fired</a></p>
<p>So maybe this story has a happy ending after all. &#160;But I will still avoid the Circle K and their protocol for ensuring criminal safety in the future. &#160;I suggest you do the same.</p>
<p>If you want to express your displeasure with Circle K feel free to follow this link to their corporate contact page and let them know that you do not appreciate their policy encouraging the rape and murder of their female employees: <a href="http://www.circlek.com/contact-form?language=en" type="external">Circle K Contact Form</a></p>
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<p>We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.</p> | Woman Fired From Circle K For Shooting Armed Robber | true | http://bulletsfirst.net/2017/09/29/woman-fired-circle-k-shooting-armed-robber/ | 0 |
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<p>DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. reported higher fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Wednesday, but the mood was subdued as the company warned that it’s facing a tough year.</p>
<p>Sales in North America — responsible for 89 percent of Ford’s pretax profits in 2017 — are slowing down after reaching record highs, so Ford will have to fight harder to hold onto its share of that market. Rising interest rates will impact profits at Ford’s credit arm.</p>
<p>Ford says it’s facing big losses in its mobility unit, which plans to start testing self-driving vehicles in multiple cities this year.</p>
<p>And the company continues to be hurt by rising costs for steel and aluminum, which accounted for a $1.2 billion hit to its 2017 earnings. Ford spends around $10 billion on commodities each year; steel and aluminum make up two-thirds of that total.</p>
<p>Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said the company might be able to absorb those hits if it were leaner and nimbler. Ford ended 2017 with a 6 percent adjusted operating margin and expects that to fall this year, far from its goal of achieving an 8 percent margin. By contrast, its chief rival General Motors Co. reported a 7.5 percent adjusted operating margin in the third quarter.</p>
<p>“It’s very, very clear that we have to improve the fitness of the company,” Shanks told reporters Wednesday.</p>
<p>Ford CEO Jim Hackett said the company has teams in place figuring out plans to pare billions in costs. It wants to cut vehicle engineering costs, for example, and simplify manufacturing by offering customers fewer ways to order popular vehicles like the Ford Escape SUV. Hackett also said the company believes it can chop marketing costs by targeting customers more effectively.</p>
<p>Ford has said it wants to cut $14 billion in costs by 2022. But on a conference call, analysts expressed frustration with the scant details Hackett has provided so far.</p>
<p>“What’s taking the time is we’re going through and doing all the fact-based work to find out where the biggest opportunities are,” Hackett said. “The more time I’ve gotten with it, the more hopeful and clear it’s becoming to me about where we can find the savings.”</p>
<p>For 2017, Ford’s full-year earnings jumped 65 percent to $7.6 billion. Shanks said the recent tax reform package gave Ford a $400 million boost in the calculation of its future tax obligations. The company expects its ongoing tax rate to fall from 30 percent to 18 percent in 2019.</p>
<p>Ford’s adjusted full-year earnings of $1.78 per share fell just short of Wall Street’s predictions. Analysts polled by FactSet predicted earnings of $1.79 per share.</p>
<p>The Dearborn-based automaker expects to earn between $1.45 and $1.70 per share this year.</p>
<p>The lion’s share of Ford’s profits came from North America, which posted a pretax profit of $7.5 billion. Ford eked out small profits in Europe and Asia but lost money in South America and the Middle East and Africa. Ford Credit reported a $2.2 billion profit for the year.</p>
<p>Based on its North American performance, the company said its 54,000 U.S. factory workers are eligible for $7,500 profit-sharing checks, which will be distributed in the spring.</p>
<p>Ford’s automotive revenue rose slightly to $145.7 billion even though its global sales were flat at 6.6 million cars and trucks. That was higher than the $144 billion analysts had forecast.</p>
<p>Ford earned more on each vehicle thanks in part to a higher mix of expensive SUVs and pickup trucks. Ford debuted its most expensive truck ever, the Super Duty Limited, in the fall; it tops out at $94,000.</p>
<p>Ford’s fourth quarter earnings jumped to $2.4 billion — from an $800 million loss a year ago — largely due to a recalculation of its pension costs and its future taxes. Its adjusted profit, of 39 cents per share, fell short of analysts’ forecast of 44 cents.</p>
<p>Fourth quarter automotive revenue rose 7 percent to $38.5 billion, beating analysts’ expectations.</p>
<p>DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. reported higher fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Wednesday, but the mood was subdued as the company warned that it’s facing a tough year.</p>
<p>Sales in North America — responsible for 89 percent of Ford’s pretax profits in 2017 — are slowing down after reaching record highs, so Ford will have to fight harder to hold onto its share of that market. Rising interest rates will impact profits at Ford’s credit arm.</p>
<p>Ford says it’s facing big losses in its mobility unit, which plans to start testing self-driving vehicles in multiple cities this year.</p>
<p>And the company continues to be hurt by rising costs for steel and aluminum, which accounted for a $1.2 billion hit to its 2017 earnings. Ford spends around $10 billion on commodities each year; steel and aluminum make up two-thirds of that total.</p>
<p>Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said the company might be able to absorb those hits if it were leaner and nimbler. Ford ended 2017 with a 6 percent adjusted operating margin and expects that to fall this year, far from its goal of achieving an 8 percent margin. By contrast, its chief rival General Motors Co. reported a 7.5 percent adjusted operating margin in the third quarter.</p>
<p>“It’s very, very clear that we have to improve the fitness of the company,” Shanks told reporters Wednesday.</p>
<p>Ford CEO Jim Hackett said the company has teams in place figuring out plans to pare billions in costs. It wants to cut vehicle engineering costs, for example, and simplify manufacturing by offering customers fewer ways to order popular vehicles like the Ford Escape SUV. Hackett also said the company believes it can chop marketing costs by targeting customers more effectively.</p>
<p>Ford has said it wants to cut $14 billion in costs by 2022. But on a conference call, analysts expressed frustration with the scant details Hackett has provided so far.</p>
<p>“What’s taking the time is we’re going through and doing all the fact-based work to find out where the biggest opportunities are,” Hackett said. “The more time I’ve gotten with it, the more hopeful and clear it’s becoming to me about where we can find the savings.”</p>
<p>For 2017, Ford’s full-year earnings jumped 65 percent to $7.6 billion. Shanks said the recent tax reform package gave Ford a $400 million boost in the calculation of its future tax obligations. The company expects its ongoing tax rate to fall from 30 percent to 18 percent in 2019.</p>
<p>Ford’s adjusted full-year earnings of $1.78 per share fell just short of Wall Street’s predictions. Analysts polled by FactSet predicted earnings of $1.79 per share.</p>
<p>The Dearborn-based automaker expects to earn between $1.45 and $1.70 per share this year.</p>
<p>The lion’s share of Ford’s profits came from North America, which posted a pretax profit of $7.5 billion. Ford eked out small profits in Europe and Asia but lost money in South America and the Middle East and Africa. Ford Credit reported a $2.2 billion profit for the year.</p>
<p>Based on its North American performance, the company said its 54,000 U.S. factory workers are eligible for $7,500 profit-sharing checks, which will be distributed in the spring.</p>
<p>Ford’s automotive revenue rose slightly to $145.7 billion even though its global sales were flat at 6.6 million cars and trucks. That was higher than the $144 billion analysts had forecast.</p>
<p>Ford earned more on each vehicle thanks in part to a higher mix of expensive SUVs and pickup trucks. Ford debuted its most expensive truck ever, the Super Duty Limited, in the fall; it tops out at $94,000.</p>
<p>Ford’s fourth quarter earnings jumped to $2.4 billion — from an $800 million loss a year ago — largely due to a recalculation of its pension costs and its future taxes. Its adjusted profit, of 39 cents per share, fell short of analysts’ forecast of 44 cents.</p>
<p>Fourth quarter automotive revenue rose 7 percent to $38.5 billion, beating analysts’ expectations.</p> | Ford earnings jump in 2017, but pain ahead this year | false | https://apnews.com/1e84d6d8b84e46aea440d3cd21f9f3f6 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>BOSTON — The stock market is often uncannily prescient when it comes to anticipating better days ahead. Long before the finest minds are able to script out a path to economic recovery, military victory, or whatever it is that plagues the world — stock markets rally. With very few exceptions over the past 100 years, markets have rallied some six to nine months before the end of an economic downturn. Typically the more severe the decline in share values, the more vigorous the subsequent rallies that follow.</p>
<p>Stocks tend to hit rock bottom when hope has been extinguished, when the world looks down a long, dark tunnel only to see pitch black. As the first thin rays of light appear far in the distance, they are invisible to the naked eye of even the most cunning seers. Yet they are mysteriously identified by the night-vision goggles of the market.</p>
<p>The reasons for this are the subject of much debate. Of course the stock market is notorious for its drunken follies during the late stages of bull markets, such as we witnessed during the dot com euphoria of the late 1990s. But let’s look at some of the major bottoms in the U.S. stock market. The market’s predictive prowess comes to play most often towards the end of deep and scarring bear markets. It is then, in its sober wisdom, that the stock market so often detects those signals of hope that are inaudible amid the static of noisy pessimism.</p>
<p>Take July 1932, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank to its Depression-era low of 41 points before rallying to more than 100 by the end of 1933, a gain of more than 140 percent. The newspapers of July 1932 reflected a nation paralyzed by fear, poverty and hopelessness. The market’s rise off the low was due, in retrospect, to the early and fragile hope that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, widely expected to win the November election, might actually deliver on what began as just a campaign slogan: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.”</p>
<p>The economic statistics that coincided with the powerful 1932-1933 rally are grim. Unemployment continued to rise in 1933 to a level of nearly 25 percent while the economy continued to contract. Yet the market correctly identified that at least some of the many economic and social initiatives of the early 1930s would eventually gain traction and arrest the decline in economic activity.</p>
<p>The low made during WWII is equally illustrative. It occurred in the spring of 1942, a time when Japan’s string of successes throughout the Pacific was stunning and the German move eastward into Russia looked unstoppable. The Dow hit 93 before rallying to around 145 by late summer 1943, a 56 percent move.</p>
<p>In his book, "Wealth, War, and Wisdom," former chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley Barton Biggs writes:</p>
<p>"The New York stock market recognized that the victories at the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in May and June of 1942 were the turn of the tide in the Pacific, and from the lows of that spring never looked back, but I can find no such thoughts in the newspapers or from military experts of the time. A barrage of defeats and surrenders had engendered intense criticism of the management of the war and the commanders in the field. The wise men of the media were so busy wringing their hands that they didn’t grasp the significance of the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway as the high-water mark of Japan’s grand design for empire and of its attack on the United States."</p>
<p>A final important market low worthy of examination took place in December 1974. It occurred against the backdrop of a country numb from Nixon’s resignation in August of that year and the impending collapse of the South Vietnamese regime (the fall of Saigon would take place in April 1975). The Dow advanced from 577 in December 1974 to 879 in June 1975, just six months later, for a return of 52 percent.</p>
<p>It was during this period that stagflation — the toxic combination of slow growth and high inflation — became the buzz word of the day. Consensus opinion held that Watergate would disgrace the office of the presidency for decades to come and render the United States impotent on the global stage. Yet the stock market somehow discerned that inflation would eventually return to pre oil-shock levels, that Gerald Ford would usher in a period of political calm, and that business would once again prosper in the face of the costly and protracted Cold War.</p>
<p>The question that looms today is: can policy makers prevail in warding off a long and deep recession? In the face of the current crisis, the actions of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Treasury and Congress have been swift. With all the partisan bickering in Washington, this may not seem the case. Yet the Lehman bankruptcy, the key cause of the dislocation to credit markets, which in turn led to the collapse of the global economy, occurred only last September. In other words, in less than six months, the proportional size and breadth of the policy response to our economic woes dwarfs by a large margin what it took the Japanese authorities to do some five years into Japan’s economic downturn in the 1990s.</p>
<p>Certainly many of the initiatives to stimulate the economy will fail, as did many under Roosevelt. Yet the actions taken collectively are bold, imaginative and vast in scale. We are not only talking about traditional spending and highly aggressive and innovative monetary stimulus, but a huge mortgage relief program and the largest financial stability initiative in history. In the aggregate, the economic recovery program which is just now gathering steam is so massive in scope that one is forced to look to the Great Depression to find even a remote precedent.</p>
<p>Yet our economic downturn cannot by any good measure be seriously compared to the Depression. Unemployment in the United States, according to the most dire predictions, is likely to reach 10 to 12 percent in 2010 versus a peak of 25 percent during the Depression; GDP, again under the most pessimistic assumptions, is forecast to contract by a cumulative 8 to 11 percent before this recession ends, whereas during the Depression, GDP was cut in half.</p>
<p>Might we be approaching one of those junctures in history where we see pitch black while the stock market begins to make out the silhouette of a late 2009 recovery? Certainly if the whispers of a recovery some six to nine months away exist at all, they are being drowned out by the cacophony of the media and the high-pitched rancor on Capital Hill. If the history of previous bear markets provides any insight, it is that stocks will rise long before the most seasoned economists and financiers can spot an economic recovery on the horizon.</p>
<p>Andrew Parlin is a founding principal of Parlin Investments LLC in Boston. Contact: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>More GlobalPost dispatches on commerce:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/090306/chinas-economy-pay-attention-7-little-words" type="external">China's economy: Pay attention to 7 little words</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china-and-its-neighbors/090306/why-these-taiwanese-call-their-president-liar" type="external">Why these Taiwanese call their president a "liar"</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/egypt/090305/cairo-2-day" type="external">Cairo on $2 per day</a></p>
<p>For more on the global economic crisis: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/090212/special-report" type="external" /></p> | Opinion: Is now the time to buy? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-03-09/opinion-now-time-buy | 2009-03-09 | 3 |
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<p>Need to know: At least 40 people are dead and dozens more wounded after <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/26/us-afghanistan-bomb-idUSBRE89P09O20121026" type="external">a suicide bombing at a mosque in northern Afghanistan</a>.</p>
<p>The bomber chose the first day of Muslims' Eid al-Adha festival to strike the mosque in Maymana, the capital of Faryab province. Worshippers had just attended prayers and were gathered outside the building to exchange holiday greetings when the attacker triggered the blast.</p>
<p>Reports say a large number of policemen were among those killed. Their commanding officers, plus local government officials also present, may have been the intended targets; they appear to have escaped without serious injury.</p>
<p>The local police chief has blamed the Taliban for the attack, though a spokesman for the group said they didn't know who was responsible.</p>
<p>Want to know: All in all Eid isn't off to a peaceful start. In Syria, where both rebel groups and government forces are supposed to be observing a ceasefire over the four-day holiday, there are already <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/26/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE88J0X720121026" type="external">reports of violations</a> by both sides.</p>
<p>The truce officially began at 6 a.m. this morning, after <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/121025/syria-ceasefire-serious-doubt-bloodshed-continues" type="external">Damascus signed off on it</a>yesterday. But since then, activists say, rebels have attempted to storm an army base between Aleppo and Damascus, while troops fired artillery on a village nearby. The government's armed opponents <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/26/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE88J0X720121026" type="external">say</a> there is no Eid for them but liberation; and as long as they continue fighting for it, the Syrian army reserves itself the "right to reply to terrorist attacks."</p>
<p>Not that you'd know it from Syrian TV: state media taken up today with <a href="http://sana.sy/eng/21/2012/10/26/449249.htm" type="external">pictures of President Bashar al-Assad</a> calmly attending Eid prayers and receiving worthies' best wishes.</p>
<p>The ceasefire, such as it is, lasts until Oct. 29.</p>
<p>Dull but important: When the New York Times announced it was launching <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120627/the-new-york-times-launches-chinese-language-site" type="external">a Chinese version</a> back in June, its foreign editor said it would not be "tailoring it to the demands of the Chinese government," but hoped nonetheless that Beijing would "welcome what we're doing."</p>
<p>And so it did - until what the Old Gray Lady was doing was investigating the Chinese premier's finances. In <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/business/global/family-of-wen-jiabao-holds-a-hidden-fortune-in-china.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all" type="external">a lengthy article</a> published today, the Times details more than $2 billion of assets that it says have been accumulated by relatives of Wen Jiabao during his 10 years as prime minister.</p>
<p>China promptly <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20091675" type="external">blocked the newspaper's website</a>, in Chinese and in English, and erased references to the report on social media networks. Even the BBC's site was barred for reporting on it (so long, Chinese Chatter readers!). China's Foreign Ministry called the Times investigation a "smear," and has accused its editors of "ulterior motives."</p>
<p>Just because: Girls in Pakistan's Swat Valley will soon be attending classes at <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/pakistan/121026/despite-taliban-pakistani-college-named-malala" type="external">the Malala Yousafzai College</a>.</p>
<p>In a show of defiance to the Taliban gunmen that shot the teenage activist in the head for advocating women's education, a government-run high school has decided to change its name in Malala's honor. Local officials say they want to send the militants a clear message: "We will not be deterred by their actions."</p>
<p>Admirable, to be sure, but are such gestures enough? What about the security of pupils and teachers, who are now more than ever Taliban targets? This year alone, 96 schools have been attacked by militants in Pakistan, parts of which are among <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/the-dismal-state-pakistans-education-system" type="external">the most dangerous places in the world to go to class</a>. Activists say it's only when the government stops talking about outrage and starts punishing abusers that Pakistani children will get the education they deserve.</p>
<p>Strange but true: Oh come on, people. Records show that <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/password-list-common-passwords" type="external">"password" has topped the list of 25 most common online passwords</a>, for the second year in a row. "123456" was the next most popular log-in in 2012, followed by - *palm to forehead* - "12345678."</p>
<p>This is all according to "password management" company SplashData, which admittedly seems like it shouldn't be, er, splashing everyone's data around like that; but frankly if your password is "password" you get what you deserve.</p>
<p>"Just a little bit more effort in choosing better passwords will go a long way toward making you safer online," SplashData coaxes. And no, "654321" does not count.</p> | Chatter: Suicide bomber kills dozens at Afghanistan mosque | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-10-26/chatter-suicide-bomber-kills-dozens-afghanistan-mosque | 2012-10-26 | 3 |
<p />
<p>The devastation from Hurricane Katrina is pretty clearly the most important thing affecting the country right now. But it’s not the only thing affecting the country right now, and it seems odd that the Bush administration is getting ready to focus solely on the recovery—or rather, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05bush.html?pagewanted=print" type="external">getting lots of photo-ops in</a> to make it look like they’re doing something about the recovery. Whatever. Neverthless, are they dropping everything else? See <a href="http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/002285.html" type="external">this</a> bit of news from Knight-Ridder:</p>
<p />
<p>[The hurricane] could crimp Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s ability to press on with the president’s highly ambitious foreign policy agenda, even as the administration grapples with such complex issues as the war in Iraq and Iran’s nuclear program, according to diplomats and analysts….</p>
<p>Bush had planned to host Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington this week, but the White House asked that the meeting be rescheduled to take place during Bush’s trip to the United Nations, so he could concentrate on hurricane relief.</p>
<p>Why are they putting this off? The Secretary of State isn’t needed for hurricane relief. Nor, for that matter, is the president’s “supervision” required day in and day out. And repairing America’s image abroad, along with everyday foreign policy matters—especially since, say, Iraq doesn’t look like it’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090500313.html" type="external">getting any better</a>—seems like a pretty crucial task at this point. But apparently not. Even the Vice-President is <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/06/national/w083222D53.DTL" type="external">flying down</a> to Louisiana. All hands on deck and say ‘cheese,’ that sort of thing. I’m beginning to think that Sam Rosenfeld might be onto something <a href="http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archives/2005/09/index.html#007598" type="external">here</a> when he says that the White House is treating this as an all-important opportunity to boost its image: “That’s the Bush approach in a nutshell — make messes, then take credit for boldly tackling those messes.” Perhaps Bush critics will rue the day they started screaming at the president to get down there and “do something” long after the fact. Hopefully not.</p>
<p /> | The Joys of Multi-Tasking | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2005/09/joys-multi-tasking/ | 2005-09-06 | 4 |
<p>With the three major indexes at record levels and bond yields looking unappealing, many investors are turning to dividend stocks as a way to fortify their financial holdings. This naturally has the effect of driving up prices on quality dividend stocks, so it pays to find income-generating companies that have been overlooked for one reason or another.</p>
<p>To help readers find worthwhile income investments they might have missed, we asked three Motley Fool investors to profile a high-yield stock that looks to be worth owning for the long haul. Read on to see why they selected Simon Property Group&#160;(NYSE: SPG), Phillips 66 Partners&#160;(NYSE: PSX), and Vodafone&#160;(NASDAQ: VOD).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/about/staff/RichDuprey/author.htm?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> (Simon Property Group): Throwing the baby out with the bathwater. That's essentially what's occurring in the retail real estate investment trust industry, where, because much of the retail landscape is a disaster, it follows that shopping malls will all go down, too.</p>
<p>Although there is some sense to that notion, just because e-commerce is ascendant and the mall anchor is on the wane doesn't mean the biggest, best run mall operators are going down as well. Simon Property Group is&#160;one of those that's getting tossed aside along with weaker operators. While it owns and operates malls, the REIT's properties tend to be at higher-quality malls and outlets, and that alone could offer reason for it to be among the last malls standing. Here are a few more reasons to consider Simon Property Group:</p>
<p>It just announced its <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/27/simon-property-group-a-strong-quarter-and-a-big-di.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">third dividend increase Opens a New Window.</a> of the year to a quarterly rate of $1.85 per share, for a yield of 4.7%. That's not the highest yield you'll find among retail REITs, but it's one that's well protected, as it has a payout ratio of just 66% of the company's expected 2017 FFO.</p>
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<p>Malls are at risk, and that's why Simon Property Group's stock is down nearly 20% over the past year. But look deeper and you'll find there's a real gem left behind after the bathwater is poured off.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> (Phillips 66 Partners): Energy investors are familiar with the high yields they can often find within the sector. Yet one thing that's easy to miss in the oil and natural gas arena is that companies have increasingly sought to create master limited partnerships that can own a portion of their business assets while taking advantage of favorable tax rules. Phillips 66 is one of those companies, and its Phillips 66 Partners MLP boasts a 5% dividend yield that tops that of its related company by two full percentage points.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/17/this-mlp-could-offer-retirees-sustainable-income.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Phillips 66 created the master limited partnership Opens a New Window.</a> in order to hold key midstream assets, and its goal in doing so was to create a growing stream of income for investors in the MLP. So far, that mission has worked out quite well, with distributions growing by more than 30% annually since 2013. Unlike some similar MLPs, Phillips 66 Partners has a strong balance sheet, and its disciplined approach to asset acquisitions and project construction has put it in an enviable position compared to some of its peers. With opportunities to pick up valuable assets on the cheap from unrelated entities at the same time that it continues to receive assets from Phillips 66, Phillips 66 Partners has the combination of solid growth prospects and reliable income that high-yield investors want from the investments in their portfolios.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/keithnoonan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Noonan Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;(Vodafone):&#160;When it comes to income-generating stocks in the telecoms sector, a lot of attention tends to focus on whether Verizon or AT&amp;T is the better play. There are some good reasons why those two telecom titans soak up so much focus, but Vodafone and its roughly 6% yield also deserve some attention from income-focused investors.</p>
<p>The company is emerging from a big spending period in Europe that should lead to earnings momentum, and its <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/12/2-top-dividend-stocks-in-international-telecom.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">recent merger Opens a New Window.</a> with Indian wireless carrier Idea gives Vodafone a leading position in the world's fastest-growing cellphone market. The country's wireless market is currently very competitive and far less profitable than its European strongholds as a result, but the situation will probably improve as India's middle class continues to grow and there's more room for premiumization.</p>
<p>Vodafone currently trades at roughly 29 times this year's expected earnings, and the average analyst calls for the company to grow earnings at a rate of roughly 13.5% annually over the next five years. That might make the company's stock look a bit pricey, considering the average S&amp;P 500 company is priced at roughly 20 times forward earnings and is expected to deliver 10% annual earnings growth over the next five years, but Vodafone's big dividend and long-term growth prospects tilt the valuation equation in its favor and make it a stock that should be on income investors' radars.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Phillips 66When 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=45983f92-a877-4e8b-b7fa-7095c2a3eba9&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Phillips 66 wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=45983f92-a877-4e8b-b7fa-7095c2a3eba9&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of October 9, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFNoons/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Noonan Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCop/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the 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;referring_guid=fa250110-bf44-11e7-a1c5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 High-Yield Stocks You Probably Missed | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/04/3-high-yield-stocks-probably-missed.html | 2017-11-04 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 11 Sep, 2017 13:08</p>
<p>Bibiana Steinhaus became the first ever female referee to officiate a German top-flight football match at the weekend – and plaudits for her composed performance have flooded in.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/sport/402378-first-female-referee-bundesliga/" type="external">READ MORE:&#160;Woman in black: German Bundesliga to see 1st woman referee officiate match in Europe’s top leagues</a></p>
<p>Steinhaus made history by taking charge of the Bundesliga meeting between Hertha BSC and Werder Bremen at the Olympiastadion in the German capital, Berlin, on Sunday, which ended in a 1-1 draw.</p>
<p>Among the major decisions to present themselves during the course of the game, Steinhaus issued just a solitary yellow card – on the 36th minute given to Hertha midfielder Per Skjelbred – and waved away appeals for two Hertha penalties.</p>
<p>The Bundesliga deemed her decisions correct and Steinhuas’ measured performance earned her the ‘Match Day 3’s Woman of the Matchday’ award from the league, usually awarded as Man of the Matchday after each round of games.</p>
<p>Journalists and football organizations also heaped praise on Steinhaus following her landmark game, viewing it as something of a breakthrough for women in football.</p>
<p>“Huge congratulations to Bibiana Steinhaus – the first female referee in Bundesliga history. What a role model,” UEFA tweeted.</p>
<p>“Bibiana Steinhaus just debuted as the first ever female #Bundesliga referee and did a great job. Hope to see her regularly,” Evan Wiess wrote.</p>
<p>Bibiana Steinhaus thanks for being a role model! only thanks to her alone, her performance and efforts! many others want to take credit</p>
<p>— Tatjana Haenni (@tatjanahaenni) <a href="https://twitter.com/tatjanahaenni/status/906949881335566337" type="external">September 10, 2017</a></p>
<p>On their website, Bundesliga <a href="http://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/bibiana-steinhaus-impresses-on-historic-debut-as-bundesliga-referee-458706.jsp" type="external">stated</a>&#160;the 38-year-old&#160;“hardly put a foot wrong” in the game and “had a firm hand on proceedings throughout.”</p>
<p>Matt Ford, journalist for German broadcaster <a href="https://twitter.com/dw_sports" type="external">DW Sports</a>, told RT Sport, “There weren’t really any controversial decisions to make between Hertha and Werder. She correctly played advantage for Hertha’s goal and also correctly waved away two Hertha penalty claims late on.</p>
<p>“Steinhaus has been officiating professionally in the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga for years, she’s a well-known figure, and she adapted to the Bundesliga in the same way that any referee would when making the step up.”</p>
<p>Hanover-born policewoman Steinhaus remained modest in her post-match interview, admitting she was relieved her maiden match was completed, allowing her to get on with being a Bundesliga ref.</p>
<p>“I take things one match at a time. I’ve been a referee for more than 20 years now and during that time I’ve experienced many wonderful things but have also had to overcome a few setbacks. I’m delighted and grateful to have the chance to officiate in the Bundesliga,” she told <a href="http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/news/y=2017/m=9/news=steinhaus-i-m-delighted-and-grateful-for-bundesliga-opportunity-2907521.html?_branch_match_id=398417220047501608" type="external">FIFA</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>The match was observed by her current partner – 2010 World Cup final referee Howard Webb – who watched from the stands, where Hertha also offered half-price tickets to female fans.</p> | Woman of the Matchday: Plaudits roll in for Germany’s 1st female referee after landmark game | false | https://newsline.com/woman-of-the-matchday-plaudits-roll-in-for-germanys-1st-female-referee-after-landmark-game/ | 2017-09-11 | 1 |
<p>In the coming weeks, Facebook Inc. will begin testing a feature that will allow news publishers to sign up subscribers through the social-media giant's Instant Articles program.</p>
<p>The subscriptions program will begin with a group of select publishers on Android devices only, as a disagreement between Apple Inc. and Facebook over whether Apple will get a cut of the subscription revenue continues to be negotiated, a person familiar with the matter said.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Facebook wants to let publishers keep 100% of all subscription revenue brought in through the program. But Apple is insisting that it collect 30% of all subscription sales, in keeping with its requirement that it get a cut of revenue generated from apps in its App Store, the person said.</p>
<p>Representatives for Apple didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Publishers have long been wary of Facebook's outsize role in news dissemination and its commanding presence in the digital advertising market. Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook are expected to receive 63% of U.S. digital ad spending this year, according to eMarketer -- which has made digital subscription growth a priority for many newspapers.</p>
<p>Encouraging users to pay for news is a significant step for Facebook, and the feature has long been requested by publishers.</p>
<p>The arrangement will start by testing metered paywalls that will initially allow 10 free articles from a publisher per month, as well as "freemium" models in which publishers can select which articles are paywall protected. Different metered models will be tested as the program progresses, the company said.</p>
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<p>In the future, Facebook said it would possibly test the use of "subscribe" buttons and other similar "call-to-action" features within its news feed.</p>
<p>The first test group will include the Washington Post; the Economist; Axel Springer SE's Bild and Spiegel; Tronc Inc.'s Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune and Baltimore Sun; and the Telegraph in the U.K.</p>
<p>"As with many products we build at Facebook, we'll observe how people respond to this new experience, and we'll be working with these partners to analyze, learn, and iterate over time. We hope to expand the test to additional partners in the future," Facebook said in a statement.</p>
<p>Several big publishers with robust digital subscription businesses, such as The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Financial Times, aren't participating in the initial test program.</p>
<p>A person familiar with the matter said the Journal had opted out at this phase because the 10 article free structure conflicts with the paper's tighter paywall model on its own site. But this person said the Journal would be open to possibly participating down the line as the program evolves.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for the New York Times said the paper had chosen not to participate in the program at this time but discussions with Facebook were continuing.</p>
<p>A representative for the Financial Times didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.</p>
<p>Write to Lukas I. Alpert at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 19, 2017 14:04 ET (18:04 GMT)</p> | Facebook to Test News-Subscription Sign-Up | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/10/19/facebook-to-test-news-subscription-sign-up.html | 2017-10-19 | 0 |
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<p>In the book, covert CIA operations officer Vanessa Pierson has dedicated her career to capturing one man: Bhoot, the world’s most notorious nuclear arms dealer. She’s back in this second thriller from Plame and Lovett.</p>
<p>At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, Karen Glinski will talk about her first book, “Stranded at Sheep Camp,” in which the character Emerson helps rescue a dachshund. Glinski will have her own two dachshunds on hand for children to pet and she will read to them from her book.</p>
<p>At 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, Gayle Lauradunn will be at Bookworks with her debut poetry collection, “Reaching for Air,” which tells the story of a childhood spent in a landscape full of beauty, hardship and violence.</p>
<p>Bookworks is at 4022 Rio Grande NW.</p>
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<p>AT TITLE WAVE BOOKS: Marilea Rabasa, writing as Maggie C. Romero, will sign her book “A Mother’s Story: Angie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7 at the bookstore, 2318 Wisconsin NE. It is an intimate portrait of how addiction was passed down in her family, but it is a story of hope and recovery.</p>
<p>WRITERS’ WORKSHOP: Aspiring authors can get guidance at a no-stress Writers’ Workshop from 3-5 p.m. Nov. 16 at Congregation Albert’s Rabbi David D. Shor Library, 3800 Louisiana NE. The session will include a presentation, then writing from prompts followed by voluntary sharing. It is free. To register, email <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>IN SANTA FE: Poets Mark Doty, Jeffrey Levine and Veronica Golos will read from and sign their poetry volumes at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, at Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 202 Galisteo St., Santa Fe.</p>
<p>Doty won the National Book Award for “Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems” (2008). Levine’s honors include the 2007 American Literary Review Poetry Prize. Golos is the author of “Vocabulary of Silence,” which won a 2011 New Mexico Book Award.</p>
<p>Valerie Plame and Sarah Lovett will be at Collected Works with their newest thriller, “Burned,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5.</p>
<p>Sara Sue Hoklotubbe will be at the bookstore with the latest installment of her popular Sadie Walela mystery series, “Sinking Suspicions,” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8.</p>
<p>Also on hand will be CB McKenzie, who will be signing his debut mystery novel, “Bad Country,” set in the Southwest and starring a former rodeo cowboy turned private investigator. It won the Tony Hillerman Prize.</p>
<p>Tony Stromberg will talk about and sign “Horse Medicine,” a new photographical exploration of the role horses play for us as teachers and healers from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, at Collected Works.</p>
<p /> | Former CIA agent Valerie Plame of Santa Fe at Bookworks with new novel | false | https://abqjournal.com/489981/new-thriller.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>If someone offers you a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge, smile and take a pass. Rest assured it’s a con.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>If someone offers you a piece of the Empire State Building, think it over. It's a legitimate IPO.</p>
<p>Empire State Realty Trust Inc., the company that controls the iconic Manhattan skyscraper, certainly one of the most recognizable office buildings in the world, is taking that property and several others public in an initial public offering expected to raise as much as $1 billion.</p>
<p>The company is converting into a real estate investment trust [REIT] whose shares will trade on the <a href="" type="internal">New York Stock Exchange</a> under the ticker symbol “ESB.” Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) <a href="" type="internal">Merrill Lynch</a> and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) are listed as lead underwriters on the offering. The REIT’s registration papers with the <a href="" type="internal">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> did not list the number of shares to be sold nor a price range for the stock.</p>
<p>While the deal will hardly rival that of <a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a>, the social media giant that’s also planning an IPO for later this year, an offering that includes a stake in one of the great American landmarks of the 20th Century is sure to generate buzz.</p>
<p>For nearly four decades, from its completion in 1931 to 1970 when it was supplanted by the <a href="" type="internal">World Trade Center</a>’s Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in America. Since Sept. 11, 2001, it has regained its status as New York’s tallest building.</p>
<p>Who can forget the image of an enraged King Kong perched atop the structure in the original 1933 film?</p>
<p>“It’s become an icon that transcends the city,” said John Tauranac, author of The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark. “It represents the United States right up there with the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument.”</p>
<p>But don’t expect the shares to soar like an Internet stock. Shares of REITs don’t jump out of the gate and double in value in a week or two. They’re viewed as long-term investments that pay out in quarterly or annual dividends rather than quick returns via a meteoric run-up in the stock price.</p>
<p>“It’s not as though there’s going to be any pop. You’re not going to double your money in a couple of weeks. What REIT investors are looking for are well-located properties with long-term leases,” said Lawrence Longua, director of the REIT Center at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.</p>
<p>Longua said the offering will likely be sold primarily to institutional investors who will view the REIT in the same vein as a consistent, dividend-paying utility stock -- but one that just happens to include an iconic architectural landmark.</p>
<p>Including the 102-story Empire State Building located in the heart of Manhattan, the company going public owns 12 office properties totaling 7.7 million square feet of office space of which 80% was leased as of Sept. 30, 2011, according to the SEC filing.</p>
<p>"The deal doesn’t deserve a premium just because the company’s called Empire State."</p>
<p>Seven of those properties are located in or near midtown Manhattan and they include more than 400,000 rentable square feet of retail space on their ground floors or lower levels. The five remaining office properties are located in Fairfield County, CT, and Westchester County, NY, described in the REIT’s filing as “densely populated metropolitan communities with immediate access to mass transportation.”</p>
<p>The company behind the REIT is Malkin Holdings LLC, led by father/son team Peter and Anthony Malkin. Malkin Holdings has owned the Empire State Building for most of the past decade as part of a complex partnership with the estate of legendary New York City real estate family the Helmsleys.</p>
<p>Under the Malkins the Empire State Building has undergone a much-needed facelift at a cost that could eventually run to $500 million, an effort to more competitively position the building against newer, state-of-the-art skyscrapers that have risen in and around New York City in recent decades.</p>
<p>Notably, the renovations have included tearing out walls to create bigger office spaces for larger tenants and more lucrative leases. The renovations have also included extensive energy saving measures now standard in newer office buildings. In addition, the building’s once well-appointed lobby got a much-needed makeover after falling into disrepair. The lobby serves as an entrance for the Empire State’s observation deck, one of New York City’s most popular tourist destinations.</p>
<p>According to the filing, the REIT will need an additional $55 million to $65 million to complete the renovations at its flagship property, hopefully by 2016.</p>
<p>Longua praised the Malkin group’s renovation efforts: “They turned it into a Class A building and they’ve attracted some good tenants. They had to do something radical and they did. And I think it’s worked,” he said.</p>
<p>Potential investors should be aware that the Malkin group intends to retain control of the REIT through ownership of Class B shares that won’t be sold to the public in the IPO and which entitle holders to 50 votes per share on matters affecting the company. The Class A shares to be sold in the IPO will entitle holders to just one vote per share.</p>
<p>Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based research firm IPOX Schuster LLC, said if an element of sentimental retail investors exists who want nothing more than to own a share of the Empire State Building it will likely be small and limited to New Yorkers.</p>
<p>“For New Yorkers there might be some sentimental value to this. For Chicagoans we don’t care. The deal doesn’t deserve a premium just because the company’s called Empire State,” he said.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Empire State Building to Be Sold in IPO | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/02/16/empire-state-building-to-be-sold-in-ipo.html | 2016-01-26 | 0 |
<p>Journalists are supposed to be impartial. Often that means interviewing sources who represent a range of views on an issue.</p>
<p>But what about when some of those sources hold views that have been widely dismissed by, like, science?</p>
<p>That's when you stop interviewing them, says BBC.</p>
<p>In an effort to improve its environmental reporting, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/07/06/bbc_staff_ordered_to_stop_giving_equal_air_time_to_climate_deniers/?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=socialflow" type="external">BBC has ordered</a> its journalists to stop giving climate change deniers equal air time.</p>
<p>Their climate change <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26845103" type="external">coverage was previously criticized</a> for "putting up lobbyists against top scientists as though their arguments on the science carry equal weight," and a progress report published last week found there was still an "over-rigid application of editorial guidelines on impartiality."</p>
<p>“The [BBC] Trust wishes to emphasize the importance of attempting to establish where the weight of scientific agreement may be found and make that clear to audiences,” <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10944629/BBC-staff-told-to-stop-inviting-cranks-on-to-science-programmes.html" type="external">wrote the report authors</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, some 200 staff have already attended courses where they are being instructed to stop giving "undue attention to marginal opinion."&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/science/140630/el-nino-weather" type="external">Floods, drought, war? It must be El Niño again</a></p>
<p>Critics of the BBC decision say it's unjust to flat out silence a portion of the debate.</p>
<p>But that's just the problem. BBC (and others, mind you) that lend equal air time to climate change deniers give the impression that a point of view held by 3 percent of experts is in fact held by 50 percent of experts, which in turn propagates that distortion among the masses.</p>
<p>For good measure, here's John Oliver with Bill Nye on the matter:</p>
<p />
<p /> | BBC tells reporters to stop giving climate change deniers equal say | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-07-07/bbc-tells-reporters-stop-giving-climate-change-deniers-equal-say | 2014-07-07 | 3 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-117435451/stock-photo-focus-on-a-blood-bag-in-hospital-ward.html?src=58Yc2UGb_aOrHGTmBuHvYg-1-33"&gt;wavebreakmedia&lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
<p />
<p>Here’s how the government shutdown may literally be killing people: by causing blood shortages.</p>
<p>For all the scorn heaped on government employees, some people forget that the faceless bureaucrats who populate Washington are often, in fact, a bunch of do-gooders—people who genuinely believe in the notion of public service. As such, they contribute to the public good in a lot of ways that are taken for granted, like their immense contribution to local blood banks. Thirty-eight percent of the population is eligible to give blood, but only 5 percent actually does so. A lot of that 5 percent apparently works for the federal government. Thanks to the shutdown, in just two days, four federal agency blood drives <a href="http://www.inovanewsroom.org/federal-government-shut-down-cancels-blood-drives/" type="external">scheduled by one DC-area health care system</a> have been canceled. The regional Red Cross has had to cancel six others in the Washington region.</p>
<p>Inova Blood Donor Services projects that the cancelations will result in its&#160;projected loss of 300 donations that would have helped 900 patients in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Inova’s&#160;donated blood collections supply 24 hospitals, which bank much of the blood for inevitable disasters or, say, terrorist attacks. The Red Cross is suffering from similar disruptions, projecting the loss of 229 donations, each of which could potentially save up to&#160;three lives. A single major trauma event&#160;can easily deplete a hospital’s entire blood store. The longer the shutdown goes on, the worse the situation is likely to get.</p>
<p>Rebecca&#160;Manarchuck, marketing director for Inova Blood Donor Services, says the Washington area supplies were already low, thanks to reduced collection rates that historically happen in the summertime. The shutdown is only compounding the shortage. Blood drives are carefully scheduled and planned well in advance. Doing them at government offices requires a host of logistical arrangements because of tight security and other considerations, meaning that rescheduling the drives for a later date won’t be an easy task. And even then, donated blood can’t even be used until three days after it’s given to allow time for all the screening tests, resulting in some lag time before it can be given to patients in need.</p>
<p>Inova is attempting to make up for the loss by encouraging people to donate blood at their three centers in Virginia. (The Red Cross is also encouraging people to donate at local chapters.) Members of Congress are encouraged to make an appointment <a href="http://www.inova.org/get-involved/blood-donor-services/index.jsp" type="external">here</a>&#160;and <a href="http://www.redcrossblood.org/gcp" type="external">here</a>.&#160;</p>
<p /> | Now the Government Shutdown Is Stopping Blood Drives | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/government-shutdown-causes-blood-shortages/ | 2013-10-03 | 4 |
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<p>One week before Veteran’s Day, military “LinkedIn” platform RallyPoint announced it just closed a $5 million Series A round led by Silicon Valley’s DBL Investors, which has invested in Pandora and Tesla.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>RallyPoint co-founders Yinon Weiss and Aaron Kletzing both served in the Iraq War and met at Harvard Business School, where they hatched the idea for a talent-recruiting site for the military. The one-year-old startup has raised a total of $6.6 million.</p>
<p>RallyPoint initially opened its doors solely to current service members who were looking for positions opening up within the military. Earlier this year on Memorial Day, the company welcomed veterans looking for jobs and networking opportunities. RallyPoint’s team says the company has more than 120,000 members currently and is adding approximately 1,000 new members each day.</p>
<p>The latest round of funding will be used to accelerate RallyPoint’s recruiting platform. For the past few months, RallyPoint has been running a small pilot program featuring employers like Honeywell (NYSE:HON), AT&amp;T (NYSE:T), Amazon and Bloomberg.</p>
<p>Weiss, who serves as the company’s CEO, says the pilot program has helped RallyPoint hone in on the tools necessary to support corporate recruiting.</p>
<p>For instance, input from the corporate partners helped RallyPoint’s team realize the need for better translation of military experiences; the company now automatically translates military profiles into a more traditional resume format suited to private-sector jobs. The platform will also allow recruiters to search by security clearance, so hiring managers can identify candidates who have the necessary clearance for a role.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The Talent Finder platform, as it’s called, will be made widely available to companies in early 2014. It is currently open only to pilot partners. Weiss says RallyPoint is modeling itself after LinkedIn in terms of achieving profitability; corporate partners will pay a fee in order to access RallyPoint’s talent base.</p>
<p>“I don’t know whether it will be 2014 or 2015, but I would like to get the majority of Fortune 500 companies as customers of ours,” says Weiss.</p>
<p>The company currently has five full-time employees. In terms of hiring, Weiss says the first priority is to hire more engineers; he estimates adding four or five more full-time employees.</p>
<p>“We’re fundamentally a software company, so our greatest asset is the engineering team,” says Weiss.</p> | Military ‘LinkedIn’ Raises $5 Million in Funding | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/11/04/military-linkedin-raises-5-million-in-funding.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>In the wake of the dollar’s recent resurgence, an array of commodities and commodities-related exchange traded products are being deemed vulnerable by market observers. That group could include the iPath Bloomberg Cotton Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEArca: BAL). &#160; Some believe the PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSEArca: UUP), which tracks the price… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/11/cotton-exchange-traded-note-could-soften/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Cotton Exchange Traded Note Could Soften | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/29/cotton-exchange-traded-note-could-soften.html | 2016-11-29 | 0 |
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<p>LONGMONT, Colo. — A piece of equipment defaced with swastikas at a Longmont playground has been removed and will be reinstalled after workers can sand and paint it.</p>
<p>A city spokeswoman told the Longmont Times-Call ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2hQU3Ya" type="external">http://bit.ly/2hQU3Ya</a> ) that other graffiti left at Loomiller Park has been covered up. Once snowplow work is done, she said they will also sand that equipment down and paint over it.</p>
<p>State Rep. Jonathan Singer discovered the vandalism Monday morning.</p>
<p>Singer says he and his wife were taking their 16-month-old daughter on a walk through the park when they found the swastikas scratched into at least four locations in the playground.</p>
<p>A swastika and other graffiti were also discovered drawn on the door of a Denver school in November.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Daily Times-Call, <a href="http://timescall.com/" type="external">http://timescall.com/</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Equipment defaced by swastikas removed from playground | false | https://abqjournal.com/920375/equipment-defaced-by-swastikas-removed-from-playground.html | 2 |
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<p>This undated image provided by Amazon shows the company’s Firefly app. A key feature of Amazon’s new Fire smartphone is its Firefly service, a visual search feature, which also has modes for music and video. (AP Photo/Amazon)</p>
<p>NEW YORK — Imagine using your phone to snap a photo of the cool pair of sunglasses your friend is wearing and instantly receiving a slew of information about the shades along with a link to order them.</p>
<p>It’s a great idea — but it doesn’t quite work.</p>
<p>Though many companies are trying to make “visual search” a reality, this seemingly simple notion remains elusive.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Take Amazon, which made visual search a key feature in its new Fire smartphone. The e-commerce company says the feature, known as Firefly, can recognize 100 million items. It’s similar to a Flow feature Amazon has on its apps for other phones.</p>
<p>So far, Firefly can reliably make out labels of products such as Altoids or Celestial Seasonings tea. That makes it easy to buy items such as groceries online.</p>
<p>But try it on a checkered shirt or anything without sharp corners, and no such luck.</p>
<p>“It works really well when we can match an image to the product catalog,” says Mike Torres, an Amazon executive who works on the Fire’s software. “Where things are rounded or don’t have (visual markers) to latch on to, like a black shoe, it’s a little harder to do image recognition.”</p>
<p>Visual search is important to retailers because it makes mobile shopping a snap — literally.</p>
<p>It’s much easier to take a picture than to type in a description of something you want. Shopping on cellphones and tablets is still a small part of retail sales, but it’s growing quickly. That makes it important to simplify the process as much as possible — especially as people look to visual sites such as Instagram and Pinterest as inspiration for purchases.</p>
<p>“Retailers are trying to get the user experience simple enough so people are willing to buy on their phones, not just use it as a research tool,” eMarketer analyst Yory Wurmser said.</p>
<p>Mobile software that scans codes, such as QR codes and UPC symbols, are fairly common. Creating apps that consistently recognize images and objects has been more challenging. Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru believes it could take at least three more years.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Since 2009, Google’s Goggles app for Android has succeeded in picking up logos and landmarks. But Google says on its website that the app is “not so good” at identifying cars, furniture and clothes in photos.</p>
<p>What’s holding visual search back?</p>
<p>The technology works by analyzing visual characteristics, or points, such as color, shape and texture. Amazon’s Firefly, for example, identifies a few hundred points to identify a book and up to 1,000 for paintings. U.K. startup Cortexica uses 800 to 1,500 points to create a virtual fingerprint for the image. It then scans its database of about 4 million images for a match.</p>
<p>Without easily identifiable markers, non-labeled objects are difficult to identify. Lighting conditions, photo quality, distance, angles and other factors can throw the technology off. Visual search works best when there is a clearly defined image on a white background.</p>
<p>Some retailers are finding success with visual search by keeping the selection of searchable products limited.</p>
<p>Target’s new “In a Snap” app works only with items from its Room Essentials furniture, bedding and decor line. And it works only when snapping a product image in a magazine ad, not when you see the actual product on a shelf. When a shopper scans the ad, items pop up for the shopper to add to a shopping cart.</p>
<p>Heels.com, an online shoe retailer, keeps visual search limited to shoes. Shoppers upload pictures or send links of shoes and are offered similar pairs for sale on the company’s website.</p>
<p>“People shop through images nowadays,” Heels.com CEO Eric McCoy says. “We want to give them the exact shoe, or something similar.”</p>
<p>So, the race is on to perfect the technology that will create smartphone apps that easily recognize objects in a real-world environment.</p>
<p>Cortexica’s founders spent seven years on academic research before forming the company in 2009. Since then, it has been trying to mold the technology work more like the human brain when it comes to identifying objects.</p>
<p>“Someday you’ll be taking a picture of a whole person, and it will identify the different the things they’re wearing and offer recommendations,” says Iain McCready, CEO of Cortexica. “That’s really challenging technically, but that’s what people tell me they really want to do.”</p>
<p>The U.K. company was hired by eBay to develop an app that recognizes cars from behind and matches them with similar cars available on eBay.</p>
<p>Next, eBay asked Cortexica to develop a similar app for fashion. The outcome was Find Similar, which analyzes a clothing item’s color, texture and shapes to find similar items available for sale. Find Similar is now being used by startup app Style Thief and other Cortexica clients.</p>
<p>Superfish, a startup in Palo Alto, California, counts 12 people with doctorate degrees on its staff and has 10 patents for visual search technology. Its technology can be found at PetMatch, an app that matches photos of pets with local pets available for adoption.</p>
<p>Superfish CEO Adi Pinhas believes it will be normal in two or three years to use your smartphone to search for things visually.</p>
<p>“Your camera will be as smart as the rest of your smartphone,” he says.</p>
<p>Once that happens, Forrester’s Mulpuru says, it will “unleash a whole new type of e-commerce.”</p> | Visual search to shop: gimmick or game changing? | false | https://abqjournal.com/453344/visual-search-to-shop-gimmick-or-game-changing.html | 2 |
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<p>There has been an adverse trend in the food and agriculture sector in recent times with the control of seeds and chemical inputs being consolidated through&#160; <a href="" type="internal">various proposed mergers</a>. If these mergers go through, it&#160;would mean that&#160; <a href="" type="internal">three companies</a>&#160;would dominate the commercial agricultural seeds and chemicals sector. Over the past couple of decades, there has already been a restriction of choice with the&#160; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto#Acquisition_history" type="external">squeezing out of competitor</a>s, resulting in&#160; <a href="https://organic-center.org/reportfiles/SeedPrices2-Pager.pdf" type="external">higher costs</a>&#160;for farmers, who are&#160;increasingly reliant on&#160; <a href="" type="internal">corporate seeds (and their chemical inputs</a>).</p>
<p>Big agribusiness players like Monsanto rely on&#160; <a href="" type="internal">massive taxpayer</a>&#160;handouts to keep their business models on track; highly profitable models that have immense&#160; <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html#.V9qTwB597IV" type="external">social, health and environmental costs</a>&#160;to be paid for by the public. Across the globe&#160; <a href="" type="internal">healthy, sustainable agriculture</a>&#160;has been uprooted and transformed to suit the profit margins of transnational agribusiness concerns.&#160;The major players in the global agribusiness sector fuel a&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/somalia-the-real-causes-of-famine/25725" type="external">geo-politicised</a>, globalised system of food production that result in&#160;numerous&#160;negative outcomes for both farmers and consumers alike (listed&#160; <a href="" type="internal">here</a>: 4th paragraph from the end).</p>
<p>Aside from the domination of the market being a cause for concern, we should also be worried about a food system controlled by companies that have a history (see&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-complete-history-of-monsanto-the-worlds-most-evil-corporation/5387964" type="external">this</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="https://corporatewatch.org/company-profiles/bayer-ag-corporate-crimes" type="external">this</a>) of releasing health-damaging, environmentally polluting products onto the market and engaging in activities that might be considered as constituting&#160; <a href="http://www.monsanto-tribunal.org/" type="external">crimes against humanity</a>.&#160;If we continue to hand over the control of society’s most important infrastructure – food and agriculture – to these wealthy private interests, what will the future look like?</p>
<p>There is no need to engage in idle speculation. Foods based on&#160; <a href="" type="internal">CRISPR</a>&#160;(a gene-editing technology for which&#160; <a href="http://gizmodo.com/monsanto-just-got-access-to-the-world-s-most-powerful-g-1786998287" type="external">Monsanto has just acquired</a>&#160;a non-exclusive global licensing agreement for use) and&#160; <a href="http://www.synbiowatch.org/" type="external">synthetic biology</a>&#160;are already entering the market without regulation or proper health or environmental assessments. And we can expect many more&#160; <a href="http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16898-here-come-the-unregulated-gmos" type="external">unregulated</a>&#160; <a href="http://www.semencespaysannes.org/legal_status_of_products_derived_from_new_tec_12-actu_281.php" type="external">GM technologies</a>&#160;to influence the nature of our food and flood the commercial market.</p>
<p>Despite nice sounding rhetoric by company spokespersons about the humanitarian motives behind these endeavours, the bottom line is patents and profit. And despite nice sounding rhetoric about the precision of the techniques involved, these technologies pose&#160; <a href="http://www.independentsciencenews.org/science-media/gods-red-pencil-crispr-and-the-three-myths-of-precise-genome-editing/" type="external">health and environmental risks</a>. Moreover,&#160;CRIPRS technology could be used to create genes drives and terminator seed traits tools could be used for&#160; <a href="" type="internal">unscrupulous</a>&#160;political and commercial ends.</p>
<p>There could well be severe social and economic consequences too. The impacts of synthetic biology (another sector dominated by a handful of private interests) on farmers in the Global South could result in a bio-economy of landlessness and hunger. Readers are urged to read&#160; <a href="" type="internal">this report</a>&#160;which outlines the effects on farming, farmers and rural economies: synthetic biology has the potential to undermine livelihoods and would mean a shift to narrower range of export-oriented mono-cropping to produce biomass for synbio processes that place stress on water resources and food security in the exporting countries.</p>
<p>Aside from these social, health and environmental implications, can we trust private entities like Monsanto (or Bayer) to use these powerful (potentially bio-weapon) technologies responsibly? Given Monsanto’s long history of cover-ups and duplicity, trust took the last train out a long time ago. Moreover, the legalities of existing frameworks appear to mean little to certain companies: see here what Vandana Shiva says about the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">illegality of Monsanto’s enterprise</a>&#160;in India. National laws that exist to protect the public interest are little more than mere hurdles to be got around by lobbyists, lawyers and political pressure. So what can be done?</p>
<p>Agroecology is a force for grass-root rural change that would be independent from the cartel of powerful biotech/agribusiness companies. This model of agriculture is already providing&#160; <a href="http://www.theecologist.org/essays/2987346/resisting_the_corporate_stranglehold_on_food_and_farming_is_agroecology_enough.html" type="external">real solutions</a>&#160;for sustainable, productive agriculture that prioritises the needs of farmers and consumers. It represents an alternative to corporate-controlled agriculture.</p>
<p>However, as much as people and communities strive to become independent from unscrupulous corporate concerns and as much as localised food systems try to extricate themselves from the impacts of&#160; <a href="http://www.worldhunger.org/holt-gimenez/" type="external">rigged global trade and markets</a>, there also has to be a concerted effort to roll back corporate power and challenge what it is doing to our food. These corporations will not just go away because people eat organic or choose agroecology.</p>
<p>The extremely wealthy interests behind these corporations do their level best to displace or dismantle alternative models of production – whether agroecology, organic, public sector agriculture systems or anything that exists independently from them – and replace them with ones that serve their needs. Look no further than attempts attempts to&#160; <a href="http://seedfreedom.info/satyagraha-for-gandhis-ghani/" type="external">undermine indigenous edible oils processing</a>&#160;in India, for instance. Look no further than the ‘ <a href="http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/monsanto_and_the_mustard_seed/" type="external">mustard seed crisis</a>‘ in India in 1998. Or look no further than how transnational biotech helped fuel and then benefit from the destruction of&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/sowing-the-seeds-of-famine-in-ethiopia/366" type="external">Ethiopia’s traditional agrarian economy</a>.</p>
<p>Whether it’s on the back of US-backed coups ( <a href="" type="internal">Ukraine</a>), military conflicts ( <a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/iraq-war-monsanto-cargill-dow-chemical-took-iraqi-agriculture/216614/" type="external">Iraq</a>), ‘structural adjustment’ ( <a href="https://www.tni.org/en/archives/act/19867" type="external">Africa</a>) or slanted trade deals ( <a href="http://projectcensored.org/8-kia-the-us-neoliberal-invasion-of-india/" type="external">India</a>), transnational agribusiness is driving a global agenda to suit its interests and eradicate impediments to profit.</p>
<p>To underline this point, let’s turn to what Michel Chossudovsky says in his 1997 book&#160;‘The Globalization of Poverty’. He argues that economies are:</p>
<p>“opened up through the concurrent displacement of a pre-existing productive system. Small and medium-sized enterprises are pushed into bankruptcy or obliged to produce for a global distributor, state enterprises are privatised or closed down, independent agricultural producers are impoverished.” (p.16)</p>
<p>Increasing profit and shareholder dividends are the bottom line. And it doesn’t matter how much devastation ensues or how unsustainable their business model is, ‘crisis management’ and ‘innovation’ fuel the&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/monsantos-hand-of-god-planned-obsolescence-of-the-indian-farmer/5476589" type="external">corporate-controlled treadmill</a>&#160;they seek to impose.</p>
<p>As long as the domination of the food system by powerful private interests is regarded as legitimate and as long as their hijack of governments, trade bodies and trade deals, regulatory agencies and universities is deemed normal or is unchallenged in the sham ‘liberal democracies’ they operate within, we are destined for a future of more contaminated food, ill health, degraded environments and an agriculture displaced and uprooted for the benefit of self-interest.</p>
<p>The problems associated with the food system cannot be dealt with on a single-issue basis: it is not just about the labelling of GM foods; it’s not just about the impacts of Monsanto’s Roundup; it’s not just about Monsanto (or Bayer) as a company; and it’s not just about engaging in endless debates with corporate shills about the science of GMOs.</p>
<p>Despite the promise of the Green Revolution,&#160; <a href="http://www.stophungernow.org/learn/hunger-facts/" type="external">hundreds of millions</a>&#160;still go to bed hungry, food has become&#160; <a href="" type="internal">denutrified</a>, functioning rural economies have been&#160; <a href="" type="internal">destroyed</a>, diseases have&#160; <a href="" type="internal">spiked</a>&#160;in correlation with the increase in use of pesticides and GMOs, soil has been&#160; <a href="" type="internal">eroded or degraded</a>, diets are&#160; <a href="" type="internal">less diverse</a>, global food security has been&#160; <a href="https://www.grain.org/article/entries/4929-hungry-for-land-small-farmers-feed-the-world-with-less-than-a-quarter-of-all-farmland" type="external">undermined</a>&#160;and access to food is&#160; <a href="http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/food-speculation" type="external">determined by</a>&#160;manipulated international markets and speculation – not supply and demand.</p>
<p>Food and agriculture have become wedded to power structures that have created food surplus and food deficit areas and have restructured indigenous agriculture across the world and tied it to an international system of trade based on export-oriented mono-cropping, commodity production for a manipulated and volatile international market and indebtedness to international financial institutions.</p>
<p>The problem is the system of international capitalism that is driving a globalised system of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">bad food and poor health</a>, the&#160; <a href="http://fpif.org/destroying_african_agriculture/" type="external">destruction</a>&#160;of healthy, sustainable agriculture and systemic, half-baked attack on both&#160; <a href="" type="internal">groups</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">individuals</a>&#160;who oppose these processes.</p>
<p>At the very least, there should be&#160;full public control over all GMO/synthetic biology production and research. And if we are serious about reining in the power of profiteering corporations over food – our most basic and essential infrastructure – they should be placed under democratic ownership and control.</p>
<p>In finishing, let us turn to Ghiselle Karim who at the end of her&#160; <a href="http://www.marxist.com/gmo-human-need-corporate-greed.htm" type="external">insightful article</a>&#160;says:</p>
<p>“… we demand that it is our basic human right to protect our food supply… [food] would be planned to meet human need, not corporate greed.&#160; We have hunger not because there is not enough food, but rather because it is not distributed equally. The core of the problem is not a shortage of food, but capitalism!”</p> | A System of Food Production for Human Need, Not Corporate Greed | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/09/26/a-system-of-food-production-for-human-need-not-corporate-greed/ | 2016-09-26 | 4 |
<p>It was only after whistleblowers came out of the closet during the Great Deflation that Time Magazine honored the practice of what team players call “ratting out your pals.” Conservative magazines like Time may give lip service to whistleblowing in the abstract but never champion whistle blowers until after they have sung. Instead they support the conditions and practices which make whistleblowers a threat in the first place.</p>
<p>Whistleblowers are a reminder that ethics must be embodied in real flesh-and-blood human beings who put themselves on the line. Unless our deeper beliefs and values become flesh, they are words words words designed to make us feel better, rationalize misdeeds, and send distracting pangs of conscience straight into space.</p>
<p>If you have never known a real flesh-and-blood whistleblower, see the film “The Insider” for a good portrait. The film confirms the conclusion of a Washington law firm specializing in whistleblower cases that lists motivations for whistleblowing money, anger and resentment, revenge, justice and eliminates all but one as sufficient to carry a whistleblower through the abuse they will face. Only acting from a pained conscience will sustain a whistleblower through the ordeal.</p>
<p>During a recent speech for accountants about ethics, our Q&amp;A moved quickly into the gray areas where accountants spend much of their time. Outsiders think accountants live in a black and white grid with simple answers but in fact they wade through a swamp of maybe this or maybe that.</p>
<p>Accountants are paid whistleblowers. Accountants are intended to be in the corporate culture but not of it, to use company books like mirrors to reveal the truth and consequences of choices. That’s why it is so difficult to do the job right.</p>
<p>The tension comes from the fact that only an individual can have a conscience. An institution or organization can develop a culture that supports doing the right thing only when a leader pursues that objective with single-minded intensity. Left to themselves, all cultures are based on survival, not telling the truth. Cultures reward team players, not whistleblowers. In all my years as a teacher, priest, speaker and consultant, I have never seen a culture with a conscience.</p>
<p>A cop friend reminds me that the first time a rookie cop sees his partners beat someone up in an alley or notices that money or cocaine doesn’t always get back to the station, he is closely watched. The word goes out quickly that “he’s OK” or “watch out for him.” Those that are OK move up. The cop is a practicing Roman Catholic and noted that recent scandals in the church are symptoms of the same dynamics.</p>
<p>Institutions usually encourage disclosure only when it no longer matters. Operation Northwoods the desire by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962 to eliminate Fidel Castro by sinking refugee boats from Cuba, attacking our own base at Guantanamo, and planting terror bombs in American cities was revealed by James Bamford in his book “Body of Secrets,” but nary a peep of outrage greeted revelation of the treasonous scheme. When the Church apologized to Galileo for torturing him four hundred years after the fact, it raised the question of how an institution had so lost its moorings that someone might think an absurd gesture like that had meaning.</p>
<p>In Wisconsin a friend was nominated to head an arts board at the state level. His work on behalf of the party in power and his passion for art collecting made him a natural but he was passed over. I asked a confidante of then-governor Tommy Thompson why.</p>
<p>“He’s not a team player,” he said. “He isn’t predictable.”</p>
<p>The guy who told me this was a team player. He was faithful and steady and worked tirelessly to raise money for the party. When friends were “naughty,” as he called it, he looked the other way. He called recently to tell me he was now a million dollars richer, having been compensated at that level for three years on the board of an energy firm. He had been recommended for the position by his friend, now-Secretary Tommy Thompson.</p>
<p>Thus has it always been. Thus will it ever be.</p>
<p>Why are so many of your heroes, I was asked, people who were assassinated? Why do names like Jesus, Lincoln, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. keep showing up in your conversation?</p>
<p>I think it’s because they embody what it takes to make a stand on behalf of the truth. They were all human but found the courage to blow the whistle on the cultures of death our institutions create. Their reward was getting whacked.</p>
<p>Make no mistake, those who articulate or embody an upward call always inspire ambivalence. A disciple of Gandhi said that even those who loved him most were secretly relieved when he was murdered because for the moment the pressure was off. Jesus as icon is malleable in the hands of his institutional custodians whereas Jesus the Jew in the street was a real pain.</p>
<p>In an era characterized by increasing secrecy by the government and the gradual but progressive surrender of our rights, it’s only a matter of time until some malevolent design ripens and bursts into the sunlight because some whistleblower just can’t stand it another minute. Some team player, their motives mixed but their conscience pricked, will tell the truth. That’s the only way to have accountability when those with power and privilege remove transparency from the processes of government and business.</p>
<p>When a mainstream Midwest woman asks how she will tell her grandchildren what America was like before the Great Change, how she will explain openness and disclosure, the Freedom of Information Act, guarantees in the Bill of Rights then I know that we don’t need a weatherman to know the direction of the wind and see the firestorm on the horizon. Signs of the times grow on trees like low-hanging fruit, ripe for the picking.</p>
<p>We are all team players, all of us some of the time, some of us all of the time, but we each have our own particular crossroads where we must decide if our words will become flesh. It is never easy and there are always consequences. Only integrity will see us through to the bitter end and none of us really know if we have it until it is tested.</p>
<p>RICHARD THIEME speaks, writes and consults on the human dimensions of life and work, the impact of technology, and “life on the edge.” He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Whistleblowers and Teamplayers | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/01/22/whistleblowers-and-teamplayers/ | 2003-01-22 | 4 |
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<p>A top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday that the central bank's projection of late 2014 for the first likely increase in interest rates sends too pessimistic a signal as the economic recovery strengthens.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"The 2014 language in effect names a date far in the future at which macroeconomic conditions are still expected to be exceptionally poor," St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said. "This is an unwarranted pessimistic signal for the (Fed) to send."</p>
<p>Bullard, who is not a voting member of the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, said the central bank should now pause and assess developments in the economy.</p>
<p>His comments point to increasing pressure on the Fed to declare that recent improvements in labor markets signal the recovery is firmly on track and to consider reversing its ultra-accommodative monetary policy stance.</p>
<p>A core group of Fed leaders, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, have been more cautious about the outlook, questioning whether the lofty 8.3 percent unemployment rate will continue falling as quickly as it has since last August.</p>
<p>The Fed cut rates to near zero in December 2008 and has bought $2.3 trillion in bonds to keep rates low and boost growth. Minutes of the Fed's March policy meeting released Tuesday showed that at that gathering, a dwindling number of officials thought the central bank should launch another bond-buying initiative if the outlook worsened.</p>
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<p>Fed officials disagree on how to calibrate policy given the conflicting pressures of continued high unemployment and a brightening outlook for the economy.</p>
<p>Bullard reiterated his view that the so-called output gap -- how much the economy is falling short of its full potential -- is overstated.</p> | Bullard: Fed Sent an 'Unwarranted Pessimistic Signal' About Economy | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2012/04/05/bullard-fed-sent-unwarranted-pessimistic-signal.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s environmentalist Greens on Saturday all but ruled out a three-way coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) after the Sept. 24 election.</p>
<p>Polls show Merkel’s conservatives are likely to win the election with around 38 percent of the vote but will be left in need of a coalition partner. Their rival Social Democrats (SPD) are lagging them on around 22 percent.</p>
<p>Possible coalition options include a repeat of the current ‘grand coalition’ between the conservatives and SPD or a ‘Jamaica coalition’ of the conservatives, FDP and Greens – the name referring to the black, yellow and green colors of the Jamaican flag.</p>
<p>Katrin Goering-Eckhardt, one of the Greens’ two top candidates, told regional newspaper Passauer Neue Presse: “I can’t imagine Jamaica.”</p>
<p>Coalitions tend to be tested out at the state level before they are formed at the national level and a Jamaica alliance was formed in the coastal state of Schleswig-Holstein after Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) won an election there in May.</p>
<p>But Goering-Eckhardt said the Greens and FDP had “diametrically opposed positions” on issues including climate protection, emission thresholds for clean cars and refugees.</p>
<p>“I can’t see how it could work at the national level,” she said.</p>
<p>FDP leader Christian Lindner told Focus magazine he was also unable to envisage a Jamaica coalition forming given the big hurdles to reaching agreement with the Greens on immigration and energy policies.</p>
<p>Cem Ozdemir, the Greens’ other top candidate, said in an interview with Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper that his party wanted to be in the next federal government, which he suggested would be formed by Merkel: “The race for first place seems to be over – Angela Merkel is out in front.”</p>
<p>But the latest polls show Merkel’s conservatives and the Greens would not be able to muster enough support between them to form a two-way alliance.</p>
<p>While support for the Greens has dropped to single digits this year – it is on 8 percent in the latest polls – a Forsa survey published this week showed half of Germans would welcome the Greens being part of the post-election government.</p>
<p>Merkel on Saturday reiterated her warning to voters about a coalition between the SPD, radical Left party and Greens, telling voters in the southwestern city of Reutlingen that a red-red-green tie-up would be “bad for our country” and Germany should not embark on any experiments at a time of uncertainty.</p>
<p>A red-red-green alliance, which had seemed like a possible option early this year, has not been able to get a majority in polls for weeks.</p>
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<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> | Germany's Greens all but rule out three-way 'Jamaica' coalition | false | https://newsline.com/germany039s-greens-all-but-rule-out-three-way-039jamaica039-coalition/ | 2017-09-09 | 1 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - University of New Mexico Hospital workers this week ratified a revision to their contract that they are calling the best compensation package employees have seen since before the Great Recession.</p>
<p>The new provisions include boosting the UNMH minimum wage to $10 an hour. At present, some workers earn just over $9 an hour.</p>
<p>"We're extremely happy," Lorie MacIver, a nurse and president of District 1199 NM of the National Union of Nurses and Hospital Employees, said Thursday, one day after the ratification. "It's a nice step after a long dry spell. We're especially happy for the employees on the lower edge of the pay scale."</p>
<p>MacIver praised the hospital administration for taking a lead in addressing compensation, which was the only issue on the table.</p>
<p>"This is a significant pay increase for the more than 3,500 employees of the two bargaining units we represent at UNMH," MacIver said. "We were also pleased that UNMH sent a team ready to seriously address compensation issues that have been generally set aside most of the past several years due to the economy and other situations. UNMH stepped up, and we are thankful for their willingness to do the right thing."</p>
<p>In addition to an overall 2 percent increase in base salaries, employees will also get a 2.7 percent raise when they get a favorable annual review.</p>
<p>The initial increases will start showing up on paychecks later this month.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | UNMH employees 'extremely happy' about new contract | false | https://abqjournal.com/594284/unmh-employees-extremely-happy-about-new-contract.html | 2 |
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<p>Castlewood 66, Chester 36</p>
<p>Breckenridge, Minn. 62, Milbank 51</p>
<p>Colome 51, Wessington Springs 21</p>
<p>Dell Rapids St. Mary 64, Elkton-Lake Benton 49</p>
<p>Deubrook 57, Garretson 32</p>
<p>Flandreau 62, Arlington 45</p>
<p>Hamlin 57, Colman-Egan 45</p>
<p>Harrisburg 57, Watertown 37</p>
<p>Ipswich 38, Waubay/Summit 29</p>
<p>Langford 71, Dawson-Boyd, Minn. 53</p>
<p>Sioux Falls Lincoln 68, Marshall, Minn. 60</p>
<p>Castlewood 66, Chester 36</p>
<p>Breckenridge, Minn. 62, Milbank 51</p>
<p>Colome 51, Wessington Springs 21</p>
<p>Dell Rapids St. Mary 64, Elkton-Lake Benton 49</p>
<p>Deubrook 57, Garretson 32</p>
<p>Flandreau 62, Arlington 45</p>
<p>Hamlin 57, Colman-Egan 45</p>
<p>Harrisburg 57, Watertown 37</p>
<p>Ipswich 38, Waubay/Summit 29</p>
<p>Langford 71, Dawson-Boyd, Minn. 53</p>
<p>Sioux Falls Lincoln 68, Marshall, Minn. 60</p> | Saturday’s Scores | false | https://apnews.com/e868858b26814a63879a1c757afc025b | 2017-12-31 | 2 |
<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) – Saad al-Hariri, who quit as Lebanese Prime Minister in a weekend broadcast from Saudi Arabia, has been held under house arrest in the kingdom, a pro-Hezbollah daily said on Tuesday citing unnamed sources.</p>
<p>Hariri’s office and Saudi-owned media said he flew to the UAE, a Saudi ally and fellow Gulf monarchy, on Tuesday. Aides to Hariri, Lebanon’s most influential Sunni politician and a close Saudi ally, have denied claims that he was detained.</p>
<p>Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, which is aligned with the Shi’ite militant group and political movement Hezbollah, said Hariri “was placed under house arrest hours after arriving in Riyadh last Friday” and had remained in detention since.</p>
<p>On Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir dismissed as “nonsense” allegations that the kingdom forced Hariri to resign, and said he was free to leave at any time.</p>
<p>Speculation in Lebanon over Hariri’s status continued even after Saudi media showed him meeting with King Salman and reported him leaving for the UAE.</p>
<p>Hariri’s resignation has thrust Lebanon back onto the frontline of the rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran that has also wrought upheaval in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.</p>
<p>The coalition government, which Hariri’s shock resignation collapsed, included Iran-backed Hezbollah.</p>
<p>His declaration came as Saudi Arabia undertook an anti-corruption purge in which royals, ministers and investors have been arrested as the putative next king tightens his grip on power.</p>
<p>In a dramatic escalation of the crisis, Saudi Arabia accused Lebanon on Monday of declaring war because of aggression by Hezbollah.</p>
<p>Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Riyadh last week of forcing Hariri to step down, and said there were “legitimate questions” over whether he had been detained.</p>
<p>The al-Akhbar newspaper said that a Saudi security team had been supervising Hariri, citing unnamed sources close to him. The prime minister, whose family made their fortune in the Saudi construction industry, had very limited access to his phones, it said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Fouad Siniora, a former prime minister and senior member of Hariri’s political party, said Hariri would return to Lebanon.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Lebanon PM under house arrest in Saudi Arabia: pro-Hezbollah paper | false | https://newsline.com/lebanon-pm-under-house-arrest-in-saudi-arabia-pro-hezbollah-paper/ | 2017-11-07 | 1 |
<p>Heritage Column for November 17, 2005</p>
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<p>In 1951 the Fieldale Church had 10 of its young people enrolled in schools where they were “preparing themselves for Christian service.” The only words left out of that statement are the usual “full-time Christian service.” The Fieldale Church under the pastoral leadership of Ryburn T. Stancil were calling out the called, encouraging members to examine their hearts for God’s purpose for their lives.</p>
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<p /> | Calling out the called | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/callingoutthecalled/ | 3 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended having <a href="" type="internal">disclosed information to senior Russian officials last</a> <a href="" type="internal">week</a>, saying he had an “absolute right” to do so and had shared facts to get Moscow to step up its fight against the Islamic State militant group.</p>
<p>The president took to Twitter to counter a torrent of criticism, including from his fellow Republicans, after reports that during a White House meeting he had revealed highly classified information about a planned Islamic State operation.</p>
<p>Two U.S. officials said Trump shared the intelligence, supplied by an ally of the United States in the fight against the Islamist group, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during a meeting in the Oval Office last Wednesday.</p>
<p>The disclosures late on Monday roiled the administration as it struggled to move past the backlash over Trump’s abrupt firing on May 9 of FBI Director James Comey, who was investigating potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.</p>
<p>The turmoil has overshadowed Republican legislative priorities such as healthcare and tax reform and laid bare sharp divisions between the White House and U.S. intelligence agencies, which concluded in January that Russia had tried to influence the election in Trump’s favor.</p>
<p>Russia has denied such meddling, and Trump bristles at any suggestion he owed his Nov. 8 victory to Moscow.</p>
<p>“As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety,” Trump said on Twitter. “Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS &amp; terrorism.”</p>
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<p>In a later tweet, Trump took aim at “LEAKERS in the intelligence community,” a frequent target of his months-old administration.</p>
<p>Trump repeatedly assailed his Democratic rival in the presidential election, Hillary Clinton, for her handling of classified information by email while she was secretary of state. The FBI concluded after an investigation last year that there were no grounds to pursue any charges against Clinton.</p>
<p>Defending Trump</p>
<p>The Kremlin came to Trump’s defense on Tuesday, calling reports that he had disclosed classified material in the White House meeting as “complete nonsense.”</p>
<p>Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, issued statements saying no sources, methods or military operations were discussed at the Russian meeting.</p>
<p>McMaster said the story, initially reported by The Washington Post, was false.</p>
<p>The U.S. officials told Reuters that while the president has the authority to disclose even the most highly classified information at will, in this case he did so without consulting the ally that provided it, which threatens to jeopardize a long-standing intelligence-sharing agreement.</p>
<p>U.S. allies including Australia, New Zealand and Japan cited the White House denials and said intelligence sharing would continue. Some analysts, however, said the reports could undermine trust between partners.</p>
<p>The reports came days before Trump departs on Friday for his first overseas trip as president, to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium.</p>
<p>The two top Republicans in Congress, which is controlled by the party, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, were muted in their response. Ryan’s office said he hoped for a full explanation, while McConnell told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday he wished for a little less drama from the White House.</p>
<p>Other Republicans, however, expressed concern. Senator Susan Collins said on Tuesday that even though the president has legal authority to disclose classified information, “it would be very troubling if he did share such sensitive reporting with the Russians.”</p>
<p>She called for the Senate Intelligence Committee to be briefed on the matter.</p>
<p>Bob Corker, the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Monday the allegations were “very, very troubling.”</p>
<p>“Obviously, they’re in a downward spiral right now,” he said of the White House. “And they’ve got to come to grips with all that’s happening.”</p> | Trump says he has ‘absolute right’ to disclose information | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/trump-says-he-has-absolute-right-to-disclose-information/ | 2017-05-16 | 1 |
<p>your email</p>
<p>your name</p>
<p>recipient(s) email (comma separated)</p>
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<p>message</p>
<p>captcha</p>
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<p>At the Aug 24, 2013 march on Washington, D.C., thousands wore SEIU purple and carried signs demanding higher wages and an economy that works for all. (Belinda Gallegos/SEIU) &#160;</p>
<p>WASHINGTON, D.C.—At a <a href="" type="internal">rally of some 175,000 people on Saturday</a> to mark the 50th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, several leading unions seized the opportunity to strengthen the ties between organized labor and civil rights.</p>
<p>Among the speakers who addressed the crowd from the steps of Lincoln Memorial were top leaders from seven major unions. Large squads of union members were also conspicuous among the marchers with their labor banners and T-shirts in "fighting colors": the orange of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), the red of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the ubiquitous purple of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).</p>
<p>“The labor and civil rights communities are in exactly the same place right now in recognizing that we have seen tremendous advances on the legal side of civil rights—Obama is our first African-American president after all—but we are still very, very far from Dr. King’s dream of economic fairness and security,” says David Cox, president of the 300,000-member American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which helped sponsor the march. “As far I am concerned, civil rights and labor rights are the same thing."</p>
<p>Two of the most prominent unions at the march were the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the SEIU. Each chartered scores of buses to bring in members from nearby states, together contributing an estimated 12,000 marchers to the throngs.</p>
<p>The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), along with its New York-based affiliate United Federation of Teachers (UFT), also had a significant presence. AFT President Randi Weingarten was a speaker, as was UFT President Michael Mulgrew. Other speakers from the labor movement included AFSCME’s Lee Saunders, SEIU’s Mary Kay Henry, 1199SEIU’s George Gresham, AFGE’s Cox, Dennis Van Roekel of the National Education Association (NEA) and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker.</p>
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<p>Unions were well organized ahead of the event, with staff members from almost two dozen labor organizations meeting in Washington, D.C. to coordinate logistics and related matters, says AFSCME spokesman Chris Fleming. The meetings began months ago, and the intent was clear from the beginning that labor wanted to stand out at the August 24 march, he says. Some <a href="" type="internal">17 unions</a> made contributions of $50,000 each to help cover the expenses of the principal organizing committee, says AFGE’s Cox.</p>
<p>Some of the unions involved—such as the AFT, AFSCME, 1199SEIU, and the United Auto Workers (UAW)—wanted to reaffirm ties to the civil rights movement that reach back to the era of Dr. King. The 1199 SEIU (also known as United Health Care Workers East) chartered some 50 buses to bring in about 3,000 members from across the Northeast, including the union's home base, New York City. On one bus from Baltimore, 1199 members and guests watched a video that included a vintage 1960s recording of Dr. King speaking to 1199 members, thanking them for their support and calling the healthcare local his “favorite union.”</p>
<p>AFGE’s Cox tells Working In These Times that he thinks it is only proper that union’s should put in extra effort to honor Dr. King and help propel the civil rights movement forward. “Dr. King did a lot for unions. He is one of the most respected figures in American history, and when people discover that he was a union supporter, and that he fought the same battles for economic justice that we are fighting today, it means a lot.”</p>
<p>In a statement today marking the actual anniversary of the August 28, 1963 march, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka vowed to keep fighting for economic justice, "Today we rededicate ourselves to the dream of economic equality that so many marched for a half century ago. We will work with those who strive for prosperity for all in this great country—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or place of birth."</p>
<p>AFSCME, the Communications Workers of America and the United Auto Workers are <a href="" type="internal">web sponsors</a> of In These Times.</p> | 50 Years After the March on Washington, Unions Still Have a Dream | true | http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15526/unions_at_50th_anniversary_march/ | 2013-08-28 | 4 |
<p>President Obama on Sunday took a selfie with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.</p>
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<p>Obama and Razak <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/27/obama-malaysia-asia-china/8249119/" type="external">met on Sunday</a> to discuss trade and human rights. Following the talks, the leaders gave a joint press conference, during which Obama defended’s the way Malaysia has managed the search for the missing jet.</p> | Obama Takes Selfie With Malaysian Prime Minister (PHOTO) | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-malaysian-prime-minister-selfie | 4 |
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<p>New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie began his second summit on the future of Atlantic City by saying there are still opportunities to save the struggling seaside resort, but warned that political arguments need to end now.</p>
<p>At the start of Wednesday's meeting with casino, government and labor leaders, the governor said mistakes were made by local government and the private sector that contributed to the city's current struggles. Four of the city's 12 casinos have closed this year and a fifth is on the brink; 8,000 workers have been laid off.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Wednesday's meeting was expected to focus on potential relief from taxes and other costs for casinos, while making sure the city government and schools have enough money to function.</p>
<p>"Let me be really clear: there are opportunities that we need to take advantage of," he said. "I don't think we have any more time to waste, especially on political arguments. The egos have to leave the room."</p>
<p>The second session, following an initial one in September, was expected to present some recommendations from a group headed by Christie confidante Jon Hansen; none have yet been made public. Christie said half-measures will no longer be accepted.</p>
<p>"Band-Aids have been put on in the past," he said. "To the extent folks suggest larger Band-Aids, that's not something I'm going to be interested in," he said.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, state Senate President Steve Sweeney offered a plan to redirect some casino redevelopment payments toward paying down Atlantic City's debt, and letting casinos make $150 million in payments in lieu of taxes for two years before a different tax structure kicks in for the next 13 years.</p>
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<p>Legislators from northern New Jersey and the state's horse racing industry are also pushing hard for the state to allow casinos outside of Atlantic City.</p>
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<p>Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC</p> | Christie: Political arguments need to end in order to help Atlantic City; taxes and costs eyed | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/12/christie-political-arguments-need-to-end-in-order-to-help-atlantic-city-taxes.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p>Turkey is back in the game in Syria. Turkish tanks and special forces last week joined anti-Assad rebels to capture the border town of Jarabulus from Isis. It was the first significant Turkish ground operation in Syria since the beginning of the war in 2011. The immediate target was Isis, but a more important Turkish objective is to strike at the political and military power of the Syrian Kurds who are already in control of much of the territory south of the Syrian-Turkish frontier.</p>
<p>The war in Syria has reached a critical moment which may see it de-escalate or explode into even greater violence. US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met on Friday in Geneva with the aim of reaching a political and military cooperation agreement. Asked to identify the main obstacle to a ceasefire, Mr Lavrov said: “I don’t want to spoil the atmosphere for the negotiations.” Moscow has already proposed a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo.</p>
<p>It is as if all side are consolidating their positions in expectation of a shift towards more war or greater peace. As Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov met in Geneva, ambulances, buses and trucks were assembling outside the rebel-held suburb of Daraya in Damascus which government forces besieged for four years. Under an agreement reached on Thursday, some 4,000 anti-Assad fighters and local people are to be evacuated to rebel-held areas.</p>
<p>But government control is not extending everywhere in Syria as in the north eastern provincial capital of Hasakah Syrian Kurdish fighters have driven out the Syrian Army and its local paramilitary allies from most of the city.</p>
<p>The biggest change in the political and military landscape is the Turkish intervention, though its extent remains unclear. The aim may be primarily defensive, limited to controlling the zone between Jarabulus and the Kurdish enclave of Afrin 70 miles to the west through Arab and Turkoman proxies backed by the Turkish armed forces. Alternatively, Turkey could build up an anti-Assad and anti-Kurdish base area north of Aleppo making it a main player in the region. The first purpose is already largely achieved with apparent US support, Russian tolerance and muted criticism from the Damascus government, suggesting that Turkish action was not unexpected by all three.</p>
<p>Broader Turkish involvement, though tempting to some in Ankara, would embroil Turkey in the lethal swamp lands of the Syrian-Iraqi war. Turkey may be able to prevent the Kurds permanently extending their rule west of the Euphrates, but it would be a very different and more dangerous operation to attack the de facto Syrian Kurdish state, which has spread itself between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers since the Syrian Army largely withdrew from the region in 2012. At the same time, so long as this Kurdish quasi-state exists. the Turkish state is endangered.</p>
<p>It is an iron rule of politics in the Middle East that everybody at some point overplays their hand. The Israelis did so when they invaded and tried to dominate Lebanon in 1982 and the Americans did the same when they overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003 and sought to become the predominant power in Iraq. The Syrian Kurds used the military effectiveness of their 50,000 fighters (these are there numbers which may be exaggerated) and the massive destructive firepower provided by the US air force, to overrun much of north east of Syria over the last eighteen months. Buoyed up by their victory over IS in the four-and-a-half siege of Kobani, which ended in early 2015, the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey – and their formidable paramilitary forces, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – have repeatedly defeated Isis.</p>
<p>But they too may have gone a step too far, advancing beyond the point that they could rely on the support of their US and Russian allies to stop Turkey intervening. The capture of the town of Manbij from Isis on 12 August by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a grouping dominated by the YPG, led to a further move towards Jarabulus to the north and Isis-held al-Bab to the east. This finally precipitated Turkish military intervention which had been under consideration for over a year. Turkey was faced with disaster in Syria, where it had failed to depose President Bashar al-Assad and opened the door to a section of the PKK, at war with the Turkish state for 32 years, setting up its own well-armed state. With a sanctuary in northern Syria, the PKK could sustain a guerrilla war in Turkey for as long as it wanted (much as the Taliban is undefeatable in Afghanistan because of its sanctuaries in Pakistan). IS, to whose activities Turkish intelligence had once turned a blind eye when it did not provide covert assistance, was carrying out repeated terrorist bomb attacks in Turkey.</p>
<p>A Syrian Kurdish state-let fuelling a guerrilla war inside Turkey is already a reality and Turkish military intervention has long been on the cards. Delaying it was the YPG’s position as the most powerful US ally on the ground in Syria. US-Turkish relations deteriorated because of Turkey’s failure to seal the Syrian-Turkish border against Isis and other Jihadis from the north, so the US was happy to see the YPG do so from the south on the Syrian side of the frontier. The US did not want the YPG diverted from fighting Isis by Turkish action while Russia, one of whose aircraft was shot down by Turkish planes on 24 November 2015, was determinedly against Turkish military intervention.</p>
<p>The multi-sided war in Syria is becoming even more complex than before. The Syrian and Iraqi Kurds have made great advances on the ground that they could not have carried out without international – and primarily American – support. The YPG is today fighting in areas that have mixed Kurdish and Arab populations or where the Kurds are a minority. The Iraqi Kurds used the opportunity presented by the IS capture of Mosul in 2014, to seize territory long disputed with the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Kurdish leaders know there will be a day of reckoning and have long pondered how to keep their gains once their foreign allies no longer feel threatened by Isis and need their support.</p>
<p>All factions in Syria are to a greater or lesser degree the proxies of foreign powers and cannot go on fighting without their backing. These parties, regardless of whether they are pro or anti-Assad, Shia or Sunni, Arab or Kurdish, try to manipulate their foreign allies, suspecting that they will one day betray them in order to serve their own interests. But Syrian contenders cannot do without these foreign allies: President Assad would like to fight on until victory but must have the backing of Russia, Iran and the Shia in Iraq and Lebanon. The anti-Assad Jihadis dominate the armed opposition in Syria, but cannot fight without backing from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.</p>
<p>As Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov meet in Geneva, the warring parties in Syria wonder what agreements were reached behind their backs about Turkish intervention and other matters. Paranoid by nature but with good reason for their suspicions, they will ask if they are about to be sold out or, more probably, the sell-out has already happened.</p> | Has Turkey Overplayed Its Hand in Syria? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/08/31/has-turkey-overplayed-its-hand-in-syria/ | 2016-08-31 | 4 |
<p>From Fresno Bee:</p>
<p>Today marks a significant — but little known — milestone in California’s 2012 election season.</p>
<p>It is the first day that so-called “signatures in lieu” petitions are available for politicians and political hopefuls. This date always falls 158 days before the primary election.</p>
<p>“This is kind of like the first gun going off officially,” Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar said.</p>
<p>Four candidates came in today to pull the petitions. Among them were Susan Good, who is seeking termed-out Fresno City Council Member Larry Westerlund’s seat and incumbent Fresno County Supervisor Debbie Poochigian.</p>
<p>( <a href="http://fresnobeehive.com/news/2011/12/friday_marked_major_milestone.html" type="external">Read Full Article</a>)</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Today marks a starting milestone in 2012 election calendar | false | http://capoliticalreview.com/trending/today-marks-a-major-milestone-in-2012-election-calendar/ | 2011-12-31 | 1 |
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<p>BRUSSELS — The European Union on Friday raised the possibility of starting general talks on Britain’s future relationship with the bloc as early as the fall if decisive progress is made on key parts of the divorce proceedings — a move that grants some of the British prime minister’s wishes.</p>
<p>Draft guidelines obtained by The Associated Press say the EU and Britain must first “settle the disentanglement” of Britain from the bloc. But once there is a tentative consensus between the two sides on major topics — the treatment of citizens in each other’s nations, billions in budget commitments, legal clarity for companies working in Britain and a solution for Ireland’s border with the United Kingdom — the EU says it would be willing to look ahead.</p>
<p>“Once and only once we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal, can we discuss the framework for our future relationship,” EU Council President Donald Tusk said in Valletta, Malta.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He added “probably in the autumn, at least I hope so.”</p>
<p>British Prime Minister Theresa May had been seeking parallel talks on the EU divorce and the future but those apparently will not happen for the foreseeable future. Still, Tusk’s timetable and the EU draft showed that the EU was willing to compromise.</p>
<p>It will take a summit of the 27 leaders, however, to signal that that moment has come to look toward the future. In Germany, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said “we will hopefully come to this second step soon.”</p>
<p>EU leaders have warned that the two years of talks triggered this week to negotiate Britain’s exit will be difficult — but insisted they don’t want an all-out economic or diplomatic conflict. The 27 EU leaders are set to agree on common guidelines on April 29, exactly one month after May triggered the Brexit process.</p>
<p>The challenges prior to moving onto the next step of talks are sizable, however. Some 3.3 million EU citizens now live in Britain and about 1 million Briton live in the rest of the EU. Since the issue of foreigners taking jobs from British workers fueled the Brexit referendum, a solution pleasing both Brussels and London will not be easy.</p>
<p>In addition, the outstanding bill for London to pay in previously agreed EU costs and commitments has been estimated at up to 60 billion euros ($64 billion). Populist voices in Britain have urged the Conservative government not to pay a penny.</p>
<p>And when it comes to the U.K.’s land border in Ireland, which is key to the Northern Ireland peace process, Tusk’s draft guideline says that “flexible and imaginative solutions will be required.”</p>
<p>Further complicating things in the full withdrawal negotiations will be Gibraltar, the British overseas territory on the Mediterranean that Spain has wanted back since it ceded it more than three centuries ago. The outpost at the southern point of the Iberian peninsula has a population of 32,000 and about 96 percent of its residents voted to remain in the EU last year.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The EU draft says the future of Gibraltar will be set in talks between Spain and the U.K., giving Spain a very strong negotiating position.</p>
<p>“After the United Kingdom leaves the Union, no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom,” the draft says.</p>
<p>“This is an important point in the future negotiations of the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU,” said Spanish minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo.</p>
<p>Tusk said the EU will not punish Britain in the negotiations, saying that Brexit itself is “punitive enough.” The head of the rotating EU presidency, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, insisted the negotiations “will not be a war.”</p>
<p>Tusk also ruled out the suggestion that there was an inherent threat in May’s departure letter Wednesday, which some felt hinted that Britain would end its security cooperation with continental Europe unless it gets a good Brexit deal.</p>
<p>“I know Theresa May well enough and I know her approach to this issue. This is why I rule out this kind of interpretation … that security cooperation is used as a bargaining chip. It must be a misunderstanding,” Tusk said.</p>
<p>British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also insisted Friday that Britain’s commitment to European defense and security is “unconditional” and “not some bargaining chip in any negotiations” over Brexit.</p>
<p>Johnson, speaking in Brussels upon arriving for a NATO meeting, said he has had good feedback from EU partners since Britain formally announced Wednesday that it would be leaving the EU, despite worries on both sides of the Channel about Brexit.</p>
<p>“We really are moving forward now. There’s a lot of good will, willingness to achieve what the prime minister has said she wants to achieve,” he said.</p>
<p>The British government triggered the two-year EU exit process Wednesday with May’s letter to the EU and began outlining how it intends to convert thousands of EU rules into British laws in a Great Repeal Bill.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Lorne Cook in Brussels, Stephen Calleja in Valletta, Malta, and Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.</p> | EU wants to solve divorce before fall talks on UK’s future | false | https://abqjournal.com/979890/eu-fix-key-uk-brexit-items-1st-then-fall-talks-on-future.html | 2017-03-31 | 2 |
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<p>TUESDAY, Aug. 1, 2017 — A drug used for some cases of kidney disease can raise the risk of serious infections, researchers say.</p>
<p>A clinical trial was stopped early when researchers discovered that patients on the drug — a corticosteroid called methylprednisolone — suffered a concerning number of serious side effects. Most often, that meant severe infections, including pneumonia and meningitis.</p>
<p>Overall, nearly 15 percent of patients on the drug had a serious “adverse event” over two years, the investigators found.</p>
<p>That compared with 3 percent of patients given placebo pills, the researchers reported.</p>
<p>The study focused on patients with a form of kidney disease called immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy. It arises when IgA — an immune system protein — builds up in the kidneys, leading to inflammation.</p>
<p>Methylprednisolone and other corticosteroids suppress the immune system and quell inflammation related to severe allergies, asthma, arthritis and other conditions. Some small studies had suggested they can help treat IgA nephropathy.</p>
<p>Since the drugs dampen the immune response, it’s no surprise that infections would be a side effect, kidney disease experts said.</p>
<p>“What was alarming was the magnitude of the risk,” said Dr. Michelle O’Shaughnessy, who wrote an editorial published with the study. “It was greater than we might have anticipated.”</p>
<p>Yet the findings should not spell the end of corticosteroids for IgA nephropathy, said O’Shaughnessy, a kidney disease specialist at Stanford University.</p>
<p>She noted that when the trial was stopped, there were signals that methylprednisolone was also benefiting patients. Those on the drug had a lower risk of progressing to severe kidney disease or dying from the condition.</p>
<p>The issue, O’Shaughnessy explained, is that only a relatively small number of patients had developed kidney complications at that point in the trial. So no firm conclusions can be made.</p>
<p>“The infection risk shows up early, soon after patients begin taking the drug,” O’Shaughnessy said. “But any benefits would take a longer time to show up.”</p>
<p>Dr. Vlado Perkovic, the senior researcher on the trial, agreed.</p>
<p>Since corticosteroids might help some patients with IgA nephropathy, studies should keep looking into safer ways to deliver them, said Perkovic, of the George Institute for Global Health, in Australia.</p>
<p>For now, he said, “caution” should be used in prescribing corticosteroids for IgA nephropathy, and patients should be told of the risks so they can make an “informed choice.”</p>
<p>As it stands, only a minority of IgA nephropathy patients would be on a corticosteroid, O’Shaughnessy said. (She noted that in the United States, prednisone is the predominant one.)</p>
<p>A mainstay of treatment is blood pressure control with drugs like ACE inhibitors, to help limit damage to the kidneys, O’Shaughnessy explained. Patients may also take a diuretic to help remove excess fluid from the blood.</p>
<p>Current guidelines say a six-month course of corticosteroids can be considered for some patients. But the guidelines are based on small studies.</p>
<p>This latest trial put corticosteroids to a tougher test.</p>
<p>Perkovic’s team randomly assigned 262 patients to a course of either methylprednisolone pills or an inactive placebo.</p>
<p>The trial was stopped when it became clear that patients on the drug had a five-times higher rate of adverse effects — mainly infections.</p>
<p>At that point, though, the treated patients’ rate of kidney complications was lower. Just under 6 percent (eight participants) had progressed to severe kidney disease or died, compared with 16 percent (20) of placebo patients, according to the report.</p>
<p>Where does that leave patients and doctors? O’Shaughnessy said it will be important to think about each individual situation.</p>
<p>A younger patient in otherwise good health may have a high risk of eventually progressing to end-stage kidney disease and needing dialysis. For that person, O’Shaughnessy said, the possible benefits of corticosteroids may outweigh the infection risk.</p>
<p>But for an elderly person in poor health, she said, the risk of a dangerous infection may weigh more heavily.</p>
<p>The state of the kidney disease matters, too. Over time, IgA nephropathy can cause irreversible scarring of the kidney tissue. For patients with a lot of scarring, corticosteroids would be unlikely to help; for those with inflammation but little scarring, the drugs would likely be more effective, O’Shaughnessy suggested.</p>
<p>IgA nephropathy is thought to be an autoimmune disease, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). That means it’s caused by an abnormal immune system attack on the kidneys.</p>
<p>A person can have the disease for years without knowing it, the NIH says. When signs do arise, they can include blood or protein buildup in the urine.</p>
<p>About 20 percent to 40 percent of adults with IgA nephropathy progress to end-stage kidney disease within 10 to 20 years, according to the NIH.</p>
<p>The study results appear in the Aug. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals provided the study drug.</p>
<p>More information</p>
<p>The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has an overview of <a href="https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/iga-nephropathy" type="external">IgA nephropathy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.</p> | Drug for kidney disease tied to infection risk | false | https://newsline.com/drug-for-kidney-disease-tied-to-infection-risk/ | 2017-08-01 | 1 |
<p>Vonzell White, at 33, has three semesters to go before he graduates from college.</p>
<p>“Sometimes I think I could have been way better,” says White, a student at Northeastern Illinois University. He’s spent nearly a decade working toward a degree, refusing to give up on his dream of becoming a social worker. “But it ain’t about how old you [are], because you can be an old fool or a young fool.”</p>
<p>Non-traditional students like White — including those who got a late start, attend on a part-time basis, have a job or are raising children while they’re going to school — are becoming more common on college campuses. Nationwide, more than one-third of undergraduate students are over the age of 24, and a majority of these only attend college part-time, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics. That’s because many of them work: A 2012 U.S. Census report showed that about one in five college students maintains a full-time job while in school.</p>
<p>Success stories like White’s — if he perseveres and earns his degree next year — are rare. Yet the obstacles he faces are common among students from lower-income backgrounds. And helping young people navigate around the barriers while on the non-traditional path will be an important element in increasing college graduation rates.</p>
<p>White grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in West Humboldt Park with his mother and six of his eight siblings. His mother, who had her first child at the age of 15 and never finished high school, struggled to pay the electricity and gas bills. Often, meals were sugar sandwiches or hot dogs.</p>
<p>“We grew up harsh,” White says. “I don’t think education was valued in my family. It wasn’t one of those things you learn when you’re growing up. It was just, ‘Put on your clothes and go to school,’ but no explanation about why it mattered.”</p>
<p>After bouncing around several high schools, White eventually graduated from Austin Career Education Center in 2001. He stayed away from further schooling for a few years, like many of his childhood friends. Instead, he spent time chasing girls, shooting dice and even selling drugs.</p>
<p>White can’t quite explain what motivated him to want to change his life. But he saw friends and relatives float in and out of jail, sometimes on trumped-up charges, and knew he wanted something better for himself. One day, rather suddenly, he felt compelled to get off the streets and back into school.</p>
<p>He enrolled in Malcom X College, one of the seven City College campuses. But his studies kept getting interrupted. One time, a relative got sick and needed a caretaker. Another time, police raided the homes of several relatives and White ended up on house arrest on drug charges. He was out of school for 10 months. The charges were eventually dropped.</p>
<p>In 2013, White finally had enough credits to transfer to Northeastern, where he is working toward a bachelor’s degree in social work. Eventually, he wants to earn a master’s degree as well.</p>
<p>“I want to help the young boys get back to school,” White says. “Even if they’re going to vocational school or alternative school — it doesn’t matter.”</p>
<p>Toward that end, White is a volunteer with the nonprofit organization CeaseFire Illinois, which works to reduce gang-related violence in Chicago. Plus, he has a full load of classes and has to fit in a part-time job at a department store.</p>
<p>Still, he’s determined to reach his goal. “I will graduate from college because my main thing is getting out of poverty,” White says. “I’m not out of it yet. I have a job and I go to school, but I owe debts and I’m still in poverty.”</p>
<p>* &#160; &#160; &#160;* &#160; &#160; &#160;*</p>
<p>Lizbeth Obispo, center, returned with her daughter, Khryztal, to Sullivan High a month after graduating last year for a party hosted by the Umoja Student Development Corp. Umoja and other nonprofits help many high schools keep up with graduates.</p>
<p>As part of its new rating system for high schools, CPS is now including a measure of how many graduates enroll in college the fall after they earn their diplomas, and how many of them remain in college a year later. Students who don’t follow this traditional route, like White, won’t be counted.</p>
<p>Kaleen Healey, a senior research analyst at the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, notes that students who don’t enroll in a four-year college immediately after high school are a small percentage of those who eventually earn a degree. Students like White “are demonstrating a massive amount of persistence and stick-to-it-ness,” Healey says.</p>
<p>For some students, like Sullivan High graduate Lizbeth Obispo, heading to college right after high school simply isn’t a viable option.</p>
<p>Obispo graduated from Sullivan High in Rogers Park last year. She’d been admitted to Loyola University and several other institutions, but is undocumented and would not be eligible for financial aid, so the cost was too high for her to seriously consider any of the schools.</p>
<p>Instead, Obispo intended to enroll right away in Oakton Community College and get certified as a nursing assistant.</p>
<p>But as a teen mother, she had other obligations. Her daughter, Khryztal, was born during her junior year of high school. “If I ever have to make a decision between school and her, I’d choose her, of course,” Obispo says.</p>
<p>But by the time fall rolled around, Obispo changed her mind about Oakton. She decided to work for a few semesters at a local grocery store to save money and help support her family before enrolling in any classes.</p>
<p>In early October, Lurie Children’s Hospital — where Obispo had finished a summer internship — offered her a full-time job filling in as an appointment scheduler. Though the job is temporary, it pays well and gives her the chance to find out about potential permanent work.</p>
<p>The best part about it, Obispo says, is that her supervisors will give her a flexible schedule if she wants to go to college — and the hospital will reimburse her expenses if she stays on. So in January, she finally enrolled part-time at Oakton and is taking courses to become a nurse assistant.</p>
<p>“I got so lucky,” Obispo says. “And I want to stay at my job because this is where I want to be a nurse.”</p>
<p>Chad Adams, principal at Sullivan High, was heartened to hear of her success, though he recognizes it won’t help his school’s rating down the road.</p>
<p>According to the district’s way of thinking, or to others looking at the situation from the outside, it might appear that Sullivan staff didn’t push Obispo hard enough to get into school right away, Adams says.</p>
<p>“But ultimately this is better for this [student] and her family and her own child’s future,” he adds. “It’s a loss in the sense of our [school] report card, but another example of how success happens. In a school like ours, there are so many paths to post-secondary success.”</p> | More students on non-traditional path to a degree | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/more-students-on-non-traditional-path-to-a-degree/ | 2015-02-24 | 3 |
<p>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the "Pick Four-Evening" game were:</p>
<p>8-5-0-6, Fireball: 8</p>
<p>(eight, five, zero, six; Fireball: eight)</p>
<p>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the "Pick Four-Evening" game were:</p>
<p>8-5-0-6, Fireball: 8</p>
<p>(eight, five, zero, six; Fireball: eight)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick Four-Evening' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/5dcf1762d360462d83ebd0a3eabc32b4 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister evaded journalists’ questions on Monday by bringing out a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself and telling the reporters to quiz it instead of him.</p>
<p>Prayuth Chan-ocha then turned on his heel and walked off, leaving the mock-up behind, to bemused looks and awkward laughter from the Government House press pack.</p>
<p>The prime minister had briefly spoken to the media after attending an event promoting upcoming Children’s Day, but deployed his dodging tactic before anyone could ask him about a number of pressing political issues.</p>
<p>“If you want to ask any questions on politics or conflict,” he said, “ask this guy.”</p>
<p>It isn’t the first time Prayuth — a general who seized power in a bloodless coup in 2014 — has dumbfounded the media. In the past he has fondled the ear of a sound technician for several minutes during an impromptu news conference, flung a banana peel at cameramen, and threatened, with gruff humor, to execute any journalist who criticized his government.</p>
<p>When it took power, his government, packed with military leaders, enjoyed considerable public support for ending a prolonged period of often-violent street politics. But as the junta’s rule has stretched on, criticism of its often-repressive policies and lack of transparency has grown markedly.</p>
<p>Prayuth has promised elections in November, though he has made similar promises several times previously and then delayed the balloting.</p>
<p>BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister evaded journalists’ questions on Monday by bringing out a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself and telling the reporters to quiz it instead of him.</p>
<p>Prayuth Chan-ocha then turned on his heel and walked off, leaving the mock-up behind, to bemused looks and awkward laughter from the Government House press pack.</p>
<p>The prime minister had briefly spoken to the media after attending an event promoting upcoming Children’s Day, but deployed his dodging tactic before anyone could ask him about a number of pressing political issues.</p>
<p>“If you want to ask any questions on politics or conflict,” he said, “ask this guy.”</p>
<p>It isn’t the first time Prayuth — a general who seized power in a bloodless coup in 2014 — has dumbfounded the media. In the past he has fondled the ear of a sound technician for several minutes during an impromptu news conference, flung a banana peel at cameramen, and threatened, with gruff humor, to execute any journalist who criticized his government.</p>
<p>When it took power, his government, packed with military leaders, enjoyed considerable public support for ending a prolonged period of often-violent street politics. But as the junta’s rule has stretched on, criticism of its often-repressive policies and lack of transparency has grown markedly.</p>
<p>Prayuth has promised elections in November, though he has made similar promises several times previously and then delayed the balloting.</p> | Thai leader tells reporters to quiz cardboard mock-up | false | https://apnews.com/5a88270b906a41c7bca9de188361dd1f | 2018-01-09 | 2 |
<p />
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<p>Disgusting, craven, and cringeworthy.</p>
<p>Via Daily Caller: <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/31/reid-has-no-regrets-lying-about-romney-taxes-video/" type="external">Reid Has "No Regrets" Lying About Romney Taxes: "Romney Didn't Win, Did He?"</a></p>
<p>In an exclusive interview with CNN's Dana Bash, departing Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said he had no regrets about lying on the Senate floor that Republican Mitt Romney hadn't paid his taxes in 12 years?.</p>
<p>So no regrets about Mitt Romney, about the Koch brothers?? Bash pushed. "Some people would even call it McCarthyite."</p>
<p>"Well, they call it whatever they want," he said with the faintest hint of a smile. "Romney didn't win, did he?"</p>
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<p>Related:</p>
<p>Breitbart: <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/31/why-harry-reids-home-exercise-accident-story-does-not-add-up/" type="external">Why Harry Reid's Home Exercise Accident Story Does Not Add Up</a></p>
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<p>They come out of the setting sun, flying low over suburban Australia in vast black squadrons armed with fruit-seeking sensors, razor sharp teeth and, on very rare occasions, a little-known virus that is potentially fatal to humans.</p>
<p>Parents take their children out to watch and tourists scramble for their cameras as the fruit bats, or flying foxes as they are also known, leave their colonies at dusk and cruise silently overhead in their thousands, bound for orchards, backyard fruit trees and sweet eucalyptus blossoms.</p>
<p>With wingspans of around three feet (one meter) and manes of orange fur, they make an impressive sight.</p>
<p>But a new outbreak of bat-borne Hendra virus has rattled residents of eastern Australia. Discovered near the Queensland state capital of Brisbane in 1994, four of the seven people ever to have contracted the disease have died.</p>
<p>It normally afflicts horses, 14 of which have died or been put down in Australia since June.</p>
<p>No people have died in the latest outbreak but this week's discovery of Hendra in a dog has scientists concerned that a more contagious version of the virus is loose.</p>
<p>And some politicians are so concerned they are discussing sending in choppers to bomb bat colonies around Brisbane with smoke canisters in the hope of moving them away from population centers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/lnp-wants-to-chase-bats-out-of-urban-areas-with-smokes-bombs-choppers/story-e6freoof-1226102670395?from=public_rss" type="external">Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman</a> says ground forces would then move in to destroy the bats' roosting trees so they wouldn't return. It's time to "get real," he said, according to The Courier-Mail newspaper.</p>
<p>"There needs to be a proper use of the tools available -- smoke bombs, noise and helicopters," he said.</p>
<p>"When the bats have been moved from the vegetation they've been roosting in in these urban areas, basically that vegetation should appropriately come down," he said.</p>
<p>Scientists and Queensland's Labor government have already dismissed the idea, saying it would only scatter the bats and potentially spread the virus further afield.</p>
<p>It would also increase the bats' stress levels, and research has shown that stressed bats are more likely to carry Hendra.</p>
<p>The virus is believed to spread to horses via fruit scraps dropped by the bats, or through water and food contaminated by bats' droppings.</p>
<p>Malaysia has imposed a ban on the import of horses from Australia as a precautionary measure following the outbreak.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Australian lawmaker says it's time to bomb bats carrying lethal Hendra virus (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-07-27/australian-lawmaker-says-its-time-bomb-bats-carrying-lethal-hendra-virus-video | 2011-07-27 | 3 |
<p>Today is a proud day for Chris Christie as all his hard work is finally paying off with the announcement that he is officially being considered – and vetted – for the position of right hand man to buddy Donny Trump.</p>
<p>That’s right – Christie is officially being considered for Trump’s vice president, an announcement that doesn’t make the ticket any more appetizing, but just might mean that Christie is done going on fast food runs for Trump.</p>
<p>Christie and Trump’s close partnership came as a surprise to many early on as Christie had been one of Trump’s bitterest opposers while he was still in the race. Of course that all changed once Christie dropped out and promptly dropped to his knees for the new Republican leader.</p>
<p>We all knew Christie had an ulterior motive, but just how ambitious he was seeking to be was unsure until now.</p>
<p>And Trump’s presidency would come at the perfect time for Christie who has record terrible ratings in his home state of New Jersey where the majority of his constituents are more ashamed of him than the classic TV trash “Jersey Shore.”</p>
<p>So let’s all raise our glasses to the biggest sellout of 2016 and let’s also look forward to more of his uncomfortable defenses of a man he truly, deeply hates.</p> | All Those McDonalds Runs And Fat Jokes Paying Off: Christie Being Vetted For Possible Trump VP | true | http://trofire.com/2016/07/01/mcdonalds-runs-fat-jokes-paying-off-christie-vetted-possible-trump-vp/ | 4 |
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<p>Isidro Montiel arrived in Colombia's lawless "drug triangle" in 1982 hoping to get rich farming coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine.</p>
<p>Today, with the country perched at the edge of a new era, he is betting instead on cacao, the little brown seeds used to make chocolate.</p>
<p>"I had heard that planting coca was a good living," Montiel, a stout 57-year-old farmer, said of his decision 35 years ago to move to the remote triangle of jungle between the villages of Guerima, Chupave and Puerto Principe, in the eastern department of Vichada.</p>
<p>Back then, notorious drug lord Carlos Lehder was building clandestine airstrips across this territory, which is roughly the size of Iceland, to fly cocaine to the United States.</p>
<p>Demand in the US was booming, and "a huge amount of cocaine was being shipped by air," said Colombian air force commander Jean Paul Strong, who heads a special task force in the region.</p>
<p>Word quickly spread around Colombia that Lehder — the co-founder of the Medellin Cartel, along with Pablo —&#160;needed workers to build this cocaine empire.</p>
<p>But soon after Montiel arrived, the situation took a dramatic twist.</p>
<p>Escobar tipped off authorities to Lehder's whereabouts, leading to his arrest and extradition to the United States in 1987.</p>
<p>That left a power vacuum in the triangle that was soon filled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist guerrilla group at war with the government since 1964.</p>
<p>The FARC imposed a "tax" on coca paste, the substance produced by farmers like Montiel.</p>
<p>Taking a cut of the lucrative drug trade quickly became one of the rebels' main funding sources, along with ransom kidnappings.</p>
<p>In Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer, that nexus between leftist rebels and drug traffickers has fueled a half-century conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people and left 60,000 missing.</p>
<p>It also translated into a bleak reality for farmers like Montiel.</p>
<p>"It was humiliating. It was either pay up or pay up — no alternative. It's not right, having to work and then give away your product," said Montiel.</p>
<p>He said the FARC used to extort more than 30 percent of the $760 he made on each kilo of coca paste.</p>
<p>But then history shifted beneath his feet again.</p>
<p>In 2012, the FARC entered peace talks with the government, eventually signing a historic peace deal that saw the rebels begin laying down their arms this week.</p>
<p>That same year, Montiel signed up for a new government program to encourage coca farmers to switch to legal crops.</p>
<p>It subsidizes cacao farming, and also gives producers direct deals with chocolate manufacturers so they can sell at the market price — no middleman to take a cut.</p>
<p>That has made cacao even more profitable than coca — and a lot less risky.</p>
<p>Farmers say they make up to $1,700 for each of their two annual cacao harvests under the program.</p>
<p>With coca, which had to be harvested four times a year, they made between $275 and $840 annually.</p>
<p>"The ones who make money (on coca) are the drug traffickers," said&#160;Jesus Sanchez, 59, who spent 16 years farming coca.</p>
<p>Coca paste is still used as currency in the triangle, where stores sometimes accept it instead of cash. Lunch costs five grams of coca paste, or the equivalent of about $3.50.</p>
<p>But cacao is gaining ground.</p>
<p>Today, 240 families are enrolled in the crop substitution program.</p>
<p>Colombia hopes such programs will convince farmers to switch away from coca on 50,000 hectares of fields this year.</p>
<p>Under the peace deal, demobilized FARC fighters are to be enlisted to promote the initiative in the country's most war-torn areas.</p>
<p>The effort kicked off last month in Vichada and Caqueta, another region hit hard by the conflict.</p>
<p>In Vichada, where there were 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of coca fields in 2002, there are just 683 today.</p>
<p>The goal is to have the number down to zero in three years.</p>
<p>But insecurity still dogs the region.</p>
<p>Residents complain they still have to pay "vaccines," or extortion money, to criminal gangs — an indication of the treacherous path ahead for Colombia as it seeks lasting peace.</p> | Colombia's 'drug triangle' puts hope in chocolate | false | https://pri.org/stories/2017-03-04/colombias-drug-triangle-puts-hope-chocolate | 2017-03-04 | 3 |
<p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that he is—once again—ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of renewed Middle East peace efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump is expected in Israel later this month and, although there has been no official announcement so far that he would also meet Abbas in the West Bank, the Palestinian president said on Tuesday, “we are look forward to [Trump’s] visit soon to Bethlehem.”</p>
<p>Abbas’s renewed call to meet with Netanyahu comes just days after returning to Ramallah from Washington, D.C., where Trump hosted him at the White House. At first glance, the meeting between the two could be perceived as a net positive for Palestinians. At the White House, flanked by the Palestinian and American flags, the two leaders exchanged words of praise. Trump spoke fondly of the decades-old Declaration of Principles that Abbas was signatory to, while Abbas nodded and smiled. Addressing Trump, he spoke of the U.S. President’s “stewardship” and “great negotiating ability” that, he believed, could somehow guide the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table and, eventually, “get this done,” as Trump put it.</p>
<p>Yet Trump did not once even mention Palestinian statehood—he merely spoke of the vague notion of “peace,” as a somehow independently attainable goal. The conflict is 70 years old, and the Principles that Trump referenced were inked some two decades ago now, with little to show. The Oslo Accords have also been declared dead by Israel on several occasions; many of its tenets are not abided by today. (For instance, Israeli forces are found regularly in Area A of the West Bank, which, according to the Accords, should be under sole Palestinian control.) It also remains that Trump is vocally pro-Israel and has surrounded himself with like-minded advisers. Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, both have deep connections with the Israeli settler movement.</p>
<p>Most notable, however, is the context in which the recent meeting with Trump took place: a troubling and critical political moment for Abbas domestically. This year, Palestinians will commemorate 50 years of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Abbas, meanwhile, is facing a crisis of legitimacy stemming from the fact that he’s years past his mandate (Abbas was elected in 2005 for a 4-year term) and, according to Palestinians, he has little to show for it. He has seen his popularity dwindle as his Fatah party continues to be intransigent about a potential reconciliation with Hamas.</p>
<p>Most Palestinians view the schism between Hamas and Fatah as a blow to their national struggle to end the Israeli occupation and achieve statehood. Abbas, however, believes that his latest measures against Gaza will push Hamas to relinquish power or be toppled. Doing so is his top priority. He recently ordered that the salaries of civil servants employed by the PA in Gaza be cut, and has ceased payments of the Strip’s electricity bills to Israel, in order to exert pressure on Hamas. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was unequivocal about the PA’s motives: “There’s a golden chance to regain unity of our people. Hamas should relinquish control of Gaza.” There have been dozens of attempts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah, all of which have failed. Abbas had previously frozen the budget allotments for factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—the umbrella organization that comprises most Palestinian political parties—that were given out by the Palestinian National Fund, the PLO’s treasury, after Israel claimed the money was being used for “terrorism.” That has raised the ire of political parties like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)—as have the cuts he made in funding to Gaza, actions that have cost him dearly in public support.</p>
<p>Yet Abbas is feeling the pressure from all sides. Recently, several Republican senators wrote to Trump asking him to compel Abbas into ceasing payments to assist the families of the thousands of security detainees languishing in Israeli prisons. For Palestinians, the prisoner issue is a hugely sensitive one, with nearly every family having at least one member imprisoned: Since 1967, <a href="http://www.palestine-studies.org/resources/special-focus/palestinian-prisoners" type="external">40 percent of the adult male population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (roughly 800,000 people)</a> have been detained in some way by Israeli forces.</p>
<p>When Abbas left for his visit to the United States, some 1,000 Palestinian detainees were on a hunger strike, demanding more humane conditions in Israeli prisons. In solidarity, Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been holding marches, sit-ins, and other events, even launching a social media campaign showing normal people, along with various celebrities, drinking salt water (prisoners on a hunger strike only allow themselves salt water for subsistence). The strong support for those incarcerated in Israel contrasts starkly with the apathy that Palestinians have shown for Abbas’s trip—or his seeming attempts to resuscitate the moribund peace process.</p>
<p>The prisoner issue has also thrust Marwan Barghouti, a popular Fatah leader serving several life sentences in an Israeli prison since 2004, back into the limelight. The member of parliament was convicted by Israel on murder charges for his role in the second Intifada, which erupted in 2000. He is currently one of those leading the hunger strike, and in many polls over recent years, Barghouti has consistently been named as the most popular choice to one day succeed the 82-year-old Palestinian president. Last week, Barghouti issued a statement—through his wife—from solitary confinement, in an attempt to boost the hunger strikers’ morale. In Ramallah, pictures of him in his brown prison uniform were hung over sit-in tents, outside of shops, and on the walls of buildings already peppered with an array of similarly political posters. Aware of Barghouti’s popularity, Abbas has never quite criticized him openly, but he has attempted to sideline him in subtle ways, such as picking another Fatah official—Mohammad al-Aloul—as his first-ever deputy in Fatah.</p>
<p>In this context, the recent invitation to the White House came as a sigh of relief to the Abbas camp, as the Palestinian issue had retreated into the background during the last couple of years of the Obama Administration. There were fears that Trump would also largely ignore Abbas and sidestep the conflict altogether to focus on Iran, Syria, and other regional files. The meeting was undoubtedly a political lifeline for Abbas, particularly since it likely ingratiated him to pro-American Arab leaders like Egypt’s General Sisi, but, on the ground, it has done nothing to bolster his image among Palestinians. If anything, it may even backfire—especially if Trump goes ahead with plans to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Apart from some niceties exchanged with Trump, and a lavish reception at an upscale hotel, Abbas came away from his visit to D.C. having made no substantial gains. In fact, Trump has made it clear, through ambiguous statements, and the appointment of Kushner and Friedman, that he supports continued settlement expansion. Although the White House has since said it stood by the sentiment, perhaps most telling of all was the deletion of a tweet posted on Trump’s account calling it “an honor” to have met Abbas. Yet it is the indifference to his D.C. trip at home that should likely have him the most concerned.</p> | Abbas’s Unmerited Optimism | true | http://democracyjournal.org/arguments/abbass-unmerited-optimism/ | 2017-05-11 | 4 |
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<p>The upcoming Chevrolet Bolt EV is one of many electric vehicles that will be able to take advantage of two new "corridors" of Chargepoint DC Fast charging stations. Image source: General Motors.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Two big automakers just announced that they've helped build "corridors" of DC Fast charging stations for electric vehicles up and down the East and West Coasts of the United States. It's a move that brings all of the big automakers one step closer to neutralizing one ofTesla Motors'(NASDAQ: TSLA) biggest competitive advantages.</p>
<p>BMW (NASDAQOTH: BAMXF) and Volkswagen (NASDAQOTH: VLKAY) have teamed up with Chargepoint, the biggest provider of electric-vehicle recharging stations, to create these new networks of fast-charging stations.</p>
<p>In a joint statement on Tuesday, the three companies announced that they have installed a total of 95 new DC Fast charging stations that will support electric-vehicle travel between Portland, Oregon, and San Diego on the West Coast, and from Boston to Washington, D.C., on the East Coast.</p>
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<p>The new stations are a mix of 24 kilowatt and 50 kilowatt DC Fast chargers equipped with SAE Combo (also called CCS) connectors that will work with the BMW i3, the Volkswagen e-Golf, and many other electric vehicles with DC Fast charging capabilities. (DC Fast charging capability will reportedly be offered as an option on General Motors' (NYSE: GM) new Chevrolet Bolt EV.)</p>
<p>Image source: Chargepoint and BMW.</p>
<p>The SAE Combo connectors work with most current U.S. and European electric cars, as well as some of the newest models from Asian manufacturers.</p>
<p>According to the companies' statement, many of these stations also have CHAdeMO connectors for the (mostly Asian-brand) vehicles that use those ports.</p>
<p>They're not quite up to the level of the latest versions of Tesla'svaunted Superchargers. Tesla claims the Superchargers can add "up to 170 EPA-rated miles of range in as little as 30 minutes." But the new Chargepoint stations aren't bad: Chargepoint's 50 kW stations can add up to 200 miles of range per hour, while the 24 kW stations can add up to 100 miles of range per hour.</p>
<p>BMW wants to, while VW has to.</p>
<p>BMW has been working with various partners around the world to build a more robust EV-charging infrastructure, in hopes of encouraging more people to give its electric i3 sedan (and upcoming future electric models) a try.</p>
<p>"BMW's vision for an innovative, more convenient future of electric mobility encompasses the continued rollout of a robust public infrastructure throughout the U.S. to benefit our customers and all EV drivers," said Robert Healey, BMW's chief of EV infrastructure in North America, in a statement. "The partnership with VW and ChargePoint demonstrates the efficiencies of industry cooperation for building robust public DC Fast charging while encouraging consumer interest in electric vehicles such as the BMW i3."</p>
<p>Volkswagen's reason for participating is a little different, though it put a similar spin on its effort. "Volkswagen's investment in this expansive public EV charging project sets the blueprint for future EV charging infrastructure in the United States," said Dr. Hendrik Muth, senior vice president, product marketing and strategy, Volkswagen of America, in a statement. "These charging corridors will add greater flexibility and convenience for current e-Golf and other EV drivers, and reduces one more barrier to increased EV ownership."</p>
<p>VW is making a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/09/why-tesla-motors-investors-should-take-volkswagens.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">big push into electric cars Opens a New Window.</a>, and that push will work best if there's a robust recharging infrastructure. But VW doesn't really have a choice about participating in something like this.</p>
<p>VW has been mired in a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/07/volkswagens-diesel-scandal-what-we-know.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">massive scandal Opens a New Window.</a> after admitting a year ago that it programmed its diesel-powered cars to cheat on emissions tests. As part of its settlement of civil charges filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) over that cheating, VW agreed to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/28/why-volkswagens-settlement-wont-end-its-uncertaint.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">spend $2 billion over 10 years Opens a New Window.</a> on zero-emissions vehicle infrastructure, access, and awareness in the U.S.</p>
<p>VW's contribution to thisnetwork is the beginning of that spending.</p>
<p>It means that the big automakers -- all of them -- are closing in on what has been one of Tesla's biggest competitive advantages.</p>
<p>While Chargepoint and other companies have been installing electric-vehicle chargers for years, most of the existing stations are low-power ones that take hours to fully recharge a vehicle. Tesla's Supercharger network has been seen, rightly, as a big competitive advantage, helping Tesla reassure potential buyers that recharging their new cars isn't much harder or more time-consuming than refueling a gasoline-powered car. Butthe Supercharger stations areproprietary: They'll only recharge Teslas.</p>
<p>Now, companies like BMW and VW and GM, and just about all of the other big automakers considering a push into electric cars, are a couple of big steps closer to being able to make the same argument. And this is just the beginning: Expect a lot more of these DC Fastcharging stations to get built inthe U.S. very soon.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMarlowe/info.aspx" type="external">John Rosevear Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends BMW and General Motors. 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> | BMW and Volkswagen Take on Tesla Motors With a New U.S. Fast-Charging Network | true | http://foxbusiness.com/investing/2016/09/13/bmw-and-volkswagen-take-on-tesla-motors-with-new-us-fast-charging-network.html | 2016-09-13 | 0 |
<p>Bixby, Samsung Electronics Co.'s voice-activated virtual assistant, may be late to the party, but its U.S. launch Wednesday presents a new contender to Apple Inc.'s Siri in the race to make smartphones smarter and more user-friendly.</p>
<p>The English-language version of Bixby, an artificial-intelligence service used to field tasks, had suffered a string of delays despite Samsung's vows that it would be available this spring.</p>
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<p>Samsung executives had touted Bixby's potential in the buildup to the April release of the Galaxy S8--the company's first flagship smartphone since last year's Galaxy Note 7 debacle.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that the virtual assistant wouldn't likely be ready until the second half of July, and that the service had struggled to comprehend English syntax and grammar during internal tests.</p>
<p>The South Korean technology giant said Wednesday that Bixby would offer full integration across its core Samsung apps, promising that almost anything that users could do by touching or typing could now be accomplished with a voice command. It is capable of multiple tasks with a single voice command, such as locating a nearby steakhouse and hailing a taxi, Samsung said.</p>
<p>Bixby had been available months earlier in Korean in Samsung's home market, and the world's largest smartphone maker had been piloting an "early access" program for Bixby's English-language version since last month, enlisting tens of thousands of U.S. consumers.</p>
<p>Samsung has devoted significant resources to developing and promoting Bixby, and has a button on the side of the Galaxy S8 dedicated to activating the virtual assistant. Users can also summon the service by saying "Hi Bixby" or "Hello Bixby."</p>
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<p>Bixby's English-language stumbles have also tripped up Samsung's development of a voice-activated speaker, a project code-named "Vega" that has been in the works for more than a year, the Journal previously reported.</p>
<p>The speaker, similar to Amazon.com Inc.'s Echo, will be powered by Bixby.</p>
<p>Samsung and its rivals envision a future filled with devices underpinned by artificial intelligence, where consumers can talk to and listen to their devices, rather than tapping and swiping. In addition to Siri and Bixby, Alphabet Inc.'s Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa are major players in voice AI.</p>
<p>At the moment, these voice features remain rudimentary and inconvenient, and rely heavily on consumer feedback to make the services smarter and faster.</p>
<p>Just 9% of consumers use digital assistants such as Siri or Bixby on a regular basis, according to a survey by Ovum, a market-research firm, which also found that 50% of consumers had no interest in or knowledge of digital assistants.</p>
<p>Write to Timothy W. Martin at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 19, 2017 05:41 ET (09:41 GMT)</p> | Samsung's Siri Rival, Bixby, Hopes to Have You at 'Hello' | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/19/samsungs-siri-rival-bixby-hopes-to-have-at-hello.html | 2017-07-19 | 0 |
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A panel tasked with developing recommendations to prevent tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is calling for new gun control measures, detailed safety standards for school buildings and a new focus for the state's "fragmented and underfunded" mental health system.</p>
<p>The proposals in the 256-page draft report issued Thursday by the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission include risk assessment teams in schools to gather information and help students who may pose a risk to themselves or others, interior locks on the doors in all classrooms and serial numbers imprinted on ammunition shell casings.</p>
<p>The document marks the culmination of two years of work by a panel of experts formed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the wake of the mass shooting, which left 20 first-graders and six educators dead Dec. 14, 2012. The panel heard testimony from a range of people, including security experts and victims' family members.</p>
<p>"This report cannot bring back their loved ones who died, nor can it heal the wounds of the living. But the Commission hopes that this report will provide some solace by proposing recommendations that may help other children, parents, teachers and communities avoid similar tragedies," the report says.</p>
<p>The commission is scheduled to meet Friday to modify the draft and eventually present its final document to Malloy, possibly in early March.</p>
<p>Some of the commission's recommendations from a 2013 interim report have already become law, including several gun control proposals. Connecticut lawmakers agreed to require mandatory background checks on the sale and transfers of any firearm, including long guns, at private and gun show sales. However, the commission has resubmitted other recommendations that were not included in the 2013 law, such as requiring the registration of all firearms and limiting the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at any given time.</p>
<p>The new gun-related proposals include requiring that any person seeking a license to sell or purchase a gun in Connecticut first passes a suitability screening process.</p>
<p>The report focuses heavily on the state's mental health system, which it called "fragmented and underfunded" and "tainted by stigma." The commission said the problems of the shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, were "not reducible to any particular category of psychiatric illness," but it is clear his needs were not met.</p>
<p>Lanza killed his mother inside their Newtown home before driving to the school, and he committed suicide after the shooting rampage.</p>
<p>Commission members said the Lanza family's case shows the need to build a mental health system that goes beyond treating mental illness but also fosters healthy families and individuals.</p>
<p>The Sandy Hook Commission's report is similar to reports issued after other school shootings, including those at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech. However, members said they hope their document will be used to set standards and recommendations on safe school design and operations. The Connecticut report includes detailed recommendations for school facility construction, including having school custodians on school safety and security meetings and making the main school entrance resistant to forced entry.</p>
<p>The report acknowledges "no school can be totally free of the risk of violence," short of transforming them into gated, prison-like facilities. But the group recommends safe school design and operation strategies and closer coordination with law enforcement, mental health experts and security professionals as ways to help make safer school environments possible.</p>
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A panel tasked with developing recommendations to prevent tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is calling for new gun control measures, detailed safety standards for school buildings and a new focus for the state's "fragmented and underfunded" mental health system.</p>
<p>The proposals in the 256-page draft report issued Thursday by the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission include risk assessment teams in schools to gather information and help students who may pose a risk to themselves or others, interior locks on the doors in all classrooms and serial numbers imprinted on ammunition shell casings.</p>
<p>The document marks the culmination of two years of work by a panel of experts formed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the wake of the mass shooting, which left 20 first-graders and six educators dead Dec. 14, 2012. The panel heard testimony from a range of people, including security experts and victims' family members.</p>
<p>"This report cannot bring back their loved ones who died, nor can it heal the wounds of the living. But the Commission hopes that this report will provide some solace by proposing recommendations that may help other children, parents, teachers and communities avoid similar tragedies," the report says.</p>
<p>The commission is scheduled to meet Friday to modify the draft and eventually present its final document to Malloy, possibly in early March.</p>
<p>Some of the commission's recommendations from a 2013 interim report have already become law, including several gun control proposals. Connecticut lawmakers agreed to require mandatory background checks on the sale and transfers of any firearm, including long guns, at private and gun show sales. However, the commission has resubmitted other recommendations that were not included in the 2013 law, such as requiring the registration of all firearms and limiting the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at any given time.</p>
<p>The new gun-related proposals include requiring that any person seeking a license to sell or purchase a gun in Connecticut first passes a suitability screening process.</p>
<p>The report focuses heavily on the state's mental health system, which it called "fragmented and underfunded" and "tainted by stigma." The commission said the problems of the shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, were "not reducible to any particular category of psychiatric illness," but it is clear his needs were not met.</p>
<p>Lanza killed his mother inside their Newtown home before driving to the school, and he committed suicide after the shooting rampage.</p>
<p>Commission members said the Lanza family's case shows the need to build a mental health system that goes beyond treating mental illness but also fosters healthy families and individuals.</p>
<p>The Sandy Hook Commission's report is similar to reports issued after other school shootings, including those at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech. However, members said they hope their document will be used to set standards and recommendations on safe school design and operations. The Connecticut report includes detailed recommendations for school facility construction, including having school custodians on school safety and security meetings and making the main school entrance resistant to forced entry.</p>
<p>The report acknowledges "no school can be totally free of the risk of violence," short of transforming them into gated, prison-like facilities. But the group recommends safe school design and operation strategies and closer coordination with law enforcement, mental health experts and security professionals as ways to help make safer school environments possible.</p> | Newtown panel urges more gun control, mental health changes | false | https://apnews.com/amp/e66d427d718e49b78c944b3083785a98 | 2015-02-12 | 2 |
<p>WILLOUGHBY, Ohio (AP) — Ohio police are searching for four men in connection to the theft of a baby bird that will die without proper care.</p>
<p>Willoughby police say a baby pineapple green-cheek conure was stolen about noon Saturday from an area pet store. Cleveland.com <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/willoughby/index.ssf/2018/01/willoughby_police_searching_fo_2.html" type="external">reports</a> the baby bird must be hand fed or it will die.</p>
<p>Authorities say they are looking for three men in their 20s and one older man. Police say the three men distracted the clerk at the pet store, while the fourth man took the conure.</p>
<p>Anyone with information is asked to contact Willoughby police.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: cleveland.com, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com" type="external">http://www.cleveland.com</a></p>
<p>WILLOUGHBY, Ohio (AP) — Ohio police are searching for four men in connection to the theft of a baby bird that will die without proper care.</p>
<p>Willoughby police say a baby pineapple green-cheek conure was stolen about noon Saturday from an area pet store. Cleveland.com <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/willoughby/index.ssf/2018/01/willoughby_police_searching_fo_2.html" type="external">reports</a> the baby bird must be hand fed or it will die.</p>
<p>Authorities say they are looking for three men in their 20s and one older man. Police say the three men distracted the clerk at the pet store, while the fourth man took the conure.</p>
<p>Anyone with information is asked to contact Willoughby police.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: cleveland.com, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com" type="external">http://www.cleveland.com</a></p> | Police look for stolen bird that will die without right care | false | https://apnews.com/amp/80dcf3094c534376b22b8449c7b16cdf | 2018-01-08 | 2 |
<p>Published time: 10 Dec, 2017 12:32Edited time: 10 Dec, 2017 13:36</p>
<p>An Israeli security guard has been severely wounded in a stabbing attack outside Jerusalem’s central bus station, paramedics say. The knifeman has been taken alive into custody.</p>
<p>Medics at the scene treated a 25-year-old man for a stab wound to his upper body, Magen David Adom (MDA), head of Israel’s national medical emergency service, said on Twitter. The attack occurred on Jaffa Street in central Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Little is known about the attacker beyond the detail that he was neutralized and sustained a head wound, but survived.</p>
<p />
<p>Terror attack in Jerusalem: a terrorist arrived to the city’s central bus station, pulled out a knife &amp; stabbed the security guard. The terrorist, a 24-year-old Palestinian, tried to escape but was caught by a policeman &amp; a civilian &amp; was taken for questioning</p>
<p>— Israel Police (@israelpolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/israelpolice/status/939848152693297152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">December 10, 2017</a></p>
<p /> | Israeli security guard stabbed at Jerusalem’s central bus station | false | https://newsline.com/israeli-security-guard-stabbed-at-jerusalems-central-bus-station/ | 2017-12-10 | 1 |
<p>One billion TV viewers from all over the globe are expected to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. It takes place on Friday, rain or shine.</p>
<p>The show is expected to feature 20,000 performers, a cavalcade of farmyard animals and some sophisticated digital technology.</p>
<p>But in the summer of 1948, the last time London hosted the Games, things weren't quite so fancy. Janie Hampton, a historian of the games, described the scene at London's old Wembley Stadium.</p>
<p>"One by one the teams marched in," she said. They lined up in front of King George VI, the father of the Queen Elizabeth II, and the subject of the movie 'The King's Speech'.</p>
<p>King George proclaimed the Games open and "a single torch bearer ran in; they sang 'God save the King; they let 7,000 pigeons go; and that was it," said Hampton, the author of the book "London Olympics, 1908 and 1948"³.</p>
<p>The '48 Games were the first big celebration since the end of the Second World War. "There was just this wonderful feeling of hooray, we're at peace, we can just enjoy ourselves running and jumping and rowing," said Hampton.</p>
<p>The celebratory pigeons weren't quite so happy. They were kept in boxes, waiting for the big release. On the day of the opening ceremony, a heatwave struck. Only half of the pigeons flew away because the other half were dead.</p>
<p>There were the make-do Games. Like today, they took place in a time of austerity. After six years of war, there wasn't much in Britain to go around: everyday goods, including food, was strictly rationed.</p>
<p>A British adult was allowed to eat 2,500 calories a day, including one egg a week. But British Olympians got more: extra bread, more eggs; the same calorific intake as a coal miner.</p>
<p>Much of the food was donated from countries including the Netherlands and the then-Czechoslovakia. Everyone pitched in and made a virtue of the situation.</p>
<p>The science of sports nutrition took off at the 1948 Games, too. A British government nutritionist called Dr. Magnus Pyke took samples from the world's athletes, learning—among other things—that the Mexican diet of tripe, chili and beans did not necessarily translate into medal-winning performances.</p>
<p>The late Bob Mathias, a US Congressman from California, was just 17 when he competed in the decathlon in 1948. He recalled the javelin component going late into the evening—and the lack of illumination at the center of the field.</p>
<p>"I remember the English officials had their flashlights that they actually shone on the foul marker," he said. "And once you threw the javelin it'd disappear in the darkness. Then all of a sudden you'd hear it thud at the other end and see a bunch of flashlights running out to where the javelin stuck."</p>
<p>Mathias won gold in London. He and the rest of the American team faced competition from 58 other countries in 1948. More than 200 nations are taking part this year.</p>
<p>Contemporary Olympic Games are massive, complex enterprises: for the organizers there can be no muddling through or making do, only grand achievement or failure. Still certain notions persist, such as a warm welcome.</p>
<p>In 1948, the then-British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, broadcast a message on the eve of the Games. "We wish to do all we can to make the visits of our friends from other countries as happy as possible," Attlee declared. "Here, then, are all good wishes to competitors and spectators alike for a successful Olympic Games."</p>
<p>That down-to-earth tone will likely be in evidence on Friday at the Opening ceremony. London in 2012 isn't able to spend on showmanship what Beijing did four years ago.</p>
<p>Perhaps the lesson of 1948 is that it doesn't need to.</p> | Reflecting on London 1948: The Austerity Olympics | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-25/reflecting-london-1948-austerity-olympics | 2012-07-25 | 3 |
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<p />
<p>While previous attempts to clean it up and fill the gaps have fallen short, supporters of updating it are hopeful this is the year the bill will pass.</p>
<p>Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe – the Senate’s new majority leader – has been pushing the legislation since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 cleared the way for unlimited spending by some political action committees.</p>
<p>Super PACs, or independent expenditure committees, can spend as much as they want to support or oppose candidates, as long as they don’t coordinate with the candidates or their campaigns.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But New Mexico has never defined an independent expenditure, nor what it means to coordinate.</p>
<p>So there’s no guidance for such PACs and there’s little risk of legal action if they engage in coordination.</p>
<p>“It’s a huge deal,” said Viki Harrison, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico.</p>
<p>“We literally have no rules in place for all of the independent spenders – your nonprofits, your unions, your business groups” whose primary purpose is not electioneering, she said.</p>
<p>Wirth’s bill, which hasn’t yet been filed, would establish those rules. It also would expand to nonprofits the requirement to disclose where their funds come from, eliminating the anonymity of donors – the “dark money” aspect of independent spending.</p>
<p>That’s “the one thing the U.S. Supreme Court said we could do in Citizens United, which is require disclosure,” Wirth said.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s campaign finance law is outdated because a series of court rulings has invalidated key portions.</p>
<p>“As a result … we have a campaign finance code sitting there that is full of unconstitutional provisions, and it’s incumbent on us to clean this up and do the additional step of requiring this disclosure,” Wirth told the Journal .</p>
<p>The current law also never contemplated the variety of ways in which groups other than candidates and political parties would participate in elections, Common Cause says.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Wirth’s legislation would tighten reporting requirements, and broaden the authority of the attorney general and district attorneys to pursue violations.</p>
<p>His bill has passed the Senate in four legislative sessions – three times unanimously – only to die in the House.</p>
<p>Opponents have included some nonprofits that worry their occasional advocacy for or against candidates could subject them to having to disclose their donors, he said.</p>
<p>Wirth is optimistic that strong support from the newly elected secretary of state, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, and the House’s new Democratic leadership will help the effort.</p>
<p>And Common Cause’s Harrison says that, “after such an ugly election with so much independent spending,” the issue is fresh.</p>
<p>“We’re going to be putting a lot of pressure on to get this through, letting legislators know this is our top priority,” Harrison said. “They’re going to be hearing about it at every turn.”</p>
<p>Wirth is also dusting off another piece of legislation he has introduced previously, an update to the law that regulates the public financing of elections for appellate-level judges and members of the Public Regulation Commission.</p>
<p>It would get rid of a provision that has been ruled unconstitutional, which boosts the public funding to candidates whose non-publicly funded rivals outspend them. Other changes include reducing the amount of public financing to which candidates are entitled if they’re unopposed.</p>
<p>“Candidates are actually using the public financing system, so we should really make it work as well as possible,” Wirth said.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Legislator again seeks campaign finance reform | false | https://abqjournal.com/924265/campaign-finance-reform-pushed.html | 2017-01-10 | 2 |
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<p>CARLSBAD, N.M. - Carlsbad officials are considering changes to an ordinance on drilling around the city's water supply.</p>
<p>The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the City Council may consider next month adding language that makes it clear a permit is required to drill anywhere around Sheep Draw Well Field.</p>
<p>Sheep Draw provides almost all of the groundwater for the Carlsbad Municipal Water System.</p>
<p>The ordinance was established in 2000 to protect the water from possible contamination. It calls for specific depth and thickness requirements for the drill casing to prevent contamination.</p>
<p>The desire for revisions stems from Devon Energy's recent application to drill an oil well on the edge of the Wellhead Protection Areas.</p>
<p>City Administrator Steve McCutcheon says there was some initial confusion as to whether the energy company needed a permit.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Carlsbad leaning toward revising drilling ordinance | false | https://abqjournal.com/601664/carlsbad-leaning-toward-revising-drilling-ordinance.html | 2 |
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<p>Pixabay</p>
<p />
<p>Wind energy is growing fast. While it still accounts for less than 5 percent of the United States’ total electricity mix, wind is by far the <a href="http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_1_01_a" type="external">biggest source</a> of renewable energy other than hydroelectric dams, and it accounted for <a href="" type="internal">23 percent</a> of new power production capacity built last year. Some experts <a href="" type="internal">think</a> wind could provide a fifth of the world’s energy by 2030. But wind in the US is always in a perilous position, thanks to its heavy reliance on a federal tax credit that is <a href="" type="internal">routinely attacked</a> in Congress; the subsidy was allowed to expire at the end of last year, and its ultimate fate remains unclear.</p>
<p>Fortunately, wind won’t be subject to the whims of legislators for much longer, according to a new analysis from the Energy Department. The new report found that within a decade, wind will be cost-competitive with fossil fuels like natural gas, even without a federal tax incentive.</p>
<p>From <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-12/wind-energy-without-subsidy-will-be-cheaper-than-gas-in-a-decade" type="external">Bloomberg Business</a>:</p>
<p>Cost reductions and technology improvements will reduce the price of wind power to below that of fossil-fuel generation, even after a $23-per-megawatt-hour subsidy provided now to wind farm owners ends, according to a report released Thursday.</p>
<p>“Wind offers a power resource that’s already the most competitive option in many parts of the nation,” Lynn Orr, under secretary for science and energy at the Energy Department, said on a conference call with reporters. “With continued commitment, wind can be the cheapest, cleanest power option in all 50 states by 2050.”</p>
<p>That would be a huge win for slowing climate change. The report finds that it could also lead to billions of dollars of benefits to the American public, from lower monthly electric bills to fewer air-pollution-related deaths.</p>
<p /> | Wind Energy Will Be Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels Within a Decade | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/wind-energy-will-be-cheaper-fossil-fuels-within-decade/ | 2015-03-17 | 4 |
<p>Photo by Justin Ennis | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>In a context of almost total indifference, marked by outright hostility, representatives of over a hundred of the world’s least powerful countries are currently opening another three-week session of United Nations talks aimed at achieving a legally binding ban on nuclear weapons.&#160; Very few people even know this is happening.</p>
<p>Ban nuclear weapons?&#160; Ho hum… Let’s change the subject.</p>
<p>Let’s talk about Russian hacking instead, or the rights of trans-sexuals to use the toilet of their choice, or even about something really important: climate change.</p>
<p>But wait a minute. The damage to human society, and to “the planet”, from the projected rise of a few degrees of global temperature, while commonly described as apocalyptic, would be minor compared to the results of all-out nuclear war.&#160; More to the point, the degree of human responsibility in climate change is more disputed among serious scientists than the public is aware, due to the role of such contributing factors as solar variations.&#160; But the degree of human responsibility for nuclear weapons is unquestionably total.&#160; The nuclear war peril is manmade, and some of the men who made it can even be named, such as James Byrnes, Harry Truman and General Leslie Groves.&#160; The United States government consciously and deliberately created this danger to human life on earth. Faced with the United States’ demonstrated capacity and moral readiness to wipe out whole cities with their devices, other countries built their own deadly devices as deterrents.&#160; Those deterrents have never been used, which lulls the public into believing the danger is past.</p>
<p>But the United States, the only power already guilty of nuclear manslaughter, continues to perfect its nuclear arsenal and to proclaim its “right” to launch a “first strike” whenever it chooses.</p>
<p>The United States naturally calls for boycotting the nuclear arms ban conference.</p>
<p>On the occasion of an earlier such conference last March, President Trump’s gormless U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, wrapped her lame excuse in womanliness: “As a mom and a daughter there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons,” she shamelessly uttered. “But we have to be realistic. Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?”</p>
<p>Well, yes.&#160; There are many people who have obviously thought more about this than Nikki Haley and who are well aware that North Korea, surrounded by aggressive U.S. forces for seven decades, considers its little nuclear arsenal to be a deterrent, and would certainly give it up in exchange for a convincing end to the U.S. threat.</p>
<p>North Korea is a very odd country, an heir to the medieval “Hermit Kingdom” with an ideology forged in communist resistance to Japanese imperialism of the previous century.&#160; Its highly eccentric leadership is using advanced technology as an imitation Great Wall.&#160; An all-Korean peace settlement would solve the issue.</p>
<p>It is absurd to claim that the threat of nuclear war comes from Pyongyang rather than from the Pentagon.&#160; Hyping up Pyongyang’s “threat” is a way to pretend that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is “defensive”, when the reality is the other way around.</p>
<p>A legally binding ban on nuclear weapons is an excellent idea, <a href="" type="internal" />approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and it would be fine for experts to work out all the technical and legal details, just in case – in case there is a huge change in the mental outlook that reigns in and around the District of Columbia.</p>
<p>NRA advocates like to defend their cause by proclaiming that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.&#160; It is more precise to say that people with guns kill people.&#160; Nuclear weapons don’t destroy the world. But people with nuclear weapons could destroy the world.&#160; What matters is what is in people’s heads.</p>
<p>During the height of the Cold War, my father, Dr. Paul H. Johnstone, worked for twenty years as senior analyst in the Pentagon’s Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG), where teams of experts tried to figure out what would happen in a nuclear war between the United States and Russia (the Soviet Union at that time, although they commonly referred to it as “Russia”).&#160; In his retirement he wrote a book recounting what he had learned from that experience, which has now been published by Clarity Press with the title <a href="" type="internal">From MAD to Madness</a>.&#160; He found that apparently normal, even kind and considerate men were able to contemplate initiating general nuclear war and killing millions of fellow humans as a reasonable possibility.&#160; Even if some of those millions were fellow Americans.</p>
<p>The result of one high-level study went like this: “the general consensus has been that while a nuclear exchange would leave the U.S. in a seriously damaged condition, with many millions of casualties and little immediate war supporting capability, the U.S. would continue to exist as an organized and viable nation, and ultimately would prevail, whereas the USSR would not.”</p>
<p>Twenty year later, my father commented: “This basic situation has not changed. Nuclear weapons are still there and analysts are still analyzing how to use them.”</p>
<p>And still forty years after that, the basic situation has not changed, except possibly for the worse.&#160; What is worse is not only the arsenal, which now aims at achieving such accuracy and underground penetration that it could wipe out an adversary’s command structure before it realizes what has happened. What is really much worse is the mentality that goes with those pretensions, notably the rise of a power-hungry clique called the “neoconservatives” that has in the past thirty years won official Washington over to its ambitions of US global supremacy. There is no longer an ideological enemy.&#160; There is just somebody else there who feels equally at home on this planet.</p>
<p>The current anti-Russia hysteria is nothing but a symptom of that mentality, which finds any challenge to US world domination to be intolerable.</p>
<p>Plans are surely being made to remove such intolerable challenges.&#160; This is not done in open congressional hearings with cameras.&#160; It is done in the military planning division of the Pentagon, preparing for any possible contingency.&#160; Plans are surely being made right now to wage nuclear war against Russia and China, not to mention Iran.&#160; The executive summary for busy political leaders is apt to conclude optimistically that despite problems, the United States “will prevail”.</p>
<p>The United States with its nuclear arsenal is like a demented maniac with delusions of grandeur.&#160; The delusions are institutional rather than individual.&#160; Psychologists may be brought to the scene to try to cajole an individual maniac who has taken a schoolroom of children as hostages, but there is no known psychological treatment for such a mass delusion.&#160; Ostensibly normal Americans truly believe that their nation is “exceptional”.&#160; Their military doctrine does not talk about “defeating” but “destroying”.&#160; You may “defeat” an enemy in a war over some issue, but for the Pentagon, the enemy must be destroyed.&#160; To eventually serve this death machine, young Americans are being trained by movies and video games to view enemies as extraterrestrials, intruders in our world who can be wiped out, not real humans the way Americans are.</p>
<p>The fundamental reason that United States leaders feel obliged to maintain nuclear supremacy is their belief that “exceptional” America has a right and duty to possess an absolute power of destruction.&#160; So long as that mentality rules in Washington, there is no possibility of nuclear disarmament, and every possibility of nuclear war sooner or later.&#160; Nuclear disarmament – a totally necessary safety precaution for humanity – will be possible only when leaders in Washington recognize that other peoples also have a right and a will to live.</p>
<p>The real question is how to achieve this psychological transformation.</p>
<p>Ever since August 1945, we have heard it said that “Hiroshima must be a moral awakening”, bringing people together in common concern for humanity.&#160; That has not happened.&#160; Indeed, today, the moral slumber is deeper than ever.</p> | Nuclear Weapons Ban? What Needs to be Banned Is U.S. Arrogance | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/06/16/nuclear-weapons-ban-what-needs-to-be-banned-is-u-s-arrogance/ | 2017-06-16 | 4 |
<p>General Electric (NYSE:GE) announced Thursday it will cut 12,000 jobs in its power business.</p>
<p>The company said the headcount cuts, which will affect both professional and production employees mostly outside the United States, will position GE Power to reach its announced target of $1 billion in structural cost reductions in 2018. The move aligns with GE’s effort to reduce overall structural costs by $3.5 billion in 2017 and 2018.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“This decision was painful but necessary for GE Power to respond to the disruption in the power market, which is driving significantly lower volumes in products and services,” said Russell Stokes, president and CEO of GE Power. “Power will remain a work in progress in 2018. We expect market challenges to continue, but this plan will position us for 2019 and beyond.”</p>
<p>The changes were driven by challenges in the power marketplace worldwide, including gas and coal, which have softened, the company said. It added that volumes are significantly lower in products and services due to overcapacity, lower utilization, fewer outages, the rising amount of steam plant retirements and the overall growth in renewables.</p>
<p>“GE Power is right-sizing the business for these realities and is focused on improving operational excellence and reducing its footprint and structure, which will help drive significant improvements in cash flows and margins,” the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>GE rival Siemens announced plans to cut about 6,900 jobs worldwide in November, mainly in its power and gas division, due to the pressure renewables are putting on other forms of power generation. Half of Siemens’ announced headcount reductions would be in Germany.</p>
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<p>GE shares were flat in pre-market trade and have fallen 44% this year.</p> | GE to cut 12,000 jobs worldwide | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/12/07/ge-to-cut-12000-jobs-worldwide.html | 2017-12-07 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>And still, it wasn’t nearly good enough for Tom Brady.</p>
<p>Not that it ever is.</p>
<p>Though New England’s control of the game was only sporadically threatened, what struck Brady the most were the missed opportunities. The two dropped passes on third downs in the first half that cut drives short. The two fumbles that gave the Steelers possession in New England territory. The lack of any downfield passing game to someone not named Rob Gronkowski.</p>
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<p>“Our execution, when it was good we made a lot of good plays,” Brady said. “I think there were self-inflicted wounds that really hurt us. It’s still really good to come in here and get the win.”</p>
<p>One that left little doubt about where the balance of power lies in the AFC as the season reaches its midway point.</p>
<p>New England (6-1) remained perfect since Brady’s return from his four-game “Deflategate” suspension. He improved to 9-2 all-time against Pittsburgh even on a day when he wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked.</p>
<p>Then again, the standards are pretty high. Brady’s thrown 26 touchdowns against just three interceptions when facing the Steelers. While Pittsburgh pressured him at times, the Steelers failed to record a sack and twice let the 39-year-old scramble for first downs. Yes, really.</p>
<p>“I feel like we definitely had some hits on him,” Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats said. “When you’ve got Brady back there running around, that’s a good sign but we’ve got to get him on the ground.”</p>
<p>Or any other important Patriot for that matter. Brady threw for 222 yards with two scores, LeGarrette Blount finished with 127 yards and two touchdowns of his own and Gronkowski added his 68th career touchdown reception to tie Stanley Morgan for the most in club history.</p>
<p>“We’re looking like garbage right now,” Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier said. “This is terrible right now.”</p>
<p>Not so much in New England, which responded emphatically whenever the Steelers made a push. Just like always.</p>
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<p>“It was … good to make plays in the second half when we needed to,” Brady said. “They certainly made it tough for us.”</p>
<p>LANDRY’S LAUNCH</p>
<p>Pittsburgh backup quarterback Landry Jones played well at times while filling in for injured Ben Roethlisberger, who wore sweats on the sideline over his surgically repaired left knee and offered what advice he could.</p>
<p>While Jones wasn’t perfect while completing 27 of 49 passes for 281 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his third career start , he was hardly the only reason the Steelers (4-3) dropped their second straight and fell to 11-10 in games not started by Roethlisberger since 2004.</p>
<p>The bigger issue for the Steelers wasn’t Jones but an inability to stop the Patriots when it mattered and too many miscues in the red zone. The Steelers crossed the goal line just once, had a touchdown called back due to a penalty and watched normally reliable kicker Chris Boswell miss two field goals.</p>
<p>BLOUNT’S RETURN</p>
<p>Blount received a loud chorus of boos during his first touch in the first quarter, a reminder of the ill will he generated when the Steelers cut him two years ago for insubordination . He had the last laugh, ripping off 74 yards in the second half alone to prevent Pittsburgh from focusing exclusively on Brady.</p>
<p>“To see him come in, run the ball super hard downhill, it’s just awesome,” Gronkowski said of Blount.</p>
<p>INJURIES</p>
<p>Patriots: escaped Pittsburgh largely unharmed, good news as they prepare for a visit to Buffalo next week. The Bills beat the Patriots 16-0 on Oct. 2, a game Brady missed while serving his suspension.</p>
<p>Steelers: Wide receiver Antonio Brown left briefly in the third quarter with a left quadriceps injury but returned, though he was largely ineffective late on a day he finished with seven receptions for 106 yards.</p>
<p>WELCOME BREAK</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is off next week, a much-needed respite for a team that had five regular contributors unavailable on Sunday due to injury. It’s uncertain when Roethlisberger may return, though Pittsburgh is hopeful to have defensive end Cam Heyward (hamstring) and right tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle) back when it visits Baltimore on Nov. 6.</p>
<p>Regardless of what happens during the bye, the Steelers will still have at least a share of first place in the AFC North when they face the Ravens. For now, that’s little solace.</p>
<p>“It you want to look at the records that’s nice,” wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey said. “I guess the team that wins the division goes to the playoffs but after that loss I can’t really think about that. We’ve got to get better, get healthy.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>AP NFL website: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">www.pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p> | Precise, physical Patriots too much for messy Steelers | false | https://abqjournal.com/873640/precise-physical-patriots-too-much-for-messy-steelers.html | 2016-10-24 | 2 |
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